hair, dressed in black velvet, with white silk stockings,
spectacles on nose, and no sword at his side. The king received the
envoys courteously, saying: "Gentlemen, I wish the Congress to be
assured of my friendship. I beg leave also to observe that I am
exceedingly satisfied in particular with your own conduct during your
residence in my kingdom;" and with these words walked out of the
apartment. Immediately Lord Stormont, the British ambassador, left
Paris; and a few days later M. Gerard, the first minister of France to
this country, sailed for America.

Franklin had met the king; he had now to meet a greater and more famous
man than Louis,--the only man living whose fame was equal to his own.
Voltaire, eighty-four years old, feeble in body but with intellect
unconquered, had just come to Paris after his long exile to hear the
plaudits of his countrymen, and to die. The American envoys asked
permission to wait upon the great man, and were received by Voltaire
lying on his couch. He quoted a few lines from Thomson's "Ode to
Liberty," and then began to talk with Franklin in English; but his
niece, not understanding that language, begged them to speak in French.
Whereupon Voltaire replied: "I beg your pardon. I have for a moment
yielded to the vanity of showing that I can speak in the language of a
Franklin." When Dr. Franklin presented his grandson, the old
philosopher pronounced over his head only these words: "_God and
Liberty!_" All who were present shed tears.

John Adams tells the story of a more public meeting between the two men
at the Academy of Sciences: "Voltaire and Franklin were both present,
and there presently arose a general cry that M. Voltaire and M.
Franklin should be introduced to each other. This was done, and they
bowed and spoke to each other. This was no satisfaction; there must be
something more. Neither of our philosophers seemed to divine what was
wished or expected. They, however, took each other by the hand; but
this was not enough. The clamor continued until the exclamation came
out, 'Il faut s'embrasser a la Francaise!'[2] The two aged actors upon
this great theatre of philosophy and frivolity then embraced each other
by hugging one another in their arms and kissing each other's cheeks,
and then the tumult subsided. And the cry immediately spread throughout
the kingdom, and I suppose over all Europe, 'Qu'il etait charmant de
voir embrasser Solon et Sophocle!'"[3]

[2] They must e