Page:History of the University of Pennsylvania - Montgomery (1900).djvu/446

442 he was homeward bound on the ocean when the first blood of the Revolution was shed in April, 1775. I am now to take leave (perhaps last leave) of the country I love, and in which I have spent the greatest part of my life. Esto perpetua. I wish every kind of prosperity to my friends; and I forgive my enemies. 9 More than a quarter of a century later Dr. Smith delivered his Eulogium on Dr. Franklin ; time had brought him to differ- ent conclusions on the struggles of 1764, for speaking of this second mission of Franklin, he said : But under whatsoever circumstances this second embassy was under- taken, it appears to have been a measure pre-ordained in the councils of Heaven; and it will be forever remembered, to the honor of Pennsylvania, that the agent selected to assert and defend the rights of a single province, at the Court of Great Britain, became the bold asserter of the rights of America in general; and beholding the fetters that were forged for her, conceived the magnanimous thought of rending them asunder before they could be riveted. 10 But two years ere this oration Dr. Smith had meted out to Dr. Franklin in the records of the College his due honor for its creation, when he as Secretary of the Trustees recorded in the Minutes of their meeting which was held at Dr. Franklin's house 9 March, 1789, for reorganization, the unanimous election of " the venerable Dr. Benjamin Franklin, the Father and one of the first Founders of the Institution " as President of the Board. Franklin left Philadelphia on 7 November, and took ship at Chester, whither he was attended by a cavalcade of three hundred citizens. " It was kind to favor me with their good company as far as they could. The affectionate leave taken of me by so many dear friends at Chester, was very endearing; God bless them and all Pennsylvania. He writes* to his daughter from Reed Island the next night. He 9 Bigelow iii. 370. 10 Works, 1803, i. 6l. He here quotes the Abbe Fauchet. Smith ii. 334. 11 Yesterday B. Franklin, Esq., appointed an agent for this Province at the Court of Great Britain set out for Chester, in order to embark on board the King of Prussia, Captain Robinson, for London, when he was accompanied by a great num- ber of the reputable inhabitants from both City and Country. Penna. Gazette, 8 March, 1764.