Histoire de France, par CHARLES LACRETELLE, Tom. V. p. 92. —The same historian adds, that portraits of Franklin were everywhere to be seen, with the sublime inscription, which was first applied to him by Turgot;
"Epuit calo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis."
A variety of medallions were likewise made, on which his head was represented, of various sizes, suitable to be set in the lids of snuffboxes, or to be worn in rings; and vast numbers were sold; as well as numerous copies of pictures, busts, and prints, in which the artists vied with each other to attain beauty of execution and accuracy of resemblance.
While he resided in England, he wore a wig, according to the fashion of the times, of somewhat formidable dimensions. His head is thus covered in the portraits by Chamberlin and Martin, both of which are deemed good likenesses. In another picture of him, by West painted in England, which is now in the possession of Mr. Edward D. Ingraham, of Philadelphia, the wig is likewise retained.
After he went to France he laid aside this appendage, and supplied its place with a fur cap, which is seen in some of the engravings. But at length this was dispensed with. The portrait by Duplessis is considered the best that was taken in France, and in this he appears with his own hair, thin at the top, but flowing down the sides of his head and neck nearly to the shoulders.
During the latter years of his life he seldom went abroad without spectacles, fitted by an invention of his own, for rendering objects distinctly visible at different distances from the eye.
