his petition was sent to Franklin, and the other colony agents, to be
presented by them to the king. They were instructed also to publish
both the Petition and the Address, in the newspapers, and to give them
as wide a circulation as possible.

Dr. Franklin, with two other agents, Arthur Lee and Mr. Bollan,
presented to Lord Dartmouth the petition to be handed by him to the
king. They were soon informed that the king received it graciously,
and would submit the consideration of it to Parliament. It was thought
not respectful to the king to publish it before he had presented it to
that body. But as usual, the infatuation of both king and court was
such, that everything that came from the Americans was treated with
neglect, if not with contempt. The all-important petition was buried
in a pile of documents upon all conceivable subjects, and not one
word was said to commend it to the consideration of either house. For
three days it remained unnoticed. Dr. Franklin, then, with his two
companions, solicited permission to be heard at the bar of the house.
Their request was refused. This brought the question into debate.

The House of Commons was at that time but a reflected image of the
House of Lords. It was composed almost exclusively, of the younger
sons of the nobles, and such other obsequious servants of the
aristocracy, as they, with their vast wealth and patronage, saw fit to
have elected. There was an immense Tory majority in the House. They
assailed the petition with vulgarity of abuse, which could scarcely be
exceeded; and then dismissed it from further consideration. Noble
lords made themselves merry in depicting the alacrity with which a
whole army of Americans would disperse at the very sound of a British
cannon.

While these disastrous events were taking place in England--events,
sure to usher in a cruel and bloody war, bearing on its wings terror
and conflagration, tears and blood, a domestic tragedy was taking
place in the far distant home of Franklin on the banks of the
Delaware. Mrs. Franklin had been separated from her husband for nearly
ten years. She was a cheerful, motherly woman, ever blessing her home
with smiles and with kindly words; and in the society of her daughter
and her grandchildren, she found a constant joy. The lapse of
three-score years and ten, had not brought their usual infirmities.
Though yearning intensely for the return of her husband, she did not
allow the separation seriously to m