Show t f p 1 3 fI f I I I r re II IIi e t f rte i i l s S 'S Si y t r yh rA uN 7 q r qs l t 00 J v r 0 I I 1 By ELMO SCOTT WATSON F BENJAMIN FRANKLIN LIN were alive aUte today I 1 WilliE It may perhaps be Idle business to speculate upon the results re rev of such nn an event as ea stated In la Inthe Inthe lathe the foregoing In these modern days of American participation n In world affairs end with a 8 new administration tion facing the solution n of ot Important International problems It might be particularly advantageous for this country to have han a modem modern j I Benjamin Franklin us its an ambassador of ot good 11 III In helping solve them l For or Benjamin Frankln Frank Frank- t. t ln Americas America's first ambassador In fact fiut even If It Iti n nut JIt t officially entitled to that distinction ns one i cf of f the most skillful diplomats who ever represented represent ed the United States States' abroad As January 17 11 approaches to mark the anni anniversary of Franklins Franklin's birth Americans are likely to remember him principally because Thrift week which hl begins on Hint lot recalls to their minds hl the fact fill that lt Franklin through his Ioor Poor Richards Richard's I Almanac was I th the first American apostle of ot thrift The printers and newspaper men of ot America Amer ten Ira will remember him then because 1 17 Is the Ibe beginning of ot Newspaper Nt week and recalls Ills his great service pr as ns a n In the Journalism of 1 i thug this country o And such was wall the pr versatility of this I man teat flot various other groups will have ha occasion I to remember him because e lie he w was us nn an Inventor II n a scientist t n philosopher and a writer Hut But few I of ot as us know v much about him In another role that role that I V of ambassador to France whose accomplishments ac se were of t Incalculable value to the j i cause couse of ot liberty and but hul for whom the struggle to toJ toJ toj J j gain that liberty might not have hn been successful For reason the appearance of ot a 0 new hook honk Is ts tsI It Is III Franklin particularly timely Benjamin of ot Paris Pane 1770 by Willis Stroll Steele and published pub pub- published I recently by MInton Hatch and company When Franklin was wall selected In 1776 1771 as one liP of l three thre commissioners of equal powers powe In Franco ran f to tot t angle for aid for tor the revolting re colonies n s poto post pot o which called for the most sagacious kind of M handling han I dung of ot delicate International questions th the I I choice was IS a happier one ont than the Continental congress realized nt lit that lint time i For or or this was not t t Franklins Franklin's first visit to In France He lie had been there thereIn In 1707 An As Ana a philosopher an and a n scientist I he had been welcomed by the best t minds of f the thO time In InI I France and had hod been Invited In to become a s member of ot the School of ot Economists Doctor former physician to the fatuous famous de Pompadour Pom- Pom Im but more mort nOI as liS The Apostle of nf the Economists wrote a s note to which said I Doctor Franklin hll hat hai I Just II loft left me be hp Is III the sage we 1 pictured that lint and end more humorist philosopher old regime gentleman a miracle out omit of ot an uninhabited country lie Ile was presented pro pre at tie court of Louis XV V and made friend Friend- friendships lid ships which h were dp destined to 10 be bt of great I value alue later Again In la 1700 he hI returned to France Frame after I i an en extended stay In England n land where he hp nerved Pc as agent for tor Georgia New Jersey lersey and Massachusetts I and had been IO looked upon as HI a I colonial ambassador ambassador dor at nt a time when the first storm clouds cloud of nf the tile I Revolution were trl hP beginning In to loom up on nn the horizon On this thle tl visit Steen records The Tilt old friends ran to tn him In crowds and others by their panegyrics Mile Allie modeled him himIn himIn Ii In wax popular artists asked him to tit sit III end and If It he declined sketched him from memory The 1111 Econ rena Economists I om lilts held a special session In his honor nt Dubourg the Count and Countess de do- devised wised entertainments with Franklin as ea the truest guest of ot honor Now In flirt fart and to his satisfaction Franklin made the acquaintance of It an exceeding number of ot good ladles The popularity of or this man who had hod once nce beena been a penniless boy hoy In Philadelphia end and a wandering wander lag ing printer In England and who when he ht was wag later loer chosen as 18 a 8 commissioner to France described de Sf scribed himself as a fug ing end because his hi I t came up ul fur for consideration In ID the Continental ron eon press gross ns as an nn afterthought In Paris arts the Ihl renter center of It r f the most lO brilliant sophisticated and Intellectual rI I i e sl and diplomatic life lite In Europe Is explained by Siet-ll Siet as 8 follows H rl When n Franklin Flanklin came am to Part Parla and m met t the m men and nd wnm women n of o society with lIh Ih their lr graceful logt their enticing viers vi h he came rame am no not to 10 Judo fudge but to tl accept with open mind all Ih the th vl view w. w end Ind I standard of a II lie II h hurt had l nn no pride and anil no nn r. r reserves reserve rv all men In him and he could interest t any man ll I hud huil early curly ho how lo to choose rho Ih the right words word or to la any ay II what he h. meant mant lo to t ui I i lo to hid tilde fc First 1 r I df 8 l 4 1 t t e 6 V V t I S t f t what he did not without great creat rat originality tin In fact charges charge of plagiarism m brought against 1 him for some of his hI most moat famous pieces have ha never been fully disproved ed nevertheless his hi table talk and ha he letters letter are a as delightful now as al they were In his hla day Urbane t che-t cheerful aware of the the- sun nun though It might be b. hidden behind a cloud tills this man had by nature the he gift of social ease ae This Is I lea a trait to which lh all 1111 Trench French women Aspire and one one on th they most moot admire In their men Their brothers found him responsible deliberate de thrifty rill nil French Ira traits Its Is I. It surprising th l tl tty ty received him as aa one of them themselves eel uT l Vt Knowing these fuels facts then theD It I Is not surprising to 10 learn of nt the th ovation oration which Franklin was given riven when hen he be arrived in France In November No 1770 In commenting upon that reception Steell draws an Interesting parallel with a modern Incident He Ile says nays When th the news new of ot Franklin arrival reached Paris the city turned out n rn manse masse On vr every sounded Founded the name Franquel l. l In And nn an ovation o was a prepared for him such ouch as the Ih town had never before arranged for an any stranger Granger Franklin came cam back not to a coterie of ot the tha Intelligentsia but to 10 the whole French rench r who had never ne heard of his hla former pre presence among them The excitement too too Included d ev every ry class c of ot society the tb aristocrats the bourgeoisie the workers work work- etc ers lIn came from a people sharing a anew anew anew new land tand with the Red Hed Indians Indian a land from which the hereditary n enemies of ot France had driven her settler and a people which was wan now engaged Inn In a n struggle for life tIt or death with the hal hated d Eng En- Rah In Is the Ih latter bUn thought may be b. found a partial reason for their enthusiasm but bul only a part That an old eld man Uhl the French had added 10 sons son's years year to Franklins Franklin dl had left Idt ha h's quiet hearth hurth bra braved v the winter sea en to 10 come tome to teach them the true tru rights of lit man nan warmed the universal heart and Inspired In each earh person eurn the strong desire to 10 see nee for tor himself this Ibis man this men th embodied d dream drum Th The aged man weak from confinement nl scarce genre I ly able ahle to 10 walk craved only a quiet Inn where he hi might rest reel for a few fw days 1 preparing for foe the theland theland land journey tourney Hut But It II was wan not to tl he be People crowded crowd cro ed round him him to 10 touch his hand to 10 t feel lI hit hl alit var m ment nl The bunas of the crowd rod kept him fr m a. I Bleeping leeping A great Hlat feast of oC welcome was Will made read ready for him Mm at Nantes A modern Instance Lindbergh Lindbergh's arrival In Purls Part In 1927 1921 saves vel this Ihl description of ot the wild enthusiasm rem by the people of ot Carls tarl for Franklin from the charge charKe of ot exaggeration It Is la the single example ex es ample of ot modern times to 10 reach the Franklin climax and It II should be b. Interesting to compare om pare the two Portraits Portrait purporting to be faithful likenesses like II nesses I of or the Sago Sag a appeared liP re on the street the day after his hll arrival artists who had never seen aen him taxed d their Imagination for foi a picture of or the man mab who drew lightning front flom the clouds and these were artlessly accepted as u faithful until Doctor Voctor Quesnay placed d a portrait of hi his friend inthe In Ir Inthe the Ihl hand hands of or and Mlle Mile had copies ople made of her wax wex rangy mg Meanwhile every r sort lort of or commodity was U put In shop windows la labeled labeled ta la bel d Franklin But Rut despite this tumultuous welcome the he Job which confronted Franklin wu was no sinecure Upon the Invitation In of lay Hay uV tit Chaumont Franklin es s established his hll headquarters In the lintel Hotel de tie deulen Valen ulen In Pussy fussy II a i on un the outskirts of Purls furls and although the de tie Valentines was looked upon upun a u as the American fm embassy ass Franklins Franklin status ai liS an n ambassador was not nut officially fog The Cointe Conte d de der er Vergennes minister of foreign for tor- eign a affairs affaire Ifo I rs made It plain when he lie received Ion and his hla fellow tellow commissioners Silas Deane and Arthur Ix lee It e that he saw law them not Dot as 08 ambassadors but as gentlemen to whom he he wished to show respect Thill This Vergennes however how however ever ner while telling Franklin that hU king loula Loul XVI X had lead warned halm to 10 preserve er e neutrality for fur Impoverished France orlOe would Id fall It i hll cause If lih she alma broke with was wag the Ite same er y 1 n j I 1 x lI lIM who closed his eyes yes or looked the other other wa way when cannon lonnon was surreptitiously removed from royal foal arsenals and loaded on ships with an unknown un an- known destination I l INor INor lNor Nor was Franklins Work made mode any lighter by his hla associates However Deane though honest hoolSt but totally Incompetent and blundering In his hla relations to the French government was soon recalled Lee an envious emlous marplot eaten up with Jealous hatred for tor Franklin certainly wits was more of ot ofa a 1 hindrance than a help until Franklin brushed him aside as ns he would a wasp wn John Adams Adam who succeeded Deane was a man of ot greater caliber but hut he had strong prejudices and he did not like Franklin whose whole head bend was turned he thou thought ht by admiration and flattery Not only did he tell Franklin that he disapproved td of ot all 1111 his conduct but hilt Adams constantly wrote letters back to America Amer lea Ira criticizing criticising Franklin and apparently doln doing all aU he hI could cold to tn discredit him at home Fortunately however howe congress had hod enough confidence In Franklin to allow alIo him a free fre hand and an 80 sn despite all the difficulties he ht finally triumphed triumphed-in In the treaty of alliance with France the loans of nr large sunn sumi of nt money and the aid of ot French troops aUnt all aU of nt which contributed so 80 materially to tn the success of ot the tile Involution Although the story of ot Benjamin Franklin ambassador In 10 Paris Is the more Important story In American history the tile story of Benjamin Franklin the man milD has a n greater element of ot human Interest It Is doubtful If t the world ever t before or since has seen the Ike IkI of hi his career career- this simple unaffected American colonial winning the Ihl hearts of nf n a whole nation ns DS did he hI Steell's hook book Is III full till of ot this story story story-of of Franklins Franklin's friendship for th the great men of ot France Prance at nt a R lime when wIlen she was W producing greet greit men philosophers men philosophers economists mists and nn scholars And 1111 perhaps most mOlt human of ed of nil all Is his hili conquest of or the IiiI hearts of ot the lie good grod 1 00 ladles For there Is no denying the till fact fat that Benjamin Franklin a n way with him when women concerned The were wert record of or his hi friendship hn based on mutual admiration for tor those qualities of ot mind and heart henrt shown ho hy by both bath parties to tie the friendship with the blind Madame du lit Def Def- fond famous for tor her love lore with Horace Will Val pole OIA und and her pr friendship with Voltaire with Mme Mime with Mme Mimic and with n II host t hotot of ot other brilliant women forms torm one of the ihl most romantic tinges pages In the hl history tory of nf human society And certainly It Is in all the lie more to 10 hi his credit lit II-lit the attention which he received I from such brilliant women did not nol turn his hili bend bead A lesser leRer lesserman lesserman man mon Franklin probably would hit have 1 under the circumstances furnished another shining example of ot women oll En making tool fool of nf a n R man man Ir It this rl regard rd Steell's comment Is III Interesting ting Oe Ills says SOI The list or of French men mn and andor won or ora who hl admired and courted him might he h. a II so as II lo to In In- elude dudl e e every eny ery ny of personage fashion or fame then ii tag Ing In Paris Parla Franklin was a acknowledged b by lout tout Paris Par to be bl a great wit wh when n this thin capital appreciated wit It above abne all ail else llIe and his hie genius for friendship would hll have kept him In 1 r remembrance had h he no an other claim In his ht lighter as III In his hll more mood in to hl hi his philandering is as In hit his business contact the man Franklin is I. always alwa there never er lo to b be en n for tor another who lived wrote rota find Ind talked In his hi time lie worshiped science sri all ence natural enee-natural natural history hIPler n In n the Ih lead Iud he hi tov loved d good talk and all the other good fond things of ot life he ad mired great men and he dol doted d on nn pr pretty tty wom women n. n To both sexes seer I he hI was Will an Intelligent nt and understanding under standing trl friend nd Without being a Ilal statesman a leader or even an what hili he accomplished d for his hIe country with the Ih gifts he had r remains maln unexampled d In hu human human hUe hUeman man accomplishment nis RI political Institutions were not nol baud bated on In tong long tradition and a long life study of precedent I h better r than wide wid reading reeding and nd broad bread culture they reveal sane lane thinking and nd sound sound- 1 jud Judgment A man roan must indeed b be great grut who courted b by om women n dues don not appear Nr ridiculous but having weighed ell all that thaI y and an Scandal 1 can say ny If we then regard Franklin thus thul surrounded w we see ee even en plainer the kit kli sly 41 qualities of ot his bis mind and heart bearL 6 |