The seventh volume concludes the first period of Franklin's public
service in Pennsylvania, and takes him to England to begin his "second
career," that of colonial agent. Problems of defense during the war with
France, quartering of British troops in Philadelphia, and financing of
Pennsylvania's military heavily engaged his attention as Assembly
leader. When the dispute over taxation of proprietary estates led the
Assembly to send him to England, Franklin make a new will, arranged for
supervision of the colonial postal system during his absence, tended to
much personal business, yet found time to correspond with friends on
such topics as the nature of heat and cold. On the voyage to England he
wrote what is generally known as "The Way to Wealth," his most widely
reprinted single composition.