on the banks of Newfoundland. All three
persisted in the free navigation of the Mississippi, which it was the
object of Spain to prevent. Great Britain, Spain, and France would have
enclosed the United States by territories of their own, and would have
made odious commercial restrictions. By the firmness and sagacity of
these three diplomatists the United States finally secured all they
wanted and more than they expected. The preliminary articles were signed
November 30, 1782, and the final treaties of peace between England,
France, and the United States on September 3, 1783.

These negotiations at last having been happily concluded, Franklin
wished to return home, but he remained, at the request of Congress, to
arrange commercial treaties with the various European nations.
Reluctantly at last his request to be relieved was granted, and he left
France in July, 1785. Thomas Jefferson was appointed to the position.
"You replace Dr. Franklin," said the Count de Vergennes to the new
plenipotentiary. "I succeed him," replied Jefferson; "no one can
replace him."

Franklin would have been the happiest man in Europe at the conclusion of
peace negotiations, but for his increasing bodily infirmities,
especially the gout, from which at times he suffered excruciating
agonies. He was a universal favorite, admired and honored as one of the
most illustrious men living. His house in Paris was the scene of
perpetual hospitalities. Among his visitors were the younger Pitt,
Wilberforce, Romilly, and a host of other celebrities, French and
English, especially eminent scientific men. He was then seventy-eight
years of age, but retained all the vivacity of youth. His conversation
is said to have been as enchanting as it was instructive. His wit and
humor never ceased to flow. His pregnant sentences were received as
oracles. He was a member of the French Academy and attended most of its
meetings. He was a regular correspondent of the most learned societies
of Europe.

When the time came for him to return home he was too ill to take leave
of the king, or even of the minister of foreign affairs. But Louis XVI,
ordered one of the royal litters to convey the venerable sufferer to the
coast, as he could not bear the motion of a carriage. In his litter,
swung between two mules, Franklin slowly made his way to Havre, and
thence proceeded to Southampton to embark for America. The long voyage
agreed with him, and he arrived in Philadelphia in Septe