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these ten years many and great changes had taken place. Old 

 friends were gone. New faces met him on every street. The 

 growth of the city, the spirit, the prosperity of the people 

 amazed him. But the greatest of all changes were in his own 

 family. His wife was dead. His daughter was married. His 

 son, a strong loyalist, was estranged by politics. Happily, no 

 time was given him to feel these changes, for he was instantly 

 involved in public affairs. 



The day after he landed he was chosen a member of the 

 Continental Congress, took his seat four days later and served 

 for fourteen months, was on eleven committees, was made 

 Postmaster-General, was sent on one mission to Washington at 

 Cambridge and on another to Arnold at Quebec ; was dis- 

 patched, after the disastrous battle of Long Island, to confer 

 with Lord Howe ; and, in September, 1776, was sent out to 

 join Arthur Lee and Silas Deane in France. 



There he was received as no other man has ever been 

 received. He became the sensation of the hour. Everything 

 that he said, everything that he did, everything that he wrote 

 was quoted and read all over France. His bust was set up in 

 the royal library. Medallions of him appeared in the palace 

 of the king. His face was to be seen on rings, on bracelets, 

 on the covers of snuff boxes, hats, coats, canes were all " d la 

 Franklin." Nor was his diplomatic success less noticeable. 

 He concluded the treaty of alliance with France, the treaty of 

 amity and commerce, negotiated loans for great sums of 

 money, and, in 1783, signed the treaty of peace with Great 

 Britain. In 1785, old and loaded with honors, he came back 

 to Philadelphia. Yet his career was far from ended. The 

 people made him a member of council and the council and 

 assembly made him President of the State, and while Presi- 

 dent, the people sent him to the convention that framed the 



