Benjamin Franklin: “Conciliation hopeless from the Conduct of Great Britain to America.”

To strangers he was cold and reserved; but where he was intimate, no man indulged to more pleasantry and good humour.

It is comfortable to have a good opinion of one's self, and of every thing that belongs to us, to think one's own religion, king, and wife, the best of all possible wives, kings, and religions.

It is with a melancholy regret I think of his death; but to death we are all bound by the irreversible order of nature, and in looking forward to it, there is comfort in being able to reflect--that we have not lived in vain, and that all…

But if I were in his place, and not otherwise instructed, I should be apt to say, Take your own time, gentlemen.