But there were thousands of the baser sort, who
deemed it no crime to kill an Indian, any more than a wolf or a bear.

Franklin wrote, to the people of Pennsylvania, a noble letter of
indignant remonstrance, denouncing the deed as atrocious murder.
Vividly he pictured the scene of the assassination, and gave the
names, ages and characters of the victims. A hundred and forty
Moravian Indians, the firm and unsuspected friends of the English,
terrified by this massacre, fled to Philadelphia for protection. The
letter of Franklin had excited much sympathy in their behalf. The
people rallied for their protection. The Paxton murderers, several
hundred in number, pursued the fugitives, avowing their determination
to put every one to death. The imbecile governor was at his wits' end.
Franklin was summoned.

He, at once, proclaimed his house headquarters; rallied a regiment of
a thousand men, and made efficient arrangements to give the murderers
a warm reception. The Paxton band reached Germantown. Franklin,
anxious to avoid bloodshed, rode out with three aids, to confer with
the leaders. He writes,

"The fighting face we had put on, and the reasonings we used
with the insurgents, having turned them back, and restored
quiet to the city, I became a less man than ever; for I had,
by this transaction, made myself many enemies among the
populace."

CHAPTER X.

_Franklin's Second Mission to England._

Fiendish conduct of John Penn--Petition to the crown--Debt
of England--Two causes of conflict--Franklin sent to
England--His embarkation--Wise counsel to his daughter--The
stamp act--American resolves--Edmund Burke--Examination of
Franklin--Words of Lord Chatham--Dangers to English
operatives--Repeal of the stamp act--Joy in America--Ross
Mackay--New taxes levied--Character of George
III--Accumulation of honors to Franklin--Warlike
preparations--Human conscientiousness--Unpopularity of
William Franklin--Marriage of Sarah Franklin--Franklin's
varied investigations--Efforts to civilize the Sandwich
Islands.

It is scarcely too severe to say that Governor John Penn was both
knave and fool. To ingratiate himself with the vile Paxton men and
their partisans, he issued a proclamation, offering for every captive
male Indian, of any hostile tribe, one hundred and fifty dollars, for
every female, one hundred and thirty-eight dollars. For the