He was not merely a diplomatic representative; he was a commercial and financial agent, fitted out vessels, issued commissions, borrowed money. Well did Horace Walpole say of him that Franklin was furnishing materials for writing the History of the Decline of the British Empire. Without Franklin the two treaties of 1778 with France could not have been obtained. By his personal relations with Englishmen of note, he was the natural starting point for overtures of concord; and in the negotiations of the peace of 1782 he stood alongside the eager, impetuous, and hotly national John Adams, and courteous, high bred and determined John Jay, as chief of that remarkable triumvirate of negotiators. [Illustration: PRINTING PRESS AT WHICH FRANKLIN WORKED WHEN A BOY IN BOSTON Now exhibited in the rooms of the Mechanics’ Institute, Boston, Mass.] After all, Franklin’s chief service abroad was not so much the obtaining of favorable terms as the maintaining of American character. Who could deny the right to be a nation to a people whose best aspirations were typified by this shrewd, hard-headed, kindly man, a gallant among the fashionables, a philosopher among scientists, a statesman among ministers, a man among men? _Franklin in the Federal Convention_ At seventy-nine years of age most men expect retirement, and it was very grateful to Franklin that, on his return to America in 1785, he should almost immediately be chosen by Pennsylvania to be the president of the commonwealth. His universal popularity was shown by the people of western North Carolina (now east Tennessee), who, in 1784, set up a short-lived frontier commonwealth, to which by way of compliment they gave the name of Franklin. In 1787, Franklin readily accepted membership in the Federal Convention, as one of the Pennsylvania delegation. He was somewhat out of touch with the real difficulties of the time, and most of his suggestions were overruled, but his influence throughout was in favor of a well organized, strong central government; and he was almost the only member to introduce an element of humanity and good humor. [Illustration: MRS. SARAH BACHE Daughter of Franklin]