e had sustained.

"You have, resumed the philosopher, deserted an indulgent father, a fond
and tender mother, who must want your aid; now, perhaps, unable to toil
for bread; now, possibly laid upon the bed of sickness, calling, in
anguish or delirium, for the filial hand of their only son to administer
relief."----All the parental feelings of Alonzo were now called into
poignant action.----"You have left a country, bleeding at every pore,
desolated by the ravages of war, wrecked by the thunders of battle, her
heroes slain, her children captured. This country asks--she demands--you
owe her your services: God and nature call upon you to defend her, while
here you bury yourself in inglorious inactivity, pining for a hapless
object, which, by all your lamentations, you can never bring back to the
regions of mortality."

This aroused the patriotic flame in the bosom of Alonzo; and he
voluntarily exclaimed, "I will go to the relief of my parents--I will
fly to the defence of my country!"

"In former days, continued Franklin, I was well acquainted with your
father. As soon as you informed me of his failure, I wrote to my
correspondent in England, and found, as I expected, that he had been
overreached by swindlers and sharpers.----The pretended failure of the
merchants with whom he was in company, was all a sham, as, also the
reported loss of the ships in their employ. The merchants fled to
England: I have had them arrested, and they have given up their effects
to much more than the amount of their debts. I have therefore procured a
reversion of your father's losses, which, with costs, damages, and
interests, when legally stated, he will receive of my agent in
Philadelphia, to whom I shall transmit sufficient documents by you, and
I shall advance you a sum equal to the expenses of your voyage, which
will be liquidated by the said agent. A ship sails in a few days from
Havre, for Savannah in Georgia: it would, indeed, be more convenient
were she bound to some more northern port, but I know of no other which
will sail for any part of America for some time. In her therefore I
would advise you to take passage: it is not very material on what part
of the continent you are landed; you will soon reach Philadelphia,
transact your business, restore your father to his property, and be
ready to serve your country."

If any thing could have given Alonzo consolation, it must have been this
noble, generous and disinterested conduct of th