, 1864-07-10

1lEutEOQA AfD4t1hNlE2k VI AEAfGAa
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
mr.. purton's New biography.
lFtora the New York Evening Post.l
In his life Of General Bnt1er, Mr. Parton
relates that be suspended the labor Of three
years On the biography OF Benjamin Frank
lin In order to write the history Of Benjamin
Franklin Butler-fpding In the second Ben
janin even more attractive material than In
the old Boston Yankee. How we'll his H.
terme6iate taRk was performed the readers Of
=" General Bntle1 IN NsT Orleans" vii bear
bly, as rlcosant to himself as 1t was agreeable
to the public, who are indebted to him for
the tarst clear picture Of striking episode
OF the war.
DesJatchipc the Butler book with rem:rka-
BILE facility, Mir. Parton resumed and finished
his history of Franslin, and 1t fs now pre-
sented to Us by Mason Brothers in two stout
volumes, well printed, and illustrated with
good steeI portraits. At the outset the nu-
thor tells us that be has rejected the Autohi-
ography of franklin, which has appeared In
all previous 81 Liyes;;"' using it only Is the
material Of history, aud remarktug that while
~ g EYE "nEstenble inie55petlan respecting
little to inPast 10 as respecting the grand
Frauklln, the worlds Frapkiip, the phfloso-
pber, The statesman, the phIlanthropi.t'
This criticism Is true enough, standing sim
1ly as criticism: still, in our Judgment. Mr.
farton hae inade q mistake III o.o{ttas the
Autobiography from place In at leasr the
Appendix to his volumes, where he has
found room for come Of Fsanklin's early pro-
Luctiona far less indicative Of the actual
character OF the mat. 1he charming sim.
pheity and decided originality Of Fsaaklln's
narrative Of bis own life ensitle It t, full
tr.fff Inn khYfn j. Ia
Mt, Parton will embodY it III future editions
at bis work.
ETbe labor OF this blograpler. llke that OF
AE Sparks, eeems to huve been due with
conscientious fidelity. Although no list Of
authorities IL given, We arr told that those
Which have been consulted in the prepare
ton Of the work would require thirty pages
added, With considerable force. that he who
would see Ftauklan Is others saw him must
read ten volumes and consult TWO hundred.
Nor Is this an e1traYsgant assertion. FranA~
lin was many eidcd man, equally at homs
in the simplest md the most recoudlke pur-
kuitei his novel; theories 1ndfug useful
Illustration In bis daily practice, and his prac
tIce testipg his theories; wise il aphorisuas,
Int wiser still IN bis daily life; profoundly
philosophical, but gehlu]ly play Gul Sire I'D
statesman, good MECHANIC, al honest phil
anthrop1st,. q aTig0rous writer and an enter
tanning talkcr. 1t is rarely that one nun
leads so long md various md 60 useful a life
as he, nor Is It isss rsre to find bfoyr.pher
Who ubttes enthusiasm md good sense in
the fatne manner as Mr+ Parton.
Ono pecnliarity Of this book, which In
presses the reader oddly, is the labored effort
TO disabuse TIC popular mind OF tbs belief
fhat franklin Wns 6keptic In matters OF
religion, 1t ts admitted that be became q
frec-1hlnker at the early oge Of fifteen, but
an attempt Is made to prove that before lie
was tWenty.ohe be began to suspect that
while negative beliefs starved the soul, posi-
tive truths alone were nutritive, and Tint
ffue happiness could come only from ptacti-
cal religion. The chapter In which these
"expesisvces' Of the hero Of the story arc
not yery convincing 1t Is evident, notwith-
standing Mr.. PAT TOMS array of testimony
mud argument, that Benjamin Frnnklin ncycr
became an extremely religious man.
The classification Of the book into seven
parts, divides the history Of Franklln's life
into Ecven reriodR, thus: I. Apprenticeship
10 Life; II. Man Of Business; III. In ths
tire Of The Thirteen Colonies at Loudon; V.
Member OF the Congress; VI. Residence 10
France; VII. Last I cars and Labors. The
curly history is very minute and peculiarly
attractive. Indnetrious research has brought
to light mass of forgotten lnuterial which
EE1tA9 ~ AEupl1GtE NHhEAEL&l IL
Its formative state, aud this Ia the salient fua
ture OF A1f. Patton's book. Bygood fortune
aud the favor Of It's 1rcsent pctsessor-fr
a9t seaa~gcna fluff lf cdtbr 81 sSfi
pamphlet entitled "a Uissertlti on Lib.
erts aid Necessity, Pleasure unl Puln'@-a
production which is justly styled "ingcn
lous and daring" especially when 1t Is re-
n.enhe rcd AS tie work OF boy Of nineteen
full Of skepticism ind negat'.,nF, and written
In fh1l1r n 1tH N,>1tAaft,n3a
work chilled the :. '.lieligion OF Nature Dclin.
Gated" Until about i've years asn th{t
brochure was supposed to be irreroca6ly lost
Only one hundred copies were Printed, AM
most Of these were afterwards destroyed b,
frnnklin himself. The pamphlet il reprinted
rntire in the appendix u Ar. Parton's vol
umes.
Another point strongly urged in defense oi
Frunklin'e character, Is that he MAS not trtlls
represented in the ''foor Richard" papers
| that franklin WINS not really the Miaer.y
penny taFlng man that one half the world
Le1ieses him to have been, and that falst
| Judgment Of him has been formed, not un
| naturally, BY the effect OF hts rithy bu'
! ptncbing proverbs. The loving bioysapher
rho ca1tssts his subjict, woul1 have us be'
lievc that Benjamin Franklin Was not a NEAR
| fellow in any eenEe, but lafge-soulta lnan
whose axions merely polluted inorat for tut
good Of poor men struggling as be htnlsel
had strussled-and in order to add force te
! th1a conclusion, we are grave1y treated to I
| iull description Of certain srandalous, not to
say immoral, acts, Of which this same stait
Franklin Was unqueetloaably guilty in hi:
earlier years, and eren up to the tilne Of hii
marriage. In short, according to Mr. Far
after all, Till marriage stea.ied hin, aal L.
kowrd Wild Oats Us the majority Of iner. 10
The account given OF Frauklin's career d;
q Statesman Is sineu1arly full and complete
! cltyer description il given Of his labor
ubtoa1, aud their effect upon the fortunes o
| .he infant nation which he represented, ant
is Clearly Traced. Vi Frauklin's private lif
in France, detailed aud gosslppln; uassa
tive il given.
| The Summing up is fair review of til
career Of f7anslla. We quote ouc passage
sit Is common to say that great merit
imp'. great defer's. This may be true III 4.
poleon, Mirubeau, Noltaire and B, ron. Bu
rc are pow speaking Of man who, bvlu.
his propeuslttes had hardened into unch says
able habits, dtscar1td his weakness, his II
completeness, his latent baseness, his poss
bic moral ruin, And who deliberately set hin
eelf the tack Of correcting his faults, entf:h'
ening his ignorance, and cultlva,in.; his be
ter I,aspre. Franklin, the snatutai man
vas assord' riy man Of genius. fond Of ples
sure, hot aseEss to thu gtosscr pleasures {
sense, capable Of pushing h!s var tn til
world, and Of becoming Sir Benjamin FranE
lin, baronet, commonplace, good naturet
self indulgeut, successful man OF buslnes
ue ehoee The better ct part; he sided ns:a'n'
J Leisure to the pnbitc cnoa. 1t was nstnr
. that he shon,d have been pulled up By b
great celebrity a1d bis great places; ou It
/ crnt1ary be maintained hia ulodesty and h
simplicity, bis lore Of hon1ely old friend
relations and places. To parody Falstatf
words, be was always Ben to his old friend
7 ard Dr. Franklin "to the rest Of Europe
! Except Shakespeare, no great writer b
shown so little Of the vanity Of authorsai
! He dots not appear ever to have su:Scstt
: the collection IT bis writings. OF to have co
4 ce1ued himself In their republication exec
!. as an act OF ffiendsh.p 70 an edito!. W.T.
: thes bad accomplished their Immediate pu
! pose he appears TO bare th:uyht Of them
E more. Aud as to bis Autobiography, VIII
t be had written the few lagee which record
s the faSorite, oft told anecdotes Of bis goat
r full days, be had no bsart IN the work, a,
. cou1d not force himsc't tn complete it.
: had nude, indeed. as complete conquest
J, | selElove ae 1t is desirable a man thnuil.
+ "Neverthelcfs, there must have been sol
+ ehaae TO the picture, else Franklin had y
. ! been humsn. He did not whnllr escape t
j grosepcss Of the age In which be lired, ant
= little Of the yulgarity Of the shop alwa
+ chung to him. LII lster yenrs, at Loudou u
d Paris, he may taye been at tlmes son
thing more OF a ben ein,nt than became I
= man who had demonstrated, At n,neteen, I
c futility Of beer. all men were clubbi
a then, and the uniting element of c1u
:, was, wine. l think, too, that his !
e 1itical opinions were III Some der
d untavorahly affected ey~ his long r.
l. lcnce amorg Quakers. II Ill men co,
IS be puakers, then Franklln's dream Of I
e bought public service might be realized; /
Il !. Wee Of talent, it must be paid fer at the N
: ket price. Ae rule LAWYER IN great pr