The Irish standard., 1906-01-20
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
Last Wednesday was the two hun
dredth anniversary of the birth of
Benjamin Franklin. Viewed from the
distance of almost a century and a
half the life work of Benjamin Frank
lin stands forth greater than that of
any other single American. While
Washington was winning victories
upon land and Barry am Jones were
defeating the British CNn the sea,
Benjamin Franklin was winning dip
lomatic victories for the young nation
before the courts of Europe. He was
the brainiest, most cultured and great
est all around man connected with the
establishment of our country. But
for his brilliant and tactful efforts be-
fore the courts Of Europe Washington
would not have been able to shake
off the British yoke. Franklin OBJ
tanned the financial and moral support
necessary to enable Washington to do
his work. There were many great
men connected with Revolutionary
days. Franklin was not only a great
and brainy man; he was truly
genius. He was publisher, scient-
list. philosopher, humorist, States
man and diplomat. He was not
specifically versatile, but in each of
the branches of endeavor in which he
books that became classics, he de-
vised machines that revolutionized GER
tain fields of industry he was a lead
ing member in all the deliberations
resulting in the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, he chained the lightning"
and when war finally broke out he
startled the world by his ability as
a diplomat. There were a number of
men upon any one of whom the sue
cess of the American Revolution may
have depended. There is probably no
one of them whose place could not
have been filled by some other man
except the place occupied by Benjamin
Franklin. He was by far the most
versatile character connected with that
stirring period and yet he was prob
ably the most Democratic of them all.
So Democratic was he in his man.
ners and ideals that he was often
scoffed at. Many of the things which
he said in Poor Richards Almanac
were so plain and commonplace when
once announced that they attracted
nothing but mirth and laughter, and
yet it was this characteristic of the
mind Of Benjamin Franklin the fac
ulty Of reasoning from the simple to
the complex; from the individual in
stance to the type or class, that made
Franklin so great He looked upon
everything >in it's relation to iother
things The sparks that came from
q cats back suggested to him thun-
der and lightning. Countless others
had witnessed the same spectacle
without anything being suggested to
their minds except the sparks and the
cats back
The people of the United States are
about to take the view of Franklin
which Europe has always held, and
that is that he was the greatest of all
Americans. His personality and his
ability attracted everyone with whom
he was thrown in contact. Edmond
Burke said of him on his appearance
before the bar of the House Of Com
mons in England, 1.-The scene remind
ed me of a master examined by par
eel of schoolboys." John Adams, who
was his colleague at the Court of
France, said: "Franklin's reputation
is more universal than that of Leib-
nifty or Newton; Frederick or Voltaire,
and his character more beloved and
esteemed than all Of them" It will
be well, indeed, If this two hundredth
anniversary Of the birth of Benjamin
Franklin will incite in Americans
desire to know more about the great
genius who had so much to do with
the beginning of our country. There
is no better way to learn of Franklin
than to read his own autobiography
and letters in which the history of
his life is told in his own language.
Washington, Adams, Hancock, Hamil-
ton and Jefferson were great men. but
Benjamin Franklin was a genius.
DR.. Charles Elliott Norton, an aged