Benjamin Franklin continued to embody intellectual humility to the very end. The signing of the Constitution in 1787 was his final great act, and he remained content with his country’s progress. ‘We have had a most plentiful year for the fruits of the earth, and our people seem to be recovering fast from the extravagant and idle habits which the war had introduced, and to engage seriously in the contrary habits of temperance, frugality, and industry, which give the most pleasing prospects of future
