But the idealism of this lonely thinker has entered deeply
and permanently into the spiritual life of his countrymen, and he
will continue to be read by a few of those who still read Plato
and Dante.
"My mother grieves," wrote Benjamin Franklin to his father in
1738, "that one of her sons is an Arian, another an Arminian.
What an Arminian or an Arian is, I cannot say that I very well
know. The truth is I make such distinctions very little my
study." To understand Franklin's indifference to such
distinctions, we must realize how completely he represents the
secularizing tendencies of his age. What a drama of worldly
adventure it all was, this roving life of the tallow-chandler's
son, who runs away from home, walks the streets of Philadelphia
with the famous loaves of bread under his arm, is diligent in
business, slips over to London, where he gives lessons in
swimming and in total abstinence, slips back to Philadelphia and
becomes its leading citizen, fights the long battle of the
American colonies in London, sits in the Continental Congress,
sails to Europe to arrange that French Alliance which brought our
Revolution to a successful issue, and comes home at last, full of
years and honors, to a bland and philosophical exit from the
stage!
He broke with every Puritan tradition.
Pages:
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78