In all that period he did not write a single letter to Deborah Read; yet he seemed surprised and hurt on his return to Philadelphia to find the young woman married to another. But Deborah’s husband, who had treated her cruelly, quite civilly left her a widow, so that Franklin, careless but faithful, was able ultimately to claim her as his wife.
For the next twenty years Franklin did something new at almost every turn. He flew a kite in a thunder shower, drew down electricity, and invented the lightning rod, to the salvation of generations of rural sales agents. He invented a stove that still holds his name. He organized the first fire company in America, and founded the first public library. All the while he was publishing “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” which to this day ranks as an epigrammatic masterpiece.
American politics soon claimed Franklin as an ideal diplomatist. English and Scottish universities honored him with degrees for his discoveries and writings. In Paris he became the most popular man of the period, and was overwhelmed with attention from all classes.
He was one of the first signers of the Declaration of Independence; and he rounded out his political career as governor of Pennsylvania and one of the framers of the Constitution. He died in Philadelphia in April, 1790, in some respects the greatest of Americans.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 6, SERIAL No. 106
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN
American Pioneer Prose Writers