ssumed the position at
Paris of private gentlemen residing at the great capital for their
pleasure.

Notwithstanding his being thus apparently in private life, Franklin was a
very conspicuous object of public attention at Paris. His name and fame
had been so long before the world, and his character and manners were
invested with so singular a charm, that he was universally known and
admired; all ranks and classes of people were full of enthusiasm for the
venerable American philosopher. Pictures, busts, and medallions of the
illustrious Franklin were met on every hand. He was received into the very
highest society, being welcomed by all circles with the greatest
cordiality and interest.

[Illustration: In Paris.]

At length, after the lapse of about a year, the progress of the Americans
in making good their defense against the armies of the mother country was
so decided, that it began to appear very probable that the independence of
the country would be maintained, and the French government deemed that it
would be safe for them to enter into treaties of commerce and friendship
with the new state. This was accordingly done in February, 1778, though it
necessarily involved the consequence of a war with England.

When these treaties were at length signed, Franklin and the two other
commissioners were formally presented at court, where they were received
by the French monarch as the acknowledged representatives of an
independent and sovereign power, now for the first time taking her place
among the nations of the earth. This was an event in the life of Franklin
of the highest interest and importance, since the open negotiations of the
American government by France made the success of the country, in its
effort to achieve its independence, almost certain, and thus it was the
seal and consummation of all that he had been so laboriously toiling to
accomplish for fifty years. For we may safely say that the great end and
aim of Franklin's life, the one object which he kept constantly in view,
and to which all his efforts tended from the beginning to the end of his
public career, was the security of popular rights and popular liberty
against the encroachments of aristocratic prerogative and power; and the
establishment of the independence of these United States, which he saw
thus happily settled at last, sealed and secured this object for half the
world.

As soon as the event of the acknowledgment of t