the great issue against England made
patriotism common. His patriotism had not root in any revolutionary
element in his temper, but was the inevitable outcome of his
fair-mindedness. That which was unfair as between man and man first
aroused his ire against the grinding proprietaries; and afterward it was
the unfairness of taxation without representation which especially
incensed him; for an intellect of the breadth and clearness of his sees
and loves justice above all things. During the struggle of the States no
man was more hearty in the cause than Franklin; and the depth of feeling
shown in his letters, simple and unrhetorical as they are, is
impressive. All that he had he gave. What also strikes the reader of his
writings is the broad national spirit which he manifested. He had an
immense respect for the dignity of America; he was perhaps fortunately
saved from disillusionment by his distance from home. But be this as it
may, the way in which he felt and therefore genuinely talked about his
nation and his country was not without its moral effect in Europe.

Intellectually there are few men who are Franklin's peers in all the
ages and nations. He covered, and covered well, vast ground. The
reputation of doing and knowing various unrelated things is wont to
bring suspicion of perfunctoriness; but the ideal of the human intellect
is an understanding to which all knowledge and all activity are germane.
There have been a few, very few minds which have approximated toward
this ideal, and among them Franklin's is prominent. He was one of the
most distinguished scientists who have ever lived. Bancroft calls him
"the greatest diplomatist of his century."[105] His ingenious and useful
devices and inventions were very numerous. He possessed a masterly
shrewdness in business and practical affairs. He was a profound thinker
and preacher in morals and on the conduct of life; so that with the
exception of the founders of great religions it would be difficult to
name any persons who have more extensively influenced the ideas,
motives, and habits of life of men. He was one of the most, perhaps the
most agreeable conversationist of his age.

[Note 105: Bancroft, _Hist. U. S._ ix. 134.]

He was a rare wit and humorist, and in an age when "American humor" was
still unborn, amid contemporaries who have left no trace of a jest,
still less of the faintest appreciation of humor, all which he said and
wrote was brilliant with both these