his wisdom was transcendent. Dickinson and his
followers were bent upon sending one more petition to the king, a scheme
which was ridiculed almost with anger by the more advanced and resolute
party. But Franklin's counsel was to give way to their wishes, as being
the best policy for bringing them later into full accord with the party
which was for war. He had no hopes of any other good result from the
proceeding; but it also chimed with his desire to put the English as
much as possible in the wrong. In the like direction was a clause in his
draft of a declaration, intended to be issued by Washington in the
summer of 1775. To counteract the charge that the colonies refused to
contribute to the cost of their own protection, he proposed that, if
Great Britain would abolish her monopoly of the colonial trade, allowing
free commerce between the colonies and all the rest of the world, they
would pay into the English sinking fund L100,000 annually for one
hundred years; which would be more than sufficient, if "faithfully and
inviolably applied for that purpose, ... to extinguish all her present
national debt."

At the close of this document he administered a telling fillip in his
humorous style to that numerous class who seek to control practical
affairs by sentiment, and who now would have had their prattle about the
"mother country" outweigh the whole accumulation of her very unmaternal
oppression and injustice. Concerning the allegation of an unfilial
ingratitude, he said: "There is much more reason for retorting that
charge on Britain, who not only never contributes any aid, nor affords,
by an exclusive commerce, any advantages to Saxony, _her_ mother
country; but, no longer since than the last war, without the least
provocation, subsidized the king of Prussia while he ravaged that
_mother country_, and carried fire and sword into its capital.... An
example we hope no provocation will induce us to imitate." Had this
declaration ever been used, which it was not, the dignity of the grave
general who commanded the American forces would have compelled him to
cut off this closing snapper from the lash, amusing as it was. The
witty notion had found a more appropriate place in the newspaper article
which had dumfounded the guests at the English country house. Commenting
upon this, Mr. Parton well says: "Here perhaps we have one of the
reasons why Dr. Franklin, who was universally confessed to be the ablest
pen in America, was not