When he reached Philadelphia he was received with joy by thousands of his countrymen.  General Washington was among the first to welcome him, and to thank him for his great services.

That same year the grateful people of his state elected him President of Pennsylvania.

Two years afterwards, he wrote: 

“I am here in my niche in my own house, in the bosom of my family, my daughter and grandchildren all about me, among my old friends, or the sons of my friends, who equally respect me.

“In short, I enjoy here every opportunity of doing good, and everything else I could wish for, except repose; and that I may soon expect, either by the cessation of my office, which cannot last more than three years, or by ceasing to live.”

The next year he was a delegate to the convention which formed the present Constitution of the United States.

In a letter written to his friend Washington not long afterwards, he said:  “For my personal ease I should have died two years ago; but though those years have been spent in pain, I am glad to have lived them, since I can look upon our present situation.”

In April, 1790, he died, and was buried by the side of his wife, Deborah, in Arch street graveyard in Philadelphia.  His age was eighty-four years and three months.

Many years before his death he had written the following epitaph for himself: 

“The Body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer, (Like the cover of an old book, Its contents torn out, And stripped of its lettering and gilding,) Lies here food for worms.  Yet the work itself shall not be lost, For it will (as he believed) appear once more In a new And more beautiful Edition, Corrected and Amended By The Author.”

THE STORY OF

DANIEL WEBSTER

[Illustration:  DANIEL WEBSTER.]

THE STORY OF DANIEL WEBSTER.

* * * * *

I.—­CAPTAIN WEBSTER.

Many years ago there lived in New Hampshire a poor farmer, whose name was Ebenezer Webster.

His little farm was among the hills, not far from the Merrimac River.  It was a beautiful place to live in; but the ground was poor, and there were so many rocks that you would wonder how anything could grow among them.

Ebenezer Webster was known far and wide as a brave, wise man.  When any of his neighbors were in trouble or in doubt about anything, they always said, “We will ask Captain Webster about it.”

They called him Captain because he had fought the French and Indians and had been a brave soldier in the Revolutionary War.  Indeed, he was one of the first men in New Hampshire to take up arms for his country.

When he heard that the British were sending soldiers to America to force the people to obey the unjust laws of the king of England, he said, “We must never submit to this.”