reat dead than did his own countrymen. At the opening of the National
Assembly, June 11, 1790, Mirabeau delivered an impassioned eulogy in the
rhetorical French fashion; and the motion to wear mourning for three
days was carried by acclamation. The president of that body, M. Sieyes,
was instructed to communicate the resolution to Washington. At the
celebration of the municipality of Paris the citizens generally wore a
mourning badge; and the grain market, where the oration was delivered,
was draped in black. The Academy of Sciences of course did formal honor
to his memory, as did likewise the revolutionary clubs. A street at what
was in his day Passy, but is now included in Paris, near the Trocadero,
perpetuates by his name the admiration which France felt for him.

Among illustrious Americans Franklin stands preeminent in the interest
which is aroused by a study of his character, his mind, and his career.
One becomes attached to him, bids him farewell with regret, and feels
that for such as he the longest span of life is all too short. Even
though dead, he attracts a personal regard which renders easily
intelligible the profound affection which so many men felt for him while
living. It may be doubted whether any one man ever had so many, such
constant, and such firm friends as in three different nations formed
about him a veritable host. In the States and in France he was loved,
and as he grew into old age he was revered, not by those who heard of
him only, but most warmly by those who best knew him. Even in England,
where for years he was the arch-rebel of all America, he was generally
held in respect and esteem, and had many constant friends whose
confidence no events could shake. It is true, of course, that he had
also his detractors, with most of whom the reader has already made
acquaintance. In Pennsylvania the proprietary party cherished an
animosity which still survives against his memory, but which does not
extend far beyond those who take it as an inheritance. It does him no
discredit with persons who understand its source. In New England a
loyalty to those famous New Englanders, John Adams and Samuel Adams,
seems to involve in the minds of some persons a depreciation of
Franklin. In English historical literature the patriotic instinct
stands in the way of giving Franklin quite his full due of praise. But
the faults and defects of character and conduct which are urged against
him appear little more than the exp