"Yes," she replied, "but thee knows, David, that many make a great fuss about religion, who have very little. And many, who say but little, have a good deal. He was never satisfied, if a day passed away unless he had done some one a service.[40] Benjamin Franklin was one of that sort. I will tell thee how the picture came here. Many weeks ago, as he lay, he beckoned me to him, and told me of this picture, up stairs, and begged I would bring it to him. I brought it. His face brightened up, as he looked at it, and he said, "'Ay Sarah; there is a picture worth looking at. That is the picture of him who came into the world to teach men to love one another.'" "After looking at it wistfully for some time, he said, 'Sarah, set this picture up over the mantel-piece, right before me as I lie. I like to look at it.' "When I fixed it up he looked at it very much; and indeed died with his eyes fixed upon it." [Footnote 40: This reminds us of the exclamation of the Emperor Titus, who, at the close of a day in which he could not perceive that he had done any good, exclaimed, sadly, "Perdidi Diem." _I have lost a day._ Beautifully has the sentiment been expressed in the words, which it would be well for all to treasure up, "Count that day lost, whose low descending sun, Views at thy hand no worthy action done."] However deeply Franklin, in these dying hours may have pondered the sublimities of Immortality--the Resurrection--the Judgment Throne--the Final Verdict--Heaven--Hell,--he was very reticent respecting those themes. We certainly see none of the triumph of Paul, and of thousands of others, who have in varied language, expressed the sentiment that, "Jesus can make a dying bed Feel soft as downy pillows are." A few hours before his death, as some one urged him to change his position, that he might breathe easier he replied, "a dying man can do nothing easy." These were his last words. He then sank into a lethargy, from which he passed into that sleep which has no earthly waking. It was eleven o'clock at night, April 17, 1790. He had lived eighty-four years, three months and eleven days. But no candid and charitable reader can peruse this narrative, without the admission that Benjamin Franklin, notwithstanding his imperfections, was one of the wisest and best of all the fallen children of Adam. From his dying hour to the present day his memory has been justly cherished with reverence and affection, throughout the civilized world. And there is no fear that this verdict will ever be reversed. TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Minor changes have been made to correct obvious typesetters' errors; otherwise, every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words and intent. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Benjamin Franklin, A Picture of the Struggles of Our Infant Nation One Hundred Years Ago, by John S. C. Abbott