fr^.i-.J'C< ^-^-v
768
HISTORY OF PRINTING.
and discharged a great quantity of matter, which he continued to tfiow up while he had sufficient strength to do it ; but as he failed, the organs of respiration became gradually oppressed — a calm lethargic state succeeded — and on the 17th of April, 1794, about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, closing a long and useful life of eighty-four years and uiree months. A few days after, his body was buried in the cemetery of Christ church, in Philadelphia, attended by the greatest concourse of spectators that had ever assembled on a similar occasion in America. His request had been, that he should, if convenient, be buried beside his wife ;* and that a plain mar- ble slab should be placed over their jomt grave, with an inscription simply of their names and dates of their interments.f When a young man, he wrote the following epitaph, which was found among his papers after his decease :
THE BODY
or
BENJAMIN FRANKUN,
FRINTKR,
(like the cover of an old book. Its contents torn out, and striiit of Its letteiinR and gOdiog)
lies here food for worms ;
yet the work itself shall not be lost,
for It will Cas he believed) appear once more
in a new and more beaatlful edition,
collected and amended by
THE AUTHOR.
A lapse of nearly half a century has not effaced the memory of Franklin. His character and conduct were so intimately associated with all that is truly excellent and appreciable in human nature, that Time is powerless in shedding over
- In none of the memoirs of the life of Franklin is any
thimc said of his family. We learn only, from casoal no- tices in other publications, that he had but one sorvlvini; legitimate child, a daughter, of whom he speaks, on one occasion, in a letter to a friend. In the most aSlectioQate teims. According to the author of the AmmU of Phita- dtlphia, he had an illegithnato son : but this does not ap- pear to have caused any dllTerence in his Intercoorse with Um. Mrs. Bache, the daughter, attended him on his death- bed. She was a woman of strong mind and amiable dls- poslttoii, in wliieh reqieets she bore a resemblance to her tether. The present professor Bache, president of Gerard College, Philadelphia, is a grandson of this gifted lady. William Franklin, the illegitimate son, who had at one time been governor of New Jersey, died in 1813.
t We mwle a pilgrimage, says Capt. Basil Hall, to the tomb of Franklin, dear old Franklin I It consists of a large marble slab, laid Hat on the ground, with nothing carved upon it but these words :—
B*"^^™! FRANKLIN, DEBORAH J **•
Ranklin, it wOI lie recollected, wrote in early life an epitaph for himself, but his good sense and good taste showed him how tmsoitahle to Ua living character it would have been tojestinsochaplace. After all, his literary works, scien- tific fsmc^ and bis undoubted patriotism, form Us best epitaph ; BtUl it may be thought, he might have been dls. tingnished In his own land by a more honourable resting place than the obscure comer of an obscure burying ground, where his bones lie Indiscriminately along wi£ those of ordinary mortals ; and his tomb, already wdl nigh hid in the rubbish, may soon be altogether lost. One little drcnmstance, however, shout this spot la very striking. No legaiar footinth has been made to the grave, which Is oonsldenUdy out of the road, but the frequent tread of visitors havliig pressed down the rank grass which grows in such places, the way to the tombstone is readily found out without any guide. — Travelt in North America.
him that obscurity which she gives to many other things. His personal existence has ceased, but his name and his works live for ever. His reputation also is not confined to a spot, or to tbe country in which he flourished, but is spread over the whole civilized globe. Out of the mass of thousands of individuals who fluttered and enjoyed their little day of distinction, and who were reputed infinitely greater men than he, but who are now forgotten, Franklin rises prominent, bold, and distinct — an imperishable monument of moral and intellectual greatness. As fur- nishing an example to the young, as an instance of how much good may be done by one enter- prising and well-directed mind, his life is in- valuable. " The whole tenor of his existence," justly observes one of his friends, " was a per- petual lecture against the idle, the extravagant, and the proud. It was his principal aim to inspire mankind with a love of industry, tem-
Seiance, and frugality; and to inculcate such uties as promote the important interests of hu- manity. He never wasted a moment of his time, or lavished a farthing of money, in folly or dissipation. By a judicious division of time, he acquired the art of doing everything to advan- tage; and his amusements were of such a natnie as could never militate with the main objects of his pursuit. In whatever station he was placed by chance or desig^n, he extracted something useful for himself or others. Every oircunwtance of his life tamed to some valuable account. The maxims which his discerning mind has formed, apply to innumerable cases and dia- racters ; and those who move in the lowest, equally with those who move in the most ele- vated rank in society, may he guided by his instructions." The following excellent obser- vations are by lord Mountmorres. " Few men have ever gained universal celebrity born such an origin. The principal conductor of the Ameri- can revolution had been a journeyman printer in Philadelphia. Such are the destinations of that providence, which has ordained tbe production of an oak from an acorn. Dr. Franklin came to London in 1726. The love of science can be traced from this early period, though he appeared here in the line of his business. He bad pro- cured letters to, and was well received by Mr. Folkes, afterwards president of the royal society, and throngh him knew Dr. Cleik ; he was not, however, gratified with a sight of his &iend, which he often lamented, and which he laboured to obtain : great age and increasing infirmities
- In the familiar letters of Franklin, the following pas-
sage occurs, which is remarkably characteristic of the man : — " Tot my own part, at present, I pass my time agreeably enough. I enjoy, through mercy, a tolerable share of health. I read a great deal, ride a little, do a little business for myself, now and then for others, retire when 1 can, and go into company when 1 please ; so the years roll round, and the last will come, when I would rather have it said, he Uved ueefiUlg, than ike A«i riek."
" When I reflect, as I frequently do, upon the felicitv I have er^oyed, 1 sometimes say to myself, that, were uie offer made true, I would engage to run again, from begin- ning to end, the same career of life. All 1 would aak, should be the privilege of an author, to convet In a second edition, certain errors of the first.'*
