A Book Meme

I have been tagged by Smockity Frocks to participate in a book meme. Here are the instructions:

Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages). Open the book to page 123. Find the fifth sentence. Post the next three sentences. Tag five people.

Well the nearest book, that I purposely went downstairs and found on my bedside table (because the nearest books to me where Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and another easy reader - we homeschool moms are alike!) So I'm going to use the book I have been reading.

I have always been interested in the life of Benjamin Franklin! I don't know if this stems from years and years of hearing my mother quote: Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healty, wealthy, and wise! Or if it was my extreme interest in the fourth grade of the wonderful book Ben and Me by Robert Lawson. (If you haven't read this book to your children I would encourage you to - it is wonderful - however, the movie version put out by Disney - is not!)

So where ever my interest started I was intrigued by the "founding father who winks at us" as Walter Isaacson describes Benjamin Franklin in his book Benjamin Franklin: an American Life.
I have found the book to be very interesting and oftentimes funny as he describes Franklins life and his discrepancies in his autobiography.

So now for the meme part. On page 123 the fifth - eighth sentences are:

Most of the voluntary associations that Franklin had thus far formed - the Junto, library, philosophical society, even fire squad -had not usurped the core functions of government. (When he came up with a plan for a police patrol, he had suggested that the Assembly enact and control it.) But in 1747, he proposed something that was, though he may not have realized it, far more radical: a military force that would be independent of Pennsylvania's government.

Franklin's plan for a volunteer Pennsylvania militia arose because of the feckless response by the colony's government to the ongoing threats from France and her Indian allies. Ever since 1689, the intermittant wars between Britain and France had been played out in America, with each side enlisting various Indian tribes and thuggish privateers to gain advantage.

So that is an excerpt from Benjamin Franklin: An American Life! It is just so very interesting to me to learn more about this founding father and his life of "virtue"! It turns out he was a very complex fellow that must have driven his wife a little nuts at times! I mean I get frustrated with books and shoes strewn about my house! I can not even imagine how irritating it must have been to trip over LIGHTNING RODS!

So since I LOVE to read good books, instead of tagging others please tell us in the comments what you are reading or share it on your blog and let us know! Thanks!