“Franklin” is another word for usefulness, self-denial, frugality, perseverance, and independence. A poor printer’s boy, who, by his own unaided powers raised himself from the lowest place of society to the highest, and contributed alike to the advancement of science, and to the independence of one of the finest countries of the earth. His discovery of the identity of lightning and electricity, and the invention of the lightning-rod; the explanation of the aurora borealis and thunder-gusts upon electrical principles, are triumphs of the philosopher. His ardent support of the new Republic, his activity, judgment, and resources, speak for the statesman and the lover of liberty. His language unadorned, but ever pure and expressive; his reasoning manly and cogent, and so concise that he never exceeded a quarter of an hour in any public address. His correspondence a model of clearness and compendious brevity. Scrupulously punctual in all his dealings. An exemplar of economy, and regularity. His life, one of the most instructive and encouraging studies for youth, since it exhibits the sufferings, the trials, the power, and the victory of self-command, temperance and industry, and the reward of genius overcoming all the difficulties of fortune.
[By Houdon.]
424A. Benjamin Franklin. Statesman and Philosopher.
[By Hiram Powers.]
425. Samuel Johnson. Writer and Moralist.
[Born at Lichfield, 1709. Died in London, 1784. Aged 75.]
The son of a bookseller in Lichfield. Educated at Oxford, but compelled to leave the University without a degree, in consequence of the misfortunes of his father. Then an usher,—and then, marrying,—the proprietor of a private academy in his native city. He had only three pupils, but one of them was David Garrick. Master and pupil went up together to London in search of fortune. Both found what they sought—the pupil suddenly and brilliantly; the master, after trial, privation, and suffering. In 1738, Johnson published his first poem, “London.” Twelve years later, he came forth as an essayist in the “Rambler.” In 1755, appeared his “Dictionary of the English Language,” a seven years’ labour; and in 1781, “The Lives of the Poets.” In 1762, a pension of £300 a-year was settled upon him by King George III. The tradition of Johnson in society is of a literary and moral dictator—a character which, as far as he was concerned, implied much rather the depth of conviction with which he championed great interests, than the pride of self-conscious intellect, the taste for conflict, or the thirst of rule; and which the listeners conceded yet more in reverence for the personal worth of the man, than in submission to his intellectual superiority. He is one of the manliest and most robust minds in our letters. From moral sense and religion, from deep natural concern, his giant will was devoted to the great interests of mankind. He felt in himself a vocation to sustain these interests, and he was the sturdiest of combatants in the prosecution of his moral crusade. His style is stately, nervous, Latin, original, singularly suited to his mind, which gave a direction to contemporary minds, and largely fashioned the literature of his time. The prime characteristic of his writings is unquestionably strong, solid sense, mixed it may be with onesidedness, but bright with acute reflection. Johnson’s exterior was unwieldy, his manners were not polished, but a tenderer heart never beat than his own. He could utter a withering epigram. He never committed a deliberately unkind act. His house was a hospital for the sick and distressed; he could not walk the streets without emptying his pockets into the hands of beggars, and his great heart melted under a tale of sorrow and injustice. He had strong prejudices, and although sincerely pious, was superstitious. He loved to speak in aphorisms, and we still quote his sayings, as attributing to him something of the dignity and weight of an oracle. His life influenced his age. After his death he still exercises his influence, for he has given occasion to the most perfect and amusing biography in the language.
425A. Samuel Johnson. Writer and Moralist.
[This statue, by J. Bacon, R.A., is at the South End of the Nave, on the East Side; for account of which, see Handbook to Modern Sculpture.]
426. Adam Smith. Philosopher and Political Economist.