prosperous and progressive during his two terms
of office.

Having returned once more to his beloved Virginia home, Washington now
spent his declining years in much needed rest and quiet recreation.

In the fall of the year 1799 Washington was seized with a malignant
fever. The best medical aid proved unavailing, and the Father of our
Country died on the 14th day of December. His last words were: "Let me
die in peace; I am not afraid to die, it is a debt we all must pay."

The exemplary life and the many noble achievements of this truly great
man stand almost unique in the history of nations.

LESSON LXVI

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Benjamin Franklin was born poor, but nothing could keep him ignorant.
His genius and strong will were wealth enough for any man. At the age
of twelve he was apprenticed to his brother James, who was a printer.
At the same time--perhaps a little later--he used to sell his own
ballads in the streets of Boston.

At twenty-one years of age he was a master printer in Philadelphia, in
his shop on Market Street. He had been at school in Boston for two
years, but after the age of ten he had been obliged to teach himself:
he was too poor to spend even those early years in a schoolhouse. Yet
he learned without such helps as schools and schoolmasters afford. He
studied Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, and German, and lived to hear
two continents call him the greatest philosopher of his time.

He discovered that lightning and electricity are the same, and taught
men how to guard their houses against the thunder-bolt. To his great
mind it seemed that all things came alike: no invention was too simple,
and no idea too lofty. Whatever had to be done was worth doing in the
best and simplest way: that was the ruling principle of Benjamin
Franklin's life.

He was an earnest and fearless patriot, always on the side of the
people and their rights. His strong will, his cool manner, and his
bold spirit made him an enemy not to be scorned by England. "What used
to be the pride of the Americans?" asked a member of the English
Parliament in 1776. And Franklin, then pleading the cause of the
colonies before the House of Commons, replied, "To indulge in the
fashions and wear the manufactures of Great Britain."

The Englishman, sure that Franklin would be less ready to answer,
continued: "What is now their pride?" And in a flash the old
philosopher of threescore and ten said, "To wear their old c