The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1864-07-08
FRANKLIN.
By HORACE GREELEY.

greatest nor the best American. 10 the model
Yankee, the most characteristic product OF
the New England homes Of the last century.
Ho is lndcpendoncy IN its last analysis,
John Milton translated into American prose.
His character is the farthest possible from
that of boarding school hero, be 10 any
thing rather than that faultless monster
whom the world Ge'or saw but o being of
flesh and blood, made up of appetites, i'm
pulses, aspirations, not all sanity, which
often mislead him into failings, errors, sins,
which require and receive punishment
Not always tho ruler and master ofhis pas
sions. he is mover their slave bo feels, con.
demns: and struggles with his errors uptil
he triumphs over them, and glances at thom
In bis memoir only to reprobate and warn
others to avoid them.
The lifo and character Of Franklin sffort
the best practical refutatiors Of calumnie
wherewith envious and mortified rivals bay,
sought to heap reproach on the children O
New England. A wanderer in boy 90,
from his family and native city, he peve
sbamed bis origin by dissipation or treacb
cry. By instinct and temperament thrifty
he won bis way from penury to competence
by diligence, industry and usefulness ev
cry penny of his estate had enriched also
in acquisition. the commonwealth whereof
no was a citizen. Having achieved o suf
ficepcy wbi!o yet in the primo of life, be
gave tho latter half of bis career almos, OK
clusively to public duties OF the most ar.
duous aud oxactipg nature-du,ies which
tax every energy, yet make no show, and
are not oven comprohended by the multi
tude. Probably no othor mau--certuinly
no other but Washington-labored SO ar.
duousIy,so capably,so effectively. for Ameri.
can Independence as Frankiiu did scarce.
ly another risked so much as he did, and
that at an age when most men mako tbei,
years an excuse for declining further re
sponsibilty and toll; yet very many-per
haps majority-of bis countrymeu had
moro vivid and even higher appreciation OIL
The services Of Morgan or Marion, Stark OF
Putnam, than Of his.
Franklin. like New England, loved Liber.
ty, and risked his oil for it and, while tot.
tering on the brink Of the grave, at the ripe
age of eighty-throe. his voice was for the
last time raised in behalf of the Half Mil.
ion Of our countrymen most iniquitously,
shamofuliy held in bondage after the tri.
umphant close Of our seven years struggle
for the rights Of Human Nature Yet uev.
or was man or race loss justly liable to the
rcproach of fanaticism than he and ths
stock whence be sprang. lie neither en-
We'd, nor hated. nor sought to iDjure the
South or the Shareholders on tho contra
ry, he sought to rescue and save thom from
the woe which their glaripg Inconsistency
and injustice were surely though slowly
preparing. But his modest and defer.
ental petition to the frs. Federal Congress,
that some measure be taken looking to the
ultimate removal of our national shame and
peril was met by South Carolina and Georgia
with menaccs that ony such action as be
suggested would imperil tho Union; so il
was forborne. We are COW reaping blood y
harvest from the seed then sown, aud learn.
ing, at a terrible cost. that iniquity is al.
ways perilous that only in absolute right.
oousness is there absolute safety.
The Yankee has boen painted by bis foes
as at once superstitious and skepticaI. ser.
vile and truculent, fanatical and sordid,
the slave of his Avarice, and the lifelong
dupe of bis groundless prejudices. Now
England docs not answer her defamers; if
she chooses TO do so. she need only point
to the statue of her Franklin. This tenth
child of one of her poor shopkeepers. this
graduate only of one of her commonest
schools, this pcnuiIess runaway apprentice,
who was called in after life to play q great
part in the greatest affairs of bis country,
and who, throughout his riper years was on
terms Of intimacy with royal governors,
ministers of state, world famed philosopher
warriors, princes and kings, was
the favorite o. every circle. the peor Of the
proudest, the beloved friend of the noblest
never cripging, never fawniDg, and never
having to stand on tiptoe to look straight
into the eyes of the most exalted. OF o
sunny temperament, no eminently
served his country, through bis personal u.s.
over others, as none other than q
great man could have done but by no un-
worthy act, by no compromise of the proper
dignity of bis position. was this asceudency
achieved (; but by simple manliness, by un.
affected kindness of nature, by what tho
French term boa hommie. He was long the
most influential and popular parsonage In
Paris, simply because in that great capital
ie was the foremost and truest man.
Franklin's incessant incu,cations of thrift,
'rugality and saving, have been reprehended |
~ some as tending to render his country.
non sordid-to eIaggerate the Importance
If money-gettipg. cannot deem tbis.criti.
ism just. Ostentation and dissipation are
he twin vices that most formidably beset
Is. A frightful proportion Of our cleverest
'ouug men in bis day died the fools death
II the druukard and the debauchee. Now.
nonav. oottipg of itaalf rnav ha of sr,.U =.