[00:13.68]Franklin’s life is full of charming stories which all young men should know -
[00:17.98]how he peddled ballads in Boston, and stood as the guest of kings in Europe;
[00:23.66]how he worked his passage as a stowaway to Philadelphia,
[00:27.39]and rode in the queen’s own litter in France; how he walked the streets of Philadelphia, homeless and unknown,
[00:35.06]with three penny rolls for his breakfast, and dined at the tables of princes,
[00:40.19]and received his friends in a palace; how he raised a kite from a cow shed,
[00:46.35]and was showered with all the high degrees the colleges of the world could give;
[00:51.60]how he was duped by a false friend as a boy, and became the friend of all humanity as a man;
[00:58.62]how he was made Major General Franklin, only to resign because, as he said, he was no soldier,
[01:06.08]and yet helped to organize the army that stood before the trained troops of England and Germany.
[01:12.57]This poor Boston boy, with scarcely a day’s schooling, became master of six languages and never stopped studying;
[01:20.76]this neglected apprentice tamed the lightning, made his name famous,
[01:25.15]received degrees and diplomas from colleges in both hemispheres,
[01:29.67]and became forever remembered as “Doctor Franklin”, philosopher, patriot, scientist, philanthropist and statesman.
[01:40.95]Self made, self taught, and self reared, the candle maker’s son gave light to all the world;
[01:47.73]the street ballad seller set all men singing of liberty;
[01:51.74]the runaway apprentice became the most sought after man of two continents,
[01:56.22]and brought his native land to praise and honor him.
[02:00.75]He built America, for what our Republic is today is largely due to the prudence,
[02:07.08]the forethought, the statesmanship, the enterprise, the wisdom, and the ability of Benjamin Franklin.
[02:16.94]He belongs to the world, but especially does he belong to America.
[02:21.52]As the nations honored him while living, so the Republic glorifies him when dead,
[02:26.70]and has enshrined him in the choicest of its niches, the one he regarded as the loftiest -
[02:33.28]the hearts of the common people, from whom he had sprung and in their hearts Franklin will live forever.
