mber, in
improved health, after an absence of nine years. No one would have
thought him old except in his walk, his feet being tender and swollen
with the gout. His voice was still firm, his cheeks were ruddy, his eyes
bright, and his spirits high.

Settled in his fine house in Market Street, surrounded by his
grandchildren, and idolatrous neighbors and friends, he was a rare
exception to the rule that a prophet is not without honor save in his
own country. He had fortune, friends, fame, and a numerous family who
never disgraced his name. Of all the great actors in the stormy times in
which he lived, he was one of the most fortunate. He had both genius
and character which the civilized world appreciated, and so prudent had
been his early business life and his later investments, that he left a
fortune of about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars,--a great sum to
accumulate in his times.

The last important service rendered by Franklin to his country was as a
member of the memorable convention which gave the Constitution to the
American nation in 1787. Of this assembly, in which sat Washington,
Hamilton, Madison, Dickinson, Livingstone, Ellsworth, Sherman, and other
great men, Franklin was the Nestor, in wisdom as well as years. He was
too feeble to take a conspicuous part in the discussions, but his
opinions and counsel had great weight whenever he spoke, for his
judgment was never clearer than when he had passed fourscore years. The
battle of words had to be fought by younger and more vigorous men, of
whom, perhaps, Madison was the most prominent. At no time of his life,
however, was Franklin a great speaker, except in conversation, but his
mind was vigorous to the end.

This fortunate man lived to see the complete triumph of the cause to
which he had devoted his public life. He lived also to see the beginning
of the French Revolution, to which his writings had contributed. He
lived to see the amazing prosperity of his country when compared with
its condition under royal governors. One of his last labors was to write
an elaborate address in favor of negro emancipation, and as president of
an abolition society to send a petition to Congress to suppress the
slave-trade. A few weeks before his death he replied to a letter of
President Stiles of Yale College setting forth his theological belief.
Had he been more orthodox, he would have been more extolled by those men
who controlled the religious opinions of his age.