That was like Franklin; he was always doing something odd. The cut-up snake stood for the thirteen divided colonies. What Franklin meant was that they could not exist alone. A snake is not of much account when it is chopped up into bits, but it is a dangerous creature when it is whole. He proposed that there should be a grand council of all the colonies, a sort of Congress, meeting every year in Philadelphia, which was the most central large city. Over them all was to be a governor-general appointed by the king. This council could make laws, lay taxes, and perform other important duties. That is enough to say about Franklin's plan, for it was not accepted. It was passed by the convention, it is true, but the king would not have it and the colonies did not want it; so the snake still lay stretched out along the Atlantic in thirteen pieces. Then came the great war with the French of which I have told you. After that was over, things came to pass which in the end forced the colonies to combine. Thus Franklin's plan, or something like it, was in time carried out, but for many years the country was in a terrible state. This is what I am now going to tell you about. You should know that the war with the French cost the king and the colonies a great deal of money. The king of England at that time was named George. He was an obstinate man, but not a very wise one, as you will think when you have learned more about him. One thing he wanted to do was to send soldiers to America to keep the French from getting back what they had lost, and he asked the people to pay these soldiers. He also asked them to send him money to pay the governors and judges whom he had chosen to rule over them. But the people thought they could take care of themselves, and did not want British soldiers. And they preferred to pay the governors and judges themselves as they had always done, and did not want King George to do it for them. So they would not send him the money he asked for. Some of you may think this was very mean in the Americans, after all the British had done to help them in their war with the French. But they knew very well what they were about. They thought that if they gave the king a dollar to-day he might want five dollars to-morrow, and ten dollars the next day. They judged it best not to begin with the dollar. Kings, you should know, do not always make the best use of money that is given them by their people.