." He silenced the
demand of the smaller States, to be, in all respects, on an equality
with the larger, by saying,

"Let the smaller colonies give equal money and men, and then have an
equal vote. But if they have an equal vote, without bearing equal
burdens, a confederation, upon such iniquitous principles, will never
last long."

The convention, to form a constitution for the State of Pennsylvania,
met at Philadelphia on the 16th of July, 1776. Franklin was
unanimously chosen President. No pen can describe the intensity of his
labors. All appreciated his consummate wisdom, and yielded readily to
his suggestions. Troops were hurrying to and fro. One hundred and
twenty British war vessels were in New York harbor. No one knew upon
what seaport the thunderbolts of this formidable armament would be
hurled. The Americans had been defeated on Long Island in August,
1776, and had almost miraculously escaped with their field pieces and
stores, across the East River to New York. This brilliant retreat was
deemed, by the Americans, almost equivalent to a victory.

Lord Howe, the old friend of Franklin and a humane and respected
Englishman, who was sincerely desirous of peace with the Colonies,
was appointed Admiral of the king's naval forces. He accepted
the appointment, with the hope that, by the aid of Franklin,
reconciliation might be effected. Still he was an Englishman and could
not conceive that Americans had any rights which the English
government was bound to respect. The degree of his infatuation may be
inferred from the fact that, as soon as he reached our shores, he
published a Declaration, which he circulated far and wide, stating
that if the Americans would only give up the conflict and return to
implicit submission, the British Government would forgive their sins,
pardon the guilty ones, with a few exceptions, and receive them again
to favor. The weak man seemed really to think, that this was an
extraordinary act of clemency on the part of the English Court.

The reply, which Franklin drew up, to the Declaration, was grand. And
it was the more grand when we reflect that it was addressed to a man
who was supported by an army, of we know not how many thousand British
regulars, and by a fleet of one hundred and twenty war vessels, many
of which were of gigantic armament. Admiral Howe had written a
courteous private letter to Dr. Franklin, in which he enclosed the
Declaration. Congress gave Franklin permission to