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HISTORICAL SERIES No. 14
THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
BY
M. L. WEEMS
STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK
THE LIFE OF
Benjamin Franklin
WITH MANY
CHOICE ANECDOTES AND ADMIRABLE SAYINGS OF THIS GREAT MAN
NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED BY ANY OF HIS BIOGRAPHERS
BY
M. L. WEEMS
AUTHOR OF "THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON"
"Sage Franklin next arose in cheerful mien, And smil'd, unruffled, o'er
the solemn scene; High on his locks of age a wreath was brac'd, Palm of
all arts that e'er a mortal grac'd; Beneath him lay the sceptre kings
had borne, And crowns and laurels from their temples torn."
NEW YORK
STREET & SMITH, PUBLISHERS
238 WILLIAM STREET
_To the Reader_
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the long period of time that the publications of Street & Smith have
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with enterprise and the ability to maintain the front rank for so many
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STREET & SMITH.
LIFE OF FRANKLIN.
CHAPTER I.
DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL
SOCIETY; FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH, LONDON AND PARIS;
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA; AND MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY
FROM THE UNITED STATES TO THE COURT OF FRANCE, was the son of an
obscure tallow-chandler and soap-boiler, of Boston, where he was born
on the 17th day of January, 1706.
Some men carry letters of recommendation in their looks, and some in
their names. 'Tis the lot but of few to inherit both of these
advantages. The hero of this work was one of that favoured number. As
to his physiognomy, there was in it such an air of wisdom and
philanthropy, and consequently such an expression of majesty and
sweetness, as charms, even in the commonest pictures of him. And for
his name, every one acquainted with the old English history, must
know, that Franklin stands for what we now mean by "Gentleman," or
"CLEVER FELLOW."
In the days of AULD LANG SYNE, their neighbours from the continent
made a descent "_on the fast anchored isle_," and compelled the hardy,
red-ochred natives to buckle to their yoke. Among the victors were
some regiments of Franks, who distinguished themselves by their valor,
and still more by their politeness to the vanquished, and especially
to the females. By this amiable gallantry the Franks acquired such
glory among the brave islanders, that whenever any of their own people
achieved any thing uncommonly handsome, he was called, by way of
compliment, FRANKLIN, _i.e._ a little Frank. As the living flame does
not more naturally tend upwards than does every virtue to exalt its
possessors, these little Franks were soon promoted to be great men,
such as justices of the peace, knights of the shire, and other such
names of high renown. Hence those pretty lines of the old poet
Chaucer--
"This worthy Franklin wore a purse of silk
Fix'd to his girdle, pure as morning milk;
Knight of the shire; first justice of th' assize,
To help the poor, the doubtful to advise.
In all employments, gen'rous just he prov'd;
Renown'd for courtesy; by all belov'd."
But though, according to Dr. Franklin's own account of his family,
whose pedigree he looked into with great diligence while he was in
England, it appears that they were all of the "_well born_," or
gentlemen in the best sense of the word; yet they did not deem it
beneath them to continue the same useful courses which had at first
conferred their titles. On the contrary, the doctor owns, and indeed
glories in it, that for three hundred years the eldest son, or heir
apparent in this family of old British gentlemen, was invariably
brought up a blacksmith. Moreover, it appears from the same
indubitable authority, that the blacksmith succession was most
religiously continued in the family down to the days of the doctor's
father. How it has gone on since that time I have never heard; but
considering the salutary effects of such a fashion on the prosperity
of a young republic, it were most devoutly to be wished that it is
kept up: and that the family of one of the greatest men who ever lived
in this or any other country, still display in their coat of arms, not
the barren _gules_ and _garters_ of European folly, but those better
ensigns of American wisdom--the SLEDGE-HAMMER and ANVIL.