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THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC 
 AND OTHER PAPERS 
 
 By benjamin FRANKLIN 
 
 WITH AN INTKODUOTION 
 
 By henry KETCHAM 
 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 THE PEEKINS BOOK COMPANY, 
 296 Broadway, New Yoek. 
 

 ^^ 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 CONGRtSS, 
 
 Two Copies Receivec; 
 
 APR 10 1903 
 
 Copyright tntry 
 cuss cv XXc. No *' 
 
 .')" 
 
 *• 
 
 Copyright, 1902, 
 By E. a. BRAINERD, 
 
 c • t 
 
 «« « t 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 The early portion of the life of Benjamin Pranklin 
 has been so well written by himself that other biograph- 
 ers have been wisely reluctant to undertake the subject. 
 It is, however, entirely proper to discuss the subject from 
 the standpoint of the outsider. There are many things 
 that may fittingly be said by another person, which 
 Franklin himself would hardly have said ; and this is es- 
 pecially true in giving an estimate of his character, and 
 of his services to his country and to the progress of civ- 
 ilization. It is also desirable to have, in addition to his 
 autobiography, valuable as that is, a simple sketch of 
 his life within such brief compass that the reader shall 
 be able to take in all the outlines in a single glance. 
 This preliminary sketch is written with these two pur- 
 poses in mind. 
 
 Benjamin was born at Boston, January 17, 1706. 
 His father, Josiah Franklin, had come to this coun- 
 try in 1668. The family were of English stock and 
 had lived on a small freehold in ISTorthamptonshire 
 
 iii 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 for several centuries at least, from the time whereof the 
 memory of man runneth not to the contrary. Josiah 
 was twice married ; by his first wife he had seven chil- 
 dren, and by his second, Abiah, daughter of Peter 
 Folger of Nantucket, he had ten. Of this brood of 
 seventeen children, numerous enough to make a day- 
 school of no mean size, our hero was the fifteenth in the 
 order of birth, and the youngest of the sons. 
 
 The father of seventeen children demands the sym- 
 pathy, not the blame, of all good citizens, if he is at a 
 loss to select suitable vocations in life for all of them 
 without a mistake. The plans of Josiah were fairly 
 successful with sixteen of the number, but for Benjamin 
 they were decidedly fallible. The father's first plan was 
 to make of his boy an orthodox minister, and this was at 
 a time when tests of orthodoxy included belief in the 
 physical torture of endless burning in a material hell, 
 and a general belief in infant damnation. A glance at 
 any portrait of Franklin taken in manhood, showing a 
 countenance beaming with benevolence, displays the in- 
 congruity between such orthodoxy and such a person. 
 This is not saying that the boy was not pious, but only 
 that he could not partake of the type of ecclesiastical 
 doctrine that ruled that age. When he was twenty 
 years old he composed his renowned epitaph, not more 
 singular for the genius of its conception than for its 
 firm grasp upon the faith of immortality, the transfor- 
 mation of the corruptible body into the glorious body of 
 the resurrection, and the elimination of sins. This is 
 
INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 the more remarkable since^ in that day, the belief in 
 the physical resurrection was almost universal. 
 Here is the epitaph : — 
 
 THE BODY 
 OF 
 
 BENJAMIN FEANKLIN 
 
 ^(like the oovek of ait old book, 
 
 ITS cojsttents tokn out, 
 
 AITD STEIPT OF ITS LETTERING ANJ> GILDING;) 
 
 LIES HEEE; FOOD FOE WOEMS, 
 
 YET THE WOEK ITSELF SHALL NOT BE LOST, 
 
 Fob IT WILL, AS he believed, APPEAE ONCE MORE, 
 
 IN A NEW 
 
 AND MORE BEAUTIFUL EDITION, 
 
 CORRECTED AND AMENDED 
 
 BY 
 
 THE jiuTHOR. 
 
 Benjamin was next, at the age of ten, put to work in 
 his father's chandler shop, but the monotony of the 
 work, which consisted largely in cutting Avicks and run- 
 ning errands, so disgusted the child that his father 
 scented danger of his running away to sea. In order 
 to prevent this, the boy was, at thirteen years of age, 
 
/ 
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 apprenticed to his brother James, a printer. This plan 
 had the advantage of giving Benjamin free access to 
 books; but it had the disadvantage of compelling a 
 younger brother to obey an elder brother, a plan that 
 seldom works well. It also gave opportunity for the 
 boy to try his hand at writing for print, and in this he 
 learned some necessary lessons. But the incompatibil- 
 ity of temper between the two brothers at last came to 
 open rupture, and at seventeen years of age Benjamin, 
 who had now a thorough knowledge of his trade, quietly 
 set out " between two days '' for distant parts. He 
 first stopped at New York, but quickly pushed on to 
 Philadelphia. When he first landed in that city, '' my 
 whole stock in trade,'' he said, " consisted in a Dutch 
 dollar, and about a shilling in copper." At the begin- 
 ning he borrowed money to establish himself in busi- 
 ness, but once started, all obligations were soon paid and 
 he began to lay up money. 
 
 Franklin's first employment in Philadelphia was that 
 of journeyman printer, and as such he worked for about 
 a year. With the promise of financial assistance from 
 the governor. Sir William Keith, he then determined 
 to go into business for himself. This necessitated a 
 trip to England — a long journey in those days — to pur- 
 chase supplies. The financial me^ns on which he 
 counted never came to hand, and he was stranded in 
 London. But good workmen are always in demand, 
 and he readily obtained employment at his trade and 
 worked for over a year to discharge his obligations and 
 
INTRODUCTION. TU 
 
 obtain means to return home. This time was by no 
 means wasted^ for he was a student of men and events 
 as well as of books, and the time spent in London was 
 practically equal to a university training. When he 
 returned to Philadelphia in 172 6, he was still under 
 twenty-one years of age, but he was a man of wide ob- 
 servation, abundant intelligence, keen observation, and 
 well equipped for the work of his life. 
 
 In 1730 Franklin was sufficientlv well established in 
 his business to warrant his marrying, and he won the 
 hand of his erst-while sweet foe, Miss Deborah Reed. 
 This wedding was romantic and charming from the 
 exceeding sweetness of the revenge which it consum- 
 mated. It was this same Miss Reed who, years before, 
 when the lad first entered the city, lonely and friendless, 
 spied him walking down street with one baker's roll 
 under each arm and a third roll disappearing in his 
 mouth. She laughed, for she was but human; he was 
 irritated, for he was but human. Seven years later 
 they were husband and wife. In the interval however, 
 she had wedded a worthless fellow who ran away to the 
 West Indies, where he speedily performed for his de- 
 serted wife the service of dying and leaving her free 
 to take another husband. This union was entirely 
 happy, and continued until the death of the wife in 
 1774. 
 
 After Franklin's return from London to Philadelphia 
 in 1726, his career was one of unbroken prosperity. 
 By 1729, he had become editor and proprietor of the 
 
VIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Pennsylvania Gazette. In 1730 he married. In 1732 
 he began the publication of the almanac, afterwards 
 widely known as Poor Richard's Almanac, This con- 
 tainedj in addition to the calendar, aphorisms of econo- 
 mic wisdom and valuable advice. The annual sales of 
 this publication rose to 10,000, an enormous circulation 
 for those days. In the almanac, as well as in the news- 
 paper, Franklin sought to instil the principles of in- 
 dustry, thrift, honesty, and kindred virtues. He was 
 alert to favor every enterprise conducive to the public 
 good. He was thus the means of founding, in 1731, 
 the public library at Philadelphia. He presently be- 
 came a man of weighty influence. In 1736 he was 
 clerk of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, in 1737 
 postmaster of Philadelphia, and in 1753 deputy post- 
 master-general for the British colonies. In 1745 he 
 originated what is now the University of Pennsylvania, 
 and in 1752 he founded the Pennsylvania Hospital. In 
 his private life he was far from spotless, he sowed a re- 
 grettable measure of wild oats ; but he was honest and 
 benevolent, and in all public and civic matters, he was 
 a power for good. 
 
 During the early period of his life, Franklin was con- 
 sidered by many an atheist, and he regarded himself a 
 free-thinker. His position was not one of hostility to- 
 wards the teachings of the gospels, but of rebellion and 
 protest against the lurid theology and dyspeptic eccle- 
 siasticism of the age. He later regretted sincerely his 
 utterances against the Christian faith. His true posi- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tion on religious questions he set forth in allegory. A 
 certain man is at the gate of heaven, demanding en- 
 trance on the ground, that he was a Presbyterian. 
 ^* What is that?" asks St. Peter, and when he is told, 
 he says, '^ We don't have any here." The various sects 
 are all mentioned in turn, but the applicant is each time 
 assured that there are none in heaven. Finally, he sees 
 his wife through the gate, and claims that if she is 
 there, so he should be, for they were of the same religion 
 on earth. ^^ Oh," said St. Peter, '' why didn't you say 
 that you were a Christian to begin with ? " 
 
 He wrote : '^ I never doubted, for instance, the exist- 
 ence of the Deity; that he made the world, and gov- 
 erned it by his Providence; that the most acceptable 
 service of God was the doing good to man ; that our souls 
 are immortal ; that all crime will be punished, and vir- 
 tue rewarded, either here or hereafter." x\gain: '' For 
 my own part, when I am employed in serving others, I 
 do not look upon myself as conferring favors, but as 
 paying debts. , .1 can only show my gratitude for 
 those mercies from God, by a readiness to help his 
 other children and my brethren." When he could no 
 longer tolerate such preaching as he heard in the church, 
 he remained at home on Sundays and exercised his de- 
 votions in the use of prayers which he himself had com- 
 posed. The reader will remember Franklin's famous 
 motion, in the Federal Convention of 1787, that 
 ^' Prayers, imploring the Assistance of Heaven, and its 
 Blessing on our Deliberations, be held in this Assembly 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 every Morning before we proceed to Business." The 
 motion was voted down, but it did this service: it 
 showed what were the feelings of this man upon this 
 subject. It must be clearly understood, however, that 
 he was at no time precisely orthodox, and in the last 
 year of his life he wrote to President Stiles of Yale 
 College that he had " some doubts as to the divinity '^ of 
 Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
 In 1757 Franklin's abilities were called into the pub- 
 lic service by the General Assembly of Pennsylvania. 
 Trouble had arisen by reason of absentee landlordism. 
 The " proprietaries '^ of the province, the descendants 
 of William Penn, lived in great wealth in England; 
 while their quasi subjects, or tenants, the Quakers who 
 tilled the soil, resented certain demands of these land- 
 lords concerning taxation. On the one side was the 
 spirit of luxury and greed, and on the other side was 
 the spirit of commercial thrift and independence. On 
 both sides was the spirit of covetousness. Finally 
 Franklin was sent to England for the purpose of ad- 
 justing the differences between the contending parties. 
 He succeeded so well that on his return, in 1762, he 
 received the thanks of General Assembly for the able 
 and faithful fulfilment of his mission. He was also the 
 recipient of high honors in the mother country, both 
 from universities, and from societies, and from dis- 
 tinguished individuals. The visit, which lasted about 
 five years, male many friends not only for Franklin 
 himself, but also for the country he represented. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 Franklin was now fifty-six years of age, and, having 
 lived a very busy life, he longed for repose and felt that 
 he had earned it. This was his yearning and his plan 
 when he returned home. But f6r the next two years, 
 while residing in Philadelphia, his life was anything 
 but reposeful. First, he undertook the supervision of 
 the postal business, which involved the traveling of 
 1,600 miles,- most of which must have been accomplished 
 on horseback, and which consumed six laborious months 
 of time. Then it fell to his lot to beard the lion in his 
 den in the shape of resistance of the proprietary gov- 
 ernor who apparently acknowledged no rights whatever 
 of the governed. Then he resisted the massacring 
 of the Indians — an act of humanity which won for him 
 many enemies; for such massacre is always in favor 
 with large numbers of the people. As a result of this 
 he was, October 1, 1764, in an exciting election, de- 
 feated for the General Assembly by the narrow margin 
 of twenty-five votes. The end was not yet, however, for 
 the Assembly almost immediately chose him again as its 
 agent, to carry to the king a petition for a royal gov- 
 ernment in place of the intolerable proprietary system. 
 His residence at home had been the reverse, of a vaca- 
 tion, and at its close he once more accepted the public 
 duties of a difiicult mission. 
 
 In this second trip to England Franklin found that 
 it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. His 
 purpose in going was to adjust matters between the pro- 
 prietaries and the citizens; the questions actually dis- 
 
XII INTEODUCTION. 
 
 cussed were so momentous, that ^this subject sank into 
 comparative insignificance and was lost to view. The 
 time he expected to consume in England was about nine 
 months ; his actual stay was about ten years. History 
 was rapidly making at that time, and it was fortunate 
 for patriotic America that so able a man was her 
 representative on English soil. He was on the ground, 
 and his diplomacy proved to be fully equal to the un- 
 expected demands caused by the growing excitement of 
 public feeling. < 
 
 The Grenville ministry was at this time in power. 
 The policy of the royal administration was as if Amer- 
 ica was a naughty boy that needed a sound thrashing. 
 The law^s concerning commerce were very stringent 
 These were founded in the main on three principles: 
 ^- first, that England should be the only shop in which 
 a colonist could purchase; second, that colonists should 
 not make for themselves those articles which England 
 had to sell them; third, that the people of different 
 colonies should not trade even with each other, to the 
 indirect or possible detriment of the trade of either with 
 England." These oppressive measures were countered 
 in America with a boycott. This aggravated the situa- 
 tion, for there was no relief to either party, while both 
 parties were more firm or obstinate — according to the 
 point of view — than before. The English naturally 
 reasoned, ^' We must strike harder." The Beatitude, 
 " Blessed are the meek," was substantially repealed. 
 
 The blow administered by England to the rebellious 
 
INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 boy was the law known as ^^ The Stamp Act," passed in 
 1765. This was a species of internal revenue, and re- 
 quired that all bills, leases, and many other such docu- 
 ments used in the colonies, should be written on stamped 
 paper to be sold by officers of the English government. 
 The tax was not excessive, it was certainly less than the 
 British subjects residing in England paid cheerfully. 
 But the Americans at once went to the heart of the mat- 
 ter and denied the right of parliament to tax them at 
 all. The Stamp Act was the last straw, it broke the 
 back of the endurance of the colonists, it brought them 
 to the fighting point. All through the colonies the cry 
 was raised, " Xo taxation without representation," and 
 the cry was never silenced. It lay, and still lies, at the 
 foundation of American liberty. 
 
 Franklin did his utmost to prevent the passage of the 
 Stamp Act, but failed in this purpose. After it was 
 passed, he counseled his countrymen to make the best 
 of the situation, hoping that matters would soon be 
 mended. Thereupon occurred one of those unaccounta- 
 ble outbreaks of public feeling that swept the country 
 like a prairie fire. The Beatitude upon the meek was 
 for the time inoperative. The whole people became fire-- 
 eaters, either for or against, and for one to counsel pa- 
 tience was as obnoxious as it has ever been in periods 
 of popular excitement, from the days of Jeremiah to 
 the present. This idol of the American people was 
 vigorously torn from its pedestal and the execrations 
 were great in proportion to the previous admiration. 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Franklin was everywhere denounced; he was in favor 
 of the Stamp Act; he was its author; he was a traitor 
 to his country ; he was on the point of accepting office in 
 George the Third's cabinet. This intense excitement 
 quickly passed, but it burned with great heat for the 
 time. All this did not materially ruffle- the placid spirit 
 of Franklin. He made the best of the situation. He 
 exerted himself to effect the repeal of the act, and his 
 efforts, following the American boycott, were fully suc- 
 cessful. The act was repealed in 1766. 
 
 An incident occurred in England which at the time 
 seemed slight, but which accomplished results that were 
 more important and wider reaching than could possibly 
 have been imagined. It was that he was summoned by 
 the committee of the whole of the House of Commons, 
 to give testimony concerning the colonies. Another 
 such a witness has rarely or never been found in the 
 world's experience. It gave him a unique opportunity 
 to argue the cause of the patriots. The examination 
 '• ranged over a vast ground, — colonial history and poli- 
 tical economy, theories and practice in colonial trade, 
 colonial commerce and industry, popular opinions and 
 sentiments, and the probabilities of action in supposed 
 cases. His answers made a great stir; they were uni- 
 versally admitted to have substantially advanced the 
 day of repeal. They constituted the abundant armory 
 to which the friends of the colonies resorted for weapons 
 offensive and defensive, for facts and for ideas." 
 In this trying examination, Franklin proved himself 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 absolute master of the situation, so that ^^ Burke likened 
 the proceeding to an examination of a master by a parcel 
 of schoolboys." 
 
 In the meanwhile Franklin was making friends for 
 America. For this work he had important qualifica- 
 tions. To begin with, he was a successful diner-out; 
 and in that day, as at present, the art of dining was an 
 important pre-requisite to the successful diplomatist. 
 He was everywhere welcome. His literary and scien- 
 tific achievements commended him most favorably to 
 the cultured, the nobility, the men of affairs, the scien- 
 tists, and, in general, to society. He had gone to Lon- 
 don as the representative of the province of Pennsyl- 
 vania, but while there he was appointed agent also for 
 'New Jersey, Georgia, and Massachusetts. The two last 
 Ftates never paid him any salary. Even had they done 
 so his income would not have met his reasonable needs; 
 as it was, he was in financial straits much of the time. 
 It was well that in his youth he had learned the prac- 
 tical lessons of economy. 
 
 During the years immediately preceding 1776, the 
 position of any American representative in England 
 was, as may now be readily understood, one of great del- 
 icacy. Though Dr. Franklin showed himself possessed 
 of marvelous wisdom, self-control, and tact, and though 
 he had in an unparalleled degree the power of making 
 friends under all sorts of circumstances, neverthe- 
 less the situation was one of increasing friction between 
 him and the English government. There is no space to 
 
XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 relate here the incident of the Hutchinson letters which 
 aroused such bitter adverse feeling and so much malig- 
 nant comment. To the present writer it seems as if 
 these letters were the occasion, rather than the cause, of 
 the outbreak of vindictive feeling and vituperation 
 against the colonial agent. While the* relations between 
 the mother country and the colonies were growing more 
 and more strained, it was inevitable that the agent of 
 the colonies should be the target of hostile criticism. 
 This was a condition that his wise tact could neither 
 alter nor control. The war was at hand, and no human 
 power could prevent it. 'Not even Franklin's per- 
 sistent optimism was able to accomplish this humane 
 purpose. 
 
 These ten years of Franklin's second ministry in 
 England revealed him as a great man. " I^o American 
 representative even to this day," says a modern writer, 
 ^^has ever been held in Europe in such estimation as 
 was accorded to Franklin at this time.'' " All Eng- 
 land practically treated him as the representative of all 
 America." But despite all this, the time came when he 
 could no longer be useful in that position. The criti- 
 cisms, slanders, threats, rufHed him but slightly, but a di- 
 rect and emphatic intimation from Walpole, that it 
 would be best for all concerned that he should leave the 
 country as early as possible, determined him finally to 
 act. Fearing a possible arrest, he left London quietly, 
 journeyed to Portsmouth with speed and secrecy, and 
 sailed from that port to Philadelphia, where he arrived 
 
INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 May 5, 1775, just in time to be chosen a delegate to the 
 second Continental Congress, then abont to assemble. 
 
 If Franklin's last days in England had been exciting, 
 surely his first days after his return to America were 
 exciting in the superlative degree. The battles of Lex- 
 ington and Concord had been fought, and the pent up 
 feeling of the determined patriots was breaking out in- 
 flames of wrath. It is superfluous to say that this 
 placid, gentle, tactful man, who for ten irritating years 
 had counseled m.oderation and had hopefully predicted 
 an amicable adjustment of differences, sided with his 
 countrymen at the crisis. The following letter, dated 
 July 5, 1775, is unique : — 
 
 " Mr. Strahan, — You are a member of Parliament, 
 and one of that majority which has doomed my coun- 
 try to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns 
 and murder our people. Look upon your hands; they 
 are stained with the blood of your relations ! You and 
 I were long friends ; you are now my enemy, — and 
 
 " I am, 
 ^^ Yours, 
 
 ^^ B. Franklin.'' 
 
 It may be added that the friendship between these 
 two men was at a later date renewed. 
 
 To Dr. Priestly he wrote that if Britain ^^ wishes to 
 have us subjects . . . she is now giving us such 
 miserable specimens of her government, that we shall 
 ever detest and avoid it, as a combination of robbery, 
 murder, fixe, famine, and pestilenca" 
 
XVIII INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Though now nearly seventy years of age, Franklin 
 was unremitting in his activity in behalf of his country. 
 He even accepted a mission' that took him to Montreal 
 to confer with Arnold concerning afPairs in Canada. 
 This journey, undertaken late in the winter or early 
 in the spring, subjected him to cruel exposures, consid- 
 ering his years. In the Continental Congress he was 
 one of the committee of five who drafted the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, though the actual work upon this 
 document was done almost entirely by Jefferson. It 
 was at the signing of this that Franklin's humor bubbled 
 out in his famous mot. The feeling of the members of 
 the Congress was strained to a high pitch during the 
 fixing of their signatures, and in the stillness, like the 
 stillness of death, that followed, Hancock remarked that 
 " we must all hang together now ! '' '' That's so, John,'' 
 retorted Franklin, '' we must indeed all hang together, 
 or assuredly we shall all hang separately." 
 
 Later in the year 1776 he was sent as ambassador to 
 the court of France and arrived in Paris the 21st of 
 December. His duties were varied, for it really fell to 
 him to guard the interests of his country in England as 
 well as in France. The common bond of sympathy at 
 that time between America and France was hatred, or 
 rivalry, or jealousy, of the British. There was no need 
 of his enlisting the sympathies of the French against 
 the British, for they were already enlisted; and an im- 
 portant and annoying duty was to head off the large 
 numbers of adventurers who thirsted for military glory 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiX 
 
 and were bent upon coming to America to be officers in 
 the patriotic army. As for England, he was the lead- 
 ing spirit that animated the privateers whose cruisers 
 did so much damage to British commerce that the mer- 
 chants and manufacturers, who have always been the 
 bone and sinew of that practical nation, were struck 
 with terror, and the whole island was reduced to the 
 condition bi a tolerably effectual blockade. This fact, 
 which has never been sufficiently emphasized in the his- 
 tories of that period, is shown by the enormous rise of 
 the rates of maritime insurance; which is unanswerable 
 as an argument. 
 
 That Franklin could upon occasion be caustic, as well 
 as patient, gentle, and humorous, is seen in his corre- 
 spondence with Lord Stormont. He addressed his lord- 
 ship a letter on the subject of the exchange of prisoners 
 of war, a subject which the haughty British government 
 would not at that time take into humane consideration. 
 /'No reply being received, a second and urgent letter was 
 added. His lordship replied : ^^ The king's ambassador 
 receives no applications from rebels, unless they come to 
 implore his majesty's mercy." The American ambassa- 
 dor returned the following : '' In answer to a letter 
 which concerns some of the most material interests of 
 humanity, and of the two nations, Great Britain and the 
 United States of America, now at war, we received the 
 inclosed indecent paper, as coming from your lord- 
 ship, which we return for your lordship's -more mature 
 consideration." It was many years before the British 
 
XX 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 government would accord just or humane treatment to 
 American prisoners of war, and the situation required 
 much patience, firmness, and wisdom. 
 
 The first grand success scored on this mission was the 
 Treaty of Alliance between France and the United 
 States, which secured the independence of the latter. 
 This was signed February 6, 1Y78. The treaty of 
 peace with England was successfully negotiated by 
 Franklin, Jay, and Adams, and was signed September 
 3, 1783. Later he negotiated with Prussia a treaty 
 which contained an article against privateering. This 
 was an effective blow at what was then the universal 
 practice, and distinctly an advance in the progress of 
 civilization, for it recognized and endorsed the necessity 
 of international morality. Washington said: "This 
 treaty marks an era in negotiation. It is the most lib- 
 eral treaty which has ever been entered into between 
 independent powers." 
 
 An important responsibility that fell to the lot of 
 Franklin while in France was the raising of funds. 
 There was at that date much glorious patriotism in 
 AiTierica, but there was little cash and no visible means 
 for securing the credit necessary to carry on a prolonged 
 war. The fertility of Franklin's wisdom in meeting 
 the difficulties of the situation, has hardly been sur- 
 passed in the history of financiering. Space does not 
 permit the discussion of this subject in this brief sketch, 
 but the comment of a recent author, John T. Morse, Jr., 
 may here be inserted : — 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 ^^ From first to last it was upon Franklin that the 
 brunt [of raising the funds] fell ; he had to keep^ the 
 country from financial failure as Washington had to 
 save it from military failure ; he was the real financier 
 of the Revolution; without him Eobert Morris would 
 have been helpless. . . Franklin alone, at Paris, 
 could tap the rock and make the waters flow. . . A 
 heavier task ^ever fell on any man, nor one bringing less 
 recognition. . . We read about the horrors of the 
 winter camp at Valley Forge, and we shudder at all 
 the details of the vivid picture. The anxiety, the toil, 
 the humiliation, w^hich Franklin endured for manv 
 winters and many summers in Paris, in sustaining the 
 •national credit, do not make a picture, do not furnish 
 material for a readable chapter in history. Yet many 
 ,a man would far rather have faced Washington's lot 
 than Franklin's." 
 
 In September, 1785, after an absence of nearly nine 
 years, Franklin returned once more to his home, but not 
 to a well-earned rest. Additional labors and responsi- 
 bilities. Avere thrust upon him, though he was in his 
 eightieth year. He was a man who simply could not 
 be spared. The following month he was elected presi- 
 dent of Pennsylvania, the term being for one year, and 
 was twice re-elected. In 1787 he was delegate to the 
 convention that met in Philadelphia to frame a consti- 
 tution for the United States. It was at this convention 
 that he made the motion for daily prayers. He said: — 
 ^' I have lived a long time, and the longer I live the 
 
xxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God 
 governs in the aflfairs of men. And if a sparrow can- 
 not fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable 
 that an empire can rise without his aid ? '' 
 
 It was impossible, such was the independence of 
 American thought, to frame a constitution, all parts of 
 which would be satisfactory to all the members of the 
 convention. Mutual concessions are on such an occa- 
 sion necessary. Probably no person was fully satisfied 
 with the finished work of the constitution, but a sensible 
 and generous spirit prevailed and the delegates duly 
 signed it. Franklin said: ^^ I consent to this constitu- 
 tion because I expect no better, and because I am not 
 sure that it is not the best." 
 
 Franklin was the first president of the first abolition 
 society ever organized in America, being elected to that 
 position in 1788. One of his last acts semi-official 
 in its nature, was signing, as president, a memorial ad- 
 dress by that society to congress, praying that body to 
 '" remove this inconsistency from the American people," 
 to ^' promote mercy and justice towards this distr.essed 
 race," and to discourage ^' every species of traffic in 
 the persons of our fellow men." One Jackson, o*f 
 Georgia, delivered in congress a speech in behalf of the 
 institution of slavery, interspersing the speech with 
 frequent scriptural quotations. To this Franklin re- 
 plied, in one of the keenest satires of his life, by a 
 parody on Jackson's speech. With great ingenuity he 
 put Jackson's arguments into the mouth of a Moham- 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxiil 
 
 medan of Algiers, with alleged quotations from the 
 Koran, and pressed theae arguments as reasons for, con- 
 tinuing to hold European Christians in slavery. 
 
 He died in Philadelphia, April 17, 1790, in the 
 eighty-fifth year of his age. His remains were interred 
 by the side of those of his wife in the cemetery of 
 Christ Church, at the corner of Fifth and Arch streets. 
 The grave is in the simplest manner covered with a 
 plain slab, bearing only the inscription : 
 
 Benjamin 
 
 AND V Fkanklin. 
 
 Deborah 
 
 His natural son, Sir William Franklin, was brought 
 up in the family. To the father's great disappoint- 
 ment. Sir William became an extreme tory and was the 
 royal governor of Isew Jersey. His mansion, now 
 known as Westminster Hall, is still standing, slightly 
 changed, in^ !Perth Amboy. A son of Sir Williaifr, 
 William Temple Franklin, was for many years Benja- 
 min's private secretary. 
 
 Two children, a son and a daughter, were born to Dr. 
 and Mrs. Franklin. The son died in infancy. The 
 daughter, Sally, wedded Richard Bache of Yorkshire, 
 England, and became the mother of eight children, from 
 whom are descended all that are now known to inherit 
 any of the blood of Benjamin Franklin. 
 ■ The story of Franklin's scientific experiment with his 
 kite, demonstrating that the lightning was electricity, 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 is familiar to every school-boy. The account of these 
 experiments was sent to a friend in England, who pre- 
 sented the paper to the Koyal Society. It was received 
 with derision and actually laughed out of court. The 
 paper, however, was printed, though not in the trans- 
 actions of the Royal Society, and coming to the notice 
 of the celebrated French scientist, Buffon, it was trans- 
 lated into French and caused no little stir among the 
 savants of Continental Europe. The Royal Society 
 then made haste to save its OAvn dignity and repair its 
 blunder; no honors it could bestow were too great to 
 heap upon the discoverer. A few years later, in 1759, 
 the University of St. Andrews conferred on him the 
 degree of LL.D. Still later the University of Oxford 
 honored itself by giving him the degree of D.C.L. 
 Thus he became Dr, Franklin. 
 
 The phrase, " the many-sided Franklin," is deserved. 
 One Avriter describes him as ^' philosopher, statesman, 
 diplomatist, scientific discoverer, inventor, philanthro- 
 pist, moralist and wit, while as a writer of English he 
 was surpassed by few men of his time.'' . Another 
 writer gives over forty specifications of the achieve- 
 ments of this versatile man. Edward E2:gleston savs 
 that " as he was the first American scientific discoverer 
 of renown, the first American diplomatist, the founder 
 of the first public library and the first permanent philo- 
 sophical society in this country, so he was the first writer 
 in the field of general literature/' George the Third, 
 appa^-ej^tly iu a lucid intery^^ warned his ministexg 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxv 
 
 against ^^that crafty American, who is more than a 
 match for you all. The French poet, Turgot, felicit- 
 ously connected his electrical discovery with his pro- 
 ficiency in the cause of liberty, in the Latin epigram. 
 
 " Eripuit coelo fulmen, spectrumque tyrannis.'' 
 
 (He wrested the thunderbolt from heaven and the scep- 
 tre from tyrants. ) 
 He lived in an era of great men, — " there were giants 
 on the earth in those days.'' One only towered above 
 him. The first place, by universal consent, is given to 
 Washington; but next after him, incontestably the 
 greatest American of that age was Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 Henry Ketcham. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin 1 
 
 Poor Richard's Almanac 215 
 
 Plan for Saving One Hundred Thousand Pounds 232 
 
 Necessary Hints to Those that would be Rich. 234 
 
 Advice to a Young Tradesman 236 
 
 Digging for Hidden Treasure 239 
 
 Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America 246 
 
 A Petition of the Left Hand 255 
 
 The Whistle 257 
 
 Dialogue Between Franklin and the Gout , 260 
 
 The Art of Procuring Pleasant Dreams , 268 
 
 The Ephemera: An Emblem of Human Life 274 
 
 To Miss Georgiana Shipley, on the Loss of Her American 
 
 Squirrel. 277 
 
 Familiar Letters: 
 
 L To Miss Jane Franklin , 279 
 
 U. To Mrs. Jane Mecom 280 
 
 in. To Mrs. Deborah Franklin 284 
 
 IV. To Miss Hubbard......... ..o. 285 
 
 V. To Mrs. Jane Mecom « 287 
 
 VL To Miss Stevenson " 288 
 
 VII. To Miss Stevenson , 295 
 
 VIIL To Miss Stevenson 298 
 
 IX. To Mrs. Stevenson 300 
 
 X. To Benjamin Webb , 303 
 
 XL To Samuel Mather » 304 
 
 XII. To the Rev. Dr. Lathrop 305 
 
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 I HAVE ever had a pleasure in obtaining any little 
 anecdotes of ray ancestors. You may remember the 
 inquiries I made among the remains of my relations 
 when you were with me in England, and tne journey 
 I undertook for that purpose. Imagining it may be 
 equally agreeable to you to learn the circumstances of 
 iny life, many of which you are unacquainted with, 
 and expecting the enjoyment of a few weeks' uninter- 
 rupted leisure, I sit down to write them. Besides, 
 there are some other inducements that excite me to 
 this undertaking. From the poverty and obscurity in 
 which I was born and in which I passed my earliest 
 years, I have raised m^yself to a state of affluence and 
 some degree of celebrity in the world. As constant 
 good fortune has accompanied me even to an advanced 
 period of life, my posterity will perhaps be desirous of 
 learning the means which I employed, and which, 
 thanks to Providence, so well succeeded with me. 
 They may also deem them fit to be imitated, should 
 any of them find themselves in similar circumstances. 
 
 This good fortune, when I reflect on it (which is 
 
3 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 frequently the case), has induced me sometimes to say 
 that if it were left to my choice I should have no 
 objection to go over the same life from its beginning 
 to the end ; requesting only the advantage authors 
 have of correcting in a second edition the faults of the 
 lirst. So would I also wish to change some incidents 
 of it for others more favorable. Notwithstanding, if 
 this condition was denied I should still accept the oflFer 
 recommencing the same life. But as this repetition is 
 not to be expected, that which resembles most living 
 one's life over again seems to be to recall all the cir- 
 cumstances of it, and, to render this remembrance 
 more durable, to record them in writing. 
 
 In thus employing myself, I shall yield to the inclina- 
 tion, so natural to old men, of talking of themselves 
 and their own actions ; and I shall indulge it without 
 being tiresome to those who, from respect to my age, 
 might conceive themselves obliged to listen to me, 
 since thev will be alwavs free to read me or not. 
 And lastly (I may as well confess it, as the denial of 
 it would be believed by nobody), I shall, perhaps, not 
 a little gratify my own vanity. Indeed, 1 never heard 
 or saw the introductory words, " Without vanity I 
 may say," etc., but some vain thing immediately 
 followed. Most people dislike vanity in others, what- 
 ever share they have of it themselves ; but I give it 
 fair quarter wherever I meet with it, being persuaded 
 that it is often productive of good to the possessor and 
 to others who are within his sphere of action ; and 
 therefore, in many cases, it would not be altogether 
 absurd if a man were to thank God for his vanity 
 among the other comforts of life. 
 
 And now 1 speak of thanking God, I desire with all 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLIN, 3 
 
 humility to acknowledge that I attribute the mentioned 
 happiness of m}^ past life to his divine providence, 
 which led me to the means I used and gave the success. 
 My belief of this induces me to^A6)^^, though I must 
 not jpreisuine^ that the same goodness will still be 
 exercised toward me in continuing that happiness or 
 enabling me to bear a fatal reverse, w^hich I may ex- 
 perience as others have done ; the complexion of my 
 f uiure fortune being known to Him only in whose 
 power it is to bless us, even in our afflictions. 
 
 Some notes which one of my uncles, who had the 
 same curiosity in collecting family anecdotes, once put 
 into my hands, furnished me with several particulars 
 relative to our ancestors. From these notes 1 learned 
 that they lived in the same village, Ecton, in 
 Northamptonshire, on a freehold of about thirty acres, 
 for at least three hundred years, and how much longer 
 could not be ascertained. 
 
 This small estate would not have sufficed for their 
 maintenance without the business of a smith which 
 had continued in the family down to my uncle's time, 
 the eldest son being always brought up to that em- 
 ployment ; a custom which he and my father followed 
 with regard to their eldest sons. When I searched 
 the registers at Ecton I found an account of their 
 marriages and burials from the year 1555 only, as the 
 registers kept did not commence previous thereto. 
 I, however, learned from it that I was the youngest 
 son of the youngest son for five generations back. My 
 grandfather, Thomas, who w^as born in 1598, lived at 
 Ecton till he was too old to continue bis business^ 
 when he retired to Banbury, in Oxfordshire, to the 
 house of his son John, with whom my father served 
 
4 ATIT0BI0GRAPH7 OF 
 
 an apprenticeship. There my uncle died and lies 
 buried. We saw his grave-stone in 1758. His eldest 
 son Thomas lived in the house at Ecton, and left it, 
 with the land, to his only daughter, who, with her 
 husband, one Fisher, of Wellingborough, sold it to Mr. 
 Isted, now lord of the manor there. My grandfather 
 had four sons, who grew up, viz., Thomas, John, 
 Benjamin, and Josiah. Being at a distance from my 
 papers, I will give you what account I can of them 
 from memory ; and if my papers are not lost in my 
 absence, you will find among them many more 
 particulars. 
 
 Thomas, my oldest uncle, was bred a smith under 
 his father, but being ingenious and encouraged in 
 learning, as all his brothers were, by an Esquire 
 Palmer, then the principal inhabitant of that parish, he 
 qualified himself for the bar and became a considerable 
 man in the county ; was ciiief mover of all public- 
 spirited enterprises for the county or town of North- 
 ampton, as well as of his own village, of which many 
 instances were related of hini ; and he was much taken 
 notice of and patronized by Lord Halifax. He died in 
 1702, the 6th of January, four years to a da}^ before I 
 was born. The recital which some elderly persons 
 made to us of his character I remember struck you as 
 something extraordinary, from its similarity with what 
 you knew of me. "Had he died," said you, " four 
 years later on the same day, one might have supposed 
 a transmigration." 
 
 John, my next uncle, was bred a dyer, I believe of 
 wool, Benjamin was bred a silk-dyer, serving an 
 apprenticeship in London. He was an ingenious man. 
 I remember when I was a boy he came to my father's in 
 
BENJAMIN FBANELm. 5 
 
 Boston and resided in the house with us for several 
 years. There was always a particular affection 
 between my father and him, and I was his godson. He 
 lived to a great age. He left behind him two quarto 
 volumes of manuscript of his own poetry, consisting of 
 fugitive pieces addressed to his friends. He had 
 invented a short-hand of his own, which he taught me; 
 but not having practiced it I have now forgotten it. 
 He was very pious and an assiduous attendant at the 
 sermons of the best preachers, which he reduced to 
 writing according to his method, and had thus collected 
 several volumes of them. 
 
 He was also a good deal of a politician; too much so, 
 perhaps, for his station. There fell lately into my 
 hands, in London, a collection he had made of all the 
 principal political pamphlets relating to public affairs 
 from the year 1641 to 1717. Many of the volumes are 
 wanting, as appears by their numbering ; but there still 
 remain eight volumes in folio and twenty in quarto 
 and in octavo. A dealer in old books had met with 
 them, and knowing me by name, having bought books 
 of him, he brought them to me. It would appear that 
 my uncle must have left them here when he went to 
 America, which was about fift}'' years ago. I found 
 several of his notes in the margins. His grandson, 
 Samuel Franklin, is still living in Boston. 
 
 Our humble family early embraced the reformed 
 religion. Our forefathers continued Protestants 
 through the reign of Mary, when they were sometimes 
 in danger of persecution on account of their zeal 
 against popery. They had an English Bible, and to 
 conceal it and place it in safety, it was fastened open 
 with tapes under and within the cover of a joint stooL 
 
6 AUT0BI0GBAPH7 OF 
 
 When my great-grandfather wished to read it to his 
 family, he placed the joint stool on his knees and then 
 turned over the leaves under the tapes. One of the 
 children stood at the door to give notice if he saw the 
 apparitor coming, who was an ofticer of toe spiritual 
 court. In that case the stool was turned down again 
 upon its feet, when the Bible remained concealed under 
 it as before. This anecdote I had from Uncle Benja- 
 min. The family continued all of the Church of 
 England till about the end of Charles the Second's reign, 
 when some of the ministers that had been ousted for 
 their non-conformity, holding conventicles in North- 
 amptonshire, my Uncle Benjamin and my father Josiah 
 adhered to them, and so continued all their lives. The 
 rest of the family remained with the Episcopal Church. 
 My father married young, and carried his wife, with 
 three children, to New England about 1685. The 
 conventicles being at that time forbidden by law and 
 frequently disturbed in the meetings, some consider- 
 able men of his acquaintances determined to go to that 
 country, and he was prevailed with to accompany 
 them thither, where they expected to enjoy the exer- 
 cise of their religion with freedom. By the same wife 
 my father had four children more born there, and by 
 a second ten others — in all seventeen; of whom I 
 remember to have seen thirteen sitting together at his 
 table, who all grew up to 3'^ears of maturity and were 
 married. I was the youngest son and the youngest of 
 all the children except two daughters. I was born in 
 Boston, in New England. M}'^ mother, the second 
 wife of my father, was Abiah Folger, daughter of 
 Peter Folger, one of the first settlers of New England, 
 of whom honorable mention is made by Cotton Mather 
 
BIRTHPLACE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
 Milk Street opposite Old South Church, Boston. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 7 
 
 in his ecclesiastical history of that country, entitled 
 "Magnalia Christi Americana," as "a godly and 
 learned Englishman,'' if I remember the words rightly. 
 I was informed he wrote se-veral small occasional 
 works, but only one of them was printed, w^hich I 
 remember to have seen several years since. It was 
 written in 1675. It was in familiar verse, according 
 to the taste of the times and people, and addressed to 
 the government there. It asserts the liberty of con- 
 science in behalf of the Anabaptist, the Quakers, and 
 other sectaries that had been persecuted. He attrib- 
 utes to this persecution the Indian wars and other 
 calamities that had befallen the country, regarding 
 them as so many judgments of God to punish so 
 heinous an ofiFense and exhorting the repeal of those 
 laws, so contrary to charity. This piece appeared to 
 me as written with manly freedom and a pleasing 
 simplicity. The six lines I remember, but have 
 forgotten the preceding ones of the stanza; the purport 
 of them was that his censures proceeded from good 
 will, and therefore he would be known to be the 
 author: 
 
 " Because to be a libeler 
 
 I hate it with my heart. 
 From Sherbon Town* where now I dwell, 
 
 My name I do put here; 
 Without offense your real friend, . 
 
 Itis Peter Folger." 
 
 My elder brothers were all put apprentices to 
 different trades. I was put to the grammar school at 
 eight years of age, my father intending to devote me 
 
 '* In the Island of Nantucket. 
 
8 AUT0BI0GRAPE7 OF 
 
 as the tithe of his sons to the service of the ChuroK 
 My early readiness in learning to read, which must 
 have been ver}^ early, as I do not remember when I 
 could not read, and the opinion of all his friends that 
 1 should certainly make a good scholar, encouraged 
 him in this purpose of his. My Uncle Benjamin, too, 
 approved of it, and proposed to give me his short-hand 
 volumes of sermons to set up with if I would learn his 
 short-hand- I continued, however, at the grammar 
 school rather less than a year, though in that time I 
 had risen graduallj^ from the middle of the class of 
 that year to be at the head of the same class, and w^as 
 removed into the next class, whence I was to be placed 
 in the third at the end of the year. 
 
 But my father, burdened with a numerous family, 
 was unable, without inconvenience, to support the 
 expense of a college education. Considering, more- 
 over, as he said to one of his friends in my presence, 
 the little encouragement that line of life afforded to 
 those educated for it, he gave up his first intentions, 
 took me from the grammar school, and sent me to a 
 school for writing and arithmetic, kept by a then 
 famous man, Mr. George BrownwelL He was a skill- 
 ful master and succeeded m his profession, employing 
 the mildest and most encouraging methods. Under 
 him I learned to write a good hand pretty soon, but I 
 failed entirely in arithmetic. At ten years old I was 
 taken to help my father in his business, which was 
 that of a tallow-chandler and soap-boiler ; a business 
 to which he was not bred, but had assumed on his 
 arrival in New England, because he found that his 
 dyeing trade, being in little request, would not main- 
 Xrn^ hi§ family* Accordingly 1 was employed in cutting 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 9 
 
 Wicks for the candles, filling the molds for cast candles, 
 attending the shop, going of errands, etc. 
 
 I disliked the trade and had a strong inclination to 
 go to sea, but my father declared against it. But 
 residing near the water 1 was much in it and on it. I 
 learned to swim well and to manage boats, and when 
 embarked with other boys I was commonly allowed to 
 govern, especially in any case of difficulty ; and upon 
 other occasions I was generally the leader among the 
 boys, and sometimes led them into scrapes, of whichl 
 will mention one instance, as it shows an early project- 
 ing public spirit, though not then justly conducted. 
 There was a salt marsh w^hich bounded part of the 
 mill-pond on the edge of which, at high water, we used 
 to stand to fish for minnows. B}^ much trampling we 
 had made it a mere quagmire. My proposal was to 
 build a wharf there for us to stand upon, and I showed 
 my comrades a large heap of stones which were 
 intended for a new house near the marsh and which 
 would very well suit our purpose. Accordinglj^ in the 
 evening, when the workmen were gone home, I assem- 
 bled a number of my playfellows, and we worked 
 diligently like so many emmets, sometimes two or 
 three to a stone, till we brought them all to make our 
 little wharf. The next morning the workmen were 
 surprised at missing the stones, which had formed our 
 wharf. Inquiry was made after the authors of this 
 transfer; wg were discovered, complained of, and 
 corrected by cur fathers ; and though I demonstrated 
 the utility of our work, mine convinced me that that 
 which was not honest could not be truly useful. 
 
 1 suppose you may like to know what kind of a man 
 jn^ Mh^v ¥/a^ H^ hm m excellent ooastitution^ was of 
 
10 A UT0BI0GRAPH7 OF 
 
 a middle stature, well set, and very strong. He could 
 draw prettily and was skilled a little in musia His 
 voice was sonorous and agreeable, so that when he 
 played on his violin and sung withal, as he was accus- 
 tomed to do after the business of the day was over, it 
 was extremely agreeable to hear. He had some knowl 
 edge of mechanics, and on occasion was very handy 
 with other tradesmen's tools. Bat his great excel- 
 lence was his sound understanding and his solid judg- 
 ment in prudential matters, both in private and public 
 affairs. It is true he was never employed in the latter, 
 the numerous family he had to educate and the strait- 
 ness of his circumstances keeping him close to his 
 trade, but I remember well his being frequently visited 
 by leading men, who consulted him for his opinion in 
 public affairs and those of the church he belonged to, 
 showing a great respect for his judgment and advice. 
 He was also much consulted by private persons 
 about their affairs when any difficulty occurred, and 
 frequently chosen an arbitrator between contending 
 parties. At his table he liked to have, as often as he 
 could, some sensible friend or neighbor to converse 
 with, and always took care to start some ingenious or 
 useful topic for discourse which might tend to improve 
 the minds of his children. By this means he turned 
 our attention to what was good, just, and prudent in 
 the conduct of life, and little or no notice was ever 
 taken of what related to the victuals on the table, 
 whether it was well or ill dressed, in or out of season, 
 of good or bad flavor, preferable or inferior to this oi 
 that other thing of the kind ; so that I was brought 
 up m such a perfect inattention to those matters as to 
 be quite indifferent what kind of food was set before 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, U 
 
 me. Indeed, I am so unobservant of it that to this 
 day I can scarce tell a few hours after dinner of what 
 dishes it consisted. This has been a great convenience 
 to me in traveling, where my conrpanions have been 
 sometimes very unhappj^ for want of a suitable grati- 
 fication of their more delicate, because better instructed, 
 tastes and appetites. 
 
 My m.other had likewise an excellent constitution ; 
 she suckled all her ten children. I never knew either 
 my father or mother to have any sickness but that of 
 which they died ; he at eighty -nine and she at eighty- 
 five years of age. They lie buried together at Boston^ 
 where I some years since placed a marble over their 
 grave with this inscription : 
 
 JOSIAH FRANKLIN 
 
 and 
 ABIAH his wife, 
 
 Lie here interred. 
 
 They lived lovingly topjether in wedlocks 
 
 Fifty-five years; 
 
 And without an estate or any gainful employment, 
 
 By constant labor, and honest industry, 
 
 (With God's blessing,) 
 
 Maintained a large family comfortably; 
 
 And brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren 
 
 Eeputably. 
 
 From this instance, Reader, 
 
 Be encouraged to diligence in thy calling, 
 
 And distrust not Providence. 
 
 He was a pious and prudent man, 
 
 She a discreet and virtuous woman. 
 
 Their youngest son, 
 
 In filial regard to their memory. 
 
 Places this stone. 
 
 J. F. born 1655; died 1744. Mt. 89. 
 
 A. F. born 1667; died 1753. Mi. 85. 
 
13 AUTOBTOOEAPHY OF 
 
 By my rambling digressions I perceive myself to be 
 grown old. I used to write more methodically. But 
 one does not dress for private company as for a public 
 ball. Perhaps it is only negligence. 
 
 To return : I continued thus employed in my father's 
 business for two years, that is, tilll was twelve years 
 old ; and my brother John, who was bred to that busi- 
 ness, having left my father, married and set up for 
 himself at Rhode Island, there was every appearance 
 that I was destined to supply his place and become a 
 tallow-chandler. But my dislike to the trade continu- 
 ing, my father had apprehensions that if he did not 
 put me to one more agreeable I should break loose 
 and go to sea, as my brother Josiah had done, to his 
 great vexation. In consequence, he took me to walk 
 with him and see joiners, bricklayers, turners, braziers, 
 etc, at their work, that he might observe my inclina- 
 tion and endeavor to fix it on some trade or profession 
 that would keep me on land. It has ever since been 
 a pleasure to me to see good workmen handle their 
 tools. And it has been often useful to me to have 
 learned so much by it as to be able to do some trifling 
 jobs in the house when a workman was not at hand, 
 and to construct little machines for my experiments at 
 the moment when the intention of making these was 
 warm in my mind. My father determined at last for 
 the cutler's trade, and placed me for some da3^s on 
 trial with Samuel, son to my Uncle Benjamin, who 
 was bred to that trade in London and had just estab- 
 lished himself in Boston. But the sum he exacted as 
 a fee for my apprenticeship displeased my father, and 
 I was taken home again. 
 
 From my infancy I was passionately fond of read- 
 
BENJAMm FRANELIK 13 
 
 ing, and all the money that came into my hands -was 
 laid out in the purchasing of books. I was very fond 
 of voyages. My first acquisition, was Banyan's works 
 in separate little volumes. I afterward sold them to 
 enable me to buy E. Burton's " Historical CoUec 
 tions." They were small chap-men's books,* and cheap, 
 forty volumes in alL My father's little library con- 
 sisted chiefly of books in polemic divinity, most of 
 which I read. I have often regretted that at a time 
 when I had such a thirst for knowledge more proper 
 books had not fallen in my way, since it was resolved 
 I should not be bred to divinity. There was among 
 them Plutarch's " Lives," which I read abundantly, 
 and I still think that time spent to great advantage. 
 There was also a book of Defoe's, called " An Essay 
 on Projects," and another of Dr. Mather's, called " An 
 Essay to Do Good," which perhaps gave me a turn of 
 thinking that had an influence on some of the principal 
 future events of my life. 
 
 This bookish inclination at length determined my 
 father to make me a printer, Llthough he had already 
 one son, James, of that profession. In 1717 my 
 brother James returned from England, with a press 
 and letters, to set up his business in Boston. I liked 
 it much better than that of my father, but still had a 
 hankering for the sea. To prevent the apprehended 
 effect of such an inclination, my father was impatient 
 
 * Commonly called •* chap-books," a term applied to popular 
 story-books which in former days used to be hawked about by 
 chap-men; such as *' Tom Hicka thrift," *' Jack the Giant KiUer," 
 etc. Burton's histories were of rather a better class and com- 
 prised*' The English Hero; or, Sir Francis Drake Revived;" 
 "Admirable Curiosities," etc., etc. 
 
14 A UT0B10GRAPH7 OF 
 
 to have me bound to my brother. I stood out some 
 time, but at last was persuaded and signed the inden- 
 ture when I was yet but twelve years old. I was to 
 serve an apprenticeship till I was twenty-one years of 
 age, only I was to be allowed journeyman's wages 
 during the last year. In a little time I made a great 
 progress in the business and became a useful hand to my 
 brother. I now had access to better books. An ac- 
 quaintance with the apprentices of booksellers enabled 
 me sometimes to borrow a small one, w^hich I was care- 
 ful to return soon and clean. Often I sat up in ray 
 chamber reading the greatest part of the night when 
 the book was borrowed in the evening and to be re- 
 turned in the morning, lest it should be found missing. 
 After some time a merchant, an ingenious, sensible 
 man, Mr. Matthew Adams, who had a pretty collection 
 of books, frequented our printing-otfice, took notice of 
 me, and invited me to see his library and very kindly 
 proposed to loan me such books as I chose to read. I 
 now took a strong inclination for poetry and wrote 
 some little pieces. My brother, supposing it might 
 turn to account, encouraged me and induced me to 
 compose two occasional ballads. One was called " The 
 Light-House Tragedy," and contained an account of 
 the shipwreck of Captain Worthilake with his two 
 daughters ; the other was a sailor's song, on the taking 
 of the famous Teach, or '' Blackbeard," the pirate. 
 They were wretched stuft, in street-ballad style ; and 
 when they were printed my brother sent me about the 
 town to sell them. The first sold prodigiously, the 
 event being recent and having made a great noise. 
 This success flattered my vanity ; but my father dis- 
 couraged me by criticising my performances and 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 15 
 
 telling mo verse-makers were generally beggars. 
 Thus I escaped being a poet, and probably a ver}^ bad 
 one ; but as prose-writing had been of great use to me 
 in the course of my life and was a principal means of 
 my advancement, I shall tell you how in such a 
 situation I acquired what little ability I may be 
 supposed to have in that way. 
 
 There was another bookish lad in the town, John 
 Collins by name, with whom I w^as intimately ac- 
 quainted. We sometimes disputed, and very fond we 
 were of argument and very desirous of confuting one 
 another; which disputatious turn, by the way, is apt 
 to become a very bad habit, making people often ex- 
 tremely disagreeable in company by the contradiction 
 that is necessary to bring it into practice, and thence, 
 besides souring and spoiling the conversation, it is 
 productive of disgusts, and perhaps enmities, with 
 those who may have occasion for friendship. I had 
 caught this by reading my father's books of dispute on 
 religion. Persons of good sense, 1 have since observed, 
 seldom fall into it, except lawyers, university men, 
 and generally men of all sorts who have been bred at 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 A question was once, somehow or other, started 
 between Collins and me on the propriety of educating 
 the female sex in learning and their abilities for study. 
 He was of opinion that it was improper and that they 
 were naturally unequal to it. I took the contrar\^ 
 side, perhaps a little for dispute's sake. He was 
 naturally more eloquent, having a greater plenty of 
 words, and sometimes, as I thought, I was vanquished 
 more by his fluency than by the strength of his 
 reasons. As we.parted without settling the point and 
 
16 • AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 were not to see one another again for some time, I sat 
 down to put my arguments in writing, which I copied 
 fair and sent to him. He answered and I replied. 
 Three or four letters on a ^ide had passed, when my 
 father happened to find my papers and read them. 
 Without entering into the subject in dispute, he took 
 occasion to talk to me about my manner of Avriting ; 
 observed that though I had the advantage of my 
 antagonist in correct spelling and pointing (which he 
 attributed to the printing-house), 1 fell far short in 
 elegance of expression, in method, and in perspicuity, 
 of which he convinced me by several instances. I 
 saw the justice of his remarks, and thence grew more 
 attentive to my manner of writing and determined to 
 endeavor to improve my style. At this time I met 
 with an odd volume of the "Spectator." I had never 
 before seen any of them. I bought it, read it over 
 and over, and was much delighted with it. 1 thought 
 the writing excellent, and wished if possible to imitate 
 it. With that view I took some of the papers, and 
 making short hints of the sentiments in each sentence, 
 laid them by a few days, and then, without looking at 
 the book, tried to complete the papers again, by ex- 
 pressing each hinted sentiment at length, and as fully 
 as it had been expressed before, in any suitable words 
 that should occur to me. Then I compared my 
 " Spectator " with the original, discovered some of 
 my faults, and corrected them. But I found I wanted 
 a stock of words or a readiness in recollecting and 
 using them, which I thought I should have acquired 
 before that time if I had gone on making verses ; since 
 the continual search for words of the same import, 
 but of different length to suit the measure or of 
 
BENJAMm FRANKLm. 17 
 
 diiferent sound for the rhyme, would have laid me 
 under a constant necessity of searchino^ for variety, 
 and also have tended to fix that variety in ray mind 
 and make me master of it. Therefore I took some of 
 the tales in the "Spectator" and* turned them into 
 verse ; and after a time, when I had pretty well 
 forgotten the prose, turned them back again. 
 
 I also sometimes jumbled ray collection of hints into 
 confusion, and after some weeks endeavored to reduce 
 them into the best order before I began to form the 
 full sentences and complete the subject. This was to 
 teach me method in the arrangement of the thoughts. 
 By comparing my work with the original, I discovered 
 many faults and corrected them : but I sometimes had 
 the pleasure to fancy that in certain particulars of 
 small consequence I had been fortunate enough to 
 improve the method or the language, and this en- 
 couraged me to think that I might in time come to be 
 a tolerable English writer, of which 1 was extremely 
 ambitious. The time I allotted for writing exercises 
 and for reading was at night, or before work began 
 in the morning, or on Sundays, when I contrived to 
 be in the printing-house, avoiding as much as I could 
 the constant attendance at public worship which my 
 father used to exact of me when I was under his care, 
 and which I still continued to consider a duty, though 
 I could not afford time to practice it. 
 
 When about sixteen years of age I happened to meet 
 with a book, written by one Tryon, recomraending a 
 veo;etable diet. I determined to go into it. My brother 
 being yet unmarried did not keep house, but boarded 
 himself and his apprentices in another family.. My refus- 
 ing to eat flesh occasioned aa inconvenience, and I was 
 
18 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 frequently chid for my singularity. I made myself 
 acquainted with Tryon's manner of preparing some of 
 his dishes, such as boiling potatoes or rice, making 
 hasty-pudding and a few others, and then proposed to 
 my brother that if he would give me weekly half the 
 money he paid for my board, I would board myself. 
 He instantly agreed to it, and I presently found that 
 I could save half what he paid me. This was an ad- 
 ditional fund for buying of books ; but I had another 
 advantage in it. My brother and the rest going from 
 the printing-house to their meals, I remained there 
 alone, and dispatching presently my light repast 
 (which was often no more than a biscuit or a slice of 
 bread, a handful of raisins or a tart from the pastry- 
 cook's, and a glass of water), had the rest of the time 
 till their return for study ; in which I made the greater 
 progress from that greater clearness of head and 
 quicker apprehension which generally attend temper- 
 ance in eating and drinking. Now it was that (being 
 on some occasion made ashamed of my ignorance in 
 figures, which I had twice failed learning when at 
 school) I took Cocker's book on " Arithmetic," and 
 went through the whole by myself with the greatest 
 ease. 1 also read Seller's and Sturny's book on " Navi- 
 gation," which made me acquainted with the little 
 geometry it contains ; but I never proceeded far in 
 that science. I read about this time Locke " On 
 Human Understanding" and '' The Art of Thinking," 
 by Messrs. de Port-Royal. 
 
 While I w^as intent on improving my language I met 
 with an English grammar (I think it was Greenwood's), 
 having at the end of it two little sketches on the arts 
 of rhetoric and logic, the latter finishing with a dispute 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 19 
 
 in the Socratic method ; and soon after I procured 
 Xenophon's "•' Memorable Things of Socrates,'' wherein 
 there are many examples of the same method. I was 
 charmed with it, adopted it, dropped my abrupt con- 
 tradictions and positive argumentation, and put on the 
 humble inquirer. And being then, from reading 
 Shaftesbury and Collins, made a doubter, as I alread}^ 
 was in many points of our religious doctrines, I found 
 this method the safest for m3"self and very embarrass- 
 ing to those against whom I used it; therefore I took 
 delight in it, practiced it continually, and grew very 
 artful and expert in drawing people even of superior 
 knowledge into concessions the consequence of which 
 they did not foresee, entangling them in difficulties out 
 of which they could not extricate themselves, and so 
 obtaining victories that neither myself nor my cause 
 always deserved. 
 
 1 continued this method some few 3^ears, but grad- 
 ually left it, retaining only the habit of expressing 
 myself in terms of modest diflBdence, never using, 
 when I advanced anything that may possibly be dis- 
 puted, the words certainly^ undoubtedly^ or anj^- others 
 that give the air of positiveness to an opinion ; but 
 rather say, / concewe O'C apprehend a thing to be so and 
 so ; It appears to me^ or, / should not thhik it, so or so, 
 for such and such reasons ; or, / imagine it to he so; or, 
 It is so, if I am not mistaken. This habit, I believe, 
 has been of great advantage to me w^hen I have had 
 occasion to inculcate my opinions and persuade men 
 into measures that I have been from time to time en- 
 gaged in promoting. And as the chief ends of con- 
 versation are to inform or to he informed, to p>lease or 
 to persuade^ I wish well-meaning and sensible men 
 
20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 would not lessen their power of doing good by a 
 positive assuming manner that seldom fails to disgust, 
 tends to create opposition, and to defeat most of those 
 purposes for which speech was given to us. In fact, 
 if you wish to instruct others, a positive dogniatical 
 manner in advancing your sentiments may occasion 
 opposition and prevent a candid attention. If you 
 desire instruction and improvement from others, you 
 should not at the same time express yourself fixed in 
 your present opinions. Modest and sensible men, who 
 do not love disputation, will leave you undisturbed in 
 the possession of your errors. In adopting such a 
 manner, you can seldom expect to please your hearers 
 or obtain the concurrence you desire. Pope judiciously 
 observes — 
 
 *' Men must be taught as if you taught them not» 
 And things unknown proposed as things forgot." 
 
 He also commended it to us 
 
 **To speak, though sure, with seeming difGidence." 
 
 And he might have joined with this line that which 
 he has coupled with another, I think, less properly — 
 
 '* For want of modesty is want of sense." 
 
 If you ask, Why less properly ? I must repeat the 
 
 lines, 
 
 '* Immodest words admit of no defense, 
 For want of modesty is want of sense." 
 
 Now, is not the want of sense ^ where a man is so unfor- 
 tunate as to want it, some apology for his want of 
 modesty ? And would not the lines stand more justly 
 thus ? 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 21 
 
 ** Immodest words admit hitt this defense, 
 That want of modesty is want of sense.'' 
 
 This, however. I should submit to better judgments. 
 
 My brother had, in 1720 or 1721, begun to print a 
 newspaper. It was the second that appeared in 
 America and was called the N^ew England CouranL 
 The only one before it was the Boston News-Letter. I 
 remember his being dissuaded by some of his friends 
 from the undertaking as not likely to succeed, one 
 newspaper being in their judgment enough for America. 
 At this time, 1771, there are not less than twenty-five. 
 He went on, however, with the undertaking. I was 
 employed to carry the papers to the customers after 
 having worked in composing the types and printing off 
 the sheets. 
 
 He had some ingenious men among his friends, who 
 amused themselves by writing little pieces for this 
 paper, which gained it credit and made it more in de- 
 mand, and these gentlemen often visited us. Hearing 
 their conversations and their accounts of the approba- 
 tion their papers were received with, I was excited to 
 try my hand among them. But being still a boy, and 
 suspecting that my brother would object to printing 
 anything of mine in his paper if he knew it to be mine, 
 I contrived to disguise my hand, and writing an 
 annonymous paper, I put it at night under the door of 
 the printing-house. It was found in the morning and 
 communicated to his writing friends when they called 
 in as usual. They read it, commented on it in my 
 hearing, and I had the exquisite pleasure of finding it 
 met with their approbation, and that in their different 
 guesses at the author none were named but men of 
 
22 AUT0BI0GRAPH7 OF 
 
 some character among us for learning and ingenuity. 
 I suppose that I was rather lucky in my judges, and 
 that they were not really so very good as I then be- 
 lieved them to be. Encouraged, however, by this 
 attempt, I wrote and sent in the same way to the press 
 several other pieces that w^ere equally approved ; and I 
 kept my secret till all my fund of sense for such per- 
 formances was exhausted, and then discovered it, 
 when I began to be considered a little more by my 
 brother's acquaintance. 
 
 However, that did not quite please him, as he 
 thought it tended to make me too vain. This might 
 be one occasion of the differences we began to have 
 about this time. Though a brother, he considered 
 himself as my master and me as his apprentice, and 
 accordingly expected the same services from me as he 
 would from another, while I thought he degraded me 
 too much in some he required of me, who from a 
 brother expected more indulgence. Our disputes were 
 often brought before our father, and I fancy I was 
 either generally in the right or else a better pleader, 
 because the judgment was generaJly in my favor. 
 But my brother was passionate and had often beaten 
 me, which I took extremely amiss; and thinking my 
 apprenticeship very tedious, I was continually wishing 
 for some opportunity of shortening it, which at length 
 offered in a manner unexpected. Perhaps this harsh 
 and tyrannical treatment of me might be a means of 
 impressing me with the aversion to arbitrary power 
 that has stuck to me through my whole life. 
 
 One of the pieces in our newspaper on some political 
 point, which I have now forgotten, gave offense to the 
 Assembly. He was taken up, censured, and imprisoned 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 23 
 
 for a month by the Speaker's warrant, I suppose be- 
 cause he would not discover the author. I, too, was 
 taken up and exaramed before the Council ; but 
 though I did not give them any satisfaction, they con- 
 tented themselves with admonishing me, and dismissed 
 me, considering me perhaps as an apprentice who was 
 bound to keep his master's secrets. During my 
 brother's confinement, which I resented a good deal, not- 
 withstanding our private differences, I had the manage- 
 ment of the paper; and I made bold to give our rulers 
 some rubs in it, which my brother took very kindly, 
 while others began to consider me in an unfavorable 
 light as a youth who had a turn for libeling and 
 satire. 
 
 My brother's discharge was accompanied with an 
 order, and a very odd one, that " James Franklin 
 should no longer print the newspaper called the 
 New England CourantP On a consultation held in 
 our printing-office among his friends what he should 
 do in this conjuncture, it was proposed to elude the 
 order by changing the name of the paper. But my 
 brother, seeing inconveniences in this, came to a con- 
 clusion, as a better way, to let the paper in future be 
 printed in the name of Benjamin Franklin ; and in 
 order to avoid the censure of the Assembly, that 
 might fall on him as still printing it by his apprentice, 
 he contrived and consented that my old indenture 
 should be returned to me with a discharge on the back 
 of it, to show in case of necessity ; and in order to 
 secure to him the benefit of my service, I should sign 
 new indentures for the remainder of my time, which 
 were to be kept private. A very flimsy scheme it 
 was ; however, it was immediately executed, and the 
 
24 AUT0B10GRAPE7 OF 
 
 paper was printed accordingl}'^, under my name, for 
 several months. 
 
 At length, a fresh difference arising between my 
 brother and me, I took upon me to assert m}^ freedom, 
 presuming that he would not venture to produce the 
 new indentures. It was not fair in me to take this 
 advantage, and this I therefore reckon one of the first 
 errata of my life ; but the unfairness of it weighed 
 little with me when under the impressions of resent- 
 ment for the blows his passion too often urged him to 
 bestow upon me. Though he was otherwise not an 
 ill-natured man ; perhaps I was too saucy and pro- 
 voking. 
 
 When he found I would leave him, he took care to 
 prevent my getting employment in any other printing- 
 house of the town by going round and speaking to 
 every master, who accordingly refused to give me work. 
 I then thought of going to New York, as the nearest 
 place where there was a printer. And I was rather 
 inclined to leave Boston when I reflected that I had 
 already made myself a little obnoxious to the govern- 
 ing party, and from the arbitrary proceedings of the 
 Assembly in my brother's case, it was likely I might, 
 if I stayed, soon bring myself into scrapes ; and further, 
 that my indiscreet disputations about religion began 
 to make me pointed at with horror by good people as 
 an infidel and atheist. I concluded, therefore, to 
 remove to New York ; but my father now siding with 
 my brother, I was sensible that if I attempted to go 
 openly means would be used to prevent me. My 
 friend Collins, therefore, undertook to manage my 
 flight. He agreed with the captain of a New York 
 sloop to take me, under pretense of my being a young 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 35 
 
 man of his acquaintance that had an intrigue with a 
 girl of bad character, whose parents would compel me 
 to marry her, and that I could neither appear nor come 
 away publicly. I sold my books to raise a little 
 money, was taken on board the sloop privately, had a 
 fair wind, and in three days found myself at New 
 York, near three hundred miles from my home, at 
 the age of seventeen (October, 1723), without the least 
 recommendation or knowledge of any person in the 
 place^ and very little money in my pocket. 
 
26 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The inclination I had had for the sea was by this 
 time done away, or I might now have gratified it. 
 But having another profession and conceiving my self 
 a pretty good workman, I offered my services to a 
 printer of the place, old Mr. "William Bradford, who 
 had been the first printer in Penns3dvania, but had 
 removed thence in consequence of a quarrel with the 
 governor, George Keith. He could give me no em- 
 ployment, having little to do and hands enough 
 already ; but he said, " My son at Philadelphia has 
 lately lost his principal hand^ Aquila Rose, by death ; 
 if you go thither I believe he may employ you." 
 Philadelphia was one hundred miles further. I set 
 out, however, in a boat for Amboy, leaving my chest 
 and things to follow me round by sea. 
 
 In crossing the bay we met with a squall that tore 
 our rotten sails to pieces, preventing our getting into 
 the Kill, and drove us upon Long Island. In our way 
 a drunken Dutchman, who was a passenger too, fell 
 overboard ; when he was sinking I reached through 
 the water to his shock pate and drew him up, so that 
 we got him in again. His ducking sobered him a 
 little and he went to sleep, taking first out of his 
 pocket a book, which he desired I would dry for him. 
 It proved to be my old favorite author, Bunyan's 
 " Pilgrim's Progress," in Dutch, finely printed on good 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLIN. 2? 
 
 paper, copper cuts, a dress better than I had ever seen 
 it wear in its own language. I have since found that 
 it has been translated into most of the languages of 
 Europe, and suppose it has been^more generally read 
 than any other book, except perhaps the Bible. 
 Honest John was the first that I know of who mixed 
 narration and dialogue : a method of writing very 
 engaging to the reader, who in the most interesting 
 parts find himself, as it were, admitted into the com- 
 pany and present at the conversation. Defoe has 
 imitated him successfully in his " Robinson Crusoe," 
 in his " Moll Flanders," and other pieces ; and Richard- 
 son has done the same in his " Pamela," etc. 
 
 On approaching the island we found it was in a 
 place where there could be no landing, there being a 
 great surge on the stony beach. So we dropped 
 anchor and swung out our cable toward the shore. 
 Some people came down to the shore and hallooed to 
 us, as we did to them ; but the wind was so high and 
 the surge so loud that we could not understand each 
 other. There were some small boats near the shore, 
 and we made signs and called to them to fetch us ; 
 but they either did not comprehend us or it was 
 impracticable, so they went off. Night approaching, 
 we had no remedy but to have patience till the wind 
 abated, and in the mean time the boatmen and myself 
 concluded to sleep if we could ; and so we crowded 
 into the hatches, where we joined the Dutchman, who 
 was still wet, and the spray, breaking over the head of 
 our boat, leaked through to us, so that we were soon 
 almost as wet as he. In this manner we lay all night, 
 with very little rest ; but the wind abating the next 
 day, we made a shift to reach Amboy before nighty 
 
28 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 having been thirty hours on the water, without 
 victuals or any drink but a bottle of filthy rum, the 
 w^ater we sailed on being salt. 
 
 In the evening I found myself very feverish and 
 went to bed ; but having read somewhere that cold 
 water drunk plentifully was good for fever, I followed 
 the prescription and sweat plentifully most of the 
 night. My fever left me, and in the morning, crossing 
 the ferry, I proceeded on my journey on foot, having 
 fifty miles to goto Burlington, where I was told I should 
 find boats that would carry me the rest of the way to 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 It rained very hard all the day ; I was thoroughly 
 soaked, and by noon a good deal tired ; so I stopped 
 at a poor inn, where I stayed all night, beginning now 
 to wish I had never left home. I made so miserable 
 a figure, too, that I found, by the questions asked me, 
 I was suspected to be some runaway indentured 
 servant and in danger of being taken up on that sus- 
 picion. However, I proceeded next day and got in 
 the evening to an inn within eight or ten miles of 
 Burlington, kept by one Dr. Brown. He entered into 
 conversation with me while I took some refreshment, 
 and finding I had read a little, became very obliging 
 and friendly. Our acquaintance continued all the 
 rest of his life. He had been, I imagine, an ambula- 
 tory quack doctor, for there was no town in England 
 nor any country in Europe of which he could not give 
 a very particular account. He had some letters, and 
 was ingenious, but he was an infidel, and wickedly 
 undertook, some years after, to turn the Bible into 
 doggerel verse, as Cotton had formerly done with 
 Virgil. By this means he set many facts in a ridicu- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 29 
 
 Ions light, and might have done mischief with weak 
 minds if his work had been published ; but it never 
 was. 
 
 At his house I lay that night, and arrived the next 
 morning at Burlington, but had the mortification to 
 find that the regular boats were gone a little before, 
 and no other expected to go before Tuesday, this 
 being Saturday. Wherefore I returned to an old 
 woman in the town, of whom I had bought some 
 gingerbread to eat on the water, and asked her advice. 
 She proposed to lodge me till a passage by some other 
 boat occurred. I accepted her oflfer, being much 
 fatigued by traveling on foot. Understanding I was 
 a printer, she would have had me remain in that town 
 and follow my business, being ignorant what stock 
 was necessary to begin with. She was very hospitable, 
 gave me a dinner of ox-cheek with great good-will, 
 accepting only of a pot of ale in return ; and I thought 
 myself fixed till Tuesday should come. However, 
 walking in the evening by the side of the river, a boat 
 came by, which I found was going toward Philadelphia 
 with several people in her. They took me in, and as 
 there was no wind we rowed all the way ; and about 
 midnight, not having yet seen the city, some of the 
 company were confident we must have passed it and 
 would row no further ; the others knew not where we 
 were, so we put toward the shore, got into a creek, 
 landed near an old fence, with the rails of which we 
 made a fire, the night being cold, in October, and there 
 we remained till daylight. Then one of the company 
 knew the place to be Cooper's Creek, a little above 
 Philadelphia, which we saw as soon as we got out of 
 the creek, and arrived there about eight or nine o'clock 
 
30 ^ UTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 on the Sunday morning and landed at Market Street 
 wharf. 
 
 I have been the more particular in this description 
 of my journey, and shall be so of my first entry into 
 that city, that you may in your mind compare such 
 unlikely beginnings with the figure I have since made 
 there. I was in my working dress, my best clothes 
 coming round by sea. I was dirty, from my being so 
 long in the boat. My pockets were stuffed out with 
 shirts and stockings, and I knew no one nor where to 
 look for lodging. Fatigued with walking, rowing, 
 and the want of sleep, I was very hungry ; and my 
 whole stock of cash consisted in a single dollar, and 
 about a shilling in copper coin, which I gave to the 
 boatmen for my passage. At first they refused it, on 
 account of my having rowed ; but I insisted on their 
 taking it. Man is sometimes more generous when he 
 has little money than when he has plenty; perhaps to 
 prevent his being thought to have but little. 
 
 I walked tow^ard the top of the street, gazing about 
 till near Market Street, when I met a boy with bread. 
 I had often made a meal of dry bread, and inquiring 
 where he had bought it, I went immediately to the 
 baker's he directed me to. I asked for biscuits, mean- 
 ing such as we had at Boston ; that sort, it seems, was 
 not made at Philadelphia. I then asked for a three- 
 penny loaf and was told they had none. Not knowing 
 the different prices nor the names of the different sorts 
 of bread, I told him to give me threepenny worth of 
 any sort. He gave me accordingly three great puffy 
 rolls. I was surprised at the quantity, but took it, and 
 having no room in my pockets, walked off with a roll 
 under each arm ^^^ gating the other, Thus I went up 
 
bbnjamw franklin. 81 
 
 Market Street as far as Fourth Street, passing by the 
 door of Mr. Eead, my future wife's father ; when she, 
 standing at the door, saw me, and» thought I made, as 
 I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance. 
 Then I turned and went down Chestnut Street and 
 part of Walnut Street, eating my roll all the w^ay ; 
 and coming round found myself again at Market 
 Street w^harf,- near the boat I came in, to which I went 
 for a draught of the river water ; and being filled with 
 one of my rolls, gave the other two to a woman and 
 her child that came doWn the river in the boat with 
 us and were vv^aiting to go further. 
 
 Thus refreshed I walked again up the street, which 
 by this time had many clean-dressed people in it, who 
 were all walking the same way. I joined them, and 
 thereby w^as led into the great meeting-house of the 
 Quakers, near the market. I sat down among them, 
 and after looking round a while and hearing nothing 
 said, being very drowsy through labor and want of 
 rest the preceding night, I fell fast asleep and continued 
 so till the meeting broke up, when some one was kind 
 enough to rouse me. This, therefore, was the first 
 house I \ya3 in, or slept in, in Philadelphia. 
 
 I then walked down toward the river, and looking 
 in the face of every one, I met a young Quaker man 
 whose countenance pleased me, and accosting him re- 
 quested he would tell me where a stranger could get a 
 lodging. We were then near the sign of the Three 
 Mariners. " Here," said he, " is a house where they 
 receive strangers ; but it is not a reputable one. If thee 
 wilt walk with me V\\ show thee a better one," and he 
 conducted me to the Crooked Billet, in Water Street. 
 There I got a dinner, and while I was eating several 
 
33 AUTOBtOenAPHY OF 
 
 questions were asked me, as from my youth and ap- 
 pearance 1 was suspected of being a runaway. 
 
 After dinner, my host having shown me to a bed, I 
 laid myself on it without undressing and slept till six 
 in the evening, when I was called to supper. I went 
 to bed again very early and slept very soundly till 
 next morning. Then I dressed myself as neat as I 
 could and went to Andrew Bradford, the printer's. I 
 found in the shop the old man his father, whom I had 
 seen at New York, and who, traveling on horseback, 
 had got to Philadelphia before me. He introduced 
 me to his son, who received me civilly, gave me a 
 breakfast, but told me he did not at present want a 
 hand, being lately supplied with one ; but there was 
 another printer in town, lately set up, one Keimer, 
 who perhaps might employ me ; if not, I should be 
 welcome to lodge at his house, and he would give me 
 a little work to do now and then till fuller business 
 should offer. 
 
 The old gentleman said he would go with me to the 
 new printer ; and when we found him, " Neighbor," 
 said Bradford, "I have brought to see you a young 
 man of your business : perhaps you may want such a 
 one." He asked me a few questions, put a composing- 
 stick in my hand to see how I worked, and then said 
 he would employ me soon, though he had just then 
 nothing for me to do. And taking old Bradford, whom 
 he had never seen before, to be one of the townspeople 
 that had a good-will for him, entered into a con- 
 versation on his present undertaking and prospects ; 
 while Bradford, not discovering that he was the 
 other printer's father, on Keimer's saying he expected 
 soon to get the greatest part of the business in his own 
 
BENJAMlM FRANKLIN. 33 
 
 hands, drew him on, by, artful questions and starting 
 little doubts, to explain all his views, what influence 
 he relied on, and in what manner he intended to pro- 
 ceed. I, who stood by and heard all, saw immediately 
 that one was a crafty old sophister and the other a 
 true novice. Bradford left me with Keimer, who was 
 greatly surprised when I told him who the old man 
 was. 
 
 The printing-house, I found, consisted of an old 
 damaged press and a small, worn-out font of English 
 types, which he was using himself, composing an 
 " Elegy " on Aquila Eose, before mentioned ; an in- 
 genious young man, of excellent character, much 
 respected in the town, secretary to the Assembly, and 
 a pretty poet. Keimer made verses too, but very 
 indifferently. He could not be said to vwite them, for 
 his method was to compose them in the types directly 
 out of his head. There being no copy, but one pair of 
 cases, and the " Elegy " probably requiring all the let- 
 ter, no one could help him. I endeavored to put his 
 press (which he had not yet used and of which he un- 
 derstood nothing) into order to be worked with ; and 
 promising to come and print off his " Elegy " as soon 
 as he should have got it ready, I returned to Bradford's, 
 who gave me a little job to do for the present, and 
 there I lodged and dieted. A few da3^s after Keimer 
 sent for me to print off the " Elegy." And now had 
 got another pair of cases and a pamphlet to reprint, 
 on which he set me to work. 
 
 These two printers I found poorly qualified for their 
 business. Bradford had not been bred to it and was 
 verj^ illiterate, and Keimer, though something of a 
 scholar, was a mere compositor, knowing nothing of 
 
34 AUTOBIOGEAPEY OP 
 
 press-work. He had been one of the French prophets 
 and could act their enthusiastic agitations. At this 
 time he did not profess any particulur religion, but 
 something of all on occasion ; was very ignorant of 
 the world, and had, as I afterward found, a good deal 
 of the knave in his composition. He did not lilce my 
 lodging at Bradford's while I worked with him. He 
 had a house, indeed, but without furniture, so he could 
 not lodge me ; but he got me a lodging at Mr. Read's, 
 before mentioned, who was the owner of his house ; 
 and my chest of clothes being come by this time, I 
 made rather a more respectable appearance in the ej^es 
 of Miss Read than I had done when she first happened 
 to see me eating my roll in the street. 
 
 I began now to have some acquaintance among the 
 young people of the town that were lovers of reading, 
 with whom I spent my evenings very pleasa-ntly, and 
 gained money by my industry and frugality. 1 lived 
 very contented and forgot Boston as much as I could, 
 and did not wish to be known where I resided except 
 to my friend Collins, who was in the secret and kept 
 it faithfully. At length, however, ah incident hap- 
 pened that occasioned my return home much sooner 
 than I had intended. I had a brother-in-law, Robert 
 Holmes, master of a sloop that traded between Boston 
 and Delaware. He being at Newcastle, forty miles 
 below Philadelphia, and hearing of me, wrote me a 
 letter mentioning the grief of my relations and friends 
 in Boston at my abrupt departure, assuring me of 
 their good-will to me, and that everything would be 
 accommodated to my mind if I would return, to which 
 he entreated me earnestly. I wrote an answer to his 
 letter, thanked him for his advice, but stated my rea- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 35 
 
 sons for quitting Boston so fully and in such a light as 
 to convince him that I was not so much in the wrong 
 as he had apprehended. 
 
 Sir William Keith, governor of the province, was 
 then at Newcastle, and Captain Holmes, happening to 
 be in company with him when my letter came to hand, 
 spoke to him of me and showed him the letter. The 
 governor read it and seemed surprised when he was 
 told my age. He said I appeared a young man of 
 promising parts and therefore should be encouraged ; 
 the printers at Philadelphia were wretched ones, and 
 if I would set up there he made no doubt I should suc- 
 ceed ; for his part he would procure me the public 
 business and do me every other service in his power. 
 This my brother-in-law Holmes afterward told me in 
 Boston, but I knew as yet nothing of it ; when one 
 dav Keimer and I, beino^ at work too^ether near the 
 window, we saw the governor and another gentleman 
 (who proved to be Colonel French, of J^ewcastle, in the 
 province of Delaware), finely dressed, come directly 
 across the street to our house, and heard them at the 
 door. 
 
 Keimer ran down immediately, thinking it a visit to 
 him ; but the governor inquired for me, came up, and 
 with a condescension and politeness I had been quite 
 unused to made him many compliments, desired to 
 be acquainted with me, blamed me kindly for not hav- 
 ing made myself known to him when I first came to 
 the place, and would have me away with him to the 
 tavern, where he was going with Colonel French to 
 taste, as he said, some excellent Madeira. I was not a 
 little surprised and Keimer stared with astonishment. 
 I went, however, with the governor and Colonel French 
 
36 ^ UT0BI0GRAPH7 OP 
 
 to a tavern at the corner of Third Street, and over the 
 Madeira he proposed my setting up my business. He 
 stated the probabilities of my success, and both he and 
 Colonel French assured me I should have their 
 interest and influence to obtain for me the public busi- 
 ness of both governments. And as I expressed doubts 
 that my father would assist me in it, Sir William said 
 he would give me a letter to him, in which he would 
 set forth the advantages, and he did not doubt he should 
 determine him to comply. So it was concluded I should 
 return to Boston by the first vessel, with the governor's 
 letter, to my father. In the mean time it was to be 
 kept a secret, and I went on working with Keimer as 
 usual. The governor sent for me now and then to 
 dine with him, which I considered a great honor, more 
 particularly as he conversed with me in a most affable, 
 familiar, and friendly manner. 
 
 About the end of April, 1724, a little vessel offered 
 for Boston. I took leave of Keimer as going to see 
 my friends. The governor gave me an ample letter, 
 saying many flattering things of me to my father and 
 strongly recommending the project of my setting up 
 at Philadelphia as a thing that would make my for- 
 tune. We struck on a shoal in going down the bay 
 and sprung a leak ; we had a blustering time at sea 
 and were obliged to pump almost continually, at which 
 I took my turn. We arrived safe, however, at Boston 
 in about a fortnight. I had been absent seven months, 
 and my friends had heard nothing of me, for my 
 brother James was not yet returned and had not 
 written about me. My unexpected appearance sur- 
 prised the family ; all were, however, very glad to see 
 me and made me welcome except my brother. I went 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Z^ 
 
 to see him at his printing-house. I was better dressed 
 than ever while in his service, having a genteel new 
 suit from head to foot, a watch, and my pockets lined 
 with near five pounds sterling in silver. He received 
 me not very frankly, looked me all over, and turned 
 to his work again. 
 
 The journeymen were inquisitive where I had been, 
 what sort of a country it was, and how I liked it. I 
 praised it much and the happy life I led in it, express- 
 ing strongly my intention of returning to it ; and one 
 of them asking what kind of money we had there, I 
 produced a handful of silver and spread it before them, 
 which was a kind of raree-show they had not been used 
 to, paper being the money of Boston. Then I took an 
 opportunity of letting them see my watch ; and lastly 
 (my brother still grum and sullen) gave them a dollar 
 to drink and took my leave. This visit of mine of- 
 fended him extremely. For when my mother some 
 time after spoke to him of a reconciliation and of her 
 wish to see us on good terms together, and that we 
 might live for the future as brothers, he said I had 
 insulted him in such a manner before his people that 
 he could never forget or forgive it. In this, however, 
 he was mistaken. 
 
 My father received the governor's letter with some 
 surprise, but said little of it to me for some time. 
 Captain Holmes returning, he showed it to him and 
 asked him if he knew Sir William Keith, and what 
 kind of a man he was ; adding that he must be of 
 small discretion to think of setting a youth up in busi- 
 ness who wanted three years to arrive at man's estate. 
 Holmes said what' he could in favor of the project, but 
 my father was decidedly against it and at last gave a 
 
38 AUTOBIOGRAPBT OF 
 
 flat denial. He wrote a civil letter to Sir William, 
 thanking him for the patronage he had so kindly 
 offered me, and declined to assist me as yet in. setting 
 u}3, I being, in his opinion, too young to be trusted 
 with the management of an undertaking so important, 
 and for which the preparation required a considerable 
 expenditure. 
 
 My old companion Collins, who was a clerk in the 
 post-office, pleased with the account I gave him of my 
 new country, determined to go thither also ; and while 
 I waited for my father's determination, he set out be- 
 fore me by land to Ehode Island, leaving his books, 
 which were a pretty collection in mathematics and 
 natural philosophy, to come with mine and me to New 
 York, where he proposed to wait tor me. 
 
 My father, though he did not approve Sir William's 
 proposition, was yet pleased that I had been able to 
 obtain so advantageous a character from a person of 
 such note where I had resided, and that I had been so 
 industrious and careful as to equip myself so hand- 
 somely in so short a time ; therefore, seeing no prospect 
 of an accommodation between my brother and me, he 
 gave his consent to my returning again to Philadelphia, 
 advised me to behave respectfully to the people there, 
 endearor to obtain the general esteem and avoid 
 lampooning and libeling, to which he thought I had 
 too much inclination ; telling me that by steady 
 industry and prudent parsimony I might save enough 
 by the time I was twenty-one to set me up, and that if 
 1 came near the matter he would help me out with the 
 rest. This was all I could obtain, except some small 
 gifts as tokens of his and my mother's love, when I 
 embarked again for New York, now with their appro- 
 bation and their blessing. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 39 
 
 The sloop putting in at I^ewport, Ehode Island, I 
 visited my brother John, who had been married and 
 settled there some years. He received me very 
 aflfectionately, for he always loVed me. A friend of 
 his, one Vernon, having some money due to him in 
 Pennsylvania, about thirty-five pounds currency, 
 desired I would recover it for him and keep it till I 
 had his directions what to employ it in. Accordingly he 
 gave me an order to receive it. This business after- 
 ward occasioned me a good deal of uneasiness. 
 
 At Newport we took in a number of passengers, 
 among whom were two young women traveling 
 together and a sensible, matron-like Quaker lady, with 
 her servants. I had shown an obliging disposition to 
 render her some little services, which probably im- 
 pressed her with sentiments of good-will toward me, for 
 when she witnessed the daily growing familiarity 
 between the young women and myself, which they 
 appeared to encourage, she took me aside and said : 
 "Young man, lam concerned for thee, as thou hast no 
 friend with thee and seems not to know much of the 
 world or of the snares youth is exposed to. Depend upon 
 it, these are very bad women : I can see it by all their 
 actions ; and if thee art not upon thy guard they will 
 draw thee into some danger; they are strangers to 
 thee, and I advise thee, in a friendly concern for thy 
 welfare, to have no acquaintance with them." As 1 
 seemed at first not to think so ill of them as she did, 
 she mentioned some things she had observed and heard 
 that had escaped my notice, but now convinced me she 
 was right. I thanked her for her kind advice and 
 promised to follow it. When we arrived at New 
 York they told me where they lived and invited me tQ 
 
40 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF , 
 
 come and see them, but I avoided it ; and it was well 
 I did, for the next day the captain missed a silver 
 spoon and some other things that had been taken out 
 of his cabin, and knowing that these were a couple of 
 strumpets, he got a warrant to search their lodgings, 
 found the stolen goods, and had the thieves punished. 
 So though we had escaped a sunken rock, which we 
 scraped upon in the passage, I thought this escape of 
 rather more importance to me. 
 
 At New York I found my friend Collins, who had 
 arrived there some time before me. We had been 
 intimate from children and had read the same books 
 together, but he had the advantage of more time for 
 reading and studying and a wonderful genius for 
 mathematical learning, in which he far outstripped 
 me. While 1 lived in Boston, most of my hours of 
 leisure for conversation were spent with him, and he 
 continued a sober as well as industrious lad, was much 
 respected for his learning by several of the clergy and 
 other gentlemen, and seemed to promise making a 
 good figure in life. But during my absence he had 
 acquired a habit of drinking brandy, and I found by 
 his own account, as well as that of others, that he had 
 been drunk every day since his arrival at New York, 
 and behaved himself in a very extravagant manner. 
 He had gamed, too, and lost his money, so that I was 
 obliged to discharge his lodgings and defray his 
 expenses on the road and at Philadelphia, which proved 
 a great burden to me. 
 
 The then Governor of New York, Burnet (son of 
 Bishop Burnet), hearing from the captain that one of 
 the passengers had a great many books on board, 
 desired him to bring me to see him. I waited on him, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 41 
 
 and should have taken Collins with me had he been 
 sober. The governor received me with great civility, 
 showed me his library, which was a considerable one, 
 and we had a good deal of conversation relative to 
 books and authors. This was the second governor 
 who had done me the honor to take notice of me, and 
 for a poor boy like me it was very pleasing. 
 
 We proceeded to Philadelphia. I received in the 
 way Veruon's money, without which we could hardly 
 have finished our journey. Collins wished to be 
 employed in some counting-house ; but whether they 
 discovered his dram-drinking by his breath or by his 
 behavior, though he had some recommendations he 
 met with no success in any application, and continued 
 lodging and boarding at the same house with me, and 
 at my expense. Knowing I had that money of 
 Yernon's he was continually borrowing of me, still 
 promising repayment as soon as he should be in 
 business. At length he had got so much of it that I 
 was distressed to think what I should do in case of 
 being called on to remit it. 
 
 His drinking continued, about which we sometimes 
 quarreled, for when a little intoxicated he was very 
 irritable. Once in a boat on the Delaware, with some 
 other young men, he refused to row in his turn, "I 
 will be rowed home," said he. " We will not row 
 you," said I. " You must," said he, " or stay all night 
 on the water, just as you please." The others said, 
 " Let us row ; what signifies it ?" But, my mind being 
 soured with his other conduct, I continued to refuse. 
 So he swore he would make me row or throw me over- 
 board ; and coming along stepping on the thwarts 
 toward me, when he came up and struck at me, I 
 
42 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 clapped my head under his thighs and, rising, pitched 
 him headforemost into the river. 1 knew he was a 
 good swimmer and so was under little concern about 
 him ; but before he could get round to lay hold of the 
 boat we had with a few strokes pulled her out of his 
 reach, and whenever he drew near the boat we asked 
 him if he would row, striking a few strokes to slide 
 her away from him. He was ready to stifle with vex- 
 ation and obstinately would not promise to row. Find- 
 ing him at last beginning to tire, we drew him into the 
 boat and brought him home dripping wet. We hardly 
 exchanged a civil word after this adventure. At 
 length a West India captain, who had a commission 
 to procure a preceptor for the sons of a gentleman at 
 Barbadoes, met with him and proposed to carry him 
 thither to fill that situation. He accepted, and promised 
 to remit me what he owed me out of the first money 
 he should receive, but I never heard of him after. 
 
 The violation of my trust respecting Vernon's money 
 was one of the first great errata of my life ; and this 
 showed that my father was not much out in his judg- 
 ment when he considered me as too young to manage 
 business. But Sir William, on reading his letter, said 
 he was too prudent — that there was a great difference 
 in persons, and discretion did not always accompany 
 years, nor was youth always without it. " But since 
 he will not set you up I will do it myself. Give me 
 an inventory of the things necessary to be had from 
 England and I will send for ttiem. You shall repay 
 me when you are able. I am resolved to have a good 
 printer here, and I am sure you must succeed." This 
 was spoken with such an appearance of cordiality that 
 I had not the least doubt of his meaning what he said 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 43 
 
 I had hitherto kept the proposition of my setting up a 
 secret in Philadelphia, and I still kept it. Had it been 
 known that I depended on the governor, probably 
 some friend that knew him better would have advised 
 me not to rely on him, as I afterward heard it as his 
 known character to be liberal of promises which he 
 never meant to keep. Yet, unsolicited as he was by 
 me, how could I think his generous offers insincere ? 
 I believed him one of the best men in the world. 
 
 I presented him an inventory of a little printing- 
 house, amounting, by my computation, to about one 
 hundred pounds sterling. He liked it, but asked me if 
 my being on the spot in Eugland to choose the types 
 and see that everything was good of the kind might 
 not be of some advantage. " Then," said he, " when 
 there you may make acquaintance and establish cor- 
 respondences in the book-selling and stationery line." 
 I agreed that this might be advantageous. " Then," 
 said he, " get yourself ready to go by the Annis," 
 which was the annual ship, and the only one, at that 
 time usually passing between London and Philadelphia. 
 But as it would be some months before the Annis 
 sailed I continued working with Keimer, fretting ex- 
 tremely about the money Collins had got from me 
 and in great apprehensions of being called upon for it 
 by Vernon ; this, however, did not happen for some 
 years after. 
 
 I believe I have omitted mentioning that in my first 
 voyage from Boston to Philadelphia, being becalmed 
 off Block Island, our crew employed themselves in 
 catching cod, and. hauled up a great number. Till 
 then I had stuck to my resolution to eat nothing that 
 had had life ; and on this occasion I considered, accord- 
 
44 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ing to my master Try on, the taking of every fish as a 
 kind of unprovoked murder, since none of them had 
 done or could do us any injury that might justify this 
 massacre. All this seemed very reasonable. But I had 
 been formerly a great lover of fish, and when it came 
 out of the frying-pan it smelled admirably well. I 
 balanced some time between principle and inclination, 
 till, recollecting that when the fish were opened I saw 
 smaller fish taken out of their stomachs, then, thought 
 I, " If you eat one another I don't see why we may not 
 eat you ;" so I dined upon cod very heartily, and have 
 since continued to eat as other people, returning only 
 now and then occasionally to a vegetable diet. So 
 convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creaturej 
 since it enables one to find or make a reason for every- 
 thing one has a mind to do, 
 
 Keimer and I lived on a pretty good familiar footing 
 and agreed tolerably well, for he suspected nothing of 
 my setting up. He retained a great deal of his old 
 enthusiasm and loved argumentation; we therefore 
 had many disputations. I used to work him so with 
 with my Socratic method, and had trepanned him so 
 often b}^ questions apparently so distant from any 
 point we had in hand, yet by degrees leading to the 
 point and bringing him into diflQculties and contra- 
 dictions, that at last he grew ridiculously cautious, and 
 would hardly answer me the most common question 
 without asking first, " What do you intend to infer 
 from that V* However, it gave him so high an opinion 
 of my abilities in the confuting way that he seriously 
 proposed my being his colleague in a project he had of 
 setting up a new sect. He was to preach the doctrines 
 and I was to confound all opponents. When he camq 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 45 
 
 to explain with me upon the doctrines I found several 
 conundrums, which I objected to unless I might have 
 my way a little too and introduce some of mine. 
 
 Keimer v/ore his beard at full length, because some- 
 where in the Mosaic law it is said, " Thou shalt not 
 mar the corners of thy heardjP He likewise kept the 
 seventh day, Sabbath; and these two points were 
 essential with him. I disliked both, but agreed to them 
 on condition of his adopting the doctrine of not using 
 animal food. " I doubt," said he, " my constitution 
 will not bear it." I assured him it would and that he 
 would be the better for it. He was usually a great 
 eater, and I wished to give myself some diversion in 
 . half -starving him. He consented to try the practice if I 
 would keep him company. I did so, and we held it for 
 three months. Our provisions were purchased, cooked, 
 and brought to us regularly by a woman in the neigh- 
 borhood, who had from me a list of forty dishes which 
 she prepared for us at different times, in which there 
 entered neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. This whim suited 
 me the better at this time from the cheapness of it, not 
 costing us above eighteen pence sterling each per week. 
 I have since kept several Lents most strictly, leaving 
 the common diet for that, and that for the common, 
 abruptly, without the least inconvenience ; so that I 
 think there is little in the advice of making those 
 changes by easy gradations. I went on pleasantly, but 
 poor Keimer suffered grievously, grew tired of the 
 project, longed for the flesh-pots of Egypt, and ordered 
 a. roast pig. He invited me and two women friends to 
 dine with him, but, it being brought too "soon upon 
 table, he could not resist the temptation and ate the 
 whole before we came. 
 
46 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 I had made some courtship during this time to Miss 
 Read. I had a great respect and affection for her, 
 and had some reasons to believe she had the same for 
 me ; but as I was about to take a long voyage and we 
 were both very young, only a little above eighteen, it 
 was thought most prudent by her mother to prevent 
 our going too far at present, as a marriage, if it were 
 to take place, would be more convenient after my re 
 turn, when I should be, as I hoped, set up in my busi 
 ness. Perhaps, too, she thought my expectations not 
 so well founded as I imagined them to be. 
 
 My chief acquaintances at this time were Charles 
 Osborne, Joseph Watson, and James Ealph, all lovers 
 of reading. The two first were clerks to an eminent 
 scrivener or conveyancer in the town, Charles Brock- 
 den. The other was a clerk to a merchant. Watson 
 was a pious, sensible young man, of great integrity ; 
 the others rather more lax in their principles of religion, 
 particularly Ealph, who, as well as Collins, had been 
 unsettled by me, for which they both made me suffer. 
 Osborne was sensible, candid, frank, sincere, and 
 affectionate to his friends, but in literary matters too 
 fond of criticism. Ealph was ingenious, genteel in his 
 manners, and extremely eloquent. I think I never 
 knew a prettier talker. Both were great admirers of 
 poetry and began to try their hands in little pieceSc 
 Many pleasant walks we have had together on Sun- 
 days in the woods on the banks of the Schuylkill, 
 where we read to one another and conferred on what 
 we had read. 
 
 Ealph was inclined to give himself up entirely to 
 poetry, not doubting that he might make great pro- 
 ficiency in it and even make his fortune by it. He 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 4t 
 
 pretended that the greatest poets must, when they 
 first began to write, have committed as many faults 
 as he did. Osborne endeavored to dissuade him, 
 assured him he had no genius for poetry, and ad- 
 vised him to think of nothing^ bevond the business he 
 was bred to ; that in the mercantile way, though he 
 had no stock, he might by his diligence and punctual- 
 ity recommend himself to employment as a factor and 
 in time acquire wherewith to trade on his own account. 
 I approved for my part the amusing one's self with 
 poetry now and then, so far as to improve one's lan- 
 guage, but no further. 
 
 On this it was proposed that we should each of us, 
 at our next meeting, produce a piece of our own com- 
 posing, in order to improve by our mutual observa- 
 tions, criticisms, and corrections. As language and 
 expression were what we had in view, we excluded all 
 considerations of invention by agreeing that the task 
 should be a version of the eighteenth psalm, which 
 describes the descent of a Deity. When the time of 
 our meeting drew nigh, Ralph called on me first and 
 let me know his piece was ready. I told him I had 
 been busy, and having little inclination had done noth- 
 ng. He then showed me his piece for my opinion, 
 irid I much approved it, as it appeared to me to have 
 great merit. "Now," said he, " Osborne never will 
 allow the least merit in an v thins: of mine, but makes 
 a thousand criticisms out of mere envy. He is not so 
 jealous of you. I wish, therefore, you would take this 
 piece and produce it as yours. I will pretend not to 
 have had time and so produce nothing. We shall then 
 hear what he will say to it." It w^as agreed, and I 
 immediately transcribed it, that it might appear in my 
 own hand. 
 
48 ^ tlTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 We met. Watson's performance was read ; there were 
 some beauties in it, but many defects. Osborne's was 
 read ; it was much better. Ealph did it justice ; re- 
 marked some faults, but applauded the beauties. He 
 himself had nothing to produce. I was backward, 
 seemed desirous of beiiig excused, had not had suflBl- 
 cient time to correct, etc. But no excuse could be ad- 
 mitted ; produce 1 must. It was read and repeated. 
 Watson and Osborne gave up the contest and joined in 
 applauding it. Ralph only made some criticisms and 
 proposed some amendments ; but I defended my text. 
 Osborne was severe against Ralph and told me he was 
 no better able to criticise than compose verses. As 
 these two were returning home, Osborne expressed 
 himself still more strongly in favor of what he thought 
 my production, having before refrained, as he said, lest 
 I should think he meant to flatter me. ^' But who 
 would have imagined," said he, " that Franklin Avas 
 capable of such a performance ; such painting, such 
 force, such fire ! He has even improved on the original. 
 In common conversation he seems to have no choice of 
 words ; he hesitates and blunders, and yet, good God, 
 how he writes !" When we next met, Ralph discov- 
 ered the trick we had played and Osborne was laughed 
 at. 
 
 This transaction fixed Ralph in his resolution of be- 
 coming a poet. I did all I could to persuade him from 
 it, but he continued scribbling verses till Pope cured 
 him. He became, however, a pretty good prose-writer. 
 More of him hereafter. But as I may not have occa- 
 sion to mention the other two, I shall just remark here 
 that Watson died in my arms a few years after, much 
 lamented, being the best of our set. Osborne went to 
 
ISENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 49 
 
 the West Indies, where he became an eminent lawyer 
 and made money, but died young. He and I had 
 made a serious agreement that the one who happened 
 first to die should, if possible, make a friendly visit to 
 the other and acquaint him how he found things in 
 that separate state. But he never fulfilled his promise. 
 
 The governor, seeming to like my company, had me 
 frequently at his house, and his setting me up was 
 always mentioned as a fixed thing. I was to take 
 with me letters recommendatory to a number of his 
 friends, besides the letter of credit to furnish me with 
 the necessary money for purchasing the press, types, 
 paper, etc. For these letters I was appointed to call 
 at different times, when they were to be ready ; but a 
 future time was still named. Thus we went on till 
 the ship — whose departure, too, had been several times 
 postponed — was on the point of sailing. Then when I 
 called to take my leave and receive the letters, his sec- 
 retary, Dr. Baird, came out to me and said the gov- 
 ernor was extremely busy in writing, but would be 
 down at Newcastle before the ship, and then the letters 
 would be delivered to me. 
 
 Ralph, though married, and having one child, had 
 Icter mined to accompany me in this voyage. It was 
 thought he intended to establish a correspondence and 
 obtain goods to sell on commission ; but I found after 
 that having some cause of discontent with his wife's 
 relations, he proposed to leave her on their hands and 
 never return to America. Havin^: taken leave of mv 
 friends and exchanged promises with Miss Read, I 
 quitted Philadelphia in the ship, which anchored at 
 Newcastle. The governor was there, but when I went 
 to his lodging his secretary came to me from him with, 
 
50 ^ tJlVBIOGBAPnY OP 
 
 expressions of the greatest regret that he could not 
 then see me, being engaged in business of the utmost 
 importance, but that he would send the letters to me on 
 board, wishing me heartily a good voyage and a 
 speedy return, etc, I returned on board a little puzzled, 
 but still not doubting. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 61 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Mk. ANt)REw Hamilton, a celebrated lawyer of 
 Philadelphia, had taken his passage in the same ship 
 for himself and son, with Mt. Denham, a Quaker 
 merchant, and Messrs. Onia4n and Russel, masters of 
 an iron works in Maryland, who had engaged the 
 great cabin ; so that Ealph and I were forced to take 
 up with a berth in the steerage, and none on board 
 knowing us, were considered as ordinary persons. But 
 Mr. Hamilton and his son (it was James, since governor) 
 returned from Newcastle to Philadelphia, the father 
 being recalled by a great fee to plead for a seized ship. 
 And just before we sailed Colonel French coming on 
 board and showing me great respect I was more taken 
 notice of, and, with my friend Ealph, invited by the 
 other gentlemen to come into the cabin, there being 
 now room. Accordingly we removed thither. 
 
 Understanding that Colonel French had brought on 
 board the governor's dispatches, I asked the captain 
 for those letters that were to be under mv care. He 
 said all were put into the bag together and he could 
 not then come at them, but before we landed in Eng- 
 land 1 should have an opportunity of picking 
 them out ; so I was satisfied for the present and 
 We proceeded on our voyage. We had. a sociable 
 company in the cabin and lived uncommonly well, 
 having the addition of all Mr, Hamilton's stores^^ whQ 
 
6S AtfTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 had laid in plentifully. In this passage Mr. Denham 
 contracted a friendship foi: me that continued during 
 his life. The voyage was otherwise not a pleasant 
 one, as we had a great deal of bad weather. 
 
 When we came into the Channel, the captain kept 
 his word with me and gave me an opportunity of 
 examining the bag for the governor's letters. I found 
 some upon which my name was put as under my care. 
 I picked out six or seven that by the handwriting I 
 thought might be the promised letters, especially as 
 one of them was addressed to Baskett, the king's 
 printer, and another to some stationer. We arrived 
 in London the 24:th December, 1724. I waited upon 
 the stationer, who came first in my way, delivering 
 the letter as from Governor Keith. ^' I don't know 
 such a person," said he ; but opening the letter, " Oh, 
 this is from Riddlesden. I have lately found him to 
 be a complete rascal, and I will have nothing to do 
 with him nor receive any letters from him." So 
 putting the letter into my hand, he turned on his 
 heel and left me to serve some customer. I was 
 surprised to find these were not the governor's letters, 
 and after recollecting and comparing circumstances, I 
 began to doubt his sincerity. I found my friend 
 Denham and opened the whole affair to him. He let 
 me into Keith's character, told me there was not the 
 least probability that he had written any letters for 
 me ; that no one who knew him had the smallest 
 dependence on him ; and he laughed at the idea of 
 the governor's giving me a letter of credit, having, as he 
 said, no credit to give. On my expressing some 
 concern about what I should do, he advised me to 
 endeavor getting some employment in the way of my 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 53 
 
 business. " Among the printers here," said he, " you 
 will improve yourself, and when you return to Amer- 
 ica you will set up to greater adV'antage." 
 
 We both of us happened to know, as well as the 
 stationer, that Riddlesden, the attorney, was a very 
 knave. He had half-ruined Miss Read's father by 
 persuading him to be bound for him. By this letter 
 it appeared there was a secret scheme on foot to the 
 prejudice of Mr. Hamilton (supposed to be then 
 coming over with us) ; that Keith was concerned in it 
 with Eiddlesden. Denham, who was a friend of 
 Hamilton's, thought he ought to be acquainted with 
 it ; so when he arrived in England, which was soon 
 after, partly from resentment and ill-will to Keith and 
 Eiddlesden and partly from good-will to him, I waited 
 on him and gave him the letter. He thanked me 
 cordially, the information being of importance to him, 
 and from that time he became my friend, greatly to 
 my advantage afterward on many occasions. 
 
 But what shall we think of a governor playing such 
 pitiful tricks and imposing so grossly on a poor 
 ignorant boy ! It was a habit he had acquired. He 
 wished to please everybody, and having little to give 
 he gave expectations. He was otherwise an ingenious, 
 sensible man, a pretty good writer, and a good gov- 
 ernor for the people, though not for his constituents, 
 the proprietaries, whose instructions he sometimes dis- 
 regarded. Several of our best laws were of his plan- 
 ning and passed during his administration. 
 
 Ralph and I were inseparable companions. We 
 took lodgings together in Little Britain at three 
 shillings and sixpence a week, as much as we could 
 then afford. He found some relations, but they werq 
 
54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 poor and unable to assist him. He now let me know 
 his intentions of remaining in London and that he 
 never meant to return to Philadelphia. He had 
 brought no money with him, the whole he could 
 muster having been expended in paying his passage. 
 I had fifteen pistoles, so he borrowed occasionally of 
 me to subsist while he was looking out for business. 
 He first endeavored to get into the play-house, believ- 
 ing himself qualified for an actor ; but Wilkes,"^ to 
 whom he applied, advised him candidly not to think 
 of that employment, as it was impossible he should 
 succeed in it. Then he proposed to Roberts, a 
 publisher in Paternoster Row^ to write for him a 
 weekly paper like the Sjpectator^ on certain conditions, 
 which Roberts did not approve. Then he endeavored 
 to get employment as a hackney writer, to copy for 
 the stationers and lawyers about the Temple, but 
 could not find a vacancy. 
 
 For myself, I immediately got into work at Palmer's, 
 a famous printing-house in Bartholomew Close, where 
 I continued near a year. I was pretty diligent, but I 
 spent with Ralph a good deal of my earnings at plays 
 and public amusements. We had nearly consumed all 
 m}^ pistoles, and now just rubbed on from hand to 
 mouth. He seemed quite to have forgotten his wife 
 and child, and I by degrees my engagements with Miss 
 Read, to whom I never wrote more than one letter, 
 and that was to let her know I was not likely soon to 
 return. This was another of the great errata of my 
 life, which I could wish to correct if I were to live it 
 over again. In fact, by our expenses I was constantly 
 kept unable to pay my passage. 
 
 w — . ■ r 11.11 I < 
 
 *A comedian of eminence. 
 
BENJAMm FBANKLIF. 55 
 
 At Palmer's I was employed in composing for the 
 second edition of Wollaston's " Religion of Nature.'^ 
 Some of tiis reasonings not appearing to me well 
 founded, I wrote a little metaphysical piece in which 
 I made remarks on them. It was entitled "A Dis- 
 sertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and 
 Pain." I inscribed it to my friend Ralph ; I printed 
 a small number. It occasioned my being more con- 
 sidered by Mr. Palmer as a young man of some 
 ingenuity, though he seriously expostulated with me 
 upon the principles of my pamphlet, which to him ap- 
 peared abominable. My printing this pamphlet was 
 another erratum. While I lodged in Little Britain I 
 made an acquaintance Avith one Wilcox, a bookseller, 
 whose shop was next door. He had an immense 
 collection of second-hand books. Circulating libraries 
 were not then in use, but we agreeed that on certain 
 reasonable terms, which I now have forgotten, I might 
 take, read, and return any of his books. This I 
 esteemed a great advantage, and I made as much use 
 of it as I could. 
 
 My pamphlet by some means falling into the hands 
 of one Lyons, a surgeon, author of a book entitled 
 " The Infallibility of Human Judgment," it occasioned 
 an acquaintance between us. He took great notice of 
 me, called on me often to converse on those subjects, 
 
 carried me to the Horns, a pale-ale-house in Lane, 
 
 Cheapside, and introduced me to Dr. Mandeville, 
 author of the " Fable of the Bees," who had a club 
 there, of which he was the soul ; being a most facetious, 
 entertaining companion. Lyons too introduced me to 
 Dr. Pemberton, at Batson's coffee-house, who promised 
 to give me an opportunity, some time or other, of 
 
06 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 seeing Sir Isaac Newton, of which I was extremely 
 desirous ; but this never happened. 
 
 I had brought over a few curiosities, among which 
 the principal w^as a purse made of the asbestos^ which 
 purifies by fire. Sir Hans Sloane heard of it, came to 
 see me, and invited me to his house in Bloomsbury 
 Square, showed me all his curiosities, and persuaded 
 me to add that to the number ; for which he paid me 
 handsomely. 
 
 In our house lodged a young woman, a milliner, 
 who I think had a shop in the Cloisters. She had 
 been genteelly bred, was sensible, lively, and of a most 
 pleasing conversation. Ealph read plays to her in the 
 evenings, they grew intimate, she took another lodg- 
 ing, and he followed her. They lived together some 
 time ; but he being still out of business and her income 
 not sufficient to maintain them with her child, he took 
 a resolution of going to London to try for a country 
 school, which he thought himself well qualified to un- 
 dertake, as he wrote an excellent hand and was a 
 master of arithmetic and accounts. This, however, he 
 deemed a business below him, and confident of future 
 better fortune, when he should be unwilling to have it 
 known that he was once so meanly employed, he 
 changed his name and did me the honor to assume 
 mine ; for I soon after had a letter from him, acquaint- 
 ing me that he was settled in a small village (in Berk- 
 shire, 1 think it was, where he taught reading and 
 writing to ten or a dozen boys at sixpence each per 
 week), recommending Mrs. T to my care and de- 
 siring me to write to him, directing for Mr. FromMin^ 
 schoolmaster, at such a place. 
 
 He continued to write to me frequently, sending me 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLm. 57 
 
 large specimens of an epic poem which he was then 
 composing, and desiring my remarks and corrections. 
 These I gave him from time to time, but endeavored 
 rather to discourage his proceeding. One of Young's 
 Satires was then just published. I copied and sent 
 him a great part of it, which set in a strong light the 
 folly of pursuing the Muses. All was in vain ; sheets 
 of the poem continued to come by every post. In the 
 mean time, Mrs. T~ — ^ having on his account lost her 
 friends and business, was often in distresses, and used 
 to send for me and borrow what money I could spare 
 to help to alleviate them. I grew fond of her company, 
 and being at that time under no religious restraint, 
 and taking advantage of my importance to her, I at- 
 tempted to take some liberties with her (another 
 erratum\ which she repulsed, with a proper degree of 
 resentment. She wrote to Ralph and acquainted him 
 with my conduct ; this occasioned a breach between 
 us ; and when he returned to London he let me know 
 he considered all the obligations he had been under to 
 me as annulled ; from which I concluded I was never to 
 expect his repaying the money I had lent him or that 
 I had advanced for him. This, however, was of little 
 consequence, as he was totally unable, and by the loss 
 of his friendship I found myself relieved from a heavy 
 burden. I now began to think of getting a little be- 
 forehand, and, expecting better employment, I left 
 Palmer's to work at Watt's, near Lincoln's Inn Fields, 
 a still greater printing-house. Here I continued all 
 the rest of my stay in London. 
 
 At my first admission into the printing-house I took 
 to working at press, imagining I felt a want of bodily 
 exercise I had been used to in America, where press- 
 
58 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 work is mixed with the composing. I drank only 
 water; the other workmen; near fifty in number, were 
 great drinkers of beer. On occasion I carried up and 
 down stairs a large form of type in each hand, when 
 others carried but one in both hands. They wondered 
 to see, from this and several instances, that the Water 
 American^ as they called me, was stronger than them 
 selves, who drank strong beer ! We had an ale-house 
 boy, who attended always in the house to supply tbu 
 w^orkmen. My companion at the press drank every 
 day a pint before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with 
 his bread and cheese, a pint between breakfast and 
 dinner, a pint at dinner, a pint in the afternoon about 
 six o'clock, and another pint when he had done his 
 day's work. I thought it a detestable custom ; but it was 
 necessary, he supposed, to drink strong beer that he 
 might be strong to labor. I endeavored to convince 
 him that the bodily strength afforded by beer 
 could only be in proportion to the grain or flour of the 
 barley dissolved in the water of which it was made ; 
 that there was more flour in a pennyworth of bread ; 
 and therefore if he could eat that with a pint of water 
 it would give him more strength than a quart of beer. 
 He drank on, however, and had four or five shillings 
 to pay out of his wages every Saturday night for that 
 vile liquor, an expense I was free from. And thus 
 these poor devils keep themselves always under. 
 
 Watts, after some weeks, desiring to have me in the 
 composing-room, I left the press-room ; a new Men 
 Venn for drink, being five shillings, was demanded of 
 me by the compositors. I thought it an imposition, as 
 I had paid one to the pressman; the master thought 
 so too and forbade my paying it, I stood out two or 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 69 
 
 three weeks, was accordingly considered as an excom- 
 municate, and had so many little pieces of private 
 malice practiced on me, by mixing my sorts, transpos- 
 ing and breaking my matter, etc., etc, if ever I stepped 
 out of the room, and all ascribed to the chapel ghost^ 
 which they said ever haunted those not regularly ad- 
 mitted, that notwithstanding the master's protection, 
 I found myself obliged to comply and pay the money; 
 convinced of the folly of being on ill-terms with those 
 one is to live with continually. 
 
 I was now on a fair footing with them and soon ac- 
 quired considerable influence. I proposed some reason- 
 able alterations in the chapel^ laws and carried them 
 against all opposition. From my example a great 
 many of them left their muddling breakfast of beer, 
 bread, and cheese, finding they could with me be sup- 
 plied from a neighboring house with a large porringer 
 of hot-water gruel, sprinkled with pepper, crumbled 
 with bread, and a bit of butter in it, for the price of a 
 pint of beer, viz., three halfpence. This was a more 
 comfortable as well as a cheaper breakfast and kept 
 their heads clearer. Those who continued sotting with 
 their beer all day were often, by not pajung, out of 
 credit at the ale-house, and used to make interest with 
 me to get beer ; their lights as they phrased it, heing 
 out. I watched the pay-table on Saturday night and 
 collected what I stood engaged for them, having to 
 pay sometimes near thirty shillings a week on their 
 accounts. This, and my being estimated a pretty good 
 riggite^ that is, a jocular verbal satirist, supported my 
 consequence in the society. My constant attendance 
 
 '^ A printing-house is called a chapel by the workmeu. 
 
60 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 (I never making a St. Monday) recommended me to 
 the master, and my uncommon quickness at composing 
 occasioned my being put upon work of dispatch, which 
 was generally better paid. So I went on now very 
 agreeably. 
 
 My lodgings in Little Britain being too remote, 1 
 found another in Duke Street, opposite to the Romish 
 chapel. It was up three pair of stairs backward, at 
 an Italian warehouse. A widow lady kept the house : 
 she had a daughter, and a maid-servant, and a journey- 
 man who attended the warehouse, but lodged abroad. 
 After sending to inquire my character at the house 
 where I last lodged, she agreed to take me in at the 
 same rate — three shillings and sixpence a week; 
 cheaper, as she said, from the protection she expected 
 in having a man to lodge in the house. She was a 
 widow, an elderly woman ; had been bred a Protestant, 
 being a clergyman's daughter, but was converted to 
 the Catholic religion by her husband, whose memory 
 she much revered ; had lived much among people of 
 distinction, and knew a thousand anecdotes of them as 
 far back as the time of Charles II. She was lame in 
 her knees with the gout and therefore seldom stirred 
 out of her room, so sometimes wanted company ; and 
 hers was so highly amusing to me that I was sure to 
 spend an evening with her whenever she desired it. 
 Our supper was only half an anchovy each on a very 
 little slice of bread and butter and half a pint of ale 
 between us ; but the entertainment was in her conver- 
 sation. My always keeping good hours and giving 
 little trouble in the family made her unwilling to part 
 with me, so that when I talked of a lodging I had 
 beard of, nearer my businessj for two shillings a week 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIK 61 
 
 (which, intent as I was on saving money, made some 
 difference), she bid me not think of it, for she would 
 abate me two shillings a week for'the future ; so I re- 
 mained with her at one shilling and sixpence as long 
 as I stayed in London. 
 
 In the garret of her house there lived a maiden lady 
 of seventy, in the most retired manner, of whom my 
 landlady gave me this account : that she was a Koman 
 Catholic ; had been sent abroad when young and 
 lodged in a nunnery, with an intent of becoming a nun; 
 but, the country not agreeing with her, she returned 
 to England, where, there being no nunnery, she had 
 vowed to lead the life of a nun as near as might be 
 done in those circumstances. Accordingly she had 
 given all her estate to charitable purposes, reserving 
 only twelve pounds a year to live on ; and out of this 
 sum she still gave a part in charity, living herself on 
 water-gruel only and using no fire but to boil it. She 
 had lived many years in that garret, being permitted 
 to remain there gratis by successive Catholic tenants 
 of the house below, as they deemed it a blessing to 
 have her there. A priest visited her to confess her 
 every day. " From this I asked her," said my land- 
 lady, "how she, as she lived, could possibly find so 
 much employment for a confessor." " Oh 1" said she, 
 " it is impossible to avoid vain thoughts^ I was per- 
 mitted once to visit her. She was cheerful and polite 
 and conversed pleasantly. The room was clean, but 
 had no other furniture than a mattress, a table with a 
 crucifix and a book, a stool which she gave me to sit 
 on, and a picture .over the chimney of St. Veronica 
 displaying her handkerchief, with the miraculous 
 figure of Christ's bleeding face on it, which she ex- 
 plained to me with great seriousness. 
 
62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 She looked pale, but was never sick ; and I give it 
 as another instance on how small an income life and 
 health may be supported. 
 
 At Watt's printing-house I contracted an acquaint- 
 ance with an ingenious young man, one Wygate, who, 
 having wealthy relations, had been better educated 
 than most printers; was a tolerable Latinist, spoke 
 French, and loved reading. I taught him and a friend 
 of his to swim at twice going into the river, and they 
 soon became good swimmers. They introduced me to 
 some gentlemen from the country, who went to 
 Chelsea by water to see the college and Don Saltero's 
 curiosities. In our return at the request of the com- 
 pany, whose curiosity Wygate had excited, I stripped 
 and leaped into the river and swam from near Chelsea 
 to Blackfriars ; performing in the way many feats of 
 activity, both upon and under the water, and surprised 
 and pleased those to whom they were novelties. 
 
 I had from a child been delighted with this exercise, 
 had studied and practiced Thevenot's motions and 
 positions and added some of my own, aiming at the 
 graceful and easy as well as the useful. All these I 
 took this occasion of exhibiting to the company, and 
 was much flattered by their admiration ; and Wygate, 
 who was desirous of becoming a master, grew more 
 and more attached to me on that account, as well as 
 from the similarit}'- of our studies. He at length 
 proposed to me traveling all over Europe together, sup- 
 porting ourselves everywhere by working at our 
 business. I was once inclined to it, but mentioning it 
 to my good friend Mr. Denham, with whom I often 
 spent an hour when I had leisure, he dissuaded me 
 from it, advising me to think only of returning to 
 Pennsylvania, wt^ich he was now about to do. 
 
SBKJAMm FRANKLm. 63 
 
 I must record one trait of this good man's character. 
 He had formerly been in business at Bristol, but 
 failed in debt to a number of people, compounded, and 
 went to America. There, by a close application to 
 business as a merchant, he acquired a plentiful fortune 
 in a few years. Returning to England in the ship 
 with me, he invited his old creditors to an entertain- 
 ment, at which he thanked them for the easy com- 
 position the}^ had favored him with ; and when they 
 expected nothing but the treat, every man, at the first 
 remove, found under his plate an order on a banker 
 for the amount of the unpaid remainder, with interest. 
 
 He now told me he was about to return to Philadel- 
 phia, and should carry over a great quantity of goods 
 in order to open a store there. He proposed to take 
 me over as his clerk, to keep his books — in which he 
 would instruct me — copy his letters, and attend the 
 store. He added that as soon as I should be acquainted 
 with mercantile business he would promote me by 
 sending me with a cargo of flour and bread to the 
 West Indies, and procure me commissions from others 
 which would be profitable, and if I managed well 
 would establish me handsomely. The thing pleased 
 me, for I was grown tired of London, remembered 
 with pleasure the happy months I had spent in Penn- 
 sylvania, and wished again to see it. Therefore I 
 immediately agreed, on the terms of fifty pounds a 
 year, Pennsylvania money ; less than my then present 
 gettings as a compositor, but afi'ording a better prospect. 
 
 I now took leave of printing, as I thought, forever, 
 and was daily employed in my new business, going 
 about with Mr. Denham among the tradesmen to 
 purchase various articles and see them packed up, 
 
CA AUTOBIOORAPHT OF 
 
 delivering messages, calling upon workmen to dispatch, 
 etc. ; and when all was on board I had a few days' 
 leisure. On one of these days I was, to my surprise, 
 sent for by a great man I knew only by name. Sir 
 William Wyndham, and I waited upon him. He had 
 heard, by some means or other, of my swimming from 
 Chelsea to Blackfriars and of my teaching Wygate 
 and another young man to swim in a few hours. He 
 had two sons about to set out on their travels ; he 
 wished to have them first taught swimming, and 
 proposed to gratify me handsomely if I would teach 
 them. They were not yet come to town and my stay 
 was uncertain, so I could not undertake it. But from 
 the incident I thought it likely that if I were to remain 
 in England and open a swimming-school I might get a 
 good deal of money ; and it struck me so strongly that 
 had the overture been made me sooner, probably I 
 should not so soon have returned to America. Many 
 years after, you and I had something of more impor- 
 tance to do with one of these sons of Sir William 
 Wyndham, become Earl of Egremont, which I shall 
 mention in its place. 
 
 Thus I passed about eighteen months in London ; 
 most part of the time I worked hard at my business 
 and spent but little upon myself, except in seeing plays 
 and in books. My friend Ealph had kept me poor. 
 He owed me about twenty -seven pounds, which I was 
 now never likely to receive ; a great sum out of my 
 small earnings ! I loved him, notwithstanding, for he 
 had many amiable qualities. I had improved my 
 knowledge, however, though I had by no means im- 
 proved my fortune; but I had made some very 
 ingenious acquaintance, whose conversation was of 
 great advantage to me, and I had read considerably. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 65 
 
 CHAPTER IV, 
 
 We sailed from Gravesend on the 23d of July, 
 1726. For the incidents of the voyage I refer you to 
 my journal, where you will find them all minutely 
 related. Perhaps the most important part of that 
 journal is thQplan^ to be found in it, which I framed 
 at sea, for regulating the future conduct of my life. 
 It is the more remarkable as being formed when I was 
 so young, and yet being pretty faithfully adhered to 
 quite through to old age. 
 
 We landed at Philadelphia the 11th of October, 
 where I found sundry alterations. Keith was no 
 longer governor, being superseded by Major Gordon ; 
 I met him walking the streets as a common citizen. 
 He seemed a little ashamed at seeing me and passed 
 without saying anything. I should have been as much 
 ashamed at seeing Miss Read had not her friends, 
 despairing with reason of my return after the receipt 
 of my letter, persuaded her to marry another, one 
 Rogers, a potter, which was done in my absence. 
 With him, however, she was never happy, and soon 
 parted from him, refusing to cohabit with him or bear 
 his name, it being now said he had another wife. He 
 was a worthless fellow, though an excellent work- 
 
 * This plan does not exist in the manuscript journal found 
 among Dr. Franklin's papers, which appears, by a note thereon, 
 to be a ''copy made at Reading^ in Pennsylvania^ October 
 %d^ 1787." 
 
66 AUTOBIOGRAPHY Off 
 
 man, which was the temptation to her friends. He 
 got into debt, ran away in 1727 or 1728, went to the 
 "West Indies, and died there. Keiraer had got a better 
 house, a shop well supplied with stationery, plenty of 
 new types, and a number of hands, though none good, 
 and seemed to have a great deal of business. 
 
 Mr. Den ham took a store in Water Street, where 
 we opened our goods ; I attended the business dili- 
 gently, studied accounts, and grew in a little time 
 expert at selling. We lodged and boarded together ; 
 he counseled me as a father, having a sincere regard 
 for me. I respected and loved him, and we might 
 have gone on together very happily, but in the begin- 
 ning of February, 1727, when I had just passed my 
 twenty-first year, we both were taken ill. My dis- 
 temper was a pleurisy, which very nearly carried me 
 off. I suffered a good deal, gave up the point in my 
 own mind, and was at the time rather disappointed 
 when I found myself recovering ; regretting, in some 
 degree, that I must now, some time or other, have all 
 that disagreeable work to go over again. I forget 
 what Mr. Deaham's distemper was ; it held him a long 
 time and at length carried him off. He left me a 
 small legacy in a nuncupative will as a token of his 
 kindness for me, and he left me once more to the wide 
 world ; for the store was taken into the care of his 
 executors and my employment under him ended. 
 
 My brother-in-law. Holmes, being now in Philadel- 
 phia, advised my return to my business ; and Keimer 
 tempted me, with an offer of large wages by the year, 
 to come and take the management of his printing- 
 house, that he might better attend to his stationer's 
 shop. I had heard a bad character of him in London 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 6* 
 
 from his wife and her friends, and was not for baring 
 any more to do with him. I wished for employment 
 as a merchant's clerk, but, not meeting with any, I 
 closed again with Keimer. I found in his house these 
 hands : Hugh Meredith, a Welsh Pennsylvanian, thirty 
 years of age, bred to country work ; he was honest, 
 sensible, a man of experience, and fond of reading, but 
 addicted to drinking. Stephen Potts, a young country- 
 man of full age, bred to the same, of uncommon 
 natural parts and great wit and humor, but a little 
 idle. These he had agreed with at extreme low wages 
 per week, to be raised a shilling every three months, 
 as they would deserve by improving in their business ; 
 and the expectation of these high wages, to come on 
 hereafter, was what he had drawn them in with. 
 Meredith was to work at press; Potts at bookbinding, 
 which he by agreement was to teach them, though he 
 
 knew neither one nor the other; John , a wild 
 
 Irishman, brought up to no business, whose services 
 for four years Keimer had purchased from the captain 
 of a ship; he, too, was to be made a pressman; 
 George Webb, an Oxford scholar, whose time for four 
 years he had likewise bought, intending him for a 
 compositor, of whom more presently ; and David 
 Harry, a country boy whom he had taken apprentice. 
 I soon perceived that the intention of engaging me 
 at wages so much higher than he had been used to give 
 was to have these raw cheap hands formed through 
 me ; and as soon as I had instructed them, they being 
 all articled to him, he should be able to do without 
 me. I went, however, very cheerfully, put his print- 
 ing-house in order, which had been in great confusion, 
 and brought his hands by degrees to mind their busi- 
 ixess and to do it better. 
 
68 AilTOBIOGRAPBY OP 
 
 It was an odd thing to find an Oxford scholar in the 
 situation of a bought servant. He was not more than 
 eighteen years of age, and he gave me this account of 
 himself : that he was born in Gloucester, educated at 
 a grammar school, and had been distinguished among 
 his scholars for some apparent superiority in perform- 
 ing his part when they exhibited plays ; belonged to 
 the Wits' Club there and had written some pieces in 
 prose and verse, which were printed in the Gloucester 
 newspapers. Thence was sent to Oxford ; there he 
 continued about a year, but not well satisfied, wishing 
 of all things to see London and become a player. At 
 length receiving his quarterly allowance of fifteen 
 guineas, instead of discharging his debts he went out 
 of town, hid his gown in a furze bush, and walked to 
 London, where, having no friend to advise him, he fell 
 into bad company, soon spent his guineas, found no 
 means of being introduced among the players, grew 
 necessitous, pawned his clothes, and wanted bread. 
 Walking the street very hungry, not knowing what 
 to do with himself, a crimp's bill was put into his hand 
 offering immediate entertainment and encouragement 
 to such as would bind themselves to serve in America. 
 He went directly, signed the indentures, was put into 
 the ship and came over, never writing a line to his 
 friends to acquaint them what was become of him. He 
 was lively, witty, good-natured, and a pleasant com- 
 panion, but idle, thoughtless, and imprudent to the 
 last degree. 
 
 John, the Irishman, soon ran away ; with the rest I 
 began to live very agreeably, for they all respected 
 me the more as they found Keimer incapable of in- 
 structing them, and that from me they learned some- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 69 
 
 thing daily. My acquaintance with ingenious people 
 in the town increased. We never worked on Saturday, 
 that being Keimer's Sabbath, so that I had two days 
 for reading. Keiraer himself treated me with great 
 civility and apparent regard, and nothing now made 
 me uneasy but my debt to Yernon, which I was yet 
 unable to pay, being hitherto but a poor economist. 
 He, however, kindly made no demand of it. 
 
 Our printing-house often wanted sorts, and there 
 was no letter foundry in America. I had seen types 
 cast at James' in London, but without much attention 
 to the manner ; however, I contrived a mold and made 
 use of the letters we had as puncheons, struck the 
 matrices in lead, and thus supplied in a pretty tolerable 
 way all deficiencies. I also engraved several things 
 on occasion; made the ink; I was warehouseman; 
 and, in short, quite a factotum. 
 
 But however serviceable I might be, I found that 
 my services became every day of less importance as 
 the other hands improved in their business ; and when 
 Keimer paid me a second quarter's wages, he let me 
 know that he felt them too heavy and thought I should 
 make an abatement. He grew by degrees less civil, 
 put on more the airs of master, frequently found fault, 
 was captious, and seemed ready for an outbreaking. 
 I went on nevertheless with a good deal of patience, 
 thinking that his incumbered circumstances were 
 partly the cause. At length a trifle snapped our con- 
 nection ; for, a great noise happening near the court- 
 house, I put my head out of the window to see what 
 was the matter., Keiraer, being in the street, looked 
 up and saw me, called out to me in a loud voice and 
 angry tone to mind my business, adding some reproach- 
 
^0 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 f ul words that nettled me the more for their publicity ; 
 all the neipjhbors who were looking out on the same 
 occasion being witnesses how I was treated. He came 
 up immediately into the printing-house ; continued the 
 quarrel, high words passed on both sides, he gave me 
 the quarter's warning we had stipulated, expressing a 
 wish that he had not been obliged to give so long a 
 warning. I told him his wish was unnecessary, for I 
 would leave him that instant ; and so taking my hat 
 walked out-of-doors, desiring Meredith, whom I saw 
 below, to take care of some things I left and bring 
 them to my lodgings. 
 
 Meredith came accordingly in the evening, when 
 we talked my affair over. He had conceived a great 
 regard for me and was very unwilling that I should 
 leave the hop.se while he remained in it. He dissuaded 
 me from returning to my native country, which I be- 
 gan to think of; reminded me that Keimer was in 
 debt for all he possessed ; that his creditors began to 
 be uneaa}^ ; that he kept his shop miserably, sold often 
 without a profit for ready money, and often trusted 
 without keeping accounts • that he must therefore fail, 
 which would make a vacancy 1 might profit of. I 
 objected my want of money. He then let me know 
 that his father had a high opinion of me, and from 
 some discourse that had passed between them he was 
 sure would advance money to set me up if I would 
 enter into partnership with him. "My time," said he. 
 " will be out with Keimer in the spring ; by that 
 time we may have our press and types m from London. 
 I am sensible 1 am no workman. If you like it your 
 skill in the business shall be set against the stock I 
 furnishj and we will share the profits equally," 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 71 
 
 The proposal was agreeable to me and I consented ; 
 his father was in town and approved of it, the more as 
 he said I had great influence with his son, had prevailed 
 on him to abstain long from dram-drinking, and he 
 hoped might break him of that wretched habit entirely 
 when we came to be so closely connected. 1 gave an 
 inventory to the father, who carried it to a merchant ; 
 the things were sent for, the secret was to be kept till 
 they should arrive, and in the mean time I was to get 
 work, if 1 could, at the other printing-house. But I 
 found no vacancy there, and so remained idle a few 
 days, when Keimer, on a prospect of being employed 
 to print some paper money in New Jersey which 
 would require cuts and various types that I only could 
 supply, and apprehending Bradford might engage me 
 and get the job from him, sent me a very civil message 
 that old friends should not part for a few words, the 
 effect of sudden passion, and wishing me to return. 
 Meredith persuaded me to comply, as it would give 
 more opportunity for his improvement under my daily 
 instructions ; so I returned, and we went on more 
 smoothly than for some time before. The New Jersey 
 job was obtained ; I contrived a copper-plate press for 
 it, the first that had been seen in the country; I cut 
 several ornaments and checks for the bills. We went 
 together to Burlington, where I executed the whole to 
 satisfaction, and he received so large a sum for the 
 work as to be enabled thereby to keep himself longer 
 from ruin. 
 
 At Burlington I made acquaintance with many prin- 
 cipal people of. the province. Several of them had 
 been appointed by the Assembly a committee to attend 
 the press and take care that no more bills were printed 
 
73 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 than the law directed. They were, therefore, by turns 
 constantly with us, and generally he who attended 
 brought with him a friend or two for company. My 
 mind having been much more improved by reading 
 than Keimer's, I suppose it was for that reason my 
 conversation seemed to be more valued. They had me 
 to their houses, introduced me to their friends, and 
 showed me much civility ; while he, though the master, 
 was a little neglected. In truth, he was an odd creature, 
 ignorant of common life, fond of rudely opposing re- 
 ceived opinions, slovenly to extreme dirtiness, enthusi- 
 astic in some points of religion, and a little knavish 
 withal. 
 
 We continued there near three months, and by 
 that time I could reckon among my acquired friends 
 Judge Allen, Samuel Bustill, the Secretary of the 
 Province, Isaac Pearson, Joseph Cooper, and several 
 of the Smiths, members of Assembly, and Isaac Decow, 
 the Surveyor-General. The latter was a shrewd, 
 sagacious old man, who told me that he began for 
 himself, when young, by wheeling clay for the brick- 
 makers ; learned ta write after he was of age ; carried 
 the chain for surveyors, who taught him surveying, 
 and he had now, by his industry, acquired a good es- 
 tate ; and said he, " I foresee that you will soon work 
 this man out of his business and make a fortune in it 
 at Philadelphia." He had then not the least intima- 
 tion of my intention to set up there or anywhere. 
 These friends were afterward of great use to me, as I 
 occasionally was to some of them. They all continued 
 their regard for me as long as they lived. 
 
 Before I enter upon my public appearance in busi- 
 nessj it may be well to let you know the then state of 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 73 
 
 my mind with regard to my principles and morals, 
 that you may see how far those influenced the future 
 events of my life. My parents had early given me 
 religious impressions and brought me through my 
 childhood piously in the Dissenting way. But I was 
 scarce fifteen when, after doubting by turns several 
 points as I found them disputed in the different books 
 I read, I began to doubt of the Eevelation itself. 
 Some books against deism fell into my hands ; they 
 were said to be the substance of the sermons which 
 had been preached at Boyle's Lectures. It happened 
 that they wrought an eflfect on me quite contrary to 
 what was intended by them. For the arguments of 
 the deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared 
 to me much stronger than the refutations ; in short, I 
 soon became a thorough deist. My arguments per- 
 verted some others, particularly Collins and Ealph, 
 but each of those having wronged me greatly without 
 the least compunction, and recollecting Keith's con- 
 duct toward me (who was another freethinker) and 
 my own toward Yernon and Miss Eead, which 
 at times gave me great trouble, I began to suspect 
 that this doctrine, though it might be true, was 
 not very useful. My London pamphlet, printed in 
 1725,^ which had for its motto these lines of Dryden : 
 
 '' Whatever is, is right. But purblind man 
 Sees but a part o' the chain, the nearest links; 
 His eyes not carrying to that equal beam, 
 That poises all above," 
 
 - *Dr. Franklin, in a letter to Benjamin Vaughan, dated Novem- 
 ber 9th, 1779, gives -a further account of this pamphlet in these 
 words: 
 **It was addressed to Mr, J. K., that is, James Ralph, then a 
 
W ^ UTOBIOGEAPHT OF 
 
 and which from the attributes of God, his infinite 
 wisdom, goodness, and power, concluded that nothing 
 could possibly be wrong in the world, and that vice 
 and virtue were empty distinctions, no such things ex- 
 isting, appeared now not so clever a performance as I 
 once thought it ; and I doubted whether some error 
 had not insinuated itself unperceived into my argument 
 so as to infect all that followed, as is common in 
 metaphysical reasonings. 
 
 youth of about my age and my intimate friend, afterward a polit- 
 ical writer and historian. The purport of it was to prove the 
 doctrine of fate, from the supposed attributes of God, in some 
 such manner as this. That in erecting and governing the world, 
 as he was infinitely wise he knew what would be best; infinitely 
 good, he must be disposed; and infinitely powerful, he must be 
 able to execute it. Consequently all is right, 
 
 ** There were only a hundred copies printed, of which I gave 
 a few to friends; and afterward disliking the piece, as conceiv- 
 ing it might have an ill tendency, I burned the rest, except one 
 copy, the margin of which was filled with manuscript notes by 
 Lyons, author of ' The Infallibility of Human Judgment, who was 
 at that time another of my acquaintance in London. I was not 
 nineteen years of age when it was written. In 1730 I wrote a 
 piece on the other side of the question, which began with laying 
 for its foundation this fact: ^That almost all men in all ages 
 and countries have at times made use of prayer.' Thence I 
 reasoned that if all things are ordained, prayer must among the 
 rest be ordained. But as prayer can procure no change in things 
 that are ordained, prayer must then be useless and an absurdity. 
 God would therefore not ordain praying if everything else was 
 ordained. But praying exists, therefore all other things are not 
 ordained, etc. This pamphlet was never printed and the manu- 
 script has long been lost. The great uncertainty I found in meta- 
 physical reasonings disgusted me, and I quitted that kind of 
 reading and study for others more satisfactory," 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 75 
 
 I grew convinced that truth^ sincerity^ and integrity^ ^y 
 in dealings between man and man, were of the utmost 
 importance to the felicity of life ,-andIformed written 
 resolutions, which still remain in my journal book, to 
 practice them ever while I lived. Revelation had 
 indeed no weight with me as such ; but I entertained an 
 opinion that though certain actions might not be bad 
 hecause they were forbidden by it, or good lecause it 
 commanded them, yet probably those actions might be 
 forbidden because they were bad for us, or commanded 
 hecause they were beneficial to us in their own natures, 
 all the circumstances of things considered. And this 
 persuasion, with the kind hand of Providence, or some 
 guardian angel, or accidental favorable circumstances 
 and situations, or all together, preserved me, through 
 this dangerous time of youth and the hazardous situa- 
 tions I was sometimes in among strangers, remote 
 from the eye and advice of my father, free from any 
 willful gross immorality or injustice that might have 
 been expected from my want of religion. I say 
 willful^ because the instances I have mentioned had 
 something of necessity in them, from my youth, inex- 
 perience, and the knavery of others. I had therefore 
 a tolerable character to begin in the world with. 1 
 valued it properly and determined to preserve it. 
 
 We had not been long returned to Philadelphia 
 before the new types arrived from London. We 
 settled with Keimer and left him by his consent before 
 he heard of it. We found a house to let near the 
 market and took it. To lessen the rent, which was 
 then but twenty -four pounds a year, though I have 
 since known it let for seventy, we took in Thomas 
 Godfrey, a glazier, and his family, who were to pay a 
 
76 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 considerable part of it to us and we to board with 
 them. We had scarce opened our letters and put our 
 press in order, before George House, an acquaintance 
 of mine, brought a countryman to us whom he had 
 met in the street inquiring for a printer. All our cash 
 was now expended in the variety of particulars we 
 had been obliged to procure, and this countryman's 
 five shillings, being our first-fruits and coming so 
 seasonably, gave me more pleasure than any crown I 
 have since earned ; and the gratitude I felt toward 
 House has made me often more ready than perhaps I 
 otherwise should have been to assist young begin- 
 ners. 
 
 There are croakers in every country, always boding 
 its ruin. Such an one there lived in Philadelphia ; a 
 person of note, an elderly man with a wise look and a 
 very grave manner of speaking ; his name was Samuel 
 Mickle. This gentleman, a stranger to me, stopped 
 me one day at my door and asked me if I was the 
 young msii who had lately opened a new printing- 
 house. Being answered in the affirmative, he said he 
 was sorry for me, because it was an expensive under- 
 taking and the expense would be lost ; for Philadelphia 
 was a sinking place, the people already half-bankrupts 
 or near being so ; all the appearances of the contrary, 
 such as new buildings and the rise of rents, being to 
 his certain knowledge fallacious, for they were in fact 
 among the things that would ruin us. Then he gave 
 me such a detail of misfortunes now existing or that 
 were soon to exist that he left me half-melancholy. 
 Had I known him before I engaged in this business, 
 probably I never should have done it. This person 
 continued to live in this decaying place and to declaim 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 77 
 
 in the same strain, refusing for many years to buy a 
 house there because all was going to destruction ; and 
 at last I had the pleasure of seeing him give five times 
 as much for one as he might have bought it for when 
 he first began croaking. 
 
78 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I SHOULD have mentioned before that in the autumn 
 of the preceding year I had formed most of my 
 ingenious acquaintance into a club for mutual improve- 
 ment, which we called the Junto. We met on Fridav 
 evenings. The rules that I drew up required that 
 every member in his turn should produce one or more 
 queries on any point of morals, politics, or natural 
 philosophy, to be discussed by the company ; and once 
 in three months produce and read an essay of his 
 own writing on any subject he pleased. Our debates 
 were to be under the direction of a president and to 
 be conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry after 
 truth, without fondness for dispute or desire of victory ; 
 and to prevent warmth, all expressions of positiveness 
 in opinions or direct contradiction were after some 
 time made contraband and prohibited under small 
 pecuniary penalties. 
 
 The first members were Joseph Breintnal, a copier 
 of deeds for the scriveners, a good-natured, friendly, 
 middle-aged man, a great lover of poetry, reading all 
 he could meet with and writing some that was toler- 
 able ; very ingenious in making little knick-knackeries 
 and of sensible conversation. 
 
 Thomas Godfrey, a self-taught mathematician, great 
 in his way and afterward inventor of w^hat is now 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 79 
 
 called Hadley's quadrant.* But he knew little out of 
 his way and was not a pleasing companion ; as, like 
 most great mathematicians I hd:ve met with, he ex- 
 pected universal precision in everything said, or was 
 forever denying or distinguishing upon trifles, to the 
 disturbance of all conversation. He soon left us. 
 
 Mcholas Scull, a surveyor, afterward surveyor- 
 general, who loved books and sometimes made a few 
 verses. 
 
 William Parsons, bred a shoemaker, but loving 
 reading, had acquired a considerable share of mathe- 
 matics, which he first studied with a view to astrology 
 and afterward laughed at it. He also became sur- 
 veyor-general. 
 
 William Mauridge, joiner, but a most exquisite 
 mechanic, and a solid, sensible man. 
 
 Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, and George Webb I 
 have characterized before. 
 
 Kobert Grace, a young gentleman of some fortune, 
 generous, lively, and witty ; a lover of punning and of 
 his friends. 
 
 Lastly, William Coleman, then a merchant's clerk, 
 about my age, who had the coolest, clearest head, the 
 best heart, and exactest morals of almost any man I 
 have ever met with. He became afterward a merchant 
 of great note and one of our provincial judges. Our 
 friendship continued without interruption to his death, 
 upward of forty years ; and the club continued almost 
 as long and was the best school of philosoph}^ morality, 
 and politics that then existed in the province, for our 
 
 * Godfrey's claims - to this invention are fully explained and 
 confirmed in Miller's " Eetrospect of the Eighteenth Century," 
 YoL L, pp. 468—480. 
 
80 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 querieg, which were read the week preceding their 
 discussion, put us upon reading with attention on the 
 several subjects, that we might speak more to the 
 purpose ; and here, too, we acquired better habits of 
 conversation, everything being studied in our rules 
 which might prevent our disgusting each other. Hence 
 the long continuance of the club, which I shall have 
 frequent occasion to speak further of hereafter. 
 
 But my giving this account of it here is to show 
 something of the interest I had, every one of these 
 exerting themselves in recommending business to us. 
 Breintnal particularly procured us from the Quakers 
 the printing of forty sheets of their history, the rest 
 being done by Keimer, and upon these we worked ex- 
 ceedingly hard, for the price was low. It was a folio, 
 jpro patria size, in pica, with long primer notes. I 
 composed a sheet a day and Meredith worked it off at 
 press. It was often eleven at night, and sometimes 
 later, before I had finished my distribution for the 
 next day's work ; for the little jobs sent in by our 
 other friends now and then put us back. But so de- 
 termined I was to continue doing a sheet a day of the 
 folio that one night, when having imposed my forms 
 I thought my day's work over, one of them by accident 
 was broken and two pages reduced to pi, I imme- 
 diately distributed and composed it over again before 
 I went to bed ; and this industry, visible to our neigh- 
 bors, began to give us character and credit. Partic- 
 ularly I was told that mention being made of the new 
 printing-oflBce at the merchant's every-night club, the 
 general opinion was that it must fail, there being 
 already two printers in the place, Keimer and Brad- 
 ford. But Dr. Baird (whom you and I saw many years 
 
nSNJAMIN FRANKLm. 8l 
 
 after at his native place, St. Andrew's, in Scotland) 
 gave a contrary opinion : " For the industry of that 
 Franklin," said he, " is superior ,to anything I ever 
 saw of the kind. I see him still at work when I go 
 home from club, and he is at work again before his 
 neighbors are out of bed." This struck the rest, and 
 we soon after Iiad offers from one of them to supply 
 us with stationery, but as yet we did not choose to 
 engage in shop business. 
 
 I mention this industry more particularly and the 
 more freely, though it seems to be talking in my own 
 praise, that those of my posterity who shall read it 
 may know the use of that virtue when they see its 
 effects in my favor throughout this relation. 
 
 George Webb, who had found a female friend that 
 lent him wherewith to purchase his time of Keimer, 
 now came to offer himself as a journeyman to us. We 
 could not then emplo}^ him ; but I foolishly let him 
 know, as a secret, that I soon intended to begin a 
 newspaper and might then have work for him. My 
 hopes of success, as I told him, were founded on this : 
 that the then only newspaper, printed by Bradford, 
 was a paltry thing, wretchedly managed, no way 
 entertaining, and yet was profitable to him ; I there- 
 fore freely thought a good paper would scarcely fail 
 of good encouragement. I requested Webb not to 
 mention it, but he told it to Keimer, who immediately, 
 to be beforehand with me, published proposals for one 
 himself, on which Webb was to be employed. I was 
 vexed at this, and to counteract them, not being able 
 to commence our paper, I wrote several amusing pieces 
 for Bradford's paper, under the title of " The Bus}^- 
 Body," which Breintnal continued some months. By 
 
82 AVTOmOGRAPHY OF 
 
 this means the attention of the public was fixed on 
 that paper, and Keimer's proposals, which we bur- 
 lesqued and ridiculed, were disregarded. He began his 
 paper, however, and before carrying it on three- 
 quarters of a year, with at most only ninety subscribers, 
 he offered it me for a trifle ; and I, having been ready 
 some time to go on with it, took it in hand directly, 
 and it proved in a few years extremely profitable to 
 me.^ 
 
 I perceive that I am apt to speak in the singular 
 number, though our partnership still continued; it 
 may be that in fact the whole management of the 
 business lay upon me. Meredith was no compositor, 
 a poor pressman, and seldom sober. My friends 
 lamented my connection with him, but I was to make 
 the best of it. 
 
 Our first papers made quite a different appearance 
 from any before in the province ; a better type and 
 better printed ; but some remarks of my writing on 
 the dispute then going on between Governor Burnet 
 and the Massachusetts Assembly struck the principal 
 people, occasioned the paper and the manager of it to 
 be much talked of, and in a few weeks brought them 
 all to be our subscribers. 
 
 Their example was followed by many, and our 
 number went on growing continually. This was one 
 of the first good effects of my having learned a little 
 to scribble. Another was that the leading men, seeing 
 a newspaper now in the hands of those who could also 
 handle a pen, thought it convenient to oblige and en- 
 courage me. Bradford still printed the votes and 
 
 * It was called the Pennsylvania Gazette. Franklin and Mere- 
 dith began the paper with No. 40, September 25th, 1789. 
 
BMJAMm FRANKLW, 83 
 
 laws and other public business. He bad printed an 
 address of the House to the governor in a coarse, 
 blundering manner. We reprinted it elegantly and 
 correctly and sent one to every member. They were 
 sensible of the difference, it strengthened the hands of 
 our friends in the House, and they voted us their 
 printers for the year ensuing. 
 
 Among my friends in the House I must not forget 
 Mr. Hamilton, before mentioned, who was then 
 returned from England and had a seat in it. He 
 interested himself for me strongly in that instance, as 
 he did in miany others afterward, continuing his 
 patronage till his death. 
 
 Mr. Vernon about this time put me in mind of the 
 
 • debt I owed him, but did not press me. I wrote to 
 him an ingenuous letter of acknowledgment, craving 
 his forbearance a little longer, which he allowed me. 
 As soon as I was able I paid the principal, with the 
 interest and many thanks, so that erratum was in some 
 degree corrected. 
 
 But now another diflSculty came upon me, which I 
 had never the least reason to expect. Mr. Meredith's 
 father,, who was to have paid for our printing-house, 
 according to the expectations given me, was able to 
 advance only one hundred pounds currency, which had 
 been paid, and a hundred more were due to the 
 merchant, who grew impatient and sued us all. We 
 gave bail, but saw that if the money could not be 
 
 • raised in time the suit must soon come to a judgment 
 and execution, and our hopeful prospects must with 
 us be ruined, as the press and letters must be sold for 
 payment, perhaps at half-price. 
 
 In this distress two true friends, whose kindness I 
 
g4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 har© nerer forgotten nor ever shall forget while I ean 
 remember anything, came to me separately, unknown 
 to each other, and, without any application from me, 
 offered each of them to advance me all the money that 
 should be necessary to enable me to take the whole 
 business upon myself, if that should be practicable ; 
 but they did not like my continuing the partnership 
 with Meredith, who, as they said, was often seen drunk 
 in the street, playing at low games in ale-houses, much 
 to our discredit. These two friends were William 
 Coleman and Eobert Grace. I told them I could not 
 propose a separation while any prospect remained of 
 the Merediths fulfilling their part of our agreement, 
 because I thought myself under great obligations to 
 them for what they had done and would do if they 
 could, but if they finally failed in their performance 
 and our partnership must be dissolved, I should then 
 think myself at liberty to accept the assistance of my 
 friends. 
 
 Thus the matter rested for some time, when I said 
 to my partner: "Perhaps your father is dissatisfied 
 at the part you have undertaken in this affair of ours 
 and is unwilling to advance for you and me what he 
 would for you. If that is the case tell me, and I will 
 resign the whole to you and go about my business." 
 "No," said he, "my father has really been dis- 
 appointed and is really unable, and I am unwilling to 
 distress him further. I see this is a business I am not 
 fit for. I was bred a farmer, and it was folly in me 
 to come to town and put myself, at thirty years of age, 
 an apprentice to learn a new trade. Many of our 
 Welsh people are going to settle in North Carolina, 
 where land is cheap. I am inclined to go with them 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 85 
 
 and follow my old employment ; you may find friendg 
 to assist you. If you take the debts of the company 
 upon you, return to my father the hundred pounds he 
 has advanced, pay my little personal debts, and give 
 me thirty pounds and a new saddle, 1 will relinquish 
 the partnership and leave the whole in your hands." 
 I agreed to this proposal ; it was drawn up in writing, 
 signed and sealed immediately. I gave him what he 
 demanded and he went soon after to Carolina, whence 
 he sent me next year two long letters, containing the 
 best account that had been given of that country, the 
 climate, the soil, and husbandry, for in those matters 
 he was very judicious. I printed them in the paper, 
 and they gave great satisfaction to the public. 
 
 As soon as he was gone I recurred to my two friends 
 and, because I would not give an unkind preference to 
 either, I took half of what each had offered and I 
 wanted of one, and half of the other, paid off the 
 company's debt, and went on with the business in my 
 own name, advertising that the partnership was 
 dissolved. I think this was in or about the year 1729."^ 
 
 * The dissolution of the partnership was a year later, as 
 appears by the following agreement, transcribed from the 
 original in Franklin's handwriting. — Ed. 
 
 ''Be it remembered, that Hugh Meredith and Benjamin 
 Franklin have this day separated as partners, and will henceforth 
 act each on his own account; and that the said Hugh Meredith, 
 for a valuable consideration by him received from the said 
 Benjamin Franklin, hath relinquished, and doth hereby relin- 
 quish, to the said Franklin, all claim, right, or property to or in 
 the printing materials and stock heretofore jointly possessed by 
 them in partnership ; and to all debts due to them as partners 
 in the course of their, business^ which are all from' henceforth 
 the sole property of the said Benjamin Franklin. In witness 
 whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of July, 
 1730, Hugh Meredith," , 
 
86 AtrTOBIOGEAPRT OP 
 
 About this time there was a cry among the people 
 for more paper money, only fifteen thousand pounds 
 being extant in the province, and that soon to be sunk. 
 The wealthy inhabitants opposed any addition, being 
 against all paper currency, from the apprehension that 
 it would depreciate as it had done in New England, to 
 the injury of all creditors. We had discussed this 
 point in our Junto, where I was on the side of an 
 addition, being persuaded that the first small sum, 
 struck in 1723, had done much good by increasing the 
 trade, omployment and number of inhabitants in the 
 province, since I now saw all the old houses inhabited 
 and many new ones building ; whereas I remembered 
 well, when I first walked about the streets of Philadel- 
 phia eating my roll, I saw many of the houses in 
 Walnut Street, between Second and Front Streets, 
 with bills on their doors, '• To he let^ and many like- 
 wise in Chestnut Street and other streets, which made 
 me think the inhabitants of the city were, one after 
 another, deserting it. 
 
 Our debates possessed me so fully of the subject 
 that I wrote and printed an anonymous pamphlet on 
 it, entitled " The Nature and Necessity of a Paper 
 Currency." ^ It was well received by the com- 
 
 ^ " It is little known or set down to the condemnation of 
 Franklin that, when he was young in business, and stood in need 
 of sundry articles in the line of his profession as a printer, he 
 had the ingenuity to make them for himself. In this way he 
 founded letters of lead, engraved various printing ornaments, 
 cut wood-cuts, made printer's ink, engraved copper-plate vi- 
 gnettes, and made his plate-press." — Watson's ''Annals of Phila- 
 delphia," p. 513. 
 
 Mr. Watson relates another anecdote. He says that the "yel- 
 low willow tree," now so common throughout the country, w^as 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 87 
 
 mon people in general, but the rich men disliked it, for 
 it increased and strengthened the clamor for more 
 money ; and they happening to have no writers among 
 them that were able to answer it, their opposition 
 slackened and the point was carried by a majority in 
 the House. My friends there, who considered I had 
 been of some service, thought fit to reward me by 
 employing me in printing the money ; a very profit- 
 able job and a great help to me. This was another 
 advantage gained by my being able to write. 
 
 The utility of this currency became by time -a^nd ex- 
 perience so evident that the principles upon which it 
 was founded were never afterward much disputed, so 
 that it grew soon to fifty-five thousand pounds, and in 
 1739 to eighty thousand pounds ; trade, building, and 
 inhabitants all the while increasing. Though I now 
 think there are limits beyond which the quantity may 
 be hurtful. 
 
 first introduced into America by Franklin. A wicker-basket 
 made of willow, in which some foreign article had been imported, 
 he saw sprouting in a ditch, and directed some of the twigs to be 
 planted. They took root, and from these shoots are supposed to 
 have sprung all the yellow willows which have grown on this side 
 of the Atlantic. 
 
 Chaptal ascribes to Franklin also the introduction of the agri- 
 cultural use of plaster of Paris into the United States. ' ^ As 
 this celebrated philosopher," says he, '' wished that the effects of 
 this manure should strike the gaze of all cultivators, he wrote in 
 great letters, formed by the use of the ground plaster, in a field 
 of clover lying upon the great road, ^ This has been plastered.'' 
 The prodigious vegetation which was developed in the plastered 
 portion led him to adopt this method. Volumes upon the excel- 
 lency of plaster would not have produced so speedy a revolu- 
 tion. From that period the Americans have imported great 
 quantities of plaster of Paris. "—Chaptal's '' Agricultural Chem- 
 istry," Boston edition, p. 73.— En. 
 
88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 I soon after obtainedj through my friend Ham- 
 ilton, the printing of the 'Newcastle paper money, 
 another profitable job, as I then thought it; small 
 things appearing great to those in small circumstances, 
 and these to me were really great advantages, as 
 they were great encouragements. Mr. Hamilton 
 procured for me also the printing of the laws and votes 
 of that government, which continued in my hands as 
 long as I followed the business. 
 
 I now opened a small stationer's shop. I had in it 
 blanks of all kinds, the correctest that ever appeared 
 among us. I was assisted in that way by my friend 
 Breintnal. I had also paper, parchment, chap-men's 
 books, etc. One Whitemarsh, a compositor I had 
 known in London, an excellent workman, now came to 
 me and worked with me constantly and diligently ; 
 and I took an apprentice, the son of Aquila Rose. 
 
 I began now gradually to pay off the debt I was under 
 for the printing-house. In order to secure my credit 
 and character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be 
 in reality industrious and frugal, but to avoid the ap- 
 pearances to the contrary. I dressed plain and was 
 seen at no places of idle diversion. I never went out 
 a-fishing or shooting; a book indeed sometimes de- 
 bauched me from my work, but that was seldom, was 
 private, and gave no scandal ; and to show that I was 
 not above my business, I sometimes brought home the 
 paper I purchased at the stores through the streets on 
 a wheelbarrow. Thus being esteemed an industrious, 
 thriving young man and paying duly for what I 
 bought, the merchants who imported stationery solic- 
 ited my custom, others proposed supplying me with 
 books, and I went on prosperously. In the mean time^ 
 
BENJAMIN FMANKLIK 89 
 
 Keimer's credit and business declining daily, he was at 
 last forced to sell his printing-house, to satisfy his cred- 
 itors. He went to Barbadoes and there lived some 
 years in very poor circumstances. 
 
 His apprentice, David Harry, whom I had instructed 
 while I worked with him, set up in his place at Phila- 
 delphia, having bought his materials. I was at first 
 apprehensive of a powerful rival in Harry, as his 
 friends were very able and had a good deal of interest. 
 I therefore proposed a partnership to him, which he 
 fortunately for me rejected with scorn. He was very 
 proud, dressed like a gentleman, lived expensively, 
 took much diversion and pleasure abroad, ran in debt, 
 and neglected his business ; upon which all business 
 left him, and finding nothing to do, he followed 
 Keimer to Barbadoes, taking the printing-house with 
 him. There this apprentice employed his former 
 master as a journeyman ; they quarreled often, and 
 Harry went continually behindhand and at length was 
 obliged to sell his types and return to country work in 
 Pennsylv^ania. The person who bought them employed 
 Keimer to use them, but a few years after he died. 
 
 There remained now no other printer in Philadel- 
 phia but the old Bradford ; but he was rich and easy, 
 did a little in the business by straggling hands, but 
 was not anxious about it. However, as he held the 
 post-oflBlce, it was imagined he had better opportunities 
 of obtaining news, his paper was thought a better 
 distributer of advertisements than mine, and therefore 
 had many more ; which was a profitable thing to him 
 and a disadvantage to me. For though I did, indeed, 
 receive and send papers by the post, yet the public 
 opinion was otherwise ; for what I did send was by 
 
90 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 bribing the riders^ who took them privately, Bradford 
 being unkind enough to forbid it, which occasioned 
 some resentment on my part ; and I thought so meanly 
 of the practice that when I afterward came into his 
 situation I took care never to imitate it. 
 
 I had hitherto continued to board with Godfrey, 
 who lived in a part of my house with his wife and 
 children and had one side of the shop for his glazier's 
 business, though he worked little, being always ab- 
 sorbed in his mathematics. Mrs. Godfrey projected a 
 match for me with a relation's daughter, took oppor- 
 tunities of bringing us often together, till a serious 
 courtship on my part ensued, the girl being in herself 
 very deserving. The old folks encouraged me by 
 continual invitations to supper and by leaving us 
 together, till at length it was time to explain. Mrs. 
 Godfrey managed our little treaty. I let her know 
 that I expected as much money with their daughter 
 as would pay off my remaining debt for the printing- 
 house, which I believe was not then above a hundred 
 pounds. She brought me word they had no such 
 sum to spare. I said they might mortgage their 
 house in the loan office. The answer to this, after 
 some days, was that they did not approve the match ; 
 that on inquiry of Bradford they had been informed 
 the printing business was not a profitable one, the 
 types would soon be worn out and more wanted ; that 
 Keimer and David Harrv had failed one after the 
 other, and I should probably soon follow them ; and 
 therefore I was forbidden the house and the daughter 
 was shut up. 
 
 Whether this was a real change of sentiment or 
 only artifice, on a supposition of our being too far 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 91 
 
 engaged in affection to retract, and therefore that we 
 should steal a marriage, which would leave them at 
 liberty to give or withhold what they pleased, I know 
 not. But I suspected the motive, resented it, and 
 Tvent no more. Mrs. Godfrey brought me afterward 
 some more favorable accounts of their disposition and 
 would have drawn me on again, but I declared abso- 
 lutely my resolution to have nothing more to do with 
 that family. This was resented by the Godfreys, we 
 differed, and they removed, leaving me the whole 
 house, and I resolved to take no more inmates. 
 
 But this affair having turned my thoughts to 
 marriage, I looked round me and made overtures of 
 acquaintance in other places, but soon found that the 
 business of a printer being generally thought a poor 
 one, I was not to expect money with a wife, unless with 
 such a one as I should not otherwise think agreeable. 
 In the mean time, that hard-to-be-governed passion of 
 youth had hurried me frequently into intrigues with 
 low women that fell in my way, which were attended 
 with some expense and great inconvenience, besides a 
 continual risk to my health by a distemper, which of 
 all things 1 dreaded, though by great good luck I 
 escaped it. 
 
 A friendly correspondence as neighbors had con- 
 tinued between me and Miss Eead's family, who all 
 had a regard for me from the time of my first lodging 
 in their house. I was often invited there and con- 
 sulted in their affairs, wherein I sometimes was of 
 service. I pitied poor Miss Eead's unfortunate situa- 
 tion, who was generally dejected, seldom cheerful, and 
 avoided company. I considered my giddiness and 
 inconstancy when in London as, in a great degree, th^ 
 
92 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 cause of her unhappiness, though the mother was good 
 enough to think the fault. more her own than mine, as 
 she had prevented our marrying before I w^ent thither 
 and persuaded the other match in my absence. Our 
 mutual affection was revived, but there were now 
 great objections to our union. That match was indeed 
 looked upon as invalid, a preceding wife being said 
 to be living in England, but this could not easily be 
 proved, because of the distance, etc. ; and though there 
 was a report of his death, it was not certain. Then, 
 though it should be true, he had left many debts, 
 which his successor might be called upon to pay. We 
 ventured, however, over all these difficulties, and I 
 took her to wife September 1st, 1730. None of the 
 inconveniences happened that we had apprehended. 
 She proved a good and faithful helpmate, assisted me 
 much by attending to the shop ; we throve together 
 and ever mutuallv endeavored to make each other 
 happy. Thus I corrected that great erratum sls well 
 as I could. 
 
 About this time our club meeting, not at a tavern, but 
 in a little room of Mr. Grace's set apart for that pur- 
 pose, a proposition was made by me that since our 
 books were often referred to in our disquisitions upon 
 the queries, it might be convenient to us to have them 
 all together where we met, that upon occasion they 
 might be consulted ; and by thus clubbing our books 
 in a common library we should, while we liked to keep 
 them together, have each of us the advantage of using 
 the books of all the other members, which would be 
 nearly as beneficial as if each owned the whole. It 
 was liked and agreed to, and we filled one end of the 
 room with such books as we could best spare. The 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLm. 93 
 
 number was not so great as we expected, and though 
 they had been of great use; yet some inconveniences 
 occurring for want of dae care of *them, the collection, 
 after about a 3^ear, was separated, and each took his 
 books home again. 
 
 And now I set on foot my first project of a public 
 nature— that for a subscription library. I drew up 
 the proposals; got them put into form by our great 
 scrivener, Brockden, and by the help of my friends in 
 the Junto procured fifty subscribers of forty shillings 
 each to begin with and ten shillings a year for fifty 
 years, the term our company was to continue. We 
 afterward obtained a charter, the company being in- 
 creased to one hundred. This was the mother of all 
 the North American subscription libraries, now so 
 numerous ; it is become a great thing itself and con- 
 tinually goes on increasing. The libraries have im- 
 proved the general conversation of the Americans, 
 made the common tradesmen and farmers as intellio-ent 
 as most gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps 
 have contributed in some degree to the stand so 
 generally made throughout the colonies in defense of 
 their privileges. 
 
94 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 CHAPTER IV.* 
 
 At the time I established myself in Pennsylvania 
 there was not a good bookseller's shop in any of the 
 colonies to the southward of Boston. In New York 
 and Philadelphia the printers were indeed stationers, 
 but they sold only paper^ ahnanacs, ballads, and a few 
 common school-books. Those who loved reading were 
 obliged to send for their books from England ; the 
 members of the Junto had each a few. We had left 
 the ale-house where we first met and hired a room to 
 hold our club in. I proposed that we should all of us 
 bring our books to that room, where they would not 
 only be ready to consult in our conferences, but be- 
 come a common benefit, each of us being at liberty to 
 borrow such as he wished to read at home. This was 
 accordingly done and for some time contented us. 
 
 Finding the advantage of this little collection, I pro- 
 posed to render the benefit from the books more com- 
 mon by commencing a public subscription library. I 
 drew a sketch of the plan and rules that would be 
 necessary, and got a skillful conveyancer, Mr. Charles 
 
 * Down to this period the memoir was written in the year 1771, 
 and the task was then laid aside for several years. In the mean 
 time the manuscript was shown to several of the author's friends, 
 who pressed him to complete what he had begun. He accord- 
 ingly yielded to their solicitations, and to the part with which 
 this chapter commences he prefixed the following introductory 
 ^remarks and ^Iso the two letters to which he alludes. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 9S 
 
 Brockden, to put the whole in form of articles of 
 agreement to be subscribed, by which each subscriber 
 engaged to pay a certain sum down for the first pur- 
 chase of the books and an annual contribution for in- 
 creasing them. So few were the readers at that time 
 in Philadelphia, and the majority of us so poor, that I 
 was not able, with great industry, to find more than 
 fifty persons, mostly young tradesmen, willing to pay 
 down for this purpose forty shillings each and ten 
 shillings per annum. With this little fund we began. 
 The books were imported. The library was opened 
 one day in the week for lending them to subscribers, 
 on their promissory notes to pay double the value if 
 not duly returned. The institution soon manifested 
 its utility, was imitated by other towns and in other 
 provinces. The libraries were augmented by dona- 
 tions, reading became fashionable, and our people, 
 having no public amusements to divert their attention 
 from study, became better acquainted with books, and 
 in a few years were observed by strangers to be better 
 instructed and more intelligent than people in the 
 same rank generally are in other countries. 
 
 When we were about to sign the above-mentioned 
 articles, which were to be binding on us, our heirs, 
 etc., for fifty years, Mr. Brockden, the scrivener, said 
 to us: " You are young men, but it is scarcel}^ possible 
 that any of 3^ou will live to see the expiration of the 
 term fixed in the instrument." A number of us, how- 
 ever, are yet living ; but the instrument was after a 
 few years rendered null by a charter that incorporated 
 and gave perpetuity to the company. 
 
 The objections and reluctances I met with in solicit- 
 ing the subscriptions made me soon feel the impropriety 
 
96 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 of presenting one's aelf as the proposer of any useful 
 project that might be supposed to raise one's reputa- 
 tion in the smallest degree above that of one's neigh- 
 bors, when one has need of their assistance to accom- 
 plish that project. I therefore put myself as much as 
 I could out of sight, and stated it to be a scheme of 
 a number of friends who had requested me to go about 
 and propose it to such as they thought lovers of read- 
 ing. In this way my aflfair went on more smoothly, 
 and I ever after practiced it on such occasions ; and 
 from my frequent successes can heartily recommend it. 
 The present little sacrifice of your vanity will after- 
 ward be amply repaid. If it remains awhile uncertain 
 to whom the merit belongs, some one more vain than 
 yourself may be encouraged to claim it, and then even 
 envy will be disposed to do you justice by plucking 
 those assumed feathers and restoring them to their 
 right owner. 
 
 This library afforded me the means of improvement 
 by constant study, for which I set apart an hour or two 
 each day, and thus repaired in some degree the loss of 
 the learned education my father once intended for me. 
 Eeading was the only amusement I allowed myself. I 
 spent no time in taverns, games, or frolics of any kind ; 
 and my industry in my business continued as indefati- 
 gable as it was necessary. I was indebted for my 
 printing-house, I had a young family coming on to be 
 educated, and I had two competitors to contend with 
 for business who were established in the place before 
 me. M}'' circumstances, however, grew daily easier. 
 My original habits of frugality continuing, and my 
 father having, among his instructions to me when a 
 boy, frequently repeated a proverb of Solomon, 
 
Benjamin mANKLiN. ^ 
 
 " 8eesi thou a man diligent in his oalling^ he shall stand 
 before kings, he shall not stand before mean men^'^ I 
 thence considered industry as a means of obtaining 
 wealth and distinction which encouraged me — though 
 I did not think that I should ever literally stand before 
 kings, which, however, has since happened ; for I have 
 stood before five, and even had the honor of sitting 
 down with one, the King of Denmark, to dinner. 
 
 We have an English proverb that says, " He that 
 would thrive must ask his wife." It was lucky for me 
 that I had one as much disposed to industry and 
 frugality as myself. She assisted me cheerfully in my 
 business, folding and stitching pamphlets, tending 
 shop, purchasing old linen rags for the paper-makers, 
 etc. We kept no idle servants, our table was plain and 
 simple, our furniture of the cheapest. For instance, 
 my breakfast for a long time was bread and milk (no 
 tea), and I eat it out of a twopenny earthen porringer 
 with a pewter spoon. But mark how luxuries will 
 enter families and make a progress in spite of principle : 
 being called one morning to breakfast, I found it in 
 a china bowl with a spoon of silver ! They had been 
 bought for me without my knowledge by my wife, and 
 had cost her the enormous sum of twenty-three shil- 
 lings, for which she had no other excuse or apology to 
 make but that she thought her husband deserved a 
 silver spoon and china bowl as well as any of his 
 neighbors. This was the first appearance of plate and 
 china in our house, which afterward, in a course of 
 years as our wealth increased, augmented gradually 
 to several hundred pounds in value. 
 
 I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian ; 
 but though some of the dogmas of that persuasion, 
 
98 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 such as the eternal decrees of God^ election^ reprobationy 
 etCy appeared to me very unintelligible, others doubtful, 
 and I early absented myself from the public assem- 
 blies of the sect, Sunday being my studying day, I 
 never was without some religious principles. I never 
 doubted, for instance, the existence of a Deity — that 
 he made the world and governed it by his providence 
 — that the most acceptable service of God was the 
 doing good to man — that our souls are immortal — and 
 that all crimes will be punished and virtue rewarded, 
 either here or hereafter. These I esteemed the essen- 
 tials of every religion ; and being to be found in all 
 the religions we had in our country, I respected them 
 all, though with different degrees of respect, as I 
 found them more or less mixed with other articles 
 which, without any tendency to inspire, promote, or 
 confirm morality, served principally to divide us and 
 make us unfriendly to one another. This respect to 
 all, with an opinion that the worst had some good 
 effects, induced me to avoid all discourse that might 
 tend to lessen the good opinion another might have of 
 his own religion ; and as our province increased in 
 people, and new places of worship were continually 
 wanted and generally erected by voluntary contribu- 
 tion, my mite for such purpose, whatever might be 
 the sect, was never refused. 
 
 Though I seldom attended any public worship, I had 
 still an opinion of its propriety and of its utility when 
 rightly conducted, and I regularly paid my annual 
 subscription for the support of the only Presbyterian 
 minister or meeting we had in Philadelphia. He used 
 to visit me sometimes as a friend and admonish me to 
 attend his administrations, and I was now and then 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 99 
 
 prevailed on to do so, once for five Sundays succes- 
 sively. Had he been in my opinion a good preacher, 
 perhaps I might have continued, notwithstanding the 
 occasion I had for Sunday's leisure in my course of 
 study ; but his discourses were chiefly either polemic 
 arguments or explications of the peculiar doctrines of 
 our sect, and were all to me very dry, uninteresting, 
 and unedifying ; since not a single moral principle was 
 inculcated or enforced, their aim seeming to be 
 rather to make us Presbyterians than good citizens. 
 
 At length he took for his text that verse of the 
 fourth chapter to the Philippians : " Finally ^ brethren^ 
 whatsoever things are true^ honesty just, pure^ lovely^ 
 or of good rejport^ if there be any virtue^ or any praise^ 
 think on these thingsP And I imagined in a sermon on 
 such a text, we could not miss of having some moral- 
 ity. But he confined himself to five points only, as 
 meant by the apostle : 1. Keeping holy the Sabbath 
 day. 2. Being diligent in reading the holy Scriptures. 
 3. Attending dul}^ the public worship. 4. Partaking 
 of the Sacrament. 5. Paying due respect to God's 
 ministers. These might be all good things ; but as they 
 were not the kind of good things that I expected from 
 that text, I despaired of ever meeting with them from 
 any other, was disgusted, and attended his preaching 
 no more. I had some years before composed a little 
 liturgy or form of prayer for my own private use (in 
 1728), entitled '' Articles of Belief and Acts of Eeli- 
 gion." I returned to the use of this and went no 
 more to the public assemblies. My conduct might be 
 blamable, but I leave it without attempting further to 
 excuse it ; my present purpose being to relate facts 
 and not to make, apologies for them. 
 
loo AUTOBtOaBAPHY OP 
 
 It was about this time I conceived the bold and 
 arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I 
 wished to live without committing any fault at any 
 time, and to conquer allthat either natural inclination, 
 custom, or company might lead me into. As I knew, 
 or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did 
 not see why I might not always do the one and avoid 
 the other. But I soon found I had undertaken a task 
 of more difficulty than I had imagined. While my 
 attention was taken up and care employed in guarding 
 against one fault, I was often surprised b}^ another; 
 habit took the advantage of inattention ; inclination 
 was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded at 
 length that the mere speculative conviction that it was 
 our interest to be completely virtuous was not suffi- 
 cient to prevent our slipping, and that the contrary 
 habits must be broken and good ones acquired and es- 
 tablished before we can have any dependence on a 
 steady, uniform rectitude of conduct. For this pur- 
 pose I therefore tried the following method. 
 
 In the various enumerations of the moral virtues 
 I had met with in my reading, I found the catalogue 
 more or less numerous, as different writers included 
 more or fewer ideas under the same name. Temper- 
 ance^ for example, was by some confined to eating and 
 drinking ; while by others it was extended to mean 
 the moderating every other pleasure, appetite, inclina- 
 tion, or passion, bodily or mentally, even to our 
 avarice and ambition. I proposed to myself, for the 
 sake of clearness, to use rather more names, with 
 fewer ideas annexed to each, than a few names with 
 more ideas ; and I included under thirteen names of 
 virtues all that at that time occurred to me as necessary 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 101 
 
 or desirabldj and annexed to each a sh#rt preempt 
 which fully expressed the extent I gave to it« 
 meaning. 
 The names of vwtues^ with their precepts, were : 
 
 1. Tempekance. — Eat not to dullness ; drink not to 
 elevation. 
 
 2. Silence. — Speak not but what may benefit 
 others or yourself ; avoid trifling conversation. 
 
 3. Oedee. — Let all your things have their places ; 
 let each part of your business have its time. 
 
 4. Resolution. — Resolve to perform what you 
 ought ; perform without fail what you resolve. 
 
 5. Frugality. — Make no expense but to do good to 
 others or yourself ; that is, waste nothing. 
 
 6. Industry. — Lose no time ; be always employed 
 in something useful ; cut off all unnecessary actions. 
 
 7. Sincerity. — Use no hurtful deceit; think inno- 
 cently and justly ; and, if you speak, speak accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 8. Justice. — Wrong none by doing injuries or 
 omitting the benefits that are your duty. 
 
 9. Moderation. — Avoid extremes ; forbear resenting 
 injuries, so much as you think they deserve. 
 
 10. Cleanliness. — Tolerate no uncleanliness in 
 body, clothes, or habitation. 
 
 11. Tranquillity.— Be not disturbed at trifles or at 
 accidents common or unavoidable. 
 
 12. Chastity 
 
 13. Humility. — Imitate Jesus and Socrates. 
 
 My intention being to acquire the habitude of all 
 these virtues, I judged it would be well not to distract 
 my attention by attempting the whole at once, but to 
 
10^ AUTOBIOGBAPEY OP 
 
 fix it on one of them at a time ; and when I should be 
 master of that, then to proceed to another ; and so on 
 till I should have gone through the thirteen. And as 
 the previous acquisition of some might facilitate the 
 acquisition of certain others, I arranged them with the 
 view as they stand above. Temperance first, as it tends 
 to procure that coolness and clearness of head which 
 is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be 
 kept up and a guard maintained against the unremit- 
 ting attraction of ancient habits and the force of 
 perpetual temptations. This being acquired and 
 established, silence would be more easy ; and my desire 
 being to gain knowledge at the same time that I im- 
 proved in virtue, and considering that in conversation 
 it was obtained rather by the use of the ear than of 
 the tongue, and therefore wishing to break a habit 1 
 was getting into of prattling, punning, and jesting, 
 which only made me acceptable to trifling company, 
 I gave silence the second place. This and the next, 
 order ^ I expected would allow me more time for at- 
 tending to my project and my studies. Resolution^ 
 once become habitual, would keep me firm in my 
 endeavors to obtain all the subsequent virtues ; 
 frugality and m(i^^5^^r2/ relieving me from my remainmg 
 debt, and producing affluence and independence, 
 would make more easy the practice of sincerity and 
 justice^ etc., etc. Conceiving, then, that, agreeably to 
 the advice of Pythagoras in his " Golden Verses," 
 daily examination would be necessarj^, I contrived 
 the following method for conducting that examina- 
 tion. 
 
 I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for 
 each of the virtues. I ruled each page with red ink, 
 
BENJAMIN FEANKLIN. 
 
 103 
 
 SO as to have seven columns, one for each day of the 
 week, marking each column with a letter for the day. 
 I crossed these columns with thirteen red lines, mark- 
 
 FORM OF THE PAGES. 
 
 TEMPERANCE. 
 
 Eat not to dullness; drink not to eU'cation, 
 
 
 Sun. 
 
 M. 
 
 T. 
 
 W. 
 
 Th. 
 
 F. 
 
 S. 
 
 Tern. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sil. 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 Ord. 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Res. 
 
 ■ 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 Fru. 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 Ind. 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sine. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jus. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mod. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Clea. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tran. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chas. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hum. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ing the beginning of each line with the first letter of 
 one of the virtues ; on which line, and in its proper 
 column, I might mark, by a little black spot, every 
 
104 AUTOBIOaRAPHY OF 
 
 fault I found upon examination to have been com- 
 mitted respecting that virtue upon that day.^ 
 
 I determined to give a week's strict attention to 
 each of the virtues successively. Thus in the first 
 week my great guard was to avoid every day the least 
 offense against temjperance ; leaving other virtues to 
 their ordinary chance, only marking every evening 
 the faults of the day. Thus if in the first week I 
 could keep my first line, marked Tem. clear of spots, I 
 supposed the habit of that virtue so much strengthened 
 and its opposite weakness that I might venture 
 extending my attention to include the next, and for 
 the following week keep both lines clear of spots. 
 Proceeding thus to the last, I could get through a 
 course complete in thirteen weeks and four courses in 
 a year. And like him who, having a garden to weed, 
 does not attempt to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, 
 which would exceed his reach and his strength, but 
 works on one of the beds at a time, and having accom- 
 plished the first proceeds to the second, so I should 
 have, I hoped, the encouraging pleasure of seeing on 
 my pages the progress made in virtue, by clearing 
 successively my lines of their spots ; till in the end, 
 by a number of courses, I should be happy in viewing 
 a clean book after a thirteen weeks' daily examination. 
 
 This m.j little book had for its motto these lines 
 from Addison's " Cato :" 
 
 " Here will I hold. If there's a power above us 
 (A.nd that there is, all nature cries aloud 
 Through all her works), He must delight in virtue; 
 And that which He delights in must be happy." 
 
 ^ This little book is dated Sunday, 1st July, 1733.— W. T. F. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 105 
 
 Another from Cicero : , 
 
 ^'Ovitae PhilosopMa dux! O virtutum indagatrix expultrix- 
 quevitiorum! Unus dies, bene et expraeceptis tuis actus, peccanti 
 immortalitati est anteponendus." 
 
 Another from the Poverbs of Solomon, speaking of 
 wisdom or virtue : 
 
 *' Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand 
 riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all 
 her paths are peace." 
 
 And conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I 
 thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance 
 for obtaining it; to this end I formed the following 
 little prayer, which was prefixed to my tables of 
 examination for daily use : 
 
 **0 powerful Goodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide! 
 Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. 
 Strengthen my resolution to perform what that wisdom dictates. 
 Accept my kind offices to Thy other children as the only return 
 in my power for Thy continual favors to me." 
 
 I used also sometimes a little prayer which I took 
 from Thomson's " Poems/' viz. : 
 
 ** Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme! 
 O teach me what is good; teach me Thyself! 
 Save me from folly, vanity, and vice, 
 From every low pursuit; and feed my soul 
 With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure; 
 Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss!" 
 
 The precept of order requiring that every part of my 
 hv^iness should have its allotted time^ one page in ray 
 little book contained the appended scheme of employ- 
 ment for the twenty-four hours of a natural day, 
 
106 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 I entered upon the execution of this plan for self- 
 examination and continued it with occasional inter- 
 missions for some time. I was surprised to find myself 
 so much fuller of faults than 1 had imagined; but I had 
 the satisfaction of seeing them diminish. To avoid the 
 trouble of renewing now and then my little book, 
 
 SCHEME. 
 
 Hours. 
 
 Morning. 
 The Question. What 
 good shall I do this day? 
 
 Noon. 
 
 Afternoon. 
 
 Evening. 
 The Question, What 
 good have I done to-day? 
 
 Night. 
 
 Kise, wash, and address Power- 
 ful Goodness! Contrive day's 
 business and take the resolution 
 of the day; prosecute the present 
 study and breakfast. 
 
 Work. 
 
 Eead or look over my accounts 
 and dine. 
 
 Work. 
 
 Put things in their places. 
 Supper. Music or diversion or 
 conversation. Examination of 
 the day. 
 
 Sleep. 
 
 which, by scraping out the marks on the paper of old 
 faults to make room for new ones in a new course, 
 became full of holes, I transferred mj tables and 
 precepts to the ivory leaves of a memorandum book, 
 on which the lines were drawn with red ink, that made 
 a clUJ^We stain : aA4 Qu those Ixneg I marked my 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLIN. 107 
 
 faults with a black-lead pencil, which marks I could 
 easily wipe out with a wet sponge. After awhile I 
 went through one course only in a year, and afterward 
 only one in several years, till at length I omitted them 
 entirely, being employed in voyages and business 
 abroad with a multiplicity of affairs that interfered ; 
 but I always carried my little book with me. 
 
 My scheme of order gave me the most trouble, and 
 i found that though it might be practicable where a 
 man's business was such as to leave him the disposition 
 of his^time, that of a journeyman printer, for instance, 
 it was not possible to be exactl}^ observed by a master 
 who must mix with the world and often receive 
 people of business at their own hours. Order, too, 
 with regard to places for things, papers, etc., 1 found 
 extremely difficult to acquire. I had not been early 
 accustomed to method^SiXidi having an exceedingly good 
 memory, I was not so sensible of the inconvenience 
 attending want of method. This article, therefore, 
 cost me much painful attention, and my faults in it 
 vexed me so much, and I m-ade so little progress in 
 amendment and had such frequent relapses, that I was 
 almost ready to give up the attempt and content my- 
 self with a faulty character in that respect. Like the 
 man who, in buying an ax of a smith, my neighbor, 
 desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as 
 the edge. The smith consented to grind it bright for 
 him if he would turn the wheel ; he turned, while the 
 smith pressed the broad face of the ax hard and 
 heavily on the stone, which made the turning of it 
 very fatiguing. The man came every now and then 
 from the wheel to see how the work went on ; and at 
 length would take his ax as it was, without further 
 
f 
 
 108 A UTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 grinding. "No," said the smith, "turn on, turn on, 
 we shall have it bright . by and by ; as yet it is only 
 speckled.'^ " Yes," said the man, "but / thinh I like 
 a Sjpeclded ax hestP^ And I believe this may have been 
 the case with many who, having for want of some 
 such means as I employed found the difficulty of 
 obtaining good and breaking bad habits in other 
 points of vice and virtue, have given up the struggle 
 and concluded that " a specJded ax is hestP For 
 something, that pretended to be reason, was every 
 now and then suggesting to me that such extreme 
 nicety as I exacted of myself might be a kind of 
 foppery in morals which, if it were known, would 
 make me ridiculous ; that a perfect character might 
 be attended with the inconvenience of being envied 
 and hated; and that a benevolent man should allow a 
 few faults in himself to keep his friends in counte- 
 nance. 
 
 In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to 
 order; and now I am grown old and my memory bad, 
 I feel very sensibly the want of it. But on the whole, 
 though I never arrived at the perfection I had been so 
 ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I 
 was, by the endeavor, a better and a happier man 
 than I otherwise should have been if I had not 
 attempted it ; as those who aim at perfect w^riting by 
 imitating the engraved copies, though they never 
 reach the wished-for excellence of those copies, their 
 hand is mended by the endeavor and is tolerable while 
 it continues fair and legible. 
 
 It may be well my posterity should be informed 
 that to this little artifice, with the blessing of God, 
 their ancestor owed the constant felicity of his life 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLm. 109 
 
 down to his seventy-ninth year, in which this is writ- 
 ten. What reverses may attend the remainder is in 
 the hand of Providence ; but if they arrive, the reflec- 
 tion on past happiness enjoyed ought to help his bear- 
 ing them with more resignation. To temperance he 
 ascribes his long-continued health and what is still 
 left to him of a good constitution ; to industry and 
 frugality the early easiness of his circumstances and 
 acquisition of his fortune, with all that knowledge that 
 enabled him to be a useful citizen and obtained for 
 him some degree of reputation among the learned ; to 
 sincerity smd justice the confidence of his country and 
 the honorable employs it conferred upon him ; and to 
 the joint influence of the whole mass of the virtues, 
 even in the imperfect state he was able to acquire 
 them, all that evenness of temper and that cheerful- 
 ness in conversation which makes his company still 
 sought for and agreeable even to his young acquaint- 
 ance. I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants 
 may follow the example and reap the benefit. 
 
 It will be remarked that though my scheme was not 
 wholly without religion, there was in it no mark of any 
 of the distinguishing tenets of any particular sect. I 
 had purposely avoided them ; for being fully persuaded 
 of the utility and excellency of my method, and that 
 it might be serviceable to people in all religions, and 
 intending some time or other to publish it, I would 
 not have anything in it that should prejudice any one, 
 of any sect, against it. I proposed writing a little com- 
 ment on each virtue, in which I would have shown the 
 advantages of possessing it and the mischiefs attending 
 its opposite vice. I should have called my book " The 
 Art of Virtue/' because it would have shown the 
 
110 A UTOBIOGBAPHY OF 
 
 means and manner of obtaining virtue, which would 
 have distinguished it from the mere exhortation to be 
 good that does not instruct and indicate the means ; 
 but is like the apostle's man of verbal charity, who, 
 without showing to the naked and hungry how or 
 where they might get clothes or victuals, only exhorted 
 them to be fed and clothed (James, ii., 15, 16). 
 
 But it so happened that my intention of writing and 
 publishing this comment was never fulfilled. I had, 
 indeed, from time to time put down short hints of the 
 sentiments and reasonings to be made use of in it, some 
 of which I have still by me ; but the necessary close 
 attention to private business in the earlier part of life 
 and public business since have occasioned my post- 
 poning it. For, it being connected in my mind 
 with a great and extensive project that required the 
 whole man to execute and which an unforeseen suc- 
 cession of employs prevented my attending to, it has 
 hitherto remained unfinished. 
 
 In this piece it was my design to explain and enforce 
 this doctrine, that vicious actions are not hurtful he- 
 cause they are forbidden^ hut forbidden because they are 
 hurtful^ the nature of man alone considered ; that it 
 was, therefore, every one's interest to be virtuous who 
 wished to be happy even in this world; and I should 
 from this circumstance (there being always in the 
 world a number of rich merchants, nobility, states, 
 and princes who have need of honest instruments for 
 the management of their affairs, and such being so 
 rare) have endeavored to convince young persons that 
 no qualities are so likely to make a poor man's fortune 
 as those oi probity and %ntegrity. 
 
 My list of virtues contained at first but twelve ; but 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. lU 
 
 a Quaker friend having kindly informed me that I 
 was generally thought proud, that my pride showed 
 itself frequently in conversation, that I was not con- 
 tent with being in the right when discussing any 
 point, but was overbearing and rather insolent, of 
 which he convinced me by mentioning several in- 
 stances, I determined to endeavor to cure myself, if I 
 could, of this vice or folly among the rest ; and I 
 added humility to my list, giving an extensive mean- 
 ing to the word. 
 
 I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the 
 reality of this virtue, but I had a good deal with re- 
 gard to the appearance of it. I made it a rule to for- 
 bear all direct contradiction to the sentiments of 
 others and all positive assertion of my own. I even 
 forbid myself, agreeably to the old laws of our Junto, 
 the use of every word or expression in the language 
 that imported a fixed opinion ; such as certainly^ un- 
 douhtedly^ etc., and I adopted instead of them, I con- 
 ceive^ I Gom/prehend^ or I imagine^ a thing to be so or 
 so ; or it so appears to rue at present. When another 
 asserted something that I thought an error, I denied 
 myself the pleasure of contradicting him abruptly and 
 of showing immediately some absurdity in his propo- 
 sition; and in answering I began by observing that in 
 certain cases or circumstances his opinion would be 
 right, but in the present case there appeared or seemed 
 to me some difference, etc. I soon found the advan- 
 tage of this change in my manners ; the conversations 
 I engaged in went on more pleasantly. The modest 
 way in which I proposed my opinions procured them a 
 readier reception and less contradiction ; I had less 
 mortification when I was found to be in the wrong j 
 
lis AtlTOBIOGBAPHY OV 
 
 and I more easily prevailed with others to giye up 
 their mistakes and join with me when I happened to 
 be in the right. 
 
 And this mode, which I at Jfirst put on with some 
 violence to natural inclination, became at length easy 
 and so habitual to me that perhaps for the last fifty 
 years no one has ever heard a dogmatical expression 
 escape me. And to this habit (after my character of 
 integrity) I think it principally owing that I had early 
 so much weight with my fellow-citizens when I pro- 
 posed new institutions or alterations in the old ; and 
 so much influence in public councils when I became a 
 member ; for I was but a bad speaker, never eloquent, 
 subject to much hesitation in my choice of words, hardly 
 correct in language, and yet I generally carried my 
 point. 
 
 In reality there is, perhaps, no one of our natural 
 passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, 
 struggle with it, stifle it, mortify it as much as one 
 pleases, it is still alive and will every now and then 
 peep out and show itself ; you will see it, perhaps, 
 often in this history. For even if I could conceive that 
 I had completely overcome it, I should probably be 
 proud of my hwmMty. 
 
StJNJAMm FBANKLW. Hg 
 
 CHAPTEE YIL 
 
 Having mentioned a great and extensive project 
 which I had conceived, it seems proper that some ac- 
 count should be here given of that project and its 
 object. Its first rise in my mind appears in the fol- 
 lowing little paper, accidentally preserved, viz.: 
 
 ** Observations on my reading history in the library, 
 May 9th, 1731. 
 
 '' That the great affairs of the world, the wars and revolutions, 
 are carried on and effected by parties. 
 
 *' That the view of these parties is their present general in- 
 terest, or what they take to be such. 
 
 '* That the different views of these different parties occasion 
 all confusion. 
 
 ** That while a party is carrying on a general design, each man 
 has his particular private interest in view. 
 
 ''That as soon as a party has gained its general point, each 
 member becomes intent upon his particular interest; which, 
 thwarting others, breaks that party into divisions and occasions 
 more confusion, 
 
 '' That few in public affairs act from a mere view of the good 
 of their country, whatever they may pretend; and though their 
 actings bring real good to their country, yet men primarily con- 
 sidered that their own and their country's interest were united, 
 and so did not act from a principle of benevolence. 
 
 '* That fewer still in public affairs act with a view to the good 
 of mankind. 
 
 " There seems to m'e at present to be great occasion for raising 
 a united party for virtue, by forming the virtuous and good men 
 of all nations into a regular body, to be governed by suitably 
 
114 AVTOBIOGRAPBY OP 
 
 good and wise rules, which good and wise men may probably be 
 more unanimous in their obedience to than common people are 
 to common laws. 
 
 '* I at present think that whoever attempts this aright and 
 is well qualified cannot fail of pleasing God and of meeting with 
 success." 
 
 Eevolving this project in my mind as to be under- 
 taken hereafter, when my circumstances should aflford 
 me the necessary leisure, I put down from time to 
 time on pieces of paper such thoughts as occurred to 
 me respecting it. Most of these are lost ; but I find 
 one purporting to be the substance of an intended 
 creed, containing, as I thought, the essentials of every 
 known religion, and being free of everything that 
 might shock the professors of any religion. It is ex- 
 pressed in these words, viz.: 
 
 *' That there is one God, who made all things. 
 
 *' That he governs the world by his providence. 
 
 *' That he ought to be worshiped by adoration, prayer, and 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 ** But that the most acceptable service to God is doing good to 
 man. 
 
 ** That the soul is immortal. 
 
 " And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, 
 either here or hereafter. " 
 
 My ideas at that time were that the sect should be 
 begun and spread at first among young and single 
 men only ; that each person to be initiated should 
 not onlv declare his assent to such creed, but should 
 have exercised himself with the thirteen weeks' ex- 
 amination and practice of the virtues, as in the before- 
 mentioned model ; that the existence of such a society 
 should be kept a secret till it was become considerable, 
 
hSMAMIN FRANKLIN, llg 
 
 to prevent solicitations for the admission of improper 
 persons; but that the members should, each of them, 
 search among his acquaintance* for ingenious, well- 
 disposed youths, to whom, with prudent caution, the 
 scheme should be gradually communicated. That the 
 members should engage to afford their advice, assist- 
 ance, and support to each other in promoting one 
 another's interest, business, and advancement in life. 
 That for distinction we should be called the Society 
 or THE Free and Easy. Free, as being, by the general 
 practice and habits of the virtues, free from the 
 dominion of vice ; and particularly, by the practice of 
 industry and frugality, free from debt, which exposes 
 a man to constraint and a species of slavery to his 
 creditors. 
 
 This is as much as I can now recollect of the proj- 
 ect, except that I communicated it in part to two 
 young men who adopted it with some enthusiasm ; 
 but my then narrow circumstances and the necessity 
 I was under of sticking close to my business occasioned 
 my postponing the further prosecution of it at that 
 time, and my multifarious occupations, public and 
 private, induced me to continue postponing, so that 
 it has been omitted till I have no longer strength or 
 activity left sufficient for such an enterprise. . Though 
 I am still of opinion it w^as a practicable scheme, and 
 might have been very useful by forming a great 
 number of good citizens, and I was not discouraged 
 by the seeming magnitude of the undertaking, as I 
 have always thought that one man of tolerable abili- 
 ties may work great changes and accomplish great 
 affairs among mankind if he first forms a good plan, 
 and cutting off all amusements or other employments 
 
116 AXl^OBIoaBAPHT OP 
 
 that would divert his attention, makes the execution 
 of that same plan his sole study and business. 
 
 In 1732 I first published my almanac, under the 
 name of Richard Saunders ; it was continued by 
 me about twenty-five years and commonly called 
 " Poor Richard's Almanac." I endeavored to make 
 it both entertaining and useful, and it accordingly 
 came to be in such demand that I reaped considerable 
 profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand. 
 And observing that it was generally read, scarce any 
 neighborhood in the province being without it, I 
 considered it as a proper vehicle for conveying in- 
 struction among the common people, who bought 
 scarcely any other books. I therefore filled all the 
 little spaces that occurred between the remarkable 
 days in the calendar with proverbial sentences, chiefly 
 such as inculcated industry and frugality as the means 
 of procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue; it 
 being more difiicult for a man in want to act always 
 honestly, as, to use here one of those proverbs, it is 
 hard for an empty sack to stand upright. 
 
 These proverbs, which contained the wisdom of 
 many ages and nations, I assembled and formed into 
 a connected discourse prefixed to the almanac of 1757 
 as the harangue of a wise old man to the people 
 attending an auction. The bringing all these scattered 
 counsels thus into a focus enabled them to make 
 greater impression. The piece, being universally 
 approved, was copied in all the newspapers of the 
 American continent, reprinted in Britain on a large 
 sheet of paper to be stuck up in houses ; two trans- 
 lations were made of it in France, and great numbers 
 bought by the clergy and gentry to distribute gratis 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIK 11? 
 
 among their poor parishioners and tenants. In Penn- 
 sylvania, as it discouraged useless expense in foreign 
 superfluities, some thought it had its share of influence 
 in producing that growing plenty of money which 
 was observable for several years after its publica- 
 tion. 
 
 I considered my newspaper also as another means 
 of communicating instruction, and in that view fre- 
 quently reprinted in it extracts from the Spectator and 
 other moral writers, and sometimes published little 
 pieces of my own, which had been first composed for 
 reading in our Junto. Of these are a Socratic dia- 
 logue tending to prove that whatever might be his 
 parts and abilities, a vicious man could not properly 
 be called a man of sense ; and a discourse on self- 
 denial, showing that virtue was not secure till its 
 practice became a habitude and was free from the 
 opposition of contrarj^ inclinations. These may be 
 found in the papers about the beginning of 1735. 
 
 In the conduct of my newspaper I carefully ex- 
 cluded all libeling and personal abuse, which is of late 
 years become so disgraceful to our country. When- 
 ever I was solicited to insert anything of that kind 
 and the writers pleaded, as they generally did, the 
 liberty of the press — and that a newspaper was like a 
 stage-coach, in which any one who would pay had a 
 right to a place — my answer was that I would print the 
 piece separately if desired, and the author might 
 have as many copies as he pleased to distribute him- 
 self, but that I would not take upon me to spread his 
 detraction, and that having contracted with my sub- 
 scribers to furnish them with what might be either 
 wseful or entertaining, I could not fill their paperg 
 
118 AtTTOBIOGRAPBT OP 
 
 with private altercation, in which they had no concern, 
 without doing them manifest injustice. Now many 
 of our printers make no scruple of gratifying the 
 malice of individuals by false accusations of the fairest 
 characters among ourselves, augmenting animosity 
 even to the producing of duels ; and are, moreover, so 
 indiscreet as to print scurrilous reflections on the 
 government of neighboring States, and even on the 
 conduct of our best national allies, which may be at- 
 tended with the most pernicious consequences. These 
 things I mention as a caution to young printers, and 
 that they may be encouraged not to pollute their 
 presses and disgrace their profession by such infamous 
 practices, but refuse steadily ; as they may see by my 
 example that such a course of conduct will not on the 
 whole be injurious to their interests. 
 
 In 1733 I sent one of my journeymen to Charleston, 
 South Carolina, where a printer was wanting. I 
 furnished him with a press and letters on an agree- 
 ment of partnership, by which I was to receive one- 
 third of the profits of the business, paying one-third 
 of the expense. He was a man of lea?^ning, but 
 ignorant in matters of account ; and though he some- 
 times made me remittances, I could get no account 
 from him, nor any satisfactory state of our partner- 
 ship while he lived. On his decease the business 
 was continued by his widow, who, being born and 
 bred m Holland, where, as I have been informed, the 
 knowledge of accounts makes a part of female educa- 
 tion, she not only sent me as clear a statement as she 
 could find of the transactions past, but continued to 
 account with the greatest regularity and exactness 
 every quarter afterward, and managed the business 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLm. 119 
 
 ■with such success that she not only reputably brought 
 up a family of children, but at the expiration of the 
 term was able to purchase of *me the printing-house 
 and establish her son in it. 
 
 I mention this affair chiefly for the sake of recom- 
 mending that branch of education for our young 
 women as likely to be of more use to them and their 
 children, in case of widowhood, than either music or 
 dancing ; by preserving them from losses by imposi- 
 tion of crafty men and enabling them to continue, 
 perhaps, a profitable mercantile house, with estab- 
 lished correspondence, till a son is grown up fit to 
 undertake and go on with it, to the lasting advantage 
 and enriching of the family. 
 
 About the vear 1734 there arrived amono^ us a voun^i: 
 Presbyterian preacher, named Hemphill, who de- 
 livered with a good voice, and apparently extempore, 
 most excellent discourses, which drew together con- 
 siderable numbers of different persuasions, who joined 
 in admiring them. Among the rest I became one of 
 his constant hearers, his sermons pleasing me, as they 
 had little of the dogmatical kind, but inculcated 
 strongly the practice of virtue, or what in the re- 
 ligious style are called good vjorhs. Those, however, 
 of our congregation who considered themselves as 
 orthodox Presbyterians disapproved his doctrine, and 
 were joined by most of the old ministers, who 
 arraigned him of heterodoxy before the synod, in 
 order to have him silenced. I became his zealous 
 partisan, and contributed all I could to raise a party 
 in his favor and combated for him awhile -with some 
 hopes of success. There was much ^cnhblmg pro and 
 con upon the occasion, and finding that though an 
 
120 AUTOBIOGRAPHY off 
 
 elegant preacher he was but a poor writer, I wrote 
 for him two or three pamphlets and a piece in the 
 Oazeite of April, 1735. Those pamphlets, as is 
 generally the case with controversial writings, though 
 eagerly read at the time, were soon out of vogue, and 
 I question whether a single copy of them now exists. 
 
 During the contest an unlucky occurrence hurt his 
 cause exceedingly. One of our adversaries having 
 heard him preach a sermon that was much admired, 
 thought he had somewhere read the sermon before, or 
 at least a part of it. On searching, he found that part 
 quoted at length in one of the British reviews from a 
 discourse of Dr. Foster's. This defection gave many 
 of our party disgust, who accordingly abandoned his 
 cause and occasioned our niore speedy discomfiture in 
 the synod. I stuck by him, however. I rather ap- 
 proved his giving us good sermons composed by others 
 than bad ones of his own manufacture, though the 
 latter was the practice of our common teachers. He 
 afterward acknowledged to me that none of those he 
 preached were his own, adding that his memory was 
 such as enabled him to retain and repeat any sermon 
 after once reading only. On our defeat he left us in 
 search elsewhere of better fortune, and I quitted the 
 congregation, never attending it after, though I con- 
 tinued many years my subscription for the support of 
 its ministers. 
 
 I had begun in 1733 to study languages. I soon made 
 myself so much a master of the French as to be able 
 to read the books in that language with ease. I then 
 undertook the Italian. An acquaintance who was 
 also learning it used often to tempt me to play chess 
 with him. Finding this took up too much of the time 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 121 
 
 I had to spare for study, I at length refused to' play 
 any more, unless on this condition, that the victor in 
 every game should have a right to impose a task, either 
 of parts of the grammar, to be got by heart, or in 
 translations, which tasks the vanquished was to per- 
 form upon honor before our next meeting. As we 
 played pretty equally, we thus beat one another into 
 that language. I afterward, with a little painstaking, 
 acquired as much of the Spanish as to read their books 
 also. 
 
 I have already mentioned that I had only one year's 
 instruction in a Latin school, and that when very 
 young, after which I neglected that language entirely. 
 But when I had attained an acquaintance with the 
 ' French, Italian, and Spanish, I was surprised to find, 
 on looking over a Latin Testament, that I understood 
 more of that language than I had imagined; which 
 encouraged me to apply myself again to the study of it, 
 and I met with more success, as those preceding Ian- 
 guages had greatly smoothed my way. 
 
 From these circumstances I have thought there is 
 some inconsistency in our common mode of teaching 
 languages. We are told that it is proper to begin first 
 with the Latin, and having acquired that it will be 
 more easy to attain those modern languages which are 
 derived from it ; and yet we do not begin with the 
 Greek in order more easily to acquire the Latin. It is 
 true that if we can clamber and get to the top of a 
 staircase without using the steps, we shall more easily 
 gain them in descending; but certainly. if we begin 
 with the lowest we shall with more ease ascend to the 
 top ; and I would therefore oflfer it to the considera- 
 tion of those who superintend the education of our 
 
133 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF . *v 
 
 youth whether, since many of those who begin with 
 the Latin quit the same after spending some j'^ears with- 
 out having made any great proficiency, and what they 
 have learned becomes almost useless, so that their 
 time has been lost, it would not have been better to 
 have began with the French, proceeding to the Italian 
 and Latin. For though after spending the same time 
 they should quit the study of languages and never 
 arrive at the Latin, they would, however, have acquired 
 another tongue or two that, being in modern use, 
 might be serviceable to them in common life. 
 
 After ten years' absence from Boston, and having 
 become easy in my circumstances, I made a journey 
 thither to visit my relations, which I could not sooner 
 afford. In returning I called at JSTewport to see my 
 brother James, then settled there with his printing- 
 house. Our former differences were forgotten and our 
 meeting was very cordial and affectionate. He was 
 fast declining in health, and requested me that in case 
 of his death, which he apprehended was not far distant, 
 I would take home his son, then but ten years of age, 
 and bring him up to the printing business. This I 
 accordingly performed, sending him a few years to 
 schoo' before I took him into the office. His mother 
 carried on the business till he was grown up, when I 
 assisted him with an assortment of new types, those of 
 his father being in a manner worn out. Thus it was 
 that I made my brother ample amends for the service 
 1 had deprived him of by leaving him so early. 
 
 In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four 
 years old, by small-pox, taken in the common way. I 
 long regretted him bitterly and still regret that I had 
 not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 123 
 
 for the sake of parents who omit that operation on the 
 supposition that they should never forgive themselves 
 if a child died under it, my example showing that the 
 regret may be the same either way, and therefore that 
 the safer should be chosen. 
 
 Our club, the Junto, was found so useful and afforded 
 such satisfaction to the members that some were de- 
 sirous of introducing their friends, which could not 
 well be done without exceeding what we had settled 
 as a convenient number, viz., twelve. AVe had from 
 the beginning made it a rule to keep our institution a 
 secret, which was pretty well observed ; the intention 
 was to avoid applications of improper persons for admit- 
 tance, some of whom, perhaps, we might find it diffi- 
 cult to refuse. I was one of those who were against 
 any addition to our number, but instead of it made in 
 writing a proposal that every member separately 
 should endeavor to form a subordinate club, with the 
 same rules respecting queries, etc., and without inform- 
 ing them of the connection with the Junto. The 
 advantages proposed were the improvement of so many 
 more young citizens by the use of our institutions ; 
 our better acquaintance with the general sentiments of 
 the inhabitants on any occasion, as the Junto member 
 might propose what queries we should desire and was 
 to report to the Junto what passed at his separate 
 club ; the promotion of our particular interests in busi- 
 ness by more extensive recommendation, and the 
 increase of our influence in public affairs, and our 
 power of doing good by spreading through the several 
 clubs the sentiments of the Junto. 
 
 Tbe project was approved, and every member under- 
 took to form his club ; but they did not all succeed. 
 
124 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Five or six only were completed, which were called 
 by different names, as the Vine^ the TJnion^ the Band, 
 They were useful to themselves and afforded us a good 
 deal of amusement, information, and instruction; 
 besides answering, in some considerable degree, our 
 views of influencing the public on particular occasions, 
 of which I shall give instances in course of time as 
 they happened. 
 
 My first promotion was my being chosen, in 1736, 
 clerk of the General Assembly. The choice was 
 made that year without opposition ; but the year 
 following, when I was again proposed (the choice, like 
 that of the members, being annual), a new member 
 made a long speech against me in order to favor some 
 other candidate. I was, however, chosen, which was 
 the more agreeable to me, as, besides the pay for the 
 immediate service of clerk, the place gave me an 
 opportunity of keeping up an interest among the 
 members, which secured to me the business of printing 
 the votes, laws, paper money, and other occasional 
 jobs for the public that, on the whole, were very 
 profitable. 
 
 I therefore did not like the opposition of this new 
 member, who was a gentleman of fortune and educa- 
 tion, with talents that were likely to give him in time 
 great influence in the House, which indeed afterward 
 happened. I did not, however, aim at gaining his 
 favor by paying any servile respect to him, but after 
 some time took this other method. Having heard 
 that he had in his library a certain very scarce and 
 curious book, I wrote a note to him expressing my 
 desire of perusing that book and requesting that he 
 would do me the favor of lending it to me for a few 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 125 
 
 days. He seat it immediately ; and I returned it in 
 about a week with another note expressing strongly 
 the sense of the favor. When we next met in the 
 House he spoke to me, which he had never done 
 before, and with great civility ; and he ever after 
 manifested a readiness to serve me on all occasions, 
 so that we became great friends, and our friendship 
 continued tohis death. This is another instance of 
 the truth of an old maxim I had learned, which says : 
 ''He that has once done you a Icindness will he more 
 ready to do you another than he whom you yourself have 
 oMigedP And it shows how much more profitable it 
 is prudently to remove than to resent, return, and 
 continue inimical proceedings. 
 
 In 1737 Colonel Spotswood, late Governor of 
 Virginia and then Postmaster-General, being dis- 
 satisfied with the conduct of his deputy at Philadelphia 
 respecting some negligence in rendering and want of 
 exactness in framing his accounts, took from him the 
 commission and offered it to me. I accepted it readily 
 and found it of great advantage ; for though the salary 
 was small, it facilitated the correspondence that im- 
 proved my newspaper, increased the number de- 
 manded, as well as the advertisements to be inserted, 
 so that it came to afford me a considerable income. 
 My old competitor's newspaper declined proportion- 
 ably, and I was satisfied without retaliating his refusal, 
 while postmaster, to permit my papers being carried 
 by the riders. Thus he suffered greatly from his 
 neglect in due accounting; and I mention it as a lesson 
 to those young men who may be employed in manag- 
 ing affairs for others, that they should always render 
 accounts and make remittances with great clearness 
 
136 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 and punctuality. The character of observing such a 
 conduct is the most powerful of all recommendations 
 to new employments and increase of business. 
 
 I began now to turn my thoughts to public affairs, 
 beginning, however, with small matters. The city 
 watch was one of the first things that I conceived to 
 want regulation. It was managed by the constables 
 of the respective wards in turn ; the constable sum- 
 moned a number of housekeepers to attend him for the 
 night. Those who chose never to attend paid him six 
 shillings a year to be excused, which was supposed to 
 go to hiring substitutes, but was in reality much more 
 than was necessary for that purpose, and made the 
 constableship a place of profit ; and the constable, 
 for a little drink, often got such ragamuffins about 
 him as a watch that respectable housekeepers did not 
 choose to mix with. Walking the rounds, too, was 
 often neglected, and most of the nights spent in 
 tippling. I thereupon wrote a paper, to be read in 
 the Junto, representing these irregularities, but insist- 
 ing more particularly on the inequality of the six- 
 shilling tax of the constable, respecting the circum- 
 stances of those who paid it ; since a poor widow 
 housekeeper, all whose property to be guarded by the 
 watch did not perhaps exceed the value of fifty 
 pounds, paid as much as the wealthiest merchant, who 
 had thousands of pounds' worth of goods in his stores. 
 
 On the whole, I proposed, as a more effectual watch, 
 the hiring of proper men to serve constantly in the 
 business, and as a more equitable way of supporting 
 the charge, the levying a tax that should be propor- 
 tioned to the property. This idea being approved by 
 the Junto wa^s oornmumqated to the other clubs^ but as 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. VZl 
 
 originating in each of them ; and though the plan was 
 not immediately carried into exjecution, yet by pre- 
 paring the minds of people for the change it paved the 
 way for the law obtained a few years after, when the 
 members of our club were grown into more influence. 
 About this time I wrote a paper (first to be read in 
 the Junto, but it was afterward published) on the dif- 
 ferent accidents and carelessnesses by which houses 
 were set on fire, with cautions against them and means 
 proposed of avoiding them. This was spoken of as a 
 useful piece, and gave rise to a project, which soon 
 followed it, of forming a company for the more ready 
 extinguishing of fires and mutual assistance in remov- 
 ing and securing of goods when in danger. Associates 
 in this scheme were presently found amounting to 
 thirty. Our articles of agreement obliged every 
 member to keep always in good order and fit for use a 
 certain number of leathern buckets, with strong bags 
 and baskets (for packing and transporting of goods), 
 which were to be brought to every fire, and we agreed, 
 about once a month, to spend a social evening to- 
 gether, in discoursing and communicating such ideas 
 as occurred to us upon the subject of fires as might be 
 seful in our conduct on such occasions. 
 The utility of this institution soon appeared, and 
 many more desiring to be admitted than we thought 
 convenient for one company they were advised to 
 form another, which was accordingly done, and thus 
 went on one new company after another till they be- 
 came so numerous as to include most of the inhabitants 
 who were men of- property, and now at the time of 
 my writing this, though upward of fifty years since its 
 establishment, that which I first formed, called the 
 
128 -4 tJTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 Union Fire Company, still subsists, though the first 
 members are all deceased but one, who is older by a 
 year than I am. The fines that have been paid by 
 members for absence at the monthly meetings have 
 been applied to the purchase of fire-engines, ladders, 
 fire-hooks, and other useful implements for each com- 
 pan}^ ; so that I question whether there is a city in the 
 world better provided with the means of putting a 
 stop to beginning conflagrations, and, in fact, since 
 these institutions the city has never lost by fire more 
 than one or two houses at a time, and the flames have 
 often been extinguished before the house in which 
 they began has been half consumed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 139 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 In 1739, arrived among us from Ireland the Kever- 
 end Mr. Whitefield, who had made himself remarkable 
 there as an itinerant preacher. He was at first per- 
 mitted to preach in some of our churches ; but the 
 clergy taking a dislike to him, soon refused him their 
 pulpits, and he was obliged to preach in the fields. 
 The multitudes of all sects and denominations that at- 
 tended his sermons were enormous, and it was a 
 matter of speculation to me, who was one of the num- 
 ber, to observe the extraordinary influence of his 
 oratory on his hearers, and how much they admired 
 and respected him, notwithstanding his common 
 abuse of them, by assuring them they were naturally 
 half leasts and half devils. It was wonderful to see 
 the change soon made in the manners of our inhabit- 
 ants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about 
 religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing 
 religious, so that one could not walk through the town 
 in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different 
 families of every street. 
 
 And it being found inconvenient to assemble in the 
 open air, subject to its inclemencies, the building of a 
 house to meet in was no sooner proposed, and persons 
 appointed to receive contributions, than sufficient sums 
 were soon received to procure the ground and erect 
 the building, which was one hundred feet long and 
 
130 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 seventy broad; and the work was carried on with 
 such spirit as to be finished in a much shorter time 
 than could have been expected. Both house and 
 ground were vested in trustees, expressly for the use 
 of any preacher of any religious persuasion who might 
 desire to say something to the people at Philadelphia, 
 the design in building being not to accommodate any 
 particular sect, but the inhabitants in general ; so that 
 even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a 
 missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would 
 find a pulpit at his service. 
 
 Mr. Whitefleld, on leaving us, went preaching all 
 the way through the colonies to Georgia. The settle- 
 ment of that province had been lately begun,, but in- 
 stead of being made with hardy, industrious husband- 
 men accustomed to labor, the only people fit for such 
 an enterprise, it was with families of broken shop- 
 keepers and other insolvent debtors ; many of indolent 
 and idle habits, taken out of the jails, who, being set 
 down in the woods, unqualified for clearing land and 
 unable to endure the hardships of a new settlement, 
 perished in numbers, leaving many helpless children 
 unprovided for. The sight of their miserable situation 
 inspired the benevolent heart of Mr. Whitefield with 
 the idea of building an orphan house there, in which 
 they might be supported and educated. Returning 
 northward, he preached up this charity and made 
 large collections ; for his eloquence had a wonderful 
 power over the hearts and purses of his hearers, of 
 which I myself was an instance. 
 
 I did not disapprove of the design, but as Georgia 
 was then destitute of materials and workmen and it 
 was proposed to send them from Philadelphia at a 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I3l 
 
 great expense, I thought it would have been better to 
 have built the house at Philadelphia and brought the 
 children to it. This I advised ; but he was resolute in 
 his first project, rejected my counsel, and I therefore 
 refused to contribute. I happened soon after to attend 
 one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived 
 he intended to finish with a collection, and I silentiy 
 resolved that he should get nothing from me. I had 
 in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four 
 silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded 
 I began to soften and concluded to give the copper. 
 Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of 
 that and determined me to give the silver ; and he 
 finished so admirably that I emptied my pocket 
 wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all. At this 
 sermon there was also one of our club who, being of 
 my sentiments respecting the building in Georgia and 
 suspecting a collection might be intended, had by pre- 
 caution emptied his pockets before he came from home. 
 Toward the conclusion of the discourse, however, he felt 
 a strong inclination to give, and applied to a neighbor 
 who stood near him to lend him some money for the 
 purpose. The request was fortunately made to per- 
 haps the only man in the company who had the firm- 
 ness not to be affected by the preacher. His answer 
 was, " At any other time, friend Hopkinson, I would 
 lend to thee freely, but not now, for thee seems to be 
 out of thy right senses." 
 
 Some of Mr. Whitefield's enemies affected to sup- 
 pose that he would apply these collections to his own 
 private emolument ; but I, Avho was intimately ac- 
 quainted with him, being employed in printing his 
 sermons and journals, never had the least suspicion of 
 
132 AUTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 his integrity, but am to this day decidedly of opinion 
 that he was in all his conduct a perfectly honest 7nan; 
 and methinks my testimony in his favor ought to have 
 the more weight, as we had no religious connection. 
 He used, indeed, sometimes to pray for my conver= 
 sion, but he never had the satisfaction of believing 
 that his prayers were heard. Ours was a mere civil 
 friendship, sincere on both sides, and lasted to his 
 death. 
 
 The following instance will show the terms on 
 which we stood. Upon one of his arrivals from Eng- 
 land at Boston he wrote to me that he should come 
 soon to Philadelphia, but knew not where he could 
 lodge when there, as he understood his old friend and 
 host, Mr. Benezet, was removed to Germantown. My 
 answer was: "You know my house; if you can make 
 shift with its scanty accommodations, you will be most 
 heartily welcome." He replied that if I made that 
 kind offer for Chrisfs sake I should not miss of a re- 
 ward. And I returned : " Don't let me be mistaken ; 
 it was not for Ghrisfs sake, but for your sake." One 
 of our common acquaintance jocosely remarked that 
 knowing it to be the custom of the saints when they 
 received any favor to shift the burden of the obligation 
 from off their own shoulders and place it in heaven, I 
 had contrived to fix it on earth. 
 
 The last time I saw Mr. Whitefield was in London, 
 when he consulted me about his orphan house concern 
 and his purpose of appropriating it to the establish- 
 ment of a college. 
 
 He had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his 
 words so perfectly that he might be heard and under- 
 Stood at a great distance, especially as his auditors 
 
iBENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 133 
 
 observed the most perfect silence. He preached one 
 evening from the top of the court-house steps, which 
 are in the middle of Market Street and on the west 
 side of Second Street, which crosses it at right angles. 
 Both streets were filled with his hearers to a consider- 
 able distance. Being among the hindmost in Market 
 Street, I had the curiosity to learn how far he could 
 be heard by retiring backward down the street toward 
 the river ; and I found his voice distinct till I came 
 near Front Street, when some noise in that street 
 obscured it. Imagining then a semicircle, of which 
 my distance should be the radius, and that it w^s 
 filled with auditors, to each of whom I allowed two 
 square feet, I computed that he might well be heard 
 by more than thirty thousand. This reconciled me to 
 the newspaper accounts of his having preached to 
 twenty-five thousand people in the fields, and to the 
 history of generals haranguing whole armies, of which 
 I had sometimes doubted.^ 
 
 By hearing him often I came to distinguish easily 
 between sermons newly composed and those which he 
 
 * In the early part of his life Mr. Whitefield was preaching in 
 an open field, when a drummer happened to be present who was 
 determined to interrupt his pious business, and rudely beat his 
 drum in a violent manner in order to drown the preacher's voice. 
 Mr. Whitefield spoke very loud, but was not as powerful as the 
 instrument. He therefore called out to the drummer in these 
 words : * ' Friend, you and I serve the two greatest masters 
 existing, but in different callings; you beat up for volunteers for 
 King George, I for the Lord Jesus. In God's name, then, let us 
 not interrupt each other; the world is wide enough for both, and 
 we may get recruits in abundance." This speech had such an 
 effect on the drummer that he went away in great good humor, 
 ^nd left the preacher in full possession of the field. 
 
1^4 AtrfOBIOGEAPHY OP 
 
 had often preached in the course of his travels. His 
 delivery of the latter was so improved by frequent 
 repetition that every accent, every emphasis, every 
 modulation of voice, was so perfectly well turned and 
 well placed that without being interested in the 
 subject one could not help being pleased with the 
 discourse ; a pleasure of much the same kind with that 
 received from an excellent piece of music. This is an 
 advantage itinerant preachers have over those who are 
 stationary, as the latter cannot well improve their 
 delivery of a sermon by so many rehearsals. 
 
 His writing and printing from time to time gave 
 great advantage to his enemies ; unguarded expressions, 
 and even erroneous opinions, delivered in preaching 
 might have been afterward explained or qualified by 
 supposing others that might have accompanied them ; 
 or they might have been denied ; but litera scripta 
 manet Critics attacked his writings violently, and 
 with so much appearance of reason as to diminish 
 the number of his votaries and prevent their increase. 
 So that I am satisfied that if he had never written 
 anything he would have left behind him a much 
 more numerous and important sect ; and his reputa- 
 ion might in that case have been still growing 
 jven after his death, as there being nothing of his 
 writing on which to found a censure and give him a 
 lower character, his proselytes would be left at liberty 
 to attribute to him as great a variety of excellences as 
 their enthusiastic admiration might wish him to have 
 possessed. 
 
 My business was now constantly augmenting and 
 my circumstance growing daily easier, my newspaper 
 having become very profitable, as being for a time 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 136 
 
 almost the only one in this and the neighboring 
 provinces. I experienced, too. the truth of the obser- 
 vation that "after getting the first hundred pounds it is 
 more easy to get the second i'^^ money itself being of a 
 prolific nature. 
 
 The partnership at Carolina having succeeded, I was 
 encouraged to engage in others and to promote several 
 of my workmen, who had behaved well, by establish 
 ing them in printing-houses in different colonies, on 
 the same terms with that in Carolina. Most of them 
 did well, being enabled at the end of our term, six 
 years, to purchase the types of me and go on working 
 for themselves, by which means several families were 
 raised. Partnerships often finish in quarrels ; but I 
 was happy in this, that mine were all carried on and 
 ended amicably, owing, 1 think, a good deal to the 
 precaution of having very explicitly settled in our 
 articles everything to be done by or expected from 
 each partner, so that there was nothing to dispute, 
 which precaution I would therefore recommend to all 
 "who enter into partnerships ; for whatever esteem 
 partners may have for and confidence in each other at 
 the time of the contract, little jealousies and disgusts 
 may arise, with ideas of inequality in the care and 
 burden, business, etc., which are attended oiten with 
 breach of friendship and of the connection, perhaps 
 with lawsuits and other disagreeable consequences. 
 
 I had, on the whole, abundant reason to be satisfied 
 with my being established in Pennsylvania. There 
 were, hov/ever, some things that I regretted, there 
 being no provision for defense nor for a complete 
 education of youth ; no militia nor any college. I 
 therefore, in 1743, drew up a proposal for establishing^ 
 
136 AUT0BI0QBAPH7 OF 
 
 an academy ; and at that time, thinking the Rev, 
 Eichard Peters, who was out of employ, a fit person 
 to superintend such an institution, I communicated 
 the project to him ; but he, having more profitable 
 views in the service of the proprietors, which suc- 
 ceeded, declined the undertaking, and not knowing 
 another at that time suitable for such a trust, I let the 
 scheme lie awhile dormant. I succeeded better the 
 next year. 1744, in proposing and establishing a philo- 
 sophical society. The paper I wrote for that purpose 
 will be found among my writings, if not lost with 
 many others. 
 
 With respect to defense, Spain having been several 
 years at war against Great Britain and being at 
 length joined by France, which brought us into great 
 danger, and the labored and long-continued endeavor 
 of our governor, Thomas, to prevail with our Quaker 
 Assembly to pass a militia law and make other pro- 
 visions for the security of the province having proved 
 abortive, I proposed to try what might be done by a 
 voluntary subscription of the people. To promote 
 this I first wrote and published a pamphlet, en- 
 titled " Plain Truth," in which I stated our helpless 
 situation in strong lights, with the necessity of union 
 and discipline for our defense, and promised to pro- 
 pose in a few days an association, to be generally 
 signed for that purpose. The pamphlet had a sudden 
 and surprising effect. I was called upon for the in- 
 strument of association. Having settled the draft of 
 it with a few friends, I appointed a meeting of the 
 citizens in the large building before mentioned. The 
 house was pretty full. I had prepared a number of 
 printed copies and provided pens and ink dispersed all 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 137 
 
 over the room ; I harangued them a little on the- sub- 
 ject, read the paper, explained it, and then distributed 
 the copies, which were eagerly, signed, not the least 
 objection being made. 
 
 When the company separated and the papers were 
 collected, w^e found about twelve hundred signatures ; 
 and other copies being dispered in the country, the 
 subscribers - amounted at length to upward of ten 
 thousand. These all furnished themselves as soon as 
 they could with arms, formed themselves into com- 
 panies and regiments, chose their own oflBLcers, and 
 met every week to be instructed in the manual exercise 
 and other parts of military discipline. The women, 
 by subscriptions among themselves, provided silk 
 colors, which the}^ presented to the companies, painted 
 with different devices and mottoes, which I supplied."^ 
 
 * The following are the devices and mottoes, as published at 
 the time: 
 
 1. A lion erect, a naked cimeter in one paw, the other holding 
 the Pennsylvania scutcheon. Motto: Patria. 
 
 2. Three arms, wearing different linen, ruffled, plain, and 
 checked, the hands joined by grasping each other's wrist, denot- 
 ing the union of all ranks. Motto: TJnita Virtus Valet. 
 
 3. An eagle, the emblem of victory, descending from the skies. 
 Motto: A Deo Victoina. 
 
 4. The figure of Liberty sitting on a cube, holding"a spear with 
 the cap of Freedom on its point. Motto: Inestlmabilis. 
 
 5. An armed man with a naked falchion in his hand. Motto: 
 Deus adjuvat Fortes. 
 
 6. An elephant, being the emblem of a warrior always on his 
 guard, as that creature is said never to lie down and hath his 
 arms ever in readiness. Motto: Semper Paratus, 
 
 7. A city walled round. Motto: Salus Patrice Stcmma Lex. 
 
 8. A soldier with his piece recovered, ready to present. Motto: 
 Sic pacem qtuerimus^ 
 
138 A UTOBIOQBAPHY OF 
 
 The oflScers of the companies composing the Phil- 
 adelphia regiment being met, chose me for their colonel, 
 but conceiving myself unfit I declined that station and 
 recommended Mr. Lawrence, a fine person and a man 
 of influence, who was accordingly appointed. I then 
 proposed a lottery to defray the expense of building a 
 battery below the town and furnished with cannon. 
 It filled expeditiously and the battery was soon erected, 
 the merlons being framed of logs and filled with earth. 
 We bought some old cannon from Boston; but these 
 not being sufficient, we wrote to London for more, 
 soliciting at the same time our proprietaries for some 
 assistance, though without much expectation of ob- 
 taining it. 
 
 9. A coronet and plume of feathers. Motto: In God we trust. 
 
 10. A man with a sword drawn. Motto: Pro Avis et Foeis, 
 
 11. Three of the associators, marching with their muskets 
 shouldered and dressed in different clothes, intimating the 
 unanimity of the different sorts of people in the association. 
 Motto: Vis Unita Fortior. 
 
 12. A musket and sword crossing each other. Motto: Pro 
 Rege et Grege. 
 
 13. Representation of a glory, in the middle of which is wrote, 
 Jehovah Njssi; in English, The Lord our Banner. 
 
 14. A castle, at the gate of which a soldier stands sentinel. 
 Motto: Cavendo Tutus, 
 
 15. David, as he advanced against Goliath and slung the stone. 
 Motto: In Nomine Domini. 
 
 16. A lion rampant, one paw holding up a cimeter, another a 
 sheaf of wheat. Motto: Domine Protege Alimentum. 
 
 17. A sleeping lion. Motto: Rou^e me if you dare. 
 
 18. Hope, represented by a woman, standing clothed in blue, 
 holding one hand on an anchor. Motto: Spero per Deum Vincere. 
 
 19. Duke of Cumberland as a general. Motto: Pro Deo et 
 Georgio Rege. 
 
 ^0, A sailor orx horseback. Motto: Pro Lil/^tate Patriae, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 139 
 
 Meanwhile Colonel Lawrence, Mr. Allan, Abraham 
 Taylor, and myself were sent to New York by the 
 associators, commissioned to borrow some cannon of 
 Governor Clinton. Pie at first refused us peremptorily; 
 but at a dinner with his Council, where there was 
 great drinking of Madeira wine, as the custom of that 
 pla,ce then was, he softened b}^ degrees and said he 
 would lend ns six. After a few more bumpers he ad 
 vanced to ten, and at length he very good-naturedly 
 conceded eighteen. They were fine cannon, eighteen- 
 pounders, with their carriages, which were soon trans- 
 ported and mounted on our batteries, where the asso- 
 ciators kept a nightly guard while the war lasted, and 
 among the rest I regularly took my turn of duty there 
 ias a common soldier. 
 
 My activity in these operations was agreeable to the 
 governor and Council ; they took me into confidence 
 and I was consulted by them in every measure where 
 their concurrence was thought useful to the associa- 
 tion. Calling in the aid of religion, I proposed to 
 them the proclaiming a fast, to promote reformation 
 and implore the blessing of Heaven on our undertak- 
 ing. They embraced the motion ; but as it was the 
 first fast ever thought of in the province, the secretary 
 had no precedent from which to draw the proclama- 
 tion. My education in New England, where a fast is 
 proclaimed every year, was here of some advantage. I 
 drew it in the accustomed style ; it was translated into 
 German, printed in both languages, and circulated 
 through the province. This gave the clergy of the 
 different sects an opportunity of influencing their con- 
 gregations to join the association, and it would prob- 
 ably have been general among all but the Quakers if 
 the peace had not soon intervened. 
 
140 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 It was thought by some of ray friends that by my 
 activity in these affairs I should offend that sect, and 
 thereby lose my interest in the Assembly of the 
 province, where they formed a great majority. A 
 young man, who had likewise some friends in the 
 Assembly and wished to succeed me as their clefk, ac- 
 quainted me that it was decided to displace me at the 
 next election ; and he, through good will, advised me 
 to resign as more consistent with my honor than being 
 turned out. My answer to him was that I had read or 
 heard of some public man who made it a rule never 
 to ask for an office and never to refuse one when 
 offered to him. " I approve,'' said I, " of this rule, 
 and shall practice it with a small addition : I shall 
 never ash^ never refuse^ nor ever resign an office. 
 If they will have my office of clerk to dispose of 
 it to another, they shall take it from me. I will 
 not, by giving it up, lose my right of some time or 
 other making reprisal on my adversaries." I heard^ 
 however, no more of this ; I was chosen again unani- 
 mously as clerk at the next election. . Possibly, as they 
 disliked my late intimacy with the members of the 
 Council who had joined the governors in all the disputes 
 about military preparations with which the House had 
 long been harassed, they might have been pleased if I 
 would voluntarily have left them ; but they did not 
 care to displace me on account merely of my zeal 
 for the association, and they could not well give 
 another reason. 
 
 Indeed, I had some cause to believe that the defense 
 of the country was not disagreeable to any of them, 
 provided they were not required to assist in it. And 
 I found that a much greater number of them than I 
 
BENJAMIN F-RANKLm. 141 
 
 could have imagined, though against offensive war, 
 were clearlj^ for the defensive. Many pamphlets pro 
 and eon were published on the subject, and some by 
 good Quakers, in favor of defense; which, I believe, 
 convinced most of their young people. 
 
 A transaction in our fire company gave me some 
 insight into their prevailing sentiments. It had been 
 proposed that we should encourage the scheme for 
 building a battery by laying out the present stock, 
 then about sixty pounds, in tickets of the lottery. By 
 our rules no money could be disposed of till the next 
 meeting after the proposal. The company consisted 
 of thirty members, of whom twenty-two were Quakers 
 and eight only of other persuasions. We eight punc- 
 tually attended the meetings, but though we thought 
 some of the Quakers would join us, we were by no 
 means sure of a majority. Only one Quaker, Mr. James 
 Morris, appeared to oppose the measure. He expressed 
 much sorrow that it had ever been proposed, as he said 
 Friends were all against it, and it would create such 
 discord as might break up the company. We told him 
 that we saw no reason for that ; we were the minority, 
 and if Friends were against the measure and outvoted 
 us, we must and should, agreeably to the usage of all 
 societies, submit. When the hour for business arrived 
 it was moved to put this to the vote ; he allowed we 
 might do it by the rule, but as he could assure us that 
 a number of members intended to be present for the 
 purpose of opposing it, it would be but candid to allow 
 a little time for their appearing. 
 
 While we were disputing this a waiter came to tell 
 me that two gentlemen below desired to speak with 
 me, I went down and found there two of our Quaker 
 
142 AUTOBIOGBAPHT OF 
 
 members. They told me there were eight of them 
 assembled at a tavern jhst by; that they were deter- 
 mined to come and vote with us if there should be 
 occasion, which they hoped would not be the case, and 
 desired we would not call for their assistance if we 
 could do without it, as their voting for such a measure 
 might embroil them with their elders and friends, 
 Being thus secure of a majority, I went up, and after 
 a little seeming hesitation agreed to a delay of anothe- 
 hour. This Mr. Morris allowed to be extremely faii\ 
 Not one of his opposing friends appeared, at which he 
 expressed great surprise, and at the expiration of the 
 hour we carried the resolution eight to one ; and as of 
 the twenty-two Quakers eight were ready to vote with 
 us and thirteen by their absence manifested that they 
 were not inclined to oppose the measure, I afterward 
 estimated the proportion of Quakers sincerely against 
 defense as one to twenty-one only. For these were 
 all regular members of the society and in good 
 reputation among them, and who had notice of what 
 was proposed at that meeting. 
 
 The honorable and learned Mr. Logan, who had 
 always been of that sect, wrote an address to them, 
 declaring his approbation of defensive war, and 
 supported his opinion by many strong arguments. He 
 put into my hands sixty pounds to be laid out in 
 lottery tickets for the battery, with directions to apply 
 what prizes might be drawn wholly to that service. 
 He told me the following anecdote of his old master, 
 William Penn, respecting defense. He came over 
 from England when a young man with that proprie- 
 tary, and as his secretary. It was war time, and their 
 ship was chased by an armed vessel, supposed to be an 
 
MNJAMIN FRANKLIN. l43 
 
 enemy. Their captain prepared for defense, but told 
 William Penn and his companjir of Quakers that he 
 did not expect their assistance, and they might retire 
 into the cabin, which they did, except James Logan, 
 who chose to stay upon deck and was quartered to a 
 ^'un. The supposed enemy proved a friend, so there 
 was no fighting ; but when the secretary went down 
 to communicate the intelligence, William Penn rebuked 
 him severely for staying upon deck and undertaking 
 to assist in defending the vessel, contrary to the 
 principles of Friends, especially as it had not been 
 required by the captain. This reprimand, being before 
 all the company, piqued the secretary, who answered : 
 "I being thy servant, why did thee not order me to 
 come down ? But thee was willing enough that I 
 should stay and help to fight the ship when thee 
 thought there was danger." 
 
 My being many years in the Assembly, a majority 
 of which was constantly Quakers, gave me frequent 
 opportunities of seeing the embarrassment given them 
 by their principle against war whenever application 
 was made to them, by order of the crown, to grant 
 aids for military purposes. They were unwilling to 
 
 fend government, on the one hand, by a direct 
 iusal, and their friends, the body of the Quakers, on 
 
 le other, by a compliance contrary to their principles, 
 using a variety of evasions to avoid complying and 
 modes of disguising the compliance when it became 
 unavoidable. The common mode at last was to grant 
 money under the phrase of its being "for the Icing's 
 use^'^ and never to inquire how it was applied. 
 
 But if the demand was not directly from the crown, 
 that phrase was found not so proper, and some other 
 
144 AUfomOGBAPHY Off 
 
 was to be invented. Thus when powder was wanted 
 (I think it was for the garrison at Louisburg) and the 
 government at New England solicited a grant of some 
 from Pennsylvania, which was much urged on the 
 House by Governor Thomas, they would not grant 
 money to buy powder ^ because that was an ingredient 
 of war, but they voted an aid to 'New England of 
 three thousand pounds, to be put into the hand of the 
 governor, and appropriated it for the purchase of 
 bread, flour, wheat, or other grain. Some of the Coun- 
 cil, desirous of giving the House still further embar- 
 rassment, advised the governor not to accept that 
 provision, as not being the thing he had demanded, 
 but he replied, " I shall take the money, for I under- 
 stand very well their meaning ; other grain is gun- 
 powder ;" which he accordingly bought, and they 
 never objected to it. 
 
 It was in allusion to this fact that, when in our fire 
 company we feared the success of our proposal in 
 favor of the lottery, and I had said to a friend of mine, 
 one of our members, " If we fail let us move the pur- 
 chase of a fire engine with the money, the Quakers 
 can have no objection to that ; and then, if you nomi- 
 nate me and I you as a committee for that purpose, 
 we will buy a great gun, which is certainly a fire 
 engineP "I see,'' said he, ''you have improved by 
 being so long in the Assembly ; your equivocal project 
 would be just a match for their wheat or other grainP 
 
 Those embarrassments that the Quakers suffered, 
 from having established and published it as one of 
 their principles that no kind of war was lawful, and 
 which, being once published, they could not afterward, 
 however they might change their minds, easily get rid 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 145 
 
 of, reminds me of what I think a more prudent con- 
 duct in another sect among us, that of the Dunkers. 
 I was acquainted with one of Its founders, Michael 
 "Weffare, soon after it appeared. He complained tome 
 that they were grievously calumniated by the zealots 
 of other persuasions, and charged with abominable 
 principles and practices to which they were utter 
 strangers. I told him this had always been the case 
 with new sects, and that to put a stop to such abuse I 
 imagined it might be well to publish the articles of 
 their belief and the rules of their discipline. He said 
 that it had been proposed among them, but not agreed 
 to for this reason : "When we were first drawn to- 
 gether as a society," said he, " it had pleased God to 
 enlighten our minds so far as to see that some doc- 
 trines which were esteemed truths were errors, and 
 that others which we had esteemed errors were real 
 truths. From time to time he has been pleased to 
 afford us further light, and our principles have been 
 improving and our errors diminishing. Now we are 
 not sure that we are arrived at the end of this pro- 
 gression and at the perfection of spiritual or theolog- 
 •'oal knowledge, and we fear that if we should once 
 
 rint our confession of faith, we should feel ourselves 
 IS if bound and confined by it, and perhaps be unwill- 
 ing to receive further improvement, and our successors 
 still more so, as conceiving what their elders and 
 founders had done to be something sacred — never to 
 be departed from." 
 
 This modesty in a sect is perhaps a single instance 
 in the history of manldnd, every other sect supposing 
 itself in possession of all truth, and that those who 
 differ are so far in the wrong; like a man trav* 
 
146 AttTOBtOGRAPST OP 
 
 eling in foggy weather, those at some distance before 
 him on the road he sees wrapped up in the fog as well 
 as those behind him, and also the people in the fields 
 on each side, but near him all appears clear, though, in 
 truth, he is as much in the fog as any of them. To 
 avoid this kind of embarrassment, the Quakers have 
 of late years been gradually declining the public 
 service in the Assembly and in the magistracy, 
 choosing rather to quit their power than their 
 principle. 
 
 In order of time I should have mentioned before 
 that having, in 1742, invented an open stove for the 
 better warming of rooms, and at the same time saving 
 fuel, as the fresh air was warmed in entering, I made 
 a present of the model to Mr. Robert Grace, one of 
 my early friends, who having an iron furnace found 
 the casting of the plates for these stoves a profitable 
 thing, as they were growing in demand. To promote 
 that demand I wrote and published a pamphlet 
 entitled " An Account of the new-invented Pennsyl- 
 vanian Fire-places, wherein their Construction and 
 Manner of Operation are particularly explained, their 
 advantages above every other Method of Warming 
 Rooms demonstrated, and all Objections that have 
 been raised against the Use of them answered and 
 obviated," etc. This pamphlet had a good effect. 
 Governor Thomas was so pleased with the construe- 
 tion of this stove, as described in it, that he offered to 
 give me a patent for the sole vending of them for a 
 term of years, but I declined it from a principle which 
 has ever weighed with me on such occasions, viz., 
 that as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions 
 of others^ we should he glad of an opportunity to serv^ 
 
BBNJAMm FRANKLIN. 14? 
 
 others hy any invention of ours^ and this we should do 
 freely and generously. 
 
 An ironmonger in London, however, assuming a 
 good deal of my pamphlet and working it up into his 
 own, and making some small changes in the machine, 
 which rather hurt its operation, got a patent for it 
 there, and made, as I was told, a little fortune by it. 
 And this is hot the only instance of patents taken out 
 of my inventions by others, though not always with 
 the same success ; which I never contested, as having 
 no desire of profiting by patents myself and hating 
 disputes. The use of these fire-places in very many 
 houses, both here in Pennsylvania and the neighboring 
 States, has been and is a great saving of wood to the 
 inhabitants. 
 
148 A UTOBIOQRAPHT OF 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 Peace being concluded and the association business 
 therefore at an end, I turned my thoughts again to 
 the affair of establishing an academy. The first step 
 I took was to associate in the design a number of 
 active friends, of whom the Junto furnished a good 
 part ; the next was to write and publish a pamphlet, 
 entitled "Proposals relating to the Education of 
 Youth in Pennysvlania." This I distributed among the 
 principal inhabitants gratis ; and as soon as I could 
 suppose their minds a little prepared by the perusal 
 of it, I set on foot a subscription for opening and 
 supporting an academy ; it was to be paid in quotas 
 yearly for five years. Bj^ so dividing it I judged the 
 subscription might be larger ; and I believe it was so, 
 amounting to no less, if I remember right, than five 
 thousand pounds. 
 
 In the introduction to these proposals I stated their 
 publication not as an act of mine, but of some public- 
 spirited gentlemen ; avoiding as much as I could, 
 according to my usual rule, the presenting myself to 
 the public as the author of any scheme for their 
 benefit. 
 
 The subscribers, to carry the project into immediate 
 execution, chose out of their number twenty-four 
 trustees, and appointed Mr. Francis, then Attorney- 
 Greneralj and myself, to draw up constitutions for thq 
 
BEKTAMIN FRANKLIN. 149 
 
 government of the academy ; which being done and 
 signed, a house was hired, masters engaged, and the 
 schools opened, I think in the same year, 1749. 
 
 The scholars increasing fast, the house was soon 
 found too small, and we were looking out for a piece 
 of ground, properly situated, with intent to build, 
 when accident threw into our way a large house ready 
 built, which, with a few alterations, might well serve 
 our purpose. This was the building before mentioned, 
 erected by the hearers of Mr. Whitefield, and was 
 obtained for us in the following manner. 
 
 It is to be noted that the contributions to this 
 building being made by people of different sects, care 
 was taken in the nomination of trustees in whom the 
 building and ground Avere to be vested, that a pre- 
 dominancy should not be given to any sect, lest in 
 time that predominancy might be a means of appro- 
 priating the whole to the use of such sect, contrary to 
 the original intention. It was for this reason that one 
 of each sect was appointed, viz., one Church of England 
 man, one Presbyterian, one Baptist, one Moravian, 
 etc., who, in case of vacancy by death, were to fill it 
 by election from among the contributors. The 
 Moravian happened not to please his colleagues, and 
 on his death they resolved to have no other of that 
 sect. The difficulty then was how to avoid having 
 two of some other sect, by means of the choice. 
 
 Several persons were named, and for that reason 
 not agreed to. At length one mentioned me, with the 
 observation that I was merely an honest, man, and of 
 no sect at all, which prevailed with them to choose 
 me. The enthusiasm which existed when the house 
 was built had long since abated, and its trustees had 
 
160 A UTOBtpGRAPHT OP 
 
 not been able to procure fresh contributions for paying 
 the ground-rent and discharging some other debts the 
 building had occasioned, which embarrassed them 
 greatly. Being now a member of both boards of 
 trustees, that for the building and that for the 
 academ}'', I had a good opportunity for negotiating 
 with both, and brought them finally to an agreement 
 by which the trustees for the building were to cede it 
 to those of the academy ; the latter undertaking to 
 discharge the debt, to keep forever open in the build- 
 ing a large hall for occasional preachers, according to 
 the original intention, and maintain a free school for 
 the instruction of poor children. Writings were accord- 
 ingly drawn ; and on paying the debts the trustees of 
 the academy were put in possession of the premises, 
 and by dividing the great and lofty hall into stories 
 and different rooms above and below for the several 
 schools, and purchasing some additional ground, the 
 whole was soon made fit for our purpose and the 
 scholars removed into the building. The whole care 
 and trouble of agreeing with the workman, purchasing 
 materials, and superintending the work fell upon me ; 
 and I went through it the more cheerfully as it did 
 not then interfere with my private business, having 
 the year before taken a very able, industrious, and 
 honest partner, Mr. David Hall, with whose character 
 I was well acquainted, as he had worked for me four 
 years. He took off my hands all care of the printing- 
 office, paying me punctualh'' my share of the profits. 
 This partnership continued eighteen years, successfully 
 for us both. 
 
 The trustees of the academy, after awhile, were 
 i^Qcrporated by a charter from the governor; their 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 151 
 
 funds were increased by contributions in Britain and 
 grants of land from the proprietaries, to which the 
 Assembly has since made consMerable addition ; and 
 thus vA^as established the present University of Phila- 
 delphia. I have been continued one of its trustees 
 from the beginning, now near forty years, and have 
 had the very great pleasure of seeing a number of the 
 youth who have received their education in it di^ 
 tinguished by their improved abilities, serviceable ii 
 public stations, and ornaments to their country. 
 
 When I was disengaged myself, as above mentioned, 
 from private business, I flattered myself that by the 
 sufficient though moderate fortune I had acquired I 
 had found leisure during the rest of my life for philo- 
 sophical studies and amusements. I purchased all 
 Dr. Spence's apparatus, who had come from England 
 to lecture in Philadelphia, and I proceeded in my 
 electrical experiments with great alacrity ; but the 
 public, now considering me as a man of leisure, laid 
 hold of me for their purposes, everj^^ part of our civil 
 government, and almost at the same time, imposing 
 some duty upon me. The governor put me into the 
 commission of the peace ; the corporation of the city 
 chose me one of the Common Council and soon after 
 alderman ; and the citizens at large elected me a 
 burgess to represent them in the Assembly. This 
 latter station was the more agreeable to me, as I grew 
 at leno^th tired with sittino: there to hear the debates, 
 in which, as clerk, I could take no part, and which 
 were often so uninteresting that I was induced to 
 amuse myself with making magic squares or circles, 
 or anything to avoid weariness ; and I conceived mj'' 
 becoming a member would enlarge my power of doing 
 
152 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 good. I would not, however, insinuate that my am- 
 bition was not flattered by all these promotions ; it 
 certainly was, for considering my low beginning they 
 were great things to me, and they were still more 
 pleasing as being so many spontaneous testimonies of 
 the public good opinion, and by me entirely un- 
 solicited. 
 
 The office of justice of the peace 1 tried a little b}^ 
 attending a few courts and sitting on the bench to 
 hear causes ; but finding that more knowledge of the 
 common law than I possessed was necessary to act in 
 that station with credit, I gradually withdrew from it, 
 excusing myself by being obliged to attend the higher 
 duties of a legislator in the Assembly. My election 
 to this trust was repeated every year for ten j^^ears, 
 without my ever asking any elector for his vote or 
 signifying, either directly or indirectly, any desire of 
 being chosen. On taking my seat in the House my 
 son was appointed their clerk. 
 
 The year following, a treaty being to be held with 
 the Indians at Carlisle, the governor sent a message 
 to the House proposing that they should nominate 
 some of their members, to be joined with some mem- 
 bers of Council, as commissioners for that purpose. 
 The House named the Speaker (Mr. Norris) and my- 
 self, and being commissioned we went to Carlisle and 
 met the Indians accordingly. 
 
 As those people are extremely apt to get drunk, and 
 when so are very quarrelsome and disorderly, we 
 strictly forbade the selling any liquor to them ; and 
 when they complained of this restriction, we told them 
 that if they would continue sober during the treaty 
 we would give them plenty of rum when the business 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 153 
 
 was over. They promised this, and they kept tteir 
 promise, because they could get no rum ; and the 
 treaty was conducted very orderiy and concluded to 
 mutual satisfaction. They then claimed and received 
 the rum ; this was in the afternoon. They were near 
 one hundred men, women, and children, and were 
 lodged iu temporary cabins, built in the form of a 
 square, just Without the town. In the evening, hearing 
 a great noise among them, the commissioners walked 
 to see what was the matter. We found they had 
 made a great ' bonfire in the middle of the square ; 
 they were all drunk, men and women, quarreling and 
 fighting. Their dark-colored bodies, half-naked, seen 
 only by the gloomy light of the bonfire, running after 
 and beating one another with fire-brands, accompanied 
 by their horrid yellings, formed a scene the most re- 
 sembling our ideas of hell that could well be imagined ! 
 There was no appeasing the tumult, and we retired to 
 our lodging. At midnight a number of them came 
 thundering at our door, demanding more rum, of which 
 we took no notice. • 
 
 The next day, sensible they had misbehaved in giv- 
 ino^ us that disturbance, thev sent three of their old 
 counselors to make their apology. The orator ac- 
 knowledged the fault, but laid it upon the rum; and 
 then endeavored to excuse the rum by saying : " The 
 Great Spirit, who made all things, made everything 
 for some use; and whatever use he designed anything 
 for. that use it should always be put to. Now, when 
 he made rum, he said, 'Let this he for the. Indians to 
 get drimh with;' and it must be so.-' And,. indeed, if 
 it be the design of Providence to extirpate these 
 savages in order to make room for the cultivators of 
 
154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the earth, it seems not impossible that rum may be the 
 appomted means. It has already annihilated all the 
 tribes who formerly inhabited the sea-coast. 
 
 In 1751 Dr. Thomas Bond, a particular friend of 
 mine, conceived the idea of establishing a hospital in 
 Philadelphia (a verj^ beneficent design, which has 
 been ascribed to me, but was originally and truly his) 
 for the reception and cure of poor sick persons, 
 whether inhabitants of the province or strangers. 
 He was zealous and active in endeavoring to procure 
 subscriptions for it ; but the proposal being a novelty 
 in America, and at first not well understood, he met 
 but with little success. 
 
 At length he came to me with the compliment that 
 he found there was no such a thing as carrying a 
 public-spirited project through without my being con- 
 cerned in it. " For," said he, " I am often asked by 
 those to whom I propose subscribing, ' Have you con- 
 suited Franklin on this business f And what does he 
 think of it V And when I tell them that I have not, 
 supposing it rather out of your line, they do not sub- 
 scribe, but say. They vnll consider itP I inquired 
 into the nature and probable utility of this scheme, 
 and receiving from him a very satisfactory explana- 
 tion, I not only subscribed to it myself, but engaged 
 heartily in the design of procuring subscriptions from 
 others. Previously, however, to the solicitation, I 
 endeavored to prepare the minds of the people bv 
 writing on the subject in the newspapers, which was 
 my usual custom in such cases, but which Dr. Bond 
 had omitted. 
 
 The subscriptions afterward were more free and 
 generous; but, beginning to flag, I saw they would be 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 155 
 
 insufficient without some assistance from the Assenibly, 
 and therefore proposed to petition for it, which was 
 done. Th^ country members did^not at first relish the 
 project. They objected that it could only be service- 
 able to the city, and therefore the citizens alone should 
 be at the expense of it ; and they doubted whether 
 the citizens themselves generally approved of it. My 
 allegation, oh the contrary, that it met with such ap- 
 probation as to leave no doubt of our being able to 
 raise two thousand pounds by voluntary donations, 
 they considered as a most extravagant supposition and 
 utterly impossible. 
 
 On this I formed my plan ; and asking leave to 
 bring in a bill for incorporating the contributors 
 according to the prayer of their petition and granting 
 them a blank sum of money, which leave was obtained 
 chiefly on the consideration that the House could 
 throw the bill out if they did not like it, I drew it so 
 as to make the important clause a conditional one, 
 viz.: " And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
 that when the said contributors shall have met and 
 chosen their managers and treasurer, and shall have 
 raised by their contributions a capital stock of two 
 thousand pounds' value (the yearly interest of which 
 is to be applied to the accommodation of the sick 
 poor in the said hospital, and of charge for diet, at- 
 tendance, advice, and medicines), and shall make the 
 same appear to the satisfaction of the Speaker of the 
 Assembly for the time heing^ that then it shall and may 
 be lawful for the said Speaker, and he is hereby required 
 to sign an order on the provincial treasurer for the 
 payment of two thousand pounds, in two yearly pay- 
 paentSj to the treasurer of the said hospital, to b(^ 
 
156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 applied to the founding, building, and finishing of the 
 same.'' 
 
 This condition carried the bill through ; for the 
 members who had opposed the grant and now con- 
 ceived they might have the credit of. being charitable 
 without the expense agreed to its passage. And then, 
 in soliciting subscriptions among the people, we urged 
 the conditional promise of the law as an additional 
 motive to give, since every man's donation would be 
 doubled ; thus the clause worked both ways. The 
 subscriptions accordingly soon exceeded the requisite 
 sum, and we claimed and received the public gift, 
 which enabled us to carry the design into execution. 
 A convenient and handsome building was soon erected ; 
 the institution has by constant experience been found 
 useful and flourishes to this day ; and I do not 
 remember any of my political maneuvers the success 
 of which at the time gave me more pleasure, or 
 wherein, after thinking of it, I more easily excused 
 myself for having made some use of cunning. 
 
 It was about this time that another projector, the 
 Rev. Gilbert Tennent, came to me with a request that 
 I would assist him in procuring a subscription for 
 erecting a new meeting-house. It was to be for the 
 use of a congregation he had gathered among the 
 Presbyterians who were originally disciples of Mr. 
 Whitefleld. Unwilling to make myself disagreeable 
 to my fellow-citizens by too frequently soliciting their 
 contribution, I absolutely refused. He then desired I 
 would furnish him with the list of the names of per- 
 sons I knew by experience to be generous and public- 
 spirited. I thought it would be unbecoming in me, after 
 their kind compliance with my solicitationsj to mark 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 157 
 
 them out to be worried by other beggars, and there- 
 fore refused to give such a list. He then desired I 
 would at least give him my advice. " That I will 
 readily do," said I ; " and, in the first place, I advise 
 you to apply to all those who you know will give 
 something; next, to those who you are uncertain 
 Avhether they will give anything or not, and show 
 them the list of those who have given ; and lastly, do 
 not neglect those who you are sure will give nothing ; 
 for in some of them you may be mistaken." He 
 laughed and thanked me, and he said he would take 
 my advice. He did so, for he asked of everybody ; 
 and he obtained a much larger sum than he expected, 
 with which he erected the capacious and elegant 
 meeting-house that stands in Arch Street. 
 
 Our city, though laid out with a beautiful regularity, 
 the streets large, straight, and crossing each other at 
 right angles, had the disgrace of suffering those 
 streets to remain long unpaved, and in wet weather 
 the wheels of heavy carriages plowed them into a 
 quagmire, so that it was difficult to cross them ; and 
 in dry weather the dust was offensive. I had lived 
 near what was called the Jersey Market, and saw with 
 pain the inhabitants wading in mud while purchasing 
 their provisions. A strip of ground down the middle 
 of that market was at length paved with brick, so 
 that being once in the market they had firm footing ; 
 but were often over shoes in dirt to get there. By 
 talking and writing on the subject, I was at length 
 instrumental in getting the street paved with stone 
 between the market -and the brick foot pavement, that 
 was on the side next the houses. This for some time 
 gave an easy access to the market dry-shod ; but the 
 
158 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 rest of the street not being paved, whenever a carriage 
 came out of the mud upon this pavement it shook off 
 and left its dirt upon it, and it was soon covered with 
 mire, which was not removed, the city as yet having 
 no scavengers. 
 
 After some inquiry I found a poor, industrious man, 
 who was willing to undertake keeping the pavement 
 clean by sweeping it twice a week, carrying off the 
 dirt from before all the neighbors' doors, for the sum 
 of sixpence per month, to be paid by each house. I 
 then wrote and printed a paper setting forth the 
 advantages to the neighborhood that might be 
 obtained from this small expense ; the greater ease in 
 keeping our houses clean, so much dirt not being 
 brought in by people's feet ; the benefit to the shops 
 by more custom, as buj^ers could more easily get at 
 them ; and by not having in windy weather the dust 
 blown in upon their goods, etc., etc. I sent one 
 of these papers to each house, and in a day or 
 two went round to see who would subscribe an 
 agreement to pay these sixpences; it was unani- 
 mously signed and for a time well executed. All the 
 inhabitants of the city were delighted with the clean- 
 liness of the pavement that surrounded the market, it 
 being a convenience to all, and this raised a general 
 desire to have all the streets paved and made the 
 people more willing to submit to a tax for that 
 purpose. 
 
 After some time I drew a bill for paving the city 
 and brought it into the Assembly. It was just before 
 I went to England, in 1757, and did not pass till I was 
 gone, and then with an alteration in the mode of 
 assessment wbicii I thought riot for the better, but 
 
MNJAMtN FRANKLIN. 15$ 
 
 with an additional provision for lighting as well as 
 paving the streets, which was a great improvement. 
 It was by a private person, the late Mr. John Clifton, 
 giving a sample of the utility of lamps, by placing one 
 at his door, that the people were first impressed with 
 die idea of lighting all the city. The honor of this 
 public benefit has also been ascribed to me, but it 
 belongs truly to that gentleman. I did but follow his 
 example, and have only some merit to claim respecting 
 the form of our lamps, as differing from the globe 
 lamps we were at first supplied with from London. 
 They were found inconvenient in these respects : they 
 admitted no air below ; the smoke therefore did not 
 readily go out above, but circulated in the globe, 
 lodged on its inside, and soon obstructed the light 
 they were intended to afford ; giving besides the 
 daily trouble of wiping them clean ; and an accidental 
 stroke on one of them would demolish it and render 
 it totally useless. I therefore suggested the composing 
 them of four flat panes, with a long funnel above to 
 draw up the smoke, and crevices admitting the air 
 below to facilitate the ascent of the smoke ; by this 
 means they were kept clean and did not grow dark in 
 w few hours, as the London lamps do, but continued 
 bright till morning ; and an accidental stroke would 
 generally break but a single pane, easil}^ repaired. 
 
 I have sometimes wondered that the Londoners did 
 not, from the effect holes in the bottom of the globe 
 lamps used at Vauxhall have in keeping them clean, 
 learn to have such holes in their street lamps. But 
 these holes being made for another purpose, viz., to 
 communicate flame more suddenly to the wick by a 
 little flax hanging down through them, the other use, 
 
loO AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 of letting in air, seems not to have been thought of ; 
 and therefore after the lamps have been lit a few 
 hours the streets of London are very poorly illuminated. 
 
 The mention of these improvements puts me in mind 
 of one I proposed, when in London, to Dr. Fothergill, 
 who was among the best men I have known, and a 
 great promoter of useful projects. I had observed 
 that the streets, when dry, were never swept and the 
 light dust carried away, but it was suffered to accu- 
 mulate till wet weather reduced it to mud ; and then, 
 after lying some days so deep on the pavement that 
 there was no crossing but in paths kept clean by poor 
 people with brooms, it was with great labor raked 
 together and thrown up into carts, open above, the 
 sides of which suffered some of the slush at every jolt 
 on the pavement to shake out and fall ; sometimes to 
 the annoyance of foot passengers. The reason given 
 for not sweeping the dusty streets was that the dust 
 would fly into the windows of shops and houses. 
 
 An accidental occurrence had instructed me how 
 much sweeping might be done in a Little time. I found 
 at my door in Craven Street, one morning, a poor 
 woman sweeping my pavement with a birch broom ; 
 she appeared very pale and feeble, as just come out of 
 a fit of sickness. I asked who employed her to sweep 
 there ; she said, " Nobody ; but I am poor and in 
 distress, and I sweeps before gentle folkses' doors and 
 hopes they will give me something." I bid her sweep 
 the whole street clean and I would give her a shilling ; 
 this was at nine o'clock, and at noon she came for the 
 shilling. From the slowness I saw at first in her 
 working I could scarce believe that the work was done 
 so soouj and sent my servant to examine it, who 
 
BENJAMIN FEANKLI^. 161 
 
 reported that the whole street was swept perfectly 
 clean and all the dust placed in the gutter, which was 
 in the middle ; and the next ram washed it quite away, 
 so that the pavement and even the kennel were 
 perfectly clean. 
 
 I then judged that if that feeble woman could sweep 
 such a street in three hours, a strong, active man 
 might have done it in half the time. And here let me 
 remark the convenience of having but one gutter in 
 such a narrow street, running down its middle, instead 
 of two, one on each side near the footwav. For where 
 all the rain that falls on a street runs from the sides 
 and meets in the middle, it forms there a current 
 strong enough to wash away all the mud it meets with ; 
 but when divided into two channels, it is often too weak 
 to cleanse either and only msikes the mud it finds more 
 fluid ; so that the wheels of carriages and feet of 
 horses throw and dash it upon the foot pavement, 
 which is thereby rendered foul and slippery, and 
 sometimes splash it upon those who are walking. My 
 proposal, communicated to the doctor, was as follows : 
 
 " For the more effectually cleaning and keeping 
 clean the streets of London and Westminster, it is pro- 
 posed that the several watchmen be contracted with 
 to have the dust swept up in dry seasons and the mud 
 raked up at other times, each in the several streets 
 and lanes of his round ; that they be furnished with 
 brooms and other proper instruments for these pur- 
 poses, to be kept at their respective stands, ready to 
 furnish the poor people they may employ in the 
 service. 
 
 " That in the dry summer months the dust be all 
 swept up into heaps at proper distances, before the 
 
162 Autobiography 0TB* 
 
 shops and windows of houses are usually opened, 
 when scavengers with close-covered carts shall also 
 carry it all away. 
 
 " That the mud, when raked up, be not left in heaps 
 to be spread abroad again by the wheels of carriages 
 and trampling of horses, but that the scavengers be 
 provided with bodies of carts, not placed upon wheels, 
 but low upon sliders, with lattice bottoms, which, 
 being covered with straw, will retain the mud thrown 
 upon them and permit the water to drain from it ; 
 whereby it will become much lighter, water making 
 the greatest part of the weight. These bodies of carts 
 to be placed at convenient distances and the mud 
 brought to them in wheelbarrows, they remaining 
 where placed till the mud is drained, and then horses 
 brought to draw them awa3\" 
 
 I have since had doubts of the practicability of the 
 latter part of this proposal in all places, on account of 
 the narrowness of some streets and the difficulty of 
 placing the draining sleds so as not to incumber too 
 much the passage ; but I am still of opinion that the 
 former, requiring the dust to be swept up and carried 
 away before the shops are open, is very practicable 
 in the summer, when the days are long ; for in walk- 
 ing through the Strand and Fleet Street one morning 
 at seven o'clock, I observed there was not one shop 
 open, though it had been daylight and the sun up 
 above three hours ; the inhabitants of London choos- 
 ing voluntarily ^o live much by candlelight and sleep 
 by sunshine, and yet often complain, a little absurdly, 
 of the duty on candles and the high price of tallow. 
 
 Some may think these trifling matters not worth 
 minding or relating; but when they consider that 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. l63 
 
 though dust blown into the eyes of a single person or 
 into a single shop in a windy day is but of small im- 
 portance, yet the great number of the instances in a 
 populous city and its frequent repetition gives its 
 weight and consequence, perhaps they will not censure 
 very severely those who bestow some attention to 
 afifairs of this seemingly low nature. Human felicity 
 is produced not so much by great pieces of good for- 
 tune that seldom happen as by little advantages that 
 occur every day. Thus if you teach a poor young man 
 to shave himself and keep his razor in order, you may 
 contribute more to the happiness of his life than in 
 giving him a thousand guineas. This sum may be soon 
 spent, the regret only remaining of having foolishly 
 consumed it; but in the other case he escapes the 
 frequent vexation of waiting for barbers and their 
 sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull 
 razors ; he shaves when most convenient to him, and 
 enjoys daily the pleasure of its being done with a good 
 instrument. With these sentiments I have hazarded 
 the few preceding pages, hoping they may afford hints 
 
 which some time or other mav be useful to a citv I 
 
 t/ tj 
 
 love, having lived many years in it very happily, and 
 perhaps to some of our towns in America. 
 
 Having been some time employed by the Postmaster- 
 General of America as his comptroller in regulating 
 several offices and bringing the officers to account, I 
 was, upon his death in 1753, appointed, jointly with 
 Mr. William Hunter, to succeed him, by a commission 
 from the Postmaster-General in England. The Amer- 
 ican office had hitherto never paid anything to that of 
 Britain. We were to have six hundred pounds a year 
 between us if we could make that sum out of tho 
 
Ui Autobiography op 
 
 profits of the office. To do this a variety of improve- 
 ments were necessary ; some of these were inevitably 
 at first expensive ; so that in the first four years the 
 office became about nine hundred pounds in debt to us. 
 But it soon after began to repay us, and before I was 
 displaced by a freak of the ministers, of which I shall 
 speak hereafter, we had brought it to yield three times 
 as much clear revenue to the crown as the post-office 
 of Ireland. Since that imprudent transaction they 
 have received from it — not one farthing ! 
 
 The business of the post-office occasioned my taking 
 a journey this year to New England, where the College 
 of Cambridge, of their own motion, presented me with 
 the degree of Master of Arts. Yale College in Connecti- 
 cut had before made me a similar compliment. Thus 
 without studying in any college I came to partake of 
 their honors. They were conferred in consideration 
 of my improvements and discoveries in the electric 
 branch of natural philosophy. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 165 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 In 1754, war with France being again apprehended, 
 a congress of commissioners from the different 
 colonies was by an order of the Lords of Trade to be 
 assembled at Albany, there to confer with the chiefs 
 of the Six Nations concerning the means of defending 
 both their country and ours. Governor Hamilton 
 having received this order acquainted the House with 
 it, requesting they would furnish proper presents for 
 the Indians, to be given on this occasion ; and naming 
 the Speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself to join Mr. John 
 Penn and Mr. Secretary Peters as commissioners to 
 act for Pennsylvania. The House approved the nomi- 
 nation and provided the goods for the presents, 
 though they did not much like treating out of the 
 province; and we met the other commissioners at 
 Albany about the middle of June. 
 
 In our way thither I projected and d^ew up a plan 
 for the union of all the colonies under one govern- 
 ment, so far as might be necessary for defense, and 
 other important general purposes. As we passed 
 through New York I had there shown my project to 
 Mr. James Alexander and Mr. Kennedy, two gentle- 
 men of great knowledge in public affairs ; and being 
 fortified by their approbation, I ventured to lay it be- 
 fore the congress. It then appeared that several of 
 the commissioners had formed plans of the same kind. 
 
166 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OS' 
 
 A previous question was first taken, whether a union 
 should be established, which passed in the affirmative 
 unanimously. A committee was then appointed, one 
 member from each colony, to consider the several 
 plans and report. Mine happened to be preferred 
 and, with a few amendments, was accordingly re- 
 ported. 
 
 By this plan the general goverment was to be ad- 
 ministered by a president-general, appointed and sup- 
 ported by the crown, and a grand council was to be 
 chosen by the representatives of the people of the 
 several colonies met in their respective assemblies. 
 The debates upon it in the congress went on daily, 
 hand in hand with the Indian business. Many objec- 
 tions and difficulties were started; but at length they 
 were all overcome and the plan was unanimously 
 agreed to, and copies ordered to be transmitted to the 
 Board of Trade and to the Assemblies of the several 
 provinces. Its fate was singular ; the Assemblies did 
 not adopt it, as they all thought there was too much 
 prerogative in it \ and in England it was judged to 
 have too much of the democratiG, The Board of 
 Trade did not approve it nor recommend it for the 
 approbation of his majesty ; but another scheme was 
 formed, supposed to answer the same purpose better, 
 whereby the governors of the provinces, with some 
 members of their respective councils, were to meet and 
 order the raising of troops, building of forts, etc., and 
 to draw on the treasury of Great Britain for the ex- 
 pense, which w^as afterward to be refunded by an act 
 of Parliament laying a tax on America. My plan, 
 with my reasons in support of it, is to be found among 
 my political papers that were printed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRAFKLm. IVt 
 
 Being the winter following in Boston, I had touch 
 conversation with Governor Shirley upon both the 
 plans. Part of what passed ^between us on this 
 occasion may also be seen amon^ those papers. The 
 dijQferent and contrary reasons bf dislike to my plan 
 make me suspect that it was really the true medium, 
 and I am still of opinion it would have been happy for 
 both sides if it had been adopted. The colonies so 
 united would have been suflBciently strong to have de- 
 fended themselves ; there would then have been no 
 need of troops from England ; of course the subsequent 
 pretext for taxing America and the bloody contest it 
 occasioned would have been avoided. But such mis- 
 takes are not new; history is full of the errors of 
 states and princes. 
 
 ** Look round the habitable world; how few 
 Know their own good, or, knowing it, pursue!" 
 
 Those who govern, having much business on their 
 hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of 
 considering and carrying into execution new projects. 
 The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted 
 from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion. 
 
 The Governor of Pennsylvania, in sending it down 
 to the Assembly, expressed his approbation of the 
 plan, "as appearing to him to be drawn up with great 
 clearness and strength of judgment, and therefore 
 recommended it as well worthy of their closest and 
 most serious attention." The House, however, by the 
 management of a certain member, took it up when I 
 happened to be absent, which I thought not very fair, 
 and reprobated it without paying any attention to it 
 at all, to mj no small mortification, 
 
168 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 In my journey to Boston this year I met at New 
 York with our new governor, Mr. Morris, just arrived 
 there from England, with whom I had been before 
 intimately acquainted. He brought a commission to 
 supersede Mr. Hamilton, who, tired with the disputes 
 his proprietary instructions subjected him to, had re- 
 signed. Mr. Morris asked me if I thought he must 
 expect as uncomfortable an administration. I saidj 
 " No ; you may, on the contrary, have a very com- 
 fortable one if you will only take care not to 
 enter into any dispute with the Assembly." " My 
 dear friend," said he pleasantly, " how can you advise 
 my avoiding disputes ? You know I love disputing — 
 it is one of my greatest pleasures ; however, to show 
 the regard I have for your counsel, I promise you I 
 will, if possible, avoid them." He had some reason 
 for loving to dispute; being eloquent, an acute 
 sophister, and therefore generally successful in argu- 
 mentative conversation. He had been brought up to 
 it from a boy, his father, as I have heard, accustoming 
 his children to dispute with one another for his diver- 
 sion while sitting at table after dinner; but I think the 
 practice was not wise, for in the course of my observa- 
 tion those disputing, contradicting, and confuting 
 people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. 
 They get victory sometimes, but they never get good- 
 will, which would be of more use to them. We 
 parted, he going to Philadelphia and I to Boston^ 
 
 In returning I met at New York with the votes of 
 the Assembly of Pennsylvania, by which it appeared 
 that notwithstanding his promise to me he and the 
 House were already in high contention, and it was a 
 continual battle between them as long as he retained 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 169 
 
 the government. I had my share of it, for as soon' as 
 I got back to my seat in the Assembly I was put on 
 every committee for answering his speeches and 
 messages, and by the committees always desired to 
 make the drafts. Our answers, as well as his mes- 
 sages, were often tart and sometimes indecently 
 abusive, and as he knew I wrote for the Assembly 
 one might have imagined that when we met we could 
 hardly avoid cutting throats ; but he was so good= 
 natured a man that no personal difference between 
 him and me was occasioned by the contest, and we 
 often dined together. 
 
 One afternoon, in the height of this public quarrel, 
 we met in the street. " Franklin," said he, " you must 
 go home with me and spend the evening. I am to 
 have some company that you will like," and taking me 
 by the arm led me to his house. In gay conversation 
 over our wine after supper he told us, jokingly, that 
 he much admired the idea of Sancho Panza, who, 
 when it was proposed to give him a government, 
 requested it might be a government of blacks, as 
 then, if he could not agree with his people, he might 
 sell them. One of his friends, who sat next to me, 
 said; "Franklin, why do you continue to side with 
 those damned Quakers? Had you not better sell 
 them ? The proprietor would give you a good price." 
 '^ The governor," replied I, " has not yet Hacked 
 them enough." He, indeed, had labored hard to 
 blacken the Assembly in all his messages, but they 
 wiped off his coloring as fast as he laid it on, and 
 placed it, in return, thick upon his own face, so that 
 finding he was likely to be negrofied himself, he, 
 as well as Mr. Hamilton, grew tired of the contest and 
 quitted the government. 
 
170 ^ UTOBIOQRAPET OF 
 
 These public quarrels were all at bottom owing to 
 the proprietaries, our hereditary governors, who, when 
 any expense was to be incurred for the defense of their 
 province, with incredible meanness instructed their 
 deputies to pass no act for levying tbe necessary taxes 
 unless their vast estates were in the same act ex- 
 pressly exonerated ; and they had even taken the 
 bonds of these deputies to observe such instructions. 
 The Assemblies for three years held out against this 
 injustice, though constrained to bend at last. At 
 length Captain Denny, who was Governor Morris' 
 successor, ventured to disobey those instructions : 
 how that was brought about I shall show hereafter. 
 
 But I am got forward too fast with my story ; 
 there are still some transactions to be mentioned that 
 happened during the administration of Governor 
 Morris. 
 
 War being in a manner commenced with France, 
 the government of Massachusetts Bay projected an 
 attack upon Crown Point, and sent Mr, Quincy to 
 Pennsylvania and Mr. Pownall, afterward Governor 
 Pownall, to New York, to solicit assistance. As I was 
 in the Assembly, knew its temper, and was Mr. 
 Quincy's countryman, he applied to me for my 
 influence and assistance. I dictated his address to 
 them, which was well received. They voted an aid of 
 ten thousand pounds, to be laid out in provisions. But 
 the governor refusing his assent to their bill (which 
 included this with other sums granted for the use of 
 the crown) unless a clause were inserted exempting the 
 proprietary estate from bearing any part of the tax 
 that would be necessary, the Assembly, though very 
 desirous s>t making their grant to I^ew England 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLIN. 171 
 
 effectual, were at a loss how to accomplish it. Mr. 
 Quincy labored bard witb tbe governor to obtain his 
 assent, but be was obstinate. 
 
 I then suggested a method of doing the business 
 without the governor, by orders on the trustees of the 
 loan oiHce, which by law the Assembly had the right 
 of drawing. There was indeed little or no money at 
 the time in the office, and therefore I proposed that 
 the orders should be payable in a year and to bear 
 an interest of five per cent. With these orders 1 
 supposed the provisions might easily be purchased. 
 The Assembly, with very little hesitation, adopted the 
 proposal. The orders were immediately printed, and 
 .1 was one of the committee directed to sign and 
 dispose of them. The fund for paying them was the 
 interest of all the paper currency then extant in the 
 province upon loan, together with the revenue arising 
 from the excise, which being known to be more than 
 sufficient, they obtained credit, and were not only 
 taken in payment for the provisions, but many 
 moneyed people who had cash lying by them vested it 
 in those orders, which they found advantageous, as 
 they bore interest while upon hand and might on any 
 occasion be used as money; so that they were eagerly 
 all bought up, and in a few weeks none of them was 
 to be seen. Thus this important affair was by my 
 means completed. Mr. Quincy returned thanks to the 
 Assembly in a handsome memorial, went home highly 
 pleased with the success of his embassy, and ever after 
 bore for me the most cordial and affectionate friend- 
 ship. 
 
 The British government, not choosing to permit the 
 union of the colonies as proposed at Albany and to 
 
172 AUTOBIOQEAPET OF 
 
 trust that union with their defense, lest they should 
 thereby grow too military and feel their own strength, 
 suspicion and jealousies at this time being entertained 
 of them, sent over General Braddock, with two 
 regiments of regular English troops for that purpose. 
 He landed at Alexandria, in Yirginia, and thence 
 marched to Frederictown, in Maryland, were he halted 
 for carriages. Our Assembly, apprehending from 
 some information that he had conceived violent 
 prejudices against them, as averse to the service, 
 wished me to wait upon him, not as from them, bat as 
 Postmaster-General, under the guise of proposing to 
 settle with him the mode of conducting with most 
 celerity and certainty the dispatches between him and 
 the governors of the several provinces, with whom he 
 must necessarily have continual correspondence, and 
 of which they proposed to pay the expense. My son 
 accompanied me on this journey. 
 
 We found the general at Frederictown, waiting 
 impatiently for the return of those he had sent through 
 the back parts of Maryland and Yirginia to collect 
 wagons. I stayed with him several days, dined with 
 him daily, and had full opportunities of removing his 
 prejudices by the information of what the Assemblj^ 
 had before his arrival actually done, and were still 
 willing to do, to facilitate his operations. When I 
 was about to depart the returns of wagons to be 
 obtained were brought in, by which it appeared that 
 they amounted only to twenty-five, and not all of 
 those were in serviceable condition. The general and 
 all the officers were surprised, declared the expedition 
 was then at an end, being impossible, and exclaimed 
 ajfainst the irjiuisters for ignorantly sending them into 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLm. 173 
 
 a country destitute of the means of conveying their 
 stores, baggage, etc., not less than one hundred and 
 fifty wagons being necessary. 
 
 I happened to say I thought it was a pity they had 
 not been landed in Pennsylvania, as in that country 
 almost every farmer had his wagon. The general 
 eagerly laid hold of my words and said : " Then you, 
 sir, who are a man of interest there, can probably 
 procure them for us, and I beg you will undertake it." 
 I asked what terms were to be offered the owners of 
 the wagons, and I was desired to put on paper the 
 terms that appeared to me necessary. This I did, and 
 they were agreed to, and a commission and instruc- 
 tions accordingly prepared immediately. What those 
 terms were will appear in the advertisement I published 
 as soon as I arrived at Lancaster, which being, from 
 the great and sudden effect it produced, a piece of 
 some curiosity, I shall insert it at length as follows : 
 
 *' Advertisement. 
 
 ** Lancaster, April 26th, 1755. 
 ** Whereas, one hundred and fifty wagons, with four horses to 
 each wagon, and fifteen hundred saddle or pack horses, are wanted 
 for the service of his majesty's forces, now about to rendezvous 
 at Will's Creek ; and his excellency General Braddock having been 
 pleased to empower me to contract for the hire of the same, I 
 hereby give notice that I shall attend for that purpose, at Lan- 
 caster, from this day to next Wednesday evening; and at York, 
 from next Thursday morning till Friday evening; where I shall 
 be ready to agree for wagons and teams, or single horses, on the 
 following terms, viz. : 1. That there shall be paid for each wagon, 
 with four good horses and a driver, fifteen shillings per diem; 
 and for each able horse with a pack-saddle, or other saddle and 
 furniture, two shillings per diem; and for each able horse with- 
 out a saddle, eighteen pence per diem, 2. That the pay com- 
 
174 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 mence from the time of their joining the forces, at Will's Creek, 
 which must be on or before the 20th of May ensuing, and that a 
 reasonable allowance be paid over and above for the time neces- 
 sary for their traveling to WilPs Creek and home again after their 
 discharge. 3. Each wagon and team and every saddle or pack 
 horse is to be valued by indifferent persons, chosen between me 
 and the owner; and in case of the loss of any wagon, team, or 
 other horse in the service, the price according to such valuation 
 is to be allowed and paid. 4. Seven days' pay is to be ad vane ad 
 and paid in hand by me to the owner of each wagon and team cr 
 horse ait the time of contracting, if required; and the remaindei 
 to be paid by General Braddock, or by the paymaster of the army, 
 at the time of their discharge; or from time to time, as it shall 
 be demanded. 5. No drivers of wagons, or persons taking care 
 of the hired horses, are on any account to be called upon to do 
 the duty of soldiers, or be otherwise employed than in conducting 
 or taking care of their carriages or horses. 6. Ml oats, Indian 
 corn, or other forage that wagons or horses bring to the camp 
 more than is necessary for the subsistence of the horses is to be 
 taken for the use of the army, and a reasonable price paid for the 
 same. 
 
 '^ JS'ote.—M.Y son, William Franklin, is empowered to enter into 
 like contracts with any person in Cumberland County. 
 
 *'B. Franklin." 
 
 " To the Inhabitants of the Counties of Lancaster^ York, and 
 Cumberla7id, 
 
 '* Friends AND Countrymen: Being occasionally at the camp 
 at Frederic a few days since, I found the general and officers 
 extremely exasperated on account of their not being supplied with 
 horses and carriages, which had been expected from this province, 
 as most able to furnish them; but through the dissensions be- 
 tween our governor and Assembly, money had not been provided 
 nor any steps taken for that purpose. 
 
 *' It was proposed to send an armed force immediately into 
 these counties, to seize as many of the best carriages and horses 
 as should be wanted, and compel as many persons into the serv- 
 ice as would be necessary to drive and take care of them. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLTN. 17S 
 
 **t apprehended that the progress of British soldiers through 
 these counties on such an occasion, especially considering the 
 temper they are in and their resentment against us, would be 
 attended with many and great inconveniences to the inhabitants, 
 and therefore more willingly took the trouble of trying first what 
 might be done by fair and equitable means. The people of these 
 back counties have lately complained to the Assembly that a suf- 
 ficient currency was wanting; you have an opportunity of receiv- 
 ing and dividing among you a considerable sum; for if the serv- 
 ice of this expedition should continue, as it is more than probable 
 it will, for one hundred and twenty days, the hire of these wagons 
 and horses will amount to upward of thirty thousand pounds, 
 which will be paid you in silver and gold of the king's money. 
 
 ** The service will be light and easy, for the army will scarce 
 march above twelve miles per day, and the wagons and baggage 
 horses, as they carry those things that are absolutely necessary 
 to the welfare of the army, must march with the army, and no 
 faster; and are, for the army's sake, always placed where they 
 can be most secure, whether in a march or in a camp. 
 
 * * If you are really, as I believe you are, good and loyal sub- 
 jects to his majesty, you may now do a most acceptable service 
 and make it easy to yourselves; for three or four of such as can- 
 not separately spare from, the business of their plantations a 
 wagon and four horses and a driver may do it together; one fur- 
 nishing the wagon, another one or two horses, and another the 
 driver, and divide the pay proportionately between you. But if 
 you do not this service to your king and country voluntarily, 
 when such good pay and reasonable terms are offered to you, 
 your loyalty will be strongly suspected. The king's bisiness 
 must be done; so many brave troops, come so far for your de- 
 fense, must not stand idle through your backwardness to do what 
 may be reasonably expected from you; wagons and horses must 
 be had; violent measures will probably be used; and you will be 
 left to seek for a recompense where you can find it, and your case 
 perhaps be little pitied or regarded. 
 
 'M have no particular interest in this affair, as, except the 
 satisfaction of endeavoring to do good, I shall have only my labor 
 for my pains. If this method of obtaining the wagons and horses 
 \Z aot likely to succeed, I am obliged to send word to the general 
 
176 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 in fourteen days; and I suppose Sir John St. Clair, the hu»«ar^ 
 with a body of soldiers, will immediately enter the province for 
 the purpose; which I shall be sorry to hear, because I am very 
 sincerely and truly your friend and well-wisher, 
 
 *'B. Franklin." 
 
 I received of the general about eight hundred pounds, 
 to be disbursed in advance money to the wagon- 
 owners ; but that sum being insufficient, I advanced 
 upward of two hundred pounds more ; and in two 
 weeks the one hundred and fifty wagons, with two 
 hundred and fifty-nine carrying-horses, were on their 
 march for the camp. The advertisement promised 
 payment according to the valuation in case any wagons 
 or horses should be lost. The owners, however, 
 alleging they did not know General Braddockor what 
 dependence might be had on his promise, insisted on 
 my bond for the performance, which I accordingly 
 gave them. 
 
 While I was at the camp supping one evening 
 with the officers of Colonel Dunbar's regiment, he 
 represented to me his concern for the subalterns, who, 
 he said, were generally not in affluence, and could ill 
 afford in this dear country to lay in the stores that 
 might be necessary in so long a march through a 
 wilderness where nothing was to be purchased. I 
 commiserated their case and resolved to endeavor 
 procuring them some relief. I said nothing, however, 
 to him of my intention, but wrote the next morning to 
 the committee of the Assembly, who had the disposition 
 of some public money, warmly recommending the 
 case of these officers to their consideration, and pro- 
 posing that a present should be sent them of neces- 
 saries and refreshments. My son, who had some ex- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 17'? 
 
 perience of a camp life and of its wants, drewup a 
 list for me, which I inclosed in my letter. The com- 
 mittee approved, and used suck diligence that, con- 
 ducted by my son, the stores arrived at the camp as 
 soon as the wagons. They consisted of twenty parcels, 
 each containing 
 
 6 lbs. loaf sugar. 1 keg containing 20 lbs. good 
 6 do. Muscovado do. butter. 
 
 1 lb. green tea. 2 dozen old Madeira wine. 
 
 1 do. bohea do. 2 gallons Jamaica spirits. 
 
 6 lbs. ground coffee. 1 bottle flour of mustard. 
 
 6 do. chocolate. 2 well-cured hams, 
 
 i chest best white biscuit. -J dozen dried tongues, 
 
 i lb. pepper. 6 lbs. rice. 
 
 1 quart white vinegar. 6 do. raisins. 
 1 Gloucester cheese. 
 
 These parcels, well packed, were placed on as many 
 horses, each parcel, with the horse, being intended as 
 a present for one officer. They were very thankfully 
 received and the kindness acknowledged by letters to 
 me, from the colonels of both regiments, in the most 
 grateful terms. The general, too, was highly satisfied 
 with my conduct in procuring him the wagons, and 
 readil}'' paid my account of disbursements, thanking 
 me repeatedly and requesting my further assistance 
 in sending provisions after him. I undertook this also, 
 and was busily employed in it till we heard of his de- 
 feat; advancing for the service, of my own money, 
 upward of one thousand pounds sterling, of which I 
 sent him an account. It came to his hands, luckily 
 for me, a few days before the battle, and he returned 
 me immediately an order on the paymaster for the 
 round sura of one thousand pounds, leaving the re* 
 
l-^g AvtoBloaitAPiit OP 
 
 mainder to the next account. I consider this payment 
 as good luck, having never been able to obtain the 
 remainder ; of which more hereafter. 
 
 This general was, I think, a brave man, and might 
 probably have made a figure as a good ofllcer in some 
 European war. But he had too much self-confidence, 
 too high an opinion of the validity of regular troops, and 
 too mean a one of both Americans and Indians. George 
 Croghan, our Indian interpreter, joined him on his 
 march with one hundred of those people, who might 
 have been of great use to his army as guides and 
 scouts if he had treated them kindly ; but he slighted 
 and neglected them and they gradually left him. 
 
 In conversation with him one day, he was giving 
 me some account of his intended progress. " After 
 taking Fort Duquesne," said he, " I am to proceed to 
 Niagara ; and having taken that, to Frontenac, if the 
 season will allow time, and I suppose it will; for 
 Duquesne can hardly detain me above three or four 
 days, and then I see nothing that can obstruct my 
 march to Niagara." Having before revolved in my 
 mind the long line his army must make in their march 
 by a very narrow road, to be cut for them through 
 the woods and bushes, and also what I had read of a 
 former defeat of fifteen hundred French who invaded 
 the Illinois country, I had conceived some doubts and 
 some fears for the event of the campaign^ But I ven- 
 tured only to say : " To be sure, sir, if you arrive well 
 before Duquesne with these fine troops, so well pro- 
 vided with artillery, the fort, though completely forti- 
 fied and assisted with a very strong garrison, can 
 probably make but a short resistance. The only 
 danger I apprehend of obstruction to your march is 
 
BENJAMIN PBANKLIN. 179 
 
 from the ambuscades of the Indians, who by constant 
 practice are dexterous in laying and executing them , 
 and the slender line, near four miles long, which your 
 army must make, may expose it to be attacked by 
 surprise in its flanks and to be cut like a thread into 
 several pieces, w^hich from their distance cannot come 
 ap in time to support each other." 
 
 He smiled at my ignorance and replied : " These 
 savages may indeed be a formidable enemy to your 
 raw American militia, but upon the king's regular 
 and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they 
 should make any impression." I w^as conscious of an 
 impropriety in my disputing with a military man in 
 matters of his profession, and said no more. The 
 enemy, however, did not take the advantage of his 
 army which I apprehended its long line of march 
 exposed it to, but let it advance without interruption 
 till within nine miles of the place; and then, when 
 more in a body (for it had just passed a river, where 
 the front had halted till all were come over) and in a 
 more open part of the woods than any it had passed, 
 attacked its advance-guard by a heavy fire from 
 behind trees and bushes, which was the first intelli- 
 gence the general had of an enemy's being near him. 
 This guard being disordered, the general hurried the 
 troops up to their assistance, which w-as done in great 
 confusion through w^agons, baggage, and cattle, and 
 presently the fire came upon their flank. The officers 
 being on horseback were more easily distinguished, 
 picked out as marks, and fell very fast ; and the sol- 
 diers were crowded together in a huddle, having or 
 hearing no orders-and standing to be shot at till two- 
 thirds of them were killed, and then, being seized 
 with a panic, the remainder fled with precipitatioOt 
 
180 ^ tJTOBlOQitAPHt OP 
 
 The wagoners took each a horse out of his team 
 and scampered. Their example was immediately fol- 
 lowed by others, so that all the wagons, provisions, 
 artillery, and stores were left to the enemy. The 
 general being wounded was brought off with diffi- 
 culty ; his secretary, Mr. Shirley, was killed by his 
 side, and out of eighty-six officers sixty-three were 
 killed or wounded, and seven hundred and fourteen 
 men killed of eleven hundred. These eleven hundred 
 had been picked men from the whole army ; the rest 
 had been left behind with Colonel Dunbar, who was 
 to follow with the heavier part of the stores, provi- 
 sions, and baggage. The flyers, not being pursued, 
 arrived at Dunbar's camp, and the panic they brought 
 with them instantly seized him and all his people. 
 And though he had now above one thousand men, 
 and the enemy who had beaten Braddock did not at 
 most exceed four hundred Indians and French to- 
 gether, instead of proceeding and endeavoring to 
 recover some of the lost honor, he ordered all the 
 stores, ammunition, etc., to be destroyed, that he 
 might have more horses to assist his flight toward the 
 settlements and less lumber to remove. He was there 
 met with requests from the governors of Virginia, 
 Maryland, and Pennsylvania that he would post his 
 troops on the frontiers, so as to afford some protec- 
 tion to the inhabitants, but he continued his hasty 
 march through all the country, not thinking himself 
 safe till he arrived at Philadelphia, where the inhab- 
 itants could protect him. This whole transaction gave 
 us Americans the first suspicion that our exalted ideas 
 of the prowess of British regular troops had not been 
 well founded* 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 181 
 
 In their first march, too, from their landing till they 
 got bej^ond the settlements, they had plundered and 
 stripped the inhabitants, totally ruining some poor 
 families, besides insulting, abusing, and confining the 
 people if they remonstrated. This was enough to put 
 us out of conceit of such defenders if we had really 
 wanted any. How different was the conduct of our 
 French friends in 1781, who during a march through 
 the most inhabited part of our country, from Rhode 
 Island to Virginia, near seven hundred miles, occa- 
 sioned not the smallest complaint for the loss of a pig, 
 a chicken, or even an apple. 
 
 Captain Orme, who was one of the general's aids- 
 de-camp, and being grievously wounded was brought 
 off with him and continued with him to his death, 
 which happened in a few days, told me that he was 
 totally silent all the first day, and at night only said : 
 " Who would have thought it ?" That he was silent 
 again the following day, saying only at last, " We 
 shall better know how to deal with them another 
 time," and died in a few minutes after. 
 
 The secretary's papers, with all the general's orders, 
 instructions, and correspondence, falling into the 
 enemy's hands, they selected and translated into 
 French a number of the articles, which they printed, 
 to prove the hostile intentions of the British court 
 before the declaration of war. Among these I saw 
 some letters of the general to the ministry, speaking 
 highly of the great service I had rendered to the 
 army and recommending me to their notice. David 
 Hume, who was some years afterward secretary to 
 Lord Hertford when minister in France, and after- 
 ward to General Conway when Secretary of State,^ 
 
J§2 AUTOBIOQRAPHT 0¥ 
 
 told he had seen among the papers in that office let- 
 ters from Braddock highly recommending me. But 
 the expedition having been unfortunate, my service, 
 it seems, was not thought of much value, for those 
 recommendations were never of any use to me. 
 
 As to rewards from himself, I asked only one, 
 which was that he would give orders to his officers 
 not to enlist any more of our bought servants and that 
 he would discharge such as had been already enlisted. 
 This he readily granted, and several were accordingly 
 returned to their masters on my application. Dunbar, 
 when the command devolved on him, was not so 
 generous. He being at Philadelphia on his retreat, or 
 rather flight, I applied to him for the discharge of the 
 servants of three poor farmers of Lancaster County 
 that he had enlisted, reminding him of the late general's 
 orders on that head. He promised me that if the 
 masters w^ould come to him at Trenton, w^here he 
 should be in a few davs on his march to New York, 
 he would there deliver their men to them. They 
 accordingly were at the expense and trouble of going 
 to Trenton, and there he refused to perform his 
 promise, to their great loss and disappointment. 
 
 As soon as the loss of the wagons and horses was 
 generally known, all the owners came upon me for the 
 valuation which I had given bond^ to pay. Their de- 
 mands gave me a great deal of trouble. I acquainted 
 them that the money was ready in the paymaster's 
 hands, bat the order for paying it must first be obtained 
 from General Shirley, and that I had applied for it, 
 but he being at a distance an answer could not soon 
 be received, and they must have patience. All this, 
 however, was not sufficient to satisfy them, and some 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 183 
 
 began to sue me. General Shirley at length relieved 
 me from this terrible situation hj appointing commis- 
 sioners to examine the claims and ordering payment. 
 They amounted to near twenty thousand pounds, 
 which to pay would have ruined me. 
 
 Before we had the news of this defeat, the two 
 Doctors Bond came to me with a subscription paper 
 for raising money to defray the expenses of a grand 
 firework, which it was intended to exhibit at a rejoic- 
 ing on receiving the news of our taking Fort Duquesne. 
 I looked grave and said it would, I thought, be time 
 enough to prepare the rejoicing when we knew we 
 should have occasion to rejoice. They seemed sur- 
 prised that I did not immediatel}^ comply Avith their 
 proposal. " Why the d — 1 !" said one of them ; " you 
 surely don't suppose that the fort will not be taken ?" 
 "I don't know that it will not be taken, but I know 
 that the events of war are subject to great uncer- 
 tainty." I gave them the reasons of my doubting; 
 the subscription was dropped, and the projectors there- 
 by missed the mortification they would have under- 
 gone if the firework had been prepared. Dr. Bond, 
 on some other occasion afterward, said that he did not 
 like Franklin's forebodings. 
 
184 A UTOBIOGBAPHY OF 
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 GovERNOit MoREis, who had continually worried 
 the Assembly with message after message before the 
 defeat of Braddock, to beat them into the making of 
 acts to raise money for the defense of the province 
 without taxing among others the proprietary estates, 
 and had rejected all their bills for not having such an 
 exempting clause, now redoubled his attacks with 
 more hope of success, the danger and necessity being 
 greater. The Assembly, however, continued firm, be- 
 lieving they had justice on their side, and that it 
 would be giving up an essential right if they suffered 
 the governor to amend their money bills. In one of 
 the last, indeed, which was for granting fifty thousand 
 pounds, his proposed amendment was only of a single 
 word. The bill expressed that " all estates real and 
 personal were to be taxed ; those of the proprietaries 
 not excepted."*' His amendment was : for not^ read 
 only, A small but very material alteration. How- 
 ever, when the news of the disaster reached England, 
 our friends there, whom we had taken care to furnish 
 with all the Assembly's answers to the governor's 
 messages, raised a clamor against the proprietaries for 
 their meanness and injustice in giving their governor 
 such instructions ; some going so far as to say that by 
 obstructing the defense of their province they forfeited 
 their right to it. They were intimidated by this, and 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 185 
 
 sent orders to their Keceiver-General to add five 
 thousand pounds of their monej to whatever sum 
 might be given by the Assembly for such purpose. 
 
 This being testified to the House was accepted in 
 lieu of their share of a general tax ; and a new bill 
 was formed with an exempting clause, which passed 
 accordingly. , By this act I was appointed one of 
 the commissioners for disposing of the money — sixty 
 thousand pounds. I had been active in modeling the 
 bill and procuring its passage, and had at the same 
 time drawn one for establishing and disciplining a 
 voluntary militia, which 1 carried through the House 
 without much difficulty, as care was taken in it to 
 leave the Quakers at liberty. To promote the associa- 
 tion necessary to form the militia, I wrote a dialogue 
 stating and answering all the objections I could think 
 of to such a militia, which was printed, and had, as I 
 thought, great effect. 
 
 While the several companies in the city and country 
 were forming and learning their exercise, the governor 
 prevailed with me to take charge of our northwestern 
 frontier, which was infested by the enemy, and 
 provide for the defense of the inhabitants by raising 
 troops and building a line of forts. I undertook this 
 military business, though I did not conceive myself 
 well qualified for it. He gave me a commission with 
 full powers and a parcel of blank commissions for 
 officers, to be given to whom I thought fit. I had but 
 little difficulty in raising men, having soon five hundred 
 and sixty under my command. My son, who had in 
 the preceding war been an oiHcer in the army raised 
 against Canada, was my aid-de-camp and of great use 
 to me. The Indians had burned Gnadenhutten, d* 
 
18g AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 village settled by the Moravians, and massacred the 
 inhabitants ; but the place was thought a good situation 
 for one of the forts. 
 
 In order to march thither, I assembled the com- 
 panies at Bethlehem, the chief establishment of these 
 people. I was surprised to jfind it in so good a posture 
 of defense ; the destruction of Gnadenhutten had niade 
 them apprehend danger. The principal buildings were 
 defended by a stockade ; they had purchased i.. 
 quantity of arms and ammunition from ISTew York, 
 and had even placed quantities of small paving-stones 
 between the windows of their high stone houses, for 
 their women to throw them down upon the heads of 
 any Indians that should attempt to force into them. 
 The armed brethren, too, kept watch and relieved 
 each other on guard as methodically as in any garrison 
 town. In conversation with the bishop, Spangenberg, 
 I mentioned my surprise ; for, knowing they had 
 obtained an act of Parliament exempting them from 
 military duties in the colonies, I had supposed they 
 were conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms. He 
 answered me that it was not one of their established 
 principles ; but at the time of their obtaining that act 
 it was thought to be a principle with manj^ of their 
 people. On this occasion, however, they, to theii 
 surprise, found it adopted by but few. It seemed they 
 were either deceived in themselves or deceived the 
 Parliament; but common sense, aided by present 
 danger, will sometimes be too strong for whimsical 
 opinions. 
 
 It was the beginning of January when we set out 
 upon this business of building forts. I sent one 
 detachment toward the Minisink, with instructions to 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 187 
 
 erect one for the security of that upper part of the 
 country ; and another to the lower part, with similar 
 instructions ; and I concluded to go myself with the 
 rest of my force to Gnadenhutten, where a fort was 
 thought more immediately necessary. The Moravians 
 procured me five wagons for our tools, stores, and 
 baggage. 
 
 Just before we had left Bethlehem, eleven farmers, 
 who had been driven from their plantations by the 
 Indians, came to me requesting a supply of fire-arms, 
 that they might go back and bring off their cattle. I 
 gave them each a gun with suitable ammunition. We 
 had not marched many miles before it began to rain, 
 and it continued raining all day ; there were no habita- 
 tions on the road to shelter us till we arrived near night 
 at the house of a German, where, and in his barn, we 
 were all huddled together, as wet as water could make 
 us. It was well we were not attacked in our march, 
 for our arms were of the most ordinary sort, and our 
 men could not keep the locks of their guns dry. The 
 Indians are dexterous in contrivances for that purpose, 
 which we had not. They met that day the eleven 
 poor farmers above mentioned, and killed ten of them. 
 The one that escaped informed us that his and his 
 companions' guns would not go off, the priming being 
 wet with the rain. 
 
 The next day being fair we continued our march, 
 and arrived at the desolated Gnadenhutten. There 
 was a mill near, round which were left several pine 
 boards, with which we soon hutted ourselves ; an 
 operation the more necessary at that inclement season, 
 as we had no tents. Our first work was to bury more 
 effectually the dead we found there, who had beeu 
 half-interred by the country people. 
 
188 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 The next morning our fort was planned and marked 
 out, the circumference measuring four hundred and 
 fifty -five feet, which would require as many palisades 
 to be made, one with another, of a foot diameter each. 
 Our axes, of which we had seventy, were immediately 
 set to work to cut down trees, and our men being 
 dexterous in the use of them, great dispatch was made. 
 Seeing the trees fall so fast, I had the curiosity to look 
 at my watch when two men began to cut at a pine ; 
 in six minutes they had it upon the ground, and I 
 found it of fourteen inches diameter. Each pine made 
 three palisades of eighteen feet long, pointed at one 
 end. While these were preparing our other men dug 
 a trench all round, of three feet deep, in which the 
 palisades were to be planted ; and the bodies being 
 taken off our wagons and the fore and hind wheels 
 separated by taking out the pin which united the two 
 parts of the perch, we had ten carriages, with two 
 horses each, to bring the palisades from the woods to 
 the spot. When they were set up our carpenters built 
 a platform of boards all round within, about six feet 
 high, for the men to stand on when to fire through the 
 loop-holes. We had one swivel gun, which we mounted 
 on one of the angles, and fired it as soon as fixed, to 
 let the Indians know, if any were within hearing, that 
 we had such pieces ; and thus our fort, if that name 
 may be given to so miserable a stockade, was finished 
 in a week, though it rained so hard every other day 
 that the men could not work. 
 
 This gave me occasion to observe that when men are 
 employed they are best contented ; for on the days 
 they worked they were good-natured and cheerful, 
 ^xA with the consciousness of having done a good 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 189 
 
 clay's work they spent the evening jollily ; but on' our 
 idle days they were mutinous and quarrelsome, finding 
 fault with the pork, the bread, etc., and were contin- 
 ually in bad humor, which put me in mind of a sea- 
 captain w^hose rule it was to keep his men constantly 
 at work ; and when his mate once told him that they 
 had done everything and there was nothing further to 
 employ them about, '' Oh," said he, " make them scour 
 the anchor." 
 
 This kind of fort, however contemptible, is a suffi- 
 cient defense against Indians, who have no cannon. 
 Finding ourselves now posted securely and having a 
 place to retreat to on occasion, we ventured out in 
 parties to scour the adjacent country. We met with 
 no Indians, but we found the places on the neighbor- 
 ing hills where they had lain to Avatch our proceed- 
 ings. There was an art in their contrivance of those 
 places that seems worth mentioning. It being winter, 
 a fire was necessary for them ; but a common fire on 
 the surface of the ground would, by its light, have dis- 
 covered their position at a distance. They had, there- 
 fore, dug holes in the ground about three f^^^ in 
 diameter and somewhat deeper ; we found wher- i hey 
 had, with their hatchets, cut oflf the charcoa^ om the 
 sides of burnt logs lying in the woods. \ . ith these 
 coals they had made small fires in the bottom of the 
 holes, and we observed among the weeds and grass the 
 prints of their bodies, made by their lying all round 
 with their legs hanging down in the holes to keep their 
 feet warm, which, with them, is an essential point. 
 This kind of fire so managed could not discover them, 
 either by its light, flame, sparks, or even smoke. It 
 appeared that the number was not great, and it seen^s 
 
190 A UTOBIOGEAPHY OF 
 
 they tsaw we were too many to be attacked by them 
 with prospect of advantage. 
 
 We had for our chaplain a zealous Presbyterian 
 minister, Mr. Beatty, who complained to me that the 
 men did not generally attend his prayers and exhorta- 
 tions. Wheu they enlisted they were promised, 
 besides pay and provisions, a gill of rum a day, which 
 was punctually served out to them, half in the morn- 
 ing and the other half in the evening, and I observed 
 they were punctual in attending to receive it ; upon 
 which 1 said to Mr. Beatty : " It is perhaps below the 
 dignity of yo\xv profession to act as steward of the 
 rum, but if you were only to distribute it out after 
 prayers you would have them all about you." He 
 liked the thought, undertook the task, and with the 
 help of a few hands to measure out the liquor executed 
 it to satisfaction, and never were prayers more gen- 
 erally and more punctually attended. So that I 
 think this method preferable to the punishment in- 
 flicted by some military laws for non-attendance on 
 divine service. 
 
 I had hardly finished this business and got my 
 fort well stored with provisions when I received a 
 letter from the governor, acquainting me that he had 
 called the Assembly, and wished my attendance there 
 if the posture of affairs on the frontiers was such that 
 my remaining there was no longer necessary. My 
 friends, too, of the Assembly, pressing me by their 
 letters to be, if possible, at the meeting, and my three 
 intended forts being now compl^^ted and the inhab- 
 itants contented to remain on thefr farms under that 
 protection, I resolved to rettirn, the more willingly as 
 a New England officer. Colonel Clapham^ experienced 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 191 
 
 in Indian war, being on a visit to our establishment, 
 consented to accept the command. I gave him a com- 
 mission, and parading the garrison had it read before 
 them and introduced him to them as an officer who, 
 from his skill in military affairs, was much more fit to 
 command them than myself, and giving them a little 
 exhortation,, took my leave. I was escorted as far as 
 Bethlehem, where I rested a few davs to recover from 
 the fatigue 1 had undergone. The first night, lying in 
 a good bed, I could hardly sleep, it was so different 
 from my hard lodging on the floor of a hut at Gna- 
 denhutten with only a blanket or two. 
 
 While at Bethlehem I inquired a little into the 
 practices of the Moravians ; some of them had accom- 
 panied me and all were very kind to me. I found 
 thev worked for a common stock, eat at common 
 tables, and slept in common dormitories, great num- 
 bers together. In the dormitories I observed loop- 
 holes at certain distances all along just under the 
 ceiling, which I thought judiciously placed for change 
 of air. I went to their church, where I was enter- 
 tained with good music, the organ being accompanied 
 with violins, hautboys, flutes, clarinets, etc. I under- 
 s-ood their sermons were not usually preached to 
 mixed congregations of men, women, and children, as 
 is our common practice, but that they assembled, 
 sometimes the married men, at other times their 
 wives, then the young men, the young women, and 
 the little children ; each division by itself. The ser- 
 mon I heard w^as to the latter, who came in and were 
 placed in rows on benches ; the boys under the con- 
 duct of a young man, their tutor, and the girls con- 
 ducted by a young woman. The discourse seemed 
 
192 A UTOBIOGRAPHY Op 
 
 well adapted to their capacities, and was delivered in 
 a pleasing, familiar manner, coaxing them, as it were, 
 to be good. They behaved very orderly, but looked 
 pale and unhealthy, which made me suspect they were 
 kept too much within doors or not allowed sufficient 
 exercise. 
 
 I inquired concerning the Moravian marriages, 
 whether the report was true that they were by lot. 
 I was told that lots were used only in particular cases ; 
 that generally when a young man found himself dis- 
 posed to marry he informed the elders of his class, 
 who consulted the elder ladies that governed the 
 young women. As these elders of the different sexes 
 were well acquainted with the tempers and disposi- 
 tions of their respective pupils, they could best judge 
 what matches were suitable, and their judgments were 
 generally acquiesced in. But if, for example, it should 
 happen that two or three young women w^ere found to 
 be equally proper for the young man, the lot was then 
 recurred to. I objected if the matches are not made 
 hy the mutual choice of the parties, some of them 
 may chance to be very unhappy. "And so they 
 may," answered my informer, '' if you let the parties 
 choose for themselves." Which indeed I could not 
 deny. 
 
 Being returned to Philadelphia, I found the associa- 
 tion went on with great success. The inhabitants 
 that were not Quakers having pretty generally come 
 mto it formed themselves into companies, and chose 
 their captains, lieutenants, and ensigns, according to 
 the new law. Dr. Bond visited me and gave me an 
 account of the pains he had taken to spread a general 
 good liking of the law, and ascribed much to those 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 193 
 
 endeavori. I had the vanity to ascribe all to my 
 " Dialogue ;" however, not knowing but that he might 
 be in the right, I let him enjoy his opinion, which I 
 take to be generally the best way in such cases. The 
 olficers, meeting, chose me to be colonel of the regi- 
 mentjwhich I this time accepted. I forget how many 
 companies we had, but we paraded about twelve hun- 
 dred well-looking men, with a company of artillery, 
 who had been furnished with six brass field-pieces, 
 which they had become so expert in the use of as to 
 fire twelve times in a minute. The first time I re- 
 viewed my regiment they accompanied me to my 
 house, and would salute me with some rounds fired 
 before my door, which shook down and broke several 
 glasses of my electrical apparatus. And my new 
 honor proved not much less brittle ; for all our com- 
 missions were soon after broken by a repeal of the 
 law in England. 
 
 During this short time of my colonelship, being 
 about to set out on a journey to Virginia, the oflBcers of 
 my regiment took it into their heads that it would be 
 proper for them to escort me out of town as far as the 
 Lower Ferry. Just as I was getting on horseback 
 they came to my door, between thirty and forty, 
 mounted, and all in their uniforms. I had not been pre- 
 viously acquainted with their project, or I should have 
 prevented it, being naturally averse to the assuming of 
 state on any occasion ; and I was a good deal 
 chagrined at their appearance, as I could not avoid 
 their accompanying me. What made it worse was 
 that as soon as we began to move they drew their 
 swords and rode with them naked all the way. Some- 
 body wrote an account of this to the proprietor, and 
 
194 AtltOBIOaBAPHY OF 
 
 it gave him great offense. No such honor had been 
 paid to him when in the province nor to any of his 
 governors, and he said it was only proper to princes 
 of the blood royal ; which may be true for aught I 
 know, who was, and still am, ignorant of the etiquette 
 in such cases. 
 
 This silly affair, however, greatly increased his 
 rancor against me, which was before considerable on 
 account of my conduct in the Assembly respecting the 
 exemption of his estate from taxation, which I had 
 always opposed very warmly, and not without severe 
 reflections on the meanness and injustice of contend- 
 ing for it. He accused me to the ministry as being 
 the great obstacle to the king's service, preventing by 
 my influence in the House the proper form of the bills 
 for raising money ; and he instanced the parade with 
 my officers as a proof of my having an intention to 
 take the government of the province out of his hands 
 by force. He also applied to Sir Everard Fawkener, 
 the Postmaster-General, to deprive me of my office. 
 But it had no other effect than to procure from Sir 
 Everard a gentle admonition. 
 
 Notwithstanding the continual wrangle between the 
 governor and the House, in which I as a member had 
 so large a share, there still subsisted a civil intercourse 
 between that gentleman and myself, and we never had 
 any personal difference. I have sometimes since 
 thought that his little or no resentment against me for 
 the answers it was known I drew up to his messages 
 might be the effect of professional habit, and that, 
 being bred a lawyer, he might consider us both as 
 merely advocates for contending clients in a suit ; he 
 for the proprietaries and I for the Assembly, Ho 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLY. 1^6 
 
 would therefore sometimes call in a friendly way to 
 advise with me on difficult points, and sometimes, 
 though not often, take my advice. 
 
 We acted in concert to supply Braddock's army with 
 provisions, and when the shocking news arrived of 
 his defeat the governor sent in haste for me, to consult 
 with him on measures for preventing the desertion of 
 the back counties. 1 forgot now the advice I gave ; 
 but I think it was that Dunbar should be written to 
 and prevailed with, if possible, to post his troops on 
 the frontiers for their protection, until by reenforce- 
 ments from the colonies he might be able to proceed 
 in the expedition. And after my return from the 
 frontier he would have had me undertake the conduct 
 of such an expedition with provincial troops for the 
 reduction of Fort Duquesne, Dunbar and his men 
 being otherwise employed ; and he proposed to com- 
 mission me as general. I had not so good an opinion 
 of my military abilities as he professed to have, and I 
 believe his professions must have exceeded his real 
 sentiments ; but probably he might think that my 
 popularity would facilitate the business with the men 
 and influence in the Assembly the grant of money to 
 pay for it, and that, perhaps, without taxing the 
 proprietary. Finding me not so forward to engage 
 as he expected, the project was dropped, and he soon 
 after left the government, being superseded by Cap- 
 tain Denny. 
 
 Before I proceed in relating the part I had in 
 public affairs under this new governor's administration, 
 it may not be amiss to give here some account of the 
 rise and progress of my philosophical reputation. 
 
 In 1746, being in Boston, I met there with a Dr. 
 
196 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Sp«n#e, who was lately arrived from Sootland and 
 showed me some electric experiments. They were 
 imperfectly performed, as he was not very expert; 
 but being on a subject quite new to me, they equally 
 surprised and pleased me. Soon after my return to 
 Philadelphia our library company received from Mr. 
 Peter Collinson, Fellow of the Eoyal Society of 
 London, a present of a glass tube, with some account 
 of the use of it in making such experiments. I eagerly 
 seized the opportunity of repeating what I had seen 
 at Boston, and by much practice acquired great readi- 
 ness in performing those also which we had an account 
 of from England, adding a number of new ones. I 
 say much practice, for my house was continually full 
 for some time with persons who came to see these new 
 wonders. 
 
 To divide a little this incumbrance among my 
 friends I caused a number of similar tubes to be blown 
 in our glass-house, with which they furnished them- 
 selves, so that we had at length several performers. 
 Among these the principal was Mr. Kinnersley, an 
 ingenious neighbor, who, being out of business, I 
 encouraged him to undertake showing the experi- 
 ments for money, and drew up for him two lectures, 
 in which the experiments were ranged in such order 
 and accompanied with explanations in such method 
 as that the foregoing should assist in comprehending 
 the following. He procured an elegant apparatus for 
 the purpose, in which all the little machines that I 
 had roughly made for myself were neatly formed by 
 instrument makers. His lectures were well attended 
 and gave great satisfaction ; and after some time he 
 went through the colonies, exhibiting them in every 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 197 
 
 capital town, and picked up some money. In the 
 West India Islands, indeed, it was with difficulty th« 
 experiments could be made, from the general mois- 
 ture of the air. 
 
 Obliged as we were to Mr. Collinson for the present 
 of the tube, etc., I thought it right he should be in- 
 formed of our success in using it, and wrote him sev- 
 eral letters containing accounts of our experiments. 
 He got them read in the Eoyal Society, where they 
 were not at first thought worth so much notice as to 
 be printed in their " Transactions." One paper which 
 I wrote for Mr. Kinnersley, on the sameness of light- 
 ning with electricity, I sent to Mr. Mitchel, an 
 acquaintance of mine and one of the members also of 
 that society, who wrote me word that it had been 
 read, but was laughed at by the connoisseurs. The 
 papers, however, being shown to Dr. Fothergill, he 
 thought them of too much value to be stifled and ad- 
 vised the printing of them. Mr. Collinson then gave 
 them to Cave for publication in his GentlemarCs Maga- 
 zine^ but he chose to print them separately in a pam- 
 phlet, and Dr. Fothergill wrote the preface. Cave, it 
 seems, judged rightly for his profession, for by the ad- 
 ditions that arrived afterward they swelled to a 
 quarto volume, which has had five editions and cost 
 him nothing for copy-money. 
 
 It was, however, some time before those papers 
 were much taken notice of in England. A copy of 
 them happening to fall into the hands of the Count de 
 Buffon, a philosopher, deservedly of great reputation 
 in France and indeed aU over Europe, he prevailed 
 with M. Dubourg to translate them into French and 
 they were printed at Paris. The publication offended 
 
59e AUTOBIOGRAPHT 0» 
 
 the Abbe NoUet, preceptor in natural philosophy to 
 the royal family and an able experimenter, who had 
 formed and published a theory of electricity, which 
 then had the general vogue. He could not at first be- 
 lieve that such a work came from America, and said 
 it must have been fabricated by his enemies at Paris 
 to oppose his system. Afterward, having been 
 assured that there really existed such a person as 
 Franklin at Philadelphia, which he had doubted, he 
 wrote and published a volume of letters, chiefly 
 addressed to me, defending his theory and denying 
 the verity of my experiments and of the positions de- 
 duced from them. 
 
 I once purposed answering the abbe and actually 
 began the answer ; but on consideration that my 
 writings contained a description of experiments which 
 any one might repeat and verify, and, if not to be 
 verified, could not be defended, or of observations 
 offered as conjectures and not delivered dogmatically, 
 therefore not laying me under any obligation to de- 
 fend them, and reflecting that a dispute between two 
 persons, written in different languages, might be 
 lengthened greatly by mistranslations, and thence 
 misconceptions of one another's meaning, much of one 
 of the abbe's letters being founded on an error in the 
 translation, I concluded to let my papers shift for 
 themselves, believing it was better to spend 
 what time I could spare from public business in making 
 new experiments than in disputing about those 
 already made. I therefore never answered M. JSTollet, 
 and the event gave me no cause to repent my silence ; 
 for my friend M. Le Roy, of the Royal Academy of 
 Sciences, took up my cause and refuted him ; my book 
 
BEirjAMm FRANKLm. 189 
 
 was translated into the Italian, German, and Latin 
 languages, and the doctrine it contained was by de- 
 grees generally adopted by the philosophers of 
 Europe in preference to that of the abbfe, so that he 
 lived to see himself the last of his sect except M. 
 B J of Paris, his Sieve and immediate disciple. 
 
 "What gave my book the more sudden and general 
 celebrity was the success of one of its proposed ex- 
 periments, made by MM. Dalibard and De Lor at 
 Marley, for drawing lightning from the clouds. This 
 engaged the public attention everywhere. M. De 
 Lor, who had an apparatus for experimental philoso- 
 phy and lectured in that branch of science, undertook 
 to repeat what he called the Philadelphia experi- 
 ments; and after they were performed before the 
 king and court, all the curious of Paris flocked to see 
 them. I will not swell this narrative with an account 
 of that capital experiment, nor of the infinite pleasure 
 I received in the success of a similar one I made soon 
 after with a kite at Philadelphia, as both are to be 
 found in the histories of electricity. 
 
 Dr. Wright, an English physician, when at Paris 
 wrote to a friend, who was one of the Royal Society, 
 an account of the high esteem my experiments were 
 in among the learned abroad, and of their wonder that 
 my writings had been so little noticed in England. 
 The society on this resumed the consideration of the 
 letters that had been read to them, and the celebrated 
 Dr. Watson drew up a summary account of them and 
 of all I had afterward sent to England on the subject, 
 which he accompanied with some praise of the writer. 
 This summary was then printed in their " Transac- 
 tions ;" and some members of the society in London, 
 
200 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 particularly the very ingenious Mr. Canton, having 
 verified the experiment of procuring lightning from 
 the clouds by a pointed rod and acquainted them with 
 the success, they soon made me more than amends for 
 the slight with which they had before treated me. 
 Without my having made any application for that 
 honor they chose me a member, and voted that f 
 should be excused the customary payments, which 
 would have amounted to twenty-five guineas ; and ever 
 since have given me their " Transactions " gratis."^ 
 
 * Dr. Franklin gives a further account of his election in a 
 letter to his son, Governor Franklin, from which the following is 
 an extract: 
 
 *' London, 19th December, 1767. 
 
 '* We have had an ugly affair at the Royal Society lately. One 
 Dacosta, a Jew, who, as our clerk, was intrusted with collecting 
 our moneys, had been so unfaithful as to embezzle near thirteen 
 hundred pounds in four years. Being one of the council this 
 year, as well as the last, I have been employed all the last week 
 in attending the inquiry into and unraveling his accounts, in 
 order to come at a full knowledge of his frauds. His securities 
 are bound in one thousand pounds to the society, which they will 
 pay, but we shall probably lose the rest. He had this year 
 received twenty-six admission payments of twenty-five guineas 
 each, which he did not bring to account. 
 
 ** While attending to thisa ffair I had an opportunity of looking 
 over the old council-books and journals of the society, and having 
 a curiosity to see how I came in, of which I had never been 
 informed, I looked back for the minutes relating to it. You 
 must know it is not usual to admit persons that have not re- 
 quested to be admitted; and a recommendatory certificate in 
 favor of the candidate, signed by at least three of the members, is 
 by our rule to be presented to the society, expressing that he is 
 desirous of that honor, and is so and so qualified. As I never 
 had asked or expected the honor, I was, as I said before, curious 
 to see how the business was managed, 1 found that the certificate. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 201 
 
 They also presented me with the gold medal of Sir 
 Godfrey Copley for the year 1753, the delivery of 
 which was accompanied by a very handsome speech of 
 the president, Lord Macclesfield, wherein I was highly 
 honored. 
 
 worded very advantageously for me, was signed by Lord Mac- 
 clesfield, then president, Lord Parker, and Lord Willougbby; that 
 the election was by a unanimous vote; and the honor being 
 voluntarily conferred by the society, unsolicited by me, it was 
 thought wrong to demand or receive the usual fees or composi- 
 tion; so that my name was entered on the list with a vote of 
 council that I was not to pay anything. And accordingly 
 nothing has ever been demanded of me. Those who are admitted 
 in the common way pay five guineas admission fees and two 
 guineas and a half yearly contributions, or twenty-five guineas 
 down in lieu of it. In my case a substantial favor accompanied 
 the honor."— W. T. F. 
 
308 A UT0BI0QRAPM7 OF 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Our new governor, Captain Denny, brought over 
 for me the before-mentioned medal from the Royal 
 Society, which he presented to me at an entertainment 
 given him by the city. He accompanied it with very 
 polite expressions of his esteem for me, having, as he 
 said, been long acquainted with my character. After 
 dinner, when the company, as was customary at that 
 time, were engaged in drinking, he took me aside in 
 another room, and acquainted me that he had been 
 advised by his friends in England to cultivate a friend- 
 ship with me, as one who was capable of giving him 
 the best advice and of contributing most effectually to 
 the making his administration easy. That he therefore 
 desired of all things to have a good understanding with 
 me, and he begged me to be assured of his readiness 
 on all occasions to render me every service that might 
 be in his power. He said much to me also of the 
 proprietor's good disposition toward the province, and 
 of the advantage it would be to us all, and to me in 
 particular, if the opposition that had been so long 
 continued to his measures were dropped and harmony 
 restored between him and the people, in effecting 
 which it was thought no one could be more serviceable 
 than myself ; and I might depend on adequate 
 acknowledgments and recompenses. The drinkers, 
 finding we did uot return immediately to the tablcj 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 303 
 
 sent us a decanter of Madeira, which the governor 
 madie a liberal use of, and in proportion became nior« 
 profuse of his solicitations and promises. 
 
 My answers were to this purpose : that my circum- 
 stances, thanks to God, were such as to make proprie- 
 tary favors unnecessary to me ; and that, being a 
 member of the Assembly, I could not possibly accept 
 of any; that, however, I had no personal enmity to 
 the proprietary, and that whenever the public measures 
 he proposed should appear to be for the good of the 
 people, no one would espouse and forward them more 
 zealously than myself ; my past opposition having been 
 founded on this, that the measures which had been 
 urged were evidently intended to serve the proprietary 
 interest, with great prejudice to that of the people. 
 That I was much obliged to him (the governor) for his 
 profession of regard to me, and he might rely on 
 everything in my power to render his administration 
 as easy to him as possible, hoping at the same time 
 that he had not brought with him the same unfor- 
 tunate instructions his predecessors had been hampered 
 with. 
 
 On this he did not then explain himself ; but when he 
 afterward came to do business with the Assembly they 
 appeared again, the disputes were renewed, and I was 
 as active as ever in the opposition, being the penman, 
 i3rst of the request to have a communication of the 
 instructions, and then of the remarks upon them, 
 which may be found in the votes of the times and in 
 the '' Historical Eeview " I afterward published. But 
 between us personally no enmity arose ; we were often 
 together ; he was a man of letters, had seen much of 
 the world, and was entertaining and pleasing in ton- 
 
304 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 versation. He gave me information that my old 
 friend Ealph was stillalive ; that he was esteemed one 
 of the best political writers in England; had been em- 
 ployed in the dispute between Prince Frederick and 
 the king, and had obtained a pension of three hundred 
 pounds a year ; that his reputation was indeed small 
 as a poet, Pope having damned his poetry in the 
 " Dunciad ;" but his prose was thought as good as any 
 man's. 
 
 The Assembly finally finding the proprietary ob- 
 stinately persisted in shackling the deputies with in- 
 structions inconsistent, not only with the privileges of 
 the people, but with the service of the crown, resolved 
 to petition the king against them, and appointed me 
 their agent to go over to England to present and sup- 
 port the petition. The House had sent up a bill to the 
 governor, granting a sum of sixty thousand pounds 
 for the king's use (ten thousand pounds of which was 
 subjected to the orders of the then general, Lord Lou- 
 doun), which the governor, in compliance with his in- 
 structions, absolutely refused to pass. 
 
 I had agreed with Captain Morris, of the packet at 
 New York, for my passage, and my stores were put 
 on board, when Lord Loudoun arrived at Philadelphia, 
 expressly, as he told me, to endeavor an accommoda- 
 tion between the governor and Assembly, that his 
 majesty's service might not be obstructed by their dis- 
 sensions. Accordingly he desired the governor and 
 myself to meet him, that he might hear what was to 
 be said on both sides. We met and discussed the busi- 
 ness. In behalf of the Assembly I urged the various 
 arguments that may be found in the public papers of 
 that time^ which were of my writing and are printed 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 205 
 
 with the minutes of the Assembly ; and the governor 
 pleaded his instructions, the bond he had given to ob- 
 serve them, and his ruin if he disobeyed, yet seemed 
 not unwilling to hazard himself if Lord Loudoun would 
 advise it. This his lordship did not choose to do, 
 though I once thought I had nearly prevailed with 
 him to do it ; but finally he rather chose to urge the 
 compliance of the Assembly ; and he entreated me to 
 use my endeavors with them for that purpose, declar- 
 ing that he would spare none of the king's troops for 
 the defense of our frontiers, and that if we did not 
 continue to provide for that defense ourselves they 
 must remain exposed to the enemy. 
 
 I acquainted the House with what had passed, and 
 presenting them with a set of resolutions I had drawn 
 up declaring our rights, that we did not relinquish our 
 claim to those rights, but only suspended the exercise 
 of them on this occasion through force^ against which 
 we protested, they at length agreed to drop that bill 
 and frame another conformable to the proprietary in- 
 structions. This, of course, the governor passed, and 
 I was then at liberty to proceed on my voyage ; but 
 in the mean time the packet had sailed with my sea- 
 stores, which was some loss to me, and my only recom- 
 pense was his lordship's thanks for my service, all 
 the credit of obtaining the accommodation falling to 
 his share. 
 
 He set out for New York before me, and as the 
 time for dispatching the packet-boats was at his dis- 
 position and there were two then remaining there, 
 one of which, he said, was to sail very soon, I re- 
 quested to know the precise time, that I might not 
 miss her by any delay of mine. The answer was : " I 
 
206 AUTOBIOQEAPHr OF 
 
 have given out that she is to sail on Saturday next ; 
 but I may let you know/ entre nous^ that if you are 
 there by Monday morning you will be in time, but do 
 not delay longer." By some accidental hindrance 
 at a ferry it was Monday noon befere I arrived, and I 
 was much afraid she might have sailed, as the wind 
 was fair ; but I was soon made easy by the informa- 
 tion that she was still in the harbor, and would not 
 move till the next day. One would imagine that I 
 was now on the very point of departing for Europe. 
 I thouo^ht so ; but I was not then so well acquainted 
 with his lordship's character, of which indecision was 
 one of his strongest features. I shall give some in- 
 stances. It was about the beginning of April that I 
 came to New York, and I think it was near the end 
 of June before we sailed. There were then two of 
 the packet-boats, which had been long in readiness, 
 but were detained for the general's letters, which 
 were always to be ready to-morrow. Another packet 
 arrived. She, too, was detained, and before we sailed 
 a fourth was expected. Ours was the first to be dis- 
 patched as having been there the longest. Passengers 
 were engaged for all, and some extremely impatient to 
 be gone and the merchants uneasy about their letters, 
 and for the orders they had given for insurance (it 
 being war-time) and for autumnal goods ; but their 
 anxiety availed nothing. His lordship's letters were 
 not ready, and yet whoever waited on him found him 
 always at his desk, pen in hand, and concluded he 
 must needs write abundantly. 
 
 Going myself one morning to pay my respects, I 
 found in his antechamber one Innis, a messenger of 
 Philadelphia, who had come thence express, with a 
 
BSJFJAMIN FRANKLm. 307 
 
 packet from Governor Denny for the general. He 
 delivered to me some letters from my friends there, 
 which occasioned my inquiring when he was to return 
 and where he lodged, that I might send some letters 
 by him. He told me he was ordered to call to-mor- 
 row at nine for the general's answer to the governor, 
 and should set off immediately. I put my letters into 
 his hands the same day. A fortnight after I met him 
 again in the same place. " So you are soon returned, 
 Innis ?" " Keturned ! no, I am not gone yet." " How 
 so?" "I have called here this and every morning 
 these two weeks past for his lordship's letters, and 
 they are not yet ready." " Is it possible, when he is 
 so great a writer ? for I see him constantly at his 
 escritoire." " Yes," said Innis, " but he is like St. 
 George on the signs, always on horsebacTc and never rides 
 onP This observation of the messenger was, it seems, 
 well founded ; for when in England I understood that 
 Mr. Pitt, afterward Lord Chatham, gave it as one reason 
 for removing this general and sending Generals Am- 
 herst and Wolfe, that the minister never heard from 
 him and could not know v)hat he was doing. 
 
 In this daily expectation of sailing, and all the three 
 packets going down to Sandy Hook to join the fleet 
 there, the passengers thought it best to be on board, 
 lest by a sudden order the ships should sail and they be 
 left behind. There, if I remember, we were about six 
 weeks, consuming our sea-stores and obliged to pro- 
 cure more. At length the fleet sailed, the general and 
 all his army on board, bound to Louisbourg, with intent 
 to besiege and take that fortress; and all the packet- 
 boats in company were ordered to attend the general's 
 ship, ready to receive his dispatches when they should 
 
208 ^ UTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 be ready. We were out five days before we got a 
 letter with leave to part, and then our ship quitted the 
 fleet and steered for England. The other two packets 
 he still detained, carried them with him to Halifax, 
 where he stayed some time to exercise the men in 
 sham attacks upon sham forts, then altered his mind 
 as to besieging Louisbourg and returned to New York 
 with all his troops, together with the two packets 
 above mentioned and all their passengers! During 
 his absence the French and savages had taken Fort 
 George, on the frontier of that province, and the In- 
 dians had massacred many of the garrison after capit- 
 ulation. 
 
 On the whole, I wondered much how such a man 
 came to be intrusted with so important a business as 
 the conduct of a great army ; but having since seen 
 more of the great world and the means of obtaining 
 and motives for giving places and employments, my 
 wonder is diminished. General Shirley, on whom the 
 command of the army devolved upon the death of 
 Braddock, would, in my opinion, if continued in place 
 have made a much better campaign than that of 
 Loudoun in 1756, which was frivolous, expensive, and 
 ^ disgraceful to our nation beyond conception. For 
 ' though Shirley was not bred a soldier, he was sensible 
 and sagacious in himself and attentive to good advice 
 from others, capable of forming judicious plans and 
 quick and active in carrying them into execution. 
 Loudoun, instead of defending the colonies with his 
 great army, left them totally exposed while he paraded 
 idly at Halifax, by which means Fort George was 
 lost ; besides, he deranged all our mercantile opera- 
 tions and distressed our trade by a long embargo on. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 26& 
 
 the exportation of provisioDS, on pretense of keeping 
 supplies from being obtained by the enemy, but in 
 reality for beating down their pric^ in favor of the 
 contractors, in whose profits it was said, perhaps from 
 suspicion only, he had a share ; and when at length 
 the embargo was taken off, neglecting to send notice 
 of it to Charleston, where the Carolina fleet was 
 detained near three months, and whereby their bot- 
 toms were so much damaged by the worm that a great 
 part of them foundered in their passage home. 
 
 Shirley was, I believe, sincerely glad of being re- 
 lieved from so burdensome a charge as the conduct of 
 an army must be to a man unacquainted w^ ith military 
 business. I was at the entertainment given by the city 
 of New York to Lord Loudoun on his taking upon him 
 the command. Shirley, though thereby superseded, 
 was present also. There was a great company of 
 oflElcers, citizens, and strangers, and some chairs having 
 been borrowed in the neighborhood, there was one 
 among them very low, which fell to the lot of Mr. 
 Shirley. I sat by him, and perceiving it I said : 
 " They have have given you a very low seat." " No 
 matter, Mr. Franklin," said he ; " I find a low seat the 
 easiest." 
 
 While I was, as before mentioned, detained at New 
 York, I received all the accounts of the provisions, 
 etc., that I had furnished to Braddock, some of which 
 accounts could not sooner be obtained from the differ- 
 ent persons I had employed to assist in the business. 
 I presented them to Lord Loudoun, desiring to be paid 
 the balance. He caused them to be examined- by the 
 proper officer, who, after comparing every article with 
 \ts voucher^ certified them to be right; and his lord* 
 
210 ^ VToBioanApB r of 
 
 ship promised to give me an order on the paymaster 
 for the balance due to me. This was, however, put 
 off from time to time, and though I called often for it 
 by appointment, I did not get it. At length, just be- 
 fore my departure, he told me he had, on better con- 
 sideration, concluded not to mix his accounts with 
 those of his predecessors. " And you," said he, " when 
 in England, have only to exhibit your accounts to the 
 Treasury and you will be paid immediately." 
 
 I mentioned, but without effect, a great and unex- 
 pected expense I had been put to by being detained so 
 long at New York as a reason for ray desiring to be 
 presently paid, and on my observing that it was not 
 right I should be put to any further trouble or delay 
 in obtaining the money I had advanced, as I charged 
 no commission for my service, "Oh," said he, "you 
 must not think of persuading us that you are no 
 gainer ; we understand better those matters and know 
 that every one concerned in supplying the army finds 
 means, in the doing it, to fill his own pockets." I 
 assured him that was not my case and that I had not 
 pocketed a farthing ; but he appeared clearly not to 
 believe me, and indeed, I afterward learned that im- 
 mense fortunes are often made in such employments. 
 As to my balance, I am not paid it to this day ; of 
 which more hereafter. 
 
 Our captain of the packet boasted much, before we 
 sailed, of the swiftness of his ship ; unfortunately, 
 when we came to sea she proved the dullest of ninety- 
 aix sail, to his no small mortification. After many 
 conjectures respecting the cause, when we were near 
 another ship, almost as dull as ours, which, however, 
 gained upon us, the captain ordered all hands to come 
 
BENJAMIN FEANKLIK JU 
 
 aft and stand as near the ensign staff as possible. ' We 
 were, passengers included, about forty persons. 
 While we stood there the ship mended her pace and 
 soon left her neighbor far behind, which proved clearly 
 what our captain suspected — that she was loaded too 
 much by the head. The casks of water, it seems, had 
 been all placed forward ; these he therefore ordered 
 to be moved further aft, on which the ship recovered 
 her character and proved the best sailer in the fleet. 
 
 The captain said she had once gone at the rate of 
 thirteen knots, which is accounted thirteen miles per 
 hour. We had on board as a passenger Captain Archi- 
 bald Kennedy, of the Eoyal Navy, who contended 
 that it was impossiole ; that no ship ever sailed so fast, 
 and that there must have been some error in the 
 division of the log-line or some mistake in heaving the 
 log, A wager ensued between the two captains, to be 
 decided when there should be sufficient wind. Kennedy 
 therefore examined the log-line, and being satisfied 
 with it he determined to throw the log himself. Some 
 days after, when the wind was very fair and fresh, 
 and the captain of the packet, Lutwidge, said he 
 believed she then went at the rate of thirteen knots, 
 Kennedy made the experiment and owned his wager 
 lost. 
 
 The foregoing fact I give for the sake of the 
 following observation. It has been remarked as an 
 imperfection in the art of ship-building that it can 
 never be known till she is tried whether a new ship 
 will or will not be a good sailer ; for that the model 
 of a good sailing-ship has been exactly followed in a 
 new one, which has been proved on the contrary 
 remarkably dull, I apprehend that this may partly 
 
212 AUTOBIOGBAPBY OP 
 
 be occasioned by the different opinions of seamen 
 respecting ttie modes of loading, rigging, and sailing 
 of a ship. Each has his method ; and the same vessel, 
 laden by the method and orders of one captain, shall 
 sail worse than when by the orders of. another. Be- 
 sides, it scarce ever happens that a ship is formed, 
 fitted for the sea, and sailed by the same person. One 
 men builds the hull, another rigs her, a third loads and 
 sails her. No one of these has the advantage of 
 knowing all the ideas and experience of the others, and 
 therefore cannot draw just conclusions from a com- 
 bination of the whole. 
 
 Even in the simple operation of sailing, when at sea 
 1 have often observed different judgments in the 
 officers who commanded the successive watches, the 
 wind being the same. One would have the sails 
 trimmed sharper or fiatter than another, so that they 
 seemed to have no certain rules to govern by. Yet I 
 think a set of experiments might be instituted, first, to 
 determine the most proper form of the hull for swift 
 sailing; next, the best dimensions and most proper 
 place for the masts ; then the form and quantity of 
 sails and their position, as the winds may be ; and 
 lastly, the disposition of the lading. This is an age of 
 'experiments, and I think a set accurately made and 
 combined would be of great use. 
 
 We were several times chased in our passage, but 
 outsailed everything, and in thirty days had soundings. 
 We had a good observation, and the captain judged 
 himself so near our port, Falmouth, that if we made a 
 good run in the night we might be off the mouth of 
 that harbor in the morning ; and by running in the 
 night might escape the notice of the enemy's priva- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 213 
 
 teers, who often cruised near the entrance of the 
 Ohannel. Accordingly all the sail was set that we 
 could possibly carry, and the wind being very fresh 
 and fair, we stood right before it and made great way. 
 The captain, after his observation, shaped his course, 
 as he thought, so as to pass wide of the Scilly Eocks ; 
 but it seems there is sometimes a strong current setting 
 up St. George's Channel, which formerly caused the 
 loss of Sir Cloudesley Shovel's squadron in 1707. This 
 was probably also the cause of what happened to us. 
 
 We had a watchman placed in the bow, to whom 
 they often called, '-' Look well out hefore there^'^ and he 
 as often answered " Ay., ayf^ but perhaps had his eyes 
 shut and was half -asleep at the time, they sometimes 
 answering, as is said, mechanically; for he did not see 
 a light just before us, which had been hid by the 
 studding-sails from the man at the helm and from the 
 rest of the watch, but by an accidental yaw of the 
 ship was discovered and occasioned a great alarm, we 
 being very near it ; the light appearing to me as large 
 as a cart-wheel. It was midnight and our captain fast 
 asleep ; but Captain Kennedy, jumping upon deck and 
 seeing the danger, ordered the ship to wear round, all 
 sails standing ; an operation dangerous to the masts, 
 but it carried us clear and we avoided shipwreck, for 
 we were running fast on the rocks, on which the light 
 was erected. This deliverance impressed me strongly 
 with the utility of light-houses, and made me resolve 
 to encourage the building some of them in America if 
 I should live to return thither. 
 
 In the morning it was found by the soundings that 
 we were near our port, but a thick fog hid the land 
 from our sight. About nine o'clock the fog began to 
 
2U AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLOf. 
 
 rise, and seemed to be lifted up from the water like a 
 curtain of a theater, discovering underneath the town 
 of Falmouth, the vessels in the harbor, and the fields 
 that surround it. This was a pleasing spectacle to 
 those who had been long without any other prospect 
 than the uniform view of a vacant ocean, and it gave 
 us the more pleasure, as we were now free from the 
 anxieties which had arisen."^ 
 
 I set out immediately with my son for London, and 
 we only stopped a little by the way to view Stone- 
 henge on Salisbury Plain, and Lord Pembroke's house 
 and gardens, with the very curious antiquities, at 
 Wilton. We arrived in London the 27th of July, 1757. 
 
 * In a letter from Dr. Franklin to his wife, dated at Falmouth, 
 the 17th of July, 1757, after giving her a similar account of his 
 voyage, escape, and landing, he adds: ''The bell ringing for 
 church we went thither immediately, and with hearts full of 
 gratitude returned sincere thanks to God for the mercies we had 
 received. Were I a Koman Catholic, perhaps I should on this 
 occasion vow to build a chapel to some saint; but as I am not, 
 if I were to vow at all it should be to build a Ught-hotise.'^^ — 
 W, T. F. 
 
 mrD OF AUTOBIOGRAPHT, 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC 
 
 AND 
 
 OTHER PAPERS. 
 
In the early days of onr coantfy almanacs were a popular 
 form of literature. Almost every farmer had an almanac hang- 
 ing near the fireplace. These almanacs usually contained a 
 monthly calendar, movements of the heavenly bodies, and a 
 variety of information and useful literature. Franklin began 
 the publication of such an almanac in 1732 and continued it 
 for twenty-five years, claiming it was written by one Richard 
 Saunders. In his almanac Franklin began his proverbs with the 
 phrase Poor Richard says, as if he were quoting from Richard 
 Saunders, and thus the almanac came to be called Poor Richard's 
 Almanac, 
 
 ^' These proverbs," says Franklin, " which contain the wisdom 
 of many ages and nations, I assembled and formed into a con- 
 nected discourse, prefixed to the almanac of 1757, as the 
 harangue of a wise old man to the people attending an auction. 
 The bringing all these scattered counsels thus into a focus 
 enabled them to make greater impression. The piece, being 
 universally approved, was copied in all the newspapers of the 
 continent and reprinted in Britain on a broadside, to be stuck 
 up in houses; two translations were made of it in French and 
 great numbers bought by the clergy and gentry, to distribute 
 gratis among their poor parishioners and tenants. In Pennsyl- 
 vania, as it discouraged useless expense in foreign superfluities, 
 some thought it had its share of influence in producing that 
 growing plenty of money which was observable for several years 
 after its publication." 
 
 The pages which follow were prefixed to the almanac of 1757. 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 Courteous Reader: I have heard that nothing 
 gives an author so great pleasure as to find his works 
 respectfully quoted by other learned authors. This 
 pleasure I have seldom enjoyed. For though I have 
 been, if I may say it without vanity, an eminent 
 author of almanacs annually now for a full quarter of 
 a century, my brother authors in the same way, for 
 what reason 1 know not, have ever been very sparing 
 in their applauses, and no other author has taken the 
 least notice of me ; so that did not my writings pro- 
 duce me some solid pudding, the great deficiency of 
 praise would have quite discouraged me. 
 
 I concluded at length that the people were the best 
 judges of my merit, for they buy my works ; and be- 
 sides, in my rambles, where I am not personally 
 known I have frequently heard one or other of my 
 adages repeated, with as Poor Richard says at the 
 end of it. This gave me some satisfaction, as it 
 showed not only that my instructions were regarded, 
 but discovered likewise some respect for my author- 
 ity ; and I own that to encourage the practice of 
 remembering and repeating those sentences, I have 
 sometimes quoted myself with great gravity. 
 
 Judge, then, how much I must have been gratified 
 by an incident I am going to relate to you. I stopped 
 pay horse lately where a great number of people were. 
 
220 -^ UTOBIOGRAPEY OF 
 
 collected at a vendue of merchant's goods. The hour 
 of sale not being come, they were conversing on the 
 badness of the times ; and one of the company called 
 to a plain, clean old man with white locks, " Pray, 
 Father Abraham, what think you of the times ? Won't 
 these heavy taxes quite ruin the country ? How shall 
 we ever be able to pay them ? What would you ad- 
 vise us to ?" Father Abraham stood up and replied : 
 "If you would have my ad dee, I will give it you in 
 short ; for ' a word to the wise is enough,' and ' many 
 words won't fill a bushel,' as Poor Richard says." 
 They all joined, desiring him to speak his mind, and 
 gathering round him he proceeded as follows : 
 
 Friends and neighbors, the taxes are indeed very 
 heavy, and if those laid on by the government were 
 the only ones we had to pay, we might the more easil}^ 
 discharge them ; but we have many others, and much 
 more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as 
 much by our idleness, three times as much by our 
 PEiDE, and four times as much by our folly ; and from 
 these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver 
 us by allowing an abatement. However, let us hearken 
 to good advice, and something may be done for us. 
 "God helps them that help themselves," as Poor 
 Richard says in his almanac of 1733. 
 
 It would be thought a hard government that should 
 tax its people one-tenth part of their time, to be em- 
 ployed in its service, but idleness taxes many of us 
 much more, if we reckon all that is spent in absolute 
 sloth or doing of nothing, with that which is spent in 
 idle employments or amusements that amount to 
 nothing. Sloth, by bringing on diseases, absolutely 
 shortens life, " Sloth^ like rust, consumes faster than 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 221 
 
 labor wears ; while the used key is always bright," as 
 Poor Eichard says. " But dost thou love life ? then do 
 not squander time, for that's the*stuff life is made of/' 
 as Poor Richard savs. 
 
 How much more than is necessary do we spend in 
 sleep ? forgetting that " the sleeping fox catches no 
 poultry," and that " there will be sleeping enough in 
 the grave," as Poor Richard says. If time be of all 
 things the most precious, ''' wasting of time must be," 
 as Poor Richard says, " the greatest prodigality ;" 
 since, as he elsewhere tells us, " lost time is never found 
 again," and what we call " time enough ! always proves 
 little enough." Let us, then, up and be doing, and 
 doing to the purpose ; so by diligence shall we do 
 more with less perplexity. " Sloth makes all things 
 difficult, but industry all things easy," as Poor Richard 
 says ; and " he that riseth late must trot all day, and 
 shall scarce overtake his business at night ; while 
 laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes 
 him," as we read in Poor Richard ; who adds, " drive 
 thy business ! let not that drive thee !" and — 
 
 ** Early to bed and early to rise 
 Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." 
 
 So what signifies wishing and hoping for better 
 times ? We may make these times better if we bestir 
 ourselves. " Industry need not wish," as Poor Richard 
 says, and " he that lives on hope will die fasting." 
 ^' There are no gains without pains ; then help, hands I 
 for I have no lands ;" or, if I have, they, are smartly 
 taxed. And as Poor Richard likewise observes, " he 
 that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath a 
 calling hath an oflSce of profit and honor ;" but then 
 
32a AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the trade must be worked at and the calling well fol« 
 lowed, or neither the estate nor the office will enable 
 us to pay our taxes. If we are industrious we shall 
 never starve ; for^ as Poor Eichard says, " at the work- 
 ing-man's house hunger looks in, but dares not enter." 
 Nor will the bailiff or the constable enter, for " industry 
 pays debts, while despair increaseth them." 
 
 What though you have found no treasure, nor has 
 any rich relation left you a legacy, " diligence is the 
 mother of good luck," as Poor Richard says, and " God 
 gives all things to industry." 
 
 * * Then plow deep while sluggards sleep, 
 And you shall have corn to sell and to keep," 
 
 says Poor Dick. Work while it is called to-day, for 
 you know not how much you may be hindered to- 
 morrow; which makes Poor Richard say, "one to- 
 day is worth two to-morrows;" and further, "have 
 you somewhat to do to-morrow ? Do it to-day !" 
 
 If you were a servant would you not be ashamed 
 that a good master should catch you idle ? Are you, 
 then, your own master ? " Be ashamed to catch your- 
 self idle," as Poor Dick says. When there is so 
 much to be done for 3^ourself, your family, your 
 country, and your gracious king, be up by peep of 
 day ! " Let not the sun look down and say, ' Inglorious 
 here he lies !' " Handle your tools without mittens ! 
 remember that " the cat in gloves catches no mice !" 
 as Poor Richard says. 
 
 'Tis true there is much to be done, and perhaps you 
 are weak-handed ; but stick to it steadily and you will 
 see great efleotss ; for " qoftstant dropping wears away 
 
BENJAMIN PRANELIN. tgg 
 
 stones ;" and " by diligence and patience the mouse ate 
 in two the cable ;" and "little strokes fell great oaks ;" 
 as Poor Richard says in his almanac, the year I can- 
 not jast now remember. 
 Methinks I hear some of you say, " Must a man 
 fford himself no leisure ?" I will tell thee, my friend, 
 vhat Poor Eichard says, "employ thy time well if 
 thou meanest to gain leisure ;" and "since thou art not 
 sure of a minute, throw not away an hour !" Leisure 
 is time for doing something useful ; this leisure the 
 diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never; so 
 that, as Poor Eichard says, "a life of leisure and a 
 life of laziness are two things." Do vou imau^ine that 
 sloth will afford you more comfort than labor? No! 
 for, as Poor Eichard says, "trouble springs from idle- 
 ness and grievous toil from needless ease." " Many, 
 without labor, would live by their wits only, but 
 thej^'U break for want of stock" [means]; whereas 
 industry gives comfort, and plenty, and respect. 
 "Fly pleasures and they'll follow you;" "the diligent 
 spinner has a large shift ;" and 
 
 " Now I have a sheep and a cow, 
 Everybody bids me good-morrow." 
 
 All which is well said by Poor Eichard. . But with 
 our industry we must likewise be steady, settled, and 
 careful, and oversee our own affairs with our own 
 eyes and not trust too much to others ; for, as Poor 
 Eichard says — 
 
 ** I never saw an oft-removed tree 
 Nor yet an oft-removed family 
 That throve so well as those that settled be." 
 
 And again, " three removes are as bad as a fire ;" 
 
'234 ^ UTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 and again, "keep thy shop and thy shop will keep 
 thee;" and again, "if you would have your business 
 done, go ; if not, send." And again — 
 
 '* He that by the plow would thrive, 
 Himself must either hold or drive." 
 
 And again, " the eye of the master will do more 
 work than both his hands ;" and again, " want of care 
 does us more damage than want of knowledge ;" and 
 again, " not to oversee workmen is to leave them your 
 purse open." 
 
 Trusting too much to others' care is the ruin of 
 many ; for, as the almanac says. " in the affairs of this 
 w^orld men are saved, not by faith, but by the want of 
 it ;" but a man's own care is profitable ; for, saith 
 Poor Dick, " learning is to the studious and riches to 
 the careful;" as well as "power to the bold" and 
 " heaven to the virtuous." And further, " if you would 
 have a faithful servant and one that you like, serve 
 yourself." 
 
 And again, he adviseth to circumspection and care, 
 even in the smallest matters ; because sometimes " a 
 little neglect may breed great mischief ;" adding, 
 " for want of a nail the shoe was lost ; for want of a 
 shoe the horse was lost ; and for want of a horse the 
 rider was lost ;" being overtaken and slain by the 
 enemy ; all for want of a little care about a horseshoe 
 nail ! 
 
 So much for industry, my friends, and attention to 
 one's own business ; but to these we must add frugality 
 if we would make our industry more certainly success- 
 ful. " A man mav," if he knows not how to save as 
 he gets, " keep, his nose all his life to the grindstone 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 225 
 
 and die not worth a groat at last." " A fat kitchen 
 makes a lean will," as Poor Kichard says ; and 
 
 ** Many estates are spent in the getting, 
 Since women for tea * forsook spinning and knitting, 
 And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting. " 
 
 If you would be wealthy, says he in another almanac, 
 " think of saving as well as of getting. The Indies 
 have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are 
 greater than her incomes." 
 
 Away, then, with your expensive follies, and you will 
 not have so much cause to complain of hard times, 
 heavy taxes, and chargeable families ; for, as poor 
 Dick says— 
 
 '* Women and wine, game and deceit, 
 Make the wealth small and the wants great. " 
 
 And further, '^ what maintains one vice would bring 
 up two children." You may think, perhaps, that a 
 little tea or a little punch now and then, a diet a little 
 more costly, clothes a little finer, and a little more 
 entertainment now and then, can be no great matter ; 
 but remember what Poor Richard says, "many a 
 little makes a mickle ;" and further, " beware of little 
 expenses ; a small leak will sink a great ship ;" and 
 
 agam- 
 
 *' Who dainties love shall beggars prove ;" 
 
 and moreover, " fools make feasts and wise men eat 
 them." 
 
 . Here are you all got together at this vendue of 
 fineries and knick-knacks. You call them goods ; but 
 if you do not take care they will prove evils to some 
 
 * Tea at this time was expensive and regarded a luxury. 
 
326 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 of you. Tou expect they will be sold cheap, and per- 
 haps they may for less than they cost; but if you 
 have no occasion for them they must be dear to you. 
 Remember what Poor Eichard says : " Buy what thou 
 hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy 
 necessaries." And again, ^'at a great pennyworth 
 pause awhile." He means that perhaps the cheapness 
 is apparent only and not real ; or the bargain by strait- 
 ening thee in thy business may do thee more harm 
 than good. For in another place he says, " many 
 have been ruined by buying good pennyworths." 
 
 Again, Poor Richard says, "'tis foolish to lay out 
 money in a purchase of repentance ;" and yet this 
 folly is practiced every day at vendues for want of 
 minding the almanac. 
 
 "Wise men," as Poor Eichard says, "learn by 
 others' harms ; fools scarcely by their own ;" but 
 Felix quern faciunt aliena pericula cautum,^ Many a 
 one, for the sake of finery on the back, has gone with 
 a hungry belly and half-starved their families. " Silks 
 and satins, scarlets and velvets," as Poor Eichard 
 says, " put out the kitchen fire." These are not the 
 necessaries of life ; they can scarcely be called the con- 
 veniences ; and yet, only because they look pretty, 
 how many want to have them I The artificial wants 
 of mankind thus become more numerous than the 
 natural ; and as Poor Dick says, " for one poor person 
 there are a hundred indigent." 
 
 By these and other extravagances the genteel are 
 reduced to poverty and forced to borrow of those 
 
 * He's a lucky fellow who is made prudent by other men'« 
 perils. 
 
BENJAMm FBANKLm, Wt 
 
 whom they formerly despised, but who, throngh in- 
 dustry and frugality, have maintained their standing ; 
 in which case it appears plainly fhat ''a plowman on 
 his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees," as 
 Poor Eichard says. Perhaps they have had a small 
 estate left them, which they knew not the getting of ; 
 they think, ^"tis day and will never be night;" that 
 ^' a little to be spent out of so much is not worth 
 minding " (a child and a fool, as Poor Richard says, 
 imagine twenty shillings and twenty years can never 
 be spent) ; but "always taking out of the meal-tub, 
 and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom." 
 Then, as Poor Dick says, " when the well's dry they 
 know the worth of water." But this they might have 
 known before if they had taken his advice. " If j^ou 
 would know the value of money, go and try to bor- 
 row some;" for "he that goes a-borrowing goes a- 
 Borrowing," and indeed so does he that lends to such 
 people, when he goes to get it in again. 
 Poor Dick further advises and says : 
 
 *' Fond pride of dress is, sure, a very curse; 
 Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse." 
 
 And again, "' pride is as loud a beggar as want and a 
 great deal more saucy." When you have bought one 
 fine thing you must buy ten more, that your appear- 
 ance may be all of a piece ; but Poor Dick says, " 'tis 
 easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all 
 that follow it." And 'tis as truly folly for the poor to 
 ape the rich as for the frog to swell in order to equal 
 the ox. - 
 
 "Great estates may venture more, 
 But little boats should keep near ghore," 
 
228 AtlTOBIOQRAPHT OF 
 
 'Tis, however, a folly. soon punished ; for " pride 
 that dines on vanity sups on contempt," as Poor 
 Richard says. And in another place, " pride break- 
 fasted with plenty, dined with poyerty, and supped 
 with infamy." 
 
 And after all, of what use is this pride of appear- 
 ance, for which so much is risked, so much is suffered ? 
 It cannot promote health or ease pain ; it makes no 
 increase of merit in the person; it creates envy; it 
 hastens misfortune. 
 
 " What is a butterfly ? At best 
 He's but a caterpillar drest, 
 The gaudy fop's his picture just," 
 
 as Poor Richard says. 
 
 But what madness must it be to run into debt for 
 these superfluities ! We are offered by the terms of 
 this vendue six months' credit ; and that, perhaps, has 
 induced some of us to attend it, because we cannot 
 spare the ready money and hope now to be fine with- 
 out it. But ah ! think what you do when you run in 
 debt: you give to another power over your liberty. 
 If you cannot pay at the time you will be ashamed to 
 see your creditor ; you will be in fear when you speak 
 to him ; you will make poor, pitiful, sneaking excuses, 
 and by degrees come to lose your veracity and sink 
 into base, downright lying ; for, as Poor Richard says, 
 " the second vice is lying, the first is running into 
 debt ;" and again, to the same purpose, " lying rides 
 upon debt's back ;" whereas a free-born Englishman 
 ought not to be ashamed or afraid to see or speak to 
 any man living. But poverty often deprives a man of 
 all spirit and virtue. " 'Tis hard for an empty bag to 
 stand upright!" as Poor Richard truly says. What 
 
Benjamin franklin. 229 
 
 would you think of that prince or the government 
 who should issue an edict forbidding you to dress like 
 a gentleman or gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment 
 or servitude? Would you not say that you are free, 
 have a right to dress as you please, and that such an 
 edict would be a breach of your privileges and such a 
 government^ tyrannical ? And yet you are about to 
 put yourself under such tyranny when you run in 
 debt for such dress ! Tour creditor has authority, at 
 his pleasure, to deprive you of your liberty by confin- 
 ing you in jail for life or to sell you for a servant if you 
 should not be able to pay him. When you have got 
 your bargain you may, perhaps, think little of pay- 
 ment ; but " creditors," Poor Richard tells us, "have 
 better memories than debtors ;" and in another place 
 says, " creditors are a superstitious set, great observ- 
 ers of set days and times." The day comes round 
 before you are aware, and the demand is made before 
 you are prepared to satisfy it ; or, if you bear your debt 
 in mind, the term which at first seemed so long will, 
 as it lessens, appear extremely short. Time will seem 
 to have added wings to his heels as well as his 
 shoulders. " Those have a short Lent," saith Poor 
 Richard, "who owe money to be paid at Easter." 
 Then since, as he says, " the borrower is a slave to the 
 lender and the debtor to the creditor," disdain the 
 chain, preserve your freedom, and maintain your 
 independency. Be industrious and free; be frugal 
 and free. At present, perhaps, you may think your- 
 self in thriving circumstances, and that you can bear 
 a little extravagance without injury ; but — 
 
 *^ For age and want, save while you may; 
 No morning sun lasts a whole day." 
 
JJ80 AnfOBIOGRAPBT OP 
 
 As Poor Richard says, gain may be temporary and 
 uncertain; but ever while you live expense is constant 
 and certain ; and " His easier to build two chimneys 
 than to keep one in fuel," as Poor Eichard says ; so, 
 *' rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt." 
 
 *' Get what you can, and what you get hold; 
 'Tis the stone that will turn all your load into gold," * 
 
 as Poor Eichard says ; and w^hen yoxx have got the 
 philosopher's stone, sure, you \vill no longer complain 
 of bad times or the difficulty of paying taxes. 
 
 This doctrine, my friends, is reason and wisdom; 
 but, after all, do not depend too much upon your own 
 industry and frugality and prudence, though excellent 
 things, for they may all be blasted without the blessing 
 of Heaven ; and therefore ask that blessing humbly, 
 and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem 
 to want it, but comfort and help them. Eemember Job 
 suffered and was afterward prosperous. 
 
 And now, to conclude, "experience keeps a dear 
 school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in 
 that ;" for it is true, " we may give advice, but we 
 cannot give conduct," as Poor Eichard says. How- 
 ever, remember this : " they that won't be counseled 
 can't be helped," as Poor Eichard says ; and further, 
 that " if you will not hear reason she'll surely rap your 
 knuckles." 
 
 Thus the old gentleman ended his harangue. The 
 people heard it and approved the doctrine, and im- 
 mediately practiced the contrary, just as if it had been 
 
 ♦The philosopher's stone, so called, a mineral having the power 
 of turning base metals into gold. 
 
BMNJAMIN FRANKLIK 831 
 
 a common sermon. For the vendue opened and they 
 began to buy extravagantly, notwithstanding all his 
 cautions and their own fear of taxes. I found the good 
 man had thoroughly studied my almanacs and digested 
 all I had dropped on those topics during the course of 
 twenty-five years. The frequent mention he made of 
 me must have tired any one else ; but my vanity was 
 wonderfully delighted with it, though I was conscious 
 that not a tenth part of the wisdom was my own which 
 he ascribed to me, but rather ihe gleanings that I had 
 made of the sense of all ages and nations. However, 
 I resolved to be the better for the echo of it, and 
 though I had at first determined to buy stuff for a new 
 ooat, I went away resolved to wear my old one a little 
 longer. Eeader, if thou wilt do the same, thy profit 
 will be as great as mine. I am, as ever, thine to serve 
 thee, 
 
 ElCHARD SaUNDEES. 
 
 J'% 7th, 1757- 
 
233 A UTOBIOGBAPHY OF 
 
 PLAN FOE SAYING ONE HUNDEED THOU^ 
 SAND POUNDS. 
 
 From "Poor Eichard\s Almanac," 1756. 
 
 As I spent some weeks last winter in visiting my 
 old acquaintance in the Jerseys, great complaints I 
 heard for want of money, and that leave to make 
 more paper bills could not be obtained. Friends and 
 countrymen, my advice on this head shall cost you 
 nothing ; and if you will not be angry with me for 
 giving it, I promise you not to be offended if you do 
 not take it. 
 
 You spend yearly at least two hundred thousand 
 pounds, it is said, in European, East Indian, and West 
 Indian commodities. Suppose one-half of this expense 
 to be in things absolutely necessary^ the other half 
 may be called superfluities, or, at best, conveniences, 
 which, however, you might live without for one little 
 year and not suffer exceedingly. Now, to save this 
 half observe these few directions : 
 
 1. When you incline to have new clothes, look first 
 well over the old ones and see if you cannot shift with 
 them another year, either by scouring, mending, or 
 even patching if necessary. Eemember, a patch on 
 your coat and money in your pocket is better and more 
 creditable than a writ on your back and no money to 
 take it off. 
 
 2. When you are inclined to buy china ware, chintzes. 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLIN. 233 
 
 India silks, or any other of their flimsy, slight manu- 
 factures, I would not be so bad with you as to insist 
 on your absolutely resolving agaiiist it ; all I advise is 
 to put it off (as you do your repentance) till another 
 year, and this, in some respects, may prevent an 
 occasion of repentance. 
 
 3. If you are now a drinker of punch, wine, or tea 
 twice a day ,~ for the ensuing year drink them but once 
 a day. If you now drink them but once a day, do it 
 but every other day. If you do it now but once a 
 week, reduce the practice to once a fortnight. And 
 if you do not exceed in quantity as you lessen the 
 times, half your expense in these articles will be saved. 
 
 4. When you incline to drink rum, fill the glass half 
 with water. 
 
 Thus at the year's end there will be a hundred 
 thousand pounds more money in your country. 
 
 If paper money in ever so great a quantity could be 
 made, no man could get any of it without giving 
 something for it. But all he saves in this way will be 
 his own for nothing and his country actually so much 
 richer. Then the merchants' old and doubtful debts 
 may be honestly paid off, and trading becomes surer 
 thereafter, if not so extensive. 
 
^34 AUTOBIOQRAPMY OF 
 
 NECESSAEY HINTS TO THOSE THAx^ 
 WOULD BE KICH. 
 
 Wkitten in the Yeab 1736. 
 
 The use of money is all the advantage there is ia 
 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 groat 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 time loses 
 five shillings, and might as prudently throw five shil- 
 lings into the sea. 
 
 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 buj^s upon credit pays interest 
 iox wbat he bu^s^and he that pays ready money 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 235 
 
 might let that mone^y out to use ; so that he that pos- 
 sesses anything he has bought pays interest 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 
 he sells upon- credit an advance that shall make up 
 that deficiency. 
 
 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 saved is two pence clear; 
 A pin a day's a groat a year.'* 
 
236 AVT0BI0GBAPE7 OF 
 
 ADVICE TO A YOUNG TEADESMAN. 
 
 Written in the Year 174:8. 
 
 To MY Friend, A. B. : As you have desired it oi 
 me, I write the following hints, which have been of 
 service to me, and may, if observed, be so bo you. 
 
 Remember that time is money. He that can earn 
 ten shillings a day by his labor and goes abroad or 
 sits idle one-half of that day, though he spends but 
 sixpence 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 the prolific, generatmg 
 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 threepence, and so on 
 till it becomes a 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 thou- 
 sandth generation. He that murders a crown destroys 
 all that might have produced even scores of pounds. 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLm, 237 
 
 Eemember 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 credit 
 may, on his own security, have the constant possession 
 and use of a hundred pounds. So much in stock 
 briskly turned by an industrious man produces great 
 advantage. 
 
 Eemember 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 any occasion raise all the money 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 than punc- 
 tuality and justice in all his dealings ; therefore never 
 keep borrowed money an hour beyond the time you 
 promised, lest a disappointment shut up your friend's 
 purse forever. 
 
 The most trifling actions that affect a man's credit 
 are to be regarded. The sound of your hammer at 
 five in the morning or nine at night heard by a 
 creditor 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 shows, besides, that you are mindful of what you 
 owe ; it makes you appear a careful as well as an 
 honest 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. To prevent this, 
 keep an exact account for some time, both of your ex- 
 
338 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 penses and your income. If you take the pains at 
 
 first to mention particulars, it will have this good 
 
 effect: you will discover how wonderfully small, 
 
 trifling expenses mount up to large sums, and will 
 
 discern what might have been and may for the future 
 
 be saved without occasioning any great inconvenience. 
 
 ^ In short, the way to wealth, if you desire it, is as 
 
 / plain as the way to market. It depends chiefly oi 
 
 / two words, industry and frugality ; that is, wasu 
 
 I neither time nor money, but make the best use o^ 
 
 \ both. Without industry and frugality nothing will 
 
 do, and with them everything. He that gets all he 
 
 can honestly and saves all he gets (necessary expenses 
 
 excepted) will certainly become rich, if that Being 
 
 who governs the world, to whom all should look for a 
 
 blessing on their honest endeavors, doth not, in his 
 
 wise providence, otherwise determine. 
 
 An Old TradesmaNo 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 239 
 
 DIGGmG FOR HIDDEN TREASURE. 
 
 From "The Busy-Bodt," a Series of Essays 
 BY Franklin. 
 
 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-wishers will congrat- 
 ulate me on my escape from the many diligent but 
 fruitless inquiries that have of late been made after 
 me. Every man will own that an author, as such, 
 ought to be tried by the merit of his productions 
 only ; but pride, party, and prejudice at this time run 
 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 be- 
 fore they presume to give their opinion of the thing 
 written. This ungenerous way of proceeding I was 
 well aware of before I published my first speculation, 
 and therefore concealed ray name. And I appeal to 
 the more generous part of the world if I have, since 
 I appeared in the character of the Busy-B.ody, 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 aSiection, aversion, nor interest has biased me 
 
240 AJTTOBIOGRAPHT 01<\ 
 
 to use any partiality toward any man or set of men ; 
 but whatsover I find nonsensical, ridiculous, or im- 
 morally dishonest I have and shall 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 preserve 
 the gravity and dignity that should attend the cen- 
 sorial office, when I hear the off-hand and unaccount- 
 able expositions 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 No. lY. 
 [upon annoyances from children], wherein he has in- 
 geniously converted a gentle satire upon tedious and 
 impertinent visitants into a libel on some of the gov- 
 ernment. This I mention only as a specimen of the 
 taste of the gentleman I am, forsooth, bound to please 
 in my speculations ; not that I suppose my impartial- 
 ity 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 
 my 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 
 
 Province of Pennsylvania and the Counties of 
 
 Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex upon Delaware. 
 
 " Honorable Sir : I judge by your lubcubrations 
 
 that you are not only a lover of truth and equity, but 
 
 a man of parts and learning and a master of science ^ 
 
1 
 
 I 
 
 
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 Q4 
 
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 bo 
 
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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 241 
 
 as such I honor you. Enow then, most profound- sir, 
 that I have from my youth up been a very indefatiga- 
 ble student in and admirer of- that divine science 
 astrology. I have read over Scot, Mbertus Magnus, 
 and Cornelius Agrippa about three hundred times, and 
 was in hopes, by my knowledge and industry, to gain 
 enough to have recompensed me for my money ex- 
 pended 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 money hidden underground in divers 
 places about this town and in many parts of the 
 country ; but, alas ! sir, notwithstanding I have used 
 all the means laid down in the immortal authors before 
 inentioned, and when thej^ 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 acquaintance with you ; and I 
 do not doubt, notwithstanding my repeated ill-fortune, 
 but we may be exceedingly serviceable to each other 
 in our discoveries, and that if we use our united en- 
 deavors the time will come when the Busy-Body, hi^ 
 second sighted correspondent, and youv very hum bio 
 servant will be three of the richest men in the prov- 
 ince. And then, sir, what may we not do ? A word 
 to the wise is sufficient. I conclude, with all demon- 
 strable respect, yours and Urania's votary, 
 
 " TiTAi^ Pleiades." 
 
 In the evening, after I bad received this letter, I 
 made a visit to my second sighted friend and com- 
 municated to him the proposal. When he had read it 
 he assured me that, to his certain knowledge, there is 
 
242 A UTOmOGMAPMY OP 
 
 not at this time so much as one ounce of silver or gold 
 hid underground in any part of this province ; for that 
 the late and present scarcity of money had obliged 
 those who were living, and knew where they had 
 formerly hid any, to take it up and use it in their own 
 necessary affairs ; and as to all the rest, which was 
 buried by pirates and others in old times who were 
 never likely to come for it, he himself had dug it all 
 up and applied it to charitable uses ; and this he de- 
 sired me to publish for the general good. For, as he 
 acquainted me, there are among us great numbers of 
 honest artificers and laboring people, w^ho, fed with a 
 vain hope of growing suddenly rich, neglect their 
 business, almost to the ruining of themselves and 
 families, and voluntarily 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 re- 
 pair to the hopeful spots with spades and pickaxes ; 
 full of expectation, they labor 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 per- 
 haps several cart-loads of earth thrown out ; but, alas ! 
 no keg or iron pot is found. No seaman's chest 
 crammed with Spanish pistoles or weighty pieces of 
 eight! They conclude that through some mistake in 
 the procedure, some rash word spoken, or some rule of 
 art neglected, the guardian spirit had power to sink it 
 deeper into the earth and convey it out of their reach. 
 Yet when a man is once infatuated he is so far from 
 being discouraged b}^ ill success that he is rather ani- 
 paated to double his industry, and will try again and 
 
BENJAMIN PRANKLIN. 24S 
 
 again in a hundred different places, in hopes at last of 
 meeting with some lucky hit that shall at once suf- 
 ficiently reward him for all his expenses of time and 
 labor. 
 
 This odd humor of digging for money, through a 
 belief that much has been hid by pirates formerly fre- 
 quenting the river, has for several years been mighty 
 prevalent among us ; insomuch that you can hardly 
 walk half a mile out of the town on any side without 
 observing several pits dag with that design, and per- 
 haps some lately opened. Men, otherwise of very 
 good sense, have been drawn into this practice through 
 an overweenino^ desire of sudden wealth and an easv 
 credulity of what they so earnestly wished might be 
 true ; while the rational and most certain methods of 
 acquiring riches by industry and frugality are neg- 
 lected 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 con- 
 sulted about the critical times for digging, the methods 
 of laying the spirit, and the like whimseys, which 
 renders them very necessary to and very much caressed 
 by the poor, deluded money-hunters* 
 
U4: AUTOBIOGRAPHY OP 
 
 There is certainly something very bewitching in the 
 pursuit after mines of gold and silver and other valu- 
 able metals, and many have been ruined by it. A sea- 
 captain of my acquaintance used to blame the 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 ISTewfoundland to be a more 
 valua,ble possession than the mountains of Potosi ; and 
 when I have been there on the fishing account have 
 looked upon every cod pulled up into the vessel as a 
 certain quantity of silver ore, which only required 
 carrying 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 
 seamen." 
 
 Let honest Peter Buckram, who has long without 
 success been a searcher after hidden money, reflect on 
 this and be reclaimed from that unaccountable folly. 
 Let him consider that every stitch he takes when he is 
 on his shopboard 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, in consequence, in time they 
 may be wealthy. But how absurd it is to neglect a 
 certain profit for such a ridiculous 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 forgetful how carelessly 
 business is managed at home in their absence ; to 
 leave their wives and a warm bed at midnight (no 
 matter if it rain, hail, snow, or blow a hurricane, pro- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 245 
 
 vided 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 liv^eSjOr at least disordering themselves so as 
 to be fit for no business besides 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 
 son a good plantation. " My son," said 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 plow- 
 deep." 
 
M6 AUT0BI0&BAPH7 OP 
 
 REMAEKS CONCERNmG THE SAVAGES 
 OF NORTH AMERICA. 
 
 Savages we call them, because their manners differ 
 from ours, which we think the perfection of civility ; 
 they think the same of theirs. 
 
 Perhaps if we could examine the manners of differ- 
 ent nations with impartiality we should find no people 
 so rude as to be without any rules of politeness, or 
 none so polite as not to have some remains of rude- 
 ness. 
 
 The Indian men, when young, are hunters and war- 
 riors ; when old, counselors ; for all their government 
 is by the counsel or advice of the sages. There is no 
 force, there are no prisons, no officers to com-pel obe- 
 dience or inflict punishment. Hence they generally 
 study oratory, the best speaker having the most influ- 
 ence. The Indian women till the ground, dress the 
 food, nurse and bring up the children, and preserve 
 and hand down to posterity the memory of public 
 transactions. These emplo3^ments of men and women 
 are accounted natural and honorable. Having few 
 artificial wants, they have abundance of leisure for 
 improvement by conversation. Our laborious manner 
 of life, compared with theirs, they esteem slavish and 
 base; and the learning on which we vahie ourselves 
 they regard as frivolous and useless. An instance of 
 this occurred at the treaty of Lancaster, in Pennsyl- 
 
BENJAMm FRANELIK. 247 
 
 vania, anno 1744, between the government of Virginia 
 and the Six Nations.^ After the principal business 
 was settled, the commissioners from Virginia ac- 
 quainted the Indians b}^ a speech that there was at 
 Williamsburg a college, with a fund for educating 
 Indian youth ; and that if the chiefs of the Six Na- 
 tions would send down half a dozen of their sons to 
 that college, the government would take care that 
 they should be well provided for and instructed in all 
 the learning of the white people. It is one of the In- 
 dian rules of politeness not to answer a public propo- 
 sition the same day that it is made ; they think it 
 would be treating it as a light matter, and that they 
 show it respect by taking time to consider it as of a 
 matter important. They therefore deferred their an- 
 swer till the day following, when their speaker began 
 by expressing their deep sense of the kindness of the 
 Virginia government in making them that offer; ''for 
 we know," says he, " that 3^ou 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, there- 
 fore, that you mean to do us good by your proposal, 
 and we thank you heartily. But you, who are wise, 
 must know that different nations have different con- 
 ceptions 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 
 
 * The Six Nations were six tribes of Indians formed in » 
 league, also known as the Iroquois, 
 
248 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 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, nor kill an enemy, 
 spoke our language imperfectly ; were therefore 
 neither fit for hunters, warriors, nor counselors — they 
 were therefore totally good for nothing. We are, 
 however, not the less obliged by your kind offer, 
 though we decline accepting 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, instruct them in all we know, and 
 make men of them." 
 
 Having frequent occasions to hold councils, they 
 have acquired great order and decency in conducting 
 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 memo- 
 ries (for they have no writing), and communicate it to 
 their children. They are the records of the council, 
 and they preserve the tradition of the stipulations in 
 treaties a hundred years back ; which, when we com- 
 pare 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, they 
 leave him five or six minutes to recollect that if he 
 has omitted anything he intended to say or has 
 anything to add he may rise again and deliver it. To 
 interrupt another, even in common conversation, is 
 reckoned highly indecent; How different this is 
 from the conduct of a polite British House of Com- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIK 249 
 
 mons, where scarce a day passes without some con- 
 fusion, that makes the Speaker hoarse calling to 
 order; and how diflFerent from the mode of conver- 
 sation in many polite companies of Europe, where, if 
 you do not deliver 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 per- 
 mit them to contradict or deny the truth of what 
 is asserted 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 Christianit}^ all complain of 
 this as one of the great difficulties of their mission. 
 The Indians hear with patience the truths of the 
 Gospel explained to them and give their usual 
 tokens of assent and approbation. You would think 
 they were convinced. No such matter. It is mere 
 civility. 
 
 A Swedish minister having assembled the chiefs 
 of the Susquehanna Indians made a sermon to them, 
 acquainting them with the principal historical facts 
 on which our religion is founded — such as the fall of 
 our first parents by eating an apple, the coming of 
 Christ to repair the mischief, his miracles and suffer- 
 ing, etc. When he had finished an Indian orator 
 stood up to thank him. "What you have told us," 
 says he, " is all very good. It is indeed bad to eat 
 apples. It is better to make them all into cider. We 
 are much obliged by your kindness in coming so far 
 
250 AXTTOBIOGEAPHT OF 
 
 to tell us those things which you have heard from 
 your mothers, la return,! will tell you some of those 
 w^e have heard from ours. ' In the beginning, our 
 fathers had only the flesh of animals to subsist on, and 
 if their hunting was unsuccessful they were starving. 
 Two of our young hunters having killed a deer made 
 a fire in the woods to boil some parts of it. When 
 thev were about to satisf v their huno^er, thev beheld a 
 beautiful young woman descend from the clouds anci 
 seat herself on that hill which you see yonder among 
 the Blue Mountains. They said to each other, ^'It is 
 a spirit that perhaps has smelt our broiling venison 
 and wishes to eat of it ; let us ofTer 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 will find something that will be of great benefit in 
 nourishing you and your children to the latest gener- 
 ations." Thej^ did so, and to their surprise found 
 plants they had never seen before, but which from 
 that ancient time have been constantly cultivated 
 among us to our great advantage. Where her right 
 hand had touched the ground they found maize; 
 where her left had touched it they found kidney - 
 beans,'" The good missionary, disgusted with this 
 idle tale, said : " What I delivered to vou were sacred 
 truths ; but what you tell me is mere fable, fiction and 
 falsehood." The Indian, oS'ended, replied: "My 
 brother, it seems your friends have not done you 
 justice in your education; they have not well in- 
 structed you in the rules of common civility. You 
 saw that we, who understand and practice those rules, 
 believed all yomr stories ; why d© you refuse t# believe 
 oursT 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLm. 251 
 
 When any of them come into our towns our people 
 are apt to crowd them, gaze upon them, and incom- 
 mode them where they desire to be private ; this they 
 esteem great rudeness and the effect of the want of 
 instruction in the rules of civility and good manners. 
 "We have," say they, " as much curiosity as you, and 
 when you come into our towns we wish for opportuni- 
 ties 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 village has 
 likewise its rules. It is reckoned uncivil in traveling 
 strangers to enter a village abruptly without giving 
 notice of their approach. Therefore as soon as they 
 arrive within hearing they stop and halloo, remaining 
 there until invited to enter. Two old men usually 
 come out to them and lead them in. There is in every 
 village 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, who are probably hungry and 
 weary; and every one sends them what he can spare 
 of victuals and skins to repose on. When the stran- 
 gers are refreshed pipes and; tobacco are brought; 
 and then, but not before, conversation begins, with in- 
 quiries who they are, whither bound, what news, etc., 
 and it usually ends with offers of service, if the 
 strangers have occasion for guides, or any necessaries 
 for continuing their journey ; and nothing is exacted 
 for the entertainment. 
 
 The same hospitality, esteemed among them as a 
 principal virtue, is practiced by private persons, of 
 which Conrad Weiser, our interpreter, gave me the 
 
262 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 following instance. He had been naturalized among 
 the Six Nations and spoke well the Mohawk language. 
 In going through the Indian countrj^, to carry a mes- 
 sage from our governor to the council at Onondaga, 
 he called at the habitation of Canassetego, an old 
 acquaintance, who embraced him, spread furs for him 
 to sit on, and 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, 
 Canassetego began to converse with him ; asked him 
 how he had fared the many years since they had seen 
 each other, whence he then came, what occasioned the 
 journey, etc. Conrad answered all his questions, and 
 when the discourse began to flag the Indian, to con- 
 tinue it, said : " Conrad, you have lived long among 
 the white people and know something of their customs. 
 I have been sometimes at Alban}^, and have observed 
 that once in seven days they shut up their shops and 
 assemble all in the great house. Tell me what it is for. 
 What do they do there?" "They meet there," says 
 Conrad, "to hear and learn good things." " I do not 
 doubt," says the Indian, " that they tell you so — they 
 have told me the same; but I doubt the truth of what 
 they say, and I will tell you my reasons. I w^ent lately 
 to Albany to sell my skins and buy blankets, knives, 
 powder, rum, etc. You know I used generally to deal 
 with Hans Hanson, but I was a little 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 he could not give any more than four 
 shillings a pound; ^ but,' says he, 'I cannot talk on 
 business now : this is the day when we meet together 
 tfO learn good things, and I am going to meeting.' So 
 
 I 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 253 
 
 I thought to myself, ' Since I cannot do any business 
 to-day, 1 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, I imagined he was angry 
 at seeing me there ; so I went 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 something of beaver, and I sus- 
 pected it might be the subject of their meeting. So 
 when they came out I accosted 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 sixpence.' I then spoke to several dealers, but 
 they all sang the same song — three and sixpence — 
 three and sixpence. This made it clear to me that my 
 suspicion was right ; and that whatever they pretended 
 of meeting to learn good things, the real purpose was 
 to consult how to cheat Indians in the price of beaver. 
 Consider but a little, Conrad, and you must be of my 
 opinion. If they met so often to learn good things, 
 they would certainly have learned some before this 
 time. But they are still ignorant. You know our 
 practice. If a white man in traveling through our 
 country enters one of our cabins, 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 demand nothing in 
 return. But if I go into a white man's house at Albany 
 and ask for victuals and drink, they say : * Where is 
 
254 AUT0BI0GBAPE7 OF 
 
 your money?' and if I have none they say : ^ Get out, 
 you Indian dog !' You see they have not learned those 
 little good things that we need no meetings to be in- 
 structed in, because our mothers taught them to us 
 when we were children ; and therefore 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." 
 
BENJAMIN mANKLiN. 265 
 
 A PETITION OF THE LEFT HAKD. 
 
 ro THOSE WHO HAVE THE SUPERINTENDENCY OF EDUCA- 
 TION. 
 
 I ADDRESS myself to all the friends of youth, and 
 conjure them to direct their compassionate regards to 
 my unhappy fate, in order to remove the prejudices of 
 which I am the victim. There are twin sisters of us ; 
 •and the two eyes of man do not more resemble nor 
 are capable of being upon better terms with each other 
 than my sister and myself, were it not for the partial- 
 ity of our parents, who make the most injurious dis- 
 tinctions between us. From my infancy I have been 
 led to consider my sister as a being of a more elevated 
 rank. I was suffered to grow up without the least in- 
 struction, while nothing was spared in her education. 
 She had masters to teach her writing, 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 awk- 
 ward 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, call- 
 ing upon me only from necessity or to figure by her 
 side. 
 
 But conceive riot, sirs, that my complaints are in- 
 stigated merely by vanity. No, my uneasiness is 
 occasioned by an object much more serious. It is the 
 
o-(5 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 practice in our family that the whole business of pro- 
 viding for its subsistence* falls upon my sister and 
 myself. If any indisposition should attack my sis- 
 ter— and I mention it in confidence upon this occa- 
 sion that she is subject to the gout, the rheumatism, 
 and cramp, without making mention of other acci- 
 dents—what would be the fate of our poor family? 
 Must not the regret of our family be excessive at 
 having placed so great a difference between sisters 
 w^ho 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 another in transcrib- 
 ing the request which 1 have now the honor to 
 prefer to you. 
 
 Condescend, sirs, to make my parents sensible of 
 the injustice of an exclusive tenderness, and of the 
 necessity of distributing their care and affection 
 among all their children equally. I am, with a pro- 
 found respect, sirs, your obedient servant, 
 
 The Left Hand, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 267 
 
 THE WHISTLE* 
 
 I EECEivED my dear friend's two letters, one for 
 Wednesday, one for Saturday. This is again Wednes- 
 day. I do not deserve one for to-day, because I have 
 not answered the former. But, indolent as I am, and 
 averse to writing, the fear of having no more of your 
 pleasing epistles if I do not contribute to the corre- 
 spondence obliges me to take up my pen ; and as Mr. 
 B. has kindly sent me word that he sets out to morrow 
 to see you, instead of spending this Wednesday even- 
 ing, as I have done its namesakes, in your delightful 
 company, I sit down to spend it in thinking of you, in 
 writing to you, and in thinking over and over again 
 your letters. 
 
 I am charmed with your description of Paradise 
 and with your plan of living there, and I approve 
 much of your conclusion that in the mean time we 
 should draw all the good we can from this world. In 
 my opinion, we might all draw more good from it than 
 we do and suffer less evils if we would take care not 
 to give too much for whistles. For to me it seems 
 that most of the unhappy people we meet with are 
 become so by neglect of that caution. 
 
 You ask what I mean? You love stories and will 
 excuse my telling one of myself. 
 
 * This was written by Franklin to Madame Brillon November 
 10th, 1779, when he was envoy to the court of France. 
 
258 -4 UTOBIOQRAPHY OP 
 
 When I was a child of seven years old my friends 
 on a holiday filled my pocket with coppers. I went 
 directly to a shop were they sold toys for children, 
 and being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I 
 met by the way in the hands of another boy, I volun- 
 tarily offered and gave all my money for one. I then 
 came home and went 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, put me in 
 mind what good things I might have bought with the 
 rest of the money, and 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 afterward 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 I 
 saved my money. 
 
 As I grew up, came into the world, and observed 
 the actions of men, 1 thought I met with many, very 
 many, who gave too much for the whistle. 
 
 When I saw one too ambitious to court favor, sac- 
 rificing 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. 
 
 When I saw another fond of popularity constantly 
 employing himself in political bustles, neglecting his 
 own affairs and ruining them by that neglect, he pays, 
 indeed, said I, too much for his whistle. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 259 
 
 If I knew a miser who gave up any kind of a com- 
 fortable 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 accumu- 
 lating wealth, poor man, said I, you pay too much for 
 vour whistle. 
 
 When I met with a man of pleasure sacrificing 
 every laudable improvement of the mind or of his for- 
 tune to mere corporal sensations, and ruining his 
 health in their pursuit, mistaken man, said I, you are 
 providing pain for yourself instead of pleasure ; you 
 give too much for your whistle. 
 
 If I see one fond of appearance or fine clothes, fine 
 houses, fine furniture, fine equipages, all above his 
 fortune, for which he contracts debts and ends his 
 career in a prison, alas ! say I, he has paid dear, 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, say I, that she should pay so much for a 
 whistle ! 
 
 In short, I conceive that great part of the miseries 
 of mankind are brought upon them by the false esti- 
 mates they have made of the value of things, and by 
 their o;ivino: too much for their whistles. 
 
 Yet I ought to have charity for these unhappy peo- 
 ple when I consider that with all this wisdom of 
 which I am boasting there are certain things in the 
 world so tempting, for example, the apples of King 
 John, which happily are not to be bought ; for if they 
 were put up to sale by auction, I might very easily be 
 led to ruin mj^-self in the purchase, and find that I had 
 once more given too much for the whistle. 
 
260 ^ UT0BI0GRAPH7 OP 
 
 DIALOGUE BETWEEN FEANKLIN AND 
 THE GOUT. 
 
 Midnight, October 22d, 1780. 
 
 FranTclin. Eh! oh! eh! What have I done to 
 merit these cruel sufferings ? 
 
 Oout Many things: you have ate and drunk too 
 freely and too much indulged those legs of yours in 
 their indolence. 
 
 Franklin. Who is it that accuses me ? 
 
 Gout. It is I, even I, the Gout. 
 
 FranMin. What ! my enemy in person ? 
 
 Gout. No, not your enemy. 
 
 Franklin. I repeat it — my enemy ; for you would 
 not only torment my body to death, but ruin my good 
 name; you reproach me as a glutton and a tippler ; 
 now all the world, that knows me, will allow that I 
 am neither the one nor the other. 
 
 Gout. The world may think as it pleases ; it is 
 always very complaisant to itself and sometimes to its 
 friends ; but I very well know that the quantity of 
 meat and drink proper for a man who takes a reason- 
 able degree of exercise would be too much for an- 
 other who never takes any. 
 
 Franklin. I take — eh ! oh ! — as much exercise — 
 eh ! — as I can. Madam Gout. You know my seden- 
 tary state, and on that account it would seem, Madam 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 261 
 
 Gout, as if you might spare me a little, seeing it is not 
 altogether my own fault. 
 
 Gout. Not a jot ; your rhetoric ^nd your politeness 
 are thrown away ; your apology avails nothing. If 
 your situation in life is a sedentary one, your amuse- 
 ments, your recreations, at least, should be active. 
 You ought to walk or ride, or if the weather prevents 
 that, play at billiards. But let us examine your course 
 of life. While the mornings are long and you have 
 leisure to go abroad, what do you do ? Why, instead 
 of gaining an appetite for breakfast by salutary ex- 
 ercise, you amuse yourself with books, pamphlets, or 
 newspapers which commonly are not worth the reading. 
 Yet vou eat an inordinate breakfast — four dishes of 
 tea, with cream, and one or two buttered toasts, with 
 slices of hung beef, which, I fancy, are not things the 
 most easily digested. Immediately afterward you sit 
 down to write at your desk or converse with persons 
 who apply to you on business. Thus the time passes 
 till one without any kind of bodily exercise. But all 
 this I could pardon, in regard, as you say, to your sed- 
 entary condition. But what is your practice after 
 dinner ? Walking in the beautiful gardens of those 
 friends with whom you have dined would be the choice 
 of a man of sense ; yours is to be fixed down to chess, 
 where you are found engaged for two or three hours ! 
 This is your perpetual recreation, which is the least 
 eligible of any for a sedentary man, because, instead 
 of accelerating the motion of the fluids, the rigid atten- 
 tion it requires helps to retard the circulation and ob- 
 struct internal secretions. Wrapped in the speculations 
 of this wretched game, you destroy your constitution. 
 What can be expected from such a course of living 
 
^62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 but a body replete with stagnant humors, ready to fall 
 a prey to all kinds of dangerous maladies, if I, the 
 Gout, did not occasionally bring you relief by agitat- 
 ing those humors and so purifying or dissipating them ? 
 If it was in some nook or alley in Paris, deprived of 
 walks, that you played awhile at chess after dinner, 
 this might be excusable ; but the same taste prevails 
 with you in Passy, Auteuil, Montmartre, or Savoy — 
 places where there are the finest gardens and walks, a 
 pure air, beautiful women, and most agreeable and in- 
 structive conversation ; all of which you might enjo}^ 
 by frequenting the walks. But these are rejected for 
 this abominable game of chess. Fie, then, Mr. Frank- 
 lin ! But amid my instructions I had almost forgot to 
 administer my wholesome corrections; so take that 
 twinge — and that ! 
 
 Franklin. Oh ! eh ! oh ! oh-h-h ! As much in- 
 struction as you please. Madam Gout, and as many 
 reproaches ; but pray, madam, a truce with your cor- 
 rections ! 
 
 Gout. No, sir, no. I will not abate a particle of 
 what is so much for your good ; therefore — - 
 
 Franklin. Oh ! eh-h-h ! It is not fair to say I 
 take no exercise, when I do very often, going out to 
 dine and returning in my carriage. 
 
 Gout That, of all imaginable exercises, is the most 
 slight and insignificant, if you allude to the motion of 
 a carriage suspended on springs. By observing the 
 degree of heat obtained by different kinds of motion, 
 we may form an estimate of the quantity of exercise 
 given by each. Thus, for example, if you turn out to 
 walk in winter with cold feet, in an hour's time you 
 will be in a glow all over ; ride on horseback, the same 
 
IBENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 263 
 
 effect will scarcely be perceived by four hours' round 
 trotting ; but if you loll in a carriage, such as you 
 have mentioned, you may travel all da}^ and gladly 
 enter the last inn to warm your feet by the fire. Flat- 
 ter yourself, then, no longer that half an hour's airing 
 in your carriage deserves the name of exercise. Provi- 
 dence has appointed few to roll in carriages, while he 
 has given to all a pair of legs, which are machines 
 infinitely more commodious and serviceable. Be grate- 
 ful, then, and make a proper use of yours. Would 
 you know how they forward the circulation of your 
 fluids in the very action of transporting you from 
 place to place, observe, when you walk, that all 
 your weight is alternately thrown from one leg to 
 the other ; this occasions a great pressure on the ves- 
 sels of the foot and repels their contents ; when re 
 lieved, by the weight of being thrown on the other 
 foot, the vessels of the first are allowed to replenish, 
 and by a return of this weight this repulsion again 
 succeeds; thus accelerating the circulation of the 
 blood. The heat produced in any given time depends 
 on the degree of this acceleration ; the fluids are 
 shaken, the humors alternated, the secretions facili- 
 tated, and all goes well ; the cheeks are ruddy and 
 health is established. Behold your fair friend at 
 Auteuil,* a lady who received from bounteous nature 
 more really useful science than half a dozen such 
 pretenders to philosophy as you have been able to 
 extract from all your books. When she honors you 
 with a visit it is on foot. She walks all hours of the 
 day and leaves indolence and its concomitant maladies 
 
 H II ■ I I II I ■ , i .1 I. Ill « ■ - , . * 
 
 * Madame Helvetius. 
 
264 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 to be endured by her horses. In this see at once the 
 preservative of her health and personal charms. But 
 when you go to Auteuil you must have your carriage, 
 though it is no further from Passy to Auteuil than 
 from Auteuil to Passy. 
 
 FranMin. Your reasonings grow very tiresome. 
 
 Gout. I stand corrected. I will be silent and con- 
 tinue my office ; take that, and that. 
 
 FranMin. Oh ! oh-h ! Talk on, I pray you ! 
 
 Gout. JSTo, no. I have a good number of twinges 
 for you to-night, and you may be sure of some more 
 to-morrow. 
 
 FranMin. What, with such a fever ! I shall go 
 distracted. Oh ! eh ! Can no one bear it for me? 
 
 Gout. Ask that of your horses ; they have served 
 you faithfully. 
 
 FranMin. How can you so cruelly sport with my 
 torments? 
 
 Gout. Sport ! I am very serious. I have here a 
 list of offenses against your own health distinctly 
 written, and can justify every stroke inflicted on you. _ 
 
 FranMin. Eead it, then. '^ 
 
 Gout. It is too long a detail, but I will briefly 
 taention some particulars. 
 
 FranMin. Proceed. I am all attention. 
 
 Gout. Do you remember how often you have 
 promised yourself the following morning a walk in 
 the grove of Boulogne, in the Garden de la Muette, or 
 in your own garden, and have violated your promise, 
 alleging at one time it was too cold, at another too 
 warm, too windy, too moist, or what else you pleased, 
 when in truth it was too nothing but your inseparable 
 love of ease ? 
 
:BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 265 
 
 FraynMin. That, I confess, may have happened 
 occasionally, probably ten times in a year. 
 
 Gout. Your confession is very far short of the 
 truth ; the gross amount is one hundred and ninety- 
 nine times. 
 
 Franklin, Is it possible ? 
 
 Gout. So possible that it is fact ; you may rely 
 on the accuracy of my statement. You know M. 
 Brillon's gardens and what fine walks they contain ; 
 you know the handsome flight of a hundred steps 
 which lead from the terrace above to the lawn below. 
 You have been in the practice of visiting this amiable 
 family twice a week after dinner, and it is a maxim of 
 your own that '' a man may take as much exercise in 
 walking a mile, up and down stairs, as in ten on level 
 ground." What an opportunity was here for you to 
 have had exercise in both these ways! Did you 
 embrace it, and how often ? 
 
 Franklin. I cannot immediately answer that ques- 
 tion. 
 
 Gout I will do it for you. Not once, 
 
 Franklin. Not once ? 
 
 Gout. Even so. During the summer you went there 
 at six o'clock. You found the charming lady, with 
 her lovely children and friends, eager to walk with 
 you and entertain you with their agreeable conversa- 
 tion ; and what has been your choice ? Why, to sit 
 on the terrace, satisfy yourself with the fine prospect, 
 and passing your eye over the beauties of the garden 
 below, without taking one step to descend and walk 
 about in them. On the contrary, you call for tea and 
 the chess-board ; and lo ! you are occupied in your 
 seat till nine o'clock, and that besides two hours' play 
 
366 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 after dinner; and then, instead of walking home, 
 which would have bestirred you a little, you step into 
 your carriage. How absurd to suppose that all this 
 carelessness can be reconcilable with health without 
 my interposition ! 
 
 Franklin. I am convinced now of the justness of 
 Poor Eichard's remark that " Our debts and our sins 
 are always greater than we think for." 
 
 Gout. So it is. You philosophers are sages in your 
 maxims and fools in your conduct. 
 
 Franhlin. But do you charge among my crimes 
 that I return in a carriage from M. Brillon's ? 
 
 Gout. Certainly; for having been seated all the 
 while, you cannot object the fatigue of the day, and 
 cannot want, therefore, the relief of a carriage. 
 
 Franklin. What, then, would you have me do with 
 my carriage ? 
 
 Gout. Burn it if you choose : you would at least get 
 heat out of it once in this way ; or, if you dislike that 
 proposal, here's another for you : observe the poor 
 peasants who work in the vinej'^ards and grounds 
 about the villages of Passy, Auteuil, Chaillot, etc.; 
 you may find every daj'' among these deserving crea- 
 tures four or five old men and women, bent and per- 
 haps crippled by weight of years and too long and too 
 great labor. After a most fatiguing day these people 
 have to trudge a mile or two to their smoky huts. 
 Order your coachman to set them down. This is an 
 act that will be good for your soul ; and at the same 
 time after your visit to the Brillons, if you return on 
 foot, that will be good for your body. 
 
 Franklin. Ah ! how tiresome you are ! 
 
 Gout. Well, then, to my office ; it should not be 
 forgotten that I am your physician. There ! 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLm. 267 
 
 Franklin, Oh-h-h ! What a devil of a physician ! 
 
 Gout How ungrateful you are to say so ! Is it not 
 I who, in the character of your physician, have saved 
 you from the palsy, dropsy, and apoplexy? one or 
 other of which would have done for you long ago but 
 for me. 
 
 FranTdin. I submit and thank you for the past, but 
 entreat the discontinuance of 3^our visits for the future ; 
 for in my mind one had better die than be cured so 
 dolefully. Permit me just to hint that I have also not 
 been unfriendly to you. I never feed physician or 
 quack of any kind to enter the list against you ; if, 
 then, you do not leave me to my repose, it may be 
 said you are ungrateful too. 
 
 Gout, I can scarcely acknowledge that as an ob- 
 jection. As to quacks, I despise them ; they may kill 
 you indeed, but cannot injure me. And as to regular 
 physicians, they are at last convinced that the gout, in 
 such a subject as you are, is no disease, but a remedy; 
 and wherefore cure a remedy ? But to our business ; 
 there! 
 
 FranTdin. Oh! oh! for Heaven's sake leave me, 
 and I promise faithfully never more to play at chess, 
 but to take exercise daily and live temperately. 
 
 Gout. I know you too well. You promisefair, but 
 after a few months of good health you will return to 
 your old habits; your fine promises will be forgotten 
 like the forms of the last j^ear's clouds. Let us, then, 
 finish the account, and I w^ill go. But I leave you 
 with an assurance of visiting you again at a proper time 
 and place ; for my object is your good, and you are 
 sensible now that 1 am your real friend. 
 
268 AUTOBIOGBAPHT OF 
 
 THE ART OF PROCUEING PLEASANT 
 DREAMS. 
 
 INSCRIBED TO MISS , BEING WRITTEN AT HER 
 
 REQUEST. 
 
 As a great part of our life is spent in sleep, during 
 which we have sometimes pleasant and sometimes 
 painful dreams, it becomes of some consequence to 
 obtain the one kind and avoid the other ; for whether 
 real or imaginary, pain is pain and pleasure is pleas- 
 ure. If we can sleep without dreaming, it is well that 
 painful dreams are avoided. If, while we sleep, we 
 can have any pleasant dreams, it is, as the French say, 
 autant de gagne^ 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 
 temperance ; for in sickness the imagination is dis- 
 turbed, and disagreeable, sometimes terrible, ideas are 
 apt to present themselves. Exercise should precede 
 meals, not immediately follow them ; the first pro- 
 motes, 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, occa< 
 fions nightmares and horrors inexpressible; we fall 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 269 
 
 from precipices, are assaulted by wild beasts, murderers, 
 and demons, and experience every variety of distress. 
 Observe, 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 
 exercise should eat little. In general, mankind, since 
 the improvement of cookery, eat about twice as much 
 as nature requires. Suppers are not bad if we have 
 not dined ; but restless nights follow hearty suppers 
 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 
 common in the newspapers than instances of people 
 who, after eating a hearty supper, are found dead 
 abed in the morning. 
 
 Another means of preserving health to be attended 
 to is the having a constant supply of fresh air in your 
 bedchamber. It has been a great mistake, the sleeping 
 in rooms exactly closed and the beds surrounded by 
 curtains. No outward air that may come in to you is 
 so unwholesome as the unchanged air, often breathed, 
 of a close chamber. As boiling water does not grow 
 hotter by long boiling if the particles that receive 
 greater heat can escape, so living bodies do not 
 putrify if the particles, so fast as they become putrid, 
 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 the Black Hole at Calcutta. A single per 
 
270 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 son is said to spoil only a gallon of air per minute, 
 and therefore requires a longer time to spoil a cham- 
 berf ul ; but it is done, however, in proportion, and 
 many putrid disorders hence have their origin. It is 
 recorded of Methuselah, 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 him : 
 "Arise, Methuselah, and build thee an house, for thou 
 shalt live yet five hundred years longer." But Methu- 
 selah 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 con- 
 tended 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 then be cured 
 of the aerophobia that at present distresses weak minds, 
 and makes them choose to be stifled and poisoned 
 rather than leave open the window of a bedchamber 
 or put down the glass of a coach. 
 
 Confined air, when saturated with perspirable mat- 
 ter, will not receive more, and that matter must 
 remain in our bodies and occasion diseases; but V- 
 gives us some previous notice of its being about to b« 
 hurtful by producing certain uneasiness, slight indeed 
 at first, such as with regard to the lungs is a trifling 
 sensation 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 
 
:BENJAMm FBANKLIK %n 
 
 warmly covered, found it difficult to get asleep again. 
 We turn often, without finding repose in any position. 
 This fidgetiness (to use a vulgar expression for want 
 of a better) is occasioned wholly by uneasiness in the 
 skin, owing to the retention of the perspirable matter, 
 the bedclothes having received their quantity, and 
 being saturated, refusing to take any more. To be- 
 come sensible of this by an experiment, let a person 
 keep his position in the bed, throw off the bedclothes, 
 and suffer fresh air to approach the part uncovered of 
 his body ; he will then feel that part suddenly re- 
 freshed, for the air will immediately relieve the skin 
 by receivmg, licking up, and carrying off the load of 
 perspirable matter that approaches the warm skin, in 
 receiving its part of that vapor, receives therewith a 
 degree of heat that rarefies and renders it lighter, by 
 cooler and therefore heavier fresh air, which for a 
 moment supplies its place, and then, being likewise 
 changed and warmed, gives way to a succeeding quan- 
 tity. 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 ex- 
 posed to the air and that which, remaining sunk in 
 the bed, denies the air access ; for this part now man- 
 ifests its uneasiness more distinctly by the com- 
 parison, and the seat of the uneasiness 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 
 unpleasing dreams. For when the body is uneasy 
 the mind will be disturbed by it, and disagreeable 
 ideas of various kinds will in sleep be the natural 
 consequences. The remedies, preventive and curativQ- 
 follow^ 
 
2^2 AtJTOBIOGHAPHY OS" 
 
 1. By eating moderately (as before advised for 
 health's sake) less perspirable matter is produced in 
 a given time ; hence the bedclothes 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 bedclothes, 
 which will suffer the perspirable matter more easily 
 to pass through them, we are less incommoded, such 
 being 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 bedclothes well, 
 with at least twenty shakes, then throw the bed open 
 and leave it to cool ; in the mean while, continuing 
 undressed, walk about your chamber till your skin has 
 had time to discharge its load, which it will do sooner 
 as the air may be dryer and colder. When you begin 
 to feel the cold air unpleasant, then return to your 
 bed and you will soon fall asleep, and your sleep will 
 be sweet and pleasant. All the scenes presented to 
 your fancy will be, too, of the pleasing kindi 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 
 bedclothes 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. This, repeated twenty times, will so 
 clear them of the perspirable matter they have im- 
 bibed as to permit your sleeping well for some time 
 afterward. But this latter method is not equal to the 
 former. 
 
 Those who do not love trouble and can afford to 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLW. 2*73 
 
 have two beds will find great luxury in rising, when 
 they wake in a hot bed, and going, into the cool one. 
 Such shifting of beds would also be of great service to 
 persons ill of a fever, as it refreshes and frequently 
 procures sleep. A very large bed that will admit a 
 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 
 ankles ; for though a bad position may at first give 
 but little pain and be hardly noticed, yet a continu- 
 ance will render 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 produc- 
 ing the end intended, there is a case in which the 
 most punctual observance of them will be totally fruit- 
 less. I need not mention the case to you, my dear 
 friend; but my account 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 pre- 
 serve, what is necessary above all things, 
 
 A Good Conscience. 
 
3t4 AtTTOSIOORAPHY OP 
 
 THE EPHEMEEA : 
 
 AN EMBLEM OF HUMAN LIFE. 
 
 To Madame Brillon, of Passy. 
 
 Written in 1778. 
 
 You may remember, my dear friend, that when we 
 lately spent tbat happy day in the delightful garden 
 and sweet society of the Moulin Joly, I stopped a little 
 in one of our walks and stayed some time behind the 
 company. We had been shown numberless skeletons 
 of a kind of little fly, called an ephemera, 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 anioial tongues. My too great applica- 
 tion to the study of them is the best excuse I can give 
 for the little progress I have made in your charming 
 language. I listened through curiosity to the dis- 
 course of these little creatures ; but as the}^ in their 
 national vivacity, spoke three or four together, I could 
 make but little of their conversation. I found, however, 
 by some broken expressions that I heard now and 
 then, they were disputing warmly on the merit of two 
 foreign musicians, one a cousin^ the other a moscheto; 
 in which dispute they spent their time, seemingly as re- 
 gardless of the shortness of life as if they had been 
 
BENJAMJif FRANKim. *l% 
 
 sure of living a month. Happy people ! thought I ; 
 you are certainly under a wise, just, and mild govern- 
 ment, sinee you have no public grievances to complain 
 of, nor any subject of contention but the perfections 
 and imperfections of foreign music. 1 turned my 
 head from them to an old gray-headed one, who was 
 single on another leaf and talking to himself. Being 
 amused with his soliloquy, 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 amuse- 
 ments, her delicious company and heavenly harmony. 
 " It was," said he, " the opinion of learned philoso- 
 phers of our race who lived and flourished long before 
 my time that this vast world, the Moulin Joly, could 
 not itself subsist more than eighteen hours ; and I 
 think there w^as 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 toward the ocean at 
 the end of our earth, it must then finish its course, be 
 extinguished in the waters that surround us, and leave 
 the world in cold and darkness, necessarily producing 
 universal death and destruction. I have lived seven 
 of those hours, a great age, being no less than four 
 hundred and twenty minutes of time. How very few 
 of us continue so long! I have seen generations born, 
 flourish, and expire. My present friends are the chil- 
 dren and grandchildren 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 expect to live above seven or eight 
 minutes longer. What now avails all my toil and 
 labor in amassing honey-dew on this leaf which I 
 
2% AUTOBtOGBAPHt OP 
 
 cannot live to enjoy ? What the political struggles 1 
 have been engaged in for the good of my compatriot 
 inhabitants of this bush, or my philosophical studies 
 for the benefit of our race in general ? 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 consequently 
 as wretched. And in philosophy how small our 
 progress ! Alas ! art is long and life is short. My 
 friends would comfort me with the idea of a name, 
 they say, T 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 ephemera who no longer 
 exists ? And what will become of all history in the 
 eighteenth hour, when the world itself, even the whole 
 Moulin Joly, shall come to its end and be buried 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 well, the sensible conversation of a few good 
 lady ephemerae, and now^ and then a kind smile and a 
 tune from the ever-amiable Irillante. 
 
 B. Franklin. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. %n 
 
 TO MISS GEOEGIANA SHIPLEY, 
 
 On the Loss of her American Squirrel, who, escaping 
 FROM his Cage, was Killed by a Shepherd's Dog. 
 
 London, 26th September, 1772. 
 Dear Miss : I lament with you most sincerely the 
 unfortunate end of poor Mungo. Few squirrels were 
 better accomplished, for he had a good education, had 
 traveled far, and seen much of the world. As he had 
 the honor of being, for his virtues, your favorite, he 
 should not go, like common skuggs, without an elegy 
 or an epitaph. Let us give him one in the monumental 
 style and measure, which, being neither prose nor 
 verse, is perhaps the properest for grief ; since to use 
 common language would look as if we were not 
 affected, and to make rhymes would seem trifling in 
 sorrow. 
 
 EPITAPH. 
 
 Alas! poor Mungo! 
 Happy wert thou, hadst thou known 
 
 Thy own felicity. 
 
 Eemote from the fierce bald eagle, 
 
 Tyrant of thy native woods, 
 
 Thou hadst naught to fear from his piercing talons, 
 
 Nor from the murdering gun 
 
 Of the thoughtless sportsman. 
 
 Safe in thy wired castle, 
 Grimalkin never could annoy thee. 
 
27g AUTOBIOGBAPET off 
 
 Daily wert thou fed with the choicest viands, 
 
 By the fair hand of an indulgent mistress; 
 
 But, discontented, 
 
 Thou wouldst have more freedom. 
 
 Too soon, alas! didst thou obtain it; 
 
 And wandering, 
 
 Thou art fallen by the fangs of wanton, cruel Rangerl 
 
 Learn hence, 
 
 Ye who blindly seek more liberty, 
 
 Whether subjects, sons, squirrels, or daughters, 
 
 That apparent restraint may be real protection, 
 
 Yielding piece and plenty 
 
 With security. 
 
 Ton see, my dear miss, how much more decent and 
 proper this broken style is than if we were to say by 
 way of epitaph — 
 
 Here Skugg 
 Lies snug 
 As a bug 
 In a rug. 
 
 And yet, perhaps, there are people in the world of so 
 little feeling as to think that this would be a good 
 enough epitaph for poor Mungo. 
 
 If you wish it, I shall procure another to succeed 
 him ; but perhaps you will now choose some other 
 amusement. 
 
 Remember me affectionately to all the good family, 
 and believe me ever your affectionate friend, 
 
 B. Fbanklin. 
 
BENJAMIN FMANKLIN. 279 
 
 FAMILIAR LETTERS. 
 I. 
 
 TO MISS JANE FRANKLIN, 
 
 Philadelphia, 6th January, 1726-27. 
 
 Dear Sister: I am highly pleased with the ac- 
 count Captain Freeman gives me of you. I always 
 judged by your behavior when a child that you 
 would make a good, agreeable woman, and you 
 know you were ever mv peculiar favorite. I have 
 been thinking what would be a suitable present for 
 me to make and for you to receive, as I hear you 
 are grown a celebrated beauty. I had almost de- 
 termined on a tea-table; but when I considered 
 that the character of a good housewife was far 
 preferable to that of being only a pretty gentlewoman, 
 I concluded to send you a spinning-wheel, which I 
 hope you will accept as a small token of my sincere 
 love and affection. 
 
 Sister, farewell, and remember that modesty, as 
 it makes the most homely virgin amiable and charm- 
 ing, so the want of it infallibly renders the most 
 perfect beauty disagreeable and odious. But when 
 that brightest of female virtue shines among other 
 perfections of body and mind in the same per- 
 son it makes the woman more lovely than an 
 
280 A UTOBIOGBAPEY OF 
 
 angel. Excuse this freedom and use the same with 
 me. 
 1 am, dear Jenny, your loving brother, 
 
 B. Franklin. 
 
 IL 
 
 TO MRS. JANE MECOM."^ 
 
 Philadelphia [date uncertain]. 
 
 Dear Sister: I received your letter with one 
 for Benny and one for Mr. Parker, and also two of 
 Benny's letters of complaint, which, as you observe, 
 do not amount to much. I should have had a very 
 bad opinion of him if he had written to you those 
 accusations of his master which you mention, be- 
 cause from long acquaintance with his master, who 
 lived some years in my house, I know him to be a 
 sober, pious, and conscientious man; so that New- 
 port, to whom you seem to have given too much 
 credit, must have wronged Mr. Parker very much in 
 his accounts, and have wronged Benny, too, if he says 
 Benny told him such things, for I am confident he 
 never did. 
 
 As to the bad attendance afforded him in the small- 
 pox, I believe, if the negro woman did not do her 
 duty, her master or mistress would, if they had 
 known it, have had that matter mended. But Mrs. 
 Parker was herself, if I am not mistaken, sick at that 
 time, and her child also. And though he gives that 
 woman a bad character in general, all he charges her 
 with in particular is that she never brought him what 
 
 * Formerly Miss Jane Frauklin. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 281 
 
 he called for directly, and sometimes not at all. He 
 had the distemper favorably, and yet I suppose was 
 bad enough to be, like other sick people, a little im- 
 patient, and perhaps might think a short time long, 
 and sometimes call for things not proper for one in 
 his condition. 
 
 As to clothes, I am frequently at New York, and I 
 never saw him unprovided with what was good, decent, 
 and sufficient. I was there no longer ago than March 
 last, and he was then well clothed and made no com- 
 plaint to me of any kind. I heard both his master 
 and mistress call upon him on Sunday morning to get 
 ready to go to meeting, and tell him of his frequently 
 delaying and shuffling till it was too late, and he made 
 not the least objection about clothes. I did not think 
 it anything extraordinary that he should be some- 
 times willing to evade going to meeting, for I be- 
 lieve it is the case with all boys, or almost all. I have 
 brought up four or five myself, and have frequently 
 observed that if their shoes were bad they would 
 say nothing of a new pair till Sunday morning, just as 
 the bell rung, when, if j^ou asked them why they did 
 not get ready, the answer was prepared, " I have no 
 shoes,'' and so of other things, hats and the like ; or 
 if they knew of anything that wanted mending, it was 
 a secret till Sunday morning, and sometimes, I believe, 
 they would rather tear a little than be without the 
 excuse. 
 
 As to going on petty errands, no boys love it, but 
 all must do it. As soon as they become fit for better 
 business they naturally get rid of that, for the master's 
 interest comes in to their relief. I make no doubt 
 but Mr. Parker will take another apprentice as soon 
 
282 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 as he can meet with a likely one. In the mean time 
 I should be glad if Benny would exercise a little 
 patience. There is a negro woman that does a great 
 many of those errands. 
 
 1 do not think his going on board the privateer 
 arose from any difference between him and his master 
 or any ill-usage he had received. "When boys see 
 prizes brought in and quantities of money shared 
 among the men and their gay living, it fill their heads 
 with notions that half-distract them and put them 
 quite out of conceit with trades and the dull ways 
 of getting money by working. This, I suppose, was 
 Ben's case, the Catherine being just before arrived 
 with three rich prizes ; and that the glory of having 
 taken a privateer of the enemy, for which both officers 
 and men were highly extolled, treated, presented, etc., 
 worked strongly upon his imagination, you will see by 
 his answer to my letter, is not unlikely. I send it to 
 you inclosed. I wrote him largely on the occasion,, 
 and though he might possibly, to excuse that slip to 
 others, complain of his place, you rpay see he says 
 not a syllable of any such thing to me. My only son, 
 before I permitted him to go to Albany, left my house 
 unknown to us all and got on board a privateer, from 
 whence I fetched him. No one imagined it was hard 
 usage at home that made him do this. Every one 
 that knows me thinks that I am too indulgent a 
 parent as well as a master. 
 
 I shall tire you, perhaps, with the length of this 
 letter, but I am the more particular in order, if pos- 
 sible, to satisfy your mind about your son's situation. 
 His master has, by a letter this post, desired me to 
 write to him about his staying out of nights, sometimes 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. ^ 
 
 all night, and refusing to give an account where he 
 spends his time or in what company. This 1 had not 
 heard of before, though I perceive you have. I do 
 not wonder at his correcting him for that. If he was 
 ray own son I should think his master did not do his 
 duty by him if he omitted it, for to be sure it is the 
 high road to destruction. And I think the correction 
 very light and not likely to be very effectual if the 
 strokes left no marks. 
 
 His master says further as follows: "I think I 
 can't charge my conscience with being much short of 
 my duty to him. I shall now desire you, if you have 
 not done it already, to invite him to lay his complaints 
 before you, that I may know how to remedy them.'' 
 Thus far the words of his letter, which giving me a 
 fair opening to inquire into the affair, I shall accord- 
 ingly do it, and I hope settle everything to all your 
 satisfactions. In the mean time I have laid by your 
 letters both to Mr. Parker and Benny, and shall not 
 send them till I hear again from you, because I think 
 your appearing to give ear to such groundless stories 
 may give offense and create a greater misunderstand- 
 ing, and because I think what you write to Benny 
 about getting him discharged may unsettle his mind, 
 and therefore improper at this time. 
 
 I have a very good opinion of Benny in the main, 
 and have great hopes of his becoming a worthy man, 
 his faults being only such as are commonly incident 
 to boys of his years, and he has many good qualities, 
 for which I love him. I never knew an apprentice 
 contented with the clothes allowed him by his master, 
 let them be what they would. Jemmy Franklin, 
 when with me, was always dissatisfied and grumbling. 
 
284 AIJTOBIOQRAPHY OP 
 
 When I was last in Boston his aunt bid him go to a shop 
 and please himself, which the gentleman did, and 
 bought a suit of clothes on my account dearer by one- 
 hali than any I ever aflforded myself, one suit ex- 
 cepted ; which I don't mention by way of complaint 
 of Jemmy, for he and I are good friends, but only to 
 show you the nature of boys. 
 
 I am, with love to brother and all yours and duty 
 to mother, to whom I have not time now to write, 
 your affectionate brother, B. Franklin. 
 
 III. 
 
 TO MRS. DEBORAH FRAl^KLIN. 
 
 Gnadenhutten, 25th January, 1756. 
 
 My dear Child : This day week we arrived here. 
 I wrote to you the same day and once since. We all 
 continue well, thanks be to God. We have been hin- 
 dered with bad weather, yet our fort is in a good de- 
 fensible condition, and we have every day more con- 
 venient living. Two more are to be built, one on each 
 side of this, at about fifteen miles' distance. I hope 
 both will be done in a week or ten days, and then I 
 purpose to bend my course homeward. 
 
 We have enjoyed your roast beef and this day 
 began on the roast veal. All agree that they are 
 both the best that ever were of the kind. Your citi- 
 zens, that have their dinner hot and hot, know 
 nothing of good eating. We find it in nuich greater 
 perfection when the kitchen is four-score miles from 
 the dining-room. 
 
BENJAMm FRANKLIN. 285 
 
 The apples are extremely welcome and do bravely 
 to eat after our salt pork ; the minced pies are not yet 
 come to hand, but I suppose *we shall find them 
 among the things expected up from Bethlehem on 
 Tuesday ; the capillaire is excellent, but none of us 
 having taken cold as yet, we have only tasted it. 
 
 As to our lodging, 'tis on deal feather-beds, in warm 
 blankets, and much more comfortable than when we 
 lodged at our inn the first night after we left home ; 
 for the woman being about to put very damp sheets 
 on the bed, we desired her to air them first ; half an 
 hour afterward she told us the bed was ready and the 
 sheets well aired. I got into bed, but jumped out 
 immediately, finding them as cold as death and partly 
 frozen. She had aired them indeed, but it was out 
 upon the hedge. I was forced to wrap myself up in 
 my great-coat and woolen trousers. Everything else 
 about the bed was shockingly dirty. 
 
 As 1 hope in a little time to be with you and my 
 family and chat things over, I now only add that I 
 am, dear Debby, 
 
 Your affectionate husband, 
 
 B. Fkanklin, 
 
 IV. 
 
 TO MISS HUBBARD.* 
 
 Philadelphia, 23d February, 1756. 
 I CONDOLE with you. We have lost a most dear and 
 valuable relation. But it is the will of God and nature 
 
 * This letter was occasioned by the death of Dr. Franklin's 
 brother, Mr, John Franklin. 
 
^86 AtnroMOGMAPMf OP 
 
 that thes© mortal bodies be laid aside when the «oul 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 immortals, 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 in doing good to our fellow-creatures, 
 is a kind and benevolent act of God. When they be- 
 come unfit for 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 partial 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 which it was liable to or capable of 
 making him suffer. 
 
 Our friend and we were invited abroad on a party 
 of pleasure which is to last forever. His chair was 
 ready first and he is gone before us. We could not 
 all conveniently start together, and why should yovi 
 and I be grieved at this, since we are soon to follow 
 and know where to find him ? Adieu, 
 
 B. Fkanklin. 
 
BBNJAMm FRANKLIN. 281 
 
 TO MRS. JANE MECOM. 
 
 New York, 19th April, 1757. 
 
 Dear Sister : I wrote a few lines to you yesterday, 
 but omitted to answer yours relating to sister Douse. 
 As having their own way is one of the greatest cora^ 
 forts of life to old people, I think their friends should 
 endeavor to accommodate them in that as well as in 
 anything else. When they have long lived in a house 
 it becomes natural to them ; the}' are almost as closely 
 connected with it as the tortoise with his shell ; they 
 •die if you tear them out of it ; old folks and old 
 trees, if you remove them, 'tis ten to one that you kill 
 them ; so let our good old sister be no more impor- 
 tuned on that head. We are growing old fast our- 
 selves and shall expect the same kind of indulgences ; 
 if we give them we shall have a right to receive them 
 in our turn. 
 
 And as to her few fine things, I think she is in the 
 right not to sell them, and for the reason she gives, 
 that they will fetch but little ; when that little is 
 spent they would be of no further use to her ; but 
 perhaps the expectation of possessing them at her 
 death may make that person tender and careful of her 
 and helpful to her to the amount of ten times their 
 value. If so they are put to the best use they possibly 
 can be. 
 
 I hope you visit sister as often as your atfairs will 
 permit and afford her what assistance arid comfort 
 you can in her present situation. Old age, infirmities, 
 and poverty, joined, are afliictions enough. Tho 
 
388 ^ UTOBIOGRA PHY OF 
 
 neglect and slights of friends and near relations should 
 never be added. People in her circumstances are apt 
 to suspect this, sometimes without cause ; appearances 
 should, therefore, be attended to in our conduct toward 
 them, as well as realities. I write by this post to 
 Cousin Williams to continue his care, which 1 doubt 
 not he w^ill do. 
 
 We expect to sail in about a week, so that I ca^ 
 hardly hear from you again on this side the water 
 but let me have a line from you now and then while i 
 am in London. I expect to stay there at least a 
 twelvemonth. Direct your letters to be left for meat 
 the Pennsylvania Cofifee-house, Birchin Lane, London. 
 
 My love to all, from, dear sister. 
 
 Your affectionate brother, 
 
 B. Franklin. 
 
 P. S. — April 25. We are still here and perhaps may 
 be here a week longer. Once more adieu, my dear 
 sister. 
 
 VL 
 
 TO MISS STEVENSON. 
 
 Paris, 14th September, 1767- 
 Dear Polly : I am always pleased with a letter 
 from you, and I flatter myself you may be sometimes 
 pleased in receiving one from me, though it should be 
 of little importance, such as this, which is to consist of 
 a few occasional remarks made here and in my journey 
 hither. 
 
 Soon after I left you in that agreeable society at 
 Bromley, I took the resolution of making a trip with 
 
BENJAMIN FBANKLm. 289 
 
 Sir John Pringle into France. We set out on' the 
 28tb past. All the way to Dover we were furnished with 
 post-chaises, hung so as to lean forward, the top coming 
 down over one's eyes like a hood, as if to prevent one's 
 seeing the ucontry; which being one of my great 
 pleasures, I was engaged in perpetual disputes with the 
 innkeepers, hostlers, and postilions about getting the 
 straps taken up a hole or two before and let down as 
 much behind, they insisting that the chaise leaning 
 forward was an ease to the horses and that the con- 
 trary would kill them. I suppose the chaise leaning 
 forward looks to them like a willingness to go forward, 
 and that its hanging back shows reluctance. They 
 added other reasons that were no reasons at all, and 
 made me, as upon a hundred other occasions, almost 
 wish that mankind had never been endowed with a 
 reasoning faculty, since they know so little how to 
 make use of it and so often mislead themselves bv it, 
 and that they had been furnished with a good sensible 
 instinct instead of it. 
 
 At Dover, the next morning, we embarked for 
 Calais with a number of passengers who had never 
 before been at sea. They would previously make a 
 hearty breakfast, because if the wind should fail we 
 might not get over till supper-time. Doubtless they 
 thought that when they had paid for their breakfast 
 they had a right to it, and that when they had swal- 
 lowed it they were sure of it. But they had scarce 
 been out half an hour before the sea laid claim to it, 
 and they were obliged to deliver it up.. So that it 
 seems there are. uncertainties, even beyond those be- 
 tween the cup and the lip. If ever you go to sea, take 
 my advice and live sparingly a day or two beforehand. 
 
SflO ^ UTOBIOGBAPHT OJT 
 
 The sickness, if any, will be lighter and sooner over, 
 "We got to Calais that evening. 
 
 Various impositions we suffered from boatmen, por- 
 ters, and the like, on both sides the water. I know 
 not which are the most rapacious, the English or 
 French ; but the latter have, with their knavery, 
 the most politeness. 
 
 The roads we found equally good with ours in Eng- 
 land ; in some places paved with smooth stones, like 
 our new streets, for many miles together, and rows of 
 trees on each side, and yet there are no turnpikes. 
 But then poor peasants complained to us grievously 
 that they were obliged to work upon the roads fully 
 two months in the year, without being paid for their 
 labor. Whether this is truth or whether, like English- 
 men, they grumble, cause or no cause, I have not yet 
 been able to fully inform myself. 
 
 The women we saw at Calais, on the road, at Bou- 
 logne, and in the inns and villages, were generally of 
 dark complexions ; but arriving at Abbeville we found 
 a sudden change, a multitude of both women and men 
 in that place appearing remarkably fair. Whether 
 this is owing to a small colony of spinners, wool- 
 combers, and weavers brought hither from Holland 
 with the woolen manufactory about sixty years ago, 
 or to their being less exposed to the sun than in other 
 places, their business keeping them much within doors, 
 I know not. Perhaps, as in some other cases, different 
 causes may club in producing the effect, but the effect 
 itself is certain. Never was I in a place of greater in- 
 dustry, wheels and looms going in every housCc 
 
 As soon as we left Abbeville the swarthiness re 
 turned. I speak generally; for there are some fair 
 
BB2fJAMIlf FRANKLIN. J91 
 
 women at Paris, who, I think, are not whitened by 
 art. As to rouge, they don't pretend to imitate nature 
 in laying it on. There is no gradual diminution of the 
 color, from the full bloom in the middle of the cheek 
 to the faint tint near the sides, nor does it show^ itself 
 differently in different faces. I have not had the 
 honor of being at any lady's toilette to see how it is 
 laid on, but I fancy I can tell you how it is or raa}^ be 
 done. Cut a hole of three inches in diameter in a 
 piece of paper, place it on the side of your face in such 
 a manner as that the top of the hole may be just under 
 the eye, then with a brush dipped in the color paint 
 face and paper together ; so when the paper is taken 
 off there will remain a round patch of red exactly the 
 form of the hole. This is the mode, from the ac- 
 tresses on the stage upward, through all ranks of 
 ladies to the princesses of the blood ; but it stops 
 there, the queen not using it, having in the serenity, 
 complacence, and benignity that shine so eminently 
 in or rather through her countenance sufficient beauty, 
 though now an old woman, to do extremely well 
 without it. 
 
 Tou see I speak of the queen* as if I had seen her ; 
 and so I have, for you must know I have been at court. 
 We went to Versailles last Sunday and had the honor 
 of being presented to the king ; he spoke to both of us 
 very graciously and very cheerfully, is a handsome 
 man, has a very lively look, and appears younger than 
 he is. In the evening we were at the Grand Concert^ 
 where the family sup in public. The table was half a 
 hollow square, the service gold. When either made a 
 
 ^ Wife of Louii XV. 
 
292 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 sign for drink the word was given by one of the 
 waiters. A hoir ^our le roi or a loir pour la reine. 
 Then two persons came from within, the one with 
 wine and the other with water in carafes / each drank 
 a little glass of what he brought, and then put both 
 the carafes with a glass on a salver and then presented 
 it. Their distance from each other was such that 
 other chairs might have been placed between any two 
 of them. An officer of the court brought us up through 
 the crowd of spectators, and placed Sir John so as to 
 stand between the queen and Madame Victoire. The 
 king talked a good deal to Sir John, asking many 
 questions about our royal family, and did me too the 
 honor of taking some notice of me ; that is saying 
 enough, for I would not have you think me so much 
 pleased with this king and queen as to have a whit less 
 regard than I used to have for ours. No Frenchman 
 shall go beyond me in thinking my own king and 
 queen the very best in the world and the most amiable. 
 Versailles has had infinite sums laid out in building 
 it and supplying it with water. Some say the expenses 
 exceeded eighty millions sterling. The range of build- 
 ings is immense ; the garden front most magnificent, 
 all of hewn stone ; the number of statues, figures, urns, 
 etc., in marble and bronze of exquisite workmanship, 
 is beyond conception. But the water- works are out of 
 repair, and so is great part of the front next the town, 
 looking with its shabby, half-brick walls and broken 
 windows not much better than the houses in Durham 
 Yard. There is, in short, both at Yersailles and Paris, 
 a prodigious mixture of magnificence and negligence, 
 with every kind of elegance except that of cleanliness 
 and what we call tidiness ; though I must do Paris the 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 293 
 
 justice to say that in two points of cleanliness tHey 
 exceed us. The water they drink, though from the 
 river, they render as pure as that of the best spring by 
 filtering it through cisterns filled with sand, and the 
 streets with constant sweeping are fit to walk in, 
 though there is no paved footpath. Accordingly many 
 well-dressed people are constantly seen walking in 
 them. The crowds of coaches and chairs for this 
 reason is not so great. Men as well as women carry 
 umbrellas in their hands, which they extend in case of 
 rain or too much sun ; and a man with an umbrella 
 not taking up more than three foot square or nine 
 square feet of the street, when, if in a coach, he would 
 take up two hundred and forty square feet, you can 
 easily conceive that though the streets here are narrow, 
 they may be less incumbered. They are extremely 
 well paved, and the stones, being generally cubes, 
 when worn on one side mav be turned and become 
 new. 
 
 The civilities we everywhere receive give us the 
 strongest impressions of French politeness. It seems 
 to be a point settled here universally that strangers 
 are to be treated with respect, and one has just the 
 same deference shown one here by being a stranger as 
 in England by being a lady. The custom-house officers 
 at Port St. Denis, as we entered Paris, were about to 
 seize two dozen of excellent Bordeaux wine given us 
 at Boulogne, and which we brought with us ; but as 
 soon as they found we were strangers it was imiaedi- 
 ately remitted on that account. At the Church of 
 .N"otre Dame, where we went to see a magnificent illa- 
 mination, with figures, etc.. for the deceased dauphin- 
 ess, we found an immense crowd, who were kept out 
 
394 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OV 
 
 by guards ; but the officer being told that w© ware 
 strangers from England, he immediately admitted us, 
 accompanied and showed us everything. Why don't 
 we practice this urbanity to Frenchmen ? Why should 
 they be allowed to outdo us in anything? 
 
 Here is an exhibition of painting, like ours in Lon- 
 don, to which multitudes flock daily. I am not con- 
 noisseur enough to judge which has most merit. Every 
 night, Sundays not excepted, here are plays or operas ; 
 and though the weather has been hot and the houses 
 full, one is not incommoded by the heat so much as 
 with us in winter. They must have some way of 
 changing the air that we are not acquainted with. I 
 shall inquire into it. 
 
 Traveling is one way of lengthening life, at least in 
 appearance. It is but about a fortnight since we left 
 London, but the variety of scenes we have gone 
 through makes it seem equal to six months' living in 
 one place. Perhaps I have suffered a greater change, 
 too, in my own person than I could have done in six 
 years at home. I had not been here six days before 
 my tailor and perruquier had transformed me into a 
 Frenchman. Only think what a figure I make in 
 a little bag-wig and with naked ears 1 They told 
 me I was become twenty years younger and looked 
 very gallant. 
 
 This letter shall cost you a shilling, and you may 
 consider it cheap when you reflect that it has cost me 
 at least fifty guineas to get into the situation that 
 enables me to write it. 
 
 Besides, I might, if I had stayed at home, have 
 won perhaps two shillings of you at cribbage. By 
 th# way, now I mention cards, let m^ tell you 
 
benjamw mANKint. t^ 
 
 that quadrille is nov7 out of fashion here, and 
 English whist all the mode at Paris and the court. 
 
 And pray look upon it as no small matter that, 
 surrounded as I am by the glories of the world and 
 amusements of all sorts, I remember you and Dolly 
 and all the dear, good folks at Bromley. 'Tis true I 
 can't help it, but must and ever shall remember you 
 all with pleasure. 
 
 Need I add that I am particularly, my dear, good 
 friend, 
 
 Yours most affectionately, 
 
 B. Franklin. 
 
 VIL 
 
 TO Miss STEVENSON. 
 
 Ckaven Street, 28th September, 1768. 
 Dear Polly : The objection you make to rectifying 
 our alphabet, that "it will be attended with incon- 
 veniences and difficulties," is a natural one ; for it al- 
 ways occurs when any reformation is proposed, 
 whether in religion, government, laws, and even down 
 as low as roads and wheel-carriages. The true ques- 
 tion, then, is, not whether there will be any difficulties 
 or inconveniences, but whether the difficulties may not 
 be surmounted and whether the conveniences will not, 
 on the whole, be greater than the inconveniences. In 
 this case the difficulties are only in the beginning of 
 the practice. When they are overcome the advan- 
 tages are lasting. To either you or me, who spell well 
 ia the present mode, I imagine the difficulty of chang- 
 
296 ^ UTOBIOQRAPHY OF 
 
 ing that mode for the new is not so great but that w« 
 might perfectly get over it in a week's time. 
 
 As to those who do not spell well, if the two diffi- 
 culties are compared — namely, that of teaching them 
 true spelling in the present mode, and that of teaching 
 them the new alphabet and the new spelling according 
 to it — I am confident that the latter would be by far 
 the least. They naturally fall into the new method 
 already, as much as the imperfection of their alphabet 
 will admit of. Their present bad spelling is only bad 
 because contrary to the present bad rules. The diffi- 
 culty of learning to spell well in the old way is so 
 great that few attain it, thousands and thousands writ- 
 ing on to old age without ever being able to acquire 
 it. It is, besides, a difficult}^ continually increasing, as 
 the sound gradually varies more and more from the 
 spelling ; and to foreigners it makes the learning to 
 pronounce our language as written in our books al- 
 most impossible. 
 
 Now, as to the inconveniences you mention : the first 
 is that " all our etymologies would be lost, and con- 
 sequently we could not ascertain the meaning of many 
 words." Etymologies are at present very uncertain ; 
 but, such as they are, the old books would still pre- 
 serve them and etymologists would there find them. 
 Words in the course of time change their meanings, 
 as well as their spelling and pronunciation, and we do 
 not look to etymology for their present meanings. If 
 I should call a man a knave and a villain, he would 
 hardly be satisfied with my telling him that one of the 
 words originally signified only a lad or servant, and 
 the other an under-plowman, or the inhabitant of a 
 village. It is from present usage only that the mean- 
 ing of words is to be determined, ^ 
 
hEnjAMIN FRANKLIN. ^9? 
 
 Tour stcoud inconvenience is that " tht digtinction 
 between words of different meaning and similar sound 
 would be destroyed." That distinction is already- 
 destroyed in pronouncing them, and you rely on the 
 sense alone of the sentence to ascertain which of the 
 several words similar in sound we intend. If this is 
 sufficient in the rapidity of discourse it will be much 
 more so in written sentences, which may be read 
 leisurely and attended to more particularly in case of 
 difficulty than you can attend to a past sentence 
 while a speaker is hurrying you along with new ones. 
 
 Your third inconvenience is that "all the books 
 already written would be useless." This inconvenience 
 would only come on gradually in a course of ages. 
 You and I and other now living readers would hardly 
 forget the use of them. People would long learn to 
 read the old writing, though they practiced the new ; 
 and the inconvenience is not greater than what has 
 actually happened in a similar case in Italy. Formerly 
 its inhabitants all spoke and wrote Latin ; as the 
 language changed the spelling followed it. It is true 
 that at present a mere unlearned Italian cannot read 
 the Latin books, though they are still read and under- 
 stood by many. But if the spelling had never beea 
 changed he would now have found it much more 
 difficult to read and write his own language, for 
 w^ritten words would have no relation to sounds ; they 
 would only have stood for things ; so that if he would 
 express in writing the idea he has when he sounds 
 the word Yescovo^ he must use the letters Episcopus. 
 In short, whatever the difficulties and inconveniences 
 now are, they will be more easily surmounted now than 
 hereafter; and some time or other it must be done, or 
 
i^ AUfOBIOGRAPBY Op 
 
 our writing will become the same with the Chinese a* 
 to the diflBculty of learning and using it, and it would 
 already have been such if we had continued the 
 Saxon spelling and writing used by our forefathers. 
 I am, my dear friend, 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 B. Fbakklin. 
 
 vin. 
 
 to miss stevenson. 
 
 October, 1768. 
 
 I see very clearly the unhappiness of your situation, 
 and that it does not arise from any fault in you. I 
 pity you most sincerely. I should not, however, have 
 thought of giving you advice on this occasion if you 
 had not requested it, believing, as I do, that your own 
 good sense is more than sufficient to direct you in 
 every point of duty to others and yourself. If, then, 
 I should advise you to anything that may be contrary 
 to your own opinion, do not imagine that I shall con- 
 demn you if you do not follow such advice. I shall 
 only think that, from a better acquaintance with the 
 circumstances, you form a better judgment of what is 
 fil for you to do. 
 
 Now I conceive with you that , both from 
 
 her affection to you and from the long habit of having 
 you with her, would really be miserable without you. 
 Her temper, perhaps, was never of the best, and when 
 that is the case age seldom mends it. Much of her 
 unhappiness must arise from thence ; and since wrong 
 turns of mind, when confirmed by time, are almost as 
 
BBNJAMm FRANKLIN. 299 
 
 little in our power to cure as those of the body, I 
 think with you that her case, is a compassionable 
 one. 
 
 If she had, though by her own imprudence, brought 
 on herself any grievous sickness, I know you would 
 think it your duty to attend and nurse her with 
 filial tenderness, even were your own health to be 
 endangered by it. Your apprehension, therefore, is 
 right, that it may be your duty to live with her, 
 though inconsistent with your happiness and your 
 interest : but this can only mean present interest and 
 present happiness ; for I think your future greater and 
 more lasting interest and happiness will arise from the 
 reflection that you have done your duty, and from the 
 high rank you will ever hold in the esteem of all that 
 know you for having persevered in doing that duty 
 under so many and great discouragements. 
 
 My advice, then, must be that you return to her as 
 soon as the time proposed for your visit is expired ; 
 and that you continue, by every means in your power, 
 to make the remainder of her days as comfortable 
 to her as possible. Invent amusements for her; be 
 pleased when she accepts of them and patient when 
 she, perhaps peevishly, rejects them. I know this is 
 hard, but I think you are equal to it; not from any 
 servility of temper, but from abundant goodness. In 
 the mean time all your friends, sensible of your pres- 
 ent uncomfortable situation, should endeavor to ease 
 your burden by acting in concert with you, and to 
 give her as many opportunities as possible of enjoying 
 the pleasures of society for your sake. 
 
 Nothing is more apt to sour the temper of aged 
 people than the apprehension that they are neglected, 
 
200 ^ UTOBIOQRAPHT OF 
 
 and they are extremely apt to entertain such sus- 
 picions. It was therefore that I proposed asking 
 her to be of our late party; but your mother dis- 
 liking it the motion was dropped, as some others have 
 been, by ray too great easiness, contrary to my judg- 
 ment. Not but that I was sensible her being with us 
 might have lessened our pleasure, but I hoped it might 
 have prevented you some pain. 
 
 In fine, nothing can contribute to true happiness 
 that is inconsistent with duty ; nor can a course of 
 action conformable to it be finally without an ample 
 reward, for God governs and he is good. I pray 
 him to direct you ; and, indeed, you will never be 
 without his direction if you humbly ask it and show 
 yourself always ready to obey it. 
 
 Farewell, my dear friend, and believe me ever sin- 
 cerely and affectionately yours, 
 
 B. Fbankun. 
 
 IX. 
 
 TO MRS. STEVENSON. 
 
 25th Janitary, 1779. 
 It is always with great pleasure when I think of 
 our long-continued friendship, which had not the least 
 interrup tion in the course of twenty years (some of the 
 happiest of my life) that I spent under your roof and 
 in your company. If I do not write to you as often 
 as I used to do when I happened to be absent from 
 you, it is owing partly to the present difficulty of sure 
 communication, and partly to an apprehension of some 
 inconvenience that my correspondence might possibly 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 201 
 
 eeoasion you. Be assured, my dear friend, that my 
 regard, esteem, and affection for you are not in the 
 least impaired or diminished, and that if circum* 
 stances would permit nothing would afford me so 
 much satisfaction as to be with you in the same house, 
 and to experience again your faithful, tender care 
 and attention to my interests, health, and comfortable 
 living, which so long and steadily attached me to you 
 and which I shall ever remember with gratitude. 
 
 I thought I had mentioned to you before (and I be- 
 lieve I did, though my letter may have miscarried) 
 that I received the white cloth suit, the sword, and the 
 saddle for Temple, all in good order. I mention them 
 now again because Polly tells me you had not heard 
 of their arrival. I w^ore the clothes a good deal last 
 summer. There is one thing more that I wish to 
 have if you should meet with an opportunity of send- 
 ing it. I mean the copper pot lined with silver, to 
 roast fowls in by means of a heater. I should also be 
 glad of the piece of elephant's tooth. It is old ivory, 
 perhaps of the time before the flood, and would be a 
 rarity to some friends here. But I doubt you will not 
 be able to send them. 
 
 I rejoice to learn that your health is established 
 and that you live pleasantly in a country town, with 
 agreeable neighbors, and have your dear children 
 about you. My love to every one of them. I long to 
 see them and you ; but the times do not permit me the 
 hope of it. Why do you never write to me ? I used 
 to love to read your letters, and I regret your long 
 silence. They were seasoned with good sense and 
 friendship, and even your spelling pleased me. Polly 
 knows I think the worst spelling the best. 1 do not 
 
302 AUTOBIOGRAPHY Of' 
 
 write to her by this conveyance. You will let her 
 know that I acknowledge the receipt of her pleasing 
 letter dated the 11th instant. I shall now only ob- 
 serve to you upon it that I know not how the pat- 
 ent can be taken out in Jacob's nanie. I am sure he 
 had no claim to it; for when I first proposed to 
 him the making of such wheels at Mr. Yiney's in 
 the country, he objected to it as impracticable. 
 But Mr. Yiney, who seized the thought and carried 
 it into execution, had certainly the best right to 
 the patent. I wish he would send me a good draw- 
 ing, with the proportions of the little carriage with 
 horses which his children came once in to see us. 
 How do they all do, and particularly my little, patient 
 Bessum ? 
 
 Since my coming here I have been told that 
 Mr. Henley, the linen draper, had said, on my 
 going to America, that I had gone away in his 
 debt. I can hardly believe it. Let me know if you 
 have heard such a thing, and what is the meaning of 
 it. I thought he had been fully paid, and still think 
 so, and shall till I am assured of the contrary. Let 
 me know, at the same time, how my account stands 
 with you. 
 
 You wish to know how I live. It is in a fine house, 
 situated in a neat village, on high ground, half a mile 
 from Paris, with a large garden to walk in. I have 
 abundance of acquaintance, dine abroad six days in 
 seven. Sundays I reserve to dine at home with such 
 Americans as pass this way ; and I then have my 
 grandson Ben, with some other American children 
 from the school. 
 
 If being treated with all the politeness of Franco 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 303 
 
 and the apparent respect and esteem of all ranks, 
 from the highest to the lowest, can make a man happy, 
 I ought to be so. Indeed, I have nothing to complain 
 of but a little too much business and the want of that 
 order and economy in my family which reigned in it 
 when under your prudent direction. My paper gives 
 me only room to add that I am ever 
 
 Tours most affectionately, 
 
 B. Feanklin. 
 
 TO BENJAMIN WEBB. 
 
 Passy, 22d April, 1784 
 
 I RECEIVED yours of the 15th instant and the me- 
 morial it inclosed. The account they give of your 
 situation grieves me. I send you herewith a bill for 
 ten louis d'ors. I do not pretend to give such a sum ; 
 I only lend it to you. When you shall return to your 
 country Tvith a good character, you cannot fail of get- 
 ting into some business that will in time enable you 
 to pay all your debts. In that case, when you meet 
 with another honest man in similar distress you must 
 pay me by lending this sum to him ; enjoining him to 
 discharge the debt by a like operation when he shall 
 be able and shall meet with such another opportunity. 
 I hope it may thus go through many hands before it 
 meets with a knave that w^ill stop its progress. This 
 is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little 
 money. 
 
 I am not yet rich enough to afford much in 
 good works, and so am obliged to be cunnmg and 
 
304 AUTOBIOGMAPHY OF 
 
 make the most of a little. With best wishes for 
 the success of your memorial and your future 
 prosperity, I am, dear sir, your most obedient serv- 
 ant, 
 
 XL 
 
 TO SAMUEL MATHEB. 
 
 Passy, May 12th, 1784. 
 
 I EEOEiVED your kind letter, with your excellent ad- 
 vice to the people of 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. Permit me to mention one little instance 
 which, though it relates to myself, will not be quite 
 uninteresting to you. When I was a boy I met with 
 a book entitled "Essays to Do Good," which I think was 
 written by your father.^ It had been so little regarded 
 by a former possessor that several leaves of it were 
 torn out; 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 char- 
 acter of a doer of good than on 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 
 
 * OottoH Mather. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 305 
 
 year. I am in my seventy-ninth year ; we are grow- 
 ing old together. It is now more than sixty years since 
 I left Boston, but I remember well both vour 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 library, and on my taking leave 
 showed me a shorter way out of the house through a 
 narrow passage which was crossed by a beam over- 
 head. We were still talking as I withdrew, he ac- 
 companying me behind, and I turning partly toward 
 him, when he said hastily, " Stop, stop !" I did not 
 understand him till I felt my head hit against the 
 beam. He was a man that never missed anv 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 head, 
 has frequently been of use to me ; and I often think 
 of it when I see pride mortified and misfortunes 
 brought upon people by their carrying their heads too 
 high. 
 
 Yours with esteem, 
 
 B^ Franklin. 
 
 XII. 
 
 TO THE REV. DR. LATHROP, BOSTON, 
 
 Philadelphia, 31st May, 1788. 
 Reverend Sir : I received your obliging favor of 
 the 6th instant by Mr. Hillard, with whose con versa- 
 
306 AUTOBIOGBAPHY OF 
 
 tion I was much pleased, and would have been glad to 
 have had more of it if he would have spared it to me ; 
 but the short time of his stay has prevented. You 
 need make no apology for introducing any of your 
 friends to me. I consider it as doing me honor as 
 well as giving me pleasure. I thank you for the 
 pamphlet of the Humane Society. In return, please 
 to accept one of the same kind, which was published 
 while I resided in France. If your society have not 
 hitherto seen it, it may possibly afford them useful 
 hints. 
 
 It would certainly, as you observe, be a very great 
 pleasure to me if I could once again visit my native 
 town and walk over the grounds I used to frequent 
 when a boy, and where I enjoyed many of the inno- 
 cent pleasures of youth, which would be so brought to 
 my remembrance, and where I might find some of 
 my old acquaintance to converse with. But when I 
 consider how well I am situated here, with everything 
 about me tha.t I can call either necessary or conven- 
 ient, the fatigues and bad accommodations to be met 
 with and suffered in a land journey, and the unpleas- 
 antness of sea voyages to one who, although he has 
 crossed the Atlantic eight times and made many 
 smaller trips, does not recollect his having ever been 
 at sea without taking a firm resolution never to go to 
 sea again ; and that, if I were arrived in Boston, I 
 should see but little of it, as I could neither bear walk- 
 ing nor riding in a carriage over its pebbled streets ; 
 and, above all, that I should find very few indeed of 
 my old friends living, it being now sixty-five years 
 since I left it to settle here — all this considered, I say, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 307 
 
 it seems probable, though not certain, that I shall 
 hardly again visit that beloved place. But I enjoy 
 the company and conversation of its inhabitants when 
 any of them are so good as to visit me ; for besides 
 their general good sense, which I value, the Boston 
 manner, turn of phrase, and even tone of voice and 
 accent in pronunciation, all please and seem to re- 
 fresh and revive me. 
 
 I have been long impressed with the same senti- 
 ments you so well express of the growing felicity of 
 mankind, from the improvements in philosophy, 
 morals, politics, and even the conveniences of common 
 living, and the invention and acquisition of new and 
 useful utensils and instruments, so that I have some- 
 times almost wished it had been my destiny to be 
 born two or three centuries hence ; for invention and 
 improvement are prolific and beget more of their kind. 
 The present progress is rapid. Many of great im- 
 portance, now unthought of, will before that period 
 be produced ; and then I might not only enjoy their 
 advantages, but have my curiosity gratified by know- 
 ing what they are to be. I see a little absurdity in 
 what I have just written ; but it is to a friend who 
 will wink and let it pass, while I mention one reason 
 more for such a wish, which is that if the art of 
 physic shall be improved in proportion to other arts, 
 we may then be able to avoid diseases and live as 
 long as the patriarchs in Genesis, to which I suppose 
 we should have little objection. 
 
 I am glad my dear sister has so good and kind a 
 neighbor. I sometimes suspect she may be backward 
 in acquainting me with circumstances in which \ 
 
/ 
 
 % ^> 
 
 308 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN franklin: 
 
 might be more useful to her. If any such should 
 occur to your observation, your mentioning them to 
 me will be a favor I shall be thankful for. 
 
 With great esteem, I have the honor to be, rever- 
 end sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, 
 
 B. Franklin. 
 
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