THOMAS MIFFLIN, PRESIDENT OF THE SUPREME EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNOR UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF 1790, HE venerable Franklin, then in his eighty-second year, determined, at the expiration of his term as President of the Council, to withdraw altogether from public employments. In casting about for a successor to so illustrious a man, none seemed more worthy than the soldier who, during the War of the Revolution, had been among the most able and devoted in the country's service. The choice fell upon Thomas Mifflin, and it is a distinction which he enjoys above all others who have been elevated to the enviable position of Chief Executive of the Commonwealth, both before and since, that he for the longest period exercised this power, having been two years President of the Council, and for three terms Governor, an aggregate of eleven years. Thomas Mifflin was descended from one of the earliest settlers in Pennsylvania, and was born in Philadelphia, in 1744. It was the purpose of his father that the son should follow a mercantile profession, and his education was in a manner directed to that end, though he is described as having passed with reputation through the usual collegiate course. His parents were Quakers, and he was early trained in their faith and practices; but on taking arms at his country's call, his connection with that body was severed. Upon the completion of his school education, he entered the counting-house of William Coleman, whom Franklin por trays as one of the members of his celebrated Junto, and "who," he declared, "had the coolest, clearest head, the best heart, and the exactest morals of almost any man I ever met with. He became afterwards a merchant of great note, and one of our Provincial judges." Upon attaining his majority he made the tour of Europe, spending considerable time in England and France. Returning with enlarged views of trade and commerce, as witnessed in the old marts of Europe, and with manners and tastes tinged by the modifying influences of travel, he entered into business partnership with his brother, in the city of Philadel phia, with little expectation of figuring prominently in one of the most momentous struggles for humanity that the world has ever seen. But in 1772, when only twenty-eight years of age, he was called from his mercantile pursuits to the more public and honorable duties of the council-chamber, having been elected one of the two members of the Legisla ture from the city of Philadelphia. He was re-elected on the following year, when he was a colleague of Franklin, then just returned from his mission to England. So acceptable were his services in the Assembly, that when the appointment of delegates to the First Continental Congress came to be made, he was selected as one; and in that body, which has been pronounced, by the most competent authority, unrivalled for wisdom, ability, and sage counsel, among the great nations of antiquity or of more modern times, he occupied a position of commanding influence, and we find his name associated upon important committees with those of Henry, Livingston, Jay, Adams, and Rutledge. "When the news," says Dr. Rawle, his biographer, "of the battle of Lexington reached Philadel phia, a town meeting was called, and the fellow-citizens of Mifflin were delighted by his animated oratory. Other addresses were delivered on this solemn occasion, all of which partook of the same feeling; but, although the youngest of the speakers, Mifflin had the exclusive merit of suggesting the necessity of a steady adherence to the resolu |