34 FuRNESs: Franklin 



Accordingly, at her summons, Franklin obediently 

 broke away from wife and children, from friends who 

 were dear, from fellow-citizens by whom he was re- 

 vered, from the ease of affluence, to reside in London, 

 where, for ten years, as the agent of refractory rebels, 

 he was treated by the Government and the Tories, with 

 neglect, contumely, and scorn. But, as was said by 

 "Junius" of Wilkes, " the rays of royal indignation, con- 

 centrated upon him, served only to illumine, they could 

 not consume him." 



So much did it cost, in the Tory England, of that time, 

 to be a faithful citizen of an American colony. But in 

 the American colony itself the atmosphere was far 

 different. 



Franklin had reached Philadelphia, a truant from 

 his apprenticeship in Boston, when he was seventeen 

 years old. Of all the thirty thousand inhabitants about 

 him, he knew personally not a single soul, and all the 

 money he had in the world was a shilling in copper and 

 a solitary "Dutch dollar." This dollar is so demoninated 

 by Franklin himself in his " Autobiography," and when- 

 ever it has since been mentioned, it is always termed 

 " Dutch," but whether it was more or less than an ordi- 

 nary dollar, I do not know, yet certain it is that it gives 

 out a contemptuous ring, which magnifies Franklin's 

 poverty and is soothing to our feelings. And yet, within 

 fourteen short years, so deep was the impression made by 



