New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-03-27
Written for the New Orleans Republican. J
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,
BY NETTIE c. NIL.

BY NErTIE C. MI.
To the fraternity Of incapables, who pride
themselves in knowing how to do very little
and in doing thst little as seldom as pos.
sible, the character of Franklin may be 8
broad target. on which, in pigmy audacity,
they break their spears of rushes, fancying
the shiny smear, which the dews of night
will wash away, has blotted from earth his
name and remembrance.
But, to the proud sons of Hercules, who,
standing at the lever of labor, are conscious
that they alone are the movers of thejworld,
the name of Franklin stimulates to holder
efforts in the field of action, and rouses that
tempestuous enthusiasm which sweeps
through the host, when in its midst is heard
the "shout of king"
Franklin was not ''born great" neither
was greatness 'thrust upon him." but, as q
penniless, toiling mechanic, with the
strength of his good right arm and unpatron-
lied intellect alone, he Numbered at the
adamantine doors Of science, and little by
little, by dlnt of hardy industry, mined his
way'to the very heart of the gorgeous citadel.
Once there, he seized the throne, and grssped
the thunderbolt, and who, and where is the
transcendant genius who shall wrest from
him the crown?
Invention is one of the great distinctive
traits between man and the beast, and pre-.
eninently marks the ascending traits from
savage to civilized life. Necessity shsrpens
and develops the inventive faculty, as it does
the sense of hearing when one loses the
eye, but necessity will not create faculty
where it is lacking.
So the native Indians, though their neces-
1sities were as incumbent as those of their
white successors, never, in the most remote
degree, Appropriated the white race in their
powers of invention; neither, in view of the
white mans achievements, do they develop
q corresponding power in suggested inven-
ton or imitation.
Neither are the whites, among themselves,
alike endowed with inventive faculties. A
few giant intellects "blaze I" new pathways
in the forests, and, in their rear follow the
hewers Of trees, the Jewelers. of roads, the
architects Of dwellings, the husbandman, the
devotee of fine arts, and thousand toilers,
who tax their utmost powers to perfect the
plans Of their mighty leader; and such a
leader was Franklin, his discoveries being
OF that inductive nature, that in looking
around upon the improvements of modern
civilization, it is difficult to say for what
we are, or are not, directly or indirectly in.
.debted to him.
The marked traits OF Franklin'5 charac.
Ger were indefatigable mental and physical
industry, and the cultivation to exquisite
delicacy of his powers of observation.
IL physical effort he was proud to be q
manual laborer, and ambitious of labor
.ez's reputation. In his printers cap and
apron, with roled-up sleeves, he trundled
his wheelbarrow of stationery through the
streets of Philadelphia, as if in toll he felt
the dignified consciousness that ne more
nearly Appropriated the image" of the
creative God.
In mental tasks, he taxed himself to leach
days advance, at least one step in ascend
ing the hill of science" His companions
were Instructive works, which gave, for his
time in their perusal, ample material for
after reflection. To learned English
authors, he eventually added the acquisition
ofseveral languages, and thus, little by little,
he mounted, until he stood on the proud
eminence of companionship with the most
learned of his day.
OF his assiduity in tracing phenomena we
-
his letters published in the British Museum,
of Decem Der, I768. He there states that, in
I755, while riding with party of gentlemen
in Maryland, his attention was arrested by a
little conical whirl of wind, which went
careering along the road in a direction d.
rectly opposite to that of the prevailing
wind, its small end down, and the largerlend
up. The outline of this funnel-shaped whirl
was distinctly marked by the dust and light
articles which were sucked up by the lower
and smaller end, and given off at the upper
and larger extreme, the opposing current
Of wind scattering these materials far in its
rear. Franklin struck it with his riding
whip, without producing any effect,
and as it went on, coquettishly vee1ing
to, the right or left, now moving on
rapidly, anon becoming stationary,
he left the riding party to follow its course.
As it advanced, it increased in size and
power, On reaching the woods, lifting o
great cloud of leaves, and swaying small
trees with it's proves, finally passing OF
into field, where Franklin abandoned it to
its peregrinaticns. On returning to his
q com panions, Franklin inquired if such
whirls were often seen in Maryland.
s.No, they are not all common, was the
pleasant reply of his entertainer, Colonel
Tasker, shut we got this on purpose to treat
Hr. Franklin
Again we have, in 1853, a paper advocat-
ing chimney reform, which should dimin-
1sh the huge fireplace to one that would
measure but three feet by two. The minute
ness with which he argues for this reduction
h size shows the difficulty he anticipated
nconyincing mankind of the availability OF
Is plan for enhancing their comforts at 8
seduction in Trouble and expense.
"Tke opening of the chimney" he says,
ID contracted by brickwork, faced with mar.
bae slabs, to about two feet between the
SAnAA9s Aaa 49, egsnnk bxopsht down Ia