OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 239 



OUR MASTER PHILOSOPHER 



93. The preeminent diplomat of 18th Century America and 

 possibly her greatest -diplomat of all time if his paucity of mate- 

 rials be considered, was Benjamin Franklin. Reared under con- 

 ditions of adversity, "the youngest son of a youngest son" for 

 five generations, the triumphs of intellect, diplomacy and states- 

 manship he acquired were titanic. As a physicist his name comes 

 down to posterity almost equivalent to Sir Isaac Newton; as a 

 journalist he combined the talents of a Johnson with the energies 

 of a Greeley; as a state builder he found no rival in the forma- 

 tive republic; and as a diplomat no Hay nor Root could vie with 

 his prowess. The polyhedric personality of this Pennsylvania 

 printer finds not a rival on the scroll of fame of our nation. 



Benjamin Franklin was born January 17, 1706, of pure Eng- 

 lish descent. His father was a soap maker and tallow chandler 

 of Boston, and Benjamin was fourteenth of a double brood that 

 totalled seventeen. The tenth son of his father, he was early 

 destined for the clergy, but financial troubles removed him from 

 the Boston grammar school after one year's attendance. Vicissi- 

 tude stalked the young boy, but he found employment to his lik- 

 ing in the print shop of his brother James. Here he read much 

 from the library of Mathew Arnold and from books he pur- 

 chased with his frugal savings due to living on a vegetable diet. 

 Even during his adolescence he was earnestly striving to perfect 

 his style, and when the colonial assembly forbade James to pub- 

 lish "The New England Courier," Benjamin succeeded to the 

 post, although still a boy in his teens. 



Fraternal friction drove him out within a few months and he 

 landed in Philadelphia after some minor adventures. Here at 

 eighteen he made the friendship of the Royal Governor, Sir Wm. 

 Keith, and secured his backing to send him to England for a 

 printing press. On arrival in London the necessary credits were 

 lacking, however, and he secured employment for a twelvemonth 



