d
confidently that he had already reached Paris, others that he might be
hourly expected. Then came the certainty: he had slept at Versailles the
night of the 21st, had come to Paris at two the next afternoon, and now
was at his lodgings in the Rue de l'Universite.

No one, perhaps, was more surprised than Franklin to find himself the
object of such universal attention. But no one knew better than he how
to turn it to account for the accomplishment of his purpose. In a few
days he withdrew to the quiet little village of Passy, at easy distance
both from the city and the court,--and, without endeavoring to increase
the public curiosity by an air of mystery or seclusion, kept himself
sufficiently in the background to prevent that curiosity from losing its
stimulant by too great a familiarity with its object. Where men of
science met for the discussion of a new theory or the trial of a new
experiment, he was to be seen amongst them with an unpretending air of
intelligent interest, and wise suggestions, never indiscreetly
proffered, never indiscreetly withheld. Where humane men met to discuss
some question of practical benevolence, or philosophers to debate some
principle of social organization, he was always prepared to take his
part with apt and far-reaching illustrations from the stores of his
meditation and experience. Sometimes he was to be seen in places of
amusement, and always with a genial smile, as if in his sympathy with
the enjoyment of others he had forgotten his own perplexities and cares.
In a short time he had drawn around him the best minds of the capital,
and laid his skilful hand on the public pulse with an unerring accuracy
of touch, which told him when to speak and when to be silent, when to
urge and when to leave events to their natural progress. Ever active,
ever vigilant, no opportunity was suffered to escape him, and yet no one
whose good-will it was desirable to propitiate was disgusted by
injudicious importunity. Even Vergennes, who knew that his coming was
the signal of a new favor to be asked, found in his way of asking it
such a cheerful recognition of its true character, so considerate an
exposition of the necessities which made it urgent, that he never saw
him come without pleasure. If he had been a vain man, he would have
enjoyed his position too much to make good use of it for the cause he
came to serve. If he had been a weak man, he would have fallen under the
control of the opinion which