The sun., 1903-12-13
FRANKLIN.
CHOATE'S HiH'
MTNGH.iM ADDRESS.

(ne DeCI0TUtIOu Wv
| Education is low in all cNillHea COUNT ,.' u~
hid question of the hour, ana the unso,o"
broblems Of secondary technical ana UNI,
tersity education are engaging uhiNeIea,
sttention As n diversion from this ReheIai
s,i.c,s.io,, IL NAV not be uninteresting to
study the lives OF those great and rare men
Who without any OF these e1traneous Aus
achieve undying fame aud confer priceless
blessings on mankind. For them sehoo'e.
VoTeges and universities are OF little account
tnd are not required for their development
hhe world is their school. ana necessS "
uften their only teacher. but their lives are
shA world 5 treasures. 1t is in this vie"
shat ask your attention for brief hour 10
vbe life, character and achievements OF Ben
uamin Franklin of Philadelphia.
His whole career has been summed up by
This great French statesman who was one OF
his personal friends and correspondents IN
kx words-Latin words. OF course:
"Eripuit cplo fulmen. sceptrumone tyran-
his which unfortunately for our language
esnnot be translated into English in less
than twelve,
He snatohed the ligltnins from the skies
bnd the seeptre troIn tyrants.
Surely the briefest and most brilliant
Biography ever written. lie enlarged the
boundaries OF human knowledge by oscoN-
ering laws and facts Of nature unknown
before and applying them ~ the Use ana
hervce OF mau. and that entities him To last
Sng fame. But his other serN,r" TO tuan-
Kind differed from this only IN Kind and was
S,iite equal in degree. For he stands second
bnly to WashnS ton in thu list OF heroic patriots
who on both sides OF the Auai tic stood Tor
these Fundamental principles OF English
liberty which eliminated in the dependence
kf the United States ard have ever s.'.tr
k,sen shared by the Eneli-'I speaking race
the world over.
BIRTH AAp tAELY turo.rIoS.
You must all be- familiar u;th tsc pIiniipSl
fasts in Frankln's life tie was born
British subject a. Bost ton in Massachusetts,.
shan q village OF about i:,oNd ianlHbtane'
bnl7o6, tho year In which MarHororh won
1ho battle OF Families and made every New
sLSlss.asr very proud Ol being y subject of
;Queeu Anne. He was the ilft"enthrchlid Ia
u family pf seventeen u rate Of multiplication
!bnough to frighten the life ont OF Nautilus.
iA1d more than gu ffolen, 10 satisfy the eHtreln-
A0nAnds OF President Roosevelt His father.
horn ii Ecton. i'll Norlhanpto onshire. came
1sf that anoisnt and sturdy Saxon yeomsnry
which has done so much for the making of
&Agland. Having followed the trade OF a
dyer for some years at Banbury. he enigraied
IN 1885 to Boston, where uudiHG little cuuo'N-
neenent for his old trade, he engaged IL the
business of talloT chandler and soap hc'er.
The boy could never relnenber when tie
learned 10 read aud wiic, and al s years old
he WAS sent to the Boston Grammar School.
me of those free comulon schools then hd
over since the pride Of the Colony aud the
state. But in two yeurs. at the age or 10.
his school days were over. forever. His
father. finding that with the heavy burden
uf his great family he could afford him no
more education, took the child home TO Assist
in his business. and the nrNt two years the
future philosopher and djrlomaiisb spent in
snItfinv sap1la wipks hllir,p plnilnS tending
the shop and running errands,
That be highly valued the little schooling
that he had. meagre Ss IL must have been
appears from his last wall made sixty-two
years afterward. in which he says thai ts
owed his drst instruction in literature 20 tho
Yreo efaiaHiSF schools Of mis- native town Of
Boston. and leaves 70 theNt0~n one hnndrsd
pounds sterling, the annual interest 10 he laid
out In silver Inedas 10 be distributed ~
hon ora ry~ rewards in those schools, and L"
this day the Franklin medals are striren for
and valued as the most honorable prize lhst
n Boston~boy can ain. ... ,..
But how did this particular boy, without
an hours tuition Of any kind after he was
40 years old, come TO be the most famous
American of his tine, and win Lis place in
the front rank of the worlds scientists. diplo-
matists, statesmen, men of letters aud men
OF affairs? 1t was by sheer force OF brains.
character, severe self-discipiinc, untiring in
slustry and nother-Sit. His predominant
Srait was practical common sense amounting
to genius. God gave him the sound mind
In the sound body. and he did the rest him
aeh. He soon revolted at the vulgar duties
OF his fathers busin ess, and at the age OF II
wss apprentioed till his majority 10 his elder
brother. who was printer aud bookseller,
snd the publisher OF the Neu EnDload Courdm.
one Of the earliest newspapers in the Colonies
From this time forward the printing o1ice
- AZ b1n nClv0nl and hiA university. and DrOh-
ably did more TOR him than Oxford OF Hdr-
ward could then have done. With raging
thirst for knowledge lie developed a keen
and Unfailing observation of things and OF
men, and, above all, "a constant study OF him.
self, Of which he was very rare example.
He deuied himself every pleasure but road
ing, and robbed his body of food and sleep
that he light nnd time and food for his mind.
reading every good book on which he could
day his hands. He soon mustered the art OF
printing as it was then known. and very early
developed a faculty for the Use or his pen
which gave his brain vent. He began with
two ballads--"The Lighthouse Tragedy" aud
-Blackbeard the Pirate"-and huNked theru
about the town. The first, he says, sold
wonderfully. hut bis father discouraged him
by ridculing his performances and telling
him verse makers were generally beggars,
and So" he says. a escaped being poet
most probably a very bad one"
very soon he began contributing leading
articles to the CouroDf. and when he was Is
his brother having been placed under an
triterdict for criticising the authorities, he
became himself the publisher and editor, and
Of course the circulation Increased. But
he was still only All apprentice, and his manly
and independent spirit found it. as hard ia
brook the indignties and blows TO which his
master. though he was his brother, subjected
him, as he had found it before to ladle the
,allow and ill the moulds in his fathers
shop and so nj II he took TO his heels. shook
the dust of Boston from mis- feet and ran
away to Philadelphia, ss ,.4
- r,Esr VISIT rosLoNDoS -
Ii. landed! in the Quaker City with but one
dollar iip HIS pocket, aud ~ he had often
diassl on ,hrcad hc bought three rolls and
marched hp Market'stfeet, his pocket stuffed
with shirts and stockings, eating one .roll
and with another Nnder~ach arm. His future
wife saw him in this guise as he passed her
fathcra door and thought he presented a
ridiculous appearance. as lie certainly did,
Buf he bad thorolshly learned his trade
and soon found employment as a journey
man printer. He would have gone on very
well lind he not been sent to London by [ he