384 



ANNUAL 



REGISTER, 181 



7. 



a true original native of America. 

 Eae;les have been found in all 

 countries, but tlie turkey was pe- 

 culiar to ours ; the first of the spe- 

 cies seen in Europe being brought 

 to France by the Jesuits from 

 Canada, and seived up at the wed- 

 ding table of Charles tire Ninth. 

 He is besides, (though a little vain 

 and silly 'tis true, but not the 

 woi se emblem for that) a bird of 

 courage, and would not hesitate to 

 attack a grenadier of the British 

 guards, wlio should presume to 

 invade his farm-yard with a red 

 coat on. 



I shall not enter into the criti- 

 cisms made upon their Latin. The 

 gallant officers of America may 

 not have tlie merit of being great 

 scholars, but they undoubtedly 

 merit mucli as brave soldiers from 

 their country, which should tliere- 

 fore not leave them meiely to 

 fame for their " virtutis premiuiii," 

 which is one of their Latin mottos. 

 Their " esto perpetua," another, is 

 an excellent wish, if tliey meant 

 it for their country; bad, if in- 

 tended for their order. The states 

 should not oidy restore to tliem 

 the omnia of their first motto, 

 which many of tlicm have left and 

 lost, but pay them justly, and re- 

 ward tliem generously. They 

 should not be suffered to remain 

 with all their new created chivalry 

 entirely in the situation of the 

 gentleman in the story, which tlieir 

 omnia rcliquit reminds me of. You 

 know every thing makes me recol- 

 lect some stoiy. He had built a 

 very fine house, and thereby much 

 impaired his fortune. He had a 

 pride however in showing it to his 

 acquaintance. One of them, after 

 viewing it all, remarked a motto 

 over the door OlA VANITAS. 



What, says he, is the meaning 

 of this OlA? 'tis a word 1 don't 

 understand. I will tell you, said 

 the gentleman : I had a mind to 

 have the motto cut on a piece of 

 smooth marble, but there was not 

 room for it between tlie orna- 

 ments, to be put in characters la> ge 

 enough to be read. I therefore 

 made use of a contraction anciently 

 very common in Latin manuscripts, 

 whereby the vi's and ns in words 

 are omitted, and the omission 

 noted by a little dash above, which 

 you may see there, so that the 

 word is omnia, omnia v.^nitas O, 

 said his friend, I now comprehend 

 the meaning of your motto, it re- 

 lates to your edifice ; and signifies 

 that if you have abridged your 

 omnia, you have neveitheless left 

 your VANITAS legible at full 

 length. 



1 am, as ever. 



Your affectionate father, 



B. Franklin. 



To W. Strahan, Esa. M. P. 

 (King's Printer, London.) 

 Suggestions as to the deplorable Si- 

 tuation of the English Govern- 

 ment. 

 Dear Sin, Passy, Feb. 16, 1784. 



I received and read with plea- 

 sure your kind letter of the first 

 instant, as it informed me of the 

 welfare of you and yours. I am 

 glad the accounts you have from 

 your kinswoman at Philadelphia 

 are agreeable, and 1 shall be happy 

 if any recommendations from me 

 can be serviceable to Dr Ross, or 

 any others, friends of yours, going 

 to America. 



Your arguments persuading me 

 to come once more to England, 



are 



