The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1854-01-11

P''"t'"' "o! iuois uclnrOneu DV lne dido
and the press. Upon her turrets-.
"lFherc the aspirant minaret
Cleans along the morning sky"
shall the banner of the Cross be raised, and
the 'living light of Heaven" illume the Ce.
lcstial empire of the Eastern world.
III Is too late, now, in the progress of the
world, for one to tell us that the press is
not n mighty engine of knowledge and civ
lllZation. We cannot doubt but that, thro'
us instrumentality, thousands have been re-
deemed and saved to the world, whose
minds have been developed and cultivated,
and many of the pures. and brightest gems
which have adorned the glittering crown of
earthly glory, have been discovered among
the rubbish Of the earth, and through the
agency of the press, have been elevated. re.
lined and ! olishcd, and set like stars in the
| galaxy OF fame to shine forever,
"As mighty beacons lighting giory's way"
Eminently so has been the case in our
country, where the read to fame and fortune
lies open, free alike to all! Where
WOrth makes the man,
And want Of it the fellow"
Where it does not follow as a matter of
course because man hath not wealth and
illustrious ancestry to bolster him above the
smiles aud frowns of popular favor, that he
may not ascend even unto the very acme of
fame and enrol himself high among the
proudcst and best Of earth. Where the aris-
! tocracy of refined and cultivated mind !,
obliged to ss acknowledged and at last &c.
emlnentiy exalted above that of mere wealth
and titled ancestry. In confirmation of this
! we may proudly refer to the biography of
: our country, to those who have made them.
/ selves immortal, and departing left behind
f, them Footprints on the shores of time"
In franklin, the great pioneer of the press,
we see what industry, a perseYering will,
and genius can accomplish. .
For the purpose of introducing a few
items connected with the early history of
the press in our country, mentioned in the
life Of our il;ustrious patriot and eminent
, craftsman, we shall embrace the occasion to
! give nm incident or two in the life of this
| very remarkable man.
AT this late day it appears almost mira
Gle that Franklin, an apprentice to business
not at all 'congenial to his taste or to the ac.
l-quisitlsn Of knowledge, but, on the contrary,
calculated in Its very nature to familiarlze
tne nilnd with the common drudgeries OF
me- and to dispel and destroy all the aspira-
uons OF youth, that he should so soon be
i metamorphosed from the trimmer of wicks
and the mouldcr of candles to that of tho
mouidsr of public opinion, n difference of
position requiring very decided difference
! of ability.
e Just at this point the history of the pbi.
losopher assumes most interesting and in
, structive character, which serves to illustrate
/ with force and sub!mity the couplet of the
| poet
/ The clouds may drop down titles and estates
Wealth may seek us, but wisdom must be
sought"
You will recollect, gentlemen, that Frank
lin 3 debut rs a printer was not under the
most fiattering auspices; there is scarcely
/ one among us who has ever been called
upon, either in the prosecution Of his phys-
lcal or mental labers, to endure what he was
called upon in his early manhood to bear
but Franklin proved the truth of the prov
erb that hard labor ovcrcomes all things.
Unlike the most of youths, his early life was
occupied IN efforts after knowledge, ~her
! ample page, rich with the spois of time had
, been unroIled," and his eager mind and
painting soul thirsted for full draught from
the Picrian spring. Not havin the means
: to purchase proper books he was nccessa.
/ rily dependent upon voluntary contributions
IN the way of loans, and consequently at 80
carry period IN the history Of Typography
he could have access to but few.
/ What would FrankLa have piven for the
exalted privileges which we now cnioy
Whilst the teeming press is daily pouring
! forth its volumes by hundreds and thousand,
lie tells as how he managed TO procure the
reading ofsuch books ~ we're otherwise be.
yond his reach
An acquaintance With the apprentices of
booksellers enabled him sometimes to bor-
row a small volume, which Inc was careful
: to return soon and clean. Often he sat M
in his chamber during the greater part of the
. night reading. when the book was borrowed
in the evening and to be returned on the fol-
, lowing morning lest its absence should be
discovered .
Is it any wonder that he should subse-
quently have arrived Mt such extraordinary
distinction, and that the name Of BENJAMIN
franklin, the poor, obgca-e printer, should
stand to-day in undying characters upon the
pages OF immortality, carried upon the Ii. hit
nntgs wing, and honored among alb men
wherever ''liberty is cherished or virtue re-
ceives an approving sentence in the humsn
heaRtw
Franklin. as printer, is introduced to our
notice rs an apprentice to his brother in the.
! Office Of the "New England Courant," the
Jt urth newspaper printed at that time in
america, The enterprise wac regarded an
Ndangerous speculation aud the elder Frank
lin was advised by his fricnda not to 90 inAe
1 the undertaking, rs it would scarcely sue.
ceed, there being already two or three pa.
pera IN America, which were considered
sufficient for tho reading public. What
think you, gentlemen, would be tke;p advice
to some OF us now, after the lapse Of one
hundred and thirty-two years, and in the
lncrcascd and increasing number of our four
hundred and twenty-five millions of publica-
tons annually in the United Skatesl
Franklin informs US, in his Interesting an.
tsbiogsaphy, that his brother treated hfm
rather unsindly, aud that BY a mere accidenl
I tai revolution In the wheel offortune ho was