Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1848-03-30

England 'ule sum OF lnTee thousand POUNDS,
to be PIT in The hands of,he Governor, and
by him expended in the purchase of bread,
! flour, wheat, or other grain The 'other
grain of course, covered the necessary
3 GROUND, as fully as solher purposes would
in modern legislation.
! On another occasion, when a piece Of ar
! ,illery was required for some defensive pur
/, pose in Philadelphia, Franklin overcame the
scrnples of The quakers by drafting his pro-
3 ject an appropriation for the purpose of buy
ing fire engine.
franklin had peculiar talent Of placing
the arguments of his opponents in RI
diculous light sometimes by mere plea
santry, but oftener by practical illustrations
which were in keeping with his peculiar
humor.
The Able RaynaI had written elaborate
y, TO establish the proposition that man
degenerated in America. in one of those
soloons in which at Paris every thing is dis
cussed and decided, the able waged this con-
troversy with the DR.. Tout degenere-a,l
de,eFiorates, mind, body, man, planls-every
thing. 'Well,' SAID the DR., 'le, us put the
thing to test. There are ten Frenchmen
Of you here, and ten Americans. You shall
keep your places, and we Americans will
Withdraw to ourselves. and let US compare
the two classes The Frenchmen were of
spare habit of body and below the medium
size--lhe Americans nearly six feel high,
with large full frames. The contrast APP
peared so ridiculous as to create general
laugh, and silence the able for the time.
On another occasion while minister to
France, the Doctor was surrounded by a
circle of the aristocralic party in that coun-
try, who argued warmly, during the course
of conversation, that our country would
never prosper with the democratic rrincl-
pie that the ma orly should rule. Franklin
commended s,oully for the principle, but
his courlly opponents resided in the mino-
rily. The question was put TO vote and
the whole company rose in the affirmative
Solitary and alone,' our sh1ewd Yankee,
nothing daunted, rose from his seat, adro.lv
remarking-'I rise, gentlemen, upon your
own principles, as The wise minority, to de-
eide the question against vou!'
| Almost every one has heard his lIusira-
ton, in the Pennsylvania Convention 10 form
| in The case of The man who owned a lack
ass Of The value of five pounds. which as a
property qualification gave the owner a right
to vote. But the jackass dies and the man
loses his vote. Now. gentlemen asked the
Dr., III whom does the voting reside. the
man or the jackass. OF the same class is
an anecdote with the authority of Jefferson.
who ways told IL with great glee.
In The convention for forming the Con
>t;,ution of the United States. it was propos-
ed that titles should be given to the hiyh
officers of the government; and the propo-
sion met with favor. The discussion off
the subj c, had gone on for some time, when
Dr. Franklin arose, and with great apparent
gravity. remark ed-'lhal as this matter seem
ed TO be seriously entertained, and might |
be carried, he had to suggest one title which |
would be new and appropriated. was
title for the Vice Presden,-and it was,
His Most superhuous Highnessn There
was not much more said about titles after
this
To these kind Of arguments, for they
were arguments, what could be replied ? and
the Dr. almost always carried his point.
1t may be questioned if there was man
since the days of Solomon Of such unrival-
led shrewdness and sagacily as Franklin
young man who had neglected an appoint
men, he had made with The Dr., apoIogsed
in the handsomesl manner for his wan, of
punctuality. 'Tha, will do,'-said Frank
lin, cutting him short, that will do. never
knew man good at apologies who was
good for anything else'
When MonrgoIfer had discovered the
balloon, one Of that class who are contnu-
ally asking cui bono? enquired, 'wha. is the
use of it = The d.. as Yankee, exercis-
ed his privilege by asking in return. 'wha,
is the use Of new born inlant:' adding, 'it
may become man in tIme.'
The conversation having turned, in pre-
sence Of DR.. franklin, upon riches, and a
j young person in the company having ex-
pressed his surprise that they should be at
1 tended with such anxiety and soIici.ude. in
s'anclng one of his acquaintance, who,
though IN possession Of unbounded wealth
yet was as busy and more anxious than the
) most assiduous clerk in his counting house.
The Dr. took an apple from fruit baske,
and presented it to child who could Just
toller about the room. The child could
scarce grasp it in his hand. He then gave
II another, which occupied the other hand.
Then choosing third remarkable for its
size and beauty, he presented that ALSO
The child, after many Intellectual attempts
to hold three, dropped the las. on the car
pet, and burst into tears. See there said
} the philosopher, 'there is little man with
more wealth than he can enjoy
DR.. Franklin was in all things practical
, man. He was the first man who tested and
applied to use the pouring out of oil TO still
: the waves agitated by the winds-the first