KINGSTON 2000   Franklin met Charlie Brown at the beach in 1968.  They'd never met before because they went to different schools, but they had fun playing ball so Charlie Brown invited Franklin to visit him at this       house across town for another play session.  Later, Franklin turned up as center-fielder on Peppermint Patty's baseball team and sits in front of her at school. Franklin is thoughtful and can quote the Old Testament as effectively as Linus.  In contrast with the other characters, Franklin has the fewest anxieties and obsessions. He and Charlie Brown spend quite a bit of time talking about their respective grandfathers.  When Franklin first appeared in the late 60s, his noticeably darker skin set some readers in search of a political meaning. However, the remarkable becomes unremarkable when readers learn that Schulz simply introduced Franklin as another character, not a political statement.