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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 596. 



learned to use the fable, parable, para- 

 phrase, proverb and dialogue. Thirdly, he 

 began very early, while he was still a young 

 boy, to put all he had learned to use in 

 writing for publication. When he was but 

 nineteen years old he wrote and published 

 in London 'A Dissertation on Liberty and 

 Necessity, Pleasure and Pain.' In after 

 years he was not proud of this pamphlet; 

 but it was, nevertheless, a remarkable pro- 

 duction for a youth of nineteen. So soon 

 as he was able to establish a newspaper in 

 Philadelphia he wrote for it with great 

 spirit and in a style at once accurate, con- 

 cise and attractive, making immediate ap- 

 plication of his reading and of the conver- 

 sation of intelligent acquaintances on both 

 sides of the ocean. His fourth principle 

 of education was that it should continue 

 through life, and should make use of the 

 social instincts. To that end he thought 

 that friends and acquaintances might fitly 

 band together in a systematic endeavor 

 after mutual improvement. The Junto 

 was created as a school of philosophy, mo- 

 rality and politics; and this purpose it 

 actually served for many years. Som'e of 

 the questions read at every meeting of the 

 Junto, with a pause after each one, would 

 be curiously opportune in such a society at 

 the present day. For example, No. 5, 

 'Have you lately heard how any present 

 rich man, here or elsewhere, got his estate ? ' 

 And No. 6, 'Do you know of a fellow-citi- 

 zen * * * who has lately committed an 

 error proper for us to be warned against 

 and avoid?' "When a new member was 

 initiated he was asked, among other ques- 

 tions, the following: 'Do you think any 

 person ought to be harmed in his body, 

 name or goods for mere speculative opin- 

 ions or his external way of worship?' and 

 again, 'Do you love truth for truth's salre, 

 and will you endeavor impartially to find, 

 receive it yourself, and communicate it to 

 others?' The Junto helped to educate 



Franklin, and he helped greatly to train 

 all its members. 



The nature of Franklin's own education 

 accounts for many of his opinions on the 

 general subject. Thus, he believed, con- 

 trary to the judgment of his time, that 

 Latin and Greek were not essential subjects 

 in a liberal education, and that mathe- 

 matics, in which he never excelled, did not 

 deserve the place it held. He believed 

 that any one who had acquired a command 

 of good English could learn any other 

 modern language that he really needed 

 when he needed it; and this faith he illus- 

 trated in his own person, for he learnt 

 French, when he needed it, sufficiently well 

 to enable him to exercise great influence for 

 many years at the French court. As the 

 fruit of his education he exhibited a clear, 

 pungent, persuasive English style both in 

 writing and in conversation— a style which 

 gave him great and lasting influence among 

 men. It is easy to say that such a train- 

 ing as Franklin's is suitable only for 

 genius. Be that as it may, Franklin's 

 philosophy of education certainly tells in 

 favor of liberty for the individual in his 

 choice of studies, and teaches that a desire 

 for good reading and a capacity to write 

 well are two very important fruits of any 

 liberal culture. It was all at the service 

 of his successor Jefferson, the founder of 

 the University of Virginia. 



Franklin's studies in natural philosophy 

 are characterized by remarkable directness, 

 patience and inventiveness, absolute candor 

 in seeking the truth, and a powerful scien- 

 tific imagination. What has been usually 

 considered his first discovery was the now 

 familiar fact that northeast storms on the 

 Atlantic coast begin to leeward. The 

 Pennsylvania fireplace he invented was an 

 ingenious application to the warming and 

 ventilating of an apartment of the laws 

 that regulate the movement of hot air. At 

 the age of forty-one he became interested 



