of unmerited infamy which was
needed to give depth of interest to his successful career. An
eyewitness thus described the scene: "Dr. Franklin's face was directed
towards me, and I had a full, uninterrupted view of it, and his person,
during the whole time in which Mr. Wedderburn spoke. The Doctor was
dressed in a full dress suit of spotted Manchester velvet, and stood
_conspicuously erect_ without the smallest movement of any part of his
body. The muscles of his face had been previously composed, so as to
afford a placid, tranquil expression of countenance, and he did not
suffer the slightest alteration of it to appear during the continuance
of the speech, in which he was so harshly and improperly treated. In
short, to quote the words which he employed concerning himself on
another occasion, he kept his 'countenance as immovable as if his
features had been made of _wood_.'"

Fortunately, to sustain him in these trials, Franklin had a cheerful
home and the society of the best men in England. He was living at the
old house on Craven Street, where Mrs. Stevenson did all in her power
to make him forget that he was an exile. Indeed, were it not that Mrs.
Franklin had an unconquerable dread of crossing the water, it is quite
possible that our philosopher might have carried his family to England
and lived permanently among his new friends; and in estimating the
services of Franklin to America we should never forget to give due
credit to his loyal wife who stayed quietly at home, managing his
affairs for him in Philadelphia and keeping warm his attachment for his
adopted city. Besides the eminent statesmen, such as Pitt and Burke,
with whom Franklin's business brought him naturally in contact, he
associated much with liberal clergymen,--with Priestley particularly,
the discoverer of oxygen, and with the family of the good Bishop of St.
Asaph's, at whose house he had almost a second home. To one of the
bishop's daughters he sent the inimitable epitaph on the squirrel Mungo
which he had given her as a present from America. The influence for
good is almost incalculable which Franklin thus exercised by the noble
type of American character he displayed to the liberal party in
England.

Nor did he ever lose an opportunity to accomplish what he could with
the pen. At one time, to lay bare the suicidal policy of the
government, he published in a newspaper a satirical squib quite in the
vein of Dean Swift, entitled "Rules for reducin