The English government bestowed upon him the important post of deputy-postmaster-general for the Colonies. He so impressed the men of learning that he received doctorates of law from the universities of St. Andrews, Oxford, and Edinburgh. Yet his public functions were the lesser part of his influence; he found friends everywhere, and by his personal relations with ministers and private persons affected the minds of the British. The colonies of Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts also designated him as their agent, and his various public offices brought him in the large income for that time of fifteen hundred pounds a year. When the question of the Stamp Act arose in 1766, Franklin appeared before the House of Commons to protest, and in his examination occurred the famous passage: “Question--‘Can anything less than a military force carry the Stamp Act into execution?’ “Answer--‘I do not see how a military force could be applied to that purpose.’ “Question--‘Why may it not?’ “Answer--‘Suppose a military force be sent into America, they will find nobody in arms; what are they then to do? They cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to do without them. They will not find a rebellion; they will indeed make one.’” [Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN By Boyle This statue stands at Ninth and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, close to the spot where Franklin first drew electricity from the sky] [Illustration: STATUETTE OF FRANKLIN AND LOUIS XVI. French porcelain. Metropolitan Museum of Art] Franklin’s position had great weight in bringing about the repeal of the Stamp Act; and thereafter he strove with all his might to prevent the breaking up of the empire. When the storm broke in 1775, Franklin needed to make no choice. An American through and through, he never thought of anything but casting his lot with that of his countrymen; and on March 21, 1775, he left England, and became an original Son of the American Revolution. The conditions have never been better set forth than in his own words: “And now the affair is nearly in the situation of Friar Bacon’s project of making a brazen wall round England for its eternal security. His servant, Friar Bungey, slept while the brazen head, which was to dictate how it may be done, said, ‘_Time_ is and _Time_ was.’ He only waked to hear it say, ‘_Time is past_.’” _Franklin in the Revolution_ [Illustration: FRENCH PLAQUE After Cochin by Dupont. Metropolitan Museum of Art]