by Sparks, in his Life of Franklin,* from a journal written by Rev. Dr. Cutler, of Massachusetts, who was distinguished as a scholar, and, particularly, as a botanist. While at Philadelphia, in July, 1787, he called to pay his respects to the Doctor; and the following is his account of the visit:

"Dr. Franklin lives in Market street; his house stands up a court, at some distance from the street. We found him in his garden, sitting upon a grass plot, under a very large mulberry tree, with several other gentlemen, and two or three ladies. When Mr. Gerry introduced me, he rose from his chair, took me by the hand, expressed his joy at seeing me, welcomed me to the city, and begged me to seat myself close to him. His voice was low, but his countenance open, frank, and pleasing. I delivered to him my letters. After he had read them, he took me again by the hand, and, with the usual compliments, introduced me to the other gentlemen, who were most of them members of the convention.

"Here we entered into a free conversation, and spent our time most agreeably, until it was quite dark. The tea-table was spread under the tree; and Mrs. Bache, who is the only daughter of the Doctor, and lives with him, served it out to the company. She had three of her children about her. They seemed to be exceedingly fond of their grandpapa. The Doctor showed me a curiosity he had just received, and with which he was much pleased. It was a snake with two heads, preserved in a large phial. It was taken near the confluence of the Schuylkill with the Delaware, about four miles from this city. It was about ten inches long, well proportioned, the heads perfect, and united to the body about one-fourth of an inch below the extremities of the jaws. The snake was of a dark brown, approaching to black, and the back beautifully speckled with white. The belly was rather checkered with a reddisb

color, and white. The Doctor supposed it to be fuli grown, which I think is probable; and he thinks it must be a sui-generis of that class of animals. He grounds his opinion of its not being an extraordinary production, but a distinct genus, on the perfect form of the snake, the probability of its being of some age, and there having been found a snake entirely similar, (of which the Doctor has a drawing, which he showed us,) near Lake Champlain, in the time of the late war.

"After it was dark, we went into the house, and he invited me into his library, which is likewise his study. It is a very large chamber, and high-studded. The walls are covered with book-shelves, filled with books; besides, there are four large alcoves, extending two-thirds the length of the chamber, filled in the same manner. I presume this is the largest, and by far the best, private library in America. He showed us a glass machine for exhibiting the circulation of the blood in the arteries and veins of the human body. The circulation is exhibited by the passing of a red fluid from a reservoir into numerous capillary tubes of glass, ramified in every direction, and then returning in similar tubes to the reservoir, which was done with great velocity, without any power to act visibly on the fluid, and had the appearance of perpetual motion. Another great curiosity was a rolling-press, for taking the copies of letters, or any other writing. A sheet of paper is completely copied in less than two minutes; the copy as fair as the original, and without defacing it in the smallest degree. It is an invention of his own, extremely useful in many situations of life. He also showed us his long, artificial arm and hand, for taking down and putting up books on high shelves, which are out of reach; and his great arm-chair, with rockers, and a large fan placed over it, with which he fans himself, keeps off the flies, &c., while he sits reading, with only a small motion of the foot; and many other curiosities and inventions, all his

own, but of lesser note. Over his mantel, he has a prodigious number of medals, busts, and casts in wax, or plaster of Paris, which are the effigies of the most noted characters in Europe.

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"But what the Doctor wished principally to show me, was a huge volume on botany, which indeed afforded me the greatest pleasure of any one thing in his library. It was a single volume, but so large, that it was with great difficulty that he was able to raise it from a low shelf, and lift it on the table; but, with that senile ambition, which is common to old people, he insisted on doing it himself, and would permit no person to assist him, merely to show us how much strength he had remaining. It contained the whole of Linnæus' Systema Vegetabilium, with large cuts of every plant, colored from nature. was a feast to me, and the Doctor seemed to enjoy it as well as myself. We spent a couple of hours in examining this volume; while the other gentlemen amused themselves with other matters. The Doctor is not a botanist, but lamented he did not in early life attend to this science. He delights in_natural history, and expressed an earnest wish, that I should pursue the plan which I had begun; and hoped this science, so much neglected in America, would be pursued with as much ardor here as it is now in every part of Europe. I wanted, for three months, at least, to have devoted myself entirely to this one volume; but, fearing lest I should be tedious to him, I shut it up, though he urged me to examine it longer. "He seemed extremely fond, through the course of the visit, of dwelling on philosophical subjects, and particularly that of natural history; while the other gentlemen were swallowed up with politics. This was a favorable circumstance for me; for almost. the whole of his conversation was addressed to me, and I was highly delighted with the extensive knowledge he appeared to have of every subject, the brightness of his memory, and clearness and vivacity of all his mental faculties, notwithstanding his age

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His manners are perfectly easy, and every thing about him seems to diffuse an unrestrained freedom and happiness. He has an incessant vein of humor, accompanied with an uncommon vivacity, which seems as natural and involuntary as his breathing. He urged me to call on him again, but my short stay would not admit. We took our leave at ten, and I retired to my lodgings."

We now draw near the close of this great man's career. His life had been prolonged far beyond the average lot of his fellow men; and, when the infirmities of old age were joined to other maladies, he became sensible that he was rapidly approaching the grave. For two or three years previously to his death, he was suffering almost constant pain; but there was nothing which seemed to indicate immediate dissolution, till early in April, 1790, when he was attacked with a fever and pain in the breast. Dr. Jones, the physician who attended him during this crisis, gives the following account of his last days:

"The stone, with which he had been afflicted for several years, had, for the last twelve months of his life, confined him chiefly to his bed; and, during the extremely painful paroxysms, he was obliged to take large doses of laudanum to mitigate his tortures. Still, in the intervals of pain, he not only amused himself by reading and conversing cheerfully with his family, and a few friends who visited him, but was often employed in doing business of a public, as well as of a private nature, with various persons who waited upon him for that purpose; and, in every instance, displayed not only the readiness and disposition to do good, which were the distinguishing characteristics of his life, but the fullest and clearest possession of his uncommon abilities. He also not unfrequently indulged in those jeux d'esprit and entertaining anecdotes, which were the delight of all who heard them.

"About sixteen days before his death, he was seized with a feverish disposition. without any

particular symptoms attending it, till the third or fourth day, when he complained of a pain in his left breast, which increased till it became extremely acute, attended by a cough and laborious breathing. During this state, when the severity of his pains drew forth a groan of complaint, he would observe, that he was afraid he did not bear them as he ought; acknowledging his grateful sense of the many blessings he had received from the Supreme Being, who had raised him, from small and low beginnings, to such high rank and consideration among men; and made no doubt but that his present afflictions were kindly intended to wean him from a world in which he was no longer fit to act the part assigned him. In this frame of body and mind he continued, till five days before his death, when the pain and difficulty of breathing entirely left him; and his family were flattering themselves with the hopes of his recovery; but an imposthume which had formed in his lungs, suddenly burst, and discharged a quantity of matter, which he continued to throw up, while he had power; but, as that failed, the organs of respiration became gradually oppressed; a calm, lethargic state succeeded; and, on the 17th of April, 1790, about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, closing a long and useful life of eighty-four years and three months." His death occasioned universal regret in America, and many parts of Europe. Testimonials of respect for his memory, were passed by the American congress, the national assembly of France, and various other bodies, political and scientific. The many hearts which had loved him, sorrowed as under the veight of a heavy calamity when the news of his decease reached them.

There has been much discussion respecting Dr. Franklin's religious views. Skeptics have attempted to support their shallow pretensions, by ranking him among the disbelievers in Christianity. Though the matter is of little importance, so far as religion alone is concerned, it becomes of the greatest moment