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Show THE FRANKLINS-FATHERS OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY (All pictures from Fay's 'Tho Two Fran It-lini: It-lini: Falhrrs of American Democracy," courtety Little, Brown and Company.) T By ELMO SCOTT WATSON V f SZXT" "'- I'i'litli'.'il orators Imve ooos-V'l' ooos-V'l' t0 of "tlie K'ri'nt J"'"v I'olMocrnllo prlm'lilcs." tht'j ln-LJ ln-LJ v.-i r : n!ly mention t ho names of r- 9 V 1 Til. mms JotTorson ami Andrew 1 .liu'kson as tlioni;li tlioy wore the tlrsl exponents of those X, u-:iirlvlos. lint now a seholarly lilstorlan, whoso opinions, haseil upon patient ami .lilk-ent sln.ly. eertnlnly should he more aeeep:aMe than the w lmly, vote ealctiliiK plaliluiles of a cai ipain orator, tells us that the true "l athers of American Iieinoeraey" were two men name,! KranUlin I'.onjamln 1'ranklln, whoso memory we honor on January 17. his hlrtlulay, aiul lu'iijamin l-'ranklln I'.a.'he, his Knitulson. This historian Is I'.eruarJ Fay. a Trem-liiiian who il:i.lt'S his time hotweoti Kranee ntul Anieriea, an. I his thesis Is uttere.l In the hook "The Two 1'raii kilns : Fathers of American nomocracy," published reeeiuly hy Little, I'.rown and Company. Com-pany. So much has been written nhout I'.enjumln Franklin (inchnlins; Mr. Fay's previous book, "r.enjamin Franklin: The Apostle of Modern Times," which has botMi pronounced "Incompar-ahiy "Incompar-ahiy the best biography of Franklin yet published") pub-lished") that there seems to be little left to add to the record of his life and services to the American nation. Hut very little has ever been said about his grandson, or the historical Importance Impor-tance of benjamin Franklin F.nche. Students of the history of American Journal-Ism Journal-Ism have known him as the founder of the Philadelphia Phil-adelphia General Advertiser, which later became the Aurora, In which, while attempting to break the power of the Federalist party he attacked the symbol of Federalist faith, President lleorj:e Washington, even going to the lengths of declaring declar-ing that "If ever a nation was debauched by a man, the American nation has been by Washington." Washing-ton." lie attacked John Adams, and his attacks on the second President of the L'nlted States led directly to the passage of the Alien and Sedition Sedi-tion laws, under which statutes l!ache was arrested ar-rested for libel but was not prosecuted. Put Bache was more than a "scurrilous young Journalist Jour-nalist w ho yapped at the Father of His Country." Fay presents him as the man who carried on tl'.e "fathering" of Democratic principles In this country after that other "father." Franklin, was dead and of bringing about a "second American P.evolution." one of which most Americans are unaware. In the preface to his book. Fay says: "A revolution is a change of mind. There have been few more radical changes of mind than the one which took place In America between and IS-'"'. Put when historians describe the downfall down-fall of the Federalists and the victory of the new IVmocratic-Kepuhlican party during these years they always speak In terms of JeffersoD and Hamilton. They do not exhibit a change of mind. They merely stage a picturesque fight between two very great men, and two very attractive men. "As I see the matter, while Hamilton opposed this change and Jefferson made use of It, it was other men who effected this change of mind. I propose to deal mostly with these other men, and, above all, with one of them who strikes me as the most outspoken, the most reckless, the most generous, and the most neglected. His name was Rache." Penny Bache. as Fay likes to call bim. was born on August 12, 17.30, the son of Sarah Franklin and T.Ichard Cache, a Philadelphia merchant, described as "simple-minded man, friendly and Jovial, with nothing of a great man about him." So If Benny Bache had any elements of greatness In him, he didn't get It from his father. He got It from his mother, who rassed on to him some of the greatness of her father. The boy soon became a favorite of his grandfather's, grand-father's, so when Franklin went to Paris In 1776 to negotiate an alliance with France for the rebellious re-bellious colonies he took his seven-year-old grandson grand-son along with him. There the boy soon became "too French," so his grandfather, resolved to make hlra "a Presbyterian as well as a Republican," Repub-lican," sent him to Geneva for his education. Franklin had another grandson In Paris with him Temple Franklin, the Illegitimate son of his own illegitimate son, William Franklin. But Temple Franklin was an aloof, frigid sort of boy, so far as real affection for his grandfather grand-father was concerned. Therefore, Franklin, in 17S3. brought Benny back from Geneva and, delighted de-lighted by the warmth of feeling that was immediately imme-diately apparent between them, he "decided to make the young man his masterpiece." So for two years Benny Bache breathed the Intoxicating air of Passy, Paris and Versailles where he was made much of as the grandson of Franklin, the "oracle of two worlds." He shared in his grandfather's grand-father's talks with the philosophers and the scientists sci-entists who came to see Franklin and he followed fol-lowed his grandfather's footsteps In pursuing those interests which made Franklin "the most versatile American." Then Franklin decided "in order to round oft Benny's philosophical apprenticeship, to make a printer out of him. At the outset, from November, Novem-ber, 17S4, to March, 17So, he gave him as his master a printer and type founder, M. Emery, who came to Passy every day. He supervised their work himself; It revived In hira delightful memories of his own adventurous, hard childhood." child-hood." Thus Benny Bache was pointed toward his later career as a printer and a Journalist. But France had done something else for him. There he absorbed some of those democratic principles (for the French Revolution was already al-ready In the air) which were to make him a future fighter against aristocracy In American government. Then Franklin wrote an attack on the Society of the Cincinnati which was also an attack on ;T. ..' .-' ) "A PEEP INTO THE ANTI-FEDERAL CLUB" "A Poep Into tho Anti-Federal Club" wt cartoon printed in New York in Auguit, 1793. It ihowi a meeting of the Democratic Society of Philadelphia and represents what the Federalists thought of their opponents. The president of the society, Dr. Rittenhouse, a famous astronomer, is looking through a telescope at the poster, on the left, which shows the principles of the Democratic Demo-cratic society. Near by him is the devil. Next to them is an enthusiastic Jacobin, Dr. Hutchinson, an old friend of Franklin and a fervid Republican. He is recognizable by his big belly. On a platform plat-form is Mr. Swanwick, the wealthy Irishman who was subsidizing the Democratic party. The man reading a paper on his left is likely Alexander J. Dallas, secretary of Governor Mifflin, who was a leading spirit of the party. A Frenchman and a negro can also be recognized in the cartoon, the original of which is owned by the New York Historical Society and has never before been reproduced. Washington. John Adams denounced him In congress con-gress as a traitor who had sold himself to France. Although Franklin's prestige In Europe was undiminished, his fellow-countrymen had begun be-gun to suspect him. Finally In 17S3 came "permission" "per-mission" from congress for him to return home this permission In reality being a recall, since Thomas JefTerson was sent as ambassador to France to replace him. So Benjamin Franklin and P.enny Bache came back to their native land. Franklin to go to the Constitutional convention, there to labor mightily as a conciliator among the warring elements who were trying to write a charter of government govern-ment for the new nation, and P.enny to enter the I'nlversity of Pennsylvania. When Washington Washing-ton was elected President, Franklin "went back to his library. Nothing was left to him but his library. All his other kingdoms, the salons of France and those of England, where he had throned It as a prophet; the far-off chancelleries of Europe, where he had reigned as master; the American assemblies, where he had laid down the law; anil the associations and the lodges and the federations and the conventions, where his proposals had carried the crowd all this w-as ended. He would never see them aalu. Others reigned In his stead." So the career of one of the really great men of the earth ended In anti-climax. But he was still the teacher and comrnde and Inspiration of the grandson whom he had desired to make his masterpiece. He set up a type foundry and a printing house for P.enny, although the former had to be given up later. But In the latter the two collaborated In the publication of children's books. They also printed Latin and Greek books, but found no sale for them. Then on April 17, 1700. Franklin died. Toward the last he had taken Benny's hands In his and "spent long hours In happy dreaming." Franklin was given a fine funeral, the finest ever held In Philadelphia. Both Europe and America mourned his passing. "Everybody wept as the occasion required. Only Benny wept as one weeps when life does not seem worth living any longer. . . . He had lost his grandfather and his youth. He had lost a great deal. Perhaps Per-haps he had lost everything. Nothing remained to him but to serve his country." There was soon need for his beginning to do that. Already there was dissatisfaction with the way the Federalists were running the country, but the opposition to them was still unorganized. The Republican, later the Democratic party, had not yet been organized. The capital of the country coun-try was moved from New York to Philadelphia, which was soon boiling with politics, as a later capital. Washington, did from the day It was J' - - - r. Jii -J ' 9 7- a- r -i ---. Mi-s- ' - ry'- -r - J- M. i. V r- 7 - A- '-- t f- 7 T" ,xi- -y. r .j.; s A- - t . , ' -v in. - -y -V-- - -r .4. wyt- AiX W- - ' ' S-T " 1 o. -u - -r- --r 4-rts ?- -It 'S u " 1 J . j., --- -r- -f , , - -- ' ' 1 . A " , w3 . , ' a ts!'- - r ss I7-- r-'--" - - " TLf ""ttrZlZ , -- A PAGE FROM BACHE'S NOTEBOOK While editor of the Aurora, Bache used to listen lis-ten to the speeches in congress and take them down himself for his newspaper. To pass away the dull hours while sitting in the gallery he made sketches such as these. The sketch of his grandfather, Benjamin Franklin, may be recognized rec-ognized at the bottom of the page. founded and occupied by the government In the meantime Benny had married Miss Margaret Markoe and soon there was a family for him to support. Bache decided to publish a newspaper with a bookshop on the side. The Federalists already had their organ, Fenno's Gazette of the United States. He approached Robert Morris on th subject of patronage for his proposed newspaper but .Morris tried to dissuade him. Next he consulted con-sulted Thomas JefTerson. who seemed friendly enough, but soon afterwards aided Philip Fren-eau Fren-eau found the National Gazette as the organ of the Republican elements. L'ndlscouraged, Bache went ahead and In the fall of 17D0 established the General Advertiser, dedicated to Truth, Decency and Utility. It had several competitors, most of which were exceedingly exceed-ingly dull but prosperous. Bache wasn't much of a writer but he was a good newspaper man In the sense that he got most of the news such as there was and printed It. But great events were on the way. Hamilton and Jefferson, though fellow-members of Washington's Wash-ington's cabinet, were at opposite poles as to theories theo-ries of government. The feud between them Increased. In-creased. Under various pseudonyms they attacked each other In Fenno's Gazette of the United States and In Freneau's National Gazette. And Bache added fuel to the rapidly-growing discontent with the Federalist regime and the rule of George Washington, the Virginia aristocrat aristo-crat Then the storm of the French Revolution broke and Republican enthusiasm was rampant In America. Citizen Genet came to America and Bache became his friend and the Advertiser his mouthpiece. Genet failed in his effort to override "Old Washington" by appealing directly to the people and Bache shared In that failure. But he lost little power In the years that followed fol-lowed when Americans were split into two factions fac-tions English sympathizers and French sympathizers. sympa-thizers. When John Jay went to England and negotiated negoti-ated his "infamous treaty," Bache scored a tremendous tre-mendous newspaper scoop. While Washington was trying to keep the provisions of that treaty dark, Bache obtained a copy of It and gave it widespread publicity. There was tremendous excitement ex-citement all over the country. But despite the shrill cries of Bache and the Republicans that the Federalists had sold their country to Eng--land. the treaty was ratified. Then the French Directory, with its bluster and Its corruption, played squarely into the hands of the Federalists, who almost succeeded in embroiling America in a war with France. Bache's resistance had a great deal to do with averting that. During this period of violent political conflict he became one of the most powerful pow-erful men in the country and one of the most bitterly hated. Even the mob, once Republican and Jacobine, turned against him. He was in constant danger of bodily violence. But through It all he persisted In fighting for what he thought were the principles of true democracy, the principles prin-ciples which he had learned from the lips of his grandfather. During this period also he had re-chrlstened re-chrlstened his newspaper the Aurora and on the front page of It he placed "fairly and squarely In the middle, the fine sign of a rising sun." When John Adams succeeded Washington as President, at first Bache praised him In a left-handed left-handed way, to be sure, by contrasting him with Washington. But the editor of the Aurora was soon at outs with the new President and his Federalist ways. So he carried on his war of vituperation against Adams as he had against Washington. But the yellow fever which swept Philadelphia every summer at last did what none of his enemies had ever been able to do It silenced Benny Bache. On September 5, 179S, he caught the yellow fever. For five days he dragged himself down to his office to get out the Aurora. On September 10 he printed his last issue and In that he called John Adams a liar. He fought the Federalists to the last, for he died at midnight As for Bache's place In American history, Fay states It in these words in the epilogue of his book : "it was Benny Bache who led this Second Revolution, that broke Federalism and the English Eng-lish alliance. He had not the genius of Jefferson, or that of Washington, or that of his grandfather. grand-father. But. like them, he loved his country, and to him, as to them, life was really worth living only when he could stir the people, when he could merge himself Into the warm mass of mankind, into their passions. Into their desires. More than those other men, he suffered ; for a short suffering with defeat is harder than a long suffering that finally blooms Into the joy of success. suc-cess. Benny Bache had died and died too soon." by Western Newspaper Unloa. |