daughter. At her death, in 1834, it became the property of her cousin, M. de Senarmont, whose grandson delivered it, on the 26th January, 1867, to Mr. John Bigelow, late Minister of the United States at Paris. "The manuscript is accompanied by a beautiful portrait in pastel by Duplessis. Franklin sat for this portrait during his sojourn at Passy, and presented it himself to M. le Veillard. "(Signed) "PARIS, 17th January, 1867.” L. DE SENARMONT. In addition to the continuation of the Memoirs which was overlooked by William Temple Franklin, already referred to, I was so fortunate as to find in the Le Veillard collection a skeleton sketch of the topics which Dr. Franklin originally proposed to treat in the Autobiography. It was, doubtless, the first outline of the work. It is written upon a letter sheet, the first three pages in black ink and in the hand of a copyist, while the continution of seven lines on the fourth page, beginning with "Hutchinson's Letters," are in red ink, and in the hand of Franklin himself. A line is drawn with a pen through the middle of the first page of the manuscript down to the words: "Library erected—manner of conducting the project—its plan and utility." As these are the topics which conclude the first part of the Memoirs, terminating at page 87 of the manuscript, the line was probably drawn by Franklin when he had reached that stage of his work, that he might the more easily know with what topic to resume it when he should have occasion to do so. I give this Outline as an introduction to the Memoirs. It will be found extremely interesting, first, as showing how systematically Franklin set about the execution of the task of which these Memoirs are the result; and, secondly, for the notions it gives us of the unexecuted portion of his plan.* The printed manuscript ends with his departure to England as agent of the Colony of Pennsylvania, to settle the disputes about the proprietary taxes in 1757, while the Outline comes down to the conclusion of his diplomatic career, of course embracing the most interesting portion of his life. No one can glance over the subjects that were to have been treated in the succeeding pages of the Memoirs without experiencing a new pang of regret at their incompleteness. How precious would have been the personal sketches which he promised to leave of many of the distinguished people among whom he spent the latter years of his life; how interesting the impressions which he would have thought worth recording of his first visit to the Continent in 1766, '67 and '69; of the entertainment given him by the French Academy; of his mode of prosecuting his electrical discoveries; his analysis of his own character; and, above all, his account of his last residence in France, and of his negotiations for the recognition of the Colonies. Rich and charming as is his correspondence upon many of these subjects, we miss the limpid narrative. * The glimpse given in this Outline of Franklin's habits of composition tempts me to refer the reader to an extract from a letter which Dr. Franklin wrote to Mr. Vaughan in 1789, in which, at Mr. Vaughan's request, he gives him some counsel on the subject of his style. What he says will help the reader to comprehend the uses for which the Outline referred to in the text was prepared. See Appendix, No. 9. gemmed all over, like a cloudless firmanent at night, with the pertinent anecdote, curious observation and sage reflections which constitute the unspeakable charm of his Memoirs. But though it was ordained that this Autobiography should take its place among the famous unfinished projects of human genius, it is a great satisfaction to know, as this document permits us to know, what were the experiences of the most momentous period of his life which Dr. Franklin thought most worthy of being rescued from oblivion, even though, like some familiar memorial of a departed friend, they renew the sense of a loss to which time was beginning to bring its consolations. This volume is embellished by a portrait of Franklin, engraved from the pastel by Duplessis in the Le Veillard Collection. Franklin sat for it to Duplessis in 1783, and presented it to his friend, Le Veillard. At the bottom of the old gilt frame, in front, is the following inscription upon the frame : "BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, ❝À 77 ANS, "Peint par 7 Sa Duplessis, "1783. "Donné par Franklin lui-même." On the back is the following memorandum, placed there, doubtiess, by M. le Veillard: Benjamin Franklin, à 77 ans; peint en 1783 par Duplessis; donné par Franklin lui-même à M. Louis le Veillard, gentilhomme ordinaire de la Reine, son ami et son voisin à Passy. Joseph Siffred Duplessis, Academicien, né à Carpentrar, s'est distingué par une belle intelligence, les effets de la lumière, sur les chairs et accessoires un pinceau large; bien senti et un coloris vrai. Les personnages de distinction dans ses portraits sont posés avec noblesse et dans des altitudes bien choisies. Il à peint le portrait de Louis XVI., ceux de M. et Mme. Neckar, et de plusieurs grands de la Cour.-Les trois siècles de la peinture la France, par Gault de St. Germain. 1808.-Swiback l'eleve le plus distingué de Duplessis, à surpassé son maître. It will be observed that, unmindful of the example of previous editors of these Memoirs, I have limited myself strictly to a reproduction of their text, without attempting to continue and complete the narrative of the Autobiographer's life. I have one sufficient excuse, if any is needed, for this course which none of my predecessors could have pleaded. The delightful and comparatively recent work of Mr. Parton has left no place in English literature for another biography of this most illustrious of our countrymen. I do not know that I can more appropriately conclude this bibliographical summary than by quoting a few passages from the introduction to the Memoirs of Franklin by Professor Edward Laboulaye, which appeared in Paris in 1866.* The translation of the Memoirs and correspondence of Franklin was one of the many ways by which this distinguished jurist contributed, during our late struggle for the preservation of our Federal Union, to keep alive in France that friendship for the United States * Mémoires de Benjamin Franklin, écrits par lui-même, traduits de l'Anglais et annotés par Edouard Laboulaye, de l'Institut de France Paris, Libraire de L. Hachette & Cie. 1866. which Franklin, more than any other one person, had the merit of inspiring, and to which, for the second time, we have been largely beholden for our national exist ence: "What constitutes the charm of the Memoirs is not the recital of events, which are of the most ordinary character; it is the reflections which accompany their recital. Franklin is a born moralist. The first letter he writes to his sister is a sermon on the virtues of a good housekeeper. The penitent is fifteen and the preacher twenty. From this moment to his death Franklin did not change. He is always the man who reasons out his conduct-the sage who, following the ingenious definition of Mr. Bancroft, never said a word too soon nor a word too late. He never said a word too much, nor failed to say the decisive word at the proper moment. In his letters how many moral lessons, given with as much gayety as power! It is not an author one reads; he is a friend to whom one listens. There is Franklin, with his venerable face, his hair floating back, and his eye always shrewd and quick, presenting altogether one of the most amiable figures of the last century. How many prejudices he playfully dissipated! how he rallied the selfishness of individuals and the artifices of governments, which are but another form of selfishness! Do not ask of him anything sublime, nor expect from him those bursts which raise you above the passing world. Franklin never quits the earth; it is not genius in him; it is good sense expressed in its highest power. Do not seek in him a poet, nor even an orator, but a master of practical life—a man to whom the world belongs. Neither imagine you have to do with a vulgar, worldly wisdom. This amiable mocker, who laughs at |