g their journey, father and son reached Ecton,
where so many successive Franklins had plied the blacksmith's hammer.
They found that the farm of thirty acres had been sold to strangers. The
old stone cottage of their ancestors was used for a school, but was
still called the Franklin House. Many relations and connections they
hunted up, most of them old and poor, but endowed with the inestimable
Franklinian gift of making the best of their lot. They copied
tombstones; they examined the parish register; they heard the chime of
bells play which Uncle Thomas had caused to be purchased for the quaint
old Ecton church seventy years before; and examined other evidences of
his worth and public spirit."

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE EAGLE THAT CAUGHT THE CAT.--DR. FRANKLIN'S ENGLISH FABLE.--THE
DOCTOR'S SQUIRRELS.

WHEN Dr. Franklin was abroad the first time after the misadventure with
Governor Keith, and was an agent of the colonies, his fame as a
scientist gave him a place in the highest intellectual circles of
England, and among his friends were several clergymen of the English
Church and certain noblemen of eminent force and character.

When in 1775, while he was again the colonial agent, the events in
America became exciting, his position as the representative American in
England compelled him to face the rising tide against his country. He
was now sixty-nine years of age. He was personally popular, although the
king came to regard him with disfavor, and once called him that
"insidious man." But he never failed, at any cost of personal
reputation, to defend the American cause.

His good humor never forsook him, and the droll, quaint wisdom that had
appeared in Poor Richard was turned to good account in the advocacy of
the rights of the American colonies.

One evening he dined at the house of a nobleman. It was in the year of
the Concord fight, when political events in America were hurrying and
were exciting all minds in both countries.

They talked of literature at the party, but the political situation was
uppermost in the minds of all.

A gentleman was present whose literary mind made him very interesting to
such circles.

"The art of the illustration of the principles of life in fable," he
said, "is exhausted. AEsop, La Fontaine, Gay, and others have left
nothing further to be produced in parable teaching."

The view was entertaining. He added:

"There is not left a bird, animal, or fish that could be made t