BENJAMIN FRANKLIN H. W. THOMAS HIRAM W. THомAS is a popular Chicago preacher. As a young man, Franklin was not only active and ambitious, but he was blessed with a large amount of eminently practical good sense. Unlike the great philosophers, who taught that learning was degraded by bringing it down to common affairs, this great philosopher of a later day and civilization sought constantly to utilize his knowledge in all practical ways, rather than to dwell in the world of abstract ideas. 5 110 15 He thought of the power of the lightning that plays across the sky, and with his kite and key he coaxed it 20 down a string and confined it in a bottle. And from this simple experiment the Morses and the Edisons have gone on in improvement, till now this same electric fluid lights our houses and streets and carries messages across continents and seas. He projected the first fire-engine company, and organized the first company of state militia and was colonel 5 of its first regiment. In his plan for the union of the colonies he anticipated, if he did not really suggest, the model for the Constitution of the United States. He laid the foundations of the school that has since grown into the University of Pennsylvania; and in presiding over the 10 post office of the colonies he introduced the penny stamp, that has since enlarged into our great postal service. This poor boy, who began life making candles and setting type and eating his dry bread upon the streets of Philadelphia, at last stood before the royal and the 15 learned of England and the Continent; and was admired and praised for his great knowledge. It was through his influence very largely that the French court was won over to the cause of the colonies in the days of the Revolution; and without this support the inde20 pendence of our country could hardly have been gained. And then, at the close of the war, the same hand that in 1776 had signed the Declaration of Independence, in 1782 and 1783 signed the treaty of independence and peace with Great Britain and also the treaties of amity 25 and commerce with Sweden and Prussia; and in 1789 that same hand signed the Constitution of the United States. He predicted at that time that the sun of his а country should "be a rising and not a setting sun," -a prophecy that has been more than verified in a hundred years of unequaled prosperity. It is said that from childhood Franklin delighted to repeat the proverb of Solomon: "Seest thou a man dili- 5 gent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men." He obeyed this proverb: he was diligent; and at last he stood before the royalty of Europe and received the public praise of Lord Chatham. At the advanced age of eighty-four, his great life work 10 done, "he was gathered to his fathers." Upon the motion of James Madison, Congress adopted a resolution declaring that "his native genius was not more an ornament to human nature than his various exertions of it have been precious to science, to freedom, and to his country." And 15 Lord Brougham declared, "One of the most remarkable men of our times as a politician, or of any age as a philosopher, was Franklin; who stands alone in combining these two characters, the greatest that man can sustain, and in this, that, having borne the first part in enlarging 20 science by one of the greatest discoveries ever made, he bore the second part in founding one of the greatest empires in the world." Morse and Edison: great electricians and inventors. It is to Morse that we owe the telegraph. - Lord Chat'ham: William Pitt, also known as the Great Commoner. He was a famous English statesman who showed great sympathy and friendliness for the American colonies. Lord Brougham (broo ́am): an English statesman. 10 CLEAR THE WAY CHARLES MACKAY CHARLES MACKAY (1814-1889) was a popular Scotch writer of prose and poetry. He was a well-known editor and correspondent of London papers. FIRST VOICE Men of thought! be up and stirring, night and day: 5 Sow the seed,-withdraw the curtain,-CLEAR THE WAY! SECOND VOICE Men of action, aid and cheer them, as ye may! There's a fount about to stream, There's a light about to beam, There's a warmth about to glow, There's a flower about to blow; There's a midnight blackness changing into gray. FIRST VOICE Men of thought and men of action, CLEAR THE WAY! THIRD VOICE Once the welcome light has broken, who shall say 15 What the evil that shall perish in its ray? FOURTH VOICE Aid the dawning, tongue and pen; Aid it, hopes of honest men; Aid it, paper; aid it, type; Aid it, for the hour is ripe, And our earnest must not slacken into play. FIRST VOICE Men of thought and men of action, CLEAR THE WAY! SECOND VOICE Lo! a cloud's about to vanish from the day; Lo! the right's about to conquer: CLEAR THE WAY! THIRD VOICE With the right shall many more Enter smiling at the door; With the giant wrong shall fall Many others, great and small, That for ages long have held us for their prey. ALL 5 10 Men of thought and men of action, CLEAR THE WAY! 15 Arranged. |