to keep Canada; and when the first treaty of Paris was signed, in 1763,-twenty years before the second,—all the land north of the thirteen colonies, and west as far as the Mis-sis-sip'pi River, was given to the British. The French at the same time gave all

their lands west of that river to Spain, and withdrew entirely from our continent.

When Franklin's listeners inquired what had caused the Revolutionary War, which was just ended, he perhaps told them how, already in the thirteenth century, liberty-loving Englishmen forced their king to grant them the Great Charter. This was a new set of laws, giving them the right to be represented in the Par'lia-ment, or congress, which

fixed the taxes and made the laws. This right, which Englishmen had enjoyed for five hundred years, was also claimed by their descendants in America; and each colony elected an assembly to help make its laws and lay its taxes, though the govern

Liberty or Desth

ors of most of the colonies were Flags used in the Revolutionary War. appointed by the king. When King

George III. and the British Parliament insisted on imposing taxes on the colonists without the consent of their assemblies, they openly rebelled, because it was an attempt to deprive them of rights inherited from their ancestors.

As Franklin had taken part in this rebellion, had seen the king, had sat in Congress, and had spoken with most of the great men of his time on both sides of the ocean, his account of the war must have been of thrilling interest. The name of his friend George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army, and the savior of his country, must often have been upon his lips. Some of his hearers, coming to build new homes in America, may never have heard it before, but, as you will soon see, they were to learn much more about him.

Franklin, however, often told them funny stories, too, and perhaps he even mentioned one of his childhood which has given rise to an expression we often hear. As you may like to know just how the good man talked, here is the story as he once wrote it:

"When I was a little boy, I remember, one cold winter's morning, I was accosted by a smiling man with an ax on his shoulder. 'My pretty boy,' said he, ' has your father a grindstone?' 'Yes, sir,' said I. 'You are a fine little fellow,' said he; will you let me grind my ax on it?' Pleased with the compliment of 'fine little fellow,' 'Oh, yes, sir,' I answered; it is down in the shop.' And will you, my man,' said he, patting me on the head, ‘get me a little hot water?' How could I refuse? I ran, and soon brought a kettleful. 'How old are you, and what's your name?' continued he, without waiting for a reply. 'I am sure you are one of the finest lads that I have ever seen. Will you just turn a few minutes for me?'

"Tickled with the flattery, like a little fool, I went to work; and bitterly did I rue the day. It was a new ax, and I toiled and tugged till I was almost tired to death.

The school bell rang, and I could not get away; my hands were blistered, and the ax was not half ground. At length, however, it was sharpened; and the man turned to me with, 'Now, you little rascal, you've played truant; scud to school, or you'll rue it!' 'Alas!' thought I, it is hard enough to turn a grindstone this cold day; but now to be called a little rascal is too much.'

"It sank deep in my mind; and often have I thought of it since. When i see a merchant over polite to his customers, -begging them to take a little brandy, and throwing his goods on the counter,-thinks I, 'That man has an ax to grind.' When I see a man flattering the people, making great professions of attachment to liberty, who is in private life a tyrant, methinks, 'Look out, good people! that fellow would set you turning grindstones.'

ON

III. TROUBLES AFTER THE WAR.

N arriving in America, Dr. Franklin received a warm welcome from all his fellow-citizens, who were very proud of what he had done for them abroad. But although he had come home intending to rest, he soon found plenty of work awaiting him.

The Revolutionary War had cost the Americans a great deal; now that it was ended, one of their first duties was to find some way of repaying all the money they had borrowed.

Ever since the royal governors had fled or had been driven away in 1775 or 1776, the thirteen different states

STO. OF GT. REP.-2

had ruled themselves. Although near neighbors, they were not always on the best of terms, but often seemed rather inclined to quarrel with one another.

When the colonies were first planted in America, some of them were granted strips of land running "from sea to sea.” Of course, this was before any one knew just how broad our continent is; and although none of the colonies claimed from sea to sea in the eighteenth century, many of them still said they owned land as far as the Mississippi River.

As the charters had often been carelessly made, it happened that the same lands were granted to two or three colonies, which fact gave rise to many quarrels. But after several years of talking about the matter, New York, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut finally consented to do as Congress wished, and give up their claims to the land northwest of the O-hi'o River.

This region was then called the Northwest Territory. It was given up, on condition that Congress should scll part of it to pay the interest on the national debt, and divide the rest among the soldiers instead of giving them money. Besides, it was afterwards arranged that this territory should finally be cut up into three or five new states, each of which could join the Union as soon as it had sixty thousand inhabitants.

Until that time, the Northwest Territory was to be ruled by one governor and several judges, all chosen by Congress. This body now began to give land to such soldiers as were willing to accept it instead of money, and before long many emigrants were on their way to Ohio, where they founded Ma-ri-et'ta, in 1788, and Cin

cin-na'ti soon after. Many large tracts of land in the South were distributed in the same way; and thus it came to pass that, at the end of the Revolutionary War, the famous general Nathanael Greene received a large plantation from the state of Georgia.

As you can see from the map on page 12, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia once owned western lands too; but one by one these tracts were given up to Congress, to form territories like the Northwest Territory.

In 1781, several years before Congress took possession of the western lands, the states had all signed "Articles of Confederation," a system of federal government proposed in 1776. But as this system did not give Congress power to impose taxes, make trade laws, secure money enough to pay government expenses, or make 'people obey the laws, it did not work well. For several years, therefore, different experiments were tried, but in spite of all efforts things went on from bad to worse.

Congress had promised at the treaty of Paris that all debts should be paid, and that all the Tories, or friends of the king, in America should be protected. But the British soon complained that they could not collect their money, and it was plain that the Tories were badly treated, for in two years more than a hundred thousand left our country to settle in Canada, Florida, or Ber-mu'da.

The British, who had left New York two months after the treaty was signed, kept possession of Os-we'go, De-troit', and Mack'i-naw in the Northwest until the promises made should be kept. Their presence there made the people restless and unhappy, for they secretly urged the Indians to rise up against the Americans.