Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

acknowledged his greatful fenfe of the many bleffings he had received from that Supreme Being, who had raised him from fmall and low beginnings to fuch high rank and confideration among men—and made no doubt but his prefent afflictions were kindly intended to wean him from a world, in which he was no longer fit to act the part affigned him. In this frame of body and mind he continued till five days before his death, when his pain and difficulty of breathing entirely left him, and his family were flattering themTelves with the hopes of his recovery, when an impofthumation, which had formed itself in his lungs, fuddenly burft, and difcharged a great quantity of matter, which he continued to throw up while he had ftrength to do it; but, as that failed, the organs of refpiration became gradually. oppreffed--a calm lethargic ftate fucceeded, and, on the 17th of April, 1790, about eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, clofing a long and ufeful life of eighty-four years and three months.

It may not be amifs to add to the above account, that Dr. Franklin, in the year 1735, had a fevere pleurify, which terminated in an abscess of the left lobe of his lungs, and he was then almoft fuffocated with the quantity and fuddennefs of the discharge. A fecond attack of a fimilar nature happened fome years after this, from which he foon recovered, and did not appear to fuffer any inconvenience in his respiration from thefe difeafes."

The following Epitaph on himself, was written by him many years previous to his death :

THE BODY

of

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Printer,
(Like the cover of an old Book,
Its contents torn out,

And ftript of its lettering and gilding)
Lies here, food for worms;

Yet the work itself shall not be loft,
For it will (as he believed) appear once more,

In a new

And more beautiful edition
Corrected and Amended

by

The Author.

EXTRACTS FROM THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF DR. FRANKLIN.

WITH regard to my Books, those I had in

France, and those I left in Philadelphia, being now affembled together here, and a catalogue made of them, it is my intention to dispose of the fame as follows:

My Hiftory of the Academy of Sciences, in fixty or seventy volumes quarto, I give to the philofophical fociety of Philadelphia, of which I have the honour to be prefident. My collection in folio of Les Arts & Les Metiers, I give to the philofophical society, established in NewEngland, of which I am a member. My quarte

[ocr errors]

edition of the fame Arts and Metiers, I give to the Library Company of Philadelphia. Such and fo many of my books as I fhall mark, in the faid catalogue, with the name of my grandfon Benjamin Franklin Bache, I do hereby give to him and fuch and fo many of my books as I fhall mark in the faid catalogue, with the name of my grandfon William Bache, I do hereby give to him; and fuch as fhall be marked with the name of Jonathan Williams, I hereby give to my coufin of that name. The refidue and remainder of all my books, manufcripts and papers, I do give to my grandson William Temple Franklin. My fhare in the library company of Philadelphia I give to my grandfon Benjamin Franklin Bache, confiding that he will permit his brothers and fifters to share in the use of it. I was born in Boston, New-England, and owe first inftructions in literature to the free grammar-schools eftablifhed there. I therefore give one hundred pounds fterling to my executors, to be by them, the furvivors or furvivor of them, paid over to the managers or directors of the free fchools in my native town of Boston, to be by them, or the perfon or persons who shall have the fuperintendance and management of the faid schools, put out to intereft, and fo continued at intereft for ever; which intereft annually fhall be laid out in filver medals, and given as honorary rewards annually by the directors of the faid free fchools, for the encouragement of fcholarfhip in the faid fchools, belonging to the faid town, in fuch manner as to the difcretion of the fele&t men of the faid town fhall feem meet.

my

Out of the falary that may remain due to me, as prefident of the state, I give the fum of two thousand pounds to my executors, to be by them, the furvivors or furvivor of them, paid over to fuch perfon or perfons as the legislature of this ftate, by an act of affembly, fhall appoint to receive the fame, in trust, to be employed for making the Schuylkill navigable.

During the number of years I was in business as a ftationer, printer, and poftmafter, a great many fmall fums became due to me, for books, advertisements, poftage of letters, and other matters, which were not collected, when, in 1757, I was fent by the affembly to England as their agent-and, by fubfequent appointments continued there till 1775-when, on my return, I was immediately engaged in the affairs of congrefs, and sent to France in 1776, where I remained nine years, not returning till 1785; and the faid debts not being demanded in fuch a length of time, are become in a manner obfolete, yet are nevertheless juftly due-Thefe, as they are ftated in my great folio leger, E, I bequeath to the contributors of the Pennfylvania holpital; hoping that thofe debtors, and the defcendants of fuch as are deceased, who now, as I find, make fome difficulty of fatisfying fuch antiquated demands as juft debts, may however be induced to pay or give them as charity to that excellent inflitution. I am fenfible that much muft inevitably be lost; but I hope fomething confiderable may be recovered. It is poffible too that fome of the parties charged may have exifling old unlealed accounts against me; in which cale

the managers of the faid hofpital will allow and deduct the amount, and pay the balance, if they find it against me.

I requeft my friends, Henry Hill, Efq. John Jay, Efq. Francis Hopkinfon, Efq. and Mr. Edward Duffield, of Bonfield, in Philadelphia county, to be the executors of this my laft will and teftament, and I hereby nominate and appoint them for that purpose.

I would have my body buried with as little expence or ceremony as may be.

Philadelphia, July 17, 1788.

CODICIL.

I Benjamin Franklin, in the foregoing or annexed laft will and teftament, having further confidered the fame, do think proper to make and publifh the following codicil, or addition thereto :

Ir having long been a fixed political opinion of mine, that in a democratical ftate there ought to be no offices of profit, for the reasons I had given in an article of my drawing in our conftitution, it was my intention, when I accepted the office of prefident, to devote the appointed fala: y to fome public ufe: Accordingly I had already, before I made my laft will, in July laft, given large fums of it to colleges, fchools, building of churches, &c. and in that will I bequeathed two thousand pounds more to the ftate, for the purpole of making the Schuylkill navigable; but understanding fince, that fuch a fum will do but little towards accomplishing fuch a work, an

« ElőzőTovább »