This _Edict_ proclaimed that
it was a matter of common knowledge that Britain had been settled by
Hengist and Horsa and other German colonists, and that, in consequence of
this fact, the King of Prussia had the right to regulate the commerce,
manufactures, taxes, and laws of the English. Franklin gave in this _Edict_
the same reasons and embodied the same restrictions, which seemed so
sensible to George III. and the Tories. Franklin was the guest of an
English Lord, when a man burst into the room with the newspaper containing
the _Edict_, saying, "Here's news for ye! Here's the King of Prussia
claiming a right to this kingdom!"
In writing English prose, Franklin was fortunate in receiving instruction
from Bunyan and Addison. The pleasure of reading Franklin's _Autobiography_
is increased by his simple, easy, natural way of relating events.
Simplicity, practicality, suggestiveness, common sense, were his leading
attributes. His sense of humor kept him from being tiresome and made him
realize that the half may be greater than the whole. The two people most
useful to the age in which they lived were George Washington and Benjamin
Franklin.
JOHN WOOLMAN, 1720-1772
A GREAT ALTRUIST.
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