great love of liberty. She therefore insisted upon managing her own affairs; and when Britannia tried to prevent her from doing so, she fearlessly waged the Revolutionary War.

After about eight years of warfare, seeing that nothing else could be done with this high-spirited chip of the old block, Britannia finally consented to let her have her own way. This permission, very grudgingly granted, formed the second treaty of Păr'is, which was agreed to in 1783.

One of the commissioners who signed this treaty was Benjamin Franklin. He is one of our greatest men, and his name can also be seen on the Declaration of Independence, and on our first treaty of friendship with France.

Franklin had been working for years to secure this treaty from Great Britain, and as soon as it was concluded he begged permission to return to Phil-a-del'phi-a. Our Continental Congress-the body of men which had governed the United States ever since the Declaration of Independence-granted this request; but, knowing they must have another minister to represent our country in France, they sent out Thomas Jef'fer-son.

He, too, was a patriot, and the writer, as well as one of the signers, of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson knew how dearly the French loved Dr. Franklin, and how much good this wise man had done by winning strong friends abroad for his struggling country. Therefore, when some one asked him if he had been sent to take Franklin's place, he quickly and modestly answered: “I succeed, but no one can replace him."

At the same time Congress also chose another patriot, the famous John Ad'ams, to be our minister in England. On arriving there, he was well received by King George III.,

who said: "Sir, I will be very free with you. I was the last man in the kingdom to consent to the independence of America; but now it is granted, I shall be the last man in the kingdom to sanction the violation of it."

This was a fine thing for the king to say, and it showed the right spirit. Unfortunately, however, George III. had been cruel and unkind to the Americans for many years, and he soon proved rude to the very man to whom he had made this speech. At first our people naturally resented it, but they soon found out that the poor monarch was much more to be pitied than blamed.

This king, it seems, had had slight attacks of madness several times before, and he now became quite insane. The last ten years of his life were very sad, for he lost his sight as well as his reason, and used to grope his way around his palace with big tears coursing down his wrinkled cheeks.

Many persons now think that if this unhappy king had not partly lost his mind, and been ill advised by bad ministers, he would have acted differently toward the thirteen colonies. This is very likely, for George III. was at heart a good and well-meaning man, although rather stupid and very headstrong.

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II. FRANKLIN'S RETURN.

S soon as Franklin received permission from Congress to leave his post in Paris, he eagerly set out for America. There were no steamships in those days, and during the long journey passengers used to beguile the

time by telling stories and playing games, much as they do now during far less tedious trips.

Although already quite old, Franklin was so merry, learned, and witty that his stories were always greatly appreciated by all who heard them. He had studied and traveled so much that his mind was like a rich storehouse, and as he was kind-hearted, he probably spent his leisure hours in telling his fellow-travelers about the country toward which they were sailing as fast as they could.

While walking up and down the deck, sitting in the shade of the big sails, or in the uncomfortable cabin during the long evenings, he may have wondered aloud-as many persons do-at the boldness of Columbus in steering-on and on across the At-lan'tic, thus showing the way to the many vessels which have crossed the ocean since then.

He may also have described the different steps whereby America-the land of the redskins, of dense forests, and broad plains—in less than three centuries had become the home of a new and thriving nation. He may have begun his account by telling how the Spaniards who followed Columbus to the New World had confined their attention mostly to the West In'dies, Flor'i-da, Mex'i-co, and South America; and how, later, the French entered the St. Law'rence and made settlements along its banks; the English planted colonies at James'town, in Vir-gin'i-a, and about Mas-sa-chu'setts Bay; and the Dutch took possession of the Hudson valley.

Next, Franklin may have dwelt upon the many hardships endured by the early settlers, before land could be

cleared, farms and cities laid out, and the Indians driven from their hunting and fishing grounds on the coast. After explaining how the English had won from the Dutch the country around the Hudson and Del'a-ware

namely, New Hamp'shire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Con-nect'i-cut, New York, New Jersey, Penn-syl- va'ni-a, Delaware, Ma'ry-land, Virginia, North Car-o-li'na, South Carolina, and Geor'gi-a.

Then he probably talked of the quarrels between these English colonies and the French settlers in the St. Lawrence valley, or Can'a-da, as it was called. Both parties claimed nearly all the interior of North America; they therefore soon came to blows, and as the Indians helped the French, these conflicts are known in history as the French and Indian wars. The first one broke out in 1689, seven years after Franklin's father arrived in America, and good Dr. Franklin himself took an active part in the fourth and last. When it had ended in the victory of the British, he wrote a very clever pamphlet advising Great Britain