{"product_id":"2940013874374","title":"THE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     I.   A PATRIOT OF 1768\u003cbr\u003e     II.  THE BURDEN OF EMPIRE\u003cbr\u003e     III. THE RIGHTS OF A NATION\u003cbr\u003e     IV.  DEFINING THE ISSUE\u003cbr\u003e     V.   A LITTLE DISCREET CONDUCT\u003cbr\u003e     VI.  TESTING THE ISSUE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE EVE OF THE REVOLUTION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I. A Patriot Of 1763\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     His Majesty's reign... I predict will be happy and truly\u003cbr\u003e     glorious.--Benjamin Franklin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 29th of January, 1757, was a notable day in the life of Ben Franklin\u003cbr\u003eof Philadelphia, well known in the metropolis of America as printer and\u003cbr\u003epolitician, and famous abroad as a scientist and Friend of the Human\u003cbr\u003eRace. It was on that day that the Assembly of Pennsylvania commissioned\u003cbr\u003ehim as its agent to repair to London in support of its petition\u003cbr\u003eagainst the Proprietors of the Province, who were charged with having\u003cbr\u003e\"obstinately persisted in manacling their deputies [the Governors\u003cbr\u003eof Pennsylvania] with instructions inconsistent not only with the\u003cbr\u003eprivileges of the people, but with the service of the Crown.\" We may,\u003cbr\u003etherefore, if we choose, imagine the philosopher on that day, being then\u003cbr\u003ein his fifty-first year, walking through the streets of this metropolis\u003cbr\u003eof America (a town of something less than twenty thousand inhabitants)\u003cbr\u003eto his modest home, and there informing his \"Dear Debby\" that her\u003cbr\u003ehusband, now apparently become a great man in a small world, was ordered\u003cbr\u003eimmediately \"home to England.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn those leisurely days, going home to England was no slight\u003cbr\u003eundertaking; and immediately, when there was any question of a great\u003cbr\u003ejourney, meant as soon as the gods might bring it to pass. \"I had agreed\u003cbr\u003ewith Captain Morris, of the Pacquet at New York, for my passage,\" he\u003cbr\u003ewrites in the \"Autobiography,\" \"and my stores were put on board, when\u003cbr\u003eLord Loudoun arrived at Philadelphia, expressly, as he told me, to\u003cbr\u003eendeavor an accommodation between the Governor and the Assembly, that\u003cbr\u003ehis Majesty's service might not be obstructed by their dissentions.\"\u003cbr\u003eFranklin was the very man to effect an accommodation, when he set his\u003cbr\u003emind to it, as he did on this occasion; but \"in the mean time,\" he\u003cbr\u003erelates, \"the Pacquet had sailed with my sea stores, which was some loss\u003cbr\u003eto me, and my only recompence was his Lordship's thanks for my service,\u003cbr\u003eall the credit for obtaining the accommodation falling to his share.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was now war time, and the packets were at the disposal of Lord\u003cbr\u003eLoudoun, commander of the forces in America. The General was good enough\u003cbr\u003eto inform his accommodating friend that of the two packets then at New\u003cbr\u003eYork, one was given out to sail on Saturday, the 12th of April--\"but,\"\u003cbr\u003ethe great man added very confidentially, \"I may let you know, entre\u003cbr\u003enous, that if you are there by Monday morning, you will be in time, but\u003cbr\u003edo not delay longer.\" As early as the 4th of April, accordingly, the\u003cbr\u003eprovincial printer and Friend of the Human Race, accompanied by many\u003cbr\u003eneighbors \"to see him out of the province,\" left Philadelphia. He\u003cbr\u003earrived at Trenton \"well before night,\" and expected, in case \"the roads\u003cbr\u003ewere no worse,\" to reach Woodbridge by the night following. In crossing\u003cbr\u003eover to New York on the Monday, some accident at the ferry delayed him,\u003cbr\u003eso that he did not reach the city till nearly noon, and he feared\u003cbr\u003ethat he might miss the packet after all--Lord Loudoun had so precisely\u003cbr\u003ementioned Monday morning. Happily, no such thing! The packet was still\u003cbr\u003ethere. It did not sail that day, or the next either; and as late as the\u003cbr\u003e29th of April Franklin was still hanging about waiting to be off. For it\u003cbr\u003ewas war time and the packets waited the orders of General Loudoun, who,\u003cbr\u003eready in promises but slow in execution, was said to be \"like St. George\u003cbr\u003eon the signs, always on horseback but never rides on.\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47069015212272,"sku":"2940013874374","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013874374_p0.jpg?v=1763596533","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013874374","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}