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THE 
 
 ORKS 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 CONSISTING OP HIS 
 
 WRJTTEJV BY HIMSELF. 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 HUMOUROUS, MORAI., AND LITERARY 
 
 ESSAYS, 
 CHIEFLY IJV THE MAXJSTER OF THE 
 
 SPECTATOR. 
 
 AMOaia WHICH ABE SEVERAL NOT IN ANT AMEllICAN EDITION. 
 
 PHILJIDELPHM: 
 
 " PUBLISHED BY SOLOMON WIATE, 
 
 1815. 
 
 A. GRIGGS 6? K. DICKINSON, — PHINTEHS, WHITEHALL. 
 

 16908 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE volume that is here presented to the 
 Public, consists of two parts ; the Life of Dr. 
 Franklin; and a collection of Miscellaneous 
 Essays, the work of that Author. 
 
 It is already known to many, that Dr. Frank- 
 lin amused himself, towards the close of his 
 life, with writing memoirs of his own history. 
 These memoirs were brought down to the year 
 1757. Together with some other manuscripts 
 they were left behind him at his death, and 
 were considered as a part of his posthumous 
 property. It is a little extraordinary that, un- 
 der these circumstances, interesting as they are, 
 from the celebrity of the character of which 
 they treat, and from the critical situation of the 
 present times, they should so long have been 
 with-held from the Public. A translation of 
 them appeared in France near two years ago, 
 coming down to the year 1731. There can be 
 no sufficient reason, that what has been submit- 
 ted to the perusal of Europe, should not be 
 made accessible to those to whom Dr. Frank- 
 lin's language is native. The first part of the 
 history of his life is translated from that pub= 
 lication. 
 
 A 2 
 
O PREFACE 
 
 The style of these memoirs is uncommonly 
 pleasing. The story is told with the most un- 
 reserved sincerity, and without any false co- 
 louring or ornament. We see, in every page, 
 that the author examined his subjects with the 
 eye of a master, and related no incidents, the 
 springs and origin of which he did not perfectly 
 understand. It is this that gives such exquisite 
 and uncommon perspicuity to the detail and de- 
 light in the review. The translator has endea- 
 voured, as he went along, to conceive the pro- 
 bable manner in which Dr. Franklin expressed 
 his ideas in his English manuscript, and he 
 hopes to be forgiven if this enquiry shall occa- 
 sionally have subjected him to the charge of a 
 style in any respect bald or low ; to imitate the 
 admirable simplicity of the author, is no easy 
 task. 
 
 The Essays, which are now for the first time, 
 brought together from various resources, will be 
 found to be more miscellaneous than any of Dr. 
 Franklin's that have formerly been collected, 
 and will therefore be more generally amusing. 
 Dr. Franklin tells us, in his Life, that he was 
 an assiduous imitator of Addison; and from 
 some of these papers it will be admitted he 
 was not an unhappy one. The public will be 
 amused with following a great philosopher in 
 his relaxation, and observe in what respects 
 philosophy tends to elucidate and improve the 
 most common subject. The editor has purpose- 
 ly avoided such papers, as by their scientifical 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 nature, were less^apted for general perusal. 
 These he may probably hereafter publish in a 
 volume by themselves. 
 
 He subjoins a letter from the late celebrated 
 and amiable Dr. Price, to a gentleman in Phi- 
 ladelphia, upon the subject of Dr. Franklin's 
 memoirs of his own life. 
 
 Hackney y June 19, 1790. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I am hardly able to tell you how kindly I 
 take the letters with which you favour me. Your 
 last containing an account of the death of our 
 excellent friend, Dr. Franklin, and the circum- 
 stances attending it, deserves my particular gra- 
 titude. The account which he has left of his 
 life will show, in a striking example, how a man 
 by talents, industry, and integrity, may rise from 
 obscurity to the first eminence and consequence 
 in the world ; but it brings his history no lower 
 than the year 1757, and I understand that since 
 he sent over the copy, which I have read, he 
 has been able to make no additions to it. It is 
 with a melancholy regret I think of his death ; 
 but to death we are all bound by the irreversi- 
 ble order of nature ; and in looking forward to 
 it, there is comfort in being able to reflect — that 
 we have not lived in vain, and that all the use- 
 ful and virtuous shall meet in a better country 
 beyond the grave. 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 " Dr. Franklin, in the last letter I received 
 from him, after mentioning his age and infirmi- 
 ties, observes, that it has been kindly ordered 
 by the Author of nature, that, as we draw near- 
 er the conclusion of life, we are furnished with 
 more helps to wean us from it, among which, 
 one of the strongest is the loss of dear friends. I 
 was delighted with the account you gave in your 
 letter of the honours shewn to his memory at Phi- 
 ladelphia, and by Congress; and yesterday I 
 received a high additional pleasure, by being 
 informed that the National Assembly of France 
 had determined to go in mourning for him. — 
 What a glorious scene is opened there ! The 
 annals of the world furnish no parallel to it. 
 One of the honours of our departed friend is, 
 that he has contributed much to it. 
 
 I am, with great respect. 
 
 Your obliged and very humble servant, 
 RICHARD PRICE." 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 
 
 &c. 
 
 I 
 
 MY DE?AR SON, 
 
 HAVE amused myself with collecting some little 
 anecdotes of my family. You may remember the en- 
 quiries I made, when you were with me in England, 
 among such of my relations as were then living ; and 
 the journey I undertook for that purpose. To be ac- 
 quainted with the particulars of my parentage and life, 
 many of which are unknown to you, I flatter myself, 
 will afford the same pleasure to you as to me. I shall 
 relate them upon paper : it will be an agreeable em- 
 ployment of a week's uninterrupted leisure, which I 
 promise myself during my present retirement in the 
 country. There are also other motives which induce 
 me to the undertaking. From the bosom of poverty 
 and obscurity, in which I drew my first breath and 
 spent my earliest years, I have raised myself to a state 
 of opulence and to some degree of celebrity in the 
 world. A constant good fortune has attended me 
 through every period of life to my present advanced 
 age ; and my descendants may be desirous of learning 
 
10 THE LIFE OF 
 
 what were the means of which I made use, and which, 
 thanks to the assisting hand of Providence, have proved 
 so eminently successful. They may also, should they 
 ever be placed in a similar situation, derive some advan- 
 tage from my narrative. 
 
 When I reflect, as I frequently do, upon the felici- 
 ty I have enjoyed, I sometimes say to myself, that, 
 were the offer made me, I would engage to run again, 
 from beginning to end, the same career of life. All 
 I would ask would be the privilege of an author, to 
 correct in a second edition, certain errors of the first. 
 I could wish, likewise, if it were in my power, to 
 change some trivial incidents and events for others more 
 favourable. Were this however denied me, still would 
 I not decline the offer. But since a repetition of life 
 cannot take place, there is nothing which, in my opi- 
 nion, so nearly resembles it, as to call to mind ail its 
 circumstances, and, to render their remembrance more 
 durable, commit them to writing. By thus employing 
 myself, I shall yield to the inclination, so natural to 
 old men, to talk of themselves and their exploits, and 
 may freely follow my bent, without being tiresome to 
 those who, from respect to my age, might think them- 
 selves obliged to listen to me ; as they will be at liber- 
 ty to read me or not as they please. In fine — and I 
 may well avow it, since nobody would believe me were 
 I to deny it— -I shall perhaps, by this employment, 
 gratify my vanity. Scarcely indeed have I ever heard 
 or read the introductory phrase, " / may say without 
 -vanityy^ but some striking and characteristic instance 
 of vanity has immediately followed. The generality 
 of men hate vanity in others, however strongly they 
 may be tinctured with it themselves ; for myself, I pay 
 obeisance to it wherever I meet with it, persuaded that 
 it is advantageous, as well to the individual whom 
 it governs, as to those who are within the sphere of its 
 influence. Of Consequence, it would in many cases, 
 not be wholly absurd, that a man should count his va- 
 nity among the other sweets of life, and give thanks 
 to providence for the blessing. 
 
 \ 
 
2>R. FRANKLIN. U 
 
 And here let me with all humility acknowledge, that 
 to divine Providence I am indebted for the felicity I 
 have hitherto enjoyed. It is that power alone which 
 has furnished me with the means I have employed, and 
 that has crowned them with success. My faith in this 
 respect leads me to hope, though I cannot count upon 
 it, that the Divine goodness will still be exercised to- 
 wards me either by prolonging the duration of my 
 happiness to the close of life, or by giving me forti- 
 tude to support any melancholy reverse, which may 
 happen to me, as to so many others. My future for- 
 tune is unknown but to him in whose hand is our des- 
 tiny, and who can make our very afflictions subservient 
 to our benefit. 
 
 ' One of my uncles, desirous like myself, of collecting 
 anecdotes of our family, gave me some notes, from 
 which I have derived many particulars respecting our 
 ancestors. From these I learn, that they had lived in 
 the same village (Eaton in Northamptonshire) upon a 
 freehold of about thirty acres, for the space at least of 
 three hundred years How long they had resided there 
 prior to that period, my uncle had been unable to dis- 
 cover ; probably ever since the institution of surnamesi 
 when they took the appellation of Franklin, which had 
 formerly been the name of a particular order of indi* 
 viduals.* 
 
 • As a proof that Franklin was anciently the common name of 
 an order of rank in England, see judge Fortescue, De laudibus le- 
 gum Anglios, written about the year 1412, in which is the following 
 passage to show that good juries might easily be formed in any 
 part of England : 
 
 •* Regio etiam ilia, ita rcspersa refertaque est possessoribus 
 terrarum et agrorum, quod in ea, villulatam parva reperiri on po- 
 terit, In qua non est miles, armiger, vel pater familias qualis ibidem 
 Franklin vulgaritur nuncupatur,magnis ditatus possessonihus, nee- 
 non libere, tenentes at alii valecti plurimi, suis patrimoniis sufficien- 
 tes, ad faciendum juratam, in forma praenotata." 
 
 *• Moreover, the same counti*y is so filled and replenished with 
 ** landed menne, that therein so small athorpe cannot be found 
 
13 THE LIFE OF 
 
 This petty estate would not have sufficed for their 
 subsistence, had they not added the trade of blacksmith, 
 which was perpetuated in the family down to my uncle's 
 time, the eldest son having been uniformly brought up 
 to this employment : a custom which both he and my 
 father observed with respect to their eldest sons. 
 
 In the researches I made at Eaton, I found no ac- 
 count of their births, marriages and deaths, earlier 
 than the year 1555 ; the parish register not extend- 
 ing farther back than that period. This register in- 
 formed me, that I was the youngest son of the youngest 
 branch of the family, counting five generations. My 
 grandfather, Thomas, who was born in 1598, living 
 at Eaton till he was too old to continue his trade, when 
 he retired to Banbury in Oxfordshire, where his son 
 John, who was a dyer resided, and with whom my 
 father was apprenticed. He died, and was buried 
 there : we saw his monument in 1758. His eldest son 
 lived in the family house at Eaton, which he bequeath- 
 ed, with the land belonging to it, to his only daugh- 
 
 ** wherein dwelleth not a knight, an esquire, or such a householder 
 " as is thei-e commonly called a Franklin, enriched with great pos- 
 ** sessions ; and also other freeholders and many yeomen, able for 
 " their livelihoods to make a jury in form aforementioned." 
 
 Old TRANSiATioir. 
 
 Chaucer too calls his country gentleman a Franklin, and after 
 describing his good housekeeping, thus characterises him : 
 
 This worthy Franklin bore a purse of silk, 
 Fix'd to his girdle, white as morning milk. 
 Knight to the shire, first justice to th* assize. 
 To help the poor, the doubtful to advise. 
 In all employments, generous, just he proved, 
 Benown'd for courtesy, by all belov'd. 
 
DR. FRANKLlf^. 13 
 
 ter ; who, in concert with her husband, Mr. Fisher of 
 Wellinborough, afterwards sold it to Mr. Ested, the pre- 
 sent proprietor. 
 
 My grandfather had four surviving sons, Thomas, 
 John, Benjamin, and Josias. I shall give you such 
 particulars of them as my memory will furnish, not 
 having my papers here, in which you will find a more 
 minute account, if they are not lost during my ab- 
 sence. 
 
 Thomas, had learned the trade of a blacksmith under 
 his father; but possessing a good natural understanding, 
 he improved it by study, at the solicitation of a gentle- 
 man by the name of Palmer, who was at that time 
 the principal inhabitant of the village, and who en~ 
 couraged in like manner all my uncles to improve their 
 minds. Thomas thus rendered himself competent to 
 the functions of a country attorney; soon became an 
 essential personage in the affairs of the village; and 
 was one of the chief movers of every public enlerprizc, 
 as weii relative to the country^ as the town of North- 
 ampton. A variety of remarkable incidents were told 
 us of him at Eaton. After enjoying the esteem and 
 patronage of lord Halifax, he died January 6, 1702, 
 precisely four years before I was born. The recital 
 that was made us of his life and character, by some 
 aged persons of the village, struck you, I remember, 
 as extraordinary, from its analogy to what you knew 
 of myself. " Had he died," said you, " just four 
 years later, one might have supposed a transmigration 
 of souls.'* 
 
 John, to the best of my belief, was brought up to the 
 trade of a wool-dyer. 
 
 Benjamin served his apprenticeship in London to a 
 silk-dyer. He was an industrious man : 1 remember 
 him well ; for, while I was a child, he joined my fa- 
 ther at Boston, and lived for some years in the house 
 with us. A particular affection had always subsisted 
 between my father and him ; and I was his godson. 
 
 B 
 
14 THE LITE OF 
 
 He arrived to a great age. He left behind him two 
 quarto volumes of poems in manuscript, consisting of 
 little fugitive pieces addressed to the friends. He had 
 invented a short-hand, which he taught me, but having 
 never made use of it, I have now forgotten it. He 
 was a man of piety, and a constant attendant on the 
 best preachers, whose sermons he took a pleasure in 
 writing down according to the expeditory method he 
 had devised. Many volumes were thus collected by 
 him. He was also extremely fond of politics, too 
 much so perhaps for his situation. I lately found in 
 London a collection which he had made of all the prin- 
 cipal pamphlets relative to public affairs, from the year 
 1641 to 1717. Many volumes are wanting, as ap- 
 pears by the series of numbers ; but there still remain 
 eight in folio, and twenty four in quarto and octavo. 
 The collection had fallen into the hands of a second- 
 hand booksellor, who, knowing me by having sold me 
 some books, brought it to me. My uncle it seems, 
 had left it behind him on his departure for America, 
 about fifty years ago. I found various notes of his 
 writing in the margin. His grandson, Samuel is now 
 living at Boston. 
 
 Our humble family had early embraced the Reforma- 
 tion. They remained faitlifully attached during the reign 
 of queen Mary, when they were in danger of being mo- 
 lested on account of their zeal against popery. They 
 had an English Bible, and, to conceal it the more se- 
 curely, they conceived the prospect of fastening it, open, 
 vv'ith pack-threads across the leaves, on the inside of the 
 lid of a close-stool. When my great-grandfather wish 
 ed to read to his family, he reversed the lid of the 
 close-stool upon his knees, and passed the leaves from 
 one side to the other, which were held down on each 
 by the pack-thread. One of the children was stationed 
 at the door to give notice if he saw the proctor (an 
 officer of the spiritual court) make his appearance : 
 in that case, the lid was restored to its place, with the 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. I5 
 
 Bible concealed imder it as before. I had this anecdote 
 from my uncle Benjamin. 
 
 The whole family preserved its attachments to the 
 Church of England till towards the close of the reign of 
 Charles II. when certain ministers, who had been ejected 
 as non-conformists, having held conventicles in North- 
 amptonshire, they were joined by Benjamin and Josias, 
 who adhered to them ever after. The rest of the family 
 continued in the episcopal Church. 
 
 My father, Josias, married early in life. He went 
 with his wife and three children, to New England about 
 the year 1682. Conventicles being at that time prohi- 
 bited by law, and frequently disturbed, some considera- 
 ble persons of his acquaintance determined to go to 
 America, where they hoped to enjoy the free exercise 
 of their religion, and my father was prevailed on to 
 accompany them. 
 
 My father had also by the same wife four children 
 born in America, and ten others by a second wife, mak- 
 ing in all seventeen. I remember to have seen thir- 
 teen seated together at his table, who all arrived to 
 years of maturity, and were married. I was the last of 
 the sons, and the youngest child, excepting two daugh- 
 ters. I was born at Boston in New England. My 
 mother the second wife, was Abiah Folger, daughter of 
 Peter Folger, one of the first colonists of New England, 
 of whom Cotton Mather makes honourable mention, in 
 his Ecclesiastical History of that province, as " si/iious 
 *' and learned Englishman^*' if I rightly recollect his ex- 
 pressions. I have been told of his having written a varie- 
 ty of little pieces ; but there appears to be only one in 
 print, which I met with many years ago. It was published 
 in the year 1675, and is in familiar verse, agreeable to 
 the taste of the times and the country. The author ad- 
 dresses himself to the governors for the time being, 
 speaks for liberty of conscience, and in favour of the 
 anabaptists, quakers, and other sectaries, who had suf- 
 fered persecution. To this persecution he attributes the 
 wars with the natives, and other calamities which af- 
 flicted the country, regarding them as the judgmentS'-of 
 
16 THE LIFE OF 
 
 God in punishment of so odious an offenccj and he ex- 
 horts the government to ihe repeal of laws so contrary 
 to charity. The poem appeared to be written with a 
 manjy freedom and a pleasing simplicity. I recollect 
 the six concluding lines, though I have forgotten the 
 order of words of the two first ; the sense of which was, 
 that his censures were dictated by benevolence, and 
 that, of consequence, he wished to be known as the au- 
 thor ; because, said he, I hate from my very soul dissi- 
 mulation : 
 
 From Sherburne;* where I dwell, 
 
 I therefore put my name, 
 Your friend who means you well, 
 
 Peter Folger. 
 
 My brothers were all put apprentices to different 
 trades. With respect to myself, I was sent, at the age 
 of eight years to a grammar school. My father des- 
 tined me for the church, and already regarded me as 
 the chaplain of the family. The promptitude with 
 which from my infancy 1 had learned to read, for I do 
 not remember to have been ever without this acquire- 
 ment, and the encouragements of his friends, who as- 
 sured him that I should one day certainly become a man 
 of letters, confirmed him in this design. My uncle 
 Benjamin, approved also of the scheme, and promised to 
 give me all his volumes of sermons, written, as I have 
 said, in the short hand of his invention, if I would take 
 the pains to learn it. 
 
 I remained however scarcely a year at grammar 
 school, although, in this short interval, I had risen from 
 the middle to the head of my class, from thence to the 
 class immediately above, and was to pass at the end of 
 the year, to the one next in order. But my father, 
 burthened with a numerous family, found that he was 
 incapable, without subjecting himself to difficulties, of 
 
 • Town in the Island of Nantucket. 
 
DR. 3?RAKKLIN. ^ 1< 
 
 providing for ihc expense of a colie^iate education ; and 
 considering besides, as I heard him ssy to his friends, 
 that pel sons so educated were often poorly provided for, 
 he rei>ounced his first intentions, took me from the 
 grammar* school? and sent me to a school for writing 
 and arithmetic, kept by a Mr. George Bromwel, who 
 was a skilful master, and succeeded very well in his pro- 
 fession by employing gentle means only, and such as 
 were calculated to encourage his scholars. Under hiiH 
 I soon acquired an excellent hand ; but I failed in arith- 
 metic, and made therein no sort of progress. ^ 
 
 At ten years of age> 1 was called home to assist my \ 
 father in his occupation, which was that of soap-boiler 
 and tallow-chandler ; a business to- which he had served 
 no apprenticeship, but which he embraced on his arrival 
 in New England, because he found his own, that of a 
 dyer in two little request to enable him to maintain his 
 family. I was accordingly employed in cutting the wicks, 
 filling the moulds, taking care of the shops, carrying 
 messages, 8cc. 
 
 This business displeased me, arid I felt a strong in- 
 clination for a sea life ; but my father set his face against 
 it. The vicinity of the water, however, gave me fre- 
 quent opportunities of venturing myself both upon and 
 within it, and I soon acquired the art of swimming, and 
 of managing a boat. — When embarked with other chil- 
 dren, the helm was commonly deputed to me, particu- 
 larly on difficult occasions ; and, hi every other project, 
 I was almost always the leader of the troop, whom I 
 sometimes involved in embarrassments. I shall give 
 an instance of this, which demonstrates an early disposi- 
 tion of mind for public enterprises, though the one in 
 question was not conducted by justice. 
 
 The mill pond was terminated on one side by a marsh, 
 upon the borders of which we were accustomed to take 
 our stand, at high water, to angle for small fish. By 
 dint of walking, we had converted the place into a per- 
 fe t quagmire. My proposal was to erect a wharf that 
 should afford us firm footing ; and 1 pointed out to my 
 companions a large heap of stones, intended for the build- 
 B 2 
 
18. THE LIFE OF 
 
 ins^ a new house near the marsh, and which were well 
 adapted for our purpose. Accordingly, when the work- 
 man retired in the evening, I assembled a numbet of my 
 playfellows, and by l^bourin^ diUi:;ently, like ants, some- 
 times four of us uniting our strength to carry a single 
 stone, we removed them all, and constructed our little 
 quay. The workmen were surprised the next morning 
 at not finding their stones, which had been conveyed to 
 our wharf. Inquiries were made respecting the authors 
 of this conveyance; we were discovered; complaints 
 were exhibited against us ; many of us underwent cor- 
 rection on the part of our parents ; and though I strenu- 
 ously defended the utility of the work, my father al length 
 convinced me that nothing which was not strictly honest 
 could be useful. 
 
 It will not, perhaps, be uninteresting to you tx) know 
 what sort of a man my father was. He had an ex- 
 cellent constitution, was of a middle size, but well made 
 and strong, and extremely active in whatever he un- 
 dertook. He designed with a degree of neatness, and 
 knew a little of music. His voice was sonorous and 
 agreeable ; so that when Ive sung a psalm or hymn 
 with accompaniment of his violin, as was his frequent 
 practice in an evening when the labours of the day 
 were finished, it was truly delightful to hear him. He 
 was v'ersed also in mechanics, and could upon occa- 
 sion, use the tools of a variety of trades But his 
 greatest excellence v/as a sound understanding and 
 solid judgment in matters of produce, both in public 
 and private life. In the former indeed he never en- 
 gaged, because his numerous family and the medioc- 
 rity of his fortune, kept him unremittingly employed 
 In the duties of his profession. But I very well re- 
 member that the leading men of the place used fre- 
 quently to come and ask his advice respecting affairs of 
 the town, or of the chmxh to which he belonged, and 
 that they paid much deference to his opinion. Indivi- 
 duals were also in the habit of consulting him in their 
 private affairs, and he was often chosen arbiter between 
 contending parties. 
 
dh. franklin. \9 
 
 He was fond of having at his table, as often as possi- 
 ble, some friends or well informed neighbours capable 
 of rational conversation, and he was always careful to 
 introduce useful or Ingenious topics of discourse, which 
 might tend to form the minds of his children. By this 
 means he early attracted our attention to what was just, 
 prudent, and beneficial in the conduct of life. He ne- 
 ver talked of the meats which appeared upon the ta- 
 ble, never discussed whether they were well or ill dress- 
 ed, of a good or bad flavour, high-seasoned or other- 
 wise, preferable or inferior to this or that dish of a 
 similar kind. Thus accustomed, from my infancy, to 
 the utmost inattention as to those objects, I have al- 
 ways been perfectly regardless of what kind of food 
 was before me ; and I pay so little attention to it even 
 now, that it would be a hard matter for me to recol- 
 lect, a few hours after I had dined, of what my dinner 
 had consisted. When travelling, I have particularly 
 experienced the advantage of this habit ; for it has of- 
 ten happened to me to be in comi>any with persons, 
 who, having a more delicate, because a more exercised 
 taste, have suffered in many cases considerable incon- 
 venience, while, as to myself, I have had nothing to 
 desire. 
 
 My mother was likewise possessed of an excellent 
 constitution. She suckled all her ten children, and I 
 never heard either her or my father complain of any 
 other disorder than that of which they died : my father 
 at the age of eighty-seven, and my mother at eighty-five. 
 They are buried together at Boston, where, a few years 
 ago, I placed a marble over their gravcy with this inscrip- 
 tion : 
 
 / 
 
 *< HEBE LIE 
 
 <' JosiAS Franklin and Abiah his wife : They lived 
 " together with reciprocal affection for fifty-nine years; 
 '* and without private fortune, without lucrative em- 
 '' ployment, by assidious labour and honest industry, 
 ** decently supported a numerous family, and educa- 
 <* ted with success, thirteen children, and seven grand- 
 
^0 IIIE LIFE OF 
 
 " children. Let this example, reader, encourage you 
 " dilii^ently to discharge the duties of thy calling, and 
 f to rely on the support of Divine Providence. 
 
 *• He was pious and prudent, 
 " She discreet and virtuous. 
 
 " Their youngest son, from a sentiment of fillial duty, 
 '' consecrates this stone 
 
 " To their memory.'* 
 
 I perceive, by my rambling digressions, that I am 
 growing old. But we do not dress for a private compa- 
 ^ny as for a formal ball. This deserves perhaps the name 
 of negligence. 
 
 To return, I thus continued employed in my father's 
 trade for the space of two years ; that is to say, till I 
 arrived at twelve years of age. About this time my 
 brother John, who had served his apprenticeship in 
 London, having quitted my father, and being married 
 and settled in business on his own account at Rhode 
 Island, I was destined, to all appearance, to supply iiis 
 place, and be a candle-maker all my life : but my dis- 
 like of this occupation continuing, my father was ap- 
 prehensive, that, if a more agreeable one were not of- 
 fered me, I might play the truent and escape to sea ; 
 as, to his extreme mortification, my brother Josias had 
 done. He therefore took me sometimes to see masons, 
 coopers, braziers, joiners, and other mechanics, em- 
 ployed at their work ; in order to discover the bent of 
 my inclination, and fix it if he could uj)on some occu- 
 pation that might retain me on shore. I have since, 
 in consequence of these visits, derived no small plea- 
 sure from seeing skilful workmen handle their tools ; 
 and it has proved of considerable benefit, to have ac- 
 quired thereby sufficient knowledge to be able to make 
 little things for myself, when I have had no mechanic 
 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 21 
 
 at hand, and to construct small machines for my experi- 
 ments, while the idea I have conceived has been fresh 
 and strongly impressed on my imagination. 
 
 My father at length decided that I should be a cut- 
 ler, and I was placed for some days upon trial with my 
 cousin Samuel, son of my uncle Benjamin, who had 
 learned this trade in London, and had established him- 
 self at Boston. But the premium he required for my 
 apprenticeship displeasing my father, I was recalled 
 home. 
 
 From my earliest years I had been passionately fond 
 of reading, and I laid out in books all the little money 
 I could procure. I was particularly pleased with ac- 
 counts of voyages. My first acquisition was Bunyan*s 
 collection in small separate volumes. These I after- 
 wards sold in order to buy an historical collection by R. 
 Burton, which consisted of small cheap volumes, 
 amounting in all to about forty or fifty. My father's lit- 
 tle library was principally made up of books of practi- 
 cal and polemical theology. I read the greatest part 
 of them. 1 have since often regretted, that at a time 
 when I had so great a thirst for knowledge, more eli- 
 gible books had not fallen into my hands, as it was then 
 a point decided that I should not be educated for the 
 church. There was also among my father's books 
 Plutarch's Lives, in which I read continually, and I 
 still regard as advantageously employed the time I 
 devoted to them. I found besides a work of De Foe, 
 entitled, an Essay, on Projects, from which, perhaps, I 
 derived impressions that have since influenced some 
 of the principal events of my life. 
 
 My inclination for books at last determined my fa- 
 ther to make me a printer, though he had already a 
 son in that profession. My brother had returned from 
 England, in 1717, with a press and types, in order to 
 establish a printing house at Boston. This business 
 pleased me much better than that of my father, though 
 I had still a predilection for the sea. To prevent the 
 effects which might result from this inclination, my 
 father was impatient to see me engaged with my bro- 
 
23 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ther. I held back for some time ; at length, however, 
 I suffered myself to be persuaded, and signed my inden- 
 tures, being then only twelve years of age. It was 
 agreed that I should serve as apprentice to the age of 
 twenty-one, and should receive journeyman*3 wages 
 only during the last year. 
 
 In a very short time I made great proficiency in this 
 business, and became very serviceable to my brother. 
 I had now an opportunity of procuring better books. 
 The acquaintance I necessarily formed with booksellers' 
 apprentices, enabled me to borrow a volume now and 
 then, which I never failed to return punctually and 
 without injury. How often has it happened to me to 
 pass the greater part of the night in reading by my 
 bed-side, when the book had been lent me in the even- 
 ing, and was to be returned the next morning, lest it 
 '^' might be missed or wanted. 
 
 At length, Mr. Matthew Adams, an ingenious 
 tradesman, who had an handsome collection of books, 
 and who frequented our printing house, took notice of 
 me. He invited me to see his library ; and had the 
 goodness to lend me any books I was desirous of read- 
 ing. I then took a strange fancy for poetry, and com- 
 posed several little pieces. My brother, thinking he 
 might find his account in it, encouraged rne and en- 
 gaged me to write two ballads. One, called the Light- 
 house Tragedy, contained an accomit of the shipwreck 
 of captain Worthilake and his two daughters ; the 
 other was a sailor's song on the capture of the noted 
 pirate, called Teach, or Black-beard. They were 
 wretched verses in point of style, mere blind men's 
 ditties. When printed, he despatched me about the 
 town to sell them : the first had a prodigious run, be- 
 cause the event was recent, and had made a great 
 noise. 
 
 My vanity was flattered by this success; but my 
 father checked my exultation, by ridiculing my produc- 
 tions, and telling me that versifiers were always poor. 
 I thus escaped the misfortune of being, probably, a very 
 wretched poet. But as the faculty of writing prose 
 
DB. FRANKLIN. 23 
 
 has been of great service to me in the course of my life, 
 and principally contributed to my advancement, I shall 
 relate by what means situated as 1 was, I acquired the 
 small skill I may possess in that way. 
 
 There was in the town another young man, a great 
 lover of books, of the name of John Collins, with 
 whom I was intimately connected. We frequently 
 engaged in dispute, and were indeed so fond of argu- 
 mentation, that noihing was so agreeable to us as a 
 war of words. This contentious temper, I would ob- 
 serve by the bye, is in danger of becoming a very bad 
 habit, and frequently renders a man*s company insup- 
 portable, as being no otherwise capable of indulgence 
 than by indiscriminate contradiction. Independently 
 of the acrimony and discord it introduces into conver- 
 sation, it is often productive of dislike, and even ha- 
 tred, between persons to whom friendship is indispensi- 
 bly necessary. I acquired it by reading, while I lived 
 with my father, books of religious controversy. I have 
 since remarked, that men of sense seldom fall into this 
 error ; lawyers, fellows of universities, and persons of 
 every profession educated at Edinburgh, excepted. 
 
 Collins and I fell one day into an argument relative 
 to the education of women ; namely, whether it were 
 proper to instruct them in the sciences, and whether 
 they were competent to the study. Collins supported 
 the negative, and affirmed that the task was beyond 
 their capacity. I maintained the opposite opinion, a 
 little perhaps for the pleasure of disputing. He was 
 naturally more eloquent than I ; words flowed copious- 
 ly from his lips ; and frequently I thought myself van- 
 quished, more by his volubility than by the force of his 
 arguments. We separated without coming to an 
 agreement upon this point ; and as we were not to see 
 each otheragain for sometime, I committed my thoughts 
 to paper, made a fair copy, and sent it to him. He an- 
 swered, and I replied. Three or four letters had been 
 written by each, when my father chanced to light up- 
 on my papers and read ihem. Without entering into 
 the merits of the cause, he embraced the opportunity 
 
24 THE LIFE Ot 
 
 of speaking to me upon my manner of writing. He 
 observed that though I had the advantage of my ad- 
 versary in correct spelling and pointing which I owed 
 to my occupation, I was greatly his inferior in ele- 
 gance of expression, in arrangement and perspicuity. 
 Of this he convinced me by several examples. I felt 
 the justice of his remarks, became more attentive to 
 language, and resolved to make every effort to improve 
 my style. Amidst these resolves an odd volume of the 
 Spectator fell into my hands. This was a publication 
 I had never seen. I bought the volume, and read it 
 again and again. I was enchanted with it, thought 
 the style excellent, and wished it were in my power to 
 imitate it; with this view, I selected some of the pa- 
 pers, made short summaries of the sense of each periodf 
 and put them for a few days aside. I then, without 
 looking at thfe book, endeavoured to restore the es- 
 says to their true form, and to express each thought at 
 length, as it was in the original, employing the most 
 appropriate words that occurred to my mind. I after- 
 wards compared my Spectator with the original ; I 
 perceived some faults, which I corrected : but I found 
 that I wanted a fund of words, if I may so express 
 myself, and a facility of recollecting and employing 
 them, which I thought I should by that time have ac- 
 quired, had I continued to make verses. The conti- 
 nual need of words of the same meaning, but of dif- 
 ferent lengths for the measure, or of different sounds 
 for the rhyme would have obliged me to seek for a va- 
 riety of synonymes, and have rendered me master of 
 them. From this belief, I took some of the tales of 
 the Spectator, and turned them into verse j and after a 
 time, when I had sufficiently forgotten them, I again 
 converted them into prose. 
 
 Sometimes also 1 mingled all my summaries toge- 
 ther ; and a few weeks after, endeavoured to arrange 
 them in the best order, before I attempted to form the 
 periods and complete the essays. This I did with a 
 view of acquiring method in the arrangement of my 
 thoughts. On comparing afterwards my performance 
 %vith the original, many faults were apparent, which 
 
DR. FHANKLiK. 2i5 
 
 1 torrected; but I had sometimes the satisfaction to 
 think, that, in certain particulars of little importance, 
 I had been fortunate enough to improve the order of 
 thought or the style ; and this encouraged me to hope 
 that I should succeed, in time, in writing the English 
 language, which was one of the greatest oojects of my 
 ambition. 
 
 The time which I devoted to these exercises, and 
 to reading, was the evening after my day's labour was 
 finished, the morning before it began, and Sundays 
 when I could escape attending divine service. While 
 I lived with my father, he had insisted on my punctual 
 attendance on public worship, and I still indeed consi- 
 dered it as a duty, but a duty which I thought I had no 
 time to practise. 
 
 When about sixteen years of age, a work of Tryon 
 fell into my hands, in which he recommends vegetable 
 diet. I determined to observe it. My brother, being 
 a bachelor, did not keep house, but boarded with his 
 apprentices in a neighbouring family. My refusing 
 to eat animal food was found inconvenient, ^nd I was 
 often scolded for my singularity. I attended to the 
 mode in which Tryon prepared some of his dishes, par- 
 ticularly how to boil potatoes and rice, and make hasty 
 puddings. I then said to my brother, that if he would 
 allow me per week half what he paid for my board, I 
 would undertake to maintain myself. The oifer was 
 instantly embraced, and I soon found that of what he 
 gavf me I was able to save half. This was a new fund 
 for the purchase of books ; and other advantages re- 
 sulted to me from the plan. When ray brother and his 
 workmen left the printing-house to go to dinner, I re»- 
 mained behind; and diispatching my frugal meal, which 
 frequently consisted of a biscuit only, or a slice of bread 
 and a bunch of raisins, or a bun from the pastry cook's, 
 "With a glass of water, I had the rest of the time, till 
 their return, for study; and my progress therein was 
 proportioned to that clearness of ideas and quickness 
 of conception, which are the fruit of temperance in 
 eating and drinking. 
 
 C 
 
^6 THE LIFE OF 
 
 It was about this period that, having one day been 
 put to the blush for my ignorance in the art of calcula- 
 tion, which I had twice failed to learn while at school, 
 I took Cocker's Treatise of Arithmetic, and went 
 through it by myself with the utmost ease. I also read 
 a book of Navigation by Seller and Sturmy, and made 
 myself master of the little geometry it contains, but I 
 never proceeded far in this science. Nearly at the 
 same time I read Lock on the Human understand- 
 ing, and the Art of thinking by Messrs. du Port- 
 Royal. 
 
 While labouring to form and improve my style, I 
 met with an English Grammar, which I believe was 
 Greenwood's, having at the end of it two little essays 
 on rhetoric and logic. In the latter I found a model of 
 disputation after the manner of Socrates. Shortly af- 
 ter I procured Xenophon's work, entitled Memorable 
 Things of Socrates, in which are various examples of 
 the same method. Charmed to a degree of enthusiasm 
 with this mode of disputing, I adopted it, and re- 
 nouncing blunt contradiction, and direct and positive 
 argument, I assumed the character of a humble ques- 
 tioner. The perusal of Shaftsbury and Collins had 
 made me a sceptic ; and being previously so as to ma- 
 ny doctrines of Christianity, I found Socrates* method 
 to be both the safest for myself, as well as the most em- 
 barrassing to those against whom I employed it. It 
 soon afforded me singular pleasure ; I incessantly prac- 
 tised it ; and became very adroit in obtaining, even 
 from persons of superior understanding, concessions of 
 which they did not foresee the consequence. Thus I 
 involved them in difficulties from which they were un- 
 able to extricate themselves, and sometimes obtained 
 victories which neither my cause nor my arguments 
 merited. 
 
 This method I continued to employ for some years ; 
 but I afterwards abandoned it by degrees, retaining 
 only the habit qf expressing myself with modest diffi- 
 dence, and never making use, when I advanced any 
 proposition which might be controverted, of the words 
 
DR, FRANKLIN. 37 
 
 certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that might give 
 the appearance of being obstinately attached to my 
 opinion. I rather said I imagine, I suppose, or it ap- 
 pears to me, that such a thing is so or so, for such and 
 such reasons ; or it is so, if I am not mistaken. This 
 habit has, I think been of considerable advantage to 
 me, when I have had occasion to impress my opinion 
 on the minds of others and persuade them to the adop- 
 tion of the measures I have suggested. And since the 
 chief ends of conversation are, to inform or to be in- 
 formed, to please or to persuade, I could wish that in- 
 telligent and well-meaning men would not themselves 
 diminish the powers they possess of being useful, by a 
 positive and presumptuous manner of expressing them- 
 selves, which scarcely ever fails to disgust the hearer, 
 and is only calculated to excite opposition and defeat 
 every purpose for which the faculty of speech has been 
 bestowed upon man. In short, if you wish to inform, a 
 positive and dogmatical manner of advancing your 
 opinion may provoke contradiction, and prevent your 
 being heard with attention. Qn the other hand, if with 
 a desire of being informed, and of benefiting by the 
 knowledge of others, you express yourselves as being 
 strongly attached to your own opinions, modest and sen- 
 sible men, who do not love disputation, will leave you 
 in tranquil possession of your errors. By following 
 such a method, you can rarely hope to please your audi- 
 tors, conciliate their good-will, or work conviction on 
 those whom you may be desirous of gaining over to 
 your views. Pope judiciously observes, 
 
 Men must be taught as if you taught them not, 
 And things unknown proposed as things forgot. 
 
 And in the same poem he afterwards advises us, 
 To speak, tho' sure, with seeming diffidence. 
 
28 THE LIFE OF 
 
 He might have added to these lines, one that he Im:; 
 coupled elsewhere, in my opinion, with less propriety. 
 It is thus : 
 
 For want of decency is want of sense. 
 
 If you ask why I say with les9 propriety, I mu«t give 
 you the two lines together : 
 
 Immodest words admit of no defence. 
 For want of decency is want of sense. 
 
 Now want of sense, when a man has the misfortune to 
 be so circumstanced, is it not a kind of excuse for want 
 of modesty ? And wauld not the verses have been more 
 accurate, if they had been constructed thus : 
 
 Immodest words admit but this defence. 
 That want of decency is want of sense.^ 
 
 But I leave the decision of this to better judges than 
 myself. 
 
 In 1720, or 1721, my brother began to print a nev/ 
 public paper. It was the second that made its appear- 
 ance in America, and was entitled the JVew England 
 Courant. The only one that existed before was the 
 Boston A''ews Letter. Some of his friends, I remem- 
 ber, would have dissuaded him from this undertaking, 
 as a thing that was not likely to succeed ; a single news- 
 paper being, in their opinion sufiicient for all America.^ 
 At present, however, in 1777, there is no less than 
 Iwenty-iive. But he carried his project into execution, 
 and I was employed in distributing tlie copies to his 
 customers, after having assisted in composing and 
 working them off. 
 
 Among his friends he had a number of literary cha- 
 racters, who, as an amusement, wrote short essays for 
 the paper, which gave it reputation and increased its 
 sale. Those gentlemen came frequently to our house. 
 I heard the conversation that passed, and the accounts 
 
 1 
 
DR. FRANKLIK* 29 
 
 they gave of the favourable reception of their writings, 
 with the public. I was tempted to try my hand 
 among them ; but, being still a child as it were, I was 
 fearful that my brother might be unwilling to print in, 
 his paper any performance of which he should know 
 me to be the author. I therefore contrived to disguise 
 my hand, and having written an anonymous piece, I 
 placed it at night under the door of the printing-house, 
 where it was found the next morning. My brother 
 communicated it to his friends, when they came as usu- 
 al to see him, who read it, commented upon it within 
 my hearing, and I had the exquisite pleasure to find 
 that it met with their approbation, and that, in the 
 various conjectures they made respecting the author, 
 no one was mentioned who did not enjoy a high repu- 
 tation in the country for talents and genius. I now 
 supposed myself fortunate in my judges, and began to 
 suspect that they were not such excellent writers as I 
 had hitherto supposed them. Be that as it may, en- 
 couraged by this little adventure, I wrote and sent to 
 the press, in the same way many other pieces, which 
 were equally approved ; keeping the secret till my slen- 
 der stock of information and knowledge for such per- 
 formances was pretty completely exhausted, when I 
 made myself known. 
 
 .My brother, upon this discovery, began to entertain 
 a little more respect for me ; but he still regarded 
 himself as my master, and treated me like an apprentice- 
 He thought himself entitled to the same services from 
 me as from any other person. On the contrary, I 
 conceived that, in many instances, he was too rigor- 
 ous, and that on the part of a brother, I had a right 
 to expect greater indulgence. Our disputes were fre- 
 quently brought before my father ; and either my bro- 
 ther was generally in the wrong, or I was the better 
 pleader of the two, for judgment was commonly given 
 in my favour. But my brother was passionate, and of- 
 ten had recourse to blows ; a circumstance which I took 
 in very ill part. This severe and tyrannical treatment 
 contributed, I believe, to imprint on my mind that 
 C2 
 
30 
 
 THE LIFE or 
 
 aversion to arbitrary power, which during my wholef 
 life I have ever preserved. My apprenticeship became 
 insupportable to me, and I continually sighed for an 
 opportunity of shortening it, which at length unex- 
 pectedly offered. 
 
 An article inserted in our paper upon some political 
 subject which I have now forgotten, gave offence to 
 the Assembly. My brother was taken into custody, 
 censured, and ordered into confinement for a month, 
 because, as I presume, he would not discover the au- 
 thor. I was also taken up, and examined before the 
 council ; but, though I gave them no satisfaction, they 
 contented themselves with reprimanding, and then dis- 
 missed me ; considering me probably bound in quality 
 of an apprentice, to keep my master's secrets. 
 
 The imprisonment of my brother kindled my re- 
 sentment, notwithstanding our private quarrels. Du- 
 ring its continuance the management of the paper wa^ 
 entrusted to me, and I was bold enough to insert some 
 pasquinades against the governors ; which highly plea- 
 sed my brother, while athers began to look upon me in 
 an unfavourable point of view, considering me as a 
 young wit inclined to satire and lampoon. 
 
 My brother's enlargement was accompanied with 
 an arbitrary order from the house of assembly, " That 
 " James Franklin should no longer print the newspa- 
 " per entitled the JVew-England Courant** In this 
 conjuncture, we held a consultation of our friends at 
 the printing-house, in order to determine what was 
 proper to be done. Some proposed to evade the order 
 by changing the title of the paper ; but my brother 
 foreseeing inconveniences that would result from this 
 step, thought it better that it should in future be print- 
 ed in the name of Benjamin Franklin ; and to avoid 
 the censure of the assembly, who might charge him 
 with still printing the paper himself, under the name 
 of his apprentice, it was resolved that my old indentures 
 should be given up to me, with a full and entire dis- 
 charge written on the back, in order to be produced 
 upon an emergency ; but that to secure to my bro- 
 
ther the benefit of my service, I should sign a new con- 
 tract which should be kept secret during the remainder 
 of the term. This was a very shallow arrangement. It 
 was, however, carried into immediate execution, and 
 the paper continued, in consequence, to make its ap-' 
 pearance for some months in my name. At length a 
 new difference arising between my brother and me, I 
 ventured to take advantage of my liberty, presuming 
 that he would not dare to produce the new contract. It 
 was undoubtedly dishonourable to avail myself of this 
 circumstance, and I reckon this action as one of the first 
 errors of my life ; but I was little capable of estimating 
 it at its true value, embittered as my mind had been by 
 the recollection of the blows I had received. Exclu- 
 sively of his passionate treatment of me, my brother 
 •was by no means a man of an ill temper, and perhaps 
 my manners had too much of impertinence not to 
 afford it a very natural pretext. 
 
 When he knew that it was my determination to quit 
 him, he wished to prevent my finding employment else- 
 where. He went to all the printing houses in the town, 
 and prejudiced the masters against me, who accordingly 
 refused to employ me. The idea then suggested itself 
 to me of going to New-York, the nearest town in which 
 there was a printing office. Farther reflection confirm- 
 ed me in the design of leaving Boston, where I had al- 
 ready rendered myself an object of suspicion to the go- 
 verning party. It was probable, from the arbitrary 
 proceedings of the assembly in the affair of my brother, 
 that by remaining I should soon have been exposed to 
 difficulties, which I had the greater reason to appre- 
 hend, as from my indiscreet disputes upon the subject 
 of religion, I begun to be regarded by pious souls with 
 horror, either as an apostate or an atheist. I came, there- 
 fore, to a resolution ; but my father, in this instance, 
 siding with my brother, I presumed that if I attempted 
 to depart openly, measures would be taken to prevent 
 me. My friend Collins undertook to favour my flight. 
 He agreed for my passage with the captain of a New- 
 York sloop, to whom he represented me as a young man 
 
 / , 
 
33 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of his acquaintance,' who had had an affair with a girl 
 of bad character, whose parents wished to compel me 
 to marry her, and that of consequence, I could neither 
 make*my appearance, nor go off publicly. I sold part 
 ef my books to procure a small sum of money, and 
 went privately on board the sloop. By favour of a 
 good wind I found myself in three days at New- York, 
 nearly three hundred miles from my home, at the 
 age only of seventeen years, without knowing an in- 
 dividual in the place, and with very little money in my 
 pocket. 
 
 The inclination I had felt for a seafaring life was 
 entirely subsided, or I should now have been able to 
 gratify it ; but having another trade, and believing 
 myself a tolerable workman, I hesitated not to offer my 
 services to the old Mr. William Bradford, who had 
 been the first printer in Pennsylvania, but had quitted 
 that province on account of a quarrel with George 
 Keith the governor. He could not give me employ- 
 ment himself, having little to do, and already as many 
 persons as he wanted ; but he told me that his son, 
 printer at Philadelphia, had lately lost his principal 
 workman, Aquila Rose, who was dead, and that if I 
 would go thither, he believed he would engage me. 
 Philadelphia was an hundred miles farther. I hesi- 
 tated not to embark in a boat in order to repair, by the 
 shortest cut of the sea, to Amboy, leaving my trunk and 
 effects to come after me by the usual and more tedious 
 conveyance. In crossing the bay we met with a squall, 
 which shattered to pieces our rotten sails, prevented 
 us from entering the Kill, and threw us upon Long 
 Island. 
 
 During the squall, a drunken Dutchman, who like 
 myself was a passenger in the boat, fell into the sea. 
 At the moment that he was sinking, I seized him by 
 the fore-top, saved him, and drew him on board. This 
 Immersion sobered him a little, so that he' fell asleep, 
 after !:aving taken from his pocket a volume, which he 
 requested me to dry. This volume I found to be my 
 old favourite work, Eunyan*s Voyages, in Dutch, a 
 
UR. FRANKLIM. 33 
 
 beautiful impression on fine paper, with copperplate en- 
 gravings ; a dress in which I had never seen it in its 
 original language. I have since learned that it has 
 been translated into almost all the languages of Europe, 
 and next to the Bible, I am persuaded, it is one of the 
 books which has had the greatest spread. Honest John 
 is the first, that I know of, who has mixed narrative and 
 dialogue together ; a mode of writing very engaging 
 to the reader, who in the most interesting passages, 
 finds himself admitted, as it were, into the company, 
 and present at the conversation. De Foe has imitated 
 it with success in his Robinson Crusoe, his Moll Flan- 
 ders, and other works ; as also has Richardson in his 
 Pamelia, &c. 
 
 In approaching the island we found that we had made 
 a part of the coast where it was not possible to land, 
 on account of the strong breakers produced by the 
 rocky shore. We cast anchor and veered the cable 
 towards the shore. Some men, who stood upon the 
 brink, hallooed to us, while we did the same on our 
 part ; but the wind was so high, and the waves so noisy, 
 that we could neither of us hear each other. There 
 were some canoes upon the bank, and we called out 
 to them, and made signs to prevail on them to come 
 and take us up ; but either they did not understand us, 
 or they deemed our request impracticable, and with- 
 drew. Night come on, and nothing remained for us, 
 but to wait quietly the subsiding of the wind ; till when 
 we determined, (that is, the pilot and I,) to sleep if pos- 
 sible. For that purpose we went below the hatches 
 along with the Dutchman, who was drenched with 
 water. The sea broke over the boat, and reached us 
 in our retreat, so that we were presently as completely 
 <lrenched as he. 
 
 We had very little repose during the whole night : 
 but the wind abating the next day, we succeeded in 
 reaching Amboy before it was dark, after having passed 
 thirty hours without provisions, and with no other drink 
 than a bottle of bad rum, the water upon which we row- 
 ed being salt. In the evening I went to bed with a very 
 
34 THIB Llf E OV 
 
 violent fever. I had somewhere read that cold water, 
 drank plentifully, was a remedy in such cases. I fol- 
 lowed the prescription, was in a profuse sweat for the 
 greater part of the night, and the fever left me. The 
 next day I crossed the river in a ferry-boat, and conti- 
 nued my journey on foot. I had fifty nliles to walk, in 
 order to reach Burlington, where I was told I should 
 find passage-boats that would convey me to Philadel* 
 phia. It rained hard the whole day, so that I was wet 
 to the skin. Finding myself fatigued about noon, I 
 stopped at a paltry inn, where I passed the rest of the 
 day and the whole night, beginning to regret that I had 
 quitted my home. I made besides so wretched a figure, 
 that I was suspected to be some runaway servant. This 
 I discovered by the questions that were asked me j and 
 I felt that I was every moment in dan|;eiitof being taken 
 up as such. The next day, however, I continued my 
 journey, and arrived in the evening at an inn, eight or 
 ten miles from Burlington, that was kept by one Dr. 
 Brown. 
 
 This man entered into conversation with me while I 
 took some refreshment, and perceiving that I had read 
 a little, he expressed towards me considerable interest 
 and friendship. Our acquaintance continued during the 
 remainder of his life. I believe him to have been what 
 is called an itinerant doctor ; for there was no town in 
 England, or indeed in Europe, of which he could not 
 give a particular account. He was neither deficient in 
 understanding nor literature, but he was a sad infidel; 
 and, some years after, undertook to travesty the Bible 
 in burlesque verse, as Cotton has travested Virgil. He 
 exhibited, by this means, many facts in a ludicrous 
 point of view, .which would have given umbrage to 
 weak minds, had his work been published, which it 
 never was. 
 
 I spent the night at his house, and reached Burling- 
 ton he next morning. On my arrival, I had the 
 mortification to learn that the ordinary passage-boats 
 had sailed a little before. This was on a Saturday, and 
 there would be no other boat till the Tuesday following. 
 
OR, FRANKLIN. 35 
 
 I returned to the house of an old woman in the town 
 who had sold me some gingerbread to eat on my pas- 
 sage, and asked her advice. She invited me to take 
 up my abode with her till an opportunity offered for me 
 to embark. Fatigued with having travelled so far on 
 foot, I accepted her invitation. When she understood 
 that I was a printer, she would have persuaded me to 
 stay at Burlington, and set up my trade : but she was 
 little aware of the capital that would be necessary for 
 such a purpose ! I was treated while at her house with 
 true hospitality. She gave me, with the utmost good- 
 will, a dinner of beef-steaks, and would accept of 
 nothing in return but a pint of ale. 
 
 Here I imagined myself to be fixed till the Tuesday 
 in the ensuing week ; but walking out in the evening by 
 the river side, I saw a boat with, a number of persons in 
 it approach. It was going to Philadelphia, and the com- 
 pany took me in. As there was no wind, we could only 
 make way with our oars. About midnight, not per- 
 ceiving the town, some of the company were of opinion 
 that we must have passed it, and were unwilling to 
 row any farther ; the rest not knowing where we were, 
 it was resolved that we should stop We drew towards 
 the shore, entered the creek, and landed near some old 
 palisades, which served us for fire-wood, it being a 
 cold night in October. Here we stayed till day, when 
 one of the company found the place in which we were 
 to be Cooper's Creek, a little above Philadelphia, which 
 in reality we perceived the moment we were out of 
 the creek. We arrived on Sunday about eight or nine 
 o'clock in the morning, and landed on Market street 
 wharf. 
 
 I have entered into the particulars of my voyage, 
 and shall in like manner describe my first entrance 
 into this city, that you may be able to compare begin- 
 nings so little auspicious, with the figure I have since 
 made. 
 
 On my arrival at Philadelphia I was in my working 
 dress, my best clothes being to come by sea. I was 
 covered with dirt 5 my pockets were filled with shirts 
 
36 THE LIPS; O^ 
 
 and stockings ; I was unacquainted with a single soul 
 in the place, and I knew not where to seek for a 
 lodging. Fatigued with walking, rowing, and having 
 passed the night without sleep, I was extremely hun- 
 gry, and all my money consisted of a Dutch dollar, and 
 about a shilling's worth of coppers which I gave to 
 the boatmen for my passage. As I had assisted them 
 in rowmg, they refused it at first ; but I insisted on 
 their taking it. A man is sometimes more generous 
 when he has little than when he has much money ; pro- 
 bably because in the first case, he is desirous of con- 
 cealing his poverty. 
 
 I walked towards the top of the street, looking eager- 
 ly on both sides, till I came to Market street, where I 
 met a child with a loaf of bread. Often had I made my 
 dinner on dry bread. 1 inquired where he had bought 
 it, and went straight to the baker's shop which he 
 pointed out to me. I asked for some biscuits, expect- 
 ing to find such as we had at Boston ; but they made, it 
 seems, none of that sort at Philadelphia. I then asked 
 for a three-penny loaf. They made no loaves of that 
 price. Finding myself ignorant of the prices, as well 
 as of the different kinds of bread, I desired him to let 
 me have three penny-worth of bread of some kind or 
 other. He gave me three large rolls. I was surprised 
 at receiving so much : I took them, however, and having 
 no room in my pockets, I walked on with a roll under 
 each arm, eating the third. In this manner I went 
 through Market street to Fourth street, and passed the 
 house of Mr. Read, the father of my future wife. She 
 was standing at the door, observed me, and thought 
 with reason that I made a very singular and grotesque 
 appearance. 
 
 i then turned the corner and went through Ches- 
 nut street, eating my roll all the way ; and having made 
 this round, I found myself again on Market street 
 wharf, near the boat in which I had arrived. I step- 
 ped into it to take a draught of the river water ; and 
 finding myself satisfied with my first roll, I gave the 
 other two to a woman and her child, who had come 
 
DR. FRANKLIN'. o7 
 
 down the river with us in the boat, and was waiting 
 to continue her journey. Thus refreshed, I regained 
 the street, which was now full of well dressed people, 
 all i^oing the same way. I joined ihem, and was thus 
 led to a large Quakers* meeting-house near the market 
 place. I sat down with the rest, and after looking 
 round me for some time hearing nothing said, and be- 
 ing drowsy from my last night's labour and want of 
 rest, I fell into a sound sleep. In this state 1 conti- 
 nued till the assembly dispersed, when one of the con- 
 gregation had the goodness to wake me. This was 
 consequently the first house I entered, or in which I 
 slept at Philadelphia. 
 
 1 began again to walk along the street by the river 
 side ; and looking attentively at the face of every one 
 1 met, I at length perceived a young quaker whose 
 countenance pleased me. I accosted him, and begged 
 him to inform me where a stranger might find a lodg- 
 ing. We were then near the sign of the Three Ma- 
 riners. They receive travellers here, said he, but it 
 is not a house that bears a good character ; if you will 
 go with me, I will shew you a better one. He con- 
 ducted me to the Crooked Billet in Water-Street. 
 There I ordered something for dinner, and during my 
 meal a number of curious questions were put to me; 
 my youth and appearance exciting the suspicion of my 
 being a runaway. After dinner my drowsiness re- 
 turned, and I threw myself upon a bed without taking 
 off my clothes, and slept till six o'clock in the evening, 
 when I was calkd to supper. I afterwards went to bed 
 at a very early hour, and did not awake till the next 
 morning. 
 
 As soon as I got up I put myself in as decent a 
 trim as I could, and went to the house of Andrew 
 Bradford the printer. I found his father in the shop, 
 whom I had seen at New-York. Having travelled on 
 horseback, he had arrived at Philadelphia* before me. 
 He introduced me to his son, who received me with 
 civility, and gave me some breakfast; but told me he had 
 Ro occasion at present for a journeyman, having lately 
 
 D 
 
38 THE LIFE OS 
 
 procured one. He added, that there was atiOtner printer 
 newly settled in the town, of the name of Keimeri 
 who i-nip;ht perhaps employ me ; and that in case of a 
 refusal, I should be welcome to lodge at his house, and 
 he would give me a little work now and then, till some- 
 thing better should offer. 
 
 The old man offered to introduce me to the new 
 printer. When we were at his house; " Neighbour,'* 
 said he, *' I bring you a young man in the printing bu- 
 siness ; perhaps you may have need of his services." 
 
 Keimer asked me some questions, put a composing 
 .slick in my hand to see how I could work, and then 
 said, that at present he had nothing for me to do, but 
 that he should soon be able to employ me. At the 
 same time taking old Bradford for an inhabitant of the 
 town well*disposed towards him, he communicated his 
 project to him, and the prospect he had of success- 
 Bradford was careful not to discover that he was the 
 father of the other printer; and from what Kein^r had 
 said, that he hoped shortly to be in possession of the 
 greater part of tlie business of the town, led him by art- 
 liii questions, and by starting some difficulties, to disclose 
 yll his views, what his hopes were founded upon, and 
 how he intended to proceed. I was present, and heard it 
 all. I instantly saw that one of the two was a cunning 
 old fox, and the other a perfect novice. Bradford left 
 me with Keinier, who was strangely surprised when I 
 informed him who the old man was. 
 
 i found Keimer's printing materials to consist of an 
 old damaged press, and a small font of worn-out Eng- 
 lish letters, wiih which he was himself at work upon 
 an elogy on Aquilla Kobe, whom I have mentioned 
 above, an ingenious young man, and of an excellent 
 character, highly csiecmt din the town, secretary to the 
 assembly, and a very tolerable poet. Keimer also made 
 verses, but they were indifferent ones. He could not 
 be said to* write in verse, for his method was to 
 set the lines as they flowed from his muse; and as 
 he worked without copy, had but one set of letter cases, 
 imd the ciogy vould probable occupy all his type, il 
 
DR. FRANSLLIN. 39 
 
 was impossible for any one to assist him. I endeavour- 
 ed to put his press in order, which he had not yet used, 
 and of which indeed he understood nothing : and hav- 
 ing promised to come and work off his elogy as soon 
 as it should be ready, I returned to the house of Brad- 
 ford, who gave me some trifle to do for the present, for 
 which I had my board and lodging. 
 
 In a few days Keimer sent for me to print off his 
 elogy. He had now procured another set of leiter-cases, 
 and had a pamphlet to reprint, upon which he set me to 
 ■work. 
 
 The two Philadelphia printers appeared destitute of 
 every qualification necessary in their profession. Brad- 
 ford had not been brought up to it, and was very illi- 
 terate. Keimer, though he understood a little of the bu- 
 siness, was merely a compositor, and wholly incapable 
 of working at the press. He had been one of the French 
 prophets, and knew how to imitate their supernatural 
 agitations. At the time of our first acquaintance he 
 professed no particular religion, but a little of all upon 
 occasion. He was totally ignorant of the world, and a 
 great knave at heart, as I had afterwards an opportunity 
 of experiencing. 
 
 Keimer could not endure that, M'orking with him, I 
 should lodge at Bradford's. He had indeed a house, but 
 it was unfurnished ; so that he could not take me in. 
 He procured me a lodging at Mr. Read's his landlord, 
 whom I have already mentioned. My trunk and effects 
 being now arrived, I thought of making, in the eyes of 
 Miss Read, a more respectable appearance than when 
 chance exhibited me to her view, eating my roll, and 
 wandering in the streets. 
 
 From this period I began to contract acquaintance 
 with such young people of the town as were lond of 
 reading, and spent my evenings with thera agreeably, 
 while at the same time I gained money by my industry, 
 and, thanks to my frugality, lived contented. J thus 
 forgot Boston as much as possible, and wished every one 
 to be ignorant of the place of my residence, except my 
 friend Coliint) to whom I wrote, and who kept my 
 secret. 
 
40 THE LIFE OF 
 
 An incident however arrived, which sent nie home 
 much sooner than I had proposed. 1 had a brother in- 
 law, of the name of Robert Holmes, master of a trad- 
 ing sloop from Boston to Delaware. Being at New- 
 castle, forty niiiles below Philddelphia, he heard of me, 
 and wrote to inform me of the chagrin which my sud- 
 den departure from Boston had occasioned my parents, 
 and of the affection which they still entertained for me, 
 assuring me that, if I would return, every thing should 
 be adjusted to my satisfaction ; and he was very press- 
 ing in his entreaties. I answered his letter, thanked him 
 for his advice, and explained the reasons which had in- 
 duced me to quit Boston, with such force and clearness, 
 that he was convinced I had been less to blame than he 
 had imagined. 
 
 Sir William Keith, governor of the province, was 
 at Newcastle at the time. Captain Holmes, being by 
 chance in his company when he received my letter» 
 took occasion to speak of me, and shewed it to him. 
 The governor read it, and appeared surprised when he 
 learned my age. He thought me, he said, a young 
 man of very promising talents, and that of consequence 
 I ought to be encouraged ; and there were at Phila- 
 delphia none but very ignorant printers, and that, if 
 I were to^ set up for myself, he had no doubt of my 
 success; that, for his own part, he would procure me 
 all the public business, and would render me every 
 other service in his power. My brother-in-law rela- 
 ted all this to me afterwards at Boston ; but I knevtr 
 nothing of it at the time ; when one day Keimer and 
 I being at woik together near the window, we saw the 
 governor, and another gentleman. Col. French of New- 
 castle, handsomely dressed, cross the street, and make 
 directly for our house. We heard them at the door, 
 and Keimer, believing it to be a visit to himself, 
 went immediately down ; but the governor inquired for 
 me, came up stairs, and, with a condescension and po- 
 liteness to which I hid not at all been accustomed, paid 
 me many compliments, desired to be acquainted with 
 me, obligingly reproached mc for not having made 
 
DR. FUANKLIN. 41 
 
 anyself known to him on my arrival in the town, and 
 wished mc to accompany him to a tavern, where he and 
 Colonel French^ were going, to taste some excellent 
 Madeira wine. 
 
 I was, I confess somewhat surprised, and Keimer 
 appeared thunderstruck. I went however with the 
 t]^overnor and the colonel to a tavern at the corner of 
 Third-street, where, while we were drinking the Ma- 
 deira, he proposed to me to estabiish a printing-house. 
 He set forth the proi>abiIities of success, and himself 
 and colonel French assured me that I should have their 
 protection and influence in obtaining the printint^ of 
 the public papers of both governments ; and as I ap- 
 peared to doubt whether my father would assist me in 
 this enterprise, Sir William said that he would give 
 me a letter to him, in which he would represent the 
 advantages of the scheme, in a light which he had no 
 doubt would determine him. It was thus concluded 
 that I should return to Boston by the first vessel, with 
 the letter of recommendation from the governor to my 
 father. Meanwhile the project was to be kept secret, 
 and I continued to work for Keimer as before. 
 
 The governor sent every now and then to invite me 
 to dine with him. I considered this as a very great 
 honoui- : and I was the more sensible of it, as he convers- 
 ed with me in the most affable, l^^miliar and friendly 
 manner imaginabie. 
 
 Towards the end of April 1724, a small vessel was 
 ready to sail for Boston. I took leave of Keimer, upon 
 the pretext of going to see my parents. The governor 
 gave me a long letter, in which he s-iid many flattering 
 things of me to my father ; and stroni;ly recommended 
 the project of my settling at Philadelphia, as a thing 
 which could not fail to make my fortune. 
 
 Going down the bay we struck on a flat, and sprung a 
 leak. The weather was very tem{)estuous, and we were 
 obliged to pump without intermission ; 1 took my turn. 
 We arrived however safe and sound at Boston, after 
 ftboiU a foi'tnigl>;'s passage. 
 
 D 2 
 
43 THE LIFE QF 
 
 I had been absent seven complete months, and my 
 relations during that interval, had received no intelli- 
 gence of me; for my brother-in-law, Holmes, was not 
 yet returned, and had not written about me. My unex- 
 pected appearance surprised the family ; but they were 
 all delighted at seeing me again, and, except my bro- 
 ther, welcomed me home. I went to him at the print- 
 jng-office. I was better dressed than I had ever been 
 while in his service : I had a complete suit of clothes, 
 new and neat, a watch in my pocket, and my purse was 
 furnished with nearly five pounds sterling in money. 
 He gave me no very civil reception, and having eyed 
 me from head to foot, resumed his work. 
 
 The workman asked me with eagerness where I had 
 been, what sort of a country it weis, and how I liked 
 it. I spoke in the highest terms of Pliiladelphia, the 
 happy life we led there, and expressed my intention of 
 going back again. One of them asking what sort of 
 money we had, I displayed before them a handful of 
 silver, which I drew from my pocket. This was 
 a curiosity to which they were not accustomed, paper 
 being the current money at Boston. I failed not after 
 this to let them see my watch ; and at last, my bro- 
 ther continuing sullen and out of humour, I gave them 
 a shilling to drink, and took my leave. This visit 
 stung my brother to the soul ; for when, shortly after 
 my mother spoke to him of a reconciliation, and a de- 
 sire of seeing us upon good terms, he told her that I 
 had so insulted him before his men, that he would ne» 
 ver forget or forgive it ; in this, however, he was mis- 
 taken. 
 
 The governor's letter 'appeared to excite in my fa- 
 ther some surprise ; but he said little. After some 
 days, capt. Holmes being returned, he shewed it to 
 him, asking him if he knew Keith, and what sort of a 
 man he was : adding, that in his opinion, it proved 
 very little discernment to think of setting up a boy in 
 business, who for three years to come would not be of 
 an age to be ranked in the class of men. Holmes said 
 every thing he could in favour of the scheme j but 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 43^^ 
 
 iny father firmly maintained its absurdity, and at last 
 gave a positive refusal. He wrote, however a civil 
 letter to Sir William, thanking him for the protection 
 he had so obligingly offered me, but refusing to assist 
 me for the present, because he thought me too young 
 to be entrusted with the conduct of so important an en- 
 terprise, and which would require so considerable a 
 sum of money. 
 
 My old comrade Collins, who was a clerk in the 
 post-office, charmed with the account I gave of my 
 new residence, expressed a desire of going thither ; 
 and while I waited my father's determination, he set off 
 before me, by land, for Rhode-Island, leaving his 
 books, which formed a handsome collection in mathe- 
 matics and natural philosophy, to be conveyed with 
 mine to New-York, where he purposed to wait for 
 me. 
 
 My father, though he could not approve Sir William's 
 proposal, was yet pleased that I had obtained so advan- 
 tageous a recommendation as that of a person of his 
 rank, and that my industry and economy had enabled 
 me to equip myself so handsomely in so short a period. 
 Seeing no appearance of accommodating matters be- 
 tween my brother and me, he consented to my return 
 to Philadelphia, advised me to be civil to every body, 
 to endeavour to obtain general esteem, and avoid satire 
 and sarcasm, to which he thought I was too much 
 inclined ; adding, that, with perseverance and prudent 
 economy, I might by the time I became of age, save 
 enough to establish myself in business ; and that if a 
 small sum should then be wanting, he would undertake 
 to supply it. 
 
 This was all I could obtain from him, except some 
 trifling presents, in token of friendship from him and 
 my mother. I embarked once more for New-York, 
 furnished at this time with their approbation and bles- 
 sing. The sloop having touched at Newport in Rhode- 
 Island, 1 paid a visit to my brother John, who had for 
 some years been settled there, and was married. He 
 had always been attached to me, and received me with 
 
44 THE LIFE OF 
 
 great afTection. One of his friends, whose name was 
 Vernon, having a debt of about thirty six pounds due 
 to him in Pennsylvania, begged me to receive it for 
 him, and keep the money till I should kear from him : 
 accordingly he gave me an order for that purpose. 
 This affair occasioned me, in the sequel, much uneasi- 
 ness. 
 
 At Newport we took on board a number of passen- 
 gers ; among whom were two young women, and a 
 grave and sensible quaker lady with her servants. I 
 had shown an obliging forwardness in rendering the 
 quaker some trifling services, which led her probably, 
 to feel some interest in my welfare ; for when she saw 
 a familiarity take place, and every day increase, be- 
 tween the two young woman and me, she took me aside 
 and said, << Young man I am in pain for thee. Thou 
 hast no parent to watch over thy conduct, and thou 
 secmest to be ignorant of the world, and the snares to 
 which youth is exposed. Rely upon what I tell thee; 
 those are woman of bad characters ; I perceive it in all 
 their actions. If thou dost not take care, they will lead 
 thee into danger. They are strangers to thee, and I 
 advise thee, by the friendly interest I take in thy pre- 
 servation, to form no connection with them." As I ap- 
 peared at first not to think quite so ill of them as she 
 did, she related many things she had seen and heard, 
 which had escaped my attention, but which convinced 
 me she was in the right. I thanked her for her obli* 
 ging advice, and promised to follow it. 
 
 When we arrived at New-York, they informed me 
 where they lodged, and invited me to come and see 
 them. I did not however go, and it was well I did 
 not; for the next day, the captain missing a silver 
 spoon and some other things which had been taken 
 from the cabin, and knowing these women to be pros- 
 titutes, procured a search warrant, found the stolen 
 goods upon them, and had them punished. And thus 
 after having been saved from one rock concealed un- 
 der water, upon which the vessel struck during our pas- 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 45 
 
 sage, I escaped another of a still more dangerous na- 
 ture. 
 
 At New York I found my friend Collins, who had ar- 
 rived some time before. We had been intimate from 
 our infancy, and had read the same books together; and 
 he had the advantage of beitig able to devote more time 
 to reading and study, and an astonishing disposition for 
 mathematics, in which he left me far behind him. 
 When at Boston, 1 had been accustomed to pass with 
 him almost all my leasure hours. He was then a sober 
 and industrious lad ; his knowledge had gained him a 
 very general esteem, and he seemed to promise to make 
 an advantageous figure in society. But during my ab- 
 sence, he had unfortunately addicted himself to brandy, 
 and I learned, as well from himself as from the report 
 ef others, that every day since his arrival at New York 
 he had been intoxicated, and had acted in a very ex- 
 travagant manner. He had also played, and lost all 
 his money ; so that I was obliged to pay his expenses 
 at the inn, and to maintain him during the rest of 
 the journey ; a burden that was very inconvenient to 
 roe. 
 
 The governor of vN«w York, whose name was Bur- 
 net, hearing the captain say that a young man who was 
 a passenger in his ship had a great number of books, 
 begged him to bring me to his house. I accordingly 
 went and should have taken Collins with me had he 
 been sober. I'he governor treated me with great civi- 
 lity, showed me his library, which was a very consider- 
 able one, and we talked for some time upon books and 
 authors. This was the second governor who had hon- 
 oured me with his attention ; and to a poor boy, as I 
 then was, these little adventures did not fail to be 
 pleasing. 
 
 We arrived at Philadelphia. On the way I received 
 Vernor/s money, without which we should have been 
 unable to have finished our journey. 
 
 Collins wished to get employment as a merchant's 
 clerk ; but either his breath or his countenance betray- 
 ed his bad habit j for though he had recommendations, 
 
45 THE LIFE OF 
 
 he met with lio success, and continued to lodge and eat 
 viih me, at my expense. Knowing that I had Vernon*s 
 money, he was continually asking me to lend him some 
 of it ; promising to repay me as soon as he couUr get 
 employment. At last he had drawn so much of this 
 money, that I was extremely alarmed at what might 
 become of me, should he fail to make good the defi- 
 ciency. His habit of drinking did not at all diminish, 
 and was a frequent source of discord between us ; for 
 when he had drank a little too much, he was very head- 
 strong. 
 
 Being one day in a boat together, on the Delaware 
 with some other young persons, he refused to take his 
 turn in rowing. " You shall row for me," said he, " till 
 wc get home.**— «' No," I replied, " we will not row for 
 you."—" You shall," said he, " or remain upon the 
 water all night." — " As you please." — " Let us row," 
 said the rest of the company, " what signifies whether 
 he assists or not," But, already angry with him for his 
 conduct in other respects, I persisted in my refusal. 
 He then swore that he would make me row, or would 
 throw me out of the boat ; and he made up to me. As 
 soon as he was within my reach I took him by the col- 
 lar, gave him a violent thrust, and threw him head fore- 
 most into the river. I knew that he was a good swim- 
 met, and was therefore under no apprehensions for his 
 life. Before he could turn himself we were able, by a 
 few strokes of our oars, to place ourselves out of his 
 reach ; and whenever he touched the boat, we asked 
 him if he would row, striking his hands with the oars 
 to make him let go his hold. He was nearly suffocat- 
 ed with rage, but obstinately refused making any pro- 
 mise to row. Perceiving at length that his strength be- 
 gan to be exhausted, we took him into the boat, and 
 conveyed him home in the evening, completely drench- 
 ed. The utmost coldness subsisted between us after 
 this adventure. At last a captain of a West India ship, 
 who was commissioned to procure a tutor for tiie chil- 
 dren of a gentleman at Barbadoes, meeting with Col- 
 lips, offered him the place. He accepted it, and took 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. ,47 
 
 his leave of me, promising to discharge the debt he 
 owed me with the first money he should receive ; but I 
 have heard nothing of him since. 
 
 The violation of the trust reposed in me by VernoDj 
 was one of the first great errors of my life; and it 
 proves that my father was not mistaken when he sup- 
 posed me too young to be entrusted with the manage- 
 ment of important affairs. But Sir William, upon 
 reading his letter, thought him too prudent. There 
 was a difference, he said, between individuals : years of 
 maturity were not always accompanied with discretion, 
 neither was youth in every instance devoid of it. Since 
 your father, anded he, will not set you up in business, 
 I will do it myself. Make out a list of what will be 
 wanted from England, and I will send for the articles. 
 You shall repay me when you can. I am determined 
 to have a good printer here, and I am sure you will 
 succeed. This was said with so much seeming cor- 
 diality, that I suspected not for an instant the sincerity 
 of the offer. I had hitherto kept the project with 
 which sir* William had inspired me, of settling in busi- 
 ness at Philadelphia^ a secret, and I still continued to 
 do so. Had my reliance on the governor been known, 
 some friend, better acquainted with his character than 
 myself, would d.ubtless have advised me not to trust 
 him ; for I afterwards learned that he was universally 
 known to be liberal of promises, which he had no in- 
 tention to perform. But having never solicited him, 
 how could I suppose his offer to be deceitful ? On 
 the contrary I believed him to be the best man in the 
 world. 
 
 1 gave him an inventory of a small printing office : 
 the expence of which I had calculated at about an hun- 
 dred pounds sterling. He expressed his approbation ; 
 but asked if my presence in England, that I might 
 choose the characters myself, and see that every ar- 
 ticle was good in its kind, would not be an advantage. 
 You will also be able, said he, to form some acquain- 
 tance there, and establish a correspondence wiih sta- 
 tioners and booksellers. This I acknowledged was de- 
 
48 THE LIFE OF 
 
 sirable. That being the case, added he, hold yourself 
 in readiness to go withthe Annis. This was the annual 
 vessel, and the only one, at that lime, which made regu- 
 lar voyages between the ports of London and Philadel- 
 phia. But the Annis was not to sail for some months. 
 1 therefore continued to work with Keimer, unhappy 
 respecting the sum which Collins had drawn from me, 
 and almost in continual agony at the thoughts of Ver- 
 non, who fortunately made no demand of his money till 
 several years after. 
 
 In the account of my first voyage from Boston to 
 Philadelphia, I omitted, I believe, a trifling circum- 
 stance, which will not perhaps be out of place here. 
 During a calm that stopped us above Block Island, the 
 crew employed themselves in fishing for cod, of which 
 they caught a great number. I had hitherto adhered 
 to my resolution of not eating any thing that had pos- 
 sessed life ; and I considered on this occasion, agree- 
 ably to the maxims of my master Tryon, the capture 
 of every fish as a sort of murder, committed without 
 provocation, since these animals had neither done, nor 
 were capable of doing, the smallest injury to any one 
 that should justify the measure. This mode of reason- 
 ing I conceived to be unanswerable. Meanwhile I 
 had formerly been extremely fond of fish ; and when 
 one of these cod was taken out of the frying-pan, I 
 thought its flavour delicious. I hesitated some time 
 between principle and inclination, till at last recollect- 
 ing, that when the cod had been opened, some small 
 fish were found in its belly, I said to myself, if you eat 
 one another, I see no reason why we may not eat you, 
 I accordingly dined on the cod with no small degree 
 of pleasure, and have since continued to eat like the 
 rest of mankind, returning only occasionally to my ve- 
 getable plan. How convenient does it prove to be a 
 rational animal, that knows how to find or invent a 
 plausible pretext for whatever it has an inclination to 
 do! 
 
 I continued to live upon good terms with Keimer, 
 who had not the smallest suspicion of my projected esia- 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 49 
 
 blishment. He still retained a portion of his former 
 enthusiasm ; and being fond of argument we frequently 
 disputed together. I was so much in the habit of usinj^ 
 my Socratic method, and had so freq^uently puzzled him 
 by my questions, which appeared at first very distant 
 from the point in debate, yet nevertheless led to it by 
 degrees, involving him in difficulties and contradic- 
 tions from which he was unable to extricate himself, 
 that he became at last ridiculously cautious, and would 
 scarcely answer the most plain and familiar question 
 without previously asking nve— What would you infer 
 from that? Hence he formed' so high an opinion of my 
 talents for refutation, that he seriously proposed to me to 
 become his colleague in the establishment of a new re- 
 ligious sect. He was to propagate the doctrine by preach- 
 ing, and I to refute every opponent. 
 
 When he explained to me his tenets, I found many 
 absurdities, which I refused to admit, unless he would 
 agree in turn to adopt some of my opinions. Keimer 
 wore his beard long, because Moses had somewhere 
 said, Thou shall not mar the corners of thy beard. He 
 likewise observed the Sabbath ; and these were with 
 him two very essential points, I disliked them both ; 
 but I consented to adopt them, provided he would ab- 
 stain from animal food. I dovibt, said he, whether my 
 constitution will be able to support it. I assured hira 
 on the contrary, that he would find himself the better 
 for it. He was naturally a glutton, and I wished to 
 amuse myself by starving him. He consented to make 
 trial of this regimen, if I would bear him company ; 
 and in reality we continued it for three months. A 
 woman in the neighbourhood perpared and brought us 
 our victuals, to whom I gave a list of forty dishes; in the 
 composition of which there entered neither flesh nor 
 fish. This fancy was the more agreeable to me, as it 
 turned to good account ; for the whole expence of our 
 living did not exceed for each eighteen-pence a week. 
 
 I have since that period observed several Lents with 
 the greatest strictness, and have suddenly returned again 
 to my ordinary diet, without experiencing the smallest 
 
 E 
 
50 THE LIFE OF 
 
 inconvemence ; which has led me to regard as of no 
 importance the advice commonly given of introducing 
 gradually such alterations of regimen. 
 
 I continued it cheerfully ; but poor Keimer suffered 
 terribly. Tired of the project, he sighed for the flesh 
 pots of Egypt. At length he ordered a roast pig, and 
 invited me and two of our female acquaintance to dine 
 with him ; but the pig being ready a little too soon, he 
 could not resist the temptation, and eat it all up before 
 we arrived. 
 
 During the circumstances I have related, I had paid 
 some attention to iVI,iss Read. I entertained for her 
 the utmost esteem and affection ; and I had reason to 
 believe that these sentiments were mutual. But we 
 were both young, scarcely more than eighteen years of 
 age ; and as I was on the point of undertaking a long 
 voyage, her mother thought it prudent to prevent mat- 
 ters being carried too far for the present, judging that 
 if marriage was our object, there would be more pro- 
 priety in it after my return, when, as at least I expected, 
 I should be established in my business. Perhaps also 
 she thought that my expectations were not so well found- 
 ed as I imagined. 
 
 My most intimate acquaintance at this time were 
 Charles Osborne, Joseph Watson, and James Ralph ; 
 young men who were all fond of reading. The two 
 first were clerks to Mr. Charles Brockdon, one of the 
 principal attornies in the town, and the other clerk to 
 a merchant. Watson was an upright pious and sensi- 
 ble young man : the others were somewhat more loose 
 in their principles of religion, particularly Ralph, 
 whose faith, as well as that of Collins, I had contribut- 
 ed to shake ; each of whom made me suffer a very 
 adequate punishment. Osborne was sensible and sin- 
 cere and affectionate in his friendships, but too much 
 inclined to the critic in matters of literature. Ralph 
 was ingenious and shrewd, genteel in his address, and 
 extremely eloquent. I do not remember to have met 
 with a more agreeable speaker. They were both ena- 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 51 
 
 moured of the muses, and had already evinced their pas- 
 sion by some small poetical productions. 
 
 It was a custom with tis to take a charming walk on 
 Sundays, in the woods that border on the Schuylkill. 
 Here we read together, and afterwards conversed on 
 what we read. Ralph was disposed to give himself up 
 entirely to poetry. He flattered himself that he should 
 arrive at great eminence in Ihe art, and even acquire 
 a fortune. The sublimest poets, he pretended, when 
 they first began to write, committed as many faults as 
 himself. Osborne endeavoured to dissuade him from 
 it, by assuring him that he had no genius for poetry, 
 and advised him to stick to the trade, in which he had 
 been brought up. In the road of commerce, said he, 
 you will be sure by diligence and assiduity, though 
 you have no capital, of so far succeeding as to be em- 
 ployed as a factor, and may thus, in time, acquire the 
 means of setting up for yourself. I concurred in these 
 sentiments, but at the same time expressed my appro- 
 bation of amusing ourselves sometimes with poetry, 
 with a view to improve our style. In consequence of 
 this it was proposed, that, at our next meeting, each 
 of us should bring a copy of verses of his own con>po- 
 sition. Our object in this competition was to benefit 
 each other by our mutual remarks, criticisms, and cor- 
 rections ; and as style and expression were all we had 
 in view, we excluded every idea of invention, by agree- 
 ing that our task should be a version of the eigh. 
 teenth Psalm, in which is described the descent of the 
 Deity. 
 
 The time of our meeting drew near, when Ralph 
 called upon me, and told me his piece was ready. I 
 informed him that I had been idle, and, not much lik- 
 ing the task, had done nothing. He shewed me his 
 piece, and asked what I thought of it. I expressed 
 myself in terms of warm approbation; because it real- 
 ly appeared to have considerable merit. He then said, 
 Osborne will never acknowledge the smallest degree of 
 excellence in any production of mine. Envy alone die- 
 
52 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tates to him a thousand animadversions. Of you he h 
 not so jealous. I wish therefore you would take the 
 verses, and produce them as your own. I will pretend 
 not to have had leisure to write any thing. We shall 
 then see in what manner he will speak of them. I 
 agreed to this little artifice, and immediately transcribed 
 the verses to prevent all suspicion. 
 
 We met. Watson's performance was the first that 
 was read. It had some beauties, but many faults. We 
 next read Osborne's, which was much better. Ralph 
 did it justice, remarking a few imperfections, and ap- 
 plauding such parts as were excellent. He had him- 
 self nothing to show. It was now my turn. I made 
 some difficulty ; seemed as if I wished to be excused ; 
 pretended that I had had no time to make corrections, 
 &c. No excuse, however, was admissible, and the 
 piece must be produced. It was read and re-read. 
 Watson and Osborne immediately resigned the palm, 
 and united in applauding it. Ralph alone made a few 
 remarks, and proposed some alterations ; but I defend- 
 ed my text. Osborne agreed with me, and told Ralph 
 he was no more able to criticise than he was able to 
 write. ^ 
 
 When Osborne was alone with me, he expressed 
 himself still more strongly in favour of what he consi- 
 dered as my performance. He pretended that he had 
 put some restraint on himself before, apprehensive of 
 my construing his commendation into flattery. But 
 who would have supposed, said he, Franklin to be ca- 
 pable of such a composition ? What painting, what 
 energy, what fire ! He has surpassed the original. In 
 his common conversation he appears not to have choice 
 of words ; he hesitates, and is at a loss ; and yet, good 
 God how he writes. 
 
 At our next meeting Ralph discovered the trick we 
 had played Osborne, who was rallied without mercy.^ 
 
 By this adventure Ralph was fixed in his resolution 
 of becomin?^ a poet. I left nothing unattempted to 
 divert him from his purpose j but he persevered, till at 
 
t>U. VKANKLIK. / 53 
 
 last the reading of Pope* effected his cure : he became, 
 however a very tolerable prose writer. I shall speak 
 more of him hereafter ; but as I shall probably have no 
 farther occasion to mention the other two, I ought to 
 observe here, that Watson died a few years after in my 
 arms. He was greatly regretted ; for he was the best 
 of our society. Osborne went to the islands, where he 
 gained considerable reputation as a barrister, and was 
 getting money ; but he died young. We had seriouly 
 engaged, that whoever died first should return if pos- 
 sible, and pay a friendly visit to the survivor, to give 
 him an account of the other world ; but he has never 
 fulfilled his engagement. 
 
 The governor appeared to be fond of my company, 
 and frequently invited me to his house. He always 
 spoke of his intention of settling me in business, as a 
 point that was decided. I was to take v^ith me letters 
 of recommendation to a number of friends; and particu- 
 larly a letter of credit, in order to obtain the necessary 
 sum for the purchase of my press, types and paper. 
 He appointed various times for me to come for these 
 letters, which would certainly be ready ; and when I 
 came, always put me off to another day. 
 
 These successive delays continued till the vessel 
 whose departure had been several times deferred, was on 
 the point of setting sail : when I again went to Sir Wil- 
 liam's house, to receive my letters, and take leave of 
 him. I saw his secretary. Dr. IJard, who told me that 
 the governor was extremely busy writing, but that he 
 would be down at Newcastle before the vessel, and that 
 the letters would be delivered to me there. 
 
 Ralph, though he was married and had a child, de- 
 termined to accompany me in this voyage. His object 
 
 * Probably the Dunciad, where we find him thus immortalized 
 by the author ; 
 
 Silence ye wolves, while Ralph to Cynthia howls 
 And makes night hideous ; answer him, ye owls ! 
 }i 2 
 
54 The life of 
 
 was supposed to be the establishing a correspondence 
 with some mercantile houses, in order to sell goods by 
 commission ; but I afterwards learned, that having rea* 
 son to be dissatisfied with the parents of his wife, be 
 proposed to himself to leave her on their hands and never 
 return to America again. 
 
 Having taken leave of my friends, and interchanged 
 promises of fidelity with Miss Read, I quitted Phila- 
 delphia. At Newcastle the vessel came to anchor. 
 The governor was arrived, and 1 went to his lodgings. 
 His secretary received me with great civility, told me 
 on the part of the governor that he could not see me 
 then, as he was engaged in affairs of the utmost impor- 
 tance, but that he would send the letters on board, and 
 that he wished me with all his heart, a good voyage 
 and speedy return. I returned somewhat astonished to 
 the ship, but still without entertaining the slightest 
 suspicion. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton, a celebrated barrister of Philadelphia, 
 had taken a passage to England for himself and his 
 son, and, in conjunction with Mr. Denham a quaker, 
 and Messrs. Oniam and Russel, proprietors of a forge 
 in Maryland, had agreed for the whole cabin, so that 
 Ralph and I were obliged to take up our lodging with 
 the crew. Being unknown to every body in the ship, 
 we were looked upon as the common order of people : 
 but Mr. Hamilton and his son (it was James, who was 
 afterwards governor) left us at Newcasle, and return- 
 ed to Philadelphia, where he was recalled, at a very 
 great expence, to plead the cause of a vessel that had 
 been seized ; and just as we were about to sail, colonel 
 French came on board, and showed me many civilities. 
 The passengers upon this paid me more attention, 
 and I was invited together with my friend Ralph, to 
 occupy the place in the cabin which the return of the 
 Mr. Hamiltons had made vacant; an offer which we very 
 readily accepted.. 
 
 Having learned that the dispatches of the governor 
 had been brought on board by colonel French, I asked 
 the Ciptain for the letters that were to be entrusted 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 5^5 
 
 to my care. He told me that they were all put toge- 
 ther in the bag, which he could not open at present ; 
 but before we reached England, he would give me an 
 opportunity of taking them out. I was satisfied with 
 this answer, and we pursued our voyage. 
 
 The company in the cabin were all very sociable, and 
 we were perfectly well off as to provisions, as we had 
 the advantage of the whole of Mr- Hamilton's who 
 had laid in a very plentiful stock. During the passage 
 Mr Denham contracted a friendship for me, which 
 ended only with his life : in other respects the voyage 
 was by no means an agreeable one, as we had much bad 
 weather. 
 
 When we arrived in the river, the captain was as 
 good as his word, and allowed me to search the bag 
 for the governor's letters. I could not find a single 
 one with my name written on it, as committed to my 
 care ; but I selected six or seven, which 1 judged from 
 the direction to be those that were intended for me j 
 particularly one to Mr. Basket the King's printer, and 
 another to a stationer, who was the first person I called 
 upon. I delivered him the letter as coming from go- 
 vernor Keith. " I have no acquaintance (said he) 
 " with any such person ;" and opening the letter, " Oh 
 " it is from Riddlesden i" he exclaimed. ** I have 
 " lately discovered him to be a very arrant knave, and 
 *' I wish to have nothing to do either with him or his 
 " letters." He instantly put the letter in my hand, 
 turned upon his heel, and left me to serve some cus- 
 tomers 
 
 I was astonished at finding these letters were not 
 from the governor. Reflecting, and putting circum- 
 stances together, I then began to doubt his sincerity. 
 I rejoined my friend Denham, and related the whole 
 affair to him. He let me at once into Keith's cha- 
 racter, told me there was not the least probability of 
 his having written a single letter; that no one who 
 knew him ever placed any reliance on him, and laughed 
 at my credulity in supposing that the governor would 
 give me a letter of credit, when he had no credit for 
 
56 THE LIFE OF 
 
 himself. As I shewed some uneasiness respecting what 
 step I should take, he advised me to try to get employ- 
 ment in the house of some printer. You may there, 
 said he, improve yourself in business, and you will be 
 able to settle yourself the more advantageously when you 
 return to America. 
 
 We knew already, as well as the stationer, attorney 
 Riddlesden to be a knave. He had nearly ruined the 
 father of Miss Read, by drawing him in to be his se- 
 curity. We learned from his letter that he was se- 
 cretly carrying on an intrigue, in concert with the go- 
 vernor, to the prejudice of Mr. Hamilton, who it was 
 supposed would by this time be in Europe. Denham, 
 who was Hamilton's friend, was of opinion that he 
 ought to be made acquainted with it ; and in reality, 
 the instant he arrived in England, which was very 
 soon after, I waited on him, and, as much from good- 
 will to him as from resentment against the governor, 
 put the letter into his hands. He thanked me very 
 sincerely, the information it contained being of conse- 
 quence to him J and from that moment bestowed on me 
 his friendship, which afterwards proved on many occa- 
 sions serviceable to me. 
 
 But what are we to think of a governor who could 
 play so scurvy a trick, and thus grossly deceive a poor 
 young lad, wholly destitute of experience ? It was a 
 j^ractice with him. Wishing to please every body, and 
 having little to bestow, he w^s lavish of promises. He 
 was in other respects sensible and judicious, a very to- 
 lerable writer, and a good governor for the people ; 
 though not so for the proprietaries, whose instructions 
 he frequently disregarded. Many of our best laws 
 were his work, and established during his administra- 
 tion. 
 
 Ralph and I were inseparable companions. Wc 
 took a lodging together at three^and- sixpence a week, 
 which was as much as we could afford. He met with 
 some relations in London, but they were poor, and not 
 able to assist him. He now, for the first time, in- 
 iorraed me of his intention to remain in England, and 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 5f 
 
 that he had no thoughts of ever returning to Philadel- 
 phia. He was totally without money ; the little he had 
 been able to raise having barely sufficed for his passage. 
 I had still fifteen pistoles remaining ? and to me he had 
 from time to time recourse, while he tried to get em- 
 ployment. 
 
 At first believing himself possessed of talents for the 
 stage he thought of turning actor; but Wilkes, to 
 whom he applied, frankly advised him to renounce the 
 idea, as it was impossible to succeed. He next pro- 
 posed to Roberts, a bookseller in Paternoster-row, to 
 write a weekly paper in the manner of the Spectator, 
 upon terms, to which Roberts would not listen. Last- 
 ly he endeavoured to procure employment as a copyist, 
 and applied to the lawyers and stationers about the Tem- 
 ple ; but he could find no vacancy. 
 
 As to myself I immediately got engaged at Palmer's, 
 at that time a noted printer in Bartholomew Close, 
 with whom I continued nearly a year, I applied very 
 assiduously to my work ; but I expended wiih Ralph 
 almost all that I earned. Plays and other places of 
 amusement which we frequented together, having 
 exausted my pistoles, we lived after this from hand 
 to mouth. He appeared to have entirely forgotten 
 his wife and child, as I also by degrees forgot my 
 engagements with Miss Read, to whom I never 
 wrote more than one letter, and that merely to 
 inform her that I was not likely to return soon. 
 This was another grand error of my life, which I 
 should be desirous of correctin^where i to begin my 
 career again. 
 
 I was employed at Palmer's on the second edition of 
 Woolaston*s Religion of Nature. Some of his argu- 
 ments appearing to me not to be well founded, I wrote 
 a small metaphysical treatise, in which I animadverted 
 on those passages. It was entitled a Dissertation on 
 Liberty and necessity, Pleasure and Pain. I dedica- 
 ted it to my friend Ralph, and printed a small number 
 of copies. Palmer upon this treated me with more con- 
 sideration, and regarded me as a young man of talents; 
 
68 THE LIFE OF 
 
 though he seriously took me to task for the principles 
 of my pamphlet, which he looked upon as abominable. 
 The printing of this book was another error of my 
 life. 
 
 While I lodged in Little Britain I formed acquain- 
 tance with a bookseller of the name of Wilcox, whose 
 shop was next door to me. Circulating libraries were 
 not then in use. He had an immense collection of 
 books of all sorts. We agreed that, for a reasonable 
 retribution, of which I have now forgotten the price, 
 I should have free access to his library, and take what 
 books I pleased, which I was to return when I had read 
 them. I considered this agreement as a very great ad- 
 vantage ; and I derived from it as much benefit as was 
 in my power. 
 
 My pamphlet falling into the hand of a surgeon, of 
 the name of Lyons, author, of a book entitled Infalli- 
 bility of Human Judgment, was the occasion of a con- 
 siderable intimacy between us. He expressed great 
 esteem for me, came frequently to see me, in order to 
 converse upon metaphysical subjects, and introduced 
 me to Dr. Mandeville, author of the Fable of Bees, 
 who had instituted a club at a tavern in Cheapside, of 
 which he was the soul : he was a facetious and very 
 amusing character. He also introduced me, at Bas- 
 ton's coffee-house, to Dr. Pemberton who promised to 
 give me an opportunity of seeing Sir Isaac Newton, 
 which I very ardently desired ; but he never kept his 
 word. ; 
 
 I had brought some curiosities with me from Ame- 
 rica ; the principle of which was a purse made of as- 
 bestos, which fire only purifies. Sir Hans Slone hear- 
 ing of it, called upon me, and invited me to his house 
 in Bloomsbury square, where, after showing me every 
 thing that was curious, he prevailed on me to add this 
 piece to his collection ; for which he paid me very hand- 
 somely. 
 
 There lodged in the same house with us a young 
 woman, a milliner, who had a shop by the side of the 
 exchange. Lively and sensible, and having received 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 59 
 
 an education somewhat above her rank, her conversa- 
 tion was very agreeable. Ralph read plays to her every 
 evening. They became intimate. She took another 
 lodging, and he followed her. They lived for some 
 time together ; but Ralph being without employm.ent, 
 she having a child, and the profits of her business 
 not sufficing for the maintenance of three, he resolv- 
 ed to quit London and try a country school. This 
 was a plan in which he thought himself likely to suc- 
 ceed, as he wrote a fine hand and was versed in arith- 
 metic and accounts. But considering the office as be- 
 neath him, and expecting some day to make a better 
 figure in the world, when he should be ashamed of Its 
 being known that he had exercised a profession so little 
 honourable, he changed his name and did me the ho- 
 nour of assuming mine. He wrote to me soon after 
 his departure, informing me that he was settled at a 
 small village in Berkshire. In his letter he recom- 
 mended Mrs. T***, the milliner to my care, and request- 
 ed an answer, directed to Mr. Franklin, schoolmaster 
 atN**». 
 
 He continued to write to me frequently, sending me 
 large fragments of an epic poem he was composing, and 
 which he requested me to criticise and correct. I did 
 so, but not without endeavouring to prevail on him to 
 renounce this pursuit. Young had just published one 
 of his Satires. I copied and sent him a great part of 
 it ; in which the author demonstrates the folly of culti- 
 vating the Muses, from the hope, by their instrumen- 
 tality of rising in the world. It was all to no purpose; 
 paper after paper of his poem continued to arrive every 
 post. 
 
 Meanwhile Mrs T*** having lost, on his account, 
 both her friends and her business, was frequently in 
 distress. In this dilemma she had recourse to me ; and 
 to extricate her from her difficulties, I lent her all the 
 money I could spare. I felt a little too much fond- 
 ness for her: Having at that time no ties of religion, 
 and taking advantage of her necessitous situation, I 
 attempted liberties (another error of my life) which she 
 
60 Tfli; iiwm ow 
 
 repelled with becoming indignation. She informed 
 Ralph of my conduct ; and the affair occasioned a 
 breach between us. When he returned to London, he 
 gave me to understand ihat he considered all the obli- 
 gations he owed me as annihilated by this proceeding ; 
 whence I concluded that I was never to expect the 
 payment of what money I had lent him, or advanced on 
 his account. I was the less afflicted at this, as he was 
 unable to pay me ; and as, by loosing his friendship, I 
 was relieved at the same time from a very heavy bur- 
 den. 
 
 I now began to think of laying by some money. The 
 printing house of Watt's near Lincoln's Inn Fields, be- 
 ing a still more considerable one than that in which I 
 worked, it was probable I might find it more advantage- 
 ous to be employed there. I offered myself, and was 
 accepted ; and in this house I continued during the re- 
 mainder of my stay in London. 
 
 On my entrance I worked at first as a pressman, con- 
 ceiving that I had need of bodily exercise, to which I 
 had been accustomed in America, where the printers 
 work alternately as compositors and at the press. I 
 drank nothing but water. The other workmen, to the 
 number of about fifty, were great drinkers of beer. I 
 carried occasionally a large form of letters in each hand, 
 up and down stairs, while the rest employed both hands 
 to carry one. They were surprised to see, by this and 
 many other examples, that the ^imerican Aquatic^ as 
 they used to call me, was stronger than those who drank 
 porter. The beer boy had sufficient employment dur- 
 ing the whole day in serving that house alone. My 
 fellow-pressman drank every day a pint of beer before 
 breakfast, a pint with bread and cheese for breakfast, 
 one between breakfast and dinner, one at dinner, one 
 again at about six o'clock in the afternoon, and another 
 after he had finished his day's work. This custom ap- 
 peared tome abominable ; but he had need, he said, of 
 all this beer, in order to acquire strength to work. 
 
 I endeavoured to convince him that bodily strength 
 furnished by the beer, could only be in proportion to 
 
' DR. FRANKLIN. 61 
 
 ibc solid part of the barley dissolved in the water of 
 which the beer was composed ; that there was a 
 larger portion of flour in a penny loaf, and that con- 
 sequently if he eat this loaf and drank a pint of wa- 
 ter with it, he would derive more strength from it 
 than from a pint of beer. This reasoning, however, 
 did not prevent him from drinking his accustomed 
 quantity of beer, and paying every Saturday night 
 a score of four or five shillings a week for this 
 cursed beverage ; an expense from which I was 
 wholly exempt. Thus do these poor devils continue 
 all their lives in a state of voluntary wretchedness and 
 poverty. 
 
 At the end of a few weeks, Watts having occasion 
 for me above stairs as a composi or, I quitted the press. 
 The compositors demanded of me garnish money 
 afresh. This I considered as an imposition, having 
 already paid below. The master was of the same opi- 
 nion, and desired me not to comply. I thus remain- 
 ed two or three weeks out of the fraternity. I was 
 consequently looked upon as excommunicated ; and 
 whenever I was absent, no little tricl^ that malice could 
 suggest was left unpracticed upon me. I found my 
 letters mixed, my pages transposed, my matter bro- 
 ken, &c. &c. all which was attributed to the spirit that 
 haunted the chapel,* and tormented those who were 
 not regularly admitted. I was at last obliged to sub- 
 mit to pay notwithstanding the protection of the mas- 
 ter ; convinced of the folly of not keeping up a good 
 understanding with those among whom we are destined 
 to live. 
 
 After this I lived in the utmost harmony with my 
 fellow-labourers, and soon acquired considerable influ- 
 ence among them. I proposed some alterations in 
 the laws of the chapel, which I carried without op- 
 position. My example prevailed with several of them 
 to renounce their abominable practice of bread and 
 
 • Printing offices in general are thus denominated by the work- 
 men ; the spirit they call by the name of Ralph. 
 
 F 
 
62 THE LIFE OF 
 
 cheese with beer ; and they procured, like me, from a 
 neighbouring house, a good bason ot warm griiel, in 
 which was a small slice of butter, with toasted bread and 
 nutmeg. This was a much better breakfast, which did 
 not cost more than a pint of bee?, namely, three half- 
 pence, and at the same time preserved the head clearer. 
 Those who continued to gorge themselves with beer, 
 often lost their credit with the publican, from neglecting 
 to pay their score. They had then recourse to me, to 
 become security for them ; thdr lights as they used to 
 call it, being out, I attended at the pay-table every 
 Saturday evening, to take up the little sum of money 
 which I had made myself answerable for ; and which 
 sometimes amounted to nearly thirty shillings a week. 
 This circumstance, added to my reputation of being 
 a tolerable good gabber^ or, in other words, skilful in 
 the art of burlesque, kept up my importance in the 
 chapel. I had besides recommended myself to the es- 
 teem of the master by my assiduous application to bu- 
 siness, never observing Saint Monday. My extraordi- 
 nary quickness in composing always procured me such 
 work as was most urgent, and which is commonly best 
 paid ; and thus my time passed away in a very pleasant 
 manner. 
 
 My lodging in Little Britain being too far from the 
 printing house, I took another in Duke street, opposite 
 the Roman chapel. It was at the back of an Italian 
 ware-house. The house was kept by a widow, who had 
 a daughter, a servant, and a shop boy ; but the latter 
 slept out of the house. After sending to the people 
 with whom I had lodged in Little Britain, to inquire 
 into my character, she agreed to take me in at the same 
 price, three and sixpence a week ; contenting herself, 
 she said, with so little, because of the security she 
 would derive, as they were all women, from having a 
 man lodge in the house. 
 
 She was a woman rather advanced in life, the daughter 
 of a clergyman. She had been educated a Protestant ; 
 but her husband, whose memory she highly revered, 
 had conv:erted her to the Catholic religion. She haU 
 
DH. FRANKLl>f. 63 
 
 lived in habits of intimacy with persons of distinction ; 
 of whom she knew various anecdotes as far back as the 
 time of Charles II. Being subject to fits of the gout 
 which often confined her to her room, she was some- 
 times disposed to see company. Iier*s was so amusing 
 to me that I was glad to pass the evening with her as 
 often as she desired it. Our supper consisted only of 
 half an anchovy a-piece, upon a slice of bread and but- 
 ter, with half a pint of ale between us. But the enter- 
 tainment was in her conversation. 
 
 The early hours I kept, and the little trouble I occa- 
 sioned in the family, made her loath to part with me ; 
 and when I mentioned another lodging I had found 
 nearer the printing house, at two shillings a week, which 
 fell in with my plan of saving, she persuaded me to give 
 it up, making herself an abatement of two shillings ; 
 and thus I continued to lodge with her, during the re- 
 mainder of my abode in London,at eighteen pence a week. 
 
 In the garret of the house there lived, in the most 
 retired manner, a lady seventy years of age, of whom I 
 received the following account from my landlady. She 
 was a Roman Catholic. In her early years she had 
 been sent to the continent, and entered a convent with 
 the design of becoming a nun ; but the climate not 
 agreeing with her constitution, she was obliged to re- 
 turn to England, where, as there was no monasteries, 
 she made a vow to lead a monastic life, in as rigid a 
 manner as circumstances would permit. She accord- 
 ingly disposed of all her property, to be applied to cha- 
 ritable uses, reserving to herself only twelve pounds a 
 year ; and of this small pittance she gave a part to the 
 poor, living on water-gruel, and never making use of 
 fire but to boil it. She had lived in this garret a great 
 many years, without paying any rent to the successive 
 Catholic inhabitants that had kept the house; who indeed 
 considered her abode with them as a blessing. A pries^t 
 came every day to confess her. *' I have asked her,'* 
 said my landlady, '» how, living as she did, she could find 
 so much employment for a confessor ?" To which she 
 ans-wered, that it was impossible to avoid vain thoughts. 
 
64 THE LIFE OF 
 
 I was once permitted to visit her. She was cheerful 
 and polite, and h«r conversation agreeable. Her apart- 
 ment was neat; but the whole furniture consisted of a 
 mattrass, a table, on which were a crucifix and book, a 
 chair, which she gave me to sit on, and over the mantle- 
 piece a picture of St. Veronica, displaying her hanker- 
 chief, on which was seen the miraculous impression of 
 the face of Christ, which she explained to me with great 
 gravity. Her countenance was pale, but she had ne- 
 ver experienced sickness; and I may adduce her as ano- 
 ther proof how little is sufficient to maintain life and 
 health. 
 
 At tiie printing house I contracted an intimacy with 
 a sensible young man of the name of Wygate, who, as 
 his parents were in good circumstances, had received a 
 better education than is common among printers. He 
 was a tolerable Latin scholar, spoke French fluently and 
 was fond of reading. I taught him, as well as a friend 
 of his, to swim, by taking them twice only into the ri- 
 ver ; after which they stood in need of no further assist- 
 ance. We one day made a party to ^o by water to 
 Chelsea, in order to see the College, and don Soltero's 
 curiosities. On our return, at the request of the com- 
 pany, whose curiosity Wygate had excited, I undressed 
 myself and leaped into the river. I swam from near 
 Chelsea the whole way to Blackfriars bridge, exhibiting 
 during my course, a variety of feats of activity and ad- 
 dress, both upon the surface of the water, as well as un- 
 der it. This sight occasioned much astonishment and 
 pleasure to those to whom it was nev/. In my youth I 
 took great delight in this exercise. I knew, and could 
 execute, all the evolutions and positions of Thevenot ; 
 and I added to them some of my own invention, in 
 which I endeavoured to unite gracefulness and utility. 
 I took a pleasure in displaying them ail on this occa- 
 sion, and was highly flattered with the admiration they 
 (Qxcited. 
 
 Wygate besides his being desirous of perfecting him- 
 self in this art Vv'as the more attached to me from there 
 being, in other repects, a conformity in our tastes and 
 
 1 
 
dh. franklin. 65 
 
 studies. He at lenc^th proposed to me to make the 
 tour of Europe with him, maintaining^ ourselves at the 
 same time by working at our profession. I was on 
 the point of consenting, when I mentioned itto my friend 
 Denham, with whom I was glad to pass an hour when- 
 ever I had leisure. He dissuaded me from the project, 
 and advised me to return to Philadelphia, which he was 
 about to do himself. 1 must relate in this place a trait 
 of this worthy man*s character. 
 
 He had formerly been in business at Bristol, but 
 failing, he compounded with his creditors, and depart- 
 ed for America, where, by assiduous application as a 
 merchant, he acquired in a few years a very considera- 
 ble fortune. Returning to England in the same ves- 
 sel with myself, a's I have related above, he invited all 
 his old creditors to a feast. When assembled, he thank- 
 ed them for the readiness with which they had receiv- 
 ed his small composition ; and, while they expected 
 nothing more than a simple entertainment, each found 
 under his plate when it came to be removed, a 
 draft upon a banker for the residue of his debt with 
 interest. 
 
 He told me it was his intention to carry back with 
 him to Philadelphia a great quantity of goods, in or- 
 dsr to open a store ; and he offered to take me with 
 him in the capacity of a clerk, to keep his books, in 
 which he would instruct me, copy letters, and superin- 
 tend the store. He added, that, as soon as I had ac- 
 quired a knowledge of mercantile transactions, he 
 would improve my situation, by sending me with a 
 cargo of corn and flour to the American Islands, and by- 
 procuring me other lucrative commissions : so that with 
 good management and oeconomy, I might in time begin 
 business with advantage for myself. 
 
 I relished these proposals. London began to tire 
 me ; the agreeable hours I had passed at Philadelphia 
 presented themselves to my mind, and I wished to see 
 them revive. I consequently engaged myself to Mr. 
 Denham, at a salary of fifty pounds a year. This was 
 Indeed less than I earned as a compositor, but then I 
 F2 
 
&6 THE LirEi OF 
 
 had a much fairer prospect. I took leave, therefore, as I 
 believed forever, of printing, and gave myself up en- 
 tirely to my new occupation, spending all my time ei- 
 ther in going from house to house with Mr. Denham to 
 purchase goods, or in packing them up, or in expedit- 
 ing the workmen, &c. &c. When every thing however 
 was o.n board, I had at last a few days leisure. 
 
 During this interval, I was one day sent for by a 
 gentleman, whom I knew only by name. It was Sir 
 William Wyndham. I went to his house. He had 
 by some means heard of my performances between 
 Chelsea and Blackfriars, and that I had taught the art 
 of swimming to Wygate and another young man in the 
 course of a few hours. His two sons were on the 
 point of setting out on their travels ; he was desirous 
 that they should previously learn to swim, and offered 
 me a very liberal reward if I would undertake to in- 
 struct them. They were not yet arrived in town, and 
 the stay I should make myself was uncertain ; I could 
 not therefore accept his proposal. I was led however 
 to suppose from this incident, that if I had wished to re- 
 main in London and open a swimming-school I should 
 perhaps have gained a great deal of money. This idea 
 struck me so forcibly, that, had the oifer been made 
 sooner, I should have dismissed the thought of return- 
 ing as yet to America. Some years after, you and I 
 had a more important business to settle with one of the 
 sons of Sir VVilliam Wyndham, then Lord Egremont. 
 But let us not anticipate events. 
 
 I thus passed about eighteen months in London, 
 working almost without intermission at my trade, a- 
 voiding all expence on my own account, except going 
 tiow and then to the play and purchasing a few books. 
 JBut my friend Ralph kept me poor. He owed me 
 about twenty-seven pounds, which was so much mo- 
 ney lost ; and when considered as taken from my lit- 
 tle savings, was a very great sum. I had notwith- 
 standing this a regard for him, as he possessed many 
 amiable qualities. But though I had done nothing for 
 
DR. JPRANKLIK. £? 
 
 myself in point of fortune, I had increased my stock of 
 knowledge, either by the many excellent books I had 
 read; or the conversation of learned and literary persons 
 with whom I was acquainted. 
 
 We sailed from Gravesend the 23d of July 1726. 
 For the incidents of my voyage I refer you to my Jour- 
 nal where you will fiud all the circumstances minutely 
 i-elated. We landed at Philadelphia on the 1 1th of the 
 following October. 
 
 Keith had been deprived of his office of governor, 
 and was succeeded by Major Gordon, I met him walk- 
 ing in the streets as a private individual. He appeared 
 a little ashamed at seeing me, but passed on without 
 saying any thing. 
 
 I should have been equally ashamed myself at meet- 
 ing Miss Read, had not her family, justly despairing 
 of my return after reading my letter, advised her to 
 give me up, and marry a potter, of the name of Ro- 
 gers ; to which she consented : but he never made her 
 happy, and she soon separated from him, refusing to 
 cohabit with him, or even bear his name, on account 
 of a report which prevailed, of his having another wife, 
 His skill in his profession had seduced Miss Read's pa- 
 rents; but he was as bad a subject as he was excellent 
 as a workman. He involved himself in debt, and fled, 
 in the year 1727 or 1728, to the West Indies where he 
 died. 
 
 During my absence Keimer had taken a more con- 
 siderable house, in which he kept a shop, that was well 
 supplied with paper, and various other articles. He 
 had procured some new types, and a number of work- 
 men ; among whom, however there was not one who 
 was good for any thing : and he appeared not to w 
 business. 
 
 Mr. Denham took a warehouse in Water-stree 
 where we exhibited our commodities. I applied my- 
 self closely, studied accounts, and became in a short 
 time very expert in trade. We lodged and eat together. 
 He was sincerely attached to me, and acted towards 
 me as if he had been my father. On my side, I re- 
 
 
68 THE LIFE OP 
 
 spected and loved him. My situation was happy ; but it 
 was a happiness of no lon^ duration. 
 
 Early in February 1727, when I entered into tny 
 twenty-second year* we were both taken ill. I was 
 attacked with a pleurisy, which had nearly carried me 
 off; I suffered terribly, and considered it as all over 
 with me. I felt indeed a sort of disappointment when 
 I found myself likely to recover, and ref^retted that I 
 had still to experience, soooer or later, the same dis- 
 agreeable scene again. 
 
 I have forgotten what was Mr. Denham's disorder ; 
 but it was a tedious one, and he at last sunk under it. 
 He left me a small legacy in his will, as a testimony 
 of his friendship ; and I was once more abandoned to 
 myself in the wide world, the ware-house being confi- 
 ded to the care of the testamentary executor, who dis- 
 missed me. 
 
 My brother-in-law, Holmes^ who happened to be at 
 Philadelphia, advised me to return to my former pro- 
 fession ; and Keimer offered me a very considerable sa- 
 lary if I would undertake the management of his print- 
 ing-office, that he might devote himself entirely to the 
 superintendance of his shop. His wife and relations in 
 London had given me a bad character of him ; and 1 was 
 loath for the present, to have any concern with him. I 
 endeavoured to get employment as a clerk to a mer- 
 chant ; but not readily finding a situation, I was induc- 
 ed to accept Keimer's proposal. 
 
 The following were the persons I found in his print- 
 ing-house : 
 
 Hugh Meredith, a Pennsylvanian, about thirty-five 
 years of age. He had been brought up to husbandry, was 
 honest, sensible, had some experience, and was fond of 
 reading ; but too much addicted to drinking. 
 
 Stephen Potts, a young rustic, just broke from school, 
 and of rustic education, with endowments rather above 
 the common order, and a competent portion of under- 
 standing and gaiety ; but a little idle. Keimer had en- 
 gaged these two at very low wages, which he had pro- 
 iQised to raise every three monihs a shilling a week> 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 69 
 
 provided their improvement in the typographical art 
 should merit it. This future increase of wages was 
 the bait he made use of to ensnare them. Meredith 
 was to work at the press, and Potts^o bind books, which 
 he had engaged to teach them, though he* understood 
 neither himself. 
 
 John Savage, an Irishman, who had been brought up 
 to no trade, and whose service, for a period of four years, 
 Keimer had purchased of the captain of a ship. He 
 was also to be a pressman. 
 
 George Webb, an Oxford scholar, whose time he 
 had in like manner bought for four years, intending 
 him for a compositor. I shall speak more of him pre- 
 sently. 
 
 Lastly, David Harry, a country lad, who was appren- 
 ticed to him. 
 
 I soon perceived that Keimer's intention, in engag- 
 ing me at a price so much above what he was accus- 
 tomed to give, was, that I might form all these raw 
 journeymen and apprentices, who scarcely cost him any 
 thing, and who, being indentured, would as soon as they 
 should be sufficiently instructed, enable him to do 
 without me. I nevertheless adhered to my agreement. 
 I put the office in order, which was in the utmost con?- 
 fusion, and brought his people by degrees, to pay atten- 
 tion to their work, and to execute it in a more masterly 
 manner. 
 
 It was singular to see an Oxford scholar in the con- 
 dition of a purchased servant. He was not more than 
 eighteen years of age ; and the following are the par- 
 ticulars he gave me of himself. Born at Gloucester, 
 he had been educated at a grammar school, and had 
 distinguished himself among the scholars by his supe- 
 rior style of acting, when they represented dramatic 
 performances. 
 
 He was member of a literary club in the town ; aild 
 some pieces of his composition, in prose as well as in 
 verse, had been inserted in the Gloucester papers. From 
 hence he was sent to Oxford, where he remained about 
 a year: but he was not contented, and wished above 
 
70 THE LIFE OF 
 
 all things to see London, and become an actor. At 
 length having received fifteen guineas to pay his quar- 
 ter's board, he decamped with the money from Oxford, 
 hid his gown in a hedge, and travelled to London. 
 There, having no friend to direct liim, he fell into bad 
 company, soon squandered his fifteen guineas, could find 
 mo way of being introduced to the actors, became 
 contemptible, pawned his clothes, and was in want 
 of bread. As he was walking along the streets, al- 
 most famished with hunger, and not knowing what to do, 
 a recruiting bill was put into his hand, which offered an 
 Immediate treat and bounty-money to whoever was 
 disposed to serve in America. He instantly repaired 
 to the house of rendezvous, inlisted himself, was put 
 on board a ship and conveyed to America, without 
 ever writing to inform his parents what was become 
 of him. His mental vivacity, and good natural dis- 
 position, made him an excellent companion ; but he 
 Avas indolent, thoughtless, and to the last degree im* 
 prudent. 
 
 John, the Irishman, soon ran away. I began to live 
 very agreeably with the rest. They respected me, and 
 the more so as they found Keimcr incapable of instruct- 
 ing them, and as they learned something from me every 
 day. We never worked on a Saturday, it being Kci- 
 iner*s sabbath j so that I had two days a week for 
 reading. 
 
 I increased my acquaintance with persons of know- 
 ledge and information in the town. Keimer himself 
 treated me with great civility, and apparent esteem ; 
 ^nd I had nothing to give me uneasiness but my debt to 
 Vernon, which I was unable to pay, my savings as yet 
 being very little. He had the goodness, however, not 
 to ask me for the money. 
 
 Our press was frequently in want of the necessary 
 quantity of letter ; and there was no such trade as that 
 of letter-founder in America. I had seen the practice 
 of this art at the house of James, in London ; but had 
 at the same time paid it very little attention. I how- 
 ever contrived to fabricate a mould. I nasvde use of 
 
DR. FRANKLIN, 71 
 
 such letters as we had for punches, founded new letters 
 of lead in matrices of clay, and thus supplied in a 
 tolerable manner, the wants that were most pressing. 
 
 I also, upon occasion, engraved various ornaments, 
 made ink, gave an eye to the shop ; in short, I was in 
 every respect the /actotU7n. But useful as I made my- 
 self, 1 perceived that my services became every day of 
 Jess importance, in proportion as the other men im- 
 proved ; and when Keimerpaid me my second quarter*s 
 wages, he gave me to understand that they were too 
 heavy, and that he thought I ought to make an abate- 
 ment. He became by degrees less civil, and assumed 
 more the tone of master. He frequently found fault, was 
 difficult to please, and seemed always on the point of 
 coming to an open quarrel with me. 
 
 I continued, however, to bear it patiently, conceiv- 
 ing that his ill humour was partly occasioned by the 
 derangement and embarrassment of his affairs. At last 
 a slight incident broke our connection. Hearing a 
 noise in the neighbourhood, I put my head out of the 
 window to see what was the matter. Keimer being in 
 the street observed me, and in a loud and angry tone 
 told me to mind my work ; adding some reproachful 
 words, which piqued me the more as they were uttered 
 in the street, and the neighbours, whom the same noise 
 had attracted to the windows, were witnesses of the 
 manner in which I was treated. He immediately 
 came up to the printing-room, and continued to ex- 
 claim against me. The quarrel became warm on both 
 sides, and he gave me notice to quit him at the expi- 
 ration of three months, as had been agreed between 
 us ; regretting that he was obliged to give me so long 
 a term. I told him that his regret was superfluous, as 
 I was ready to quit him instantly ; I took my hat and 
 came out of the house, begging Meredith to take care 
 of some things which I left, and bring them to my 
 lodgings. 
 
 Meredith eame to me in the evening. VVe talk' 
 ed for some time upon the quarrel that had taken place ^ 
 
72 THE LIFE OF 
 
 He had conceived a great veneration for me, and was 
 sorry I should quit the house while he remained in it. 
 He dissuaded me from returning; to my native country, 
 as I began to think of doing. He reminded me that 
 Keimer owed more than he possessed ; that his credi- 
 tors began to be alarmed ; that he kept his shop in a 
 wretched state, often selling things at prime cost for 
 the sake of ready money, and continually giving cre- 
 dit without keeping any accounts ; that of consequence 
 he must very soon fail, which would occasion a vacancy 
 from which I might derive advantage. I objected 
 my want of money. Upon which he informed me 
 that his father had a very high opinion of me, and, 
 from a conversation that had passed between them, he 
 was sure that he would advance whatever might be ne- 
 cessary to establish us, if I was willing to enter into 
 partnership with him. " My time with Keimer," add- 
 ed he, " will be at an end next spring. In the mean- 
 time we may send to London for our press and types, 
 I know that I am no workman ; but if you agree to 
 the proposal, your skill in the business will be balanced 
 by the capital I will furnish, and we will share the pro- 
 fits equally.'* His proposal was reasonable, and 1 fell 
 in with it. His father who was then in the town, 
 approved of it. He knew that I had some ascendency 
 over his son, as I had been able to prevail on him to 
 abstain a long time from drinking brandy; and he hoped, 
 that wheft more closely connected with him, I should 
 cure him entirely of this unfortunate habit. 
 
 I gave the father a list of what would be necessa- 
 ry to import from London. He took it to a mer- 
 chant, and the order was given. We agreed to keep 
 the secret till the arrival of the materials, and I was 
 in the mean time to procure work if possible, in ano- 
 ther printing-house ; but there was no place vacant, 
 and I remained idle. After some days, Keimer hav- 
 ing the expectation of being employed to print some 
 New Jersey money-bills, that would require types and 
 engravings which I only could furnish, and fearful that 
 Bradford by engaging me, might deprive him of the 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 73 
 
 undertaking, sent me a very civil message, telling me 
 that old friends ought not to be disunited on account of 
 a few words, which were the effect only of a momenta- 
 ry passion, and invited me to return to him. Meredith 
 persuaded me to comply with ihe invitation, particularly 
 as it would afford him more opportunities of improving 
 himself in the business by means of my instructions. I 
 did so, and we lived upon better terms than before our 
 separation. 
 
 He obtained the New-Jersey business : and in order 
 to execute it, I constructed a copper-plate printing- 
 press ; the first that had been seen in the country. I 
 engraved various ornaments and vignettes for the bills ; 
 and we repaired to Burlington together, where 1 exe- 
 cuted the whole to the general satisfaction ; and he 
 received a sum of money for this work, which enabled 
 him to keep his head above water for a considerable time 
 longer. 
 
 At Burlington I formed acquaintance with the prin- 
 cipal personages of the province ; many of whom were 
 commissioned by the assembly to superintend the press, 
 and to see that no more bills were printed than the 
 law had prescribed. Accordingly they were constant- 
 ly with us, each in his turn ; and he that came com- 
 monly brought with him a friend or two to bear him 
 company. My mind was more cultivated by reading 
 than Keimer*s; and it was for this reason probably, 
 that they set more value on my conversation. They 
 took me to their houses, introduced me to their friends, 
 and treated me with the greatest civility ; while Kei- 
 mer, though master, saw himself a little neglected. 
 He was, in fact, a strange animal, ignorant of the com- 
 mon modes of life, apt to oppose with rudeness general- 
 ly received opinions, an enthusiast in certain points of 
 religion, disgustingly unclean in his person, and a little 
 knavish withal. 
 
 We remained there nearly three months ; and at 
 the expiration of this period I could include in the 
 list of my friends, Judge Allen, Samuel Bustil, secre- 
 tary of the province, Isaac Pearson, Joseph Cooper, 
 
 G 
 
V4 THE LIFE OF 
 
 several of the Smiths, all members of the assemblvj 
 and Isaac Deacon, inspector-general. The last was a 
 shrewd and subtle old man. He told me, that, when a 
 boy, his first employment had been that of carrying 
 clay to brick-makers ? that he did not learn to write 
 till he was some what advanced in life ; that he was 
 afterwards employed as an underling to a surveyor, 
 who taught him his trade, and that by industry 
 he had at last acquired a competent fortune. " I fore- 
 see," said he one day to me, *' that you will soon sup- 
 plant this man.'* speaking of Keimer, " and get a for- 
 tune in the business at Philadelphia." He was to- 
 tally ignorant at the time of my intention of establish- 
 ing myself there, or any where elbe. These friends 
 were very serviceable to me in the end, as was I also 
 Upon occasion to some of them ; and they have continued 
 ever since their esteem for me. 
 
 Before I relate the particulars of my entrance into bu- 
 siness, it may be proper to inform you what was at that 
 time the state of my mind as to moral principles, that 
 you may see the degree of influence they had upon the 
 subsequent events of my life. 
 
 My parents had given me betimes religious impres- 
 sions ; and I received from my infancy a pious educa- 
 tion in the principles of Galvanism. But scarcely was 
 I arrived at fifteen years of age, when, after having 
 doubted in turn of different tenets, according as I 
 found them combated in the different books that I r.ead, 
 I began to doubt of revelation itself. Some volumes 
 against deism fell into my hands. They were said to 
 be the substance of sermons preached at Boyle's Lecture. 
 It happened that they produced on me an effect pre- 
 cisely the reverse of what was intended by the writers ; 
 for the arguments of the deists, which were cited in 
 order to be refuted, appeared to me much more forci- 
 ble than the refutation itself. In a word, I jBoon be- 
 came a perfect deist. My arguments perverted some 
 other young persons; particularly Collins and Ralph. 
 But in the sequel, when I recollected that they had 
 both used me extremely ill, without the smallest re- 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 75 
 
 morse ; when I considered the behaviour of Keith, 
 another freethinker, and my own conduct towards Ver- 
 non and Miss Reed, which at times gave me much 
 uneasiness, I was led to suspect that tliis doctrine, 
 though it might be true, was not very useful. I be- 
 gan to entertain a less favourable opinion of my London 
 pamphlet, to which I had prefixed, as a motto, the fol- 
 lowing lines of Dryden ; 
 
 Whatever is, is right ; tho* purblind man, 
 Sees but part of the chain, the nearest link. 
 His eyes nut carrying to the equal beam 
 Thai' poises all above. 
 
 and of which the object was to prove, from the attri- 
 butes of God, his goodness, wisdom, and power, that 
 there could b^no such thing as evil in the world ; that 
 vice and virtue did not in reality exist and were no- 
 thing more than vain distinctions. I no longer re- 
 garded it as so blameless a work as I had formerly ima- 
 gined ; ^nd I suspected that some error must have im- 
 perceptibly glided into my argument, as all the 
 inferences I had drawn from it had been affected, as fre- 
 quently happens, in metaphysical reasonings. In a 
 word, I was at last convinced that truth, probity, and 
 sincerity, in transactions between man and man, were of 
 the utmost importance to the happiness of life: and I re- 
 solved from that moment, and wrote the resolution in 
 my journal, to practice ihera as long as I lived. 
 
 Revelation indeed, as such, had no influence on 
 my mind ; but I was of opinion that, though certain 
 actions could not be bad merely because revelation pro- 
 hibited them, or good because it enjoined them, yet 
 it was probable that those actioiis were prohibited be- 
 cause they were bad for us, or enjoined because ad- 
 vantageous in their nature, all things considered. The 
 persuasion, divine IVovidence, or some guardian angel, 
 and perhaps concurrence of favourable circumstances 
 co-operating, preserved me from all immorality, or gross 
 and voLantary injustice, to which my want of religion 
 
ys THE LIFE ar 
 
 calculated to expose me, in the danj^erous period of 
 youih and in the hazardous situations in which I 
 sometimes found myself, among strangers, and at a dis- 
 tance from the eye and admonitions of my father. I 
 may say -voluntary^ because the errors into which I hud 
 fallen, had been in a manner the forced result either of 
 my own inexperience, or the dishonesty of others. 
 Thus, before I entered on my new career, I had imbibed 
 solid principles, and a character of probity. I knew their 
 value ; I made solemn engagements with myself never 
 to depart from them. 
 
 I had not long returned from Burlington before ohp 
 printing materials arrived from London. I settled my 
 accounts with Keimer, and quitted him, with his own 
 consent, before he had any knowledge of our plan. 
 We found a house to let near the market. We took 
 it ; and to render the rent less burtWnsome (it was 
 then twenty-four pounds a-year, but I have since 
 known it to let for seventy,) we admitted Thomas 
 Godfry, a glazier, with his family, who eased us of 
 a considerable part of it ; and with him we ^reed to 
 board. 
 
 We had no sooner unpacked our letter, and put our 
 press in order, than a person of my acquaintance 
 George House, brought us a countryman, whom he 
 had met in the streets enquiring for a printer. Our 
 money was almost exhausted by the number of things 
 we had been obliged to procure. The five shillings 
 we received from this countryman, the first fruit of our 
 earnings, coming so seasonably, gave me more plea- 
 sure than any sum I have since gained ; and the recol- 
 lection of the gratitude I felt on this occasion to George 
 House, has rendered me often more disposed, than per- 
 haps I should otherwise have been, to encourage young 
 beginners in trade. 
 
 There are in every country morose beings, who are 
 always prognosticating ruin. There was one of this 
 stamp in Philadelphiu. He was a man of fortune, de- 
 clined in years, had an air of wisdom, and a very grave 
 manner of speaking. His name was Samuel Mickle. 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 77 
 
 I knew him not ; but he stopped one day at my door, 
 and asked me if I was the young man who had lately sat 
 up a new printing house. On my answering in the 
 affirmative, he said that he was very sorry for me, as it 
 was an expensive undertaking, and the money that had 
 been laid out upon it would be lost, Philadelphia bein^ 
 a place falling into decay ; its inhabitants having all 
 or nearly all of them, been obliged to call together 
 their creditors. That he knew from undoubted fact, 
 the circumstances which might lead us to suppose the 
 contrary, such as new buildings and the advanced price 
 of rent, to be deceitful appearances, which in real- 
 ity contributed to hasten the general ruin ; and he gave 
 me so long a detail of misfortunes, actually existing, 
 or which were soon to take place, that he left me almost 
 in a state of despair. Had I koown this man before I 
 entered into trade, I should doubtless never have ven- 
 tured. He, however, continued to live in this place 
 of decay, and to declaim in the same style, refusing for 
 many years to buy a house, because ail was going to 
 wreck ; and in the end I had the satisfaction to see 
 him pay five times as much for one as it would cost 
 him had he purchased it when he first began his lamen- 
 tations. 
 
 I ought to have related, that, during the autumn 
 of the preceding year, I had united the majority of 
 well-informed persons of my acquaintance into a club 
 which we called by the name of the Junto, and the 
 object of which was to improve our undertandings. 
 We' met every Friday evening. The regulations I 
 drew up, obliged every member to propose, in his turn 
 one or more questions upon some point of morality, po-' 
 litics, or philosophy, which were to be discussed by the 
 society ; and to read once in three months, an essay* 
 of his own covnpo^iition, on whatever subject he plea- 
 sed. Our deba'es were under the direction of a presi- 
 dent, and were to be dictated only by a sincere desire' 
 of truth ; the pleasure of disputing, and the vanity of 
 triumph having no share in the business ; and in order 
 to prevent undue warmth, every expression which im- 
 G 2 
 
TB THE LIFE OF 
 
 plied obstinate adherence to an opinion and all direct 
 condradictions, were prohibited under small pecuniary 
 penalties. 
 
 The first members of our club were Joseph Breintnali 
 whose occupation was that of a scrivener. He was a 
 middle-aged man, of a good natural disposition, strongly 
 attached to his friends, a great lover of poetry, reading 
 every thing that came in his way, and writing tolerably 
 well, ingenious in many little trifles, and of an agreeable 
 conversation. 
 
 Thomas Godfrey, a skilful, though self-taught mathe» 
 matician, and who was afterwards the inventor of what 
 now goes by the name of Hadley's dial ; but he had lit- 
 tle knowledge out of his own line, and was insupporta- 
 ble in company, always requiring, like the majority of 
 mathematicians that have fallen in my way, an unusual 
 precision in every thing that is said, continually contra- 
 •dicting or making trifling distinctions ; a sure way of 
 defeating all the ends of conversation. He very soon 
 ■left tjs. 
 
 Nicholas Scull, a surveyor, and who became after- 
 wards surveyor-general. He was fond of books, and 
 wrote verses. 
 
 William Parsons, brought up to the trade of a shoe- 
 maker, but who having a taste for reading, had acquired 
 a profound knowledge of mathematics. Hie first stu* 
 died them with a view to astrology, and was afterwards 
 the first to laugh at his folly. He also became surveyor- 
 general. 
 
 William Mawgridge, a joiner, and a very excellent 
 mechanic ; and in other repects a man of solid under- 
 standing. 
 
 Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, and George Webb, 
 •f whom 1 have already spoken. 
 
 Bobert Grace, a young man of fortune ; generous, 
 animated, and witty ; fond of epigrams, but more fond 
 •f his friends. 
 
 And lastly, William Coleman, at that time a merchant's 
 clerk, and nearly of my own age He had a cooler and 
 clearer head) a better heart, and moi^ scrupulous mo* 
 
DK. FRANKLIN. 79 
 
 rals, than almost any other person I have ever met with. 
 He became a very respectable merchant, and one of our 
 provincial judges. Our friendship subsisted, without 
 interruption for more than forty years, till the period 
 of his death ; and the club continued to exist almost as 
 long. 
 
 This was the best school of politics and philoso- 
 phy that then existed in the province ; for our quota- 
 tions which were read a week previous to their dis- 
 cussion, induced us to peruse attentively such pieces 
 as were written upon the subjects proposed, that we 
 might be able to speak upon them more pertinent- 
 ly. We thus acquired the habit of conversing more 
 agreeably ; every object being discussed conformably 
 to our regulations, and in a manner to prevent mutual 
 disgust. To this circumstance may be attributed the 
 long duration of the club ; which I shall have frequent 
 occasion to mention as I proceed. 
 
 I have introduced it here, as being one of the 
 means, on which I had to count for success in my 
 business ; every member exerting himself to procure 
 work for us. Breintnal, among others, obtainerl for 
 us, on the part of the Quakers, the printing of for- 
 ty sheets of their history ; of which the rest was to 
 be done by Keimer. Our execution of this work 
 was by no means masterly; as the price was very 
 low. It was in folio, upon firo fiatria paper, and in 
 the pica letter, with heavy notes in the smallest type. 
 I composed a sheet a day, and Meredith put it to 
 the press. It was frequently eleven o'clock at night, 
 sometimes later, before I had finished my distribu-' 
 tion for the next day's task ; for the liitle things which' 
 our friends occasionally sent us, kept us back in this 
 work : but I was so determined to compose a sheet a' 
 day, that one evening, when my form was imposed, and 
 my day's work, as I thought, at an end, an accident hay- 
 ing broken this form, and deranged two complete folio 
 pages, I immediately distributed) and composed them 
 anew before I went to bed. 
 
to THE LIFE .Oi 
 
 This unwearied industry^, which was perceived tjy our 
 neighbours, began to acquire us reputation and credit. 
 1 learned among othei; things, that our new printing- 
 house being the subject of conversation at a club of 
 merchants, who met every evening, it was the general 
 opinion that it would fail ; theie being already two print- 
 ing houses in the town, Keimer*s and Bradford's. But 
 Dr. B^rd, whom you and I had occasion to see, many 
 years after, at his native town of St. Andrews in Scot- 
 land was of a different opinion. " The incUsstry of this 
 Franklin (said he) is superior to any thing oi the kind I 
 have ever witnessed. I see him still at work when I 
 return from the club at night, and he is at it again in the 
 morning before his neighbours are out of bed.*' This 
 account struck the rest of the assembly, and shortly after 
 one of its members came to our house, and ofi'ered to 
 supply us with articles of stationary ; but we wished not 
 as yet to embarrass ourselves with keeping a shop. It 
 is not for the sake of applause that I enter so freely into 
 the paniculars of my industry, but that such of my des- 
 cendants as shall read these memoirs may know the use 
 of this virtue, by seeing in the recital of my life the 
 effects it operated in my f:AVour. 
 
 George Webb, having found a friend who lent him 
 the necessary sum to buy out his time of Kcimer, came 
 one day to oifer himself to us as a journeyman. We 
 could not employ him immediately ; but I foolishly told 
 him under the rose, that I intended shortly to publish 
 a new periodical paper, and that we should then have 
 work for him. My hopes of success which I imparted 
 to him, were founded on the circumstance, that the 
 only paper we had in Philadelphia at that time, and 
 which Bradford printed, was a paltry thing, miserably 
 conducted, in no respect amusing, and which yet was 
 profitable. I consequently supposed that a good work 
 of this kind could not fail of success. Webb betrayed 
 my secret to Keimer, who, to prevent me, immediate- 
 ly published the prospectus of a paper that he intended 
 to institute himself, and in which Webb was to be en- 
 gaged. 
 
BH. FRANKLIN. 1^% 
 
 I 'was exasperated at this proceeding, and, with 
 a view to counteract them, not being able at pre- 
 sent to institute my own paper, I wrote some hu- 
 morous pieces in Bradford's, under the title of the 
 Busy Body ;* and which was continued for seve- 
 ral months by Breintnal. I hereby fixed the at- 
 tention of the public upon Bradford's paper, and the 
 prospectus of Keimcr, which we turned into ridicule, 
 was treated with contempt. He began, notwithstanding, 
 his paper ; and after continuing it for nine months, hav- 
 ing at most not more than ninety subscribers, he offered 
 it to me for a mere trifle. I had for some time been 
 ready for such an engagement; I therefore instantly 
 took it upon myself, and in a few years it proved ex- 
 tremely profitable to me. 
 
 I perceive that I am apt to speak in the first 
 person, though our partnership still continued. It 
 is perhaps, because, in fact, the whole business de- 
 volved upon me. Meredith was no compositor, and 
 but an indifferent pressman: and it was rarely that 
 he abstained from hard drinking. My friends were 
 sorry to see me coimected with him ; but I contrived 
 to derive from it the utmost advantage the case admit- 
 ted. 
 
 Our first number produced no t)ther eifect than 
 any 'other paper which had appeared in the province, 
 as to type and printing ; but some remarks, in my 
 peculiar style of writing, upon the dispute which 
 then prevailed between governor Burnet, and the 
 Massachusetts assembly, struck some persons as above 
 mediocrity, caused the paper and its editors to be 
 talked of, and in a few weeks induced them to be- 
 come our subscribers. Many others followed their 
 example ; and our subscription continued to increase. 
 This was one of the first good effects of the pains I 
 
 • A manuscript note in the file of the American Mercury, pre- 
 served in the Philadelphia library, says, that Franklin wrote the 
 fipst five numbers and part of the eighth. 
 
82 THE LIFE OF 
 
 had taken to learn to put my ideas on paper. I derived 
 this fartiier advantage from it, that the leading men of 
 the place, seeing in the author of this publication a man 
 so well able to use his pen, thought it right to patronise 
 and encourage me. 
 
 The votes* laws, and other public pieces, were print- 
 ed by Bradford. An address of the house of assembly 
 to tlie governor, had been executed by him in a very 
 coarse and incorrect manner. We repiinted it with ac- 
 curacy and neatness, and sent a copy to every member. 
 They perceived the difference ; and it so strengthen- 
 ed the influence of our friends in the assembly, 
 that we were nominated its printer for the following 
 year. 
 
 Among these friends I ought not to forget one mem- 
 ber in particular, Mr. Hamilton, whom I have mention- 
 ed in a former part of my narrative, and who was now re- 
 turned from England. He warmly interested himself 
 for me on this occasion, as he did likewise on many 
 others afterwards ; having continued his kindness to me 
 till his death. 
 
 About this period, Mr. yernon reminded me of the 
 debt I owed him, but without pressing me for pay- 
 ment. 1 wrote him a handsome letter on the occa- 
 sion, begging him to wait a little longer, to which he 
 consented; and, as soon as I was able, I paid him prin- 
 ciple and interest, with many expressions of gratitude ; 
 so that this error of my life was in a manner atoned 
 for. 
 
 But another trouble now happened to me, which I 
 had not the smallest reason to expect. Meredith's fa- 
 ther, who, according to our agreement, was to defray 
 the whole expence of our printing materials, had only 
 paid a hundred pouncis. Another hundred was still 
 due, and the merchan: being tired of w^aiting, com- 
 menced a suit against us. We bailed the action, but 
 with the melancholy prospect, that, if the money was 
 not forthcoming at the time fixed, the affair would 
 come to issue, judgment be put in execution, our de- 
 lightful hopes be annihilated, and ourselves entirely ruin- 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. $3 
 
 cd ; as the type and press must be sold, perhaps at half 
 their value to pay the debt. 
 
 In this distress, two real friends, whose generous 
 conduct I have never forgotten, and never shall forget 
 while I retain the remembrance of any thing, came to 
 me separately, without the knowledge of each other, 
 and without my having applied to them. Each offered 
 me whatever sum might be necessary to take the busi- 
 ness into my own hands, if the thing was practicable, 
 as they did not like I should continue in partnership 
 with Meredith, who, they said, was frequently seen 
 drunk in the streets, and gambling at ale-houses, which 
 very much injured our credit. These friends were 
 William Coleman and Robert Grace. I told them 
 that while there remained any probability that the 
 Merediths would fulfil their part of the compact, I 
 could not propose a separation ; as I conceived myself 
 to be under obligations to them for what they had done 
 already, and were still disposed to do if they had the 
 power : but in the end should they foil in their en- 
 gagement, and our partnership be dissolved, I should 
 then think myself at liberty to accept the kindness of my 
 friends. 
 
 Things remained for some time in this state. At 
 last I said one day to my partner, '' your father is per- 
 haps dissatisfied with your having a share only in the 
 business, and is unwilling to do for two, what he would 
 do for you alone. Tell me frankly if that be the case, 
 and I will resign the whole to you, and do for myself 
 as well as I can.'* — " No (said he) my father has real- 
 ly been disappointed in his hopes; he is not able to pay, 
 and I wish to put him to no further inconvenience. I 
 see that I am not at all calculated for a printer ; t 
 was educated as a farmer, and it was absurd in me to 
 come here, at thirty years of age, and bind myself ap- 
 prentice to a new trade. Many of my countrymen 
 arc going to settle in North Carolina, where the soil 
 is exceedingly favourable. I am tempted to go with 
 them, and to resume my former occupation. You will 
 doubtless find friends who will assist you. If you will 
 
84 THE LIFE OF 
 
 take upon yourself the debts of the partnership, return 
 my father the hundred pounds he has advanced, pay 
 my little personal debts, and give me thirty pounds and 
 a new saddle, I will renounce the partnership, and con* 
 sign over the whole stock to you." 
 
 1 accepted this proposal without hesitation. It was 
 committed to paper, and signed and sealed without de» 
 lay. I gave him what he demanded, and he departed 
 soon after for Carolina, from whence he sent me, in 
 the following year, two long letters, containing the 
 best accounts that had yet been given of that country, 
 as to climate, soil, agriculture, &c. for he wlas well 
 versed in these matters. I published them in my 
 newspaper, and they were received with great satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 As soon as he was gone I applied to my two friends, 
 and not wishing to give a disobliging preference to ci- 
 ther of them, I accepted from each half what he had 
 offered me, and which it was necessary I should have. I 
 paid the partnership debts, and continued the business 
 on my own account ; taking care to inform the public by 
 advertisement, of the partnership being dissolved. This 
 was, I think, in the year 1729, or thereabout. 
 
 Nearly at the same period the people demanded a 
 new emission of paper money : the existing and only 
 one that had taken place in the province, and which 
 amounted to fifteen thousand pounds, being soon to ex- 
 pire. The wealthy inhabitants, prejudiced against eve- 
 ry sort of paper currency, from the fear of its depre- 
 ciation, of which there had been an instance in the 
 province of New-England, to the injury of its holders, 
 strongly opposed the measure. We had discussed the 
 affair in our junto, in which I was on the side of the 
 new emission ; convinced that the first small sum fa- 
 bricated in 1723, had done much good in the province, 
 by favouring commerce, industry and population, since 
 all the houses were now inhabited, and many others 
 building ; whereas I remembered to have seen, when 
 first I paraded the streets of Philadelphia eating my roll, 
 the majority of those in Walnut-Street, Second^Street^ 
 
DR. FIIANKLIN. 8d 
 
 Fourth-Street, as well as a great number in Chesnut 
 and other streets, with papers on them signifying that 
 they were to be let ; which made me think at the time 
 that the inhabitants of the town were deserting it one 
 after another. 
 
 Our debates made me so fully master of the subject, 
 that I wrote and published an anonymous pamphlet, 
 entitled An Enquiry into the Nature and necessity of 
 a Paper Currency. It was very well received by the 
 lower and middling class of people ; but it displeased 
 the opulent, as it increased the clamour in favour of 
 the new emission. Having, however, no writer among- 
 them capable of answering it ; there opposition became 
 less violent ; and there being in the house of assembly 
 a majority for the measure, it passed. The friends I 
 had acquired in the house, persuaded that I had done 
 the country essential service on this occasion, rewarded 
 me by giving me the printing of the bills. It was a 
 lucrative employment, and proved a very seasonable 
 help to me ; another advantage which I derived from 
 having habituated myself to write. 
 
 Time and experience so fully demonstrated the uti- 
 lity of paper currency, that it never after experienced 
 any considerable opposition ; so that it soon amounted 
 to 55,0001. and in the year 1739 to 80,0001. It has 
 since risen, during the last wai', to 350,0001, trade, 
 buildings and population having in the interval conti- 
 nually increased ; but I am now convinced that tiiere 
 are limits, beyond which, paper money would be pre- 
 judicial. 
 
 I soon after obtained, by the influence of my friend 
 Hamilton, the printing of the Newcastle paper money, 
 another profitable work, as I then thought it, little 
 things appearing great to persons of moderate fortune; 
 and they were really great to me, as proving great en- 
 couragements. He also procured me the printing of 
 the laws and votes of that government which I retained 
 as long as I continued in the business. 
 
 I now opened a small stationer's shop. I kept bonds 
 and agreements of all kinds, drawn up in a more accu- 
 
 H 
 
86 THE LIFE OF 
 
 rate form than had yet been seen in that part of the 
 world : a work in which I was assisted by my fiieiul 
 Brientnal. I had also paper, parchment, pasteboard, 
 books, &c. One Whitemash, an excellent compositor, 
 whom I had known in London, came to ofier himself. 
 I engaged him, and he continued constantly and dili- 
 gently to work with me. I also took an apprentice, the 
 son of Aquila Rose, 
 
 I began to pay, by degrees, the debt I had contract- 
 ed ; and in order to insure my credit and character as 
 a tradesman, I took care not only to be really indus- 
 trious and frugal, but also to avoid every appearance 
 of the contrary. I was plainly dressed, and never seen 
 in any place of public amusement. I never went a 
 fishing or hunting. A book indeed inticed me some- 
 limes from my work, but it was seldom, by stealth, and 
 occasioned no scandal ; and to show that 1 did not think 
 myself above my profession, I conveyed home some- 
 times in a wheelbarrow the paper I purchased at the 
 warehouses, 
 
 I thus obtained the reputation of being an indus- 
 trious young man, and very punctual in his payments. 
 The merchants who imported articles of stationary, so- 
 licited my custom ; others offered to furnish me with 
 books, and my little trade went on prosperously. 
 
 Meanwhile the credit and business of Keimer dimi- 
 nished every day, he was at last forced to sell his stock 
 to satisfy his creditors ; and he betook himself to Bar- 
 badoes, where he lived for some time in a very impo- 
 verished state. His apprentice, David Harry, whom 
 I had instructed while I worked with Keimer, having 
 bought his materials, succeeded him in the business. I 
 Avas apprehensive, at first, of finding in Harry a power- 
 ful competitor, as he was allied to an opulent and re- 
 spectable family ; I therefore proposed a partnership, 
 which happily for me, he rejected with disdain. He 
 was extremely proud, thought himself a fine gentle- 
 man, lived extravagantly, and pursued amusements 
 which suffered him to be scarcely ever at home • of 
 consequence he became in debt, neglected his business. 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. Q7 
 
 and business neglected him. Findin?^ in a short time 
 pothing to do in the country, he followed Keimer to 
 Barbadoes, carrying his printing materials with him. 
 There the apprentice enjployed his old master as a 
 journeyman. They were continually quarrelling ; and 
 Harry still getting in debt, was oblig:cd at last to sell 
 his press and types, and return to his old occupation 
 of husbandry in Pennsylvania. The person who pur- 
 chased them employed Keimer to manage the business; 
 but he died a few years after. 
 
 I had now at Philadelphia no competitor but Brad- 
 ford, who, being in easy circumstances, did not engage 
 in the Printing of books, except now and then as work- 
 men chanced to offer themselves ; and was not anxious 
 to extend his trade. He had, however, one advan- 
 tage over me, as he had the direction of the post-office, 
 and was of consequence supposed to have better oppor- 
 tunities of obtaining news. His paper was also sup- 
 posed to be more advantageous to advertising custom- 
 ers ; and in consequence of that supposition, his adver- 
 tisements were much more numerous than mine : this 
 was a source of great profit to him, and disadvantage- 
 ous to me. It was to no purpose that I really procur- 
 ed other papers, and distributed my own, by means of 
 the post ; the public took for granted my inability in 
 this respect ; and I was indeed unable to conquer it 
 in any other mode than by bribing the post-boys, who 
 served me only by stealth, Bradford being so illiberal 
 as to forbid them. — This treatment of his excited my 
 resentment ; and my disgust was so rooted, that, when 
 1 afterwards succeeded him in the post-ofFice, I took 
 care to avoid copying his example. 
 
 I had hitherto continued to board with Godfrey, 
 who, with his wife and children, occupied part of my 
 house, and half of the shop for his business ; at which 
 indeed he worked very little, being always absorbed by 
 mathematics. Mrs. Godfrey formed a wish of marry- 
 ing me to the daughter of one of her relations. She 
 contrived various opportunities of bringing us together, 
 till she saw that I was captivated ; which was not dif- 
 
^8 THB LIFE OF 
 
 licult the lady in question possessing great personal 
 merit. The parents encouraged my addresses, by in- 
 viting me continually to supper, and leaving us toge- 
 ther, till at last it was time to come to an explanation. 
 Mrs. Godfrey undertook to negociate our Httle treaty. 
 I gave her to understand, that 1 expected to receive 
 with the young lady a sum of money that would ena- 
 ble me at least to discharge the remainder of my debt 
 for my printing materials. It was then, I believe, 
 not more than a hundred pounds. She brought me 
 for answer, that they had no such sum at their disposal. 
 I observed that it might easily be obtained, by a mort- 
 gage on their house. The reply of this was, after a 
 few days interval, that they did not approve of the 
 match ; that they had consulted Bradford, and found 
 that the business of a printer was not lucrative ; that 
 my letters would soon be worn out, and must be sup- 
 plied with new ones ; that Keimer and Harry had failed, 
 and that, probably, I should do so too. Accordingly 
 they forbade me the house, and the young lady was 
 confined. I know not if they had really changed their 
 minds, or if it was merely an artifice, supposing our af- 
 fections to be too far engaged for us to desist, and 
 that we should contrive to marry secretly, which would 
 leave them at liberty to give or not as they pleased. 
 But, suspecting this motive, I never went again to their 
 house. 
 
 Some time after Mrs. Godfrey informed me that 
 they were favourably disposed towards me, and wished 
 Tne to renew the acquaintance ; but I declared a firm 
 resolution never to have any thing more to do with the 
 family. The Godfrey's expressed some resentment at 
 this ; and as we could no longer agree, they changed 
 0eir residence, leaving me in possession of the whole 
 house. I then resolved to take no more lodgers. This 
 affair having turned my thoughts to marriage, I look- 
 ed around mc, and made overtures of alliance in other 
 quarters ; but I soon found that the profession of a 
 printer being generally looked upon as a poor trade, I 
 could expect no money with a wife, at least if I wish- 
 
DR. FRANKOLIN. 89 
 
 «d her to possess any other charm. Meanwhile, that 
 passion of youth, so difficult lo govern, had often drawn 
 me into intrigues with desp. cable women, who fell in 
 my way ; which were not unaccompanied with ex- 
 pence and inconvenience, besides the perpetual risk of 
 injuring my health, and catching a disease which I 
 dreaded above all things. But 1 was fortunate enough 
 to escape this danger. 
 
 As a neighbour and old acquaintance, I kept up a 
 friendly intimacy with the family of Miss Read. Her 
 parents had retained an affection for me from the time 
 of my lodging in their house. I was often invited 
 thither ; they consulted me about their affairs, and I 
 had been sometimes serviceable to them I was touch- 
 ed with the unhappy situation of their daughter, who 
 was almost always melancholy, and continually seeking 
 solitude. I regarded my forgeifulness and inconstancy, 
 during my abode in London, as the principal-cause of 
 her misfortune ; though her mother had the candour 
 to attribute the fault to herself, rather than to me, be- 
 cause after having prevented our marriage previous to 
 my departure she had induced her to marry another in 
 my absence. 
 
 Our mutual affection revived ; but there existed 
 great obstacles to our union. Her marriage was con- 
 sidered, indeed, as not being valid, the man having, it 
 was said, a former wife still living in England ; but 
 of this it was difficult to obtain a proof at so great a 
 distance ; and though a report prevailed of his being 
 dead, yet we had no certainty of it ; and supposing it to 
 be true, he had left many debts, for the payment of which 
 his successor might be sued. We ventured neverthe- 
 less, in spite of all these difficulties, and I married her 
 on the first of September 1720. None of the inconve- 
 niences we had feared happened to us; she proved to me 
 a good and faithful companion, and contributed essen- 
 tially to the success of my shop. We prospered to- 
 gether, and it was our mutual study to render each 
 H 2 
 
9^0 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Other happy. Thus I corrected, as well as I could, this 
 great error of my youth. 
 
 Our club was not at that time established at a 
 tavern. We held our meetings at the house of Mr. 
 Grace who appropriated a room to the purpose. Some 
 member observed one day, that as our books were fre- 
 quently quoted in the course of our discussions, it 
 would be convenient to have them collected in the 
 room in which we assembled, in order to be consulted 
 upon occasion; and that, by thus forming a common 
 library of our individual collections, each would have the 
 advantage of using the books of all the other members, 
 which would nearly be the same as if he possessed them 
 all himself. The idea was approved, and we according- 
 ly brought such books as we thought we could spare, 
 which were placed at the end of the club-room. They 
 amounted not to so many as we expected ; and though 
 we made considerable use of them, yet some inconve- 
 niencies resulting, from want of care, it was agreed, 
 after about a year, to destroy the collection ; and each 
 took away such books as belonged to him. 
 
 It was now that I first stated the idea of establishing, 
 by subscription, a public library. I drew up the pro- 
 posals, had them in grossed in form by Brockden the 
 attorney, and my project succeeded, as will be seen in 
 the sequel ♦***•♦ 
 
 [The life of Dr. Franklin, as written by himself, so 
 far as it has been communicated to the world, breaks 
 off in this place. We understand that it was conti- 
 nued by him somewhat further, and we hope that the 
 remainder will, at some future period, be communica- 
 ted to the public. We have no hesitation in suppo- 
 sing that every reader will find himself greatly interest- 
 ed by the frank simplicity and the philosophical dis- 
 cernment by which these pages are so eminently cha- 
 racterised. We have therefore thought proper, in 
 
DR. FRANKLIK. 91 
 
 order as much as possible to relieve this regret, to sub- 
 join the following continuation, by one of the doctor's 
 intimate friends. It is extracted from an American 
 periodical publication, and was written by the late Dr. 
 btuber* of Philadelphia.] 
 
 m HE promotion of literature had been little at- 
 tended to in Pennsylvania. Most of the inhabitants 
 were too much immersed in business to think of 
 scientific pursuits ; and those few, whose inclinations 
 led them to study, found it difficult to gratify them, 
 from the want of sufficiently large libraries. In such 
 circumstances, the establishment of a public library was 
 an important event. This was first set on foot by 
 Franklin, about the year 1731. Fifty persons sub- 
 scribed forty shillings each, and agreed to pay ten 
 
 • Dr. Sluber was horn in Philadelphia, of German parents. 
 He was sent, at an early ac^e, to the university, where his genius, 
 diligence, and amiable temper soon acquired him particular notice 
 and favour of those under whose immediate direction he was pla- 
 ced. After passing through the common course of study, in a 
 much shorter time than usual, he left the university, at the age of 
 sixteen, with great reputation. Not long after, he entered on the 
 study of Physic ; and the zeal with which he pursued it, and the 
 advances he made, gave his friends reason to form the most flat- 
 tering prospects of his future eminence and usefulness in the pro- 
 fession. As Dr. Stuber's circumstances were very moderate, he 
 did not think this pursuit well calculated to answer them. He 
 therefore relinquished it, after he had obtained a degree in the pro- 
 fession, and qualified himself to practise with credit and success: 
 and immediately entered on the study of Law. In pursuit of the 
 last mentioned object, he was prematurely arrested, beibre he had 
 an opportunity of reaping the fruit of those talents with which he 
 was endowed, and of a youth spent in the ardent and successful 
 pursuit of useful and elegant Uterature. 
 
52 THE LIFE OF 
 
 shillings annually. The number increased ; and in 
 1742, the company was incorporated by the name of 
 *' The Library Company of Philadelphia." Several 
 other companies were formed in this city in imitation 
 of it. These were all at length united with the li- 
 brary company of Philadelphia, which thus received a 
 considerable accession of books and property. It now 
 contains about eight thousand volumes upon all sub- 
 jects, a philosophical apparatus, and a good beginning 
 towards a collection of natural and artificial curiosities, 
 besides landed property of considerable value. The 
 company have lately built an elegant house in Fifth- 
 street, in the front of which will be erected a marble 
 statue of their founder, Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 This institution was greatly encouraged i)y the friends 
 of literature in America and in Great Britain. The 
 Penn family distinguished themselves by their dona- 
 tions. Amongst the earliest friends of this institution 
 must be mentioned the late Peter Collinson, the friend 
 and correspondent of Dr. Franklin. He not only made 
 considerable presents himself, and obtained others from 
 his friends, but voluntarily undertook to manage the 
 business of the company in London, recommending 
 books, purchasing and shipping them. His extensive 
 knowledge, and zeal for the promotion of science? ena- 
 bled him to execute this important trust with the great- 
 est advantage. He continued to perform these servi- 
 ces for more than thirty years, and uniformly refused to 
 accept of any compensation. During this time, he 
 communicated to the directors every information rela- 
 tive to improvements and discoveries in the arts, agri- 
 culture, and philosophy. 
 
 The beneficial influence of this institution was soon 
 evident. The cheapness of terms rendered it accessi- 
 ble to every one. Its advantages were not confined to 
 the opulent. The citizens in the middle and lower 
 walks of life were equally partakers of them. Hence 
 a degree of information was extended anaongst all class- 
 
DR. FRANKLIJC. 93 
 
 cs of pcopie, which is very unusual in other places, 
 'i'he example was soon followed. Libraries were esta- 
 blished in various places, and they are now become 
 very r.amerous in the United States, and particularly 
 in Pennsylvania. It is to be hoped that they will be 
 still more widely extended, and that information will 
 be every where increased. This will be the best secu- 
 rity f\)r maintaining our liberties. A nation of well 
 informed men, who have been taught to know and 
 prize the rights which God has given them, cannot be 
 enslaved. It is in the regions of ignorance that ty- 
 ranny reigns. It flics before the light of science. Let 
 the citizens of America, then, encourage institutions 
 calculated to diffuse knowledge amongst the people ; 
 and amongst these, public libraries are not the least im- 
 portant. 
 
 In 1732, Franklin began to publish Poor Richard's 
 Almanack. This was remarkable for the numerous 
 and valuable concise maxims which it contained, all 
 tending to exhort to industry and frugality. It was 
 continued for many years. In the almanack for the 
 last year all the maxims were collected in an address 
 to the reader, entitled. The Way to Wealth. This 
 has been translated into various languages, and inserted 
 in different publications. It has also been printed on a 
 large sheet, and may be seen framed in many houses 
 in this city. This address contains, perhaps the best 
 practical system of economy that ever has appeared. 
 It is written in a manner intelligible to every one, 
 and which cannot fail of convincing every reader of 
 the justice and propriety of the remarks and advice 
 which it contains. The demand for this almanack was 
 so great, that ten thousand have been sold in one year ; 
 which must be considered as a very large number, 
 especially when we reflect, that this country was, at 
 that time, but thinly peopled. It cannot be doubted 
 that the salutary maxims contained in these almanacks 
 must have made a f^svourable impression upon many of 
 the readers of them. 
 
S4 THE LIFE OF 
 
 It was not long beforie Franklin entered upon his po- 
 litical career. In the year 1736 he was appointed clerk 
 to the general assembly of Pennsylvania; and was re-t 
 elected by the succeeding assemblies for several years, 
 until he was chosen a representative for the city of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Bradford was possessed of some advantages over 
 Franklin, by being postmaster, thereby having an op- 
 portunity of circulating his paper more extensively, and 
 thus rendering it a better vehicle for advertisements, &c. 
 Franklin, in his turn, enjoyed these advantages, by be- 
 ing appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737. Brad- 
 ford, while in office, had acted ungenerously towards 
 Franklin, preventing as much as possible the circulation 
 of his paper. He had now an opportunity of retaliating ; 
 but his nobleness of soul prevented him from making 
 use of it. 
 
 The police of Philadelphia had early appointed 
 watchmen, whose duty it was to guard the citizens 
 against the midnight robber, and to give an immediate 
 alarm in case of fire. This duty is perhaps, one of the 
 most important that can be committed to any set of 
 men. The regulations, however, were not sufficiently 
 strict. Franklin saw the dangers arising from this 
 cause, and suggested an alteration, so as to oblige the 
 guardians of the night to be more watchful over the 
 lives and property of the citizens. The propriety of 
 this was immediately perceived, and a reform was 
 effected. 
 
 There is nothing more dangerous to growing cities 
 than fires. Other causes operate slowly, and almost im- 
 perceptibly, but these in a moment render abortive the 
 labours of ages. On this account there should be, in all 
 cities, ample provisions to prevent fires from spreading. 
 Franklin early saw the necessity of these ; and, about 
 the year 1738, formed the first fire-company in this 
 city. This example was soon followed by others ; and 
 there are now numerous fire companies in this city and 
 liberties. To these may be attributed in a great degree 
 the activity in extinguishing fires, for which the ciu« 
 
DR. FIIANKLIN. 95 
 
 zens of Philadelphia are distinguished, and the incon- 
 siderable damage which this city has sustained from 
 this cause. Some time after, Franklin suggested the 
 plan of an association for insuring houses from losses by 
 fire, which was adopted ; and the association continues 
 to this day. The advantages experienced from it have 
 been great. 
 
 From the first establishment of Pennsylvania, a spirit 
 of dispute appears to have prevailed amongst its inhabi- 
 tants. During the life-time of William Penn the con- 
 stitution had been three times altered. After this pe- 
 riod, the history of Pennsylvania is little else than a re- 
 cital of the quarrels between the proprietaries, or their 
 governors, and the assembly. . The proprietaries con- 
 tended for the right of exempting their land from taxes, 
 to which the assen)bly would by no means consent. 
 This subject of dispute interfered in almost every ques- 
 tion, and prevented the most salutary laws from being 
 enacted. This at limes subjected the people to great 
 inconveniences. In the year 1744, during a war be- 
 tween France and Great Britain, some French and In- 
 dians had made inroads upon the frontier inhabitants of 
 the province, who were unprovided for such an attack. 
 It became necessary that the citizens should arm for 
 their defence. Governor Thomas recommended to the 
 assembly who were then sitting, to pass a militia law. 
 To this they would agree only upon condition that he 
 should give his assent to certain laws, which appeared 
 to them calculated to promote the interest of the peo- 
 ple. As he thought these laws would be injurious to 
 the proprietaries he refused his assent to them ; and 
 the assembly broke up without passing a militia law. 
 The situation of the province was at this time truly 
 alarming ; exposed to the continual inroads of an ene- 
 my, and destitute of every means of defence. At this 
 crisis Franklin stepped forth, and proposed to a meet- 
 ing of the citizens of Philadelphia, a plan of a volun- 
 tary association for the defence of the province. This 
 was approved of, and signed by twelve hundred persons 
 immediately. Copies of it were circulated throughout 
 
96 THE LIFE 0¥ 
 
 the province ; and in a short time the number of sign- 
 ers amounted to ten thousand. Franklin was chosen 
 colonel of the Philadelphia rej^iment ; but he did not 
 think proper to accept of the honour. 
 
 Pursuits of a different nature now occupied the great- 
 est part of his attention for some years. He engaged 
 in a course of electrical experiments, with all the ar- 
 dour and thirst for discovery which characterized the 
 philosophers of that day. Of all the branches of ex- 
 perimental philosophy, electricity had been least ex- 
 plored. The attractive power of amber is mentioned 
 by Theophrastus and Pliny, and, from them, by later 
 naturalists. In the year 1600, Gilbert, an English phy- 
 sycian, enlarged considerably the catalogue of sub- 
 stances which have the property of attracting light bo- 
 dies. Boyle, Otto Guericke, a burgomaster of Mag- 
 deburgh, celebrated as the inventor of the air pump, 
 Dr. Wall, and sir Isaac Newton added some facts : 
 Guericke first observed the repulsive power of elec- 
 tricity, and the Jight and noise produced by it. 
 
 In 1709, Hawkesbec communicated some important 
 observations and experiments to the world. For seve- 
 ral years electricity was entirely neglected, until Mr. 
 Gray applied himself to it, in 1728, with great assidui- 
 ty. He and his friend Mr. Wheeler, made a great va- 
 riety of experiments ; in which they demonstrated that 
 electricity may be communicated from one body to an- 
 other, even without being in contact, and in this way 
 may be conducted to a great distance. Mr. Gray af- 
 terwards found, that by suspending rods of iron by silk 
 or hair lines and bringing an excited tube under them, 
 sparks might be drawn, and a light perceived at the 
 extremities in the dark. M. Du Faye, intendant of the 
 French King's gardens, made a number of experiments, 
 which added not a little to the science. He made the 
 discovery of two kinds of electricity, which he called 
 vitreous and resinous ; the former produced by rubbing 
 glass, the latter from excited sulphur, sealing wax, &c. 
 But this idea he afterwards gave up as erroneous. Be- 
 tween the year 1732 and 1749, Defaguliersmade anum- 
 
an. FRANKLIN. 97 
 
 ber of experiments, but added little of importance. He 
 first used the terms conductors and electrics^ fier se. In 
 1742, several ingenious Germans engaged in this sub- 
 ject. Of these the principle were, professor Boze of 
 Whittemberg, professor Winkler of Leipsic, Gordon, 
 a Scotch Benedictine monk, professor of philosophy at 
 Erfurt, and Dr. Ludolf of Berlin. The result of their 
 researches astonished the philosophers of Europe. 1 heir 
 apparatus was large, and by means of it they were en- 
 abled to collect large quantities of electricity, and thus 
 to produce phenomena which had been hitherto unob- 
 served. They killed smalj birds, and set spirits on fire. 
 Their experiments excited the curiosity of other phi- 
 losophers. Collinson about the year 1745, sent to the 
 library company of Philadelphia an account of these ex- 
 periments, together with a tube, and directions how to 
 use it. Franklin, with some of his friends, immediate- 
 ly engaged in a course of experiments ; the result of 
 which is well known. He was enabled to make a num- 
 ber of important discoveries, and to propose theories 
 to account for various phenomena ; which have been 
 universally adopted, and which bid fair to endure for 
 ages. His observations he communicated, in a series 
 of letters, to his friend Collinson ; the first of which 
 is dated March 28th, 1747. In these he makes known 
 the power of points in drawing and throwing off the 
 electrical matter, which had hitherto escaped the no- 
 tice of electricians. He also made the grand discove- 
 ry of a plus and minus^ or of a positive and negative 
 state of electricity. We give him the honour of this, 
 without hesitation ; although the English have claim- 
 ed it for their countryman Dr. Watson. Watson's pa- 
 per is dated January 21, 1748; Franklin's July 11, 1747; 
 several months prior. Shortly after, Franklin, from his 
 principles of plus and minus state, explained, in a sa- 
 tisfactory manner, the phenomena of the Leyden phi- 
 al, first observed by Mr. Cuneus, or by professor Mus- 
 chenbroeck of Leyden, which had much perplexed phi- 
 losophers. He showed clearly that the bottle, when 
 charged, contained no more electricity than before, but 
 
 I 
 
98 THE LIFE OF 
 
 that as much was taken from the one side as was 
 thrown on the other-, and that, to discharge it noth- 
 ing was necessary but to make a communication be- 
 tween the two sides, by which the equilibrium might 
 be restored, and that then no signs of electricity would 
 remain. 
 
 He afterwards demonstrated, by experiments, that the 
 electricity did not reside in the coating, as had been 
 supposed, but in the pores of the glass itself. After a 
 phial was charged, he removed the coating, and found 
 that upon applying a new coating the shock might still 
 be received. In the year 1749, he first suggested his 
 idea of explaining the phenomena of thundergusts, and 
 of the aurora borealis, upon electrical principles. He 
 points out many particulars in which lightning and elec- 
 tricity agree ; and he adduces many facts, and reason- 
 ing from facts, in support of his positions. In the same 
 year he conceived the astonishingly bold and grand idea 
 of ascertaining the truth of his doctrine, by actually 
 drawing down the forked lightning, by means of sharp- 
 pointed iron rods raised into the region of the clouds. 
 Even in this uncertain state, his passion to be use- 
 ful to mankind displays itself in a powerful manner. 
 Admitting the identity of electricity and lightning, 
 and knowing the power of points in repelling bodies 
 charged with electricity, and in conducting their fire 
 silently and imperceptibly, he suggests the idea of se- 
 curing houses, ships, &c. from being damaged by light- 
 ning, by erecting pointed iron rods, which should rise 
 some feet above the most elevated part, and descend 
 some feet into the ground or the water. The effect of 
 these, he concluded, would be either to prevent a stroke 
 by repelling the cloud beyond the striking distance, or 
 by drawing off the electrical fire which it contained ; 
 or, if they could not effect this, they would at least con- 
 duct the stroke to the earth, without any injury to the 
 building. 
 
 It was not until the summer of 1752, that he was 
 enabled to complete his grand and unparalleled disco- 
 very by experiment. The plan which he had original- 
 
Da. FRANKLIN. 9^ 
 
 ly proposed, was to erect on some high tower, or other 
 elevated place, a centry-box, from which should rise a 
 pointed iron rod, insulated by being fixed in a cake of 
 resin. Electrified clouds passing over this, would he 
 conceived, impart to it a portion of their electricity, 
 which would be rendered evident to the senses by sparks 
 being emitted, when a key, a knuckle, or other con- 
 ductor, was presented to it. Philadelphia at this time 
 afiForded no opportunity of trying an experiment of this 
 kind. Whilst Franklin was waiting for the erection of 
 a spire, it occurred to him, that he might have more rea- 
 dy access to the region of clouds by means of a com- 
 mon kite. He prepared one by attaching two cross 
 sticks to a silk handkerchief, which would not suffer so 
 much from the rain as paper. To his upright stick 
 was fixed an iron point. The string was, as usual, of 
 hemp, except the lower end, which was silk. Where 
 the hempen string terminated, a key was fastened. 
 With this apparatus, on the appearance of a thunder- 
 gust approaching, he went into the commons, accom- 
 panied by his son, to whom alone he communicated his 
 intentions, well knowing the ridicule which too gene- 
 rally for the interest of science, awaits unsuccessful 
 experiments in philosophy. 
 
 He placed himself under a shed to avoid the rain. 
 His kite was raised. A thunder cloud passed over it. 
 No signs of electricity appeared. He almost despaired 
 of success ; when suddenly he observed the lo«se fibres 
 of his string move towards an erect position. He 
 now presented his knuckle to the key, and received a 
 strong spark. How exquisite must his sensations have 
 been at this moment ! On this experiment depended 
 the fate of his theory. If he succeeded, his name 
 would rank high amongst those who have improved 
 science ; if he failed, he must inevitably be subjected 
 to the derision of mankind, or, what is worse, their 
 pity, as a well-meaning man, but a weak, silly pro- 
 jector. The anxiety with which he looked for the re- 
 sult of his experiment, may easily be conceived. 
 Doubts and despair had begun to prevail, when the 
 
100 THE LIFE OF 
 
 fact was ascertained in so clear a manner, that even 
 the most incredulous could no longer withhold their as- 
 sent. Repeated sparks were drawn from the key, a 
 phial was charged, a shock given, and all the experi- 
 ments made, which are usually performed with electri- 
 city. 
 
 About a month before this |^riod some ingenious 
 Frenchman had completed th^«iiscovery, in the man- 
 ner originally proposed by Dr. Franklin. The letters 
 which he sent to Mr. Collinson, it is said, were re- 
 fused a place amongst the papers of the Royal Society 
 of London. However, this may be, Collinson publish- 
 ed them in a separate volume, under the title of JVeiu 
 Exfieriments and Observations on Electricity^ made at 
 Philadelfihia in America, They were read with avi- 
 dity, and soon translated into different languages. A 
 very incorrect French translation fell into the hands 
 of the celebrated Buffon, who notwithstanding the dis- 
 advantages under which the work laboured, was much 
 pleased with it, and repeated the experiments, with suc- 
 cess. He prevailed upon his friend, M. D'Alibard, 
 to give his countrymen a more coirect translation of 
 the work of the American electrician. This contri- 
 buted much towards spreading a knowledge of Frank- 
 lin's principles in France. — The king, Louis XV, 
 hearing of these experiments expressed a wish to be a 
 spectator of them. A course of experiments was given 
 at the seat of the Due D'Ayen, at St. Germaine, by 
 M. de Lor. The applauses which the king bestowed 
 upon Franklin, excited in Buffon, D'Alibard, and 
 De Lor, an earnest desire of ascertaining the truth of 
 his theory of thunder-gusts. Buffon erected his ap- 
 paratus on the tower of Montbar. M. D'Alibard at 
 Mary-la-ville, and De Lor at his house in the Estra- 
 fiade at Paris, som« of the highest ground in that 
 capital. D*Alibard's machine first showed signs of 
 electricity. On the tenth of May, 1752, a thunder 
 cloud passed over it, in the absence of M. D*Alibard ; 
 and a number of sparks were drawn from it by Coiffier, 
 a joiner, with whom D'Alibard had left directions how 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. lOl 
 
 to proceed, and by M. Raulet, the prior of Mary-la- 
 ville. An account of this experiment was given to 
 the Royal Academy of Sciences, in a memoir by M. 
 D*Alibard, dated May 13th, 1752. On the 18th of 
 May, M. De Lor proved equally successful with the 
 apparatus erected at his own house. These discoveries 
 soon excited the philosophers of other parts of Europe 
 to repeat the experiment. Amongst these, none sig- 
 nalized themselves more than father Beccaria of Tu- 
 rin, to whose observations science is much indebted. 
 Even the cold regions of Russia were penetrated by 
 the ardor for discovery. Professor Richman bade fair 
 to add much to the stock of knowledge on this subject, 
 when an unfortunate flash from his rod put a period 
 to his existence. — The friends of science will long re- 
 member with regret the amirable martyr to electri- 
 city. 
 
 By these experiments Franklin's theory was esta- 
 blished in the most firm manner. When the truth of 
 it could no longer be doubted, the vanity of men en- 
 deavoured to detract from its merit. That an Ame- 
 rican, an inhabitant of the obscure city of Philadel- 
 phia, the name of which was hardly known, should be 
 able to make discoveries, and to frame theories, which 
 had escaped the notice of the enlightened philosophers 
 of Europe, was too mortifying to be admitted. He 
 must certainly have taken the idea from somebody else. 
 An American, a being of an inferior order, make dis- 
 coveries 1 Impossible. It was said, that the Abbe 
 Nollet, in 1 748, had suggested the idea of the similari- 
 ty of lightning and electricity, in his Lecons de P/nj' 
 sique. It is true, that the Abbe mentions the idea, 
 but he throws it out as a bare conjecture, and proposes 
 no mode of ascertaining the truth of it. He himself 
 acknowledges that Franklin first entertained the bold 
 tliought of bringing lightning from the heavens, by 
 means of pointed rods fixed in the air. The similarity 
 of electricity and lightning is so strong, that we need 
 not be surprised at notice being taken of it, as soon as 
 electrical phenomena became familiar. We find it 
 12 
 
i02 THE LIFE OF 
 
 mentioned by Dr. Wall and Mr. Gray, while the 
 science was in its infancy. But the honour of forming 
 a regular theory of thunder-gusts, of suggesting a mode 
 of determining the truth of it by experiments, and of 
 putting these experiments in practice, and thus esta- 
 blishing his theory upon a firm and solid basis, is incon- 
 testibly due to Franklin. D'Alibard, who made the ex- 
 periments in France, says, that he only followed the 
 track which Franklin had pointed out. 
 
 It has been of late asserted, that the honour of com- 
 pleting the experiment with the electrical kite does 
 not belong to Franklin. Some late English para- 
 graphs have attributed it to some Frenchman, whose 
 name they did not mention ; and the Abbe Bertholon 
 gives it to M. De Romas, assessor to the presideal of 
 Nerac ; the English paragraphs probably refer to the 
 same person. But a very slight attention will con- 
 vince us of the injustice of this procedure : Ur. Frank- 
 lin's experiment was made in June 1752 ; and his let- 
 ter, giving an account of it, is dated October 19, 1752, 
 M. De Romas made his first attempt on the 14th of 
 May 1753, but was not successful until the 7th of 
 June ; a year after Franklin had completed the dis- 
 covery, and when it was known to all the philosophers 
 in Europe. 
 
 Besides these great principles, Franklin's letters on 
 electricity contain a number of facts and hints, which 
 have contributed greatly towards reducing this branch 
 of knowledge to a science. His friend, Mr. Kinners- 
 ly, communicated to him a discovery of the different 
 kinds of electricity excited by rubbing glass and sul- 
 phur. This, we have said, was first observed by M. 
 Du Faye ; but it was for many years neglected. The 
 philosophers were disposed to account for the pheno- 
 mena, rather from a difference in the quantity of elec- 
 tricity collected ; and even Du Faye himself seems at 
 last to have adopted this doctrine. Franklin at first 
 entertained the same idea; but upon repealing the ex- 
 periments, he perceived that Mr. Kinnersley was right; 
 and that the viiregus and resinous electricity of Du 
 
DR. fRANKLIK. 103 
 
 Faye were nothing more than the positive and nega^ 
 tive states which he had before observed ; that the glass 
 globe charged fiositiveli/j or increased the quantity of 
 electricity on the prime conductor, whilst the globe of 
 sulphur diminished its natural quantity, or charged ne- 
 gatively. These experiments and observations opened 
 a new field for investigation, upon which electricians 
 entered with avidity; and their labours have added 
 much to the stock of our knowledge. 
 
 In September, 1752, Franklin entered upon a course 
 of experiments, to determine the state of electricity in 
 the clouds. From a number of experiments he formed 
 this conclusion : " that the clouds of a thunder-gust 
 are most commonly in a negative state of electricity, 
 but sometimes in a positive state ;" and from this it 
 follows, as a necessary consequence, " that, for the most 
 part, in thunder-strokes, it is the earth that strikes into 
 the clouds, and not the clouds that strike into the 
 earth." The letter containing these observations is 
 dated in September, 1753; and yet the discovery of 
 ascending thunder has been said to be of a modern date 
 and has been attributed to the Abbe Bertholon, who 
 published his memoir on the subject in 1776. 
 
 Franklin's letters have been translated into most of 
 the European languages, and into Latin. In propor- 
 tion as they have become known, his principles have 
 been adopted. Some opposition was made to his theo- 
 ries, particularly by the Abbe Nollet, who was, how- 
 ever, but feebly supported, whilst the first philosophers 
 of Europe stepped forth in defence of Franklin's prin- 
 ciples ; amongst whom D'Alibard and Beccaria were 
 the most distinguished. The opposition has gradually 
 ceased, and the Franklinian system is now universally 
 adopted, where science flourishes. 
 
 The important practical use which Franklin made 
 of his discoveries, the securing of houses from injury 
 by lightning, has been already mentioned. Pointed 
 conductors are now very common in America ; but 
 prejudice has hitherto prevented their general intro- 
 duction into Europe, notwithstanding the most un- 
 
104 THE LIFE O? 
 
 doubted proofs of their utility have been given. But 
 mankind can with difficulty be brought to lay aside 
 established practices, or to adopt new ones. And per- 
 haps we have more reason to be sur])rised that a prac- 
 tice, however rational, which was proposed about for- 
 ty years ago, should in that time have been adopted 
 in so many places, than that it has not universally 
 prevailed. It is only by degrees that the great body of 
 mankind can be led into new practices, however salutary 
 their tendency. It is now nearly eighty years since in- 
 oculation was introduced into Europe and America ; 
 and it is so far from being general at present, that it will, 
 perhaps, require one or two centuries to render it 
 so. 
 
 In the year 174S, Franklin published an account of 
 his new invented Pennsylvania fire-places, in which he 
 ipinutely and accurately states the advantages and dis- 
 advantages of different kinds of fire-places ; and en- 
 deavours to shew that the one which he describes is to 
 be preferred to any other. This contrivance has given 
 rise to the open stoves now in general use, which how- 
 ever differ from it in construction, particularly in not 
 having an air-box at the back, through which a con- 
 stant supply of air, warmed in its passage, is thrown 
 into the room. The advantages of this are, that as a 
 stream of warm air is continually flowing into the room, 
 less fuel is necessary to preserve a proper temperature, 
 and the room may be so tightened as that no air may 
 enter through cracks ; the consequences of which are 
 colds, toothaches &c. 
 
 Although philosophy was a principle object of Frank- 
 lin's pursuit for several years, he confined himself not 
 to this. In the year 1747, he became a member of 
 the general assembly of Pennsylvania, as a burgess for 
 the city of Philadelphia. Warm disputes at this time 
 subsisted between the assembly and the proprietaries ; 
 each contending for what they conceived to be their 
 just rights. Franklin, a friend to the rights of man 
 from his infancy* soon distinguished himself as a steady 
 opponent of the unjust schemes oi the proprietaries.-— 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 165 
 
 He was soon looked up to as the head of the opposi- 
 tion ; and to him have been attributed many of the spi- 
 rited replies of the assembly, to the messages of the go- 
 vernors. His influence in the body was very great. 
 This arose not from any superior powers of eloquence ; 
 he spoke but seldom, and he never was known to make 
 any thing like an elaborate harrangue. His speeches 
 often consisted of a single sentence, or of a well-told 
 story, the moral of which was always obviously to the 
 point. He never attempted the flowery fields of ora- 
 tory. His manner was plain and mild. His style in 
 speaking was, like that of his writings, remarkably 
 concise. With this plain manner, and his penetrating 
 and solid judgment, he was able to confound the most 
 eloquent and subtle of his adversaries, to confirm the 
 opinions of his friends, and to make converts of the 
 unprejudiced who had opposed him. With a single 
 observation, he has rendered of no avail an elegant and 
 lengthy discourse, and determined the fate of a question 
 of importance. 
 
 But he was not contented with thus supporting the 
 rights of the people. He wished to render them per- 
 manently secure, which can only be done by making 
 their value properly known ; and this must depend up- 
 on increasing and extending information to every class 
 of men. We have already seen that he was the found- 
 er of the public library, which contriouted greatly to* 
 wards improving the minds of the citizens. But this 
 was not sufficient. The schools then subsisting were 
 in general of little utility. The teachers were men ill 
 qualified for the important duty which they had under- 
 taken ; and, after all, nothing more could be ob ained 
 than the rudiments of a common English education. 
 Franklin drew up a plan of an academy, to be erected 
 in the city of Philadelphia, suited to '< the state of an 
 infant country ;" but in this, as in all his plans, he 
 confined not his views to the present time only. He 
 looked forward to the period when an institution on an 
 enlarged plan would become necessary. With this 
 view he considered his academy as " a foundation for 
 
106 THE LIFE oy 
 
 posterity to erect a seminary of learning, more exten- 
 sive, and suitable to future circumstances." In pur- 
 suance of this plan, the constitutions were drawn up 
 and signed on the 13th of November 1749. In these 
 twenty-four of the most respectable citizens of Phila- 
 delphia were named as trustees. In the choice of these, 
 and in the formation of his plan, Franklin is said to 
 have consulted chiefly with Thomas Hopkinson. Esq. 
 Rev. Richard Peters, then secretary of the province, 
 Tench Francis, Esq. attorney-general, and Dr. Phineas 
 Bond. 
 
 The following article shews a spirit of benevolence 
 worthy of imitation ; and, for the honour of our city, we 
 hope that it continues to be in force. 
 
 " In case of the inability of the rector, or any mas- 
 ter, (established on the foundation by receiving a cer- 
 tain salary) through sickness, or any other natural in- 
 firmity, whereby he may be reduced to poverty, the 
 trustees shall have power to contribute to his support, 
 in proportion to his distress and merit, and the stock in 
 their hands." 
 
 The last clause of the fundamental rules is expressed 
 in language so tender nd benevolent, so truly parent- 
 al, that it will do everlasting honour to the hearts and 
 heads of the founders. 
 
 ** It is hoped and expected that the trustees will make 
 it their pleasure, and in some degree their business, to 
 visit the academy often ; to encourage and countenance 
 the youth, countenance and assist the masters, and by 
 all means in their power advance the usefulness and 
 reputation of the design, that they will look on the 
 students, as, in some measure, their ov^^n children, treat 
 them with familiarity and affection ; and when they 
 have behaved well, gone through their studies, and are 
 to enter the world, they should zealously unite, and make 
 all the interest that can be made, to promote and establish 
 them, whether in business, offices, marriages, or any other 
 thing for their advantage, preferable to all other persons 
 whatsoever, even of equal merit.*' 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 107 
 
 The constitution being signed and made public, 
 with the names of the gentlemen proposing themselves 
 as trustees and founders, the design was so well appro- 
 ved of by the public-spirited citizens of Philadelphia, 
 that the sum of eight hundred pounds per annum, for 
 five years was in the course of a few weeks subscribed 
 for carrying the plan into execution ; and in the be- 
 ginning of January following (viz. 1750) three of the 
 schools were opened, namely, the Latin and Greek 
 schools, the Mathematical, and the English schools. 
 In pursuance of an article in the original plan, a school 
 for educating sixty boys and thirty girls (in the char- 
 ter since called the Charitable School) was opened, and 
 amidst all the difficulties with which the trustees have 
 struggled in respect to their funds, has still been conti- 
 nued full for the space of forty years ; so that allowing 
 three years education for each boy and girl admitted 
 into it, which is the general rule, at least twelve hun- 
 dred children have received in it the chief part of their 
 education, who might otherwise, in a great measure 
 have been left without the means of instruction. And 
 many of those who have been thus educated, are now to 
 be found amongst the most useful and reputable citizens 
 of this state. 
 
 The institution, thus successfully begun, continued 
 daily to flourish, to the great satisfaction of Dr Frank- 
 lin ; who, notwithstanding the multiplicity of his other 
 engagements and pursuits at that busy stage of his life, 
 was a constant attendant at the monthly visitations and 
 examinations of the schools, and made it his particular 
 study, by means of his extensive correspondence abroad, 
 to advance the reputation of the seminary, and to draw 
 students and scholars to it from different parts of Ame- 
 rica and the West Indies. Through the interposition 
 of his benevolent and learned friend, Peter Collinson, 
 of London, upon the application of the trustees, a char- 
 ter of incorporation, dated July 13, 1753, was obtain- 
 ed from the honourable proprietors of Pennsylvania, 
 Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Esqrs. accompanied 
 with a liberal benefaction of five hundred pounds ster- 
 
108 THE hlflE. OF 
 
 ling ; and Dr. Franklin now began in gootl earnest to 
 please himself with the hopes of a speedy acconriplish- 
 ment of his original design, viz, the establishnnent of 
 a perfect institution, upon the plan of the European 
 colleges and universities ; for which his academy was 
 intended as a nursery or foundation. To elucidate 
 this fact, is a matter of considerable importance in re- 
 spect to the memory and character of Dr. Franklin, as 
 a philosopher, and as the friend and patron of learning 
 and science ; for, notwithstanding what is expressly 
 declared by him in the preamble to the constitutions, 
 viz. that the academy was begun for " teaching the 
 Latin and Greek languages, with all useful branches 
 of the arts and sciences, suitable to the state of an in- 
 fant country, and laying a foundation for posterity to 
 erect a seminary of learning more extensive, and suit- 
 able to their future circumstances;" yet it has been 
 suggested of late, as upon Dr. Franklin's authority, 
 that the Latin and Greek, or the dead langua.^es, are 
 an in-'umbrance upon a scheme of liberal education, 
 and that the ingrafting or founding a college, or more 
 extensive seminary, upon his academy, was without 
 his approbation or agency, and gave him discontent. 
 If the reverse of this does not already appear, from 
 what has been quoted above, the following letters will 
 put the matter beyond dispute. They were written 
 by him to a gentleman, who had at that time publish- 
 ed the idea of a college, suited to the circumstances of 
 a young country, (meaning New-York) a copy of which 
 having been sent to Dr. Franklin for his opinion, gave 
 rise to that correspondence which terminated about a 
 year afterwards, in erecting the college upon the foun- 
 dation of the academy, and establishing that gentleman 
 at the head of both, where he still continues, after a 
 period of thirty-six years, to preside with distinguished 
 reputation. 
 
 From these letters also, the state of the academy, at 
 tha; time, will be seen. 
 
BR. FRANKLIN. 109 
 
 Philadelphia^ Jjiril 19, 1753. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I received your favour of the lltiv instant, with 
 your new* piece on Education, which I shall carefully 
 peruse, and give you my sentiments of it, as you de- 
 sire, by next post. 
 
 I believe the young gentlemen, your pupils, may be 
 entertained and instructed here, in mathematics and 
 philosophy, to satisfaction. Mr. Allisonf (who was 
 educated at Glasgow) has been long accustomed to 
 teach the latter, and Mr. Grew| the former ; and I 
 think their pupils make great progress. Mr. Allison 
 has the care of the Latin and Greek school, but as he 
 has now three good assistants,!) he can very well afford 
 some hours every day for the instruction of those who 
 are engaged in higher studies. The mathematical 
 school is pretty well furnished with instruments. The 
 English library is a good one ; and we have belonging 
 to it 'a middling apparatus for experimental philosophy, 
 and purpose speedily to complete it. The Loganian 
 library, one of the best collections in America, will 
 shortly be opened ; so that neither books nor instru- 
 ments will be wanting ; and as we are determined al- 
 ways to give good salaries, we have reason to believe 
 we may always have an opportunity of chusing good 
 niasters ; upon which, indeed the success of the whole 
 depends. We are obliged to you for your kind offers, 
 in this respect, and when you are settled in England, 
 Ave may occasionally make use of yoiir friendship and 
 judgment. 
 
 • General idea of the college of Marania. 
 
 I The Rev. and learned Mr. Francis Allison, afterwards D. D. 
 and vice-provost of the colleg^e. 
 
 + Mr, Theophilus Grew, afterwards professor of mathematics 
 in the college. 
 
 II Tlicse assistants were at that time Mr. Charles Thompson, 
 late secretary of congress, Mr. Paul Jackson, and Mr. Jacob 
 Duche. 
 
 K 
 
no THE LIFE OF 
 
 If it suits your pohveniency to visit Philadelphia be- 
 fore your return to Europe, I shall be extremely glad 
 to see and converse with you here, as well as to cor- 
 respond with you after your settlement in England ; 
 for an acquaintance and communication with men of 
 learning, virtue and public spirit, is one of my greatest 
 enjoyments. 
 
 I do not know whether you ever happened to see the 
 first proposals I made for erecting this academy. I send 
 them inclosed. They had, (however imperfect) the de- 
 sired success, b^ing followed by a subscription oifour 
 thousand pounds^ towards carrying them into execu- 
 tion. And as we are fond of receiving advice, and are 
 daily improving by experience, I am in hopes we shall, 
 in a few years, see a perfect institution, 
 
 I am very respectfully, &c. 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 Mr- W, Smithy Long-Island. 
 
 Philadelphia, May, 3dy 17 S3, 
 Sir, 
 
 Mr. Peters has just now been with me, and we have 
 compared notes on your new piece. We find nothing 
 in the scheme of education, however excellent, but 
 what is, in our opinion very practicable. The great 
 difficulty will be to find the Aratus,* and other suita- 
 ble persons, to carry it into execution : but such may 
 be had if proper encouragement be given. We have 
 both received great pleasure in the perusal of it. For 
 my part, I know not when I have read a piece that has 
 more affected me — so noble and just are the senti- 
 
 * The name given to the principal or head of the ideal college, 
 the system of education in which hath nevertheless been nearly 
 realized or followed as a model, in the college and academy of Phi- 
 ladelphia, and some other American seminaries, for some years 
 past. 
 
»»R. FRANKLIN. Ill 
 
 ments, so warm and animated the language ; yet as 
 censure from your friends may be of more use, as well 
 as more agreeable to you than praise, I ought to men- 
 tion, that I wish you had omitted not only the quota- 
 tion fi-om the review,*. which you are now justly dis- 
 satisfied with, but those expressions of resentment 
 against your adversaries, in pages 65 and 79. In such 
 cases the noblest victory is obtained by neglect, and 
 by shining on. 
 
 Mr. Allen has been out of town these ten days ; but 
 before he went he directed me to procure him six 
 copies of your piece. Mr. Peters has taken ten. He 
 purposed to have written to you ; but omits it, as he 
 expects so soon to have the pleasure of seeing you 
 here. He desires me to present his affectionate com- 
 pliments to you, and to assure you that you will be 
 very welcome to him. I shall only say, that you may 
 depend on my doing all in my power to make your 
 visit to Philadelphia agreeable to you. 
 
 I am, Sec. 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 Mr* Smith. 
 
 Philadelphia Mv. ^ilth^ 1753. 
 Dear sir. 
 
 Having written to you fully via Bristol, I have now 
 little to add. Matters relating to the academy remain 
 in statu quo. The trustees would be glad to see a 
 rector established there, but ihey dread entering into 
 new engagements till they are out of debt ; and I have 
 
 * The quotation alluded to (from the London Monthly Review 
 for 1749) was judged to reflect too severely on the discipline and 
 government of the English universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 
 and was expunged from the following editions of this work. 
 
112 THE LIFE OF 
 
 not yet got them wholly over to my opinion, that a 
 good professor or teacher of the higher branches of 
 learning would draw so many scholars as to pay great 
 part, if not the whole of his salary. Thus, unless the 
 proprietors (of the province) shall think fit to put the 
 finishing hand to our institution, it must, I fear, wait 
 some few years longer before it can arrive at that state 
 of perfection, which to me it seems now capable of; 
 and all the pleasure I promised to myself in seeing you 
 settled among us vanishes into smoke. 
 
 But good Mr. Collinson writes me word, that no en- 
 deavours of his shall be wanting ; and he hopes, with 
 the archbishop?« assistance to be able to prevail with 
 our proprietors.* I pray God grant them success. 
 
 My son presents his affectionate regards, with, dear 
 sir, 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 P. S. I have not been favoured with a line from you 
 since your arrival in England. 
 
 Philadelphia April 18^^, 1754, 
 Dear sir, 
 
 I have had but one letter from you since your arri- 
 val in England, which was a short one, via Boston, da- 
 ted October 18th, acquainting me that you had writ- 
 
 * Upon the application of archbishop Herring and P. GoUinson, 
 esq. at Dr. Franklin's request, (aided by the letters of Mr. Allen 
 and Mr. Peters) the hon. Thomas Penn, esq. subscribed an annual 
 sum, and afterwards gave at least 50001. to the founding or en- 
 grafting the college upon the academy. 
 
DR. FRAMKLIN. Ho 
 
 ten largely by Capt. Davis — Davis was lost, and vv^ith 
 him your letters, to my great disappointment. — Mes- 
 nard and Gibbon have since arrived here, and I hear 
 nothing from you. — My comfort is, an imagination 
 that you only omit writing because you are coming, 
 and purpose to tell me every thing viva voce. So not 
 knowing whether this letter will reach you, and hoping 
 either to see or hear from you by the Myrtilla, capt. 
 Buddon*s ship, which is daily expected, I only add, that 
 I am, with great esteem and affection, 
 
 Yours, &;c. 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 Afr. Smith, 
 
 About a month after the date of this last letter, the 
 gentleman to whom it was addressed arrived in Phila- 
 delphia, and was immediately placed at the head of the 
 seminary ; whereby Dr. Franklin, and the other trus- 
 tees were enabled to prosecute their plan, for perfect- 
 ing the institution, and opening the college upon the 
 large and liberal foundation on which it now stands ; 
 for which purpose they obtained their additional char- 
 ter, dated May 27th, 1755. 
 
 Thus far we it thought proper to exhibit in one 
 view Dr. Franklin's services in the foundation and es- 
 tablishment of this seminary. He soon afterwards 
 embarked for England, in the public service of his 
 country ; and having been generally employed abroad 
 in the like service, for the greatest part of the remain- 
 der of his life (as will appear in our subsequent ac- 
 count of the same) he had but few opportunities of 
 taking any further active part in the affairs of the se-* 
 minary, until his final return in the year 1785, when he 
 found its charters violated, and his ancient colleagues 
 the original founders, deprived of their trust, by an act 
 of the legislature, and although his own name had been 
 inserted among the new trustees, yet he declined to 
 K2 
 
114 THE LIFE OF 
 
 take his seat among them, or any concern in the ma- 
 nagement of their affairs, till the instituuon was re- 
 stored by law to its original owners. He then assem- 
 bled his old colleagues at his own house, and being 
 chosen their president, all their future meetings were 
 at his request, held there, till within a few months of 
 his death, when with reluctance, and ai their desire, 
 lest he might be too much injured by his attention 
 to their business, he suffered them to meet at the col- 
 lege. 
 
 Franklin not only gave birth to many useful insti- 
 tutions himself, but he was also instrumental in pro- 
 moting those which had originated with other men. 
 About the year 1752, an eminent physician of this 
 city. Dr. Bond, considering the deplorable state of the 
 poor, when visited with disease, conceived that idea of 
 establishing an hospital. Notwithstanding very great 
 exertions on his part, he was able to interest few peo- 
 ple so far in the benevolent plan, as to obtain subscrip- 
 tions from them. Unwilling that his scheme should 
 prove abortive, he sought the aid of Franklin, who 
 readily engaged in the business, both by using his in- 
 fluence with his friends, and by stating the advantage- 
 ous influence of the proposed institution in his paper. 
 These efforts were attended with success. Considera- 
 ble sums were subscribed ; but they were still short of 
 what was necessary. Franklin now made another exer- 
 tion. He applied to the assembly ; and, after some 
 opposition obtained leave to bring in a bill, specifying 
 that as soon as two thousand pounds were subscribed, 
 the same sum should be drawn from the treasury by the 
 speaker's warrant, to be applied to the purposes of the 
 institution. The opposition, as the sum was granted 
 upon a contingency which they supposed would never 
 take place, were silent, and the bill passed. The friends 
 of the plan now redoubled their efforts, to obtain sub- 
 scriptions to the amount stated in the bill, and were 
 soon successful. This was the foundation of the Penn- 
 sylvania Hospital, (vhich, with the Bettering-house and 
 
DR. FRAKKLIK. 115 
 
 Dispensary, bear ample testimony of the humanity of 
 the citizens of Philadelphia. 
 
 Dr. Franklin had conducted himself so well in the 
 office of post-master, and had shown himself to be so 
 well acquainted with the business of that department, 
 that it was thought expedient to raise him to a more 
 dignified station. In 1753 he was appointed deputy 
 post-master-general for the British colonies. The pro- 
 fits arising from the postage of letters, formed no incon* 
 siderable part of the revenue, which the crown of Great 
 Britain derived from the colonies. In the hands of Frank- 
 lin, it is said, that the post-office in America yielded 
 annually thrice as much as that of Ireland. 
 
 The American colonies were much exposed to de- 
 predations on their frontiers, by the Indians; and more 
 particularly whenever war took place between France 
 and England. The colonies, individually, were either 
 too weak to take efficient measures for their own de- 
 fence, or they were unwilling to take upon themselves 
 the whole burden of erecting forts and maintaining 
 garrisons, whilst their neighbours, who partook equally 
 with themselves of the advantages, contributed no- 
 thing to the expence. Sometimes also the disputes, 
 which subsisted between the governors and assemblies, 
 prevented the adoption of means of defence ; as we 
 have seen was the case in Pennsylvania in 1745. To 
 devise a plan of union between the colonies, to regu- 
 late this and other matters, appeared a desirable ob- 
 ject. To accomplish this, in the year 1754, commis- 
 sioners from New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode- 
 Island, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, met 
 at Albany. Dr. Franklin attended here, as a com- 
 missioner from Pennsylvania, and produced a plan, 
 which, from the place of meeting, has been usually 
 termed " The Albany Plan of Union." This pro- 
 posed, that application should be made for an act of 
 parliament, to establish in the colonies a general go- 
 vernment, to be administered by a president-general, ap« 
 pointed, by the crown, and by a grand council, con- 
 sisting of members chosen by the representatives of the 
 
116 THE LIFE OF 
 
 different colonics ; their number to be in direct propor- 
 tion to the sums paid by each colony into the general 
 treasury, with this restriction, that no colony should 
 have more than seven, nor less than two representatives. 
 The whole executive authority was committed to the 
 president-general. The power of legislation was lodg- 
 ed in the grand council and president-general jointly ; 
 his consent being made necessary to passing a bill into 
 a law. The power vested in the president and council 
 were, to declare war and peace, and to conclude trea- 
 ties with the Indian nations ; to regulate trade with, 
 and to make purchases of vacant lands from them, either 
 in the name of the crown, or of the union : to settle 
 new colonies, to make laws for governing these until 
 they should be erected into separate governments, and 
 to raise troops, build forts, fit out armed vessels, and use 
 other means for the general defence : and, to effect 
 these things, a power was given to make laws laying 
 such duties, imposts, or taxes, as they should find ne- 
 cessary, and as would be least burdensome to the peo- 
 ple. All laws were to be sent to England for the 
 king's approbation ; and unless disapproved of within 
 three years, were to remain in force. All officers in 
 the land or sea service where to be nominated by the 
 president-general, and approved of by the general 
 council ; civil officers were to be nominated by the 
 council, and approved by the president. Such are the 
 outlines of the plan proposed, for the consideration of 
 the congress, by Dr. Franklin. After several days, dis- 
 cussion, it was unanimously agreed to by the commis- 
 sioners, a copy transmitted to each assembly, and one 
 to the king's council. The fate of it was singular. 
 It was disapproved of by the ministry of Great Britain, 
 because it gave too much power to the representatives 
 of the people ; and it was rejected by every assembly, as 
 giving to the president-general, the representative of 
 the crown, an influence greater than appeared to them 
 proper, in a plan of government intended for freemen. 
 Perhaps this rejection, on both sides, is the strongest 
 proof that could be adduced of the excellence of it, as 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 117 
 
 suited to the situation of America and Great Britain at 
 that time. It appears to have steered exactly in the 
 middle, between the opposite interests of both. 
 
 Whether the adoption of this plan would have pre- 
 vented the separation of America from Great Britain, 
 is a question which might afford much room for specula- 
 tion It may be said, that, by enabling the colonies to 
 defend themselves, it would have removed the pretext 
 upon which the stamp-act, tea-act, and other acts of the 
 British parliament, were passed ; which excited a spirit 
 of opposition, and laid the foundation for the separation 
 of the two countries. But, on the other hand, it must 
 be admitted, that the restriction laid by Great Britain 
 upon our commerce, obliging us to sell our produce to 
 her citizens only, and to take from them various articled, 
 of which, as our manufactures were discouraged, we 
 stood in need, at a price greater than that for which they 
 could have been obtained from other nations, must in- 
 evitably produce dissatisfaction, even though no duties 
 were imposed by the parliament : a circumstance which 
 might still have taken place Besides, as the president- 
 general was to be appointed by the crown, he must, 
 of necessity, be devoted to its views, and would, there- 
 fore, refuse his assent to any laws, however salutary 
 to the community, which had the most remote ten- 
 dency to injure the interests of his sovereign. Even 
 should they receive his assent, the approbation of the 
 king was to be necessary; who would indubitably, in 
 every instance, prefer the advantage of his home do- 
 minions to that of his colonies. Hence would ensue 
 perpetual disagreements between the council and the 
 president-general, and thus, between the people of Ame- 
 rica and the crown of Gre it Britain : While the colo- 
 nies continued weak, they would be obliged to submit, 
 and as soon as they acquired strength they would be- 
 come more urgent in their demands, until, at length, 
 they would shake off the yoke, and declare themselves 
 independent. 
 
 Whilst the French were in possession of Canada, their 
 trade with the natives extended very far ; even to the 
 
118 THE tiFE OF 
 
 back of the British settlements. They were disposed, 
 from time to time, to establish posts within the territo- 
 ry, which the British claimed as their own. Indepen- 
 dent of the injury to the fur trade* which was consider- 
 able, the colonies suffered this further inconvenience, 
 that the Indians were requently instigated to commit 
 depredations on their frontiers. In the year 1753 en- 
 croachments were made upon the boundaries of Vir- 
 ginia. Remonstrances had no effect In the ensuing 
 year, a body of men were sent out under the command 
 of Mr Washington, who, though a very young man, 
 had, by his conduct in the preceding year, shown him- 
 self worthy of such an important trust. Whilst march- 
 ing to take possession of the post at the junction of the 
 Allegany and Monongahela, he was informed that the 
 French had already erected a fort there. A detach- 
 ment of their men marched against him. He fortified 
 himself as strongly as time and circumstances would 
 permit. A superiority of numbers soon obliged him 
 to surrender Fort Necessity He obtained honourable 
 terms for himself and men. and returned to Virginia. 
 The government of Great Briti'in now thought it ne- 
 cessary to interfere In the yetir 1755, general Brad- 
 dock, with some regiments of regular troops, and pro- 
 vincial levies, was sent to dispossess the French of the 
 posts upon which they had seized. After the men were 
 all ready, a difficulty occurred, which had nearly pre- 
 vented the expedition. This was the want of waggons. 
 Franklin now stepped forward, and with the assistance 
 of his son, in a little time procured an hundred and 
 fifty. Braddock unfortunately fell into an ambuscade, 
 and perished, with a number of his men. Washing- 
 ton, who had accompanied him as an aid-de-camp and 
 had warned him in vain of his danger, now displayed 
 great military talents in effecting a retreat of the re- 
 mains of the army, and forming a junction with the 
 rear, under colonel Dunbar, upon whom the chief com- 
 mand now devolved. With some difficulty they brought 
 their little body to a place of safety ; but they found 
 it necessary to destroy their waggons and baggage 
 
DR. franklin; 119 
 
 to prevent their falling into the hands of the ene- 
 my. For the waggons which he had furnished, Frank- 
 lin had given bonds to a large amount. The owners 
 declared their intentions of obliging him to make a 
 restitution of their property. Had they put their 
 threats in execution, ruin must inevitably have been 
 the consequence. Governor Shirley, finding' that he 
 had incurred these debts for the service of government} 
 made arrangements to have them discharged, and re- 
 leased Franklin from his disagreeablo situation. 
 
 The alarm spread through the colonies, after the de- 
 feat of Briddock, was very great. Preparations to arm 
 were every where made. In Pennsylvania, the preva- 
 lence of the quaker interest prevented the adoption of 
 any system of defence which would compel the citizens 
 to bear arms. Franklin introduced into the assembly a 
 bill for organizing a militia, by which every man was 
 allowed to take arms or not, as to him should appear fit. 
 The quakers, being thus left at liberty, suffered the bill 
 to pass ; for although their principles would not suffer 
 them to fight, they had no objections to their neighbours 
 fighting for them. In consequence of this act a very 
 respectable militia was formed. The sense df impend- 
 ing danger, infused a military spirit in all whose religious 
 tenets were not opposed to war. Franklin was appoint- 
 ed colonel of a regiment in Philadelphia, which consist- 
 ed of 1200 men. 
 
 The north-western frontier being invaded by the ene- 
 my, it became necessary to adopt measures for its de- 
 fence. Franklin was directed by the governor to take 
 charge of this business. A power of raising men, and 
 of appointing officers to command them, was vested in 
 him. He soon levied a body of troops, with which he 
 repaired to the place at which their presence was ne- 
 cessary. Here he built a fort, and placed the garrison 
 in such a posture of defence, as would enable them to 
 withstand the inroads to which the inhabitants had pre- 
 viously been exposed. He remained here for some time, 
 in order the more completely to discharge the trust 
 
120 THE LITE OF 
 
 committed to him* Some business of importance ren- 
 dered his presence necessary in the assembly, and he 
 returned to Philadelphia. 
 
 The defence of her colonies was a great expense to 
 Great Britain. The most effectual mode of lessening 
 this was, to put arms into the hands of the inhabitants 
 and to teach them their use. But England wished not 
 that the Americans should become acquainted with their 
 own strength. See was apprehensive, that, as soon as 
 this period arrived, they would no longer submit to that 
 monopoly of their trade, which to them was highly inju- 
 rious, but extremely advantageous to the mother coun- 
 try. In comparison with the profits of this, the expense 
 of maintaining armies and fleets to defend them was tri- 
 fling. She sought to keep them dependent upon her 
 for protection, the best plan which could be devised for 
 retaining them in peaceable subjection. The least ap- 
 pearance of a military spirit was therefore to be guarded 
 against, and, although a war then raged, the act organi- 
 aing a militia was disapproved of by the ministry. The 
 regiments which had been formed under it were dis- 
 banded, and the defence of the province entrusted to re- 
 gular troops. 
 
 The disputes between the proprietaries and the peo- 
 ple continued in full force, although a war was raging 
 on the frontiers. Not even the sense of danger was 
 sufficient to reconcile, for ever so short a time, their 
 jarring interests. The assembly still insisted upon the 
 justice of taxing the proprietary estates, but the go- 
 vernors constantly refused to give their assent to this 
 measure, without which no bill could pass into a law. 
 Enraged at the obstinacy, and what they conceived to 
 be unjust proceedings of their opponents, the assembly 
 at length determined to apply to the mother country 
 for relief. A petition was addressed to the king, in coun- 
 cil, stating the inconveniences under which the inha- 
 bitants laboured, from the attention of the proprietaries 
 to their private interests, to the neglect of the gene- 
 ral welfare of the community, and praying for redress. 
 Franklin was appointed to present this address, as agent 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 131 
 
 for the province of Pennsylvania, and departed from 
 America in June 1757. In conformity to the instruc- 
 tions which he had received from the legislature, held 
 a conference with the proprietaries, who then resided 
 in England, and endeavoured to prevail upon them to 
 give up the long-contested point. Finding that they 
 Avould hearken to no terms of accommodation, he laid 
 his petition to the council. During this time governor 
 Denny assented to a law imposing a tax, in which no 
 discrimination was made in favour of the estates of the 
 Penn family. They, alarmed at this intelligence, and 
 Franklin's exertions, used their utmost exertions to pre- 
 vent the royal sanction being given to this law, which 
 they represented as highly iniquitous, designed to throw 
 the burden of supporting government on them, and cal- 
 culated to produce the most ruinous consequences to 
 them and their posterity. The cause was amply dis- 
 cussed before the privy councils. The Penns found 
 here some strenuous advocates ; nor were there wanting 
 some who warmly espoused the side of the people. Af- 
 ter some time spent in debate, a proposal was made, that 
 Franklin should solemnly engage, that the assessment 
 of the tax should be so made, as that the proprietary 
 estates should pay no more than a due proportion. This 
 he agreed to perform, the Penn family withdrew their 
 opposition, and tranquility was thus once more restored 
 to the province. 
 
 The mode ia which this dispute was determined is a 
 striking proof of the high opinion entertained of Frank- 
 lin's integrity and honour, even by those who consider- 
 ed him as inimical to their views. Nor was their confi- 
 dence ill founded. The assessment was made upon the 
 strictest principles of equity ; and the proprietary estates 
 bore only a proportionable share of the expenses of sup- 
 porting government. 
 
 After the completion of this important business, 
 Franklin remained at the court of Great Britain, as 
 agent for the province of Pennsylvania. The exten- 
 sive knowledge which he possessed of the situation of 
 the colonies, and the regard which he always manifest- 
 
 L 
 
1^2 THE LIFE O? 
 
 ed for their interests, occasioned his appointment to xhe 
 same office by the colonies of Massachusetts, Mary- 
 land, and Georgia. His conduct, in this situation, 
 -was such as rendered him still more dear to his country- 
 men. 
 
 He had now an opportunity of indulging in the socie- 
 ty of those friends, whom his merits had procured him 
 while at a distance. The regard which they had enter- 
 tained for him was rather increased by a personal ac- 
 quaintance. The opposition which had been made to 
 his discoveries in philosophy gradually ceased, and, the 
 rewards of literary merit were abundantly conferred 
 upon him. The Royal Society of London, which had 
 at first refused his performances admission into its trans- 
 actions, now thought it an honour to rank him among 
 its fellows. Other societies of Europe were equally 
 ambitious of calling him a member. The university of 
 St. Andrew's, in Scotland, conferred upon him the de- 
 gree of Doctor of Laws. Its example was followed by 
 the universities of Edinburgh and of Oxford. His cor- 
 respondence was sought for by the most eminent phi- 
 losophers of Europe. His letters to these abound with 
 true science, delivered in the most simple unadorned 
 manner. 
 
 The province of Can'^da was at this time in the pos- 
 session of the French, who had originally settled it. 
 The trade with the Indians, for which its situation 
 was very convenient, was exceedingly lucrative. The 
 French traders^ here found a market for their commo- 
 dities, and received in return large quantities of rich 
 furs, which they disposed of at a high price in Europe. 
 Whilst the possession of this country was highly advan- 
 tageous to France, it was a grievous inconvenience to 
 the inhabitants of the British colonies. The Indians 
 were almost generally desirous to cultivate the friend- 
 ship of the French, by whom they were abundantly 
 supplied with arms and ammunition. Whenever a war 
 happened, the Indians were ready to fall upon the fron- 
 tiers; and this they frequently did, even when Great 
 Britain and rrance were at peace. From these con- 
 
»R. FRANKLIN. 128 
 
 siderations, it appeared (to be the interest of Great 
 Britain to gain the possession of Canada. But the 
 importance of such an acquisition was not well under- 
 stood in England. Franklin about this time published 
 his Canada pamphlet, in which he, in a very forcible ^ 
 manner, pointed out the advantages which would re- 
 suit from the conquest of this province. 
 
 An expedition against it was planned, and the com- 
 mand given to General Wolfe. His success is well 
 known. At the treaty of 176?, France ceded Canada 
 to Great Britain, and by her cession of Louisiana, at 
 the same time, relinquished all her possessions on the 
 continent of America. 
 
 Although Dr. Franklin was now principally occupi- 
 ed with political pursuits, he found time for philoso- 
 phical studies. He extended his electrical researches, 
 and made a variety of experiments, particularly on the 
 tourmalin. The singular properties which this stone 
 possesses of being electrified on one side positively, 
 and on the other negatively, by heat alone, without 
 friction, had been bul lately observed. 
 
 Some experiments on the cold produced by evapora- 
 tion, made by Dr. Cullen, had been communicated to 
 Dr. Franklin by Professor Simpson of Glasgow. These 
 he repeated, and found that, by the evaporation of 
 ether in the exhausted receiver of an air-pump, so 
 great a degree of cold was produced in a summer's 
 day, that water was converted into ice. This discovery 
 he applied to the solution of a number of phenomena, 
 particularly a singular fact, which philosophers had 
 endeavoured in vain to account for, viz. that the tem- 
 perature of the human body, when in health, never ex- 
 ceeds 96 degrees of Farenheit's thermometer, although 
 the atmosphere which surrounds it may be heated to a 
 much greater degree. This he attributed to the in- 
 creased perspiration, and consequent evaporation, pro- 
 duced by the heat. 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Small of London, dated in May 
 1760, Dr. Franklin makes a number of observations, 
 tending to shew that, in North America, north-east 
 
i24 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Storms begin in the south-west parts. It appears, from 
 actual observation, that a north-east storm, which ex- 
 tended a considerable distance, commenced in Phila- 
 delphia nearly four hours before it was felt at Boston. 
 He endeavoured to account for this, by supposing that, 
 from heat, some rarefaction takes place about the gulf 
 of Mexico, that the air further north being cooler 
 rushes in, and is succeeded by the cooler and denser 
 air still further north, and that thus a continued current 
 is at length produced. 
 
 The tone produced by rubbing the brim of a drink- 
 ing glass with a wet finger had been generally known. 
 A Mr. Puckeridge, an Irishman, by placing on a table 
 a number of glasses of different sizes, and tuning them 
 by partly filling them with water, endeavoured to form 
 an instrument capable of playing tunes. He was pre- 
 vented by an untimely end, from bringing his inven- 
 tion to any degree of perfection. After his death 
 some improvements were made upon his plan. The 
 sweetness of the tones induced Dr. Franklin to make 
 a variety of experiments ; and he at length formed 
 that elegant instrument which he has called the Ar- 
 monica. 
 
 In the summer of 1752 he returned to America.— 
 On his passage he observed the singular effect pro- 
 duced by the agitation of a vessel, containing oil float- 
 ing on water. The surface of the oil remains smooth 
 and undisturbed, whilst the water is agitated with the 
 utmost commotion. No satisfactory explanation of this 
 appearance, has we believe, ever been given. 
 
 Dr. Franklin received the thanks of the assembly of 
 Pennsylvania, *' as well for the faithful discharge of 
 his duty to that province in particular, as for the many 
 and important services done to America in general, 
 during his residence in Great-Britain." A compensa- 
 tion of 50001. Pennsylvania currency, was also decreed 
 him for his services during six years. 
 
 During his absence he had been annually elected 
 member of the assembly. On his return to Pcnnsyl- 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 125 
 
 vania he again took his seat in this body, and continu- 
 ed a steady defender of the liberties of the people. 
 
 In December 1762, a circumstance which caused 
 great alarm in the province took place. A number 
 of Indians had resided in the county of Lancaster, and 
 conducted themselves uniformly as friends to the white 
 inhabitants. Repeated depredations on the frontiers 
 had exasperated the inhabitants to such a degree, that 
 they determined on revenge upon every Indian. A 
 number of persons, to the amount of 120, principally 
 inhabitants of Donnegal and Peckstang or Paxton 
 townships, in the county of York, assembled ; and, 
 mounted on horseback, proceeded to the settlement of 
 these harmless and defenceless Indians, whose number 
 had now reduced to about twenty. The Indians re- 
 -ceived intelligence of the attack which was intended 
 against them, but disbelieved it. Considering the 
 white people as their friends, they apprehended no dan- 
 ger from them. When the party arrived at the Indi- 
 an settlement, they found only some women and chil. 
 dren, and a few old men, the rest being absent at work. 
 They murdered all whom they found, and amongst 
 others the chief Shahaes, who had been always distin- 
 guished for his friendship to the whites. This bloody 
 deed excited much indignation in the well disposed 
 part of the community. 
 
 The remainder of these unfortunate Indians, who, 
 by absence, had escaped the massacre, were conducted 
 to Laneaster, and lodged in the gaol, as a place of se- 
 curity. The governor issued a proclamation, expres- 
 ing the strongest disapprobation of the action, offering 
 a reward for the discovery of the perpetrators of the 
 A deed, and prohibiting all injuries to the peaceable In- 
 *dians in future. But, notwithstanding this, a party 
 of the same men shortly after marched to Lancaster, 
 broke open the gaol, and inhumanly butchered the in- 
 nocent Indians who had been placed there for security 
 Another proclamation was issued, but had no effect. 
 A detachment marched down to Philadelphia, for the 
 express purpose of murdering some friendly Indians 
 L2 
 
136 THE LIFE OF 
 
 who had been removed to the city for safety. A num« 
 ber of the citizens armed in their defence. The Qua* 
 kers, whose principles are opposed to fighting, even in 
 their own defence, were most active upon this occa- 
 sion. The rioters came to Germantown. The gover- 
 nor fled for safety to the house of Dr. Franklin, who, 
 with some others, advanced to meet the Paxton boys, 
 as they were called, and had influence enough to pre- 
 vail upon them to relinquish their undertaking, and re- 
 turn to their homes. 
 
 The disputes between the proprietaries and the as- 
 sembly, which for a time, had subsided, were again 
 revived. The proprietaries were dissatisfied with the 
 concessions made in favour of the people, and made 
 great struggles to recover the privilege of exempting 
 their estates from taxation, which they had been indu- 
 ced to give up. 
 
 In 1763 the assembly passed a militia bill, to which 
 the governor refused to give his assent, unless the as- 
 sembly would agree to certain amendments which he 
 proposed. These consisted in increasing the fines, and, 
 in some cases, substituting death for fines. He wished 
 too that the officers should be appointed altogether, by 
 himself, and not be nominated by the people, as the 
 bill had proposed. These amendments the assembly 
 considered as inconsistent with the spirit of liberty.— 
 They would not adopt them ; the governor was obsti- 
 nate, and the bill was lost. 
 
 These and various other circumstances, increased 
 the uneasiness which subsisted between the proprieta- 
 ries and the assembly to such a degree, that, in 1764, a 
 petition to the king was agreed to by the house, pray- 
 ing an alteration from a firofirietary to a regal govern-J 
 ment. Great opposition was made to this measure, n 
 only in the house, but in the public prints. A speech 
 of Mr Dickenson, on the subject was published, with 
 a preface by Dr. Smith, in which great pains were 
 taken to shew the impropriety and impolicy of this pro- 
 ceeding. A speech of Mr. Galloway, in reply to 
 Mr. Dickenson, was published, accompanied with a 
 
DR. FRANKLXHr: 137 
 
 preface by Dr. Franklin ; in which he ably opposed the 
 principles laid down in the preface to Mr. Dicken- 
 son's speech) This application to the throne produced 
 no effect. The proprietary government was still con- 
 tinued. 
 
 At the election for a new assembly, in the fall of 
 1764, the friends of the proprietaries made great ex- 
 ertions to exclude those of the adverse party, and ob- 
 tained a small majority in the city of Philadelphia. 
 Franklin now lost his seat in the house, which he had 
 held for fourteen years. On the meeting of the as- 
 sembly, it appeared that there was still a decided majo- 
 rity of Franklin's friends. He was immediately ap- 
 pointed provincial agent, to the great chagrin of his 
 enemies, who made a solemn protest against his ap- 
 pointment ; which was refused admission upon the mi- 
 nutes, as being unprecedented. It was, however, pub- 
 lished in the papers, and produced a spirited reply from 
 him just before his departure for England. 
 
 The disturbances produced in America by Mr. Gren- 
 ville's stamp- act, and the opposition made to it, are 
 well known. Under the marquis of Rockingham's ad- 
 ministration, it appeared expedient to endeavour to 
 calm the minds of the colonists ; and the repeal of the 
 odious tax was contemplated. Amongst other means 
 of collecting information on the disposition of the peo- 
 ple to submit to it, Dr. Franklin was called to the bar 
 of the house of commons. The examination which 
 he here underwent was published, and contains a stri- 
 king proof of the extent and accuracy of his informa- 
 tion, and the facility with which he communicated his 
 sentiments. He represented facts in so strong a point 
 of view, that the inexpediency of the act must have 
 appeared clear to every unprejudiced mind. The act 
 after some opposition, was repealed, about a year after 
 it was enacted, and before it had ever been carried into 
 execution. 
 
 In the year 1766, he made a visit to Holland and 
 Germany, and received the greatest marks of attention 
 from men of science. In his passage through Holland, 
 
128 THE LIFE OF 
 
 he learned from the watermen the effect which a dimlr 
 nution of the quantity of water in canals has, in impe- 
 ding the progress of boats. Upon his return to Eng- 
 land, he was led to make a number of experiments ; 
 all of which tended to confirm the observation. Thesei 
 with an explanation of the phenomenon, he commu- 
 nicated in a letter to his friend, sir John Pringle, which 
 is contained in the volume of his philosophical pieces. 
 
 In the following year he travelled into France, 
 where he met with a no less favourable reception than 
 he had experienced in Germany. He was introduced 
 to a number of literary characters, and to the King, 
 Louis XV. 
 
 Several letters written by Hutchinson, Oliver, and 
 others, to persons in eminent stations in Great Britain, 
 came into the hands of Dr. Franklin. 
 
 These contained the most violent invectives against 
 the leading characters of the state of Massachusetts, and 
 strenuously advised the prosecution of vigorous mea- 
 sures, to compel the people to obedience to the measures 
 of the ministry. These he transmitted to the legisla- 
 ture, by whom they were published. Attested copies 
 of them were sent to Great Britain, with an address, 
 praying the king to discharge from office persons who 
 had rendered themselves so obnoxious to the people, 
 and who had shown themselves so unfriendly to their 
 interests. 
 
 The publication of these letters produced a duel be- 
 tween Mr. Whately and Mr. Temple ; each of whom 
 was suspected of having been instrumental in procuring 
 them. To prevent any further disputes on this subject, 
 Dr. Franklin, in one of the public papers, declared that 
 he had sent them to America, but would give no infor- 
 mation concerning the manner in which he had obtained 
 them ; nor was this ever discovered. 
 
 Shortly after, the petition of the Massachusetts as- 
 sembly was taken up for examination, before the privy 
 council. Dvi Franklin attended, as agent for the as- 
 sembly ; and here a torrent of the most violent and un- 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 129 
 
 warranted abuse was poured upon him by the solicitor- 
 general, Wedderburne, who was engaged as council for 
 Oliver and Hutchinson. The petition was declared 
 to be scandalous and vexatiouS) and the prayer of it 
 refused. 
 
 Although the parliament of Great Britain had re- 
 pealed the stamp-act, it was only upon the principle 
 of expediency. They still insisted upon their right to 
 tax the colonies ; and, at the same time that the stamp- 
 act was repealed, an act was passed, declaring the 
 right of parliament to bind the colonies in all cases 
 whatsoever. This language was used even by the most 
 strenuous opposers of the stamp-act ; and, amongst 
 others, by Mr. Pitt. This right was never recognized 
 by the colonists ; but, as they flattered themselves that 
 it would not be exercised, they were not very active 
 in remonstrating against it. Had this pretended right 
 been suffered to remain dormant, the colonists would 
 cheerfully have furnished their quota of supplies, in the 
 mode to which they had been accustomed : that is, by 
 acts of their own assemblies, in consequence of requi- 
 sitions from the secretary of state. If this practice 
 had been pursued, such was the disposition of the co- 
 lonies towards the mother country, that, notwithstand- 
 ing the disadvantages under which they laboured, from 
 restraints upon their trade, calculated solely for the 
 benefit of the commercial and manufacturing interests 
 of Great Britain, a separation of the two countries 
 might have been a far distant event. The Americans, 
 from their earliest infancy, were taught to venerate 
 a people from whom they were descended f whose 
 language, laws and manners were the same as their 
 own. They looked up to them as models of perfec- 
 tion ; and, in their prejudiced minds, the most enlight- 
 ened nations of Europe were considered as almost bar- 
 barians, in comparison with Englishmen. The name 
 of an Englishman conveyed to an American the idea 
 of every thing good and great. Such sentiments in- 
 stilled into them in early life, what but a repetition 
 of unjust treatment could have induced them to enter-t 
 
1$0 THE LIFB OS 
 
 tain the most distant thought of separation ! Tho du- 
 ties on glass, paper, leather, painters' colours, tea, &c. 
 the disfranchisement of some of the colonies ; the 
 obstruction to the measures of the legislature, in 
 others, by the king's governors; the contemptuous 
 treatment of their humble remonstrances, stating their 
 grievances, and praying a redress of them, and other 
 violent and oppressive measures, at length excited an ar- 
 dent spirit of opposition. Instead of endeavouring to 
 allay this by a more lenient conduct, the ministry 
 seemed resolutely bent upon reducing the colonies to 
 the most slavish obedience to their decrees. But thi^ 
 tended only to aggravate. Vain w^ere all the efforts 
 made use of to prevail upon them to lay aside their 
 designs, to convince them of the impossibility of carry- 
 ing them into effect, and of the mischievous conse- 
 quences which must ensue from a continuance of the 
 attempt. They persevered, with a degree of inflexi- 
 bility scarcely paralleled. 
 
 The advantages which Great Britain derived from 
 her colonies were so great, that nothing but a degree 
 of infatuation, little short of madness, could havf pro- 
 duced a continuance of measures calculated to keep up 
 a spirit of uneasiness, which mi,%ht occasion the slight- 
 est wish for a separation. When we consider the great 
 improvements in the science of government, the gene- 
 ral diffusion of the principles of liberty amongst the 
 people of Europe, the effects which these have already 
 produced in France, and the probable consequences 
 which will result from them elsewhere, all of which 
 are the offspring of the American revolution, it can- 
 not but appear strange, that events of so great mo- 
 ment to the happiness of mankind, should have been 
 ultimately occasioned by the wickedness or ignorance 
 of a British ministry. 
 
 Dr. Franklin left nothing untried to prevail upon 
 the ministry to consent to a change of measures. In 
 private conversations, and in letters to persons in go- 
 vernment, he continually expatiated upon the impoli- 
 cy and injustice of their conduct towards America ; and 
 stated, that notwithstanding the attachment of the 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. ISl 
 
 colonists to the mother country, a repetition of ill treat- 
 ment must ultimately alienate their affections. They 
 listened not to his advice. They blindly persevered in 
 their own schemes, and left to the colonists no alterna- 
 tive, but opposition or unconditional submission. The 
 latter accorded not with the principles of freedom, which 
 they had been taught to revere. To the former they 
 were compelled, though reluctantly, to have recourse. 
 
 Dr. Franklin, finding all efforts to restore harmony 
 between Great Britain and her colonies useless, return- 
 ed to America in the year 1775 ; just after the com- 
 mencement of hostilities. The day after his return 
 he was elected by the legislature of Pennsylvania a 
 member of congress. Not long after his election a 
 committee was appointed, consisting of Mr. Lynchj 
 Mr. Harrison, and himself, to visit the camp of Cam- 
 bridge, and, in conjunction with the commander in 
 chief, to endeavour to convince the troops, whose term 
 of enlistment was about to expire, of the necessity of 
 their continuing in the field, and persevering in the 
 cause of their country. 
 
 In the fall of the same year he visited Canada, to 
 endeavour to unite them in the common cause of li- 
 berty ; but they could not be prevailed upon to oppose 
 the measures of the British government. M. Le Roy, in 
 a letter annexed to Abbe Fauchet*s eulogium of Dr. 
 Franklin, states, that the ill success of this negociation 
 was occasioned, in a great degree, by religious animosi- 
 ties, which subsisted between the Canadians and their 
 neighbours ; some of whom had at different times burnt 
 their chapels. 
 
 When Lord Howe came to America, in 1776, vest- 
 ed with power to treat with the colonists, a correspon- 
 dence took place between him and Dr. Franklin, on 
 the subject of a reconciliation. Dr. Franklin was af- 
 terwards appointed, together with John Adams and 
 Edward Rulledge, to wait upon the commissioners, in 
 order to learn the extent of their power. These were 
 found to be only to grant pardons upon submission. 
 
132 THE LIFE OF 
 
 These were terms which would not be excepted ; and 
 the object of the commissioners could not be obtained. 
 
 The momentous question of Independence was short- 
 ly after brought into view ; at a time when the fleets 
 and armies, which were sent to enforce obedience, 
 were truly formidable. With an army, numerous in- 
 deed, but ignorant of discipline, and entirely unskilled 
 in the art of war, without money, without a fleet, with- 
 out allies, and with nothing but the love of liberty to 
 support them, the colonists determined to separate from 
 a country from which they had experienced a repeti- 
 tion of injury and insult. In this question. Dr. Frank- 
 lin was decidedly in favour of the measure proposed, 
 and had great influence in bringing over others to his 
 sentiments. 
 
 The public mind had been pretty fully prepared for 
 this event, by Mr. Paine's celebrated pamphlet, Common 
 Sense, There is good reason to believe that Dr. Frank- 
 lin had no inconsiderable share, at least, in furnishing 
 materials for this work. 
 
 In the convention which assembled at Philadelphia 
 in 1776, for the purpose of establishing a new form of 
 government for the state of Pennsylvania, Dr. Frank- 
 lin was chosen president. The late constitution of this 
 state, which was the result of their deliberations, may 
 be considered as a digest of his principles of govern- 
 ment. The single legislature, and the plural execu- 
 live, seem to have been his favourite tenets. 
 
 In the latter end of 1776, Dr. Franklin was ap- 
 pointed to assist in the negociations which had been 
 set on foot by Silas Deane at the court of France. A 
 conviction of the advantages of a commercial inter- 
 course with America, and a desire of weakening the 
 British empire by dismembering it, first induced the 
 French court to listen to proposals of an alliance. 
 But they shewed rather a reluctance to the measure, 
 which, by Dr. Franklin's address, and particularly by 
 the success of the American arms against general Bur- 
 goyne, was at length overcome ; and in February 1778, 
 a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive-, was con- 
 
])R« FRANKLIK. 133 
 
 pltided; in consequence of which France became involv- 
 ed in the war with Great Britain. 
 
 Perhaps no person could have been found more capa- 
 ble of rendering essential services to the United States 
 at the court of France, than Dr. Franklin. He was 
 well known as a philosopher, and his character was 
 held in the highest estimation. He was received with 
 the greatest marks of respect by all the literary cha- 
 racters ; and this respect was extended amongst all 
 classes of men. His personal influence was hence very 
 considerable. To the effects of this were added those 
 of various performances which he published, tending to 
 establish the credit and character of the United States. 
 To his exertions in this way; may, in no small degree, 
 be ascribed the success of the. loans negociatedin Hol- 
 land and France, which greatly contributed to bringing 
 the war to a happy conclusion. 
 
 The repeated ill success of their arms, and more 
 particularly the capture of Cornwallis and his army, at 
 length convinced the British nation of the impossibility 
 of reducing the Americans to subjection. The tra- 
 ding interest particularly became very clamorous for 
 peace. The ministry were unable longer to oppose 
 their wishes. Provincial articles of peace were agreed 
 to, and signed at Paris on the 30th of November, 
 1782 by Dr. Franklin, Mr. Adams, Mr. Jay, and 
 Mr. Laurens, on the part of the United States ; and 
 by Mr. Oswald on the part of Great Britain. These 
 formed the basis of the definitive treaty, which was con- 
 cluded the 30th of September 1783, and signed by Dr- 
 Franklin, Mr. Adams, and Mr. Jay, on the one part, and 
 by Mr. David Hartley on the other. 
 
 On the 3d of April 1783, a treaty of amity and 
 commerce, between the United States and Sweden, was 
 concluded at Paris, by Dr. Franklin and the Count Von 
 Krutz. 
 
 A similar treaty with Prussia was concluded in 
 1785, not long before Dr. Franklin's departure from 
 Europe. 
 
 M 
 
134 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Dr. Franklin did not suffer his political pursuits to 
 engross his whole attention. Sortie of his perform- 
 ances made their appearance in Paris. The object of 
 these was generally the promotion of industry and ceco- 
 nomy. 
 
 In the year 1784, when animal magnetism made 
 great noise in the world, particularly at Paris, it was 
 thought a matter of such importance, that the king 
 appointed commissioners to examine into the founda- 
 tion of this pretended science. Dr. Franklin was one 
 of the number. After a fair and diligent examination, 
 in the course of which Mesmer repeated a number of 
 experiments, in the presence of the commissioners, 
 some of which were tried upon themselves, they deter- 
 mined that it was a mere trick, intended to impose 
 upon the ignorant and credulous— Mesmer was thus 
 interrupted in his career to wealth and fame, and a most 
 insolent attempt to impose upon the human understand- 
 ing baffled. 
 
 The important ends of Dr. Franklin's mission being 
 completed by the establishment of American independ- 
 ence, and infirmities of age and disease coming upon 
 him, he became desirous of returning to his native 
 country. Upon application to congress to be recalled, 
 Mr. Jefferson was appointed to succeed him, in 1783. 
 Sometime in September of the same year, Dr. Frank- 
 lin arrived in Philadelphia. He was shortly after 
 chosen member of the supreme executive council for 
 the city ; and soon after was elected president of the 
 same. 
 
 When a convention was called to meet in Philadel- 
 phia, in 1787, for the purpose of giving more energy 
 to the government of the union by revising and amend- 
 ing the articles of confederation. Dr. Franklin was 
 appointed a delegate from the State of Pennsylvania. 
 He signed the constitution which ihey proposed for the 
 union, and gave it the most unequivocal marks of his 
 approbation. 
 
 A society for political enquiries, of which Dr. Frank- 
 lin was president, was established^bout this period.— 
 
DR. FRANKLIN.! 155 
 
 The meetings were held at his house. Two or three 
 essays read in the society were published. It did not 
 long continue. 
 
 In the year 1787, two societies were established in 
 Philadelphia, founded on principles of the most liberal 
 and refined humanity — the Philadelfihia Society for aU 
 Icviating the miseries of public prisons ; and the Penn- 
 sylvania Society for promoting the abolition of slavery<^ 
 the relief of free negroes unlawfully held in bondage, 
 and the improvement of the condition of the African 
 race. Of each of these Dr. Franklin was president. 
 The labours of these bodies have been crowned 'with 
 great success ; and they continue to prosecute, with 
 unwearied diligence, the laudable designs for which 
 they were instituted. 
 
 ^ Dr. Franklin's increasing infirmities prevented his 
 regular attendance in the council-chamber ; and, in 
 1788, he retired wholly from public life. 
 
 His constitution had been a remarkable good one. 
 He had been little subject to disease, except an attack 
 of the gout occasionally, until the year 1781, when he 
 was first attacked with the symptoms of the calculous 
 complaint, which continued during his life. During 
 the intervals of pain from this grievous disease, he spent 
 many cheerful hours, conversing in the most agreeable 
 and instructive manner. His faculties were entirely 
 unimpaired, even to the hour of his death. 
 
 His name, as president of the Abolition Society, 
 was signed to the memorial presented to the House of 
 Representatives of the United States, on the I2th of 
 February 1789, praying them to exert the full extent 
 of power vested in them by the constitution, in dis- 
 couraging the traffic of the human species This was 
 his last public act. In the debates to which this me- 
 morial gave rise, several attempts were made to justify 
 the trade. In the Federal Gazette of March 25th 
 there appeared an essay, signed Historicus, written by 
 Dr. Franklin, in which he communicated a speech, said 
 to have been delivered in the Divan of Algiers in 
 1687, in opposition to the prayer of the petition of a 
 
136 THE LIFE OF 
 
 sect called Erika^ or purists, for the abolition of piracy 
 and slavery. This pretended African speech was an 
 excellent parody of one delivered by Mr. Jackson of 
 Georgia. All the arguments urged in favour of negro 
 slavery, are applied with equal force, to justify the 
 plundering and enslaving the Europeans. It affords, 
 at the same time, a demonstration of the utility of the 
 arguments in defence of the slave trade, and of the 
 strength of mind and ingenuity of the author, at his 
 advanced period of life. It furnished too a no less 
 convincing proof of his power of imitating the style of 
 other times and nations, than his celebrated parable 
 against persecution. And as the latter led many to 
 search the Scriptures with a view to find it, so the 
 former caused many persons to search the book-stores 
 and libraries, for the work from which it was said to be 
 extracted.* 
 
 In the beginning of April following, he was attack- 
 ed with a fever and complaint of his breast, which 
 terminated his existence. The following account of 
 his last illness was written by his friend and physician, 
 Dr. Jones. 
 
 " The stone, ivith which he had been afflicted for 
 several years, had for the last twelve months confined 
 him chiefly to his bed ; and during the extreme painful 
 paroxysms, he was obliged to take large doses of lau- 
 danum to mitigate his tortures — still, in the intervals 
 of pain, he not only amused himself with reading and 
 conversing with his family, and a few friends who 
 visited him, but was often employed in doing business 
 of a public as well as private nature, with various per- 
 sons who waited on him for that purpose ; and in every 
 instance displayed, not only that readiness and disposi- 
 tion of doing good, which was the distinguishing cha- 
 racteristic of his life, but the fullest and clearest posses- 
 sion of his uncommon mental abilities ; and not unfre- 
 quently indulged himself in those jeux d*es/irU and en- 
 tertaining anecdotes, which were the delight of all who 
 heard him. 
 
 * This speech wUl be found in the volume of Essays. 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 137* 
 
 *< About sixteen days before his death, he was seized 
 with a feverish indisposition, without any particular 
 symptoms attending it, till the third or fourth day, when 
 he complained of a pain in his left breast, which increas- 
 ed till it became extremely acute, attended with a cough 
 and laborious breathing. During this state, when the 
 severity of his pains sometimes drew forth a groan of 
 complaint, he would observe— that he was afraid he did 
 not bear them as he ought — -acknowledged his grateful 
 sense of the many blessings he had received from that 
 Supreme Being, who had raised him from small and low 
 beginnings to such high rank and consideration among 
 men — and no doubt but his present afflictions were 
 kindly intended to wean him from a world, in which he 
 was no longer fit to act the part assigned hira. In this 
 frame of body and mind he continued till five days be- 
 fore his death, when his pain and difficulty of breathing 
 intirely left him, and his family were flattering them- 
 selves with the hopes of his recovery, when an impos- 
 thumation, which had formed itself in his lungs, sudden- 
 ly burst, and discharged a great quantity of matter, 
 which he continued to throw up while he had sufficient 
 strength to do it ; but, as that failed, the organs of re- 
 spiration became gradually oppresSSii — a calm lethargic 
 state succeeded — and, on the 17ih of April, 1790, about 
 eleven o'clock at night, he expired, closing a long and 
 useful life of eighty-four years and three months. 
 
 " It may not be amiss to add to the above account, 
 that Dr. Franklin, in the year 1735, had a severe pleu- 
 risy which terminated in an abscess of the left lobe of 
 his lungs, and he was then almost suffi)cated with the 
 quantity and suddenness of the discharge. A second 
 attack of a similar nature happened some years after 
 this, from which he soon recovered, and did not appear 
 to suffer any inconvenience in his respiration from these 
 diseases." 
 
 M2 
 
138 THE LIFE or 
 
 The following epitaph on himself, was written by him 
 many years previous to his death : 
 
 THE BODY 
 
 of 
 
 Benjamin Franklin, Printfer, 
 
 (Like the cover of an old book, 
 
 Its contents torn out, 
 
 And stript of its lettering and gilding) 
 
 Lies here, food for worms; 
 
 Yet the work itself shall not be lost. 
 
 For it will (as he believed) appear once more, 
 
 In a new 
 
 And more beautiful edition, 
 
 Corrected and amended 
 
 by 
 
 The Author 
 
 Exi'SActs from the Last Will and Testament of Dn» 
 Franklin. 
 
 WITH regard to my booiis, those I had in France^ 
 and those I left in Philadelphia, being now assembled to- 
 gether here, and a catalogue made of them, it is my in- 
 tention to dispose of the same as follows : 
 
 My history of the academy of Sciences, in sixty or 
 seventy volumes quarto, I give to the philosophical so- 
 ciety of Philadelphia, of which I have the honour to 
 be president. My collection in folio of Les Arts i3^ 
 JLes Metiers^ I give to the philosophical society, esta- 
 blished in New-England, of which I am a member. — 
 My quarto edition of the same Jrta and Metiers^ I 
 
Da. FRANKLIN, 1^9 
 
 give to the library company of Philadelphia. Such 
 and so many of my books as I shall mark, in the said 
 catalogue, with the name of my grandson, Benjamin 
 Franklin Bache, I do hereby give to him : and such 
 and so many of my books, as I shall mark in the said 
 catalogue with the name of my grandson, William 
 Bache, I do hereby give to him : and such as shall be 
 marked with the name of Jonathan Williams, I here- 
 by give to my cousin of that name. The residue and 
 remainder of all my books, manuscripts and papers, I 
 do give to my grandson William Temple Franklin. -i— 
 My share in the library company of Philadelphia, I 
 give to my grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache, con- 
 fiding that he will permit his brothers and sisters to 
 share in the use of it. 
 
 I was born in Boston, New-England, and owe my first 
 instructions in literature to the free grammar-schools 
 established there. I therefore give one hundred pounds 
 sterling to my executors, to be by them, the survivors 
 or survivor of them, paid over to the managers or di- 
 rectors of the free schools in my native town of Bos- 
 ton, to be by them, or the person or persons who shall 
 have the superintendance and mananpent of the said 
 schools, put out to interest, and ^^continued at in- 
 terest for ever ; which interest annually shall be laid 
 out in silver medals, and given as honorary rewards 
 annually by the directors of the said free schools, for 
 the encouragement of scholarship in the said schools, 
 belonging to the said town, in such manner as to the 
 discretion of the select men of the said town shall seem 
 meet. 
 
 Out of the salary that may remain due to me, as pre* 
 sident of the state, I give the sum of two thousand 
 pounds to my executors, to be by them, the survivors or 
 survivor of them, paid over to such person or persons 
 as the legislature of this state, by an act of assembly, 
 shall appoint to receive the same, in trust, to be em- 
 ployed for making the Schuylkill navigable. 
 
 During the number of years I was in business as a 
 stationer, printer, and post-master, a great many smaU 
 
\40 THB LIFE OF 
 
 sums became due to me, for books, advertisements, 
 postage of letters, and other matters, which were not 
 collected, when, in 1757, I was sent by the assembly 
 to England as their agent — and by subsequent ap- 
 pointment continued there till 1775 — when, on my 
 return, I was immediately engaged in the affairs of 
 congress, and sent to France in 1776, where I remain- 
 ed nine years, not returning till 1785 ; and the said 
 debts not being demanded in such a length of time, 
 are become in a manner obsolete, yet are nevertheless 
 justly due. — These as they are stated in my great folio 
 ledger, E. I bequeath to the contributors of the Penn- 
 sylvania hospital ; hoping that these debtors, and the 
 descendants to such as are deceased, who now, as I 
 find, make some difficulty of satisfying such antiqua- 
 ted demands as just debts, may however be induced to 
 pay or give them as charity to that excellent institu- 
 tion. I am sensible that much must inevitably be lost ; 
 but I hope something considerable may be recovered. 
 It is possible too that some of the parties charged may 
 have existing old unsettled accounts against me ; in 
 which case the managers of the said hospital will allow 
 and deduct th^Muount, and pay the balance, if they 
 find it against i^^ 
 
 I request my friends Henry Hill, Esq. John Jay, 
 Esq. Francis Hopkinson, Esq. and Mr. Edward Duf- 
 field, of Bonfield, in Philadelphia county, to be the 
 executors of this my last will and testament, and I 
 hereby nominate and appoint them for that purpose. 
 
 I would have my body buried with as little expence 
 or ceremony as may be. 
 
 PMladel/ihiaj July 17, 1788. 
 
PR. FRANKLllf. 141 
 
 CODICIL. 
 
 I, Benjamin Franklin, in the foregoing or annexed 
 last will and testament, having further considered the 
 same, do think proper to make and publish the follow- 
 ing codicil, or addition thereto : 
 
 It having long been a fixed political opinion of mine, 
 that in a democratical state there ought to be no offices, 
 of profit, for the reasons I had given in an article of 
 my drawing in our constitution, it was my intention 
 when I accepted the office of president, to devote the 
 appointed salary to some public use : Accordingly I 
 had already, before I made my last will, in July last, 
 given large sums of it to colleges, schools, building of 
 churches, &c. and in that will I bequeathed two thou- 
 sand pounds more to the state, for the purpose of ma- 
 king the Schuylkill navigable; but understanding since, 
 that such a sum will do but little towards accomplish- 
 ing such a work, and that the project is not likely to 
 be undertaken for many years to cq|M->and having en- 
 tertained another idea, which I h^e may be found 
 more extensively useful, I do hereby revoke and annul 
 the bequest, and direct that the certificates I have for 
 what remains due to me of that salary, be sold towards 
 raising the sum of two thousand pounds sterling, to be 
 disposed of as I am now about to order. 
 
 It has been an opinion, that he who receives an es- 
 tate from his ancestors, is under some obligation to 
 transmit the same to posterity. This obligation lies 
 not on me, who never inherited a shilling from any an- 
 cestor or relation. I shall, however, if it is not dimi- 
 nished by some accident before my death, leave a con- 
 siderable estate among my descendants and relations. 
 The above observation is made merely as some apolo- 
 gy to" my family, for my making bequests that do not 
 appear to have any immediate relation to their advan- 
 tage. 
 
142 THE LIFE OF 
 
 / 
 
 I was born in Boston, New-England, and owe my 
 first instructions in literature to the free grammar- 
 schools established there. I have therefore considered 
 those schools in my will. 
 
 But I am under obligations to the state of Massa- 
 chusetts, for having, unasked, appointed me formerly 
 their agent, with a handsome salary, which continued 
 some years : and although I accidentally lost in their 
 service, by transmitting governor Hutchinson's letters, 
 much more than the amount of what they gave me, I 
 do not think that ought in the least to diminish my 
 gratitude. I have considered that, among artisans, 
 good apprentices are most likely to make good citi- 
 zens ; and having myself been bred to a manual art, 
 printing, in my native town, and afterwards assisted to 
 set up my business in Philadelphia by kind loans of 
 money from two friends there, which was the founda- 
 tion of my fortune, and of all the utility in life that 
 may be ascribed to me — I wish to he useful even after 
 my death, if possible, in forming and advancing other 
 young men, that may be serviceable to their country in 
 both these towns. 
 
 To this end I jB||ote two thousand pounds sterling, 
 which I give, on^^ousand thereof to the inhabitants 
 of the town of Boston, in Massachusetts, and the other 
 thousand to the inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia, 
 in trust, to and for the uses, intents, and purposes) 
 herein after mentioned and declared. 
 
 The said sum of one thousand pounds sterling, if ac- 
 cepted by the inhabitants of the town of Boston, shall 
 be managed under the direction of the select-men, uni- 
 ted with the ministers of the oldest episcopalian, con- 
 gregational, and presbyterian churches, in that town, 
 who are to let out the same upon interest at five per 
 cent, per annum, to such young married artificers, un- 
 der the age of twenty-five years, as have served an ap- 
 prenticeship in the said town, and faithfully fulfilled the 
 duties required in their indentures, so as to obtain a 
 good moral character from at least two respectable ci- 
 tizens, who are willing to become sureties in a bond 
 
DRr franklxnI 143 
 
 with the applicants for the repayment of the money 
 so lent with interest, according to the terms herein 
 after prescribed ; all which bonds are to be taken for 
 Spanish milled dollars, or the value thereof in current 
 gold coin; and the managers shall keep a bound book, or 
 books, wherein shall be entered the names of those 
 who shall apply for and receive the benefit of. this insti- 
 tution, and of their sureties, together with the sums lent? 
 the dales, and other necessary and proper records re- 
 specting the business and concerns of this institutions 
 and as these loans are intended to assist young married 
 artificers in setting up their business, they are to be pro- 
 portioned by the discretion of the managers, so as not 
 to exceed sixty pounds sterling to one person, nor to be 
 less than fifteen pounds. 
 
 And if the number of appliers so entitled should be 
 so large as that the sum will not suffer to afford to 
 each as much as might otherwise not be improper, the 
 proportion to each shall be diminished, so as to afford 
 to every one some assistance. These aids may there- 
 fore be small at first, but as the capital increases by the 
 accumulated interest, they will be more ample. And in 
 order to serve as many as possible i^Jheir turn, as well 
 as to make the repayment of the principal borrowed 
 more easy, each borrower shall be obliged to pay with 
 the yearly interest one tenth part of the principal ; 
 which sums of principal and interest so paid in, shall 
 be again let out to fresh borrowers. And it is presum- 
 ed, that there will be always found in Boston virtuous 
 and benevolent citizens, willing to bestow a part of their 
 time in doing good to the rising generation, by super- 
 intending and managing this institution gratis ; it is 
 hoped that no part of the money will at any time lie 
 dead, or be diverted to other purposes, but be continu- 
 ally sugmented by the interest, in which case there may 
 in time be more than the occasion in Boston shall re- 
 quire ; and then some may be spared to the neigh- 
 bouring or other towns in the said state of Massachu- 
 setts, which may desire to have it, such towns engag- 
 ing to pay punciuallythe interest, and such proportions 
 
144 THE IIFE OF 
 
 of the principal annually to the inhabitants of ifee 
 town of Boston. If this plan is executed, and succeeds, 
 as projeixte^, without interruption, for one hundred 
 years, the sum will be then one hundred and thirty- 
 one thousand pounds ; of which I would have the ma- 
 nagers of the donation to the town of Boston then lay 
 out, at their discretion, one hundred thousand pounds 
 in public works, which may be judged of most general 
 utility to the inhabitants; such as fortifications, bridges, 
 acqueducts, public buildingsjbaths, pavements, or what- 
 ever may make living in the town more convenient to its 
 people, and render it more' agreeable to strangers re- 
 sorting thither for health, or a temporary residence. 
 The remaining thirty-one thousand pounds I would 
 have continued to be let out to interest, in the manner 
 above directed for one hundred years ; as I hope it 
 will have been found that the institution has had a 
 good effect on the conduct of youth, and been of ser- 
 vice to many worthy characters and useful citizens. 
 At the end of this second term, if no unfortunate ac- 
 cident, has prevented the operation, the sum will be 
 four millions and sixty-one thousand pounds sterling j 
 of which I leave^ne million and sixty-one thousand 
 pounds to the disposition and management of the in- 
 habitants of the town of Boston, and the three millions 
 to the disposition of the government of the state ; not 
 presuming to carry my views any further. 
 
 All the directions herein given respecting the dis- 
 position and management of the donation to the inha- 
 bitants of Boston, I would have observed respecting 
 that to the inhabitants of Philadelphia ; only, as Phi- 
 ladelphia is incorporated, I request the corporation of 
 that city to undertake the management, agreeably to 
 the said directions : and I do hereby vest them with 
 full and ample powers for that purpose. And having 
 considered that the covering of its ground-plat with 
 buildings and pavements, which carry off most rain, and 
 prevent its soaking into the earth, and renewing and 
 purifying the springs, whence the water of the wells 
 must gradually grow worse, and in time be unfit for 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 145 
 
 use, as I find has happened in all old cities ; I recom- 
 mend, that, at the end of the first hundred years, if not 
 done before, the corporation of the city employ a part 
 of the hundred thousand pounds in bringing by pipes 
 the water of Wissahickon-creek into the town, so as to 
 supply the inhabitants, which I apprehend may be done 
 without much difficulty, the level of that creek being 
 much above that of the city, and may be made higher 
 by a dam. I also recommend making the Schuylkill 
 completely navigable. At the end of the second hun- 
 dred years, I would have the disposition of the four 
 millions and sixty-one thousand pounds divided between 
 the inhabitants of the city of Philadelphia and the gov- 
 ernment of Pennsylvania, in the same manner as here- 
 in directed with respect to that of the inhabitants .of 
 Boston and the goverment of Massachusetts. It is my 
 desire that this institution should take place and begin 
 to operate within one year after my decease ; for which 
 purpose due notice should be publicly given, previous to 
 the expiration of that year, that those for whose benefit 
 this establishment is intended may make their respective 
 applications ; and I hereby direct my executors, the 
 survivors and survivor of them, witSin six months after 
 my decease; to pay over the said sum of two thousand 
 pounds sterling to such persons as shall be duly appoint- 
 ed by the select men of Boston, and the corporation of 
 Philadelphia, to receive and take charge of their respec- 
 tive sums of one thousand pounds each for the purposes 
 aforesaid. Considering the accidents to which all human 
 affairs and projects are subject in such a length of tirae^ 
 I have perhaps too much flattered myself with a vain 
 fancy, that these dispositions, if carried into execution, 
 will be continued without interruption, and have the ef- 
 fects proposed; I hope however, that, if the inhabitants 
 of the two cities should not think fit to undertake the 
 execution, they will at least accept the ofi'er of these 
 donations, as a mark of my good will, token of my 
 gratitude, and testimony of my desire to be useful to 
 them even after my departure. I wish, indeed, that 
 
 N 
 
i46 THE LIFE OF, 8cC. 
 
 they may both undertake to endeavour the execution 
 of my project, because I think, that, though unfore- 
 seen difficulties may arise, expedients will be found to 
 remove them, and the scheme be found practicable. 
 If one of them accepts the money with the conditions, 
 and the other refuses, my will then is, that both sums 
 be given to the inhabitants of the city accepting ; the 
 whole to be applied to the same purposes, and under 
 the same regulations directed for the separate parts ; 
 and if both refuse, the money remains of course in the 
 mass of my estate, and it is to be disposed of therewith, 
 according to my will made the seventeenth day of July 
 1788. 
 
 My fine crab-tree walking-stick, with a gold head 
 curiously wrought in the form of the cap of Liberty, I 
 give to my friend, and the friend of mankind. General 
 Washington. If it were a sceptre? he had merited it, 
 and would become it. 
 
ESSAYS, 
 
 HUMOUROUS, MORAL AND, 
 LITERARY, &c. 
 
 ON EAELY MARRIAGES. 
 
 t 
 TO JOHN ALLEYNE, ESq. 
 
 DEAR JACK, 
 
 YOU desire, you say, my impartial thouglits on the 
 subject of an early marriage, by way of answer to the 
 numberless objections that have been made by nijme- 
 rous persons to your own. You may remember when 
 you consulted me on the occasion, that I thought 
 youth on both sides to be no objection. Indeed, from 
 the marriages that have fallen under my observation, 
 I am rather inclined to think, that early ones stand 
 the best chance of happiness. The temper and habits 
 of the young are not yet become so stiff and uncom- 
 plying, as when more advanced in life ; they form more 
 easily to each other, and hence many occasions of dis- 
 'gust are removed. And if yoyih has less of that pru- 
 dence which is necessary to mdnage a family, yet the 
 parents and elder friends of young married persons are 
 generally at hand to afford their advice, which amply 
 supplies that defect; and by early marriage, youth is 
 
148 ESSAYS. 
 
 sooner formed to regular and useful life j and possibly 
 some of those accidents or connections, that might 
 have injured the constitution or reputation, or both, 
 are thereby happily prevented. Particular circumstances 
 of particular persons, may possibly sometimes make it 
 prudent to delay entering into that state ; but in ge- 
 neral, when nature has rendered our bodies fit for it, 
 the presumption is in nature's favour, that she has not 
 judged amiss in making us desire it. Late marriages 
 are often attended, too, with this further inconveni- 
 ence, that there is not the same chance that the pa- 
 rervt shall live to see their offspring educated. '* Late 
 children," says the Spanish proverb, '* are early or- 
 phans." A melancholy reflection to those whose case 
 it may be. With us in America, marriages are ge- 
 nerally in the morning of life ; our children are there- 
 fore educated and settled in the world by noon ; and 
 thus, our business being done, we have an afternoon 
 and evening of chearful leisure to ourselves, such as our 
 friend at present enjoys. By these early marriages we 
 are blessed with more children ; and from the mode 
 among us, founded by nature, of every mother suck- 
 ling and nursing her own child, more of them are 
 raised. Thence the swift progress of population among 
 us, unparalleled in Europe. In fine, 1 am glad you 
 are married, and congratulate you most cordially uj)on 
 it. You are now in the way of becoming a useful 
 citizen ; and you have escaped the unnatural state of 
 celibacy for life — the fate of many here, who never 
 intended it, but who having too long postponed the 
 change of their condition, find, at length, that it is too 
 late to think of it, and so live all their lives in a situa- 
 tion that greatly lessens a man's value. An odd vo- 
 lume of a set of books bears not the value of its propor- 
 tion to the set : what think you of the odd half of a 
 pair of scissors ? it can't well do any thing; it may pos- 
 sibly serve to scrape a trencher. 
 
 Pray make my compliments and best wishes accepta- 
 ble to your bride. I am old and heavy, or I should 
 
ESSAYS. 149 
 
 ere this have presented them in person. I shall make 
 but small use of the old man's privilege, that of giving 
 advice to younger friends. Treat your wife always 
 with respect ; it will procure respect to you, not only 
 from her, but from all that observe it. Never use a 
 slighting expression to her, even in jest ; for slights in 
 jest, after frequent bandyings, are apt to end in angry 
 earnest. Be studious in your profession, and you will 
 be learned. Be industrious and frugal, and you wil! 
 be rich. Be sober and temperate, and you will be 
 healthy. Be in general virtuous, and you will be hap- 
 py. At least, you will, by such conduct, stand the best 
 chance for such consequences. I pray God to bless you 
 both i being ever your affectionate friend, 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER, Mr. 
 JOHN FRANKLIN. 
 
 TO MISS HUBBARD. 
 
 I CONDOLE with you. We have lost a most dear 
 and valuable relation. But it is the will of God and 
 nature, that these mortal bodies be laid aside, when 
 the soul is to enter into real life. This is rather an 
 embryo state, a preparation for living. A man is not 
 completely born until he be dead. Why then should 
 we grieve that a new child is born among the immor- 
 tals, a new member added to their happy society ? We 
 are spirits. That bodies should be lent us, while they 
 can afford us pleasure, assist us in acquiring knowledge, 
 or doing good lo our fellow-creatures, is a kind and 
 N2 
 
150 ESSAYS. 
 
 benevolent act of God. When they become unfit fof 
 these purposes, and afford us pain instead of pleasure, 
 instead of an aid become an incumbrance, and answer 
 none of the intentions for which they were given, it is 
 equally kind and benevolent that a way is provided by 
 which we may get rid of them. Death is that way. 
 We ourselves, in some cases, prudently choose a par- 
 tial death. A mangled painful limb, which cannot be 
 restored, we willingly cut off. He who plucks out a 
 tooth, parts with it freely, since the pain goes with it : 
 and he who quits the whole body, parts at once with all 
 pains, and possibilities of pains and diseases, it was lia- 
 ble to, or capable of making him suffer. 
 
 Our friend and we were invited abroad on a party of 
 pleasure, which is to last for ever. His chair was rea- 
 dy first ; and he i& gone before us. We could not all 
 conveniently start together : and why should you and I be 
 grieved at this, since we are soon to follow, and know 
 where to find him ? 
 
 Adieu, 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 TO THE LATE 
 
 DOCTOR MATHER, OF BOSTON. 
 
 REV. SIR, 
 
 I RECEIVED your kind letter, with your excel- 
 lent advice to the United States, which I read with 
 great pleasure, and hope it will be duly regarded. 
 Such writings, though they may be lightly passed over 
 by many readers, yet, if they make a deep impression 
 on one active mind in a hundred, the effects may be 
 considerable. 
 
ESSATSi iSl 
 
 Permit me to mention one little instance, which, 
 though it relates to myself, will not be quite uninterest- 
 ing to you When I was a boy, I met with a book en- 
 titled, " Essays to do good," which I think was written 
 by your father It had been so little regarded by a for- 
 mer possessor, that several leaves of it were, torn outj 
 but the remainder gave me such a turn of thinking, as to 
 have an influence on my conduct through life : for I 
 have always set a greater value on the character of a 
 doer of good, than any other kind of reputation : and if I 
 have been, as you seem to think, a useful citizen, the 
 public owes the advantage of it to that book. 
 
 You mention your being in your seventy-eighth year. 
 I am in my seventy-ninth. VVje are grown old together. 
 It is now more than sixty years since I left Boston ; 
 But I remember well both your father and grandfather, 
 having heard them both in the pulpit, and seen them 
 in their houses. The last time I saw your father was 
 in the beginning of 1724, when I visited him after my 
 first trip to Pennsylvania : he received me in his li- 
 brary ; and oft my takiiig leave shewed me Jja<&horter 
 way out of the house, through a narrow passage, which 
 was crossed by a beam over head. We were still talk- 
 ing as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and 
 I turning partly towards him, when he said hastily, 
 " Stoop, Stoop I" I did not understand him till I felt my 
 head hit against the beam. He was a man who never 
 missed any occasion of giving instruction ; and upon 
 this he said to me : " You are young and have the world 
 before you : stoop as you go through it, and you will 
 miss many hard thumps." This advice thus beat into 
 my heart, has frequently been of use to me; and I 
 often think of it when I see pride mortified, and mis- 
 fortunes brought upon people by their carrying their 
 heads top high. 
 
 I long much to see again my native place ; and once 
 hoped to lay my bones there. I left it in 1723. I visit- 
 ed it in 1733, 1743, 1753, and 1763 ; and in 1773 I was 
 in England. In 1775 I had a sight of it, but could not 
 
152 ESSAYS. 
 
 enter, it being in possession of the enemy. I did hope 
 to have been there in 1783, but could not obtain a dis- 
 mission from this employment here ; and now I fear I 
 shall never have that happiness. My best wishes how- 
 ever attend my dear country, " esto per/ietua." It is 
 now blessed with an excellent constitution : may it last 
 for ever ! 
 
 This powerful monarchy continues its friendship for 
 the United States. It is a friendship of the utmost im- 
 portance to our security, and should be carefully culti- 
 vated. Britain has not yet well digested the loss of its 
 dominion over us ; artd has still at times some flattering 
 hopes of recovering it. Accidents may increase those 
 hopes and encourage dangerous attemps. A breach 
 between us and France ^ould infallibly bring the English 
 again upon our backs: and yet we have some wild 
 beasts among our cotintrymen, who are endeavouring to 
 weaken that connection. 
 
 Let us preserve our reputation, by performing our 
 engagements ; our credit, by fulfilling our contracts ; 
 and our iriends, by gratitude and kindness : for we know 
 not how soon we may again have occasion for all of 
 them. 
 
 With great and sincere esteem, 
 I have the honour to be, 
 Reverend Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient and 
 most humble servant, 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 Passy, May, 12, 
 1784. 
 
ESSAYS/ 
 
 THE WHISTLE, 
 A TRUE STORY. 
 
 WRITTEN TO HIS NEPHEW. 
 
 WHEN I was a child, at seven years old, my 
 friends on a holiday, filled my pocket with coppers. I 
 went directly to a shop where they sold toys for chil- 
 dren ; and being charmed with the sound of a whistle, 
 that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I 
 voluntarily offered him all my money for one. I then 
 came home, and went a whistling all over the house, 
 much pleased with my whistle^ but disturbing all the 
 family. My brothers, and sisters and cousins, under- 
 standing the bargain I had made, told me I had given 
 four times as much for it as it was worth. This put 
 me in mind what good things I might have bought 
 with the rest of my money ; and they laughed at me 
 so much for my folly, that I cried with vexation ; and 
 the reflection gave me more chagrin than the whistle 
 gave me pleasure. 
 
 This however was afterwards of use to me, the im- 
 pression continuing on my mind : so that often, when I 
 was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing, I said 
 to myself. Don't give too much for the whistle ; and so I 
 saved m.y money. 
 
 As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the 
 actions of men, I thought I met with many, very many, 
 '^\iO gave too much for the whistle. 
 
 When I saw any one too ambitious of court favours, 
 sacrificing his time in attendance on levees, his repose, 
 his liberty, his virtue, and perhaps his friends, to attain 
 it, I have said to myself, This man gives too much for 
 his whistle. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
IBAi ESSAYS. 
 
 When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly 
 4|, employing himself in political bustles, neglecting his 
 ^K; own affairs, and ruining them by that neglect : Ne pays 
 
 * indeed^ says I, too much for his whistle. 
 
 i If I knew a miser who gave up every kind of com- 
 
 |l fbrtable living, all the pleasure of doing good to others, 
 
 all the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and the joys of 
 
 , ^^ benevolent friendship, for the sake of accumulating 
 
 ^' ^ "wealth : Poor many says I, you do indeed fiay too much 
 
 for your whittle. 
 
 When I meet a man of pleasure, sacrificing every 
 laudable improvement of the mind, or of his fortune, to 
 mere corporeal sensations ; Mistaken many says I, you 
 are providing pain for yourself instead of pleasure : you 
 give too much for your whistle. 
 
 If I see one fond of fine clothes, fine furniture, fine 
 equipages, all above his fortune, for which he contracts 
 debts, and ends his career in prison ; Alasy says I, he 
 has paid deary very dear for his whistle. 
 
 When I see a beautiful, sweet-tempered girl, mar- 
 ried to an ill-natured brute of a husband : What a pity 
 it isy says I, that she has paid so much for a whistle ! 
 
 In short, I conceived that great part of the laiseries of 
 mankind were brought upon them by the false esti- 
 mates they had made of the value of things, and by their 
 giving too much for their whistles. 
 
 ;v*J^ 
 
EssAys. 155 
 
 A PETITION- 
 TO THOSE WHO HAVE THE SUPERINTEN- 
 DENCY OF EDUCATION. 
 
 I ADDRESS myself to all the friends of" youth, 
 and conjure them to direct their compassionate re- 
 gards to my unhappy fate, in order to remove the pre- 
 judices of which I am the victim. There are twin 
 sisters of us : and the two eyes of man do not more Aj 
 resemble, nor are capable of being upon better terms i^"^. 
 with each other, than my sister and myself, were it 
 not for the partiality of our parents, who make the 
 most injurious distinctions between us. From my in- 
 fancy I have been led to consider my sister as a being 
 of more elevated rank. I was suffered to grow up 
 without the leastjaistruction, while nothing was spared 
 in her education. She had masters to teach her wri- 
 ting, drawing, music, and other accomplishments ; but 
 if by chance I touched a pencil, a pen, or a needle, I 
 was bitterly rebuked : and more than once have I been 
 beaten for being aukward, and wanting a graceful 
 manner. It is true, my sister associated me with her 
 upon some occasions ; but she always made a point of 
 taking the lead, calling upon me only from necessity, 
 or to figure by her side. 
 
 But conceive, not, Sirs, that my complaints are in- 
 stigated merely by vanity — No ; my uneasiness is oc- 
 casioned by one object much more serious. It is th© 
 practice in our family, that the whole business of pro- 
 viding for its subsistence falls upon my sister and my- 
 self. If any indisposition should attack my sister— 
 
156 ESSAYS. 
 
 and I mention it in confidence, upon this occasion, that 
 she is subject to the gout, the rheuniatism and cramp, 
 without making mention of other accidents — what would 
 be the fate of our poor family ? Must not the regret 
 of our parents be excessive, at having placed so great 
 a difference between sisters who are so perfectly equal ? 
 Alas ! we must perish from distress : for it would not 
 be in my power even to scrawl a suppliant petition for 
 relief, having been obliged to employ the hand of ano- 
 ther in transcribing the request which I have now the 
 honour to prefer to you. 
 
 Condescend, Sirs, to make my parents sensible of the 
 injustice of an exclusive tenderness, and of the neces- 
 sity of distributing their care and affection among all 
 ^heir children equally. 
 
 I am, with profound respect, 
 Sirs, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 THE LEFT HAND. 
 
 THE 
 
 HANDSOME AND DEFORMED LEG. 
 
 THERE are two sorts of people in the world, 
 who, with equal degrees of health and wealth, and the 
 other comforts of life, become the one happy, and the 
 other miserable. This arises very much from the dif- 
 ferent views in which they consider things, persons, and 
 events; and the effect of those different views upon 
 their own minds. 
 
 In whatever situation men can be placed, they may 
 find conveniences and inconveniencies ; in whatever 
 
ESSAYS. 157 
 
 company, they may find persons and conversation more 
 or less pleasing : at whatever table, they may meet 
 whh meats and drinks of better and worse taste, dishes 
 better and worse dressed : in whatever climate, they 
 will find good and bad weather : under whatever go- 
 vernment, they may find good and bad laws, and good 
 and bad administration of those laws; in whatever 
 poem, or work of genius, they may see faults and beau- 
 ties : in almost every face and every person, they may 
 discover fine features and defects, good and bad quali- 
 ties. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the two sorts of people 
 above-mentioned, fix their attention, those who are 
 disposed to be happy, on the conveniences of things, 
 the pleasant part of the conversation, the well dressed 
 dishes, the goodness of the wines, the fine weather, 
 &c. and enjoy all with cheerfulness. Those who are 
 to be unhappy, think and speak only of the contraries. 
 
 Hence they are continually discontented them- 
 selves, and by their remarks, sour the pleasures of 
 society ; offend personally many people, and make 
 themselves every where disagreeable. If this turn of 
 mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons 
 would be the more to be pitied. But as the disposi- 
 tion to criticise, and to be disgusted, is, perhaps, taken 
 up originally by imitation, and is, unawares, grown 
 into a habit, which, though at present strong, may ne- 
 vertheless be cured, when those who have it are con- 
 vinced of its bad effects on their felicity ; 1 hope this 
 little admonition may be of service to them, and put 
 them on changing a habit, which, though in the exer- 
 cise it is chiefly an act of imagination, yet has serious 
 consequences in life, as it brings on real griefs and 
 misfortunes. For as many are offended by, and nobody 
 loves, this sort of people ; no one shews them more 
 than the most common civility and respect, and scarcely 
 that ; and this frequently puts them out of humour, and 
 draws them into disputes and contentions. If they aim 
 at obtaining some advantage in rank or fortune, nobody 
 wishes them success, or will stir a step, or speak a 
 word to favour their pretensions. If they incur public 
 
 O 
 
158 ESSAYS 
 
 censure or disgrace, no one will defend or excuse, and' 
 many join to aggravate their misconduct, and render 
 them completely odious. If these people will not change 
 this bad habit, and condescend to be pleased with what 
 is pleasing, without fretting themselves and others 
 about the contraries, it is good for others to avoid 
 an acquaintance with them ; which is always disagreea- 
 ble, and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when 
 one finds one's self entangled in their quarrels. 
 
 An old philosophical friend of mine was grown, from 
 experience, very cautious in this particular, and care- 
 fully avoided any intimacy with such people. He had, 
 like other philosophers, a thermometer to shew him 
 the heat of the weather; and a barometer, to mark 
 when it is likely to prove good or bad ; but there be- 
 ing no instrument invented to discover at first sight, 
 this unpleasing disposition in a person, he, for that pur- 
 pose, made use of his legs ; one of which was remark- 
 ably handsome, the other, by some accident, crooked 
 and deformed. If a stranger, at the first interview, 
 regarded his ugly leg more than his handsome one, he 
 doubted him. If he spoke of it, and took no notice of 
 the handsome leg, that was sufficient to determine my 
 philosopher to have no further acquaintance with him. 
 Every body has not this two-legged instrument ; but 
 every one, with a little attention, may observe signs of 
 that carping, fault-finding disposition, and take the 
 same resolution of avoiding the acquaintance of those 
 infected with it. I therefore advise those critical, queru- 
 lous, discontented, unhappy people, that if they wish to 
 be respected and beloved by others, and happy in them- 
 selves, they should leave off looking at the ugly leg. 
 
ESSAYS, 1S9 
 
 CONVERSATION 
 
 OF A 
 
 COMPANY OF EPHEMERA i 
 
 WITH THE SOLILOQUY OF ONE ADVANCED IN AGE, 
 TO MADAME BRILLIANT. 
 
 YOU may remember, my dear friend that when 
 we lately spent that happy day, in the delightful gar- 
 den and sweet society of the Moulin Joly^ I stopt a 
 little in one of our walks, and staid some time behind 
 the company. We had been shewn numberless skele- 
 tons of a kind of little fly, called, an Ephemerae, whose 
 successive generations, we were told, were bred and 
 expired within the day. I happened to see a -living 
 company of them on a leaf, who appeared to be en- 
 gaged in conversation. You know I understand all 
 the inferior animal tongues ; my too great application 
 to the study of them, is the best excuse I can give for 
 the little progress, I have made in your charming lan- 
 guage. 1 listened through curiosity to the discourse 
 of these little creatures ; but as they, in their natural 
 vivacity, spoke three or four together, I could make 
 but little of their conversation, I found, however, by 
 somfe broken expressions that I heard now and then, 
 they were disputing warmly on the merit of two for- 
 eign musicians, the one a cousin^ the other a musche- 
 to ; in which dispute they spent their time, seemingly 
 as regardless of the shortness of life as if they had been 
 
160 ESSAYS. 
 
 sure of living a month. Happy people, thought I, 
 you live certainly under a wise, just, and mild govern- 
 ment, since you have no public grievances to com- 
 plain of, nor any subject of contention, but the per- 
 fections or imperfections of foreign music. I turned 
 my bead from them to an old grey-headed one who was 
 single on another leaf, and talking to himself. Being 
 amused with his soliloque, I put it down in writing, in 
 hopes it will likewise amuse her to whom I am so much 
 indebted for the most pleasing of all amusements, her 
 delicious company, and heavenly harmony. 
 
 '' It was," says he, <* the opinion of learned philoso- 
 phers of our race, who lived and flourished long before 
 my time, that this vast world the Mouslin Joly could 
 not itself subsist more than eighteen hours ; and I think 
 there was some foundation for that opinion ; since, by 
 the apparent motion of the great luminary, that gives 
 life to all nature, and which in my time has evidently 
 declined considerably towards the ocean at the end 
 of our earth, it must then finish its course, be extin- 
 guished in the waters that surround us, and leave the 
 _-world in cold and darkness, necessarily producing uni- 
 versal death and destruction. I have lived seven of 
 those hours ; a great age, being no less than 420 
 minutes of time. How very few of us continue so 
 long ! I have seen generations born, flourish, and ex- 
 pire. My present friends are the children and grand- 
 children of the friends of my youth, who are now, alas, 
 no more ! And I must soon follow them ; for, by the 
 course of nature, though still in health, I cannot ex- 
 pect to live above seven or eight minutes longer. 
 Wfiat now avails all my toil and labour, in amassing 
 iioney-dew on this leaf, which I cannot live to enjoy ! 
 What the political struggles I have been engaged in, 
 tor the good of my corn-patriot inhabitants of this bush, 
 or my philosophical studies, for the benefit of our race 
 in general I for in politics (what can laws do without 
 morals ?) our present race of Ephemerse will in a course 
 of minutes become corrupt, like those of other and 
 older bushes, and cons,e^yently as wretched: And in 
 
ESSAYS. 161 
 
 philosophy how small our progress i Alas ! art is long 
 and life is short ! My friends would comfort me with 
 the idea of a name, they say, I shall leave behind me ; 
 and they tell me I have lived long enough to nature 
 and to glory. But what will fame be to an Ephemerae 
 who no longer exists ? and what will become of all histo- 
 ry in the eighteenth hour, when the world itself, even 
 the whole Moulin Joly^ shall come to its end, and be bu- 
 ried in universal ruin ?" 
 
 To me, after all my eager pursuits, no solid pleasures 
 now remain, but the reflection of a long life spent in 
 meaning welli the sensible conversation of a few good 
 lady Ephemerae, and now and then a kind smile and a 
 tune from the ever amiable Brilliant. 
 
 B, FRANKLIN. 
 
 MORALS OF CHESS. 
 
 PLAYING at chess is the most ancient and most 
 universal game known among men ; for its original is 
 beyond the memory of history, and it has, for number- 
 less ages, been the amusement of all the civilized na- 
 tions of Asia, the Persians, the Indians, and the Chi- 
 nese. Europe has had it above a thousand years ; the 
 Spaniards have spread it over their part of America, 
 and it begins lately to make its appearance in these 
 states. It is so interesting in itself, as to not need the 
 view of gain to induce engaging in it ; and thence it 
 is never played for money. Those, therefore, who 
 have leisure for such diversions, cannot find one that is 
 more innocent ; and the following piece, written with 
 a view to correct (among a few young friends) some 
 little improprieties in the practice of it, shews, at the 
 same time, that it m-^y, in its effects on the mind, be 
 O 2 
 
162 ESSAYS. 
 
 not merely innocent, but advantageous, to the van- 
 quished as well as the victor. 
 
 The game of chess is not merely an idle amuse- 
 ment. Several valuable qualities of the mind, useful 
 in the course of human life, are to be acquired or 
 strengthened by it, so as to become habits? ready on 
 all occasions. For life is a kind of chess, in which we 
 have often points to gain, and competitors or adversa- 
 ries to contend with, and in which there is a vast varie- 
 ty of good and ill events, that are in some degree, the 
 effects of prudence or the want of it. By playing at 
 chess, then, we may learn, 
 
 I. Foresight^ which looks a little into futurity, and 
 considers the consequences that may attend an action ; 
 for it is continually occurring to the player, " If I 
 move this piece, what will be the advantage of my 
 new situation ? What use can my adversary make of 
 it to annoy me ? What other moves can I make to 
 support it, and to defend myself from his attacks ?'* 
 
 II. Circumsfieciion, which surveys the whole chess- 
 board, or scene of action, the relations of the several 
 pieces and situations, the dangers they are respectively 
 exposed to, the several possibilities of their aiding each 
 other, the probabilities that the adversary may take this 
 or that move, and attack this or the other piece, and 
 what different means can be used to avoid his stroke, 
 or turn its consequences against him. 
 
 III. Caution., not to make our moves too hastily. 
 This habit is best acquired by observing strictly the 
 laws of the game, such as, *' If you touch a piece, you 
 " must move it somewhere ; if you set it down, you 
 ** must let it stand ;" and it is therefore best that these 
 rules should be observed, as the game thereby becomes 
 more the image of human life, and particularly of war; 
 
 ' in which, if you have incautiously put yourselves into a 
 bad and dangerous position, you cannot obtain your 
 
 ^enemy's leave to withdraw your troops, and piace them 
 more securely, but you must abide all the consequences 
 of your rashness. 
 
ESSAYS. 163 
 
 And, lastly we learn by chess the habit of not being 
 discouraged by firesent bad afifiearances in the state of 
 our affairs^ the habit oi hofiing for a favourable change, 
 and that o{ persevering in the search of resources. The 
 game is so full of events, there is such a variety of 
 turns in it, the fortune of it is so subject to sudden vi- 
 cissitudes, and one so frequently, after long contem- 
 plation, discovers the means of extricating oneself from 
 a supposed insurmountable difficulty ; that one is en- 
 couraged to continue the contest to the last, in hopes 
 of victory by our own skill, or at least giving a stale 
 mate, by the negligence of our adversary. And who- 
 ever considers, what in chess he often sees instances 
 of, that particular pieces of success are apt to produce 
 presumption, and its consequent inattention, by v^hich 
 the loss may be recovered, will learn not to be too 
 much discouraged by the present success of his adver- 
 sary, nor to despair of final good fortune, upon every 
 little check he receives in pursuit of it. 
 
 That we may therefore, be induced more frequent- 
 ly to choose this beneficial amusement, in preference 
 to others, which are not attended with the same ad- 
 vantages, every circumstance which may increase the 
 pleasures of it should be regarded ; and every action 
 or word that is unfair, disrespectful, or that in any way 
 may give uneasiness, should be avoided, as contrary 
 to the immediate intention of both the players, which 
 is to pass the time agreeably. 
 
 Therefore, first, \i it is agreed to play according to 
 the strict rules : then those rules are to be exactly ob- 
 served by both parties, and should not be insisted on 
 for one side, while deviated from by the other for this 
 is not equitable. 
 
 Secondly, If it is agreed not to observe the rules ex- 
 actly, but one party demands indulgences, he should 
 then be as williny; to allow them to the other. 
 
 Thirdly, No false move should ever be made to extri- 
 cate yourself out of a difficulty, or to gain an advantage. 
 There can be no pleasure in playing with a person 
 once detected in such unfair practice. 
 
164 ESSAYS. 
 
 Fourthly, If your adversary is long in playing, you 
 ought not to hurry him, or express any uneasiness at 
 his delay. You should not sing, nor whistle, nor look 
 at your watch, nor take up a book to read, nor make a 
 tapping with your feet on the floor, or with your fin- 
 gers on the table, nor do any thing that may disturb 
 his attention. For all these things displease, and they 
 do not show your skill in playing, but your craftiness or 
 your rudeness. 
 
 Fifthly, You ought not to endeavour to amuse and de- 
 ceive your adversary, by pretending to have made bad 
 moves, and saying that you have now lost the game, in 
 order to make him secure and careless, and inattentive 
 to your schemes ; for this is fraud and deceit, not skill 
 in the game. 
 
 Sixthly, You must not, when you liave gained a vic- 
 tory, use any triumphing or insulting expression, nor 
 show too much pleasure ; but endeavour to console 
 your adversary, and make him less dissatisfied with 
 himself, by every kind of civil expression that may be 
 used with truth, such as, " You understand the game 
 " better than I, but you are a little inattentive ;'* or, 
 " you play too fast i" or, ''you had the best of the game, 
 *' but something happened to divert your thoughts, and 
 " that turned it in my favour." 
 
 Seventhly, If you are a spectator while others play, 
 observe the most perfect silence. For if you give ad- 
 vice you offend both parties ; him against whom you 
 give it, because it may cost the loss of his game ; him 
 in whose favour you give it, because, though it be good 
 and he follows it, he loses the pleasure he might have 
 had, if you had permitted him to think until it had oc- 
 curred to himself. Even after a move, or moves, you 
 must not, by replacing the pieces, show how it might 
 have been placed better ; for that displeases, and may 
 occasion disputes and doubts about their true situation. 
 All talking to the players lessens or diverts their atten- 
 tion, and is therefore unpleasing. Nor should you 
 give the least hint to either party, by any kind of 
 noise or motion. If you do, you are unworthy to be 
 
ESSAYS, 165 
 
 a spectator. If you have a mind to exercise or 
 show your judgment, do it in playing your own game, 
 when you have an opportunity, not in criticising, or 
 meddling with, or counselling the play of others. 
 
 Lastly, if the game is not to be played rigorously, ac- 
 cording to the rules above-mentioned, then moderate 
 your desire of victory over your adversary, and be pleas- 
 ed with one over yourself. Snatch not eagerly at eve- 
 ry advantage offered by his unskilfulness or inattention; 
 but point out to him kindly, that by such a move he pla- 
 ces or leaves a piece in danger and unsupported ; that 
 by another he will put" his king in a perilous situation, 
 &c. By this generous civility (so opposite to the un- 
 fairness above forbidden) you may, indeed, happen to 
 lose the game to your opponent, but you will win what 
 is better, his esteem, his respect, and his affection; to- 
 gether with the silent approbation and good-will of im- 
 partial spectators. 
 
 THE 
 
 ART OF PROCURING PLEASANT DREAMS. 
 
 INSCRIBED TO MISS***, 
 
 Being- ivritten at her request. 
 
 As a great part of our life is spent in sleep, during 
 which we have sometimes pleasing and sometimes 
 painful dreams, it becomes of some consequence to ob- 
 tain the one kind and avoid the other ; for, whether 
 real or imaginary, pain is pain, and pleasure is pleasure. 
 If we can sleep without dreaming, it is well that pain- 
 
166 ESSAYS' 
 
 ful dreams are avoided. If, while we sleep, we can 
 have any pleasing dreams, it is as the French say, tant 
 gagney so much added to the pleasure of life. 
 
 To this end it is, in the first place necessary to be 
 careful in preserving health, by due exercise, and great 
 temp^erance; for, in sickness, the imagination is disturb- 
 ed ; and disagreeable, sometimes terrible ideas are apt 
 to present themselves. Exercise should precede meals, 
 not immediately follow them ; the first promotes, the 
 latter, unless moderate, obstructs digestion. If, after 
 exercise, we feed sparingly the digestion will be easy 
 and good, the body lightsome, the temper cheerful, 
 and all the animal functions performed agreeably. Sleep 
 when it follows, will be natural and undisturbed. 
 While indolence, with full feeding, occasion night- 
 mares and horrors inexpressible : we fall from preci- 
 pices, are assaulted by wild beasts, murderers and de- 
 mons, and experience every variety of distress. Ob- 
 serve, however that the quantities of food and exercise 
 are relative things : those who move much may and 
 indeed ought to eat more ; those who use little exer- 
 cise, should eat little. In general, mankind, since the 
 improvement in cookery, eat about twice as much as 
 nature requires. Suppers are not bad, if we have not 
 dined ; but restless nights naturally follow hearty sup- 
 pers, after full dinners. Indeed as there is a difference 
 in constitutions, some rest well after these meals ; it 
 costs them only a frightful dream, and an apoplexy, after 
 which they sleep till doomsday. Nothing is more com- 
 mon in the newspapers, than instances of people, who, 
 after eating a hearty supper, are found dead a-bed in the 
 morning. 
 
 Another means of preserving health, to be attended 
 to, is the having a constant supply of fresh air in your 
 bed-chamber. It has been a great mistake, the sleep- 
 ing in rooms exactly closed, and in beds surrounded by 
 eurtains. No outward air, that may come unto you, 
 is so unwholesome as the unchanpjed air, often breath- 
 ed, of a close chamber. As boiling water does not 
 grow hotter by longer boiling, if the particles that 
 
ESSAYS. 167 
 
 receive greater heat can escape ; so living bodies do 
 not putrify, if the particles as fast as they become pu- 
 trid, can be thrown off. Nature expels them by the 
 pores of the skin and lungs, and in a free open air, 
 they are carried off; but in a close room, we receive 
 them again and again, though they become more and 
 more corrupt. A number of persons crowded into a 
 small room, thus spoil the air in a few minutes, and 
 even render it mortal, as in the Black Hole at Calcutta. 
 A single person is said to spoil only a gallon of air per 
 minute, and therefore requires a longer time to spoil a 
 chamber full ; but it is done, however, in proportion, 
 and many putrid disorders hence have their origin. It 
 is recorded of Methusalem, who being the longest 
 liver, may be supposed to have best preserved his 
 health, that he slept always in the open air ; for, when 
 he had lived five hundred years, an angel said to iiim : 
 " Arise, Methusalem ; and build thee an house, for 
 <« thou shalt, live yet five hundred years longer." But 
 Methusalem answered and said : " If I am to live but 
 " five hundred years longer, it is not worth while to 
 " build me an house — I will sleep in the air as I have 
 " been used to do." Physicians after having for ages 
 contended that the sick should not be indulged with 
 fresh air, have at length discovered that it may do them 
 good. It is therefore to be hoped that they may in time 
 discover likewise that it is not hurtful to those who are 
 in health; and that we may be then cured of the aero- 
 fihobia that at present distresses weak minds, and make 
 them choose to be stifled and poisoned, rather than 
 leave open the windows of a bed-chamber, or put down 
 the i^lafis of a coach. 
 
 Confined air, when saturated with perspirable mat- 
 ter,* will not receive more ; and that matter must re- 
 
 * What physicians call the perspirable matter, is that vapour 
 which passes oft' from our bodies, from ihe lungs, and through the 
 pores of the skin. The quantity of this is said to be five eighths 
 of what we eat. 
 
168 ESSAYS. 
 
 main in our bodies, and occasion diseases : but it gives 
 some previous notice of its being about to be hurtful, 
 by producing certain uneasiness, slight indeed at first, 
 such as, with regard to the lungs, is a trifling sensa- 
 tion, and to the pores of the skin a kind of restlessness 
 ■which is difficult to describe, and few that feel it know 
 the cause of it. But we may recollect, that sometimes, 
 on waking in the night, we have, if warmly covered, 
 found it difficult to get asleep again. We turn often 
 without finding repose in any position. This figgetti- 
 ness, to use a vulgar expression for want of a better, is 
 occasioned wholly by an uneasiness in the skin, owing 
 to the retention of the perspirable matter — the bed 
 clothes having received their quantity, and, being satu- 
 rated, refusing to take any more. To become sensible 
 of this by an experiment, let a person keep his position 
 in the bed, but throw off the bed-clothes and suff*er 
 fresh air to approach the part uncovered of his body ; 
 he will then feel that part suddenly refreshed ; for the 
 air will immediately relieve, the skin, by receiving, 
 licking uP) and carrying off, the load of perspirable 
 matter that incommoded it. For every portion of cool 
 air that approaches the warm skin, in receiving its 
 part of that vapour, receives therewith a degree of 
 heat, that rarefies and renders it lighter, when it will 
 be pushed away, with its burthen, by cooler, and 
 therefore heavier fresh air ; which, for a moment sup- 
 plies its place, and then, being likewise changed, and 
 warmed, gives way to a succeeding quantity. This is 
 the order of nature, to prevent animals being infected 
 by their own perspiration. He will now be sensible of 
 the difference between the part exposed to the air, and 
 that which remaining sunk in the bed, denies the air 
 access : for this part now manifests, its uneasiness more 
 distinctly by the comparison, and the seat of the unea- 
 siness is more plainly perceived, than when the whole 
 surface of the body was affected by it. 
 
 Here, then, is one great and general cause of un- 
 pleasing dreams. For when the body is uneasy, the 
 mind will be disturbed by it, and disagreeable ideas of 
 
ESSAYS. 1-69 
 
 various kinds, will, in sleep, be the natural conse- 
 quences. The remedies, preventive and curative^ 
 follow : 
 
 1. By eating moderately, (as before advised for 
 health's sake) less perspirable matter is produced in a 
 given time ; hence the bed-clothes receive it longer 
 before they are saturated ; and we may, therefore, sleep 
 longer, before we are made uneasy by their refusing to 
 receive any more. 
 
 2. By using thinner and more porous bed-clothes, 
 which will suffer the perspirable matter more easily to 
 pass through them, we are less incommoded, such be- 
 ing longer tolerable. 
 
 3. When you are awakened by this uneasiness, and 
 find you cannot easily sleep again, get out of bed, beat 
 up and turn your pillow, shake the bed-clothes well, 
 with at least twenty shakes, then throw the bed open, 
 and leave it to cool ; in the mean while, continuing 
 undrest, walk about your chamber, till your skin has 
 had time to discharge its load, which it will do sooner 
 as. the air may be drier and colder. When you begin 
 to feel the cold air unpleasant, then return lo your 
 bed ; and you Vi^ill soon fall asleep, and your sleep will 
 be sweet and pleasant. All the scenes presented to 
 your fancy, will be of the pleasant kind. I am often 
 as agreeably entertained with them, as by the scenery 
 of an opera. If you happen to be too indolent to get 
 out of bed, you may, instead of it, lift up your bed- 
 clothes with one arm and leg, so as to draw in a good 
 deal of fresh air, and, by letting them fall, force it out 
 again. 7'his, repeated twenty times, will so clear them 
 of the perspirable matter they have imbibed, as to per- 
 mit your sleeping well for some time afterwards. But 
 this latter method is not equal to the former. 
 
 Those who do not love trouble, and can afford to 
 have two beds, will find great luxury in rising, when 
 they wake in a hot bed, and going into the cool one. 
 Such shiftings of beds would also be of great service 
 to persons ill in a fever, as it refreshes and frequently 
 procures sleep. A very large bed, that will admit a 
 
 P 
 
170 ESSAYS. 
 
 removal so distant from the first situation as to be cool 
 and sweet, may in a degree answer the same end. 
 
 One or two observations more will conclude this 
 little piece. Care must be taken, when you lie down, 
 to dispose your pillow so as to suit your manner of 
 placing your head, and to be perfectly easy ; then place 
 your limbs so as not to bear inconveniently hard upon 
 one another, as for instance, the joints of your ancles ; 
 for though a bad position may at first give but little 
 pain, and be hardly noticed, yet a continuance will ren- 
 der it less tolerable, and the uneasiness may come on 
 while you are asleep and disturb your imagination. 
 
 These are the rules of the art. But though they 
 will generally prove effectual in producing the end in- 
 tended, there is a case in which the most punctual ob- 
 servance of them will be totally fruitless. I need not 
 mention the case to you, my dear friend : but my ac- 
 count of the art would be imperfect without it. The 
 case is, when the person who desires to have pleasant 
 dreams has not taken care to preserve, what is neces- 
 sary above all things, 
 
 A GOOD CONSCIENCE. 
 
EbSAYS. 171 
 
 ADVICE TO A YOUNG TRADESMAN. 
 
 WRITTEN ANNO 1748. 
 
 To viy Friend A, B. 
 
 ^s you have desired iC of me-^ I write the following hints^ 
 tvhich have been of service to me^ and may^ if observ- 
 edj be so to you. 
 
 REMEMBER that time is money. He that can earn 
 ten shillings a day by his labour, and goes abroad, or 
 sits idle one half of that day, though he spends but six- 
 pence during his diversion or idleness, ought not to 
 reckon that the only expense ; he has really spent, or 
 rather thrown away, five shillings besides. 
 
 Remember that credit is money. If a man lets his 
 money lie in my hands after it is due, he gives me 
 the interest, or so much as I can make of it during 
 that time. This amounts to a considerable sum where a 
 man has good and large credit, and makes good use 
 of it. 
 
 Remember that money is of a prolific generating- 
 nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring 
 can beget more, and so on. Five shillings turned is 
 six ; turned again, it is seven and three pence ; and 
 so on till it becomes an hundred pounds. The more 
 there is of it, the more it produces every turning, so 
 that the profits rise quicker and quicker. He that 
 kills a breeding sow, destroys all her offspring to the 
 thousandlh generation. He that murders a crown, de- 
 stroys all that it might have produced, even scores 
 of pounds. 
 
172 • ESSAYS. 
 
 Remember that six pounds a year is but a groat a 
 day. For this little sum, which may be daily wasted 
 either in time or expense, unperceived, a man of cre- 
 dit may, on his own security, have the constant pos- 
 session and use of an hundred pounds. So much in 
 stock, briskly turned by an industrious man, produces 
 great advantages. 
 
 Remember this saying-, « The good paymaster is 
 lord of another man's purse.'* He that is known to 
 pay punctually and exactly to the time he promises, 
 may at any time, and on anyi5ccasion, raise all the mo- 
 ney his friends can spare. This is sometimes of great 
 use. After industry and frugality, nothing contributes 
 more to the raising of a young man in the world, tl>an 
 punctuality and justice in all his dealings : therefore 
 never keep borrowed money an hour beyond the time 
 you promised, least a disappointment shut up your 
 iriend*s purse for ever. 
 
 The most trifling actions that affects a man's credit 
 are to be regarded. The sound of your hammer at 
 live in the morning, or nine at night, heard by a credi- 
 tor, makes him easy six months longer ; but if he sees 
 you at a billiard table, or hears your voice at a tavern, 
 when you should be at work, he sends for his money 
 the next day ; demands it before he can receive it in a 
 lump. 
 
 It shews, besides, that you are mindful of what you 
 owe ; it makes you appear a careful, as well as an ho- 
 nest man, and that still increases your credit. 
 
 Beware of thinking all your own that you possess, 
 and of living accordingly. It is a mistake that many 
 people who have credit fall into, 'i'o prevent this keep 
 an exact account, for some time, both of your expences 
 and your income. If you take the pains at first to men- 
 tion particulars, it will have this good effect ; you will 
 discover how wond^erfully small trifling expences mount 
 up to large sums, and will discern what uiight have 
 been, and may for the future be saved, without occa- 
 sioning any great inconvenience. 
 
ESSAYS. 173 
 
 In short, the way to wealth, if you desire it, is as 
 plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly on two 
 words, iriflustry and frugality ; that is, waste neither 
 time nor money, but make the best use of both. With- 
 out industry and fruc^alify nothing will do, and with 
 them every thing. He that gets all he can honestly, 
 and saves all he gets, (necessary expences excepted) 
 will certainly become rich — if that Being who governs 
 the world, to whom all should look for a blessing on 
 their honest endeavours, doth not, in his wise Provi- 
 dence, otherwise determine. 
 
 AN OLD TRADESMAN. 
 
 NECESSARY HINTS TO THOSE THAT 
 WOULD BE RICH. 
 
 WRITTEN ANNO 1736. 
 
 THE use of money is all the advantage there is in 
 having money. 
 
 For six pounds a year you may have the use of one 
 hundred pounds, provided you are :a man of known 
 prudence and honesty. 
 
 He that spends a groit a day idly, spends idly above 
 six pounds a year, which is the price for the use of one 
 hundred pounds. 
 
 He that wastes idly a groat's worth of his time, per 
 day, one day with another, wastes the privilege of using 
 one hundred pounds each day. 
 
 He that idly loses five shillings worth of tinie, loses 
 five shillings, and might as prudently throw fiv© shil- 
 lings into the sea. 
 
 P5 
 
i7'i» ESSAYS. 
 
 He that loses five shillings, not only loses that sum, 
 but all the advantage that might be made by turning 
 it in dealing, which by the time that a young man 
 becomes old, will amount to a considerable sum of 
 money. 
 
 Again : he that sells upon credit, asks a price for 
 what he sells equivalent to the principal and interest of 
 his money for the time he is to be kept out of it ; 
 therefore, he that buys upon credit, pays interest for 
 what he buys ; and he that pays ready money, might 
 let that money out to use ; so that he that possesses 
 any thing he has bought, pays interests for the use of 
 it. 
 
 Yet in buying goods it is best to pay ready money, 
 because he that sells upon credit, expects to lose five 
 per cent, by bad debts ; therefore he charges, on all hie 
 sells upon credit, an advance that s^bail make up that 
 dejficiency. 
 
 Those who pay for what they buy upon credit pay 
 their share of this advance. 
 
 He that pays ready money, escapes, or may escape, 
 that charge. 
 
 A penny sav*d is two-pence clear ; 
 A pin a day*s a gi'oat a year. 
 
 THE WAY TO MAKE MONEY PLENTY IN 
 EVERY MAN'S POCKET, 
 
 AT this time, when the general complaint is that 
 — .*< money is scarce," it wilf be an act of kindness to 
 inform the moneyless how they may reinforce their' 
 pockets. I will acquaint them with the true secret of 
 money-catching — the certain way to fill empty purses 
 —and how to keep them always full. Two simple 
 rules, well observed, will do the business. 
 
ESSAYS. If 3 
 
 First, let honesty and industry be thy constant com- 
 panions ; and. 
 
 Secondly, spend one penny less than thy clear 
 gains. 
 
 Then shall thy hide-bound pocket soon begin to 
 thrive, and will never again cry with the empty bellyr 
 ache ; neither will creditors insult thee, nor want op- 
 press, nor hunger bite, nor nakedness freeze thee. The 
 whole hemisphere will shine brighter, and pleasure 
 spring up in every corner of thy heart. Now^ there- 
 fore, embrace these rules and be happy. Banish the 
 bleak winds of sorrow from thy mind, and live inde- 
 pendent. Then shalt thou be a man, and not hide thy 
 face at the approach of the rich, nor suffer the pain of 
 feeling little when the sons of fortune walk at thy right 
 hand : for independency, whether with little or much, 
 is good fortune, and placeth thee on even ground with 
 the proudest of the golden fleece. Oh then, be wise, 
 and let industry walk with thee in the morning, and 
 attend thee until thou reachest the evening hour for 
 rest. Let honesty be as the breath of thy soul, and 
 never forget to have a penny, when, all thy expences 
 are enumerated and paid ; then shalt thou reach the 
 point of happiness, and independence shall be thy shield 
 and buckler, thy helmet and crown ; then shall thy soul 
 walk upright, nor stoop to the silken wretch because he 
 hath riches, nor pocket an abuse because the hand which 
 offers it wears a ring set with diamonds. 
 
1^6 ESSAYS. 
 
 AN ECONOMICAL PROJECT. 
 
 [A Translation of this letter appeared in one of the 
 Daily Papers of Paris, about the Year 1784. The 
 following is the original Piece, with some Additions 
 and Corrections made in it by the Author,] 
 
 To the Authors of the Journal. 
 
 MESSIEURS, 
 
 YOU often entertain us with accounts of new disco- 
 veries. Permit me to communicate to the public, 
 thiough your paper, one that has lately, been made by 
 myself, and which I conceive may be of great utility. 
 
 I was the other evening in a grand company, where 
 the new lamp of Messrs. Quinquet and Lange was in- 
 troduced, and much admired for its splendor ; but a 
 general enquiry was made, whether the oil it consumed, 
 was not in proportion to the light it afforded, in which 
 case there would be no saving in the use of it. No one 
 present could satisfy us in that point, which all agreed 
 ought to be keown, it being a very desirable thing ta 
 lessen, if possible, the expence of lighting our apart- 
 ments, when every other article of family expence was 
 so much augmented. 
 
 I was pleased to see this general concern for oecono- 
 my ; for I love ceconomy exceedingly. 
 
 I went home> and to bed, three or four hours after 
 midnight, with my head full of the subject. An ac- 
 cidental sudden noise waked me about six in the morn- 
 
 I 
 
ESSAYS. ;l7f 
 
 ing, when I was surprised to find my room filled wkh 
 light ; and I imagined at first, that a number of those 
 lamps had been brought into it : but rubbing my eyes, 
 I perceived the light came in at the windows. I got up 
 and looked out to see what might be the occasion of it, 
 when I saw the sun just rising above the horizon, from 
 whence he poured his rays plentifully into my chamber ; 
 my domestic having negligently omitted the preceding 
 evening to close the shutters. 
 
 I looked at my watch, wkich goes very well, and 
 found that it was but six o'clock ; and still thinking it 
 something extraordinary that the sun should rise so 
 early, I looked into the almanack ; where I found it 
 to be the hour given for his rising on that day. I 
 looked forward too, and found he was to rise still ear- 
 lier every day till toward the end of June ; and that 
 at no time in the year he retarded his rising so long 
 as till eight o'clock. Your readers, who with me have 
 never seen any signs of sunshine before noon, and sel- 
 dom regard the astronomical part of the almanack, will 
 be as much astonished as I was, when they hear of his 
 rising so early ; and especially when I assure them 
 that he gives light as soon as he rises. I am convinced 
 of this. I am certain of the fact. One cannot be more 
 certain of any fact. I saw it with my own eyes. And 
 having repeated this observation the three following 
 mornings, I found always precisely the same result. 
 
 Yet it so happens, that when 1 speak of this discove- 
 ry to others, I can easily perceive by their counte- 
 nances, though they forbear expressing it in words, 
 that they do not quite believe me. One, indeed, who 
 is a learned natural philosopher, has assured me, that 
 I must certainly be mistaken as to the circumstance of 
 the light coming into my room : for it being well 
 known, as he says, that there could be no light abroad 
 at that hour, it follows that none could enter from 
 without : and that of consequence, my windows being 
 accidentally left open, instead of letting in the light, 
 had only served to let out the darkness : and he used 
 
178 ESSAYS. 
 
 many ingenious arguments to shew mc how I might, 
 by that means, have been deceived. I ovv'n that he 
 puzzled me a little, but he did not satisfy me ; and 
 the subsequent observations I made, as above mention- 
 ed, confirmed me in my first opinion. 
 
 This event has given rise, in my mind, to several 
 serious and important reflections. I considered that, 
 if I had not been av^akened so early in the morning, 
 I should have slept six hours longer by the light of- the 
 sun, and in exchange have lived six hours the follow- 
 ing night by candle-light ; and the latter being a much 
 more expensive light than the former, my love of oeco-- 
 nomy induced me to muster up what little arithmetic 
 I was master of, and to make some calculations, which 
 I shall give you, after observing, that utility is, in my 
 opinion, the test of value in matters of invention, and 
 that a discovery which can be applied to no use, or is 
 not good for something, is good for nothing. 
 
 I took for the basis of my calculation the supposi- 
 tion that there are 100,000 families in Paris, and that 
 these families consume in the night half a pound of 
 bougies, or candles per hour. I think this is a mo- 
 derate allowance, taking one family with another ; 
 for though I believe some consume less, I know that 
 many consume a great deal more. Then estimating 
 seven hours per day, as the medium quantity between 
 the time of the sun*s rising and ours, he rising during 
 the six following months from six to eight hours be- 
 fore noon, and there being seven hours of course per 
 night in which we burn candles, the account will stand 
 thus— 
 
 In the six months between the twentieth of March 
 and the twentieth of September, there are 
 
 Nights - 183 
 
 Hours of each night in which we burn 
 
 candles 7 
 
 Multiplication gives for the total num- 
 ber of hours ..---- i.^81 
 
ESSAYS. 179 
 
 These IjSai hours multiplied by 100,000 
 
 the number of inhabitants, give - - 128,100,000 
 
 One hundred twenty-eight millions and 
 one hundred thousand hours, spent at 
 Paris by candle-light, which, at half a 
 pound of wax and tallow per hour, 
 gives the weight of 64,050,000 
 
 Sixty-four millions and fifty thousand of 
 pounds, which, estimating the whole 
 at the medium price of thirty sols the 
 pound, make the sum of ninety-six 
 millions and seventy-five thousand 
 livres tournois - - 96,075,000 
 
 An immense sum ! that the city of Paris might save 
 every year, by the oeconomy of using sunshine instead 
 of candles. 
 
 If it should be said, that the people are apt to be 
 obstinately attached to old customs, and that it will be 
 difficult to induce them to rise before noon, conse- 
 quently my discovery can be of little use ; I answer. 
 Nil desfierandum. I believe all who have common 
 sense, as soon as they have learnt from this paper that 
 it is day-light when the sun rises, will contrive to rise 
 with him ; and to compel the rest, I would propose the 
 following regulations : 
 
 First. Let a tax be laid of a lois per window, on 
 every window that is provided with shutters to keep 
 out the light of the sun. 
 
 Second. Let the same salutary operation of police 
 be made use of to prevent our burning candles, that 
 inclined us last winter to be more osconomical in burn- 
 ing wood; that is, let guards be placed in the shops 
 of the wax and tallow-chandlers, and no family be per- 
 mitted to be supplied with more than one pound of can- 
 dles per week. 
 
 Third. Let guards be posted to stop all the coaches, 
 &c. that would pass the streets after sunset, except 
 those of physicians, surgeons and midwives. 
 
ISO ESSAYS. 
 
 Fourth. Every morning as soon as the sun rises, let 
 all the bells in every church be set ringing ; and if that 
 is not sufficient, let cannon be fired in every street, and 
 wake the sluggards effectually, and make them open 
 their eyes to see their true interest. 
 
 All the difficulty will be in the first two or three 
 days ; after which the reformation will be as natural 
 and easy as the present irregularity : for, ce n*€st que 
 Ic premier fias qui coute. Oblige a man to rise at four 
 in the morning, and it is more than probable he shall 
 go willingly to bed at eight in the evening ; and hav- 
 ing had eight hours sleep, he will rise more willingly 
 at four the morning following. But this sum of 
 ninety-six millions and seventy-five thousand livres is 
 not tlie whole of what may be saved by my ceconomical 
 projeet. You may observe, that I have calculated upon 
 only one half the year, and much may be saved in the 
 otner, though the days are shorter. Besides, the im- 
 mense stock of wax and tallow left unconsumed during 
 the summer, will probably make candles much cheaper 
 for the ensuing winter, and continue cheaper as long as 
 *he proposed reformation shall be supported. 
 
 For the great benefit of this discovery, thus freely 
 communicated and bestowed by me on the public, I 
 demand neither place, pension, exclusive privilege, nor 
 any other reward whatever. I expect only to have the 
 honour of it. And yet I know there are little envi- 
 ous minds who will, as usual, deny me this, and say 
 that my invention was known to the ancients, and 
 perhaps they may bring passages out of the old books 
 in proof of it. I will not dispute with these people 
 that the ancients knew not the sun would rise at cer- 
 tain hours ; they possibly had, as we have, almanacks 
 that predicted it ; but it does not follow from thence 
 that they knew he gave light as noon as he rose. This 
 is what I claim as my discovery. If the ancients 
 knew it, it must long since have been forgotten, for 
 it certainly was unknown to the moderns, at least to 
 the Parisians ; which to prove I need use but one plain 
 simple argument. I'hey are as well instructed, judi-; 
 
ESSAYS. • rsi 
 
 cious, and prudent a people as exist any where in the 
 world, all professing, like myself, to be lovers of (Eco- 
 nomy ; and, from the many heavy taxes required from 
 them by the necessities of the state, have surely reason 
 to be oeconomical. I say it is impossible that so sensi- 
 ble a people, under such circumstances should have 
 lived so long by the smoky, unwholesome, and enor- 
 mously expensive light of candles, if they had really 
 known that they might have had as much pure light of 
 the sun for nothing. 
 
 I am, Sec, 
 
 AN ABONNE. 
 
 ON MODERN INNOVATIONS. 
 
 IN THE 
 
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE, AND IN 
 
 PRINTING 
 
 To NoAH Webster, Jun. Esq. at Hartford. 
 
 Philadelphia, Dec. 26, 1789. 
 
 liear Sir, 
 
 I RECEIVED, some time since, your Dissertations 
 on the English Language, It is an excellent work, 
 and will be greatly useful in turning the thoughts of 
 our countrymen to correct writing. Please to accept 
 ray thanks for it, as well as for the great honour you 
 have done me in its dedication, I ought to have made 
 this acknowledgment sooner, but much indisposition 
 prevented me. 
 
 I cannot but applaud your zeal fpr preserving the 
 purity of our language both in its expression and pro- 
 
 Q 
 
182 ESSAYS, 
 
 nunciation, and in correcting the popular errors seve«> 
 ral of our states are continually falling into with res* 
 pect to both. Give me leave to mention some of them, 
 though possibly they may already have occurred to 
 you. I wish, however, that in some future publica- 
 tion of yours you would set a discountenancing mark 
 upon them, The first I remember, is the word im- 
 firoved. When I left New-England in the year 1723, 
 this word had never been used among us, as far as I 
 know, but in the sense of ameliorated^ or made better^ 
 except once in a very old book of Dr. Mathers, enti- 
 tled, Remarkable fir ovidences. As that man wrote a 
 very obscure hand, I remember that when I read 
 that word in his book, used instead of the word em- 
 ployed^ I conjectured that it was an error of the prin- 
 ter, who had mistaken a short / in the writing for an 
 r and a y with too short a tail for a v^ whereby em- 
 ployed was converted into improved : but when I re- 
 turned to Boston in 1733, I found this change had ob- 
 tained favour, and was then become common ; for I 
 ;tnet with it often in perusing the newspapers, where 
 it frequently made an appearance rather ridiculous. 
 Such, for instance, as the advertisement of a country 
 house to be sold, which had been many years improved 
 as a tavern ; and in the character of a deceased coun- 
 try gentleman, that he had been, for more than thirty 
 years, improved as a justice of the peace. This use of 
 the word improve is peculiar to New-England, and not 
 to be met with among any other speakers of English, 
 either on this or the other side of the water. 
 
 During my late absence in France, I find that seve- 
 ral other new words have been introduced into our 
 pariiamentary language. For example, I find a verb 
 formed from the substantive notice* I should not have 
 noticed this^ ivhere it not that the gentleman^ &c. Al- 
 so another verb from the substantive advocate ; The 
 gentleman who advocates, or who has advocated that 
 inotion^ 8cc. Another from the substantive progress^ 
 the most awkward and abominable of the three : The 
 ':Qru?nUtee having progressed, resolved to adjourn. The 
 
ESSAYS. "183 
 
 word ofifiosedy though not a new word, I find used in a 
 new manner, as, The gentlemen tvho are opposed to this 
 measure, to which I have also myself alivay ft been oppos* 
 cd. If you should happen to be of my opinion with 
 respect to these innovations, you will use your autho- 
 rity in reprobating them. 
 
 The Latin language, long the vehicle used in dis- 
 tributing knowledge among the different nations of 
 Europe, is daily more and more neglected ; and one 
 of the modern tongues, viz. French, seem in point of 
 universality, to have supplied its place. It is spoken 
 in all the courts of Europe; and most of the literati, 
 those even who do not speak it, have acquired a know- 
 ledge of it, to enable them easily to read the books 
 that are written in it. This gives a considerable ad- 
 vantage to that nation. It enables its authors to incul- 
 cate and spread through other nations, such sentiments 
 and opinions, on important points, as are most condu- 
 cive to its interests, or which may contribute to its re- 
 putation, by promoting the common interests, of man- 
 kind. It is, perhaps, owing to its being written in 
 French, that Voltaire's Treatise on Toleration has had 
 so sudden and so great an effect on the bigotry of Eu- 
 rope, as almost entirely to disarm it. The general use 
 of the French language has likewise a very advanta- 
 geous effect on the profits of the bookselling branch of 
 commerce, it being well known, that the more copies 
 can be sold that are struck off from one composition of 
 types, the profits increase in a much greater proportion 
 than they do in making a greater number of pieces in 
 any other kind of manufacture. And at present there 
 is no capital town in Europe without a French booksel- 
 ler's shop corresponding with Paris. Our English bids 
 fair to obtain the second place. The great body of ex- 
 cellent printed sermons in our language, and the free- 
 dom of our writings on political subjects, have induced 
 a great number of divines of different sects and nations, 
 as well as gentlemen concerned in public affairs to stu- 
 dy it, so far at least as to read it. And if v/e \vere to 
 
184 ESSAYS. 
 
 endeavour the facilitating its progress, the study of our 
 tongue might become much more general. Those 
 who have employed some part of their time in learning 
 a new language, must have frequently observed, that 
 while their acquaintance with it was imperfect, diffi- 
 culties, small in themselves, operated as great ones in 
 obstructing their progress. A book for example, ill 
 printed, or a pronunciation in speaking not well arti- 
 culated, would render a sentence unintelligible, which 
 from a clear print, or a distinct speaker, would have 
 heen immediately comprehended. If therefore, we 
 would have the benefit of seeing our language more 
 generally known among mankind, we should endeavour 
 to remove all the difficulties, however small, that dis- 
 courage the learning of it. But I am sorry to observe, 
 that of late years, those difficulties, instead of being 
 diminished, have been augmented. 
 
 In examining the English books that were printed 
 between the restoration and the accession of George the 
 Second, we may observe, that all substantives were be- 
 gun with a capital, in which we imitated our mother 
 tongue, the German. This was more particularly 
 xiseful to those who were not well acquainted with the 
 English, there being such a prodigious number of our 
 words that are both verbs and substantives, and spelt 
 in the same manner, though often accented differently 
 in pronunciation. This method has, by the fancy of 
 printers, of late years, been entirely laid aside ; from 
 an idea, that suppressing the capitals shews the charac- 
 ter to greater advantage ; those letters, prominent 
 above the line, disturbing its even, regular appearance. 
 The effect of this change is so considerable, that a 
 learned man in France, who used to read our books, 
 though not perfectly acquainted with our language, in 
 conversation with me on the subject of our authors, 
 attributed the greater obscurity he found in our mo- 
 dern books, compared with those written in the period 
 above mentioned, to change of style for the worse in 
 our writers ; of which mistake I convinced him, by 
 marking for him each substantive with a capital, in a 
 
ESSAYS. 185 
 
 paragraph, which he then easily understood, though be- 
 fore he could not comprehend it. This shews the in- 
 convenience of that pretended improvement. 
 
 From the same fondness for an uniform and even 
 appearance of characters in the line, the printers have 
 of late banished also the Italic types, in which words of 
 importance to be attended to in the sense of the sen- 
 tence, and words on which an emphasis should be put 
 in reading, used to be printed. And lately another 
 fancy has induced other printers to use the round s in- 
 stead of the long one, which formerly served well to 
 disjinguish a word readily by its varied appearance. 
 Certainly the omitting this prominent letter makes a 
 line appear more even, but it renders it less immedi- 
 ately legible ; as the paring of all men*s noses might 
 smooth and level their faces, but would render their 
 physiognomies less distinguishable. Add to all these 
 improvements backwards, another modern fancy, that 
 grey printing is more beautiful than black. Hence 
 the English new books are printed in so dim a charac- 
 ter, as to be read with difficulty by old eyes, unless 
 in a very strong light, and with good glasses. Who- 
 ever compares a volume of the Gentleman's Magazine, 
 printed between the years 1731 and 1740, with one 
 of those printed in the last ten years, will be convinced 
 of the much greater degree of perspicuity given by 
 black than by the grey. Lord Chesterfield pleasantly 
 remarked this diiference to Faulkener, the printer of 
 the Dublin Journal, who was vainly making encomiums 
 on his own paper, as the most complete of any in the 
 world. " But Mr. Faulkener,'* says my lord, <* don't 
 ** you think it might be still farther improved, by using 
 " paper and ink not quite so near of a colour." — For 
 all these reasons I cannot but wish that our American 
 printers would, in their editions, avoid these fancied 
 improvements, and thereby render their works more 
 agreeable to foreigners in Europe, to the great advan- 
 tage of our bookselling commerce. 
 
 Farther, to be more sensible of the advantage of 
 clear and distinct printing, let us consider the assistance 
 
 Q 2 
 
18*6 ESSAYS* 
 
 it affords in reading well aloud to an auditory. In so 
 doing the eye generally slides forward three or four 
 words before the voice. If the sight clearly distin- 
 guishes what the coming words are, it gives time to 
 alter the modulation of the voice, to express them pro- 
 perly. But if they are obscurely printed, or disguised 
 by omitting the capitals and long f*s, or otherwise, the 
 reader is apt to modulate wrong, and finding he has 
 done so, he is obliged to go back and begin the sen- 
 tence again ; which lessens the pleasure of the hearers. 
 This leads me to mention an old error in our mode of 
 printing. We are sensible that when a question is met 
 with in the reading, there is a proper variation to be 
 used in the management of the voice. We have, there- 
 fore, a point, called an interrogation, affixed to the 
 question, in order to distinguish it. But this is absurdly 
 placed at its end, so that the reader does not discover 
 it till he finds that he has wrongly modulated his voice, 
 and is therefore obliged to begin again the sentence. 
 To prevent this, the Spanish printers, more sensibly, 
 place an interrogation at the beginning as well as at 
 the end of the question. We have another error of the 
 same kind in printing plays, where some thing often 
 occurs that is marked as spoken as/rfe.— But the word 
 aside is placed at the end of the speech, when it ought 
 to precede it, as a direction to the reader, that he may 
 govern his voice accordingly. The practice of our 
 ladies in meeting five or six together, to form little 
 busy parties, where each is employed in some useful 
 work, while one reads to them, is so commendable in 
 Itself, that it deserves the attention of authors and prin- 
 ters to make it as pleasing as possible, both to the 
 readers and hearers. 
 
 My best wishes attend you, being, with sincere 
 esteem, 
 
 Sir, your most obedient and 
 very humble servant, 
 
 B. FRANKLIN, 
 
ESSAYSl 187 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE HIGHEST COURT OF JUDICATURE 
 IN PENNSYLVANIA, VIZ. 
 
 THE COURT OF THE PRESS, 
 
 Power of this CourL 
 
 It may receive and promulgate accusations of all 
 kinds, against all persons and characters among the 
 citizens oP^he state, and even against all inferior 
 courts ; and may judge, sentence, and condemn to in- 
 famy, not only private individuals, but public bodies^ 
 &c. with or without inquiry or hearing, at the court's 
 discretion. 
 
 Whose favouTi or for whose emolument this court is <?«• 
 tablished* 
 
 In favour of about one citizen in five hundred, who 
 by education, or practice in scribbling, has acquired 
 a tolerable style as to grammar and construction, so as 
 to bear printing ; or who is possessed of a press and a 
 few types. This five hundredth part of the citizens 
 have the privilege of accusing and abusing the other 
 four hundred and ninety-nine parts at their pleasure ; 
 or they may hire out their pens and press to others, for 
 that purpose. 
 
 Practice of this Court, 
 
 It is not governed by any of the rules of the com- 
 mon courts of law. The accused is allowed no grand 
 
188 ESSAYS. 
 
 jury to judge of the truth of the accusation before it 
 is publicly made ; nor is the name of the accuser made 
 known to him ; nor has he an opportunity of confront- 
 ing the witnesses against him, for they are kept in the 
 dark, as in the Spanish court of inquisition. Nor is 
 there any petty jury of his peers sworn to try the truth 
 of the charges. The proceedings are also sometimes 
 so rapid, that an honest good citizen may find himself 
 suddenly and unexpectedly accused, and in the same 
 morning judged and condemned, and sentence pro- 
 nounced against him that he is a rogue and a villain. 
 Yet if an officer of this court receives the slightest 
 check for misconduct in this his office, he claims im- 
 mediately the rights of a free citizen by ti\e constitu- 
 tion, and demands to know his accuser, to confront the 
 witness, and to have a fair trial by a jury of his peers, 
 
 The foundation of its -authority. 
 
 It is said to be founded on an article in the state 
 constitution, which establishes the liberty of the press 
 —a liberty which every Pennsylvanian would fight and 
 die for, though few of us, I believe, have distinct 
 ideas of its nature and extent, It seems, indeed, some- 
 what like the liberty of the press, that felons have, by 
 the common law of England before conviction ; that 
 is, to be either pressed to death or hanged. If, by the 
 liberty of the press, were understood merely the liberty 
 of discussing the propriety of public measures and po- 
 litical opinions, let us have as much of it as you please ; 
 but if it means the liberty of affronting, calumniating, 
 and defaming one another, I, for my part, own myself 
 willing to part with my share of it, whenever our legis- 
 lators shall please to alter the law : and shall cheerfully 
 consent to exchange my liberty of abusing others, for 
 the privilege of not being abused myself. 
 
ESSAYS* 1$9 
 
 By nofiom this court is commissioned or constituted. 
 
 It has not any commission from the supreme exe- 
 cutive council, who might previously judge of the abi- 
 lities, integrity, knowledge, &c. of the person to be 
 appointed to this great trust of deciding upon the cha- 
 racters and good fame of the citizens : for this court 
 is above that council, and may accuse, judge, and con- 
 demn it at pleasure. Nor is it hereditary, as in the 
 court of dernier resort in the peerage of England. 
 But any man who can procure pen, ink, and paper, 
 with a press, a few types, and a huge pair of blacking 
 balls, may commissionate himself, and his court is im- 
 mediately established in the plenary possession and ex- 
 ercise of its rights. For if you make the least com- 
 plaint of the judge's conduct, he daubs his blacking 
 balls in your face wherever he meets you, and besides 
 tearing your private character to splinters, marks you 
 out for the odium of the public, as an enemy to the 
 liberty of the press. 
 
 Of the natural aufifiort of this court. 
 
 Its support is founded in the depravity of such minds 
 as have not been mended by religion or improved by 
 good education. 
 
 There is a lust in man no charm can tame. 
 Of loudly publishing his neighbour's shame. 
 
 Hence, 
 
 On eagle's wings, immortal scandals fly. 
 While virtuous actions are but bom to die. 
 
 Whoever feels pain in hearing a good character of 
 his neighbour, will feel a pleasure in the reverse. And 
 of those who, despairing to rise to distinction by their 
 virtues, are happy if others can be depressed to a level 
 with themselves, there are a number sufficient in eve- 
 ry great town to maintain one of these courts by their 
 subscription. A shrewd observer once said, that in 
 
IdO ESSAYS. 
 
 walking the streets of a slippery morning, one might 
 see where the good-natured people lived, by the ashes 
 thrown on the ice before the doors : probably he would 
 have formed a different ecnjecture of the temper of 
 those whom he might find engaged in such subscrip- 
 tions. 
 
 Of the checks firofier to be established against the abuses 
 of flow er in those courts* 
 
 Hitherto there are none. But since so much has 
 been written and published on the federal constitution ; 
 and the necessity of checks, in all other parts of good 
 government, has been so clearly and learnedly explain- 
 ed, I find myself so far enlightened as to suspect some 
 check may be proper in this part also : but I have been 
 at a loss to imagine any that may not be construed an 
 infringement of the sacred liberty of the press. At 
 length, however, I think I have found one, that, in- 
 stead of diminishing general liberty, shall augment it ; 
 which is, by restoring to the people a species of liberty 
 of which they have been deprived by our law, I mean 
 the liberty of the cudgel ! In the rude state of society, 
 prior to the existence of laws, if one man gave ano- 
 ther ill language? the affronted person might return it 
 by a box on the ear ; and if repeated, by a good drub- 
 bing ; and this without offending against any law ; but 
 now the right of making such returns is denied, and 
 they are punished as breaches of the peace, while the 
 right of abusing seems to remain in full force ; the 
 laws made against it being rendered ineffectual by the 
 liberty of the press. 
 
 My proposal then is, to leave the liberty of the press 
 untouched, to be exercised in its full extent, force, and 
 vigour, but to permit the liberty of the cudgel to go 
 with it, pari fiassu. Thus my fellow citizens, if an im- 
 pudent writer attacks your reputation— dearer per- 
 haps to you than your life, and puts his name to 
 the charge, you may go to him as openly and break his 
 head. If he conceals himself behind the printer, and 
 
ESSAYS. 191 
 
 you can nevertheless discover who he is, you may in 
 like manner, waylay him in the night, attack him be- 
 hind, and give him a good drubbingi^ If your adversa- 
 ry hires better writers than himself, to abuse you more 
 effectually, you may hire brawny porters, stronger than 
 yourself, to assist you in giving him a more effectual 
 drubbing. Thus far goes my project, as to a firivate 
 resentment and retribution. But if the public should 
 ever happen to be affronted, as it ought to be, with the 
 conduct of such writers, I would not advise proceeding 
 immediately to these extremities, but that we should 
 in moderation content ourselves with tarring and fea- 
 thering, and tossing them in a blanket. 
 
 If, however, it should be thought that this proposal 
 of mine may disturb the public peace, I would then 
 humbly recommend to our legislators to take up the 
 consideration of both liberties, that of the press, and 
 that of the cudgel : and by an explicit law mark their 
 extent and limits : and at the same time that they secure 
 the person of a citizen from assaults, they would like- 
 wise provide for the security of his reputation. 
 
 PAPER : A POEM. 
 
 SOME wit of old— such wits of old there were— 
 Whose hints show'd meaning, whose allusions care, 
 By one brave stroke to mark all human kind, 
 Call'd clear blank paper ev'ry infant mind ; 
 When still, as op'ning sense her dictates wrote, 
 Fair virtue put a seal, or vice a blot. 
 
 The thought was happy, pertinent, and true ; 
 Methinks a genius might the plan pursue, 
 I, (can you pardon my presumption ? I — ) 
 No witj no genius, yet for once will try* 
 
192 ESSAT^S.' 
 
 Various the papers various wants produccj 
 The wants of fashion, elegance, and use. 
 Men are as various : and, if right I scan, 
 Each sort oifiafier represents some man. 
 
 Pray note the fop — half powder and half lace — ■ 
 Nice, as a band-box were his dwelling-place ; 
 He*s the gilt fiafier^ which apart you store, 
 And lock from vulgar hands in the 'scrutoire. 
 
 Mechanics, servants, farmers> and so forth, 
 Are cofiy fiafier of inferior worth ; 
 Less priz'd, more useful, for your desk decreed, 
 Free to all pens, and prompt at ev'ry need. 
 
 The wretch whom av*rice bids to pinch and sparcj 
 Starve, cheat, and pilfer, to enrich an heir, 
 Is coarse brown paper ; such as pedlars choose 
 To wrap up wares, which better men will use. 
 
 Take next the miser's contrast, who destroys 
 Health, fame, and fortune, in a round of joys. 
 Will any paper match him ? Yes, throughout, 
 He's a true sinking paper past all doubt. 
 
 The retail politician's anxious thought 
 Deems this side always right, and that stark nought; 
 He foams with censure ; with applause he raves — 
 A dupe to rumours, and a tool of knaves ; 
 He'll want no type his weakness to proclaim^ 
 While such a thing qs/ooIs-cqP has a name. 
 
 The hasty gentleman, whose bloods runs high, 
 Who picks a quarrel, if you step a-wry, 
 Who can't a jest, or hint, or look endure : 
 What's he ? What ? Touch-paper to be sure. 
 
 What are our poets, take them as they fall ; 
 Good, bad, rich, poor, much read, not read at all ; 
 Them and their works in the same class you'll find j 
 They are the mere ivaste-paper of mankind. 
 
 Observe the maiden, innocently sweet, 
 She's fair nvhite-paper, an unsullied sheet : 
 On which the happy man whom fate ordains, 
 May write his naine^ and take her for his pains. 
 
ESSAYS. 193 
 
 One instance more, and only one I'll bring ; 
 *Tis the Great Man who scorns a little thing, 
 Whose thoughts, whose deeds, whose maxims are his 
 
 own, 
 Form'd on the feelings of his heart alone : 
 True genuine royal-fiafier is his breast ; 
 Of all the kinds most precious, purest, best. 
 
 ON TBIE ART OF SWIMMING. 
 
 In answer to some inquiries of M. Dubourg* on the 
 subject. 
 
 I AM apprehensive that I shall not be able to find 
 leisure for making all the disquisitions and experiments 
 which would be desirable on this subject. I must there- 
 fore, content myself with a few remarks. 
 
 The specific gravity of some human bodies, in com- 
 parison to that of water, has been exumined by M. 
 Robinson, in our Philosophic^ Transactions, volume 
 50, page 30, for the year {7b7, He asserts, that fat 
 persons with small bones float most easily upon water. 
 
 The diving be His accurately described in our Trans- 
 actions. 
 
 When I was a boy, I made two oval pallets, each 
 about ten inches long, and six broad, with a hole for 
 the thumb, in order to retain it fast in the palm of 
 my hand. They much resemble a painter's pallets. 
 In swimming I pushed the edges of these forward, 
 and I struck the water with their flat surfj^ces as I 
 
 * Translator of Dr. Franklin's works into French. 
 R 
 
194 ESSAYS. 
 
 drew them back. I remember I swam faster by means 
 of these pallets, but they fatigued my wrists — I also 
 fitted to the soles of my feet a kind of saiidals ; but I 
 was not satisfied with them, because I observed that 
 the stroke is partly given with the inside of the feet 
 and the ancles, and not entirely with the soles of the 
 feet. 
 
 We have here waistcoats for swimming, which are 
 made of double sail-cloth, with small pieces of cork 
 quilted in between them. 
 
 I know nothing of the scafihandre of M. de la 
 Chappelle. 
 
 I know by experience that it is a great comfort to 
 a swimmer, who has a considerable distance to go, 
 to turn himself sometimes on his back, and to vary 
 in other respects the means of procuring a progressive 
 motion. 
 
 When he is seized with the cramp in the leg, the me- 
 thod of driving it away is to give to the parts affected a 
 sudden vigorous, and violent shock ; which he may do 
 in the air as he swims on his back. 
 
 During the great heats of summer there is no dan- 
 ger in bathing, however warm we may be, in rivers 
 which have been thoroughly warmed by the sun. But 
 to throw oneself into cold spring water, when the body 
 has been heated by exercise in the sun, is an impru- 
 dence which may prove fatal. I once knew an in- 
 stance of four young men, who, having worked at har» 
 vest in the heat of the day, with a view of refreshing 
 them.selves plunged into a spring of cold water : two 
 died upon the spot, a third the next morning, and the 
 fourth recovered with great difficulty. A copious 
 dranjght of cold water, in similar circumstances, is fre- 
 quently attended with the same effect in North Ame- 
 rica. 
 
 The exercise of swimming is one of the most heal- 
 thy and agreeable in the world. After having swam 
 for an hour or two in the evening, one sleeps coolly 
 the whole night, even during the most ardent heat of 
 summer. Perhaps the pores being cleansed, the in- 
 
ESSAYS. 195 
 
 sensible perspiration increases an^ occasions tills cool- 
 ness.— It is certain that much swimming is the means 
 of stopping a diarrhoea, and even of producing a con- 
 stipation. With respect to those who do not know 
 how to swim, or who are affected with a diarrhoea at 
 a season which does not permit them to use that ex- 
 ercise, a warm bath by cleansing and purifying the 
 skin, is found very salutary, and often effects a radi- 
 cal cure. I speak from my own experience, frequent- 
 ly repeated, and that of others to whom I have 
 recommended this. 
 
 You will not be displeased if I conclude these hasty 
 remarks by informing you, that as the ordinary me- 
 thod of swimming is reduced to the act of rowing 
 with the arms and legs, and is consequently a labori- 
 ous and fatiguing operation when the space of water 
 to be crossed is considerable ; there is a method in 
 which a swimmer may pass to great distances with 
 much facility by means of a sail. This discovery I 
 fortunately made by accident, and in the following 
 manner : 
 
 When I was a boy I amused myself one day with 
 flying a paper kite ; and approaching the bank of a 
 pond which was near a mile broad, I tied the string 
 to a stake, and the kite ascended to a very considera- 
 ble height above the pond, while I was swimming. 
 In a little time, being desirous of amusing myself 
 with my kite, and enjoying at the same time the plea- 
 sure of swimming, I returned ; and loosing from the 
 stake the string with the little stick which was fasten- 
 ed to it, went again into the water, where I found, 
 that lying on my back, and holding the stick in my 
 hands, I was drawn along the surface of the water in 
 a very agreeable manner. Having then engaged ano- 
 ther boy to carry my clothes round the pond to a place 
 which I pointed out to him on the ot^ier side, I began 
 to cross the pond with my kite, which carried me 
 quite over without the least fatigue, and with the 
 greatest pleasure imaginable. I was only obliged oc- 
 casionally to halt a little in my course, and resist its 
 
196 ESSAYS. 
 
 progress j when it appeared that, by following too quick, 
 I lowered the kite to much ; by doing which occa- 
 sionally I made it rise again. I have never since that 
 time practised this singular mode of swimming, though 
 I think it not impossible to cross in this manner from 
 Dover to Calais. The packet-boat, however, is still 
 preferable, 
 
 NEW MODE OF BATHING. 
 
 KXTRACTS OF LETTERS TO M. DUBOURG. 
 
 London, July 28, 1768. 
 
 I GREATLY approve the epithet you give, in 
 your letter of the 8th of June to the new method of 
 treating the small-pox, which you call the eonic or 
 bracing method ; I will take occasion, from it, to men- 
 tion a practice to which I have accustomed myself. 
 You know the cold bath has long been in vogue here 
 as a tonic ; but the shock of the cold water has al- 
 ways appeared to me, generally speaking, as too vio- 
 lent ; and I have found it much more agreeable to my 
 constitution to bathe in another element, I mean cold 
 air. With this view I rise early almost every morn- 
 ing, and sit in my chamber without any clothes what 
 ever, half an hour or an hour, according to the season, 
 either reading or writing. This practice is not in the 
 least painful, but, on the contrary, agreeable ; and if I 
 return to bed afterwards, before I dress myself, as some- 
 times happens, I make a supplement to my night's rest 
 
ESSAYS. 197 
 
 of one or two hours of the most pleasing sleep that can 
 be imagined. I find no ill consequences whatever re- 
 sulting from it, and that at least it does not injure my 
 health, if it does not in fact contribute much to its pre- 
 servation. I shall therefore call it for the future a bra- 
 cing or tonic bath. 
 
 March 10, 1773. 
 
 I shall not attempt to explain why damp clothes oc- 
 casion colds, rather than wet ones, because I doubt the 
 fact; I imagine that neither the one nor the other 
 contribute to this effect, and that the causes of colds 
 are totally independent of wet and even of cold. I 
 propose writing a short paper on this subject, the first 
 leisure moment I have at my disposal. In the mean 
 time I can only say, that having seme suspicions that 
 the common notion, which attributes to cold the pro- 
 perty of stopping the pores and obstructing perspira- 
 tion, was ill-founded, I engaged a young physician, who 
 is making some experiments with Sanctorius's balance, 
 to estimate the different proportions of his perspiration, 
 when remaining one hour quite naked, and another 
 warmly clothed. ^He pursued the experiment in this 
 alternate manner for eight hours successively, and 
 found his perspiration almost double during those hours 
 in which he was naked. 
 
198 ESSAYS. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE GENERALLY PRE- 
 VAILING DOCTRINES OF LIFE 
 AND DEATH. 
 
 ^, 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 YOUR observations on the causes of death, and 
 the experiments which you propose for recalling to life 
 those who appear to be killed by lightnings, demonstrate 
 equally your sagacity and humanity. It appears that 
 the doctrines of life and death, in general, are yet but 
 little understood. 
 
 A toad, buried in sand, will live, it is said, until 
 the sand becomes petrified ; and then, being inclosed 
 m the stone, it may still live for we know not how 
 many ages. The facts which are cited in support of 
 this opinion, are too numerous and too circumstantial 
 not to deserve a certain degree of credit. As we are 
 accustomed to see all the animals with which we are 
 acquainted eat and drink, it appears to us difficult to 
 conceive how a toad can be supported in such a durt- 
 geon. But if we reflect, that the necessity of nourish- 
 ment, which animals experience in their ordinary state, 
 proceeds from the continual waste of their substance by 
 perspiration : it will appear less incredible that some 
 animals in a torpid state, perspiring less because they 
 iiss^fio exercise, should have less need of aliment; and 
 that others, which are covered with scales or shells, which 
 stop perspiration, such as land and sea turtles, serpents, 
 and some species of fish, should be able to subsist a con- 
 siderable time without any nourishment whatever. A 
 plant, with its flowers, fades and dies immediately, if 
 exposed to the air without haying its roots immersed in 
 
ESSAYS.' 199 
 
 a humid soil, from wtiich it may draw a sufficient quan- 
 tity of moisture, to supply that which exhales from its 
 substance, and is carried off continually by the air. 
 Perhaps, however, if it were buried in quicksilver, it 
 might preserve, for a considerable space of time, its 
 vegetable life, its smell and colour. If this be the case, 
 it might prove a commodious method of transporting 
 from different countries those dedicate plants which are 
 unable to sustain the inclemency of the weather at sea, 
 and which require particular care and attention. 
 
 I have seen an instance of common flies preserved 
 in a manner somewhat similar. They had been drown- 
 ed in Madeira, wine, apparently about the time when 
 it was bottled in Virginia, to be sent to London. At 
 the opening of one of the bottles, at the house of a 
 friend where I was, three drowned flies fell into the 
 first glass which was filled. Having heard it remarked 
 that drowned flies were capable of being revived by 
 the rays of the sun, I proposed making the experi- 
 ment upon these. They were therefore exposed td 
 the sun, upon a sieve, which had been employed to 
 strain them out of the wine. In less than three hours 
 two of them began by degrees to recover life. They 
 commenced by some convulsive motions in the thighs, 
 and at length they raised themselves upon their legs, 
 wiped their eyes with their fore feet, beat and brushed 
 their wings with their hind feet, and soon after began 
 to fly, finding themselves in Old England, without 
 knowing how they came thither. The third continued 
 lifeless until sunset, when, losing all hopes of him, he 
 was thrown away. 
 
 I wish it were possible, from this instance, to in- 
 vent a method of embalming drowned persons, in such 
 a manner that they might be recalled to life at any 
 period, however distant ; for having a very ardent de- 
 sire to see and observe the state of America an hun- 
 dred years hence, I should prefer to an ordinary death, 
 the being immersed in a cask of Madeira wine, with a 
 few friends, until that time, then to be recalled to life 
 by the solar warmth of my dear country. But since, 
 
200 ESSAtS. 
 
 in all probability, we live in an age too early, and too 
 near the infancy of science, to see such an art brought 
 in our time to its perfection, I must, for the present, 
 content myself with the treat, which you are so kind as 
 to promise me, of the resurrection of a fowl or a turkey- 
 cock. 
 
 Precautions to be used by those who are about to under* 
 take a Sea Voyage, 
 
 WHEN you intend to take a long voyage, nothing 
 is better than to keep it a secret till the moment of 
 your departure. Without this, you will be continually 
 interrupted and tormented by visits from friends and 
 acquaintances, who not only make you lose your valua- 
 ble time, but make you forget a thousand things which 
 you wish to remember ; so that when you are embark- 
 ed, and fairly at sea, you recollect, with much uneasi- 
 ness, affairs which you have not terminated, accounts 
 which you have not settled, and a number of things 
 which you proposed to carry with you, and which you 
 find the want of every moment. Would it not be at- 
 tended with the best consequences, to reform such a 
 custom ; and suffer a traveller, without deranging him, 
 to make his preparations in quietness, to set a,part a 
 few days, when these are finished, to take leave of his 
 friends, and to receive their good wishes for his happy 
 return ? 
 
 It is not always in one's power to choose a captain ; 
 though great part of the pleasure and happiness of the 
 •passage depends upon this choice, and though one must 
 •for a time be confined to his company, and be in some 
 measure under his command. If he is a social sensible 
 man, obliging, and of a good disposition, you will be 
 80 much the happier. One sometimes meets with j>eo- 
 
ESSAYS* 201 
 
 pie of this description, but they are not common ; how- 
 ever, if yours be not of this number, if he be a good 
 seaman, attentive, careful, and active in the management 
 of his vessel, you may dispense with the rest, for these 
 are the most essential qualities. 
 
 Whatever right you may have, by your agreement 
 with him, to the provisions he has taken on board for 
 the use of the passengers, it is always proper to have 
 some private store, which you may make use of occa- 
 sionally. You ought, therefore, to provide good water, 
 that of the ship being often bad j but you must put it 
 into bottles, without which, you cannot expect to pre- 
 serve it sweet. You ought also to carry with you 
 good tea, ground coffee, chocolate, wine of the sort 
 you like best, cyder, dried raisins, almonds, sugar, ca- 
 pillaire, citrons, rum, eggs dipped in oil, portable soup, 
 bread twice baked. With regard to poultry, it is almost 
 useless to carry any with you, unless you resolve to un- 
 tlertake the office of feeding and fattening them yourself. 
 With the little care which is taken of them on board 
 ship, they are almost all sickly, and their flesh, is as 
 tough as leather. 
 
 All sailors entertain an opinion, which has undoubt- 
 edly originated formerly from a want of water, and 
 when it has been found necessary to be sparing of it, 
 that poultry never know when they have drank enough ; 
 and that when water is given them at discretion, they 
 generally kill themselves by drinking beyond measure. 
 In consequence of this opinion, they give them water 
 only once in two days, and even then in small quan- 
 tities: but as they pour this water into troughs in- 
 clining on one side, which occasions it to run to the 
 lower part, it thence happens that they are obliged to 
 mount one upon the back of another in order to reach 
 it ; and there are some which cannot even dip their 
 beaks in it. Thus continually tantalized and torment- 
 ed by thirst, they are unable to digest their food, which 
 is very dry, and they soon fall sick and die- Some 
 of them are found thus every morning, and are thrown 
 into the sea j whilst those which are killed for the table 
 
203 ESSAYS 
 
 are scarcely fit to be eaten. To remedy this inconveni- 
 ence, it will be necessary to divide their troughs into 
 small compartments, in Sruch a manner that each of them 
 may be capable of containing water ; but this is seldom 
 or never done. On this account, sheep and hogs are to 
 be considered as the best fresh provision that t^ne can 
 have at sea ; mutton there being in general very good, 
 and pork excellent. 
 
 It may happen that some of the provisions and stores 
 which I have recommended may become almost use- 
 less, by the care which the captain has taken to lay in 
 a proper stock ; but in such a case you may dispose of 
 it to relieve the poor passengers, who, paying less for 
 their passage, are stowed among the common sailors, 
 and have no right to the captain's provisions, except 
 such part of them as is used for feeding the crew.— — 
 These passengers are sometimes sick, melancholy, and 
 dejected ; and there are often women and children 
 among them, neither of whom haive any opportunity of 
 procuring those things which I have mentioned, and 
 of whicbt perhaps, they have the greatest need. By 
 distributing among them a part of your superfluity, you 
 may be of the greatest assistance to them. You may 
 restore their health, save their lives, and in short render 
 them happy ; which always affords the liveliest sensation 
 to a feeling mind. 
 
 The most disagreeable thing at sea is the cookery j 
 for there is not, properly speaking, any professed cook 
 on board. The worst sailor is generally chosen for 
 that purpose, who for the most part is equally dirty. 
 Hence comes the proverb used among the English sai- 
 lors, that God sends meat, and the Devil sends cooks. 
 Those, however, who have a better opinion of Pro- 
 vidence, will think otherwise. Knowing that sea air, 
 and the exercise or motion which they receive from the 
 rolling of the ship, have a wonderful effect in whetting 
 the appetite, they will say that Providence has given 
 sailors bad cooks to prevent them from eating too 
 much; or that knowing they would have bad cooks, 
 he has given them a good appetite to prevent them 
 
ESSAYS. 203 
 
 from dying with hunger. However, if you have no 
 confidence in these succours of Providence, you may 
 yourself, with a lamp and boiler, by the help of a little 
 spirits of wine, prepare some food, such as soup, hash, 
 &c. A small oven, made of tin-plate, is not a bad piece 
 of furniture ; your servant may roast in it a piece of 
 mutton or pork. If you are ever tempted to eat salt 
 beef, which is often very good, you will find that cyder 
 is the best liquor to quench the thirst generally caused 
 by salt meat or salt fish. Sea-biscuit, which is too hard 
 for the teeth of some people, may be softened by steep- 
 ing it ; but bread double baked is the best, for being 
 made of good loaf-bread cut into slices, and baked a 
 second time, it readily imbibes water, becomes soft, 
 and is easily digested j it consequently forms excellent 
 nourishment, much superior to that of biscuit, which 
 has not been fermented. 
 
 I must here observe, that this double-baked bread 
 was originally the real buiscuit prepared to keep at sea ; 
 for the word biscuit^ in French, signifies twice baked.* 
 Pease often boil badly, and do not become soft ; in 
 such a case, by putting a two-pound shot into the ket- 
 tle, the rolling of the vessel, by means of this bullet, 
 will convert the pease into a kind of porridge, like 
 mustard. 
 
 Having often seen soup, when put upon the table 
 at sea in broad flat dishes, thrown out on every side by 
 the rolling of the vessel, I have wished that our tin- 
 men would make our soup-basons with divisions or com- 
 partments, forming small plates, proper for contain- 
 ing soup for one person only. By this disposition, the 
 soup, in an extraordinary roll, would not be thrown out 
 of the plate, and would not fall into the breasts of those 
 who are at table and scald them. Having entertained 
 you with these things of little importance, permit me 
 row to convlude with some general reflections upon na- 
 vigation. 
 
 * It is derived from bis again, and cuit baked. 
 
204 ESSAY3. 
 
 When navigation is employed only for transporting 
 necessary provisions from one country, where they 
 abound, to another were they are wanting ; when by 
 this it prevents famines, which were so frequent and 
 so fatal before it was invented and became so sommon ; 
 we cannot help considering it as one of those arts which 
 contribute most to the happiness of mankind. But 
 when it is employed to transport things of no utility, or 
 articles merely of luxury, it is then uncertain whether 
 the advantages resulting from it are sufficient to coun* 
 tcrbalance the misfortunes it occasions, by exposing the 
 lives of so many individuals upon the vast ocean. And 
 when it is used to plunder vessels and transport slaves^ 
 it is evidently only the dreadful means of increasing 
 those calamities which afflict human nature. 
 
 One is astonished to think on the number of vessels 
 and men who are daily exposed in going to bring tea 
 from china, Coffee from Arabia, and sugar and tobacco 
 from America ; all which commodities our ancestors 
 lived very well without. The sugar-trade employs 
 nearly a thousand vessels; and that of tobacco almost 
 the same number. With regard to the utility of tobac- 
 co, little can be said ; anci, with regard to sugar, how 
 much more meritorious would it be to sacrifice the 
 momentary pleasure which we receive from drinking 
 it once or twice a-day in our tea, than to encourage the 
 numberless cruelties that are continually exercised in 
 order to procure it for us ? 
 
 A celebrated French moralist said, that when he 
 considered the wars which ],we foment in Africa to get 
 negroes, the great number^who of course perish in these 
 wars ; the multitude of those w^retches who die in their 
 passage, by disease, bad air, and bad provisions ; and 
 lastly, how many perish by the cruel treatment they 
 meet with in a state of slavery ; when he saw a bit of 
 sugar, he could not help imagining it to be covered 
 with spots of human blood. But, had he added to 
 these considerations the wars which we carry on one 
 against another, to take and retake the islands that 
 
ESSAYS. 20S 
 
 produce this commodity, he would not have seen the 
 su^ar simply s/iotted with blood, he would have beheld 
 it entirely tinged with it. 
 
 These wars make the maritime powers of Europe, 
 and the inhabitants of Paris and London, pay much 
 dearer for their sugar than those of Vienna, though 
 they are almost three hundred leagues distant from the 
 sea. A pound of su^^ar, indeed, costs the former not 
 only the price which they give for it, but also what 
 they pay in taxes, necessary to support those fleets and 
 armies which serve to d^;fend und protect the countries 
 that produce it. 
 
 ON LUXURY, IDLENESS, AND INDUSTRY. 
 
 From a Letter to Benjamin raugharif Eaq* nvrlttcn in 
 
 ir84. 
 
 IT is wonderful how preposterously the affairs of this 
 world are managed. Naturally one would imagine 
 that the interest of a few individuals should give way 
 to general interest ; but individuals manage iheir af- 
 fairs with so much more application, industry, and 
 address, than the public do theirs, that general interest 
 most commonly gives way to particular. We assemble 
 parliaments and councils, to have the benefit of their 
 collected wisdom ; but we necessarily have, at the 
 same time, the inconvenience of their collected pas- 
 
 * Present member of Parliament for the borough of Calne, in 
 Wiltshire, between whom and our author tiiere subsisted a very 
 close friendship. 
 
 S 
 
208 ESSAYS. 
 
 by what is seen aWione the inhabitants of the seJ^-ports, 
 is judging from an improper Sctmple. The people of 
 the trading towns niyy be rich and hixurious, while 
 the country possesses all the virtues that tend to pro- 
 mote hapj)iness and public prosperity. Those tov/ns 
 are not much regarded by the country ; they are hard- 
 ly considered as an esseniial part of the states ; and the 
 experience of the h^A war has shown that their being 
 in the possession of ihe enemy did not necessarily draw 
 on the subjection ot the country, which bravely con- 
 tinued to maintain its freedom and independence not- 
 withstanding. 
 
 It has been computed by some political arithmetician, 
 that if every man and woman would work for four 
 hours each day on something useful, that labour would 
 produce sufficient to procure all the necessaries and 
 comforts of life -: want and misery would be banished 
 cut of the world; and the rest of the twenty-four hours 
 might be leisure and pleasure. 
 
 What occasions then so much want and misery ? It 
 is the employ ment of men and women in works that 
 produce neither the necessaries or conveniences of life, 
 who, with those who do nothing, consume necessaries 
 raised by the laborious. To explain this : 
 
 The first elements of wealth are obtained by labour, 
 from the earth and waters. I have land, and raise corn. 
 With this, if 1 feed a family that does nothing, my 
 corn will be consumed, and at the end of the year I 
 shall be no richer than 1 was at the beginning. But 
 if while I feed them, I employ them, some in spinning,, 
 others in making bricks, he for buik!ing, the value of 
 my corn will be arrested and remain with me, and at 
 the end of the year we may be all better clothed and 
 better lodged. Aiid if, instead of eniploying a man I 
 feed in making bricks, I employ him in fiddling for me, 
 the corn he eats is gone, and no part of his manufcic- 
 ture remains to augment the wealth and convenience 
 of the family ; I shall therefore be the poorer for this 
 fiddling man, unless the rest of my family work 
 
ESSAYS. ^Q^ 
 
 more, or eat less, to make up the deficiency he occa- 
 sions. 
 
 Look round the world, and see the millions em- 
 ployed in doing nothing, or in something that amounts 
 to nothing, when the necessaries and conveniences of 
 life are in question. What is the bulk of commerce, 
 for which we light and destroy each other, but the 
 toil of millions for superfluities, to the great hazard 
 and loss of many lives, by the constant dangers of the 
 sea ? How much labour is spent in building and fitting 
 great sliips, to go to China and Arabia for tea and cof- 
 fee, to the West-Indies for sugar, to America for to- 
 bacco ? These things cannot be called the necessaries 
 of life, for our ancestors lived very comfortably with- 
 out them. 
 
 A question may be asked ; Could all these people 
 now employed in raising, making, or carrying super- 
 fluities, be subsisted by raising necessaries? I think they 
 might. The world is large, and a great part of it 
 still uncultivated. Many hundred millions of acres in 
 Asia, Africa, and America, are still in a forest; and a 
 great deal even in Europe. On a hundred acres of this 
 forest, a man might become a substantial farmer ; and 
 a hundred thousand men employed in clearing each his 
 hundred acres, would hardly brighten a spot big enough 
 to be visible from the moon, unless with Herschel*s 
 telescope ; so vast are the regions still in wood. 
 
 It is however some comfort to reflect, that, upon 
 the whole, the quantity of industry and prudence a- 
 mong mankind exceeds the quantity of idleness and 
 folly. Hence the increase of good buildings, farms 
 cultivated, and populous cities filled with wealthy all 
 over Europe, which a few ages since were only tb 
 be found on the coast of the Mediterranean ; and this 
 notwithstanding the mad wars continually raging, by 
 which are often destroyed in one year the works of ma- 
 ny years peace. So that we may hope, the luxury o'f 
 a few mercliants on the coast will not be the ruin of 
 America. 
 
 S2 
 
310 ESSAYS. 
 
 One reflection more and I will end this long ram- 
 bling letter. Almost all the parts of our bodies require 
 some expense. The feet demand shoes ; the legs 
 stockings ; the rest of the body clothing : and the belly 
 a good deal of victuals. Our eyes, though exceedingly 
 useful, ask, when reasonable, only the cheap assistance 
 of spectacles, which could not much impair our finan- 
 ces. . But the eyes of other people are the eyes that 
 ruin us. If all but myself were blind, I should want 
 neither fine clothes, fine houses, nor fine furniture. 
 
 ON THE SLAVE TRADE. 
 
 READING in the newspapers the speech of Ml*. 
 Jackson in Congress, against meddling with the af- 
 fair of slavery, or attempting to mend the condition of 
 slaves, it put me in mind of a similar speech, made about 
 an hundred years since, by Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim, a 
 member of the Divan of Algiers, which may be seen 
 in Martin's account of his consulship, 1687. It was 
 against granting the Petition of the sect called Erika 
 pr Furisls, who prayed for the abolition of piracy and 
 slavery, as being unjust. — Mr. Jackson does not quote 
 it ; perhaps he has not seen it. If, therefore, some of 
 its reasonings are to be found in his eloquent speech, it 
 may only shew that men's interests operate, and are 
 operated on, with surprising similarity, in all countries 
 and climates, whenever they are under similar circum- 
 stances, The African speech, as translated, is as fol- 
 lows ; 
 
ESSAYS. 2it 
 
 "^ Alia Bismillah, 8cc. God is great, and Mahomet 
 is his prophet. 
 
 " Have these Erika considered the consequences of 
 granting their petition ? 
 
 " If we cease our cruises against the Christians, 
 how shall we be furnished with the commodities 
 their countries produce, and which are so necessary 
 for use ? If we forbear to make slaves of their people, 
 who, in this hot climate, are to cultivate our lands ? 
 Who are to perform the common labours of our city, 
 and of our families ? Must we not then be our own 
 slaves ? And is there not more compassion and more 
 favour due to us Mussulmen, than to those Christian 
 dogs ? — We have now above fifty thousand slaves in 
 and near Algiers. This number, if not kept up by 
 fresh supplies, will soon diminish, and be gradually 
 annihilated. If, then, we cease taking and plundering 
 the infidel ships, and making slaves of the seamen and 
 passengers, our lands will become of no value, for 
 want of cultivation ; the rents of houses in the city will 
 sink one half; and the revenues of government, arising 
 from the share of prizes, must be totally destroyed ? — 
 and for what ? To gratify the whim of a whimsical 
 sect, who would have us not only forbear making more 
 slaves, but even manumit those we have. But who is 
 to indemnify their masters for the loss ? Will the 
 state do it ? Is our treasury sufficient ? Will the Erika 
 doit? Can they do it ? Or would they, to do what 
 they think justice to the slaves, do a greater injustice 
 to the owners ? And if we set our slaves free, what is 
 to be done with them ? Few of them will return to 
 their native countries ; they know too well the greater 
 hardships they must there be subject to. They will 
 not embrace our holy religion ; they will not adopt our 
 manners : our people will not pollute themselves by 
 intermarrying with them. Must we maintain them 
 as beggars in our streets ; or suffer our properties to be 
 the prey of their pillage ? For men accustomed to 
 slavery, will not work for a livelihood, when not com- 
 pelled — And what is there so pitiable in their present 
 condition ? Were they not slaves in their own coun- 
 
21^ ESSAYS. 
 
 tries ? Are not Spain, Portugal, France, and the 
 Italian states governed by despots, who hold all their 
 subjects in slavery, without exception ? Even England 
 treats her sailors as slaves, for they are, whenever the 
 government pleases, seized, and confined in ships of 
 war, condemned not only to work, but to fight for 
 small wages, or a mere subsistence, not better than our 
 slaves are allowed by us. Is their condition then made 
 worse by their falling into our hands? No: they 
 have only exchanged one slavery for another ; and I 
 may say a better ; for here they are brouj2;ht into a 
 land where the sun of Islamism gives forth its light 
 and shines in full splendor, and they have an opportu- 
 nity of making themselves acquainted with the true 
 doctrine, and thereby saving their immortal souls — 
 Those who remain at home have not that happiness. 
 Sending the slaves home, then, would be sending them 
 out of light into darkness. 
 
 *' I repeat the question, what is to be done with 
 them ? I have heard it suggested, that they may be 
 planted in the wilderness, where there is plenty of 
 land for them to subsist on, and where they may flour- 
 ish as a free state. — But they are, I doubt, too little 
 disposed to labour without compulsion, as well as too 
 ignorant to establish good government : and the wild 
 Arabs would soon molest and destroy, or again enslave 
 them. While serving us, we take care to provide^ 
 them with every thing; and they are treated with hu- 
 manity. The labourers of their own countries, are, 
 as I am informed, worse fed, lodged, and clothed — 
 The condition of most of them is therefore already 
 mended, and requires no farther improvement. Here 
 their lives are in safety. They are not liable to be im- 
 pressed for soldiers, and forced to cut one another's 
 Christian throats, as in the wars of their own countries. 
 If some of the religious mad bigots who now teaze us 
 with their silly petitions, have, in a fit of blind zeal, 
 freed their slaves, it was not generosity, it was not 
 humanity that moved them to the action ; it was from 
 the conscious burthen of a load of sins, and hope, from 
 
ESSAYS. SIS 
 
 the supposed merits of so good a work, to be excused 
 from damnation. — How grossly are they mistaken in 
 imagining slavery to be disavowed by the Alcoran ? 
 Are not the two precepts, to quote no more, " Mas- 
 ters, treat your slaves with kindness— Slaves, serve 
 your masters with cheerfulness and fid{;lity,*' clear 
 proofs to the contrary ? Nor can the plundering of 
 infidels be in that sacred book forbiddeii : since it is 
 well known from it, that God has given the world, and 
 all that it contains, to his faithful Mufsuhrjen, who 
 are to enjoy it, of right, as fast as they can conquer 
 it. Let us then hear no more of this detestable propo- 
 sition, the manumission of Christian slaves, the adop- 
 tion of which would, by depreciating our lands and 
 houses, and thereby depriving so many good citizens 
 ©f their properties, create universal discontent, and 
 provoke insurrections, to the endangering of govern- 
 ment, and producing general confusion, I have, there- 
 fore, no doubt that this wise council will prefer the 
 comfort and happiness of a whole nation of true be- 
 lievers, to the whim of a few Erika, and dismiss their 
 petition. 
 
 The result was, as Martin tells us, that the Divan 
 came to this resolution : " That the doctrine, that the 
 " plundering and enslaving the Christians is unjust, 
 " is at best problematical ; but that it is the interest of 
 " this state to continue the practice, is clear ; there- 
 " fore, let the petition be rejected.*' — And it was re- 
 jected accordingly. 
 
 And since like motives are apt to produce, in the 
 minds of men, like opinions and resolutions, may we 
 not venture to predict, from this account, that the pe- 
 titions to the parliament of England for abolishing the 
 slave-trade, to say nothing of other legislatures, and 
 the debates upon them, will have a similar conclusion. 
 
 HISTORICUS. 
 
 March 23, 1790* 
 
214 ESSAYS. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON WAR. 
 
 By the original law of nations, war and extirpa- 
 tion were the punishment of injury. Humaiiizing by 
 degrees, it adnaitted slavery instead of death : a farther 
 step was the exchange of prisoners instead of slavery ; 
 another, to respect more the property of private per- 
 sons under conquest, and be content with acquired do- 
 minion. Why should not this law of nations go on 
 improving ? Ages have intervened between its seve- 
 ral steps : but as knowledge of late increases rapidly, 
 why should not those steps be quickened ? Why should 
 it not be agreed to, as the future law of nations, that 
 in any war hereafter the following description of men 
 should be undisturbed, have the protection of both 
 sides, and be permitted to follow their employments 
 in security ? viz. 
 
 1. Cultivators of the earth, because they labour for 
 the subsistence of mankind. 
 
 2. Fishermen, for the same reason. 
 
 3. Merchants and traders in unarmed ships, who ac- 
 commodate different nations by communicating and ex- 
 changing the necessaries and conveniences of life. 
 
 4. Artists and mechanics, inhabiting and working in 
 open towns. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add, that the hospitals of 
 enemies should be unmolested — they ought to be as- 
 sisted. It is for the interest of humanity in general, 
 that the occasions of war, and the inducements to it, 
 should be diminished. If rapine be abolished, one of 
 the encouragements to war is taken away ; and peace 
 therefore more likely to continue and be lasting. 
 
 The practice of robbing merchants on the high seas 
 —a remnant of the ancient piracy — though it may be 
 
ESSAYS. 215 
 
 accidentally beneficial to particular persons, is far from 
 being profitable to all engaged in it, or to the nation 
 that authorises it. In the beginning of a war some 
 rich ships are surprised and taken. This encourages 
 the first adventurers, to fit out more armed vessels- and 
 many others to do the same. But the enemy at the 
 same time become more careful, arm their merchant 
 ships better, and render them not so easy to be taken ; 
 they go also more under the protection of convoys. — 
 Thus, while the privateers to take them are multiplied, 
 the vessels subject to be taken, and the chances of 
 profit are diminished ; so that many cruises are made, 
 wherein the expences overgo the gains ; and, as is 
 the case in other lotteries, though particulars have got 
 prizes, the mass of adventurers are losers, the whole 
 expence of fitting out all the privateers during a war 
 being much greater than the whole amount of goods 
 taken. 
 
 Then there is the national loss of all the labour of 
 so many men during the time they have been employ- 
 ed in robbing ; who besides spend what they get in 
 riot, drunkenness, and debauchery ; lose their habits 
 of industry ; are rarely fil for any sober business after 
 a peace, and serve only lo increase the number of high- 
 waymen and house-breakers. Even the undertakers 
 -who have been fortunate, are, by sudden wealth, led 
 into expensive living, the habit of which continues 
 when the means of supporting it cease, and finally ruins 
 them : a just punisiiment for having wantonly and un- 
 feelingly ruined many honest, innocent traders and their 
 families, whose substa!ice was employed in serving the 
 common interest of mankind. 
 
216 ESSAYS. 
 
 ON THE IMPRESS OF SEAMEN. 
 
 Notes copied from Dr. Franklin's writing in pencil in 
 the margin of Judge Foster's celebrated argument in 
 favour of the Impressing of Sramen (published in 
 the folio edition of his works.) 
 
 JUDGE Foster, p. 158. «< Every Man,"— The con- 
 clusion here from the ivhole to a fiart^ does not seem to 
 be t^ood logic. If the alphabet should say, Let us all 
 fight for the defence of the whole ; that is equal, and 
 may therefore be just. But if they should say, Let A, 
 B, C, and D, go out and fight for us, while we stay at 
 borne and sleep in whole skins; that is not equal, and 
 therefore cannot be just. 
 
 lb. " Employ." — If you please. The word signifies 
 engaging a man to work for me, by offering him such 
 wages as are sufficient to induce him to prefer my ser- 
 vice. This is very different from compelling him to 
 work on such terms as I think proper. 
 
 lb. « This service and employment, Sec." — ^^These 
 are false facts. His employment and service are not 
 the same — Under the merchant he goes in an unarmed 
 vessel, not obliged to fight, but to transport merchan- 
 dise. In the king's service he is obliged to fight, and 
 to hazard all the dangers of battle. Sickness on board 
 of king's ships is also more common and more mortal. 
 The merchant's service too he can quit at the end of 
 
ESSAYS. 217 
 
 the voyrge ; not the king's. Also, the merchant's wa- 
 ges are much higher. 
 
 lb. '* I am very sensible, 8<:c." — Here are two things 
 put in comparison that are not comparable : viz. injury 
 to seamen, and inconvenience to trade. Inconvenience 
 to the v,'hole trade of a nation will not justify injustice 
 to a single seaman. If the trade would suffer without 
 his service, it is able and ought to be willing to offer 
 him such wages as may induce him to afford his ser- 
 vice voluntarily. 
 
 Page 159. " Private mischief must be borne with 
 *' paiience, for preventing a national calamity."—— 
 Where is this maxim in law and good policy to be 
 found? And how can that be a maxim which is not 
 consistent with common sense ? If the maxim had been, 
 that private mischief, which, prevent a national cala- 
 mity, ought to be generously compensated by the 
 n^ation, one might understand it; but that such pri- 
 vate mischiefs are only to be borne with patience, is 
 absurd ! 
 
 lb. « The expedient, Sec. And, Sec," (Paragraphs 
 2 and 3) — Twenty ineffectual or inconvenient schemes 
 will not justify one that is unjust. 
 
 lb. " Upon the foot of, &c " — Your reasoning, in- 
 deed, like a lie, stands but upon oxi^ foot ; truth upon 
 two. 
 
 Page 160. " Full wages." — Probably the same they 
 had in the merchant's service. 
 
 Page 174. " I hardly admit, &c." (Paragraph 5) 
 — When this author speaks of impressing, page 158, 
 he diminishes the horror of the practice as much as 
 possible, by presenting to the mind one sailor only suf- 
 fering hardshifi (as he tenderly calls it) in some /?ar- 
 ticular cases only : and he places against this private 
 mischief the inconvenience to the trade of the king- 
 dom — But if, as he supposes is often the case, the sail- 
 or who is pressed, and obliged to serve for the defence 
 of trade, at the rate of twenty five shillings a nionth, 
 could get three pounds fifteen shillings in the mer- 
 chant's service, you take from him fifty shillings a 
 
 T 
 
218 ESSAYS. 
 
 month : and if you have 100,000 in yonr service, you 
 rob this honest industrious part of society, and their 
 poor fanciiiies of 250,0001. per month, or three millions 
 a year, and at the same time oblige them to hazard 
 their lives in fighting for the defence of your trade ; 
 to the defence of which all ought indeed to contri- 
 bute (and sailors among the rest) in proportion to their 
 profits by it ; but this three millions is more than 
 their share, if they did not pay with their persons ; but 
 when you force that, methinks you should excuse the 
 other. 
 
 But it may be said, to give the king's seamen mer- 
 chant's wages would cost the nation too much, and 
 call for more taxes. The question then will amount 
 to this : whether it be just in a community, that the 
 richer part should compel the poorer to fight in de- 
 fence of them and their properties, for such wages as 
 they think fit to allow, and punish them if they re- 
 fuse ? Our author tells us that it is " legal." 1 have 
 not law enough to dispute his authorities, but I can- 
 not persuade myself that it is equitable. I will, how- 
 ever, own for the present, that it may be lawful when 
 necessary ; but then I contend that it m.ay be used so 
 as to produce the same good effects — the fiublic security 
 without doing so much intolerable injustice as attends 
 the impressing common seamen — ^In order to be bet- 
 ter understood, I v.'ouId premise two things ; First, that 
 voluntary seamen may be had for the service, if they 
 were sufficiently paid. The proof is, th^t to serve in 
 the same ship, and incur the same dangers, you have 
 no occasion to impress captains, lieutenants," second lieu- 
 tenants, miidshipmen, pursers, nor many other officers. 
 Why but that the profits of their places, or the emolu- 
 ments expected, are sufficient inducements ? The busi- 
 ness then is, to find money, by impressing, sufficient to 
 make the sailors all volunteers, as well as their offi- 
 cers ; and this without any fresh burthen upon trade. — - 
 The second of my premises is, that twenty five shil- 
 lings a month, with his share of salt beef, pork, and 
 pease-pudding, being found sufficient for the subsis- 
 
ESSAYS. 219 
 
 tance of a hard-working seaman, it will certainly be so 
 for a sedentary scholar or a gentleman. I would then 
 propose to form a treasury, out of which encourage, 
 ments to seamen should be paid. To fill this treasury, 
 1 would impress a number of civil officers, who at pre- 
 sent have greatf salaries, oblige them to serve in their 
 respective offices for twenty-five shillings a month, with 
 their shares of mess provisions, and throw tiie rest of 
 their salaries into the seamen's treasury. If such a 
 press warrant were given me to execute, the first I 
 would press should be a Recorder of Bristol, or a Mr. 
 Justice Foster, because I might have need of his edify- 
 ing example, to show how much impressing ought to 
 be borne with ; for he would certainly find, that though 
 to be reduced to twenty-five shillings a month might be 
 a firivatc mischiefs yet that, agreeably to his maxim of 
 law and good policy, it ought to be borne nvith patieiire^ 
 for preventing a national calamity. Then I would press 
 the rest of the judges ; and, opening the red book, I 
 would press every civil officer of government from 501. 
 a year salary, up to 50,0001. which would throw an im- 
 mense sum into our treasury : and these gentlemen 
 could not complain, since they would receive twenty- 
 five shillings a month, and their rations; and this with- 
 out being obliged to fight. Lastly, I think I would im- 
 press***. 
 
220 ESSAYS. 
 
 ON THE CRIMINAL LAWS, 
 
 AND- 
 t 
 
 THE PRACTIOE OF PRiVATEERINa 
 
 Letter to Benjamin Vaughan, Esq. 
 
 March 14, 1785. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 AMONG the pamphlets yovv lately sent me, was 
 one, entiticcl, Thoughts on Rxeciu'we Justice. In re- 
 turn for that, I send you one on the same subject, Ob' 
 servations concernant I' Execution de C Article II. ds 
 la Declaration sur le Vol. 'Iliey are both addressed to 
 the judges, and writen, as you will see, in a very differ- 
 ent spirit. The English author is tor hanging «// thieves. 
 The Frenchman is for proportioning punishments to 
 offences. 
 
 If we really believe, as we profess to believe, that 
 the law of Moses was the law of God, the dictates of 
 divine wisdom, infinitely superior to human ; on what 
 principles do we ordain death as the punishjiient of an 
 offence, which, according to that law, was only to be 
 punished by a restitution of four-fold ? To put a man 
 to death for an offence which docs not deserve death, 
 is it not a murder? And, as the French writer says, 
 Doit'On fiueir un delit contre la socieie par uri crime 
 contre la nature. 
 
 Superfluous property is the creature of society. 
 Simple and mild laws were sufficient to guard the pro- 
 
ESSAYS. ' 221 
 
 perty that was merely necessary. The savage's bow, 
 his hatchet, and his coit of skins, were sufficiently se- 
 cured, without law, by the fear of personal resentment 
 and retaliation. When, by virtue of the first laws, 
 part of the society accumulated wealth, and grew pow- 
 erful, they enacted others more severe, and would pro- 
 tect their property at the expence of humanity. This 
 was abusing their power and commencing a tyranny. 
 If a savage, before he entered into society, had been 
 told — " Your neighbour, by this means, may become 
 « owner of an hundred deer ; but if your brother, or 
 " your son, or yourself, having no deer of your own, 
 *' and being hungry, should kill one, an infamous death 
 " must be the consequence :" — he would probably have 
 preferred his liberty, and his common right of killing 
 any deer, to all the advantages of society that might be 
 proposed to him. 
 
 That it is better a hundred guilty persons should es- 
 cape, than that one innocent person should suffer, is a 
 maxim that has been long and generally approved ; 
 never, that I know of controverted. Even the san- 
 guinary author of the Thoughts^ agrees to it, adding 
 well, " that the very thought of injured innocence, 
 *' and much more that of suffering innocence, must 
 " awaken all our tenderest and most compassionate 
 ii feelings, and at the same time raise our highest in- 
 " dignation against the instruments of it. But, (he 
 adds there is no danger of either^ from a strict ad- 
 herence to the laws/' Really 1 — Is it then impossible 
 to make an unjust law? and if the law itself be un- 
 just, may it not be the very " insrument" which ought 
 10 " raise the author's and every body's highest indig- 
 nation ? I see in the last newspapers from London, 
 that a woman is capitally convicted at the Old Bailey, 
 for privately stealing out of a shop some gauze, value 
 fourteen shillings and three-pence : Is there any pro- 
 portion between the injury done by a theft, value 
 fourteen shillings and three pence, and the punishment 
 of a human creature, by death, on a gibbet ? Might 
 not that woman, by her labour, have made the repara^ 
 T 2 
 
222 ESSAYS. 
 
 ration ordained by God, in paying fourfold ? Is not 
 all punishment, inflicted beyond the merit of the of- 
 fence, so much punishment of innocence ? In this light, 
 how vast is the annual quantity, of not only injured but 
 suffering innocence, in al«iost all the civilized states of 
 Europe I 
 
 But it seems to have been thought that this kind of 
 innocence may be punished by way of preventing 
 crimes. I have read, indeed, of a cruel Turk in Bar- 
 bary, who, whenever he bought a new Christian slave, 
 ordered him immediately to be hung up by the legs, 
 and to receive a hundred blows of a cudgel on the soles 
 of his feet, that the severe sense of the punishment, 
 and fear of incurring it thereafter, might prevent the 
 faults that should merit it. Our author himself would 
 hardly approve entirely of this Turk's conduct in the 
 government of slaves ; and yet he appears to recom- 
 mend something like it for the government of English 
 subjects, when he applauds the reply of Judge Burnet 
 to the convict horse-stealer ; who being asked what he 
 had to say why judgment of death should not pass 
 against him, and answering, that it was hard to hang 
 a man for only stealing a horse, was told by the judge, 
 •' Man, thou art not to be hanged only for stealing a 
 horse, but that horses may not be stolen." The man's 
 answer, if candidly examined, will, I imagine, appear 
 reasonable, as being founded on the eternal principle 
 of justice and equity, that punishments should be pro- 
 portioned to offences, and the judge's reply brutal and 
 unreasonable, though the writer " wishes all judges to 
 carry it with them whenever they go to the circuit, 
 and to bear it in their minds, as containing a wise rea- 
 son for all the penal statutes which they are called 
 upon to put in execution. It at once illustrates, says 
 he, the true grounds and reasons of ail capital punish- 
 ments whatsoever, namely, that every man's property, 
 as well as his life, may be held sacred and inviolate." 
 Is there then no difference in value between property 
 and life ; If I think it right that the crime of murder 
 should be punished with death; not only as an equal 
 
ESSAYS. 225 
 
 punishment of the crime, but to prevent other mur- 
 ders, does it follow that I must approve of the same 
 punishment for a little invasion on my property by 
 theft ? If I am not myself so barbarous so bloody- 
 minded, and revengeful, as to kill a fellow-creature 
 for stealing from me fourteen shillings and three- 
 pence, how can I approve of a law that does it ? 
 Montesquieu, \vho was himself a judge, endeavours to 
 impress other maxims. He must have known what 
 humane judges feel on such occasions, and what the 
 effects of those feelings ; and so far from thinking that 
 severe and excessive punishments prevent crimes, he 
 asserts, as quoted by our French writer, that 
 
 " L'atrocite des loix en empeche l*execution. 
 
 " Lorsque la peine est sans mesure, on est souvent oblig^ de 
 ** lui pref^rer I'lmpunite. 
 
 ** La cause destous.les relachemens vient de I'impunit^ des 
 " crimes, et non de la moderation des peines." 
 
 It is said by those who know Europe generally, that 
 there are more thefts committed and punished annually 
 in England than in all the other nations put together. 
 If this be so, there must be a cause or causes for such 
 depravity in our common people. May not one be the 
 deficiency of justice and morality in our national gov- 
 ernment, manifested in our oppressive conduct to sub- 
 jects, and unjust wars on our neighbours? View the 
 long-persisted in, unjust, monopolizing treatment of 
 Ireland, at length acknowledged I View the plunder- 
 ing government exercised by our merchants in the In- 
 dies ; the confiscating war made upon the American 
 colonies ; and, to say nothing of those upon France 
 and Spain, view the late war upon Holland, which was 
 seen by impartial Europe in no other light than that of 
 a war in rapine and pillage ; the hopes of an immense 
 and easy prey being its only apparent, and probably its 
 true and real motive and encouragement Justice is as 
 strictly due between neighbour nations as betvveen 
 
324 ESSAYS. 
 
 neighbour citizens. A highwayman is as much a rob- 
 ber when he plunders in a gang^ as when single ; and 
 a nation that makes an unjust war is only a great 
 gang. After employing your people in robbing the 
 Dutch, is it strange that, being out of that employ by 
 peace, they still continue robbing, and rob one ano- 
 ther ? Piraterie^ as the French call it, or privateer- 
 ing, is the universal bent of the English nation, at 
 home and abroad, wherever settled No less than 
 seven hundred privateers were, it is said, commission- 
 ed in the last war I These were fitted out by mer- 
 chants, to prey upon other merchants, who had never 
 done them any injury. Is there probabably any oiie 
 of those privateering merchants of London, who were 
 so ready to rob the merchants of Amsterdam, that 
 would not as readily plunder another London mer- 
 chant of the next street, if he could do it with the same 
 impunity ! The avidity, the alicni a/ifietens is the same :. 
 it is the fear alone of the gallows that makes the dif- 
 ference. How then can a nation, which, amongst the 
 honestest of its people, has so many thieves by inclina- 
 tion, and whose government encouraged and commis- 
 sioned no less than seven hundred gangs of robbers ; 
 how can such a nation have the face to condemn the 
 crime in individuals, and hang up twenty of them in a 
 morning ! It naturally puts one in mind of a Newgate 
 anecdote. One of the prisoners complained, that in 
 the night somebody had taken the buckles out of his 
 shoes. " What th^ devil !" says another, '* have we 
 then thieves amongst us ? It must not be suffered, Let 
 us search out the rogue, and pump him to death.'* 
 
 There is, however, one late instance of an English 
 merchant who will not profit by such ill-gotten gain. 
 He was, it seems, part owner of a ship, which the 
 other owners thought fit to employ as a letter of 
 marque, and which took a number of French prizes. 
 The booty being shared, he has now an agent here en- 
 quiring, by an advertisement in the Gazette, for those 
 who suffered the loss, in order to make them, as far 
 
ESSAYS. 223 
 
 as in him lies, restitution. This conscientious man is 
 a Quaker. The Scotch Presbyterians were formerly as 
 tender ; for there is still extant an ordinance of the town- 
 council of Edinburgh, made soon after the Reformation, 
 *' forbidding the purchase of prize goods, under puin of 
 losini^ the freedom of the burgh for ever, with other 
 punishment at the will of the magistrate ; the practice 
 of making prizes being contrary to good conscience, 
 and the rule of treating Christian brethren as we would 
 wish to be treated ; and such goods are not to be sold by 
 godly men within this burgh''* — The race of these godly 
 men in Scotland is probably extinct, or their principles 
 abandoned, since, as far as that nation had a hand in 
 promoting the war against the colonies, prizes and 
 confiscations are believed to have been a considerable 
 motive. 
 
 It has been for some time a generally received opin- 
 ion, that a military man is not to enquire whether a 
 war be just or unjust ; he is to execute his orders.— 
 All princes who are disposed to become tyrants, must 
 probably approve of this opinion, and be willing to 
 establish it ; but is it not a dangerous one ? since, on 
 that principle, if the tyrant commands his army to at- 
 tack and destroy, not only an unoffending neighbour 
 nation, but even his own subjects, the army is bound 
 to obey. A negro slave, in our colonies, being com- 
 manded by his master to rob or murder a neighbour, or 
 do any other immoral act, may refuse ; and the ma- 
 gistrate will protect him in his refusal. The slavery 
 then of a soldier is worse than that of a negro; A con- 
 scientious officer, if not restrained by the apprehension 
 of its being imputed to another cause, may indeed re- 
 sign, rather than be employed in an unjust war, but 
 the private men are slaves for life ; and they are per- 
 haps incapable of judging for themselves. We can 
 only lament their fate, and still more that of a sailor, 
 who is often dragged by force from his honest occupa- 
 tion, and compelled to imbrue his hands in perhaps in- 
 nocent blood. But methinks it well behoves mer- 
 chants (men more enlightened by their education, and 
 
226 ESSAYS. 
 
 perfectly free from any such force or obligation) to con- 
 sider well of the justice of a war, before they volun- 
 tarily engage a gang of ruffians to attack their fellow- 
 merchants of a neighbouring nation, to plunder them of 
 their property, and perhaps ruin them and their fami- 
 lies, if they yield it*, or to wound, maim, and murder 
 them, if they attempt to defend it. Yet these things 
 are done by Christian merchants, whether a war be 
 just or unjust; and it can hardly be just on both sides. 
 They are done by English and American merchants, 
 who, nevertheless, complain of private theft, and hang 
 by dozens the thieves they have taught by their own 
 example. 
 
 It is high time, for the sake of humanity, that a stop 
 were put to this enormity. The United States of 
 America, though better situated than any European 
 nation to make profit by privateering, (most of the 
 trade of Europe with the West-Indies passing before 
 their doors) are, as far as in them lies, endeavouring 
 to abolish the practice, by offering, in all their treaties 
 with other powers, an article, engaging solemuJy, that 
 in case of future war, no privateer shall be commission- 
 ed on either side ; and that unarmed merchant-ships, 
 on both sides, shall pursue their voyages unmolested.* 
 This will be a happy improvement of the law of nations. 
 The humane and the just cannot but wish general success 
 to the proposition. 
 
 ^Vith unchangeable esteem and affection, 
 1 am, my dear friends, 
 
 Ever yours. 
 
 ireaty of amity and commerce was concluded between that monarch 
 and the United States, containing the fbllowins^ humane, pbilan- 
 tliropic article, in the formation of which Dr. Franklin, as one of 
 the American plenipotentiaries, wiis principally concerned, viz. 
 
 ART. XXIII. 
 
 If war sliould arise between the two contracting parties, the 
 merchants of either country, tlien residing in the other, shall be ui- 
 
ESSAYS. ^2t 
 
 REMARKS CONCERNING THE SAVAGES OF 
 NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 SAVAGES we call them, because their manners dif- 
 fer from ours, which we think the perfection of civility; 
 they think the same of theirs. 
 
 Perhaps, if we could examine the manners of diffe- 
 rent nations with impartiality, we should find no people 
 so rude as to be without any rules of politeness, nor any 
 so polite as not to have some remains of rudeness. 
 
 lowed to remain nine months to collect their debts and settle their 
 aflairs, and may depart freely, carrying off their effects without 
 molestation or hindrance : and all women and children, scholars of 
 every faculty, cultivators of the earth, artizans, manufacturers, 
 and fishermen, unarmed and inhabiting- unfortified towns, villag-es, 
 or places, and in general all others whose occupations are for the 
 common subsistence and benefit of mankind, shall be allowed to con- 
 tinue their respective employments, and shall not be molested in 
 their persons, nor shall their houses or goods be burned, or other- 
 Wise destroyed, nor tlieir fields wasted, by the armed force of the 
 enemy into whose power, by the events of war, they may happen to 
 fall ; but if any thing is necessary to be taken from them for the use 
 of such armed force, the same shall be paid for at a reasonable price. 
 •— x\nd all mercliant and trading vessels employed in exchanging 
 the products of different places, and thereby rendering the neces- 
 saries, conveniences, and comforts of human life more easy to be 
 obtained, and more general, shall be allowed to pass free and un- 
 molested; and neither of the contracting powers shall grant or issue 
 any commission to any private armed vessels, empowering them to 
 take or destroy such trading vessels, or interrupt such commerce. 
 
228 ESSAYS. 
 
 The Indian men, when yoiinj^, are hunters and war- 
 riors ; when old, counsellors; for all their government 
 is by the counsel or advice of sages ; there is no force, 
 there are no prisons, no officers to compel obedience, 
 or inflict punishment. Hence they generally study 
 oratory ; the best speaker having the most influence. 
 The Indian women till the ground, dress the food, 
 nurse and bring up the children, and preserve and 
 liand down to posterity the memory of public trans- 
 actions. These employments of men and women are 
 accounted natural and honourable. Having few arti- 
 ficial wants, they have abundance of leisure for im- 
 provement by conversation. Our laborious manner 
 of life, compared with theirs, they esteem slavish and 
 base ; and the learning on which we value ourselves, 
 they regard as frivolous and useless. An instance of 
 this occurred at the treaty of Lancaster, in Pennsylva- 
 nia, anno 1744, between the government of Virginia 
 and the Six nations. After the principal business was 
 setted, the commissioners from Virginia acquainted 
 the Indians by a speech, that there was at Williams- 
 burg a college, with a fund, for educating Indian youth; 
 and that if the chiefs of the Six Nations would send 
 down half a dozen of their sons to that college, the go- 
 vernment would take care that they should be well pro- 
 vided for, and instructed in all the learning of the white 
 people. It is one of the Indian rules of politeness not to 
 answer a public proposition the same day that it is made; 
 they think it would be treating it as a light matter; 
 and they shew it respect by taking time to consider it, 
 as of a matter important. They therefore deferred 
 their answer till the day following ; when their speak- 
 er began, by expressing their deep sense of the kind- 
 ness of the Virginia government, in making them that 
 offer ; *' for we know (says he) that you highly esteem 
 the kind of learning taught in those colleges, and that 
 the maintenance of our young men, while with you, 
 would be very expensive to you. We are convinced, 
 therefore, that you mean to do us good by your propo- 
 sal, and we thank you heartily. But you who are 
 
ESSAYS. 229 
 
 wise must know, that different nations have different 
 conceptions of things; and you will therefore not take 
 it amiss, if our ideas of this kind of education happen 
 not to be the same with yours. We have had some 
 experience of it : several of our young people were 
 formerly brought up at the colleges of the northern 
 provinces ; they were instructed in all your sciences ; 
 but when they came back to us, they were bad run- 
 ners : ignorant of every means of living in the woods ; 
 unable to bear either cold or hunger ; knew neither 
 how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy; 
 spoke our language imperfectly ; were therefore nei" 
 ther fit for hunters, warriors, or counsellers ; they were 
 totally good for nothing. We are however not the 
 less obliged by your kind offer, though we decline ac- 
 cepting it : and to show our grateful sense of it, if the 
 gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their 
 sons, we will take great care of their education, in- 
 struct them in all we know, and make rjieii of them.'* 
 
 Having frequent occasion to hold public councils, 
 they have acquired great order nnd decency in con- 
 ducting them. The old men sit in the foremost ranks, 
 the warriors in the next, and the women and children 
 in the hindmost. The business of the women is to 
 take exact notice of what passes, imprint it in their 
 memories, for they have no writing, and communicate 
 it to their children. They are the records of the 
 council, and they preserve tradition of the stipulations 
 in treaties a hundred years back ; which, when we 
 compare with our writings, we always find exact. He 
 that would speak rises. The rest observe a profound 
 silence. When he has finished, and sits down, thfey 
 leave him five or six minutes to recollect, that, if he 
 has omitted any thing he intended to say, or has any 
 thing to add, he may rise again, arid deliver it. To 
 interrupt another, even in commmon conversation, is 
 reckoned highly indecent. How different this is from 
 the conduct of a polite British House of Commons, 
 where scarce a day passes, without some confusion, 
 thar^fnakes the speaker hoarse in calling to order ; and 
 U 
 
230 ESSAYS. 
 
 how different from the mode of conversation in many 
 polite companies of Europe, where if you do not de- 
 liver your sentence with great rapidity, you are cut 
 off in the middle of it by the impatient loquacity of 
 those you converse with, and never suffered to finish 
 it! ^ 
 
 The politeness of these savages in conversation, is 
 indeed, carried to excess; since it does not permit 
 them to contradict or deny the truth of what is as- 
 serted in their presence. By this means they indeed 
 avoid disputes ; but then it becomes difficult to know 
 their minds, or what impression you make upon them. 
 The missionaries who have attempted to convert them 
 to Christianity, all complain of this as one of the great 
 difficulties of their mission. The lndi.jns hear with 
 patience the truths of the gospel explained to them, 
 and give their usual tokens of i-.ssent and approbation : 
 you would think they were convinced. No such mattert 
 It is mere civility. 
 
 A Swedish minister having assembled the chiefs of 
 the Susquehannah Indians, made a sermon to them, 
 acquainting them with the principle historical facts on 
 which our religion is founded : such as the fall of our 
 first parents by eatint^ an apple ; the coming of Christ 
 to repair the mischief; his miracles and sufferings, Sec. 
 — When he had finished, an iiidian orator stood up to 
 thank him. *' W hat you have told us,'* says he, " is all 
 very good. It is indeed bad to eat apples. It is bet- 
 ter to make them all into cyder. We are much obliged 
 by your kindness in coming so far to tell us those things 
 which you have heard ftom your mothers. In return 
 I will tell you some of those we have heard from 
 ours. 
 
 '' In the beginning, our fathers had only the flesh 
 of animals to subsist on ; and if their hunting was un- 
 successful, they were starving. Two of our young 
 hunters having killed a deer, made a fire in the woods 
 to broil some parts of it. When they were about to 
 satisfy their hunger, they beheld a beautiful young 
 woman descend from the clouds, and seat hersel*^'^ on 
 
ESSAYS. 251 
 
 th:^t hill which you see yonder amon^ the Blue Moun- 
 tains. They said to each other, it is a spirit that per- 
 haps has smelt our broiling venison, and wishes to eat 
 of it : let us offer some to her. They presented her 
 with the tongue : she was pleased with the taste of it, 
 and said, your kindness shall be rewarded. Come to 
 this place after thirteen moons, and you shall find 
 something that will he of great benefit in nourishing 
 you and your children to the latest generations. They 
 did so, and to their surprise found plants they had ne- 
 ver seen before ; but which from that ancient time, 
 haye been constantly cultivated among us, to our great 
 advantage. Where her right hand had touched the 
 ground, they found maize ; where her left hand had 
 touched it, they found kidney-beans; and where her 
 backside had sat on it, they found tobacco." The 
 good missionary, disgusted with this idle tale, said. 
 What I delivered to you, were sacred truths ; but 
 what you tell me, is mere fable, fiction and falsehood." 
 The Indian, offended, replied, <* My brother, it seems 
 your friends have not done you justice in your educa- 
 tion : they have not well instructed you in the rules of 
 common civility. You saw that we, who understand 
 and practice those rules, believed all your stories, why 
 do you refuse to believe ours ?" 
 
 When any of them come into our towns, our people 
 are apt to croud round them, gaze upon them, and 
 incommode them where they desire to be private ; this 
 they esteem great rudeness, and the effect of the want 
 of instruction in tlie rules of civility and good man- 
 ners. *» We have," say they, " as much curiosity as 
 " you, and when you come into our towns, we wish 
 " for opportunities of looking at you ; but for this 
 " purpose we hide ourselves behind bushes where you 
 ^* are to pass, and never intrude ourselves into your 
 " company." 
 
 Their manner of entering one another's villages has 
 likewise its rules. It is reckoned uncivil in travelling 
 gtrangers to enter a village abruptly, without giving 
 i^otice of their approach, Therefore, as soon as they 
 
232 ESSAYS. 
 
 arrive within hearing, they stop and hollow, remaining 
 there till invited to enter. Two old men usually conne 
 out to them, and lead them in. There is in every vil- 
 lage a vacant dwelling, called the strangers' house. 
 Here they are placed, while the old men go round from 
 hut to hut, acquainting the inhabitants that strangers 
 are arrived, v/ho are probably hungry and weary ; and 
 every one sends them wluit he can spare of victuals, 
 and skins to repose on. When the strangers are re- 
 freshed, pipes and tobacco are brought ; and then, but 
 not before, conversation begins, with enquiries who 
 they are, whither bound, what news. Sec. and- it usu- 
 ally ends with offers of service ; if the strangers have 
 occasion of guides, or any necessaries for continuing 
 their journey ; and nothing is exacted for the enter- 
 tainment. 
 
 The same hospitality, esteemed among them as a 
 principal virtue, is practised by private persons; bf 
 "which Conrad IVeiser^ our interpreter, gave me the 
 following instance. He had been naturalized among 
 the Six Nations, and spoke well the Mohawk language. 
 In going through the Indian country, to carry a mes- 
 sage from our governor to the council at Onondago^ he 
 called at the habitation of Canassetego, an old acquain- 
 tance, who embraced him, spread furs for him to sit 
 on, placed before him some boiled beans and venison, 
 and mixed some rum and water for his drink. When 
 he was well refreshed, and had lit his pipe, Canassete- 
 go began to converse with him : asked how he had 
 fared the many years since they had seen each other, 
 whence he then came, what occasioned the journey, 
 &c. Conrad answered all his questions ; and when the 
 discourse began to flag, the Indian, to continue it, said, 
 *• Conrad, you have lived long among the white people, 
 and know something of their customs : I have been 
 sometimes at Albany, and have observed, that once 
 in seven days they shut up their shops, and assemble 
 all in the great house ; tell me what that is for ! What 
 do they do there ?" " They meet there," says Conrad, 
 *' to hear and learn good things.** " I do not doubt says 
 
ESSAYS.. ^oo 
 
 th« Indian, " that they tell you so ; they have tol^l me 
 the same ; but I doubt the truth of what they say, and 
 I will tell you my reasons. I went lately to Albany, to 
 sell my skins, and buy blankets, knives, powder, rum, 
 &c. You know I used generally to deal with Hans 
 Hanson ; but I was a Utile inclined this time to try 
 some other merchants. However, I called first upon 
 Hans, and asked him what he would give for beaver. 
 He said that he could not give more than four shillings 
 a poHud ; but, says he, I cannot talk on business now, 
 this is the day when we meet together to learn good 
 thingsy and I am going to the meeting. So I thought 
 to myself, since I cannot do any business to-day, I may 
 as well go to the meeting too, and I went with him. 
 There stood up a man in black, and began to talk to 
 the people very angrily, I did not understand what he 
 said, but perceiving that he looked much at me and at 
 Hanson, 1 imagined he was angry at seeing me there ; 
 so I ^fent out, sat down near the house, struck fire, 
 and lit my pipe, waiting till the meeting should break 
 up. I thought too that the man had mentioned some- 
 thing of beaver, and I suspected it might be the sub- 
 ject of their meeting. So when they came out I accost- 
 ed my merchant. *' Well, Hans,** says I, " I hope you 
 «' have agreed to give more than four shillings a pound," 
 " No,'* says he, " I cannot give so much, I cannot 
 " give more than three shillings and six-pence.'* I 
 then spoke to several other dealers, but they all sung 
 the same song, three and six-pence, three and six- 
 pence. This made it clear to me that my suspicion was 
 right ; and that whatever they pretended of meeting 
 to learn good things^ the purpose was to consult how to 
 cheat Indians m the price of beaver. Consider but a 
 little Conrad, and you must be of my opinion. If they 
 met so often to learn good t/iings, they would certainly 
 have learned some before this time. But they are still 
 ignorant. You know our practice. ,If a white man, in 
 ^travelling through our country, enters one of our cabins 
 
 U 2 
 
234 ESSAYS. 
 
 we all treat him as I do you ; we dry him if he is wet ; 
 we warm him if he is cold, and give him meat and 
 drink, that he may allay his thirst and hunger ; and we 
 spread soft furs for him to rest and sleep on : we de- 
 mand nothing in return.* But if I go into a white man's 
 house at Albany, and ask for victuals and drink, they 
 say, get out, you Indian dog. You see they have not 
 yet learned those little ^ood things that we need no 
 meetings to be instructed in, because our mothers 
 taught them to us when we were children : and there- 
 fore it is impossible their meetings should be, as they 
 say, for any such purpose, or have any such effect ; they 
 are only to contrive the cheating of Indians in the price 
 of beaver,** 
 
 * It is remarkable, that in all ages and countries, hospital^ 
 ity has been allowed as the virtue of those, whom the civil- 
 ized were pleased to call Barbarians ; the Greeks celebrated 
 the Scythians for it. The Saraoens possessed it eminently, 
 and it is to this day the reigning virtue of the wild Arabs. 
 St. Paul too, in the relation of his voyage and shipwreck on 
 the island of Melita, say, '• The barbarous people shewed us 
 " no little kindness ; for they kindled a fire, and received us 
 *• every one, because of the present rain, and because of the 
 " cold." T'his note is taken from a small collection of Frank- 
 lin's papers, printed for Dilly, 
 
ESSAYS. 235 
 
 TO M. DUBOURG, 
 
 CONCERNING THE DISSENTIONS BETWEEN 
 ENGLAND AND AMERICA. 
 
 London, October, 2, 1770. 
 
 I SEE with pleasure that we think pretty much 
 alike upon the subject of English America. We of the 
 colonies have never insisted that we ought to be ex- 
 empt from contributing to the common expences ne- 
 cessary to support the prosperity of the empire. We 
 only assert, that having parliaments of our own, and 
 not having representatives in that of Great Britain, 
 our parliaments are the only judges of what we can 
 and what we ought to contribute in this case : and 
 that the English parliament has no right to take our 
 money without our consent. In fact, the British em- 
 pire is not a single state ; it comprehends many; and 
 though the parliament of Great Britain has arrogated 
 to itself the power of taxing the colonies, it has no 
 more right to do so, than it has to tax Hanover, We 
 have the same king, but not the same legislatures. 
 
 The dispute between the two countries has already 
 cost England many millions sterling, which it has lost 
 in its commerce, and America has in this respect been 
 a proportionable gainer. This commerce consisted 
 principally of superfluities ; objects of Luxury and fash- 
 ion, which we can well do without ; and the resolution 
 we have formed of importing no more till our grievan- 
 ces are redressed, has enabled many of our infant man- 
 ufactures to take root ; and it will not be easy to make 
 
235 ESSAYS. 
 
 our people abandon them in future, even should a con 
 nection more cordial than ever succeed the preseD' 
 troubles. — I have, indeed, no doubt that the parliamen; 
 of England will finally abandon its present pretensions, 
 and leave to us the peaceable enjoyment of our rights 
 and privileges. 
 
 B. FRANKLIN. 
 
 A COMPARISON. 
 
 OF THE CONDUCT OF THE ANCIENT JEWp, 
 
 AND OF THE ANTIFEDERALISTS IN THE 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 A ZEALOUS advocate for the proposed Federal 
 Constitution, in a certain public assembly, said, that 
 " the repugnance of a great part of mankind to good 
 " government was such, that he believed that if an 
 « angel from heaven was to bring down a consdtu- 
 " tion formed there for our use, it would nevertheless 
 " meet with violent opposition.'* — He was reproved 
 for the supposed extravagance of the sentiment ; and 
 he did not justify it. — Piobably it might not have im- 
 mediately occurred to him that the experiment had been 
 tried, and that the event was recorded in the most faith- 
 ful of all histories, the Holy Bible ; otherwise he might, 
 as it seems to me, have supported his opinion by that 
 unexceptionable authority. 
 
 The Supreme Being had been pleased to nourish up 
 a single family, by continueil acts of his attentive Pro- 
 vidence, 'till it became a great people : and having 
 rescued them from bondage by many miracles perform-- 
 
ESSAYS- 2S7 
 
 ed by his servant Moses, he personally delivered to that 
 chosen servant, in presence of the whole nation, a con- 
 stitution and code of laws for their observance ; accom- 
 panied and sanctioned with promises of great rewards, 
 and threats of severe punishments, as the consequence 
 of their obedience, or disobedience. 
 
 This constitution, though the Deity himself was to be 
 at its head, (and it is therefore called by political writers 
 a Theocracy) could not be carried into execution but by 
 means of his ministers ; Aaron and his sons were there- 
 fore commissioned to be, with Moses, the first establish- 
 ed ministry of the new government. 
 
 One would have thought, that the appointment of 
 men who had distinguished themselves in procuring the 
 liberty of the nation, and had hazarded their lives in 
 openly opposing the will of a powerful monarch who 
 would have retained that nation in slavery, might have 
 been an appointment acceptable to a grateful people ; 
 and that a constitution, framed for them by the Deity 
 himself, might on that account have been secure of an 
 universal welcome reception. Yet there were, in 
 every one of the thirteen tribes, some discontented rest- 
 less spirits, who were continually exciting them to re- 
 ject the proposed new government, and this from vari- 
 ous motives. 
 
 Many still retained an affection for Egypt, the land 
 of their nativity, and these, whenever they felt any in- 
 convenience or hardship, through the natural and un- 
 avoidable effect of their change of situation, exclaimed 
 against their leaders as the authors of their trouble ; 
 and were not only for returning into Egypt, but for 
 stoning their deliverers.* Those inclined to idolatry 
 were displeased that their golden calf was destroyed. 
 Many of the chiefs thought the new constitution might 
 be injurious to their particular interests, that the pro* 
 fitable places would be engrossed by the families and 
 
 Numbers chap. xvi. 
 
238 ESSAYS. 
 
 friends of Moses and Aaron^ and othets equally well- 
 born excluded.* — In Josephus, and the Talmud, we 
 learn some particulars, not so fully narrated in the 
 scripture, We are there told, " that Korah was am- 
 bitious of the priesthood ; and offended that it was 
 conferred on Aaron : and this, as he said, by the au- 
 thority of Moses only, nvithout the consent of the fieo- 
 file. He accused Moses of having, by various artifices, 
 fraudently obtained the government, and deprived the 
 people of their liberties ; and of conspiring with Aaron 
 to perpetuate the tyranny in their family. Thus, 
 though Korah's real motive was the supplanting of 
 Aaron, he persuaded the people that he meant only 
 the public good : and they, moved by his insinuations, 
 began to cry out — "Let us maintain the common li- 
 berty of our respective tribes ; we have freed ourselves 
 from the- slavery imposed upon us by the Egyptians, 
 and shall we suffer ourselves to be made slaves by 
 Moses ? If we must have a master, it were better to 
 return to Pharoah, who at least fed us with bread and 
 onions, than to serve this new tyrant, who by his ope- 
 rations has brought us into danger of famine." Then 
 they called in question the reality of his conference 
 with God; and objected to the privacy of the meet- 
 ings, and the preventing any of the people from being 
 present at the colloquies, or even approaching the 
 place, as grounds of great suspicion. They accused 
 Moses also of peculation ; as embezzling part of the 
 golden spoons and the silver chargers, that the princes 
 had offered at the dedication of the altar,t and the of- 
 ferings of the gold of the common people,^ as well as 
 
 * Numbers, chap. xvi. ver. 3. " And they gathered them- 
 selves together against Moses and Aaron, and said unto them. 
 Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregations are 
 holy, every one of them — wherefore then lift ye up yourselves 
 above the congregation ?'* 
 
 t Numbers, ch. vii. % Exodus, ch. xxxv. ver. 22. 
 
ESSAYS. 23^ 
 
 tnost of the poll-tax ;* and Aaron they accused of 
 pocketing much of the gold of which he pretended to 
 have made a molten calf. Besides peculation, they 
 charged Moses with ambition ; to gratify which pas- 
 sion, he had, they said, deceived the people, by promis- 
 ing to bring them to a land flowing with milk and ho- 
 ney ; instead of doing which, he had brought them 
 from such a land ; and that he thought light of this 
 mischief, provided he could make himself an absolute 
 Jirince.-f That, to support the new dignity with splen- 
 dour in his family, the partial poll-tax already levied 
 and given to Aaron^ was to be followed by a general 
 onell, which would probably be augmented from time 
 to time, if he were suffered to go on promulgating new 
 laws on pretence of new occasional revelations of the 
 divine will, till their whole fortunes were devoured by 
 that aristocracy/* 
 
 IVloses denied the charge of peculation ; and his ac- 
 cusers were destitute of proofs to support it ; though 
 facts, if real, are in their nature capable of proof. " I 
 have not," said he, (with holy confidence in the pre- 
 sence of God) *' I have not taken from this people the 
 value of an ass, nor done them any other injury." — . 
 But his enemies had made the charge, and with some 
 success among the populace ; for no kind of accusation 
 is so readily made, or easily believed, by knaves, as the 
 accusation of knavery. 
 
 in fine, no less than two hundred and fifty of the 
 principal men, *' famous in the congregation, men of 
 
 ♦ Numbers, ch. iii. and Exodus, ch. xxx^ 
 
 f Numbers, ch. xvi. ver. 13. " Is it a small thing that 
 thou hast brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and 
 honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself 
 altogether a prince over us ?'* 
 
 X Numbers, ch. iii. i Fxodus, ch. xxx. 
 
240 ESSAYS. 
 
 renown,"* heading and exciting the mob working 
 them up to such a pitch of phrensy, that they called 
 out, stone 'em, stone 'em, and thereby secure our liber- 
 ties : and let us choose other captains that may lead us 
 back into Egypt, in case we do not succeed in reducing 
 the Canaanites. 
 
 On the whole, it appears that the Israelites were a 
 people jealous of their newly acquired liberty, which 
 jealousy was in itself no fault ; but that when they suf- 
 fered it to be worked upon by artful men, pretending 
 public good, with nothing really in view but private 
 interest, they were led to oppose the establishment of 
 the new constitution, whereby they brought upon them- 
 selves much inconvenience and misfortune. It farther 
 appears from the same inestimable history, that when, 
 after many ages, the constitution had become old and 
 much abused, that an amendment of it was proposed, 
 the populace, as they had accused Moses of the ambi- 
 tion of making himseJf a prince, and cried out, stone 
 him, stone him ; so, excited by their high-priests and 
 scribes, they exclaimed against the Messiah, that he 
 aimed at becoming king of the Jews, and cried, crucify 
 him, crucify him. From all which we may gather, that 
 popular opposition to a public measure, is no proof of 
 its impropriety, even though the opposition be excited 
 and headed by men of distinction. 
 
 To conclude, I beg I may not be understood to in- 
 fer, that our general convention was divinely iospired 
 when it formed the new federal constitution, merely 
 because that constitution has been unreasonably and 
 vehemently opposed : yet, I must own, I have so much 
 faith in the general government of the world by Pro- 
 vidence, that I can hardly conceive a transaction of 
 such momentous importance to the welfare of millions 
 now existing, and to exist in the posterity of a great 
 nation, should be suffered to pass without being in some 
 degree influenced, guided, and governed by that omni- 
 
 ♦ Numbers, ch. xvi. 
 
ESSAYS. 241 
 
 potent, omnipresent and benificent Ruler, in whom 
 all inferior spirits live, and move, and have their be- 
 ing. 
 
 THE INTERNAL STATE OF AMERICA. 
 
 Being a true Descrifition of the Interests and Policy 
 of that vast Continent. 
 
 TFIERE is a tradition, that, in the planting of 
 New EiiiJland, the first settlers met with many diffi- 
 culties and hardships ; as is generally the case when a 
 civilized people attempt establishing themselves in a 
 wilderness country. Being piously disposed, they sought 
 relief from Heaven, by laying their wants and distres- 
 ses before the Lord, in frequent- set days of fasting and 
 prayer. Constant meditation and discourse on these 
 subjects kept their minds gloomy and discontented ; 
 and: like the children of Israel, there were many dispo- 
 sed to return to that Egypt which persecution had in- 
 duced them to abandon. At length, when it was pro- 
 posed in the assembly to proclaim another fast, a far- 
 mer of plain sense rose, and remarked, that the incon- 
 veniences they suffered, and concerning which they had 
 so often wearied Heaven with their complaints, were 
 not so great as they might have expected, and were 
 diminishing every day, as the colony strengthened ; 
 that the earth began to reward their labour, and to 
 furnish liberally for their subsistence ; that the seas and 
 rivers were found full of fish , the air sweet, and the* 
 climate healthy ; and above all, that they were there 
 in the full enj(;yment of liberty, civ'l and religious : 
 he therefore thou^;ht, that reflecting and coiivefbing 
 
 X, 
 
242 ESSAYS. 
 
 on these subjects would be more confortable, as tend- 
 ing more to make them contented with their situation ; 
 and that it would be more becoming the gratitude 
 they owed to the Divine Being, if, instead of a fast, 
 they should proclaim a thanksgiving. His advice was 
 taken, and from that day to this they have, in every 
 year, observed circumstances of public felicity suffi- 
 cient to furnish employment for a thanksgiving day, 
 %vhich is therefore constantly ordered and religiously 
 observed. 
 
 I see in the public newspapers of different states 
 frequent complaints of hard times^ deadness of trade, 
 scarcity of money ^ Sec. &c. It is not my intention to 
 assert or maintain that these complaints are entirely 
 without foundation. There can be no country or na- 
 tion existing, in which there will not be some peoole 
 so circumstanced as to find it hard to gain a livelihood ; 
 people who are not in the way of any profitable trade, 
 and with whom money is scarce, because they have 
 nothing to give in exchange for it ; and it is always 
 in the power of a small number to make a great cla- 
 mour. But let us take a cool view of the general state 
 of our affairs, and perhaps the prospect will appear 
 less gloomy than has been imagined. 
 
 The great business of the continent is agriculture. 
 For one artisan, or merchant, I suppose we have at 
 least one hundred farmers, and by far the greatest part 
 cultivators of their own fertile lands, from whence 
 many of them draw not only food necessary for their 
 subsistence, but the materials of their clothing, so as 
 to need very few foreign supplies : while they have 
 a surplus of productions to dispose of, whereby wealth 
 is gradually accumulated. Such has been the goodness 
 of Divine Providence to these regions, and so favour- 
 able the climate, that, since the three or four years of 
 hardship in the first settlement of our fathers here, a 
 famine or scarcity has never been heard of amongst 
 us; on the contrary, though some years may have 
 been more, and others less plentiful, there has always 
 been provision enough for ourselves, and a quantity to 
 
ESSAYS, 243 
 
 spare for exportation. And although the crops of last 
 year were generally good, never was the iarnier bet- 
 ter paid for the part he can spare commerce, as the 
 published price currents abundantly testify. The lands 
 he possesses are continually rising in value with the 
 increase of population ; and, on the whole, he is 
 enabled to give such good wages to those who work for 
 him, that ail who are acquainted with the old world 
 must agree, that in no part of it are the labouring poor 
 so generally well fed, well clothed, well lodged, and 
 well paid, as in the United States of America. 
 
 If we enterthe cities, we find that, since the revo- 
 lution, the owners of houses and lots of ground have 
 had their interest vastly augmented in value; rents 
 have risen to an astonishing height, and thence encou- 
 ragement to increase building, which gives employ- 
 ment to an abundance of workmen, as does also the in- 
 creased luxury and splendour of living of the inhabi- 
 tants thus made richer. These workmen all demand 
 and obtain much higher wages than any other part of 
 the world could afford them, and are paid in ready 
 money. This rank of people therefore do not, or ought 
 not, to complain of hard times ; and they make a very 
 considerable part of the city inhabitants. 
 
 At the distance I live from our American fisheries, 
 I cannot speak of them with any degree of certainty ; 
 but I have not heard that the labour of the valuable 
 race of men employed in them is worse paid, or that 
 they meet with less success, than before the revolution. 
 The whale-men, indeed have been deprived of one 
 market for their oil ; but another, I hear, is opening 
 for them, which it is hoped may be equally advantage- 
 ous ; and the demand is constantly increasing for their 
 spermaceti candles, which there bear a much higher 
 price than formerly. 
 
 There remain the merchants and shop-keepers. Of 
 these, though they make but a small part of the whole 
 nation, the number is considerable, too great indeed for 
 the business ihey are employed in ; for the consump- 
 tion of goods in every country has its limits ; the ta- 
 
244i ESSAYS 
 
 culties of the people, that is, their ability to buy and 
 pay, is equal only to a certain quantity of merchan- 
 dise. If merchants calculate amiss on their propor- 
 tion and import too much, they will of course find the 
 sale dull for the overplus, and some of them will say 
 that trade languishes. They should, and doubtless- 
 will grow wiser by experience, and import less. If 
 too many artificers in town, and farmers from the coun- 
 try, flattering themselves with the idea of leading 
 easier lives, turn shop-keepers, the whole natural 
 quantity of that business divided among them all may 
 afford too small a share for each, and occasion com- 
 plaints that trading is dead ; these may also suppose 
 that it is owing to scarcity of money, while in fact, it 
 is not so much from the fewness of buyers, as from 
 the excessive number of sellers, that the mischief ari- 
 sen; and, if every ahop-keeping farmer and mechanic 
 would return to the use of his plough and working 
 tools, there would remain of widows, and other women, 
 shop-keepers sufficient for the business, which might 
 then aftbrd them a comfortable maintenance. 
 
 Whoever has travelled through the various parts of 
 Europe, and observed how small is the proportion of 
 people in affluence or easy circumstances there, com- 
 pared with those in poverty and misery ; the few rich 
 and haughty landlords, the multitude of poor, abject, 
 rack-rented, tythe-paying tenants, and half-paid and 
 half-starved ragged labourers ; and views here the hap- 
 py mediocrity that so generally prevails throughout 
 these states, where the cultivator works for himself, 
 and supports his family in decent plenty ; will, me- 
 thinks, see abundant reason to bless Divine Providence 
 for the evident and great difference in our favour, anxl 
 be convinced that no nation known to us enjoys a 
 greater share of human felicity. 
 
 It is true, that in some of the states there are parties 
 and discords ; but let us look back, and ask if we were 
 ever without them ? Such will exist wherever there is. 
 liberty ; and perhaps they help to preserve it. By the 
 collision of different sentiments, sparks of trath are 
 
ESSAYS. 245 
 
 struck out, and political light is obtained. The dif- 
 ferent factions, which at present divide us, aim ail at 
 the public g;ood ; the differerices are only about the 
 various modes of promoting it. Things, actions, 
 measures, and objects of all kinds, present themselves 
 to the minds of men in such a variety of lights, that 
 it is not possible we should all think alike at the same 
 time on every subject, when hardly the same man re- 
 tains at all times the same ideas of it. Parties are 
 therefore the common lot of humanity ; and ours are 
 by no means more mischievous or less beneficial than 
 those of other countries, nations, and ages, enjoying 
 in the same degree the great blessing of political li- 
 berty. 
 
 Some indeed among us are not so mucb grieved for 
 the present state of our affairs, as apprehensive for the 
 future. The growtn of luxury alarms them, and they 
 think we are from that alone in the high road to ruin. 
 Tiiey observe, that no revenue is sufficient without 
 ceconomy, and that the most plentiful income of a 
 whole people from the natural productions of their 
 country may be dissipated in vain and needless expences 
 
 and poverty be introduced in the place of affiuence. 
 
 This may be possible. It however rarely happens ; for 
 there seems to be in every nation a greater proportion 
 of industry and frugality, which tend to enrich, than 
 of idleness and prodigality, which occasion poverty ; 
 so that upon the whole there is a continual accumula- 
 tion. R'jflect what Spain, Gaul, Germany, and Bri- 
 tain were in the time of the Romans, inhabited by 
 people little richer than our savages, and consider the 
 wealth they at present possess, in numerous well built 
 cities, improved farms, rich moveables,- magazines 
 stocked with valuable manufactures, to say nothing of 
 pla'e jewels, and coined money ; and all this, not- 
 withstanding their bad, wasteful, plundering govern- 
 ments, and their mad destructive wars ; and yet lux- 
 ury and extravagant living has never suffered much re- 
 straint in those countries. Then consider the great 
 proportion of industrious frugal farmers inhabiting the 
 X2 
 
246 ESSAtS*.-' 
 
 interior parts of these American states, and of whon* 
 the body of our nation consists, and judge whether it is 
 possible that the luxury of our sea-ports can be suffi- 
 cient to ruin such a country — If the importation of for- 
 eign luxuries could ruin a people, we should proba- 
 bly have been ruined long ago ; for the British nation 
 claimed a right, and practised it, of importing among 
 us not only the superfluities of their own production, 
 but those of every nation under heaven ; we bought 
 and consumed them, and yet we flourished and grew 
 rich. At present our independent governments may 
 do what we could not then do, discourage by heavy 
 duties, or prevent by heavy prohibitions, such impor- 
 tations, and thereby grow richer ; — If, indeed, which 
 may admit of dispute, the desire of adorring ourselves 
 with fine clothes, possessing fine furniture, with elegant 
 houses, &c. is not, by strongly inciting to labour and in- 
 dustry, the occasion of producing a greater value than 
 is consumed in the gratification of that desire. 
 
 The agriculture and fisheries of the United States 
 are the great sources of our increasing wealth. He 
 that puts a seed into the earth is recompensed, perhaps 
 by receiving forty out of it ; and he who draws a fish 
 out of our water, draws up a piece of silver. 
 
 Let us (and there is no doubt but we shall) be at- 
 tentive to these, and then the power of rivals, with all 
 their restraining and prohibiting acts, cannot much hurt 
 us. We are sons of the earth and seas, and like An- 
 tseus in the fable, if in wrestling with a Hercules we 
 now and then receive a fall, the touch of our parents 
 will communicate to us fresh strength and vigour to 
 renew the contest. 
 
ESSAYS. 247 
 
 INFORMATION. 
 
 TO THOSE 
 
 WHO WOULD REMOVE TO AMERICA. 
 
 MANY persons in Europe having, directly or by 
 letters, expressed to the writer of this, who is well ac- 
 quainted with North America, their desire of transport- 
 ing and establishing themselves in that country ; but 
 who appear to him to have formed, through ignorance, 
 mistaken ideas and expectations of what is to be ob- 
 tained there ; he thinks it may be useful, and prevent 
 inconvenient, expensive, and fruitless removals and 
 voyages of improper persons, if he gives some clearer 
 and truer notions of that part of the world, than have 
 hitherto prevailed. 
 
 He finds it imagined by numbers, that the inhabi- 
 tants of North America are rich, capable of reward- 
 ing, and disposed to reward, all sorts of ingenuity ; 
 that they are at the same time ignorant of all the sci- 
 ences, and consequently that strangers possessing ta- 
 lents in the belles-lettres, fine arts, Sec. must be highly 
 esteemed,and so well paid as to become easily rich them- 
 selves ; that there are also abundance of profitable of- 
 fices to be disposed of, which the natives are not qua- 
 lified to fill ; and that having few persons of family 
 among them, strangers of birth must be greatly re- 
 spected, and of course easily obtain the best of those 
 offices, which will make all their fortunes ; that the 
 governments; to encourage emigration from Europe, 
 not only pay the expence of their personal transporta- 
 tion, but give lands gratis to strangers, with negroes 
 
248 ESSAYS. 
 
 to work for them, utensils of husbandry, and stocks of 
 cattle. These are all wild imaginations ; and those 
 who go to America with expectations founded upon 
 them, will surely find themselves disappointed. 
 
 The truth is, that though there are in that country 
 few people so miserable as the poor of Europe, there 
 are also few that in Europe would be called rich : it is 
 rather a general happy mediocrity that prevails. There 
 are few great proprietors of the soil, and few tenants ; 
 most people cultivate their own lands, or follow some 
 handicrafts or merchandize ; very few rich enough to 
 live idly upon their rents or incomes, or to pay the 
 high prices given in Europe, for painting, statues, 
 architecture and the other works of art that are more 
 curious, than useful. Hence the natural geniuses that 
 have arisen in America, with such talents, have uni- 
 formly quitted that country for Europe, where they 
 can be more suitably rewa-rded. It is true that letters 
 and mathematical knowledge are in esteem there, but 
 they are at the same time more common than is appre- 
 hended ; there being already existing nine colleges, or 
 universities, viz. four in New-England, and one in 
 each of the provinces of New-York, New-Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, all furnished 
 with learned professors ; besides a number of smaller 
 academies : these educate many of their youth in the 
 languages, and those sciences that qualify men for the 
 professions of divinity, law, or physic. Strangers in- 
 deed are by no means excluded from exercising those 
 professions ; and the quick increase of inhabitants 
 every where gives them a chance of enjploy, which they 
 have in common with the natives. Of civil offices, or 
 employments, there are few ; no superfluous ones as in 
 Europe ; and it is a rule established in some of. the 
 states, that no office should be so profitable as to make 
 it desirable. The 36th article of the constitution of 
 Pennsylvania runs expressly in these words: " As every 
 freeman, to preserve his independence, (if he has not 
 a sufficient estate) ought to have some profession, 
 calling, trade, or farm, whereby he may honestly sub- 
 
ESSAYS* 249 
 
 sist, there can be no necessity for, nor use in, establish- 
 ing offices of profit ; the Hsual defects of which are 
 dependence and servility, unbecoming freemen, in the 
 possessors and expectants ; faction, contention, cor- 
 ruption, and disorder among the people. Wherefore, 
 whenever an office, through increase of fees or other- 
 wise, becomes so profitable as to occasion many to ap- 
 ply for it, the profits ought to be lessened by the legis* 
 lature " 
 
 These ideas prevailing more or less in all the United 
 States, it cannot be worth any man*s while, who has a 
 means of living at home, to expatriate himself in hopes 
 of obtaining a profitable civil office in America ; and 
 as to military offices, they are at an end with the war, 
 the armies being disbanded. Much less is it advis- 
 able for a person to go thither, who has no other quali- 
 ty to recommend him but his birth. In Europe, it 
 has indeed its value ; but it is a commodity that can- 
 not be carried to a worse market than to that of 
 America, where people do not enquire concerning a 
 stranger. What is he ? but What can he do? If he 
 has any useful art, he is welcome ; and if he exercises 
 it, and behaves well, he will be respected by all that 
 know him ; but a mere man of quality, who on that 
 account wants to live upon the public by some office 
 or salary, will be despised and disregarded. The hus- 
 bandman is in honour there, and even the mechanic, 
 because their employments are useful. The people 
 have a saying, that God Almighty is himself a mecha- 
 nic, the greatest in the universe ; and he is respected 
 and admired more, for the variety, ingenuity, and util- 
 ity of his handyworks, than for the antiquity of his 
 family. They are pleased with the observation of a 
 negro, and frequently mention it, that Boccarorra 
 (meaning the white man) make de black man workee, 
 make de horse workee, make de ox workee, make 
 ebery ting workee ; only de hog. He de hog, no 
 workee ; he eat, he drink, he walk about, he go to 
 sleep when he please, he lib like a gentleman. Ac- 
 cording to these opinions of the Americans, one of 
 
250 ESSAYS. 
 
 them would think himself more obliged to a genealo- 
 gist, who could prove for him that his ancestors and re- 
 lations for ten generations had been ploughmen, smiths, 
 carpenters, turners, weavers, tanners, or even shoe- 
 makers, and consequently that ihey were useful mem- 
 bers of society ; than if he could only prove that they 
 were gentlemen, doing nothing of value, but living 
 idly on the labour of others, mere fcuges consumere 
 natij* and otherwise good for nothings till by their death 
 their estates, like the carcass of the negro*s gentleman 
 hog, come to be cut ufi. 
 
 With regard to encouragements for strangers from 
 government, they are really only what are derived 
 from good laws and liberty. Strangers are welcome 
 because there is room enough for them all, and there- 
 fore the old inhabitants are not jealous of them ; the 
 laws protect them sufficiently, so that they have no 
 need of the patronage of great men ; and every one 
 will enjoy securely the profits of his industry. But if 
 he does not bring a fortune with him, he n\ust work 
 and be industrious to live. One or two years residence 
 give him all the rights of a citizen ; but the govern- 
 ment does not at present, whatever it may have done 
 in former times, hire people to become settlers, by 
 paying their passages, giving land, negroes, utensils, 
 stock, or any other kind of emolument whatsoever.— 
 In short, America is the land of labour, and by no 
 means what the English call Lubberland, and the French 
 Pays de Cocagncy where the streets are said to be pa- 
 ved with half-peck loaves, the houses tiled with pan- 
 cakes, and where the fowls fly about ready roasted, cry- 
 ing, co7ne eat me I 
 
 Who then are the kind of persons to whom an emi- 
 gration to America would be advantageous ? And what 
 are the advantages they may reasonably expect \ 
 
 -born 
 
 Merely to eat up the corn. Watts, 
 
ESSAYS. ' 251 
 
 Land being cheap in that country from the vast for- 
 ests still void of inhabitants, and not likely to be occu- 
 pied in an age to come, insomuch that the property of 
 an hundred acres of fertile soil full of wood may be 
 obtained near the frontiers in many places, for eight 
 or ten guineas, hearty young labouring men) who un- 
 derstand the husbandry of corn and cattle, which is 
 nearly the same in that country as in Europe, may ea- 
 sily establish themselves there. A little money saved 
 of the good wages they receive there while they work 
 for others, enables them to buy the land and begin their 
 plantation, in which they are assisted by the good will 
 of their neighbours, and some credit. Multitudes of 
 poor people from England, Ireland, Scotland, Ger- 
 many, have by this means in a few years become wealthy 
 farmers, who in their own countries, where all the 
 lands are fully occupied and the wages of labour low, 
 could never have emerged from the mean condition 
 wherein they were born. 
 
 From the salubrity of the air, the healthiness of the 
 climate, the plenty of good provisions, and the encou- 
 ragement to early marriages, by the certainty of sub- 
 sistence in cultivating the earth, the increase of inha- 
 bitants by natural generation is very rapid in America, 
 and becomes still more so by the accession of strangers ; 
 hence there is a continual demand for more artisans of 
 all the necessary and useful kinds, to supply those <iul- 
 tivators of the earth with houses, and with furniture 
 and utensils of the grosser sorts, which cannot so well 
 be brought from Europe. Tolerable good workmen in 
 any of these mechanic arts, are sure to find employ, and 
 to be well paid fqr their work, there being no restraints 
 preventing strangers from exercising any art they un- 
 derstand, or any permission necessary. If they are 
 poor, they begin first as servants or journeymen ; and 
 if they are sober, industrious, and frugal, they soon 
 become masters, establish themselves in business, mar- 
 ry, raise families, and become respectable citizens. 
 
252 ESSAYS. 
 
 Also, persons of moderate fortunes and capitals, who 
 having a number of children to provide for, are desi- 
 rous of bringing them up to industry, and to secure 
 estates for their posterity, have opportunities of do- 
 ing it in America, which Europe does not afford. 
 There they may be taught and practice profiiable me- 
 chanic arts without incurring disgrace on that account ; 
 but on the contrary acquiring respect by such abilities. 
 There small capitals laid out in lands, which djjily be- 
 come more valuable by the increase of people- afford a 
 solid prospect of ample fortunes thereafter for those 
 children. The writer of this has known several in- 
 stances of largf tracts of land, bought on what was 
 then the froiitiei of Pennsylvania, for ten pounds per 
 hundred acres, which, after twenty years, when ihe set- 
 tlements had been extended far beyond them, sold 
 readily, without any improvement made upon them, 
 for three pounds per acre, ihe acre in America is 
 the same with the English acre, or the acre of Nor- 
 mandy. 
 
 Those who desire to understand the state of govern- 
 ment in America, would do well to read the constitu- 
 tions of the several states, and the articles of confede- 
 ration that bind the whole together for general pur- 
 poses, under the direction of one assembly, called the 
 Congress. These constitutions have been printed, by 
 order of Congress, in America ; two editions of them 
 have also been printed in London ; and a good transla- 
 tion of them into French, has lately been published at 
 Paris. 
 
 Several of the princes of Europe having of late 
 from an opinion of advantage to arise by producing 
 all commodities and manufactures within their own 
 dominions, so as to diminish or render useless their im- 
 portations, have endeavoured to entice workmen from 
 other countries, by high salaries, privileges, 8cc. 
 Many persons pretending to be skilled in various great 
 manufactures, imagining that America must be in 
 want of them, and that trie Congress v/ould probably 
 be disposed to imitate the princes above mentioned. 
 
:essays. S5S 
 
 liave proposed to go over, on condition of having their 
 passages paid, lands given, salaries appointed, exclu- 
 sive privileges for terms of years, &c. Such persons, 
 on reading the articles of confederation, will find that 
 the Congress have no power committed to them, or 
 money put into their hands for such purposes ; and 
 that if any such encouragement is given, it must be 
 by the government of some particular state. This 
 however, has rarely been done in America ; and when 
 it has been done, it has rarely succeeded so as to esta- 
 blish a manufacture, which the country was not yet so 
 ripe for as to encourage private persons to set it up, 
 labour being generally too dear there, and hands diffi- 
 cult to be kejjt together, every one desiring to be a 
 master, and the cheapness of land inclining many to 
 leave trades for agriculture. Some indeed have met 
 with success, and are carried on to advantage ; but 
 they are generally such as require only a few hands, or 
 wherein great part of the work is performed by ma- 
 chines. Goods that are bulky, and of so small value 
 as not well to bear the expence of freight, may often 
 be made cheaper in that country than they can be 
 imported ; and the manufacture of such goods will be 
 profitable wherever there is a sufficient demand. The 
 farmers in America produce, indeed, a good deal of 
 wool and flax ; and none is exported, it is all worked 
 up; but it is in the way of domestic manufacture, for 
 the use of the family. The buying up quantities of 
 wool and flax, with the design to employ spinners, 
 weavers, &c. and form great establishments, producing 
 quantities of linen and woolen goods for sale, have been 
 several times attempted in different provinces ; but 
 these projects have generally failed, goods of equal 
 value being imported cheaper. And when the go- 
 vernments have been solicited to support such schemes 
 by encouragements, in money, or by imposing duties 
 on importation of sucii goods, it has been generally 
 refused on this principle, that if the country is ripe 
 for the manufacture, it may be carried on by private 
 persons to advantage ; and if not, it is a folly to think 
 
7^ 
 254 ESSAYS, 
 
 of forcing nature. Great establishments of nfianufac- 
 lure, require great numbers of poor to do the work 
 for small wages ; those poor are to be found in Eu- 
 rope, but will not be found in America, till the lands 
 are all taken up ynd cultivated, and the excess of peo- 
 ple who cannot get land want employment. The 
 manufacture of silk, they say, is natural in France, as 
 that of cloth in England, because each country pro- 
 duces in plenty the first material : but if England will 
 have a manufacture of silk as well as that of cloth, 
 and France of cloth as well as that of silk, these 
 unnatural operations must be supported by mutual pro- 
 hibitions, or high duties on the importation of each 
 other's goods ; by which means the workmen are ena* 
 bled to tax the home consumer by greater prices, 
 while the higher wages they receive makes them nei- 
 ther happier nor richer, since they only drink more and 
 "Work less. Therefore the governments of America do 
 nothing to encourage such projects. The people, by 
 this means, are not imposed on, either by the mer- 
 chant or mechanic : if the merchant demands too much 
 profit on imported shoes, they buy of the shoemaker ; 
 and if he asks too high a price, they take them of the 
 merchant ; thus the two professions are checks on each 
 other. The shoemaker, however, has, on the whole 
 a considerable profit upon his labour in America, be- 
 yond what he had in Europe, as he can add to his 
 price a sum nearly equal to all the expences of freight 
 and commission, risque or insurance, 8cc. necessarily 
 charged by the merchant. And it is the same with 
 every other mechanic art. Hence it is, that artisans ge- 
 nerally live better and more easily in America than in 
 Europe ; and such as are good oeconomists make a 
 comfortable provision for age, and for their children. 
 Such may, therefore, remove with advantage to Ame- 
 rica. 
 
 In the old long-settled countries of Europe, all arts, 
 trades, professions, farms. Sec. are so full, that it is 
 difficult for a poor man who has children to place 
 them where they may gain, or learn to gain, a decent 
 livelihood. The artisans, who fear creating future 
 
ESSAYS. 255 
 
 rivals in business, refuse to take apprentices, but upon 
 conditions of money, maintenance, or the like, which 
 the parents are unable to comply with. Here the 
 youth are dragged up in ignorance of every gainful 
 art, and obliged to become soldiers, or servants, or 
 thieves, for a subsistence. In America, the rapid in- 
 crease of inhabitants takes away that fear of rivalship, 
 and artisans willingly receive apprentices from the 
 hope of profit by their labour, during the remainder of 
 the time stipulated, after they shall be instructed. 
 Hence it is easy for poor families to get their chil- 
 dren instructed ; for the artisans are so desirous of ap- 
 prentices, that many of them will even give money to 
 the parents, to have boys from ten to fifteen years of age 
 bound apprentices, to them, till tlie age of twenty-one ; 
 and many poor parents have, by that means, on their 
 arrival in the country, raised money enough to buy land 
 sufficient to establish themselves, and to subsist the rest 
 of their family by agriculture. 
 
 These contracts of apprentices are made before a 
 magistrate, who regulates the agreement according to 
 reason and justice ; and having in view the formation 
 of a future useful citizen, obliges the master to engage 
 by a written indenture, not only that, during the time 
 of service stipulated, the apprentice shall be duly pro- 
 vided with meat, drink, apparel, washing, and lodging, 
 and at its expiration with a complete new suit of 
 clothes, but also that he shall be taught to read, write, 
 and cast accounts : and that he shall be well instructed 
 in the art or profession of his master, or some other, by 
 which he may afterwards gain a livelihood, and be able 
 in his turn to raise a family. A copy of this inden- 
 ture is given to the apprentice or his friends, and the 
 magistrate keeps a record of it, to which recourse may 
 be had, in case of failure by the Master in any point 
 of performance. This desire among the masters to 
 have more hands employed in working for them, induces 
 them to pay the passages of young persons, of both 
 sexes, who, on their arrival, agree to serve them one, 
 two, three, or four years : those who have already learn- 
 
256 ESSAYS- 
 
 ed a trade, agreeing for a shorter term, in proportion 
 to their skill, and the consequent immediate value of 
 their service ; and those who have none, agreeing for 
 a longer ternti, in consideration of being taught an art 
 their poverty would not permit them to acquire in their 
 own country. 
 
 The almost general mediocrity of fortune that pre- 
 vails in America, obliging its people to follow some 
 business for subsistence, those vices that arise usually 
 fi'om idleness, are in a great measure prevented. In- 
 dustry and constant employment are great preservatives 
 of the morals and virtue of a nation. Hence bad 
 examples to youth are more rare in America, which 
 must be a comfortable consideration to parents. To 
 this may be truly added, that serious religion, under it* 
 various denominations, is not only tolerated, but re- 
 spected and practised. Atheism is unknown there; 
 infidelity rare and secret ; so that persons may live to 
 a great age in that country without having their piety 
 shocked by meeting either with an atheist or an infidel. 
 And the Divine Being seems to have manifested hi» 
 approbation of the mutual forbearance and kindnes* 
 ■with which the different sects treat each other, by the 
 remarkable prosperity with which he has been pleased 
 to favour the whole country. 
 
 FINAL SPEECH OF DR. FRANKLIN. 
 
 IN THE LATE FEDERAL CONVENTION.* 
 
 MR. PRESIDENT. 
 
 I CONFESS that I do not entirely approve of this 
 constitution at present : but Sir, I am not sure I shall 
 
 * Our reasons for ascribing this speech to Dr. Franklin, are 
 its internal evidence, and its having appeared with his name, 
 during his life time, uncontradicted, in an American periodi- 
 cal publication, 
 
ESSAYS. 257 
 
 never approve it ; for having lived long, I have expe- 
 rienced many instances of being obliged by better in- 
 formation, or further consideration-, to change opinions 
 even on important subjects, which I once thought 
 right, but found to be otherwise. It is, therefore, 
 that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my 
 own judgment, and pay more respect to the judgment 
 of others. Most men, indeed, as well as most sects of 
 religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and 
 that whenever others differ from them, it is so far 
 error. Steel, a protestant, in a dedication, tells the 
 pope, that " the only difference between our two chur- 
 ches, in^ their opinions of the certainty of their doc- 
 trines, is, the Romish church is infallible, and the 
 church of England never in the wrong." But, though 
 many private persons think almost ais highly of their 
 own infallibility as of that of their sect, few express it 
 so naturally as a certain French lady, who, in a little 
 dispute with her sister, said, I don't know how it hap- 
 pens, sister, but I meet with nobody but myself that is 
 always in the right. 11 n^y a que moi qui a toujours 
 raison. In these sentiments. Sir, I agree to this con- 
 stitution, with all its faults, if they are such ; because 
 1 think a general government necessary for us, and 
 there is no form of government, but what may be a 
 blessing, if well administered ; and I believe farther, 
 that this is likely to be well administered for a course 
 of years and can only end in despotism, as other forms 
 have done before it, when the people shall become so 
 corrupted as to need despotic government, being inca- 
 pable of any other. I doubt too, whether any other 
 convention we can obtain, may be able to make a bet- 
 ter constitution. For when you assemble a number of 
 men, to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you 
 assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their pas- 
 sions, their errois of opinion, their local interests, and 
 their selfish views. From such an assembly can a per- 
 fect production be expected ? It therefore astonishes 
 me, sir, to find this system approaching so near to per- 
 fection as it does ; and I think it will astonish our 
 
25S ESSAYS. 
 
 enemies, who are waiting with confidence, to hear 
 that our councils are confounded, like those of the 
 builders of Babylon, and that our states are on the 
 point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the pur- 
 pose of cutting each other's throats. 
 
 Thus I consent Sir, to this constitution, because I 
 expect no better, and because I am not sure that this 
 is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, 
 I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whisper- 
 ed a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls 
 they were born ; and here they shall die. If every 
 one of us in returning to our constituents, were to re- 
 port the objection he has had to it, and endeavour to 
 gain partisans in support of them, we might prevent 
 its being generally received, and thereby lose all the 
 salutary effects and great advantages resulting natural- 
 ly in our favour among foreign nations, as well as 
 among ourselves, from our real and apparent unanimity. 
 Much of the strength or efficiency of any government, 
 in procuring and securing happiness to the people, de- 
 pend on opinion ; on the general opinion of the good- 
 ness of that government, as well as of the wisdom and 
 integrity of its governors. 
 
 I hope, therefore, that for our own sakes as a part 
 of the people, and for the sake of our posterity, we 
 shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending 
 this constitution, wherever our influence may extend, 
 and turn our future thoughts and endeavours to the 
 means of having it well administered. 
 
 On the whole, Sir, I cannot help expressing a wish,> 
 that every member of the convention, who may still 
 have objections, would with me on this occasion, doubt 
 a little of his own infallibility, and, to make manifest 
 our unanimity, put his name to this instrument. 
 
 [The. motion was then made for adding the last for- 
 mula, viz. 
 
 Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent, Sec. 
 which was agreed to, and added accordingly.] 
 
BSSAVS. 259^ 
 
 SKETCH OF AN ENGLISH SCHOOL. 
 
 For the consideration of the Trustees of the P hiladeljihia 
 Academy.* 
 
 IT is expected that every scholar to be admitted in- 
 to this school, be at least able to pronounce and di- 
 vide the syllables in reading, and to write a legible 
 
 hand. None to be received that are under years 
 
 of age. 
 
 FIRST, OR LOWER CLASS. 
 
 Lei the first class learn the English Grammar rules, 
 and at the same time let particular care be taken to 
 improve them in orthography. Perhaps the latter is 
 best done by pairing the scholars ; two of those near- 
 est equal in their spelling to be put together. Let 
 these strive for victory ; each propounding ten words 
 every day to the other to be spelled. He that spells 
 truly most of the oiher*s words, is victor for that day; 
 he that is victor most days in a month, to obtain a 
 prize, a pretty neat book of some kind, useful in their 
 future studies. This method fixes the attention of 
 children extremely to the orthography of words, and 
 makes them good spellers very early. It is a shame 
 for a man to be so ignorant of this little art, in his 
 own language, as to be perpetually confounding words 
 of like sound and different significations ; the con- 
 sciousness of which defect makes some men, other- 
 wise of good learning and understanding, averse to 
 writing even a common letter. 
 
 Let the pieces read by the scholars in this class be 
 short ; such as Croxal's fables, and little stories. In 
 giving the lessons, let it be read to them ; let the mean- 
 
 * This piece did not come to hand till the volume had 
 been some time at the press. This was the case also with 
 several other papers ; and must be our apology for any de- 
 fect that may appear in the arrangement. 
 
260 ESSAYS. 
 
 ing of the most difficult words in it be explained to 
 them ; and let them con over by themselves before they 
 are called to read to the master or usher ; who is to 
 take particular care that they do not read too fast, and 
 that they duly observe the stops and pauses. A vocabu- 
 lary of the most usual difficult words might be formed 
 for their use, with explanations ; and they might daily 
 get a few of those words and explanations by heart, 
 which would a little exercise their memories ; or at 
 least they might write a number of them in a small 
 book for that purpose, which would help to fix the 
 meaning of those words in their minds, and at the same 
 time furnish every one with a little dictionary for his 
 future use. 
 
 THE SECOND GLASS. 
 
 To be taught reading with attention, and with pro- 
 per modulations of the voice; according to the senti- 
 ment and subject. 
 
 Some short pieces, not exceeding the length of a 
 Spectator, to be given this class for lessons (and some 
 of the easier Spectators would be very suitable for 
 the purpose.) These lessons might be given every 
 night as tasks ; the scholars to study them against the 
 morning. Let it then be required of them to give an 
 account, first of the parts of speech, and construction of 
 one or two sentences. This will oblige them frequently 
 to recur to their grammar, and fix its principal rules 
 in their memory. Next, of the intention of the wri- 
 ter, or the scope of the piece, the meaning of each 
 sentence, and of every uncommon word. This would 
 early acquaint them with the meaning and force of 
 words> and give them that most necessary habit of read- 
 ing with attention. 
 
 The masters then to read the piece with proper 
 modulations of voice, due emphasis, and suitable action, 
 where action is required, and put the youth on imitating 
 his manner. 
 
 Where the author has used an expression not the 
 best, let it be pointed out ; and let his beauties be par- 
 ticularly marked out to the youth. 
 
ESSAYS. 261 
 
 Let the lessons for reading be varied, that the youth 
 may be made acquainted with pfood styles of all kinds 
 in prose and verse, and the proper manner of reading 
 each kind — sometimes a well-told story, a piece of a 
 sermon, a general's speech to his soldiers, a speech in a 
 tragedy, some part of a comedy, an ode, a satire, a let- 
 ter, blank verse, Hudibrastic, heroic, &c. But let such 
 lessons be chosen for reading, as contain some useful 
 instruction, whereby the understanding or morals of the 
 youth may at the same time be improved. 
 
 It is required that they should first study and un- 
 derstand the lessons, before they are put upon reading 
 them properly ; to which end each boy should have 
 an English dictionary, to help him over difficulties. 
 When our boys read English to us, we are apt to ima- 
 gine they understand what they read, because we do, 
 and because it is their mother tongue. But they of- 
 ten read, as parrots speak, knowing little or nothing, 
 of the meaning And it is impossible a reader shoukl 
 give the due modulation to his voice, and pronounce 
 properly, unless his understanding goes before his. 
 tongue, and makes him master of the sentiment. Ac» 
 customing boys to read aloud what they do not first un- 
 derstand, is the cause of those even set tones so common; 
 among readers, which when they have once got a habit 
 of using, they find so difficult to correct ; by which 
 means, among fifty readers we scarcely find a good one. 
 For want of good readers, pieces published with a view 
 to influence the minds of men, for their own or the pub- 
 lic benefit, lose half their force Were there but one 
 good reader in a neighbourhood, a public orator might 
 be heard throughout a nation with the same advantages, 
 and have the same effect upon his audience, as if they 
 stood within the reach of his voice. 
 
 TUB THIRB CLASS. 
 
 To be taught speaking properly and gracefully ; 
 which is near a-kin to good reading, and naturally fol- 
 lows it in the studies of youth. Let the scholars of 
 this class begin with learning the elements of rhetoric 
 from some short system, so as to be^able to give an 
 account of the most useful tropes and figures. Let all 
 
262 ESSAYS. 
 
 their bad habits of speaking, all offences against good 
 grammar, all corrupt or foreign accents, and all im- 
 proper phrases, be pointed out to them. Short speech- 
 es from the Roman or other history, or from the par- 
 liamentary debates, might be got by heart, and deli- 
 vered with the proper action, &c. Speeches and scenes 
 in our best tragedies and comedies (avoiding things 
 that could injure the morals of youth) might likewise 
 be got by rote, and the boys exercised in delivering or 
 acting them : great care being taken to form their man- 
 ner after the truest models. 
 
 For their farther improvement, and a little to vary 
 their studies, let them now begin to read history, after 
 having got by heart a short table of the principal 
 epochas in chronology. They may begin with Rollings 
 ancient and Roman histories, and proceed at proper 
 hours, as they go through the subsequent classes, with 
 the best histories of our own nation and colonies. Let 
 emulation be excited among the boys, by giving, weekly, 
 little prizes, or other small encouragements, to those 
 who are able to give the best account of what they have 
 read as to times, places, names of persons, &c. This 
 will make them read with attention, and imprint the 
 history well in their memories. In remarking on the 
 history, the master will have fine opportunities of in- 
 stilling instruction of various kinds, and improving the 
 morals, as well as the understandings, of youth. 
 
 The natural and mechanic history, contained in the 
 Sfiectacle de la JVature^ might also be begun in this class, 
 and continued through the subsequent classes, by other 
 books of the same kind : for, next to the knowledge of 
 duty, this kind of knowledge is certainly the most useful, 
 as well as the most entertaining. — The merchant may 
 thereby be enabled better to understand many commodi- 
 ties in trade ; the handicraftman to improve his bu- 
 siness by new instruments, mixtures, and materials; and 
 frequently hints are given for new manufactures or new 
 methods of improving land, that may be set on foot 
 greatly to the advantage of the country. 
 
ESSAYS. ,2^3 
 
 THE FOURTH CLASS. 
 
 To be taught composition. Writing one's own 
 language well, is the next necessary accomplishment 
 after good speaking. It is the writing-master's busi- 
 ness to take care that the boys make fair characters, 
 and place them straight and even in the lines : but to 
 form their style, and even to take care that the stops 
 and capitals are properly disposed, is the part of the 
 English master. The boys should be put on writing 
 letters to each other on any common occurrences, 
 and on various subjects, imaginary business, &c. con- 
 taining little stories, accounts of their late reading, 
 what parts of authors please them, and why ; letters 
 of congratulation, of compliment, of request, of thanks, 
 of recommendation, of admonition, of consolation, ex- 
 postulation, excuse. Sec. In these they should be 
 taught to express themselves clearly, concisely and na- 
 turally, without affected words or high-flown phrases, 
 All their letters to pass through the master's hand, 
 who is to point out the faults, advise the corrections, 
 and commend what he finds right. Some of the best 
 letters published in our own language, as Sir W. Tem- 
 ple's, those of Pope and his friends, and some others, 
 might be set before the youth as models, their beauties 
 pointed out and explained by the master, the letters 
 themselves transcribed by the scholar. 
 
 Dr. Johnson's Ethices Elementa^ or First Principles 
 of Morality, may now be read by the scholars, and 
 explained by the master, to lay a solid foundation of 
 virtue and piety in their minds. And as this class 
 continues the reading of history, let them now, at pro- 
 per hours, receive some farther instruction in chrono- 
 logy, and in that part of geography (from the mathe- 
 matical master) which is necessary to understand the 
 maps and globes. They should also be acquainted with 
 the modern names of the places they find mentioned in 
 ancient writers. The exercises of good reading, and 
 proper speaking still continued at suitable times. 
 
'.364 ESSAYS^ 
 
 FIFTH CLASS. 
 
 To improve the youth in composition, they may 
 now, besides continuing to write letters, begin to write 
 little essays in prose, and sometimes in verse ; not to 
 make them poets, but for this reason, that nothing 
 acquaints a lad so speedily with variety of expression, 
 as the necessity of finding such words and phrases as 
 will suit the measure, sound and rhime of verse, and 
 at the same time well express the sentiment. These 
 essays should all pass under the master's eye, who 
 will point out their faults, and put the writer on cor- 
 recting them. Where the judgment is not ripe 
 enough for forming new essays, let the sentiments of 
 a Spectator be given, and required to be clothed in the 
 scholar's own words j or the circumstance of some 
 good story : the scholar to find expression. Let them 
 be put sometimes on abridging a paragraph of a diffuse 
 author : sometimes on dilating or amplifying what is 
 wrote more closely. And now let Dr. Johnson's Kot- 
 tica^ or First Principles of Human Knowledge, contain- 
 ing a logic, or art of reasoning, Sec be read by the youth, 
 and the difficulties that may occur to them be explained 
 by the master. The reading of history, and the exer- 
 cises of good reading and just speaking, still continued. 
 
 SIXTH CLASS. 
 
 In the class, besides continuing the studies of the pre- 
 ceding in history, rhetoric, logic, moral and natural 
 philosophy, the best English authors may be read and 
 explained ; asTillotson, Miltois Locke, Addison, Pope, 
 Sv ifi, the higher papers in the Spectator and Guardian, 
 the best translations of Homer, Virgil and Horace, of 
 Teiemachus, Travels of Cyrus, &c. 
 
 Once a )^ear let there be public exercises in the hall; 
 the trustees and citizens present. Then let fine gilt 
 books be given as prizes to such boys as distinguish 
 themselves, and excel the others in any branch of learn- 
 ing, making three degrees of comparison : giving the- 
 best prize to him that performs best ; a less valuable 
 
ESSAYS. 265 
 
 ene to him that comes up next to the best ; and another 
 to the third. Commendation, encouragement, and advice 
 to the rest ; keeping up their hopes, that, by industry, 
 they may excel another time. The names of those that 
 obtain the prize to be yearly printed in a list. 
 
 The hours of each day are to be divided and dispo- 
 sed in such a manner as that some classes may be with 
 the writing-master improving their hands ; others with 
 the mathematical-master, learning arithmetic, accounts, 
 geography, use of the globes, drawing, mechanics, &c. 
 while the rest are in the English school, under the 
 English master's care. 
 
 Thus instructed, youth will come out of this school 
 fitted for learning any business, calling, or profession, 
 except such wherein languages are required ; and 
 though unacquainted with any ancient or foreign 
 tongue, they will be masters of their own, which is of 
 more immediate and general use ; and withal will have 
 attained many other valuable accomplishments : the 
 time usually spent in acquiring those languages, often 
 without success, being here employed in laying such 
 a foundation of knowledge and ability, as properly im- 
 proved, may qualify them to pass through and execute 
 the several offices of civil life, with advantage and re- 
 putation to themselves and country, 
 
 THE BUSY-BODY.—No. I. 
 
 From the jimerican Weekly Mercury, from Tuesday^ 
 January 28, to Tuesday , February 4, 1728^ — 9. 
 
 MR. ANDREW BRADFORD, 
 
 I DESIGN this to acquaint you, that I, who have 
 long been one of your courteous readers, have lately 
 entertained some thought of setting up for an author 
 
 Z 
 
266 ESSAT&i 
 
 myself: not out of the least vanity, I assure yeti, or 
 desire of showing my parts, but purely for the good of 
 my country. 
 
 I have often observed with concern, that your Mer- 
 cury is not always equally entertaining. The delay of 
 ships expected in, and want of fresh advices from Eu- 
 rope, make it frequently very dull ; and I find the 
 freezing of our river tias the same effect on news as 
 trade. With more concern have I continually observ- 
 ed the growing vices and follies of my country folk ; 
 and though reformation is properly the concern of ev- 
 ery man, that is, every one ought to mend one ; yet 
 it is too true in this case, that what is every body's bu- 
 siness is no body's niusiness, and the business is done 
 accordingly. I therefore, upon mature deliberation, 
 think lit to take no body's business wholly into my own 
 hands j and, out of zeal for the public good, design to 
 erect myself into a kind of censor morum ; purposing 
 with your allowance, to make use of the Weekly Mer- 
 cury as a vehicle, in which my remonstrances shall be 
 conveyed to the world. 
 
 I am sensible I have, in this particular, undertaken 
 a very unthankful office, and expect little besides my 
 labour for my pains. Nay, it is probable, I may dis- 
 please a great number of your readers, who will not 
 very well like to pay ten shillings a year for being told 
 of their faults. But as most people delight in cen- 
 sure, when they themselves are not the objects of it, if 
 any are offended at my publicly exposing their private 
 vices, I promise they shall have the satisfaction, in a 
 very little time, of seeing their good friends and neigh- 
 bours in the same circumstances. 
 
 However, let the fair sex be assured that I shall al- 
 ways treat them and their affairs with the utmost de- 
 cency and respect. I intend now and then to dedicate 
 a chapter wholly to their service ; and if my lectures 
 any way contribute to the embellishment of their 
 minds, and brightening of their understandings, with- 
 out offending their modesty, I doubt not of having 
 their favour and encouragement. 
 
?:ssAxs. 267 
 
 It is certain, that no country in the world produces 
 naturally finer spirits than ours, men of genius for 
 every kind of science, and capable of acquiring to per- 
 fection every qualification that is in esteem among 
 mankind. But as few here have the advantage of 
 good books, for want of which, good conversation is 
 still more scarce, it would doubtless, have been very 
 acceptable to your readers, if, instead of an old out-of- 
 date article from Muscovy or Hungary, you had en- 
 tertained them with some well chosen extract from a 
 good author. This I shall sometimes do, when I hap- 
 pen to have nothing of my own to say that I think of 
 more consequence. Sometimes, I purpose to deliver 
 lectures of morality or philosophy, and (because I am 
 naturally inclined to be meddling with things that do 
 not concern me) perhaps I may sometimes talk poli- 
 tics. And if I can by any means furnish out a weekly 
 entertainment for the public, that will give a rational 
 diversion, and at the same time be instructive to the 
 readers, I shall think my leisure hours well employed : 
 and if you publish this, I hereby invite all ingenious 
 gentlemen and others (that approve of such an under- 
 taking) to my assistance and correspondence. 
 
 It is like, by this time, you have a curiosity to be 
 acquainted with my name and character. As I do not 
 aim at public praise, I design to remain concealed ; 
 and there are such numbers of our family and relations 
 at this time in the country, that, though I have signed 
 my name at full length, I am not under the least ap- 
 prehension of being distinguished and discovered by it. 
 My character indeed, I would favour you with, but 
 that I am cautious of praising snyself, lest 1 should be 
 told my trumpeter's dead : and I cannot find in my 
 heart, at present, to say any thing to my own disadvan- 
 tage. 
 
 It is very common with authors in their first per- 
 formances, to talk to their readers thus, If this meets 
 with a suitable reception, or, if this should meet with 
 due encouragement, I shall hereafter publish, Sec. — 
 This only manifests the value they put on their own 
 
268 ESSAYS. 
 
 writings, since they tliink to frighten tiie public into 
 their applause, by threatening, that unless you approve 
 what they have already wrote, they intend never to 
 write again ; when perhaps it may not be a pin mat- 
 ter whether they ever do or no. As 1 have not ob- 
 served the critics to be more favourable on this account* 
 I shall always avoid saying any thing of the kind ; and 
 conclude with telling you, that if you send me a bottle 
 of ink and a quire of paper by the bearer, you may de* 
 pend on hearing further from, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your most humble servant, 
 
 THE BUSY-BODY. 
 
 THE BUSY-BODY.-.N0. II. 
 
 From Tuesday, February 4, to Tuesday j February U, 
 1728—9. 
 
 All fools have still an itching to deride. 
 
 And fain would be upon the laughing side — ^Pope. 
 
 MONSIEUR Rochefocault tells us somewhere in 
 his Memoirs, that the Prince of Conde delighted 
 much in ridicule, and used frequenly to shut himself 
 up for half a day together, in his chamber, with a 
 gentleman, that was his favourite, purposely to di- 
 vert himself with examining what was the foible, or 
 ridiculous side of every noted person in the court.— 
 That gentleman said afterwards in some company, that 
 he thought nothing was more ridiculous in any body, 
 than this same humour in the prince ; and I am some- 
 what inclined to be of this opinion. The general 
 tendency there is among us to this embellishment 
 (which I fear has too often grossly imposed upon my 
 
ESSAYS. ' 259 
 
 loving countrymen instead of wit) and the applause it 
 meets with from a rising- generation, fill me with 
 fearful apprehensions for the future reputation of my 
 country: a young man of modesty (which is the most 
 certain indication of large capacities) is hereby dis- 
 couraged from attempting to make any figure in life ; 
 his apprehensions of being out-laughed, will force him 
 to continue in a restless obscurity, without having an 
 opportunity of knowing his own merit himself, or dis- 
 covering it to the world, rather than venture to ex- 
 pose himself in a place, where a pun or a sneer shall 
 pass for wit, noise for reason, and the strength of the 
 argument be judged by that of the lungs. Among 
 these witty gentlemen, let us take a view of Ridentius : 
 what a contemptible figure does he make with his 
 train of paltry admirers ? This wight shall give him- 
 self an hours diversion with the cock of a man's hat, 
 the heels of his shoes, an unguarded expression in his 
 discourse, or even some personal defect ; and the 
 height of his low ambition is to put some one of the 
 company to the blush, who perhaps must pay an equal 
 share of the reckoning with himself. If such a fellow 
 makes laughing the sole end and purpose of his life, 
 if it is necessary to his constitution, or if he has a 
 great desire of growing suddenly fat.^ let him eat ; let 
 him give public notice where any dull stupid rogues 
 may get a quart of four penny for being laughed at ; 
 but it is barbarously unhandsome, when friends meet 
 for the benefit of conversation, and a proper relaxation 
 from business, that one should be the butt of the com- 
 pany, and four men made merry at the cost of the 
 fifth. 
 
 How differem from this character is that of the 
 good-natured gay lAigenius ! who never spoke yet 
 but with a design to divert and please ; and who was 
 never yet b;mlked in his intention. Eugenius takes 
 more delight in applying the wit of his friends, than in 
 being admired himself; and if any one of the compa* 
 ny is so unfortunate as to be touched a little too nearly, 
 Z2 
 
2rO ESSAYS. 
 
 he will make use of some ingenious artifice to turn the 
 edge of ridicule another way, choosing rather to make 
 himself a public jest, than be at the pain of seeing his 
 friend in confusion. 
 
 Among the tribe of laughers I reckon the pretty 
 gentlemen that write satyrs, and carry them about in 
 their pockets, reading them themselves in all com- 
 pany they happen into j taking an advantage of the ill 
 taste of the town, to make themselves famous for a 
 pack of paltry low nonsense, for which they deserve 
 to be kicked, rather than admired, by all who have 
 the least tincture of politeness. These I take to be 
 the most incorrigible of all my readers ; nay, I expect 
 they will be squibbing at the Busy-Body himself — 
 However, the only favour he begs of them is this, 
 that if they cannot controul their overbearing itch of 
 scribbling, let him be attacked in downright biting 
 lyrics ; for there is no satyr he dreads half so much, 
 as an attempt at panegyric. 
 
 THE BUSY-BODY— No. III. 
 
 l^'rojn Tuesday y February 11, to Tuesday j February 
 18, 1728—9. 
 
 Non vultus, instantis Tyranni 
 
 Mente quatit solid a, nee auster, 
 
 Dux inquieti turbidus Adaize, 
 
 Nee fulmiriantis magna Jovis manus. — Hor. 
 
 IT is said, that the Persians, in their ancient consti- 
 tution, had public schools, in which virtue was taught 
 as a liberal art or science ; and it is certainly of more 
 consequence to a man, that he has learnt to govern his 
 passions, in spite of temptation j to be just in his deal- 
 
ESSAYSi 271 
 
 ings, to be temperate in his pleasures, to support him- 
 self with fortitude under his misfortunes, to behave 
 ivith prudence in all his affairs, and in every circum- 
 stance of life ; I say, it is of much more real advan- 
 tage to him to be thus qualified, than to be a master of 
 all the arts and sciences in the world beside. 
 
 Virtue alone is sufficient to make a man great, glo- 
 rious, and happy. He that is acquainted with Cato, 
 as I am, cannot help thinking as I do now, and will ac- 
 knowledge that he deserves the name, without being 
 honoured by it. Cato is a man whom fortune has placed 
 in the most obscure part of the country. His circum- 
 stances are such, as only to put him above necessity, 
 without affording him many superfluities : yet who is 
 greater than Cato ? I happened but the other day to 
 be at a house in town, where, among others, were met 
 men of the most note in this place ; Cato had business 
 with some of them, and knocked at the door. The 
 most trifling actions of a man, in my opinion, as well 
 as the smallest features and lineaments of the face, 
 give a nice observer some notion of his mind. Me- 
 thought he rapped in such a peculiar manner, as seem- 
 ed of itself to express there was one who deserved as 
 well as desired admission. He appeared in the plain- 
 est country garb ; his great coat was coarse, and looked 
 old and threadbare ; his linen was homespun ; his 
 beard, perhaps, of seven days growth ; his shoes thick 
 and heavy j and every part of his dress corresponding. 
 Why was this man received with such concurring re- 
 spect from every person in the room, even from those 
 who had never known him or seen him before ? It 
 ■was not an exquisite form of person or grandeur of 
 dress that struck us with admiration. I believe long 
 habits of virtue have a sensible effect on the counte- 
 nance ; there was something in the air of his face, that 
 manifested the true greatness of his mind : which like- 
 wise appeared in all he said, and in every part of his 
 behaviour, obliging us to regard him with a kind of 
 veneration. His aspect was sweetened by humanity and 
 
272 ESSAYS. 
 
 benevolence, and at the same time emboldened with 
 resolution, equally free from diffident bashfulness and 
 an unbecon^ing assurance. The consciousness of his 
 own innate worth and unshaken integrity, renders him 
 calm and undaunted in the presence of the most great 
 and powerful, and upon the most extraordinary occa- 
 sions. His strict justice and known impartiality make 
 him the arbitrator and decider of all differences, that 
 arise for many miles around him, without putting his 
 neighbours to the charge, perplexity, and uncertainty 
 of law-suits. He always speaks the thing he means, 
 which he is never afraid or ashamed to do, because he 
 knows he always means well ; and therefore is never 
 obliged to blush, and feel the confusion of finding him- 
 self detected in the meanness of a falsehood. He ne- 
 ver contrives ill against his neighbour, and therefore is 
 never seen with a lowering suspicious aspect. A mix- 
 ture of innocence and wisdom makes him ever seri- 
 ously cheerful. His generous hospitality to strangers, 
 according to his ability, his goodness, his charity, his 
 courage in the cause of the oppressed, his fidelity 
 in friendship, his humility, his honesty and sincerity, 
 his moderation and his loyalty to the government, his 
 piety, his temperance, his love to mankind, his magna- 
 nimity, his public spiritedness, and, in fine, his consum- 
 mate virtue, make him justly deserve to be esteemed 
 the giory of his country. 
 
 The brave do nevei? shun the light. 
 
 Just are their thoughts, and open are their tempers ; 
 
 Freely without disguise they love and hate; 
 
 Still are they found in the fair face of day, 
 
 And heaven and men are judges of their actions. — rowe. 
 
 Who would not rather choose, if it were in his 
 choice, to merit the above character, than be the rich- 
 est, the most learned, or the most powerful man in the 
 province without it ? 
 
 Almost every man has a strong natural desire of be- 
 ing valued and esteemed by the rest of his species ; 
 
ESSAYS. 273 
 
 but I am concerned and grieved to see how few fall 
 into the right and only infallible method of becoming 
 so. That laudable ambition is too commonly misap- 
 plied, and often ill employed. Some, to make them- 
 selves considerable, pursue learning ; others grasp at 
 wealth ; some aim at being thought witty ; and others 
 are only careful to make the most of an handsome per- 
 son : but what is wit, or wealth, or form, or learning, 
 when compared with virtue ? It is true, we love the 
 handsonie, we applaud the learned, and we fear the 
 rich and powerful ; but we even worship and adore 
 the virtuous. Nor is it strange ; since men of virtue 
 are so rare, so very rare to be found. If we were as 
 industrious to become good, as to make ourselves 
 great, we should become really great by being good, 
 and the number of valuable men would be much in- 
 creased : but it is a grand mistake to think of being 
 great without goodness ; and I pronounce it as certain, 
 that there was never yet a truly great man, that was 
 not at the same time truly virtuous. 
 
 O Cretico ! thou sour philosopher ! thou cunning 
 statesman ! thou art crafty, but far from being wise. 
 When wilt thou be esteemed, regarded, and beloved 
 like Cato ? When wilt thou, among thy creatures, 
 meet with that unfeigned respect and warm good-will 
 that all men have for him ? Wilt thou never under- 
 stand, that the cringing, mean, submissive deportment 
 of thy dependants, is (like the worship paid by Indians 
 to the devil) rather through fear of the harm thou 
 mayest do them, than out of gratitude for the favours 
 they have received of thee ? Thou art not wholly void 
 of virtue ; there are many good things in thee, and 
 many good actions reported of thee. Be advised by 
 thy friend : neglect those musty authors ; let them be 
 covered with dust, and moulder on their proper shelves; 
 and do thou apply thyself to a study much more pro- 
 fitable, the knowledge of mankind and of thyself. 
 
 This is to give notice, that the Busy-Body strictly 
 forbids all persons, from this time forward, of what 
 
274 ESSAYS. 
 
 age, sex, rank, quality, degree, or denomination so- 
 ever, on any pretence, to inquire who is the author 
 of this paper, on pain of his displeasure, (his own 
 near and dear relations only excepted.) 
 
 It is to be observed, that if any bad characters hap- 
 pen to be drawn in the course of these papers, they 
 mean no particular person, if they are not particularly 
 applied. 
 
 Likewise that the author is no party-man, but a gen- 
 eral meddler. 
 
 N. B. Cretico lives in a neighbouring province. 
 
 THE BUSY BODY.— No IT. 
 
 From Tuesday y February 18, to Tuesday^ February 2^ 
 1728 — 9. 
 
 Nequid nimis. 
 
 IN my first paper, 1 invited the learned and the 
 ingenious to join with me in the undertaking ; and 
 I now repeat that invitation. I would have such gen- 
 tlemen take this opportunity (by trying their talent in 
 writing) of diverting themselves and friends, and im- 
 proving the taste of the town. And because I would 
 encourage all wit of our own growth and produce, I 
 hereby promise, that whoever shall send me a little 
 essay on some moral or other subject, that is fit for 
 public view in this manner, (and not basely borrowed 
 from any other author) I shall receive it with candour, 
 and take care to place it to the best advantage. It will 
 be hard, if we cannot muster up in the whole country 
 a sufficient stock of sense to supply the Busy-Body at 
 least for a twelve month. For my own part, I have 
 
ESSAYS. 27^ 
 
 already professed, that I have the good of my country 
 wholly at heart in this design, without the least sinis- 
 ter view ; my chief purpose being to inculcate the no- 
 ble principles of virtue, and depreciate vice of every 
 kind. But as I know the mob hate instruction, and 
 the generality would never read beyond the first line 
 of my lectures, if they were actually filled with nothing 
 but wholesome precepts and advice, I must therefore 
 sometimes humour them in their own way. There 
 are a set of great names in the province, who are the 
 common objects of popular dislike. If I can now and 
 then overcome my reluctance, and prevail with my- 
 self to sacarize a little, one of these gentlemen, the 
 expectation of meeting with such a gratification will 
 induce many to read me through, who would other- 
 wise proceed immediately to the foreign news. As I 
 am very well assured the greatest men among us have 
 a sincere love for their country, notwithstanding its 
 ingratitude, and the insinuations of the envious and 
 malicious to the contrary, so I doubt not but they will 
 cheerfully tolerate me in the liberty I design to take 
 for the end above-mentioned. 
 
 As yet I have but few correspondents, though they 
 begin now to increase. The following letter, left for 
 me at the printer's is one of the first I have received, 
 which I regard the more for that it comes from one 
 of the fair sex, and because I have myself often- 
 times suffered under the grievance therein complained 
 of. 
 
 TO THE BUSY-BODY, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 You having set yourself up for a censuror morum 
 (as I think you call it) which is said to mean a reformer 
 of manners, I know no person more proper to be ap- 
 plied for redress in all the grievances we suffer from 
 want of manners in some people. You must know, 
 I am a single women, and keep a shop in this town for 
 
276 ESSAYS.' 
 
 a livelihood. There is a certain neighbour of mine, 
 who is really agreeable company enough, and with 
 whom I have had an intimacy of some time standing; 
 but of late she makes her visits so exceedingly often, 
 and stays so very long every visit, that I am tired out 
 of all patience. I have no manner of time at all to my- 
 self: and you, who seem to be a wise man, must 
 needs be sensible, that every person has little secrets 
 and privacies, that are not proper to be exposed even 
 to the nearest friend. Now I cannot do the least thing 
 in the world, but she must know about it ; and it is a 
 wonder I have found an opportunity to write you this 
 letter. My misfortune is, that I respect her very 
 well, and know not how to disoblige her so much as 
 to tell her, I should be glad to have less of her compa- 
 ny ; for if I should once hint such a thing, I am afraid 
 she would resent it so as never to darken my door 
 again. — But alas, Sir, I have not yet told you half my 
 affliction. She has two children that are just big 
 enough to run about and do pretty mischief: these 
 are continually along with mamma, either in my 
 room or shop, if I have ever so many customers or peo- 
 ple with me about business. Sometimes they pull 
 the goods off my Jow shelves, down to the ground, and 
 perhaps where one of them has just been making wa- 
 ter. My friend takes up the stuff, and cries, *' O I 
 thou little wicked mischievous rogue ?" But however, 
 it has done no great damage ; it is only wet a little, 
 and so puts it up upon the shelf again. Sometimes 
 tliey get to my casks of nails behind the counter, and 
 divert themselves, to my great vexation, with mix- 
 ing my ten-penny and eight-penny and four-penny to- 
 gether. I endeavoured to conceal my uneasiness as 
 much as possible, and with a grave look go to sorting 
 them out. She cries, " Dont thee trouble thyself, 
 neighbour. Let them play a little ; I'll put all to rights 
 before I go." But things are never so put to rights 
 but that I find a great deal of work to do after they are 
 gone. Thus, Sir, 1 have all the trouble and pester- 
 
ESSAYS. 277 
 
 ment of children, withom the pleasure of calling them 
 Jny own ; and they are now so used to being here that 
 they will be content no where else. If she would have 
 been so kind as to have moderated her visits to ten 
 times a day, and staid but half an hour at a time, I 
 should have been contented, and I believe never have 
 given you this trouble. But this very morning they 
 have so tormented me that I could bear no longer; 
 for \vhile the mother was asking me twenty imperti- 
 nent questions, the youngest got to my nails, and with 
 great delight rattled them by handsiul all over the 
 floor ; and the other at the same time made such a 
 terrible din upon my counter with a hammer, that I 
 grew half distracted. I was just then about to make 
 myself a new suit of pinners, but in the fret and con- 
 fusion I cut it quite out of all manner of shape, and ut- 
 terly spoiled a piece of the first muslin. Pray, Sir, 
 tell me what I shall do. And talk a little against such 
 unreasonable visiting in your next paper ; though I 
 would not have her affronted with me for a great deal, 
 for sincerely I love her and her children, as well, I 
 think, as a neighbour can, and she buys a great many 
 things in a year at my shop. But I would beg her to 
 consider, that she uses me unmercifully, though I be- 
 lieve it is only for want of thouii,ht. But 1 have twen- 
 ty things more to tell you besides all this : there is a 
 handsome gentleman that has a mind (I dont question) 
 to make love to me ; but he can't get the opportunity 
 to — -. O dear, here she comes again ; 1 must con- 
 clude. 
 
 " Your's, &c. 
 
 " PATIENCE." 
 
 Indeed, it is well enough, as it happens, that she 
 
 is come to shorten this complaint, which I think is 
 
 full long enough already, and probably would otherwise 
 
 have been as long again. However, I must confess, I 
 
 Aa 
 
3T8 ESSAYS. 
 
 cannot help pitying my correspondent's case, and in 
 her behalf, exhort the visitor to remember and consi- 
 der the words of the wise man, Withdraw thy foot from 
 the house of thy neighbour, lest he grow weary of thee 
 and so hate thee. It is, I believe, a nice thing and 
 very difficult, to regulate our visits in such a manner, 
 as never to give offence, by coming too seldom, or 
 too often, or departing too abruptly, or staying too 
 long. However, in my opinion, it is safest for most 
 people, in a general way, who are unwilling to dis- 
 oblige, to visit seldom, and tarry but a little while in 
 a place ; notwithstanding pressing invitations, which 
 are many times insincere. And though more of your 
 company should be really desired ; yet in this case, 
 too much reservedn§:ss is a fault more easily excused 
 than the contrary. 
 
 Men are subject to various inconveniences merely 
 throuf^h lack of a small share of courage, which is a 
 cjUdUty very necessary in the common occurrences of 
 life, as well as in a battle. How many impertinencies 
 do we daily suffer with great uneasiness, because we 
 have not courage enough to discover our dislike I And 
 why may not a man' use the boldness and freedom of 
 telling his friends, that their long visits sometimes in- 
 commode him? On this occasion, it may be enter- 
 taining to some of my readers, if 1 acquaint them with 
 the 1 urkish manner of entertaining visitors, which I 
 have from an author of unquestionable veracity : who 
 assures us, that even the Turks are not so ignorant of 
 civility and the arts of endearment, but that they can 
 practise them with as much exactness as any other 
 nation, whenever they have a mind to show them- 
 selves obliging. 
 
 " When you visit a person of quality (says he) and 
 having tdlked over your business, or the compliments, 
 or whatever concern brought you thither, he makes a 
 sign to have things served in for the entertainment, 
 which is generally a little sweetmeat, a dish of sherbet, 
 and another of coffee ; all which are immediately 
 
ESSAYS. 279 
 
 brought in by the servants, and tendered to all the 
 guests in order, with the greatest care and avvfulness 
 imaginable. At last comes the finishing pcirt of your 
 entertainment, which is perfuming the ^beards of the 
 company: a ceremony which is performed in this 
 manner. They have for the purpose a small silver 
 chaffing dish, covered with a lid full of holes, and fix- 
 ed, upon a handsome plate. In this they put some 
 fresh coals, and upon them a piece of lij?:num aloes, 
 and shutting it up, the smoke immediately ascends 
 with a grateful odour through the holes of the cover. 
 This smoke is held under every one*s chin, and oifer- 
 ed as it were a sacrifice to his beard. The bristly idol 
 soon receives the reverence done to it, and so gvzzzllVy 
 asks in and incorporates the -j^ummy stream, that it re- 
 tains the savour of it, and may serve for a nosegay a 
 good while after. 
 
 " This ceremony may perhaps seem ridiculous at 
 first hearing ; but it passes among the Turks for an 
 high gratification. And I will say this in its vindica- 
 tion, that its design is very wise and useful. For it is 
 understood to give a civil dismission to the visitants, in- 
 timating to them, that the master of the house has bu- 
 siness to do, or some other avocation, that permits 
 them to go away as soon as they please ; and the soon- 
 er after this ceremony the better. By this means 
 you may, at any time, without offence, deliver your- 
 self from being detained from your affairs by tedious 
 and uiiseasonable visits ; and from being constrained 
 to use that piece of hypocrisy, so common in the 
 world, of pressing those to stay longer with you, whom 
 perhaps in your heart you wish a great way off, for 
 having troubled you so long already." 
 
 Thus far my author. For my own part, I have ta- 
 ken such a fancy to this Turkish custom, that for the 
 future I shall put something like it in practice. I have 
 provided a bottle of right French brandy for the men, 
 and citron water for the ladies. After I have treated 
 with a dram, and presented a pinch of my best snuff, I 
 
280 ESSAYS. 
 
 expect all company will retire, and leave /hie to purstte 
 my studies for the good of the public* 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 I give notice that 1 am now actually compiling, and 
 design to publish in a short time, the true history of 
 the rise, growth, and progress of the renowned Tiff 
 Club. All persons who are acquainted with any facts, 
 circumstances, characters, transactions, &c. which- will 
 be requisite to the perfecting and embellishment of the 
 said work, are desired to communicate the same to 
 the author, and direct their letters to be left with the 
 printer herco£ 
 
 The letter signed Vv"ouId-be-som©thing is come t£^ 
 hand. 
 
 THE BUSY-BODY.—No. V. 
 
 From Tuesday^ February 25 to Tuesday,^ March 4> 
 17*2 8— 9. 
 
 Vcs, o patricius sanguis, quos vivere fas est, 
 Qccipiti caeco, posticae occurite sannae. pebsius. 
 
 THIS paper being designed for a terror to evit 
 doers, as well as a praise to them that do well, I 
 am lifted up with secret joy to find, that my undertak- 
 ing is approved, and encouraged by the just and good, 
 and that few are against me but those who have reason 
 to fear me. 
 
 There are little follies in the behaviour of most 
 men, which their best friends are too tender to acquaint 
 them with ; there are little vices and small crimes 
 which the law has no regard to or remedy for ; there 
 are likewise great pieces of villainy sometimes so craft- 
 
ESSAYS. 28l 
 
 ily accomplished, and so circumspectly guarded, that 
 the law can take no hold of the actors. All these things, 
 and all things of tins nature, come within my province 
 as Censor, and I am determined not to be negligent 
 of the trust I have reposed in myself, but resolve to 
 execute my oifice diligently and fviithfuily. 
 
 And that all the world may judge with how much 
 humanity, as well as justice, I shall behave in this of- 
 fice : and that even my enemies may be convinced I 
 take no delight to rake into the dunghill lives of vicious 
 men ; and to the end that certain persons may be a 
 little eased of their fears, and relieved from the terri- 
 ble palpitations tiiey have lately felt and suffered, and 
 do still suffer; I hereby graciously pass an act of gen- 
 eral oblivion, for all offences, crimes, and misde- 
 meanors, of what kind soever, committed from the 
 beginning of the year 1681, until the day of the date 
 of my first paper, and promise only to concern myself 
 wit1i such as have been since and shall hereafter be 
 committed. I shall take no notice who has (hereto- 
 fore) raised a fortune by fraud and oppression, nor 
 who by deceit and hypocrisy ; what woman has been 
 false to her good husband's bed, nor what man has, 
 by barbarous usage or neglect, broke the heart of a 
 faithful wife, and wasted his health and substance in 
 debauchery: what base wretch has betrayed bis friend, 
 and sold his honesty for gold, nor what baser wretch first 
 corrupted hi.n, and then bought the bargain : all this, 
 and much more of the same kind, I shall forget, and 
 pass over in silence ; but then it is to be observed, that 
 I expect and require a sudden and general amend- 
 ment. 
 
 These threatenings of mine, I hope will have a good 
 effect, and, if regarded, may prevent abundance of 
 folly and wickediiess in others, and at the same time, 
 save me abundance of trouble ; and that people may 
 not flatter themselves with the hope of concealing 
 their loose misdemeanors from my knowledge, and 
 in that view persist in evil doing, I must acquaint 
 Aa2 
 
282 ESSAYS. 
 
 them, that I have lately entered into an intimacy with 
 the extraordinary person, who some time since wrote 
 me the followinii^ letter ; and who, having a wonderful 
 faculty, that enables him to discover the most secret 
 iniquity, is capable of giving me great assistance in 
 my designed work of reformation. 
 
 Mr. Busy-Body^ 
 
 I REJOICE, Sir, at the opportunity you have giv- 
 en me to be serviceable to you, and, by your means, 
 to this province. You must know, that such have been 
 the circumstances of my life, and such were the mar- 
 vellous occurrences of my birth, that I have not only 
 a faculty of discovering the actions of persons, that are 
 absent or asleep, but even of the devil himself, in ma- 
 ny of his secret workings, in the various shapes, hab- 
 its, and iiw^mes of men and women; and having tra- 
 velled and conversed much, and met with but a very 
 few of the same perceptions and qualifications, I can 
 recommend myself to you as the most useful man you 
 can correspond with. My father's father's father (for 
 we had no grandfathers in our family) was the same 
 John Bunyan that writ that memorable book. The 
 Pilgrim's Progress, who had, in some degree a natu- 
 ral faculty of second sight. This faculty (how derived 
 to him our family memoirs are not very clear) was en- 
 joyed by all his descendants, but not by equal talents. 
 It was very dim in several of my first cousins, and 
 probably had been nearly extinct in our particular 
 branch, had not my father been a traveller. He lived, 
 in his youthful days in New-England. There he mar- 
 ried, and there was born my elder brother, who had so 
 much of this faculty, as to discover witches in some of 
 their occult performances. My parents transporting 
 themselves to Great Britain, my second brother's 
 birth was in that kingdom. He shared but a small por- 
 tion of this virtue, being only able to discern transac- 
 tions about the time of, and for the most part after 
 
ESSAYS. 283 
 
 their happening. My good father, who delighted in 
 the Pilj^rim*s Progress, and mountainous places, took 
 shipping, with his wife, for Scotland, and inhabited in 
 the Highlands, where myself was born ; and whether 
 the soil, climate, or astral influences, of which are 
 preserved divers prognostics, restored our ancestor's 
 natural faculty of second sight, in a greater lustre to 
 me, than it had shined in through several generations, 
 I will not here discuss. But so it is, that I am possess- 
 ed largely of it, and design, if you encourage the pro- 
 posal, to take this opportunity of doing good with it, 
 which I question not will be accepted of in a grateful 
 way by many of your honest readers, though the dis- 
 covery of my extraction bodes me no deference from 
 your great scholars and modern philosophers. This 
 my father was long ago aware of, and least the name 
 alone should hurt the fortunes of his children, he, in 
 his shiftings from one 'country to another, wisely 
 changed it. 
 
 " Sir, I have only this further to say, how I m|y be 
 useful to you, and as a reason for my not making my- 
 self more known in the world : by virtue of this great 
 gift of nature, second sightedness, I do continually 
 see numbers of men, women, and children, of all ranks, 
 and what they are doing, while I am sitting in my 
 closet ; which is too great a burthen for the mind, and 
 makes me also conceit, even against reason, that all 
 this host of people can see and observe me, which 
 strongly inclines me to solitude, and an obscure 
 living; and on the other hand, it will be an ease to me 
 to disburden my thoughts and observations in the 
 way proposed to you, by Sir, your friend and humble 
 servant.'* 
 
 I conceal this correspondent's name, in my care 
 for his life and safety, and cannot but approve his pru- 
 dence, in choosing to live obscurely I remember 
 the fate of my poor monkey : he had an illnatured 
 trick of grinning and chattering at evyry thing he saw 
 in pttticoats: my ignorant (ountry nei.^hbours got a 
 notion, that pug snarled by instinct at every female who 
 
284 ESSAYS. 
 
 had lost her virginity. This was no sooner generally 
 believed, than he was condemned to death ; by whom I 
 could never learn, but he was assassinated in the nig;ht, 
 barbarously stabbed and mangled in a thousand places, 
 and left hanging dead on one of my gate posts where 
 I found him the next morning. 
 
 The censor observing, that the itch of scribbling 
 begins to spread exceedingly, and being carefully ten- 
 der of the reputation of his country, in point of wit 
 and good sense, has determined to take all manner of 
 writing in verse or prose, that pretended to either, un- 
 der his immediate cognizance; and accordingly) here- 
 by prohibits the publishing any such for the future, till 
 they have first passed his examination, and received 
 his imprimatur : for which he demands as a fee only 
 six pence per sheet. 
 
 N. B. He nevertheless permits to be published, all 
 satirical remarks on the Busy- Body, the above prohibi- 
 tion notwithstanding, and without examination, or re- 
 quiring the said fees ; which indulgence the small 
 witsfin and about this city, are advised gratefully to 
 accept and acknowledge. 
 
 The gentleman who calls himself Sirronio, is direct- 
 ed, on receipt of this, to burn his great book of cru- 
 dities. 
 
 p. S. In compassion to that young man, on account 
 of the great pains he has taken, in consideration of the 
 character I have just received of him, that he is really 
 good-natured, and on condition he shows it to no for- 
 eigner, or stranger of sense, I have thought fit to re-- 
 prieve his said great booli of Crudities from the flames, 
 till further order. 
 
 Noli me tangero. 
 
 I had resolved when I first commenced this design, 
 «n no account to enter into a public dispute with as^y 
 
ESSAYS. 285 
 
 man ; for I judged it would be equally unpleasant to 
 me and my readers, to see this paper filled with con- 
 tentious wrangling, answers, replies,- Sec. which is a 
 way of writing that is endless, and at the same time 
 seldom contains any thing that is either edifying or 
 entertaining. Yet when such a considerable man as 
 
 Mr. finds himself concerned so warmly to accuse 
 
 and condemn me, as he has done in Keimer*s last In- 
 structor, I cannot forbear endeavouring to say some- 
 thing in my own defence, from one of the worst of 
 characters that could be given me by a man of worth. 
 But as I have many things of more consequence to of- 
 fer the public, I declare that I will never after this 
 time, take notice of any accusations, not better sup- 
 ported with truth and reason ; much less may every 
 little scribbler, that shall attack me, expect an answer 
 from the Busy-Body. 
 
 The sum of the charge delivered against me, either 
 directly or indirectly, in the said paper, is this : not 
 to mention the first weighty sentence concerning vani» 
 tyand ill-nature, and the shrewd intimation, that I am 
 without charity and therefore can have no pretence 
 to religion, I am represented as guilty of defamation 
 and scandal, the odiousness of which is apparent to 
 every good man, and the practice of it opposite to 
 Christianity, morality and common justice, and in 
 some cases, so far below all these, as to be inhuman ; 
 a blaster of reputations; as attempting, by a pretence, 
 to screen myself from the imputation of malice and 
 prejudice ; as using a weapon, which the wiser and 
 better part of mankind hold in abhorrence « and as 
 giving treatment which the wiser and better part of 
 mankind dislike on the same principles, and for the 
 same reason, as they do assassination, &c. and all this 
 is inferred and concluded from a character I have 
 wrote in my Number HI. 
 
 In order to examine the truth and justice of this 
 heavy charge, let us recur to that character. And here 
 we may be surprised to find what a trifle has raised this 
 
286 ESSAYS. 
 
 mighty clamour and complaint, this grievous accu- 
 sation ! — The worst thing said of the person, in what 
 is called my gross description (be he who he will to 
 whom my accuser has applied the character of Cre- 
 tico) is, that he is a sour philosopher, crafty, but not 
 wise. Few human characters can be drawn that will 
 not fit some body, in so large a country as this ; but 
 one would think, supposing I meant Cretico a real per- 
 son, I had sufficiently manifested my impartiality, when 
 I said, in that very paragragh, that Cretico is not without 
 virtue ; that there are many good things in him, and 
 many good actions reported of him ; which must be 
 allowed in all reason, very much to overbalance in his 
 favour those worst words, sour tempered, and cunning. 
 Nay, my very enemy and accuser must have been sen- 
 sible of this, when he freely acknowledges, that he has 
 been seriously considering, and cannot yet determine, 
 which he would choose to be, the Cato or Cretico of 
 that paper 5 since my Cato is one of the best of char- 
 acters. Thus much in my own vindication. As to 
 the only reasons there given, why I ought not to con- 
 tinue drawing characters, viz. Why should any man's 
 picture be published which he never sat for ; or his 
 good name taken from him any more than his money 
 or possessions, at the arbitrary will of another, &;c. I 
 have but this to answer : the money or possessions, I 
 presume, are nothing to the purpose ; since no man 
 can claim a right either to those or a good name, if he 
 has acted so as to forfeit them. And are not the public 
 the only jutiges what share of reputation they think 
 proper to allow any man ? Supposing I was capable, 
 and had an inclination, to draw all the good and bad 
 characters in America, why should a good man be of- 
 fended with me for drawing good characters ? And if 
 I draw ill ones, can they fit any one but those that 
 deserve them ? And ought any but such to be con- 
 cerned that they have their deserts ? I have as great 
 an aversion and abhorrence for defamation and scandal 
 as any man, and would, with the utmost care, avoid 
 
ESSAYS. 287 
 
 being guilty of such base things ; besides I am very sen- 
 sible and certain, that if I should make use of this paper 
 to defame any person, my reputation would be sooner 
 hurt by it than his ; and the Busy-Body would quickly 
 Become detestable ; because, in such a ease, as is justly 
 t)bserved, the pleasure arising from a tale of wit and 
 novelty soon dies away in generous and honest mindsi 
 and is followed with a secret grief, to see their neigh- 
 bours calumniated. But if 1 myself was actually the 
 worst man in the province, and any one should draw 
 my real character, would it not be ridiculous in me to 
 say, he had defamed and scandalized me unless he had 
 added in a matter of truth ? If any thing is meant by 
 asking, why any man's picture should be published 
 which he never sat for ? it must be, that we should give 
 no character without the owner's consent. If I discern 
 the wolf disguised in harmless wool, and contriving the 
 destruction of my neighbour's sheep, must I have his 
 permission, before lam allowed to discover and prevent 
 him ? If 1 know a man to be a designing knave, 
 must I ask his consent to bid my friends beware of 
 him ? If so, then, by the same rule, supposing the 
 Busy-Body had really merited all his enemy had charg- 
 ed him with, his consent likewise ought to have been 
 obtained before so terrible an accusation was published 
 against him. 
 
 1 shall conclude with observing, that in the last para- 
 graph save one of the piece now examined, much ill- 
 nature and some good sense are co-inhabitants (as he 
 expresses it ) The ill nature appears in his endeavour- 
 ing to discover satire where I intended no such thing, 
 but quite the reverse ; the good sense is this, that 
 drawing too good a character of any one is a refined 
 manner of satire, that may be as injurious to him as 
 the contrary, by bringing on an examination that un- 
 dresses the person, and in the haste of doing it, he 
 may happen to be stript of what he really owns and 
 deserves. As I am Censor, I might punish the first, 
 but I forgive it. Yet I will not leave the latter unre- 
 
288 ESSAYS. 
 
 warded; but assure my adversary, ^^^^ i" consideration 
 of the merit of those four lines, I «m resolved to 
 forbear injuring him on any occount in that refine, 
 manner. 
 
 I thank my neighbour P W — • 1 for his 
 
 kind letter. 
 
 The lions complained of shall be muzzled. 
 
 THE busy-body— No. VI. 
 
 From Tuesday y March 20, to Tuesday j March 27, 
 1729. 
 
 Quid non mortalia pectora cogis, 
 Auri sacra fames? virgil, 
 
 ONE of the greatest pleasures an author can have, 
 is, certainly, the hearing his works applauded. The 
 hiding from the world our names, while we publish 
 our thoughts, is so absolutely necessary to this self- 
 gratification, that I hope my well-wisiiers will con- 
 gratulate me on my escape from the many diligent, but 
 fruitless enquiries, that have of late been made after 
 me. Every man will own, that an author, as such, 
 ought to be hid by the merit of his productions only ; 
 but pride, party, and prejudice, at this timej runs so 
 very high, that experience shows we form our notions 
 of a piece by the character of the author. Nay, there 
 are some very humble politicians in and about this city, 
 who will ask, on which side the writer is, before they 
 presume to give their opinion of the thing wrote. This 
 ungenerous way of proceeding I was well aware of 
 before I published my first speculation ; and there- 
 fore concealed my name. And I appeal to the more 
 
ESSAYS. 289 
 
 generous part of the world, if I have, since I appeared 
 in the character of the Busy-Body, given an instance 
 of my siding with any party more than another, in the 
 unhappy divisions of my country ; and I have above 
 all, this satisfaction in myself, that neither affection, 
 aversion, or interest, have biassed me to use any par- 
 tiality towards any man, or set of men ; but whatso- 
 ever I find nonsensical, ridiculous, or immorally dis- 
 honest, I have, and still continue openly to attack, 
 with the freedom of an honest man, and a lover of my 
 country. 
 
 I profess I can hardly contain myself, or prescrvQ 
 the gravity and dignity that should attend the censorial 
 office, when 1 hear the odd and unaccountable exposi- 
 tions, that are put upon some of my works, through 
 the malicious ignorance of some, and the vain pride of 
 more than ordinary penetration in others ; one instance 
 of which many of my readers are acquainted with. A 
 certain gentleman has taken a great deal of pains to 
 write a key to the letter in my Number IV, wherein 
 he has ingeniously converted a genile satire upon te- 
 dious and impertinent visitants, into a libel on some of 
 the government. This I mention only as a specimen 
 of the taste of the gentleman ; I am forsooth, bound to 
 please in my speculaiioRs, not that I suppose my im- 
 partiality will ever be called in question on that account. 
 Injustices of this nature I could complain of in many 
 instances ; but I am at present diverted by the recep- 
 tion of a letter, which,, though it regards me only in niy 
 private capacity, as an adept, yet I venture to publish 
 it for the entertainment of my readers ; 
 
 *' To Censor Morum, Esq. Busy-Body General of the 
 jProvince of Pennsylvaiiia^ and the Counties of jYciV" 
 caattey Kent^ and Sussex iifion Delaware, 
 
 " Honourable Sir, 
 
 " I JUDGE by your lucubrations, that you are not; 
 only a lover of truth and equity, but a man of parts and 
 B b 
 
290 E&SAY^c 
 
 learning, aftd a master of science ; as such I honoas* 
 you. Know then, most profound sir, that I have, from 
 my youth up, been a very indefatigable student in and 
 admirer of, that divine science, astrology. I have read 
 over Scott, Albertus Magnus, and Cornelius Agrippa, 
 above three hundred times ; and was in hopes, by my 
 knowledge and industry, to gain enough to have re* 
 compensed me for my money expended, and time lost 
 in the pursuit of this learning. You cannot be ignorant 
 sir, (for your intimate second-sighted correspondent 
 knows all things) that there are large sums of mioney 
 hidden under ground in divers places about this town, 
 and in many parts of the country : but alas, sir, not- 
 withstanding I have used all the means laid down in 
 the immortal authors before mentioned, and when they 
 failed the ingenious Mr. P — d — 1, with his mercurial 
 wand and magnet, I have still failed in my purpose. 
 This, therefore, I send, to propose and desire an ac* 
 quaintance with you, and I do no doubt, notwithstand- 
 ing my repeated ill fortune, but we may be exceed- 
 ingly serviceable to each other in our discoveries ; and 
 that if we use our united endeavours, the lime will 
 come, when the Busy-Body, his second-sighted cor- 
 respondent, and your very humble servant, will be 
 three of the richest men in the province : and then, 
 sir, what may we not do ? A word to the wise is suf- 
 ficient. 
 
 I conclude with all demonstrable respect, 
 
 Yours and Urania's Votary, 
 
 TITAN PELIADS. 
 
 In the evening after I had received this letter, I 
 made a visit to my second-sighted friend, and commu- 
 nicated to him the proposal. When he had read it, he 
 assured me, that to his certain knowledge, there is not 
 at this time so much as one ounce of'silver orsgold hid 
 under ground in any part of this province ; for that the 
 late and present scarcity of money had obliged those, 
 who were living, and knew were they had formerly 
 
ESS'AYS. 291 
 
 hid any, fb take it up, and use it in their own necessary- 
 affairs : and as to all the rest, which was buried by pi- 
 rates and others in old times, who were never like to 
 come for it, he himself had long since dug it all up, and 
 applied it to charitable uses ; and this he desired me 
 to publish for the general good. For, as he acquainted 
 me, there are among us great numbers of honest artifi- 
 cers and labouring people, who, fed with a vain hope of 
 growing suddenly rich, neglect their business, almost 
 to the ruining of themselves and families, and volunta- 
 rily endure abundance of fatigue in a fruitless search 
 after imaginary hidden treasure. They wander through 
 the woods and bushes by day, to discover the marks 
 and signs ; at midnight they repair to the hopeful 
 spots with spades and pickaxes ; full of expectation 
 they labour violently, trembling at the same time in 
 every joint, through fear of certain malicious demons, 
 who are said to haunt and guard such places. At 
 length a mighty hole is dug, and perhaps several cart- 
 loads, of earth thrown out ; but alas, no keg or iron pot 
 is found ! no seaman's chest crimed with Spanish pis- 
 toles, or weighty pieces of eight I Then they conclude, 
 that through some mistake in the procedure, some rash 
 word spoke, or some rule of art neglected, the guardian 
 spirit had power to sink it deeper into the earth, anci 
 convey it out of their reach. Yet, when a man is once 
 thus infatuated, he is so far from being discouraged by 
 ill success, that he is rather animated to double his in- 
 dustry, and will try again and again in a hundred dif- 
 ferent places, in hopes at last of meeting with some 
 lucky hit, that shall at once sufficiently reward him for 
 all his expence of time and labour. 
 
 This odd humour of digging for money through a 
 belief, that much has been hid by pirates formerly fre- 
 quenting the river, has for sevei'al years t)een mighty 
 prevalent among us ; insomuch that you can hardly 
 ^alk half a mile out of the town on any side, without 
 observing several pits dug with that design, and per- 
 haps some lately opened. Men, otherwise of very 
 good sense, have been drawn into this practice, through 
 
292 ESSAYS. 
 
 an overweening desire of sudden wealth, and an ea&y 
 cveduiity of what they so earnestly wished might be 
 true. While the rational and almost certain methods 
 of acquiring riches by industry and frugality are ne- 
 glected or forgotten. There seems to be some peculiar 
 charm in the conceit of finding money : and if the 
 sands of Schuylkill were so much mixed with small 
 grains of gold, that a man might in a day's time with 
 care and application, get together to the value of half a 
 crown, I make no question but we should find several 
 people employed there, that can with ease earn five 
 shillings a day at their proper trades. 
 
 Many are the idle stories told of the private success 
 of some people, by which others are encouraged to 
 proceed ; and the astrologers, with whom the country 
 swarms at this time, are either in the belief of these 
 things themselves, or find their advantage in persuad- 
 ing others to believe them ; for they are often consult- 
 ed about the critical times for digging, the methods of 
 laying the spirit, and the like v/himsies, which renders 
 them very necessary to, and very much caressed by, 
 the poor deluded money-hunters. 
 
 There is certainly something very bewitching in 
 the pursuit after mines of gold and silver and other 
 valuable metals and many have been ruined by it. A sea- 
 captain of my acquaintance used to blame ttie English 
 for envying Spain their mines of silver, and too much 
 despising or overlooking the advantages of their own 
 industry and manufactures. For my part, says he, I 
 esteem the banks of Newfoundland to be a more valu- 
 able possession than the mountains of Postosi ; and 
 when I have been there on the fishing account, have 
 looked at every cod pulled up into the vessel as a cer- 
 tain quantity of silver ore, which required only carry- 
 ing to the next Spanish port to be coined into pieces 
 of eight ; not to mention the national profit of fitting 
 out and employing such a number of ships and sea- 
 men. Let honest Peter Buckram; who has long with 
 out success, been a searcher after hidden money, re- 
 flect on this, and be reclaimed from that unaccountable 
 
ESSAYS. 293 
 
 folly. Let him consider, that every stitch he takes 
 when he is on the shop board is picking up part of a 
 grain of gold, that will in a few days time amount to 
 a pistole ; and let Faber think the same of every 
 nail he drives, or every stroke, with his plane. Such 
 thoughts may make them industrious and of conse- 
 quence in time they may be wealthy. But how ab- 
 surd it is to neglect a certain profit for such a ridicu- 
 lous whimsey ; to spend whole days at the George, in 
 company with an idle pretender to astrology, contriving 
 schemes to discover what was never hidden, and forget- 
 ful how carelessly business is managed at home in their 
 absence : to leave their wives in a warm bed at mid- 
 night (no matter if it rain, hail, snow, or blow a hur- 
 ricane, provided that be the critical hour) and fatigue 
 themselves with the violent exercise of digging for 
 what they shall never find, and perhaps getting a cold 
 that may cost their lives, or at least disordering them- 
 selves so as to be fit for no business beside for some 
 days after. Surely this is nothing less than the most 
 egregious folly and madness. 
 
 I shall conclude with the words of my discreet 
 friend, Agricola, of Chester County, when he gave his 
 6on a good plantation : — " My son,'* says he, " I give 
 thee now a valuable parcel of land ; I assure thee I 
 have found a considerable quantity of gold by digging 
 there : thee mayest do the same : but thee must care- 
 fully observe this, Never to dig more than plough- 
 deep." 
 
 Bb2 
 
^94 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 THE EXAMINATION OF DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 
 BEFORE AN AUGUST ASSEMBLY, RELATING TO THE 
 REPEAL OF THE STAMP-ACT, &c. 
 
 Q. What is your name, and place of abode ? 
 
 A. Franklin of Philadelphia. 
 
 Q. Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes 
 among themselves ? 
 
 A. Certainly many, and very heavy taxes. 
 
 Q. What are the present taxes in Pennsylvania, laid 
 by the laws of the colony ? 
 
 A. There are taxes on all estates real and persona], 
 -a poll tax, a tax on all offices, professions, trades and 
 businesses, according to their profits ; an excise on 
 all wine, rum, and other spirits ; and a duty of ten 
 pounds per head on all Negroes imported, with some 
 otlier duties. 
 
 Q. For what purposes are those taxes laid ? 
 
 A. For the support of the civil and military estab- 
 lishments of the country, and to discharge the heavy 
 debt contracted in the last war. 
 
 Q. How long are those taxes to continue? 
 
 A. Those for discharging the debt are to continue 
 till 1772, and longer, if the debt should not then be all 
 discharged. The others must always continue. 
 
 Q. Was it not expected that the debt would have 
 been sooner discharged ? 
 
 A. It was when the peace was made with France and 
 Spain — But a fresh war breaking out with the Indians, 
 a fresh load of debt was incurred, and the taxes, of 
 course, continued longer by a new law. 
 
 Q. Are not all the people very able to pay those 
 taxes ? 
 
 A. No. The frontier counties, all along the con- 
 tinent, having been frequently ravaged by the enemy, 
 ^^d greatly impoverished, are able to pay very little 
 lax. And therefore, in consideration of their distresses, 
 our late tax laws do expressly favour those counties, 
 excusing the sufferers ; and I suppose the same is done 
 in other governments. 
 
DR. FRANKLXK. 29S 
 
 Q. Are not you concerned in the management of the 
 Post-Office in America ? 
 
 A. Yes. I am deputy post-master general of North 
 America. 
 
 Q. Don't you think the distribution of stamps, by 
 post, to all the inhabitants very practicable, if there 
 was no opposition ? 
 
 A. The posts only go along the sea coasts ; they do 
 not, except in a few instances, go back into the coun- 
 try ; and if they did, sending for stamps by post would 
 occasion an expence of postage, amounting in many 
 cases to much more than that of the stamps them- 
 selves. 
 
 Q. Are you acquainted with Newfoundland ? 
 
 A. I never was there. 
 
 Q. Do you know whether there are any post roads 
 on that island ? 
 
 A. I have heard that there are no roads at all ; but 
 that the communication between one settlement and 
 another is by sea only. 
 
 Q. Can you disperse the stamps by post in Canada ? 
 
 A. There is only a post between Montreal and 
 Quebec. The inhabitants live so scattered and remote 
 from each other in that vast country, that posts can* 
 not be supported among them, and therefore they can- 
 not get stamps per post. The English Colonies too, 
 along the frontiers, are very thinly settled. 
 
 Q. From the thinness of the back settlements, would 
 not the stamp-act be extremely inconvenient to the in* 
 habitants, if executed ? 
 
 A. To be sure it would ; as many of the inhabitants 
 could not get stamps when they had occasion for them, 
 without taking long journies, and spending perhaps 
 three or four pounds, that the crown might get six* 
 pence. 
 
 Q. Are not thfc colonies, from their circumstances^ 
 very able to pay the stamp-duty ? 
 
 A. In my opinion, there is not gold and silver enough 
 in the colonies to pay the stamp-duty for one year. 
 
296 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 Q. Don't you know that the money arising from the 
 stamps was all to be laid out in America ? 
 
 A. I know it is appropriated by the act to the Ame- 
 rican service ; but it will be spent in the conquered 
 colonies, where the soldiers are, not in the colonies 
 that pay it. 
 
 Q. Is there not a balance of trade due from the co- 
 lonies where the troops are posted, that will bring 
 back the money to the old colonies ? 
 
 A. I think not. I believe very little would come 
 back. I know of no trade likely to bring it back. I 
 think it would come from the colonies where it was 
 sent directly to England ; for I have always observed, 
 that in every colony the more plenty the means, of re- 
 mittance to England, the more goods are sent for, and 
 the more trade with England carried on. 
 
 Q. What number of white inhabitants do you think 
 there are in Pennsylvania ? 
 - A. I suppose there may be about 160,000. 
 
 Q. What number of them are Quakers I 
 
 A. Perhaps a third. 
 
 Q What number of Germans ? 
 
 A. Perhaps another third ; but I cannot speak with 
 certainty ? 
 
 Q. Have any numbers of the Germans seen service 
 as soldiers in Europe ? 
 
 A. Yesj — many of them, both in Europe and Ame- 
 rica. 
 
 Q. Are they as much dissatisfied with the stamp du- 
 ty as the English ? 
 
 A. Yes, and more ; and with reason, as their stamps 
 are in many cases, to be double. 
 
 Q. How many white men do you suppose there are 
 in North America .' 
 
 A. About 300,000, from sixteen to sixty years of 
 age. 
 
 Q. What may be the amount of one year's imports 
 into Pennsylvania from Britain ? 
 
 A. I have been informed that our merchants com- 
 pute the imports from Britain te be above 500,000^. 
 
DR. mANKLlN. 297 
 
 Q. What may be the amount of the produce of your 
 province exported to Britain ? 
 
 A. It must be small, as we produce little that is 
 wanted in Britain. I suppose it cannot exceed 40,000/. 
 
 Q. How then do you pay the balance ? 
 
 A. The balance is paid by our produce carried to 
 the West-Indies, and sold in our own islands, or to the 
 French, Spaniards, Danes and Dutch; by the same 
 carried to other colonies in North-America, as to New- 
 England, Nova-Scotia, Newfoundland, Carolina and 
 Georgia ; by the same carried to different parts of Eu- 
 rope, as Spain, Portugal and Italy. In all which places 
 we receive either money, bills of exchange, or commo- 
 dities that suit for remittance to Britain ; which, to- 
 gether with all the profits on the industry of our mer- 
 chants and mariners, arising in those circuitous voya- 
 ges, and the freights made by their ships, centre final- 
 ly ill Britain, to discharge the balance, and pay for 
 British manufactures continually used in the province, 
 or sold to foreigners by our traders. 
 
 Q. Have you heard of any difficulties lately laid on 
 the Spanish trade ? 
 
 A. Yes, I have heard that it has been greatly ob- 
 structed by some new regulations, and by the English 
 men of war and cutlers stationed all along the coast in 
 America. 
 
 Q. Do you think it right that America should be 
 protected by this country, and pay no part of the ex- 
 pence ? 
 
 A. That is not the case. The Colonies raised, cloth- 
 ed and paid, during the last war, near 5,000 men, &nd 
 spent many millions. 
 
 Q. Were you not reimbursed by parliament ? 
 
 A. W^c were only reimbursed what, in your opinion, 
 we had advanced beyond our proportion, or beyond 
 what might reasonably be expected from us ; and it 
 was a very small part of what we spent. Pen ^.sylva- 
 nia, in particular, disbursed about 500,000/ and the re- 
 imbursements, in the whole, did not exceed 60,000/. 
 
 Q. You have said that you pay heavy taxes in Penn- 
 sylvania J what do they amount to in the pound ? 
 
298 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 A. The tax on all estates, real and personul, is eigh* 
 teen pence in tlie pound, fully rated ; and the tax on the 
 profits of trades and professions, with other taxes, do, 
 I suppose, make full half a crown in the pound. 
 
 Q. Do you know any thing of the rate of exchange in 
 Pennsylvania, and whether it has fallen lately ? 
 
 A. It is commonly from 170 to 175. I have heard 
 that it has fallen lately from 175 to 162 and a half, ow- 
 ing, I suppose, to their lessening their orders for goods; 
 and when their debts to this country are paid, I think 
 the exchange will probably be at par. 
 
 Q. Do not you think the people of America would 
 submit to pay the stamp duty, if it was moderated ? 
 
 A. No, never, unless compelled by force of arms. 
 
 Q. Are not the taxes in Pennsylvania laid on un-* 
 equally, in order to burthen the English trade, particu- 
 larly the tax ©n professions and business ? 
 
 A. It is not more burthensome in proportion than 
 the tax on lands. It is intended, and supposed to take 
 an equal proportion of profits. 
 
 Q. How is the assembly composed ? Of what kinds 
 of people are the members, landholders or traders ? 
 
 A. It is composed of landholders, merchants and ar- 
 tificers. 
 
 Q. Are not the majority landholders ? 
 
 A. I believe they are. 
 
 Q. Do not they, as much as possible, shift the tax 
 off from the land, to ease that, and lay the burthen 
 heavier on trade ? 
 
 A. I have never understood it so. I never heard 
 such a thing suggested, And indeed an attempt of 
 that kind could answer no purpose. The merchant or 
 trader is always skilled in figures, and ready with his 
 pen and ink. If unequal burthens are laid on his 
 trade, he puts an additional price on his goods ; and the 
 consumers, who are chiefly landholders, finally pay the 
 greatest part, if not the whole. 
 
 Q. What was the temper of America towards G. 
 Britain before the year 1763 I 
 
Sa. FRANKUN. S&Q 
 
 A. The best in the world. They submitted wil- 
 lingly to the government of the crown, and paid, in 
 all their courts, obedience to acts of parliament. Nu- 
 merous as the people are in the several old provinces^ 
 they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons or 
 armies, to keep them in subjection. They were go- 
 verned by this country at the expence only of a little 
 p«n, ink and paper. They were led by a thread They 
 had not only a respect, but an affection, for Great- 
 Britain, for its laws, its customs and manners, and 
 even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased 
 the commerce. Natives of Britain were always treated 
 with particular regard ; to be an Old England-man, was, 
 of itself, a character of some respect, and gave a kind of 
 rank among us. 
 
 Q. And what is their temper now ? 
 
 A. O, very much altered. 
 
 Q. Did you ever hear the authority of parliament to 
 make laws for America questioned till lately ? 
 
 A. The authority of parliament was allowed to be 
 valid in all laws, except such as should lay internal 
 taxes. It was never disputed in laying duties to regu- 
 late commerce. 
 
 Q. In what proportion hath population increased in 
 America ? 
 
 A. I think the inhabitants of all the provinces to- 
 gether, taken at a medium, double in about 25 years. 
 But their demand for British manufactures increases 
 much faster, as the consumption is not merely in pro- 
 jxjrtion to their numbers, but grows with the growing 
 abilities of the same numbers to pay for them. In 1723, 
 the whole importation from Britain to Pensylvania, 
 was but abotit 15,000 pounds sterling; it is now near 
 half a million. 
 
 Q. In what light did the people of America use to 
 consider the parliament of Great-Britain ? 
 
 A. They considered the parliament as the great 
 bulwark and security of their liberties and privileges, 
 and always spoke of it with the utmost respect and ve- 
 neration. Arbitrary ministers., they thought, might 
 
500 EXAMlSTATION OP 
 
 possibly, at times attempt to oppress them ; but they 
 relied on it, that the parliament, on application, would 
 always give redress. They remembered, with grati- 
 tude, a strong instance of this, when a bill was brought 
 into parliament, with a clause to make royal instruct 
 tions laws in the colonies, which t^e house of commons 
 would not pass, and it was thrownlptit. 
 
 Q. And have they not still the same respect for par- 
 liament. 
 
 A. No ; it is greatly lessened. 
 
 Q. To what causes is that owing ? 
 
 A. To a concurrence of causes ; the restraints late- 
 ly laid on their trade, by which the bringing of foreii^n 
 gold and silver into the colonies was prevented; the 
 prohibition of making paper money among themselves ; 
 and then demanding a new and heavy tax by stamps ; 
 taking away, at the same time, trials by juries, and re- 
 fusing to receive and hear their humble petitions. 
 
 Q. Don't you think they would submit to the stamp 
 act, if it was nsodified, the obnoxious parts taken out, 
 and the duty reduced to some particulars, of small mo- 
 ment ? 
 
 A. No ; they will never submit to it. 
 
 Q. What do you think is the reason that the people 
 of America increase faster than in England ? 
 
 A. Because they marry younger, and more gene- 
 rally. 
 
 Q. Why so? 
 
 A. Because any young couple that are industrious, 
 mny easily obtain land of their own, on which they can 
 raise a family. 
 
 Q. Are not the lower rank of people more at their 
 Cise in America than in England? 
 
 A. They may be so, if they are sober and diligent, as 
 they are better paid for their bbour. 
 
 Q. What is your opinion of a future tax. imposed on 
 the same principle with that of the stamp act ; how 
 would the Americans receive it ? 
 
 A. Just as they do this. They would not pay it. 
 
UR. FRANKLiN^ 301 
 
 Q. Have you not heard of the resolutions of this house, 
 and of the house of lords, asserting the right of parlia- 
 ment relating to America, including a power to tax the 
 people there ? 
 
 A. Yes, I have heard of such resolutions. 
 
 Q. What will be the opinion of the Americans on 
 those resolutions? 
 
 A. They will think them unconstitutional, and un- 
 just. 
 
 Q. Was it an opinion in America before 1763, that 
 the parliament had no right to lay taxes and duties 
 there? 
 
 A. I never heard any objection to the right of laying 
 duties to regulate commerce ; but a right to lay inter- 
 nal taxes was never supposed to be in parliament, as we 
 are not represented there. 
 
 Q. On what do you found your opinion, that the peo- 
 ple in America made any such distinction ^ 
 
 A. I know that whenever the subject has occurred 
 in conversation where I have been present, it has ap- 
 peared to be the opinion of every one, that we could 
 not he taxed in a parliament where we were not repre- 
 sented. But the payment of duties laid by act of parlia- 
 ment, as regulations of commerce, was never dis- 
 puted. 
 
 Q. But can you name any act of assembly, or pub- 
 lic act of any of your governments^ that made such dis- 
 tinction ? 
 
 A. I do not know that there was any ? I think there 
 ■was never an occasion to make any such act, till now 
 that you have attempted to tax us ; that has occasion- 
 ed resolutions of assembly, declaring the distinction, 
 in which I think every assembly on the continent, and 
 every member in every assembly, have been unani- 
 mous. 
 
 Q. What then could occasion conversutions on that 
 subject before that time ? 
 
 A. There was in 1754 a proposition made (I think it 
 came from hence) that in case of a war, whicU wu» 
 then apprehended, the governors of the tolonieii should 
 
 cc : 
 
302 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 meet, and order the levying of troops, building of 
 forts, and taking every other necessary measure for 
 the general defence ; and should draw on the treasury 
 here for the sums expended, which were afterwards to 
 be raised in the colonies by a general tax, to be laid on 
 them by act of parliament. This occasioned a good 
 deal of conversation on the subject, and the general 
 opinion was, that the parliament neither would nor 
 could lay any tax on us, till we were duly represented 
 in parliament, because it was not just, nor agreeable 
 to the nature of an English constitution. 
 
 Q. Don't you know there was a time in New-York, 
 when it was under consideration to make an applica- 
 tion to parliament to lay taxes on that colony, upon a 
 deficiency arising from the assembly's refusing or ne- 
 glecting to raise the necessary supplies for the sup- 
 port of the civil government ? 
 
 A. I never heard of it. 
 
 Q. There was such an application under considera- 
 tion in New-York ; and do you apprehend they could 
 suppose the right of parliament to lay a tax in Ameri- 
 ca was only local, and confined to the case of a defi- 
 ciency in a particular colony, by a refusal of its assem- 
 bly to raise the necessary supplies ? 
 
 A. They could not suppose such a case, as that the 
 assembly would not raise the necessary supplies to 
 support its own government. An assembly that would 
 refuse it must want common sense, which cannot be 
 supposed. I think there was never any such case at 
 New-York, and that it must be a misrepresentation, or 
 the fact must be misunderstood. I know there have 
 been some attempts, by ministerial instructions from 
 hence, to oblige the assemblies to settle permanent sa- 
 laries on governors, which they wisely refused to do ; 
 but I believe no assembly of New-York, or any other 
 colony, ever refused duly to support government by 
 proper allowances, from time to time to public officers. 
 
 Q. But in case a governor, acting by instruction, 
 should call on an assembly to raise the necessary sup- 
 plies, and the assembly should refuse to do it, do you 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 303 
 
 not think it would then be for the good of the people 
 of the colony, as well as necessary to government, that 
 the parliament should tax them ? 
 
 A. I do not think it would be necessary. If an as- 
 sembly could possibly be so absurd as to refuse rais- 
 ing the supplies requisite for the maintenance of go- 
 vernment among them, they could not long remain in 
 such a situation, the disorders and confusion occasioned 
 by it must soon bring them to reason. 
 
 Q. If it should not, ought not the right to be in 
 Great-Britain of applying a remedy ? 
 
 A. A right only to be used in such a case, I should 
 have no objection to, supposing it to be used merely 
 for the good of the people of the colony. 
 
 Q. But who is to judge of that, Biitain or the 
 colony ? 
 
 A Those that feel can best judge. 
 
 Q. You say the colonies have always submitted to 
 external taxes, and object to the right of parliament 
 only in laying internal taxes ; now can you show that 
 there is any kind of difference between the two taxes 
 to the colony on which they may be laid ? 
 
 A. I think the difference is very great. An exter- 
 nal tax is a duty laid on commodities imported ; that 
 duly is added to the first cost, and other charges on 
 the commodity, and when it is offered to sale, makes 
 a part of the price. If the people do not like it at 
 that price, they refuse it ; they are not obliged to pay 
 it. But an internal tax is forced from the people with- 
 out their consent, if not laid by their own representa- 
 tives. The stamp-act says, we shall have no commerce, 
 make^no exchange of property with each other, nei- 
 ther purchase nor grant, nor recover debts ; we shall 
 neither marry nor make our wills, unless we pay such 
 and such sums, and thus it is intended to extort our 
 money from us, or ruin us by the consequences of re- 
 fusing to pay it. 
 
 Q. But supposing the external tax or duty to be 
 laid on the necessaries of life imported into your coio^ 
 
304 JEXAMINATION OF 
 
 ny, will not that be the same thing in its effects as an 
 internal tax ? 
 
 A. I do not know a single article imported into the 
 northern colonies, but what they can either do without 
 or make themselves. 
 
 Q. Don't you think cloth from England absolutely 
 necessary to them ? 
 
 A. No, by no means absolutely necessaiy ; with in- 
 dustry and good management, they may very well sup- 
 ply themselves with all they want. 
 
 Q. Will it not take a long time to establish that 
 manufacture among them ? and must they not in the 
 mean while suffer greatly ? 
 
 A. I think not. They have made a surprising pro- 
 gress already. And I am of opinion, that before their 
 old clothes are worn out, they will have new ones of 
 their own making. 
 
 Q. Can they possibly find wool enough in North 
 America ? 
 
 A. They have taken steps to increase the wool. 
 They entered into general combinations to eat no more 
 Iamb, and very few lambs were killed last year. This 
 course persisted in will soon make a prodigious differ- 
 ence in the quantity of wool. And the establishing 
 of great manufactories, like those in the clothing towns 
 here, is not necessary, as it is where the busines is to 
 be carried on for the purposes of trade. The people 
 will all spin, and work for themselves, in their own 
 houses. 
 
 Q. Can there.be wool and manufacture enough in 
 one or two years ? 
 
 A. In three years, I think there may. 
 
 Q. Does not the severity of the winter, in the North- 
 ern Colonies, occasion the wool to be of bad quality ? 
 
 A. No ; the wool is very fine and good. 
 
 Q. In the more Southern Colonies, as in Virginia, 
 don't you know that the wool is coarse, and only a kind 
 of hair ? 
 
 A. I don't know it. I never heard it. Yet I have 
 been sometimes in Virginia. I cannot say I ever took 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 305 
 
 particular notice of the wool there, but I believe it 
 is good, though I cannot speak positively of it ; but 
 Virginia, and the colonies south of it, have less occa- 
 sion for wool ; their winters are short and not very- 
 severe, and they can very well clothe themselves 
 with linen and cotton of their own raising for the rest 
 of the year. 
 
 Q. Are not the people, in the more northern colo- 
 nies obliged to fodder iheir sheep ail winter ? 
 
 A. In some of the most northern colonies they may 
 be obliged to do it some part of the winter, 
 
 Q. Considering the resolutions of parliament, as to 
 the right, do you think, if the stamp-act is, repealed, 
 that the North Americans will be satistied ? 
 
 A. I believe they will. ' 
 
 Q. Wny do you think so ? 
 
 A, I think the resolutions of right will give them 
 very little concern, if they are never attempted to be 
 carried into practice. The colonies will probably con- 
 sider themselves in the same situation, in that respect, 
 with Ireland ; they know you claim the same right 
 with regard to Ireland, but you never exercise it. And 
 they may believe you never will exercise it in the Co- 
 lonies, any more than in Ireland, unless on some very 
 extraordinary occasion. 
 
 Q. But who are to be the judges of that extraordi- 
 nary occasion I Is i: not the parliament ? 
 
 A. Though the parliament may judge of the occasion, 
 the people will think it can never exercise such right, 
 till representatives from the colonies are admitted into 
 parliament, and that whenever the occasion arises, re- 
 presentatives will be ordered. 
 
 Q. Did you never hear that Maryland, during the 
 last war, had refused to furnish a quota towards the 
 common defence ? 
 
 A. Maryland has been much misrepresented in that 
 matter. Mai'yiand, to my knowledge, never refused to 
 contribute, or grant aids to the crown. The assem- 
 blies every year, during the war, voted considerable 
 sums, and formed bills to raise them. The bills were, 
 Cc2 
 
306 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 according to the constitution of that province, sent up to 
 the council, or upper house, for concurrence, that they 
 might be presented to the governor, in order to be enac- 
 ted into laws. Unhappy disputes between the two 
 houses arising, from the defects of that constitution prin- 
 cipally, rendered all the bills but one or two abortive. 
 The proprietary's council rejected them. It is true 
 Maryland did net contribute its proportion, but it was 
 in my opinion, the fault of the government, not of the 
 people. 
 
 Q. Was it not talked of in the other provinces as a 
 proper measure to apply to parliament to compel them? 
 
 A. I have heard such discourse ; but as it was well 
 known, that the people were not to blame, no such ap- 
 plication was ever made, nor any step taken towards it. 
 
 Q. Was it not proposed at a public meeting I 
 
 A. Not that I know of. 
 
 Q. Do you remember the abolishing of the paper 
 currency in New-England, by act of assembly ? 
 
 A. I do remember its being abolished, in the Mas- 
 sachusetts Bay. 
 
 Q. Was not Lieutenant Governor Hutchinson prin- 
 cipally concerned in that transaction ? 
 
 A. I have heard so. 
 
 Q. Was it not at that time a very unpopular law ? 
 
 A. I believe it might, though I can say little about it, 
 as I lived at a distance from that province. 
 
 Q. Was not the scarcity of gold and silver an argu- 
 ment used against abolishing the paper ? 
 
 A. I suppose it was. 
 
 Q. Whdt is the present opinion there of that law? Is 
 it as unpopular as it was at first ? 
 
 A. I think it is not. 
 
 Q. Have not instructions from hence been some- 
 times sent over to governors, highly oppressive and 
 unpolitical ? 
 
 A Yes. 
 
 Q. Have not some governors dispensed with them for 
 that reason ? 
 
 A. Yes ; I have heard so* 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 307 
 
 Q. Did the Americans ever dispute the controling 
 power of parliament to regulate the commerce ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Can any thing less than a military force carry the 
 stamp-act into execution ? 
 
 A. I do not see how a military force can be applied 
 to that purpose. 
 
 Q. Why may it not ? 
 
 A. Suppose a military force sent into America, they 
 will find nobody in arms ; what are they then to do ? 
 They cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to 
 do without them. They will not find a rebellion : they 
 may indeed make one. 
 
 Q. If the act is not repealed, what do you thing will 
 be the consequences ? 
 
 A. A total loss of the respect and affection the peo- 
 ple of America bear to this country, and of all the com- 
 merce that depends on that respect and affection. 
 
 Q. How can the commerce be affected ? 
 
 A. You will find, that if the act is not repealed, 
 they will take very little of your manufactures in a short 
 time. 
 
 Q. Is it in their power to do without them ? 
 
 A. I think they may very well do without them 1 
 
 Q. Is it their interest not to take them ? 
 
 A. The goods they take from Britain are either 
 necessaries, mere conveniences, or superfluities. The 
 first, as cloth, &c, with a little industry they can make 
 at home ; the second they can do without, till they are 
 able to provide them among themselves; and the last, 
 which are much the greatest part, they will strike off 
 immediately. They are mere articles of fashion, pur- 
 chased and consumed, because the fashion in a respect- 
 ed country, but will now be detested and rejected.— 
 The people have already struck off, by general agree- 
 ment, the use of all goods fashionable in mournings, and 
 many thousand pounds worth are sent back as unsale- 
 able. 
 
 Q. Is it their interest to make cloth at home ? 
 
 A. I think they may at present get it cheaper from 
 
308 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 Britain, I mean of the same fineness and neatness of 
 workmanship : but when one considers other circum- 
 stances, the restraints on their trade, and the difficulty of 
 making remittances, it is their interest to make every 
 thing. 
 
 Q. Suppose an act of internal regulations, connected 
 with a tax, how would they receive it ? 
 
 A. I think it would be objected to. 
 
 Q. Then no regulation with a tax would be submit- 
 ted to? 
 
 A. Their opinion, is, that when aids to the Crown 
 are wanted, they are to be asked of the several assem- 
 blies, according to the old established usage, who will 
 as they always have done, grant them freely. And 
 that their money ought not to be given away without 
 their consent, by persons at a distance, unacquainted 
 with their circumstances and abilities. The grunting 
 aids to the Crown, is the only means they have of re- 
 commending themselves to their sovereign, and they 
 think it extremely hard and unjust, that a body of men, 
 in which they have no representatives, should make a 
 merit to itself of giving and granting what is not its 
 own, but theirs, and deprive them of a right they esteem 
 of the utmost value and importance, as it is the security 
 of all their other rights. 
 
 Q. But is not the post-office, which they have long 
 received, a tax as well as a regulation ? 
 
 A. No ; the money paid for the postage of a letter 
 is not of the nature of a tax i it is merely a quantum 
 meruit for a service done ; no person is compellable to 
 pay the money, if he does not chuse to receive the ser- 
 vice A man may still, as before the act, send his let- 
 ler by a servant, a special messenger, or a friend, if he 
 thinks it cheaper and safer. 
 
 Q. But do they not consider the regulations of the 
 post-office, by the act of last year, as a tax ? 
 
 A. By the regulations of last year the rate of post- 
 age was generally abated near thirty per cent, through 
 all \merica ; they certainly cannot consider such abate- 
 ment as a tax. 
 
DR. FEANKLIN. 30.9 
 
 Q. If an excise was laid by parliament which they 
 might likewise avoid paying, not by consuming the arti* 
 cles excised, would they then not object to it ? 
 
 A. They would certainly object to it, as an excise is 
 unconnected with any service done, and is merely an aid 
 which they think ought to be asked of them, and grant- 
 ted by them, if they are to pay it, and can be granted 
 for them by no others whatsoever, whom they have not 
 impowercd for that purpose. 
 
 Q. You say they do not object to the right of parlia- 
 ment in laying duties on goods to be paid on their im- 
 portation ; now, is there any kind of difference between 
 a duty on the importation of goods, and an excise on 
 their consumption ? 
 
 A. Yes ; a very material one : an excise for the rea- 
 sons I have just mentioned, they think you can have 
 no right to lay within their country. But the sea is 
 yours : you maintain, by your fleets, the safety of na- 
 vigation in it ; and keep it clear of pirates : you may 
 have therefore a natural and equitable right to some 
 toll or duty on merchandizes carried through that part 
 of your dominions, towards defraying the expence 
 you are at in ships to maintain the safety of that car- 
 riage. 
 
 Q. Does this reasoning hold in the case of a duty 
 laid on the produce of their lands exported ? and would 
 they not then object to such a duty ? 
 
 A. If it tended to make the produce so much dear- 
 er abroad as to lessen the demand for it, to be sure they 
 would object to such a duty ; not to your right to lay- 
 ing it, but they would complain of it as a burthen, and 
 petition you to lighten it. 
 
 Q. Is not!^the duty paid on the tobacco exporteAa duty 
 of that kind ? 
 
 A. That, I think, is only on tobacco carried coast- 
 wise from one colony to another, and appropriated as a 
 fund for supporting the college at Williamsburgh, in 
 Virginia. 
 
 Q. Have not the assemblies in the West-Indies the 
 same natural rights with those in North America I 
 
3iO EXAMINATION OF 
 
 A. Undoubtedly. 
 
 Q. And is there not a tax laid there on their sugars 
 exported ? 
 
 A. I am not much acquainted with the West-In- 
 dies, but the duty of four and a half per cent, on Su- 
 gars exported, was, I believe, granted by their own 
 assemblies. 
 
 Q. How much is the poll-tax in your province laid 
 on unmarried men ? 
 
 A. It is, I think, fifteen shillings, to be paid by 
 every single freeman, upwards of twenty-one years old. 
 
 Q. What is the annual amount of all the taxes in 
 Pennsylvania. -^ 
 
 A. I suppose about 20,000 pounds sterling. 
 
 Q. Supposing the stamp act continued, and enforced, 
 do you imagine that ill humour will induce the Ame- 
 ricans to give as much for worse manufactures, of their 
 own, and use them, preferably to better of ours ? 
 
 A. Yes, I think so. People will pay as freely to 
 gratify one passion as another, their resentment as 
 their pride. 
 
 Q. Would the people at Boston discontinue their 
 trade ? 
 
 A. The merchants are a very small number compar- 
 ed with the body of the people, and must discontinue 
 their trade, if nobody will buy their goods. 
 
 Q. What are the body of the people in the colonies? 
 
 A. They are farmers, husbandmen or planters. 
 
 Q. Would they suffer the produce of their lands to 
 rot? 
 
 A. No ; but they would not raise much. They would 
 manufacture more, and plough less. 
 
 Q. Would they live without the administration of 
 justice in civil matters, and suffer all the inconvenien- 
 ces of such a situation for any considerable time, 
 rather than take the stamps, supposing the stamps 
 were protected by a sufficient force, where every one 
 might have them ? 
 
 A. I think the supposition impracticable, that the 
 stamps should be so protected as that every one itiight 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 311 
 
 have them. The act requires sub-distributors to be 
 appointed in every county town, district and village, and 
 they would be necessary. But the principal distribu- 
 tors, who were to have had a considerable profit on the 
 whole, have not thought it worth while to continue in 
 the office, and I think it impossible to find sub-distribu- 
 tors fit to be trusted, who, for the trifling profit that 
 must come to their share, would incur the odium, and 
 run the hazard that would attend it ; and if they could 
 be found, I think it impracticable to protect the stamps 
 in so many distant and remote places. 
 
 Q. But in places where they could be protected, 
 would not the people use them rather than remain in 
 such a situation, unable to obtain any right, or recover, 
 by law, any debt ? 
 
 A. It is hard to say what they would do. I can only 
 judge what other people will think, and how they will 
 act, by what I feel within myself. I have a great many 
 debts due to me in America, and I had rather they 
 should remain unrecoverable by any law, than submit 
 to the stamp-act. They will be debts of honour. It is 
 my opinion the people will either continue in that situ- 
 ation, or find some way to extricate themselves, perhaps 
 by generally agreeing to proceed in the courts without 
 stamps. 
 
 Q. What do you think a sufficient military force to 
 protect the distribution of stamps in every part of 
 America ? 
 
 A. A very great force ; I can't say what, if the dis- 
 position of America is for a general resistance. 
 
 Q. What is the number of men in America able to 
 bear arms, or of disciplined militia ? 
 
 A. There are, I suppose, at least 
 
 [Question objected to. He withdrew. Called in again.'\ 
 
 Q. Is the American stamp-act an equal tax on that 
 ^country ? 
 
 A, I think not. 
 
 Q. Why so ? 
 
 A. The greatest part of the money must arise from 
 law suits for the recovery of debts, and be paid by the 
 
312 BXAMLNATION Op 
 
 lower sort of people, who were too poor easily to pay 
 their debts It is therefore a heavy tax on the poor, and 
 a tax upon them for being poor. 
 
 Q. But will not this increase of expence be a means 
 of lessening the number of law suits ? 
 
 A. I think not ; for as the costs all fall upon the 
 debtor, and are to be paid by him, they would be no dis- 
 couragement to the creditor to bring his action. 
 
 Q. Would it not have the effect of excessive usury ? 
 
 A. Yes, as an oppression of the debtor. 
 
 Q. How many ships are there laden annually in 
 North- America with flax-seed for Ireland ? 
 
 I cannot speak to the number of ships, but I know 
 that in 1752, 10,000 hogsheads of flax-seed, each con- 
 taining 7 bushels, were exported from Philadelphia to 
 Ireland. I suppose the quantity is greatly increased 
 since that time ; and it is understood that the exporta- 
 tion from New-York is equal to that from Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 Q. What becomes of the flax that grows with that 
 flax-seed ? 
 
 A. They manufacture some into coarse, and some in- 
 to a middling kind of linen. 
 
 Q. Arc there any slitting mills in America ? 
 
 A. I think there are, but I believe only one at pre- . 
 sent employed. I suppose they will all be set to work, 
 if the interruption of the trade continues. 
 
 Q. Are there any fulling mills there ? 1 
 
 A. A great many. | 
 
 Q. Did you never hear that a great quantity of ; 
 stockings were contracted for the army during the wari 
 and manufactured in Philadelphia ? 
 
 A. I have heard so. 
 
 Q. If the stamp-act should be repealed, would not 
 the Americans think they could oblige the parliament 
 to repeal every external law now in force ? 
 
 A. It is hard to answer questions of what people at 
 such a distance will think. 
 
 Q. But what do you imagine they will think were 
 the motives of repealing the act ? 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 313 
 
 A, I suppose they will think that it was repealed 
 from a conviction of its inexpediency ; and they will 
 rely upon it, that while the same inexpediency subsists, 
 you will never attempt to make such anotiier. 
 
 Q, What do you mean by its inexpediency ? 
 
 A. I mean its inexpediency on several accounts ; the 
 power and inability of those who were to pay the tax ; 
 the general discontent it has occasioned ; and the im- 
 practicability of enforcing it. 
 
 Q. If the act should be repealed, and the legislature 
 should shew its resentment to the opposers of the stamp- 
 act, would the colonies acquiesce in the authority of 
 the leq:islature ? What is your opinion they would 
 do ? 
 
 A. I don't doubt at all, that if the legislature repeal 
 the stamp-act, the colonies will acquiesce in the autho- 
 rity. 
 
 Q. But if the legislature should think fit to ascer- 
 tain its right to lay taxes, by an act laying a small tax, 
 contrary to their opinion, would they submit to pay the 
 tax ? 
 
 A. The proceedings of the people in America have 
 been considered too much together. The proceedings 
 of the assemblies have been very different from those 
 of the mobs, and should be distinguished, as having no 
 connection with each other. — The assemblies have on- 
 ly peaceably resolved what they take to be their rights ; 
 they have taken no measures for opposition by force, 
 they have not built a fort, raised a man, or provided a 
 grain of ammunition, in order to such opposition.— — - 
 The ringleaders of riots they think ought to be punish- 
 ed ; they would punish them themselves, if they could. 
 Every sober sensible man would wish to see rioters 
 punished, as otherwise peaceable people have no secu- 
 rity of person or estate. But as to an internal tax, 
 how small soever, laid by the legisbture here, on the 
 people there, while they have no representatives in 
 this legislature, I think it will never be submitted to— • 
 They will oppose it to the last. — They do not consider 
 it as at all necessary for you to raise money on them by 
 Dd 
 
314 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 your taxes, because they are, and always have been, 
 ready to raise money by taxes among themselves, and 
 to grant large sums, equal to their abilities, upon re- 
 quisition from the Crown — They have not only granted 
 equal to their abilities, but, during all the last war, 
 they granted far beyond their abilities, and beyond their 
 proportion with this country, you yourselves being 
 judges, to the amount of many hundred thousand 
 pounds, and this they did freely and readily, only on a 
 sort of promise from the secretary of state, that it 
 should be recommended to parliament to make them 
 compensation. It was accordingly recommended to 
 parliament, in the most honourable manner, for them. 
 America has been greatly misrepresented and abused 
 here, in papers, and pamphlets, and speeches, as un- 
 grateful and unreasonable, and unjust, in having put 
 this nation to immense expence for their defence, and 
 refusing to bear any part of that expence. The colo- 
 nies raised, paid and clothed, near 25,000 men during 
 the last war, a n\imber equal to those sent from Britain, 
 and far beyond their proportion ; they went deeply into 
 debt in doing this, and all their taxed estates are mort- 
 gaged, for many years to come, for discharging that 
 debt. Government here was at that, time very sensi- 
 ble of this. The colonies were recommended to par- 
 liament. Every year the King sent down to the house 
 a written message to this purpose. That his Majesty 
 being highly sensible of the z^^al and vigour with which 
 his faithful subjects in North- America had exerted 
 themselves in defence of his Majesty's just rights and 
 possessions, recommend it to the house to take the 
 same into consideration, and enable him to give them a 
 proper compensation. You will find those messages on 
 your own journals every year of the war to the very 
 last, and you did accordingly give 200,000 pounds an- 
 nually to the Crown to be distributed in such com- 
 pensation to the colonies. This is the strongest of all 
 proofs, that the colonies, far from being unwilling to 
 bear a share of the burthen, did exceed their propor- 
 tion ; for if they had done less, or had only equalled 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 315 
 
 their proportion, there would have been no room or 
 reason for compensation. — Indeed the sums reimbursed 
 them, were by no means adequate to the expence they 
 incurred beyond their proportion ; but they never 
 murmured at that : they esteemed their Sovereign's 
 approbation of their zeal and fidelity, and the appro- 
 bation of this house, far beyond any other kind of 
 compensation ; therefore there was no occasion for this 
 act, to force money from a willing people ; they had 
 not refused giving money for the purposes of the act ; 
 no requisition had been made ; they were always wil- 
 ling and ready to do what could reasonably be expect- 
 ed from them, and in that light they wish to be con- 
 sidered. 
 
 Q. But suppose Great-Britain should be engaged in 
 a war in Europe, would North America contribute to 
 the support of it ? 
 
 A. I do think they would, as far as their circum- 
 stances would permit. They consider themselves as a 
 part of the British empire, and as having one common 
 interest with it ; they may be looked on here as foreign- 
 ers, but they do not consider themselves as such. 
 They are zealous for the honour and prosperity of this 
 nation, and, while they are well used, will always be 
 ready to support it, as far as their little power goes.— 
 In 1739 they were called upon to assist in the expedi- 
 tion against Carthagena, and they sent 3000 men to 
 join your army. It is true Carthagena is in America, 
 but as remote from the northern colonies, as if it had 
 been in Europe. They make no distinction of wars, 
 as to their duty of assisting in them. I know the last 
 war is commonly spoke of here as entered into for the 
 defence, or for the sake of the people of America. I 
 think it is quite misunderstood. It^ began about the 
 limits between Canada and Nova-Scotia, about terri- 
 tories to which the Crown indeed laid claim, but were 
 not claimed by any British colony ; none of the lands 
 had been granted to any colonist ; we had therefore 
 no particular concern or interest in that dispute. As 
 to the Ohio, the contest there began about your right 
 
316 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 of trading in the Indian country, a right you had by 
 the treaty of Utrecht, which the French infringed ; 
 they seized the traders and their goods, which were 
 your manufactures ; they took a fort which a compa- 
 ny of your merchants, and their factors and cones- 
 pondenis, had erecied there, to secure tliat trade.—. 
 Braddock was sent with an army to re-take that fort 
 (which was looked on here as another incroachment 
 on the king's territory) and to protect your trade. It 
 was not till after his defeat that the colonies were at- 
 tacked. They were before in perfect peace with both 
 French and Indians ; the troops were not therefore 
 sent for their defence. The trade with the Indians 
 though carried on in America, is not an American in- 
 terest. The people of America are chiefly farmers and 
 planters ; scarce any thing that they raise or produce 
 is an article of commerce with the Indians. The In- 
 dian trade is a British interest ; it is carried on with 
 British manufactures, for the profit of British merchants 
 and manufacturers ; therefore the war, as it com- 
 menced for the defence of territories of the Crown, 
 the property of no American, and for the defence of a 
 trade purely British, was really a British war — and yet 
 the people of America made no scruple of contributing 
 their utmost towards carrying it on, and bringing it to 
 a happy conclusion. 
 
 Q. Do you think then that the taking possession of 
 the king's territorial rights, and strengthening the fron- 
 tiers, is not an American interest ? 
 
 A. Not particularly but, conjointly a British and an 
 American interest. 
 
 Q. You will not deny that the preceding war, the war 
 with Spain, was entered into for the sake of America ; 
 was it not occasioned by captures made in the Ameri- 
 can seas ? 
 
 - A. Yes ; captures of ships carrying on the British 
 trade there, with British manufactures. 
 
 Q. Was not the late war with the Indians, since the 
 peace with France, a war for America only ? 
 
DR. FRANKLIN. 317 
 
 A. Yes ; it was more particularly for America than 
 the former, but it was rather a consequence or remains 
 of the former war, the Indians not iiaviny; been tho- 
 roughly pacified, and the Americans bore by much the 
 greatest share of the expence. It was put an end to 
 by the army under General Bouquet : there were not 
 above 300 regulars in that army, and above 1000 
 Pennsylvanians. 
 
 Q. Is it not necessary to send troops to America, to 
 defend the Americans against the Indians ? 
 
 A. No, by no means ; it never was necessary. They 
 defended themselves when they were but an handful, 
 and the Indians much more numerous. They contin- 
 ually gained ground, and have driven the Indians over 
 the mountains, without any troops sent to their as- 
 sistance from this country. And can it be thought ne- 
 cessary now to send troops for their defence from those 
 diminished Indian tribes, when the colonies are be- 
 come so populous, and so strong ? There is not the 
 least occasion for it; they are very able to defend them- 
 selves. 
 
 Q. Do you say there were no more than SOO regular 
 troops employed in the late Indian war ? 
 
 A. Not on the Ohio, or the frontiers of Pennsylvania, 
 which was the chief part of the war that affected the 
 colonies. There were garrisons at Niagara, Fort De- 
 troit, and those remote posts kept for the sake of your 
 trade ; I did not reckon them, but I believe that on tiie 
 whole the number of Americans, or provincial troops, 
 employed in the war, was greater than that of the regu- 
 lars. I am not certain, but I think so. 
 
 Q. Do you think the assemblies have a right to 
 levy money on the subject there, to grant to the 
 Crown ? 
 
 A. I certainly think so ; they have always done it. 
 
 Q Are they .acquainted with the declaration of 
 rights ? and do they know that by that statute, money 
 is not to be raised on the subject but by consent of par- 
 liament ? 
 
 A. They are very well acquainted with it. 
 D d2 
 
S18 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 Q, How then can they think they have a right to 
 levy money for the Crown, or for any other than local 
 purposes ? 
 
 A. They understand that clause to relate to subjects 
 only within the realm : that no money can be levied 
 on them for the Crown, but by consent of parliament. 
 The colonies are not supposed to be within the realm : 
 they have assemblies of their own ; which are their 
 parliaments, and they are in that respect in the same 
 situation with Ireland. When money is to be raised 
 for the Crown upon the subject in Ireland, or in the 
 colonies, the consent is given in the parliament of Ire- 
 land, or in the assemblies of the colonies. They think 
 the parliament of Great-Britain cannot properly give 
 that consent till it hus representatives from America ; 
 for the petition of right expressly says, it is to be by 
 common consent in parliament, and the people of Ame- 
 rica have no representatives in parliament, to make a 
 part of that common consent. 
 
 Q. If the stamp-act should be repealed, and an act 
 should pass, ordering the assemblies of the colonies 
 to indemnify the sufferers by the riots, would they 
 obey it ? 
 
 A. That is a question I cannot answer. 
 
 Q. Suppose the king should require the colonies to 
 grant a revenue, and the parliament should be against 
 their doing it, do they think they can grant a revenue 
 to the king, without the consent of the parliament of 
 Great-Britain I 
 
 A. That is a deep question — As to my own opinion, 
 I should think myself at liberty to do it, and should do 
 it, if I liked the occasion. 
 
 Q. When money has been raised in the colonies upon 
 requisitions, has it not been granted to the king ? 
 
 A. Yes, always ; but the requisitions have generally 
 been for some service expressed, as to raise, clothe and 
 pay troops, and not for money only. 
 
 Q. If the act should pjss, requiring the American 
 assemblies to make compensation to the sufferers, and 
 they should disobey it, and then the parliament should 
 
DR. FRANKLIX. 319 
 
 by another act, lay an internal tax, would they then: 
 obey it ? 
 
 A. The people will pay no internal tax ; and I think 
 an act to oblige the assemblies to make compensation 
 is unnecessary, for I am of opinion, that as soon as the 
 present heats are abated, they will take the matter into 
 consideration, and, if it is right to be done, tb-^y will 
 do it of tliemselves. 
 
 Q. Do not letters often come into the post-offices in 
 America, directed to some inland town where no post 
 goes?. 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Can any private persons take up those letters, 
 and carry hem as directed ? 
 
 A. Yes; any friend of the person may do it, paying 
 the postage that has occurred. 
 
 Q. But must he not pay an, additional postage for the 
 distance to such inland town ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Can the post-master answer delivering the letter 
 without being paid such additional postage ? 
 
 A. Certainly he can demand nothing, where he does 
 no service. 
 
 Q. Suppose a person being far from home, finds a 
 letter in a post- office directed to him, and, he lives in a 
 place to which the post generally goes, and the letter is 
 directed to that place, will the post-master deliver him 
 the letter without his paying the postage receivable 
 at the place to which the letter is directed ? 
 
 A. Yes ; the office cannot demand postage for a 
 letter that it does not carry, or farther than it does car- 
 ry it. 
 
 Q. Are not ferrymen in America obliged by act of 
 parliament, to carry over the post without pay I 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 Q. Is not this a tax on the ferrymen ? 
 
 A. They do not consider it as such, as they have an 
 advantage from persons travelling with the post. 
 
 Q. If the stamp-act should be repealed, and the 
 
320 tXAMINATION OF 
 
 crown should make a requisition to the colonies for a 
 sum of money, would they grant it ? 
 
 A. I believe they would. 
 
 Q. Why do you think so I 
 
 A. I can speak for the colony I live in ; I had it in 
 instruction from the assembly to assure the ministry, 
 that as they always had done, so they should always 
 think it their duty to grant such aids to the crown as 
 were suitable to their circumstances and abilities, 
 whenever called upon for the purpose, in the usual 
 constitutional manner ; and I had the honour of com- 
 municating this instruction to that honourable gentle- 
 man then minister. 
 
 Q. Would they do this for a British concern ; as 
 suppose a war in some part of Europe, that did not 
 affect them ? 
 
 A. Yes, for any thing that concerned the general 
 interest. They consider themselves as a part of the 
 whole. 
 
 Q. What is the usual constitutional manner of cal- 
 ling on the colonies for aids ? 
 
 A. A letter from the secretary of state. 
 
 Q. Is this all you mean, a letter from tlie secretary 
 of state ? 
 
 A. I mean the usual way of requisition, in a circu- 
 lar from the secretary of state, by his Majesty's com- 
 mand, reciting the occasion, and recommending it to 
 the colonies to grant such aids as became their loyalty, 
 and were suitable to their abilities. 
 
 Q. Did the secretary of state ever write for money 
 for the Crown ? 
 
 A. The requisitions have been to raise, clothe and 
 pay men, which cannot be done without money. 
 
 Q. Would they grant money alone, if called on ? 
 
 A. In my opinion they would, money, as well as men, 
 when they have money or can make it. 
 
 Q. If the parliament should repeal the stamp-act, 
 will the assembly of Pennsylvania rescind their reso- 
 lutions ? 
 
 A. I think not. 
 
 i 
 
--^.^^ ed 
 
 DR. rRANKLIN. 321 
 
 Q. Before there was any thought of the stamp-act, 
 did they wish for a representation in parliament t 
 
 A. No. 
 
 Q. Don't you know that there is, in the Pennsylva- 
 nia charter, an express reservation of the right of par- 
 liament to lay taxes there ? 
 
 A. I know there is a clause in the charter, by which 
 the king grants that he will levy no taxes on the inha- 
 bitants, unless it be with the consent of the assembly, 
 or by act of parliament. 
 
 Q. How then could the assembly of Pennsylvania as- 
 sert, that laying a tax on them by the stamp-act was 
 an infringement of their rights ? 
 
 A. They understand it thus ; by the same charter, 
 and otherwise, they are entitled to all the privileges 
 and liberties of Englishmen : they find in the great 
 charters, and the petition and declaration of rights, 
 that one of the privileges of English subjects is, that 
 they are not to be taxed but by their common consent j 
 they have therefore relied upon it, from the first set- 
 tlement of the province, that the parliament never 
 would, nor could by colour of that clause in the char- 
 ter, assume a right of taxing them, till it had qualified 
 itself to exercise such right, by admitting representa- 
 tives from the people to be taxed, who ought to make 
 a part of that common consent. 
 
 Q. Are there any words in the charter that justify 
 that construction ? 
 
 A. The common rights of Englishmen, as declar- 
 ed by Magna Charta, and the petition of right, all jus* 
 " y it. *' 
 
 Q. Does the distinction between internal and exter- 
 nal taxes exist in the words of the charter ? 
 
 A. No, I believe not. 
 
 Q. Then may they not, by the same interpreta- 
 tion, object to the parliament's right of external taxa- 
 tion ? 
 
 A. They never have hitherto. Many arguments 
 have been lately used here to show them that there is 
 no difference, and that if you have no right to tax thena 
 
322 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 internally, you have none to tax them externally, or 
 make any other law to bind them. At present they do 
 not reason so, but in time they may possibly be con- 
 vinced by these arguments. 
 
 Q. Do not the resolutions of the Pennsylvania as- 
 sembly say all taxes I 
 
 A. If they do, they mean only internal taxes ; the 
 same words have not always the same meaning here 
 and in the colonies. By taxes they mean internal tax- 
 es ; by duties they mean customs ; these are their ideas 
 of the language. 
 
 Q. Have you not seen the resolutions of the Massa- 
 chusetts Bay assembly ? 
 
 A. I have. 
 
 Q. Do they not say, that neither external nor inter* 
 nal taxes can be laid on them by parliament ? 
 
 A. I don*t know that they do ; I believe not. 
 
 Q. If the same colony should say neither tax nor im- 
 position could be laid, does not that province hold the 
 power of parliament can hold neither I 
 
 A. I suppose that by the word imposition, they do not 
 intend to express duties to be laid on goods imported, 
 as regulations of commerce. 
 
 Q. What can the colonies mean then by imposition 
 as distinct from taxes ? 
 
 A. They may mean many things, as impressing of 
 men, or of carriages, quartering troops on private hou- 
 ses, and the like ; there may be great impositions, that 
 are not properly taxes. 
 
 Q. Is not the post-office rate an internal tax laid by 
 »ct of parliament ? 
 
 A. 1 have answered that. 
 
 Q. Are all parts of the colonies equally able to pay 
 taxes ? 
 
 A. No, certainly ; the frontier parts, which have been 
 ravaged by the enemy, are greatly disabled by that 
 means, and therefore, in such cases, are usually favour- 
 ed in our tax laws. 
 
 Q. Can we at this distance, be competent judges of 
 what favours are necessary ? 
 
BR. FRANKLIN. 
 
 A.^ The parliament have supposed it, by claiming a 
 right to make tax laws for America ; I think it impos- 
 sible. 
 
 Q. Would the repeal of the stamp-act be any discour- 
 agement of your manufactures ? Will the people that 
 have begun to manufacture decline it ? 
 ^ A. Yes, I think they will ; especially if, at the same 
 time, the trade is opened again, so that remittances can 
 be easily made. I [have known several instances that 
 make it probable. In the war before last, tobacco be- 
 ing loAv, and making little remittance, the people of 
 Virginia went generally into family manufactures. Af- 
 terwards, when tobdcco bore a better price, they re- 
 turned to the use of British manufactures. So fulling 
 mills were very much diffused in the last war in Penn- 
 sylvania, because oiils were then plenty, and remittan- 
 ces could easily be made to Britain for English cloth 
 and other goods. 
 
 Q. If the stamp-act should be repealed, would it in- 
 duce the assemblies of America to acknowied^;e the 
 rights of parliament to tax them, and would they trase 
 their resolutions ? 
 A. No, never. 
 
 Q Is there no means of obliging them to erase those 
 resolutions ? 
 - A None that I know of; they will never do it unless 
 compelled by force of arms. 
 
 Q. Is there a power on earth that can force them to 
 erase them ? 
 
 A. No power, how great soever, can force men to 
 change their opinions. 
 
 Q. Uo they consider the post-office as a tax, or as 
 a regulation ? 
 
 A. Not as a tax, but as a regulation and conveniency ; 
 every assembly encouraged it, and supported it in its 
 infancy, by grants of money, which they would not 
 otherwise have done ; and the people have always paid 
 the postage. 
 
 Q. When did you receive the instructions you men- 
 tioned ? * ^ 
 
324 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 A. I brought them with me, when I came to Eng- 
 land, about 15 months since. 
 
 Q. When did you communicate that instruction to 
 the minister ? 
 
 A. Soon after my arrival, while the stamping of 
 America was under consideration, and before the bill 
 was brought in. 
 
 Q. Would it be most for the interests of Great-Bri- 
 tain, to employ the hands of Virginia in tobacco, or in 
 manufactures ? 
 
 A. Tn tobacco to be sure. 
 
 Q. What used to be the pride of the Americans ? 
 
 A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of 
 Great-Britain. 
 
 Q. What is now their pride ? 
 
 A. To wear their old clothes over again, till they can 
 make new ones. 
 
 Withdrew, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Life of Dr. Franklin, as written by himself 9 
 
 Continuation of his Life, by Dr. Stuber, - 91 
 
 Extracts from his Will - - - - - 138 
 
 On Early Marriages - _ - - - 147 
 
 On the Death of His brother, Mr. John Franklin 149 
 
 To the late Dr. Mather of Boston - - 150 
 
 The Whistle, a true Story ; written to his Nephew 153 
 
 A Petition of the Left Hand - - - 155 
 
 The handsome and deformed Leg - - - 156 
 Conversation of a Company of Ephemerae, with 
 
 the Soliloquy of one advanced in age - 159 
 
 Morals of Chess - - - - - 161 
 
 The Art of procuring pleasant Dreams - - 165 
 
 Advice to a young Tradesman - - - 171 
 
 Necessary Hints to those who would be rich - 173 
 The way to make money plenty in every man's 
 
 pocket - - - - - . 174 
 
 An oeconomical Project - - . - '^76 
 On modern Innovations in the English Language 
 
 and in Printing - - - - 181 
 An account of the highest Court of Judicature in 
 
 Pennsylvania, viz. The Court of the Press 187 
 
 Paper; a Poem - 191 
 
 On the Art of Swimming - ^ - - 193 
 
 Kew mode of Bathing - - - - ~ 196 
 
 Ee 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Observations on the generally prevailing Doc- 
 trines of Life and Death - - - i&8 
 Precautions to be taken by those who are about 
 
 to undertake a Sea Voyage - - 202 
 
 ^ On Luxury, Idleness, and Industry - - 205 
 
 On the Slave Trade 210 
 
 Observations on War - - - . 214 
 
 On the Impress of Seamen - - - - 216 
 On the Criminal Laws, and the practice of Pri- 
 vateering - ... - 220 
 Kemarks concerning the Savages of North America 227 
 To Mr. Dubourgh, concerning the dissentions 
 
 between England and America - - 235 
 A comparison of the conduct of the ancient Jews, 
 and of the Antifederalists of the United 
 States of America - . - - 236 
 The Internal State of America ; being -a true 
 Description of the Interest and Policy of 
 that vast Continent - - . - 241 
 Information to those who would remove to America 247 
 Final speech of Dr. Franklin in the late Federal 
 
 Convention - - - - - 256 
 
 Sketch of an English School - - - 259 
 
 Busy-Body, No. I. 265 
 
 . No. XL - - «■ - * 268 
 
 ^ No. IIL 270 
 
 No. IV. 274 
 
 No. V. 280 
 
 No. VI. 288 
 
 The Examination of Dr. Franklin, before an 
 august assembly, relating to the repeal of 
 th€r Stamp-Act, «cc» - - - ^ 265 
 
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