VI
MEMBER OF CONGRESS AND ENVOY TO FRANCE
Franklin reached Philadelphia May 5, 1775; and what a home-coming it was! His wife had died, and he was now to live with his daughter Mrs. Bache. The battle of Lexington had been fought while he was at sea, and the whole country was in a ferment of excitement. It was in regard to this battle, it may be remembered, that he uttered one of his famous witticisms. To a critic who accused the Americans of cowardice for firing from behind stone walls, he replied: "I beg to inquire if those same walls had not two sides to them?"
He received the most honorable welcome home, and on the very morning after his arrival was unanimously chosen one of the Pennsylvania delegates to the Continental Congress about to meet in Philadelphia.
Our philosopher, now seventy years old, had come home to rest, but found himself instead in the very vortex of public affairs. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety and a burgess in the Assembly, but later he gave himself entirely to Congress. Afterwards when in Paris he declared that he used to work twelve hours out of the twenty-four on public business. His part in Congress was one of conciliation between conflicting interests,—a rôle he was admirably adapted to fill. Very early he proposed, as he had done at Albany, a union of the thirteen colonies, but the times were not yet ripe for such a measure.
Of the great act of this Congress, the Declaration of Independence, Franklin's share was small, as might be inferred from the nature of the man. He did indeed serve with Jefferson and three others on the committee appointed to draft this document, but, as every one knows, the actual writing of the Declaration was the work of Jefferson. Franklin is chiefly remembered for one or two witticisms in connection with the affair. "We must be unanimous," said Hancock, when it came to signing the document, "there must be no pulling different ways; we must all hang together." "Yes," replied Franklin, "we must, indeed, all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."
Over Franklin's manifold occupations we may now pass rapidly, for, though he was connected with almost every prominent transaction of the times, yet he was not a true leader of the revolutionary movement. He was easily the most illustrious man in America, and, since the death of Jonathan Edwards, the most intellectual; but his mind was inquisitive and contemplative rather than aggressive, and rougher hands were now needed at the helm. He acted as postmaster for the colonies, and served on many committees. So, for instance, he went with John Adams and Edward Rutledge to confer with Lord Howe on Staten Island. The embassy, however, came to nothing, as Lord Howe utterly refused to treat with them as envoys of a Congress whose existence he could not acknowledge. It was too late for negotiations. And now we are to see Franklin in a new part.
Of the great leaders of the Revolution each had his peculiar task. There was Samuel Adams in Boston, the herald of division and battle, whose office it was to make clear the mind of the country and to stir up in the people the proper enthusiasm; there was Thomas Jefferson, imbued with French eighteenth-century notions of the rights of man, incapable perhaps of distinguishing between theory and fact, but for that very reason suited to formulate the national Declaration of Independence, a document not rigorously true in philosophy but inimitable as the battle cry of freedom and progress; there was Washington, whose military genius, indomitable will, and noble solidity of character were able to carry the war through to the end; and there was Franklin, too cool-headed ever to have inflamed the hearts of the people with the inspiration of hope and revenge, incapable of uttering political platitudes which could express tersely the national feeling, a lover of peace and without the grim determination of a soldier, but still able in his own way to serve the state more effectually perhaps than any other man except the great Captain himself. It was absolutely necessary, both for actual help in money and arms and for moral support, that the young nation should receive recognition abroad. To win this recognition was just the task of Franklin. Already he was known personally to many of the leading spirits of England and the Continent. The respect and friendship felt for him by Burke, Fox, Lord Shelburne, Lord Rockingham, did much to augment the power of the opposition in England, and on the Continent the high reputation of Franklin as a philosopher and statesman contributed largely to the general confidence in the ultimate success of the rebellion.
The first really important communication from Europe came to Congress through Dr. Dubourg, of Paris, who wrote a long letter to Franklin, addressing him as "My dear Master," and assuring him of the sympathies of France. Congress hereupon appointed Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee commissioners to Paris, the two last being already in Europe.
Before departing Franklin got together what money he could, "between three and four thousand pounds," and lent it to Congress; he then sailed with his two grandsons, William Temple Franklin and Benjamin Franklin Bache, reaching Paris December 21, 1776. Considering the dangers and hardships of the voyage this was no light undertaking for a man of his age, and he was in fact physically exhausted when he arrived on the other side.