His country owes much to him for his service in various public capacities; the world owes much to the fruits of his pen; but his greatest contribution to the welfare of mankind, probably, was what he did by his example and life to dignify manual labour. While Diderot was teaching the dignity of labour in France and the folly of social standards that proscribed it, Franklin was illustrating it in America, and proving by his own most conclusive example that
"Honour and fame from no condition rise."
There are few born into this world so ill-conditioned that they cannot find comfort and encouragement from some portion of the life of Franklin; none of any station who may not meditate on it with advantage. That feature of it which is most valuable will probably be found most difficult to imitate. It is stated by himself in the following extract from his diary in 1784:—
"Tuesday 27th.—Lord Fitzmaurice called to see me, his father having requested that I should give him such instructive hints as might be useful to him. I occasionally mentioned the old story of Demosthenes's answer to one who demanded what was the first point of oratory? Action; the second? Action; the third? Action,—which I said had been generally understood to mean the action of an orator with his hands in speaking but that I thought another kind of 'action' of more importance to an orator who would persuade people to follow his advice, viz.,—such a coarse of action in the conduct of life as world impress them with an opinion of his integrity as well as of his understanding; that this opinion once established, all the difficulties, delays, and oppositions usually occasioned by doubts and suspicious were prevented; and such a man, though a very imperfect speaker, would almost always carry his points against the most flourishing orator who had not the character of sincerity. To express my sense of the importance of a good private character in public affairs more strongly, I said the advantage of having it, and the disadvantage of not having it, were so great that I even believe if George III. had had a bad private character and John Wilkes a good one, the latter might have turned the former out of his kingdom."
Though Franklin was far from being insensible to what are termed worldly considerations, his public life was singularly free from any vulgar or degrading trace of self seeking; he never is found making the public interests secondary to his own; though holding office a good portion of his life, he never treated office holding as a profession, nor the public treasury as the accumulations of the many for the good of a few. His private affairs and the public business were never allowed to become entangled or to depend the one upon the other. Though, from the nature of his various employments, a target for every form of malevolence and detraction during the last half of his life, his word was never impeached, nor his good faith and fairness, even to his enemies, successfully questioned. Of some irregularities in his youth he early repented, and for the benefit of mankind made a public confession, and all the reparation that was possible.
The most complete edition of Franklin's works is that of Jared Sparks, in 10 vols. 8vo, Boston, 1836-40. An edition of the autobiography, revised by John Bigelow, from original MSS., appeared in 1868, and again in 1875, 3 viols. Parton's Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, 2 vols., was published at New York in 1864.
Transcriber's Note
Page 20 "forcaste" was changed to "forecast" (With his usual tact and forecast).