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LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
 
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THE LIFE ZP^X 
 
 OF 
 
 BEiNJAMIN FRANKLIN, ^ 
 
 WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. V. I 
 
 NOW FIRST EDITED FROM ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS 
 
 AND FROM HIS PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 AND OTHER WRITINGS, 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN BIGELOW. 
 
 " Plurimce consentiunt gentes populi primarium fuisse virum." 
 
 Cicero de Senectute {Caionis), ^ 6i 
 
 FOURTH EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED. 
 
 ILIvUSTRATED. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 
 
 LONDON: 6 HENRIETTA ST., COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 I 900. 
 
Sntercd according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 
 
 JOHN BIGELOW, 
 
 In tne Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 Copyright, 1893, by John Bigelow. 
 Copyright, 1898, by John Bigelow. 
 
 9 0S 
 
 Printed bv J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia. 
 
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 As each revolving season brings its fresh crop of 
 leaves, flowers, and fruits, so every new year seems 
 to have something fresh to tell us of the subject of 
 this memoir. Like his eminent contemporary and 
 admirer, Voltaire, Franklin's fountain oi pieces inedites 
 seems inexhaustible. Scarcely a month passes that 
 does not make its contribution to the fruitage of his 
 indefatigable pen. 
 
 It is now twenty-three years since the first edition 
 of this memoir was given to the world. Time and 
 the public taste have vindicated the artistic principle 
 upon which it was constructed of letting Franklin 
 tell his story, and his whole story, in his own way. 
 
 No great and enduring fame has ever been less 
 indebted to contemporary appreciation than Frank- 
 lin's. We learn little more of what was thought of 
 him from his own generation than we do of Shake- 
 speare and of Moliere from theirs. The portion 
 of his life in which he is commonly thought to 
 
 5 
 
5 a PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 have placed the world under the most considerable 
 obligations was spent abroad in diplomacy, a call- 
 ing in which a lasting fame has rarely if ever been 
 achieved. That Franklin proved an exception was 
 i\\\Q less to the extraordinary value of his service to 
 the public than to the admirable, the incomparable 
 history of it revealed in his voluminous correspond- 
 ence. The charm of that correspondence neither 
 the lapse of time nor the mutability of human society 
 has in the least impaired. Yet, strangely enough, 
 one looks in vain to the press or the forum of his 
 day for any premonition of such a fame as was in 
 store for him. What is no less strange, in all his 
 long and varied career as agent for the colonies, as 
 commissioner, as minister plenipotentiary, as governor 
 of Pennsylvania, as member of the convention that 
 framed the first federal Constitution, Franklin never 
 wrote a line for publication except anonymously, and 
 of that very little. All the world's interest in Franklin 
 must be attributed mainly to writings which he never 
 gave to the public, and which for the most part were 
 never in print until many }xars after his death. Had 
 his correspondence been lost or destroyed, his name 
 might never have reappeared in any encyclopaedia 
 of our day, if indeed in any preceding one. Let any 
 one who doubts this run his eyes over any of the 
 biographies of Franklin, — and they are without num- 
 ber and all full of interest ; — he will then see how 
 
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 5 b 
 
 entirely they owe that interest to his posthumous 
 correspondence, and what a hfeless skeleton the best 
 of them would be if deprived of what Franklin wrote 
 about himself and his work but never published. 
 There would be scarcely enough left for a newspaper 
 obituary. The superior might of the pen over the 
 sword has probably never received a more impressive 
 illustration. It is, therefore, I trust, with a not un- 
 becoming confidence that my publishers assume the 
 artistic principle upon which this memoir is con- 
 structed to have been the correct one : that as Frank- 
 lin was not only his own but practically his only 
 biographer, his own account of himself is the one in 
 which the world must always feel most interest, and 
 that, whatever other biographies have been or may be 
 written, there must always be a demand for the Life 
 of Franklin as written by himself so long as the Eng- 
 lish continues to be a Hving tongue. It is at their 
 behest, therefore, that I have undertaken to enrich 
 a new edition of this memoir, now about to be put 
 to press, with whatever fresh material of biographical 
 interest the last decade has disclosed, in the hope of 
 leaving it as perfect and complete an expression of 
 Franklin's own estimate of himself, of his principles, 
 and of his motives of action as it is now possible to 
 supply. 
 
 This is the last time that I can reasonably expect 
 to feed and trim this memorial lamp, but I do not 
 
6 PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 fear that others will not be found to do all that in 
 the unpretending function of editorship need or can 
 be done to keep alive and fresh from generation to 
 generation the memory of one whose fame is dowered 
 with securities for greater longevity than can yet be 
 confidently predicted for any other American, and of 
 whom may with equal propriety be said what Bryant 
 so justly said of Washington, — 
 
 " * * years succeeding years shall give 
 Increase of honors to his name." 
 
 The Squirrels, May, 1898. 
 
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 
 
 In responding to the call of my publishers for a new 
 edition of this work, I esteem myself fortunate in being 
 able to avail myself of the very considerable and important 
 increment which has been made to our stock of Franklinian 
 literature since the appearance of the previous editions. 
 Of these recent acquisitions, the Stevens collection, pur- 
 chased for the State Department in 1881, ranks first in 
 importance. It embraced all the papers left by Franklin 
 in his will to his grandson, William Temple Franklin, 
 which, because of their number and bulk, could not profit- 
 ably be used by the latter in his edition of his grand- 
 father's works, published in 181 7. 
 
 The letters of Franklin to his early and faithful friend, 
 William Strahan, the parliamentary printers of those days, 
 have recently come into the market, and have contributed 
 much new and interesting information about Franklin's 
 business career before he became engrossed with public 
 affairs. These letters help much to explain his early, ex- 
 traordinary, and enduring influence with his countrymen 
 
 From these and other less copious sources I have been 
 able to glean between four and five hundred letters and 
 documents, from which I have endeavored to extract every- 
 
 7 
 
ja 
 
 PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. 
 
 thing of a strictly biographical nature with which to enrich 
 this edition. Among them are some, the peculiar interest 
 of which will be manifest from their titles. Of such are, — 
 
 "Preparatory notes and hints for writing a paper con- 
 cerning what is called catching cold." 
 
 "Notes on the condition of his health from 1778 to 
 1780." 
 
 " Personal expense accounts with Congress during the 
 frst two years of his official residence in Paris." 
 
 "A fragment of his diary for 1780." 
 
 "An elaborate account of the first successful balloon ex- 
 periment ever made, addressed to Sir Joseph Banks, then 
 president of the Royal Society of London." 
 
 A letter on "The Slave Trade," written only twenty- 
 four days before his death, in which Franklin gives a speech 
 purporting to have been delivered in the Divan of Algiers 
 in 1687, in opposition to the petition of a sect called 
 Erika, for the abolition of Piracy and Slavery. This pre- 
 tended speech was a parody on one which had been then 
 recently delivered by a Mr. Jackson, of Georgia, whose 
 arguments in favor of negro slavery were here urged with 
 equal force to justify the enslaving and plundering of 
 Europeans. 
 
 None of these papers save the last, which was printed 
 anonymously in the Federal Gazette of March 25, 1790, 
 appear to have ever been consulted by any previous biog- 
 rapher of Franklin. 
 
 In this edition will also be found several interesting illus- 
 trations, which have never appeared in any previous biog- 
 raphy of Franklin. 
 
 Among them is a portrait of Franklin, engraved from the 
 Duplessis portrait of 1778 ; a sketch, made by Victor Hugo, 
 
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. y fj 
 
 of the house of M. Le Ray de Chaumont, at Passy, which 
 Frankhn occupied, rent free, during his entire sojourn in 
 France, accompanied by the copy of an autograph letter 
 of Victor Hugo, setting forth the circumstances under 
 which the sketch came to be made ; a portrait of M. de 
 Chaumont, and a view of the Chateau de Chaumont, his 
 country home, where the clay was found from which the 
 first and now rare and famous medallion of Franklin was 
 made, and which contributed to make his face as famous as 
 the moon in Paris, ''So that," as he wrote in a letter to 
 liis daughter, *' he durst not do anything that would oblige 
 him to run away, as his phiz would discover him wherever 
 he should venture to show it." 
 
 Besides a careful revision of these pages, I have en- 
 deavored faithfully to profit by the criticisms of the press 
 and by the intelligent suggestions of private correspond- 
 ents, in searching out and correcting every error which 
 escaped my attention in previous editions. 
 
 I trust that I have succeeded in making the story of our 
 most illustrious countryman less unworthy of the favor with 
 which it has been received hitherto by the public. 
 
 John Bigf.low. 
 
 Highland Falls on the Hudson, 
 June 30, 1892. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The memoirs of his own life, which Dr. Franklin 
 began but never finished, terminated with his arrival 
 in England, in 1757, as agent of the Colony of Penn- 
 sylvania. He was then fifty-one years of age, and just 
 entering upon that part of his public career in which 
 his marvellous talents appear to the greatest advantage. 
 From this time until 1785 he resided abroad, as agent 
 of the colonies or as minister plenipotentiary of the 
 United States ; his two brief visits to his native land, 
 in 1762 and in 1775, scarcely constituting an interrup- 
 tion of his protracted foreign service. 
 
 During this long period of twenty-eight years, he 
 was, of course, in constant correspondence, officially, 
 with the governments he represented, and unofficially 
 with prominent public men, and with his family and 
 friends, both at home and abroad. 
 
 During the five years that elapsed between his final 
 return from Europe, in 1785, and his death, he naturally 
 maintained an active correspondence with his numerous 
 
 9 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 friends in the Old World, among whom he had spent 
 the most useful and perhaps the happiest years of his 
 life. 
 
 To this protracted expatriation we owe the fact that 
 there is scarcely an important incident of Franklin's 
 life which is not described by himself in his memoirs, 
 or in his correspondence; and it is to this vast treasury 
 of sterling English, which seems to have been almost 
 miraculously preserved from incalculable perils by sea 
 and by land, that the legion of his biographers have 
 been indebted for whatever has most contributed to 
 render their works attractive. 
 
 I am not aware that any other eminent man has left 
 so complete a record of his own life. The part of it 
 which, from the nature of things, could not be pre- 
 served in correspondence — his youth and early man- 
 hood ; his years of discipline and preparation — has 
 been made as familiar as household words to at least 
 three generations, in those imperishable pages which, 
 in the full maturity of his faculties and experience, he 
 prepared at the special instance of his friends Le 
 Veillard, Rochefoucault, and Vaughan. From the 
 period when that fragment closes until his death, we 
 have a continuous, I might almost say daily record 
 of his life, his labors, his anxieties, and his triumphs, 
 from his own pen, and written when all the incidents 
 and emotions they awakened were most fresh and dis- 
 tinct in his mind. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 II 
 
 If I may judge by the unexampled popularity and 
 influence of his memoirs of the early part of his life, 
 I am not mistaken in supposing that the world will 
 be more interested in reading his own account of 
 those more eventful years which followed, than in 
 what any other person has said or can say about them. 
 However we may prize the judgments of discrimi- 
 nating biographers of Franklin, their interest must 
 always be subordinate to that which we feel in his 
 own; and the pleasure, be it never so great, which we 
 experience in reading other versions of the incidents 
 of his varied and picturesque career only increases 
 our curiosity to read the account which he gave of 
 them at the time, to his government and friends, in 
 his own pure, limpid, and sparkling English. 
 
 It is under the impulse of such convictions that the 
 work which is now submitted to the public has been 
 prepared. I have aimed to condense Franklin's own 
 memorials of his entire life, hitherto scattered through 
 many bulky volumes and yet more bulky manuscript 
 collections, into a single compact work, and to give 
 them the convenient order and attractiveness of a con- 
 tinuous narrative. To this end I have taken from his 
 writings and correspondence whatever was autobio- 
 graphical, and presented it in a strictly chronological 
 order. I have not attempted to give all his letters, nor 
 more of any letter or other document than furthered 
 the central and controlling purpose of the work, — tc 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 tell the Franklin story fully and without tediousness 
 or vain repetitions. 
 
 Like all the modern biographers of Franklin, I 
 have depended mainly upon the two collections of 
 his writings and correspondence, compiled and edited, 
 one by Jared Sparks, 1 836-1 840, and the other by 
 John Bigelow, 1 887-1 889. I was fortunate enough, a 
 few years since, to obtain some valuable details of 
 his later days, in a collection of his letters addressed 
 to M. le Veillard, an account of which, and of the 
 original manuscript from which the autobiography, 
 down to 1757, was printed,* will be found in the his- 
 tory which immediately follows of the " fortunes and 
 misfortunes" of that unique autograph. 
 
 A nation has no possessions so valuable as its great 
 men, living or dead ; for they inspire it with noble im- 
 pulses to noble achievements. When such possessions 
 cease to be estimated by us at their proper value, or 
 to awaken the enthusiasm of the young and the pride 
 of the mature of a nation, we may be sure that we 
 are yielding to a lower grade of impulses and are de- 
 clining in power and influence. The cock in the fable 
 preferred the grain of corn to the guinea, because he 
 was a cock, and did not know that with the guinea he 
 
 * This manuscript was first printed in 1868. See " Autobiography 
 of Benjamin Franklin, edited from his Manuscript, with Notes ami an 
 Introduction, by John Bigelow." Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & 
 Co., 1868. 
 
PREFACE. 13 
 
 could have bought a year's supply of- corn. When we 
 become indifferent to the fame and the teachings of 
 those who have headed the procession of civilizing 
 influences in their day, we commit the folly of the 
 cock, without the cock's excuse. It was when the 
 trophies of Miltiades kept Themistocles from sleeping 
 that Greece was in her glory. 
 
 The Squirrels, May i, 1898. 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface 5-13 
 
 Historical Sketch of the Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Autograph 
 MS. of Frankhn's Memoirs of his Own Life . . . .- 19-76 
 
 PART L 
 
 Frankhn's Outhne of the Topics of his Autobiography . . . 77-80 
 Autobiography of Frankhn from his Birth to his Arrival in England as 
 Agent cf the Colony of Pennsylvania (1706-1757) . , . 81-372 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Continuation of the Autobiography from Franklin's Ar- 
 rival IN England as Agent of the Colony of Pennsyl- 
 vania, in June, 1757, until the Close of his Mission there 
 AND Return to Philadelphia, in 1775. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 Pope's Works — Thomson's "Seasons" — Disciplines James Read — 
 Enters his Son William a Student of Law in London — Settles two 
 of his Nephews in Business — Protracted Illness in London — Re- 
 moval of Governor Denny — Countermining the Proprietors — His- 
 torical Review, etc., of Pennsylvania — Tour through England and 
 Scotland — Cambridge University — Visits the Home of his Ances- 
 tors — Counsels the Annexation of Canada to the British Empire — 
 
 15 
 
1 6 CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Portrait of William Penn — Tlie " Art of Virtue" — Karnes's " Ele- 
 ments of Criticism" — Directions for a Young Lady's Reading — Ex- 
 pensiveness of English Wives — Hume's "Jealousy of Commerce" — 
 Baskerville's Printing-Types — Property of the Penn Family — Death 
 of his Mother-in-law — Lightning Conductors (1744-1762) 375-433 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 His Reception in America — His Son's Marriage, and Appointmrnt as 
 Governor of New Jersey — Tour through the Colonies as Postmaster- 
 General — Insurrection of the Indians — Drafts a Militia Bill — Its Re- 
 jection by the Governor — Drafts a Petition to the Throne for a Change 
 of Governor — Is defeated for the Assembly — Sent to England again 
 as Agent of the Colony of Pennsylvania — Parting Advice to his 
 Daughter {1762-1764) — Connecticut Religion .... 434-448 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Jealousy of English Manufacturers — Origin of the Stamp Act — Opposi- 
 tion of Franklin — Effect of its Passage in America — Names a Stamp 
 Distributor — Unpleasant Consequences — Correspondence with Dean 
 Tucker (1764--1766) 449-466 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Kranklin's Examination before the House of Commons (1766) . 467-510 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Franklin sends his Wife a New Dress on the Repeal of the Stamp Act 
 — New Disputes with the Mother Country — Colonies required to pro- 
 vide for Soldiers — Lord Chatham — Marriage of Sally Frankhn — Ex- 
 periment of making Paper Money not a Legal Tender — Advances 
 of the French Ambassador to Franklin — Vis.ts the Continent — First 
 Impressions of France and Germany (1766-1767) . . . 511-545 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Walpole Grant again — Change of Ministry — Hillsborough named 
 Secretary of State for America — Franklin edits "The Farmers 
 Letters" — Particulars of his Election to the Royal Society — Powers 
 of Parliament over the Colonies defined — Corruption at Elections — 
 Dissolution of Parliament (1767-1768) 54^57° 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. ^7 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Poor Richard's Almanac 573-605 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. Preface to Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin 
 Frankhn, by William Temple Franklin 607-611 
 
 No. 2. Preface to " Correspondance inedite, etc., de B. Franklin," by 
 M. Charles Malo 611-613 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGH 
 
 roRTRAiT OF Franklin kngraved hy IIall. From the 
 original painted by Duplcssis in 1 783, in possession of the 
 Editor. Vol. I Frontispiece. 
 
 Portrait of James Logan. From an original painting in 
 
 the Loganian Library in Philadelphia. Vol. L . facing 283 
 
 Portrait of Dr. John Fothergill. Frum a medallion in 
 possession of Madame Ernest von Bunsen at Abbey Lodge, 
 London. Vol. I facing 365 a 
 
 Portrait of William Strahan. From a painting in the pos- 
 session of the late John Spottiswoode, Esq. Vol. L facing 375 
 
 Portrait of Franklin. From an original pencil drawing 
 attributed to Jean Martin Renaud, a sculptor, and pre- 
 sented by W. IL Lucas, Esq., of Paris, to the W. H. Hunt- 
 ington Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
 Vol. II Frojitispiece. 
 
 Victor Hugo's Drawing of Franklin's Residence at 
 Passy. Yxovii the Tilden Collection in the New York 
 Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden foundation. 
 Vol. II Z^T, 
 
 Portrait of Donatikn Le Ray de Ciiaumont. From an 
 engraving of a portrait by Robin in possession of the 
 editor. Vol. II facing 430 
 
 The Chateau de Chaumont. Vol. II facing 480 
 
 Portrait of Franklin. From the chevillet engraving of 
 the Duplessis portrait of 1 778, in possession of Miss E. F. 
 Harwood. Vol. Ill Frotitispiece. 
 
 Medallion of Franklin. From a terra-cotta original signed 
 Martin Renaud, presented to the Wm. H. Huntington Col- 
 lection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art hy W. II. 
 
 Lucas. Vol. Ill facitig 462 
 
 18 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES OF THE AUTOGRAPH 
 
 MANUSCRIPT 
 
 OF 
 
 FRANKLIN'S MEMOIRS OF HIS OWN LIFE.* 
 
 FRANKLIN began his autobiography, the longest of 
 his writings, during his residence in England as 
 agent of the colonies, in the year 1771. He was at the 
 time on a visit to the family of Dr. Jonathan Shipley, 
 Bishop of St. Asaph, with whom he was on terms of 
 peculiar and cordial intimacy. The part then written 
 covers the period from his birth, in 1706, to his marriage, 
 in 1730. It was executed to this point, he informs us, 
 for the gratification of his own family. It afterwards was 
 continued, at the solicitation of some of his friends, with 
 the expectation that it would ultimately be given to the 
 public. The second part, which is comparatively brief. 
 
 * Revised from Bigelow's Autobiography of Franklin, Lippincott, 
 1868. 
 
 19 
 
19 ii 
 
 was written at his residence in Passy, while minister to 
 France. The third part was begun in August, 1788, after 
 his return to his home in Philadelphia, and brings the 
 narrative down to 1757. This part ends the autobiography 
 so far as it was printed up to 1867, when the first edition 
 ever printed from the original manuscript was given by 
 me to the public. This edition contained a fourth part, 
 consisting of a few pages written in 1789, which had never 
 before been printed in English. Franklin died in the 
 spring of the following year, and by his will left most of 
 his papers and manuscripts, this autobiography among 
 them, to his grandson, William Temple Franklin, who 
 sailed for England a few months after, with the intention, 
 as he then proclaimed, of publishing it in a collection of 
 his grandfather's works. This purpose was not destined 
 to be realized, however, until after an interval of twenty- 
 seven or twenty-eight years. Meantime, and in the year 
 following Franklin's death, a French version of the first 
 portion of the autobiography was published in Paris. From 
 this point the history of this manuscript is a succession 
 of surprises which has scarce any parallel in ancient or 
 modern bibliography, with the possible exception of the 
 writings of Aristotle and the "Table Talk" of Martin 
 Luther. Where the text was obtained from which this 
 translation was made and by whom it was made are secrets 
 which the grave of time has not yet given up * 
 
 The ''Nouvelle Biographie Gen^rale," Paris, 1858, 
 attributes the translation to Dr. Jacques Gibelin, who to 
 
 * Memoires de la vie jnivee de Benjamin Franklyn, Merits par lui- 
 nieme et adress^s in son fils ; suivis d'un precis historiqiie de sa vie 
 politique, et de plusieurs precis relatives k ce p^re de la liberty. A. 
 Paris: chez Buisson, Libraire, rue Hautefeuille No. 20, 1 791. 
 
the professions of physician and naturalist added that of 
 a translator from the English. Whether he or some one 
 else made the translation is of very little consequence 
 now. It would, however, be a satisfaction to know how 
 he obtained the text from which he translated. The first 
 sentence in his preface practically concedes that it was 
 obtained by some method which he does not think it 
 worth his while to reveal to the public. 
 
 *'I shall not enter," he says, "into a detail of little 
 importance to my readers, on the manner in which the 
 original manuscript of these memoirs, which is in Eng- 
 lish, fell into my hands. From the moment I had run 
 over it, it appeared to me to be so interesting that I did 
 not hesitate to allow myself the pleasure of putting it into 
 French. ' ' 
 
 It appears by Franklin's correspondence that copies of 
 this first part of his autobiography were sent to his friends 
 Le Veillard and Rochefoucault, of Paris, and Vaughan, 
 of London, prior to his beginning work on the second 
 part. It hardly admits of a doubt that the first French 
 version of 1791 was made from one of these. 
 
 In a note to the preface of this first edition, the pub- 
 lisher says, ''Persons curious to see the 'Memoirs of the 
 Private Life of Franklin' in their original tongue may in- 
 scribe their names at Buisson's, bookseller, rue Hautefeuille 
 No. 20, for a copy of this work. It will be put to press 
 as soon as four hundred subscribers are secured. The price 
 for each subscriber will be forty-eight sols [a half-dollar]." 
 The requisite number of subscribers was probably not 
 secured, for no English version of the autobiography ap- 
 peared until two years later, in 1793; ^'"'^ \h&n two sepa- 
 rate translations were published in London, one edited 
 
19 c 
 
 by Dr. Price, and commonly known as the Robinson 
 edition. In this the editor for the first time supplements 
 the fragment of autobiography, which only comes down 
 to 1 73 1, with a continuation of Dr. Franklin's life, most 
 of which had appeared in the Coliiinhian Magazine of 
 Philadelphia. The greater part of this supplementary 
 sketch was written by Dr. Henry Stuber, whose death at 
 the early age of twenty-four, however, brought his work 
 to a somewhat abrupt conclusion. Parsons's edition is 
 another translation from the French edition of Buisson. 
 
 There were three issues of Robinson's edition in a short 
 time, and it was soon reprinted in Dublin, Dundee, Edin- 
 burgh, New York, Salem, and many other places, while 
 of Parsons's edition, though it contains some matter not 
 to be found in Buisson's edition, I have never seen a 
 reprint. 
 
 The Robinson edition practically kept possession of the 
 English market until 1817, when William Temple Frank- 
 lin published a new edition of the autobiography in his 
 collection of the works of his grandfather. It was taken 
 from the copy that had been sent by Franklin to M. le 
 Veillard, the mayor of Passy, one of his most devoted 
 friends. 
 
 From this forth the original manuscript of the autobi- 
 ography went into eclipse. It was known not to be among 
 the manuscripts in the possession of William Temple Frank- 
 lin, but what had become of it — its destruction was hardly 
 conceivable —was a mystery. Where and how it was dis- 
 covered, after an interval of half a century, is one of the 
 remarkable incidents in its remarkable history. 
 
 Among my guests one day at dinner in Paris, in the 
 summer of 1S66, was the late Professor Laboulaye. He 
 
had recently translated and published a selection from the 
 writings of Franklin, and, as he had amiably sent me a 
 copy, it naturally became one of the topics of our con- 
 versation. In the course of the entertainment I asked my 
 guests, who, as far as I remember, were all French gentle- 
 men of letters, if they had ever heard, or if they had any 
 reason to suspect, that the original manuscript of Frank- 
 lin's autobiography was in France. All answered in the 
 negative. I then assigned some reasons for thinking that 
 unless it had been destroyed, ^^hich was in the highest 
 degree improbable, it was somewhere within the limits of 
 the Empire. 
 
 I St. I said I had received the impression some years 
 previous from Mr. Henry Stevens, a professional book- 
 collector in London, that he had seen the manuscript in 
 the hands of a gentleman residing in France, — I had an 
 indistinct impre.-sion that he said at Amiens, — and had 
 only been discouraged from buying it by the price.* 
 
 * In an auction-sale catalogue of " Stevens's Historical Collec- 
 tions," printed in iSSi, Stevens thus refers to his unsuccessful effort 
 to acquire this manuscript : 
 
 " That his old friend might possess a substantial memorial of Frank- 
 lin, the grandson left the original draft with the Veillard family. The 
 writer saw it in 185 2 at Amiens in the possession of M. de Senarmont, 
 a relative by marriage of M. le Veillard, whf) had been beheaded in 
 1794- He spent two days with that amiable gentleman and his 
 family, and was permitted to collate the autograph with Temple 
 Franklm's printed text of the autobiography. The manuscript was 
 then the un livided property of three persons. They were all there, 
 but on consultation were not willing to sell unless they could obtain a 
 sum worth dividing. A small price, therefore, was no temptation. 
 They did not then care to dispose of the other autograph papers or 
 the portrait by Duplessis. The writer left a standing offer of 2CO 
 
19^ 
 
 2d. Romilly (Sir Samuel ), in his diary, speaks of liaving 
 looked through the autobiography of Franklin at the house 
 of a friend whom he was visiting in Paris in 1802. 
 
 3d. If, as this record authorized the belief, the original 
 manuscript was ever in France, there was every reason to 
 presume it was there still. 
 
 4th. It was in the highest degree improbable that a 
 manuscript of that character could be in the United States 
 without its lodging-place being a matter of common noto- 
 riety, whereas none of Franklin's numerous l)iographers 
 profess to have had any trace of it after the death of Wil- 
 liam Temple Franklin in 1823. 
 
 5th. As William Temple Franklin embarked for Europe 
 within a few weeks after the death of his grandfather, 
 whose pipers he inherited, and never returned to the 
 Initcd States, the presumptiun was that he took this 
 manuscript with him, and that it Avas in Europe and not 
 in the United States. 
 
 M. Laboulaye seemed struck by the force of these con- 
 siderations ; said he had a friend at Amiens who would be 
 sure to know if any literary treasure of that nature was 
 Concealed in the neighborh)od ; and if in France, whether 
 at Amiens or not, he felt confident of being able to ascer- 
 tain through some of his friends in the Academy, and he 
 very kindly volunteered to look into the matter at once. 
 
 We^ks and months rolled on, but I heard nothing 
 further of the mani!scri[jt. 
 
 When about leaving for England on my way to the 
 
 pounds for it, ihey wanting 600 pounds. As it was not an unpublished 
 paper, the purchase was not completed, though considerable friendly 
 correspondence followed." 
 
19/ 
 
 United States in the winter of 1867, and after sending my 
 flimily and personal baggage to the railway station, I set 
 out in a cab to make two or three farewell calls upon some 
 friends whose residences were not much off my route to 
 the station. Among them was M. Laboulaye. During 
 our half-hour's interview I asked him if he had ever 
 thought to make any inquiries about the autobiography. 
 He replied that he had, but that his friend upon whom 
 he specially relied had not been able to throw any light 
 upon the subject. He added, however, that he meant to 
 institute some further inquiries among his associates of the 
 Academy, and if, as certainly seemed jrobable, it was in 
 France, he said he did not despair of finding it. I thanked 
 him, gave him my address in London and in New York, 
 and went on my way. 
 
 I had spent nearly a month in London, had arranged to 
 sail in a few days for the United States, and had nearly 
 abandoned all expectation of hearing anything of the 
 autobiography, when, on the 19th of January, a letter from 
 M. Laboulaye was handed me by the postman, which in- 
 formal me not only that the habitat of the manuscript had 
 been discovered, but that it, v/ith several other precious 
 relics of our illustrious countryman, could be bought for 
 a price, — a large price, it is true, but a price which did 
 not seem to me beyond their value to an American. M. 
 Laboulaye' s letter ran as follows : 
 
 "12 Janvier, 1867, 34 Rue Taitbout. 
 
 '^ Cher Monsieur Bigelow: 
 
 "Eureka! J'ai trouve, grace a un ami, le manuscrit de 
 Franklin et son possesseur. 
 
 " M. de Senarmont, heritier de la famille Le Veillaid, 
 
I9<^ 
 
 et qui demeure a Paris, rue de Varennes, No. 98, nous 
 6crit qu'il poss^de : 
 
 " I. Le MS. original autograph complet (?) des me- 
 moires de Franklin. 
 
 *' 2. Una collection considerable de lettres de Franklin, 
 formant un ensemble de correspondance. 
 
 " 3. Un portrait en pastel de Franklin, donne par lui a 
 M. le Veillard. 
 
 "Et il demande de tout la somme de vingt-cinq mille 
 francs. Vous voici sur la voie. C'est a vous maintenant 
 a faire ce que vous conviendra. Adieu ! Recevez encore 
 tons mes voeux pour votre bonheur en ce monde et dans 
 r autre (je parle du Nouveau Monde). Votre bien devoue, 
 
 *'Ed. Laboulaye." 
 
 The next mail took from me a letter to my cherished 
 friend the late William H. Huntington, in Paris, en- 
 closing Laboulaye' s note, asking him to go to No. 98 Rue 
 de Varennes and examine the articles referred to, and, if 
 satisfied of their genuineness, I authorized him to offer 
 fifteen thousand francs for them. In two or three days 
 I received from him the following most characteristic 
 letter : 
 
 ' ' {High private and fiducial. ) 
 
 " 22 Janvier, '67. 
 
 "Dear Mr. Bigelow: 
 
 "Yours of no date whatever readied me Saturday, and 
 that of Mr. Laboulaye* the same afternoon. M. L[abou- 
 laye] knows nothing more of the MSS. and portrait than 
 
 * A letter of introduction to M. Laboulaye, which I had sent him by 
 a subsequent post. 
 
what he wrote you ; gave me letter of presentation to M. 
 Senarmont, whom he does not know, in the which he 
 mentioned your name with full titles, and addressed it 78 
 Rue de Verneuil. 
 
 "It was late to go there that day. A 'glance at the 
 map' will show you that it is the one-fourth St. Germain, 
 and so I did not go Sunday. 
 
 ^^ Fytte Second. 
 
 ''After breakfast and 'girding myself up' — how much 
 easier one feels after it ! — I took the letter in my hand on 
 this blessed day, and got myself up in the highest number 
 in the Rue de Verneuil, which I found, like Franklin's 
 Memoirs, broken off some time before 78. Whereupon ' I 
 fetched a compass,' as St. Paul would say, and ran for 
 Rue de Varennes, where I presently made No. 98, and 
 hailing the concierge, found I had reached port this time. 
 
 " Oh, such a concierge — both he and his female ! repu- 
 table, civil, in a comfortable room. While getting up a 
 broad, clean staircase, did hear bell ringing in the court. 
 By the time I reached the door au 2 me, a gentle domestic 
 was already there — — I'he dining room was thoroughly 
 warmed : through the open door, into the salon ; a carpet 
 continuous with the parquet, and comfortable chairs, and 
 other quietly, not newly rich furnishing, and still another 
 fire, offered so many peaceful indications that here was not 
 a shop to buy things cheap in. M. de S. presently ap- 
 peared from up-stairs (occupy two floors, then !) Hand- 
 some (not pretty), 33 a 37 years of age, courteous, shrewd 
 I guess, but really a gentleman. He said that the MSS. 
 were : 
 
 " I. The original Autobiography, with interlinings. 
 
erasures, etc., from which the copy was made that was sent 
 to VV. T. Franklin, and the first translation: It is in folio, 
 bound, complete. 
 
 "2. Letters, mostly, he thinks, to M. Veillard, not re- 
 lating to politics — at least not specially political — friendly 
 letters, — and not, he thinks, ever communicated to Mr. 
 Sparks or other book-making person. The portrait is by 
 Duplessis, and, according to a 'tradition in the family,' 
 the original, not the replica : it was given by B. ¥. to M. 
 Veillard. 
 
 " He had neither MSS. nor portrait in the house : they 
 are at his cousin's (who is, as I understand, part owner of 
 them). On Wednesday I am to go to No. 98 Rue de V. 
 again, when he will have them there or will accompany me 
 to his cousin to see them. He did reside formerly in 
 Amiens, where he or his father had these things. An 
 American, he thinks, did come some years ago to see the 
 portrait there ; name of that stranger unknown ; also his 
 quality, whether merely an inquisitive traveller ; is ready 
 but not eager to sell (if he knows himself) at 25,000 
 francs the lot ; does not want to sell any one of the three 
 articles separately. Does not know that they are mercan- 
 tilely worth 25,000 francs, but intimates that he shall run 
 the risk of waiting for or provoking the chance of that 
 price being given. Has been applied to by a photographer 
 (this some time ago) to photograph the portrait: declined 
 proposition at the time, but now conceives that it might 
 gratify curiosity of Americans coming to Exposition next 
 May to see copies of it, or the original hung up there ! 
 
 '*I fancy that this Universal French-Exposition idea 
 stands moie in the way of reducing the price than any- 
 thing else. 
 
197 
 
 ''I write you all the.-;e things so that, if you see fit, you 
 can let me know before Wednesday noon whether 15,000 
 francs is y*;ur last price. Please write me by mail any 
 suggestions or directions you will : also how, in case he 
 does yield to the charm of 15,000 down, and I can get the 
 MSS. and portrait in time, I am to send them to you. 
 Suppose M. de S. yields on Wednesday the 23d, I get 
 your money Saturday the 26th, and the articles that night. 
 I exi>ress them Sunday morning the 27th. And seeing we 
 are in France, that is the quickest time we could hope to 
 make. I must hurry now to catch the mail. 
 
 '* Yours truly, 
 
 " W. H. Huntington." 
 
 On the 24th of January I received a second letter from 
 Huntington, giving the results of his first view of what he 
 terms the '' Franklinienacs :" 
 
 " Paris (8 Rue de Boursault), 2-2, Jan., 1867. 
 " Dear Mr. Bigelow : 
 
 "I have seen the Frankliniseries (say Franklinienacs). 
 The autobiography is writ on large foolscap, bound very 
 simply, but without the slightest lesion of the pages. This 
 is undoubtedly the original manuscript, with interlining, 
 erasures, marginal notes, and blots (of which one smasher, 
 that was smatched thin nearly over one page) of B. F. of 
 the period. It is complete in both parts. The French 
 publication of 1791 stops with the first part. \ou recollect 
 — and nioie complete than the 'clean copy' from which 
 W. T. Franklin printed the two pans; i.e., it has several 
 more pages after the arrival in London in 1757, where 
 W. T. F.'s print stops. I should think there are other 
 passages in this MS. omitted by W. T. F., or by the waiter 
 
I9>^ 
 
 of the clean copy. The MS. closes with these words : 
 * They were never put in execut'on.' 
 
 " Of the letters only, two or three are from 1). F. — one 
 dated Philadelphia, 1787; another, ditto, 1788; 16 or 14 
 are from W. Temple Franklin, 2 from Sarah Bache, 2 from 
 1). F. Bache : all addressed to M. Veillard. I judge, from 
 what M. Paul de Senarmont said, that they do not relate 
 to political subjects. I had not time to read any of them, 
 having to go to M. George de Senarmont, the cousin, to 
 see the portrait. 
 
 *' It is nearly a half-length, life-size pastel, perfectly 
 well preserved, under glass, not a franc of additional value 
 from the frame. It is not signed. A labelled black and 
 gilt statement, Avhich is undoubtedly true, is attached to 
 the bottom of the frame, and reads nearly as follows : 
 'Portrait de Benjamin Franklin, age 77, donne par lui- 
 meme a M. Veillard. Peint par J. S. Duplessis, 1783.' I 
 have no doubt of the genuineness of the ])ortrait. M. S. 
 says that the fiimily tradition is that this was the original, 
 and the other one, which was in possession of W. T. Frank- 
 lin (?), the replica. Duplessis had a good reputation as a 
 portrait-painter. The Biographic Nouvelle cites, among 
 twelve of his most esteemed portraits, one of Franklin in 
 the * Galerie Pamard a Avignon.' The one that Mr. 
 Edward Brooks bought of J. de Mancy, or his heirs, a few 
 years ago, was claimed to be by Duplessis. That was in 
 oils; it was offered to me by old de Mancy, in 1852, for 
 2000 francs. There was a break in his history of it that 
 led me to suspect that it might be a copy. 
 
 '* M. de Senarmont holds firmly to the fixed price of 
 25,000 francs: agrees that it may be an extravagant one, 
 but will not set any other till after the Exposition. He 
 
igl 
 
 means to advertise Americans here of the manuscripts and 
 portrait, and where they may be seen, depositing them for 
 thcit end with some bookseller or other party. Meantin^e, 
 he is quite willing to keep my address, and in case he does 
 not sell at Exposition season, to talk further about tlie 
 matter, 'i'he manuscripts and portraits are, as I under- 
 stand him, an undivided family pioperty. ..." 
 
 Immediately upon receipt of the foregoing I sent Mr. 
 Huntington a check on John Munroe »S: Co., in Paris, for 
 twenty-five thousand francs, and told him to buy the col- 
 lection on as favorable terms as possible, but not to leave 
 without it, and, when bought, to forward by the first con- 
 veyance to London, that it might be sure to reach me 
 before I sailed. 
 
 In reply to this I deceived, on the 28th, the following 
 letter : 
 
 •* Paris (8 Rue de 'StonmaMli), January 27, 1867. 
 '* Ever Honored : 
 
 "My passage out from apartment in search of breakfast 
 this morning was obstructed by the concierge handing your 
 letter of 24th. Yours of 2 2d leaving all to my discretion, 
 I thought it discreetest not to spend so large a sum as 25m. 
 frs. without positive orders. These last instructions being 
 decisive, I gat myself; 
 
 " Onely, to Munroe & Co.'s. where I showed Mr. 
 Richards (who had his hat on) your enabling act to them 
 for my drawing of Pactolian draughts to the amount of 25 
 m. fis. 
 
 " 2ly, to Legoupy, a printseller of my acquaintance, on 
 Blvd de la Madeleine, to ask how best the portrait of B. 
 F. could be safely packed, with or without the glass. 
 
19 w 
 
 'With,' quoth he decidedly. Then I asked if he would 
 charge himself with the packing, he being much in the 
 way of sending large framed and glazed engravings out of 
 the city ; and he said he would. 
 
 '* Threely, to the S. E. R. way and package and express 
 office, to ask at what latest minute they would receive and 
 forward packages to London, which proved to be 5 o'clock 
 p. M. 
 
 " Four mostly to breakfast. Presently after that refec- 
 tion I girded up my loins and took voiture for 98 Rue de 
 Varennes. Coming into the presence of M. Paul de Senar- 
 mont, I spake, saying : ' I will take the Franklineaments 
 and MSS. on these three conditions: i. That I take them 
 immediately; 2. That you deduct 200 francs from the 
 25,000 frs. to pay my expenses for going with them to 
 London ; 3. That you furnish — sending it to me hereafter 
 for Mr. Bigelow— the history of the transitions of the three 
 Franklinienacs from M. Veillard's to your hands.' 
 
 ''All of which beiiig agreed to, I wrote then and there 
 an order, draught, draft, or whatever the name of the 
 paper may be, on J. M. & Co. for 24,800 francs in his 
 favor at 3 days' vision. Then P. de S. and the literary 
 remains of B. F., and self with cane, being bestowed in 
 the voiture (No. of the same not preserved), we careered 
 away to Cousin George de Senarmont's, No 23 Rue de 
 Sevres. While Paul went in unto George, to the bedroom 
 of him — for George was poorly, it seems, this morning, 
 and late abed ; leastway, late to breakfast — I ventured to 
 relieve B. F. from the state of suspense he was in on the 
 wall of the salon, screwed out of his frame the iron ring, 
 and, in the distraction of the moment, gave it to Cousin 
 George's housekeeper. 
 
19 « 
 
 '^ That was what B. F. calls an erratum, for I have often 
 use for that sort of screw — which the housekeeper, let us 
 hope, could not care for. 
 
 '^ Repacking, now, Paul de S., the MSS., umbrella, 
 cane^ and B. F. his eidolon, which I sustained ever with 
 one hand, into the carriage, I bade cocher drive to 7 Rue 
 Scribe, where I presented M. P. de S. to Mr. J. Munroe, 
 to whom I committed your enabling note and identified 
 Paul. Then P. de S. wished good voyage to London, and 
 the cocher asked, as I was delicately handling B. F.s por- 
 trait, if that was the Franklin who perished in the Northern 
 Seas. Queer but disappointing. Cocher evidently took a 
 lively interest in the frozen party, and but a cold, indifferent 
 one in the to him unheard-of philosopher. Now straight 
 to Legoupy's, whose packer declared he could have all 
 ready by 4 o'clock. I did not believe him, but by way of 
 encouragement pretended to, and held out to him as reward, 
 in case of success, that I would gladly contribute something 
 to the Washington Monument, which, let us hope, will 
 never be completed. 
 
 ''There was time enough between this and five o'clock 
 to go to the Legation, but small chance of finding Mr. Dix 
 there. So I went to the consulate and offered David * to 
 pay his passage and expenses if he would go with B. F. to 
 London to-night. David would gladly but could not ; 
 had infrangible pre-engagements for this evening ; I almost 
 found, but missed another man, who would, it was thought, 
 take charge of the box and surely deliver it Sunday, for 
 50 francs. During these entrefaites, four o'clock sounded. 
 
 * The trusty messenger at the Consulate, and now the Dean of the 
 representatives of the United States in foreign parts. 
 
At one quarter past, tlie caisse was on the back of Legoupy's 
 boy following your servant up the Boulevard. The very 
 best I could do at the R. and express office was to obtain 
 the most positive assurance, that a special messenger should 
 take the box from Cannon Street to Cleveland Square* 
 befo;e noon on Monday. There is no delivery at any 
 price on Sunday. I was on the point of deciding — what 
 1 had been debating ever since morning — to take a go and 
 return ticket and carry box and baggage to London myself. 
 But you know how I hate travelling at all times. On 
 leaving the express office, I passed a brief telegrammatic 
 sentence to your address, through the window- of Grand 
 Hotel T. bureau. The gentleman who counted its letters 
 estimated them at 6 francs, which is more, proportionately, 
 than what you paid for B. F.'s MSS. and flattering to me. 
 If I am ever able, I shall set up a telegraph wire, and dance 
 on to fortune. 
 
 ** Although my way along the quais and other marts 
 where books do congregate, are not as they were when you 
 were my fellow pilgrim, yet are they still not all without 
 pleasantness. Thus, coming away from my annual visit to 
 the neuvaine fete of St. Genevieve three weeks ago, I fell 
 upon the rummest bronze medallion of B. Franklin 
 (hitherto quite unheard of by this subscriber) that ever 
 you could conceive of. And yet another day, one of those 
 days lapsed last week from the polar circles into the more 
 temperate society of our Paris time, I clutched with numb 
 fingers a diminutive little 410 of pp. 48 with this title : ' La 
 Science du Bonhomme Richard par M. Franklin : suivie 
 des dix commandements de I'Honnete Homme, par M. 
 
 * Where I was staying with some friends. 
 
19/ 
 
 Fintry — prix quatre sols. Se vend a Paris, chez Renault, 
 Libraire, Rue de la Harpe. — 1778.' So, another day, \vas 
 all my homeward walk a path of exceeding peace by reason 
 of the primary, pre-adamite, genuine, juvenile, original 
 Eloge de Franklin hugged under my arm, like healing in 
 the wing. But the half of the enjoyment of these good 
 gifts of fortune fails me, in that I have no one now to 
 congratulate me or hate me for their acquisition. 
 
 *'M. de Senarmont promises me a letter giving the 
 historique of the triad of Franklin treasures, from the time 
 of M. le Veillard to his possession of them. It will not 
 amount to much, — not from lack of willingness on his 
 part, but because the special sense is wanting in him. A 
 dry authenticating certificate, however, I will insist on 
 having, and will forward it to your American address, 
 whicli do not forget to advertise me of from Liverpool or 
 London. 
 
 " M. de S. asks me to ask you, if you have the Du- 
 plessis photographed, to send him two or three cards ; 
 please add one other or two for me, since you will be 
 apt to send them to my address. I shall be glad to have 
 word from you, though in your flitting hurry it must be 
 brief, from London, and much gladder to have news from 
 America that you and yours are all safely and soundly 
 arrived there. 
 
 "With best regards and good wishes to all your house, 
 I rest 
 
 *' Yours truly, 
 
 '* W. H. Huntington. 
 
 " Here followeth an account of ye expenditures, outlays, 
 and disbursements of ye Franklin Expedition. 
 
igg 
 
 Francs. 
 
 To a chariot and ye horseman thereof. Hire of the 
 vehicles and pourl)oire, as it were oats to the driver 
 for the greater speed ...... 5 
 
 To packing B. Franl^lin under glass and in MSS. 
 with extra haste and yet care .... 9 
 
 To the binding of B. F. on a boy liis back and por- 
 terage of the same ...... I 
 
 To studiously brief telegrammatic phrase sent to 
 London 6 
 
 To arduous sperrits (with water) taken for sustenta- 
 
 tion of the body thys day ..... 0.50 
 
 Condanined tottle .... 21.50" 
 
 On the 29th I received the following certificate of authen- 
 tication from M. de Senarmont : 
 
 "Paris, 2'] Janvier, 1867. 
 *' Monsieur : 
 
 '* J'ai I'honneur de vous remettre ci-contre line note de 
 tons les renseignements que j'ai pu recueillir sur le manu- 
 scrit de Franklin dont M. Huntington s'est rendu hier 
 acquerir en votre nom. 
 
 '' Je suis heureux de vous voir possesseur de ces precieux 
 souvenirs, et du beau portrait du fondatcur de la liberte de 
 votre patrie. 
 
 "La rapidite avec laquelle j'ai et6 oblige de remettre le 
 portrait a M. Huntington m'a empeche de le faire repro- 
 duire par la i)hotographie comme j'en avals I'intention. 
 Dans le cas ou vous ferez faire cette reproduction je vous 
 serais bien reconnaissant de vouloir bien m'cn envoyer trois 
 exemplaires. — J'ai I'honneur de vous temoigner, Monsieur, 
 I'expression de ma plus haute consideration. 
 
 ''P. DE Senarmont. 
 
 " 98 Rue de Varennes. 
 
 '' Monsieur John Bigelow, 
 
 " Ancien Minis ire des Etats- Unis. 
 
igr 
 
 *' Les manuscrits de memoires de Franklin est nn in-folio 
 de 220 pages ecrit a uni-marge, sur papier dont tons les 
 cahiers ne sont pas uniformes. 
 
 ''M. le Veillard, gentilhomme ordinaire du Roi, Maire 
 de Passy, etait intime ami du Docteur Franklin. II avait 
 vecu avec lui a Passy (prds Paris) dans ime societe de 
 tons les jours, pendant le temps de Franklin en France a 
 I'epoque de la guerre de I'independance americaine, et 
 c'est de sa patrie que le docteur lui envoya, comme gage 
 d'amitie, la copie de ses memoires ^change depuis contre 
 r original. 
 
 " Le manuscrit original est unique. 
 
 " M. William Temple Franklin, petit-fils de Benjamin 
 Franklin, I'a recueilli au deces de son ai'eul qui lui avait 
 legu6 tous ses ecrits. Lorsque M. Tem|)le vient en France 
 pour y faire I'edition qu'il a public, il demanda a M. le 
 Veillard sa copie pour la faire imprimer, parcequ'elle lui 
 parut plus commode pour le travail typographique, a cause 
 de sa nettete. II donna a M. Veillard en echange de sa 
 ( opie le manuscrit original entierement ecrit de la main de 
 Franklin. 
 
 '^L' original etait cependant plus complet que la copie, 
 ce que M. Temple n'avait pas verifie. On en trouve la 
 preuve au 2^ volume de la petite edition des Memoires en 
 2 volumes, en i8mo, donnee par Jules Renouard, a Paris, 
 en 1828. On y lit, en tete d'line suite qu'il fait paraitre 
 pour la premiere fois, une note (page 21), ou il declare 
 devoir cette suite a la ( ommunication que la famille Le 
 Veillard lui a donne du manuscrit. 
 
 *' L'inspection seule en demontre I'authenticite a I'appui 
 de laquelle viennent d'ailleurs des preuves positives tiroes 
 de differentes pieces ; telles que : 3 lettres du Dr. Franklin 
 
20 
 
 a M. le Veillard, ii lettres de M. William Temple Franklin 
 et diverses lettres de Benjamin Franklin Bache, de Sarah 
 Bachc, de M. le Veillard en 1791, etc. 
 
 *' M. le Veillard, qui est Taiiteiir de la traduction fran- 
 ^aise des M^moires de Franklin, a conserve le manuscrit 
 autographe avec le mgme sentiment qui avait determine 
 son ami a lui envoyer ses memoires encore inedits. 
 
 '' Ajires la mort de M. le Veillard, qui perit sur I'echa- 
 faud revolutionnaire en 1794, le manuscrit a passe a sa 
 fille : au deces de celle-ci en 1834, il est devenu la pro- 
 priete de son cousin M. de Senarmont, dont le petit-fils 
 a c6de le 26 Janvier, 1867, a Mr. John Bigelow, ancien 
 Ministre des Etats Unis a Paris. 
 
 *' Le manuscrit est accompagne d'un beau portrait au 
 pastel par Duplessis. Franklin avait pose pour ce portrait 
 pendant son sejour a Passy et en avait fait cadeau a M. le 
 Veillard. 
 
 *' P. DE SeNARMONT. 
 "Paris, le ^d Janvier, 1867." 
 
 Several months elapsed after my return to the United 
 States before a propitious oc casion presented itself for me 
 to verify the correctness of the statement in M. de Senar- 
 mont's note that my manuscript was more complete than 
 the copy which had been used in preparing the edition 
 published by William Temple Franklin and copied by 
 Dr. Sparks. It had not occurred to me that the text 
 had been tampered with in England after it had left the 
 writer's hand. A very careful comparison of it with the 
 edition which appeared in London in 181 7, and which was 
 the first and only edition that ever had been printed from 
 the manuscript, revealed the curious fact that more than 
 twelve hundred separate and distinct changes had been 
 
21 
 
 made in tlie text, and, what is more remarkable, that the 
 iast eight pages of the manuscript were lacking. 
 
 Many of these changes are mere modernizations of 
 style ; such as would measure some of the modifications 
 which English prose had undergone between the days of 
 Goldsmith and Southey. Some, Franklin might have 
 approved of; others he might have tolerated; but it is 
 safe to presume that very many he would have rejected 
 without ceremony. 
 
 A few specimens taken from the first chapter will show 
 the general character of these changes. 
 
 It is a curious fact that the very first words of the 
 edition of 1817 are interpolations. It commences : 
 
 *' To William Franklin, Governor of New Jersey. 
 "Dear Son, &c." 
 
 The autograph commences with " Dear Son," naming 
 no person. 
 
 Though William was the Doctor's only surviving son, 
 and in 1771, when this was commenced, was also Gov- 
 ernor of New Jersey, it is very unlikely that the Doctor 
 would have given his son any titles in addressing him a 
 communication of this domestic and confidential charac- 
 ter. This improbability is increased by the circumstance 
 that at the time this manuscript was revised and copied to 
 be sent to his friend Le Veillard, William Franklin not 
 only was not Governor of New Jersey, but was not living 
 upon terms even of friendly correspondence with his 
 father. The fact that the French version commences 
 with " Mon cher fils," omitting the name and title, leaves 
 no doubt that the titles were added by the editor in the 
 edition of 181 7. 
 
22 
 
 {^Froni the Edition of 1817,/. i.*) 
 Imagining it may be equally 
 agreeable to you to learn the cir- 
 cumstances of my life, many of 
 which you are unacquainted with, 
 and expecting the enjoyment of a 
 few iveeks' uninterrupted leisure, I 
 sit down to write them. Besides, 
 there are some other inducements 
 that excite vie to this undertaking. 
 From the poverty and obscurity in 
 which I was born, and in which I 
 passed my earliest years, I have 
 raised myself to a state of affluence 
 and some degree of celebrity in the 
 world. As constant good fortune lias 
 accompanied m.e even to an advanced 
 period of life, my posterity will per- 
 haps be desirous of leartiing the 
 vieafis which I employed, and which, 
 thanks to Providence, so well suc- 
 ceeded with me. They may also 
 deem them fit to be imitated, shoidd 
 any of them find themselves in simi- 
 lar circumstatues. 
 
 {From the Edition of lZl^, p. /[.) 
 
 My grandfather Thomas, who 
 was born 1598, lived at Ecton till 
 he was too old to continue his busi- 
 ness, when he retired to Banbury 
 in Oxfordshire to the house of his 
 son John with whom my father 
 served an apprenticeship. There 
 my uncle died and lies buried. 
 
 {From the Autograph, p. i.) 
 
 Imagining it may be equally/ 
 agreeable to you to kno7u the cir- 
 cumstances of my life, many of 
 which you are yet unacquainted 
 with, and expecting a week's un- 
 interrupted leisure in my presetU 
 country retirement, I sit down to 
 write \kitxa for you. 
 
 To which I have besides some 
 other iiiducements. Having emerged 
 from the poverty and obscurity in 
 which I was born and bred to a 
 state of affluence and some de- 
 gree of reputation in the world, 
 and having gone so far through life 
 with a cotisiderable share of felicity, 
 the conducing 77ieans I made use of 
 which, with the blessing of God, so 
 well succeeded, my posterity may like 
 to know, as they may find some of 
 them suitable to their own situations, 
 and therefore fit to be imitated. 
 
 {From the Autograph, p. i.) 
 
 My grandfather Thomas, who 
 was born in 1598, lived at Ecton 
 till he giTiV too old to follow busi- 
 ttess longer when he went to live 
 with his son John, a dyer, at Ban- 
 bury in Oxfordshire with whom 
 my father served an apprentice- 
 ship. There my grandfather died 
 and lies buried. 
 
 * Whenever I shall have occasion to cite the edition of 1817, refer- 
 ence will be made to the American edition of this work, in six vols., 
 published in Philadelphia in 181 8. 
 
23 
 
 {Edition of 1817, /. 4.) 
 
 My grandfather had four sons 
 tvho 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 par- 
 ticulars. 
 
 \Pmitted:\ 
 
 {From the Edition of 181 7,/. 10.) 
 
 I suppose you may like to know 
 what kind of a man my father was. 
 He had an excellent constitution, 
 and was of a middle stature, well 
 set, and very strong; he could 
 draw prettily, ajid was a little 
 skilled in music ; his voice was son- 
 orotcs and agreeable so that when 
 he played on his violin and sung 
 withal, as he was accustomed to do 
 after ihe hcsiiuss of the day was 
 oz>er, it was extremely agreeable to 
 hear. He had some knowledge of 
 mechanics, and on occasion was 
 very handy with other tradesmen's 
 tools but his great excellence was 
 his sound understanding, etc. 
 
 {Edition of 1817,/. 15.) 
 
 About this time I met wiih an 
 odd volume of the Spectator. I 
 had never before seen any of them. 
 
 (Autograph, p. 2.) 
 
 My grandfather had four sons 
 that grew up, viz.: Thomas, John, 
 Benjamin and Josiah. I will give 
 you what account I can of them at 
 this distance from 7ny papers, and if 
 these are not lost in my absence, you 
 will, amotig them, find many more 
 particulars. 
 
 {Autograph, p. 3.) 
 
 I was named after this uncle, 
 there being a particular affection 
 between him and my father. 
 
 {From the Autograph, p. 7.) 
 / thi7tk you may like to know 
 something of his person and charac- 
 ter. He had an excellent constitu- 
 tion of body, was of middle stature, 
 but well set and very strong; he 
 was ingenious; could draw prettily, 
 and was skilled a little in music, 
 and had a clear, pleasing voice, so 
 that when he played psalm tunes 
 on his violin, and sung withal, cu 
 he sometimes did in an evening, after 
 the business of the day was over, 
 it was extremely agreeable to hear. 
 He had a mechanical genius too, aixl 
 on occasion was very handy in the 
 use of other tradesmen's tools but 
 his great excellence lay in a sound 
 understanding, etc. 
 
 {Autograph, p. 13.) 
 
 About this time I met with an 
 odd volimie of the Spectator. // 
 was the third. I had nevei before, 
 etc 
 
24 
 
 (Frotn Edition of 1817, /. 16.) 
 
 77u time / allotted for writing 
 Exercises and for reading was at 
 night or before work began in the 
 morning or on Sunday, when I 
 contrived to be in the printing 
 house, evading as much as I could 
 the cotutant attendance at public 
 worship, which my father used to 
 exact from me when I was under 
 his care and which I still con- 
 tinued to consider as a duty, though 
 I could not afford time to practice 
 it 
 
 (Edition of 181 7,/. 21.) 
 
 He agreed with the captain of a 
 New York sloop to take me under 
 pretence of my being a young man 
 of his acquaintance that had an 
 intrigue with a girl of bad charac- 
 ter^ whose parents would compel 
 me to marry her ; and that I could 
 neither appear or come away pub- 
 licly. 
 
 {From the Edition ^ 1817, /. 23.) 
 
 On approaching the island, we 
 found it was in a place where there 
 could be no landing, there being a 
 great surf on the stony beach, so 
 we dropped anchor and swutig out 
 our cable towards the shore. Some 
 people came down to the shore and 
 hallooed as we did to them, but the 
 wind was so high and the surf so 
 lond that we could not understand 
 each other. There were some 
 small boats near the shore and we 
 made signs and called them to 
 
 {From the Autograph, p. 14.) 
 
 Afy time for these exercises and 
 for reading was at night after work, 
 or before it began in the morning 
 or on Sundays, when I contrived 
 to be in the printing house alone, 
 avoiding as much as I could the 
 Common attendance on public wor- 
 ship which my father used to 
 exact from me when I was under 
 his care and which, indeed, I still 
 thought a duty, though I could not, 
 as it seemed to me, afford time to 
 practice it 
 
 {Autograph, p. 22.) 
 
 He agreed with the captain of a 
 New York sloop for my passage^ 
 under the notion of my being a 
 young acquaintance of his that had 
 got a naughty girl with child, whose 
 friends would compel me to marry 
 her, and therefore I could not ap- 
 pear, or come away publicly. 
 
 {From the Autograph, p. 24.) 
 
 When we drew near the island 
 we found it was at a place where 
 there could be no landing, there be- 
 ing a great surf on the stony beach, 
 so we dropped anchor and swimg 
 around toward the shore. Some 
 people came down to the water 
 edge and hallooed to us as we did to 
 them, but the wind was so high 
 and the surf so loud, that we could 
 not hear, so as to understand each 
 other. There were canoes on the 
 shore, and we made signs and hoi- 
 
25 
 
 fetch us; but they either did not 
 comprehend uj, or it was imprac- 
 ticable, so they went off; night ap- 
 proaching, we had no remedy hit 
 to have patience till the wind abated, 
 and in the meantime the boatman 
 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, etc 
 
 {Front the Edition of iSiy, p. 2g.) 
 
 I was not a little surprised, and 
 Keimer stared with astonishment 
 
 {Edition of iSlJ, p. 23-) 
 But during my absence he had ac- 
 quired a habit of drinking of bran- 
 dy ; and I found by his own account 
 as well as that of ethers, that he had 
 been drunk every day since his 
 arrival at New York, and behaved 
 himself in a very extravagant man- 
 ner. 
 
 ****** 
 The Governor recert'ed me with 
 great civility, showed me his libra- 
 ry, which was a considerable oiu, and 
 we had a good deal of conversation 
 relative to books and authors. 
 
 loed that they should fetch us, but 
 they either did not understand ua 
 or thought it impracticable, so they 
 went away, and night coming on, 
 we had no remedy but to wait till 
 the wind should abate ; and,in the 
 meantime, the boatman and /con- 
 cluded to sleep if we could ; and so 
 crowded into the scuttle with the 
 Dutchman who was still wet, and 
 the spray beating over the head of 
 our boat, etc. 
 
 {From the Autograph, p. 34.) 
 
 I was not a little surprised, and 
 Keimer stared like a pig poisoned. 
 
 {From the Atitograph, p. 39.) 
 
 But during my absence he had 
 acquired a habit of sotting with 
 brandy ; and I found by his own 
 account and what I heard from 
 others, that he had been drunk 
 every day since his arrival at New 
 York, and behaved very oddly. 
 
 The Governor treated me with 
 great civility, showed me his libra- 
 ry, which was a very large one, and 
 we had a good deal of conversation 
 about books and authors. 
 
 Collins wished to be employed in 
 some counting house, but whether 
 they discovered his dram drinking 
 by his breath, or, etc 
 
 [Edition 181 7,/. 34.) 
 
 The violation of my trust respect- 
 ing Vernon^s money was, etc 
 3 
 
 Collins washed to be employed in 
 some counting house, but whether 
 they discovered his dramming b^ 
 his breath, or, etc 
 
 {Autograph, p. 40.) 
 
 The breaking into this n'oney ^ 
 Vernon's, was, etc 
 
26 
 
 {Edition 1 8 1 7, /. 47.) (Autograph, p. 53.) 
 
 T drank only water, the other I drank only water, the othei 
 
 workmen, near fifty in number, workmen, near fifty in number, 
 were great drinkers of beer. were great guzzlers of beer. 
 
 (Edition 1817,/. 55.) (Autograph, p. (yi.) 
 
 At length, receiving his quar- At length, receiving his quar- 
 
 terly allowance of fifteen guineas, terly allowance of fifteen guineas, 
 instead of discharging his debts he instead of discharging his debts he 
 went out of town, hid his gown in walked out of town, hid his gown 
 a furze bush and walked to London. in a furze bush, and footed it to 
 
 London. 
 
 By whom were these changes made in the text of this 
 manuscript ? 
 
 How came the closing pages to be overlooked .'' 
 
 Why was the publication which purported to be made 
 from the manuscript deferred for twenty-seven years after 
 their author's death } 
 
 How happened it that this posthumous work which 
 may be read in nearly every written language and is one 
 of the half-dozen most widely popular books ever printed, 
 should have filled the book-marts of the world for a quarter 
 of a century without having ever been verified by the 
 original manuscript.'* 
 
 I doubt if it will ever be possible to determine all these 
 questions with absolute certainty ; but I propose to lay 
 before the reader such information as I have been able 
 to glean from a variety of sources, both published and 
 unpublished, leaving him to draw from them such con- 
 clusions as he thinks the testimony will warrant. The 
 array which I shall make, if it do not settle all these 
 questions, may lead, it is to be hoped, to the production 
 of latent testimony that will. 
 
2/ 
 
 II. 
 
 Di. Franklin informs us, in the very first paragraph of 
 his Memoirs, that he had undertaken to prepare them for 
 the edification of his family. The first eighty-seven pages 
 of the MS., which embrace the first twenty-five years of 
 his life down to his marriage, appear to have been written 
 in 1 771? during one of his visits to Twyford, the country- 
 seat of Dr. Shipley, then Bishop of St. Asaph, and with- 
 out any view to publication.* 
 
 The MS. of this part was shown to some of his friends, 
 among others to Mr. Benjamin Vaughan, Mr. Abel James, 
 and to M. le Veillard, who were all so pleased with it 
 that they urged him to resume and publish them. He 
 was persuaded to do so, and in 1784, while residing at 
 Passy, then a suburb of Paris, wrote the succeeding pages 
 of the MS. to page 104. The part written in England 
 was followed with this memorandum, written, doubtless, 
 when he revised the Memoirs in 1789 • 
 
 '' Mem. — Thus far was written with the intention ex- 
 pressed in the beginning, and therefore contains several 
 little family anecdotes of no importance to others. What 
 follows was written many years after, and in compliance 
 with the advice contained in these letters,t and accord- 
 
 * "Expecting," he says, "a week's uninterrupted leisure in my present 
 country retirement, I sit down to write them for you." The MS. shows 
 that he had originally written it "for your perusal." "Perusal" was 
 afterward stricken out, and " use" written after it. This word was also 
 stricken out, and the phrase left as in the text. The editor of the edition 
 of 181 7 strikes out the words "to you" also. 
 
 t The letters here referred to are from Messrs. Vaugh^m and Jsuiies, 
 and will be found in their proper place. 
 
28 
 
 iiigly intended for the public. The affairs of the Revo- 
 kition occasioned the interruption." 
 
 Another reason for continuing his Memoirs, and giving 
 tlicm to the press, has been assigned by M. Castera, who 
 published a French edition of some of Franklin's works 
 in 179S.* He attributes the Autobiography to a desire on 
 the part of Franklin and his French friends to neutralize 
 the pernicious influence of Rousseau's Confessions, which, 
 during the latter part of Franklin's residence in Paris, 
 were the topic of every salon. These friends thought that 
 it would be curious to compare the history of a writer 
 who seemed to have used his brilliant imagination merely 
 to render himself miserable, with that of a philosopher 
 who employed all the resources of an equally gifted intel- 
 lect to assure his own happiness by contributing to the 
 happiness of others. 
 
 * Vie de Franklin, ecrite par lui-meme, suivie de ses CEuvres morales, 
 politiques et litteraires, dont la plus grande partie n'avait pas encore ete 
 publiee. — Traduit de I'Anglais, avec des notes par J. Castera. Eripiiit 
 CceIo fulmen, Sceptrunique tyrannis. Paris, chez F. Buisson, Imp. Lib., 
 Rue Hautefeuille, No. 20, an vi. de la Republique, 1798. In his preface 
 confounding Mr, Benjamin Franklin Bache with William Temple 
 Franklin, who was the Doctor's literary executor and custodian of his 
 unpublished manuscripts, Mr. Castera says : " It is not known why Mr. 
 Benjamin Franklin Bache, who has them (the MS. memoirs) in his pos- 
 session, and is now residing in London, keeps them so long from the 
 public. The works of a great man belong less to his heirs than to the 
 human race." It is a curious circumstance that the copy of the Me- 
 moirs given in this collection of Castera was translated from an English 
 edition, which was itself only a translation from the first French trans- 
 lation, thus removed by three translations from the original. " A part 
 of the life of Franklin," says Mr. Castera, " has already been translated 
 mto French and in a sufficiently careful manner. Notwithstanding, I 
 have dared to translate it anew." 
 
29 
 
 A comparison of dates will show that M. Castera's 
 theory was purely imaginary. 
 
 * * * The self-torturing sophist, wild Rousseau, 
 The apostle of affliction, * * * 
 
 wrote the first part of his Confessions during his residence 
 in England in the years 1766 and ly^y* The second was 
 composed in Dauphiny and at Trye in the years 1768 and 
 1770- It was his intention that they should not be printed 
 until 1800, presuming that by that time all who figured 
 in them would have ceased to live ; but the period he had 
 fixed for their publication was anticipated. The first part 
 was printed in 1781, and the second in 1788. It is not 
 likely that Franklin or any of his friends knew anything 
 of them till the first part v^as published in 1781, and all 
 of Franklin's Memoirs thrt C^.stera published or knew 
 anything of had been written ten years before. 
 
 The Doctor returned to the United States in the summer 
 of 1785. In the fall of that year he received a note from 
 his friend, Mr. Edward Bancroft, the tenor of which is 
 sufficiently explained in the following extract from the 
 Doctor's reply : 
 
 "Philadelphia, 2(>th November, 1785. 
 " Dear Sir : 
 
 "I received your kind letter of September 5th, inform 
 ing me of the intention Mr. Dilly has of printing a new 
 edition of my writings, and of his desire that I would 
 furnish him with such additions as I may think proper. 
 At present all my papers and manuscripts are so mixed 
 with other things, by the confusions occasioned in sudden 
 and various removals during the late troubles, that I can 
 hardly find anything. But having nearly finished an 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 addition to my house, which will afford me room to piif 
 all in order, I hope "oon to be able to comply with such 
 a request ; but I hope Mr. Dilly will have a good under- 
 standing in the aflair with Henry & Johnson, who, having 
 risked the former impressions, may suppose they thereby 
 acquired some right in the copy. As to the Life pro- 
 posed to be written, if it be by the same hand who fur- 
 nished a sketch to Dr. Lettsom, which he sent me, I am 
 afraid it will be found too full of errors for either you or 
 me to correct ; and having been persuaded by my friends, 
 Messrs. Vaughan and M. le Veillard, Mr. James, of this 
 place, and some others, that such a Life written by myself 
 may be useful to the rising generation, I have made some 
 progress in it, and hope to finish it this winter ; so I 
 cannot but wish that project of Mr. Dilly's biographer 
 may be laid aside. I am nevertheless thankful to you for 
 your friendly offer of correcting it.* ***** 
 
 The Doctor's hopes of completing the Memoirs during 
 the winter of 1785 were not realized, nor did he resume 
 work upon them until three years later. 
 
 "As to the little history I promised you," he writes to 
 his friend, Le Veillard, the 15th April, 1787, " my pur- 
 pose still continues of completing it, and I hoped to do 
 it this summer, having built an addition to my house, in 
 which I have placed my library, and where I can write 
 without being disturbed by the noise of the children ; but 
 
 * The only letter we have from M. le Veillard bears date, Passy, 
 Oct. 9, 1785. He says, in allusion to this subject : " I hope you have 
 been industrious during your passage, and that you have finished youi 
 Memoirs, and will send them to me." 
 
31 
 
 the General Assembly having lately desired my assistance 
 at a great convention to be held in May next for amending 
 the Federal Constitution, I begin to doubt whether I can 
 make any progress in it till that business is over." * 
 
 In the same letter he adds farther on : 
 
 "You blame me for w^riting three pamphlets and ne- 
 glecting to write the little history : you should consider 
 they were written at sea, out of my own head ; the other 
 could not so well be written there for want of the docu- 
 ments that could only be had here." 
 
 On the 24th of October, 1788,! the Doctor writes to M. 
 le Veillard as follows : 
 
 " I have been much afflicted the last summer with a 
 long-continued fit of the gout, which I am not quite clear 
 of, though much better ; my other malady is not aug 
 mented. I have lately made great progress ir the w^oik 
 you so urgently demand, and have come as far as my fif- 
 tieth year. Being now free from public business, as my 
 term in the Presidentship is expired, and resolving to 
 engage in no other public employment, I expect to have 
 it finished in about two months, if illness or some unfore- 
 seen interruption does not prevent. I do not, therefore, 
 send a part at this time, thinking it better to retain the 
 whole till I can view it all together, and make the proper 
 corrections." 
 
 William Temple Franklin also writes on the 17th ol 
 November, 1788: 
 
 " Our new government goes on in its way. Manj? 
 
 * See this date, infra, vol. iii. 
 t See this: date, infra, vol. iii. 
 
States have elected their Senators. The people are soon 
 to elect their representatives. It is in March next they 
 should meet. There is but one voice for the President- 
 General, the illustrious Washington. In respect to the 
 Vice President, opinions are shared between General 
 Knox, Messrs. Hancock, Adams, &c. My grandfather 
 having served the three years as President of this State, 
 Genl. Mifflin has been elected in his place. My grand- 
 father now calls himself a free man, and I believe it 
 would be difficult to induce him to change his condition. 
 No one could more enjoy his liberty and repose. He is 
 now occupied in writing the continuation of his life, which 
 you have so urgently desired of him. His health improves 
 every day. Farewell, my friend. Recall me to the recol- 
 lection of all our common friends, and say a thousand 
 tender things to all your family. I write to your son. 
 
 In three other letters to M. le Veillard, written during 
 the year 1788, Dr. Franklin alludes to his promise and 
 his reasons for not having hitherto been able to keep it. 
 Under date of February 17, 1788, he writes: 
 
 " I should have proceeded in the history you mention, 
 if I could well have avoided accepting the chair of Presi- 
 dent for this third and last year ; to which I was again 
 elected by the una7zi?fious voice of the Council and 
 General Assembly in November. If I live to see this 
 year expire, I may enjoy some leisure, which I promise 
 you to employ in the work you do me the honor to urge 
 80 earnestly." t 
 
 * Le Veillard Collection, 
 t See this date, infra, vol. iii. 
 
33 
 
 Scarcely two months later, and under date of April 
 22,* he writes again : 
 
 " I received but a few days since your favor of Nov. 
 30, 1787, in which you continue to urge me to finish thf* 
 Memoirs. My three years of service will expire in Octo- 
 ber, when a new President must be chosen, and I had the 
 project of retiring then to my grandson's estate, in New 
 Jersey, where I might be free from the interruption of 
 visits, in order to complete that work for your satisfaction ; 
 for in this city my time is so cut to pieces by friends and 
 strangers, that I have sometimes envied the prisoners in 
 Bastille. But considering now the little remnant of life I 
 have left, the accidents that may happen between this and 
 October, and your earnest desire, I have come to the reso- 
 lution to proceed in that work to-morrow, and continue it 
 daily till finished, which, if my health permits, may be in 
 the course of the ensuing summer. As it goes on I will 
 have a copy made for you, and you may expect to receive 
 a part by the next packet." 
 
 About six weeks after the foregoing, and under date of 
 June 6, he writes again : 
 
 " Eight States have now agreed to the proposed new 
 Constitution ; there remain five who have not yet dis- 
 cussed it, their appoiiited times of meeting not having 
 yet arrived. Two are to meet this month ; the rest later. 
 One more agreeing, it will be carried into execution. 
 Probably some will not agree at present, but time may 
 bring them in ; so that we have little doubt of its be- 
 coming general, perhaps with some corrections. As to 
 your friend's taking a share in the management of it ; his 
 
 * See this date, infra, vol. iii. 
 
 R* 
 
34 
 
 age and infirmities render him unfit for the business, a» 
 the business would be for him. After the expiration of 
 the term of his Presidentship, which will now be in a few 
 months, he is determined to engage no more in public 
 affairs even if required ; but his countrymen will be too 
 reasonable to require it. You are not so considerate. 
 You are a hard taskmaster. You insist on his writing his 
 life, already a long work, and at the same time would 
 have him continually employed in augmenting the sub- 
 ject, while the term shortens in which the work is to be 
 executed."* 
 
 The Doctor did resume the Memoirs in 17S8, and 
 probably wrote about this time all of the remainder that 
 has hitherto been published in English. It appears, how- 
 ever, from the following passage in a letter to M. le 
 Veillard, dated September 5, 1789, that he had then 
 abandoned all hope of completing the Memoirs, and was 
 making arrangements to transmit a copy of what was 
 done, to M. le Veillard and to Mr. Vaughan. Whether 
 he intended one for each or for both is not quite certain : 
 
 " I hope you have perfectly recovered of your fall al 
 Madame Helvetius's, and that you now enjoy perfect 
 health ; as to mine, I can give you no good account. I 
 have a long time been afflicted with almost constant and 
 grievous pain, to combat which I have been obliged to 
 have recourse to opium, which indeed has afforded me 
 some ease from time to time, but then it has taken away 
 my appetite, and so impeded my digestion that I am 
 become totally emaciated, and little remains of me but a 
 skeleton covered with a skin. In this situation, I have 
 
 * See this date, infra, vil. iii. 
 
35 
 
 not been able to continue my Memoirs, and now I sup- 
 pose I shall never finish them. Benjamin has made a 
 copy of what is done for you, which shall be sent by the 
 first safe opportunity."* 
 
 Shortly before this letter was written — on the 3d of 
 June of that year — the Doctor wrote to his friend 
 Vaughan, who, it appears, had been urging him to go on 
 with the Memoirs : 
 
 "' I received your kind letter of March 4th, and wish I 
 may be able to complete what you so earnestly desire — 
 the Memoirs of my life. But of late I am so interrupted 
 by extreme pain, which obliges me to have recourse to 
 opium, that, between the effects of both, I have but little 
 time in which I can write anything. My grandson, how- 
 ever, is copying what is done, which wdll be sent to you 
 for your opinion by the next vessel ; and not merely for 
 your opinion, but for your advice ; for it is a difficult task 
 to speak decently and properly of one's own conduct ; 
 and I feel the want of a judicious friend to encourage me 
 in scratching out." f 
 
 On the 2d of November he writes again to Mr. 
 Vaughan in the same desponding strain of his health, 
 though still more hopeful of continuing the Memoirs 
 than he appeared when he wrote the letter last cited to 
 M. le Veillard : 
 
 " I thank you much for your intimations of the virtues 
 of hemlock ; but I have tried so many things with so little 
 effect that I am quite discouraged, and have no longer 
 any faith in remedies for the stone. The palliating system 
 
 * See this date, infra, vol. iii. 
 t See this date, infra, vol. iii. 
 
36 
 
 IS what I am now fixed in. Opium gives me ease when 
 I am attacked by pain, and by the use of it I still make 
 life tolerable. Not being able, however, to bear sitting to 
 write, I now make use of the hand of one of my grand- 
 sons, dictating to him from my bed. I wish, indeed, T 
 had tried this method sooner; for so I think I might by 
 this time have finished my Memoirs, in which I have 
 made no progress for these six months past. I liave now 
 taken the resolution to endeavor completing them in this 
 way of dictating to an amanuensis. What is already 
 done I now send you, with an earnest request that you 
 and my good friend, Dr. Price, would be so good as to 
 take the trouble of reading it, critically examining it, and 
 giving me your candid opinion whether I had best pub- 
 lish or suppress it ; and if the first, then what parts had 
 best be expunged or altered. I shall rely upon your 
 opinions ; for I am now grown so old and feeble in mind, 
 as well as body, that I cannot place any confidence in my 
 own judgment. In the mean time, I desire and expect 
 that you will not suffer any copy of it, or of any part of it, 
 to be taken for any purpose whatever."* 
 
 The only evidence, beyond the promise contained in 
 his letter of the 3d of June, that the Doctor sent 11 copy 
 of his Memoirs to Mr. Vaughan, is a statement made by 
 the Due de la Rochefoucault in an eminently discrimi- 
 nating and cordial eulogium which he pronounced before 
 a societv in Paris on tiie i3tli of June, 1789; two years 
 before the Doctor's death. In this discourse he says: 
 
 " The most voluminous of his works is the history of 
 
 * See this date, infra, vol. iii. 
 
37 
 
 his own life, which he commenced for the use of his son, 
 and for the continuation of which we are indebted to the 
 ardent solicitations of Monsieur le Veillard, one of his 
 most intimate friends. It employed his leisure hours 
 during the latter part of his life ; but the bad state of his 
 health and his excruciating pains, which gave him little 
 respite, frequently interrupted his work ; and the two 
 copies — one of which was sent by him to London, to Dr. 
 Price and Mr. Vaughan, and the other to Monsieur le 
 Veillard and me — reach no farther than the year 1757. 
 He speaks of himself as he would have done of another 
 person, delineating his thoughts, his actions, and even his 
 errors and faults ; and he describes the unfolding of his 
 genius and talents with the simplicity of a great man, 
 who knows how to do justice to himself, and with the 
 testimony of a clear conscience, void of reproach and 
 
 ' of offence toward God and toward man.' * * 
 
 ******* 
 
 His Memoirs, gentlemen, will be published as soon as we 
 receive from America the additions he may have made to 
 the manuscript in our possession ; and we then intend to 
 give a complete collection of his works." 
 
 The Duke had evidently derived his information in 
 regard to the Memoirs exclusively from the letter last 
 cited to M. le Veillard. 
 
 The Doctor died in a little less than six months aftei 
 his letter of the 2d of November to Mr. Vaughan. By his 
 will, made in the summer of 17S8, he bequeathed his books, 
 manuscripts, and papers, after deducting a few special be- 
 quests, to his grandson, William Temple Franklin. Among 
 the manuscripts was the original text of these Memoirs. 
 
 On the 22d of May, Wm. Temple wrote M. le Veil- 
 
38 
 
 lard, announcing his grandfather's death and the interest 
 he had acquired in the Memoirs, which might be said to 
 have owed their existence to M. le Veillard's perti- 
 nacity ; his intention to prepare them for publication, and 
 requesting M. le Veillard to show them to no one unless 
 to the Academician who should be charged to make the 
 eulogy of the deceased, and to permit no one to take a 
 copy of what had been sent him. He adds that he him- 
 self has the original. This letter was written in French 
 
 "Philadelphia, 22 May, 1790." 
 '' You have already learned, my dear friend, the loss 
 which you and I, and the world, have experienced, in the 
 death of this good and amiable papa. Although we have 
 long expected it, we were none the less shocked by it 
 when it arrived. He loved you very tenderly, as he did 
 all your family, and I do not doubt you will share my just 
 sorrow. I intended writing you the details of his death 
 by M. de Chaumont, but the duty of arranging his 
 affairs, and especially his papers, prevents my answering 
 your last, as well as the one which your daughter was 
 pleased to write me, accompanying her work. I have 
 been touched with this mark of her condescension and 
 friendship, and I beg you to testify to her my gratitude 
 until I have an opportunity of writing to her, which will 
 certainly be by the first occasion for France. Now, as I 
 am about writing, her goodness will awaken me. This 
 letter will reach you by way of England. 
 
 " I feel it my duty to profit by this occasion to inform 
 you that my grandfather, among other legacies, has left 
 all his papers and manuscripts to me, with permission to 
 
 * For the original see vol. iii. p. 465. 
 
39 
 
 turn them to what profit I can. Consequently, I beg you, 
 my dear friend, to show to no one that part of his Life 
 which he sent yon some time since, lest some one copy 
 and publish it, which would infinitely prejudice the pub- 
 lication which I propose to make as soon as possible, of 
 his entire Life and of his other works. As I have the 
 original here of the part which you have, it will not be 
 necessary for you to send it to me, but I beg you at all 
 events to put it in an envelope, well sealed, addressed to 
 me, in order that by no accident it may get into other 
 hands. 
 
 " If, however, it should be necessary to assist the person 
 who will pronounce his eulogy at the Academy, you may 
 lend it for that purpose, with the stipulation that no copy 
 of it shall be made, and with such other precautions as 
 you deem necessary. The foreign representatives of our 
 Government have not yet been named. It is possible I 
 may be one, which would put me in the way to assist in 
 the publication of my grandfather's works ; but even if 
 they think no more of me, it is very probable that I shall 
 conclude to go to Europe, inasmuch as I am persuaded I 
 can derive more advantage from the publication in Eng- 
 land or in France than in this country. 
 
 " Adieu for the present. In two or three weeks I hope 
 to be able to write to you directly, as well as to my other 
 friends, male and female, in France. Love me, my dear 
 friend. I have more need than ever of your friendship. 
 
 "W. T. Franklin." 
 
 In the course of a few months after this letter was 
 written, William Temple Franklin arrived in London, 
 where he pretended to be engaged in preparing an edition 
 
40 
 
 of the Life and works of his grandfather, which he then 
 expected to have ready in the course of the year. But it 
 was ordained that this pre-eminently American work 
 should be first presented to the world in a foreign tongue. 
 A French translation appeared at Paris in 1791.* It em- 
 braced only the first eighty-seven pages of the manuscript. 
 In his preface the editor seems to question the good faith 
 of William Temple's promise to publish the Memoirs 
 entire. As this preface is not readily accessible, and as it 
 constitutes an important link in the history of this manu- 
 script, I need offer no apology for giving it entire : 
 
 *' I shall not enter into an uninteresting detail relative 
 to the manner in which the original manuscript of these 
 Memoirs, which are written in the English language, 
 came into my possession. They appeared to me to be so 
 interesting that I did not hesitate a single moment to 
 translate them into French. 
 
 " The name of Franklin will undoubtedly become a 
 passport to a work of this nature, and the character of 
 truth and simplicity discernible in every page must guar- 
 antee its authenticity. I have no manner of occasion to 
 join other testimonies. 
 
 " If, however, any critic chooses to disbelieve my asser- 
 tion, and is desirous to bring the existence of the original 
 manuscript into doubt, I am ready to verify it by means 
 of an immediate impression ;t but as I am not certain 
 
 * Memoires de la vie privee de Benjamin Franklin, ecrits par lui- 
 menie et adresses k son fils, suivis d'un precis historique de sa vie 
 politique, et de plusieurs pieces relatives a ce pere de la liberty. A 
 Paris, chez Buisson, Libraire, Rue Hautefeuille, No. 20. 1791. 
 
 t " Those who may be desirous of reading the Memoirs of the public 
 life of Franklin in the original are requested to leave their names with 
 Buisson, bookseller. Rue Hautefeuille, No. 20. The work will be sent 
 
41 
 
 of the sale of a work written in a foreign language, I 
 cannot publish it in any other manner than by means of a 
 suoscnption large enough to indemnify me for the money 
 advanced. 
 
 " That part of the Memoirs of Franklin in my posses- 
 sion includes no more than the first period of a life, the 
 remainder of which has become illustrious by events of 
 the highest importance ; it terminates at the epoch when, 
 after having married, he began to render himself cele- 
 brated by plans and establishments of public utility. 
 
 "It is very possible that he may have written more of 
 his history ; for the portion of it which I now present to 
 the public concludes, according to his own account, with 
 the year 1771.* 
 
 " If this be the case, the heirs of that great man will 
 not fail some day to publish it, either in England or in 
 Pennsylvania, and we shall doubtless have a French trans- 
 lation, which will be received by the public with great 
 eagerness ; but I am persuaded that his family will not 
 disclose any other than the most brilliant period of his 
 life — that which is connected with the memorable part he 
 acted in the world, both as a philosopher and a statesman. 
 They will never be prevailed upon to narrate the humble 
 details of his early days and the simple but interesting 
 anecdotes of his origin, the obscurity of which, although 
 it enhances the talents and the virtues of this great man. 
 may yet wound their own vanity. 
 
 to the press as soon as there are 400 subscribers. The price is 48 sols 
 (or cents)." 
 
 * This date is erroneous. Dr. Franklin commeixed writing his Me- 
 moirs in 1771, but in the portion of his Memoirs published in 1791 he 
 did not bring down the narrative of his life beyond the year 1757. 
 4* 
 
42 
 
 *' If my conjecture prove right ; if the Memoirs which 
 they are about to publish under the name of Frankh'n 
 should be mutilated ; if the first part, so essential to read- 
 ers capable of feeling and judging, should be suppressed, 
 I shall applaud myself for having preserved it ; and the 
 world will be obliged to me for having enabled them to 
 follow the early developments of the genius, and the first 
 exertions of the sublime and profound mind of a man who 
 afterward penetrated the mystery of electricity and dis- 
 covered the secret measures of despotism — who preserved 
 the universe from the ravages of thunder, and his native 
 country from the horrors of tyranny ! 
 
 " If I am accidentally mistaken, if the life of Franklin 
 should appear entire, the public will still have the advan- 
 tage of anticipating the interesting part of a history which 
 it has long and impatiently expected. 
 
 '' The principal object proposed by the American phi- 
 losopher in writing these Memoirs was, to instruct pos- 
 terity and amuse his own leisure hoiu's. He has permitted 
 his ideas to flow at the will of his memory and his heart, 
 without ever making any effort to disguise the truth, not- 
 withstanding it is not always very flattering to his self- 
 love — but I here stop ; it belongs to Franklin to speak for 
 himself. 
 
 " It will be easily perceived that I have preserved as 
 much as possible the ease and simplicity of his style in 
 my translation. I have not even aflected to correct the 
 negligence of his language, or to clothe his sentiments 
 with a gaudy dress, for which they have no manner of 
 occasion ; I should have been afraid of bereaving the work 
 of one of its principal ornaments. 
 
 "As these Memoirs reach no farther than his maniage. 
 
43 
 
 I have made use of other materials in crder to complete 
 so interesting a history, and I have also added a numbei 
 of anecdotes and remarks relative to this philosophical 
 American. The Editor." 
 
 Qiierard* attributes this translation to a Dr. Jacques 
 Gibelin, who, it appears, was a naturalist of some repute ; 
 hid been occasionally in England ; had translated from 
 
 * Querard, La France Litteraire. 
 
 M. de Senaimont seems to have been under the impression that this 
 translation was made by M. le Veillard. This M. le Veillard himself 
 most distinctly denied in a note which he communicated to the '* Journal 
 de Paris," in 1791, No. 83, of which the following is a translation : 
 
 "Passy, near Paris, 2\st March, 1791. 
 
 " Shortly before his death, Mr. Franklin sent me the Memoirs of his 
 life, wTitten by himself, and I have only deferred the publication of them 
 out of respect for his family, and especially for Wm. Temple Franklin, 
 his grandson, to whom his grandfather has left all his manuscripts. He 
 proposes to make a complete edition, as well in French as in English, 
 in which he A\ill insert my translation. He is now in England, occu- 
 pied with this work, and is expected in France, in a few days, to com- 
 plete it 
 
 " Buisson, a bookseller in the Rue Hautefeuille, has published a 
 
 volume in 8vo., entitled Memoires de la Vie Privee de Benjamin Franklin.^ 
 
 icrits par lui-??ieme et adresses a son fils. The first 156 pages of this 
 
 volume contain in effect the commencement of the Memoirs of Dr. 
 
 Franklin, almost entirely conforming to the manuscript which I possess. 
 
 1 do not know by what means the translator has procured them, but I 
 
 declare and think it ought to be knowTi that he did not have them from 
 
 me ; that I had no part in the translation ; that this fragment, which 
 
 ends in 1730, is scarcely a third of what I have, which only comes do-wTi 
 
 to 1757, and which consequently does not terminate this work, the re- 
 
 mamdei of which is in the hands of Mr. W. T. Franklin, who will plan 
 
 his edition so that the complete Memoirs of Franklin will form one or 
 
 twc volumes, which may be obtained separately. 
 
 "Le Veillard." 
 
44 
 
 English philosophical v\ liters. Priestley among others, and 
 had made an abridgment of the Phil. Trans, of the Royal 
 Society, &c. How he obtained possession of the English 
 manuscript is a mystery which will probably never be 
 solved.* 
 
 The following letter from William Temple Franklin 
 ill London, to M. le Veillard, was written in the spring of 
 1 791, but subsequent to the appearance of the French 
 translation. He represents himself as still engaged upon 
 the Life and works of his grandfather, which he pretended 
 would be ready for the press in a few weeks : 
 
 "London, 22 April, 1791. 
 
 " I received last night, my dear friend, your letter of 
 the 1 2th inst. I am as sensible as you can be of the ad- 
 vantage that would result from my being at present in 
 
 * The relations of literary comity which must have subsisted between 
 Gibelin and many of Franklin's English friends whose works he had 
 translated, naturally lead to the suspicion that the copy pr/^mised Mr. 
 Vaughan, if ever made and sent, may in some way have fallen into 
 Gibelin's hands. If so, Mr. Vaughan must have construed tli'^ Doctor's 
 injunction, not to pemiit "a copy of the MS. to be taken for any pur- 
 pose whatever," to have been removed by his death. If surl> was the 
 case, however, why did he not produce an English edition .? 
 
 In a notice which Cabanis prepared shortly after the new* of Dr. 
 Franklin's death reached Paris, the following allusion is mad«» to this 
 edition of the Memoirs : 
 
 "Benjamin Franklin s'est peint lui-meme dans des Memoire.« 'lont il 
 n'a paru jusqu'ici qu'un fragment ; mais ce sont ses ennemis ou des pen- 
 sionnaires du cabinet de Saint James qui I'ont public. lis y ont ioint 
 de plates notes auxquelles la famille aurait dil repondre dIus tot par la 
 publication du reste de I'ouvrage. En attendant qu'elle remplisse ce 
 devoir, nous allons rassembler ici quelques traits, que nous avons "-e- 
 cueillis de la bouche meme de Franklin dans une commerce intim*' de 
 plusieurs annees." — CEuTres de Cahanis, vol. v. p. 221. 
 
45 
 
 Paris, and I can assure you I am equally desirous of it. 
 But business of the last importance, and that interested 
 me personally, has hitherto detained me here ; that, how- 
 ever, is now happily completed, and I am at present con- 
 stantly occupied in the arrangement of my late grand- 
 father's papers, which were left in the greatest disorder , 
 whether I am able to complete this or not, 1 shall certainly 
 leave London for Paris in the course of a fortnight. But 
 my wish is, if possible, to finish this, and my bargain with 
 the booksellers, before I set off, that I may not be obliged 
 to return hither merely on that account. Were it only the 
 Ltfe^ it would already have been done ; but I wish a com- 
 plete edition of his works to appear at the same time, and 
 HS I have no assistance, the necessary preparations are 
 very laborious. I am very sorry that any part of the Life 
 should have already appeared in France — however imper- 
 fect, which I understand it is. I have endeavored, and J 
 hope effectually, to put a stop to a translation appearing 
 here. 
 
 "Adieu, my dear friend; all will, I hope, go well. 
 With my best affections to all your family, I am, as ever 
 
 and for ever, 
 
 " Sincerely yours, 
 
 W. T. Franklin."* 
 
 William Temple's apprehensions of an English trans- 
 lation were not without foundation. 
 
 Strange as it is that the first version of any portion of 
 these Memoirs should have appeared in a foreign tongue, 
 it is yet more remarkable that the first English version 
 should have been, as it was, a translation from the French. 
 
 * Le Veillard Collection. 
 
46 
 
 Two years after the French version first ap] eared in Paiis 
 two English versions were published in London, oi.e for 
 G. G. J. and J. Robinson,* no date, 8vo, the other for 
 J. Parsons, No. 2 1 Paternoster Row, and both translations 
 from the French. The former was the only English ver- 
 sion printed in America until that of William Temple 
 Franklin appeared in 1817? and continues to this day to 
 be republished by some of the largest houses, not only in 
 Europe, but in America, under the impression that it is 
 both genuine and complete. What measures were taken, 
 if any, to prevent the appearance of an English translation 
 have not transpired. 
 
 William Temple's expectations of getting to Paris in a 
 few weeks do not seem to have been realized ; for, from 
 the following letter it appears that nearly two months 
 had elapsed and he was still in London, but hoped to set 
 out for France before the end of the month. A specula- 
 tion, from which he had realized £7,000, is assigned as 
 the cause of his delay. He professes to be much dis- 
 tressed at what M. le Veillard had suffered — in what way 
 is not disclosed — from his not arriving in Paris : 
 
 "London, 14 June, 1791. 
 
 " I am much distressed, my dear friend, at what you 
 say you suffer from my not arriving in Paris. I have j 
 l)een wishing to be there as much as you could wish to 
 see me, but I could not possibly think of leaving this, 
 while a business I had undertaken was pending for which 
 
 *This house also ])ublished " The Lady's Magazine," and their ver- 
 sion of the Autobiography appeared in its pages by monthly instalments 
 during the years 1793, 1794- This, I think, is the only instance of the 
 Autobiography appearing as a serial. In a note to the first number, 
 it is stated that " from the French copy is the present version made." 
 
47 
 
 I rec'd a salary and which, being now completed, affords 
 me a profit of seven tho7isa7id pounds sterlmgl This, 
 my dear friend, has hitherto kept me here — having only 
 been finally terminated on the nth inst. I am in hopes 
 you will think my excuse for staying till it was done a 
 good one. I have now only some few arrangements to 
 make in consequence of my success, and shall undoubt- 
 edly be with you before the conclusion of this month. 
 My respects to your family and all inquiring friends, and 
 believe me unalterably 
 
 " Yours, 
 
 "W. T. Franklin."* 
 
 The letter which follows, dated seven months later than 
 the preceding, authorizes the impression that William 
 Temple Franklin had entered into engagements of some 
 sort with M. le Veillard for bringing out his work simul- 
 taneously in France and in England. If so, his failure to 
 keep those engagements furnishes a natural and obvious 
 explanation of the sufferings of M. le Veillard, referred 
 to in the preceding letter : 
 
 "London, 28 Feb., 1792. 
 " My Dear Friend : 
 
 '' I received lately your favor of the 12th inst., and pre- 
 vious to it, the one you mention from M. Feuillet. I am 
 exceedingly sorry that gentleman cannot complete the 
 translation, as I am confident it would have been well 
 done ; however, it shall not retard the publication of such 
 parts as are translated at the time the original appears 
 
 * Le Veillard Collection. 
 
48 
 
 lieie, which at present is not determined, but will not be 
 delayed longer than is absolutely necessary for the arrange- 
 ment of the materials. This might, perhaps, have been 
 done sooner had I been better calculated for the business, 
 or had not my fortune required my attention to other pur- 
 suits, b}^ which it has been most materially benefited. 
 Notwithstanding the opinion you entertain — that I have 
 neglected the publication in question for business less im- 
 portant (which, by the way, you cannot possibly be a 
 judge of) — I can assure you I have given it all the atten- 
 tion I could, consistent with the important concerns above 
 alluded to, in which others being interested, required my 
 first and most diligent care ; and, however I may have 
 lost something by not publishing sooner, yet it has been 
 amply compensated by those pursuits you judge less im- 
 portant. I am now almost entirely employed in bringing 
 forward the English edition, and shall not leave this till I 
 have put it into such a train as not to require my pres- 
 ence ; but this will take up more time than you are aware 
 of; for however easy it may be to bring forward a bro- 
 chure^ it is no small labor to publish a voluminous work ; 
 and that, too, to be formed out of materials that were left 
 in the greatest confusion. A few months will, I hope, 
 satisfy your impatience and the public curiosity. When 
 matters are in good train here, I shall immediately repair 
 to Paris to forward the translation, and you may rely on 
 it that at least the Life shall appear the same day in Paris 
 as in London ; sooner I see not the necessity for, and it 
 might expose me hereafter to some difficulties here ; as 
 ':he French edition appearing previous to the English, a 
 translation might be printed here to the prejudice of va^ 
 copy. 
 
49 
 
 " Adieu, my dearest friend ; remember me, in the 
 most affectionate manner, to Madame le Veillard, and 
 every part of your family, and believe me, as ever and 
 for ever, 
 
 '' Sincerely yours, 
 
 "W. T. Franklin. 
 
 *' P. S. — You have heard, I suppose, of the nomination 
 by the President of Mr. Gouverneur Morris to be minister 
 at vour Court? It has, however, suffered some demur in 
 the Senate, and has not been yet confirmed. 
 
 " I have no doubt, however, but it will. From the well- 
 known sentiments of Mr. M., this appointment will not, 
 I believe, be very agreeable to the National Assembly. 
 Mr. Short goes to Holland, and I am totally neglected. 
 I shall therefore lose no time, but turn my attention to 
 other pursuits." * 
 
 No farther correspondence appears to have passed be- 
 tween William Temple Franklin and M. le Veillard, 
 though the latter gentleman was living till 1794. The 
 interruption to this correspondence was probably the le- 
 sult of an estrangement, of which the letters cited furnish 
 some premonitory symptoms. 
 
 Whatever may have been the cause of the delay, 
 William Temple's edition did not appear until 181 7. 
 
 Nor, as I have before intimated, was this editlo prin- 
 ceps of 181 7 printed from the original manuscripts, but 
 from the copy presented to M. le Veillard. The evi- 
 
 * Le Veillard Collection. 
 
 
so 
 
 dence of this may be found in the omission of the last 
 eight pages, which are only to be found in the autograph, 
 and in the following memorandum inscribed on its fly- 
 leaves in French and in English, in the handwriting, I 
 presume, of M. de Senarmont, or of some member of his 
 family. The English version runs as follows : 
 
 "THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 
 
 "written by himself. 
 
 " The oiily Manuscript Ejttirely of his own Handwriting: 
 
 " Dr. Franklin, when Ambassador in France, was 
 very intimate with M. le Veillard, gentilho?nine ordi- 
 naire du Roi^ his neighbor, near Paris. He presented 
 his friend with a fine copy of the Memoirs of his ov/n 
 life. 
 
 " When William Temple Franklin, Dr. Franklin's grand- 
 son, came to Europe in order to publish the works of his 
 illustrious grandfather, he required from Mad. le Veillard 
 (M. le Veillard had perished on the Revolutionary scaf- 
 fold) the correct and fine copy given by his grandfather, 
 as more convenient for the jDrinter. ' If I give it to you, 
 I shall have nothing more of our friend.' ' I will give 
 you, in place of the copy, the original manuscript of my 
 grandfather.' 
 
 " In this manner the original and only manuscript came 
 by inheritance into the hands of M. de Senarmont, M. Ic 
 Veillard's grand-nephew." 
 
 The precise time when the exchange here referred to 
 was made does not appear, but the following paragraph 
 from Sir Samuel Romilly's Diary of a Visit to France in 
 1802, informs us that he was shown the autograpli ; tlia* 
 
51 
 
 the copy originally furnished to M. le Veillard, and after 
 ward given to William T. Franklin, was made by a 
 copying-press, and that that copy was exchanged for the 
 original previous to Romilly's visit in 1802 : 
 
 *' Sept 7. Mad. Gautier procured for me the reading of 
 the original manuscript of Dr. Franklin's Life. There 
 are only two copies — this, and one which Dr. Franklin 
 took with a machine for copying letters, and which is in 
 possession of his grandson. Franklin gave the manu- 
 script to M. le Veillard, of Passy, who was guillotined 
 during the Revolution. Upon his death it came into the 
 hands of his daughter or grand-daughter, Mad'lle le Veil- 
 lard, who is the present possessor of it. It appears evi- 
 dently to be the first draught written by Franklin, for in 
 a great many places the word originally written is erased 
 with a pen, and a word nearly synonymous substituted in 
 its place, not over the other but further on, so as mani- 
 festly to show that the correction was made at the time 
 of the original composition. The manuscript contains a 
 great many additions made upon a very wide margin ; 
 but I did not find that a single passage was anywhere 
 struck out. Part of the work, but not quite half of it, 
 has been translated into French, and from French re- 
 translated into English. The Life comes down no lower 
 than to the year 1757"* 
 
 The omission of the eight pages which conclude the 
 manuscript, and which constitute one of the most precious 
 chapters of this famous fragment, is susceptible of the 
 following explanation : 
 
 William Temple Franklin exchanged the autograph 
 
 * Life of Romilly, 3d ed., vol. i. p. 408. 
 
52 
 
 manuscript for the copy sent to M. le Vcillard, without 
 being aware that, between the time that copy was made 
 and its author's death, these pages had been added. Pre- 
 suming they were the same, probably he did not compare 
 them, and thus overlooked one of the most precious chap- 
 ters of this famous fragment. 
 
 William Temple Franklin's delay in the publication of 
 the Memoirs, twenty-seven years after the death of their 
 author, cannot be so satisfactorily accounted for. 
 
 It brought a reproach upon our country for the lack of 
 "literary enterprise and activity," of which it was thought 
 to convict us, and was also attributed, in part, to motives 
 not entirely honorable to the person directly responsible 
 for the delay. The Edi7iburgh Review gave the most 
 solemn expression to the public discontent in a review 
 of the three-volume edition of Franklin's Works and 
 Memoirs, published by Johnson & Longman, of London, 
 in 1806.* 
 
 In the first two paragraphs of this article the writer 
 says : 
 
 " Nothing, we think, can show more clearly the singu- 
 lar want of literary enterprise or activity in the States of 
 America than that no one has yet been found in that 
 flourishing republic to collect and publish the works of 
 their only philosopher. It is not even very creditable to 
 the literary curiosity of the English public that there 
 should have been no complete edition of the writings of 
 Dr. Franklin till the year 1806 ; and we should have beer 
 altogether unable to account for the imperfect and un 
 satisfactory manner in which the work has now been per 
 
 * See Edinburgh Review, July, 1806. 
 
53 
 
 formed, if it had not been for a statement in a prefatory 
 advertisement, which removes all blame from the editor 
 to attach it to a higher quarter. It is there stated that 
 recently, after the death of the author, his grandson, to 
 whom all his papers had been bequeathed, made a voyage 
 to London for the purpose of preparing and disposing of 
 a complete collection of all his published and unpublished 
 writings, with Memoirs of his life brought down by him- 
 self to the year 1757, and continued to his death by hi* 
 descendant. It was settled that the work should be pub- 
 lished in three quarto volumes in England, Germany 
 and France, and a negotiation was commenced with the 
 booksellers as to the terms of purchase and publication. 
 At this stage of the business, however, the proposals 
 were suddenly withdrawn, and nothing more has been 
 heard of the work in this its fair and natural market. 
 
 *' The proprietor, it seems, had found a bidder of a dif- 
 ferent description in some emissary of governm.ent^ 
 whose object was to withhold the manuscripts from the 
 world, not to benefit it by their publication ; and they 
 thus either passed into other hands, or the person to 
 whom they were bequeathed received a remuneration for 
 suppressing them. 
 
 " If this statement be correct, we have no hesitation in 
 saying that no emissary of government was ever em- 
 ployed on a more miserable and unworthy sei"vice. It is 
 ludicrous to talk of the danger of disclosing, in 1795? ^'^y 
 secrets of State with regard to the war of American Inde- 
 pendence ; and as to any anecdotes or observations that 
 might give offence to individuals, we think it should 
 always be remembered that public functionaries are the 
 property of the pulalic ; that their character belongs to 
 6* 
 
54 
 
 history and to posterity, and that it is equally absurd and 
 discreditable to think of suppressing any part of the evi- 
 dence by which their merits must be ultimately deter- 
 mined. But the whole of the works that have been sup- 
 pressed certainly did not relate to republican politics. 
 The history of the author's life, down to 1757, could not 
 well contain any matter of oflence, and a variety of gen- 
 eral remarks and speculations which he is understood to 
 have left behind him might have been permitted to see 
 the light, though his diplomatic operations had been inter- 
 dicted. The emissary of government, however, probably 
 took no care of these things : he was resolved to leave no 
 rubs and botches in his work, and, to stifle the dreaded 
 revelation, he thought the best way was to strangle all the 
 innocents in the vicinage." 
 
 William Temple's tardy vindication from these imputa- 
 tions is given in the preface to his edition of his grand- 
 father's works. He there admits that he delayed their 
 publication, that " they might not be the means of awa- 
 kening painful recollections or of rekindling the dying 
 embers of animosity."* 
 
 Mr. Sparks thinks that William Temple Franklin had 
 motives for delaying the publication of the writings of his. 
 grandfather which he did not assign in his preface. He 
 says :t 
 
 " There was a rumor that the British ministry interposed 
 and offered the proprietor of the papers a large remunera- 
 tion to su])press them, which he accepted. This rumor 
 was so broadly stated in the preface to Johnson's edition 
 
 * The whole of this preface is worth perusing. It will be found at 
 length in Appendix i. 
 
 t Sparks' Life of Franklin, vol. vii. Preface. 
 
55 
 
 as to amount to a positive charge : and it was reiterated 
 with an assurance that would seem at least to imply that 
 it was sustained by the public opinion. To this charge 
 William Temple Franklin replied when, in the year 1817? 
 he published an edition of his grandfather's works from 
 the manuscripts in his possession. In the preface to the 
 first volume he endeavors to explain the reason why he 
 had so long delayed the publication, and he also takes 
 notice of the charge in question. He treats it with indig- 
 nation and contempt, and appears not to regard it as 
 worthy of being refuted. He was less reserved in con- 
 versation. Dr. John W. Francis, of New York, saw him 
 often in London in the year 1S16, while he was preparing 
 his grandfather's papers for the jDress. ' To me,' says 
 Dr. Francis, ' he peremptorily denied all interference of 
 any official authorities whatever with his intended publi- 
 cation, and assigned, as sufficient causes for the non-exe-^ 
 cution of the task committed to him, the interruption of 
 communication and the hostilities between the French 
 and the English nations, and the consequent embarrass- 
 ments he encountered in collecting the scattered mate 
 rials.' The reason here assigned for delay is not very 
 satisfactory, and there were doubtless others. His father, 
 William Franklin, died hi 1813. He had been a pen- 
 sioner on the British government, in consequence of the 
 part he had taken in the Revolution, and it is probable 
 that he may have been averse to the publication of his 
 father's papers during his lifetime. To say the least, the 
 suspicion that papers were finally suppressed for any 
 cause is without proof and highly improbable. A paper 
 mentioned by Mr. Jefferson, as having been shown to 
 him by Dr. Franklin, and supposed to have been sup- 
 
56 
 
 pressed, was undoubtedly the one relating to a negotia- 
 tion with Lord Howe and others, for a reconciliation 
 between the two countries, just before Dr. Franklin left 
 England for the last time. This was published by his 
 grandson, and is contained in the fifth volume of the 
 present edition." 
 
 It is difficult to believe that Mr. Sparks could have read 
 Franklin's account of his negotiations with Lord Howe by 
 the light of Jefferson's statement to which he refers, when 
 he wrote that " the suspicion that papers were finally 
 suppressed for any cause is without proof and highly im- 
 probable." In the closing pages of his autobiography 
 Mr. Jeflferson tells us that he called upon Dr. Franklin in 
 Philadelphia in 1790? and only a few weeks before his 
 death, when the doctor placed in his hands a full account 
 of his negotiations in London with the British ministry 
 through Lord Howe. 
 
 "I remember," continues Mr. Jefferson, "that Lord 
 North's answers were dry, unyielding in the spirit of un- 
 conditional submission, and betrayed an absolute indiffer- 
 ence to the occurrence of a rupture, and he said to the 
 mediators, at last, that ' a rebellion was not to be depre- 
 cated on the part of Great Britain ; that the confiscations 
 it would produce would provide for many of their friends.' " 
 
 *' This expression was reported by the mediators to Frank- 
 lin, and indicated so cool and calculated a purpose in the 
 ministry as to render compromise hopeless, and the nego- 
 tiation was discontinued. 
 
 '* If this is not among the papers published, we ask what 
 has become of it? I delivered it with my own hands into 
 those of Temple Franklin. It certainly established views 
 Bo atrocious in the British government that its suppression 
 
57 
 
 would, to them, be worth a great price. But could the 
 grandson of Dr. Franklin be, in such degree, an accom- 
 plice in the parricide of the memory of his immortal 
 grandfather? The suspension for more than twenty 
 years of the general publication bequeathed and confided 
 to him, produced for a while, hard suspicions against 
 him ; and if, at last, all are not published, a part of these 
 suspicions may remain with some."* 
 
 Now it is very certain that no such language or senti- 
 ment is to be found in the " account of negotiations in 
 London for effecting a reconciliation between Great 
 Britain and the American Colonies," as first published 
 by Wm. Temple Franklin, in 1817, and republished by 
 Mr. Sparks in the 5th Vol. of his collection of the writings 
 of Franklin. 
 
 As there can be no ground for questioning Mr. Jeffer- 
 son's testimony on this point, we are forced to the con- 
 clusion that the passage in question was suppressed. 
 And why should we doubt it with the evidence before 
 us, in his treatment of the autobiography, that he was not 
 restrained from mutilating his grandfather's works by 
 respect either for his genius or his fame? 
 
 The theor}^ of Mr. Sparks in regard to William Temple 
 Franklin's delay in publishing his grandfather's works is, 
 no doubt, correct so far as it goes. There can be no ques- 
 tion with any person cognizant of the state of feeling which 
 prevailed at the time in England toward the revolted Col- 
 onies, that the publication of an elaborate edition of Frank- 
 lin's works would have been unacceptable to the governing 
 classes ; nor can there be much doubt that such a publica- 
 
 * Jefferson's Works, Vol. I., Waihington Edition. 
 
 c* 
 
58 
 
 tion would have had a tendency to compromise William 
 Franklin with the government, and put his pension in 
 peril. When it is further considered that William Frank- 
 lin not only had no sympathy with the republican cause 
 in America, but did all he could to betray it, and thus 
 entitled himself to the pension upon which he lived, it 
 may safely be inferred that he exerted what influence he 
 possessed over his son, not only to defer the publication, 
 but to unsettle his son's faith in the value and stability of 
 the political fabric which their common ancestor had had 
 such an important agency in erecting. And it is also to 
 be borne in mind, that any representations of that nature 
 which the father might make would have fallen upon the 
 son's mind in a state not wholly unprepared to give it 
 hospitality. Both he and his grandfather thought he had 
 been treated ungraciously by our governmant, from which 
 he had been educated to expect some diplomatic appoint- 
 ment. Immediately after his grandfather's death he left 
 the United States under a feeling of disappointment, if 
 not of disgust, at their ingratitude, and never returned. 
 He bore with him in his trunk a manuscript property 
 which could be turned to considerable account in two 
 ways — either by printing it or by suppressing it. The 
 course that he finally took was one wliich enabled him, if 
 he chose, to take the benefit of both modes of procedure. 
 He delayed the publication until it could no longer work 
 any prejudice to him or his, and then found for it, doubt- 
 less, at last as propitious a market as he could have hoped 
 for had he published earlier. 
 
 Whether he did profit by this delay, and if so, in what 
 way and to what extent, will probably never be known 
 with absolute certainty. F^^ery one's conclusions will be 
 
59 
 
 more or less affected by their knowledge of bis cbaracter, 
 habits and necessities. There is a paragraph in one of 
 his letters already cited, which must henceforth be weighed 
 in deciding this question. He wrote to M. le Veillard 
 from London on the 14th of June, 1791 : 
 
 " I am much distressed, my dear friend, at what you 
 say you suffer from my not arriving in Paris. I have 
 been wishing to be there as much as you could wish to 
 see me, but I could not possibly think of leaving this 
 while a business I had undertaken was pending, for which 
 I rec'd a salary ; and which, being now completed, affords 
 me a profit of seven thousand fou7tds sterling I This, 
 my dear friend, has hitherto kept me here — having only 
 been finally terminated on the nth inst. I am in hopes 
 you will think my excuse for staying till it was done a 
 good one. I have now only some few arrangements to 
 make in consequence of my success, and shall undoubt- 
 edly be with you before the conclusion of this month." 
 
 When this was written. Dr. Franklin had been dead 
 but about a year ; the writer had been in London barely 
 six months. He never pretended in his correspondence 
 before to have any other business there than to edit his 
 grandfather's works ; he suddenly engages himself upon a 
 salary ; in less than six months finishes his business, and 
 pockets a profit of £7000, or say $35,000. While earn- 
 ing this handsome sum he was apparently a free man, 
 constantly writing to M. le Veillard that he was expect- 
 ing to go in a few days or weeks to Paris, being only 
 detained in London to finish his book. It is not easy to 
 imagine any salaried employment, especially such a profit- 
 able one as this seemed to be, which imposed so slight a 
 restraint upon the movements of its beneficiary. 
 
6o 
 
 From whatever source this £7000 came, and howevei 
 little or much the acquisition of it had to do with tie 
 delay in the publication of his grandfather's works, it is 
 certainly to be regretted that so little is known of the 
 business engagement which was entered into so suddenly, 
 was of such brief duration, and yet yielded such generous 
 profits. Cabanis* tells us, that when William Franklin 
 asked of the Court of St. James the governorship of one 
 of the colonies! — a favor by which he became unf(»r- 
 tunately bound to the Loyalist party — Franklin said to 
 him : " Think what this whistle will some day cost you. 
 Why not rather be a carpenter or a ploughman, if the 
 fortune I leave you prove insufficient? The man who 
 works for his living is at least independent. But," added 
 he, in telling us this story, " the young man was infatu- 
 ated with the ' Excellency.' He was ashamed to resemble 
 his father." 
 
 It is not impossible that the grandson, after residing 
 a while in London, succumbed to a similar weakness. 
 
 In the very year that the edition of William Temple 
 Franklin made its appearance, a collection of Franklin's 
 correspondence was compiled and published in Paris, in 
 2 vols., by M. Charles Malo.| The Preface of this book 
 
 * CEuvres de Cabanis, vol. v. p. 223. t New Jersey. 
 
 J Correspondance inedite et secrete de Docteur B. Franklin, Ministre 
 Plenipotentiaire des Etats-Unis d'Amerique pres la Cour de France 
 depuis I'annee 1753 jusqu'en 1790, offrant, en trois parties completes et 
 bien distinctes, 
 
 1°. Les Memoires de sa Vie privee ; 
 
 2°. Les causes premieres de la Revolution d'Amerique ; 
 
 3°. L'Histoire des diverses negociations entre I'Angleterre, la France 
 et les Etats-Unis, publiee pour la premiere fois en France, avec des 
 notes, additions, &c. Paris, Janet p^re, Libraire Editeur, Rue Saint- 
 Jacques, No. 59. MDCCCXVII. 
 
6i 
 
 was made the vehicle of a ruthless attack upon William 
 Temple Franklin and upon his editorial enterprise, which, 
 coming as it did from a writer of some reputation, meas- 
 ures the marvelous change which must have taken place 
 in the feelings of the French people toward him since 
 he left Paris, to have rendered such an introduction of 
 his grandfather's w^orks acceptable to them. M. Malo 
 accuses him of selecting from, abridging and belittling 
 the works of the Doctor, and concludes with the question : 
 *' Ought we to inherit from one we have assassinated ?"* 
 
 * For a translation of this diatribe, see the Appendix, No. II. The 
 author of it, M. Charles Malo, was a voluminous writer, something of a 
 poet, and a warm republican. The list of his works alone fills nearly 
 two pages of Querard. It is not strange that one who published so 
 much should make some ludicrous blunders, of which several specimens 
 may be found among the notes with which he endeavored to illumine 
 the writings of Franklin. In one of his letters Franklin remarks : 
 '* They thought a Yankee was a sort of Yahoo." Upon this M. Malo 
 remarks : 
 
 '' YaJioo. — This must be an animal. They pretend it is an opossum ; 
 but I have not found the word ' Yahoo' in any dictionary of natural 
 histoiy." 
 
 Again, in a letter to Buffon, Franklin wrote that he had escaped 
 obesity by eating moderately, drinking neither wine nor cider, and in 
 exercising himself daily with dumb-bells. M. Malo instructs his coun- 
 trymen that "this term dumb-bell expresses among the English the 
 motion a person seated makes in moving back and forth only the upper 
 part of his Lody." 
 
 In one instance M. Malo presumed to act as a censor upon Dr. 
 Franklin himself In a letter of the Doctor's, he had quoted with a sor? 
 of humorous approval the following lines from an old song : 
 
 "Wlih a courage undaunted may I face my last day, 
 And whan I am gone may the better sort say, 
 In the morning when sober, in the evening when mellow : 
 He is gone, and has not left behind him his fellow ; 
 F(»r he governed his passions." 
 
62 
 
 A feeling seems to have prevailed among the French 
 editors of Franklin's writings that he was ashamed 
 of his grandfather's humble origin and early employ- 
 ments. 
 
 In the year 1807, there used to appear tri-weekly in 
 Paris, and three columns to the page, a sort of embryo 
 Galignani called The Argus or London Review in 
 Paris. On the 38th of March of that year, under the 
 heading of New York, 8th September, there appeared 
 on the editorial page and in editorial type a review of 
 Johnson's three-volume English edition of Dr. Franklin's 
 works. The article was credited to the American Citizen.^ 
 a journal then printed in New York, and was followed by 
 an extract from the preface. The two pieces fill a column 
 of the Argus. 
 
 The spirit of the article may be inferred from the fol- 
 lowing passage : 
 
 "William Temple Franklin, without shame, without 
 remorse, mean and mercenary, sold the sacred deposit, 
 committed to his care by Dr. Franklin, to the British 
 government. Franklin's works are therefore lost to the 
 world." 
 
 In the next succeeding number of the Argus., March 
 31st, appeared the following: 
 
 M. Malo remarks upon this couplet : " I have not translated the third 
 Hue literally, for it did not seem to me in very good taste to desire to be 
 praised by honest people, who are sober in the morning and drunk in 
 the evening." So he translated the verse as follows : 
 
 " Puisse je avec courage voir arriver mon dernier jour ; et quand je 
 ne serai plus, puissent les gens vertueux repeter souvent, *il est mort, et 
 n'a pas laisse son pareil au monde ! Car il avait sur ses passions ur 
 pouvoir absolu.' " 
 
63 
 
 Tuesday, 31 March, 1807. 
 
 Dr. Franklin : — Mr. William Temple Franklin, 
 now in Paris, has just written to us the following letter, 
 in order to vindicate his character from the foul expres- 
 sions thrown out against him, in an article inserted in the 
 last number of the Argus^ extracted from the Ainerican 
 Citize7i. We publish this letter with the greater pleasure 
 as it contains a full and satisfactory answer to the calum- 
 nies circulated on his conduct and announces sentiments 
 worthy of the celebrated name he bears ; at the same time 
 that it gives the public the hope of seeing a genuine edi- 
 tion of the works of Dr. Franklin more conformable to 
 the intentions and liberal principles of the author. 
 
 To the editor of the Argtis. 
 
 Paris, Saturday, 28 March, 1807. 
 
 Sir : — In the Argus of this day I have read with equal 
 indignation and surprise, the unfounded and illiberal 
 attack made on my character, as well as the numerous 
 falsehoods contained in extracts from an American paper 
 and in tlie preface of a book which appears to be lately 
 published in London, under the specious title of " The 
 Works of Dr. Franklin," my worthy grandfather. 
 
 To those acquainted with me I flatter myself no justifi- 
 cation is necessary to prove the falsehood of such unsup- 
 ported assertions and insinuations, as base as they respect 
 me, as they are ridiculous in regard to the British govern- 
 ment. But out of respect to public opinion, to the name 
 I bear, and to those who honor me with their friendship,! 
 feel it incumbent on me thus publicly and solemnly to 
 declare in answer to the libel in question : 
 
 1st. That it is false, as asserted, that I had my grand- 
 
64 
 
 father's "directions to publish the entire of his works;*' 
 he left them to my discretion in this respect, as well as tc 
 the period of publication ; no one has any right to interfere 
 therewith. 
 
 2d. It is most atrociously false, as boldly and shame- 
 fully asserted without even the attempt to prove it, that I 
 sold my grandfather's manuscripts or any part of them to 
 the British government ; or that any attempt, either direct 
 or indirect, was made by that government or their agents 
 to suppress the publication of the whole or any part 
 thereof. 
 
 3d. That the said original manuscripts, with the copy 
 prepared for the press, are now and have been long since 
 deposited by me under lock and key in the secure vaults 
 of my bankers, Herries, Farquhar & Co., London ; they 
 will therefore not be lost to the world as maliciously as- 
 serted from interested motives, as will appear at a future 
 and I hope early period. 
 
 4th. That previous to my leaving London I repeatedly 
 offered to dispose of the copyright of my grandfather's 
 manuscripts to some of the most eminent printers there, 
 and that on very reasonable terms — not for "• several thou- 
 saitd pounds" as ridiculously set forth. They not only 
 refused to publish, but even to undertake the printing, 
 publishing, etc., at their sole risk, giving for reason that 
 the period was not propitious for a publication of that 
 nature, owing to the state of affairs in Europe, which oc- 
 cupied solely the public attention, so that a work of any 
 magnitude, not immediately connected with public affairs, 
 would not sell ; and that they had lost by all their late 
 purchases of copyright of great works, even of the most 
 celebrated writers of modern times. 
 
6s 
 
 5th. That the affairs of Europe remaining in the same 
 unsettled state, and the public mind continuing to be 
 wholly interested therein, have alone influenced my not 
 bringing forward a work which, to do it with propriety 
 and becoming splendor in honor to my much revered 
 ancestor's memory, would be attended with very consider- 
 able expense and a very uncertain success in such mo- 
 mentous times.* 
 
 I have now, sir, replied to the various heads of malevo- 
 lent and interested accusation brought forward against 
 me ; and I hope I have justified my character in as satis- 
 factory a manner as it is possible against accusations and 
 insinuations without even a shadow of proof, nay even of 
 probability, to support them. It is easy to accuse, not 
 always to defend. But I hope, sir, you will show your 
 justice and impartiality by inserting this letter in your 
 next Argus as an antidote to the poison contained in the 
 former one, as far as respects the character of your hum- 
 ble servant, 
 
 William Temple Franklin. 
 
 It is certainly a little remarkable ist. That so large a 
 portion of the available space of a small and obscure Paris 
 newspaper, devoted mainly to the European aftairs of those 
 momentous times, should be given to a New York criticism 
 of an English book ; a criticism written in September, 1806, 
 and which by March, 1807, had certainly lost much of its 
 novelty. 
 
 2d. That William Temple Franklin, instead of present- 
 ing his defence against these foul aspersions, in one of 
 the two countries where they had been circulated and 
 
 * Sic in original. 
 6* 
 
were most damaging to his character, should have pre- 
 ferred an organ not one note of which was likely to reach 
 England or America or any considerable number in 
 France. 
 
 3d. In this letter, while stoutly denying any collusion 
 with the British government for the suppression of his 
 grandfather's papers, he assigns as a reason for his delay 
 in giving them to the v/orld, that he could not afford to 
 publish them at his own expense, and no publisher in 
 London would take them on other conditions. But how 
 can the plea for delay here preferred, be reconciled with 
 the philanthropic motive for inaction set up in his preface 
 to the edition of his grandfather's works, which he finally 
 published ten years later, and in which he says that to 
 have committed them sooner to the press " would have 
 been much more to his pecuniary advantage.?" 
 
 Whatever impression this letter may have upon the 
 mind of the reader of to-day, it is certain that it did not 
 shake the general conviction of William Temple's con- 
 temporaries that he had yielded to influences anything 
 but friendly to the memory of his grandfather or honor- 
 able to himself. 
 
 III. 
 
 The autograph Memoirs fill 330 pages of foolsca]), 
 written both sides of the page. A margin of half its 
 width was left on each page for such additions and cor- 
 rections as the autobiographer might have occasion to 
 make at a future day. Of this margin the Doctor took 
 frequent advantage. He had such a clear and distinct 
 
6/ 
 
 chirography that all the MS. is legible, though abound 
 ing with interlineations and erasures. The last eighl 
 pages only, betray what Cicero terms the vaciUantibus 
 littertdis of age and infirmity, though they also are per- 
 fectly legible. They must have been written in the Doc- 
 tor's eighty-fourth year, and in the intervals of those in- 
 tense pains with w^iich the latter days of his life were 
 tortured. 
 
 The MS. came into my possession half bound in red 
 moi'occo, with a memorandum, which has already been 
 cited, inscribed on fly-leaves in French and in English. 
 
 As a part of the history of this manuscript, it is proper 
 that I should add the following memorandum, furnished 
 me in French by M. de Senarmont himself: 
 
 " Note on the autogi'aph manuscript of the Memoirs of 
 Benjamin Franklin, 
 
 " The manuscript of the Memoirs of Franklin is a folio 
 of 220 pages, written with a half page margin on paper 
 not of uniform size. 
 
 "M. le Veillard, gentleman in ordinary of the king, 
 and Mayor of Passy, was an intimate frie-nd of Dr. Frank- 
 lin. He had lived in daily intercourse with him at Passy, 
 near Paris, during the Doctor's residence in France, at 
 the epoch of the American War of Independence. At 
 the departure of his friend, he accompanied him to the 
 ship on which Franklin embarked for America, and it 
 was from his own countrv that the Doctor sent him, as a 
 token of his friendship, the copy of his Memoirs, subse- 
 quently exchanged for the original. 
 
 " The original manuscript is unique. Mr. WiUiam 
 
68 
 
 Temple Franklin, grandson of Benjamin Franklin, re- 
 ceived it at the death of his grandfather, who had left 
 him all his writings. When William Temple returned 
 to France to prepare the edition which he published, he 
 requested of Aladame le Veillard her copy to print from 
 because it appeared more convenient for the printer, on 
 account of its neatness. He gave to Mad. le Veillard in 
 exchange the original manuscript entirely written by the 
 hand of Franklin. 
 
 " The original was, however, more complete than the 
 copy, which Mr. Temple had not verified. Proof of this 
 may be found in the second volume of the small edition 
 of the Memoirs, in two volumes in i8mo., published by 
 Jules Renouard, at Paris, in 1828. One may there read, 
 it the commencement of a continuation which then ap- 
 peared for the first time, a note, page i, where the editor 
 Jtates that this continuation was communicated to them 
 by the Le Veillard family.* 
 
 " The simple inspection demonstrates the authenticity 
 of the manuscript, in support of which may be furnished 
 other positive proofs, drawn from the different pieces ac- 
 companying it, such as — 
 
 * The note here referred to, translated, reads as follows : " We pub- 
 lish for the first time this piece, which had never been published in 
 English or French. It is translated from the original manuscript which 
 served for the English edition which William Temple Franklin pub- 
 lished in 181 8, of the Memoirs of his grandfather. This manuscript 
 belongs to the family of M. le Veillard, an intimate friend of Franklin, 
 ana we owe the communication of it to M. de S., one of the members 
 of thia honorable family." 
 
 The M. de S. here referred to, I ]iresunie, was the father of the M. 
 P. de Senarmont from whom I received the Memoirs and the nieiuo 
 randum now under the reader's eye. 
 
69 
 
 ** The three letters of Dr. Frankhn to M. le Veillard ; 
 three letters from Mr. William Temple to the same ; and 
 various letters from Benjamin Franklin Bache, Sarah 
 Bache, his wife,* and from a bookseller who wished to 
 purchase the manuscript of M. le Veillard in 1791.! 
 
 " M. le Veillard, who is the author of the French trans- 
 lation of the Memoirs of Franklin, | has presei-ved the 
 autograph manuscript, with a sentiment corresponding 
 with that which determined his friend to send him the 
 MS. copy. 
 
 " After the death of M. le Veillard, who perished on 
 the Revolutionary scaffold in 1794, the MS. went to his 
 
 * Sarah Bache was the mother, not the wife, of Benj. F. Bache. 
 t The bookseller here referred to is Buisson, who published the first 
 edition of the Memoirs, in French, in 1791. His note reads as follows: 
 
 Sir : — I learn that you have manuscripts relating to the life of Dr. 
 Franklin. If it is your intention to dispose of them, I offer to become 
 ^eir purchaser. 
 
 I have the honor to be, sir. 
 
 Your humble and obedient servant, 
 
 BUISSON, 
 
 Bookseller, Rue Hautefeuille, No. 2. 
 
 I want a word of reply, if you please. 
 Paris, 26 Juney 1791. 
 
 What reply was made to this application will probably never be known. 
 That the MS. was not sold is certain, for we know it was afterward ex- 
 i-.hanged for the autograph. 
 
 On the other hand, M. le Veillard, in his note to the Journal de Paris^ 
 quoted above, distinctly says tAat he not only had nothing to do with the 
 translation, but did not know how the translator had been able to pro- 
 cure the manuscript from which to make it. 
 
 X M. de Senarmont is evidently in error in attributing the French 
 translation that was printed in 1791 to M. le Veillard. M. le Veillard 
 made a translation ; but it must have been printed subsequently, if at 
 all. See note to page 43. 
 
JO 
 
 daugliter. At her death, in 1834, it became the property 
 of her cousin, M. de Senarmont, whose grandson de- 
 livered it, on the 26th January, 1867, to Mr. John Bigelow, 
 hite Minister of the United States at Paris. 
 
 " The manuscript is accompanied by a beautiful portrait 
 in pastel by Duplessis. Franklin sat for this portrait 
 during his sojourn at Passy, and presented it himself to 
 M. le VeiUard. 
 
 *' (Signed) L. de Senarmont. 
 
 "Paris, \^th January^ 1867." 
 
 In addition to the continuation of the Memoirs which 
 was overlooked by William Temple Franklin, already 
 referred to, I was so fortunate as to find in the Le Veil- 
 lard collection a skeleton sketch of the topics which Dr. 
 Franklin originally proposed to treat in the Autobiog- 
 raphy. It was, doubtless, the first outline of the work. 
 It is written upon a letter sheet, the first three pages in 
 black ink and in the hand of a copyist, while the continu- 
 ation of seven lines on the fourth page, beginning with 
 " Hutchinson's Letters," are in red ink, and in the hand 
 of Franklin himself. 
 
 A line is drawn with a pen through the middle of the 
 first page of the manuscript down to the words : " Li- 
 b?'ary erected — manner of conducting the project — its 
 plan and utility.'^ As these are the topics which con- 
 clude the first part of the Memoirs, terminating at page 
 87 of the manuscript, the line was probably drawn by 
 Franklin when he had reached that stage of his work, that 
 he might the more easily know with what topic to resinne 
 it when he should have occasion to do so. 
 
 I give this Outline as an introduction to the Memoirs. 
 
71 
 
 It will be found extremely interesting, first, as showing 
 how systematically Franklin set about the execution of 
 the task of which these Memoirs are the result ; and, 
 secondly, for the notions it gives us of the unexecuted 
 portion of his plan.* 
 
 The printed manuscript ends with his departure to Eng- 
 land as agent of the Colony of Pennsylvania, to settle the 
 disputes about the proprietary taxes in i^SKi while the 
 Otitline comes down to the conclusion of his diplomatic 
 career, of course embracing the most interesting portion of 
 his life. 
 
 This volume is embellished by a portrait of Franklin, 
 engraved from the pastel by Duplessis in the Le Veillard 
 Collection. Franklin sat for it to Duplessis in 1783, and 
 presented it to his friend, Le Veillard. At the bottom of 
 the old gilt frame, in front, is the following inscription 
 upon the frame : 
 
 "BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 
 
 «A 77 ANS, 
 
 " Peint par J^ S^ Duplessis^ 
 
 "1783. 
 « Donn^ par Franklin lui-meme." 
 
 On the back is the following memorandum, placed 
 there, doubtless, by M. le Veillard : 
 
 * The glimpse given in this Outline of Franklin's habits of composi- 
 tion tempts me to refer the reader to an extract from a letter which Dr. 
 Franklin wrote to Mr. Vaughan in 1789, in which, at Mr. Vaughan's 
 request, he gives him some counsel on the subject of his style. What 
 he says will help the reader to comprehend the uses for which the Out 
 line referred to in the text was prepared. See vol. iii., p. 440. 
 
72 
 
 Benjamin Franklin, 2^']'] ans ; pcint en 1783 par Duplessis ; 
 donne par Franklin lui-meme a M. Louis le Veillard, gentil- 
 homme ordinaire de la Reine, son ami et son voisin a Passy. 
 
 Joseph Siffred Duplessis, Academicien, ncaCharpentray, s'est 
 distingue par une belle intelligence, les efifcts de la luniiere sur 
 les chairs et accessoires, un pinceau large, bien senti, et un 
 (oloiis vrai. Les personnages de distinction dans ses portraits 
 sont poses avec noblesse etdans des attitudes bien choisies. 11 
 a peint le portrait de Louis XVL, ceux de M. et Mme. Necker, 
 et de plusieiirs grands de la Cour. — Les tiois siecles de la pein- 
 ture de la France, par Gault de St. Germain. 1808. — Svviback, 
 I'eleve le plus distingue de Duplessis, a surpasse son maitre. 
 
 I do not know that I can more appropriately conclude 
 this bibliographical summary than by quoting a few pas- 
 sages from the introduction to the Memoirs of Franklin 
 by the late Edward Laboulaye, which appeared in Paris 
 in 1866.* The translation of the Memoirs and corre- 
 spondence of Franklin was one of the many wa3's by 
 which this distinguished jurist contributed, during our 
 late struggle for the presei"vation of our Federal Union, to 
 keep alive in France that friendship for the United States 
 which Franklin, more than any other one person, had the 
 merit of inspiring, and to which, for the second time, 
 we have been largely beholden for our national exist- 
 ence : 
 
 " What constitutes the charm of the Memoirs is not the 
 recital of events, which are of the most ordinary charac- 
 ter ; it is the reflections which accompany their recital. 
 
 * Memoires de Benjamin Franklin, Merits par lui-meme, traduits do 
 I'Anglais et annotes par Edouard Laboulaye, de I'lnstitut de France. 
 Paris, IJbraire de L. Hachette & Cie. 1866. 
 
73 
 
 Franklin is a born moralist. The first letter he writes to 
 his sister is a sermon on the virtues of a good house- 
 keepei. The penitent is fifteen and the preacher twenty. 
 From this moment to his death Franklin did not change. 
 He is always the man who reasons out his conduct — the 
 sage who, following the ingenious definition of Mr. Ban- 
 croft, never said a word too soon nor a word too late. 
 He never said a word too much, nor failed to say the 
 decisive word at the proper moment. In his letters how 
 many moral lessons, given with as much gayety as power ! 
 It is not an author one reads ; he is a friend to whom one 
 listens. There is Franklin, with his venerable face, his 
 hair floating back, and his eye always shrev/d and quick, 
 presenting altogether one of the most amiable figures of 
 the last century. How many prejudices he playfully dis- 
 sipated ! how he rallied the selfishness of individuals and 
 the artifices of governments, which are but another form 
 of selfishness ! Do not ask of him anything sublime, nor 
 expect from him those bursts which raise you above the 
 passing world. Franklin never quits the earth ; it is not 
 genius in him ; it is good sense expressed in its highest 
 power. Do not seek in him a poet, nor even an orator, 
 but a master of practical life — a man to whom the world 
 belongs. Neither imagine you have to do with a vulgar, 
 worldly wisdom. This amiable mocker, who laughs at 
 evei-ything, is not the less kind-hearted, a devoted patriot, 
 and one of the sincerest friends of humanity. His laugh 
 is not that of Voltaire ; there is no bitterness in it ; it is 
 the benevolent smile of an old man whom life has taught 
 to be indulgent. In noting wi4:hout vanity what he terms 
 his errata of conduct, Franklin teaches us that no one 
 has a right to judge another severely, and that in the 
 
 7 D 
 
74 
 
 most correct life there is always many a page to correct. 
 It is thus that he humbles himself to us to encourae^c us. 
 He is a companion who takes us l)y the hand, and, talking- 
 with us familiarly, little by little, makes us blush at our 
 weaknesses, and communicates to us something of his 
 warmth and goodness. Such are the eflccts wrought b} 
 •>erusing the Memoirs, and still more ])v the correspond- 
 ence — most strengthening reading for all ages and condi- 
 tions. No one ever started from a lower point than the 
 poor apprentice of Boston. No one ever raised hmiself 
 higher by his own unaided forces than the inventor of 
 the lightning-rod. No one has rendered greater service 
 to his country than the diplomatist who signed the treaty 
 of 17S3, and assured the independence of the United 
 States. Better than the biographies of Plutarch, this 
 life, so long and so well filled, is a source of perpetual 
 instruction to all men. Every one can there find counsel 
 and example. * * * * Franklin has never played 
 a part — neither with others nor with himself. He says 
 what he thinks ; he does what he says. He knows but 
 one road which leads from destitution to fortune. He 
 knows of but one mode to arrive at happiness, or, at least, 
 to contentment ; it is by labor, economy, and probity. 
 Such is the receipt he gives to his readers ; but this 
 receipt he commenced by trying himself. We can believe 
 in a secret with which he himself succeeded. In oui 
 democratic society, where every one seeks to better his 
 condition — a very legitimate purpose — nothing is worth 
 so much as the example and the lessons of a man w-ho, 
 without influence and without fortune, became master 
 after having been a laborer — gave himself the education 
 which he lacked, and, by force of toil, privations and 
 
75 
 
 courage, raised himself to the first rank in his country, 
 and conquered the admiration and respect of the human 
 race. To have the talent of Franklin, or to be favored as 
 he was by events, is not given to all ; but every one may 
 have the honor of follow^ing such a model, even w^ithout 
 the hope of reaching it." 
 
 In submitting these memoirs to the world I am encour- 
 aged by the reflection that there never was a time in the 
 history of our country when the lessons of humility, econ- 
 omy, industry, toleration, charity, and patriotism, which 
 are made so captivating in its pages, could be studied 
 with more profit by the rising generation of Americans 
 than now. They have burdens to bear unknown to their 
 ancestors, and problems of government to solve unknown 
 to history. All the qualities, moral and intellectual, that 
 are requisite for a successful encounter with these por- 
 teutons responsibilities were singularly united in the cha- 
 racter of Franklin, and nothing in our literature is so well 
 calculated to reproduce them as his own deliberate record 
 of the manner in which he laid the foundation at once of 
 his own and of his country's greatness. 
 
 All the notes to the autobiography proper, not credited 
 to other sources, are from the manuscript, and, of course, 
 in Franklin's handwriting. 
 
 All the notes signed " Ed." are by the Editor. 
 
 Those signed " W. T. F." are by William Temple 
 Franklin. 
 
 Those signed " S." or " Sparks," are from. Dr. Sparks* 
 precious Collection of the Writings of Franklin. 
 
 Those signed " B. V." are by Benjamin Vaughan. 
 
76 
 
 I have rigorously followed the orthography of the MS. ; 
 not that I attach much importance to this comparatively 
 mechanical feature of the work, but because I thought it 
 would be more satisfactory to most of my readers to know 
 how Franklin wrote his autobiography than to know how 
 it would have been written by Webster or Worcester. 
 
 JOHN BIGELOW. 
 The Squirrels, February 22, 1874- 
 
PART I. 
 
 ^Ccjfie dhin Projit tres Curieux de Benjamin Franklin — i*"" 
 Esguisse de ses Mfmoires. Les additions d Vencre rou^e 
 sont de la main de Franklin.'X * 
 
 My writing. Mrs. Dogood's letters. Differences arise between my 
 Brother and me (his temper and mine) ; their cause in general. His 
 Newspaper. The Prosecution he suffered. My Examination. Vote 
 of Assembly. His manner of evading it. Whereby I became free. My 
 attempt to get employ with other Printers. He prevents me. Our fre- 
 quent pleadings before our Father. The final Breach. My Induce 
 ments to quit Boston. Manner of coming to a Resolution. My leaving 
 him and going to New York (return to eating flesh) ; thence to Penn- 
 sylvania. The journey, and its events on the Bay, at Amboy. The road. 
 Meet with Dr. Brown. His character. His great work. At Burlingt on. 
 The Good Woman. On the River. My Arrival at Philadelphia, F, rst 
 Meal and first Sleep. Money left. Employment. Lodging. First ac- 
 quaintance with my aftenvard Wife. With J. Ralph. With Keimer. 
 Their characters. Osborne. Watson. The Governor takes notice of 
 me. The Occasion and Manner. His character. Offers to set me up. 
 My return to Boston. Voyage and accidents. Reception. My Father 
 dislikes the proposal. I return to New York and Philadelphia. Gov- 
 ernor Burnet. J. Collins. The Money for Vernon. The Governor's 
 Deceit. Collins not finding employment goes to Barbados much in my 
 
 * This memorandum, probably in the handwriting of M le Veillard, immediate)^ 
 precedes the Outline in the MS. 
 
 7* 77 
 
78 
 
 Debt Ralph and I go to England. Disappointment of Governors 
 letters. Colonel French his Friend. Cornwallis's Letters. Cabbin. 
 Denhani. Hamilton. Arrival in England. Get emplojTnent. Ralph 
 not. He is an expense to me. Adventures in England. Write a Pam- 
 phlet and print loo. Schemes. Lyons. Dr. Pemberton. My diligence, 
 and yet jioor through Ralph. My Landlady. Her character. Wygate. 
 Wilkes. Gibber. Plays. Books I borrowed. Preachers I heard. 
 Redmayne. At Watts's. Temperance. Ghost. Conduct and Influ- 
 ence among the Men. Persuaded by Mr. Denham to return with him 
 to Philadelphia and be his clerk. Our voyage and arrival. My resolu- 
 tions in Writing. My Sickness. His Death. Found D. R. married. 
 Go to work again with Keimer. Terms. His ill usage of me. My 
 Resentment Saying of Decow. My Friends at Burlington. Agree- 
 ment with H. Meredith to set up in Partnership. Do so. Success with 
 the Assembly. Hajiiilton's Friendship. Sewell's History. Gazette. 
 Paper money. Webb. Writing Busy Body. Breintnal. Godfrey. His 
 Character. Suit against us. Offer of my Friends, Coleman and Grace. 
 Continue the Business, and M. goes to Carolina. Pamphlet on Paper 
 Money. Gazette from Keimer. Junto credit ; its plan. Marry. Li- 
 brary erected. Manner of conducting the project Its plan and utility. 
 Children. Almanac. The use I made of it Great industry. Constant 
 study. Father's Remark and Advice upon Diligence. Carolina Part- 
 nership. Learn French and German. Journey to Boston after ten years. 
 Affection of my Brother. His Death, and leaving me his Son. Art of 
 Virtue. Occasion. City Watch amended. Post-office. Spotswood. 
 Bradford's Behavior. Clerk of Assembly. Lose one of my Sons. Pro- 
 ject of subordinate Juntos. Write occasionally in the papers. Success 
 in Business. Fire companies. Engines. Go again to Boston in 1743. 
 See Dr. Spence. Whitefield. My connection with him. His generosity 
 to me. My returns. Church Differences. My part in them. Propose 
 a College. Not then prosecuted. Propose and establish a Philosophical 
 Society. War. Electricity. My first knowledge of it Parmership 
 with D. Hall, &c Dispute in Assembly upon Defence. Project for it 
 Plain Truth. Its success. Ten thousand Men raised and disciplined. 
 Lotteries. Battery built New Castle. My influence in the Council. 
 Colors, Devi«es, and Mottos. Ladies' Military Watch. Quakers chosen 
 of the Common Council. Put in the commission of the peace. Logan 
 fond of me. His Library. Appointed Postmaster-General. Chosen 
 Assemblyman. Conimissioner to treat with Indians at Carlisle and at 
 Easton. Project and establish Academy. Pamphlet on it Journey to 
 Boston. At Albany. Plan of union of the colonies. Copy of it Re- 
 
79 
 
 marks upon it. It fails, and how. Journey to Boston in 1754. Dis- 
 putes about it in our Assemoly. My part in them. New Governor. 
 Disputes with him. His character and sayings to me. Chosen Alder- 
 man. Project of Hospital. My share in it. Its success. Boxes. Made 
 a Commissioner of the Treasury. My commission to defend the fiontier 
 counties. Raise Men and build Forts. Militia Law of my drawing. 
 Made Colonel. Parade of my Officers. Offence to Proprietor. Assist- 
 ance to Boston Ambassadors. Journey with Shirley, &c. Meet with 
 Braddock. Assistance to him. To the Officers of his Army. Furnish 
 him with Forage. His concessions to me and character of me. Success 
 of my Electrical Experiments. Medal sent me. Present Royal Society, 
 and Speech of President. Denny's Arrival and Courtship to me. His 
 character. My service to the Army in the affair of Quarters. Disputes 
 about the Proprietor's Taxes continued. Project for paving the City. 
 I am sent to England Negotiation there. Canada delenda est My 
 Pamphlet. Its reception and effect. Projects drawn from me concern- 
 ing the Conquest. Acquaintance made and their services to me — Mrs. 
 S. M. Small, Sir John P., Mr. Wood, Sargent Strahan, and others. 
 Their characters. Doctorate from Edinburgh, St. Andrew's. Doctorate 
 from Oxford. Journey to Scotland. Lord Leicester. Mr. Prat. De 
 Grey. Jackson. State of Affairs in England. Delays. Eventful Journey 
 into Holland and Flanders. Agency from Maryland. Son's appoint- 
 ment. My Return. Allowance and thanks. Journey to Boston. John 
 Penn, Governor. My conduct toward him. The Paxton Murders. My 
 Pamphlet, Rioters march to Philadelphia. Governor retires to my 
 House. My conduct. Sent out to the Insurgents. Turn them back. 
 Little thanks. Disputes revived. Resolutions against continuing under 
 Proprietaiy Government. Another Pamphlet. Cool thoughts. Sent 
 again to England with Petition. Negotiation there. Lord H. His 
 character. Agencies from New Jersey, Georgia, Massachusetts. Jour- 
 ney into Germany, 1766. Civilities received there. Gottingen Obser- 
 vations. Ditto into France in 1767. Ditto in 1769. Entertainment 
 there at the Academy. Introduced to the King and the Mesdames, 
 Mad. Victoria and Mrs. Lamagnon. Due de Chaulnes, M. Beaumont 
 Le Roy, D'Alibard, Nollet. See Journals. Holland. Reprint my 
 papers and add many. Books presented to me from many authors. My 
 Book translated into French. Lightning Kite. Various Discoveries. 
 My manner of prosecuting that Study. King of Denmark invites me 
 to dinner. Recollect my Father's Proverb. Stamp Act. My opposition 
 to it Recommendation of J. Hughes. Amendment of it. Examina- 
 tion in Parliament. Reputation it gave me. Caressed by Ministry. 
 
8o 
 
 Charles Townsend's Act Opposition to it Stoves and chimney-plates. 
 Armonica. Acquaintance with Ambassadors. Russian Intimation. 
 Writing in newspapers. Glasses from Germany. Grant of Land in 
 Nova Scotia. Sicknesses. Letters to America returned hither. The 
 consequences. Insurance Office. My character. Costs me nothing to 
 be civil to inferiors ; a good deal to be submissive to superiors, &c., <!i:c. 
 Farce of Perpetual Motion. Writing for Jersey Assembly. Hutchin 
 son's Letters. Temple. Suit in Chancery. Abuse before the Privy 
 Council. Lord Hillsborough's character and conduct Lord Dart- 
 mouth. Negotiation to prevent the War. Return to America. Bishop 
 of St Asaph. Congress. Assembly. Committee of Safety. Chevaux-- 
 de-frise. Sent to Boston, to the Camp. To Canada, to Lord Howe 
 To France. Treaty, &c 
 
The Autobiography. 
 
 TWYFORD, at the Bishop of St. Asaph^s* 1771. 
 
 EAR SON : I have ever had pleasure in ob- 
 taining any little anecdotes of my ancestors. 
 You may remember the inquiries I made among the 
 remains of my relations when you were with me in 
 England, and the journey I undertook for that pur- 
 pose. Imagining it may be equally agreeable tof 
 you to know the circumstances of my life, many of 
 which you are yet unacquainted with, and expecting 
 the enjoyment of a week's uninterrupted leisure in 
 my present country retirement, I sit down to write 
 them for you. To which I have besides some other 
 inducements. Having emerged from the poverty 
 and obscurity in w^hich I w^as born and bred, to a 
 state of affluence and some degree of reputation in 
 the world, and having gone so far through life with 
 a considerable share of felicity, the conducing means 
 1 made use of, wdiich with the blessing of God so 
 
 * The country-seat of Bishop Shipley, the good bishop, as Dr. 
 Franklin used to style him. — Ed. 
 
 t After the words " agreeable to" the words " some of" were interlined 
 and afterward eifaced. — Ed. 
 
 D« 81 
 
82 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 well succeeded, my posterity may like to know, as 
 they may find some ot them suitable to their own 
 situations, and therefore lit to be imitated. 
 
 That felicity, when I reflected on it, has induced 
 me sometimes to say, that were it offered to my 
 choice, I should have no objection to a repetition of 
 the same life from its beginning, only asking the 
 advantaeres authors have in a second edition to cor- 
 rect some faults of the first. So I might, besides 
 correcting the faults, change some sinister accidents 
 and events of it for others more favorable. But 
 though this were denied, I should still accept the 
 offer. Since such a repetition is not to be expected, 
 the next thing most like living one's life over again 
 seems to be a recollection of that life, and to make 
 that recollection as durable as possible by putting it 
 down in writing. 
 
 Hereby, too, I shall indulge the inclination sc 
 natural in old men, to be talking of themselves and 
 their own past actions ; and I shall indulge it with- 
 out being tiresome to others, who, through respect to 
 age, might conceive themselves obliged to give me 
 a hearing, since this may be read or not as any one 
 pleases. And, lastly (I may as well confess it, 
 since my denial of it will be believed by nobody), 
 perhaps I shall a good deal gratify my own vatiity. 
 Indeed, I scarce ever heard or saw the introductory 
 words, *' Without vanity I may say^^^ &c., but some 
 vain thing immediately followed. Most people dis- 
 like vanity in others, whatever share they have of 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 83 
 
 it themselves ; but I give it fair quarter wherever 1 
 meet with it, being persuaded that it is often pro- 
 ductive of good to the possessor, and to others that 
 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.* 
 
 * Some twenty years before he commenced his Memoirs, Franklin 
 threw his mantle over this not unprofitable weakness which he termed 
 Vanity, in a letter to his friend Jared Elliott : 
 
 " Philadelphia, September 12th, 1751. 
 
 " Dear Sir : 
 
 What you mention concerning the love of praise is indeed very true : 
 it reigns more or less in every heart ; though we are generally hypo- 
 crites, in that respect, and pretend to disregard praise, and our nice, 
 modest ears are offended, forsooth ! with what one of the ancients caPs 
 the sweetest kind of music. This hypocrisy is only a sacrifice to the 
 pride of others, or to their envy, both which, I think, ought rather to 
 be mortified. The same sacrifice we make when we forbear to praise 
 ourselves, which naturally we are all inclined to ; and I suppose it was 
 formerly the fashion, or Virgil, that courtly writer, would not have put 
 a speech into the mouth of his hero, which now-a-days we should esteem 
 so great an indecency : 
 
 ' Sum pius jEneas * # * 
 * * * famS super jethera notus.' 
 
 One of the Romans, I forget who, justified speaking in his own praise 
 by saying : " Every freeman had a right to speak what he thought of 
 himself, as well as of others." That this is a natural inclination appears 
 in that all children show it, and say freely, I am a good boy ; am I not 
 a good girl ? and the like, till they have been frequently chfd, and told 
 their trumpeter is dead, and that it is unbecoming to sound their owm 
 praise, etc. But 
 
 Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret. 
 Being forbid to praise themselves, they leam instead of it to c-ensure 
 
84 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 And now I speak of thanking God, I desire with 
 all humility to acknowledge that I owe the men- 
 
 others, which is only a roundabout way of praising themselves ; for con- 
 demning the conduct of another, in any particular, amounts to as much 
 as saying, / am so honest, or wise, or good, or prudent, that / could not 
 do or approve of such an action. This fondness for ourselves, rather 
 than malevolence to others, I take to be the general source of censure 
 a. id backbiting ; and I wish men had not been taught to dam up natural 
 currents, to the overflowing and damage of their neighbor's grounds. 
 Another advantage, methinks, would arise from freely speaking our 
 good thoughts of ourselves, viz. : if we were wrong in them, somebody 
 or other would readily set us right ; but now, while we conceal so care- 
 fully our vain, erroneous self-opinions, we m.ay carry them to our grave, 
 for who would offer physic to a man that seems to be in health .-' And the 
 privilege of recounting freely our own good actions might be an induce- 
 ment to the doing of them, that we might be enabled to speak of them 
 without being subject to be justly contradicted or charged with false- 
 hood ; whereas now, as we are not allowed to mention them, and it is 
 an uncertainty whether others will take due notice of them or not, we 
 are perhaps the more indifferent about them ; so that, upon the whole, 
 I wish the out-of- fashion practice of praising ourselves would, like other 
 old fashions, come round into fashion again. But this, / fear, will not be 
 in our time. So we must even be contented with what little praise we 
 can get from one another. And I will endeavor to make you some 
 amends for the trouble of reading this long scrawl by telling you, that I 
 have the sincerest esteem for you, as an ingenious young man, and a good 
 one, which, together, make the valuable member of society. As such, 
 I am with great respect and affection, dear sir, 
 
 " Your obliged, humble servant, 
 
 "B. Franklin." 
 
 There is, perhaps, no rhore interesting or profitable standard with 
 which to compare men than the terms in which they speak of them- 
 selves. The year that Franklin wrote the last pages of his Memoir.';, 
 Gibbon commenced his. It is curious to observe the different styles 
 in which the diplomatist and the scholar enumerate vanity among the 
 leading and legitimate motives in which the two most fascinating and 
 most renowned autobiographies in any language had their origin : 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 85 
 
 tioned happiness of m}' past life to His kind provi- 
 dence, which lead me to the means I used and gave 
 
 "A lively desire of knowing and of recording our ancestors so generally 
 prevails that it must depend on the influence of some common principle 
 in the minds of men. We seem to have lived in the persons of our fore- 
 fathers ; it is the labor and reward of vanity to extend the term of thii 
 ideal longevity. Our imagination is always active to enlarge the narrow 
 circle in which nature has confined us. Fifty or a hundred years may 
 be allotted to an individual ; but we step forward beyond death with 
 such hopes as religion and philosophy will suggest ; and we fill up the 
 silent vacancy that precedes our birth by associating ourselves to the 
 authors of our existence. Our calmer judgment will rather tend to 
 moderate than to suppress tlie pride of an ancient and worthy race. 
 The satirist may laugh, the philosopher may preach, but Reason her- 
 self will respect the prejudices and habits which have been consecrated 
 by the experience of mankind. Few there are who can sincerely de- 
 spise in others an advantage of which they are secretly ambitious to 
 partake. The knowledge of our owti family from a remote period will 
 be always esteemed as an abstract pre-eminence, since it can never be 
 promiscuously enjoyed ; but the longest series of peasants and mechanics 
 would not afford much gratification to the pride of their descendant. 
 We wish to discover our ancestors, but we wish to discover them pos- 
 sessed of ample fortunes, adorned with honorable titles, and holding an 
 eminent rank in the class of hereditary nobles, which has been main- 
 tained for the wisest and most beneficial purposes in almost ever)^ cli- 
 mate of the globe and in almost every modification of political society. 
 Wherever the distinction of birth is allowed to form a superior order in 
 the State, education and example should always, and will often, produce 
 among them a dignity of sentiment and propriety of conduct, which ia 
 guarded from dishonor by their own and the public esteem. If we read 
 of some illustrious line so ancient that it has no beginning, so worthy 
 that it ought to have no end, we sympathize in its various fortunes ; noi 
 can we blame the generous enthusiasm, or even the harmless vanity, of 
 those who are allied to the honors of its name. For my own part, could 
 I draw my pedigree from a general, a statesman, or a celebrated author, 
 I should study their lives with the diligence of filial love. In the inves- 
 tigation of past events, our curiosity is stimulated by the immediate or 
 indirect reference to ourselves ; but in the estimate of honor we should 
 learn to value the gift:s of nature above those of fortune ; to esteem In 
 8 
 
S6 AuroBioGRAPiir of 
 
 them success. My belief of this induces me to hofe, 
 though I must not presufue, that the same goodness 
 
 our ancestors the qualities that best promote the inteiests of society ; 
 and to pronounce the descendant of a king less truly noble than the off- 
 spring of a man of genius, whose writings will instruct or delight the 
 latest posterity. The family of Confucius is in my opinion the most 
 illustrious in the world. After a painful ascent of eight or ten centuries, 
 our barons and princes of Europe are lost in the darkness of the Middle 
 Ages ; but in the vast equality of the empire of China the posterity of 
 Confucius have maintained, above two thousand two hundred years, 
 their peaceful honors and perpetual succession. The chief of the family 
 is still revered, by the sovereign and the people, as the lively image of 
 the wisest of mankind. The nobility of the Spencers has been illus 
 trated and enriched by the trophies of Majlborough ; but I exhort them 
 to consider the Faery Queen* as the most precious jewel of their coronet 
 Our immortal Fielding was of the younger branch ofthe Earls of Denbigh, 
 wno draw their origin from the Counts of Hapsburg.the lineal descendants 
 of Enrico, in the seventh century, Duke of Alsace. Far different have 
 been the fortunes of the English and German divisions of the family of 
 Hapsburg : the former, the Knights and Sheriffs of Leicestershire, have 
 slowly risen to the dignity of a peerage ; the latter, the Emperors of Ger- 
 many and Kings of Spain, have threatened the liberty of the Old, and 
 invaded the treasures of the New World. The successors of Charles 
 the Fifth may disdain their brethren of England ; but the romance of 
 Tom Jones, that exquisite picture of human manners, will outlive the 
 palace of the Escurial and the imperial eagle of the house of Austria. 
 That these sentiments are just, or at least natural, I am the more in- 
 clined to believe as I am not myself interested in the cause ; for I can 
 deri\ e from my ancestors neither glory nor shame. Yet a sincere and 
 simple narrative of my own life may amuse some of my leisure hours ; 
 but it will subject mc, and perhaps with justice, to the imputation of 
 vanity. I may judge, however, from the experience both of past and of 
 the present times, that the public are always curious to know the men 
 tt'ht> have left behind them any image of their minds ; the most scanty 
 
 * Nor less praiseworthy are the ladies three, 
 The honor of that noble familie, 
 Of which I meanest boast myself to be. 
 
 Spenser, Colin Clout, 6r'c., v. 538, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 87 
 
 will still be exercised toward me, in continuing that 
 happiness, or enabling me to bear a fatal reverse, 
 
 accounts of such men are compiled with dihgence and perused with 
 eagerness ; and the student of every class may derive a lesson, or an 
 example, from the lives most similar to his o\mi. My name may here- 
 after be placed among the thousand articles of a Biographia Britannica ; 
 and I must be conscious that no one is so well qualified as myself to 
 describe the series of my thoughts and actions. The authority of my 
 masters, of the grave Thuanus and the philosophic Hume, might be 
 sufficient to justify my design ; but it would not be difficult to pro- 
 duce a long list of ancients and moderns who, in various forms, have 
 exhibited their own portraits. Such portraits are often the most in- 
 teresting, and sometimes the only interesting, parts of their writings ; 
 and, if they be sincere, we seldom complain of the minuteness or pro- 
 lixity of these personal memorials. The lives of the younger Pliny, of 
 Petrarch and of Erasmus, are expressed in the epistles which they 
 themselves have given to the world ; the essays of Montaigne and Sir 
 William Temple bring us home to the houses and bosoms of the au- 
 thors. We smile without contempt at the headstrong passions of Benve- 
 nuto Celhni and the gay follies of Colley Gibber. The Confessions of 
 St. Austin and Rousseau disclose the secrets of the human heart ; the 
 Commentaries of the learned Huet have survived his evangelical demon- 
 stration ; and the Memoirs of Goldoni are more truly dramatic than his 
 Italian comedies. The heretic and the churchman are strongly marked 
 in the characters and fortunes of Whiston and Bishop Newton ; and 
 even the dullness of Michael de Marolles and Anthony Wood acquires 
 some value from the faithful representation of men and manners. That 
 I am equal or superior to some of these, the effects of modesty or affec- 
 tation cannot force me to dissemble." 
 
 Hume, whose account of his own life was written in 1776, the year he 
 died, and five years after Franklin's was begun, commences and con- 
 cludes his less pretending story with a similar confession. He com- 
 mences by saying : 
 
 " It is difficult for a man to speak long of himself without vanity ; 
 therefore I shall be short. It may be thought an instance of vanity that 
 I pretend at all to write my life ; but this narrative shall contain little 
 more than the history of my writings, as, indeed, almost all my life has 
 been spent in literary pursuits and occupations. The first success of 
 most of my writings was not such as to be an object of \anitv." 
 
88 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 which I may experience as others have done ; the 
 complexion of my future fortune being known to Ilim 
 only in w^hose power it is to bless to us even our 
 afflictions. 
 
 The notes one of my uncles (who had the same 
 kind of curiosity in collecting family anecdotes) once 
 put into my hands, furnished me with several par- 
 ticulars relating to our ancestors. From these notes I 
 learned that the family had lived in the same vil- 
 lage, Ecton, in Northamptonshire,* for three hundred 
 years, and how much longer he knew not (perhaps 
 from the time when the name of Franklin, that be- 
 
 He concludes as follows : 
 
 " In a word, though most men anywise eminent have found reason to 
 complain of calumny, I never was touched, or even attacked by her bale- 
 ful tooth ; and though I wantonly exposed myself to the rage of both 
 civil and religious factions, they seemed to be disarmed in my behalf of 
 their wonted fury. My friends never had occasion to vindicate any one 
 circumstance of my character and conduct ; not but that the zealots, we 
 may well suppose, would have been glad to invent and propagate any 
 story to my disadvantage, but they could never find any which they 
 thought would wear the face of probability. I cannot say there is no 
 vanity in making this funeral oration of myself, but I hope it is not a 
 misplaced one." — Ed. 
 
 * Northamptonshire possesses more of a certain kind of interest to the 
 average American than any other county in England. In the early part 
 of the seventeenth century, Lawrence Washington resided on the Manor 
 of Sulgrave, about thirty miles from Ecton. In 1657, John Washington, 
 one of his descendants, emigrated to Virginia, where he became the 
 grandfather of George Washington Twenty-five years later, — that is, in 
 1682. — Josiah Franklin, the father of Benjamin Franklin, also sought a new 
 home in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. Thus the ancestors of our 
 two most illustrious countrymen, and tlie two most conspicuous instru- 
 ments in securing our national independence, resided in the same county 
 in England and within a short ride of each other. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 89 
 
 fore was the name of an order of people, was assumed 
 by them as a surname when others took surnames 
 all over the kingdom*) , on a freehold of about thirty 
 acres, aided by the smith's business, which had con- 
 tinued in the family till his time, the eldest son be- 
 ing always bred to that business ; a custom which 
 he and my father follovv-ed as to their eldest sons. 
 When 1 searched the registers at Ecton, I found an 
 account of their births, marriages and burials from 
 the year 1555 only, there being no registers kept in 
 that parish at any time preceding. By that register 
 1 perceived that I was the youngest son of the 
 youngest son for five generations back. My grand- 
 
 * As a proof that Franklin was anciently the common name of an order 
 or rank in England, see Judge Fortescue's De Latcdikis Legicm Atiglics^ 
 written about the year 141 2, in which is the following passage, to show 
 that good juries might easily be formed in any part of England : " Regio 
 etiam ilia, ita respersa refertaque est possessoribus terrarum et agrorum, 
 quod in ea, villula tam parva reperiri non poterit, in qua non est miles, 
 arniiger, vel pater familias, qualis ibidem FrankiCi i vulgariter utincupa- 
 tur, magnis ditatus possessionibus, nee non libera tenentes et alii valecti 
 plurimi, suis patrimoniis sufficientes ad faciendum juratam, in forma 
 prasnotata." Moreover, the same country is so filled and replenished 
 with landed menne, that therein so small a thorpe cannot be found 
 wherein dweleth not a knight, an esquire, or such an householder, as is 
 there commonly called a Franklin, enriched with great possessions ; and 
 also other freeholders and many yeomen able for their livelihoodes tc 
 make a jury in form aforementioned. — Old Translation. 
 
 Chaucer, too, calls his counti-y gentleman a Franklin, and, after de* 
 B-ribing his good housekeeping, thus characterizes him : 
 
 " This worthy Franklin has a purse of silk, 
 Fixed to his girdle, white as morning milk. 
 Knight of the Shire, first Justice at the Assize, 
 To help the poor, the doubtful to advise. 
 m all employments, generous, just, he proved, 
 Renowiied for courtesy, by all beloved." 
 8* 
 
90 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 father Thomas, who was born in 1598, lived at 
 Ecton till he grew too old to follow business longer, 
 when he went to live wdth his son John, a dyer at 
 Banbury, in Oxfordshire, with whom my fathei 
 served an apprenticeship. There my grandfather 
 died and lies buried. We saw his gravestone in 1758. 
 His eldest son Thomas lived in tlie house at Ecton, 
 and left it with the land to his only child, a daughter, 
 who, with her husband, one Fisher, of Welling- 
 borough, sold it to Mr. Isted, now lord of the manor 
 there. My grandfather had four sons that grew 
 up, viz. : Thomas, John, Benjamin and Josiah. I 
 will give you what account I can of them, at this 
 distance from my papers, and if these are not lost 
 in my absence, you will among them find many 
 more particulars.* 
 
 * Franklin's father has left the following account of his ancestry in a 
 letter addressed to his son Benjamin in 1739. Benjamin was then thirty- 
 three years of age and Deputy Postmaster General at Philadelphia, 
 
 "From yosiah to B. Franklin : 
 
 "Loving Son : As to the original of our name, there is various opin- 
 ions ; some say that it came from a sort of title, of which a book that 
 you bought when here gives a lively account Some think we are of a 
 Fiench extract, which was formerly called Franks ; some of a free line, 
 a line free from that vassalage which was common to subjects in days 
 of old ; some from a bird of long red legs. Your uncle Benjamin made 
 inquiry of one skilled in heraldry, who told him there is two coats of 
 armor, one belonging to the Franklins of the North, and one to the 
 Franklins of the West. However, our circumstances have been such as 
 that it hath hardly been w^orth while to concern ourselves much about 
 these things any farther than to tickle the fancy a little. The first that 
 I can give account of, is my great-grandfather, as it was a custom in 
 those days among young men too many times to goe to seek their for* 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 9 1 
 
 Thomas was bred a smith under his father ; but, 
 being ingenious, and encouraged in learning (as all 
 
 tunes, and in his travels he went upon liking to a taylor ; but he kept such 
 a stingy house, that he left him and travelled farther, and came to a 
 smith's house, and coming on a fasting day, being in popish times, he 
 did not like there the first day; the next morning the servant was called up 
 at five in the morning, but after a little time came a good toast and good 
 beer, and he found good housekeeping there ; he served and learned the 
 trade of a smith. In Queen Mary's days, either his wife, or my grand- 
 mother, by father's side, informed my father that they kept their Bible 
 fastened under the top of a joint-stool, that they might turn up the 
 book and read in the Bible, that when anybody came to the dore they 
 turned up the stool for fear of the aparitor, for if it were discovered they 
 would be in hazard of their lives. My grandfather was a smith also, 
 and settled in Eton, in Northamptonshire, and he was imprisoned a 
 year and a day on suspicion of his being the author of some poetry that 
 touched the character of some great man. He had only one son and 
 one daughter ; my grandfather's name wms Thomas, my mother's name 
 was Jane. My father was born at Ecton or Eton, Northamptonshire, 
 on the i8th of October, 1698; married to Miss Jane White, niece to 
 Coll. White, of Banbury, and died in the 84th year of his age. There 
 was nine children of us, who were happy in our parents, who took great 
 care by their instructions and pious example to breed us up in a religious 
 way. My eldest brother had but one child, which was married to one 
 Mr. Fisher, at Wallingborough, in Northamptonshire. The town was 
 lately bmnt down, and whether she was a sufferer or not I cannot tell, 
 or whether she be living or not. Her father dyed worth fifteen hundred 
 pounds, but what her circumstances are now I know not. She hath no 
 child. If you by the freedom of your ofiice, makes it more likely to con- 
 vey a letter to her, it would be acceptable to me. There is also children 
 of brother John and sister Morris, but I hear nothing from their^, and 
 they ^^^^ite not to me, so that I know not where to find them. I have 
 been again to about seeing * * * *j but have mist of being informed. 
 
 " We received yours, and are glad to hear poor Jammy is recovered 
 so well. Son John received the letter, but is so busy just now that he 
 cannot write you an answer, but \vill do the best he can. Now with 
 hearty love to, and prayer for ycu all, I re< t your affectionate father, 
 
 "JosiAH Franklin. 
 
 "Boston, May 26, 1739." W. T. F. 
 
92 AUTOBIOGRAPlir OF 
 
 my brothers were) by an Esquire Palmer, then the 
 principal gentleman in that parish, he qualified him- 
 self for the business of scrivener ; became a con- 
 siderable man in the county ; was a chief mover of 
 all public-spirited undertakings for the county or 
 town of Northampton, and his own village, of which 
 many instances were related of him ; and much taken 
 notice of and patronized by the then Lord Halifax. 
 He died in 1702, January 6, old style, just four years 
 to a day before I was born. The account we received 
 of his life and character from some old people at 
 Ecton, I remember, struck you as something extra- 
 ordinary, from its similarity to what you knew of 
 mine. " Had he died on the same day, " you said, 
 *' one might have supposed a transmigration." 
 
 John w^as bred a dyer, I believe of woolens. 
 Benjamin was bred a silk dyer, serving an appren- 
 ticeship at London. He was an ingenious man. 
 I remember him w^ell, for when I was a boy he 
 came over to my father in Boston, and lived in the 
 house with us some years. He lived to a great age. 
 His grandson, Samuel Franklin, now lives in 
 Boston. He left behind him two quarto volumes, 
 MS., of his own poetry, consisting of little occa- 
 sional pieces addressed to his friends and relations, 
 of which the following, sent to me, is a specimen.* 
 
 ♦ Here follow in the margin the words, in brackets, " here insert it/ 
 but the poetry is not given. Mr. Sparlcs informs us (Life of Franklin, 
 p. 6) that these volumes had been preserved, and were in possession oi 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 93 
 
 He had formed a short-hand of his own, which he 
 taught me, but, never practising it, I have now for- 
 got it. I was named after this uncle, there being a 
 particular affection between him and my father. 
 
 Mrs. Emmons, of Boston, great-granddaughter of their author. The 
 following are specimens quoted by Mr. Sparks : 
 
 " Sent to his namesake, upon a Report of his Inclination to Martial 
 Affairs, July 7th, 1710: 
 
 " Believe me, Ben, it is a dangerous trade, 
 The sword has many marred as well as made ; 
 By it do many fall, not many rise, 
 Makes many poor, few rich, and fewer wise ; 
 Fills towns with ruin, fields with blood ; beside 
 'Tis sloth's maintainer, and the shield of pride. 
 Fair cities, rich to-day in plenty flow, 
 War fills with want to-morrow, and with woe. 
 Ruined estates, the nurse of vice, broke limbs and scars, 
 Are the effects of desolating wars." 
 
 " ACROSTIC, 
 "Sent to Benjamin Franklin in New England, July 15th 1710: 
 
 " Be to thy parents an obedient son ; 
 Each day let duty constantly be done ; 
 Never give way to sloth, or lust, or pride, 
 If free you'd be from thousand ills beside ; 
 Above all ills be sure avoid the shelf; 
 Man's danger lies in Satan, sin, and sel£ 
 In virtue, learning, wisdom, progress make; 
 Ne'er shrink at suffering for thy Saviour's sake. 
 
 " Fraud and all falsehood in thy dealings flee. 
 Religious always in thy station be ; 
 Adore the Maker of thy inward part, 
 Now's the accepted time, give him thy heart ; 
 Keep a good conscience, 'tis a constant friend ; 
 Like judge and witness this thy acts attend. 
 In heart with bended knee, alone, adore 
 None but the Three in One for evermore." 
 
 The following piece was sent when his namesake was seven years old. 
 
 " 'Tis time for me to throw aside my pen. 
 
 When hanging sleeves read, write, and rhyme like men. 
 
94 AUTOBJOGRAPHT OF 
 
 He was very pious, a great attender of sermons 
 of the best preachers, which he took down in 
 his short-hand, and had with him many volumes 
 of them. He was also much of a politician ; too 
 nmch, perhaps, for his station. There fell lately 
 into my hands, in London, a collection he had made 
 of all the principal pamphlets relating to public 
 affairs, from 1641 to 1717 ; many of the volumes are 
 wanting as appears by the numbering, but there 
 
 This forward spring foretells a plenteous crop ; 
 
 For if the bud bear grain, what will the top ? 
 
 If plenty in the verdant blade appear. 
 
 What may we not soon hope for in the ear? 
 
 When flowers are beautiful before they're blown. 
 
 What rarities will afterward be shown ! 
 
 If trees good fruit un'noculated bear, 
 
 You may be sure 'twill afterward be rare. 
 
 If fruits are sweet before they're time to yellow, 
 
 How luscious will they be when they are mellow ! 
 
 If first year's shoots such noble clusters send. 
 
 What laden boughs, Engedi-like, may we expect in the end !' 
 
 These lines are more prophetic, perhaps, than the writer imagined. 
 
 Sparki. 
 
 This micle Benjamin died in Boston, in 1728, leaving one son, Samuel, 
 the only survivor often children. This son had an only child, who died 
 in 1775, leaving four daughters. There are now no male descendants 
 of Dr. Franklin's grandfather living who bear his name. The Doctor's 
 eldest son William left one son, William Temple Franklin, who died 
 without issue, bearing his name. His second son, Francis Folger, died 
 when about four years of age. His very clever daughter Sarah married 
 Richard Bache in 1767. Their descendants are — Benjamin Franklin 
 Bache, who married Margaret Markoe ; William Hartman Bache, who 
 married Catharine Wistar ; Eliza Franklin Bache, who married John 
 Edmund Harwood ; Louis Bache, who married (ist wife) Mary Ann 
 Swift, (2d wife) Esther Egee ; Deborah Bache, who married William J. 
 Duane ; Richard Bache, who married Sophia B., a daughter of Alexander 
 J. Dallas ; Sarah Bache, who married Thomas Sargeant, together with 
 their children. — Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 95 
 
 still remain eight volumes in folio, and twenty-four 
 in quarto and in octavo. A dealer in old books met 
 with them, and knowing me by my sometimes buy- 
 ing of him, he brought them to me. It seems my 
 uncle must have left them here when he went to 
 America, which was above fifty years since. There 
 are many of his notes in the margins.* 
 
 * The Doctor refers to this b'ouvaille in one of his letters to Samuel 
 Franklin, as follows : 
 
 " London, 12 July, 1771. 
 
 " Loving Cousin : I received your kind letter of May 1 7th, and re- 
 joice to hear that you and your good family are well. My love to them. 
 With this I send you the print you desire for Mr. Bowen. He does me 
 honor in accepting it. Sally Franklin presents her duty to you and 
 Mrs. Franklin. Yesterday a very odd accident happened, which I must 
 mention to you, as it relates to your grandfather. A person that deals 
 in old books, of whom I sometimes buy, acquainted me that he had a 
 curious collection of pamphlets bound in eight volumes folio, and twenty- 
 four volumes quarto and octavo, which he thought from the subjects I 
 might like to have, and that he would sell them cheap. I desired to 
 see them, and he brought them to me. On examining, I found that 
 they contained all the principal pamphlets and papers on public affairs 
 that had been printed here from the Restoration do^^^l to 171 5. In one 
 of the blank leaves at the beginning of each volume the collector had 
 written the titles of the pieces contained in it, and the price they cost 
 him. Also notes in the margin of many of the pieces ; and the collector, 
 I find, from the handwTiting and various other circumstances, was your 
 grandfather, my uncle Benjamin. Wherefore, I the more readily agreed 
 to buy them. I suppose he parted with them when he left England and 
 came to Boston, soon after your father, which was about the year 1716 
 or 1 71 7, now more than fifty years since. In whose hands they have 
 been all this time I know not. The oddity is, that the bookseller, who 
 could suspect nothing of any relation between me and the collector, 
 should happen to make me the offer of them. My love to your good 
 wife and children. 
 
 " Your affectionate cousin, 
 —Ed. " B. Franklin.'' 
 
96 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 This obscure family of ours was early in the Re- 
 formation, and continued Protestants through the 
 reign of Q^ieen Mary, when they were sometimes 
 in danger of trouble on account of their zeal against 
 popery. They had got an English Bible, and to 
 conceal and secure it, it was fastened open with 
 tapes under and w^ithin the cover of a joint-stool. 
 When my great-great-grandfather read it to his 
 family, he turned up the joint-stool upon his knees, 
 turning over the leaves then under the tapes. One 
 of the children stood at the door to give notice if he 
 saw the apparitor coming, who was an officer of the 
 spiritual court. In that case the stool w^as turned 
 down again upon its feet, when the Bible remained 
 concealed under it as before. This anecdote I had 
 from my uncle Benjamin. 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 outed for non-conformity 
 holding conventicles in Northamptonshire, Benja- 
 min and Josiah adhered to them, and so continued 
 all their lives : the rest of the family remained with 
 the Episcopal Church. 
 
 Josiah, my father, married young, and carried his 
 wife with three children into New England, about 
 1682. The conventicles having been forbidden by 
 law, and frequently disturbed, induced some con- 
 siderable men of his acquaintance to remove to that 
 country, and he was prevailed with to accompany 
 them thither, where they expected to enjoy their 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 97 
 
 mode of religion with freedom. By the same wife 
 he had four children more born there, and by a 
 second wife ten more, in all seventeen ; of which I 
 remember thirteen sitting at one time at his table, 
 who all grew up to be men and women, and mar- 
 ried ; I was the youngest son, and the youngest child 
 hut two, and was born in Boston, New England.* My 
 mother, the second wife, was Abiah Folger, daugh- 
 ter of Peter Folger, one of the first settlers of New 
 England, of whom honorable mention is made by 
 Cotton Mather, in his church history of that country, 
 entitled Magnalia Christi Americana, as " a godly ^ 
 learned Englishman^'* if I remember the words 
 rightly. I have heard that he wrote sundry small 
 occasional pieces, but only one of them was printed, 
 which I saw now many years since. It was written 
 in 1675, in the home-spun verse of that time and 
 people, and addressed to those then concerned in 
 the government there. It was in favor of liberty of 
 conscience, and in behalf of the Baptists, Quakers, 
 and other sectaries that had been under persecution, 
 
 * He was born January 6th, 1706, old style, being Sunday, and the 
 same as Januaiy 17th, new style, which his biographers have usually 
 mentioned as the day of his birth. By the records of the Old South 
 Ciiurcn m Boston, to which his father and mother belonged, it appears 
 that he was baptized the same day. In the old public Register of 
 Births, still preserved in the Mayor's Office in Boston, his birth is re- 
 coiJed under the date of January 6th, 1706. At this time his fathei 
 occupied a house in JNIilk street, opposite to the Old South Church, 
 but he removed shortly afterward to a house at the comer of Hanover 
 and Union streets, where it is believed he resided the remainder of his 
 life, and where the son passed his early years. — S, 
 9 s 
 
98 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 ascribing the Indian wars, and other distresses that 
 had befallen the country, to that persecution, as so 
 many judgments of God to punish so heinous an 
 offense, afid exhorting a repeal of those uncharitable 
 laws. The whole appeared to me as written with a 
 good deal of decent plainness and manly freedom. 
 The six concluding lines I remember, though I have 
 forgotten the two first of the stanza ; but 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 libeller (says he) 
 
 I hate it with my heart ; 
 From Sherburne* town, where now I dwell 
 
 My name I do put here ; 
 Without offense your real friend, 
 
 It is Peter Folgier."t 
 
 * The poem, if such it may be called, of which these are the closmg 
 lines, extends through fourteen pages of a duodecimo pamphlet, entitled 
 "A Looking-Glass for the Times ; or the former spirit of New England 
 revived in this generation, by Peter Folger." It is dated at tlie end, 
 " April 23d, 1676." The lines, which immediately precede those quoted 
 by Dr. Franklin, and which are necessary to complete the sentiment 
 intended to be conveyed by the author, are the following : 
 
 " I am for peace and not for war, , 
 
 And that's the reason why ■* 
 
 I write more plain than some men do, 
 
 That use to daub and lie. 
 But I shall I. sase, and set my name 
 
 To wliat I here insert. 
 Because to be a libeler 
 
 I hate it with my heart." 
 
 t The author's muse speaks even in the title-page, and explains t(/ 
 the reader his design in writing the " Looking-Glass for the Times :" 
 
 " Let all that read these verses know, 
 That I intend something to show 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 99 
 
 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, as the tithe of his sons, to the service of the 
 Church. My early readiness in learning to read 
 (which must have been very early, as I do not re- 
 member when I could not read), and the opinion of 
 all his friends, that I 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 all his short-hand volumes of sermons, I 
 suppose as a stock to setup with, if I would learn 
 his character. I continued, however, at the gram- 
 mar-school not quite one year, though in that time I 
 had risen gradually from the middle of the class of 
 that year to be the head of it, and farther was removed 
 into the next class above it, in order to go with that 
 into the third at the end of the year. But my father, 
 in the mean time, from a view of the expense of a 
 college education, which having so large a family 
 he could not well afford, and the mean living many 
 so educated were afterwards able to obtain — reasons 
 \ .that he gave to his friends in my hearing — altered 
 his first intemtion, took me from the grammar-school, 
 and sent me to a school for writing and arithmetics 
 
 About our war, how it hath been. 
 And also what is the chief sin, 
 That God doth so with us contend. 
 And when these wars are like to end. 
 Read then in love ; do not despise 
 What here is set before thine eyes."— iS. 
 
lOO AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 kept by a then famous man, Mr. George Brownell, 
 very successful in his profession generally, and that 
 by mild, encouraging methods. Under him I ac- 
 quired fair writing pretty soon, but I failed in the 
 arithmetic, and made no progress in it. At ten 
 years old I was taken home to assist my father in 
 his business, which was that of a tallow-chandler 
 and sope-boiler ; a business he was not bred to, but 
 had assumed on his arrival in New England, and 
 on tinding his dying trade would not maintain his 
 family, being in little request. Accordingly, I was 
 employed in cutting wick for the candles, filling the 
 dipping mold and the molds for cast candles, at- 
 tending the shop, going of errands, etc. 
 
 I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination 
 foi the sea, but my father declared against it ; how- 
 ever, living near the water, I was much in and 
 about it, learnt early to swim well, and to man- 
 age boats ; and when in a boat or canoe with other 
 boys, 1 was commonly allowed to govern, especially 
 in any case of difficulty ; and upon other occasions 
 I was generally a leader among the boys, and some- 
 Limes led them into scrapes, of which I will mention 
 one instance, as it shows an early projecting public 
 spirit, tho' not then justly conducted. 
 
 There was a salt-marsh that bounded part of the 
 mill-pond, on the edge of which, at high water, we 
 used to stand to fish for minnows. B}^ much tramp- 
 ling, we had made it a mere quagmire. ' My pro- 
 posal was to build a wharif there fit for us to stand 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. lOl 
 
 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 pur- 
 pose. Accordingly, in the evening, when the work- 
 men were gone, I assembled a number of my 
 play-fellows, and working with them diligently like 
 so many emmets, sometimes two or three to a stone, 
 we brought them all away and built our little 
 wharfF. The next morning the workmen were sur- 
 prised at missing the stones, which were found in 
 our wharfF. Inquiry was made after the removers ; 
 we were discovered and complained of; several of 
 us were corrected by our fathers ; and, though I 
 pleaded the usefulness of the work, mine convinced 
 me that nothing was useful which was not honest. 
 
 I think you may like to know something of his 
 person and character. He had an excellent consti- 
 tution of body, was of middle stature, but well set, 
 and very strong ; he was ingenious, could draw 
 prettily, was skilled a little in music, and had a clear 
 pleasing voice, so that when he played psalm tunes 
 on his violin and sung withal, as he sometimes did 
 in an evening after the business of the day was over, 
 it was extremely agreeable to hear. He had a 
 mechanical genius too, and, on occasion, was very 
 handy in the use of other tradesmen's tools ; but his 
 great excellence lay in a sound understanding and 
 solid judgment in prudential matters, both in private 
 and publick affairs. In the latter, indeed, he was never 
 employed, the numerous family he had to educate 
 
I02 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 and the straitness of his circumstances keeping him 
 close to his trade ; but I remember well his being 
 frequently visited by leading people, who consulted 
 nim for his opinion in affairs of the town or of the 
 church he belonged to, and showed a good deal of 
 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 sea- 
 son, of good or bad flavor, preferable or inferior to 
 this or that other thing of the kind, so that I was 
 bro't up in such a perfect inattention to those 
 matters as to be quite indifferent w^hat kind of food 
 was set before me, and so unobservant of it, that to 
 this day if I am asked I can scarce tell a few hours 
 after dinner what I dined upon. This has been a 
 convenience to me in travelling, where my com- 
 panions have been sometimes very unhappy for 
 want of a suitable gratification of their more delicate, 
 because better instructed, tastes and appetites. 
 
 My mother liad likewise an excellent constitution : 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. IO3 
 
 she suckled all her ten children. I never knew 
 either my father or mother to have any sickness but 
 that of which they dy'd, he at 89, and she at 85 
 years of age. They lie buried together at Boston, 
 where I some years since placed a marble over their 
 grave, with this inscription : 
 
 JOSIAH Fr^VNKLEN, 
 
 and 
 
 Abiah his wife, 
 
 lie here interred 
 
 They lived lovingly together in wedlock 
 
 fifty-five years. 
 
 Without an estate, or any gainful employment, 
 
 By constant labor and industry, 
 
 with God's blessing. 
 
 They maintained a large family 
 
 comfortably, 
 
 and brought up thirteen children 
 
 and seven grandcliildren 
 
 reputably. 
 
 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, ^tat 89. 
 A. F. born 1667, died 1752, 85.* 
 
 * The marble Stone on which this inscription was engraved having 
 become decayed, and the inscription itself defaced by time, a more 
 durable monument has been erected over the graves of the father and 
 mother of Franklin. The suggestion was first made at a meeting of 
 the Building Committee of the Bunker Hill Monument Association in 
 the autumn of 1826, and it met with universal approbation. A com- 
 mittee of managers was organized, and an amount of money adequate 
 
104 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 By my rambling digressions I perceive myself to 
 be grown old. I iis'd to write more methodically. 
 But one does not dress for private company as for a 
 publick ball. 'Tis perhaps only negligence. 
 
 To return : I continued thus employed in my 
 
 to the object was soon contributed by the voluntary subscriptions of a 
 large number of the citizens of Boston. The corner-stone was laid on 
 the 15th of June, 1827, and an address appropxiate to the occasion was 
 pronounced by General Henry A. S. Dearborn. The monument is an 
 obelisk of granite, twenty-one feet high, which rests on a square base 
 measuring seven feet on each side and two feet in height. The obelisk 
 is composed of five massive blocks of granite, placed one above another. 
 On one side is the name of Franklin in large bronze letters, and a little 
 below is a tablet of bronze, thirty-two inches long and sixteen wide, 
 sunk into the stone. On this tablet is engraven Dr. Franklin's origin.d 
 inscription, as quoted in the text, and beneath it are the following line.. 
 
 The Marble Tablet, 
 
 Bearing the above inscription. 
 
 Having been dilapidated by the ravages of time, 
 
 A number of citizens. 
 
 Entertaining the most profound veneration 
 
 For the memory of the illustrious 
 
 Benjamin Franklin, 
 
 And desirous of reminding succeeding generations 
 
 That he was born in Boston, 
 
 A. D. MDCCVL, 
 
 Erected this 
 
 Obelisk 
 
 Over the grave of his parents, 
 
 MDCCCXXVII. 
 
 A silver plate was deposited under the corner-stone, with an inscrip- 
 tion commemorative of the occasion, a part of which is as follows : 
 " This monument was erected over the remains of the parents of Ben- 
 jamin Franklin by the citizens of 15oston, from respect to the private 
 character and public services of this illustrious i)atriot and philosopher, 
 and for tlie many tokens of his alTcctionute aitachmenl to his native 
 town."' — S. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 105 
 
 father's business for two years, that is, till I was 
 twelve years old; and my brother John, who was 
 bred to that business, having left my father, mar- 
 ried, and set up for himself at Rhode Island, there 
 was all appearance that I was destined to supply his 
 place, and become a tallow-chandler. But my dis- 
 like to the trade continuing, my father was under 
 apprehensions that if he did not find one for me 
 more agreeable, I should break away and get to 
 sea, as his son Josiah had done, to his great vexa- 
 tion. He therefore sometimes took me to walk with 
 him, and see joiners, bricklayers, turners, braziers, 
 etc., at their work, that he might observe my incli- 
 nation, and endeavor to fix it on some trade or other 
 on land. It has ever since been a pleasure to me 
 to see good workmen handle their tools ; and it has 
 been useful to me, having learnt so much by it as 
 to be able to do little jobs myself in my house when 
 a workman could not readily be got, and to con- 
 struct little machines for my experiments, while the 
 intention of making the experiment was fresh and 
 warm in m}^ mind. My father at last fixed upon 
 the cutler's trade, and my uncle Benjamin's son 
 Samuel, who was bred to that business in London, 
 being about that time established in Boston, I was 
 sent to be with him some time on liking. But his 
 expectations of a fee with me displeasing my father, 
 I was taken home again. 
 
 From a child I was fond of reading, and all tlie 
 little money that came into my hands was ever laid 
 
I06 AUTOBIOGRAFIir OF 
 
 out in books. Pleased with the Pilgrim's Progress, 
 my first collection was of John Bunyan's works in 
 separate little volumes. I afterward sold them to 
 enable me to buy R. Burton's Historical Collections ; 
 they were small chapmen's books, and cheap, 40 
 or 50 in all. My father's little library consisted 
 chiefly of books in polemic divinity, most of which 
 I read, and have since often regretted that, at a time 
 when I had such a thirst for knowledge, more proper 
 books had no; fallen in my way, since it was now 
 resolved I should not be a clergyman. Plutarch's 
 Lives there was in which I read abundantly, and I 
 still think that time spent to great advantage. There 
 was also a book of De Foe's, called an Essay on 
 Projects, and another of Dr. Mather's, called Essays 
 to do Good, which perhaps gave me a turn of think- 
 ing 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, though 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 
 eflfect of such an inclination, my father was impa- 
 tient to have me bound to my brother. I stood out 
 some time, but at last was persuaded, and signed 
 the indentures when I was yet but twelve years old. 
 I was to serve as an apprentice till I was twenty-one 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I07 
 
 v^ears of age, only I was to be allowed journeyman's 
 wages during the last year. In a little time I made 
 great proficiency in the business, and became a 
 useful hand to my brother. I now had access to 
 better books. An acquaintance with the apprentices 
 of booksellers enabled me sometimes to borrow a 
 small one, which I was careful to return soon and 
 clean. Often I sat up in my room reading the 
 greatest part of the night, when the book was bor- 
 rowed in the evening and to be returned early in 
 the morning, lest it should be missed or wanted. 
 
 And after some time an ingenious tradesman, Mr. 
 Matthew Adams, who had a pretty collection of 
 books, and who frequented our printing-house, took 
 notice of me, invited me to his library, and very 
 kindly lent me such books as I chose to read. I 
 now took a fancy to poetry, and made some little 
 pieces ; my brother, thinking it might turn to ac- 
 count, encouraged me, and put me on composing 
 occasional ballads. One was called The Light- 
 house Tragedy^ and contained an account of the 
 drowning of Captain Worthilake, with his two 
 daughters : the other was a sailor's song, on the 
 taking of Teach (or Blackbeard) the pirate. They 
 w^ere wretched stuff, in the Grub-street-ballad style ; 
 and when they were printed he sent me about the 
 town to sell them. The first sold wonderfully, the 
 event being recent, having made a great noise. 
 This flattered my vanity ; but my father discouraged 
 me by ridiculing my performances, and telling 
 
1 08 AUTOBIOGRAPfir OP 
 
 me verse-makers were generally beggars. So 1 
 escaped being a poet, most probably a very bad 
 one ; but as prose writing has 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 \ 
 have in that w^ay. 
 
 There was another bookish lad in the town, John 
 Collins by name, with whom I was intimately ac- 
 quainted. We sometimes disputed, and very fond 
 we were of argument, and very desirous of confut- 
 ing one another, which disputatious turn, by the 
 way, is apt to become a very bad habit, making 
 people often extremely disagreeable in company by 
 the contradiction that is necessary to bring it into 
 practice; and thence, besides souring and spoiHng 
 the conversation, is productive of disgusts and, per- 
 haps enmities where you may have occasion for 
 friendship. I had caught it by reading my father's 
 books of dispute about religion. Persons of good 
 sense, I have since observed, seldom fall into it, 
 except lawyers, university men, and men of all 
 sorts that have been bred at Edinborough. 
 9 A question was once, somehow or other, started 
 between Collins and me, of the propriety of educat- 
 ing 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 contrary side, perhaps a little for dispute's sake. 
 He was naturally more eloquent, had a ready plent} 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. IO9 
 
 of words , and sometimes, as I thought, bore me 
 down more by his fluency than by the strength of 
 his reasons. As we parted without settHng the 
 point, and were not to see one another again for 
 some time, I sat down to put my arguments in writ- 
 ing, which I copied fair and sent to him. He an- 
 swered, and I rephed. Three or four letters of c 
 side had passed, when my father happened to find 
 my papers and read them. Without entering into 
 the discussion, he took occasion to talk to me about 
 the manner of my writing ; observed that, though I 
 had the advantage of my antagonist in correct spelling 
 and pointing (which I ow'd to the printing-house), 
 I 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 the manner in 
 writing, and determined to endeavor at improve- 
 ment. 
 
 About this time I met with an odd volume of the 
 Spectator. It was the third. I had never before 
 seen any of them. I bought it, read it over and 
 over, and was much delighted with it. I thought 
 the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to 
 imitate it. With this view I took some of the 
 papers, and, making short hints of the sentiment in 
 each sentence, laid them by a few days, and then, 
 withtut looking at the book, try'd to compleat the 
 papers again, by expressing each hinted sentiment at 
 length, and as fully as it had been expressed before, in 
 
 10 
 
no AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 any suitable words that should come to hand. Then I 
 compared m}^ Spectator w'lih. the original, discovered 
 some of my faults, and corrected them. But I found 
 I wanted a stock of words, or a readiness in recol- 
 lecting and using them, which I thought I should 
 have acquired before that time if I had gone on 
 making verses ; since the continual occasion for 
 words of the same import, but of different length, 
 to suit the measure, or of different sound for the 
 rhyme, would have laid me under a constant neces- 
 sity of searching for variety, and also have tended 
 to fix that variety in my mind, and make me master 
 of it. Therefore I took some of the tales 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 my collec- 
 tions of hints into confusion, and after some weeks 
 endeavored to reduce them into the best order, be- 
 fore I began to form the full sentences and compleat 
 the paper. This was to teach me method in the 
 arrangement of thoughts. By comparing my work 
 afterwards with the original, I discovered many faults 
 and amended them ; but I sometimes had the pleasure 
 of fancying that, in certain particulars of small im- 
 port, 1 had been lucky enough to improve the 
 method or the language, and this encouraged me to 
 think I might possibly in time come to be a tolerable 
 English writer, of which I was extreamly ambitious. 
 My time for these exercises and for reading was at 
 night, after work or before it began in the morning, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 1 1 
 
 or on Sundays, when I contrived to be in the print- 
 ing-house alone, evading as much as I could the 
 common attendance on public v\^orship which my 
 father used to exact of me when I was under his 
 care, and which indeed I still thought a duty, though 
 I could not, as it seemed to me, afford time to prac- 
 tise it. 
 
 When about i6 years of age I happened to 
 meet with a book, written by one Tryon, recom- 
 mending a vegetable 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 refusing to eat flesh occasioned 
 an inconveniency, and I was 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 additional fund 
 for buying books. But I had another advantage in 
 it. My brother and the rest going from the print- 
 ing-house to their meals, I remained there alone, 
 and, despatching presently my light repast, which 
 often was no more than a bisket 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 til] 
 their return for study, in which I made the greatej 
 
112 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 progress, from that greater clearness of head and 
 quicker apprehension which usually attend temper- 
 ance in eating and drinking. 
 
 And now it was that, being on some occasion 
 made asham'd of my ignorance in figures, which 1 
 had twice failed in learning when at school, I took 
 Cocker's book of Arithmetick, and went through the 
 whole by myself with great ease. I also read Sel- 
 ler's and vShermy's books of Navigation, and became 
 acquainted with the little geometry the}^ contain ; 
 but never proceeded far in that science. And I read 
 about this time Locke on Hziman Understandings 
 and the Art of Thinkings by Messrs. du Port Royal.* 
 
 * Cabanis, in the notice which he prepared of Franklin shortly after 
 the philosopher's death, says, in reference to his reading at this time : 
 " We have it also from him that about this time, for the first, he read a 
 very bad translation of the Provincial Letters. He was ravished by 
 them. He read them over many times. They were one of the French 
 books he most esteemed." — CEiivres Complets, vol. v., p. 228. 
 
 The discrepancy between these two statements provokes the remark 
 that at the time Franklin wrote this portion of the Memoirs he did not 
 know Cabanis. It is probable that he read and was much impressed 
 by both works, and at different epochs of his life and with different 
 persons dwelt sometimes upon the importance of one and sometimes 
 of the other to his intellectual training. 
 
 Speaking of the three particular books which may have remotely 
 contributed to form the historian of the Ronian Empire, Gibbon says : 
 " From the Provincial Letters of Pascal, which almost every year I have 
 perused with new pleasure, I learned to manage the weapon of grave 
 and temperate irony even on subjects of ecclesiastical solemnity." — Mis- 
 cellaneoiis Works of Gibbon^ in 5 vols., vol. i. p. 96. 
 
 Reasoning post hoc propter hoc, Franklin might have made the same 
 confession with equal propriety. Not Gibbon himself was a master of 
 a more refined and decorous irony. I will venture to give an illustra- 
 tion of his skill in the management of this most dangerous weapor 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 1 3 
 
 While I was intent on improving my language, I 
 met with an English grammar (I think it was Green- 
 wood's), at the end of which there were two little 
 sketches of the arts of rhetoric and logic, the latter 
 finishing with a specimen of a dispute in the Socratic 
 method ; and soon after I procur'd Xenophon's Me- 
 morable Things of Socrates, wherein there are many 
 instances of the same method. I was charm'd with 
 it, adopted it, dropt my abrupt contradiction and 
 positive argumentation, and put on the humble in- 
 quirer and doubter. And being then, from reading 
 Shaftesbury and Collins, become a real doubter in 
 many points of our religious doctrine, I found this 
 method safest for myself and very embarassing to 
 those against whom I used it ; therefore I took a de- 
 light in it, practis'd it continually, and grew very 
 artful and expert in drawing people, even of supe- 
 rior knowledge, into concessions, the consequences 
 
 here, only l)j:;.ajc it has never been in print. It appears in a letter 
 written by the Doctor shortly after his final return from Europe, to his 
 friend Le Ray de Chaumont, one of whose houses at Passy he occupied 
 dming his entire residence near the Court of France. I am indebted 
 to his grandson, M. le Ray de Chaumont, who still lives in Paris in 
 the enjoyment of a green old age, for a copy of the original. In this 
 letter, referring to a claim sent in by his maitre d'hotel, for bills already 
 once paid, the Doctor says : 
 
 "As to Tinck, the maitre d'hotel, he was fairly paid in money for every 
 just demand he could make against us, and we have his receipts in full. 
 But there are knaves in the world whom no writing can bind, and when 
 you thmk you have finished with them, they come with demands after 
 demands, sans fin. He was continually saying of himself, Je s.'iis honneU 
 homme, je sjiis honnete hotnjne. But I always suspected he was mis- 
 taken ; and so it proves." — Ed. 
 10* 
 
114 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 of which they did not foresee, entanghng them in 
 difficulties out of which they could not extricate 
 themselves, and so obtaining victories that neither 
 m3^self nor my cause always deserved. I continu'd 
 this method some few^ years, but gradually left it, 
 retaining onl}^ the habit of expressing myself in 
 terms of modest diffidence ; never using, when I 
 advanced any thing that may possibly be disputed, 
 the words cc7'tainly^ undoubtedly^ or an}^ others that 
 give the air of positiveness to an opinion ; but 
 rather say, I conceive or apprehend a thing to be so 
 and so ; it appears to me, or I should think it so or 
 so, for such and such reasons ; or I imagine it to be 
 so; or it is so, if I am not mistaken. This habit, I 
 believe, has been of great advantage to me when I 
 have had occasion to inculcate my opinions, and 
 persuade men into measures that I have been from 
 time to time engag'd in promoting ; and, as the chief 
 ends of conversation are to inform or to be informed, 
 to -please or to -persuade, I wash well-meaning, sensi- 
 ble men w^ould not lessen their power of doing good 
 by a positive, assuming manner, that seldom fails to 
 disgust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat 
 every one of those purposes for which speech was 
 given to us, to wit, giving or receiving information 
 or pleasure. For, if you would inform, a positive and 
 dogmatical manner in advancing your sentiments 
 may provoke contradiction and prevent a candid 
 attention. If you wish information and improve- 
 ment from the knowledge of others, and yet at the 
 
BENJAMIN FRANK JLIN. 1 1 5 
 
 same time express yourself as firmly fix'd in youi 
 present opinions, modest, sensible men, who do 
 not love disputation, will probably leave you undis- 
 turbed in the possession of your error. And by such 
 a manner, you can seldom hope to recommend 
 yourself in 'pleasi7ig your hearers, or to persuade 
 those whose concurrence you desire. Pope says, 
 judiciously : 
 
 " Men should be taught as if you taught them not. 
 And things unknown propos'd as things forgot ;" 
 
 farther recommending to us 
 
 " To speak, tho' sure, with seeming diffidence." 
 
 And he might have coupled 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 want of sense (where a man is so un- 
 fortunate as to want it) somiC apology for his want 
 of modesty? and would not the lines stand more 
 justly thus? 
 
 " Immodest words admit Init 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 New England Courant. 
 
I 1 6 A UTOBIO GRA PI 1 1 ' OF 
 
 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 Hkely to suc- 
 ceed, one newspaper being, in their judgment, 
 enough for America.* At this time (1771) there 
 are not less than five-and-twent3^ He went on, 
 however, with the undertaking, and after having 
 worked in composing the types and printing off the 
 sheets, I was employed to carry the papers thro' 
 the streets to the customers. 
 
 He had some ingenious men among his friends, 
 who amus'd themselves by w^riting little pieces for 
 this paper, w^hich gain'd it credit and made it more 
 in demand, and these gentlemen often visited us. 
 Hearing their conversations, and their accounts of 
 the approbation their papers were received wnth, I 
 was excited to try my hand among them ; but, being 
 still a boy, and suspecting that my brother w^ould 
 object to printing an3'thing of mine in his paper if 
 he knew it to be mine, I contrived to disguise my 
 
 * " This was written from recollection, and it is not surprisyig that, 
 after the lapse of fifty years, the author's memory should have failed 
 him in regard to a fact of small importance. The '* New P^ngland Cour- 
 ant" was the fourth newspaper that appeared in America. The first 
 number of the Boston News-Letter was published April 24th, 1704. 
 This was the first newspaper in America. The Boston Gazette com- 
 menced December 21st, 1719 ; the American Weekly Mercury, at Phila- 
 delphia, December 22d, 1719 ; the New England Courant, August 21st, 
 1721. Dr. Franklin's error of memory probably originated in the cir- 
 cumstance of his brother having been the printer of the Boston Gazette 
 when it was first established. This was the second newspaper published 
 in America." — S. | 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. WJ 
 
 hand, and, writing an anonymous paper, I put it in 
 at night under the door of the printing-house. It 
 was found in the morning, and communicated to his 
 writing friends when they call'd 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 some char- 
 acter among us for learning and ingenuity. I sup- 
 pose now that I was rather lucky in my judges, and 
 that perhaps they were not really so very good ones 
 as I then esteem'd them. 
 
 Encourag'd, however, by this, I wrote and con- 
 veyed in the same way to the press several more 
 papers which Vvere equally approv'd : and I kept 
 my secret till my small fund of sense for such per- 
 formances was pretty well exhausted, and then I dis- 
 covered it, when I began to be considered a little 
 more by my brother's acquaintance, and in a man- 
 ner that did not quite please him, as he thought, 
 probabl}^ w^ith reason, that it tended to make me too 
 vain. And, perhaps, this might be one occasion of 
 the differences that we began to have about this 
 time. Though a brother, he considered himself as 
 my master, and me as his apprentice, and, accord- 
 ingly, expected the same services from me as he 
 would from another, while I thought he demean'd 
 me too much in some he requir'd of me, who from 
 a brother expected more indulgence. Our disputes 
 were often brought before our father, and I fancy I 
 
I I 8 A UTOBlOGRAPll 2 OF 
 
 was either generally in the right, or else a better 
 pleader, because the judgment was generally in my 
 favor. But my brother was passionate, and had 
 often beaten me, which I took extreamly amiss ; 
 and, thinking my apprenticeship very tedious, I 
 A' as continually wishing for some opportunity of 
 shortening it, which at length offered in a manner 
 unexpected.* 
 
 One of the pieces in our newspaper on some po- 
 litical point, which I have now forgotten, gave 
 uffense to the Assembly. He was taken up, cen- 
 sur'd, and imprison'd for a month, by the speaker's 
 warrant, I suppose, because he would not discover 
 his author. I too was taken up and examin'd be- 
 fore the council ; but, tho' I did not give them 
 any satisfaction, they content'd 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 re- 
 sented a good deal, notwithstanding our private 
 differences, I had the management of tlie paper ; 
 [ind I made bold to give our rulers some rubs in it, 
 which my brother took very kindly, w^hile others 
 began to consider me in an unfavorable light, as a 
 )Oung genius that had a turn for libelling and satyr. 
 My brother's discharge was accompany 'd with an 
 
 * 1 fancy his harsh and tyrannical treatment of me might be a meaiis 
 ')f impressing me with that aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck 
 (.') ae through my whole life. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 1 19 
 
 order of the House (a very odd one), that " 'James 
 Franklin should no longer frznt the fa^er called 
 the JVezu England Cotirant." 
 
 There was a consultation held in our printing- 
 house among his friends, what he should do in this 
 case. Some proposed to evade the order by chang- 
 ing the name of the paper ; but my brother, seeing 
 inconveniences in that, it was finally concluded on 
 as a better way, to let it be printed for the future 
 under the name of Benjamin Franklin ; and to 
 avoid the censure of the Assembl}^ that might fall 
 on him as still printing it by his apprentice, the con- 
 trivance was that my old indenture should be re- 
 turn'd to me, with a full discharge on the back of 
 it, to be shown on occasion, but to secure to him the 
 benefit of my service, I was to sign new indentures 
 for the remainder of the term, which were to be 
 kept private. A very flimsy scheme it was ; how- 
 ever, it was immediately executed, and the paper 
 went on accordingly, under my name for several 
 months. 
 
 At length, a fresh difference arising between my 
 brother and me, I took upon me to assert my free- 
 dom, presuming that he would not venture to pro- 
 duce 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 impres- 
 sions of resentment for the blows his passion too 
 often urged him to bestow upon me, though he was 
 
I20 AUTOBIOGRAPlir OF 
 
 otherwise not an ill-natur'd man : perhaps I vvai 
 too saucy and provoking. 
 
 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 refus'd 
 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 inclin'd to leave Boston when I 
 reflected that I had already made m3^self a little ob- 
 noxious to the governing party, and, from the arbi- 
 trary proceedings of the Assembly in my brother's 
 case, it was likely I might, if I stay'd, soon bring 
 myself into scrapes ; and farther, that my indiscrete 
 disputations about religion began to make me pointed 
 at with horror by good people as an infidel or atheist. 
 I determin'd on the point, 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 
 a little for me. He agreed with the captain of a 
 New York sloop for my passage, under the notion 
 of my being a young acquaintance of his, that had 
 got a naughty girl with child, whose friends would 
 compel me to marry her, and therefore I could not 
 appear or come away publicly. So I sold some of 
 my books to raise a little money, was taken on board 
 privately, and as we had a fair wind, in three days 
 I found myself in New York, near 300 miles from 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 121 
 
 home, a boy of but 17,* without the least recom- 
 mendation to, or knowledge of any person in the 
 place, and with very little money in my pocket. 
 
 My inclinations for the sea were by this time worne 
 out, or I might now have gratify'd them. But, hav- 
 ing a trade, and supposing myself a pretty good 
 workman, I offer'd my service to the printer in the 
 place, old Mr. William Bradford, who had been the 
 first printer in Pennsylvania, but removed from 
 thence upon the quarrel of George Keith. He could 
 give me no employment, having little to do, and 
 help enough already; but says he, "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 a 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, prevented our getting 
 into the Kill, and drove us upon Long Island. In 
 our way, a drunken Dutchman, who was a passen- 
 ger 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 de- 
 sir'd I would dry for him. It proved to be my old 
 
 * This was in October, 1723. — Ed. 
 11 »• 
 
122 AUrOBIOGhAPJir OF 
 
 favorite author, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in 
 Dutch, finel}' printed on good paper, with 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 mix'd narra- 
 tion and dialogue ; a method of writing very engag- 
 ing to the reader, who in the most interesting parfcj 
 finds himself, as it were, brought into the companj 
 and present at the discourse. De Foe in his Cruso, 
 his Moll Flanders, Religious Courtship, Family In- 
 structor, and other pieces, has imitated it with suc- 
 cess 5 and Richardson has done the same in his 
 Pamela, etc. 
 
 When w^e drew near the island, we found it was 
 at a place where there could be no landing, there 
 being a great surff on the stony beach. So we 
 dropt anchor, and swung round towards the 
 shore. Some people came down to the water edge 
 and hallow'd to us, as we did to them ; but the wind 
 was so high, and the surfF so loud, that we could not 
 hear so as to understand each other. There were 
 canoes on the shore, and we made signs, and hal- 
 low'd that they should fetch us ; but they either did 
 not understand us, or thought it impracticable, so 
 they went away, and night coming on, we had no 
 remedy but to wait till the wind should abate : and, 
 
BEN'y^AMIN FRANKLIN. 1 23 
 
 in the mean time, the boatman and I concluded to 
 sleep, if we could; and so crowded into the scuttle, 
 with the Dutchman, who was still wet, and the spray 
 beating over the head of our boat, leak'd thro' 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, w^e made a shift to 
 reach Amboy before night, having been thirty hours 
 on the water, without victuals, or any drink but a 
 bottle of filth}^ rum, the water w^e sail'd on being 
 salt. 
 
 In the evening I found myself very feverish, and 
 went in to bed ; but, having read somewhere that cold 
 water drank plentifully was good for a fever, I fol- 
 low'd the prescription, sweat plentifully most of the 
 night, my fever left me, and in the morning, cross- 
 ing the ferry, I proceeded on my journey on foot, 
 having fifty miles to Burlington, where I was told 
 I should find boats that w^ould carry me the rest of 
 the way to Philadelphia. 
 
 It rained very hard all the day ; I was thoroughly 
 &oak'd, and by 'noon a good deal tired; so I stopt 
 at a poor inn, wdiere I staid all night, beginning now 
 to wish that I had never left home. I cut so miser- 
 able a figure, too, that I found, by the questions ask'd 
 me, I was suspected to be some runaway servant, 
 and in danger of being taken up on that suspicion. 
 However, I proceeded the next day, and got in the 
 evening to an inn, within eight or ten miles of 
 Burlington, kept by one Dr. Brown. He entered 
 
124 AUrOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 into conversation with me while I took some re- 
 freshment, and, finding I had read a little, became 
 very sociable and friendh'. Our acquaintance con- 
 tinu'd as long as he liv'd. He had been, I imagine, 
 an itinerant doctor, for there was no town in 
 England, or country in Europe, of which he 
 could not give a very particular account. He 
 had some letters, and was ingenious, but much of 
 an unbeliever, and wickedly undertook, some years 
 after, to travestie the Bible in doggrel verse, as 
 Cotton had done Virgil. By this means he set many 
 of the facts in a ver}^ ridiculous light, and might 
 have hurt weak minds if his work had been pub- 
 lished ; but it never was. 
 
 At his house I lay that night, and the next morn- 
 ing reach'd Burlington, but had the mortification to 
 find that the regular boats were gone a little before 
 my coming, 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 
 gingerbread to eat on the water, and ask'd her 
 advice. She invited me to lodge at her house till a 
 passage by water should offer ; and being tired with 
 my foot travelling, I accepted the invitation. She 
 understanding I was a printer, would have had me 
 stay at that town and follow my business, being 
 ignorant of the stock 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 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I 25 
 
 should come. However, walking in the evening by 
 the side of the river, a boat came by, which I found 
 was going towards Philadelphia, with several people 
 in her. They took me in, and, as there was no 
 wind, we row'd all the way ; and about midnight, 
 not having yet seen the city, some of the compan} 
 were confident we must have passed it, and w^ould 
 row no farther ; 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 com- 
 pany 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 arriv'd there about eight 
 or nine o'clock on the Sunday morning, and landed 
 at the 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 cit}', 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 
 cloaths being to come round by sea. I was dirty 
 from my journey ; my pockets were stuff'd out with 
 shirts and stockings, and I knew no soul nor where 
 to look for lodging. I was fatigued with travelling, 
 rowing and want of rest, I was very hungry ; and 
 my whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar, 
 and about a shilling in copper. The latter I gave 
 
 the people of the boat f(7r my passage, who at first 
 11* 
 
126 AUTOBIOGRAPirr OF 
 
 refus'd it, on account of my rowing ; but I insisted 
 on their taking it. A man being sometimes more 
 generous when he has but a little money than when 
 he has plenty, perhaps thro' fear of being thought 
 to have but little. 
 
 Tlien I walked up the street, gazing about till 
 near the market-house I met a boy with bread. I 
 had made many a meal on bread, and, inquiring 
 where he got it, I went immediately to the baker's 
 he directed me to, in Second-street, and ask'd for 
 bisket, intending such as we had in Boston ; but 
 they, it seems, were not made in Philadelphia. 
 Then I asked for a three-penny loaf, and was told 
 they had none such. So not considering or know- 
 ing the difference of money, and the greater cheap- 
 ness nor the names of his bread, I bad him give me 
 three-penny worth of any sort. He gave me, ac- 
 cordingly, three great puffy rolls. I was surpriz'd 
 at the quantity, but took it, and, having no room in 
 my pockets, walk'd ofi' with a roll under each arm, 
 and eating the other. Thus I went up Market-street 
 as far as Fourth-street, passing by the door of Mr. 
 Read, my future wife's father; when she, standing 
 at the door, saw^ me, and thought I made, as I cer- 
 tainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance. 
 Then I turned and went down Chesnut-street and 
 part of Walnut-street, eating my roll all the way, 
 and, coming round, found myself again at Market- 
 street wharf, near the boat I came in, to which I 
 went for a drauglit of the river water; and, bemg 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 27 
 
 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 waiting to go farther. 
 
 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 was led into the great meeting- 
 house of the Quakers near the market. I sat down 
 among them, and, after looking round awhile and 
 hearing nothing said, being very drowsy thro' 
 labor and want of rest the preceding night, I fell 
 fast asleep, and continu'd so till the meeting broke 
 up, when one was kind enough to rouse me. This 
 was, therefore, the first house I was in, or slept in, 
 in Philadelphia. 
 
 Walking down again toward the river, and, look- 
 ing in the faces of people, I met a young Quaker 
 man, whose countenance I lik'd, and, accosting him, 
 requested he would tell me where a stranger could 
 get lodging. We were then near the sign of the 
 Three Mariners. "Here," says he, "is one place 
 ?hat entertains strangers, but it is not a reputable 
 house ; if thee wilt walk with me, I'll show thee a 
 better." He brought me to the Crooked Billet in 
 Water-street. Here I got a dinner ; and, w^hile I 
 was eating it, several sly questions were asked me, 
 as it seemed to be suspected from my youth and ap- 
 pearance, that I might be some runaway. 
 
 After dinner, my sleepiness return'd, and being 
 shown to a bed, I lay down without undressing, and 
 
128 AUTOBlOGRAPlir OF 
 
 slept till six in the evening, was call'd to supper, 
 went to bed again very early, and slept soundly till 
 next morning. Then I made myself as tidy 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, travelling on horse- 
 back, had got to Philadelphia before me. He intro- 
 duc'd me to his son, who receiv'd me civilly, gave 
 me a breakfast, but told me he did not at present 
 want a hand, being lately suppli'd wdth 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 w^ith me to 
 the new printer ; and when we found him, " Neigh- 
 bor," says Bradford, " I have brought to see you a 
 young man of 3'our business ; perhaps you may 
 want such a one." He ask'd me a few questions, 
 put a composing stick in my hand to see how I 
 work'd, and then said he would employ me soon, 
 tliough he had just then nothing for me to do ; and, 
 taking old Bradford, whom he had never seen be- 
 fore, to be one of the town's people that had a good 
 will for him, enter'd into a conversation on his pre- 
 sent 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 into his own hands. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 29 
 
 drew him on by artful questions, and starting little 
 doubts, to explain all his views, what interest he 
 reli'd on, and in what manner he intended to pro- 
 ceed. I, who stood by and heard all, saw imme- 
 diately that one of them was a crafty old sophister, 
 and the other a mere novice. Bradford left me with 
 Keimer, who was greatly surpris'd when I told him 
 who the old man was. 
 
 Keimer's printing-house, I found, consisted of an 
 old shatter'd press, and one small, worn-out font of 
 English, which he was then using himself, composing 
 an Elegy on Aquila Rose, before mentioned, an in- 
 genious young man, of excellent character, much 
 respected in the town, clerk of the Assembly, and a 
 pretty poet. Keimer made verses too, but very 
 indifferently. He could not be said to write them, 
 for his manner was to compose them in the types 
 directly out of his head. So there being no copy, 
 but one pair of cases, and the Elegy likel}^ to require 
 all the letter, no one could help him. I endeavor'd 
 to put liis press (which he had not yet us'd, and of 
 which he understood nothing) into order fit to be 
 work'd with ; and, promising to come and print off 
 his Elegy as soon as he should have got it ready, 1 
 return'd to Bradford's, who gave me a little job to 
 do for the present, and there I lodged and dieted. 
 A few days after, Keimer sent for me to print ofT 
 the Elegy. And now he had got another pair of 
 cases, and a pamphlet to reprint, on which he set 
 me to work. 
 
130 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 These two printers 1 found poorly qualified for 
 their business. Bradford had not been bred to it, 
 and was very illiterate ; and Keimer, tho' some- 
 thing of a scholar, was a mere compositor, knowing 
 nothing of presswork. He had been one of the 
 French prophets, and could act their enthusiastic 
 agitations.* At this time he did not profess any 
 particular religion, but something of all on occasion ; 
 v/as very ignorant of the world, and had, as I after- 
 ward found, a good deal of the knave in his com- 
 position. He did not like my lodging at Bradford's 
 while I work'd w^ith 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 men- 
 tioned, w^ho was the owner of his house ; and, my 
 chest and clothes being come by this time, I made 
 rather a more respectable appearance in the eyes 
 of Miss Read than I had done w4ien she first hap- 
 pen'd 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 pleas- 
 antly ; and gaining money by my industry and fru- 
 gality, I lived very agreeably, forgetting Bostoji 
 as much as I could, and not desiring that any there 
 should know where 1 resided, except my friend Col- 
 lins, who was in my secret, and kept it when I wrote 
 to him. At length, an incident happened that sen: 
 
 * M. Laboulaye presumes Keimer was one of the Camisards or Pro- 
 testants of the Cevcnnes, so persecuted by Louis XIV. — Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I31 
 
 me back again much sooner than I had intended. 
 1 had a brother-in-law, Robert Holmes, master of a 
 sloop that traded between Boston and Delaware. 
 He being at Newcastle, forty miles below Philadel- 
 phia, heard there of me, and wrote me a letter men- 
 tioning the concern of my friends in Boston at my ab- 
 rupt departure, assuring me of their good will to me, 
 and that every thing would be accommodated to my 
 mind if I would return, to which he exhorted me very 
 earnestly. I wrote an answer to his letter, thank'd 
 him for his advice, but stated my reasons for quitting 
 Boston fully and in such a light as to convince him 
 I was not so 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 show'd him the let- 
 ter. The governor read it, and seem'd surpris'd 
 when he w'as told my age. He said I appear'd 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 succeed ; for his part, he 
 would procure me the public business, and do me 
 every other service in his power. This my brother- 
 in-law afterwards told me in Boston, but I knew as 
 yet nothing of it; when, one day, Keimer and I 
 being at work together near the window, we saw 
 the governor and another gentleman (which proved 
 to be Colonel French, of Newcastle), finely dress'd, 
 
132 AUTOBIOGRAPlir OF 
 
 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 inquir'd for me, came up, 
 and with a condescension and politeness I had been 
 (|uite unus'd to, made me many compliments, de- 
 sired to be acquainted with me, blam'd me kindh 
 for not having made myself know^n 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 
 star'd like a pig poison'd. I went, however, with 
 the governor and Colonel French to a tavern, at the 
 corner of Third-street, and over the Madeira he 
 propos'd my setting up my business, laid before me 
 the probabilities of success, and both he and Colo- 
 nel French assur'd me I should have their interest 
 and influence in procuring the public business of 
 both governments. On my doubting whether my 
 father w^ould assist me in it, Sir William said he 
 would give me a letter to him, in which he w^ould 
 state the advantages, and he did not doubt of pre- 
 vailing with him. So it was concluded I should re- 
 turn to Boston in the first vessel, w^ith the governor's 
 letter recommending me to my father. In the mean 
 time the intention was to be kept a secret, and I 
 went on working with Keimer as usual, the govei- 
 nor sending for me now and then to dine with him, 
 a very great honor I thought it, and conversing 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I 33 
 
 with me in the most affable, famihar, and friendly 
 manner imaginable. 
 
 About the end of April, 1724, a little vessel offer'd 
 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 set- 
 ting up at Philadelphia as a thing that must make 
 my fortune. We struck on a shoal in going down 
 the bay, and sprung a leak ; we had a blustering 
 time at sea, and were oblig'd to pump almost con- 
 tinually, at which I took my turn. We arriv'd safe, 
 however, at Boston in about a fortnight. I had 
 been absent seven months, and my friends had 
 heard nothing of me ; for my br. Holmes was 
 not yet return'd, and had not written about me. 
 My unexpected appearance surpriz'd the family ; 
 all were, however, very glad to see me, and made 
 me welcome, except my brother. I went to see 
 him at his printing-house. I was better dress'd 
 than ever while in his service, having a genteel new 
 suit from head to foot, a watch, and my pockets 
 lin'd with near five pounds sterling in silver. He 
 receiv'd me not very frankly, look'd me all over, 
 and turn'd to his work again. 
 
 The journeymen were inquisitive where I had 
 
 been, what sort of a country it was, and how I lik'd 
 
 it. I prais'd it much, and the happy life I led in it, 
 
 expressing strongly my intention of returning to it ; 
 
 and, one of them asking what kind of money we 
 12 
 
134 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 had thert'., 1 produc'd a handful of silver, and spread 
 it before them, which was a kind of raree-show they 
 had not been us'd 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), I gave them a piece of eiglit 
 to drink, and took my leave. This visit of mine 
 offended him extreamly ; for, when my mother some 
 time after spoke to him of a reconciliation, and of 
 her wishes to see us on good terms together, and that 
 we miglit 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 wath some 
 apparent surprise, but said little of it to me for some 
 days, when Capt. Holmes returning he show'd it 
 to him, ask'd him if he knew Keith, and what kind 
 of man he w^as ; adding his opinion that he must be 
 of small discretion to think of setting a boy up in 
 business who w^anted yet three years of being at 
 man's estate. Holmes said what he could in favor 
 of the project, but ni}^ father was clear in the impro 
 priety of it, and at last gave a flat denial to it. Then 
 he wrote a civil letter to Sir William, thanking him 
 for the patronage he had so kindly offered me, but 
 declining to assist me as yet in setting up, I being, 
 in his opinion, too young to be trusted with the man- 
 agement of a business so important, and for which 
 the preparation must be so expensive. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 35 
 
 My fiiend and companion Collins, who was a 
 clerk in the post-office, pleas'd with the account I 
 gave him of my new country, determined to go 
 thither also ; and, while I waited for my father's de- 
 termination, he set out before me by land to Rhode 
 Island, leaving his books, which were a pretty col- 
 lection of mathematicks and natural philosophy, to 
 come with mine and me to New York, where he 
 propos'd to wait for me. 
 
 My father, tho' he did not approve Sir Wil- 
 liam's proposition, was yet pleas'd that 1 had been 
 able to obtain so advantageous a character from a 
 person of such note where I had resided, and thai 
 I had been so industrious and careful as to equip 
 myself so handsomely in so short a time ; therefore, 
 seeing no prospect of an accommodation between 
 my brother and me, he gave his consent to my re- 
 turning again to Philadelphia, advis'd me to behave 
 respectfully to the people there, endeavor to obtain 
 the general esteem, and avoid lampooning and libel- 
 ing, to which he thought I had too much inclination ; 
 telling me, that b}^ steady industry and a prudent par- 
 simony I might save enough by the time I was one- 
 and-twenty to set me up ; and that, if I came near 
 the m.atter, he would help me out with the rest. This 
 was all I could obtain, except some small gifts as 
 tokens of his and mv mother's love, when I em- 
 bark'd again for New York, now with their appro- 
 bation and their blessing. 
 
 The sloop putting in at Newport, Rhode Island, 
 
 rHi'^Mt I •»■-! - 
 
136 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 I visited my brother John, who had been married 
 and settled there some years. He received me very 
 affectionately, for he always lov'd me. A friend of 
 his, one Vernon, having some money due to him in 
 Pensilvania, about thirty-five pounds currency, 
 desired I would receive it for him, and keep it tili 
 I had his directions what to remit it in. Accord- 
 ingly, he gave me an order. This afterwards occa- 
 sion'd me a good deal of uneasiness. 
 
 At Newport we took in a number of passengers 
 for New York, among which were two young 
 women, companions, and a grave, sensible, matron- 
 like Quaker woman, with her attendants. I had 
 shown an obliging readiness to do her some little 
 services, which impress'd her I suppose with a 
 degree of good will toward me; therefore, when 
 she saw a daily growing familiarity between me and 
 the two young women, which they appear'd to 
 encourage, she took me aside, and said, "Young 
 man, I am concern'd for thee, as thou has no friend 
 with thee, and seems not to know much of the 
 world, or of the snares youth is expos'd to ; 
 depend upon it, those are ver}^ bad women ; I can 
 see it in 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 th}- welfare, to have no ac- 
 quaintance w^ith them." As I seem'd at first not to 
 think so ill of them as she did, she mentioned seme 
 things she had observ'd and heard that had escap'd 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 1 37 
 
 my notice, but now convinc'd me she was right. I 
 thank'd her for her kind advice, and promis'd to 
 follow it. When we arriv'd at New York, they 
 told me where they liv'd, and invited me to come 
 and see them ; but I avoided it, and it w^as well 1 
 did ; for the next day the captain raiss'd a silver 
 spoon and some other things, that had been taken 
 out of his cabbin, 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 punish'd. So, tho' we had escap'd a sunken 
 rock, which we scrap'd upon in the passage, I 
 thought this escape of rather more importance to 
 me. 
 
 At New York I found my friend Collins, who had 
 arriv'd 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 outstript 
 me. While I liv'd in Boston, most of my hours of 
 leisure for conversation were spent with him, and 
 he continu'd a sober as well as an industrious lad ; 
 was much respected for his learning by several of 
 the clergy and other gentlemen, and seemed to pro- 
 mise making a good figure in life. But, during my 
 absence, he had acquir'd a habit of sotting with 
 brandy ; and I found by his own account, and what 
 1 heard from others, that he had been drunk everv 
 day since his arrival at New York, and behav'd 
 
 12* 
 
13^ AUTOBlOCRAI'Jir OF 
 
 very oddly. He had gam'd, too, and lost hiS 
 money, so that I was oblig'd to discharge his lodg- 
 ings, and defray his expenses to and at Philadelphia, 
 which prov'd extremely inconvenient to me. 
 
 The then governor of New York, Burnet (son 
 'jf Bishop Burnet),* hearing from the captain that 
 a young man, one of his passengers, had a great 
 many books, desir'd he would bring me to see him. 
 
 * Governor Burnet was appointed governor of the Coloriy of New 
 York and New Jersey on the 19th of April, 1720. He entered upon 
 the duties of his office in September following. He was a man of 
 scholarly tastes, fond of accumulating books, with a turn for theological 
 speculation, which he indulged in making a commentary upon the three 
 periods contained in the twelfth chapter of Daniel. The governor 
 married a daughter of Cornelius Van Home, of New York, who died 
 soon. He was transferred to the governorship of Boston in July, 1728. 
 His administration there, however, was not of long duration. He was 
 taken ill from exposure on a fishing excursion, and died on the 7th of 
 September, 1729. 
 
 The governor's interest in theology did not commend him especially 
 to the authorities at home. 
 
 The Bishop of London complained that clergymen already provided 
 with his license to preach in the colonies were subject to a new exami- 
 nation, conducted in a somewhat unusual manner by the governor. 
 
 " Your method (wrote Richard West, the governor's brother-in-law, 
 Solicitor-General to the Board of Trade) is to prescribe him a text, to 
 give him a Bible for his companion, and then lock him into a room by 
 himself, and if he does not in some stated time produce a sermon to 
 your satisfaction, you peremptorily refuse to grant him your instrument 
 (permission to preach). The consequence is, the man must starve. 
 * * * I have seen a great many complaints against governors, but 
 then nobody was surprised, because I could always give some pecuniary 
 reason for what they had done. You surely are the first who evei 
 brought himself into difficulties by an inordinate care 0/ souls ; and 1 
 am sure that makes no part of your commission," 
 
 For the best account of this worthy man, see Whitehead's ' 'i«/rrVi«- 
 tions to Edit Jersey History, pp. 1 56- 1 68. — Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 39 
 
 I waited upon him accordingly, and should have 
 taken Collins with me but that he was not sober. 
 The gov'r. treated me with great civility, show'd 
 me his library, which was a very large one, and we 
 had a good deal of conversation about books and 
 authors. This was the second governor who had 
 done me the honor to take notice of me ; which, to a 
 poor boy like me, was very pleasing. 
 
 We proceeded to Philadelphia. I received on the 
 way Vernon's money, without which we could 
 hardly have finish'd our journey. Collins wished 
 to be employ'd in some counting-house ; but, 
 whether they discover'd his dramming by his 
 breath, or by his behaviour, tho' he had some 
 recommendations, he met with no success in any 
 application, and continu'd lodging and boarding at 
 the same house with me, and at my expense. 
 Knowing I had that money of Vernon's, he was 
 continually borrowing of me, still promising repay- 
 ment as soon as he should be in business. At 
 length he had got so much of it that I was distress'd 
 to think what I should do in case of being call'd on 
 to remit it. 
 
 His drinking continu'd, about which we some- 
 times quarrel'd ; for, when a little intoxicated, he 
 was very fractious. Once, in a boat on the Dela- 
 ware wdth some other young men, he refused to row 
 m his turn. " I w^U be row'd home," says he. 
 ''We will not row you," says I. "You must, or 
 stay all night on the water," says he, "just as you 
 
I40 AUTOBIOGUAPHT OF 
 
 please.'* The others said, " Let us row ; what 
 signifies it?" But, my mind being soured with his 
 other conduct, I continu'd to refuse. So he swore 
 he would make me row, or throw me overboard ; 
 and coming along, stepping on the thwarts, toward 
 me, when he came up and struck at me, I clapped 
 my hand under his crutcli, and, rising, pitched him 
 head-foremost into the river. I 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 puU'd her out 
 <y{ his reach ; and ever when he drew near the boat, 
 we ask'd if he would row, striking a few strokes to 
 slide her away trom him. He was ready to die 
 with vexation, and obstinately would not promise to 
 row. How^ever, seeing him at last beginning to 
 tire, we lifted him in and brought him home drip- 
 ping wet in the evening. We hardly exchang'd a 
 civil word afterwards, and a West India captain, 
 who had a commission to procure a tutor for the sons 
 of a gendeman at Barbadoes, happening to meet 
 with him, agreed to carry him thither. He left me 
 then, promising to remit me the first money he should 
 receive in order to discharge the debt ; but I never 
 heard of him after. 
 
 The breaking into this money of Vernon's was 
 one of the first great errata of my life ; and this afiair 
 show'd that my father was not much out in his judg- 
 ment when he suppos'd me too young to manage 
 business of importance. But Sir William, on read- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I4I 
 
 iug his letter, said he was too prudent. There was 
 great difference in persons ; and discretion did not 
 always accompany years, nor was youth always 
 without it. "And since he will not set you up,' 
 says he, " I will do it myself. Give me an inven- 
 tory of the things necessary to be had from England, 
 and I will send for them. You shall repay me when 
 you are able ; I am resolv'd 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. 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 advis'd me not to rely on him, 
 as I afterwards 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 be- 
 liev'd him one of the best men in the world. 
 
 I presented him an inventory of a little print'g- 
 house, amounting by my computation to about one 
 hundred pounds sterling. He lik'd it, but ask'd 
 me if my being on the spot in England to chuse the 
 types, and see that every thing was good of the 
 kind, might not be of some advantage. " Then," 
 says he, " vx'hen there, you may make acquaintances, 
 and establish corre-spondences in the bookselling 
 and stationery way." I agreed that this might be 
 
142 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 advantageous. "Then," says he "get yourself 
 ready to go with Annis ;" which was the annual 
 ship, and the only one at that time usually passing 
 between London and Philadelphia. But it would 
 be some months before Annis saiFd, so I continu'd 
 working with Keimer, fretting about the money Col- 
 lins had got from me, and in daily apprehensions of 
 being calFd upon by Vernon, which, however, did 
 not happen for some years after. 
 
 I believe I have omitted mentioning that, in my 
 first voyage from Boston, being becalm'd off Block 
 Island, our people set about catching cod, and hauled 
 up a great many. Hitherto I had stuck to my reso- 
 lution of not eating animal food, and on this occa- 
 sion I consider'd, w'ith my master Tryon, the taking 
 every fish as a kind of unprovoked murder, since 
 none of them had, or ever could do us any injury 
 that might justify the slaughter. All this seemed 
 very reasonable. But I had formerly been a great 
 lover of lish, and, when this came hot out of the 
 frying-pan, it smelt admirably well. I balanc'd 
 some time between principle and inclination, till I 
 recollected that, when the lish 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 mayn't eat you." So I din'd upon cod very 
 heartily, and continued to eat with other people, 
 returning only now and then occasionally to a vege- 
 table diet. So convenient a thinir it is to be a rea- 
 sonablc crcatji?'e, since it enables one to find or 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 43 
 
 make a reason for every thing one has a mind 
 to do. 
 
 Keimer and I hv'd on a pretty good familiar foot- 
 ing, and agreed tolerably well, for he suspected no- 
 thing of my setting up. He retained a great deal of 
 his old enthusiasms and lov'd argumentation. We 
 therefore had many disputations. I used to work 
 him so with my Socratic method, and had trepann'd 
 him so often by questions apparently so distant from 
 any point we had in hand, and yet b}^ degrees lead 
 to the point, and brought him into difficulties and 
 contradictions, that at 'ast he grew ridiculously cau- 
 tious, and would hardly answer me the most com- 
 mon question, without asking first, ''''What do you 
 intend to infer from tJiatT^ However, it gave him 
 so high an opinion of m}' abilities in the confuting 
 way, that he '^criously proposed my being his col- 
 league in a p.oject he had of setting up a new sect. 
 He was to preach the doctrines, and I was to con- 
 found all opponents. When he came to explain 
 with me upon the doctrines, I found several conun- 
 drums which I objected to, unless I might have my 
 way a little too, and introduce some of mine. 
 
 Keimer wore his beard at full length, because some- 
 where in the Mosaic law it is said, " Thoti shalt not 
 mar the corners of thy beard.'" He likewise kept 
 the Seventh day, Sabbath ; and these two points 
 were essentials with him. I dislik'd both; but 
 agreed to admit them upon condition of his adopting 
 the doctrine of using no animal food. '' I doubt," 
 
144 AUTOBlOGJiAl'lir OF 
 
 said lie, '' mv constitution will not bear that." 1 
 assur'd him it would, and that he would be the 
 better for it. He was usually a great glutton, and 
 I promised myself some diversion in half starving 
 him. He agreed to try the practice, if I would keep 
 him company. I did so, and we held it for three 
 months. We had our victuals dress'd, and brought 
 to us regularly by a woman in the neighborhood, 
 who had from me a list of forty dishes, to be pre- 
 par'd for us at different times, in all w^hich there 
 was neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, and the 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 in- 
 convenience, so that I think there is little in the 
 advice of making those changes by easy gradations. 
 I w^ent on pleasantly, but poor Keimer suffered 
 grievously, tired of the project, long'd for the 
 flesh-pots of Egypt, and order'd 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. 
 
 I had made some courtship during this time to 
 Miss Read. 1 had a great respect and affection for 
 her, and liad some reason 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 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 45 
 
 above eighteen, it was thought most prudent by hei 
 mother to prevent our going too far at present, as 
 a marriage, if it was to take place, would be more 
 convenient after my return, when I should be, as 1 
 expected, set up in my business. 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 Ralph, all 
 lovers of reading. The two first were clerks to an 
 eminent scrivener or conveyancer in the town, 
 Charles Brogden ; the other was clerk to a mer- 
 chant. Watson was a pious, sensible young man, 
 of great integrity ; the others rather more lax in 
 their principles of religion, particularly Ralph, 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 
 criticising. Ralph was ingenious, genteel in his 
 manners, and extremely eloquent ; I think I never 
 knew a prettier talker. Both of them great admirers 
 of poetry, and began to try their hands in little 
 pieces. Many pleasant walks we four had together 
 on Sundays into the woods, near Schuylkill, where 
 we read tc one another, and conferr'd on what we 
 read. 
 
 Ralph was mclin'd to pursue the study of poetry, 
 not doubting but he might become eminent in it, 
 and make his fortune by it, alleging that the besi 
 
 13 a 
 
146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 poets must, when they first began to write, make as 
 many faults as he did. Osborne dissuaded him, 
 assur'd him he had no genius for poetry, and ad- 
 vis'd him to think of nothing beyond tlie business 
 he was bred to ; that, in the mercantile way, tho' 
 he had no stock, he might, by his diligence and 
 punctuality, recommend himself to employment as 
 a factor, and in time acquire wherewith to trade on 
 his own account. I approv'd the amusing one's 
 self with poetry now and then, so far as to improve 
 one's language, but no farther. 
 
 On this it was propos'd that we should each of 
 us, at our next meeting, produce a piece of our own 
 composing, in order to improve by our mutual ob- 
 servations, 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 nothing. He then show'd 
 me his piece for my opinion, and I much approv'd 
 it, as it appear'd to me to have great merit. 
 *'Now," says he, "Osborne never will allow 
 the least merit in any thing of mine, but makes 
 1000 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 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 47 
 
 not to have had time, and so produce nothing. We 
 shall then see what he will say to it." It was 
 agreed, and I immediately transcrib'd it, that it 
 might appear in my own hand. 
 
 We met ; Watson's performance was read ; there 
 were some beauties in it, but many defects. Os- 
 borne's was read ; it was much better ; Ralph did it 
 justice ; remarked some faults, but applauded the 
 beauties. He himself had nothing to produce. I 
 was backward ; seemed desirous of being excused ; 
 had not had sufficient time to correct, etc. ; but no 
 excuse could be admitted ; produce I must. It was 
 read and repeated ; Watson and Osborne gave up 
 the contest, and join'd in applauding it. Ralph 
 only made some criticisms, and propos'd some 
 amendments ; but I defended my text. Osborne 
 was against Ralph, and told him he was no better a 
 critic than poet, so he dropt the argument. As 
 they two went home together, Osborne expressed 
 himself still more strongly in favor of what he 
 thought my production ; having restrain'd himself 
 before, as he said, lest I should think it flattery. 
 ''But who would have imagin'd," said he, "that 
 Franklin had been capable of such a performance ; 
 such painting, such force, such fire ! He has even 
 improv'd the original. In his 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 discovered the trick we 
 had plaid him, and Osborne was a little laught at. 
 
148 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 Tills transaction fixed Ralph in his resolution of 
 becoming a poet. I did all I could to dissuade him 
 from it, but he continued scribbling verses till Pofe 
 cured him.* He became, however, a pretty good 
 
 * In one of the later editions of the Dunciad occur the following 
 lines : 
 
 " Silence, ye woWes I while Ralph to Cynthia howls, 
 And makes Night hideous — answer him, ye owls." 
 
 Book iii. line 165. 
 
 To this the poet adds the following note : 
 
 "James Ralph, a name inserted after the first editions, not known till 
 he writ a swearing-piece called Sawney, very abusive of Dr. Swift, 
 Mr. Gay and myself These lines allude to a thing of his entitled Night, 
 a poem. This low writer attended his own works with panegyrics in 
 the journals, and once in particular praised himself highly above Mr. 
 Addison, in wretched remarks upon that author's account of English 
 poets, printed in a London journal, September, 1728. He was wholly 
 illiterate and knew no language, not even French. Being advised to 
 read the rules of dramatic poetry before he began a play, he smiled and 
 replied, * Shakespeare writ without rules.' He ended at last in the 
 common sink of all such writers, a political newspaper, to which he was 
 recommended by his friend Arnal, and received a small pittance for pay ; 
 and being detected in writing on both sides on one and the same day, 
 he publicly justified the morality of his conduct." 
 
 In the first book of the Dunciad, line 215, there is another allusion to 
 
 Ralph : 
 
 " And see ! the very Gazetteers give o'er, 
 Ev'n Ralpli repents, and Henley wxites no more." 
 
 To this Bishop Warburton appends the following note : 
 
 " Gazetteers. — A band of ministerial writers hired at the price men- 
 tioned in the note on book ii, ver. 316, who, on the very day their 
 patron quitted his post, laid down their paper and declared they would 
 never more meddle in politics." 
 
 In the note here referred to Warburton says : 
 
 " The Daily Gazetteer was a title given very properly to certain papers, 
 erch of which lasted but a day. Into this as a common sink was re- 
 ceived all the trash which had been before dispersed in several journals 
 and circulated at the public expense of the nation. The authors were 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 49 
 
 prose writer. More of him hereafter. But, as 1 
 may not have occasion again 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 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 happen'd 
 first to die should, if possible, make a friendl}^ visit 
 to the other, and acquaint him how he found things 
 in that separate state. But he never fulflU'd his 
 promise. 
 
 the same obscure men ; though sometimes relieved by occasional essays 
 from statesmen, courtiers, bishops, deans and doctors. The meaner 
 sort were rewarded with money ; others with places or benefices, from 
 a hundred to a thousand a year. It appears from the Report of the 
 Secret Comttiittee, for inquiring into the conduct of R. Earl of O., 'that 
 no less than Jifty thousand seventy-sroeti pounds eighteen shillings were 
 paid to authors and printers of newspapers, such as Free Britons, Daily 
 Courants, Corn-Cutters, Journals, Gazetteers and other political papers, 
 between February 10, 1731, and February 10, 1741,' which shows the 
 benevolence of one minister to have expended for the current dullness 
 of ten years in Britain double the sum which gained Louis XIV. so 
 much honor in annual pensions to learned men all over Europe. In 
 which and in a much longer time not a pension at court nor preferment 
 in the Church or universities of any consideration was bestowed on any 
 man distinguished for his learning, separately from party-merit or pam- 
 phlet-writing." 
 
 " It is worth a reflection, that of all the paneg}'rics bestowed by these 
 writers on this great minister, not one is at this day extant or remem- 
 bered ; nor even so much credit done to his personal character by all 
 tbey have written as by one short occasional compliment of our author; 
 
 " Seen him I have ; but in his happier hour 
 Of social pleasure, ill exchanged for power ; 
 Seen him uncumbered by the venal tribe. 
 Smile without art and win without a bribe." — Ed 
 
150 AUTOBIGGRAPHT OF 
 
 The governor, seeming to like my company, had 
 me frequently to his house, and his setting me up 
 was always mention'd 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 and 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 he went on till the ship, whose departure too 
 had been several times postponed, was on the point 
 of sailing. Then, when I call'd to take my leave 
 and receive the letters, his secretary. Dr. Bard, 
 came out to me and said the governor was extremely 
 busy in writing, but would be down at Newcastle 
 before the ship, and there the letters would be de- 
 livered to me. 
 
 Ralph, though married, and having one child, 
 had determined to accompany me in this voyage. 
 It was thought he intended to establish a corre- 
 spondence, and obtain goods to sell on commission ; 
 but I found afterwards, that, thro' some discon- 
 tent with his wife's relations, he purposed to leave 
 her on their hands, and never return again. Hav- 
 ing taken leave of my friends, and interchang'd 
 some promises with Miss Read, I left Philadelphia 
 in the ship, which anchored at Newcastle. The 
 governor was there ; but when I went to his lodging, 
 the secretary came to me from him with the civillest 
 message in the world, that he could not then see 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I 5 1 
 
 me, being engaged in business of the utmost im- 
 portance, but should send the letters to me on board, 
 wish'd me heartily a good voyage and a speedy 
 return, etc. I returned on board a little puzzled, 
 but still not doubting. 
 
 Mr. Andrew Hamilton, a famous lawyer of Phila- 
 delphia, had taken passage in the same ship for 
 himself and son, and with Mr. Denham, a Quaker 
 merchant, and Pvlessrs. Onion and Russel, masters 
 of an iron work in Maryland, had engag'd the 
 great cabin ; so that Ralph and I were forced to 
 take up with a berth in the steerage, and none on 
 board knowing us, were considered as ordinary per- 
 sons. But Mr. Hamilton and his son (it was James, 
 since governor) return'd from Newcastle to Phila- 
 delphia, the father being recall'd by a great fee to 
 plead for a seized ship ; and, just before we sail'd. 
 Colonel French coming on board, and showing me 
 great respect, I was more taken notice of, and, with 
 my friend Ralph, invited by the other gentlemen to 
 come into the cabin, there being now room. Ac 
 cordingly, we remov'd thither. 
 
 Understanding that Colonel French had brought 
 on board the governor's despatches, I ask'd the 
 captain for those letters that were to be under my 
 care. He said all were put into the bag together 
 and he could not then come at them ; but, before 
 we landed in England, I should have an opportunity 
 of picking them out; so I was satisfied for the pres- 
 
152 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ent, and we proceeded on our voyage. We had a 
 sociable company in the cabin, and lived uncom- 
 monly well, having the addition of all Mr. Hamil- 
 ton's stores, who had laid in plentifully. In this 
 passage Mr. Denham contracted a friendship for 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 w^ord with me, and gave me an opportunity of 
 examining the bag for the governor's letters. I 
 found none 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 let- 
 ters, especially as one of them was directed to 
 Basket, the king's printer, and another to some sta- 
 tioner. We arriv'd in London the 24th of Decem- 
 ber, 1724. I waited upon the stationer, who came 
 first in my way, delivering the letter as from Gover- 
 nor Keith. " I don't know such a person," says he ; 
 but, opening the letter, "O! this is from Riddles- 
 den. I have lately found him to be a compleat 
 rascal, and I will have nothing to do with him, nor 
 receive any letters from him." So, putting the letter 
 into my hand, he turn'd on his heel and left me to 
 serve some customer. I was surprized to find these 
 were not the governor's letters ; and, after recollect- 
 ing and comparing circumstances, I began to doubt 
 his sincerity. I found my friend Denham, and 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I 53 
 
 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 an}^ letters for me ; 
 that no one, w^ho knew him, had the smallest de- 
 pendence on him ; and he laught at the notion 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 business. "Among the printers here," said he, 
 " you will improve yourself, and when you return 
 to America, you will set up to greater advantage." 
 
 We both of us happen'd to know% as w^ell as the 
 stationer, that Riddlesden, the attorney, was a very 
 knave. He had half ruin'd Miss Read's father by 
 persuading him to be bound for him. By this letter 
 it appear'd there was a secret scheme on foot to the 
 prejudice of Hamilton (suppos'd to be then coming 
 over wdth us) ; and that Keith was concerned in it 
 with Riddlesden. Denham, who was a friend of 
 Hamilton's, thought he ought to be acquainted with 
 it ; so, w^hen he arriv'd in England, w^hich was soon 
 after, partly from resentment and ill-will to Keith 
 and Riddlesden, and partly from good-will to him, 1 
 waited on him, and gave him the letter. He thank'd 
 me cordially, the information being of importance 
 10 him ; and from that time he became my friend, 
 greatly to my advantage afterwards on many occa- 
 sions. 
 
 But what shall we think ot a governor's playing 
 
154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 such pitiful tricks, and imposing so grossly on a poor 
 ignorant boy ! It was a habit he had acquired. He 
 wish'd 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 governor for the people, tho' not for his 
 constituents, the proprietaries, whose instructions he 
 sometimes disregarded. Several of our best laws 
 were of his planning and passed during his admin- 
 istration. 
 
 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 
 were 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, wdiile he was looking 
 out for business. He first endeavored to get into 
 the playhouse, believing himself qualify 'd for an 
 actor; but Wilkes,* to whom he apply'd, advis'd 
 him candidly not to think of that employment, as it 
 was impossible he should succeed in it. Then he 
 propos'd to Roberts, a publisher in Paternoster Row, 
 to write for him a weekly paper like the Spectator, 
 
 * A comedian. -Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 1 55 
 
 on certain conditions, which Roberts did not ap- 
 prove. Then he endeavored to get employment as 
 a hackney writer, to copy for the stationers and 
 lawyers about the Temple, but could find no 
 vF.cancy. 
 
 I immediately got into work at Palmer's, then a 
 famous printing-house in Bartholomew Close, and 
 here I continu'd near a year. I was pretty diligent, 
 but spent with Ralph a good deal of my earnings in 
 going to plays and other places of amusement. We 
 had together consumed all my pistoles, and now just 
 rubbed on from hand to mouth. He seem'd quite 
 to forget his wife and child, and I, by degrees, my 
 engagements with Miss Read, to whom I never 
 wrote more than one letter, and that v^as to let her 
 know I was not likely soon to return. This was 
 another of the great errata of my life, which I should 
 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. 
 
 At Palmer's I was employed in composing for 
 the second edition of Wollaston's " Religion of 
 Nature." Some of his reasonings not appearing to 
 me well founded, I wrote a little metaphysical piece 
 in which I made remarks on them. It was entitled 
 ** A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure 
 and Pain." I inscribed it to my friend Ralph ; I 
 printed a small number. It occasion'd my being 
 more consider'd by Mr. Palmer as a young man 
 of some ingenuity, tho' he seriously expostulated 
 
156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 with me upon the principles of my pamphlet, which 
 to him appear'd abominable. My printing this 
 pamphlet was another erratum.* While I lodg'd 
 in Little Britain, I made an acquaintance with one 
 Wilcox, a bookseller, whose shop was at the next 
 dorr. He had an immense collection of second- 
 hand books. Circulating libraries were not then in 
 use ; but we agreed that, on certain reasonable 
 terms, which I have now forgotten, I might take, 
 read, and return any of his books. This I esteem'd 
 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 
 
 alehouse 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 promis'd to give me an 
 opportunit}', some time or other, of seeing Sir Isaac 
 
 * Until recently no copy of this tract was supposed to be in existence, 
 but a copy was discovered a few years ago in London, and a fac-simile 
 of it obtained for Mr. James Parton, who gave it to the New York His- 
 torical Society. It is given at length in vol. i. of Parton's Life of Frank- 
 lin. Another copy has been found in England in different type, showing 
 that the pamphlet was reprinted in Franklin's lifetime. — Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 157 
 
 Newton, of which I was extreamely desirous ; but 
 this never happened. 
 
 I had brought over a few curiosities, among which 
 the principal was 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, where he show'd me all his 
 curiosities, and persuaded me to let him add that to 
 the number, for which he paid me handsomely.* 
 
 In our house there lodg'd a young woman, a mil- 
 liner, who, I think, had a shop in the Cloisters. 
 She had been genteelly bred, was sensible and 
 lively, and of most pleasing conversation. Ralph 
 read plays to her in the evenings, they grew inti- 
 mate, she took another lodging, and he followed 
 her. They liv'd together some time ; but, he being 
 still out of business, and her income not sufficient 
 to maintain them with her child, he took a resolu- 
 tion of going from London, to try for a country 
 school, which he thought himself well qualified to 
 undertake, as he wrote an excellent hand, and was 
 
 * From the letter which he addressed Mr. Sloane on this subject one 
 might infer that the persuasion was on the Doctor's side. " As you are 
 noted," he wrote — he was then in his 19th year — "to be a lover of curi- 
 osities, I have informed you of these ; and if you have any inclination to 
 purchase or see them, let me know your pleasure by a line for me at the 
 Golden Fan, Little Britain, and I will wait upon you with them. I am, 
 sir, your most humble servant, 
 
 "B. Franklin. 
 
 " P. S. I expect to be out of town in two or three days, and therefore 
 beg an immediate answer." — Ed. 
 14 
 
158 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 a master of arithmetic and accounts. This, how- 
 ever, he deemed a business below him, and confi- 
 dent of future better fortune, when he should be 
 unwilling to have it known that he once was so 
 meanly employed, he changed his name, and did 
 me the honor to assume mine ; for I soon after had 
 a letter from him, acquainting me that he was set- 
 tled in a small village (in Berkshire, I think it was, 
 where he taught reading and writing to ten or a 
 dozen boys, at sixpence each per week), recom- 
 mending Mrs. T to my care, and desiring me 
 
 to write to him, directing for Mr. Franklin, school- 
 master, at such a place. 
 
 He continued to write frequently, sending me 
 large specimens of an epic poem which he was then 
 composing, and desiring my remarks and correc- 
 tions. These I gave him from time to time, but 
 endeavor'd rather to discourage his proceeding. 
 One of Young's Satires was then just published. I 
 copy'd and sent him a great part of it, which set in 
 a strong light the folly of pursuing the Musc;!$ with 
 any hope of advancement by them.* All ^'^s in 
 
 * " Th' abandoned manners of our writing train 
 May tempt mankind to think religion vain ; 
 But in their fate, their habit, and their mien, 
 That gods there are is evidently seen : 
 Heav'n stands absolv'd by vengeance on their pen, 
 And marks the murderers of fame from men : 
 Through meagre jaws they draw their venal breath 
 As ghastly as their brothers in Macbeth : 
 Their feet thro' faithless leather meets the dirt. 
 And oftener changed their principles than shirt: 
 The transient vestments of these frugal men 
 Hasten to paper for our mirth again : 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I 59 
 
 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 us'd to send for me, and 
 borrow what I could spare to help her out of them. 
 I grew fond of her company, and, being at that time 
 under no religious restraint, and presuming upon 
 
 Too soon (O men-y, melancholy fate !) 
 They beg in rhyme, and warble thro' a grate ; 
 The man lampooned, forgets it at the sight ; 
 The friend thro' pity gives, the foe through spite ; 
 And though full conscious of his injur'd purse, 
 Lintot relents, nor Curll can wish them worse. 
 
 "An author, 'tis a venerable name ! 
 How few deserve it and what numbers claim. 
 Unbless'd with sense, above the peers refin'd. 
 Who shall stand up, dictators to mankind? 
 Nay, who dare shine, if not in virtue's cause? 
 That sole proprietor of just applause. 
 
 " Ye restless men ! who pant for letter'd praise, 
 With whom would you consult to gain the bays? 
 With those great authors whose fam'd works you read* 
 'Tis well ; go, then, consult the laurel'd shade, 
 What answer will the laurel'd shade return? 
 Hear it and tremble, he commands you bum 
 The noblest works, his envy'd genius writ. 
 That boasts of naught more excellent than wit. 
 If this be true, as 'tis a tnith most dread. 
 Woe to the page which has not that to plead ! 
 Fontaine and Chaucer, dying, wish'd unwrote 
 The sprightliest efforts of their wanton thought : 
 Sidney and Waller, brightest sons of fame, 
 Condemn'd the charm of ages to the flame. 
 
 "Thus ends your courted fame — does lucre then, 
 The sacred thirst of gold, betray your pen? 
 In prose 'tis blamable, in verse 'tis worse. 
 Provokes the Muse, extorts Apollo's curse ; 
 His sacred influence never should be sold : 
 'Tis arrant simony to sing for gold ; 
 'Tis immortality should fire your mind. 
 Scorn a less paymaster than all mankind." 
 
 Young, vol. iii. E/>tst. \\., p. 70. — Ed 
 
l60 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 my importance to her, I attempted familiarities 
 (anotlier erratum) which she repuls'd with a proper 
 resentment, and acquainted him with my behaviour. 
 This made a breach between us; and, when he 
 returned again to London, he let me know he 
 thought I had cancell'd all the obligations he had 
 been under to me. So I found I was never to ex- 
 pect his repaying me what I lent to him, or advanc'd 
 for him. This, however, was not then of much 
 consequence, as he was totally unable ; and in the 
 loss of his friendship I found myself relieved from a 
 burthen. I now began to think of getting a little 
 money beforehand, and, expecting better work, I 
 left Palmer's to work at Watts's, near Lincoln's Inn 
 Fields, a still greater printing-house. Here I con- 
 tinued all the rest of my stay in London 
 
 At my first admission into this printing-house 1 
 took to working at press, imagining I felt a want of 
 the bodily exercise I had been us'd to in America, 
 where presswork is mix'd with composing. I drank 
 only water ; the other workmen, near fifty in num- 
 ber, were great guzzlers of beer. On occasion, I 
 carried up and down stairs a large form of types in 
 each hand, when others carried but one in both 
 hands. They wondered to see, from this and seve- 
 ral instances, that the Water- American^ as the}' 
 called me, was sU'ongcr than themselves, who 
 drank strong beer ! We had an alehouse boy who 
 attended always in the house to supply the work- 
 men. My companion at the press drank every day 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN l6l 
 
 a pint before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with hi? 
 bread and cheese, a pint between breakfast and 
 dinner, a pint at dinner, a pint in the afternoon 
 about six o'clock, and another when he had done 
 his day's work. I thought it a detestable custom ; 
 but it was necessary, he suppos'd, to drink strong 
 beer, that he might be strong X.o 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 wdiich it was 
 made ; that there was more flour in a pennyworth 
 of bread ; and therefore, if he would eat that wdth 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 muddling 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 pressmen ; a new 
 bien venu or sum for drink, being five shillings, was 
 demanded of me by the compositors. I thought it 
 an imposition, as I had paid below ; the master 
 thought so too, and forbad my paying it. I stood 
 out two or three weeks, was accordingly considered 
 as an excommunicate, and had so many little pieces 
 of private mischief done me, by mixing my sorts, 
 transposing my pages, breaking my matter, etc., 
 etc., if 1 were ever so little out of the room, and all 
 ascribed to the chappel ghost, which they said ever 
 
 14* 
 
1 62 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 haunted those not regularly admitted, that, notvvith- 
 standing the master's protection, I found myself 
 oblig'd to comply and pay the money, convinc'd 
 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 
 acquir'd considerable influence. I propos'd some 
 reasonable alterations in their chappel* laws, and 
 carried them against all opposition. From my ex- 
 ample, a great part of them left their muddling 
 breakfast of beer, and bread, and cheese, finding they 
 could with me be suppyl'd from a neighboring house 
 with a large porringer of hot water-gruel, sprinkled 
 with pepper, crumb'd with bread, and a bit of but- 
 ter in it, for the price of a pint of beer, viz., three 
 half-pence. This was a more comfortable as well 
 as cheaper breakfast, and kept their heads clearer. 
 Those who continued sotting with beer all day, were 
 often, by not paying, out of credit at the alehouse, 
 and us'd to make interest with me to get beer ; their 
 lights as they phrased it, being out. I watch'd the 
 pa3'-table on Saturday night, and collected what I 
 
 * " A printing-house is always called a chapel by the workmen, the 
 origin of which appears to have been, that printing was first carried on 
 in England in an antient chapel converted into a printing-house, and the 
 title has been preserved by tradition. The bien venu among the printers 
 answers to the terms entrance and footing among mechanics ; thus a 
 journeyman, on entering a printing-house, was accustomed to pay one 
 or more gallons of beer for the good of the chapel : this custom was 
 falling into disuse thirty years ago ; it is very properly rejected entirely 
 JQ the United States."'— W. T. F 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 163 
 
 stood engag'd for them, having to pay sometimes 
 near thirty shillings a week on their accounts. This, 
 and my being esteem'd a pretty good riggite, that 
 is, a jocular verbal satirist, supported my conse- 
 quence in the society. My constant attendance (I 
 never making a St. Monday) recommended me to 
 the master ; and my uncommon quickness at com- 
 posing occasioned my being put upon all work of 
 dispatch, which was generally better paid. So I 
 went on now very agreeably. 
 
 My lodging in Little Britain being too remote, I 
 found another in Duke-street, opposite to the Rom- 
 ish Chapel. It was two pair of stairs backwards, 
 at an Italian warehouse. A widow lady kept the 
 house ; she had a daughter, and a maid servant, and 
 a journeyman who attended the warehouse, but 
 lodg'd abroad. After sending to inquire my char- 
 acter at the house where I last lodg'd, she agreed 
 to take me in at the same rate, 3s. 6d. per week ; 
 cheaper, as she said, from the protection she ex- 
 pected in having a man 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 times of Charles 
 the Second. 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 
 
164 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 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 strip of bread and butter, and half a pint of ale 
 between us ; but the entertainment was in her con- 
 versation. My always keeping good hours, and 
 giving little trouble in the famih^ made her unwill- 
 ing to part with me ; so that, when I talk'd of a 
 lodging I had heard of, nearer my business, for two 
 shillings a week, which, intent as I now was on 
 saving mone}^ made some difference, she bid me 
 not think of it, for she would abate me two shil- 
 lings a week for the future ; so I remained with her 
 at one shilling and sixpence as long as I staid in 
 London. 
 
 In a 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 
 Roman Catholic, had been sent abroad when young, 
 and lodg'd 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 vow'd to lead the life of a nun, as near as 
 might be done in those circumstances. Accord- 
 ingly, she had given all her estate to charitable uses, 
 reserving only twelve pounds a year to live on, and 
 out of this sum she still gave a great deal in charity, 
 living herself on water-gruel onl}^, and using no fire 
 but to boil it. She had lived many years in that 
 garret, being permitted to remain there gratis by 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 65 
 
 successive Catholic tenants of the house below, as 
 they deemed it a blessing to have her there. A priest 
 visited her to confess her everyday. '*1 have ask'd 
 her," says my landlady, " how she, as she liv'd, 
 could possibly find so much employment for a con- 
 fessor?" "Oh," said she, "it is impossible to avoid 
 vain thotights.''^ I was permitted once to visit her. 
 She was chearful and polite, and convers'd plea- 
 santly. The room was clean, but had no other 
 furniture than a matras, a table with a crucifix 
 and book, a stool which she gave me to sit on, and 
 a picture over the chimney of Saint Veronica dis- 
 playing her handkerchief, with the miraculous figure 
 of Christ's bleeding face on it, which she explainec' 
 to me with great seriousness. She look'd pale, but 
 was never sick ; and I give it as another instance 
 on how small an income, life and health may be 
 supported. 
 
 At Watts'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 ; w^as a tolerable Latin- 
 ist, spoke French, and lov'd reading. I taught him 
 and a friend of his to swim at twice going into the 
 river, and they soon became good swimmers. They 
 introduc'd 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 company, whose curiosity Wygate 
 had excited, I stripped and leaped into the river, 
 
l66 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 and swam from near Chelsea to ]31ackfryar's, per- 
 forming on the way many feats of activity, both 
 upon and under water, that surpris'd and pleas'd 
 those to whom they were novelties. 
 
 I had from a child been ever delighted with this 
 exercise, had studied and practis'd all Thevenot's 
 motions and positions, added some of my own, aim- 
 ing at the graceful and easy as well as the useful. 
 All these I took this occasion of exhibiting to the 
 company, and was much flatter'd by their admira- 
 tion ; and Wygate, who was desirous of becoming 
 a master, grew more and more attach'd to me on 
 that account, as well as from the similarity of our 
 studies. He at length proposed to me travelling all 
 over Europe together, supporting ourselves every- 
 where 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, advis- 
 ing me to think only of returning to Pennsilvania, 
 which he was now about to do. 
 
 I must record one trait of this good man's char- 
 acter. 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 applica- 
 tion to business as a merchant, he acquir'd a plen- 
 tiful fortune in a few years. Returning to England 
 in the ship with me, he invited his old creditors to 
 an entertainment, at which he thank'd them for the 
 easy composition they had favored him with, and, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 67 
 
 when they expected nothing but the treat, every 
 man at the first remove found under his plate an 
 order on a banker for the full amount of the unpaid 
 remainder with interest. 
 
 He now told me he was about to return to Phila- 
 delphia, and should carry over a great quantity of 
 goods in order to open a store there. He propos'd 
 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, etc., to the West Indies, and procure 
 me commissions from others which would be profit- 
 able ; and, if I manag'd well, would establish me 
 handsomely. The thing pleas'd me ; for I was 
 grown tired of London, remembered with pleasure 
 the happy months I had spent in Pennsylvania, and 
 wish'd again to see it; therefore I immediately 
 agreed on the terms of fifty pounds a year, Penn- 
 sylvania money ; less, indeed, than my present 
 gettings as a compositor, but affording a better 
 prospect. 
 
 I now took leave of printing, as I thought, for 
 ever, and was daily employ'd in my new business, 
 going about with Mr. Denham among the tradesmen 
 to purchase various articles, and seeing them pack'd 
 up, doing errands, calling upon workmen to dis- 
 patch, etc. ; and, when all was on board, I had a 
 few days' leisure. On one of these days, I was, to 
 
1 68 AUrOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 my surprise, sent for by a great man I knew onl} 
 by name, a Sir William Wyndham, and I waited upon 
 him. He had heard by some means or other of my 
 swimming from Chelsea to Blackfriar's, 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 wish'd 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 this 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 sooner made me, probably I should 
 not so soon have returned to America. After many 
 years, you and I had something of more importance 
 to do with one of these sons of Sir William Wynd- 
 ham, become Earl of Egremont, which I shall men- 
 tion in its place. 
 
 Thus I spent about eighteen months in London ; 
 most part of the time I work'd hard at my business, 
 and spent but little upon myself except in seeing 
 plays and in books. My friend Ralph 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 lov'd him, not- 
 withstanding, for he had many amiable qualities. I 
 had by no means improv'd my fortune ; but I had 
 picked up some very ingenious acquaintance, whose 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 1 69 
 
 conversation was of great advantage to me ; and I 
 had read considerably. 
 
 We sail'd 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 the -plan* to be found in it, which I 
 formed at sea, for regulating my future conduct in 
 life. It is the more remarkable, as being formed 
 when I was so young, and yet being pretty faith- 
 fully adhered to quite thro' to old age. 
 
 We landed in Philadelphia on the nth of Octo- 
 ber, 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 seem'd a little asham'd at seeing me, but pass'd 
 without saying any thing. I should have been as 
 much asham'd 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 that 
 he had another wife. He was a worthless fellow. 
 
 * The " plan" referred to as the most " important part of the Journal," 
 is not found in the manuscript Journal which was left among Franklin's 
 papers. The copy of the Journal that was found was made at Reading 
 in 1787 ; the original is probably lost. See Sparks' Memoir of Frank- 
 liHy Appendix II. — Ed. 
 
 16 H 
 
170 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 tho' an excellent workman, which was the temptii- 
 tion to her friends. He got into debt, ran away in 
 1727 or 1728, went to the West Indies, and died 
 there. Keimer had got a better house, a shop well 
 supply'd with stationery, plenty of new types, a 
 number of hands, tho' none good, and seem'd to 
 have a great deal of business. 
 
 Mr. Denham took a store in Water-street, where 
 we open'd our goods ; I attended the business dili- 
 gently, studied accounts, and grew, in a little time, 
 expert at selling. We lodg'd and boarded together \ 
 he counseird me as a father, having a sincere re- 
 gard for me. I respected and lov'd him, and we 
 might have gone on together very happy ; but, in 
 the beginning of February, 172^^, when I had just 
 pass'd my twenty-first year, we both were taken ill. 
 My distemper was a pleurisy, which very nearly 
 carried me off. I suffered a good deal, gave up the 
 point in my own mind, and was 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 do over again. I for- 
 get what his 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 undei 
 him ended. 
 
 My brother-in-law, Holmes, being now at Phila- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I/I 
 
 delphia, 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 his 
 stationer's shop. I had heard a bad character of 
 him in London from his wife and her friends, and 
 was not fond of having any more to do with him. I 
 tri'd for farther employment as a merchant's clerk ; 
 but, not readily meeting with any, I clos'd again 
 with Keimer. I found in his house these hands : 
 Hugh Meredith, a Welsh Pensilvanian, thirty 
 years of age, bred to country work ; honest, sensi- 
 ble, had a great deal of solid observation, was some- 
 thing of a reader, but given to drink. Stephen 
 Potts, a young countr3'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 extream low wages per week, to be rais'd 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 book-binding, which he, by 
 agreement, was to teach them, though he knew 
 neither one nor t'other. John , a wild Irish- 
 man, brought up to no business, whose service, 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 
 
172 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 for a compositor, of whom more presently ; and 
 David Harry, a country boy, whom he had taken 
 apprentice. 
 
 1 soon perceiv'd that the intention of engaging 
 me at wages so much higher than he had been us'd 
 to give, was, to have these raw, cheap hands form'd 
 thro' me ; and, as soon as I had instructed them, then 
 they being all articled to him, he should be able to 
 do without me. I went on, however, very cheerfully, 
 put his printing-house in order, which had been in 
 great confusion, and brought his hands by degrees 
 to mind their business and to do it better. 
 
 It was an odd thing to find an Oxford scholar in 
 the situation of a bought servant. He was not more 
 tha-i eighteen years of age, and gave me this ac- 
 count of himself; that he was born in Gloucester, 
 educated at a grammar-school there, had been dis- 
 tinguish'd among the scholars for some apparent 
 superiority in performing his part, when they ex- 
 hibited plays ; belong'd to the Witty Club there, and 
 had written some pieces in prose and verse, which 
 were printed in the Gloucester newspapers ; thence 
 he was sent to Oxford ; where he continued about a 
 year, but not well satisfi'd, wishing of all things to 
 see London, and become a player. At length, re 
 ceiving his quarterly allowance of fifteen guineas, 
 instead of discharging his debts he walk'd out of 
 town, hid his gown in a furze bush, and footed it 
 to London, where, having no friend to advise him. 
 he fell into bad company, soon spent his g^uineas, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 73 
 
 found no means of being introduc'd among the 
 players, grew necessitous, pawn'd his cloaths, and 
 wanted bread. Walking the street very hungry, 
 and not knowing what to do with himself, a crimp's 
 bill was put into his hand, offering immediate en- 
 tertainment and encouragement to such as would 
 bind themselves to serve in America. He went 
 directly, sign'd the indentures, was put into the ship, 
 and came over, never writing a line to acquaint his 
 friends what was become of him. He was lively, 
 witty, good-natur'd, and a pleasant companion, 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 
 instructing them, and that from me the}" learned 
 something daily. We never worked on Saturday, 
 that being Keimer's Sabbath, so I had two days 
 for reading. My acquaintance with ingenious peo- 
 ple in the town increased. Keimer himself treated 
 me with great civility and apparent regard, and 
 nothing now made me uneasy but my debt to Ver- 
 non, which I was yet unable to pay, being hitherto 
 but a poor oeconomist. He, however, kindly made 
 no demand of it. 
 
 Our printing-house often wanted sorts, and there 
 was no letter-founder in America ; I had seen types 
 cast at James's in London, but without much atten- 
 tion to tlie manner ; however, I now contrived a 
 mould, made use of the letters we had as puncheons, 
 
 15* 
 
174 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 Struck the matrices in lead, and thus supply'd in a 
 pretty tolerable way all deficiencies. I also en- 
 grav'd several things on occasion ; I made the ink ; 
 I was warehouseman, and everything, and, in short, 
 quite a fac-totum. 
 
 But, however serviceable I might be, I found that 
 my services became every day of less importance, as 
 the other hands improv'd in the business ; and, when 
 Keimer paid my 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 of the master, frequently 
 found fault, w^is captious, and seem'd ready for an 
 outbreaking. I went on, nevertheless, with a good 
 deal of patience, thinking that his encumber'd cir- 
 cumstances were partly the cause. At length a 
 trifle snapt our connections ; for, a great noise hap- 
 pening near the court-house, I put my head out of 
 the window to see w^hat was the matter. Keimer, 
 being in the street, look'd up and saw me, call'd out 
 to me in a loud voice and angry tone to mind m}^ 
 business, adding some reproachful words, that net- 
 tled me the more for their publicit}^ all the neigh- 
 bors who were looking out on the same occasion, 
 being witnesses how I was treated. He came up 
 immediately into the printing-house, continu'd the 
 quarrel, high words pass'd on both sides, he gave 
 me the quarter's warning we had stipulated, ex- 
 pressing a wish that he had not been oblig'd to so 
 long a warning. I told him his wish was unneces- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 175 
 
 fiary, for I would leave him that instant; and so, 
 taking my hat, walk'd out of doors, desiring Mere- 
 dith, 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 conceiv'd a 
 great regard for me, and was very unwilling that 1 
 should leave the house while he remain'd in it. He 
 dissuaded me from returning to my native country, 
 which I began to think of; he reminded me that 
 Keimer was in debt for all he possess'd ; that his 
 creditors began to be uneasy ; that he kept his shop 
 miserably, sold often without profit for ready money, 
 and often trusted without keeping accounts ; that he 
 must therefore fail, which would make a vacancy I 
 might profit of. I objected my w^ant of mone}^ He 
 then let me know that his father had a high opinion 
 of me, and, from some discourse that had pass'd be- 
 tween them, he w^as sure would advance money to 
 set us up, if I w^ould enter into partnership wdth 
 him. ''My time," says he, "will be out with 
 Keimer in the spring ; by that time we may have 
 our press and types in from London. I am sensible 
 I am no workman ; if 3^ou like it, yoMX skill in the 
 business shall be set against the stock I furnish, and 
 we will share the profits equally." 
 
 The proposal was agreeable, and I consented; 
 his father was in town and approv'd of it ; the more 
 as he saw I had great influence with his son, had 
 prevail'd on him to abstain long from dram-drink- 
 
176 AUTOBlOGRAPUr OF 
 
 ing, and he hop'd might break him of that wretched 
 habit entirely, when we came to be so closely con- 
 nected. I gave an inventory to the father, who 
 carry'd 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 I could, at 
 the other printing-house. But I found no vacancy 
 thei e, and so remain'd idle a few days, when Keimer, 
 on a prospect of being employ'd to print some paper 
 money in New Jersey, which would require cuts 
 and various tj^pes that I only could supply, and 
 apprehending Bradford might engage me and get 
 the jobb from him, sent me a very civil message, that 
 old friends should not part for a few words, the 
 effect of sudden passion, and washing me to return. 
 Meredith persuaded me to comply, as it would give 
 more opportunity for his improvement under my 
 daily instructions ; so I return'd, and we went on 
 more smoothly than for some time before. The 
 New Jersey jobb was obtain'd, I contriv'd 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 his head much longer above water. 
 
 At Burlington I made an acquaintance with many 
 principal 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 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 177 
 
 bills were printed 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 improv'd by reading than Keimer's, I 
 suppose it was for that reason my conversation 
 seem'd to be more valu'd. They had me to their 
 houses, introduced me to their friends, and show'd 
 me much civility ; while he, tho' the master, 
 was a little neglected. In truth, he was an odd 
 fish ; ignorant of common life, fond of rudely op- 
 posing receiv'd opinions, slovenly to extream dirti- 
 ness, enthusiastic in some points of religion, and a 
 little knavish withal. 
 
 We continu'd 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 Assembty, and Isaac De- 
 cow, 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 
 brickmakers, learned to write after he was of age, 
 carri'd the chain for surveyors, who taught him 
 surveying, and he had now by his industry, acquir'd 
 a good estate; and sa3's he, "I foresee that you 
 will soon work this man out of his business, and 
 make a fortune in it at Philadelphia." He had not 
 then the least intimation of my intention to set up 
 there or anywhere. These friends were afterwards 
 
178 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 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 
 business, it may be well to let you know the then 
 state of my mind with regard to my principles and 
 morals, that you may see how far those influenc'd 
 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 doubt- 
 ing by turns of several points, as I found them dis- 
 puted in the different books I read, I began to doubt 
 of Revelation itself. Some books against Deism 
 fell into my hands ; they were said to be the sub- 
 stance of sermons preached at Boyle's Lectures. 
 It happened that they wrought an effect 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 perverted some others, par- 
 ticularly Collins and Ralph ; but, each of them 
 having afterwards wrong'd me greatly without the 
 least compunction, and recollecting Keith's conduct 
 towards me (who was another freethinker), and my 
 own towards Vernon and Miss Read, which at 
 times gave me great trouble, I began to suspect that 
 this doctrine, tho' it might be true, was not very 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1/9 
 
 useful. My London pamphlet,* which had for its 
 motto these lines of Dryden : 
 
 ** Whatever is, is right. Though purblind man 
 Sees but a part o' the chain, the nearest Hnk : 
 His eyes not carrying to the equal beam. 
 That poises all above ;" 
 
 and 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 exist- 
 
 * Printed in 1725. 
 
 Dr. Franklin in a part of a letter to Mr. B. Vaughan, dated Nov. 9, 
 1779, gives a further account of this pamphlet, in these words : 
 
 " It was addressed to Mr. J. R., that is, James Ralph, then a youth 
 of about my age, and my intimate friend ; afterwards a political 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 an hundred copies printed, of which I gave a few to 
 friends, and afterwards disliking the piece, as conceiving it might have 
 an ill tendency, I burnt the rest, except one copy, the margin of which 
 was filled with manuscript notes by Syms, 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 ^vritten. 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 produce no change in things that are ordained, pray- 
 ing must then be useless and an absurdity. God would therefore not 
 ordain praying if everything else was ordained. But praying exists, 
 therefore all things are not ordained, etc. This pamphlet was never 
 printed, and the manuscript has been long lost. The great uncertainty 
 I found in metaphysical reasonings disgusted me, and I quitted that 
 kind of reading and study for others more satisfactory." — Ed. 
 
l80 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 ing, appear'd now not so clever a performance as 1 
 once thought it ; and I doubted whether some error 
 had not insinuated itself unperceiv'd into my argu- 
 ment, so as to infect all that foUow'd, as is common 
 in metaphysical reasonings. 
 
 I grew convinc'd that U'lUh^ sincerity and integ- 
 rity in dealings between man and man were of the 
 utmost importance to the felicity of life ; and I 
 form'd 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 entertain'd an opinion that, though certain 
 actions might not be bad because they were for- 
 bidden by it, or good because it commanded them, 
 yet probably those actions might be forbidden 
 because they were bad for us, or commanded 
 because they were beneficial to us, in their own 
 natures, all the circumstances of things considered. 
 And this persuasion, with the kind hand of Provi- 
 dence, or some guardian angel, or accidental favor- 
 able circumstances and situations, or all together, 
 preserved me, thro' this dangerous time of youth, 
 and the hazardous situations I was sometimes in 
 among strangers, remote from the eye and advice 
 of my father, without any willful gross immorality 
 or injustice, that might have been expected from my 
 want of religion.* I say willful, because the in- 
 
 * The words, '* Some foolish intrigues with low women excepted, 
 which from the expense were rather more prejudicial to me than to 
 them," efT.iccd on the revision, and the sentence which follows in the 
 fext written in the margin. — Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. l8l 
 
 stances I have mentioned had something of necessity 
 in them, from my youth, inexperience, and the 
 knavery of others. I had therefore a tolerable 
 character to begin the world with ; I valued it 
 properly, and determin'd to preserve it. 
 
 We had not been long return'd to Philadelphia 
 before the new types arriv'd from London. We 
 settled with Keimer, and left him by his consent 
 before he heard of it. We found a house to hire 
 near the market, and took it. To lessen the rent, 
 which was then but twentj^-four pounds a year, 
 tho' I have since known it to let for seventy, we 
 took in Thomas Godfrey, a glazier, and his family, 
 who were to pay a 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 country- 
 man 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 should otherwise 
 have been to assist young beginners. 
 
 There are croakers in every country, always bod- 
 ing its ruin. Such a one then lived in Philadelphia ; 
 a person of note, an elderly man, wdth a wise look 
 and a very grave manner of speaking ; his name 
 
 16 
 
l82 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 was Samuel Mickle. This gentleman, a stranger 
 to me, stopt one day at my door, and asked me 
 if I was the young man who liad lately opened a 
 new printing-house. Being answered in the allirm- 
 ative, he said he was sorry for me, because it was 
 an expensive undertaking, and the expense would 
 be lost ; for Philadelphia was a sinking place, the 
 people already half bankrupts, or near being so ; 
 all appearances to 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 soon ruin us. And he gave 
 me such a detail of misfortunes now existing, or 
 that were soon to exist, that he left me half melan- 
 choly. Had I know^n him before I engaged in this 
 business, probably I never should have done it. 
 This man continued to live in this decaying place, 
 and to declaim 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 his 
 croaking. 
 
 I should have mentioned before, that, in the au- 
 tumn of the preceding year, I had form'd most of my 
 ingenious acquaintance into a club of mutual im- 
 provement, which we called the Junto ; we met on 
 Friday evenings. The rules that I drew up re- 
 quired that every member, in his turn, should pro- 
 duce one or more queries on any point of Morals, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 83 
 
 Politics, or Natural Philosophy, to be discuss'd by 
 the company ; and once in three months produce 
 and read an essay of his own writing, on any sub- 
 ject 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 w^ere Joseph Breintnal, a copyer 
 of deeds for the scriveners, a good-natur'd, friendly, 
 middle-ag'd man, a great lover of poetry, reading 
 all he could meet with, and writing some that was 
 tolerable ; very ingenious in many little Nicknack- 
 eries, and of sensible conversation. 
 
 Thomas Godfrey, a self-taught mathematician, 
 great in his way, and afterward inventor of what is 
 now called Hadley's Quadrant. But he knew 
 little out of his way, and was not a pleasing com- 
 panion ; as, like most great mathematicians I have 
 met with, he expected universal precision in every 
 thing said, or was for ever denying or distinguish* 
 ing upon trifles, to the disturbance of all conversa- 
 tion. He soon left us. 
 
 Nicholas Scull, a surveyor, afterward surveyor- 
 general, who lov'd books, and sometimes made a 
 few verses. 
 
1 84 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 % 
 
 William 1 'arsons, bred a shoemaker, but, loving 
 reading, had acquired a considerable share of mathe- 
 matics, which he first studied with a view to astrolo- 
 gy, that he afterwards laught at it. He also became 
 surveyor-general . 
 
 William Maugridge, a joiner, a most exquisite 
 mechanic, and a solid, sensible man. 
 
 Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, and George Webb 
 I have characteriz'd before. 
 
 Robert Grace, a young gentleman of some fortune, 
 generous, lively, and witty ; a lover of punning and 
 of his friends. 
 
 And William Coleman, then a merchant's clerk, 
 about my age, who had the coolest, clearest head, 
 the best heart, and the exactest morals of almost any 
 man I ever met with. He became afterwards a 
 merchant of great note, and one of our provincial 
 judges. Our friendship continued without interrup- 
 tion to his death, upward of forty years ; and the 
 club continued almost as long, and was the best 
 school of philosophy, morality, and politics that 
 then existed in the province ; for our queries, which 
 were read the week preceding their discussion, put 
 us upon reading with attention upon the several sub- 
 jects, that we might speak more to the purpose : 
 and here, too, we acquired better habits of conver- 
 sation, every thing being studied in our rules which 
 might prevent our disgusting each other. From 
 hence the long continuance of the club, which 1 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 85 
 
 shall have frequent occasion to speak further of 
 hereafter.* 
 
 * In a careful and interesting paper read before the American Philo- 
 sophical Society by Dr. Patterson, one of its Vice-Presidents, on the 
 25th of May, 1843, iri commemoration of its Centennial Anniversary', 
 will be found much new and important information about the Junto. 
 As this paper is not generally accessible, my readers will excuse me for 
 quoting somewhat freely from its pages. Dr. Patterson says : 
 
 " The Junto was, properly speaking, a debating society. At first it 
 met at a tavern ; but subsequently at the house of one of the members, 
 Robert Grace, whom Franklin characterizes as ' a gentleman of some 
 fortune, generous, lively, and witty, a lover of punning and of his 
 friends.' I am happy to say that Robert Grace is not without his suc- 
 cessors in our present society. 
 
 " One of the rules of the Club was that the institution should be kept 
 a secret ; the intention being, as Franklin states, to avoid applications 
 of improper persons for admittance. The number of members at any 
 one time was limited to twelve, but vacancies were filled as they oc- 
 curred, and the names of twenty-three members are preserved. 
 
 " On admission into the Club, a course was followed which is too re- 
 markable in itself, and in its bearing upon a difficult question in the 
 history of this Society, not to be here introduced. It is thus presented 
 in Franklin's papers : 
 
 " * Any person to be qualified — to stand up, and lay his hand upon his 
 breast, and be asked these questions, viz. : 
 
 "*ist. Have you any particular disrespect to any present member? 
 Answer : I have not. 
 
 " * 2d. Do you sincerely declare that you love mankind in general, of 
 what profession or religion soever ? Ans. I do. 
 
 " ' 3d. Do you think any person ought to be harmed in his body, 
 name, or goods, for mere speculative opinions, or his external way of 
 worship ? Ans. No. 
 
 " ' 4th. Do you love truth for truth's sake, and will you endeavor im- 
 partially to find and receive it yourself, and communicate it to others "i 
 Ans. Yes.' 
 
 " No minutes of the proceedings of the original Junto are preserved, 
 but Franklin mentions in his Autobiography several questions of great 
 interest which were discussed at it, and several pieces read before it 
 and afterwards published in his newspaper. 
 16* 
 
1 86 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 But my giving this account of it here is to show 
 something of the interest I had, every one of these 
 
 " It was at one time proposed to increase the number of members ; 
 but to this Franklin was opposed, and instead of it he made *a proposal 
 that every member separately should form a subordinate club, with the 
 same rules respecting queries, etc., and without informing them of the 
 connection with the Junto.' * This project was approved, and every mem- 
 ber undertook to form a club ; but they did not all succeed. Five or six 
 only were completed, which were called by different names, as the Vine, 
 the Union, the Band.' Of these subordinate companies, a brief para- 
 graph in Franklin's Life is the only remaining record. 
 
 " While Franklin was abroad, he shows by his correspondence that 
 he still held the institution of his youth in affectionate remembrance. 
 This appears repeatedly in his letters to his friend Hugh Roberts. He 
 calls it 'the good old Club,' 'the ancient Junto.' So late as 1765, he 
 says : ' I wish you would continue to meet the Junto, notwithstanding 
 that some effects of our political misunderstanding may sometimes ap- 
 pear there. It is now perhaps one of the oldest clubs, as I think it was 
 formerly one of the best, in the king's dominions.' Even in 1766, he 
 writes : ' Remember me affectionately to the Junto.' 
 
 " It appears, then, that the Junto continued in existence about forty 
 years. But did it keep up its original character ? This may well be 
 doubted. The members grew gradually to be old men, and it is hardly 
 to be supposed that they would submit to the task of writing essays, or 
 would formally j^ropose questions, and afterwards debate them. Their for- 
 tunes were made, their education completed ; and it is therefore much more 
 probable that when the remnant of the once youthful and active Junto met 
 together, they indulged themselves in social conversation and temperate 
 conviviality. Such is said to be the tradition in the Roberts family ; and 
 it is confirmed by a letter from Dr. Franklin to their ancestor, written 
 in 1761, in which he says: 'You tell me you sometimes visit the an- 
 cient Junto. I. wish you would do it oftener. Since we have held that Club 
 till we are grown gray together, let us hold it out to the end. For my 
 own part, I find I love company, chat, a laugh, a glass, and even a song, 
 as well as ever ; and at the same time relish better than I used to do the 
 grave observations and wise sentences of old men's conversation ; so 
 that I ani sure the Junto will be still as agreeable to me as it ever has 
 been. I therefore hope it will riot be discontinued, as long as we ar© 
 able to crawl together.' " 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 87 
 
 exertincr themselves in recommendinor business to us. 
 Breintnal particularly procured us from the Quakers 
 
 In May, 1765, Hugh Roberts writes as follows to Dr. Franklin: ''I 
 sometimes visit the worthy remains of the ancient Junto, for whom I 
 have a high esteem; but alas, the political, polemical divisions have in 
 some measure contributed to lessen that harmony we there formeily 
 enjoyed." To this letter Franklin answers in July following, urging 
 his friend's attendance at the Junto, almost in the same terms used some 
 years before, and which we have just quoted, and then closes his ex- 
 hortation in the following touching words : " We loved and still love 
 one another. We are grown gray together, and yet it is too early to 
 part. Let us sit till the evening of life is spent. The last hours are 
 always the most joyous. When we can stay no longer, it is time enough 
 then to bid each other good-night, separate and go quietly to bed." 
 
 The following rules for the regulation of the Junto, drawn up in 1728, 
 will give a clearer idea of its character, and, I may add, of the character 
 of its members. Forty years later the Junto became the nucleus of the 
 American Philosophical Society, of which Franklin was the first Pre- 
 sident :* 
 
 Have you read over these queries this morning, in order to consider 
 what you might have to offer the Junto touching any one of them ? viz. : 
 
 1. Have you met with anything in the author you last read, remark- 
 able or suitable to be communicated to the Junto, particularly in his- 
 tory, morality, poetry, physic, travels, mechanic arts, or other parts of 
 knowledge ? 
 
 2. What new story have you lately heard, agreeable for telling in 
 conversation ? 
 
 3. Hath any citizen in your knowledge failed in his business lately, 
 and what have you heard of the cause ? 
 
 4. Have you lately heard of any citizen's thriving well, and by what 
 means ? 
 
 5. Have you lately heard how any present rich man, here or else- 
 where, got his estate ? 
 
 6. Do you know of a fellow-citizen, who has lately done a worthy 
 action, deserving praise and imitation ; or who has lately committed an 
 error, proper for us to be warned against and avoid ? 
 
 * Sparks'" Works of F7ankHn, vol. ii. p. 9. 
 
1 88 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 the printing forty sheets of their history, the rest 
 being to be done by Keimer ; and upon this we 
 
 7. What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately observed 
 or heard ; of imprudence, of passion, or of any other vice or folly? 
 
 8. "What happy effects of temperance, of prudence, of moderation, 01 
 of any other virtue ? 
 
 9. Have you or any of your acquaintance been lately sick or 
 wounded ? If so, what remedies were used, and what were their 
 effects ? 
 
 10. Whom do you know that are shortly going voyages or journeys, 
 if one should have occasion to send by them ? 
 
 11. Do you think of any thing at present in which the Junto may be 
 serviceable to mankind, to their country, to their friends, or to them- 
 selves ? 
 
 12. Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since last meeting, 
 that you have heard of? And what have you heard or observed of his 
 character or merits ? And whether, think you, it lies in the power of 
 the Junto to oblige him, or encourage him as he deserves? 
 
 13. Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom 
 it lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage ? 
 
 14. Have you lately observed any defect in the laws of your country, 
 of which it would be proper to move the legislature for an amendment ? 
 Or do you know of any beneficial law that is wanting ? 
 
 15. Have you lately observed any encroachment on the just liberties 
 of the people ? 
 
 16. Hath anybody attacked your reputation lately? And what can 
 the Junto do towards securing it ? 
 
 17. Is there any man whose friendship you want, and which the Junto, 
 or any of them, can procure for you ? 
 
 18. Have you lately heard any member's character attacked, and how 
 have you defended it ? 
 
 19. Hath any man injured you from whom it is in the power of the 
 Junto to procure redress? 
 
 20. In what manner can the Junto, or any of them, assist you in any 
 of your honorable designs? 
 
 21. Have you any weighty affair on hand, in which you think the ad- 
 V'ce of the Junto may be of service ? 
 
 22. What benefits have you lately received from any man not pre 
 sent? 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 89 
 
 work'd exceedingly hard, for the price was low. It 
 was a folio, pro patria size, in pica, with long primer 
 notes. I compos'd of it a sheet a day, and Mere- 
 dith 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 
 
 23. Is there any difficulty in matters of opinion, of justice, and injus- 
 tice, which you would gladly have discussed at this time ? 
 
 24. Do you see any thing amiss in the present customs or proceedings 
 of the Junto which might be amended ? 
 
 When the Philosophical Society was instituted, a book containing 
 some of the questions discussed by the Junto was put into the hands of 
 Dr. William Smith, who selected from it, and published in his " Eulo- 
 gium on Franklin" the follo^^^ng specimens : 
 
 " Is sound an entity or body ? 
 
 " How may the phenomena of vapors be explained ? 
 
 " Is self-interest the rudder that steers mankind, the universal mon- 
 arch to whom all are tributaries ? 
 
 " Which is the best form of government, and what was that form 
 which first prevailed among mankind ? 
 
 " Can any one particular form of government suit all mankind? 
 
 " What is the reason that the tides rise higher in the Bay of Fundy 
 than the Bay of Delaware ? 
 
 " Is the emission of paper money safe ? 
 
 " What is the reason that men of the greatest knowledge are not the 
 most happy ? 
 
 " How may the possessions of the Lakes be improved to our ad- 
 vantage ? 
 
 " Why are tumultuous, uneasy sensations united with our desires ? 
 
 "Whether it ought to be the aim of philosophy to eradicate the 
 passions ? 
 
 " How may smoky chimneys be best cured ? 
 
 " Why does the flame of a candle tend upwards in a spire ? 
 
 " Which is least criminal — a bad action joined with a good intention, 
 or a good action with a bad intention ? 
 
 " Is it consistent with the principles of liberty in a free government 
 to punish a man as a libeller when he speaks the truth ?" — Ed. 
 
IQO AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 jobbs sent in by our other friends now and then put 
 us back. But so determin'dl was to continue doing 
 a sheet a day of the foho, that one night, when, 
 having impos'd m}^ forms, I thought my day's work 
 over, one of them by accident was broken, and two 
 pages reduced to pi, I immediately distributed and 
 compos'd it over again before I went to bed ; and 
 this industry, visible to our neighbors, began to give 
 us character and credit ; particularly, I was told, 
 that mention being made of the new printing-oflice 
 at the merchants' Everj'-night club, the general 
 opinion was that it must fail, there being already 
 two printers in the place, Keimer and Bradford ; but 
 Dr. Baird (whom you and I saw many years after 
 at his native place, St. Andrew's in Scotland) gave 
 a contrary opinion: "For the industry of that 
 Franklin," says 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 w^e soon after had offers from one of them to 
 supply us with stationery ; but as yet we did not 
 chuse to engage in shop business. 
 
 I mention this industry the more particularly and 
 the more freely, tho' 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 favour throughout this relation. 
 
 George Webb, who had found a female friend 
 that lent him wherewith to purchase his time of 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I9I 
 
 Keimer, now came to offer himself as a journeyman 
 to us. We could not then imploy him ; but I fool- 
 ishly 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 
 manag'd, no way entertaining, and yet was profit- 
 able to him ; I therefore 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, pub- 
 lished proposals for printing one himself, on which 
 Webb was to be employ 'd. I resented this; and. 
 to counteract them, as I could not yet begin our 
 paper, I wrote several pieces of entertainment for 
 Bradford's paper, under the title of the Busy Body, 
 which Breintnal continu'd some months. By this 
 means the attention of the publick was fixed on that 
 paper, and Keimer's proposals, which we burlesqued 
 and ridicul'd, were disregarded. He began his 
 paper, however, and, after carrying it on three 
 quarters of a year, with at most only ninety sub 
 scribers, he offer'd it to me for a trifle ; and I, hav- 
 ing been ready some time to go on with it, took it ir 
 hand directly ; and it prov'd in a few years ex 
 tremely profitable to me.* 
 
 * This paper was called The Universal Instructor in all Arts and 
 Sciences and Pennsylvania Gazette. Keimer printed his last number, tb« 
 39th, on the 25th day of September, 1729. 
 
192 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 I perceive that I am apt to speak in tlie singular 
 number, though our partnership still continu'd ; the 
 reason may be that, in fact, the whole management 
 
 Its leading articles were an installment of Chambers' Dictionary, Art. 
 Airy a message from Gov. Burnet of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, 
 the reply of the Assembly, and an obituary of the governor, who had 
 just died. The following announcement filled the rest of the sheet : 
 
 " Philadelphia, September 25 
 " It not quadrating with the circumstances of the printer hereof, S. K., 
 to publish this Gazette any longer, he gives notice that this paper con- 
 cludes his third quarter ; and is the last that will be printed by him. 
 Yet, that his generous subscribers may not be baulked or disappointed, 
 he has agreed with B. Franklin and H. Meredith, at the new printing 
 office, to continue it to the end of the year, having transferred the prop- 
 erty wholly to them [D. Harry declining it],* and probably if further 
 encouragement appears it will be continued longer. The said S. K. 
 designs to leave this province early in the spring or sooner, if possibly 
 he can justly accommodate his affairs with every one he stands in- 
 debted to." 
 
 The next number, 40, appeared on the 2d of October, in new type, with 
 the following announcement, the title " Utiiversal Instructor in all Arts 
 and Sciences'^ having been dropped, and with it the feature of the paper 
 which it designated : 
 
 "The Pennsylvania Gazette being now to be carryed on by other hands, 
 the reader may expect some account of the method we design to pro- 
 ceed in. 
 
 " Upon a view of Chambers' great dictionaries, from whence were taken 
 the materials of The Universal Iftstriidor in all Arts aftd Sciences, which 
 usuall) made the first part of this paper, we find that besides their con- 
 taining many things abstruse or insignificant to us, it will probably be 
 fifty years before the whole can be gone through in this manner of pub- 
 lication. There are likewise in those books continual references from 
 things under one letter of the alphabet to those under another, which 
 relate to the same subject and are necessary to explain and complete it ; 
 
 • In the previous number Kelmer announced ihat he had made over his business to 
 David Harry, with the design to leave this province as soon as he could get in his debts 
 •nd justly balance with eveiy one of his few creditors, etc., etc. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 193 
 
 of the business lay upon me. Meredith was no 
 compositor, a poor pressman, and seldom sober. 
 
 these taken in their turn may be ten years distant ; and since it is likely 
 that they who desire to acquaint themselves with any particular art or 
 science would gladly have the whole before them in a much less time, 
 we believe our readers will not think such a method of communicating 
 knosvledge to be a proper one. 
 
 " However, though we do not intend to continue the publication of 
 those dictionaries in a regular alphabetical method, as has hitherto 
 been done ; yet, as several things exhibited from them in the course of 
 these papers, have been entertaining to such of the curious who never 
 had and cannot have the advantage of good libraries ; and as there are 
 many things still behind, which being in this manner made generally 
 known, may perhaps become of considerable use by giving such hints 
 to the excellent natural genius's of our country, as may contribute either 
 to the improvement of our present manufactures or towards the inven- 
 tion of new ones ; we propose from time to time to communicate such 
 particular parts as appear to be of the most general consequence. 
 
 "As to the Religious Courtship, part of which has been retal'd to the 
 public in these papers, the reader may be informed, that the whole book 
 will probably in a little time be printed and bound by itself; and those 
 who approve of it will doubtless be better pleased to have it entire, than 
 in this broken, interrupted manner. 
 
 " There are many who have long desired to see a good newspaper in 
 Pennsylvania ; and we hope those gentlemen who are able, will contri- 
 bute towards the making this such. We ask assistance because we are 
 fully sensible, that to publish a good newspaper is not so easy an under- 
 taking as many people imagine it to be. The author of a Gazette (in the 
 opinion of the learned) ought to be qualified wit h an extensive acquaint- 
 ance with languages, a great easiness and command of writing, and 
 relating things clearly and intelligibly and in few words ; he should be 
 able to speak of war both by land and sea ; be well acquainted with 
 geography, with the history of the time, with the secret interests of 
 princes and States, the secrets of courts, and the manners and customs 
 of all nations. Men thus accomplished are very rare in this remote part 
 of the world ; and it would be well if the writer of these papers could 
 make up among his friends what is wanting in himself. 
 
 *' Upon the whole, we may assure the publick, that, as far as the en- 
 couragement we meet with will enable us, no care and pains shall be 
 17 I 
 
194 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 My friends lamented my connection with him, but 1 
 was to make the best of it. 
 
 Our first papers made a quite different appearance 
 from any before in the province ; a better type, and 
 better printed ; but some spirited remarks of m} 
 writing,* on the dispute then going on between 
 
 omitted that may make the Pennsylvania Gazette z& agreeable and useful 
 an entertainment as the nature of the thing will allow." 
 
 After the publication of two numbers the Gazette was published twice 
 a week, beginning with No. 43. — Ed. 
 
 * The following are the spirited remarks here referred to : 
 " His excellency, governor Burnet, died unexpectedly about two days 
 after the date of this reply to his last message ; and it was thought the 
 dispute would have ended with him, or at least have lain dormant till 
 the arrival of a new governor from England, who possibly might or 
 might not be inclined to enter too vigorously into the measures of his 
 predecessor. But our last advices by the post acquaint us that his 
 honor the lieutenant-governor (on whom the government immediately 
 devolves upon the death or absence of the commander-in-chief) has 
 vigorously renewed the struggle on his own account, of which the par- 
 ticulars will be seen in our next. Perhaps some of our readers may 
 not fully understand the original ground of this warm contest between 
 the governor and assembly. It seems that people have for these hun- 
 dred years past, enjoyed the privilege of rewarding the governor for the 
 time being, according to their sense of his merit and services ; and few 
 or none of their governors have complained, or had cause to complain, 
 of a scanty allowance. When the late governor Burnet brought with 
 him instructions to demand a settled salary of 1000 pounds sterling per 
 annum, on him and all his successors, and the Assembly were required 
 to fix it immediately ; he insisted on it strenuously to the last, and they 
 as constantly refused it. It appears by their votes and proceedings that 
 they thought it an imi)osition, contrary to their own charter, and to 
 Magiia Charta ; and they judged that there should be a mutual depend- 
 ence between the governor and governed ; and that to make the gov- 
 ernor independent would be dangerous and destructive to their liber- 
 ties, and the ready way to establish tyranny. They thought likewise, 
 that the province was not the less dependent on the crown of Great 
 Britain, by the governor's depending immediately on them, and his owp 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 95 
 
 Governor Burnet and the Massachusetts Assembly, 
 struck the principal people, occasioned the paper 
 and the manager of it to be much talk'd of, and 
 in a few weeks brought them all to be our sub- 
 scribers. 
 
 Their example was follow'd by many, and our 
 number went on growing continually. This was 
 one of the first good effects of my having learnt a 
 little to scribble ; another was, that the leading men, 
 seeing a newspaper now in the hands of one who 
 
 good conduct, for an ample support; because all acts and laws, which 
 he might be induced to pass, must nevertheless be constantly sent home 
 for approbation, in order to continue in force. Many other reasons w^ere 
 given, and arguments used in the course of the controversy, needless to 
 particularize here, because all the material papers relating to it have 
 been already given in our public news, 
 
 " Much deserved praise has the deceased governor received for his 
 steady integrity in adhering to his instructions, notwithstanding the 
 great difficulty and opposition he met with, and the strong temptations 
 offered from time to time to induce him to give up the point. And yer, 
 perhaps, something is due to the Assembly (as the love and zeal of that 
 country for the present establishment is too well known to suffer any 
 suspicion of want of loyalty), who continue thus resolutely to abide by 
 what they think their right, and that of the people they represent ; 
 manage all the arts and menaces of a governor, famed for his cunning 
 and politics, backed WMth instructions from home, and powerfully aided 
 by the great advantage such an officer always has of engaging the prin- 
 cipal men of a place in his party, by conferring, when he pleases, so 
 many posts of piofit and honor. Their happy mother country will per- 
 haps observe, w^ith pleasure, that though her gallant cocks and match- 
 less dogs abate their natural fire and intrepidity when transported to a 
 foreign clime (as this nation is), yet her sons in the remotest part of the 
 earth, and even to the third and fourth descent, still retain thai anient 
 spirit of liberty, and that undaunted courage, which has in every age so 
 gloriously distinguished Britons and Englishmen from the rest of 
 mankind."— W. T. F. 
 
196 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 could also handle a pen, thought it convenient to 
 oblige and encourage me. Bradford still printed 
 the votes, and laws, and other publick business. 
 He had printed an address of the House to the 
 governor, in a coarse, blundering manner ; we re- 
 printed it elegantly and correctly, and sent one I0 
 everv member They were sensible of the dilTer- 
 encc : it strenjjthened the hands of our friends in 
 tlie House, and they voted us their printers for the 
 }ear 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 many others afterward, continuing his 
 patronage till his death.* 
 
 Mr. Vernon, about this time, put me in mind of 
 the debt 1 ow'd him, but did not press me. I wrote 
 him an ingenuous letter of acknowledgment, crav'd 
 his forbearance a little longer, which he allow'd me, 
 and as soon as I was able, I paid the principal with 
 interest, and many thanks ; so that erratum was in 
 some degree corrected. 
 
 But now another difficulty came upon me whicii 
 I had never the least reason to expect. Mr. Mere- 
 dith'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, 
 
 * I got his son once ;^5oo [marg, note]. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 97 
 
 which had been paid ; and a hundred more was 
 due to the merchant, who grew impatient, and su'd 
 us all. We gave bail, but saw that, if the money 
 could not be rais'd in time, the suit must soon come 
 to a judgment and execution, and our hopeful pros- 
 pects 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 
 have never forgotten, nor ever shall forget while I 
 can remember any thing, came to me separately, 
 unknown to each other, and, without any applica- 
 tion from me, offering each of them to advance me 
 all the mone}' 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 v/ith Meredith, who, as 
 they said, was often seen drunk in the streets, and 
 pla3'ing at low games in alehouses, much to our 
 discredit. These two friends were William Cole- 
 man and Robert Grace. I told them I could not 
 propose a separation while any prospect remain'd 
 of the Merediths' fulfilling their part of our agree • 
 ment, because I thought myself under great obliga 
 tions to them for what they had done, and would do 
 if they could ; hut, if they finally fail'd in their per- 
 formance, and our partnership must be dissolv'd, ] 
 should then think myself at liberty to accept the 
 assistance of my friends. 
 
 Thus the matter rested for some time, when I said 
 17* 
 
ig8 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 lo m}' 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 alone. If that is the case, 
 tell me, and I will resign the whole to you, and go 
 about m}' business." "No," said he, "my father 
 has really been disappointed, and is really unable ; 
 and I am unwilling to distress him farther. I sec 
 this is a business I am not fit for. I was bred a 
 farmer, and it was a 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 inclin'd to go with them, and follow 
 my old employment. You may find friends to 
 assist you. If you will take the debts of tlie com- 
 pany upon you ; return to my father the hundred 
 pound he has advanced ; pay my little personal debts, 
 and give me thirty pounds and a new saddle, I will 
 relinquish the partnership, and leave the whole in 
 your hands." I agreed to this proposal ; it was 
 drawn up in writing, sign'd, and seal'd immediately. 
 I gave him what he demanded, and he went soon 
 after to Carolina, from whence he sent me next 
 year two long letters, containing the best account 
 that had been given of that country, the climate, the 
 soil, husbandry, etc., for in those matters he was 
 very judicious. I printed them in the papers, and 
 they gave great satisfaction to the publick. 
 
 A.S soon as he was gone, I recurr'd to my two 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 99 
 
 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 debts, and went on with the 
 business in my own name, advertising that the part- 
 nership was dissolved. I think this was in or about 
 the year 1729.* 
 
 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 oppos'd any addi- 
 tion, being against all paper currency, from an ap- 
 prehension that it would depreciate, as it had done in 
 New England, to the prejudice of all creditors. We 
 had discuss'd 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, employment, and number 
 of inhabitants in the province, since I now saw all 
 the old houses inhabited, and many new ones build- 
 ing : whereas I remembered well, that when I first 
 walk'd about the streets of Philadelphia, eating my 
 roll, I saw most of the houses in Walnut-street, be- 
 tween Second and Front streets, with bills on their 
 doors, " To be let ;" and many likewise in Chestnut- 
 street and other streets, which made me then think 
 the inhabitants of the city were deserting it one after 
 another. 
 
 * By the agreement of dissolution, still extant, it appears that it took 
 place July 14th, 1730. — S. 
 
200 AUrOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 Our debates possess'd me so fully of the subject, 
 that T wrote and printed an anonymous pamphlet on 
 it, entitled " The Nature a7id Necessity of a Paper 
 Currency^ It was well receiv'd by the common 
 people in general ; but the rich men dislik'd it, for 
 it increas'd and strengthen'd the clamor for more 
 money, and they happening to have no writers 
 among them that were able to answer it, their oppo- 
 sition slacken'd, and the point was carried by a 
 majority in the House. My friends there, who con- 
 ceiv'd I had been of some service, thought fit to re- 
 ward me by employing me in printing the money ; 
 a ver}' profitable jobb and a great help to me. This 
 was another advantage gain'd by my being able to 
 write. 
 
 The utility of this currency became by time and 
 experience so evident as never afterwards to be much 
 disputed ; so that it grew soon to fifty-live thousand 
 pounds, and in 1739 to eighty thousand pounds, 
 since which it arose during war to upwards of three 
 hundred and fifty thousand pounds, trade, building, 
 and inhabitants all the while increasing, tho' I now 
 think there are limits beyond which the quantity 
 may be hurtful. 
 
 I soon after obtain'd, thro' my friend Hamilton, 
 the printing of the Newcastle paper money, another 
 profitable jobb 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. He procured for 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 20 1 
 
 me, also, the printing of the laws and votes of thai 
 government, which continu' d in my hands as long 
 as I follow'd the business. 
 
 I now open'd a little stationer's shop. I had in it 
 blanks of all sorts, the correctest that ever appear'd 
 among us, being assisted in that by my friend 
 Breintnal. I had also paper, parchment, chapmen's 
 books, etc. One Whitemash, a compositor I had 
 known in London, an excellent workman, now came 
 to me, and work'd 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 all appearances to the contrary, I drest 
 plainly ; I was seen at no places of idle diversion. I 
 never went out a fishing or shooting ; a book, in- 
 deed, sometimes debauch'd me from my work, but 
 that was seldom, snug, and gave no scandal ; and, 
 to show that I was not above my business, I some- 
 times brought home the paper I purchas'd at the 
 stores thro' the streets on a wheelbarrow. Thus 
 being esteem'd an industrious, thriving young man, 
 and paying duly for what I bought, the merchants 
 who imported stationery solicited my custom ; others 
 proposed supplying me v/ith books, and I went on 
 swimmingly. In the mean time, Keimer's credit 
 and business declining daily, he was at last forc'd 
 to sell his printing-house to satisfy his creditors. He 
 
202 AUTOBlOGRAPUr OF 
 
 went to Barbadoes, and there lived some years in 
 very poor circumstances. 
 
 His apprentice, David Harry, whom I had in- 
 structed while I work'd with him, set up in his 
 place at Philadelphia, 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 propos'd a partnership 
 to him, which he, fortunately for me, rejected with 
 scorn. He was very proud, dress'd like a gentle- 
 man, liv'd expensively, took much diversion and 
 pleasure abroad, ran in debt, and neglected his busi- 
 ness ; upon which, all business left him ; and, find- 
 ing nothing to do, he follow'd Keimer to Barbadoes, 
 taking the printing-house with him. There this 
 apprentice employ'd his former master as a journey- 
 man ; they quarrel'd often ; Harry went continually 
 behindhand, and at length was forc'd to sell his 
 types and return to his country work in Pensilvania. 
 The person that bought them employ'd Keimer to 
 use them, but in a few years he died. 
 
 There remained now no competitor with me at 
 Philadelphia but the old one, Bradford ; who was 
 rich and easy, did a little printing now and then by 
 straggling hands, but was not very anxious about 
 the business. However, as he kept the post-office, 
 it was imagined he had better opportimities of ob- 
 taining news ; his paper was thought a better distri- 
 buter of advertisements than mine, and therefore 
 had many more, which was a profitable thing to 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 203 
 
 him, and a disadvantage to me ; for, tho' I did 
 indeed receive and send papers by the post, yet the 
 publick opinion was otherwise, for what I did send 
 was by bribing the riders, who took them privately, 
 Bradford being unkind enough to forbid it, w^iich 
 occasion'd some resentment on my part ; and 1 
 thought so meanly of him for it, that, when I 
 afterward came into his situation, I took care never 
 to imitate it. 
 
 I had hitherto continu'd to board with Godfrey, 
 who lived in part of my house with his wife and 
 children, and had one side of the shop for his 
 glazier's business, tho' he worked little, being 
 always absorbed in his mathematics. Mrs. Godfrey 
 projected a match for me with a relation's daughter, 
 took opportunities of bringing us often together, till 
 a serious courtship on my part ensu'd, the girl being 
 in herself very deserving. The old folks encour- 
 ag'd me by continual invitations to supper, and by 
 leaving us together, till at length it was time to 
 explain. Mrs. Godfrey manag'd our little treaty. 
 1 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 an- 
 swer to this, after some days, was, that they did not 
 approve the match ; that, on inquiry of Bradford, 
 they had been inform'd the printing business was 
 
204 AUTOBIOGRAPlir OF 
 
 not a profitable one ; the types would soon be worn 
 out, and more wanted; that S. Keimer and D. 
 Ilarr}- had tailed one alter the other, and I should 
 probably soon follow them ; and, therefore, I was 
 forbidden the house, and the daughter shut up. 
 
 Whether this was a real change of sentiment or 
 onlv artifice, on a supposition of our being too far 
 engaged in affection to retract, and therefore that 
 we should steal a marriage, which w^ould leave them 
 at liberty to give or withhold what they pleas'd, I 
 know not ; but I suspected the latter, resented it, 
 and went no more. Mrs. Godfrey brought me 
 afterward some more favorable accounts of their 
 disposition, and Vv^ould have drawn me on again ; 
 out I declared absolutely my resolution to have 
 nothing more to do with that famil}^ This was 
 resented by the Godfreys ; we differ'd, and they 
 removed, leaving me the whole house, and I re- 
 solved to take no more inmates. 
 
 But this afTair having turned my thoughts to mar- 
 riage, 1 look'd 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 wite, 
 unless with such a one as I should not otherwise 
 think agreeable. In the mean time, that hard-to-be- 
 governed passion of youth 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 risque to my 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 205 
 
 liealth by a distemper which of all things I dreaded, 
 lliough by great good luck I escaped it. A friendly 
 correspondence as neighbors and old acquaintances 
 had continued between me and Mrs. Read'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 consulted in their affairs, wherein I sometimes 
 was of service. I piti'd poor Miss Read's unfortunate 
 situation, who was generally dejected, seldom cheer- 
 ful, and avoided company. I considered my giddi- 
 ness and inconstancy when in London as in a great 
 degree the cause of her unhappiness, tho'the mother 
 was good enough to think the fault more her own than 
 mine, as she had prevented our marrying before I 
 went thither, and persuaded the other match in my 
 absence. Our mutual affection was revived, but 
 there were now great objections to our union. The 
 match was indeed looked upon as invalid, a preced- 
 ing wife being said to be living in England ; but 
 this could not easily be prov'd, because of the dis- 
 tance ; and, tho' there was a report of his death, it 
 was not certain. Then, tho' it should be true, he 
 had left many debts, which his successor might be 
 call'd upon to pay. We ventured, however, over 
 all these difficulties, and I took her to wife, Sep- 
 tember 1st, 1730. None of the inconveniences 
 happened that we had apprehended ; she proved a 
 good and faithful helpmate, assisted me much by 
 attending the shop ; we throve together, and have 
 ever mutually endeavor'd to make each other 
 
2o6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 happ3'. Thus I corrected that great erratuin as 
 well as I could.* 
 
 * Mrs. Franklin survived her marriage over forty years. She died 
 December 19, 1774. She seems to have been a sensible woman and 
 a devoted wife. Franklin's correspondence abounds with evidence 
 that their union was a happy one, and in a letter to Miss Catharine Ray, 
 afterwards wife of Gov. Green of Rhode Island, who sent him some 
 cheese, he alludes to his wife in a way to reveal the ripened affection 
 which subsisted between them. Sparks, vol. vii. p. 92 : 
 
 " Mrs. Franklin was very proud that a young lady should have bO 
 much regard for her old husband as to send him such a present. We 
 talk of you every time it comes to table. She is sure you are a sensible 
 girl, and a notable housewife, and talks of bequeathing me to you as a 
 legacy ; but I ought to wish you a better, and hope she will live these 
 hundred years ; for we are grown old together, and if she has any faults, 
 I am so used to them that I don't perceive them. As the song says : 
 
 " ' Some faults we have all, and so has my Joan, 
 But then they're exceedingly small ; 
 And, now I'm growni used to them, so like my own, 
 I scarcely can see them at all. 
 
 My dear friends, 
 I scarcely can see them at all.' 
 
 " Indeed I begin to think she has none, as I think of you. And since 
 she is willing I should love you as much as you are willing to be loved 
 by me, let us join in wishing the old lady a long life and a happy." 
 
 The author here quotes a stanza from one of his own " Songs," written 
 for the Junto. It has been printed in Professor McVickar's Life 0/ Di. 
 Samuel Bard : 
 
 " My Plain Country Joan ; A Song. 
 
 ' Of their Chloes and Phyllises poets may prate, 
 
 I sing my plain country Joan, 
 These twelve years my wife, still the joy of my life. 
 Blest day that I made her my own. 
 
 ' Not a word of her face, ot her shape, or her air. 
 
 Or of flames or of darts you shall hear ; 
 1 beauty admire, but virtue I prize, 
 J'hat fades not in seventy yeai". 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 20/ 
 
 About this time, our club meeting, not at a tavern, 
 but in a little room of Mr. Grace's, set apart for that 
 purpose, a proposition was made by me, that, since 
 our books were often referr'd to in our disquisitions 
 upon the queries, it might be convenient to us to 
 have them altogether where we met, that upon oc- 
 casion they might be consulted ; and by thus club- 
 bing our books to a common library, we should, 
 while we lik'd to keep them together, have each of 
 us the advantage of using the books of all the othei 
 members, which would be nearly as beneficial as if 
 
 "Am I loaded with care, she takes off a large share ; 
 That the burden ne'er makes me to reel ; 
 Does good fortune arrive, the joy of my wife 
 Quite doubles the pleasure I feel. 
 
 " She defends my good name, even when I'm to blame, 
 Firm friend as to man e'er was given ; 
 Her compassionate breast feels for all the distressed, 
 Which draws do%\Ti more blessings from heaven. 
 
 " In health a companion delightful and dear. 
 Still easy, engaging, and free ; 
 In sickness no less than the carefulest nurse, 
 As tender as tender can be. 
 
 " In peace and good order my household she guides. 
 Right careful to save what I gain ; 
 Yet cheerfully spends, and smiles on the friends 
 I've the pleasure to entertain. 
 
 " Some faults have we all, and so has my Joan, 
 But then they're exceedingly small ; 
 And, now I 'mi grown used to them, so like my own, 
 I scarcely can see them at all. 
 
 " Were the finest young princess, with millions in purs? 
 To be had in exchange for my Joan, 
 I could not get better wife, might get a worse, 
 So I'll stick to my dearest old Joan " — Ed. 
 
2o8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 each owned the whole. It was lik'd and agreed 
 to, and we fiU'd one end of the room with such 
 books as we could best spare. The number was 
 not so great as we expected ; and tho' they had 
 been of great use, yet some inconveniences occur- 
 ring- for want of due care of them, the collection, 
 after about a year, 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 shil- 
 lings each to begin with, and ten shillings a year for 
 fifty years, the term our company was to continue. 
 We afterwards obtain'd a charter, the company 
 bcinir increased 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 continually increasing. These 
 libraries have improved the general conversation 
 of the Americans, made the common tradesmen and 
 farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other 
 countries, and perhaps have contributed in some 
 degree to tlie stand so generally made throughout 
 the colonies in defence of their privileges. 
 
 Mem". Thus far was written with the intention 
 express'd in the beginning and therefore contains 
 several little family anecdotes of no importance to 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 209 
 
 Others. What follows was written many years after 
 in compliance with the advice contain'd in these 
 letters, and accordingly intended for the pubhc. 
 The affairs of the Revolution occasion'd the inter- 
 ruption. 
 
Letter from Mr. Ah el yames, with Notes of my 
 Life {received in Paris). 
 
 " ly /T Y Dear and Honored Friend: I have 
 J^VX often been desirous of writing to thee, but 
 could not be reconciled to the thought, that the 
 letter might fall into the hands of the British, lest 
 some printer or busy-body should publish some part 
 of the contents, and give our friend pain, and my- 
 self censure. 
 
 " Some time since there fell into my hands, to 
 my great joy, about twenty-three sheets in thy own 
 handwritiiig, containing an account of the pa- 
 rentage and life of thyself, directed to thy son, end- 
 ing in the year 1730, with which there were notes, 
 likewise in thy writing ; a copy of which I inclose, 
 
 in hopes it may be a means, if thou continued it 
 210 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 211 
 
 up to a later period, that the first and latter pare 
 may be put together ; and if it is not yet continued, 
 I hope thee will not delay it. Life is uncertain, 
 as the preacher tells us ; and what will the world 
 say if kind, humane, and benevolent Ben. Franklin 
 should leave his friends and the world deprived of 
 so pleasing and profitable a work ; a work which 
 would be useful and entertaining not only to a few, 
 but to millions ? The influence writings under that 
 class have on the minds of youth is very great, and 
 has nowhere appeared to me so plain, as in our 
 public friend's journals. It almost insensibly leads 
 the youth into the resolution of endeavoring to be- 
 come as good and eminent as the journalist. Should 
 thine, for instance, when published (and I think it 
 could not fail of it) , lead the youth to equal the in- 
 dustry and temperance of thy early youth, what a 
 blessing with that class would such a work be ! I 
 know of no character living, nor many of them put 
 together, who has so much in his power as thyself 
 to promote a greater spirit of industry and early 
 attention to business, frugality, and temperance with 
 the American youth. Not that I think the work 
 would have no other merit and use in the world, far 
 from it ; but the first is of such vast importance that 
 I know nothing that can equal it." 
 
 The foregoing letter and the minutes accompany- 
 ing it being shown to a friend, I received from him 
 the following : 
 
213 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 Letter fr 07)1 Mr. Bc7tja7nin Vaiighan, 
 
 "Paris, yanuarj' ^i, 1783. 
 
 **My Dearest Sir : When I had read over youi 
 sheets of minutes of the principal incidents of your 
 life, recovered for you by your Quaker acquaintance, 
 1 told you I would send you a letter expressing my 
 reasons why I thought it would be useful 10 com- 
 plete and publish it as he desired. Various con- 
 cerns have for some time past prevented this letter 
 being written, and I do not know whether it was 
 worth any expectation ; happening to be at leisure, 
 however, at present, I shall by writing, at least, in- 
 terest and instruct myself; but as the terms I am 
 inclined to use may tend to offend a person of your 
 manners, I shall only tell you how I would address 
 any other person, who was as good and as great as 
 yourself, but less diffident. I would say to him, Sir, 
 I solicit the history of your life from the following 
 motives : Your histor}" is so remarkable, that if you 
 do not give it, somebody else w^ill certainly give it ; 
 and perhaps so as nearly to do as much harm, as 
 your own management of the thing might do good. 
 It will moreover present a table of the internal 
 circumstances of your country, which will very 
 much tend to invite to it settlers of virtuous and 
 manly minds. And considering the eagerness with 
 which such information is sought by them, and the 
 extent of your reputation, I do not know of a more 
 efficacious advertisement than your biography \n ould 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 213 
 
 give. All that has happened to you is also con- 
 nected witli the detail of the manners and situation 
 of a rising people ; and in this respect I do not 
 think that the writings of Cassar and Tacitus can be 
 more interesting to a true judge of human nature 
 and society. But these, sir, are small reasons, in 
 my opinion, compared with the chance which your 
 life will give for the forming of future great men ; 
 and in conjunction with your Art of Virtue (which 
 you design to publish) of improving the features of 
 private character, and consequently of aiding all 
 happiness, both public and domestic. The two 
 works I allude to, sir, will in particular give a noble 
 rule and example of self-education. School and 
 other education constantly proceed upon false prin- 
 ciples, and show a clumsy apparatus pointed at a 
 false mark ; but your apparatus is simple, and the 
 mark a true one ; and while parents and young 
 persons are left destitute of other just means of 
 estimating and becoming prepared for a reasonable 
 course in life, your discovery that the thing is in 
 many a man's private power, will be invaluable ! 
 Influence upon the private character, late in life, 
 is not only an influence late in life, but a weak in- 
 fluence. It is in youth that we plant our chief habits 
 and prejudices ; it is in youth that we take our party 
 as to profession, pursuits and matrimony. In youth, 
 therefore, the turn is given ; in youth the eaucation 
 even of the next generation is given ; in youth the 
 private and public character is determined ; and the 
 
214 AuroBiOGRAPnr of 
 
 term of life extending but from youth to age, life 
 ought to begin well from youth, and more especially 
 before we take our party as to our principal objects. 
 But your biography will not merely teach self- 
 education, but the education of a wise man ; and 
 the wisest man will receive lights and improve his 
 progress, by seeing detailed the conduct of another 
 wise man. And why are weaker men to be de- 
 prived of such helps, when we see our race has 
 been blundering on in the dark, almost without a 
 guide in this particular, from the farthest trace of 
 time? Show then, sir, how^ much is to be done, 
 both to sons and fathers ; and invite all wise men to 
 become like yourself, and other men to become wise. 
 When we see how cruel statesmen and warriors can 
 be to the human race, and how absurd distinguished 
 men can be to their acquaintance, it will be in- 
 structive to observe the instances multiply of pacific, 
 acquiescing manners ; and to find how compatible 
 it is to be great and domestic, enviable and yet good- 
 humored. 
 
 *'The little private incidents which you will also 
 have to relate, will have considerable use, as we 
 want, above all things, rules of prudence in ordinary 
 affairs ; and it will be curious to see how you have 
 acted in these. It will be so far a sort of key to 
 life, and explain many things that all men ought to 
 have once explained to them, to give them a chance 
 of becoming wise by foresight. The nearest thing 
 to having experience of one's own, is to have other 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 21 5 
 
 people's affairs brought before us in a shape that is 
 interesting ; this is sure to happen from your pen ; 
 our affairs and management will have an air of sim- 
 plicit}' or importance that will not fail to strike ; and 
 I am convinced you have conducted them with as 
 much originality as if you had been conducting dis- 
 cussions in politics or philosophy ; and what more 
 worthy of experiments and system (its importance 
 and its errors considered) than human life? 
 
 <* Some men have been virtuous blindly, others 
 have speculated fantastically, and others have been 
 shrewd to bad purposes ; but you, sir, I am sure, 
 will give under your hand, nothing but what is at 
 the same moment, wise, practical and good. Your 
 account of yourself (for I suppose the parallel I am 
 drawing for Dr. Franklin, will hold not only in 
 point of character, but of private history) will show 
 that you are ashamed of no origin ; a thing the 
 more important, as you prove how little necessary 
 all origin is to happiness, virtue, or greatness. As 
 no end likewise happens without a means, so we 
 shall find, sir, that even you yourself framed a plan 
 by which you became considerable ; but at the same 
 time we may see that though the event is flattering, 
 the means are as simple as wisdom could make 
 them ; that is, depending upon nature, virtue, thought 
 and habit. Another thing demonstrated will be 
 the propriety of every man's waiting for his time for 
 appearing upon the stage of the world. Our sen- 
 sations being very mucii fixed to the moment, we 
 
2l6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 are apt to forget that more moments are to follow 
 the first, and consequently that man should arrange 
 his conduct so as to suit the whole of a life. Your 
 attribution appears to have been applied to your life, 
 and the passing moments of it have been enlivened 
 with content and enjoyment, instead of being tor- 
 mented with foolish impatience or regrets. Such a 
 conduct is easy for those who make virtue and them- 
 selves in countenance by examples of other truly 
 great men, of whom patience is so often the charac- 
 teristic. Your Quaker correspondent, sir (for here 
 again I will suppose the subject of my letter resem- 
 bling Dr. Franklin), praised your frugality, dili- 
 gence and temperance, which he considered as a 
 pattern for all 3^outh ; but it is singular that he 
 should have forgotten your modesty and your dis- 
 interestedness, without which you never could have 
 waited for your advancement, or found your situa- 
 tion in the mean time comfortable ; which is a strong 
 lesson to show the poverty of glory and the importance 
 of regulating our minds. If this correspondent had 
 known the nature of your reputation as well as I 
 do, he w^ould have said, Your former writings and 
 measures would secure attention to your Biography, 
 and Art of Virtue ; and your Biograph}^ and Art of 
 Virtue, in return, would secure attention to them. 
 This is an advantage attendant upon a various cha- 
 racter, and w^hich brings all that belongs to it into 
 greater play ; and it is the more useful, as perhaps 
 more persons are at a loss for the means of improv- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 21/ 
 
 ing theii minds and characters, than they are for 
 the time or the incHnation to do it. But there is 
 one concluding reflection, sir, that will shew the 
 use of your life as a mere piece of biography. This 
 style of writing seems a little gone out of vogue, 
 and yet it is a very useful one ; and your specimen 
 jf it may be particularly serviceable, as it will make 
 a subject of comparison with the lives of various public 
 cut-throats and intriguers, and with absurd monastic 
 self-tormentors or vain literary triflers. If it encour- 
 ages more writings of the same kind with your own, 
 and induces more men to spend lives fit to be written, 
 it will be worth all Plutarch's Lives put together. 
 But being tired of figuring to myself a character 
 of which every feature suits only one man in the 
 world, without giving him the praise of it, I shall 
 end my letter, my dear Dr. Franklin, with a per- 
 sonal application to your proper self. I am earn- 
 estly desirous, then, my dear sir, that you should 
 let the world into the traits of your genuine cha- 
 racter, as civil broils may otherwise tend to disguise 
 or traduce it. Considering your great age, the 
 caution of your character, and your peculiar style 
 of thinking, it is not likely that any one besides 
 yourself can be sufficiently master of the facts of 
 your life, or the intentions of your mind. Besides 
 all this, the immense revolution of the present 
 period, will necessarily turn our attention towards 
 the author of it, and when virtuous principles have 
 been pretended in it, it will be highly important to 
 
 19 K 
 
2l8 AUTOBIOGRAPlir OF 
 
 shew that such have really influenced ; and, as your 
 own character \\ ill be the principal one to receive a 
 scrutiny, it is proper (even for its effects upon your 
 vast and rising country, as well as upon England 
 and upon Europe) that it should stand respectable 
 and eternal. For the furtherance of human happi- 
 ness, I have always maintained that it is necessary 
 to prove that man is not even at present a vicious 
 and detestable animal ; and still more to prove that 
 good management may greatly amend him ; and it 
 is for much the same reason, that I am anxious to 
 see the opinion established, that there are fair cha- 
 racters existing among the individuals of the race ; 
 for the moment that all men, without exception, 
 shall be conceived abandoned, good people will 
 cease efforts deemed to be hopeless, and perhaps 
 think of taking their share in the scramble of life, 
 or at least of making it comfortable principally for 
 themselves. Take then, my dear sir, this w^ork 
 most speedily into hand : shew yourself good as 
 you are good ; temperate as you are temperate ; and 
 above all things, prove yourself as one, who from 
 your infancy have loved justice, liberty and concord, 
 in a way that has made it natural and consistent for 
 you to have acted, as we have seen you act in the 
 last seventeen years of your life. Let Englishmen 
 be made not only to respect, but even to love you. 
 When they think w^ell of individuals in your native 
 country, they will go nearer to thinking well of 
 your country ; and when your countrymen see them- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 219 
 
 selves well thought of by Englishmen, they will go 
 nearer to thinking well of England. Extend your 
 views even further ; do not stop at those who speak 
 the English tongue, but after having settled so many 
 points in nature and politics, think of bettering the 
 whole race of men. As I have not read any part 
 of the life in question, but know only the character 
 that lived it, I write somewhat at hazard. I am 
 sure, however, that the life and the treatise I allude 
 to (on the Art of Virtue) will necessarily fulfil the 
 chief of my expectations ; and still more so if you 
 take up the measure of suiting these performances to 
 the several views above stated. Should they even 
 prove unsuccessful in all that a sanguine admirer of 
 yours hopes from them, you will at least have framed 
 pieces to interest the human mind ; and whoever 
 gives a feeling of pleasure that is innocent to man, 
 has added so much to the fair side of a life otherwise 
 too much darkened by anxiety and too much injured 
 by pain. In the hope, therefore, that you will 
 listen to the prayer addressed to you in this letter, I 
 beg to subscribe myself, my dearest sir, etc., etc., 
 ** Signed, Benj. Vaughan." 
 
 Continuation of the Account of my Life^ begun at 
 Passy^ near Paris., i7^4' 
 It is some time since I receiv'd the above letters, 
 but I have been too busy till now to think of com- 
 
220 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 plyin.T with the request they contain. It might, too, 
 be much better done if I were at home among my 
 papers, which would aid my memory, and help to 
 ascertain dates ; but my return being uncertain, and 
 having just now a little leisuie, I will endeavor to 
 recollect and write v/haf: I can ; if I live to get home, 
 it may there be corrected and improv'd. 
 
 Not having any copy here of what is already wTit- 
 ten, I know not whether an account is given of the 
 means I used to establish the Philadelphia public 
 library, w^hich, from a small beginning, is now be- 
 come so considerable, though I remember to have 
 come dow'n to near the time of that transaction 
 (1730). I will therefore begin here w^ith an account 
 of it, which may be struck out if found to have been 
 already given. 
 
 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 Philad'a the printers w^ere indeed stationers ; 
 they sold only paper, etc., almanacs, ballads, and a 
 few common school-books. Those who lov'd read- 
 ing were oblig'd to send for their books from Eng- 
 land ; the members of the Junto had each a few. 
 We had left the alehouse, where we first met, and 
 hired a room to hold our club in. I propos'd 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 become a common benefit, each 
 of us being at liberty to borrow such as he wish'd 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 221 
 
 to read at home. This was accordingly done, and 
 for some time contented us. 
 
 Finding the advantage of this little collection, I 
 propos'd to render the benefit from 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 skilful conveyancer, Mr. 
 Charles Brockden, to put the whole in form of arti- 
 cles of agreement to be subscribed, by which each 
 subscriber engag'd to pay a certain sum down for 
 the first purchase of books, and an annual contribu- 
 tion for increasing 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 trades- 
 men, willing to pay down for this purpose forty 
 shillings each, and ten shillings per annum. On 
 this little fund we began. The books were im- 
 ported ; the library was opened one day in the 
 week for lending to the subscribers, on their pro- 
 missory 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 donations ; read- 
 ing became fashionable; and our people, having 
 no publick amusements to divert their attention from 
 study, became better acquainted with books, and in 
 a few years were observ'd by strangers to be better 
 instructed and more intelligent than people of the 
 same rank generally are in other countries. 
 
 19* 
 
222 AUTOB/OGRAPJir OF 
 
 When we were about to sign the above-mentioned 
 articles, which were to be binding on us, our heirs, 
 etc., for fift}' years, Mr. Brockden, the scrivener, 
 said to us, " You are young men, but it is scarcely 
 probable that any of you will live to see the expira- 
 tion of the term fix'd in the instrument." A num- 
 ber of us, however, are yet living ; but the instru- 
 ment was after a few years rendered null by a 
 charter that incorporated and gave perpetuity to the 
 compan3^* 
 
 The objections and reluctances I met with in so- 
 liciting the subscriptions, made me soon feel the im- 
 propriety of presenting one's self as the proposer of 
 any useful project, that might be suppos'd to raise 
 one's reputation in the smallest degree above that of 
 one's neighbors, when one has need of their assist- 
 ance to accomplish that project. I therefore put 
 myself as much as I could out of sight, and stated it 
 as a scheme of a niimhe^' of friends^ who had re- 
 quested me to go about and propose it to such as 
 they thought lovers of reading. In this way my 
 affair went on more smoothly, and I ever after 
 practis'd it on such occasions ; and, from my Ire- 
 quent successes, can heartily recommend it. The 
 present little sacrifice of your vanity will afterwards 
 he amply repaid. If it remains a while uncertain 
 
 * This library was founded in 1731, and incorporated in 1742. By the 
 addition made to it of the library left by Mr. James Logan, and by an- 
 nual purchases, the Philadeli)hia Library now numbers between 70,00c 
 and JSc-occ volumes. — Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 223 
 
 to whom the merit belongs, some one more vain 
 than yourself will 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 improve- 
 ment by constant study, for which I set apart an 
 hour or two each day, and thus repair'd in some 
 degree the loss of the learned education my father 
 once intended for me. Reading was the only amuse- 
 ment I allow'd myself. I spent no time in taverns, 
 games, or frolicks of any kind ; and my industry in 
 my business continu'd as indefatigable as it was 
 necessar}^ I was indebted for my printing-house : 
 I had a young family coming on to be educated, and 
 I had to contend wdth for business two printers, 
 who were established in the place before me. My 
 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, " Seest 
 thou a man diligent in his calling, he shall stand 
 before kings, he shall not stand before mean men," 
 I from thence considered industry as a means of 
 obtaining wealth and distinction, w^hich encourag'd 
 me, tho' I did not think that I should ever liter- 
 
 * This was a wise application of one of the most cynical precepts of 
 Ovid in his banishment : " Crede jni/ii, bene qui latitit bene vixit.'''' This 
 line was subsequently adopted as his motto by the illustrious author 
 of the Cartesian philosophy. — Tristia Elej^ia, iv. 2^ — Ed. 
 
224 AUTOBIOURAPIir OF 
 
 ally stand before kings ^ which, however, has since 
 happened ; for I have stood before Jive^ and even 
 had tlie honor of sitting down with one, the King 
 of Denmark, to dinner. 
 
 We have an English proverb that says, ^'He that 
 wotdd thrive^ must ask his wife.''^ It was lucky for 
 me that I had one as much dispos'd to industry and 
 frugality as myself. She assisted me cheerfully in 
 my business, folding and stitching pamphlets, tend- 
 ing shop, purchasing old linen rags for the paper- 
 makers, etc. , etc. We kept no idle servants, our table 
 was plain and simple, our furniture of the cheapest. 
 For instance, my breakfast was a long time bread 
 and milk (no tea), and I ate it out of a twopenny 
 earthen porringer, with a pewter spoon. But mark 
 how luxury will enter families, and make a progress, 
 in spite of principle : being call'd 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 three-and-twenty shillings, for 
 which she had no other excuse or apology to make, 
 but that she thought her husband deserv'd a silver 
 spoon and China bowl as well as any of his neigh- 
 bors. This was the first appearance of plate and 
 China in our house, which afterward, in a course of 
 years, as our wealth increas'd, augmented gradu- 
 ally to several hundred pounds in value. 
 
 I had been religiousl}^ educated as a Presbyte- 
 rian ; and tho' some of the dogmas of that persua- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 225 
 
 sion, such as the eternal decrees of God^ election, 
 reprobation^ etc.^ appeared to me unintelligible, 
 others doubtful, and I early absented myself from 
 the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being my 
 studying day, I never was without some religious 
 principles. I never doubted, for instance, the ex- 
 istence of the Deity ; that he made the world, and 
 govern'd it by his Providence ; that the most accept- 
 able sei-vice of God was the doing good to man ; 
 that our souls are immortal ; and that all crime will 
 be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or 
 hereafter. These I esteem'd the essentials of every 
 religion ; and, being to be found in all the religions 
 w^e had in our country, I respected them all, tho' 
 with different degrees of respect, as I found them 
 more or less mix'd with other articles, which, with- 
 out any tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm 
 morality, serv'd 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, 
 induc'd me to avoid all discourse that might tend to 
 lessen the good opinion another might have of his 
 own religion ; and as our province increas'd in 
 people, and new places of worship were continually 
 wanted, and generally erected by voluntary contri- 
 bution, my mite for such purpose, whatever mighl 
 be the sect, was never refused. 
 
 Tho' I seldom attended any public w^orship, I had 
 still an opinion of its propriety, and of its utility 
 when rightly conducted, and I regular^ paid m}' 
 
226 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 annual subscription for the support of the only Pres- 
 byterian minister or meeting we had in Philadelphia. 
 He us'd to visit me sometimes as a friend, and ad- 
 monish me to attend his administrations, and I was 
 now and then prevail'd on to do so, once for five 
 Sundays successively. Had he been in my opinion 
 a good preacher, perhaps I might have continued, 
 notwithstanding the occasion I had for the Sunday's 
 leisure in my course of study ; but his discourses 
 were chiefly either polemic arguments, or explica- 
 tions 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 
 enforc'd, 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 of Philippians, ^^ Finally^ brethren^ 
 whatsoever things are trtie, honest, jiLst, -pure, 
 lovely^ or of good report, if there he any virtue, 
 or any praise, think on these things.'''' And I 
 imagin'd, in a sermon on such a text, we could not 
 miss of having some morality. But he confin'd 
 himself to five points only, as meant by the apostle, 
 viz. : I. Keeping holy the Sabbath day. 2. Being 
 diligent in reading the holy Scriptures. 3. Attend- 
 ing duly the publick worship. 4. Partaking of the 
 Sacrament. 5. Paying a due respect to God's 
 ministers. These miglit be all good things ; 
 but, as they were not the kind of good things 
 that I expected from that text, I despaired of ever 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 22] 
 
 meeting with them from any other, was disgusted. 
 and attended his preaching no more. I had some 
 years before compos'd a little Liturgy, or form of 
 prayer, for my own private use (viz., in 1728), en- 
 titled. Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion. I 
 return'd to the use of this, and went no more to the 
 public assemblies. My conduct might be blame- 
 able, but I leave it, without attempting further to 
 excuse it ; my present purpose being to relate facts, 
 and not to make apologies for them.* 
 
 It was about this time I conceiv'd the bold and 
 arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. 1 
 wish'd to live without committing any fault at any 
 time ; I would conquer all that either natural incli- 
 nation, 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 
 
 * Giving some advice to his daughter Sarah, in a letter \\Titten on the 
 eve of his departure for England in 1764, the Doctor refers more at 
 length to the subject of church ministration. He writes : 
 
 " Go constantly to church, whoever preaches. The act of devotion in 
 the common prayer-book is your principal business there, and, if pro- 
 perly attended to, will do more towards amending the heart than ser- 
 mons generally can do. For they were composed by men of much 
 greater piety and wisdom than our common composers of sermons can 
 pretend to be ; and therefore I wish you would never miss the prayer 
 days ; yet I do not mean you should despise sermons even of the 
 preachers you dislike, for the discourse is often much better than the 
 man, as sweet and clear waters come through very dirty earth. I am 
 the more particular on this head as you seemed to express a little before 
 1 came away, some inclination to leave our church, which I would not 
 have you do." — Ed. 
 
228 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had 
 imagined. While my care was employ 'd in guard- 
 ing against one fault, I was often surprised by an- 
 other ; habit took the advantage of inattention ; in- 
 clination was sometimes too strong for reason. I 
 concluded, at length, that the mere speculative con- 
 viction that it was our interest to be completely vir- 
 tuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping ; 
 and that the contrary habits must be broken, and 
 good ones acquired and established, before we can 
 have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude 
 of conduct. For this purpose I therefore contrived 
 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. Tem- 
 perance, for example, was by some confined to eat- 
 ing and drinking, while by others it was extended 
 to mean the moderating every other pleasure, appe- 
 tite, inclination, or passion, bodily or mental, even 
 to our avarice and ambition. I propos'd to myself, 
 for the sake of clearness, to use rather more names, 
 with fewer ideas annex'd to each, than a few names 
 with more ideas ; and I included under thirteen 
 names of virtues all that at that time occurr'd to me 
 AS necessary or desirable, and annexed to each a 
 short precept, which fully express'd the extent I 
 gave to its meaning. 
 
 These names of virtues, with their precepts were : 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 229 
 
 I. Temperance. 
 Eat not to dullness ; drink not to elevation. 
 
 2. Silence. 
 
 Speak not but what may benefit others or your 
 self: avoid trifling conversation. 
 
 3. Order. 
 
 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; /". ^., waste nothing. 
 
 6. Industry. 
 
 Lose no time ; be always employ'd in somethmg 
 useful ; cut off all unnecessary actions. 
 
 7. Sincerity. 
 
 Use no hurtful deceit ; think innocently and justly 
 and, if you speak, speak accordingly. 
 
 8. Justice. 
 
 Wiong none by doing injuries, or omitting the 
 
 benefits that are your auty . 
 20 
 
230 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 9. Moderation. 
 
 Avoid extreams ; forbear resenting injuries so 
 much as you think they deserve. 
 
 10. Cleanliness. 
 
 Tolerate no uncleanHness in bodv, cloaths, or 
 habitation. 
 
 11. Tranquillity. 
 
 Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents com- 
 mon or unavoidable. 
 
 12. Chastity. 
 
 Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, 
 never to dulness, w^eakness, or the injury of your 
 own or another's peace or reputation. 
 
 13. Humility. 
 Imitate Jesus and Socrates. 
 
 My intention being to acquire the habitude of all 
 :hese virtues, I judg'd it would be well not to dis- 
 tract my attention by attempting the whole at once, 
 but to 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 thro' the thirteen ; 
 and , as the previous acquisition of some might facili- 
 tate the acquisition of certain others, I arrang'd 
 them with that view, as they stand above. Tem- 
 perance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and 
 clearness of head, which is so necessary where con- 
 stant vigilance was to be kept up, and guard main- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 23 1 
 
 tained against the unremitting attraction of ancient 
 habits, and the force of perpetual temptations. Thi^ 
 being acquir'd and estabHsh'd, Silence would be 
 more easy ; and my desire being to gain knowledge 
 at the same time that I improv'd in virtue, and con- 
 sidering that in conversation it was obtain'd rather 
 by the use of the ears than of the tongue, and there- 
 fore wishing to break a habit I was getting into of 
 prattling, punning, and joking, which only made me 
 acceptable to trifling company, I gave Silence the 
 second place. This and the next, Order ^ I ex- 
 pected would allow me more time for attending to 
 my project and my studies. RcsohUio7i^ once be- 
 come habitual, would keep me firm in my endeavors 
 to obtain all the subsequent virtues ; Fi'ugality and 
 Industry freeing me from my remaining debt, and 
 producing afiluence 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 exami- 
 
 * The verses here referred to are thus given as Englished from the 
 version of Hierocles : 
 
 " In this place you should collect together the sense of all the fore- 
 going precepts, that so giving heed to them as to the laws of God in the 
 inward judicature of the soul, you may make a just examination of what 
 you have done well or ill. For how will our remembrance reprehend us 
 for doing ill, or praise us for doing well, unless the preceding meditation 
 receive some laws, according to which the whole tenor of our life should 
 be ordered, and to which we should conform the very private recesses 
 of conscience all our lives long ? He requires also that this examina- 
 tion be daily repeated, that by continual returns of recollection we may not 
 be deceived in our judgment. The time which he recommends for this 
 work is about even or bed-time, that we may conclude the action of the day 
 
2^2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 nation would be necessar}^ I contrived the following 
 method for conducting that examination. 
 
 with the judgment of conscience, making the examination of our con 
 versation an evening song to God. Wherein have I transgressed i 
 What have I done ? What duty have I omitted ? So shall we meas irt 
 our lives by the rules above mentioned, if to the law of the mind we 
 join the judgment of reason. 
 
 " What then does the law of the mind say ? That we should honor 
 the more excellent natures according to their essential order, that we 
 should have our parents and relations in high esteem, love and embrace 
 good men, raise ourselves above corporeal affections, everywhere stand 
 in awe of ourselves, carefully observe justice, consider the frailty of 
 riches and momentary life, embrace the lot which falls to us by divine 
 judgment, delight in a divine frame of spirit, convert our mind to what 
 is most excellent, love good discourses, not lie open to impostures, not 
 be servilely affected in the possession of virtue, advise before action to 
 prevent repentance, free ourselves from uncertain opinions, live with 
 knowledge, and lastly, that we should adapt our bodies and the things 
 without to the exercise of virtue. These are the things which the law- 
 giving mind has implanted in the souls of men, which when reason ad- 
 mits, it becomes a most vigilant judge of itself, in this manner. Wherein 
 have I transgressed ? what have I done t and if afterwards she finds her- 
 self to have spent the whole day agreeably to the foregoing rules, she is 
 rewarded with a divine complacency. And if she find anything done 
 amiss, she corrects herself by the restorative of an after admonition. 
 
 " Wherefore he would have us keep off sleep by the readiness and 
 alacrity of reason. And this the body will easily endure, if temperately 
 dieted it has not contracted a necessity of sleeping. By which means 
 even our most natural appetites are subjected to the empire of reason. 
 
 " Do not admit sleep (says he) till you have examin'd every action of 
 the day. And what is the form of examination ? Wherein have I trans- 
 gress'd i" what have I done ? what duty have I omitted ? For we sin 
 two ways. By doing what we should not, and by not doing what we 
 should. For 'tis one thing not to do well, and another thing to commit 
 evil. One is a sin of omission, and the other of connnission. 
 
 " For instance, 'tis our duty to pray, but not to blaspheme; to nourii:b 
 our parents but not to revile them. He that does the former of these 
 does what he ought, he that does the latter what he ought not. Though 
 there is a.:; much guilt in a sin of omission as in a sin of commission. 
 
 ** He exhorts also that we proceed methodically in our examination 
 
3EJSJAMIN FRANKLIN. 233 
 
 I made a little book, in which I allotted a page 
 for each of the virtues. I rul'd each page with red 
 ink, so as to have seven columns, one for each day 
 of the week, marking each column witli a letter for 
 the day. I cross'd these columns with thirteen red 
 lines, marking 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 fault I found upon examination to have 
 been committed respecting that virtue upon that 
 day.* 
 
 from the beginning to the end, leaving nothing out in the middle, which 
 is implied by the word, runover. For oftentimes change of order deceives 
 the judgment, and makes us favorable to our ill actions through dis- 
 order of memoiy. Besides, a daily recollection of our actions begets 
 care and studiousness of conversation, and a sense of our immortality. 
 And this is worth our admiration, that when he bid us recollect every- 
 thing, yet he added not, Wherein have I done well ? or what duty have 
 I pcrform'd ? But he turn'd the memory to what was a less occasion of 
 pride, requiring a scrutiny only of our sins. And as for the judge, he 
 has constituted that which is most just and impartial, and most intimate 
 and domestick, the conscience, right reason, or a man's self, which he 
 had before caution'd us to stand in awe of above all things. For 
 who can so admonish another as every man can himself .'' For he 
 that is at his own liberty will use the freedom of nature, and shake off 
 the admonitions of others, when he is not minded to follow them. But 
 reason, which is within us, cannot chuse but hear itself. God has set 
 this over us as a guardian, instructor and schoolmaster. And this the 
 verse makes the judge of the day's action, acquiesces in its determina- 
 tion whether it condemns or approves itself For when it reads over 
 what is done in the register of memory, then, looking to the exemplar of 
 the law, it pronounces itself worthy of honor or dishonor. This course, 
 if daily follow'd, perfects the divine image in them that use it, leading 
 them by additions and subtractions to the beauty of virtue, and all attain- 
 able perfection. For here end the instructions about civil virtue."— Ed. 
 * This "little book" is dated ist of July, 1733.— W. T. F. 
 20* 
 
234 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 Form of the pages. 
 
 TEMPERANCE. 
 
 EAT NOT TO DULNESS ; 
 DRINK NOT TO ELEVATION. 
 
 
 S. 
 
 M. 
 
 T. ! w. 
 
 T. 
 
 F. 
 
 S. 
 
 T. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 S. 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 o. 
 
 * * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 R. 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 F. 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 I. 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 
 S. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 J. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 T. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 H. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 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 the least 
 offence against Temperance^ leaving the other vir- 
 tues to their ordinary chance, onl}^ marking every 
 evening the faults of the day. Thus, if in the first 
 week I could keep my first line, marked T, clear of 
 spots, I suppos'd the habit of that virtue so much 
 strengthen'd, and its opposite weaken'd, 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 go 
 thro' a course compleat in thirteen weeks, and four 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 235 
 
 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 accomplish'd the first, proceeds to 
 a second, so I should have, I hoped, the encourag- 
 ing pleasure of seeing on my pages the progress I 
 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 my little book had for its motto these lines 
 from Addison's Cato: 
 
 " Here will I hold. If there's a power above us 
 (And that there is, all nature cries aloud 
 Thro' all her works), He must delight in virtue ; 
 And that which he delights in must be happy." 
 
 Another from Cicero, 
 
 '* O vitae Philosophia dux ! O virtutum indagatrix expultrixque vitio- 
 rum ! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati 
 est anteponendus." 
 
 Another from the Proverbs of Solomon, speaking 
 of wisdom or virtue : 
 
 " Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and 
 honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are 
 peace." iii. 16, 17. 
 
 And conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, 
 I thought it right and necessary to solicit his assist- 
 ance for obtaining it ; to this end I formed the 
 
zi6 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 following little prayer, which was prefix'd to my 
 tables of examination, for daily use. 
 
 " O powerful Goodness ! bountiful Fat/ier ! merciful Guide ! Increase 
 in me that wisdom which discovers viy truest interest. Strengthen my 
 resolutions to perforni what that wisdom dictates. Accept my kind offices 
 to thy other childroi as the only return in my power for thy conti7iual 
 favours to w^." 
 
 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 fill my soul 
 With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure ; 
 Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss !" 
 
 The precept of Order requiring that every -part 
 of my business should have its allotted time, one 
 page in my little book contain'd the following 
 scheme of employment for the twenty-four hours of 
 a natural day. 
 
 The Morning. 
 Question. What good shall I 
 do this day ? 
 
 Noon. 
 
 81 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 II 
 
 12 
 
 Rise, wash, and address /Vw- 
 erful Goodness ! Contrive day's 
 business, and take the resolution 
 of the day ; prosecute the pre- 
 sent study, and breakfast 
 
 Work. 
 
 1.1 
 
 Read, or overlook 
 counts, and dine. 
 
 Work. 
 
 my ac- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 -^^^l 
 
 Evening. 
 Question. What good 
 done to-dav ? 
 
 have I 
 
 ' 6^ 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 . 9. 
 
 ■ lO" 
 
 II 
 
 Put things in their places. 
 Supper, Music or diversion, 
 or conversation. Examination 
 of the day. 
 
 Night. 
 
 
 12 
 2 
 
 3 
 . 4. 
 
 - Sleep. 
 
 I enter'd upon the execution of this plan for self- 
 examination, and continu'd it with occasional inter- 
 missions for some time. I was surpris'd to find 
 myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined ; 
 but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish. 
 To avoid the trouble of renewing now and th.n my 
 little book, 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 transferr'd my 
 tables and precepts to the ivory leaves of a memo- 
 randum book, on which the lines were drawn with 
 red ink, that made a durable stain, and on those 
 lines I mark'd my faults with a black-lead pencil, 
 which marks I could easily wipe out with a wel 
 sponge. After a while I went thro' one course only 
 in a year, and afterward only one in several years, 
 till at length I omitted them entirely, being employed 
 m 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 ; 
 
238 AUTOBIOCRAPIir OF 
 
 and I found that, tho' it miglit be practicable where 
 a man's business was such as to leave him the dis- 
 position of his time, that of a journeyman printer, 
 for instance, it was not possible to be exactly ob- 
 served 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., I found extreamly difficult to acquire. 
 1 had not been early accustomed to it, and, having 
 an exceeding good memory, I was not so sensible 
 of the inconvenience attending w^ant of method. 
 This article, therefore, cost me so much painful at- 
 tention, and my faults in it vexed me so much, and I 
 made so little progress in amendment, and had such 
 frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give 
 up the attempt, and content myself with a faulty 
 character in that respect, like the man w^ho, in buy- 
 ing an ax of a smith, my neighbour, 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 turn'd, w^hile the smith 
 press'd 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 w^ent on, and 
 at lencrth would take his ax as it was, without far- 
 ther grinding. "No," said the smith, "turn on, 
 turn on ; we shall have it bright by-and by ; as yet, 
 it is only speckled." " Yes," says the man, " hut I 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 239 
 
 thiiih I like a speckled ax best.^^ And I believe this 
 may have been the case with many, who, having, 
 for want of some such means as I employ'd, 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 speckled 
 ax was best;'' for something, that pretended to be 
 reason, was every now and then suggesting to me 
 that such extream nicety as I exacted of m^^self 
 might be a kind of foppery in morals, which, if it 
 were knowm, would make me ridiculous ; that a 
 perfect character might be attended with the incon- 
 venience of being envied and hated ; and that a 
 benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, 
 to keep his friends in countenance. 
 
 In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect 
 to Order: and now^ I am grown old, and my me- 
 mory bad, I feel very sensibly the want of it. But, 
 on the whole, tho' I never arrived at the perfection 
 I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far 
 short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and 
 a happier man than I otherwise should have been 
 if I had not attempted it ; as those who aim at per- 
 fect writing by imitating the engraved copies, tho' 
 they never reach the wish'd-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 ow'd the constant felicity of his life, 
 
240 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 down to his 79th year,* in which this is written. 
 What reverses may attend the remainder is in the 
 hand of Providence ; but, if they arrive, the reflec- 
 tion on past happiness enjoy'd ought to help his 
 bearing them with more resignation. To Tempe- 
 rance 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 citi- 
 zen, and obtained for him some degree of reputation 
 among the learned ; to Sincerity and Justice, the 
 confidence of his country, and the honorable em- 
 ploys it conferred upon him ; and to the joint influ- 
 ence 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 cheerfulness in con- 
 versation, which makes his company still sought 
 for, and agreeable even to his younger acquaint- 
 ance. I hope, therefore, that some of my descend- 
 ants may follow the example and reap the benefit. 
 
 It w^ill be remark'd that, tho' my scheme was not 
 wholly w^ithout 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 m} 
 method, and that it might be serviceable to people 
 in all religions, and intending some time or other to 
 
 * This was written, therefore, in 1785, the year the Doctor returned 
 'rom Paris. — Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 24 1 
 
 publish it, I would not have any thing in it that 
 should prejudice any one, of any sect, against it. 
 I purposed writing a little comment on each, virtue, 
 in which I would have shown the advantages of 
 possessing it, and the mischiefs attending its oppo- 
 site vice ; and I should have called my book The 
 Art of Virtue,* because it would have shown the 
 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 only without showing to the naked 
 and hungry how or where they might get clothes or 
 victuals, 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 
 did, indeed, from time to time, put down short hints 
 of the sentiments, reasonings, etc., 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 my life, and public business since, have 
 occasioned my postponing it ; for, it being con- 
 nected in my mind with a great and extensive pro- 
 ject, that required the whole man to execute, and 
 which an unforeseen succession of employs pre- 
 vented my attending to, it has hitherto remain'd 
 unfinish'd. 
 
 * Nothing so likely to make a man's fortune as \\xX\\e.—Marg. note. 
 21 L 
 
242 AUrOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 In this piece it was my design to explain and 
 enforce this doctrine, that vicious actions are not 
 hurtful because they are forbidden, but forbidden 
 because they are hurtful, the nature of man alone 
 considered ; that it was, therefore, every one's in- 
 terest to be virtuous who wish'd 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, w^ho have 
 need of honest instruments for the management of 
 their affairs, and such being so rare), have endea- 
 vored to convince young persons that no qualities 
 were so likely to make a poor man's fortune as those 
 of probity and integrity. 
 
 M}^ list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve ; 
 but a Quaker friend having kindly informed me that 
 I was generally thought proud ; that my pride 
 show'd itself frequently in conversation ; that I was 
 not content with being in the right when discussing 
 any point, but was overbearing, and rather insolent, 
 of which he convinc'd me by ir.cntioning several 
 instances ; I determined endeavouring to cure myself, 
 if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and 
 I added Humility to my list, giving an extensive 
 meaning to the word. 
 
 I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the 
 reality of this virtue, but I had a good deal with 
 regard to the a^fearance of it. I made it a rule to 
 forbear all direct contradiction to the sentiments of 
 others, and all positive assertion of my own. I even 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 243 
 
 forbid myself, agreeably to the old laws of our 
 Junto, the use of every word or expression in the 
 language that imported a fix'd opinion, such as 
 certainly^ jindouhtedly ^ etc., and I adopted, instead 
 of them, / conceive^ I apprehend, or / imagine a 
 thing to be so or so ; or it so a^fears to fue at pre- 
 sent. When another asserted something that I 
 thought an error, I deny'd myself the pleasure of 
 contradicting him abruptly, and of showing imme- 
 diately some absurdity in his proposition ; and in 
 answering I began by observing that in certain cases 
 or circumstances his opinion would be right, but in 
 the present case there afpear'd or seemed to me 
 some difference, etc. I soon found the advantage 
 of this change in my manner ; the conversations I 
 engag'd in went on more pleasantly. The modest 
 way in which I propos'd my opinions procur'd them 
 a readier reception and less contradiction ; I had 
 less mortification when I was found to be in the 
 wrong, and I more easily prevail'd with others to 
 give up their mistakes and join with me when I 
 happened to be in the right. 
 
 And this mode, which I at first put on with some 
 violence to natural inclination, became at length so 
 easy, and so habitual to me, that perhaps for these 
 fifty years past 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 proposed new institutions, or altera- 
 
244 AUrOBIOGRAPlir. 
 
 tions 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 hesi- 
 tation in my choice of words, hardl}^ correct in lan- 
 guage, and yet I generally carried my points. 
 
 In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural 
 passions so hard to subdue as -pride. Disguise it, 
 struggle with it, beat it down, 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! could 
 conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should 
 probably be proud of my humility. 
 
 ■"Thus far written at Passy, 1784.] 
 
[^^ I am now about to write at home, August ^ 
 
 1788, but can not have the helj> expected Jrom 
 my -pafe^'s^ 7nany of them being lost in the war. 
 I have, however, found the following. ^''~\ * 
 
 HAVING mentioned a great and extensive 
 ■project which I had conceiv'd, it seems pro- 
 per that some account should be here given of that 
 project and its object. Its first rise in my mind ap- 
 pears in the following little paper, accidentally pre- 
 serv'd, viz. : 
 
 Observations on my reading history, in Library, 
 May 19th, 1731. 
 
 "That the great affairs of the world, the wars, 
 revolutions, etc., are carried on and effected by 
 parties. 
 
 * This is a marginal memorandum. — Ed. 
 21* 245 
 
246 AUTOniOGRAPUT OF 
 
 *' That the view of these parties is their present 
 general interest, or what they take to be such. 
 
 " That the different views of these different par 
 ties 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 gain'd its general 
 point, each member becomes intent upon his par- 
 ticular interest ; which, thwarting others, breaks 
 that, party into divisions, and occasions more con- 
 fusion. 
 
 " That few in public affairs act from a meer view 
 of the good of their country, whatever they may 
 pretend ; and, tho' their actings bring real good to 
 their country, yet men primarily considered that 
 their own and their country's interest was united, 
 and 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 me at present to be great occa- 
 sion for raising a United Party for Virtue, by form- 
 ing the virtuous and good men of all nations into a 
 regular body, to be govern'd by suitable good and 
 wise rules, which good and wise men may probably 
 be'more unanimous in their obedience to, than com- 
 mon people are to common laws. 
 
 "I at present think that whoever attempts this 
 aright, and is well qualified, can not fail of pleasing 
 God, and of meeting with success. B. F." 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 247 
 
 Revolving this project in my mind, as to be under- 
 taken hereafter, when my circumstances should 
 afford me the necessary leisure, I put down from 
 time to time, on pieces of paper, such thoughts as 
 occurr'd 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 every thing that might shock the professors of 
 any religion. It is express'd 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 of 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 only 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 be- 
 fore-mention'd model ; that the existence of such a 
 society should be kept a secret, till it was become 
 
 * In the Middle Ages, Franklin, if such a phenomenon as Franklin 
 were possible in the Middle Ages, would probably have been the founder 
 of a monastic order. — Ed. 
 
248 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 considerable, to prevent solicitations for the admis- 
 sion of improper persons, but that the members 
 should each of them search among his acquaintance 
 for ingenuous, well-disposed youths, to whom, with 
 prudent caution, the scheme should be gradually 
 communicated ; that the members should engage to 
 afford their advice, assistance, and support to each 
 other in promoting one another's interests, business, 
 and advancement in life ; that, for distinction, we 
 should be call'd The Society of the Free and Easy : 
 free, as being, by the general practice and habit 
 of the virtues, free from the dominion of vice ; and 
 particularly b}- the practice of industry and frugality, 
 free from debt, which exposes a man to confinement, 
 and a species of slavery to his creditors. 
 
 This is as much as I can now recollect of the 
 project, except that I communicated it in part to two 
 young men, who adopted it with some enthusiasm ; 
 but my then narrow circumstances, and the neces- 
 sity I was under of sticking close to my business, 
 occasion'd my postponing the further prosecution 
 of it at that time ; and my multifarious occupations, 
 public and private, induc'd me to continue postpon- 
 ing, so that it has been omitted till I have no longer 
 strength or activity left sufficient for such an enter 
 prise ; tho' I am still of opinion that it was a practi- 
 cable scheme, and might have been ver}^ 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 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 249 
 
 man of tolerable abilities may work great changes, 
 and accomplish great affairs among mankind, if he 
 first forms a good plan, and, cutting off all amuse- 
 ments or other employments that would divert his 
 attention, makes the execution of that same plan his 
 sole study and business. 
 
 In 1732 I first publish'd my Almanack, under the 
 name of Richard Saunders ; it was continu'd by 
 me about twenty-five years, commonly call'd Poor 
 Richard's Almanac. I endeavor'd to make it both 
 entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to 
 be m such demand, that I reap'd considerable profit 
 from it, vending annually near ten thousand.* And 
 observing that it was generally read, scarce any 
 
 * The advertisement to the first number of this the most celebrated 
 of Ahiianacs was printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette on the 19th of 
 December, 1732. Though appearing thus late in the season, three 
 editions of No. i were sold before the end of January. The advertise- 
 ment ran as follows : 
 
 "Just published, for 1733, An Almanack, containing the Lunations, 
 Eclipses, Planets' Motions and Aspects, Weather, Sun and Moon's 
 Rising and Setting, High Water, etc. ; besides many pleasant and witty 
 Verses, Jests, and Sayings ; Author's Motive of Writing ; Prediction of 
 the Death of his Friend, Mr. Titan Leeds ; Moon no Cukold ; Bache- 
 lor's Folly ; Parson's Wine and Baker's Pudding ; Short Visits ; Kings 
 and Bears ; New Fashions ; Game for Kisses ; Katherine's Love ; Dif- 
 feient Sentiments ; Signs of a Tempest ; Death of a Fisherman ; Con- 
 jagal Debate ; Men and Melons ; The Prodigal ; Breakfast in Bed ; 
 Oyster Law-suit, etc. By Richard Saunders, Philomat. Printed and 
 Sold by B. Franklin." 
 
 For a more full and detailed account of this most famous of Alma- 
 nacs, and for an explanation of the unique position which it acquired 
 in the literature of the world, see infra, Chap. VII., p. 572. — Ed. 
 
250 AUTOBIOGRAPIII' OF 
 
 neighborhood in the province being without it, I 
 consider'd it as a proper vehicle for conveying in- 
 struction among the common people, who bought 
 scarcely any other books ; I therefore filled all tlie 
 little spaces that occurr'd 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 difficult for a man in want, to 
 act always honestly, as, to use here one of those 
 proverbs, // is hard for an emfty sack to stand tip- 
 right. 
 
 These proverbs, which contained the wisdom of 
 many ages and nations, I assembled and form'd into 
 a connected discourse prefix'd to the Almanack of 
 1757, as the harangue of a wise old man to the 
 people attending an auction. The bringing all 
 these scatter'd counsels thus into a focus enabled 
 them to make greater impression. The piece, being 
 universally approved, was copied in all the news- 
 papers of the Continent ; reprinted in Britain on a 
 broad side, to be stuck up in houses ; two transla- 
 tions 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 
 Pennsylvania, 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. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 25 1 
 
 I considered my newspaper, also, as another 
 means of communicating instruction, and in that 
 view frequently reprinted in it extracts from the 
 Spectator, and other moral writers ; and sometimes 
 publish'd little pieces of my own, which had been 
 first compos'd for reading in our Junto. Of these 
 are a Socratic dialogue, tending to prove that, what- 
 ever 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 contrary inclinations. 
 These may be found in the papers about the begin- 
 ning of 1735. 
 
 In the conduct of my newspaper, I carefully ex- 
 cluded all libelling and personal abuse, which is of 
 late years become so disgraceful to our country. 
 Whenever I was solicited to insert any thing 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 distri- 
 bute himself, but that I w^ould not take upon me to 
 spread his detraction ; and that, having contracted 
 with my subscribers to furnish them with what might 
 be either useful or entertaining, I could not fill their 
 papers with private altercation, in which they had 
 no concern, without doing them manifest injustice 
 
252 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 Now, many of our printers make no scruple of grati- 
 fying the malice of individuals by false accusations 
 of the fairest characters among ourselves, augment- 
 ing 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, 
 w^hich may be attended wdth 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 pro- 
 fession by such infamous practices, but refuse stead- 
 ily, 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 Charles- 
 ton, South Carolina, where a printer was wanting. 
 I furnish'd 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 learning, and 
 honest but ignorant in matters of account; and, tho' 
 he sometimes made me remittances, I could get no 
 account from him, nor any satisfactory state of our 
 partnership while he lived. On his decease, the 
 business was continued by his widow, who, being 
 born and bred in Holland, where, as I have been 
 inform'd, the knowledge of accounts makes a part 
 of female education, she not only sent me as clear a 
 state as she could find of the transactions past, bu 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 253 
 
 continued to account with the greatest regularity 
 and exactness every quarter afterwards, and managed 
 the business with such success, that she not only 
 brought up reputably a family of children, but, at 
 the expiration of the term, was able to purchase cf 
 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 
 females, 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 imposition of crafty men, and enabling them to 
 continue, perhaps, a profitable mercantile house, 
 with establish'd 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 3^ear 1734 there arrived among us from 
 Ireland a young Presbyterian preacher, named 
 Hemphill, who delivered with a good voice, and 
 apparently extempore, most excellent discourses, 
 which drew together considerable numbers of dif- 
 ferent persuasions, who join'd 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 religious stile are 
 called good works. Those, however, of our con- 
 gregation, who considered themselves as orthodox 
 Presbyterians, disapprov'd his doctrine, and were 
 
 join'd by most of the old clergy, who arraign'd 
 
 22 
 
254 AUTODIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 him of heterodoxy before the synod, in order to 
 have him silenc'd. I became his zealous partisan, 
 and contributed all I could to raise a party in his 
 favour, and we combated for him a w^hile with some 
 hopes of success. There was much scribbling pro 
 and con upon the occasion ; and finding that, tho' 
 an elegant preacher, he was but a poor writer, T 
 lent him my pen and wrote for him two or three 
 pamphlets, and one piece in the Gazette of April, 
 1735- Those pamphlets, as is generally the case 
 with controversial writings, tho' eagerly read at the 
 time, were soon out of vogue, and I question whe- 
 ther 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 search, he found 
 that part quoted at length, in one of the British 
 Reviews, from a discourse of Dr. Foster's. This 
 detection gave many of our party disgust, who 
 accordingly abandoned his cause, and occasion'd 
 our more speedy discomfiture in the synod. I stuck 
 by him, however, as I rather approv'd his giving us 
 good sermons compos'd by others, than bad ones of 
 his own manufacture, tho' the latter was the practice 
 of our common teachers. He afterward acknow- 
 ledg'd to me that none of those he preach'd were his 
 own ; adding, that his memory was such as enabled 
 him to retain and repeat any sermon after one read- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 2$$ 
 
 ing onl}^ On our defeat, he left us in search else- 
 where of better fortune, and I quitted the congrega- 
 tion, never joining it after, tho' I continu'd many 
 years my subscription for the support of its min- 
 isters. 
 
 J 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 with ease. I then under- 
 took the Italian. An acquaintance, who was also 
 learning it, us'd often to tempt me to play chess with 
 him. Finding this took up too much of the time I 
 had to spare for study, I at length refus'd to play 
 any more, unless on this condition, that the victor 
 in every game should have a right to impose a task, 
 either in parts of the grammar to be got by heart, 
 or in translations, etc., which tasks the vanquished 
 was to perform upon honour, before our next meet- 
 ing. As we play'd pretty equally, we thus beat one 
 another into that language. I afterwards with a 
 little painstaking, acquir'd 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 sur- 
 priz'd to find, on looking over a Latin Testament, 
 that I understood so much 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 
 
256 AUTOBlOGRAPlir OF 
 
 success, as those preceding languages had greatly 
 smooth'd my way. 
 
 From these circumstances, I have thought that 
 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 acquir'd 
 that, it will be more easy to attain those modern 
 languages which are deriv'd from it ; and yet we do 
 not begin with the Greek, in order more easily to 
 acquire the Latin. It is true that, if you can clamber 
 and get to the top of a staircase without using the 
 steps, you will more easily gain them in descending ; 
 but certainly, if you begin with the lowest you will 
 with more ease ascend to the top ; and I would 
 therefore offer it to the consideration of those who 
 superintend the education of our youth, whether, 
 since many of those who begin with the Latin quit 
 the same after spending some years without hav- 
 ing made any great proficiency, and what they 
 have learnt becomes almost useless, so that their 
 time has been lost, it would not have been better 
 to have begun with the French, proceeding to the 
 Italian, etc. ; for, tho', 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 com- 
 mon life.* 
 
 * It may be doubted whether any thing more wise than this has been 
 written upon the much-vexed question ^o which it relates. The au- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 257 
 
 After ten 3'ears' absence from Boston, and having 
 become easy in my circumstances, I made a journey 
 thither to visit my relations, which I could not sooner 
 well afford. In returning, I call'd at Newport to 
 see my brother, 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 his health, and requested of me 
 that, in case of his death, which he apprehended 
 not far distant, I would take home his son, then but 
 
 thority of Franklin, the most eminently practical man of his age, in favor 
 of reserving the study of the dead languages until the mind has reached 
 a certain maturity, is confirmed by the confession of one of the most 
 eminent scholars of any age. 
 
 " Our seminaries of learning," says Gibbon, " do not exactly correspond 
 with the precept of a Spartan king, ' that the child should be instructed in 
 the arts which will be useful to the man ;' since a finished scholar may 
 emerge from the head of Westminster or Eton, in total ignorance of the 
 business and conversation of English gentlemen in the latter end of 
 the eighteenth century. But these schools may assume the merit of 
 teaching all that they pretend to teach, the Latin and Greek languages : 
 they deposit in the hands of a disciple the keys of two valuable chests ; 
 nor can he complain, if they are afterwards lost or neglected by his 
 own fault. The necessity of leading in equal ranks so many unequal 
 powers of capacity and application, will prolong to eight or ten years 
 the juvenile studies, which might be despatched in half that time by the 
 skilful master of a single pupil. Yet even the repetition of exercise 
 and discipline contributes to fix in a vacant mind the verbal science of 
 grammar and prosody : and the private or voluntary student, who 
 possesses the sense and spirit of the classics, may offend, by a false 
 quantity, the scrupulous ear of a well-flogged critic For myself, I must 
 be content with a very small share of the civil and literary fi-uits of a 
 public school. In the space of two years (1749, 1750), interrupted by 
 danger and debility, I pamfully climbed into the third form ; and my 
 riper age was left to acquire the beauties of the Latin and the rudiments 
 of the Greek tongue." — Ed. 
 22* 
 
258 AUrOBlOGRAPIir OF 
 
 ten years of age, and bring him up to the printing 
 business. This I accordingly perform'd, sending 
 him a few years to school before I took him into the 
 office. His mother carried on the business till he 
 was grown up, when I assisted him with an assort- 
 ment 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 I had depriv'd 
 him of by leaving him so early. 
 
 In 1736 I lost one of m}^ sons, a fine boy of four 
 years old, by the small-pox, taken in the common 
 wa3^ I long regretted bitterly, and still regret 
 that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This 
 I mention for the sake of parents who omit that 
 operation, on the supposition that the}^ should nevei 
 forgive themselves if a child died under it ; my ex- 
 ample showing that the regret may be the same 
 either way, and that, therefore, the safer should be 
 chosen. 
 
 Our club, the Junto, was found so useful, and 
 afforded such satisfaction to the members, that se- 
 veral were desirous of introducing their friends, 
 which could not well be done without exceeding 
 what we had settled as a convenient number, viz., 
 twelve. We had from the beginning made it a rule 
 to keep our institution a secret, which was pretty 
 well observ'd ; the intention was to avoid applica- 
 tions of improper persons for admittance, some of 
 whom, perhaps, we might find it difficult to refuse. 
 I was one of those who were against any addition 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 259 
 
 to our number, but, instead of it, made in writing a 
 proposal, that every member separately should en- 
 deavor to form a subordinate club, with the same 
 rules respecting queries, etc., and without informing 
 them of the connection with the Junto. The advan- 
 tages 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 de- 
 sire, and was to report to the Junto what pass'd in 
 his separate club ; the promotion of our particular 
 interests in business by more extensive recommen- 
 dation, and the increase of our influence in public 
 affairs, and our power of doing good by spreading 
 thro' the several clubs the sentiments of the Junto. 
 
 The project was approv'd, and every member 
 undertook to form his club, but they did not all suc- 
 ceed. Five or six only were compleated, which 
 were called by different names, as the Vine, the 
 Union, the Band, etc. They were useful to them- 
 selves, and afforded us a good deal of amusement, 
 information, and instruction, besides answering, in 
 some considerable degree, our views of influencing 
 the public opinion on particular occasions, of which 
 I shall give some instances in course of time as 
 they happened. 
 
 My first promotion was m}' being chosen, in lys^* 
 clerk of the General Assembly. The choice was 
 made that year without opposition ; but the year 
 
26o AUTOBIOGRAPH7' OF 
 
 following, when I was again propos'd (the choice, 
 like that of the members, being annual), a new 
 member made a long speech against me, in order to 
 favour some other candidate. I was, however, 
 chosen, which was the more agreeable to me, as, 
 besides the pay for the immediate service as clerk, 
 the place gave me a better opportunity of keeping 
 up an interest among the members, which secur'd 
 to me the business of printing the votes, laws, paper 
 money, and other occasional jobbs 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 edu- 
 cation, with talents that were likely to give him, in 
 time, great influence in the House, which, indeed, 
 afterwards happened. I did not, however, aim at 
 gaining his favour 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 he would do me the favour of lending 
 it to me for a few days. He sent it immediately, 
 and I return'd it in about a week with another note, 
 expressing strongh' my sense of the favour. 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 
 •nie on all occasions, so that we became great 
 friends, and our friendship continued to his death. 
 
/>ENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 26 1 
 
 This is another instance of the truth of an old maxim 
 I had learned, which says, ^'■He that has once done 
 you a kindness will be nioi'c ready to do you an- 
 other, than he whom you yourself have obliged ^ 
 And it shows how much more profitable it is pru- 
 dently to remove, than to resent, return, and con- 
 tinue mimical proceedings. 
 
 In 1737, Colonel Spotswood, late governor of 
 Virginia, and then postmaster-general, being dis- 
 satisfied with the conduct of his deputy at Philadel- 
 phia, respecting some negligence in rendering, and 
 inexactitude of his accounts, took from him the 
 commission and offered it to me. I accepted it 
 readily, and found it of great advantage ; for, tho' 
 the salary was small, it facilitated the correspond- 
 ence that improv'd my newspaper, increas'd the 
 number demanded, as well as the advertisements to 
 be inserted, so that it came to afford me a consider- 
 able income. My old competitor's newspaper de- 
 clin'd proportion ably, and I was satisfy 'd without 
 retaliating his refusal, w^iile postmaster, to permit 
 my papers being carried by the riders. Thus he 
 suffer'd greatly from his neglect in due accounting ; 
 and I mention it as a lesson to those young men who 
 may be employ'd in managing affairs for others, 
 thav they should always render accounts, and make 
 remittances, with great clearness and punctuality. 
 The character of observing such a conduct is the 
 most powerful of all recommendations to new em- 
 ployments and increase of business. 
 
262 AUTOBIOGRAPUr OF 
 
 I began now to turn my thoughts a httle to public 
 affairs, beginning, however, with small matters. 
 The cit}- watch was one of the lirst things that 1 
 conceiv'd to want regulation. It was managed by 
 the constables of the respective wards in turn ; the 
 constable warned a number of housekeepers to at- 
 tend him for the night. Those who chose never to 
 attend, paid him six shillings a year to be excus'd, 
 which was suppos'd to be for 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 respect- 
 able 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 Junto, representing 
 these irregularities, but insisting more particularly 
 on the inequality of this six-shilling tax of the con- 
 stables, respecting the circumstances of those who 
 paid it, since a poor widow housekeeper, all whose 
 property to be guarded by the w^atch did not per- 
 haps 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 that business ; and as a more equitable way of 
 supporting the charge, the levying a tax that should 
 bo proportion'd to the property. This idea, being 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 263 
 
 approv'd by the Junto, was communicated to the 
 other ckibs, but as arising in each of them ; and 
 though the plan was not immediately carried into 
 execution, yet, by preparing the minds of people for 
 the change, it paved the way for the law obtained a 
 few years after, when the members of our clubs 
 w^ere grown into more influence. 
 
 About this time I wrote a paper (first to be read 
 in Junto, but it was afterward publish'd) 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 much 
 spoken of as a useful piece, and gave rise to a pro- 
 ject, which soon followed it, of forming a company 
 for the more ready extinguishing of fires, and mutual 
 assistance in removing and securing of goods when 
 in danger. Associates in this scheme were presently 
 found, amounting to thirty. Our articles of agree- 
 ment oblig'd every member to keep always in good 
 order, and fit for use, a certain number of leather 
 buckets, with strong bags and baskets (for packing 
 and transporting of goods) , w^hich were to be brought 
 to every fire ; and we agreed to meet once a month 
 and spend a social evening together, in discoursing 
 and communicating such ideas as occurred to us 
 upon the subject of fires, as might be useful 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 
 
264 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 form another, which was accordingly done ; and this 
 w^ent on, one new company being formed after an- 
 other, till they became so numerous as to include 
 most of the inhabitants who were men of property ; 
 and now, at the time of my writing this, tho' up- 
 ward of fifty years since its establishment, that which 
 I first formed, called the Union Fire Company, still 
 subsists and flourishes, tho' the first members are all 
 deceas'd but myself and one, who is older by a year 
 than I am. The small fines that have been paid by 
 members for absence at the monthly meetings have 
 been apply'd to the purchase of fire-engines, lad- 
 ders, fire-hooks, and other useful implements for 
 each company, 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 tw^o houses at a time, and 
 the flames have often been extinguished before the 
 house in which they began has been half consumed.* 
 
 * This fire company was formed Dec. 7, 1736. It was designed pri- 
 marily for the security of the property of its members, though they did 
 not limit their usefulness to their own members when their property was 
 not in danger. The Union Fire Company was in active service as late 
 as 1 791. In a roll of the companies of that day we find it heading the 
 list, having thirty members, one engine, two hundred and fifty buckets, 
 thirteen ladders, two hooks, no bags, and one eighty-foot rope. 
 
 It will be seen by the articles of association which follow, that the 
 aumber of members was restricted to thirty. The applicants in a year 
 •>r two much exceeded this number, and there being no possibility of 
 uniting with it, measures were taken to form a new company, which re- 
 sulted in 1738 in the establishment of the second voluntary fiic company, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 265 
 
 In 1739 arrived among us from Ireland the Rev- 
 erend Mr. Whitefield, who had made himself re- 
 
 "Tht Fellowship," See a series of interesting sketches of the fire ap- 
 paratus and the Philadelphia Fire Department, between the years 1701 
 and 1802, written for the Philadelphia Simday Dispatch, by Thompson 
 Westcott. 
 
 '* Articles of the Union Fire Conipany of Philadelphia^ originally formed 
 
 Dec. 7, 1736. 
 
 " I. That we will each of us, at his own proper charge, provide six 
 leather buckets and two bags, the bags to be made of good ozenburgs or 
 wider linen, whereof each bag shall contain four yards at least, and shall 
 have a running cord near the mouth, which said buckets and bags shall 
 be marked with their own names respectively and company, and shall 
 be kept ready at hand, and shall be applied to no other use than for pre- 
 serving our owTi and our fellow-citizens' houses, goods and effects, in 
 case of fire as aforesaid. 
 
 " II. That if any of us shall neglect to provide his buckets and bags 
 as aforesaid, or when so provided shall neglect to keep them ready for 
 the uses herein mentioned, or shall apply them to any other purpose, he 
 shall forfeit and pay to the clerk for the time being, for the use of the 
 company, the sum of i-8th of a dollar for each bucket or bag misapplied 
 or wanting, except any of them happen to be lost at a fire. 
 
 " III. That if any of the buckets or bags so marked as aforesaid shall 
 be lost or damaged at any fire, the same shall be supplied or repaired 
 out of the stock of the company, provided notice be given thereof to the 
 company within four months after such loss or damage. 
 
 " IV. That we will, all of us, upon hearing of Fire breaking out, im- 
 mediately repair to the same with at least one-half of our buckets and 
 bags, and there exert our best endeavors to extinguish such fire, and 
 preserve the goods and effects of such of us as may be in danger. 
 And if more than one of us shall be in danger at one time, we will divide 
 ourselves with the remainder of our buckets and bags as nearly as may 
 be, to be equally helpful. And to prevent suspicious persons from 
 coming into or carrying any goods out of such houses as may be in 
 danger, two of our members shall constantly attend at the doors until all 
 the goods and effects that can be saved are packed up and carried to a 
 place of safety. And upon hearing the C17 of Fire in the night-time 
 we will immediately cause sufficient lights to be distributed in such parts 
 of the houses of such of our company as may be thought in danger, in 
 23 M 
 
266 AUTOBlOGRAPlir OF 
 
 markable there as an itinerant preacher. He was 
 at first permitted to preach in some of our churches ; 
 but the clergy, taking a dislike to him, soon refus'd 
 him their pulpits, and he was oblig'd to preach in 
 the fields. The multitudes of all sects and denomi- 
 nations that attended his sermons were enormous. 
 
 order to prevent confusion ai d enable their friends to give them more 
 speedy and effectual assistance. And moreover, as this association is 
 intended for a general benefit, we do further agiee, that whenever a 
 Fire breaks out in any part of the city, though none of our houses, goods 
 or effects may be in apparent danger, we will nevertheless repair thither 
 with our buckets and bags as before mentioned, and give our utmost 
 assistance to such of our fellow-citizens as may stand in need of it, in the 
 same manner as if they belonged to this company. 
 
 " V. Provides for eight meetings during the year, and every member 
 shall pay three shillings for his share of the reckoning of the evening. 
 Members not there at the commencement of the evening to pay one 
 shilling ; those not there during the entire evening to pay four shilling. 
 
 "VI. Provides that each of us, in our turns, agreeable to the order 
 of our subscriptions, serve the company as clerk or get some other mem- 
 ber to serve in our stead, whose duty it shall be to inspect the condition 
 of all our buckets, bags, ladders and engine, and make report at each 
 meeting. The article also sets out the duties of the clerk, such as giv- 
 ing notice of meetings, keeping minutes, etc 
 
 "VII. Provides for the election of treasurer and prescribes his duties. 
 
 " VIII. Provides that the company shall not consist of more than 
 thirty members, etc. 
 
 " IX. Provides that each member shall keep a copy of these articles 
 and a list of all the members' names fixed in open view near his buckets, 
 on pain of forfeiture for each, as often as the same is reported to the 
 company. 
 
 " X. Provides that all fines shall be paid to the treasurer for the use 
 of the company. 
 
 " XL That upon the death of any of our company the survivors shall, 
 in time of danger as aforesaid, be aiding and assisting the widow of such 
 decedent during her widowhood, as if her husband had been living — she 
 only keeping her buckets and bags in repair, and causing them to be 
 sent to everv fire aforesaid." — Ed, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 26/ 
 
 and it was matter of speculation to me, who was one 
 of the number, to observe the extraordinary influ- 
 ence of his oratory on his hearers, and how much 
 they admir'd and respected him, notwithstanding 
 his common abuse of them, by assuring them they 
 were naturally half beasts and half devils. It was 
 wonderful to see the change soon made in the 
 manners of our inhabitants. From being thought- 
 less or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if 
 all the world were growing religious, so that one 
 could not walk thro' 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 build- 
 ing of a house to meet in was no sooner propos'd, 
 and persons appointed to receive contributions, but 
 sufficient sums were soon receiv'd to procure the 
 ground and erect the building, which was one hun- 
 dred feet long and seventy broad, about the size of 
 Westminster Hall ; 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 an}- religious persuasion 
 who might desire to say something to the people at 
 Philadelphia ; the design in building not being to 
 accommodate any particular sect, but the inhabitants 
 in general ; so that even if the Mufti of Constanti- 
 nople were to send a missionary to preach Moham- 
 
268 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 medanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his 
 service. 
 
 Mr. Whitefield, in leaving us, went preaching all 
 the way thro' the colonies to Georgia. The set- 
 tlement of that province had lately been begun, but, 
 instead of being made with hardy, industrious hus- 
 bandmen, 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 clear- 
 ing 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 inspir'd 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 preach'd up 
 this charity, and made large collections, for his 
 eloquence had a wonderful powder 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 
 great expense, I thought it would have been better 
 to have built the house here, and brought the chil- 
 dren to it. This I advis'd ; but he was resolute in 
 his first project, rejected my counsel, and I there- 
 fore refus'd to contribute. I happened soon after to 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 269 
 
 attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I 
 perceived he intended to finish with a collection, 
 and I silently resolved 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 coppers. Another stroke of 
 his oratory made me asham'd of that, and deter- 
 min'd me to give the silver ; and he finish'd so 
 admirably, that I empty'd 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 senti- 
 ments respecting the building in Georgia, and sus- 
 pecting a collection might be intended, had, by pre- 
 caution, emptied his pockets before he came from 
 home. Towards the conclusion of the discourse, 
 however, he felt a strong desire to give, and apply'd 
 to a neighbour, who stood near him, to borrow 
 some money for the purpose. The application was 
 unfortunately [made] to perhaps the only man in the 
 company who had the firmness not to be aflected by 
 the preacher. His answer was, '-* At any other 
 time^ F7'iend Uopkinson^ I would lend to thee 
 freely ; hut not now^ for thee seems to he 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 1, who w^as intimately 
 acquainted with him (being employed in printing 
 his Sermons and Journals, etc.), never had the least 
 
 28» 
 
2/0 AUTOBIOGRAPlir OF 
 
 suspicion of his integrity, but am to this day de- 
 cidedly of opinion that he was in all his conduct a 
 perfectly honest man; and methinks my testimony 
 in his favour ought to have the more weight, as we 
 had no religious connection. He us'd, indeed, 
 sometimes to pray for my conversion, but 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 something of 
 the terms on which we stood. Upon one of his 
 arrivals from England at Boston, he wrote to me 
 that he should come soon to Philadelphia, but knew 
 not where he could lodge when there, as he under- 
 stood 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 reply'd, that if I made that kind 
 offer for Christ's sake, I should not miss of a reward. 
 And I returned, '^ Doii't Id lue he mistaken; it was 
 710 1 for Chris fs sake^ htU for yotir sake^ One of 
 our common acquaintance jocosely remark'd, that, 
 knowing it to be the custom of the saints, when 
 they received any favour, to shift the burden of 
 the obligation from off their own shoulders, and 
 place it in heaven, I had contriv'd to fix it on 
 earth. 
 
 The last time T saw Mr. Whitefield was in Lon- 
 don, when he consulted me about his Orphan House 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 2/1 
 
 concern, and his purpose of appropriating it to the 
 establishment of a college. 
 
 He had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his 
 words and sentences so perfectly, that he might be 
 heard and understood at a great distance, especially as 
 his auditories, however numerous, observ'd the most 
 exact silence. He preach'd 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 
 fiU'd with his hearers to a considerable distance. 
 Being among the hindmost in Market-street, I had 
 the curiosity to learn how far he could be heard, by re 
 tiring backwards down the street towards the river ; 
 and I found his voice distinct till I came near Front- 
 street, when some noise in that street obscur'd it. 
 Imagining then a semicircle, of which my distance 
 should be the radius, and that it were fill'd with 
 auditors, to each of whom I allow'd two square feet, 
 I computed that he might well be heard by more 
 than thirty thousand. This reconcil'd me to the 
 newspaper accounts of his having preach'd to 
 twenty-five thousand people in the fields, and to 
 the antient histories of generals haranguing whole 
 armies, of which I had sometimes doubted. 
 
 By hearing him often, I came to distinguish easily 
 between sermons newly compos'd, and those which 
 he had often preach'd in the course of his travels. 
 His delivery of the latter was so improv'd by fre- 
 quent repetitions that every accent, every emphasis, 
 
Z'J2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 every modulation of voice, was so perfectly well 
 turn'd and well plac'd, that, without being interested 
 in the subject, one could not help being pleas'd 
 with the discourse ; a pleasure of much the same 
 kind with that receiv'd from an excellent piece of 
 musick. This is an advantage itinerant preachers 
 have over those who are stationary, as the latter 
 can not 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 expres- 
 sions, and even erroneous opinions, delivered in 
 preaching, might have been afterwards explain'd or 
 qualifi'd by supposing others that might have ac- 
 compani'd them, or they might have been deny'd ; 
 but litera scrij>ta 7nanet. Critics attack'd his writ- 
 ings violently, and with so much appearance of 
 reason as to diminish the number of his votaries and 
 prevent their encrease ; so that I am of opinion if 
 he had never written any thing, he would have left 
 behind him a much more numerous and important 
 sect, and his reputation might in that case have been 
 still growing, even after his death, as there being 
 nothingr of his writingf on which to found a censure 
 and give him a lower character, his proselytes would 
 be left at liberty to feign for him as great a variety 
 of excellences as their enthusiastic admiration might 
 wish him to have possessed. 
 
 My business was now contmually augmenting, 
 and my circumstances growing dail}' easier, my 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 2/3 
 
 newspaper having become very profitable, as being 
 for a time almost the only one in this and the neigh- 
 bouring provinces. I experienced, too, the truth of 
 the observation, " that after getting the first hun- 
 dred -poicnd^ it is more easy to get the second^ 
 money itself being of a prolific nature. 
 
 The partnership at Carolina having succeeded. I 
 was encourag'd to engage in others, and to promote 
 several of my workmen, who had behaved well, by 
 establishing them with 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 3'ears, 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, I think, a good deal to the precaution of 
 having very explicitly settled, in our articles, every 
 thing to be done by or expected from each partner, 
 so that there was nothing to dispute, which precau- 
 tion I would therefore recommend to all wno 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 of the business, etc., which are attended 
 often with breach of friendship and of the connec- 
 tion, perhaps with lawsuits and other disagreeal)le 
 consequences. 
 
2/4 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 I had, on the whole, abundant reason to be satis- 
 fied with my being established in Pennsylvania. 
 There were, however, two things that I regretted, 
 there being no provision for defense, nor for a com- 
 pleat education of youth ; no militia, nor any col- 
 lege. I therefore, in 1743, drew up a proposal for 
 establishing an academy ; and at that time, thinking 
 the Reverend Mr. 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 propri- 
 etaries, which succeeded, declin'd the undertaking; 
 and, not knowing another at that time suitable for 
 such a trust, I let the scheme lie a while dormant. 
 I succeeded better the next year, 1744, in proposing 
 and establishing a Philosophical Society. The 
 paper I wrote for that purpose will be found among 
 my writings, when collected.* 
 
 * The paper here referred to will be found in the 4th vol. of Sparks' 
 Works of Frankliji, p. 14, It bears date the 14th of May, 1743, Old 
 Style. It is entitled, " A proposal for promoting useful knowledge 
 among the British Plantations in America." It commences by speaking 
 of the great extent of the colonial possessions, "having different cli- 
 mates and different soils, producing different plants, mil es, and mine- 
 rals, and capable of different improvements, manufactures," etc. 
 
 It then says : " The first drudgery of settling new colonies, which 
 confines the attention of people to mere necessaries, is now pretty well 
 over ; and there are many in every province in circumstances that set 
 them at ease, and afford leisure to cultivate the finer arts, and improve 
 the common stock of knowledge. To such of these who are men of 
 speculation, many hints must from time to time arise, many obsers-ations 
 occur, which if well examined, pursued, and improved, might produce 
 discoveries to the advantage of some or all of the British Plantations, of 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 2/5 
 
 With respect to defense, Spain having been sev- 
 eral years at war against Great Britain, and being 
 
 to the benefit of mankind in general But as, from the extent of 
 
 the country; sach persons are widely separated, and seldom can see and 
 convgTse or be acquainted with each other, so that many useful particu- 
 lars remain uncommunicated, die with the discoverers, and are lost lo 
 mankind; it is to remedy this inconvenience for the future, proposed — 
 
 "That one society be formed of virtuosi, or ingenious men, residing 
 in the several colonies, to be called The American Philosophical So- 
 ciety, who are to maintain constant correspondence. 
 
 "That Philadelphia, being the city nearest to the centre of the con- 
 tinent colonies, communicating vA^h. all of them northward and south- 
 ward by post, and with all the islands by sea, and having the advantage 
 of a good growing library, be the centre of the Society. 
 
 "That at Philadelphia there be always at least seven members, viz. 
 a physician, a botanist, a mathematician, a chemist, a mechanician, a 
 geographer, and a general natural philosopher, besides a president, trea 
 surer, and secretary. 
 
 " That these members meet once a month, or oftener, at their own 
 expense, to communicate to each other their observations and experi 
 ments ; to receive, read, and consider such letters, communications, or 
 queries as shall be sent from distant members ; to direct the dispersing 
 of the copies of such communications as are valuable, to other distant 
 members, in order to procure their sentiments thereupon." 
 
 Then follows an enumeration, made with some detail, of the subjects 
 on which it was proposed that the Society should be occupied : includ- 
 ing investigations in botany ; in medicine ; in mineralogy and mining ; 
 in mathematics ; in chemistry ; in mechanics ; in arts, trades, and 
 manufactures ; in geography and topography ; in agriculture ; and " all 
 philosophical experiments that let light into the nature of things, tend 
 to increase the power of man over matter, and multiply the conveniences 
 or pleasures of life." 
 
 The circular proposes that " a correspondence be kept up with the 
 Royal Society of London, and the Dublin Society ; that abstracts of 
 the communications be sent quarterly to all the members ; and that, 
 at the end of every year, collections be made and printed of such expe- 
 riments, discoveries, and improvements, as may be thought of public 
 advantage." 
 
 The duties of the secretary are particularly laid down, and they are 
 
276 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 at length join'd by France, which brought us into 
 great danger ; and the laboured and long-continued 
 
 very arduous ; requiring that he attend to all the correspondence, 
 " abstract, correct, and methodize such papers as require it, and as 
 he shall be directed to do by the president, after they have been con- 
 sidered, debated, and digested in the Society ; to enter copies thereof' 
 in the Society's books, and make out copies for distant members." 
 And after enumerating these difficult duties, the circular closes by 
 saying: 
 
 " Benjamin Franklin, the writer of this proposal, oifers himself to 
 acrve the Society as their secretary, till they shall be provided with 
 one more capable." 
 
 In this projet will be found all the leading features of the present 
 American Philosophical Society. There can be no doubt that from the 
 day when it was proposed the necessary measures for carrying it into 
 execution were taken. Dr. Thomas Bond (himself one of the original 
 members), in an oration delivered before the Society in 1782, says: — 
 " Franklin gradually established many necessary institutions, among 
 which was this Philosopliic.il Society, so early as 1743, when the plan 
 was formed and published, the members chosen, and an invitation given 
 to all ingenious persons to co-operate and correspond with them on the 
 laudable occasion." It is true that Franklin, in his Autobiography, gives 
 the date 1744, saying, "in that year I succeeded in proposing and 
 establishing a Philosophical Society. The paper I wrote for that pur- 
 pose will be found among my writings, if not lost with many others." 
 But Franklin wrote from memory, and the date of the paper referred to, 
 which was doubtless the proposal of 1743, shows that he had made a 
 mistake in the year. 
 
 In a letter to Cadwallader Colden, dated New York, 5th April, 1744, 
 Dr. Franklin ac(iuaints him "that the Society, as far as relates to Phi- 
 ladelphia, was actually formed, and had had several meetings to mutual 
 ^satisfaction." 
 
 In this letter the following list is presented of the original members . 
 
 Dr. Thomas Bond, as Physician. 
 
 Mr. John Bartram. as Botanist 
 
 Mr. Thomas Godfrey, as Mathematician. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Rhoads, as Mechanician. 
 
 Mr. William Parsons, as Geographer. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 2/7 
 
 c^ndeavour of our governor, Thomas, to prevail with 
 our Quaker x\ssembly to pass a mihtia law, and 
 make other provisions for the security of the pro- 
 vince, having proved abortive, I determined to try 
 what might be done by a voluntary association of 
 the people. To promote this, I first wrote and pub- 
 lished a pamphlet, entitled Plain Truth, in w^hich 
 I stated our defenceless situation in strong lights, 
 with the necessity of union and discipline for our 
 defense, and promis'd to propose in a few days an 
 association, to be generally signed for that purpose. 
 The pamphlet had a sudden and surprising effect. 
 I was call'd upon for the instrument of association, 
 and having settled the draft of it with a few friends, I 
 appointed a meeting of the citizens in the large build- 
 ing before mentioned. The house was pretty full ; I 
 had prepared a number of printed copies, and pro- 
 vided pens and ink dispers'd all over the room. I 
 
 Dr. Phineas Bond, as General Natural Philosopher. 
 Mr. Thomas Hopkinson, President 
 Mr. William Coleman, Treasurer. 
 Benjamin Franklin, Secretary. 
 
 Though the American Philosophica] Society was not, strictly speak- 
 ing, the organic continuation of the Junto, there can be no doubt that 
 the plan of establishing it had been often brought before the Junto for 
 consideration, for we know that it was the practice of Franklin, when 
 he had new projects to propose, to have them first discussed in the 
 Club. But a stronger evidence still of the part which they took in form- 
 ing the new institution is presented by the fact that of the nine original 
 members of the Philosophical Society, six, including the three officers, 
 are known to have belonged to the Junto, — namely, Franklin, Hopkin- 
 son, Coleman, Godfrey, Rhoads, and Parsons. — Ed. 
 24 
 
278 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 harangued them a little on the subject, read the 
 paper, and 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, we found above twelve hundred 
 hands ; and, other copies being dispersed in the 
 country, the subscribers amounted at length to up- 
 ward of ten thousand. These all furnished them- 
 selves as soon as they could with arms, formed 
 themselves into companies and regiments, chose 
 their own officers, and met every week to be in- 
 structed in the manual exercise, and other parts of 
 military discipline. The women, by subscriptions 
 among themselves, provided silk colors, which they 
 presented to the companies, painted with different 
 devices and mottos, which I supplied. 
 
 The officers of the companies composing the 
 Philadelphia regiment, being met, chose me for 
 their colonel ; but, conceiving myself unfit, I de- 
 clin'd that station, and recommended Mr. Lawrence, 
 a fine person, and man of influence, who was ac- 
 cordingly appointed. I then propos'd a lottery to 
 defray the expense of building a battery below the 
 town, and furnishing it with cannon. It filled ex- 
 peditiously, and the battery was soon erected, the 
 meilons being fram'd of logs and fill'd with earth. 
 We bought some old cannon from Boston, but, these 
 not being sufficient, we wrote to England for more, 
 soliciting, at the same time, our proprietaries for 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 279 
 
 some assistance, tho' without much expectation of 
 obtaining it. 
 
 Meanwhile, Colonel Lawrence, William Allen, 
 Abram Taylor, Esqr., and myself were sent to 
 New York by the associators, commission'd to bor- 
 row some cannon of Governor Clinton. He at first 
 refus'd us peremptorily ; but at dinner with his coun- 
 cil, where there was great drinking of Madeira wine, 
 as the custom of that place then was, he softened by 
 degrees, and said he would lend us six. After a 
 few more bumpers he advanc'd to ten ; and at length 
 he very good-naturedly conceded eighteen. They 
 were fine cannon, eighteen-pounders, with their car- 
 riages, which we soon transported and mounted 
 on our battery, where the associators kept a nightly 
 guard while the war lasted, and among the rest I 
 regularly took my turn of duty there as a common 
 soldier. 
 
 My activity in these operations was agreeable to 
 the governor and council ; they took me into con- 
 fidence, and I was consulted by them in every mea- 
 sure wherein their concurrence was thought useful 
 to the association. Calling in the aid of religion, 1 
 propos'd to them the proclaiming a fast, to promote 
 reformation, and implore the blessing of Heaven on 
 our undertaking. They embrac'd 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 proclamation. My education in New England, 
 where a fast is proclaimed every 3'ear, was here of 
 
280 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 some advantage : I drew it in the accustomed stile , 
 it was translated into German, printed in both lan- 
 guages, and divulg'd thro' the province. This gave 
 the clergy of the different sects an opportunity of 
 influencing their congregations to join in the asso- 
 ciation, and it would probably have been general 
 among all but Quakers if the peace had not soon 
 interven'd. 
 
 It was thought by some of my 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 gentleman who had likewise some friends 
 in the House, and wished to succeed me as their 
 clerk, acquainted me that it was decided to displace 
 me at the next election ; and he, therefore, in good 
 will, advis'd me to resign, as more consistent wdth 
 my honour than being turn'd 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 offer'd to him. " I 
 approve," says I, "of his rule, and will practice it 
 with a small addition ; I shall never ask, never 
 refuse, nor ever resign an office. If they will have 
 my office of clerk to dispose of to another, the}^ 
 shall take it from me. I will not, by giving it up, 
 lose my right of some time or other making reprisals 
 on my adversaries." I heard, however, no more of 
 this ; I was chosen again unanimously as usual at 
 the next election. Possibly, as they dislik'd my 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 28 1 
 
 late intimacy with the members of council, who 
 had join'd the governors in all the disputes about 
 military preparations, with which the House had 
 long been harass'd, they might have been pleas'd 
 if I w^ould 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 de- 
 fense of the country was not disagreeable to any of 
 them, provided they were not requir'd to assist in 
 it. And I found that a much greater number 
 of them than I could have imagined, tho' against 
 offensive war, were clearly for the defensive. Many 
 pamphlets -pro and con v/ere publish'd on the sub- 
 ject, and some by good Quakers, in favour of de- 
 fense, which I believe convinc'd most of their 
 younger people. 
 
 A transaction in our fire company gave me some 
 insight into their prevailing sentiments. It had been 
 propos'd 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 dispos'd of till the 
 next meeting after the proposal. The company 
 consisted of thirty members, of which twenty-two 
 were Quakers, and eight only of other persuasions. 
 We eight punctually attended the meeting ; but, 
 tho' we thought that some of the Quakers would 
 join us, we were by no means sure of a majority. 
 
 24* 
 
282 AUTOBIOGRAPHY' OF 
 
 Only one Quaker, Mr. James Morris, appear'd to 
 oppose the measure. He expressed much sorrovs 
 that it had ever been propos'd, 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 Fric7ids were against the measure, and out- 
 voted us, we must and should, agreeably to the 
 usage of all societies, submit. When the hour for 
 business arriv'd it was mov'd to put the vote ; he 
 allow'd we might then do it by the rules, 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 two gentlemen below desir'd to speak with 
 me. I went down, and found they were two of our 
 Quaker members. They told me there were eight 
 of them assembled at a tavern just by ; that they 
 were determin'd to come and vote with us if there 
 should be occasion, which they hop'd would not 
 be the case, and desir'd we would not call for iheir 
 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 ma- 
 jority, I went up, and after a little seeming hesita- 
 tion, agreed to a delay of another hour. This Mr. 
 Morris allow'd to be extreamty fair. Not one of his 
 opposing friends appear'd, at which he express'd 
 
n9^ 
 
 (From a painting in possession of the Loganian Library.) 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 283 
 
 great surprize ; and, at the expiration of the hour, 
 we carry 'd the resolution eight to one ; and as, of 
 the twenty-two Quakers, eight were read} to vote 
 with us, and thirteen, by their absence, manifested 
 that they were not inclin'd to oppose the measure, 
 I afterw^ard estimated the proportion of Quakers 
 sincerely against defense as one to twenty-one onl}^ ; 
 for these were all regular members of that society, 
 and in good reputation among them, and had due 
 notice of what was propos'd at that meeting. 
 
 The honorable and learned Mr. Logan, who had 
 always been of that sect, was one who wrote an 
 address to them, declaring his approbation of defen- 
 .sive war, and supporting his opinion by many strong 
 arguments. He put into my hands sixt}^ 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, respect- 
 ing defense. He came over from England, when a 
 young man, with that proprietary, and as his secre- 
 tary. It was war-time, and their ship was chas'd by 
 an armed vessel, suppos'd to be an enemy. Their 
 captain prepar'd for defense ; but told William Penn, 
 and his company of Quakers, that he did not' expect 
 their assistance, and the}- might retire into the cabin, 
 which they did, except James Logan, who chose to 
 sta}^ upon deck, and was quarter'd to a gun. The 
 suppos'd enemy prov'd a friend, so there was no 
 fighting ; but when the secretary went down to com- 
 
284 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 municate the intelligence, William Penn rebuk'd 
 him severely for staying upon deck, and undertak- 
 ing to assist in defending the vessel, contrary to the 
 principles of F^'icnds^ especially as it had not been 
 required by the captain. This reproof, being before 
 all the company, piqu'dthe secretary, who answer'd, 
 *' / being thy sej'va^it^ why did thee not order me 
 to cojiie down P 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, the ma- 
 jority of which were constantly Quakers, gave me 
 frequent opportunities of seeing the embarrassment 
 given them by their principle against war, when- 
 ever application was made to them, by order of the 
 crown, to grant aids for military purposes. They 
 were unwilling to offend government, on the one 
 hand, by a direct refusal ; and their friends, the 
 body of the Qiiakers, on the other, by a compliance 
 contrary to their principles ; hence a variety of eva- 
 sions 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 king'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 was to be invented. As, when powdei 
 was wanting (I think it was for the garrison at 
 Louisburg), and the government of New^ England 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 285 
 
 solicited a grant of some from Pennsilvania, which 
 was much urg'd on the House by Governor Thomas, 
 they could 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 hands of the governor, and appro- 
 priated it for the purchasing of bread, flour, wheat, 
 ox other grain. Some of the council, desirous of 
 giving the House still further embarrassment, ad- 
 vis'd the governor not to accept provision, as not 
 being the thing he had demanded ; but he reply'd, 
 " I shall take the money, for I understand very well 
 their meaning ; other grain is gunpowder," which 
 he accordingly bought, and the}^ never objected 
 to it.* 
 
 It was in allusion to this fact that, when in our 
 nre company we feared the success of our proposal 
 in favour of the lottery, and I had said to m.y friend 
 Mr. Syng, one of our members, " If we fail, let us 
 move the purchase of a* fire-engine with the money ; 
 the Quakers can have no objection to that ; and 
 then, if you nominate me and I you as a committee 
 for that purpose, we will buy a great gun, which is 
 z^x\.2i\rAy "di fire-engine.^'' "I see," says he, "you 
 have improv'd by being so long in the Assembly ; 
 your equivocal project would be just a match for 
 their wheat or other grain.'" 
 
 These embarrassments that the Quakers sufFer'd 
 
 * See the votes. — [Marg. note.] 
 
286 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 from having establish'd and published it as one of 
 their principles tliat no kind of war was lawful, and 
 which, being once published, they could not after- 
 wards, however they might change their minds, 
 easily get rid of, reminds me of what I think a more 
 prudent conduct in another sect among us, that of 
 the Dunkers. I was acquainted with one of its 
 founders, Michael Welfare, soon after it appeared. 
 He complain'd to me that they were grievously 
 calumniated by the zealots of other persuasions, and 
 charg'd 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 imagin'd it might be 
 well to publish the articles of their beliel', and the 
 rules of their discipline. He said that it had been 
 propos'd among them, but not agreed to, for this 
 reason : " When we were first drawn together as a 
 society," says he, " it had pleased God to enlighten 
 our minds so far as to see that some doctrines, 
 which we once 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 farther 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 
 progression, and at the perfection of spiritual or 
 theological knowledge ; and we fear that, if we 
 should once print our confession of faith, we should 
 feel ourselves as if bound and confin'd by it, and 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 28/ 
 
 perhaps be unwilling to receive farther improve- 
 ment, and our successors still more so, as conceiv- 
 ing what we their elders and founders had done, to 
 be something sacred, never to be departed from." 
 
 This modesty in a sect is perhaps a singular in- 
 stance in the history of mankind, every other sect 
 supposing itself in possession of all truth, and that 
 those who differ are so far in the WTong ; like a man 
 traveling 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, tho' 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 de- 
 clining 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 w^arming of rooms, and at the same time sav- 
 ing fuel, as the fresh air admitted 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 grow- 
 ing in demand. To promote that demand > I wrote 
 and published a pamphlet, entitled ^^An Account 
 of the new -invented Pennsylvania Fireplaces : 
 wherein their Constj'tiction and Manner of Opera- 
 
288 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 lion is farticularly explained ; their Advantages 
 above every other Method of warming Rooms dc- 
 nwfistrated ; and all Objections that have been 
 raised against the Use of thcni answered and ob- 
 viated,'' etc. This pamphlet had a good effect. 
 Gov'r. Thomas was so pleas'd with the construction 
 of tliis 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 declin'd 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 be glad of an of- 
 -portunity to serve others by 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 not the only instanc*^ of 
 patents taken out for my inventions by others, cho' 
 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 of this and the 
 neighboring colonies, has been, and is, a great 
 saving of wood to the inhabitants. 
 
 Peace being concluded, and the association busi- 
 ness therefore at an end, I turn'd my thoughts again 
 to the affair of establishing an academy. The first 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 289 
 
 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 pubhsh a pamphlet, 
 entitled Proposals relating to the Edztcatio7i of 
 Youth in Pennsylvania. 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 ; by so dividing it, I 
 judg'd the subscription might be larger, and I be- 
 lieve 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 
 fuhlick-spirited ge7itlemen^ avoiding as much as I 
 could, according to my usual rule, the presenting 
 myself to the publick as the author of any scheme 
 for their benefit. 
 
 The subscribers, to carry the project into imme- 
 diate execution, chose out of their number twenty- 
 four trustees, and appointed Mr. Francis, then at- 
 torney-general, and myself to draw up constitutions 
 for the government of the academy ; which being 
 done and signed, a house was hired, masters en- 
 gag'd, 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 intention to build, 
 
 25 N 
 
290 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 when Providence threw into our way a hirge house 
 ready built, which, with a few aUerations, might 
 well serve our purpose. This was the building be- 
 fore mentioned, erected by the hearers of Mr. White- 
 field, 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 was to be vested, 
 that a predominancy should not be given to any 
 sect, lest in time that predominancy might be a 
 means of appropriating the whole to the use of such 
 sect, contrary to the original intention. It was there- 
 fore that one of each sect was appointed, viz., one 
 Church-of-England man, one Presbyterian, one 
 Baptist, one Moravian, etc., those, in case of va- 
 cancy by death, were to fill it by election from 
 among the contributors. The Moravian happen'd 
 xiot to please his colleagues, and on his death the_y 
 resolved to have no other of that sect. The diffi- 
 culty then was, how to avoid having two of some 
 other sect, by means of the new choice. 
 
 Several persons were named, and for that reason 
 not agreed to. At length one mention'd me, with 
 the observation that I was merely an honest man, 
 and of no sect at all, which prevail'd with them to 
 chuse me. The enthusiasm which existed when 
 the house was built had long since abated, and its 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 29 1 
 
 trustees had not been able to procure fresh contri- 
 butions for paying the ground-rent, and discharging 
 some other debts the building had occasion'd, which 
 embarrass'd them greatly. Being now a member 
 of both setts of trustees, that for the building and 
 that for the academy, I had a good opportunity of 
 negotiating with both, and brought them finall}- iv, 
 an agreement, by which the trustees for the building 
 w^ere to cede it to those of the academy, the latter 
 undertaking to discharge the debt, to keep for ever 
 open in the building a large hall for occasional 
 prciichers, according to the original intention, and 
 maintain a free-school for the instruction of poor 
 children. Writings were accordingly drawn, and 
 on paying the debts the trustees of the academy 
 were put in possession of the premises ; and b}^ di- 
 viding the great and loft}^ hall into stories, and dif- 
 ferent 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 
 remov'd into the building. The care and trouble 
 x^i agreeing with the workmen, purchasing materials, 
 and superintending the work, fell upon me ; and I 
 went thro' 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 work'd for me four 
 years. He took o^ my hands all care of the print- 
 ing-office, paying me punctually my share of the 
 
292 AUTOBlOGRAriir OF 
 
 profits. This partnership continued eighteen years, 
 successfully for us both. 
 
 The trustees of the academy, after a while, were 
 incorporated by a charter from the governor ; their 
 funds were increas'd by contributions in Britain and 
 grants of land from the proprietaries, to which the 
 Assembly has since made considerable addition ; 
 and thus was established the present University of 
 Philadelphia. 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 receiv'd their educa- 
 
 /■ 
 
 tion in it, distinguish'd by their improv'd abilities, 
 serviceable in public stations, and ornaments to their 
 country.* 
 
 When I disengaged myself, as above mentioned, 
 from private business, I flatter'd myself that, by the 
 sufficient tho' moderate fortune I had acquired, I had 
 secured leisure during the rest of my life for philo- 
 sophical studies and amusements. I purchased all 
 Dr. Spence's apparatus, who had come from Eng 
 land to lecture here, and I proceeded in my elec 
 trical experiments with great alacrity ; but the pub 
 lick, now considering me as a man of leisure, laid 
 hold of me for their purposes, every part of oui 
 
 * The old "Academy," as the building of which Franklin speaks wai» 
 called, has given place to a new and tasteful edifice. For many years 
 the new building had been occupied as an academy, preparatory to the 
 University, commodious buildings for which were erected in South 
 ^inth street, near Chestnut. — Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 293 
 
 ci/il government, and almost at the same time, im- 
 posing some duty upon me. The governor put me 
 into the commission of the peace ; the corpora- 
 tion of the city chose me of the common council, 
 and soon after an alderman ; and the citizens at 
 large chose me a burgess to represent them in 
 Assembly. This latter station was the more agree- 
 able to me, as I was at length tired with sitting there 
 to hear debates, in which, as clerk, I could take no 
 part, and which were often so unentertaining that I 
 was induc'd to amuse myself with making magic 
 squares or circles, or any thing to avoid weariness ; 
 and I conceiv'd my becoming a member would 
 enlarge my power of doing good. I would not, 
 however, insinuate that my ambition was not flatter'd 
 by all these promotions ; it certainly was ; for, con- 
 sidering 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 unsolicited. 
 
 The office of justice of the peace I try'd a little, 
 by attending a few courts, and sitting on the bench 
 to hear causes ; but finding that more knowledge of 
 the common law than I possess'd was necessary to 
 act in that station with credit, I gradually withdrew 
 from it, excusing myself by my being oblig'd to 
 attend the higher duties of a legislator in the As- 
 sembly. My election to this trust was repeated 
 every year for ten years, without my ever asking 
 any elector for his vote, or signifying, either directly 
 
 25* 
 
294 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 or indirectly, any desire of being chosen. On tak- 
 ing 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 join'd with some 
 members of council, as commissioners for that pur- 
 pose.* The House named the speaker (Mr. Nor- 
 ris) and myself; and, being commission'd, we went 
 to Carlisle, and met the Indians accordingly. 
 
 As those people are extreamly apt to get drunk, 
 and, when so, are very quarrelsome and disorderly, 
 we strictly forbad the selling any liquor to them ; 
 and w^hen they complain'd of this restriction, we 
 told them that if they w^ould continue sober during 
 the treaty, we would give them plenty of rum when 
 business was over. They promised this, and they 
 kept their promise, because they could get no liquor, 
 and the treaty was conducted very orderly, and con- 
 cluded to mutual satisfaction. They then claim'd 
 and receiv'd the rum ; this was in the afternoon : 
 they were near one hundred men, women, and chil- 
 dren, and were lodg'd in temporary cabins, built in 
 the form of a square, just without the town. In the 
 evening, hearing a great noise among them, the 
 commissioners walk'd out to see what was the 
 matter. We found they had made a great bonfire 
 
 * See ihe votes to have this more correctly. — ^Marg. iote.\ 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 295 
 
 ill the middle of the square ; they were all drunk, 
 liien and women, quarreling and fighting. Their 
 diirk-colour'd bodies, half naked, seen only by the 
 gloomy light of the bonfire, running after and beat- 
 ing one another with firebrands, accompanied by 
 their horrid yellings, form'd a scene the most resem- 
 bling our ideas of hell that could well be imagin'd ; 
 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 misbehav'd in 
 giving us that disturbance, they sent three of their 
 old counselors to make their apology. The orator 
 acknowdedg'd 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 
 every thing for some use, and -whatever use he de- 
 signed any thing for, that use it shotdd always be 
 -put to. Now, when he made rum, he said, ^Let 
 this he for the Indians to get drunk with,' and it 
 must he so.'' And, indeed, if it be the design of 
 Providence to extirpate these savages in order to 
 make room for cultivators of the earth, it seems not 
 improbable that rum may be the appointed means. 
 It has already annihilated all the tribes who formerly 
 inhabited the sea-coast. 
 
 In 1 75 1, Dr. Thomas Bond, a particular friend 
 of mine, conceived the idea of establishing a hos- 
 pital in Philadelphia (a very beneficent design, 
 
296 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 which has been ascrib'd to me, but way originally 
 his), for the reception and cure of poor sick persons, 
 whether inhabitants of the province or strangers. 
 He was zealous and active in endeavouring to pro- 
 cure subscriptions for it, but the proposal being a 
 novelty in America, and at first not well understood. 
 he met but with small success. 
 
 At length he came to me with the compliment 
 that he found there was no such thing as carrying 
 a public-spirited project through without my being 
 concern'd in it. " For," says he, "I am often ask'd 
 by those to whom I propose subscribing. Have you 
 consulted Franklin upon this business? And what 
 does he think of it? And when I tell them that I 
 have not (supposing it rather out of your line), tl:tey 
 do not subscribe, but say they will consider of it." 
 I enquired into the nature and probable utility of his 
 scheme, and receiving from him a very satisfactory 
 explanation, I not only subscrib'd to it myself, but 
 engag'd heartily in the design of procuring sub- 
 scriptions from others. Previously, however, to the 
 solicitation, I endeavoured to prepare the minds of 
 the people by writing on the subject in the news- 
 papers, which was my usual custom in such cases, 
 but which he had omitted. 
 
 The subscriptions afterwards were more free and 
 generous ; but, beginning to flag, I saw they would 
 be insufficient without some assistance from the As- 
 sembly, and therefore propos'd to petition for it, 
 which was done. The country members did not at 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 29; 
 
 first relish the project; they objected that it couJd 
 only be serviceable to the city, and therefore the 
 citizens alone should be at the expense of it ; and 
 they doubted whether the citizens themselves gen- 
 erally approv'd of it. My allegation on the con- 
 trary, that it met with such approbation 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 impos- 
 sible. 
 
 On this I form'd my plan ; and, asking leave to 
 bring in a bill for incorporating the contributors ac- 
 cording to the prayer of their petition, and granting 
 them a blank sum of money, which leave was ob- 
 tained 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 condi- 
 tional one, viz., "And be it enacted, by the autho- 
 rity aforesaid, that when the said contributors shall 
 have met and chosen their managers and treasurer, 
 and shall have I'uised by theh' contributions a capi- 
 tal stock of value (the yearly interest of 
 
 which is to be applied to the accommodating of 
 the sick poor in the said hospital, free of charge 
 for diet, attendance, advice, and medicines), and 
 shall make the same a^fear to the satisfaction 
 of the speaker of the Assembly for the tiryie beings 
 that the7i 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 
 
298 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 thousand pounds, in two yearly paymeiits, to the. 
 treasurer of the said hospital, to be applied to the 
 founding, building, and finishing of the same." 
 
 This condition carried the bill through ; for the 
 members, who had oppos'd the grant, and now con 
 r.eiv'd they might have the credit of being charita- 
 ble without the expence, agreed to its passage ; and 
 then, in soliciting subscriptions among the people, 
 we urg'd the conditional promise of the law as an 
 additional motive to give, since every man's dona- 
 tion would be doubled ; thus the clause work'd both 
 ways. The subscriptions accordingly soon exceed- 
 ed the requisite sum, and we claim'd and receiv'd 
 the public gift, w^hich enabled us to carr}^ the design 
 into execution. K convenient and handsome build- 
 ing 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 
 manoeuvres, the success of w^hich gave me at the 
 time more pleasure, or wherein, after thinking of it, 
 1 more easily excus'd 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 re- 
 quest that I would assist him in procuring a sub- 
 scription 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 dis- 
 ciples of Mr. Whitefield. Unwilling to make my- 
 self disagreeable to my fellow-citizens by too tre- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 299 
 
 quently soliciting their contributions, I absolutely 
 refus'd. He then desired I would furnish him with 
 a list of the names of persons I knew by experience 
 to be generous and public-spirited. I thought it 
 would be unbecoming in me, after their kind com- 
 pliance with my solicitations, to mark them out to 
 be worried by other beggars, and therefore refus'd 
 also to give such a list. He then desir'd 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 whom you know will give some- 
 thing ; next, to those whom you are uncertain 
 whether they will give any thing 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 laugh'd and thank'd me, and said he would take 
 my advice. He did so, for he ask'd of everybody^ 
 and he obtain'd a much larger sum than he expected, 
 with which he erected the capacious and very ele- 
 gant meeting-house that stands in x\rch-street. 
 
 Our city, tho' laid out with a beautifull regularity, 
 the streets large, strait, and crossing each othei 
 at right angles, had the disgrace of suffering those 
 streets to remain long unpav'd, and in wet weather 
 the wheels of heavy carriages plough'd them into a 
 quagmire, so that it was difficult to cross them ; and 
 in dry w^eather the dust was offensive. I had liv'd 
 Qear what was call'd the Jersey Market, and saw 
 with pain the inhabitants wading in mud while 
 
300 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 purchasing their provisions. A strip of ground 
 down the middle of that market was at length pav'd 
 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, 
 T was at length instrumental in getting the street 
 pav'd with stone between the market and the brick'd 
 foot-pavement, that was on each side next the 
 houses. This, for some time, gave an easy access 
 to the market dry-shod ; but, the rest of the street 
 not being pav'd, whenever a carriage came out of 
 the mud upon this pavement, it shook off and left 
 its dirt upon it, and it was soon cover'd with mire, 
 which was not remov'd, the city as yet having no 
 scavengers. 
 
 After some inquiry, I found a poor, industrious 
 man, who vvas willing to undertake keeping the 
 pavement clean, by sweeping it twice a week, carry- 
 ing off the dirt from before all the neighbours' 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 neighbourhood 
 that might be obtain'd by this small expense ; the 
 greater ease in keeping our houses clean, so much 
 dirt not being brought in by people's feet ; the bene- 
 fit to the shops by more custom, etc., etc., as bu3'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 eaclj 
 house, and in a day or two went round to see who 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 30I 
 
 would subscribe an agreement to pay these six- 
 pences ; it was unanimously sign'd, and for a time 
 well executed. All the inhabitants of the city were 
 delighted with the cleanliness of the pavement that 
 surrounded the market, it being a convenience to 
 all, and this rais'd 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 be- 
 fore I went to England, in 1757, and did not pass 
 till I was gone,* and then with an alteration in the 
 mode of assessment, which I thought not for the 
 better, but with an additional provision for lighting 
 as well as paving the streets, which was a great im- 
 provement. It was by a private person, the late 
 Mr. John Clifton, his giv^ing a sample of the utility 
 of lamps, by placing one at his door, that the people 
 were first impress'd with the idea of enlighting all the 
 city. The honour of this public benefit has also been 
 ascrib'd to me, but it belongs truly to that gentle- 
 man. 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 supply 'd with from London. Those we 
 found inconvenient in these respects : they admitted 
 no air below ; the smoke, therefore, did not readily 
 go out aoove, but circulated in the globe, lodged on 
 
 * See votes. 
 26 
 
302 AUTOBJOGRAPIir OF 
 
 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 then": 
 of four flat panes, with a long funnel above to draw 
 up the smoke, and crevices admitting air below, to 
 facilitate the ascent of the smoke ; by this means 
 they were kept clean, and did not grow dark in a 
 few hours, as the London lamps do, but continu'd 
 bright till morning, and an accidental stroke would 
 generally break but a single pane, easily repair'd. 
 
 I have sometimes wonder'd that the Londoners 
 did not, from the effect holes in the bottom of the 
 globe lamps us'd 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 thro' them, the 
 other use, 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 1 propos'd, when in London, to Dr. 
 Fothero^ill, who was amoncc the best men I have 
 known, and a great promoter of useful projects. I 
 had observ'd that the streets, when dry, were never 
 swept, and the light dust carried away ; but it was 
 suffer'd to accumulate till wet weather reduc'd it to 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 303 
 
 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 labour rak'd together and thrown up into carts 
 open above, the sides of which suffer'd some of the 
 slush at every jolt on the pavement to shake out 
 and fall, sometimes to the annoyance of foot-pas- 
 sengers. 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 ask'd who employ'd 
 her to sweep there ; she said, " Nobody ; but I am 
 very poor and in distress, and I sweeps before gen- 
 tlefolkses doors, and hopes they will give me some- 
 thing." I bid her sweep the whole street clean, and 
 I would give her a shilling ; this was at nine o'clock ; 
 at 12 she came for the shilling. From the slow- 
 ness I saw at first in her working, I could scarce 
 believe that the work was done so soon, and sent 
 my servant to examine it, who reported that the 
 whole street was swept perfectly clean, and all the 
 dust plac'd in the gutter, which was in the middle ; 
 and the next rain wash'd it quite away, so that the 
 pavement and even the kennel were perfectly 
 clean. 
 
304 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 I then judg'd 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 heie 
 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 
 footway ; 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 chan- 
 nels, it is often too weak to cleanse either, and only 
 makes 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, com- 
 municated to the good doctor, was as follows : 
 
 *'For the more effectual cleaning and keeping 
 clean the streets of London and Westminster, it is 
 proposed that the several watchmen be contracted 
 with to have the dust swept up in dry seasons, and 
 the mud rak'd up at other times, each in the several 
 streets and lanes of his round ; that they be furnish'd 
 with brooms and other proper instruments for these 
 purposes, 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 
 shops and windows of houses are usually opened 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 305 
 
 when the scavengers, with close-covered carts, shah 
 also carry it all away. 
 
 *' That the mud, when rak'd up, be not left in 
 heaps to be spread abroad again by the wheels of 
 carriages and trampling of horses, but that the scav- 
 engers be provided with bodies of carts, not plac'd 
 high upon wheels, but low upon sliders, with lattice 
 bottoms, which, being cover'd with straw, will re- 
 tain the mud thrown into them, and permit the 
 water to drain from it, whereby it will become much 
 lighter, water making the greatest part of its weight ; 
 these bodies of carts to be plac'd at convenient 
 distances, and the mud brought to them in wheel- 
 barrows ; they remaining where plac'd till the mud 
 is drain'd, and then horses brought to draw them 
 away." 
 
 I have since had doubts of the practicability ot 
 the latter part of this proposal, on account of the 
 narrowness of some streets, and the difficulty of 
 placing the draining-sleds so as not to encumber too 
 much the passage ; but I am still of opinion that 
 the former, requiring the dust to be swept up and 
 carry'd away before the shops are open, is very 
 practicable in the summer, when the days are long ; 
 for, in walking thro' the Strand and Fleet-street one 
 morning at seven o'clock, I observ'd there was not 
 one shop open, tho' it had been daylight and the 
 sun up above three hours ; the inhabitants of London 
 chusing voluntarily to live much by candle-light, 
 and sleep by sunshine, and yet often complain, a 
 
 26* 
 
306 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 littl^ 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 
 tho' dust blown into the eyes of a single person, 
 or into a single shop on a windy day, is but of small 
 importance, yet the great number of the instances 
 in a populous city, and its frequent repetitions give it 
 weight and consequence, perhaps they will not cen- 
 sure very severely those who bestow some attention 
 to affairs of this seemingly low nature. Human 
 felicity is produc'd not so much by great pieces of 
 good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advan- 
 tages 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 hap- 
 piness of his life than in giving him a thousand 
 guineas. The money maybe soon spent, the regret 
 only remaining of having foolishly consumed it ; 
 but in the other case, he escapes the frequent vexa- 
 tion of waiting for barbers, and of 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 may be useful to a 
 city I love, having lived many years in it very 
 happily, and perhaps to some of our towns in 
 America. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 307 
 
 Having been for some time employed by the post- 
 master-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 American office never had hitherto 
 paid any thing to that of Britain. We were to have 
 six hundred pounds a year between us, if we could 
 make that sum out of the profits of the office. To 
 do this, a variety of improvements were necessary ; 
 some of these were inevitably at first expensive, so 
 that in the first four years the office became above 
 nine hundred pounds in debt to us. But it soon 
 after began to repay us ; and before I was displac'd 
 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 postoffice 
 of Ireland. Since that imprudent transaction, they 
 have receiv'd from it — not one farthing ! 
 
 The business of the postoffice occasion'd my 
 taking a journey this year to New England, where 
 the College of Cambridge, of their own motion, pre- 
 sented me with the degree of Master of Arts. Yale 
 College, in Connecticut, had before made me a 
 similar compliment. Thus, without studying in any 
 college, I came to partake of their honours. They 
 were conferr'd in consideration of my improvements 
 and discoveries in the electric branch of natural phi- 
 losophy. 
 
3o8 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 In 1754, ^^'^^ with France being again appre- 
 hended, a congress of commissioners from the differ- 
 ent 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 receiv'd this order, acquainted the 
 House with it, requesting they would furnish proper 
 presents for the Indians, to be given on this occa- 
 sion ; and naming the speaker (Mr. Norris) and 
 myself to join Mr. Thomas Penn and Mr. Secretary 
 Peters as commissioners to act for Pennsylvania. 
 The House approv'd the nomination, and provided 
 the goods for the present, and tho' they did not much 
 like treating out of the provinces ; and we met the 
 other commissioners at Albany about the middle of 
 June. 
 
 In our way thither, I projected and drew 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 pass'd 
 thro' New York, I had there shown my project to 
 Mr. James Alexander and Mr. Kennedy, two gen- 
 tlemen of great knowledge in public affairs, and, 
 being fortified by their approbation, I ventur'd to 
 lay it before the Congress. It then appeared that 
 several of the commissioners had form'd plans of 
 the same kind. A previous question was first taken, 
 whether a union should be established, which pass'i3 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 309 
 
 in the affirmative unanimously. A committee was 
 then appointed, one member from each colony, to 
 consider the several plans and report. Mine hap- 
 pen'd to be preferr'd, and, with a few amendments, 
 was accordingly reported. 
 
 By this plan the general government was to be 
 administered by a president-general, appointed and 
 supported 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 as- 
 semblies. The debates upon it in Congress went 
 on daily, hand in hand with the Indian business. 
 Many objections and difficulties were started, but at 
 \ength 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 assem- 
 blies of the several provinces. Its fate was singu- 
 lar : the assemblies did not adopt it, as they all 
 thought there was too much -prerogative in it, and 
 in England it was judg'd to have too much of the 
 democratic. The Board of Trade therefore did not 
 approve of it, nor recommend it for the approbation 
 of his majesty ; but another scheme was form'd, 
 supposed to answer the same purpose better, where- 
 by the governors of the provinces, with some mem- 
 bers 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 
 expense, which was afterwards to be refunded by 
 an act of Parliament laying a tax on America. My 
 
3IO AUTOBIOGRAPH r OF 
 
 plan, with my reasons In support of it, is to be found 
 among my political papers that are printed.* 
 
 Being the winter following in Boston, I had much 
 conversation with Governor Shirley upon both the 
 plans. Part of what passed between us on the oc- 
 casion may also be seen among those papers. The 
 different and contrary reasons of dislike to my plan 
 makes me suspect that it was really the true me- 
 dium ; and I am still of opinion it would have been 
 happy for both sides the water if it had been adopted. 
 The colonies, so united, would have been sufficiently 
 strong to have defended themselves ; there would 
 then have been no need of troops from England ; 
 of course, the subsequent pretence for taxing Ame- 
 rica, and the bloody contest it occasioned, would 
 have been avoided. But such mistakes 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 ford d 
 by the occasion. 
 
 The Governor of Pennsylvania, in sending it 
 down to the Assembly, express'd his approbation 
 
 * See Sparks' Works of Franklin^ vol iii. pp. 22-5 1;. — Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. ^11 
 
 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 happen'd to be absent, which I 
 thought not very fair, and reprobated it without 
 paying any attention to it at all, to my no small 
 mortification. 
 
 In my journey to Boston this year, I met at New 
 York with our new governor, Mr. Morris, just 
 arriv'd there from England, with whom I had been 
 before intimately acquainted. He brought a com- 
 mission to supersede Mr. Hamilton, who, tir'd with 
 the disputes his proprietary instructions subjected 
 him to, had resign'd. Mr. Morris ask'd me if I 
 thought he must expect as uncomfortable an admin- 
 istration. I said, "No; you may, on the contrary, 
 have a very comfortable one, if you will only take 
 care not to enter into any dispute with the Assem- 
 bly." "My dear friend," says 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 coun- 
 sel, I promise you I will, if possible, avoid them." 
 He had some reason for loving to dispute, being 
 eloquent, an acute sophister, and, therefore, gene- 
 rally successful in argumentative conversat! m. He 
 had been brought up to it from a boy, his father, as 
 I have heard, accustoming his children to dispute 
 
312 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 with one another for his diversion, while sitting at 
 table after dinner ; but I think the practice was not 
 wise ; for, in the course of my observation, these 
 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, by which it appear'd that, notwith- 
 standing 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 retain'd the gov- 
 ernment. 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-natur'd a man that no personal difference be- 
 tween him and me was occasion'd by the contest, 
 and we often din'd together. 
 
 One afternoon, in the height of this public quar- 
 rel, we met in the street. "Franklin," says he, 
 **you must go home with me and spend the even- 
 ing ; I am to have some company that you will 
 like ;" and, taking me by the arm, he led me to his 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 313 
 
 house. In gay conversation over our wine, after 
 supper, he told us, jokingly, that he much admir'd 
 the idea of Sancho Panza, who, when it was pro- 
 posed 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, says, "Franklin, 
 why do you continue to side with these damn'd 
 Quakers? Had not you better sell them? The 
 proprietor would give you a good price." "The 
 governor," says I, " has not yet blacked them 
 enough." He, indeed, had labored hard to blacken 
 the Assembly in all his messages, but they wip'd 
 off his coloring as fast as he laid it on, and plac'd 
 it, in return, thick upon his own face; so that, find- 
 ing he was likely to be negrofied himself, he, as 
 well as Mr. Hamilton, grew tir'd of the contest, and 
 quitted the government. 
 
 * These public quarrels were all at bottom owing 
 to the proprietaries, our hereditary governors, who, 
 when any expense was to be incurred for the de- 
 fense of their province, with incredible meanness 
 instructed their deputies to pass no act for levying 
 the necessary taxes, unless their vast estates were 
 in the same act expressly excused ; and they had 
 even taken bonds of these deputies to observe 
 such instructions. The Assemblies for three years 
 held out against this injustice, tho' constrained to 
 
 * My acts in Morris's time, military, etc. — \Marg, note.] 
 27 
 
314 AUTOBIOGRAPH7 OF 
 
 bend at last. At length Captain Denny, who was 
 Governor Morris's 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 mention'd 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 appli'd to me for my in- 
 fluence 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 Assem- 
 bly, tho' very desirous of making their grant to New 
 England effectual, were at a loss how to accomplish 
 it. Mr. Quincy labored hard with the governor to 
 obtain his assent, but he was obstinate. 
 
 I then suggested a method of doing the business 
 without the governor, by orders on the trustee i of 
 the Loan Office, which, by law, the Assembl} had 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 315 
 
 the right of drawing. There was, indeed, little or 
 no money at that time in the office, and therefore 1 
 propos'd that the orders should be payable in a year, 
 and to bear an interest of five per cent. With these 
 orders I suppos'd the provisions might easily be 
 purchas'd. The Assembly, with very little hesita- 
 tion, adopted the proposal. The orders were imme- 
 diately printed, and I 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 
 obtain'd instant credit, and were not only receiv'd 
 in pa3'"ment for the provisions, but many money'd 
 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 were to be seen. Thus this important affair 
 was by my means compleated. Mr. Quincy re- 
 turn'd thanks to the Assembly in a handsome memo- 
 rial, went home highly pleas'd with the success of 
 his embassy, and ever after bore for me the most 
 cordial and affectionate friendship. 
 
 The British government, not chusing to permit 
 the union of the colonies as propos'd at Albany, and 
 to trust that union with their defense, lest they 
 should thereby grow too military, and feel their own 
 
3l6 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 strength, suspicions and jealousies at this time being 
 entertain'd of them, sent over General Braddock 
 with two regiments of regular English troops for 
 that purpose. He landed at Alexandria, in Virginia, 
 and thence mardi'd to Frederictown, in Maryland, 
 where he halted for carriages. Our Assembly ap- 
 prehending, from some information, that he had con- 
 ceived violent prejudices against them, as averse to 
 the service, wish'd me to wait upon him, not as 
 from them, but as postmaster-genera], under the 
 guise of proposing to settle with him the mode of 
 conducting with most celerit}^ and certainty the de- 
 spatches between him and the governors of the sev- 
 eral provinces, with whom he must necessarily have 
 continual correspondence, and of which they pro- 
 pos'd 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 thro' 
 the back parts of Maryland and Virginia to collect 
 waggons. I stayed with him several days, din'd 
 with him daily, and had full opportunity of remov- 
 ing all his prejudices, by the information of what 
 the Assembly had before his arrival actually done, 
 and were still willing to do, to facilitate his opera- 
 tions. When I was about to depart, the returns of 
 waggons to be obtained were brought in, by which it 
 appear'd that they amounted only to twenty-five, and 
 not all of those were in serviceable condition. The 
 general and all the officers were surpris'd, declar'd 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 317 
 
 the expedition was then at an end, being impossible , 
 and exclaim'd against the ministers for ignorantl}' 
 landing them in a country destitute of tne means of 
 conveying their stores, baggage, etc., not less than 
 one hundred and fifty waggons being necessary. 
 
 I happen'd to say I thought it was pity they had 
 not been landed rather in Pennsylvania, as in that 
 country almost every farmer had his waggon. 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 ask'd what terms were to be 
 ofFer'd the owners of the waggons ; and I was de- 
 sir'd to put on paper the terms that appeared to me 
 necessary. This I did, and they were agreed to, 
 and a commission and instructions accordingly pre- 
 par'd immediately. What those terms were will 
 appear in the advertisement I publish'd as soon as 
 I arriv'd at Lancaster, which being, from the great 
 and sudden effect it produc'd, a piece of some curi- 
 osity, I shall insert it at length, as follows : 
 
 ' ' Advertisement. 
 
 "Lancaster, April 26, 1755. 
 "Whereas, one hundred and fifty waggons, with 
 tour horses to each waggon, and fifteen hundred sad- 
 dle 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 
 
 27* 
 
3t8 autobiography of 
 
 of the same, I hereby give notice that I shall attend 
 for that purpose at Lancaster from this day to next 
 Wednesday evening, and at York from next Thurs- 
 day morning till Friday evening, where I shall be 
 ready to agree for waggons and teams, or single 
 horses, on the following terms, viz. : i. That there 
 shall be paid for each waggon, 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 without a saddle, eighteen pence per diem 
 2. That the pay commence 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 necessary for their travelling to Will's Creek 
 and home again after their discharge. 3. Each 
 waggon and team, and every saddle or pack horse, 
 is to be valued by indifferent persons chosen be- 
 tween me and the owner ; and in case of the loss of 
 any waggon, 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 advanced 
 and paid in hand by me to the owner of each waggon 
 and team, or horse, at the time of contracting, if 
 required, and the remainder 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 waggons, or 
 persons taking care of the hired horses, are on any 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 319 
 
 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. All oats, 
 Indian corn, or other forage that waggons 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. 
 
 *'Note. — My son, William Franklin, is empow- 
 ered to enter into like contracts with any person in 
 Cumberland county. B. Franklin." 
 
 " To the inhabitants of the Comities 0/ Lancaster , 
 York^ and Cumberland, 
 
 " Friends and Countrymen, 
 
 " Being occasionally at the camp at Frederic a 
 few days since, I found the general and officers ex- 
 tremely 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 between our 
 governor and Assembly, money had not been pro- 
 vided, nor any steps taken for that purpose. 
 
 "It was proposed to send an armed force imme- 
 diately into these counties, to seize as many of the 
 best carriages and horses as should be wanted, and 
 compel as many persons into the service as would 
 be necessary to drive and take care of them. 
 
 '' I apprehended that the progress of British sol- 
 diers through these counties on such an occasion, 
 
320 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 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 
 jneans. The people of these back counties havt 
 lately complained to the Assembly that a sufficient 
 currency was wanting ; you have an opportunity of 
 receiving and dividing among you a very consider- 
 able sum ; for, if the service of this expedition 
 should continue, as it is more than probable it will, 
 for one hundred and twenty days, the hire of these 
 waggons 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 waggons 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 subjects to his majesty, you may now do 
 a most acceptable service, and make it easy to your- 
 selves ; for three or four of such as can not separ- 
 ately spare from the business of their plantations a 
 waggon and four horses and a driver, may do it 
 together, one furnishing the waggon, another one or 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 32 1 
 
 two horses, and another the driver, and divide the 
 pay proportionably 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 sus- 
 pected. The king's business must be done ; so 
 many brave troops, come so far for your defense, 
 must not stand idle through your backwardness to 
 do what may be reasonably expected from you ; 
 waggons 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. 
 
 ** I 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 waggons and horses is not 
 likely to succeed, I am obliged to send word to the 
 general in fourteen days ; and I suppose Sir John 
 St. Clair, the hussar, 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 
 waggon owners, etc. ; but that sum being insuffi- 
 cient, I advanc'd upward of two hundred pounds 
 more, and in two weeks the one hundred and fifty 
 
322 AUTOBlOGRAPIir OF 
 
 waggons, 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 waggon or horse should be 
 lost. The owners, however, alleging they did not 
 know General Braddock, or 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, 
 thro' a wilderness, where nothing w^as to be pur- 
 chas'd. I commiserated their case, and resolved 
 to endeavor procuring them some relief. I said 
 nothing, however, to him of my intention, but wTote 
 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 proposing that a present 
 should be sent them of necessaries and refreshments. 
 My son, who had some experience of a camp life, 
 and of its wants, drew up a list for me, which I 
 enclos'd in my letter. The committee approv'd, 
 and used such diligence that, conducted by my 
 sen, the stores arrived at the camp as soon as the 
 waggons. They consisted of twenty parcels, each 
 containing 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 323 
 
 6 lbs. loaf sugar. i Gloucester cheese. 
 
 6 lbs. good Muscovado do. I kegg containing 20 lbs. good butter. 
 
 I lb. good green tea. 2 doz. old Madeira wine. 
 
 I lb. good bohea do. 2 gallons Jamaica spirits. 
 
 6 lbs. good ground coffee. I bottle flour of mustard. 
 
 6 lbs. chocolate. 2 well-cur'd hams. 
 
 1-2 cwt best white biscuit 1-2 dozen dry'd tongues. 
 
 1-2 lb. pepper. 6 lbs. rice. 
 
 I quart best white wine vinegar. 6 lbs. raisins. 
 
 These twenty parcels, well pack'd, were placed 
 on as many horses, each parcel, with the horse, 
 being intended as a present for one officer. They 
 were very thankfully receiv'd, and the kindness ac- 
 knowledge 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 waggons, etc., and readily paid my 
 account of disbursements, thanking me repeatedly, 
 and requesting my farther assistance in sending 
 provisions after him. I undertook this also, and 
 was busily employ'd in it till we heard of his defeat, 
 advancing for the service of my own money, upwards 
 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 return'd me 
 immediately an order on the paymaster for the round 
 sum of one thousand pounds, leaving the remainder 
 to the next account. I consider this payment as 
 good luck, having never been able to obtain that 
 remainder, of which more hereafter. 
 
 This general was, I think, a brave man, and 
 might probably have made a figure as a good officer 
 
324 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 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 Ameri- 
 cans and Indians. George Croghan, our Indian in- 
 terpreter, join'd him on his march with one hundred 
 of those people, who might have been of great use 
 to his army as guides, scouts, etc., 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," says 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 revolv'd in 
 my mind the long line his army must make in their 
 march by a very narrow road, to be cut for them 
 thro' the woods and bushes, and also what I had 
 read of a former defeat of fifteen hundred French, 
 who invaded the Iroquois country, I had conceiv'd 
 some doubts and some fears for the event of the 
 campaign. But I ventur'd only to say, "To be 
 sure, sir, if you arrive well before Duquesne, with 
 these fine troops, so well provided with artillery, 
 that place not yet compleatly fortified, and as we 
 hear with no very strong garrison, can probably 
 make but a short resistance. The oni}' danger 1 
 apprehend of obstruction to your march is from am- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 325 
 
 buscades of 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 attack'd by surprise 
 in its flanks, and to be cut like a thread into several 
 pieces, which, from their distance, can not come up 
 in time to support each other." 
 
 He smil'd at my ignorance, and reply'd, "These 
 savages may, indeed, be a formidable enemy to your 
 raw American militia, but upon the king's regular 
 and disciplin'd troops, sir, it is impossible they should 
 make any impression." I was conscious of an im- 
 propriety 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 
 expos'd 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 pass'd, 
 attack'd its advanced guard by a heavy fire from 
 behind trees and bushes, which was the first intel- 
 ligence the general had of an enemy's being near 
 him. This guard being disordered, the general hur- 
 ried the troops up to their assistance, which was 
 done in great confusion, thro' waggons, baggage, 
 and cattle ; and presently the fire came upon their 
 llank : the officers, being on horseback, were more 
 easily distinguished, pick'd out as marks, and fell 
 
 2S 
 
326 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 very fast ; and the soldiers were crowded together 
 in a huddle, having or hearing no orders, and stand- 
 ing to be shot at till two-thirds of them were killed ; 
 and then, being seiz'd with a panick, the whole fled 
 with precipitation. 
 
 The waggoners took each a horse out of his team 
 and scamper'd ; their example was immediately fol- 
 lowed by others ; so that all the w aggons, 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 out 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, provisions, and baggage. The flyers, not 
 being pursu'd, arriv'd at Dunbar's camp, and the 
 panick they brought with them instantly seiz'd him 
 and all his people ; and, tho' he had now above one 
 thousand men, and the enemy who had beaten 
 Braddock did not at most exceed four hundred 
 Indians and French together, instead of proceeding, 
 and endeavoring to recover some of the lost honour, 
 he ordered all the stores, ammunition, etc., to be 
 destroy 'd, that he might have more horses to assist 
 his flight towards the settlements, and less lumber to 
 remove. He w^as there met with requests from the 
 governors of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 327 
 
 that he would post his troops on the frontiers, so as 
 to afford some protection to the inhabitants ; but he 
 continu'd his hasty march thro' all the country, not 
 thinking himself safe till he arriv'd at Philadelphia, 
 where the inhabitants could protect him. This 
 whole transaction gave us Americans the first sus- 
 picion that our exalted ideas of the prowess of 
 British regulars had not been well founded. 
 
 In their first march, too, from their landing till 
 they got beyond the settlements, they had plundered 
 and stripped the inhabitants, totally ruining some 
 poor families, besides insulting, abusing, and con- 
 fining the people if they remonstrated. This was 
 enough to put us out of conceit of such defenders, if 
 we had really wanted any. How diiTerent was the 
 conduct of our French friends in 1781, who, during 
 a march thro' the most inhabited part of our country 
 from Rhode Island to Virginia, near seven hundred 
 miles, occasioned 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 continu'd with him to his 
 death, which happen'd in a few days, told me that 
 he was totally silent all the first day, and at night 
 only said, '^Who would have thought itT' That 
 he was silent again the following day, saying only 
 at last, " We shall better know how to deal with 
 them another ti?ne;^^ and dy'd in a few minutes 
 after. 
 
328 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 The secretary's papers, with all the general's or- 
 ders, 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 1 saw 
 some letters of the general to the ministry, speaking 
 highly of the great service I had rendered the army, 
 and recommending me to their notice. David Hume, 
 too, who was some years after secretary to Lord 
 Hertford, when minister in France, and afterward 
 to General Conway, when secretary of state, told 
 me 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 ask'd 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 return'd to their masters, on my appli- 
 cation. Dunbar, when the command devolv'd on 
 him, was not so generous. He being at Philadel- 
 phia, on his retreat, or rather flight, I apply'd to him 
 for the discharge of the servants of three poor farmers 
 of Lancaster county that he had enhsted, reminding 
 him of the late general's orders on that head. He 
 promised me that, if the masters would come to him 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 329 
 
 at Trenton, where he should be in a few days on 
 his march to New York, he would there deliver their 
 men to them. They accordingly were at the ex- 
 pense and trouble of going to Trenton, and there he 
 refus'd to perform his promise, to their great loss 
 and disappointment. 
 
 As soon as the loss of the waggons and horses was 
 generally known, all the owners came upon me for 
 the valuation which I had given bond to pay. Their 
 demands gave me a great deal of trouble, my ac- 
 quainting them that the money was ready in the 
 paymaster's hands, but that orders for paying it must 
 first be otained from General Shirley, and my assur- 
 ing them that I had apply'd to that general by letter ; 
 but, he being at a distance, an answer could not 
 soon be receiv'd, and they must have patience, all 
 this was not sufficient to satisfy, and some began to 
 sue me. General Shirley at length relieved me from 
 this terrible situation by appointing commissioners 
 to examine the claims, and ordering payment. They 
 amounted to near twenty thousand pound, 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 expense of a grand 
 firework, which it was intended to exhibit at a re- 
 joicing on receipt of the news of our taking Fort 
 Duquesne. I looked grave, and said it would, I 
 thought, be time enough to prepare for the rejoicing 
 when we knew we should have occasion to rejoice. 
 
 28* 
 
330 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 They seem'd surprised that I did not immediatel}; 
 comply with their proposal. "Why the d — 1 !" says 
 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 sub- 
 ject to great uncertainty." I gave them the reasons 
 of my doubting ; the subscription was dropt, and the 
 projectors thereby missed the mortification they 
 would have undergone if the firework had been pre- 
 pared. Dr. Bond, on some other occasion after- 
 ward, said that he did not like Franklin's fore- 
 bodings. 
 
 Governor Morris, 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 es 
 tates, 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, continu'd 
 firm, believing 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 propos'd amendment was 
 only of a single word. The bill express'd " that all 
 estates, real and personal, were to be taxed, those 
 of the proprietaries not excej)ted." His amendment 
 was, for not read only : a small, but very material 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 331 
 
 alteration. However, when the news of this dis- 
 aster reached England, our friends there, whom we 
 had taken care to furnish with all the Assembly's 
 answers to the governor's messages, rais'd a clamor 
 against the proprietaries for their meanness and in- 
 justice 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 sent 
 orders to their receiver-general to add five thousand 
 pounds of their money to whatever sum might be 
 given by the Assembly for such purpose. 
 
 This, being notified to the House, was accepted 
 in lieu of their share of a general tax, and a new 
 bill was form'd, 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 mo- 
 delling the bill and procuring its passage, and had, 
 at the same time, drawn a bill for establishing and 
 disciplining a voluntary militia, which I carried thro' 
 the House without much difficulty, as care was 
 taken in it to leave the Quakers at their liberty. To 
 promote the association 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. 
 
 * This dialogue and the militia act are in the Gentleman's Magazine 
 tor February and March, 1756. — \_Marg. noteJ] 
 
332 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 While the several companies in the city and 
 country were forming, and learning their exercise, 
 the governor prevail'd with me to take charge of 
 our North-western frontier, which was infested by 
 the enemy, and provide for the defense of the in- 
 habitants by raising troops and building a line of 
 forts. I undertook this military business, tho' I 
 did not conceive myself w^ell 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 pre- 
 ceding war been an officer in the army rais'd against 
 Canada, was my aid-de-camp, and of great use to 
 me. The Indians had burned Gnadenhut, a village 
 settled by the Moravians, and massacred the in- 
 habitants ; 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 those 
 people. I was surprised to find it in so good a pos- 
 ture of defense ; the destruction of Gnadenhut had 
 made them apprehend danger. The principal build- 
 ings were defended by a stockade ; they had pur- 
 chased a quantity of arms and ammunition from 
 New York, and had even plac'd quantities of small 
 paving stones between the windows of their high 
 stone houses, for their women to throw down upon 
 the heads of any Indians that should attempt to 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 333 
 
 force into them. The armed brethren, too, kept 
 watch, and rehev'd as methodically as in any gar- 
 rison town. In conversation with the bishop, Span- 
 genberg, I mention'd this my surprise ; for, know- 
 ing they had obtained an act of Parliament exempt- 
 ing them from military duties in the colonies, I had 
 suppos'd they were conscientiously scrupulous of 
 bearing arms. He answer'd me that it was not one 
 of their established principles, but that, at the time 
 of their obtaining that act, it was thought to be a 
 principle with many of their people. On this occa- 
 sion, however, they, to their surprise, found it 
 adopted by but a few. It seems they were either 
 deceiv'd in themselves, or deceiv'd 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 de- 
 tachment toward the Minisink, with instructions to 
 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 Gnadenhut, where a fort was 
 tho't more immediately necessary. The Moravians 
 procur'd me five waggons for our tools, stores, 
 baggage, etc. 
 
 Just before we left Bethlehem, eleven farmers, 
 who had been driven from their plantations by the 
 Indians, came to me requesting a supply of firearms, 
 that they might go back and fetch off their cattle. 
 
334 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 I gave them each a gun with suitable ammunition. 
 We had not march'd many miles before it began 
 to rain, and it continued raining all day ; there were 
 no habitations on the road to shelter us, till we ar- 
 rived 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 attack'd in our march, for our arms were of the 
 most ordinary sort, and our men could not keep 
 their gun locks dry. The Indians are dextrous 
 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 who 
 escap'd inform'd that his and his companions' guns 
 would not go off, the priming being wet with the 
 rain. 
 
 The next day being fair, we continu'd our march, 
 and arriv'd at the desolated Gnadenhut. There was 
 a saw-mill near, round which were left several piles 
 of boards, with which we soon hutted ourselves; an 
 operation the more necessary at that inclement sea- 
 son, as we had no tents. Our first work was to 
 bury more effectually the dead we found there, who 
 had been half interr'd by the country people. 
 
 The next morning our fort was plann'd and mark'd 
 out, the circumference measuring four hundred and 
 fifty-five feet, which would require as many palisades 
 to be made of trees, one with another, of a foot 
 diameter each. Our axes, of which we had seventy, 
 were immediately set to work to cut down trees, 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 335 
 
 dnd, our men being dextrous in the use of them, 
 great despatch 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, our waggons, the bodys 
 being taken off, and the fore and hind wheels sepa- 
 rated 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 carpen- 
 ters built a stage of boards all round within, about 
 six feet high, for the men to stand on when to fire 
 thro' the loopholes. We had one swivel gun, which 
 we mounted on one of the angles, and fir'd it as soon 
 as fix'd, to let the Indians know, if any were within 
 hearing, that we had such pieces ; and thus our fort, 
 if such a magnificent name may be given to so 
 miserable a stockade, was finish'd in a week, though 
 it rain'd so hard every other day that the men could 
 not work. 
 
 This gave me occasion to observe, that, when 
 men are employ'd, they are best content'd ,' for on 
 the days they worked they were good-natur'd and 
 cheerful, and, with the consciousness of having done 
 a good day's work, they spent the evening jollil}' ; 
 
33^ AUTOBIOGRAPlir OF 
 
 but on our idle days they were mutinous and quar- 
 relsome, finding fault with their pork, the bread, etc., 
 and in continual ill-humor, which put me in mind 
 of a sea-captain, whose rule it was to keep his men 
 constantly at work ; and, when his mate once told 
 him that they had done every thing, and there was 
 nothing further to employ them about, ^' Oh^''^ says 
 he, " make them scoti?' the anchor.'''' 
 
 This kind of fort, however contemptible, is a suf- 
 ficient defense against Indians, who have no cannon. 
 Finding ourselves now posted securely, and having 
 a place to retreat to on occasion, we ventur'd out in 
 parties to scour the adjacent country. We met with 
 no Indians, but we found the places on the neigh- 
 boring hills w^here they had lain to watch our pro- 
 ceedings. There was an art in their contrivance of 
 those places that seems worth mention. It being 
 winter, a fire was necessary for them ; but a com- 
 mon fire on the surface of the ground would by its 
 light have discovered their position at a distance. 
 They had therefore dug holes in the ground about 
 three feet diameter, and somewhat deeper ; we saw 
 where they had with their hatchets cut off the char- 
 coal from the sides of burnt logs lying in the woods. 
 With 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 laying 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 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 337 
 
 managed, could not discover them, either by its light, 
 flame, sparks, or even smoke : it appear'd that their 
 number was not great, and it seems they saw we 
 were too many to be attacked by them with prospect 
 of advantage. 
 
 We had for our chaplain a zealous Presbyterian 
 nii lister, Mr. Beatty, who complained to me that 
 the men did not generally attend his prayers and 
 exhortations. When they enlisted, they were prom- 
 ised, besides pay and provisions, a gill of rum a day, 
 which was punctually serv'd out to them, half in 
 the morning, and the other half in the evening ; and 
 I observ'd they were as punctual in attending to re- 
 ceive it; upon which I said to Mr. Beatty, " It is, 
 perhaps, below the dignity of your profession to act 
 as steward of the rum, but if you were to deal it out 
 and only just after prayers, you would have them 
 all about you." He liked the tho't, undertook the 
 office, and, with the help of a few hands to measure 
 out the liquor, executed it to satisfaction, and never 
 were prayers more generally and more punctually 
 attended ; so that I thought this method preferable 
 to the punishment infficted by some military laws for 
 non-attendance on divine service. 
 
 I had hardly finish'd this business, and got my 
 
 fort well stor'd with provisions, when I receiv'd a 
 
 letter from the governor, acquainting me that he had 
 
 caird the Assembly, and wished my attendance 
 
 there, if the posture of affairs on the frontiers was 
 
 such that my remaining there was no longer neces- 
 ?9 p 
 
338 AUTOBIOGRAPHY' OF 
 
 sary. My friends, too, of the Assembly, pressing 
 me b}'' their letters to be, if possible, at the meeting, 
 and my three intended forts being now compleated, 
 and the inhabitants contented to remain on their 
 farms under that protection, I resolved to return ; the 
 more willingly, as a New England officer, Colonel 
 Clapham, experienced in Indian war, being on a 
 visit to our establishment, consented to accept the 
 command. I gave him a commission, and, parad- 
 ing the garrison, had it read before them, and intro- 
 duc'd 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 exhor- 
 tation, took my leave. I was escorted as far as 
 Bethlehem, where I rested a few days to recovei 
 from the fatigue I had undergone. The first night, 
 being in a good bed, I could hardly sleep, it was 
 so different from my hard lodging on the floor of 
 our hut at Gnaden wrapt only in a blanket or 
 two. 
 
 While at Bethlehem, I inquir'd a little into the 
 practice of the Moravians : some of them had 
 accompanied me, and all were very kind to me. I 
 found they work'd for a common stock, eat at 
 common tables, and slept in common dormitories, 
 great numbers together. In the dormitories I ob- 
 served loopholes, at certain distances all along juvSt 
 under the ceiling, which I thought judiciously 
 placed for change of air. I was at their church, 
 "fhere I was entertain'd with good musick, the 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 339 
 
 organ being accompanied with violins, hautboys, 
 flutes, clarinets, etc. I understood that 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 chil- 
 dren, each division by itself. The sermon I heard 
 was to the latter, who came in and were plac'd in 
 rows on benches ; the boys under the conduct of a 
 young man, their tutor, and the girls conducted 
 by a young woman. The discourse seem'd well 
 adapted to their capacities, and was delivered in a 
 pleasing, familiar manner, coaxing them, as it were, 
 to be good. They behav'd very orderly, but looked 
 pale and unhealthy, which made me suspect they 
 were kept too much within doors, or not allow'd 
 sufficient exercise. 
 
 I inquir'd concerning the Moravian marriages, 
 whether the report was true that they were by lot. 
 I was told that lots were us'd only in particular 
 cases ; that generally, when a young man found 
 himself dispos'd to marry, he inform'd the elders 
 of his class, who consulted the elder ladies that 
 govern'd the young women. As these elders of the 
 different sexes were well acquainted with the tem- 
 pers and dispositions of their respective pupils, they 
 could best judge what matches were suitable, and 
 their judgments were generally acquiesc'd in ; but 
 if, for example, it should happen that two or three 
 
340 AUTOBlOGliAPJir OF 
 
 young women were found to be equally proper for 
 the young man, the lot was then recurred to. 1 
 objected, if the matches are not made by the mutual 
 choice of the parties, some of them may chance to 
 be very unhappy. "And so they may," answered 
 m}^ informer, "if you let the parties chuse for them- 
 jelves ;" which, indeed, I could not deny. 
 
 Being returned to Philadelphia, I found the asso- 
 ciation went on swimmingly, the inhabitants that 
 were not Quakers having pretty generally come into 
 it, formed themselves into companies, and chose 
 their captains, lieutenants, and ensigns, according 
 to the new law. Dr. B. visited me, and gave me 
 an account of the pains he had taken to spread a 
 general good liking to the law, and ascribed much to 
 those endeavors. I had 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 officers, meeting, chose me to be colo- 
 nel of the regiment, which I this time accepted. I 
 forget how many companies we had, but we paraded 
 about twelve hundred 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 reviewed 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 elec- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 34 1 
 
 trical apparatus. And my new honour proved not 
 much less brittle ; for all our commissions 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 officers 
 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 horse- 
 back they came to my door, between thirty and 
 forty, mounted, and all in their uniforms. I had 
 not been previously acquainted with the project, or 
 I should have prevented it, being naturally averse 
 to the assuming of state on any occasion ; and I was 
 a good deal chagrin'd 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. Somebody wrote an account 
 of this to the proprietor, and it gave him great 
 offense. No such honor had been paid 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 
 rancour against me, which was before not a little, 
 on account of my conduct in the Assembly respect- 
 ing the exemption of his estate from taxation, which 
 I had always oppos'd very warmly, and not with- 
 
 29* 
 
34^ AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 out severe reflections on his meanness and injustice 
 of contending for it. He accused me to the minis- 
 try 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 
 this parade with my ofl^icers 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 de- 
 prive me of my office ; but it had no other eflfect 
 than to procure from Sir Everard a gentle ad- 
 monition. 
 
 Notwithstanding the continual wrangle between 
 the governor and the House, in which I, as a mem- 
 ber, 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 some- 
 times 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 con- 
 sider us both as merely advocates for contending 
 clients in a suit, he for the proprietaries and I for 
 the Assembly. He would, therefore, sometimes call 
 in a friendly way to advise with me on diflicuU 
 points, and sometimes, tho' not often, take my 
 advice. 
 
 We acted in concert to supply Braddock's army 
 with provisions ; and, when the shocking news ar- 
 rived of his defeat, the governor sent in haste for 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 343 
 
 me, to consult with him on measures for preventing 
 the desertion of the back counties. I forget now 
 the advice I gave ; but I think it was, that Dunbar 
 should be written to, and prevail'd with, if possible, 
 to post his troops on the frontiers for their protec- 
 tion, till, by re-enforcements from the colonies, he 
 might be able to proceed on 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 Du- 
 quesne, Dunbar and his men being otherwise em- 
 ployed ; and he proposed to commission me as 
 general. I had not so good an opinion of my mili- 
 tary abilities as he profess'd to have, and I believe 
 his professions must have exceeded his real senti- 
 ments ; but probably he might think that my popu- 
 larit}^ would facilitate the raising of the men, and 
 my influence in Assembly, the grant of money to 
 pay them, and that, perhaps, without taxing the 
 proprietary estate. Finding me not so forward to 
 engage as he expected, the project was dropt, 
 and he soon after left the government, being super- 
 seded by Captain Denny. 
 
 Before I proceed in relating the part I had in 
 public affairs under this new governor's administra- 
 tion, it may not be amiss here to give some account 
 of the rise and progress of my philosophical repu- 
 tation. 
 
 In 1746, being at Boston, I met there with a Dr. 
 Spence, who was lately arrived from Scotland, and 
 
344 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 show'd me some electric experiments. They were 
 imperfectly perform'd, as he was not very expert; 
 but, being on a subject quite new to me, they 
 equally surpris'd and pleased me. Soon after my 
 return to Philadelphia, our library company receiv'd 
 from Mr. P. Collinson, Fellow of the Royal Society 
 of London, a present of a glass tube, with some ac- 
 coimt 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, ac- 
 quir'd great readiness 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 
 people 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 at our glass-house, with which they furnish'd 
 themselves, so that we had at length several per- 
 formers. Among these, the principal was Mr. 
 Kinnersley, an ingenious neighbor, who, being out 
 of business, I encouraged to undertake showing 
 the experiments for money, and drew up for him 
 two lectures, in which the experiments were rang'd 
 in such order, and accompanied with such explana- 
 tions in such method, as that the foregoirg .'should as- 
 sist in comprehending the following- He procur'd 
 an elegant apparatus for the purpose, in which all the 
 little machines that I had roughlj made for mys.^lf 
 were nicely form'd by instrument-makers. His 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 345 
 
 lectures were well attended, and gave great satis- 
 faction ; and after some time he went thro' the 
 colonies, exhibiting them in every capital town, and 
 pick'd up some money. In the West India islands, 
 indeed, it was with difficulty the experiments could 
 be made, from the general moisture of the air. 
 
 Oblig'd as we were to Mr. Collinson for his pre- 
 sent of the tube, etc., I thought it right he should be 
 inform'd of our success in using it, and wrote him 
 several letters containing accounts of our experi- 
 ments. He got them read in the Royal 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 lightning with electricity, I sent to Dr. 
 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 advis'd the printing of them. 
 Mr. Collinson then gave them to Cave for publica- 
 tion in his Gentleman's Magazine ; but he chose to 
 print them separately in a pamphlet, and Dr. Foth- 
 ergill wrote the preface. Cave, it seems, judged 
 rightly for his profit, for by the additions that arrived 
 afterward, they swell'd to a quarto volume, w^hich 
 has had five editions, and cost him nothing for 
 copy-money. 
 
 It was, however, some time before those paper* 
 
346 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 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 reputa- 
 tion in France, and, indeed, all over Europe, he 
 prevailed with M. Dalibard to translate them into 
 French, and they were printed at Paris. The pub- 
 lication offended the Abbe Nollet, preceptor in 
 Natural Philosophy to the royal family, and an able 
 experimenter, who had form'd and publish'd a 
 theory of electricity, which then had the general 
 vogue. He could not at first believe that such a 
 work came from America, and said it must have 
 been fabricated by his enemies at Paris, to decry 
 his system. Afterwards, having been assur'd that 
 there really existed such a person as Franklin at 
 Philadelphia, which he had doubted, he wrote and 
 published a volume of Letters, chiefly address'd to 
 me, defending his theory, and denying the verity 
 of my experiments, and of the positions deduc'd 
 from them. 
 
 I once purpos'd answering the abbe, and actually 
 began the answer ; but, on consideration that my 
 writings contain'd a description of experiments 
 which any one might repeat and verify, and if not 
 to be verifi'd, could not be defended ; or of observa- 
 tions oflfer'd as conjectures, and not delivered dog- 
 matically, therefore not laying me under any obliga- 
 tion to defend them ; and reflecting that a dispute 
 between two persons, writing in different languages, 
 might be lengthened greatly by mistranslations, and 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 347 
 
 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 busi- 
 ness in making new experiments, than in disputing 
 about those already made. I therefore never an- 
 swered M. Nollet, 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 was translated into the 
 Italian, German, and Latin languages ; and the doc- 
 trine it contain'd was by degrees universally adopted 
 by the philosophers of Europe, in preference to that 
 of the abbe ; so that he lived to see himself the last 
 
 of his sect, except Monsieur B , of Paris, his 
 
 eleve and immediate disciple. 
 
 What gave my book the more sudden and gen- 
 eral celebrity, was the success of one of its proposed 
 experiments, made by Messrs. Dalibard and De Lor 
 at Marly, for drawing lightning from the clouds. 
 This engag'd the public attention every where. M. 
 de Lor, who had an apparatus for experimental 
 philosophy, and lectur'd in that branch of science, 
 undertook to repeat what he called the Philadelphia 
 Experiments ; and, after they were performed be 
 fore 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 receiv'd in the success of a 
 
348 AUTOBIOGRAPIir OF 
 
 similar one I made soon after with a kite at Phila- 
 delphia, as both are to be found in the histories ol 
 electricity. 
 
 Dr. Wright, an English physician, when at Paris, 
 w rote to a friend, who was 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, resum'd the consideration of 
 the letters that had been read to them ; and the cele- 
 brated Dr. Watson drew up a summary account of 
 them, and of all I had afterwards sent to England on 
 the subject, which he accompanied with some praise 
 of the writer. This summary was then printed in 
 their Transactions ; and some members of the society 
 in London, particularly the very ingenious Mr. Can- 
 ton, having verified the experiment of procuring 
 lightning from the clouds by a pointed rod, and ac- 
 quainting 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 I should be excus'd the 
 customary payments, w^hich would have amounted 
 to twenty-live guineas ; and ever since have given 
 me their Transactions gratis.* They also pie- 
 
 * 
 
 Dr. Franklin gives a further account of his election in a letter to his 
 Bon, Governor Franklin, from which the following is an extract : 
 
 " London, 19 December, 176^. 
 *' We have had an ugly affair at the Royal Society lately. One 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 349 
 
 sented me with the gold medal of Sir Godfrey Cop- 
 ley for the year 1753, the delivery of which was 
 accompanied by a very handsome speech* of the 
 president, Lord Macclesfield, wherein I was highly 
 honoured. 
 
 Our new governor. Captain Denny, brought over 
 
 Dacosta, a Jew, who, as our clerk, was intrusted with collecting our 
 moneys, has 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 unravelling, 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 this affair, 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 requested 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. I found that the certifi- 
 cate, worded very advantageously for me, was signed by Lord Maccles- 
 field, then president, Lord Parker, and Lord Willoughby ; 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 composition ; so that my name was 
 entered on the list, with a vote of Council that I was not to pay any 
 thing, 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 contribution, or twenty-five guineas 
 down in lieu of it. In my case a substantial favor accompanied the 
 honor."— W. T. F. 
 
 * See this speech in vol. v. p. 499, Sparks' Works of Franklin. — Ed. 
 30 
 
350 AUTOBIOGRAPHT OF 
 
 for me the before-mentioned medal from the Royal 
 Society, which he presented to me at an entertain- 
 ment 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 engag'd in drink- 
 ing, he took me aside into another room, and ac- 
 quainted me that he had been advis'd by his friends 
 in England to cultivate a friendship 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 begg'd me to be assur'd 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 tow^ards the province, 
 and of the advantage it might be to us all, and to 
 me in particular, if the opposition that had been 
 so long continu'd to his measures was dropt, and 
 harmony restor'd 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, 
 etc., etc. The drinkers, finding we did not return 
 immediately to the table, sent us a decanter of Ma- 
 deira, w^hich the governor made liberal use of, 
 and in proportion became more profuse of his solici- 
 tations and promises. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 35 1 
 
 My answers were to this purpose : that my cir- 
 cumstances, thanks to God, were such as to make 
 proprietary favours unnecessary to me ; and that, 
 being a member of the Assembly, I could not possi- 
 bly accept of any ; that, however, I had no personal 
 enmity to the proprietary, and that, whenever the 
 public measures he propos'd should appear to be 
 for the good of the people, no one should 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 professions of 
 regard to me, and that he might rely on every thing 
 in my power to make his administration as easy as 
 possible, hoping at the same time that he had not 
 brought with him the same unfortunate instruction 
 his predecessor had been hamper'd with. 
 
 On this he did not then explain himself; but 
 when he afterwards came to do business with the 
 Assembly, they appeared again, the disputes were 
 renewed, and I was as active as ever in the opposi- 
 tion, being the penman, first, 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 time, and in the Historical Review I 
 afterward publish'd. But between us personally 
 no enmity arose ; we were often together ; he was a 
 man of letters, had seen much of the w^orld, and 
 
352 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 was very entertaining and pleasing in conversation. 
 He gave me the first information that my old friend 
 Jas. Ralph was still alive ; that he was esteem'd one 
 of the best political writers in England ; had been em- 
 ploy 'd in the dispute between Prince Frederic and the 
 king, and had obtain'd a pension of three hundred a 
 year ; tliat his reputation was indeed small as a poet, 
 ]*ope having damned his poetry in the Dunciad ; but 
 his prose was thought as good as any man's. 
 
 * The Assembly finally finding the proprietary 
 obstinately persisted in manacling their deputies with 
 instructions inconsistent not only with the privileges 
 of the people, but with the service of the crown, 
 resolv'd to petition the king against them, and 
 appointed me their agent to go over to England, to 
 present and support 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 thou- 
 sand pounds of which was subjected to the orders 
 of the then general. Lord Loudoun), which the 
 governor absolutely refus'd to pass, in compliance 
 with his instructions. 
 
 I had agreed with Captain Morris, of the paquet 
 at New York, for my passage, and my stores were 
 put on board, w^hen Lord Loudoun arriv'd at Phila- 
 delphia, expressly, as he told me, to endeavor an 
 accommodation between the governor and Assem- 
 
 • The many unanimous resolves of the Assembly — what date ? — 
 \Marg. note^ 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 353 
 
 bly, that his majesty's service might not be ob- 
 structed by their dissensions. Accordingly, he 
 desir'd the governor and myself to meet him, that 
 he might hear what was to be said on both sides. 
 We met and discuss'd the business. In behalf of 
 the Assembly, I urg'd all the various arguments that 
 may be found in the public papers of that time, 
 which were of my wTiting, and are printed with the 
 minutes of the Assembly ; and the governor pleaded 
 his instructions ; the bond he had given to observe 
 them, and his ruin if he disobey'd, yet seemed not 
 unwilling to hazard himself if Lord Loudoun would 
 advise it. This his lordship did not chuse to do, 
 though I once thought I had nearly prevail'd with 
 him to do it ; but finally he rather chose to urge the 
 compliance of the Assembly ; and he entreated me 
 to use my endeavours with them for that purpore, 
 declaring 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 our- 
 selves, they must remain expos'd to the enemy. 
 
 I acquainted the House with what had pass'd, 
 and, presenting them with a set of resolutions I had 
 draw^n up, declaring our rights, and that we did 
 not relinquish our claim to those rights, but only 
 suspended the exercise of them on this occasion 
 thro' force^ against which we protested, they at 
 length agreed to drop that bill, and frame another 
 conformable to the proprietary instructions. This 
 of course the governor pass'd, and I was then at 
 
 30* 
 
354 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 liberty to proceed on my voyage. But, in the mean 
 time, the paquet 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 paquet-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. His answer was, 
 ** I 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 w^ill be in 
 time, but do not delay longer." By some accidental 
 hinderance at a ferry, it was Monday noon before I 
 arrived, and I was much afraid she might have 
 sailed, as the wind was fair ; but I was soon made 
 easy by the information 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 thought so ; but I w^as not 
 then so well acquainted with his lordship's character, 
 of which tndeciston was one of the strongest fea- 
 tures. I shall give some instances. 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 
 sail'd. There were tlen two of the paquet-boats, 
 which had been long m port, but were detained for 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 355 
 
 the general's letters, which were always to be ready 
 to-morrow. Another paquet arriv'd ; she too was 
 detain'd ; and, before we sail'd, a fourth was ex- 
 pected. Ours was the first to be dispatch'd, as 
 having been there longest. Passengers were en- 
 gag'd in all, and some extremely impatient to be 
 gone, and the merchants uneasy about their letters, 
 and the orders they had given for insurance (it being 
 war time) for fall goods ; but their anxiety avail'd 
 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 from thence express with 
 a paquet from Governor Denny for the General. He 
 delivered to me some letters from my friends there, 
 which occasion'd my inquiring when he was to re- 
 turn, and where he lodg'd, that I might send some 
 letters by him. He told me he was order'd to call 
 to-morrow 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 return'd, Innis ?" ''^ Returned! no, I am 
 not gone yet." '' How so?" '' I have called here 
 by order every morning these two weeks past for his 
 lordship's letter, and it is not yet ready." "Is it 
 possible, when he is so great a writer? for I see him 
 
356 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 constantly at his escritoire." '* Yes," says Innis, 
 *' but he is like St. George on the signs, always on 
 horseback^ and never rides on,"" This observation 
 of the messenger was, it seems, well founded ; for, 
 when in England, I understood that Mr. Pitt gave 
 it as one reason for removing this general, and send- 
 ing Generals Amherst and Wolfe, that the minister 
 never heard froin hi^n, and could not know what he 
 was doing. 
 
 This daily expectation of sailing, and all the three 
 paquets 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 right, 
 we were about six weeks, consuming our sea-stores, 
 and oblig'd to procure more. At length the fleet 
 sail'd, the General and all his army on board, bound 
 to Louisburg, with intent to besiege and take that 
 fortress ; all the paquet-boats in company ordered to 
 attend the General's ship, ready to receive his dis- 
 patches when they should 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 paquets 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 alter'd his mind as to besieging Lou 
 isburg, and return'd to New York, with all his troops, 
 together with the two paquets above mentioned, and 
 all their passengers ! During his absence the French 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 357 
 
 and savages had taken Fort George, on the frontier 
 of that province, and the savages had massacred 
 many of the garrison after capitulation. 
 
 I saw afterwards in London Captain Bonnell, who 
 commanded one of those paquets. He told me that, 
 when he had been detain'd a month, he acquainted 
 his lordship that his ship was grown foul, to a de- 
 gree that must necessarily hinder her fast sailing, a 
 point of consequence for a paquet-boat, and re- 
 quested an allowance of time to heave her down and 
 clean her bottom. He was asked how long time 
 that would require. He answer'd, three days. 
 The general replied, " If you can do it in one day, 
 I give leave ; otherwise not ; for you must certainly 
 sail the day after to-morrow\" So he never obtained 
 leave, though detained afterwards from day to day 
 during full three months. 
 
 1 saw also in London one of Bonnell's passengers, 
 who was so enrag'd against his lordship for deceiv- 
 ing and detaining him so long at New York, and 
 then carrying him to Halifax and back again, that 
 he swore he would sue him for damages. Whether 
 he did or not, I never heard ; but, as he represented 
 the injury to his affairs, it was very considerable. 
 
 On the whole, I wonder'd 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, my wonder is diminished. General Shirley, 
 
358 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 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 cam- 
 paign than that of Loudoun in 1757, which was 
 frivolous, expensive, and disgraceful to our nation 
 beyond conception ; for, tho' Shirley was not a 
 bred soldier, he was sensible and sagacious in him- 
 self, and attentive to good advice from others, capa- 
 ble 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 expos'd, while he paraded idly at Hali- 
 fax, by which means Fort George was lost, besides, 
 he derang'd all our mercantile operations, and dis- 
 tress'd our trade, by a long embargo on the expor- 
 tation of provisions, on pretence of keeping supplies 
 from being obtain'd by the enemy, but in reality for 
 beating down their price in favor of the contractors, 
 in whose profits, it was said, perhaps from suspicion 
 only, he had a share. And, when at length the em- 
 bargo was taken oif, by neglecting to send notice of 
 it to Charlestown, the Carolina fleet was detain'd 
 near three months longer, whereby their bottoms 
 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 with 
 military business. I was at the entertainment given 
 by the city of New York to Lord Loudoun, on his 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 359 
 
 taking upon him the command. Shirley, the' 
 thereby superseded, was present also. There was 
 a great company of officers, citizens, and strangers, 
 and, some chairs having been borrowed in th«» 
 neighborhood, there was one among them very low, 
 whicli fell to the lot of Mr. Shirley. Perceiving it 
 as I sat by him, I said, " They have given you, sir, 
 too low a seat." "No matter," says he, ** Mr. 
 Franklin, I find a low seat the easiest." 
 
 While I was, as afore mentioned, detain'd at 
 New York, I receiv'd all the accounts of the pro- 
 visions, etc., that I had furnish'd to Braddock, some 
 of which accounts could not sooner be obtain'd from 
 the different persons I had employ'd to assist in 
 the business. I presented them to Lord Loudoun, 
 desiring to be paid the ballance. He caus'd them 
 to be regularly examined by the proper officer, who, 
 after comparing every article with its voucher, cer 
 tified them to be right ; and the balance due for 
 which his lordship promis'd to give me an order on 
 the paymaster. This was, however, put oflT from 
 time to time; and, tho' I call'd often for it by 
 appointment, I did not get it. At length, just be- 
 fore my departure, he told me he had, on better 
 consideration, concluded not to mix his accounts 
 with those of his predecessors. "And you," says 
 he, "when in England, have only to exhibit your 
 accounts at the treasury, and you will be paid 
 immediately." 
 
 I mention'd, but without effect, the great and unex- 
 
360 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 pected expense I had been put to by being detained 
 so long at New York, as a reason for my 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 advanc'd, as I 
 ( harged no commission for my service, " O, sir," 
 says he, " you must not think of persuading us that 
 you are no gainer ; we understand better those affairs, 
 and know that every one concerned in supplying 
 the army finds means, in the doing it, to fill his own 
 pockets." I assur'd him that was not my case, and 
 that I had not pocketed a farthing ; but he appear'd 
 clearly not to believe me ; and, indeed, I have since 
 learnt that immense fortunes are often made in 
 such employments. As to my ballance, I am not 
 paid it to this day, of which more hereafter. 
 
 Our captain of the paquet had boasted much, be- 
 fore we sailed, of the swiftness of his ship ; unfor- 
 tunately, when we came to sea, she proved the 
 dullest of ninety-six sail, to his no small mortifica- 
 tion. After many conjectures respecting the cause, 
 when we were near another ship almost as dull as 
 ours, which, however, gain'd upon us, the captain 
 ordered all hands to come aft, and stand as near the 
 ensign staff as possible. We were, passengers in- 
 cluded, about forty persons. While we stood there, 
 the ship mended her pace, and soon left her neigh- 
 bour far behind, which prov'd clearly what our 
 captain suspected, that she was loaded too much by 
 the head. The casks of water, it seems, had been 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 36 1 
 
 all plac'd forward ; these he therefore order'd to be 
 mov'd further aft, on which the ship recover'd 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 thir- 
 teen miles per hour. We had on board, as a pas- 
 senger. Captain Kennedy, of the Navy, who con- 
 tended that it was impossible, and 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 ensu'd be- 
 tween the two captains, to be decided when there 
 should be sufficient wind. Kennedy thereupon ex- 
 amin'd rigorously the log-line, and, being satisfi'd 
 with that, he determin'd to throw the log himself. 
 Accordingly some days after, when the wind blew 
 very fair and fresh, and the captain of the paquet, 
 Lutwidge, said he believ'd she then went at the rate 
 of thirteen knots, Kennedy made the experiment, 
 and own'd his wager lost. 
 
 The above fact I give for the sake of the follow- 
 ing observation. It has been remark'd, as an im- 
 perfection 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 
 folio w'd in a new one, which has prov'd, on the 
 contrary, remarkably dull. I apprehend that this 
 may partly be occasioned by the different opinions 
 of seamen respecting the modes of lading, rigging, 
 
 31 Q 
 
362 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 and sailing of a ship ; each has his system ; and the 
 same vessel, laden by the judgment and orders of 
 one captain, shall sail better or worse than when by 
 the orders of another. Besides, it scarce ever hap- 
 pens that a ship is form'd, fitted for the sea, and 
 sail'd by the same person. One man builds the 
 hull, another rigs her, a third lades and sails her. 
 No one of these has the advantage of knowing all 
 the ideas and experience of the others, and, there- 
 fore, can not draw just conclusions from a combina- 
 tion of the whole. 
 
 Even in the simple operation of sailing when at 
 sea, I have often observ'd different judgments in the 
 officers who commanded the successive watches, the 
 wind being the same. One would have the sails 
 trimm'd sharper or flatter than another, so that they 
 seem'd to have no certain rule 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 pro- 
 perest place for the masts ; then the form and quan- 
 tity of sails, and their position, as the wind 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. I am 
 persuaded, therefore, that ere long some ingenious 
 philosopher will undertake it, to whom I wish 
 success. 
 
 We were several times chas'd in our passage, but 
 outsail'd every thing, and in thirty days had sound- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 363 
 
 ii.gs. We had a good observation, and the captain 
 judg'd himself so near our port, Falmouth, that, if 
 we made a good run in the night, we might be ofl' 
 the mouth of that harbor in the morning, and by 
 running in the night might escape the notice of the 
 enemy's privateers, who often cruis'd near the en- 
 trance of the channel. Accordingly, all the sail 
 was set that we could possibly make, and the wind 
 being very fresh and fair, we went right before it, 
 and made great way. The captain, after his ob- 
 servation, shap'd his course, as he thought, so as to 
 pass wide of the Scilly Isles ; but it seems there is 
 sometimes a strong indraught setting up St. George's 
 Channel, w^hich deceives seamen and caused the loss 
 of Sir Cloudesley Shovel's squadron. This in- 
 draught was probably the cause of what happened 
 to us. 
 
 We had a watchman plac'd in the bow, to whom 
 they often called, ^^Look well out before there ^^'^ 
 and he as often answered, ''''Ay^ ay;'' 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 discover'd, and 
 occasion'd a great alarm, w^e being very near it, 
 the light appearing to me as big as a cart-wheel. 
 It was midnight, and our captain fast asleep ; but 
 Captain Kennedy, jumping upon deck, and seeing 
 
364 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the danger, ordered the ship to wear round, all sails 
 standing ; an operation dangerous to the masts, but 
 it carried us clear, and we escaped shipwreck, for we 
 were running right upon the rocks on which the light- 
 house was erected. This deliverance impressed me 
 strongly with the utiHty of light-houses, and made 
 me resolve to encourage the building more of them 
 in America, if I should live to return there. 
 
 In the morning it was found by the soundings, etc., 
 that we were near our port, but a thick fog hid the 
 land from our sight. About nine o'clock the fog 
 began to rise, and seem'd to be lifted up from the 
 water like the curtain at a play-house, discovering 
 underneath, the town of Falmouth, the vessels in its 
 harbor, and the fields that surrounded it. This was 
 a most pleasing spectacle to those who had been so 
 long without any other prospects than the uniform 
 view of a vacant ocean, and it gave us the more 
 pleasure as we were now free from the anxieties 
 which the state of war occasion'd. 
 
 I set out immediately, with my son, for London, 
 and we only stopt a little by the way to view 
 Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, and Lord Pem- 
 broke's house and gardens, with his very curious 
 antiquities at Wilton. We arrived in London the 
 27th of July, I757-* 
 
 * Here terminates the Autobiography, as published by Wm. Temple 
 Franklin and his successors. What follows was \\Titten the last year of 
 Dr. Franklin's life, and was never before printed in English. — Ed. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 365 
 
 Under date of February 3d, 1757, the following entry appears in the 
 journal of the Assembly : 
 
 " Mr. Speaker and Mr. Franklin being called upon by the House to de- 
 clare whether they would comply with the request of the House in going 
 home to England to solicit a redress of our grievances, Mr. Franklin said 
 that he esteemed the nomination by the House to that service as an high 
 honor, but that he thought that if the Speaker could be prevailed upon to 
 undertake it (the Speaker having practically just declined in consequence 
 of ill health), his long experience in our public affairs and great knowledge 
 and abilities would render the addition of another unnecessary. That he 
 held himself honored in the disposition of the House, and ' was ready to 
 go whenever they should think fit to require his services.' 
 
 ' Unanimous thanks given, etc, and Benjamin Franklin was appointed 
 Agent of the Province. William Franklin had leave to resign his position 
 as clerk to accompany his father." 
 
A 
 
 S soon as I was settled in a lodging Mr. 
 Charles had provided for me, I went to visit 
 Dr. Fothergill, to whom I was strongly recommended, 
 and whose counsel respecting my proceedings T was 
 advis'd to obtain.* He was against an immediate 
 complaint to government, and thought the proprie- 
 taries should first be personally appli'd to, who 
 
 * Dr. Franklin formed the acquaintance of Dr. Fothergill in his visit to 
 London in 1757, and during a severe attack of intermittent fever, in the 
 fall of that year, Fothergill was his attending physician. He was famous 
 in those days as a naturalist no less than as a pliysician. I am indebted 
 to my learned and accomplished friend, the Hon. George Van Bunsen, of 
 Berlin, for the following interesting facts about the Doctor: 
 
 " In 1762 he bought some land with a house on it in the east of London 
 and parish of West Ham. The house was called Upton House, which 
 afterwards was changed to Ham House, well known in the days of Samuel 
 Gurney and his sister, Elizabeth Fry. The gardens, which are now trans- 
 formed into a public park, were then famous through the exotics cultivated 
 there by the magnanimous physician. 
 365 « 
 

 •rf 
 
 -/ 
 
 DR JOHN FOTHERGILL. 
 
 (From a medallion in possession of Madame Ernest Von Bunsen, Abbey 
 Lodge, London.) 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 365 h 
 
 might possibly be induc'd by the interposition and 
 persuasion of some private friends, to accommodate 
 
 " Sir Joseph Banks declared them to be the second in Europe, only 
 Kew gardens claiming a higher rank. From thence he sallied forth daily 
 in his carriage and four to see his patients in the West End." 
 
 There is a bust of Dr. Fothergill, which was formerly at Ham House, 
 now to be seen at Abbey Lodge, Regent's Park, London, the residence of 
 the Hon. Ernest von Bunsen. 
 
 Some papers, now in the possession of John Henry Gumey, Esq., of 
 Keswick Hall, Norwich, to whom I am indebted for the valuable and 
 characteristic letter of Franklin to Dr. Fothergill, of March 14th, 1764 
 {infra), authorize the presumption that Dr. Fothergill paid for the re- 
 printing of Barclay's " Apology." 
 
 He died early in the year 1781. In a letter to David Barclay, from Passy, 
 dated 12 February of that year, Franklin wrote : 
 
 " I condole with you most seriously on the death of Dr. Fothergill. I 
 hope that some one that knew him well will do justice to his memory 
 by an account of his life and character. He was a great doer of good. 
 How much might have been done and mischief prevented if his, your, 
 and my joint endeavors, on a certain melancholy affair, had been at- 
 tended to." '"' 
 
 The allusion here is to a negotiation undertaken by Dr. Franklin, Dr. 
 Fothergill, Mr. Barclay, a grandson of Robert Barclay, author of the 
 " Apology for the Principles and Doctrines of the People called Quakers," 
 and Lord Howe. In a letter to Dr. Lettsom, afterwards the biographer 
 of Dr. Fothergill, dated March 17, 1783, Franklin again refers to these 
 negotiations. 
 
 " Our late excellent friend was always proposing something for the good 
 of mankind. You will find instances of this in one of his letters which I 
 enclose, the only one I can at present lay my hands on. I have some 
 very valuable ones in America, if they are not lost in the late confusions. 
 Just before I left England, he, in conjunction with Mr. Barclay and my- 
 self, labored hard to prevent the coming war, but our endeavors were 
 fruitless. This transaction was alluded to in the first page. If we may 
 estimate the goodness of a man by his disposition to do good and his 
 constant endeavors and success in doing it, I can hardly conceive that a 
 better man has ever existed." 
 
 The failure of the negotiations above referred to is the topic of the follow- 
 ing interesting letters from Fothergill, one to Lord Dartmouth, dated 6th 
 of February, 1775, and the other to Dr. Barclay, of the 21st. 
 
 " I wish it had been in my power to have informed my noble friend that 
 
7^6$ c AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 matters amicably. I then waited on my old friend 
 and correspondent, Mr. Peter Collinson, who told 
 
 our negotiation had been successful. But it is not, and thus, not owing to 
 want of attention or willingness of my friend or me to promote a recon- 
 ciliation nor to any opposition or refiactory disposition in Dr. Franklin, 
 our difficulties arose from the American acts, viz., the Boston Port Bill, the 
 Government of the Massachusetts, and the Quebec Act. As a concession 
 to pay a tax was the sine qua non on this side, so a rescinding of those 
 acts, or rather repealing them, is the terms of reconciliation on the 
 other. 
 
 "As we had not permission to give any hopes that these acts would be 
 repealed, to ask anything else, however easily consented to here, would 
 not be satisfactory on the other side, and therefore an Assembly of the 
 Delegates, authorized to treat upon the means of establishing a good 
 understanding between the parties at variance, without removing this 
 obstacle, would be wholly ineffectual. We found that the delegates to 
 the late Congress were chosen in the respective provinces by the people 
 who have a right to vote for Representatives, and in general by no other, 
 so that, whatever may be thrown out to the contrary, we apprehend will 
 be found not to be authentic. 
 
 " Dr. Franklin would have no objection to meet the noble lords who 
 were pleased to intimate that our endeavors to promote a reconciliation 
 would not be unacceptable, and to consider the whole affair with the 
 utmost candor and privacy, could it in the least avert these evils which 
 are inevitably impending, without some intervention on both parts of the 
 great empire. 
 
 " Was the whole Ad n as cordially disposed to peace and as sensible 
 
 of its advantages as Lord Dartmouth, I think there would be very little 
 difficulty in accomplishing it, but I see and perceive so strong a current 
 another way that I despair, without the interposition of Omnipotence, of 
 any reconciliation. 
 
 " The only thing left for the generality of these devoted countries is to 
 look for superior protection. The great will always be the great in every 
 revolution that can happen, the poor will always be the heirs of misery, 
 let who will be their superiors, a numerous, very numerous part of both 
 country's, the middling people who bear all burdens, who produce all the 
 strenc;th and happiness of states, these must be the sufferers. Though 
 
 the K *s servants happily coincide in adopting the simple plan of 
 
 pacification which our noble friends so generously concurred in and 
 include the repeal of the acts above mentioned, we have not the least 
 doubt but America would immediately return to every just expression of 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 365 d 
 
 me that John Hanbury, the great Virginia merchant, 
 had requested to be informed when I should arrive, 
 
 duty both in language and in conduct. Dr. Franklin, should this be 
 tacitly consented to, would not have the least objection to petition for the 
 restoration of peace ; offer on the part of Boston to pay the East India 
 Company for the tea, though at the risk of his own private fortune, and 
 endeavor, bona fide, to concert every means of a lasting and reciprocally 
 beneficial union. 
 
 " Should it, however, be determined to proceed with force to reduce the 
 Americans to a different way of thinking and subject them by hostile 
 means, I most sincerely wish that the enemies of my noble friend, if any 
 such there be, may enjoy the power of issuing such sanguinary conces- 
 sion. 
 
 " I am Lord Dartmouth's obliged and respected friend, 
 
 " J. FOTHERGILL. 
 
 " Endorsed Dr. F. to Lord Dartmouth." 
 
 To Dr. Barclay. 
 
 " 2ist inst. 
 
 " When I reflect, my dear friend, on the disregard, call it by no harsher 
 a name, with which our opinions have been uniformly treated, though the 
 events have shown them to be not imprudent ones it affords me but a 
 melancholy proof that everything that we can suggest will either be totally 
 neglected or adopted but by halves. 
 
 " For these considerations I am against offering any opinion at all on a 
 strong presumption that what we may offer will just have the fate with our 
 former endeavors. 
 
 " Two years ago, nay one year, I believe, we should neither of us have 
 hesitated to go even to America, and, had our powers been then what they 
 ought to have been at the former period, we should have prevented inde- 
 pendency, and at the latter made a firm commercial compact and pre- 
 vented desolations that will, whilst history remains, disgrace the annals of 
 their unhappy country. Treated, however, as we have been, I will please 
 myself with a hope that what may now be suggested by us will be better 
 attended to, and therefore put down the result of our conversation of last 
 night as still my opinion. 
 
 " That the matter is too far advanced for any private person to do the 
 publick any good is most certain. Perhaps all modes of preventing tlie 
 approaching calamity will be utterly ineffectual. I still think that Lord 
 Stormont should leave Paris as coming home on his priviic affairs or be 
 sent to some other place ; that another should be sent in his place, one not 
 obnoxious to the Court of Versailles, nor unknown to Franklin. That his 
 
 Q* 
 
366 AUTOBIOGRAFHV OF 
 
 that he might carry me to Lord Granville's, who was 
 then President of the Council and wished to see me 
 as soon as possible. I agreed to go with him the 
 next morning. Accordingly Mr. Hanbury called 
 for me and took me in his carriage to that noble- 
 man's, who receiv'd me with great civility; and 
 after some questions respecting the present state of 
 affairs in America and discourse thereupon, he said 
 to me : " You Americans have wrong ideas of the 
 nature of your constitution ; you contend that the 
 king's instructions to his governors are not laws, 
 and think yourselves at liberty to regard or dis- 
 regard them at your own discretion. But those 
 instructions are not like the pocket instructions given 
 to a minister going abroad, for regulating his con- 
 duct in some trifling point of ceremony. They are 
 first drawn up by judges learned in the laws ; they 
 are then considered, debated, and perhaps amended 
 in Council, after which they are signed by the king. 
 They are then, so far as they relate to you, the law 
 of the land, for the king is the Legislator of the 
 
 business should be with the latter, and his instructions should be only, say 
 to F., wliat measures can at this juncture be adopted most for the benefit 
 of his country and America, and tiiey be adopted by us bona fide. 
 
 " A single reservation will destroy the whole and render the attempt as 
 ineffectual as all the expedients have been hitherto. It requires an apti- 
 tude of heart which I fear is not to be met with to save us from ruin. But 
 it must be on a ground like this that we can be saved if we are to. Two 
 months ago a private person thus instructed might have done everything. 
 It must now be the business of a man in a publick and responsible charac- 
 ter. 
 
 " I am thy afflicted friend.*' 
 
 ED. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 367 
 
 Colonies." I told his lordship this was new doc- 
 trine to me. I had always understood from our 
 charters that our laws were to be made by our As- 
 semblies, to be presented indeed to the king for his 
 royal assent, but that being once given the king 
 could not repeal or alter them. And as the Assem- 
 blies could not make permanent laws without his 
 assent, so neither could he make a law for them 
 without theirs. He assur'd me I was totally mis- 
 taken. I did not think so, however, and his lord- 
 ship's conversation having a little alarm'd me as to 
 what might be the sentiments of the court concern- 
 ing us, I wrote it down as soon as I returned to my 
 lodgings. I recollected that about 20 years before, 
 a clause in a bill brought int :> Parliament by the 
 ministry had propos'd to make the king's instruc- 
 tions laws in the colonies, but the clause was thrown 
 out by the Commons, for which we adored them as 
 our friends and friends of liberty, till by their con- 
 duct towards us in 1765 it seem'd that they had 
 refus'd that point of sovereignty to the king only 
 that they might reserve it for themselves. 
 
 After some days, Dr. Fothergill having spoken to 
 the proprietaries, they agreed to a meeting with me 
 at Mr. T. Penn's house in Spring Garden. The 
 conversation at first consisted of mutual declarations 
 of disposition to reasonable accommodations, but I 
 suppose each party had its own ideas of what should 
 be meant by reasonable. We then went into con- 
 sideration of our several points of complaint, which 
 
368 AUTOBJOGRAPIIV OF 
 
 I enumerated. The proprietaries justify'd their con- 
 duct as well as they could, and I the Assembly's. 
 We now appeared very wide, and so far from each 
 other in our opinions as to discourage all hope of 
 agreement. However, it was concluded that 1 
 should give them the heads of our complaints in 
 writing, and they promis'd then to consider them. 
 I did so soon after, but they put the paper into the 
 hands of their solicitor, Ferdinand John Paris, who 
 managed for them all their law business in their 
 great suit with the neighbouring proprietary of 
 Maryland, Lord Baltimore, which had subsisted 70 
 years, and wrote for them all their papers and mes- 
 sages in their dispute with the Assembh^ He was 
 a proud, angry man, and as I had occasionally in 
 the answers of the Assembly treated his papers with 
 some severity, they being really weak in point of 
 argument and haughty in expression, he had con- 
 ceived a mortal enmity to me, which discovering 
 itself w^henever we met, I declin'd the proprietary's 
 proposal that he and I should discuss the heads of 
 complaint between our two selves, and refus'd treat- 
 ing with any one but them. They then by his ad- 
 vice put the paper into the hands of the Attoi ney 
 and Solicitor-General for their opinion and counsel 
 upon it, where it lay unanswered a year wanting 
 eight days, during which time I made frequent 
 demands of an answer from the proprietaries, but 
 without obtaining any other than that they had not 
 yet received the opinion of the Attorney and Soli- 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 369 
 
 citor-General. What it was when they did receive 
 it I never learnt, for they did not communicate it to 
 me, but sent a long message to the Assembly drawn 
 and signed by Paris, reciting my paper, complaining 
 of its want of formality, as a rudeness on my part, 
 and giving a flimsy justification of their conduct, 
 adding that they should be willing to accommodate 
 matters if the Assembly would send out some person 
 of candour to treat with them for that purpose, inti- 
 mating thereby that I was not such. 
 
 The want of formality or rudeness was, probably, 
 my not having address'd the paper to them with 
 their assum'd titles of True and Absolute Proprie- 
 taries of the Province of Pennsylvania, which I 
 omitted as not thinking it necessary in a paper, the 
 intention of which was only to reduce to a certainty 
 by writing, what in conversation I had delivered 
 viva voce. 
 
 But during this delay, the Assembly having pre- 
 vailed with Gov'r Denny to pass an act taxing the 
 proprietary estate in common with the estates of 
 the people, which was the grand point in dispute, 
 they omitted answering the message. 
 
 When this act however came over, the proprieta- 
 ries, counselled by Paris, determined to oppose its 
 receiving the royal assent. Accordingly they pe- 
 tition'd the king in Council, and a hearing was 
 appointed in which two lawyers were employ'd by 
 them against the act, and two by me in support of 
 
 it. They alledg'd that the act was intended to load 
 32 
 
1>7^ 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 the proprietary estate in order to spare those of the 
 people, and that if it were suffer'd to continue in 
 force, and the proprietaries who were in odium with 
 the people, left to their mercy in proportioning the 
 taxes, they would inevitably be ruined. We reply'd 
 that the act had no such intention, and would have 
 no such effect. That the assessors were honest ana 
 discreet men under an oath to assess fairly and 
 equitably, and tliat any advantage each of them 
 might expect in lessening his own tax by augment- 
 ing that of the proprietaries was too trifling to induce 
 them to perjure themselves. This is the purport of 
 what I remember as urged by both sides, except 
 that we insisted strongly on the mischievous conse- 
 quences that must attend a repeal, for that the 
 money, £100,000, being printed and given to the 
 king's use, expended in his service, and now spread 
 among the people, the repeal would strike it dead 
 in their hands to the ruin of many, and the total 
 discouragement of future grants, and the selfishness 
 of the proprietors in soliciting such a general catas- 
 trophe, merely from a groundless fear of their estate 
 being taxed too highly, was insisted on in the 
 strongest terms. On this. Lord Mansfield, one of 
 the counsel rose, and beckoning me took me into 
 the clerk's chamber, while the lawyers were plead- 
 ing, and asked me if I was really of opinion that no 
 injury would be done the proprietary estate in the 
 execution of the act. I said certainly. "Then," 
 says he, ** you can have little objection to enter into 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 371 
 
 an engagement to assure that point." I answer'd, 
 "None at all." He then call'd in Paris, and after 
 some discourse, his lordship's proposition was ac- 
 cepted on both sides ; a paper to the purpose was 
 drawn up by the Clerk of the Council, which I 
 sign'd with Mr. Charles, who was also an Agent 
 of the Province for their ordinary affairs, when Lord 
 Mansfield returned to the Council Chamber, where 
 finally the law was allowed to pass. Some changes 
 were however recommended and we also engaged 
 they should be made by a subsequent law, but the 
 Assembly did not think them necessary ; for one 
 year's tax having been levied by the act before the 
 order of Council arrived, they appointed a committee 
 to examine the proceedings of the assessors, and on 
 this committee they put several particular friends of 
 the proprietaries. After a full enquiry, they unani- 
 mously sign'd a report that they found the tax had 
 been assess'd with perfect equity. 
 
 The Assembly looked into my entering into the 
 first part of the engagement, as an essential service 
 to the Province, since it secured the credit of the 
 paper money then spread over all the country. They 
 gave me their thanks in form when I return'd. 
 But the proprietaries were enraged at Governor 
 Denny for having pass'd the act, and turn'd him 
 out with threats of suing him for breach of instruc- 
 tions which he had given bond to observe. He, 
 however, having done it at the instance of the 
 General, and for His Majesty's service, and having 
 
372 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 
 
 some powerful interest at court, despis'd the threats 
 and they were never put in execution.* 
 
 * The question of taxing the American possessions of the Penn family, 
 in America, which it was Franklin's mission to insist upon in London, was 
 already rapidly merging into the graver and more complicated questions 
 raised by the pretensions of the Crown to tax all the Colonies without 
 representation in Parliament. Both questions were destined to be settled 
 by the dread arbitrament of war, substantially in accordance with the 
 pretensions of the Colonists, and we hear nothing more of the proprietary 
 quarrel from Franklin. The Proprietaries, however, had little cause per- 
 sonally to complain of the final result, as appears by a recent Parlia- 
 mentary Report on " Perpetual Pensions," ordered to be printed July 29, 
 1887, Irom which we copy tlie following minute: 
 
 " It is recited in the Act 30 Geo. III., c. 46, that King Charles the 2nd 
 by Letters Patent granted to William Penn, Esquire, his heirs and assigns, 
 all that tract of land in North America now or late called the Province or 
 State of Pennsylvania. It is recited that all the estates, rights, and inter- 
 ests which were comprised in the said patent have become vested in John 
 Penn, of Stoke Pogis, in the County of Bucks, Esquire, and Jolm Penn 
 of Wimpole Street, in the Parish of Saint Marylebone, in the County of 
 Middlesex, Esquire, and their descendants, with several remainders ovei 
 in the proportion of three-fourths to John Penn, of Stoke Pogis, and one- 
 fourth to John Penn, of Wimpole Street. It is recited that by an Act of 
 the State of Pennsylvania, passed on the 27th of November, 1779, it 
 was enacted that all the estate whereof the heirs and devisees, grantees, 
 and others claimmg as proprietaries of the Province of Pennsylvania, 
 stood seized, or to wliich they were entitled on the 4th of July, 1776, of, 
 in, or to the soil and land within the said province, under the provisions 
 of the said charter or grant of the Crown to the said William Penn and 
 his heirs, should be vested in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the 
 use and benefit of the citizens thereof, subject to the disposal of the then 
 present or any future legislature of the said Commonwealth ; and that it 
 was thereby enacted (amongst other things) that the sum of ^^130, 000 
 should be paid to the devisees and legatees of Thomas Penn and Richard 
 Penn, Esquires, deceased, then late proprietaries of Pennsylvania respect- 
 ively, and to the widow and relict of the said Thomas Penn in proportion* 
 thereafter to be ascertained." 
 
 It is staled that, in consideration of the great extent of the losses above 
 recited and of the meritorious services of the said William Penn, it is 
 worthy of the King's royal munificence and of the liberality of the British 
 aation that a further provision should be made for the descendants of the 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 372 a 
 
 said William Penn ; and that the House of Commons has for that purpose 
 resolved that the annual sum of ^^^4,000 be granted out of the Consoli- 
 dated Fund to the heirs and descendants of the said William Penn. The 
 pension of ^^4,000 a year forever was granted to certain trustees in trust 
 as to three-fourths for John Penn, of Stoke Pogis, and his descendants, 
 and as to one-fourth to John Penn, of Wimpole Street, and his descend- 
 ants. 
 
 This in common with a large number of other hereditary pensions was 
 commuted by Act of Parliament 46 & 47 Vict., c. i, 1884, by the payment 
 to the heirs and descendants of William Penn the round sum of ^107,780, 
 or what was equivalent to about twenty-seven years' purchase. 
 
 In the course of an investigation by a select committee appointed by Par- 
 liament " to inquire into the circumstances of the commutation of heredi- 
 tary pensions, allowances, and payments which have been commuted 
 since the first day of January, 1881," the question was raised by the late 
 M. Bradlaugh, a member of the committee, whether Colonel Stuart, who 
 was the recipient of the commutation money, was the heir or nearest 
 descendant of William Penn. Upon this point Sir R. E. Welby, then 
 Secretary to the Treasury, gave the following testimony : 
 
 " With regard to the Penn pension, has the whole of it been com- 
 muted?" " The whole of it has been commuted." 
 
 " From 1790 to 1884 _^4,ooo a year was paid by the nation on account 
 of the pension, was it not?" " Yes." 
 
 " And then ^^^107, 780 was paid to commute it?" " Yes." 
 
 " Is it not a fact that the persons to whom a pension and commutation 
 were paid were not the heirs and descendants of William Penn at all?" 
 " I do not know that I can express any opinion upon that point. What is 
 the case is that the Act of Parliament directed us to pay it to those persons, 
 and I presume that Parliament was satisfied at that time that they repre- 
 sented WiUiam Penn." 
 
 " And you have no means of knowing whether they were the heirs or 
 descendants of William Penn or not?" " No, we have none ; we cannot 
 go behind an Act of Parhament." 
 
 " But there is no certainty whatever that this money ever went into the 
 hands of any heirs and descendants of William Penn?" " As a matter of 
 fact, I believe there were no heirs or descendants of William Penn. I 
 do not know under what circumstances these gentlemen claimed." 
 
 " Penn himself died in 1718 ?" " Yes." 
 
 " And the pension was not granted till 1790 ?" " Yes. It is stated in 
 the Act ' that, in consideration of the great extent of the losses and meri- 
 torious services of the said William Penn,' it is worthy of the King's royal 
 munificence and of the liberality of the British nation that a further pro- 
 rision should be made for the descendants of the said William Penn ; and 
 32* 
 
372^ 
 
 A UTOBIOGRAPHY. 
 
 that the House of Commons has for that purpose resolved that the annual 
 sum of /'4,ooo be granted out of the Consolidated Fund to the heirs and 
 descendants of the said William Penn. The pension of j^4,ooo a year 
 forever was granted to certain trustees in trust as to three-fourths for John 
 Penn, of Stoke Pogis, and his descendants, and as to one-fourth for John 
 Penn, of Wimpole Street, and his descendants." — Ed. 
 
THE LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 
 
 WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 
 
 CONTINUED. 
 
 FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE AND OTHER WRITINGS. 
 
 :PJ^ie,T II- 
 
 FROM FRANKLIN'S ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND AS AGENT OF THE COLONY OP 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA, IN JUNE, 17B7. UNTIL THE CLOSE OF HIS MISSION 
 
 THERE AND RETURN TO PHILADELPHIA IN 17*75. 
 
 S73 
 

 Q^ 
 
 ro 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 Pope's Works — Thomson's " Seasons" — Disciplines James Read — Enters 
 his Son VViUiam a Student of Law in London — Settles two of his 
 Nephews in Business — Protracted Illness in London — Removal of 
 Governor Denny — Countermining the Proprietors — Historical Review, 
 etc., of Pennsylvania — Tour through England and Scotland — Cam- 
 bridge University — Visits the Home of his Ancestors — Counsels the 
 Annexation of Canada to the British Empire — Portrait of WiUiam 
 Penn — The " Art of Virtue" — Karnes's " Elements of Criticism" — 
 Directions for a Young Lady's Reading — Expensiveness of English 
 Wives — Hume's "jealousy of Commerce" — Baskerville's Printing 
 Types — Property of the Penn Family — Death of his Mother-in-law — 
 Lightning Conductors. 
 
 I744-I762. 
 
 To William SiR, — I received your favor per Mr. Chew, 
 
 Strahan, j i. j o 
 
 dated Febru- dated bept. 10, and a copy via Boston. I 
 ary 12, 1744- received also Mr. Middleton's pieces. I am 
 pleased to hear that my old acquaintance, Mr. Wiggate, is 
 promoted, and hope the discovery will be completed. I 
 would not have you be too nice in the choice of pamphlets 
 you send me Let me have everything, good or bad, that 
 makes a noise and has a run ; for I have friends here of 
 different tastes to oblige with the sight of them. If Mr. 
 Warburton publishes a new edition of Pope's Works, please 
 
 375 
 
375^ 
 
 POPE'S WORKS— THOMSON'S ''SEASONS:' 
 
 to send me as soon as it is out 6 setts. That poet has many 
 admirers here, and the reflection he somewhere casts on the 
 plantations, as if they had a relish for such writers as Ward 
 only, is injurious. Your authors know but little of the 
 fame they have on this side of the ocean. We are a kind 
 of posterity in respect to them. We read their works with 
 perfect impartiality, being at too great a distance to be 
 byassed by the fashions, parties, and prejudices that pre- 
 vail among you. We know nothing of their personal fail- 
 ings ; the blemishes in their character never reach us, and 
 therefore the bright and amiable part strikes us with its 
 full force. They have never offended us or any of our 
 friends, and we have no competitions with them, therefore 
 we praise and admire them without restraint.^ Whatever 
 Thomson writes send me a dozen copies of. I had read 
 no poetry for several years, and almost lost the relish of it 
 till I met with his ''Seasons." That charming poet has 
 brought more tears of pleasure into my eyes than all I ever 
 read before. I wish it were in my power to return him 
 any part of the joy he has given me. I purpose to send 
 you by a ship that is to sail shortly from this port a bill 
 and an invoice of books that I shall want for sale in my 
 
 * I once asked Bryant the poet if he had seen the new edition of 
 Pope's Works by Elwin, remarking that the editor had left the poet with 
 scarcely a single estimable quality, literary or moral. He replied that he 
 had not and did not care to ; that he would not accept such a judgment, 
 however ingeniously defended; quoting Young's lines, "Sweet as his 
 own Homer; his life melodious as his verse." " That," said he, " is the 
 judgment of a contemporary." He was unwilling to have his idea of 
 one of his favorite poets disturbed. " I want no better edition of Pope." 
 he added, " than Warburton's, which I rend in my father's library," at 
 the same time taking down the well-worn copy from its shelf and throwing 
 it to me. — Ed. 
 
/Et. 42.] DISCIPLINES JAMES READ. 2)7 S ^ 
 
 shop, which I doubt not you will procure as cheap as pos- 
 sible, otherwise I shall not be able to sell them, as here is 
 one who is furnished by Oswald that sells excessively low ; 
 I cannot conceive upon what terms they deal. The pam- 
 phlets and newspapers I shall be glad to receive by way of 
 N. York and Boston when there is no ship directly hither. 
 If you direct them for B. F., Postm. Philada., they will 
 come readily to hand from those places. Mr. Hall is per- 
 fectly well and gains ground daily in the esteem of all that 
 know him. 1 hope Caslon will not delay casting the 
 English fount I wrote to }0u for, so long as he has some 
 that have been sent me. I have no doubt but Mr. Hall 
 will succeed well in 'Ahat he undei takes. He is obliging, 
 discreet, industrious, and honest ; and where those quali- 
 ties meet, things seldom go amiss Nothing in my power 
 shall be wanting to serve him. I cannot return your com- 
 pliments in kind, this Quaker plain country producing 
 none. All I can do is to demonstrate, by a hearty readi- 
 ness in serving yon when I have an opportunity, or any 
 friend you recommend, that I do truly esteem and love 
 you, being, sir, your obliged humble servant. 
 
 Dear Sir, — 'Tis some time since I received 
 
 To J. Read,* 
 
 dated Decern- a Considerable account against you from Eng- 
 bers, 1748. land. An unwillingness to give you concern 
 has hitherto prevented me mentioning it to you. By com- 
 paring the moderation and long forbearance toward you 
 of Mr. Strahan, to whom you owe so much, with your 
 treatment of an old friend in distress, bred up with you 
 
 * A dealer in books in Philadelphia, who retired from business a few 
 years after this correspondence. 
 
375 ^ ^^^-''CIPLINES JAMES HEAD. [/Ex. 42. 
 
 under the same roof, and who owes you so little, you may 
 perceive how much you have misunderstood yourself. 'Tis 
 with regret I now acquaint you that (even while you were 
 talking to me in that lofty strain yesterday concerning 
 Mr. Grace) I had in my pocket the power of attorney to 
 recover of you jQi^i i6j". 4^. sterling, a balance long 
 due. It will be your own fault if it comes to be known, 
 for I have mentioned it to nobody. And 1 now ask you 
 how you would in your own case like those pretty pieces 
 of practice you so highly contended for, — of summoning 
 a day only before the court, lest the cause should be made 
 up, and fees thereby prevented ; and of carrying on a suit 
 privately against a man in another country than that in 
 which he lives and may every day be found, getting a 
 judgment by default, and taking him by surprise with an 
 execution when he happens to come where you have sued 
 him, etc., etc. I should be glad to have that account 
 against my friend Grace, with all the little charges you 
 have so cunningly accumulated on it, that 1 may commu- 
 nicate it to him ; and doubt not but he will immediately 
 order you payment. It appears not unlikely to me that 
 he may soon get through all his difficulties, and as I know 
 him good-natured and benevolent to a high degree, so I 
 believe he will be above resenting the ill-lreatment he has 
 received from some that are now so fond of insulting him, 
 and from whom he might have expected better things. 
 But I think you would do well not to treat others in the 
 same manner, for fortune's wlieel is often turning, and all 
 are not nlike forgiving. I request, as soon as it suits your 
 convenience, that you will take the proper measures with 
 regard to Mr. Strahan's account, and I am your humble 
 servant. 
 
/Et. 43] DISCIPLINES JAMES READ. 375^1 
 
 „,.,,. Sir, — In a former letter I promised to write 
 
 To William ' ^ 
 
 strahan, da- you largely about yoiir affairs with Mr. Read, 
 phia a'tH 2q" ^"^ ^^^^ measures taken to recover your money. 
 1749- Before I received your power of attorney and 
 
 account there was a misunderstanding between us, occa- 
 sioned by his endeavoring to get a small office from me 
 (clerk to the Assembly), which 1 took the more amiss as 
 we had always been good friends, and the office could not 
 have been of much service to him, the salary being small, 
 but valuable to me as a means of securing the public busi- 
 ness to our printing house. So, as we were not on speak- 
 ing terms when your account came to hand, and the in- 
 fluence I had over him as a friend was become little or 
 nothing, it was some time before I mentioned it to him. 
 But at length the ice was broke in the following manner : 
 I have a friend in the country that assisted me when I first 
 set up, whose affairs have lately been in some disorder 
 (occasioned greatly by his too great good nature), his 
 creditors coming at the same time in a crowd upon him. 
 I had made up with several of them for him, but Mr. 
 Read, being employed in one small case (a debt of ;£i2 
 only), carried on (by some contrivance in the law which I 
 don't understand) a private action against him, by sum- 
 moning him in this country when he lives in another, and 
 obtained a judgment against him without his or my know- 
 ing anything of the matter ; and then came to me, know- 
 ing I had a great affection for Mr. Grace, and in a very 
 insulting manner asked, " What shall I do with your friend 
 Grace? I have got judgment against him, and must take 
 out execution if the debt is not immediately satisfied," 
 etc. Upon enquiring into the matter and understanding 
 how it had been carried on, I grew a little warm, blamed 
 
375 e DISCIPLINES james read. [^t. 43. 
 
 his practice as irregular and unfair, and his conduct toward 
 Mr. Grace, to whom his father and family had been much 
 obliged, as ungrateful ; and said that since he looked on 
 me as Mr. Grace's friend, he should have told me of the 
 action before he commenced it ; tliat I might have pre- 
 trented it and saved the charges arising on it, and his not 
 doing so could be only from a view of the small fees it 
 produced him in carrying it through all the courts, etc. 
 He justified his practice, and said it was legal and frequent ; 
 denied that his father or family were under any obligation 
 to Mr. Grace \ alleged that Grace had used him ill in em- 
 ploying another lawyer in some of his own actions, when 
 at the same time he owed him near ^^ \ and added, 
 haughtily, that he was determined to sue Grace on his 
 account if not speedily paid ; and, so saying, left me very 
 abruptly. I thought this a good opportunity of intro- 
 ducing your affair, imagining that a consciousness of his 
 ill behavior to me and my friend would pique him to make 
 immediate payment. Accordingly, I wrote him a letter the 
 next day, of which I send you the rough draft enclosed, 
 together with his answer, since which several other letters 
 passed on the same subject of which I have no copies. 
 All I insisted on, since he declared his inability to pay at 
 present, was that he should give you his bond, so that, in 
 case of his death, you might come in for payment prior to 
 common creditors, and that he should allow you interest 
 from the time the money became due in the common 
 course of payments. He agreed to give his bond, but it 
 has been delayed from time to time till this day, when, on 
 my writing to him again to know what account I should 
 send you, I received from him the enclosed billet, in which 
 he refuses to allow interest for the time past. As he canno4 
 
Ml. 44.] DISCIPLINES JAMES READ. 375/ 
 
 be compelled to pay interest on a book account, I desired 
 him then to fill up and execute a bond to you for the prin- 
 cipal, and he might settle the affair of the interest with 
 you hereafter. Accordingly, he has just now done it, so 
 that interest will arise for the time to come ; but, as he 
 threatens to pay very speedily, and I am persuaded may 
 easily do it by the help of his relations, who are wealthy, 
 I hope you will not have much interest to receive. He 
 has a great many good qualities for which I love him, but 
 I believe he is, as you say, sometimes a little crazy. If 
 the debt were to me I could not sue him ; so, I believe, 
 you will not desire me to do it for you; but he shall not 
 want pressing (though I scarce ever dun for myself) be- 
 cause I think his relations may and will help him if 
 properly applied to ; and Mr. Hall thinks with me that 
 urging him frequently may make him more considerate, 
 and induce him to abridge some of his unnecessary ex- 
 penses. The bond is made payable in a month from the 
 day, and, for your encouragement, I may add that not- 
 withstanding what he affects to say of the badness of his 
 circumstances, I look on the debt to be far from desperate. 
 Please to send me Chambers' Dictionary, the best edition, 
 and charge it in Mr. Hall's invoice. My compliments to 
 good Mrs. Strahan, my dame writes to her. I am, with 
 great esteem and affection, dear sir, your most obliged 
 friend and humble servant. 
 
 „,.,,. Dear Sir, — I wrote you per Capt. Budden, 
 
 To William ' j f r j 
 
 stiahan, da- who sailed the beginning of December, and 
 phia, Feb. 4, ^ent you a bill of exchange on Jonathan 
 »75o- Gurnel & Co , for jQs^j ^"^ desired you to send 
 
 on one Viner's Bacon and Danver's Abridgments of the 
 
27^ cr WILLIAM STUi^IES LAW. [.Ex. 44. 
 
 Law, with Wood's and Coke's Institutes. I have no copy 
 of the letter, and forget whether I added the Complete 
 Attorney, in six or eight volumes, 8vo, the precedents in 
 English, please to send that also. I likewise desired you 
 to enter my son's name, William Franklin, in one of the 
 Inns of Court as a student of law, which, I am told, costs 
 between ^5 and ;£6, and to let me know what time must 
 expire before he can be called to the bar after such entry, 
 because he intends to go to London a year or two before 
 to finish his studies. I hope that letter got to hand. I 
 see they have printed a new translation of TuUy on Old 
 Age ; please to send me one of them. Mr. Hall continues 
 well, and goes on perfectly to my satisfaction. My respects 
 to Mrs. Strahan and Master Billy. I have not time to add 
 but that I am, with great esteem and affection, dear sir, 
 your most obliged humble servant. 
 
 To William Dear Sir, — The person from whom you 
 Strahan, da- had the power of attorney to receive a legacy 
 phia, June V ^^^ ^^^-^ ^" Holland, and at first called Aletta 
 ^750. Crell ; but not being christened when the 
 
 lamily came to live among the English in America, she was 
 baptized by the name of Mary. This change of name 
 probably might be unknown to the testator, as it happened 
 in Carolina, and so the legacy might be left her by her first 
 name, Aletta. She has wrote it on a piece of paper, which I 
 enclose, and desires you would take the trouble of acquaint 
 ing the gentleman with these particulars, which, she thinks, 
 may induce him to pay the money. I am glad to under- 
 stand by the papers that the Parliament has provided for 
 paying off the debts due on the Canada expedition. I 
 suppose my son's pay is now in your hands. I am willing 
 
iET. 44.] FOLL Y OF D YING RICH. 37^ k 
 
 to allow 6 per cent, (the rate of interest here) for the 
 delay, or more, if the disappointment has been a greater 
 loss to you. I hope the j[^^o bill I lately sent you is come 
 to hand and paid. The description you give of the com- 
 pany and manner of living in Scotland would almost 
 tempt one to remove thither. Your sentiments of the 
 general foible of mankind in the pursuit of wealth to no 
 end are expressed in a manner that gave me great pleasure 
 in reading. They are extremely just ; at least they are 
 perfectly agreeable to mine. But London citizens, they 
 say, are ambitious of what they call dying worth a great 
 sum. The very notion seems to me absurd ; and just the 
 same as if a man should run in debt for 1000 super- 
 fluities, to the end that when he should be stripped of 
 all, and imprisoned by his creditors, it might be said, 
 he broke worth a great sum. I imagine that what we have 
 above what we can use is not properly ours, though we 
 possess it ; and that the rich man, who must die, was no 
 more worth what he leaves than the debtor who must pay. 
 I am glad to hear so good a character of my son-in-law. 
 Please to acquaint him that his spouse grows finely and 
 will probably have an agreeable person. That with the 
 best natural disposition in the world, she discovers daily 
 the seeds and tokens of industry, economy, and, in short, 
 of every female virtue which her parents will endeavor to 
 cultivate for him ; and if the success answer their fond 
 wishes and expectations, she will, in the true sense of the 
 word, be worth a great deal of money, and consequently a 
 great fortune. I suppose my wife writes to Mrs. Strahan. 
 Our friend, Mr. Hall, is well, and manages perfectly to my 
 satisfaction. I cannot tell how to accept your repeated 
 thanks for services you think I have done to him, when I 
 
375^ 
 
 MRS. FRANKLIN'S ORTHOGRAPHY. [^Et. 45. 
 
 continually feel myself obliged to him and to you for 
 sending him. I sincerely wish all happiness to you and 
 yours, and am, dear sir, your most obliged humble ser- 
 vant, B. Franklin. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ Madam, — 1 am ordered by my Master to 
 
 Mrs. Deborah ' •' ^ 
 
 Franklin to write for huii Books for Sally Franklin. I 
 han'^^^dated '^^^ •'^ Hopes Shee will be abel to write for 
 Dec. 24. 1751. hurselfe by the Spring. 
 
 8 Sets of the Perceptor best Edit. 
 
 8 Doz. of Croxall's Fables. 
 
 3 Doz. of B. Kenns Manual for Winchester School. 
 
 1 Doz. Familiar Forms, Latin and Eng. 
 Ainsworth's Dictionaries, 4 best Edit. 
 
 2 Doz. Select Tales and Fables. 
 
 2 Doz. Costalio's Test. 
 
 Cole's Dictionarys Latin and Eng. 6 a half Doz. 
 
 3 Doz. of Clarke's Cordery i Boyle's Pliny 2 Vols. 8vo. 
 6 Sets of Nature displayed in 7 vols. i2mo. 
 
 One good Quorto Bibel with Cudes bound in Calfe. 
 
 I Peurilia. i Art of making Common Salt. By 
 Browning. 
 
 My Dafter gives her duty to Mr. Stroyhan and his Lady, 
 and her compliments to Master Billy and all his brothers 
 and Sisters. My Son is gon to Boston on a visit to his 
 Friends. I suppose Mr. Franklin will write himself. Mr. 
 and Mis Hall are very well ; thay have lost thair other 
 Child. She lays in this Winter. My complyments to Mrs. 
 Strahan, and all your dear little Family. I am, dear 
 Madam, 
 
 Your humbel Servant, 
 
 Deborah Franklin. 
 
^T. 47-] SETTLES A NEPHEW. 
 
 375/ 
 
 To William DearSir, — * * * I havc Settled a ncphew* 
 strahan, da- of mine in Antigua, in the place of Mr. 
 
 ted irhiladel- ^ • i j j t , 
 
 phia, May 9, omith, deceased. I take nim to be a very 
 ^^53- honest, industrious lad, and hope he will do 
 
 well there, and in time be of some use to you as a corre- 
 spondent. Please to send him a little cargo of books and 
 stationery agreeable to the invoice below. I will send you 
 a bill on this account perhaps per next ship. 
 
 „,.„. * * * Xhe sum was £^2K to which I limited 
 
 To William '^ *^ 
 
 Strahan, da- the books, ctc, to be Sent to my nephew, 
 phia ocf 27' Benjamin Mecom. But if you have sent to 
 1753. the amount of ^30, it is not amiss. I am 
 
 now about to establish a small printing office in favor of 
 another nephew, at New Haven, in the Colony of Connec- 
 ticut, in New England ; a considerable town, in which 
 there is a university, and a prospect that a bookseller's 
 shop, with a printing-house, may do pretty well. I would 
 therefore request you to bespeak for me of Mr. Caslon, viz. : 
 
 300 lbs. long primer, with figures and signs sufficient for 
 an almanac. 
 
 300 lbs. pica, 
 
 100 lbs. great primer. 
 
 300 lbs. English. 
 
 60 lbs. double pica. Roman 
 
 50 lbs. two line English. and 
 
 40 lbs. two line great primer. Italic. 
 
 30 lbs. two line capitals and flowers of different fonts. 
 
 20 lbs. quotations. 
 
 As Mr. Caslon has different long primers, picas, etc., I 
 
 * Benjamin, the son of his sister, Mrs. Mecom. 
 33* 
 
n^k PRINTING EQUIPMENT. [.Et. 47. 
 
 beg the favor of your judgment to choose and order the 
 best. 
 
 To which add : 
 
 A complete good new press. 
 
 2 pair blankets. 
 
 2 pair ballstocks. 
 
 Some reglets, gutter-sticks, side-sticks, quoins, etc. 
 
 3 pair chases, of different sizes ; the biggest, demi. 
 2 folio galleys, each with four shies. 
 
 4 quarto galleys. 
 
 A few facs, head and tail pieces; three or four of 
 each. 
 
 2 doz. brass rules. 
 
 2 good composing sticks. 
 
 2 kegs of ink ; one weak, the other strong. 
 
 With such another small cargo of books and stationery 
 as I desired you to send to Antigua for a beginning. 
 
 * * * Insure the whole. 
 
 The furniture may be packed in the large case that con- 
 tains the press. If you can persuade your press-maker to 
 go out of his old road a little, I would have the ribs made 
 not with the face rounding outwards, as usual, but a little 
 hollow or rounding inwards from end to end ; and the 
 cramps made of hard cast brass, fixed not across the ribs 
 but longways, so as to slide in the hollow face of the 
 ribs. The reason is, that brass and iron work better to- 
 gether than iron and iron. Such a press never gravels; 
 the hollow face of the ribs keeps the oil better, and the 
 cramps, bearing on a larger surface, do not wear, as in the 
 common method. 
 
 Of this I have had many years' experience. I need not 
 desire you to agree with the workmen on the most reason- 
 
iET. 48.] THE NEPHEW IN ANTIGUA. 375 / 
 
 able terms you can ; and as this affair will give you trouble, 
 pray charge commission. I shall not think myself a whit 
 the less obliged. 
 
 To wiHiam Dear Sir, — * * * I am glad you have 
 strahan, da- sent again the things that were shipped on the 
 
 ted Philadel- ^^ . . 
 
 phia, April 18, Davis. As to that loss, give yourself no con- 
 ^754. cern about it. It is mine, and but a trifle. I do 
 
 not know or regard what the custom of merchants may be 
 in such cases ; but when I reflect how much trouble I have 
 given you from time to time in my little afl"airs, that you 
 never charged me commissions, and have frequently been 
 in advance for me, were the loss much greater, be sure I 
 should not suffer it to fall on you. Benjamin Mecom 
 writes me that he has remitted you ;^3o sterling, which I 
 am pleased to hear. And am glad you have not sent him 
 the great parcel of books which you mention he has wrote 
 for. He is a young lad, quite unacquainted with the world, 
 and, I fear, would be much embarrassed if he went sud- 
 denly into dealings too deep for his stock. The people 
 of those islands might buy his books ; but I know they 
 are very dull pay, and he would find it impracticable to 
 collect the money when it ought to be sent to you. Pray 
 keep him within bounds ; let him have good salable sort- 
 ments, but small, and do not suffer him to be more than 
 ;^5o in your debt, if so much ; it is best for him to proceed 
 gradually ; and to deal more as his stock and experience 
 increases. I am thankful to you for prudently delaying to 
 send what he indiscreetly wrote for, till you had advised 
 me of it. Our compliments to Mrs. Strahan and your 
 children. I am, with great esteem, dear sir, your most 
 humble servant. 
 
3;75 ni AGENT OF GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, [^t. 49. 
 
 To William Dear Sir, — * * * I do not at all approve 
 strahan, da- of B. Mccom's being so much in your debt, 
 
 ted Philadel- , , ,, . , • , • rr., , ^ 
 
 phia, Nov. 37, ^"d shall write to him about it. 1 he people of 
 *755- those islands expect a great deal of credit, and 
 
 when the books are out of his hands, if he should die, half 
 would not be collected. This I have learned by experience 
 in the case of poor Smith, whom I first settled there. I am 
 glad, therefore, that you declined sending him the other 
 things he wrote for. Pray write to him for the pay and make 
 him keep touch ; that will oblige him to dun quick and 
 get in his debts ; otherwise, he may hurt himself, and you 
 in the end. Remember I give you this caution and that 
 you venture on your own risk. I shall be glad to be of 
 any service to you in the affair you mention relating to the 
 Gentleman^ s Magazine, and our daughter (who already 
 trades a little in London) is willing to undertake the dis- 
 tributing of them per post from this place, hoping it may 
 produce some profit to herself. I will immediately cause 
 advertisements to be printed in the papers here, at New 
 York, New Haven, and Boston, recommending that maga- 
 zine and proposing to supply all who will subscribe for them 
 at 13^"., this currency, a year, the subscribers paying down 
 the money for one year beforehand ; for otherwise there 
 will be a considerable loss by bad debts. As soon as I 
 find out what the subscription will produce, I shall know 
 what number to send for. Most of those for New England 
 must be sent to Boston. Those for New York, Connecti- 
 cut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland must be sent to New York 
 or Philadelphia, as opportunities offer to one place or the 
 other. As to Virginia, I believe it will scarce be worth 
 while to propose it there, the gentlemen being generally 
 furnished with them by their correspondents in London. 
 
Mr. so.] THE NEPHEW QUITS ANTIGUA. 375/2 
 
 Those who incline to continue, must pay for the second 
 year three months before the first expires, and so on from 
 time to time. The postmaster in those places to take in 
 the subscription money and distribute the magazines, etc. 
 These are my first thoughts. I shall write further. That 
 magazine has always been, in my opinion, by far the best. 
 I think it never wants matter, both entertaining and in- 
 structive, or I might now and then furnish you with some 
 little pieces from this part of the world. 
 
 To William Dear Sir, — Being here, I take this oppor- 
 tedNe^w York' tunity of the pacquet boat to write you a line, 
 July 2, 1756. acknowledging the receipt of your favor of 
 March 13th, and of the brevier fount, which is come to 
 hand in good order, and pleases Mr. Hall and me very 
 much. I am much indebted to you for your care in the 
 matter, as well as many others. I think our account now 
 stands thus : 
 
 Dr. B. Franklin to W. Strahan. 
 
 0. 
 
 1755. 
 
 £, s. d. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Oct. 3. To bal. of acct. 
 
 Mar. 13. By bill on 
 
 
 to this day 
 
 59 4 \\ Dr. Chandler 
 
 109 8 4 
 
 
 Bal. due W. S. 
 
 II 10 9i 
 
 1756. 
 
 
 
 March 13. To bill paid 
 
 
 
 Mr. Voogdt 
 
 2 17 6 
 
 
 To fount of brevier 
 
 58 17 6 
 
 
 120 19 \\ 120 19 \\ 
 
 My nephew, B. Mecom, finding that the business did not 
 answer to his mind in Antigua, has determined to quit the 
 place, and has accordingly sent home to me the press and 
 letters. He writes me that he has lately sent you a bill 
 
375^ BUSY LIFE. [.Et. 50 
 
 for ;£^ioo sterling, and being now employed only in col- 
 lecting his debts, he hopes soon to send you a bill for the 
 balance of your account, about ;£c^o more. As the ;;^2o 
 bill you received of me in November, 1753, was only lent 
 to his account, and he will now pay his whole balance 
 without reckoning that ^^20, you will please to take it 
 back to my account when lie has settled and paid off his; 
 whereby a balance will remain in my favor. But, in the 
 mean time, lest that should not be so soon done as he pro- 
 poses, that you may not be longer in advance for me, I 
 enclose a little bill on Mr. Collinson, for ;£ii loi". 9^^-, 
 the balance due you, but desire you would not forget to 
 take back the ;^2o into your hands for me, when you settle 
 finally with B. Mecom, who writes me that he proposes 
 sailing for England this present July. You judge rightly 
 that my many employments and journeys of late have 
 prevented my carrying into execution the proposed scheme 
 of circulating your magazine. But I think now to write 
 to the postmaster as soon as I get home, and order the ad- 
 vertisements into the papers. With the greatest respect and 
 esteem, I am, dear sir, your obliged and most obedient 
 servant. 
 
 To George ^^^» — ■'- ^^^^ Y^"^ favors of July 23d and 
 
 Washington,* August 3d, but that you mention to have 
 
 Philadelphia, 
 
 August 19, wrote by Mr, Balfour is not come to hand. 
 
 '756 I forwarded the packet enclosed in that of 
 
 * At this time commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces raised to 
 protect the frontiers from the Indians and French. His headquarters 
 were at Winchester. Franklin, in his capacity o postmaster-general 
 for the colonies, had, the year previous, during Braddock's march, 
 arranged a post between Philadelphia and Winchester, in consequence 
 of a vote of the Pennsylvania Assembly. 
 
iET. 5 1 .] ILLNESS IN L OND ON. 375^ 
 
 July 23d, as directed, and shall readily take care of any 
 other letters from you that pass through my hands. The 
 post, between this place and Winchester, was established 
 for the accommodation of the army chiefly, by a vote of 
 our Assembly. They are not willing to continue the charge, 
 and it must, I believe, be dropped, unless your Assembly 
 and that of Maryland will contribute to support it, which, 
 perhaps, is scarce to be expected. 
 
 I am sorry it should be laid down, as I shall myself be a 
 loser in the affair of newspapers. But the letters per post 
 by no means defray the expense. If you can prevail with 
 your Assembly to pay the rider from Winchester to Car- 
 lisle, I will endeavor to persuade ours to continue paying 
 the rider from Carlisle hither. My agreement with the 
 house was to carry all public despatches gratis, to keep 
 account of postage received for private letters, and charge 
 the expense of riders and offices ; and they were to pay the 
 balance. I am. Sir, &c., B. Franklin. 
 
 To his wife, DuRiNG my illucss, which continued near 
 dated Lon- gj^j-^j- ^yeeks, I wrotc several letters as I was 
 
 don, 22 Nov., *-• ' 
 
 1757- able. The last was by the packet which sailed 
 
 from Falmouth above a week since. In that I informed 
 you that my intermitting fever, which had continued to 
 harass me by frequent relapses, was gone off, and I have 
 ever since been gathering strength and flesh. My doctor, 
 Fothergill, who had forbid me the use of pen and ink, 
 now permits me to write as much as I can without ovei 
 fatiguing myself, and therefore I sit down to write more 
 fully than I have hitherto been able to do. 
 
 The 2d of September I wrote to you, that I had had a 
 violent cold and something of a fever, but that it was almost 
 
3;76 ILLNESS IN LONDON. [^,t. 5\ 
 
 gone. However, it was not long before I had another se- 
 vere cold, which continued longer than the first, attended 
 by great pain in my head, the top of which was very hot, 
 and when the pain went off, very sore and tender. These 
 fits of pain continued sometimes longer than at others; 
 seldom less than twelve hours, and once thirty-six hours. 
 I was now and then a little delirious ; they cupped me on 
 the back of the head, which seemed to ease me for the 
 present ; I took a great deal of bark, both in substance and 
 infusion, and too soon thinking myself well, I ventured out 
 twice, to do a little business and forward the service I am 
 engaged in, and both times got fresh cold and fell down 
 again. My good doctor grew very angry with me for acting 
 contrary to his cautions and directions, and obliged me to 
 promise more observance for the future. He attended me 
 very carefully and affectionately ; and the good lady of the 
 house nursed me kindly.* Billy was also of great service to 
 me, in going from place to place, where I could not go 
 myself, and Peter was very diligent and attentive. f I took 
 so much bark in various ways, that I began to abhor it ; I 
 durst not take a vomit, for fear of my head ; but at last I 
 
 * By the advice of some of his Pennsylvania friends who had boarded there, 
 Franklin took up his residence in London with a Mrs. Ma'-garet Stevenson, 
 in Craven street, Strand, where he lived during the whole o'"his subsequent 
 residence in London. Both for Mrs. Stevenson and for her daughter Mary, 
 then a young lady of eighteen years, he formed a cordial attachment, which 
 lasted through life. Miss Stevenson was a girl of superior sense, and the 
 interest which Franklin took during the earlier years of their acquaintance, 
 in perfecting her education and in cultivating her friendship, reveals to lui 
 one of the most sunny and attractive phases of his character. Miss Steven- 
 son spent most of her time with her aunt, Mrs. Tickell, in the country. This 
 led to a correspondtnce between her and the doctor, which was faithfully 
 sustained on both sides up to the year of his death.- Ed. 
 
 (• The Billy here referred to is his son William. — Ed. 
 
/Et. 51.] REPORTS OF HIS ENEMIES 377 
 
 was seized one morning with a vomiting and purging, thf. 
 latter of which continued the greater part of the day, and 
 I believe was a kind of crisis to the distemper, carrying it 
 clear off; for ever since I feel quite lightsome, and am every 
 day gathering strength ; so I hope my seasoning is over, and 
 that I shall enjoy better health during the rest of my stay 
 in England. 
 
 Governor Shirley's affairs are still in an uncertain state ; 
 he is endeavouring to obtain an inquiry into his conduct, 
 but the confusion of public affairs occasions it to be post- 
 poned. He and I visit frequently. I make no doubt but 
 reports will be spread by my enemies to my disadvantage, 
 but let none of them trouble you. If I find I can do my 
 country no good, I will take care at least not to do it any 
 harm; I will neither seek nor expect anything for myself; 
 and, though I may perhaps not be able to obtain for the 
 people what they wish and expect, no interest shall induce 
 me to betray the trust they have reposed in me ; so make 
 yourself quite eas.y with regard to such reports. 
 
 I should have read Sally's French letter with more plea- 
 sure, but that I thought the French rather too good to be 
 all her own composing. I suppose her master must have 
 corrected it. But I am glad she is improving in that and 
 her music ; I send her a French Pamela. 
 
 December 3^. — I write by little and little as I can find 
 time. I have now gone through all your agreeable letters, 
 which give me fresh pleasure every time I read them. Last 
 night I received another, dated October i6th, which 
 brings me the good news, that you and Sally were got safe 
 home ; your last, of the 9th, being from Elizabethtown. 
 
 I am glad to hear that Miss Ray is well, and that you 
 correspond. It is not convenient to be forward in giving 
 34 
 
3^8 SOCIAL PRIVILEGES IN LONDON. [^T. 51 
 
 advice in such cases. She has prudence enough to judge 
 for herself, and I hope she will judge and act for the 
 l^est. 
 
 I hear there has a miniature painter gone over to Phila- 
 delphia, a relation to John Reynolds. If Sally's picture is 
 not done to your mind by the young man, and the other 
 gentleman is a good hand and follows the business, sup- 
 pose you get Sally's done by him, and send it to me with 
 your small picture, that I may here get all our little family 
 drawn in one conversation piece. I am sorry to hear of 
 the general sickness; I hope it is over before this time; 
 and that little Franky is recovered. 
 
 I was as much disappointed in my intention of writing 
 by the packet, as you were in not receiving letters, and it 
 has since given me a great deal of vexation. I wrote to 
 you by way of New York, the day after my arrival in 
 London, which I do not find you have received. 
 
 I do not use to be a backward correspondent, though 
 my sickness has brought me behindhand with my friends 
 in that respect. Had I been well, I intended to have 
 gone round among the shops, and bought some pretty 
 things for you and my dear good Sally (whose little hands 
 you say eased your headache), to send by this ship, but I 
 must now defer it to the next, having only got a crimson 
 satin cloak for you, the newest fashion, and the black silk 
 for Sally ; but Billy sends her a scarlet feather, muff, and 
 tippet, and a box of fashionable linen for her dress. In th*^ 
 box is a thermometer for Mr. Taylor, and one for Mr. 
 Schlatter, which you will carefully deliver ; as also a watch 
 for Mr. Schlatter. I shall write to them. The black silk 
 was sent to Mr. Neates, who undertook to forward it in 
 some package of his. 
 
.Et. 51.] SOCIAL PRIVILEGES IN LONDON. 37^ 
 
 It is now twelve days since I began to write this li^tter, 
 and I still continue well, but have not yet quite recovered 
 my strength, flesh, or spirits. I every day drink a glass of 
 infusion of bark in wine, by way of prevention, and hope 
 my fever will no more return. On fair days, which are but 
 few, I venture out about noon. The agreeable conversation 
 1 meet with among men of learning, and the notice taken 
 of me by persons of distinction, are the principal things 
 that soothe me for the present under this painful absence 
 from my family and friends. Yet those would not keep me 
 here another week, if I had not other inducements; duty 
 to my country, and hopes of being able to do it service. 
 
 Pray remember me kindly to all that love us, and to all 
 that we love. It is endless to name names. I am, my 
 dear child,* your loving husband. 
 
 To his wife, I am thankful to God for sparing my little 
 dorf 14 ja"' fsimily in that time of general sickness, and 
 1758. hope to find them all well at my return. The 
 
 New Yark paper you sent me was the latest that came, and 
 of use to our friend Strahan. He has offered to lay me a 
 considerable wager, that a letter f he has wrote to you will 
 bring you immediately over hither ; but I tell him I will 
 not pick his pocket ; for I am sure there is no inducement 
 strong enough to prevail with you to cross the seas. I 
 should be glad if I could tell you when I expected to be at 
 home, but that is still in the dark ; it is possible I may not 
 
 * Franklin, in his correspondence, always addresses his wife as " my dear 
 child," or as " dear Debby." — Ed. 
 
 f A letter written to persuade Mrs. Franklin to join her husband and reside 
 in London. Had she consented, Franklin's career might have been of less 
 interest to the American reader, — Ed. 
 
380 DOMESTIC LIFE. [^t. 52. 
 
 be able to get away this summer; but I hope, if I stay 
 another winter, it will be more agreeable than the greatest 
 part of the time I have hitherto spent in England. 
 
 To his wife, I begin to think I shall hardly be able to 
 don, 21 Jan." return before this time twelve months. I am 
 ^758. for doing effectually what I came about ; and 
 
 [ find it requires both time and patience. You may think, 
 perhaps, that I can find many amusements here to pass the 
 time agreeably. It is true, the regard and friendship I 
 meet with from persons of worth, and the conversation of 
 ingenious men, give me no small pleasure; but, at this time 
 of life, domestic comforts afford the most solid satisfaction, 
 and my uneasiness at being absent from my family, and 
 longing desire to be with them, make me often sigh in the 
 midst of cheerful company. 
 
 My love to my dear Sally. I confide in you the care of 
 her and her education. I promise myself the pleasure of 
 finding her much improved at my return. When you write 
 to Boston, give my love to sister Jenny, as I have not often 
 time to write to her. If you please, you may send her the 
 enclosed little picture. 
 
 To his wife, Youi kind advice about getting a chariot, 1 
 a e on- ^^^ taken some time before: for I found, that, 
 
 aon, 19 reo., ' ' 
 
 "58. every time I walked out, I got fresh cold; and 
 
 the hackney coaches at this end of the town, where most 
 [)eople keep their own, are the worst in the whole city, 
 miserable, dirty, broken, shabby things, unfit to go into 
 when dressed clean, and such as one would be ashamed to 
 get out of at any gentleman's door. As to burning wood, 
 it would answer no end, unless one would furnish all one's 
 
yET. 52.] PRESENTS FOR HIS FAMILY. 38 1 
 
 neighbours and the whole city with the same. The whole 
 town is one great smoky house, and every street a chimney, 
 the air full of floating seacoal soot, and you never get a 
 sweet breath of what is pure, without riding some miles for 
 it into the country. 
 
 I am sorry to hear, that a storm has damaged a house of 
 my good friend Mr. Bartram.* Acquaint him that I have 
 received the seeds, and shall write to him shortly. I hope 
 the Speaker is recovered of the illness you mention. 
 
 Give my thanks to Dr. Bond for the care he takes of you. 
 I have wrote to him by this vessel. Mr. Hunter and Polly 
 talk of returning this spring. He is wonderfully recruited. 
 They both desire to be remembered to you. She received 
 your letter and answered it. Her answer I enclosed in one 
 of mine to you. Her daughter Rachel, who plays on the 
 harpsichord and sings prettily, sends Sally one of her songs, 
 that I fancied. 
 
 I send you by Captain Budden a large case, and a small 
 box. In the large case is another small box, containing 
 some English china; viz. melons and leaves for a desert 
 of fruit and cream, or the like ; a bowl remarkable for the 
 neatness of the figures, made at Bow, near this city ; some 
 coffee cups of the same; a Worcester bowl, ordinary. To 
 show the difference of workmanship, there is something 
 from all the china works in England; and one old true 
 china bason mended, of an odd color. The same box 
 contains four silver salt ladles, newest, but ugliest, fashion ; 
 a little instrument to core apples; another to make little 
 
 * John Bartram, bom in Pennsylvania in 1699, died September 21, 1777, 
 was the earliest of American botanists, founder of the first botanical garden 
 in this country, and author of some works on the natural history of parts 
 of this continent. — Ed. 
 34* 
 
382 PRESENTS FOR HIS ERIENDS. [.Ei. 52. 
 
 turnips out of great ones; six coarse diaper breakfast cloths; 
 they are to spread on the tea-table, for nobody breakfasts 
 here on the naked table, but on the cloth they set a large 
 tea board with the cups. There is also a little basket, a 
 present from Mrs. Stevenson to Sally, and a pair of garters 
 for you, which were knit by the young lady, her daughter, 
 who favored me with a pair of the same kind, the only 
 ones I have been able to wear; as they need not be bound 
 tight, the ridges in them preventing their slipping. We 
 send them therefore as a curiosity for the form, more than 
 for the value. Goody Smith may, if she pleases, make such 
 for me hereafter. My love to her. 
 
 In the great case, besides the little box, is contained some 
 carpeting for a best room floor. There is enough for one 
 large or two small ones, it is to be sewed together, the 
 edges being first felled down, and care taken to make 
 the figures meet exactly; there is bordering for the same. 
 This was my fancy. Also two large fine Flanders bed ticks, 
 and two pair of large superfine blankets, two fine damask 
 table-cloths and napkins, and forty-three ells of Ghentish 
 sheeting Holland. These you ordered. There are also 
 fifty-six yards of cotton, printed curiously from copper 
 plates, a new invention, to make bed and window curtains; 
 and seven yards of chair bottoms, printed in the same way, 
 very neat. These were my fancy; but Mrs. Stevenson tells 
 me I did wrong not to buy both of the same color. Also 
 seven yards of printed cotton, blue ground, to make you a 
 gown. I bought it by candlelight, and liked it then, but 
 not so well afterwards. If you do not fancy it, send it as a 
 present from me to sister Jenny. There is a better gown 
 for you, of flowered tissue, sixteen yards, of Mrs. Steven- 
 son's fancy, cost nine guineas; and I think it a ereal 
 
Mr. 52.] PRESENTS FOR HIS FRIENDS. 383 
 
 beauty. There was no more of the sort, or you should 
 have had enough for a negligee or suit. 
 
 There are also snuffers, a snuffstand, and extinguisher, of 
 steel, which I send for the beauty of the work. The ex- 
 tinguisher is for spermaceti candles only, and is of a new 
 contrivance, to preserve the snuff upon the candle. There 
 is some music Billy bought for his sister, and some pam- 
 phlets for the Speaker and for Susy Wright. A mahogany and 
 a little shagreen box, with microscopes and other optical 
 instruments loose, are for Mr. Alison, if he likes them; if 
 not, put them in my room till I return. I send the invoice 
 of them, and I wrote to him formerly the reason of my ex- 
 ceeding his orders. There are also two sets of books, a 
 present from me to Sally, "The World" and ''The Con- 
 noisseur." My love to her. 
 
 I forgot to mention another of ray fancyings, viz. a pair 
 of silk blankets, very fine. They are of a new kind, were 
 just taken in a French prize, and such were never seen in 
 England before. They are called blankets, but I think 
 they will be very neat to cover a summer bed, instead of a 
 quilt or counterpane. I had no choice, so you will excuse 
 the soil on some of the folds ; your neighbour Foster can 
 get it off. I also forgot, among the china, to mention a 
 large fine jug for beer, to stand in the cooler. I fell in 
 love with it at first sight; for I thought it looked like a fat 
 jolly dame, clean and tidy, with a neat blue and white 
 calico gown on, good natured and lovely, and put me in 
 mind of — somebody. It has the coffee cups in it, packed 
 in best crystal salt, of a peculiar nice flavor, for the table, 
 not to be powdered. 
 
 I hope Sally applies herself closely to her French and 
 music, and that I shall find she has made great proficiency. 
 
384 DOMESTIC LIFE IN LONDON. [/Et. 52. 
 
 The harpsichord I was about, and which was to have cost 
 me forty guineas, Mr. Stanley advises me not to buy; and 
 we are looking out for another, one that has been some 
 time in use, and is a tried good one, there being not so 
 much dependence on a new one, though made by the best 
 hands. Sally's last letter to her brotlier is the best wrote 
 that of late I have seen of hers. I only wish she was a 
 little more careful of her spelling. I hope she continues 
 to love going to church, and would have her read over and 
 over again the "Whole Duty of Man," and the "Lady's 
 Library." 
 
 Look at the figures on the china bowl and coffee cups, 
 with your spectacles on; they will bear examining. 
 
 I have made your compliments to Mrs. Stevenson. She 
 is indeed very obliging, takes great care of my health, and 
 is very diligent when I am any way indisposed; but yet I 
 have a thousand times wished you with me, and my little 
 Sally with her ready hands and feet to do, and go, and 
 come, and get what I wanted. There is a great difference 
 in sickness between being nursed with that tender attention, 
 which proceeds from sincere love; and {^The re- 
 mainder of this letter is lost. ) 
 
 To his wife, I was dowu at Cambridge with Billy when 
 don 10 June' Snead sailed, so I did not write again by him 
 '=758. as I intended. His sailing so soon was unex- 
 
 pected to me. I am somewhat out of the way of vessels, 
 and Mr. Partridge by mistake wrote me Snead was not to 
 sail that week; so, being very kindly entertained there in 
 the colleges, we did not hurry so soon home as we might 
 have done. However, this vessel perhaps may be there 
 about the same time. 
 
Mr. 52.] CAUTION TO FEMALE POLITICIANS. 385 
 
 I think nobody ever had more faithful correspondents 
 than I have in Mr. Hughes and you. It is impossible for 
 me to get or keep out of your debts. I received the bill 
 of exchange you got of Mr. Nelson, and it is paid. I 
 received also the Proprietary's account. It gives me con- 
 cern to receive such frequent accounts of your being indis- 
 posed ; but we both of us grow in years, and must expect 
 our constitutions, though tolerably good in themselves, will 
 by degrees give way to the infirmities of age. 
 
 I have sent, in a trunk of the Library Company's, some 
 of the best writing paper for letters, and best quills and wax, 
 all for Mrs. Moore, which I beg she would accept ; having 
 received such civilities here from her sister and brother 
 Scott, as are not in my power to return. I shall send some 
 to Sally by the next opportunity. By Captain Lutwidge I 
 sent my dear girl a newest fashioned white hat and cloak, 
 and sundry little things, which I hope will get safe to hand. 
 I now send her a pair of buckles, made of French paste 
 stones, which are next in lustre to diamonds. They cost 
 three guineas, and are said to be cheap at that price. I 
 fancy I see more likeness in her picture than I did at first, 
 and I look at it often with pleasure, as at least it reminds 
 me of her. Yours is at the painter's, who is to copy it 
 and do me of the same size; but, as to family pieces, it is 
 said they never look well, and are quite out of fashion, and 
 I find the limner very unwilling to undertake any thing of 
 the kind. However, when Franky's comes, and that of 
 Sally by young Hesselius, I shall see what can be done. I 
 wonder how you came by Ben Lay's picture. 
 
 You are very prudent not to engage in party disputes. 
 Women never should meddle with them, except in en- 
 deavours to reconcile their husbands, brothers, and friends, 
 
^S6 DELICACY TOWARDS OLD FRIENDS, [^r. 52. 
 
 who happen to be of contrary sides. If your sex keep 
 cool, you may be a means of cooling ours the sooner, and 
 restoring more speedily that social harmony among fellow- 
 citizens, that is so desirable after long and bitter dissensions. 
 
 ('ousin Dunlap* has wrote me an account of his purchas- 
 ing Chattin's printing-house. I wish it may be advantage- 
 ous to him without injuring Mr. Hall. I can however do 
 nothing to encourage him, as a printer in Philadelphia, 
 inconsistent with my preengagement to so faithful a partner. 
 And I trust you will take care not to do any thing in that 
 way, that may draw reflections on me ; as if I did under- 
 hand, through your means, what I would not care to appear 
 in openly. I hope he will keep a good understanding with 
 Mr. Hall,! and I am pleased to hear that he asked his 
 advice and friendship; but I have thought it right and 
 necessary to forbid the use of my letters by Mr. Dunlap 
 without Mr. Hall's consent. The post-oflice, if it is agree- 
 able to you, may be removed to Mr. Dunlap's house, it 
 being proposed by our good friend Mr. Hughes. 
 
 I wrote to you lately to speak to AmbrusterJ not to make 
 use of my name any more in his newspaper, as I have no 
 particular concern in it, but as one of the trustees only. I 
 have no prospect of returning till next spring, so you will 
 not expect me. But pray remember to make me as happy 
 as you can, by sending some pippins for myself and friends, 
 some of your small hams, and some cranberries. 
 
 * William Dunlap, a native of Ireland, a printer in Philadelphia, and 
 recently married to a relation of Mrs. Franklin. — Ed. 
 
 f Mr. David Hall had been the partner, and was now the successor, of 
 Franklin in his busine s. — Ed. 
 
 % Anthony Ambruster, a German printer in Philadelphia, and for som9 
 time publisher of a newspaper there in the German language. — Ed. 
 
/Et. 52.] SUGGESTIONS TO HIS WIFE. 387 
 
 Billy is of the Middle Temple, and will be called to the 
 bar either this term or the next. I write this in answer to 
 your particular inquiry. I am glad you like the cloak I sent 
 you. The black silk was sent by our friend Mr. Coliinson. 
 I never saw it. Your answer to Mr. Strahan was just what 
 it should be. I was much pleased with it. He fancied his 
 rhetoric and art would certainly bring you over. 
 
 I have ordered two large print Common Prayer Books to 
 be bound, on purpose for you and Goody Smith; and, that 
 the largeness of the print may not make them too bulky, 
 the christenings, matrimonies, and every thing else that you 
 and she have not immediate and constant occasion for, are 
 to be omitted. So you will both of you be reprieved from 
 the use of spectacles in church a little longer. 
 
 If the ringing of the bells frightens you, tie a piece of 
 wire from one bell to the other, and that will conduct the 
 lightning without ringing or snapping, but silently; though 
 I think it best the bells should be at liberty to ring, that 
 you may know when they are electrified; and when you are 
 afraid you may keep at a distance.* I wrote last winter to 
 Josey Crocker to come over hither and stay a year, and 
 work in some of the best shops for improvement in his 
 business, and therefore did not send the tools; but, if he is 
 about to be married, I would not advise him to come. I 
 shall send the tools immediately. You have disposed of the 
 appletrees very properly. I condole with you on the loss 
 of your walnuts. 
 
 * In the year 1753 Franklin had erected an iron rod for the purpose of 
 drawing I'ghtning from the clouds into his house. He also placed two bells 
 in such a position that they would ring when the rod was electrified. Mrs. 
 Franklin, it seems, did not fancy having the clouds on such a familiar foot- 
 ing in the house during her husband's absence. — Ed, 
 
388 GOVERXOR DENNY REMOVED. [/Er. 52 
 
 I see the governor's treatment of his wife makes all the 
 ladies angry. If it is on account of the bad example, that 
 will soon be removed ; for the Proprietors are privately 
 looking out for another; being determined to discard him, 
 and the place goes a begging. One, to whom it was 
 offered, sent a friend to make some inquiries of me. The 
 I'roprietors told him they had there a city-house and a 
 country-house, which he might use rent free ; that every 
 thing was so cheap he might live on five hundred pounds 
 sterling a year, keep a genteel table, a coach, &c., and his 
 income would be at least nine hundred pounds. If it fell 
 short of that, the Proprietors would engage to make it up. 
 For the truth of his being able to live genteelly, and keep a 
 coach for five hundred pounds a year, the Proprietors re- 
 ferred him to Mr. Hamilton, who, it seems, told him the 
 same story ; but, on inquiry of Mr. Morris, he had quite a 
 different account, and knew not which to believe. The 
 gentleman is one Mr. Graves, a lawyer of the Temple. He 
 hesitated a good while, and I am now told has declined 
 accepting it. I wish that may not be true, for he has the 
 character of being a very good sort of man ; though while 
 the instructions continue, it matters little who is our 
 governor. It was to have been kept a secret from me, that 
 the Proprietors were looking out for a new one ; because 
 they would not have Mr. Denny know any thing about it, 
 till the appointment was actually made, and the gentleman 
 ready to embark. So you may make a secret of it too, if 
 you please, and oblige all your friends with it.* 
 
 * The negotiations with Mr. Graves to succeed Governor Denny failed, 
 and the post was offered to and accepted by Mr. James Hamilton, a native 
 of Philadelphia, who had been formerly governor of the colony, and who 
 chanced to be then in London. On the disputed question of taxing the 
 proprietary estates, the Proprietors did not gain much by the change. —ED, 
 
^T. 52.] COUNTERMINING FHE PROPRIETORS. 38c, 
 
 I need not tell you to assist godmother in her difficulties; 
 for I know you will think it as agreeable to me, as it is to 
 your own good disposition. I could not find the bit of 
 thread you mention to have sent me, of your own spinning. 
 Perhaps it was too fine to be seen. I am glad little Franky 
 begins to talk. It will divert you to have him often with you. 
 
 Mrs. Stevenson and her daughter desire me to present 
 their compliments, and offer their services to you and Sally. 
 I think of going into the country soon, and shall be pretty 
 much out this summer, in different parts of England. I 
 depend chiefly on these journeys for the establishment of 
 my health. 
 
 To the Speak- Mr. Charles* at my request has drawn the 
 er and Com- ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^ -^^ Order to obtain opinions 
 
 mittee of the ' 
 
 Pennsylvania of eminent lawyers how far our present privi- 
 ted^^ London" ^^S^^ would be affected in case of a change of 
 10 June, 1758. government, by our coming immediately under 
 the crown. I send you a copy of this case, with the opinion 
 of our counsel upon it, who is esteemed the best acquainted 
 with our American affairs and constitutions, as well as with 
 government law in general. He being also thoroughly 
 knowing in the present views of the Board of Trade, and in 
 their connexions and characters, has given me withal, as a 
 friend, some prudential advice in a separate sheet distinct 
 from his law opinion, because the law opinion might neces- 
 sarily appear where he would not care the advice should 
 be seen. I send you, also, a copy of this, and should be 
 glad of your sentiments upon it. One thing, that he recom- 
 
 * A lawyer who, for some years, had been agent of the Assembly of Penn- 
 sylvania in England. — Ed. 
 
 35 S 
 
390 COUNTERMINING THE PROPRIETORS. S^Mt. 52. 
 
 mends to be done before we push our point in Parliament, 
 is, removing the prejudices, that art and accident have 
 spread among the people of this country against us, and 
 obtaining for us the good opinion of the bulk of mankind 
 without doors. This I hope we have it in our power to do, 
 by means of a work now nearly ready for the press, calcu- 
 lated to engage the attention of many readers, and at the 
 same time to efface the bad impressions received of us ; but 
 it is thought best not to publish it, till a little before the 
 next session of Parliament.* 
 
 The Proprietors are determined to discard their present 
 governor, as soon as they can find a successor to their mind. 
 They have lately offered the government to one Mr. Graves, 
 a gentleman of the Temple, who has had it for some time 
 under consideration, and makes a difficulty of accepting it. 
 The beginning of the week it was thought he would accept; 
 but on Thursday night I was told he had resolved to refuse it. 
 I know not, however, whether he may not yet be prevailed on. 
 He has the character of a man of good understanding, and 
 good dispositions. {The i-emainder of the letter is lost.) 
 
 * The book of which Franklin here speaks is the " Historical Review of 
 the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania," which was published in 
 the year 1759. ^^ was a rather lively attack upon William Penn and his de- 
 scendants, and made no slight sensation when it appeared. Public opinion 
 ascribed its authorship to Franklin, and he was assailed for it with great 
 virulence by all the proprietary' press. Franklin did not disavow the paternity 
 then, nor did he ever do so publicly. Indeed, there was little doubt that he 
 had furnished most of the material, and that it was printed, published, and cir- 
 culiitcd under his direction ; but we now know, from a letter to David Hume 
 of the 27th Sept., 1760, that though he was not strictly speaking the author, 
 he must have furnished all the material. It was doubtless put into shai>e 
 by his son William and by his old friend Ralph. The letter to Hume will 
 be found infra, p. 410. — Ed, 
 
^Et. 52.] CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY ATTENTIONS. 3^1 
 
 To his wife, In mine of June loth, by the Mercury, 
 don 6 Sept ' Captain Robinson, I mentioned our having 
 ^758. been at Cambridge. We stayed there a week, 
 
 being entertained with great kindness by the principal 
 people, and shown all the curiosities of the place ; and, 
 returning by another road to see more of the country, we 
 came again to London. I found the journey advantageous 
 to my health, increasing both my health and spirits, and 
 therefore, as all the great folks were out of town, and public 
 business at a stand, I the more easily prevailed with myself 
 to take another journey, and accept of the invitation we 
 had, to be again at Cambridge at the Commencement, the 
 beginning of July. We went accordingly, were present at 
 all the ceremonies, dined every day in their halls, and my 
 vanity was not a little gratified by the particular regard 
 shown me by the chancellor and vice-chancellor of the 
 University, and the heads of colleges. 
 
 After the Commencement, we went from Cambridge 
 through Huntingdonshire into Northumberlandshire,* and 
 at Wellingborough, on inquiry, we found still living Mary 
 Fisher, whose maiden name was Franklin, daughter and 
 only child of Thomas Franklin, my father's eldest brother. 
 She is five years older than sister Dowse, and remembers 
 her going away with my father and his then wife, and two 
 other children to New England about the year 1685. We 
 have had no correspondence with her since my uncle 
 Benjamin's death, now near thirty years. I knew she had 
 lived at Wellingborough, and had married there to one Mr. 
 Richard Fisher, a grazier and tanner, about fifty years ago, 
 but did not expect to see either of them alive, so inquired foi 
 
 * Obviously a misprint or slip of the pen for Northamptonshire. — ED. 
 
392 
 
 THE HOME OF HIS ANCESTORS. f^T. 52. 
 
 their posterity. I was directed to their house, and we found 
 them both alive, but weak with age, very glad however to 
 see us. She seems to have been a very smart, sensible 
 woman. They are wealthy, have left off business, and live 
 comfortably. They have had only one child, a daughter, 
 who died, when about thirty years of age, unmarried. She 
 gave me several of my uncle Benjamin's letters to her, and 
 acquainted me where the other remains of the family lived, 
 of which I have, since my return to London, found out a 
 daughter of my father's only sister, very old, and never 
 married. She is a good, clever woman, but poor, though 
 vastly contented with her situation, and very cheerful. 
 The others are in different parts of the country. I intend 
 to visit them, but they were too much out of our tour in that 
 journey. 
 
 From Wellingborough we went to Ecton, about three or 
 four miles, being the village where my father was born, and 
 where his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather had 
 lived, and how many of the family before them we know 
 not. We went first to see the old house and grounds; they 
 came to Mr. Fisher with his wife, and, after letting them 
 for some years, finding his rent something ill paid, he sold 
 them. The land is now added to another farm, and a 
 school kept in the house. It is a decayed old stone build- 
 ing, but still known by the name of Franklin House. 
 Thence we went to visit the rector of the parish, who lives 
 close by the church, a very ancient building. He enter- 
 tained us very kindly, and showed us the old church 
 register, in which were the births, marriages, and burials 
 of our ancestors for two hundred years, as early as his book 
 began. His wife, a goodnatured, chatty, old lady, (grand- 
 daughter of the famous A:chdeacon Palmer, who formerly 
 
/Et. 52.] THE HOME OF HIS ANCESTORS. 393 
 
 liad that parish, and lived there,) remembered a great deal 
 about the family; carr.ed us out into the churchyard, and 
 showed us several of their gravestones, which were so 
 covered with moss that we could not read the letters, till 
 she ordered a hard brush and basin of water, with which 
 Peter scoured them clean, and then Billy copied them. 
 She entertained and diverted us highly with stories of 
 Thomas Franklin, Mrs. Fisher's father, who was a convey- 
 ancer, something of a lawyer, clerk of the county courts, 
 and clerk to the archdeacon in his visitations ; a very lead- 
 ing man in all county affairs, and much employed in public 
 business. He set on foot a subscription for erecting chimes 
 in their steeple, and completed it, and we heard them 
 play. He found out an easy method of saving their village 
 meadows from being drowned, as they used to be sometimes 
 by the river, which method is still in being ; but, when first 
 proposed, nobody could conceive how it could be; "but 
 however," they said, "if Franklin says he knows how to 
 do it, it will be done." His advice and opinion were 
 sought for on all occasions, by all sorts of people, and he 
 was looked upon, she said, by some, as something of a con- 
 jurer. He died just four years before I was born, on the 
 same day of the same month. 
 
 Since our return to London, I have had a kind letter 
 from cousin Fisher, and another from the rector, which I 
 send you. 
 
 From Ecton we went to Northampton, where we stayed 
 part of the day ; then went to Coventry, and from thence 
 to Birmingham. Here, upon inquiry, we soon found out 
 yours, and cousin Wilkinson's, and cousin Cash's relations. 
 First, we found out one of the Cashes, and he went with us 
 to Rebecca Flint's, where we saw her and her husband, 
 35* 
 
394 
 
 THE I/CME OF If IS ANCESTORS. [^r. 52. 
 
 She is a turner and he a buttonmaker ; they have no chil- 
 dren ; were very glad to see any person that knew their 
 sister Wilkinson ; told us what letters they had received, 
 and showed us some of them ; and even showed us that they 
 had, out of respect, preserved a keg, in which they had 
 received a present of some sturgeon. They sent for their 
 brother, Joshua North, who came with his wife immediately 
 to see us \ he is a turner also, and has six children, a lively, 
 active man. Mrs. Flint desired me to tell her sister, that 
 they live still in the old house she left them in, which I 
 think she says was their father's. From thence Mr. North 
 went with us to your cousin Benjamin's. {The remainder 
 of this letter is wantijig. ) 
 
 To his sister, I wondcr you have had no letter from me 
 ^m "^^"dafe^d ^^"^^ "^^ being in England. I have wrote you 
 London, 16 at least two, and I think a third before this, 
 
 Sept., 1758. , , 
 
 and, what was next to waiting on you in 
 person, sent you my picture. In June last I sent Benny* a 
 trunk of books, and wrote to him. I hope they are come 
 to hand, and that he meets with encouragement in his 
 business. I congratulate you on the conquest of Cape 
 Breton, and hope, as your people took it by praying the 
 first time, you will now pray that it may never be given up 
 again, which you then forgot. Billy is well, but in the 
 country. I left him at Tunbridge Wells, where we spent 
 a fortnight, and he is now gone with some company to see 
 Portsmouth. We have been together over a great part of 
 England this summer, and, among other places, visited the 
 town our father was born in, and found some relations ir 
 that part of the country still living. 
 
 *Mrs. Mecom's son. — li^i) 
 
-liT. 52.] ''NONE BUT CHRIST." 3^5 
 
 Our cousin Jane Franklin, daughter of our uncle John, 
 died about a year ago. We saw her husband, Robert Page, 
 who gave us some old letters to his wife from uncle Benja- 
 min. In one of them, dated Boston, July 4th, 1723, he 
 writes that your uncle Josiah has a daughter Jane, about 
 twelve years old, a good-humored child. So keep up to 
 your character, and don't be angry when you have no 
 letters. In a little book he sent her, called "None but 
 Christ," he wrote an acrostic on her name, which for name- 
 sake's sake, as well as the good advice it contains, I tran- 
 scribe and send you, viz. 
 
 " Illuminated from on high, 
 And shining brightly in your sphere, 
 Ne'er faint, but keep a steady eye, 
 Expecting endless pleasures there. 
 
 " Flee vice as you'd a serpent flee ; 
 Ksiise. faith and hope three stories higher. 
 And let Christ's endless love to thee 
 Ne'er cease to make thy love aspire. 
 Kindness of heart by words express, 
 Let your obedience be sincere, 
 In prayer and praise your God address, 
 Nor cease, till he can cease to hear." 
 
 After professing truly that I had a great esteem and ven- 
 eration for the pious author, permit me a little to play the 
 commentator and critic on these lines. The meaning of 
 three stories higher seems somewhat obscure. You are to 
 understand, then, that faith, hope, and charity have been 
 called the three steps of Jacob's ladder, reaching from 
 earth to heaven ; our author calls them stories, likening re- 
 ligion to a building, and these are the three stories of the 
 Christian edifice. Thus improvement in religion is called 
 building up and edification. Faith is then the ground floor, 
 hope is up one pair of stairs. My dear beloved Jenny, don't 
 
396 FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY. [^t. 52. 
 
 delight so much to dwell in those lower rooms, but get as 
 fast as you can into the garret, for in truth the best room in 
 the house is charity. For my part, I wish the house was 
 turned upside down ; it is so difficult (when one is fat) to 
 go up stairs; and not only so, but I imagine hope ^x\A faith 
 may be more firmly built upon charity, than charity upon 
 faith and hope. However that may be, I think it the better 
 reading to say — 
 
 " Raise faith and hope one story higher." 
 
 Correct it boldly, and I'll support the alteration ; for, when 
 you are up two stories already, if you raise your building 
 three stories higher you will make five in all, which is two 
 more than there should be, you expose your upper rooms 
 more to the winds and storms ; and, besides, I am afraid 
 the foundation will hardly bear them, unless indeed you 
 build with such light stuff as straw and stubble, and that, 
 you know, won't stand fire. Again, where the author says, 
 " Kindness of heart by words express," 
 
 strike out words, and put in deeds. The world is too full 
 of compliments already. They are the rank growth of every 
 soil, and choke the good plants of benevolence and benefi- 
 cence ; nor do I pretend to be the first in this comparison 
 of words and actions to plants ; you may remember an 
 ancient poet, whose works we have all studied and copied 
 at school long ago. 
 
 " A man of words and not of deeds 
 Is nice a garden full of weeds." 
 
 It is pity that good works, among some sorts of people, 
 are so little valued, and good words admired in their stead; 
 I mean seemingly pious discourses, instead of humane 
 benevolent actions. Those they almost put out of counte- 
 
^T. 52.] CONTINENTAL FAME. 
 
 397 
 
 nance, by calling morality rotten morality, righteousness 
 ragged righteousness, and even filthy rags. So much by way 
 of commentary. 
 
 My wife will let you see my letter, containing an account 
 of our travels, which I would have you read to sister Dowse, 
 and give my love to her. I have no thoughts of returning 
 till next year, and then may possibly have the pleasure of 
 seeing you and yours; taking Boston in my way home.* 
 
 * Much of Franklin's time during the year 1759 was devoted to electrical 
 experiments, which led to a large correspondence with the learned through- 
 out Europe, most of which, however, is unhappily lost. The following flat- 
 tering letter from the celebrated Dr. Musschenbroek was accompanied by a 
 list of all the principal treatises on electricity, which had at that time been 
 published in the Latin, German, French, and English languages. 
 
 " ViRO NOBILISSIMO AMPLISSIMOQUE, BENJAMINI FRANKLIN, S. P. D. 
 
 P. V. Musschenbroek. 
 
 " Vir reverendus, qui se ministerio Evangelico fungi profitebatur, me tuo 
 Tiomine rogavit, ut indicarem autores, qui de Electricitate scripserunt, 
 mihique erant cogniti. Votis tuis lubenter annul ; ita addisces quid alii in 
 Europa prae-^^titerunt eruditi, sed simul videbis neminem magis recondita 
 mysteria Ek-ctricitatis detexisse Franklino. 
 
 " Utinam modo pergas proprio Marte capere experimenta, et alia incedere 
 via, quam Europsei incesserunt, nam turn plura et alia deteges, quae secu- 
 lorum spatio laterent philosophos. Aer Pensylvanicus videtur esse elec- 
 tricitatis plenissimus ; sed attende an per totum anni curriculum, an interdum 
 pauperior sit ; quibus anni diebus, quo fiante vento, qua coeli constitutione ; 
 distingue nubes electricitatis plenas aut expertes, uti volante in altum serico 
 incepisti detegere omnium primus. Opto similia perpulcra inventa legere 
 Pensylvanica, ac scripsisti in litteris ad expertissimum virum Collinsonum ; 
 sique meciim quaedam communicare digneris, tecum alia communicabo, nam 
 meus Scopus est scientiam physicam et naturalem promovere quamdiu 
 vivam. 
 
 " Tu sis, amicissime, salutatus a tui benevolentissimo cultore, et vale. 
 
 " l^yd<B, 150 Aprilis, 1759."— Ed. 
 
398 VISIT TO LORD KAMES. [^t. 53. 
 
 To Lord You liavc been pleased kindly to desire to 
 
 ted'^^London ^^^.ve all my publications. I had daily expec- 
 3 Jan., 1760. tations of procuring some of them from a friend 
 to whom I formerly sent them when I was in America, 
 and postponed writing to you, till I should obtain them; 
 but at length he tells me he cannot find them ; very morti- 
 fying this to an author, that his works should so soon be 
 lost! So I can only send you my ''Observations on the 
 Peopling of Countries," which happens to have been re- 
 printed here; "The Description of the Pennsylvania Fire- 
 place," a machine of my contriving; and some little 
 sketches that have been printed in the " Grand Magazine," 
 which I should hardly own, did I not know that your 
 friendly partiality would make them seem at least tolerable. 
 How unfortunate I was, that I did not press you and Lady 
 Kames more strongly to favor us with your company farther. 
 How much more agreeable would our journey have been, 
 if we could have enjoyed you as far as York. We could 
 have beguiled the way, by discoursing on a thousand things, 
 that now we may never have an opportunity of considering 
 together ; for conversation warms the mind, enlivens the 
 imagination, and is continually starting fresh game, that is 
 immediately pursued and taken, and which would never have 
 occurred in the duller intercourse of ei)istolary correspond- 
 ence. So that whenever I reflect on the great pleasure and 
 
 * Author of " Elements of Criticism," published in 1762 ; " Sketches of 
 the History of Man," in 1773 ; and a small work published in 1761, entitled 
 " An Introduction to the Art of Thinking," which was originally compiled 
 for the use of his own children. During this trip to Scotland the doctor, 
 with his son William, passed some time with Lord Kames, and a friendship 
 grew out of their intimacy which lasted during their lives. Lord Kames 
 died December 27th, 1782, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. This letter 
 was wntten not long after Franklin's return to London. — Ed. 
 
JEt. 53.] WILLIAM PENN'S PICTURE. 399 
 
 advantage I received from the free communication of senti- 
 ment, in the conversation we had at Kames, and in the 
 agreeable little rides to the Tweed side, I shall for ever 
 regret our premature parting. 
 
 No one can more sincerely rejoice than I do, on the 
 reduction of Canada; and this is not merely as I am a 
 colonist, but as I am a Briton. I have long been of opinion, 
 that the foundations of the future grandeur and stability of 
 the British empire lie in America ; and though, like other 
 foundations, they are low and little now, they are, nevei- 
 theless, broad and strong enough to support the greatest 
 political structure that human wisdom ever yet erected. I 
 am, therefore, by no means for restoring Canada. If we 
 keep it, all the country from the St. Lawrence to the Mis- 
 sissippi will in another century be filled with British people. 
 Britain itself will become vastly more populous, by the im- 
 mense increase of its commerce ; the Atlantic sea will be 
 covered with your trading ships ; and your naval power, 
 thence continually increasing, will extend your influence 
 round the whole globe, and awe the world ! If the French 
 remain in Canada, they will continually harass our colonies 
 by the Indians, and impede if not prevent their growth ; 
 your progress to greatness will at best be slow, and give 
 room for many accidents that may for ever prevent it. But 
 I refrain, for I see you begin to think my notions extrava- 
 gant, and look upon them as the ravings of a mad 
 prophet. 
 
 Your Lordship's kind offer of Penn's picture is extremely 
 obliging. But, were it certainly his picture, it would be 
 too valuable a curiosity for me to think of accepting it. I 
 should only desire the favor of leave to take a copy of it. 
 I could wish to know the history of the picture before it 
 
400 WILLIAM PENN'S PICTURE. [^t. 53. 
 
 came into your hands, and the grounds for supposing it his. 
 1 have at present some doubts about it \ first, because the 
 primitive Quakers declared against pictures as a vain ex- 
 pense ; a man's suffering his portrait to be taken was 
 conceived as pride; and I think to this day it is very little 
 practised among them. Then, it is on a board ; and I 
 imagine the practice of painting portraits on boards did 
 not come down so low as Penn's time ; but of this I am not 
 certain. My other reason is an anecdote I have heard, viz. 
 that when old Lord Cobham was adorning his gardens at 
 Stow with busts of famous men, he made inquiry of the 
 family for the picture of William Penn, in order to get a 
 bust formed from it, but could find none ; that Sylvanus 
 Bevan, an old Quaker apothecary, remarkable for the notice 
 he takes of countenances, and a knack he has of cutting in 
 ivory, strong likenesses of persons he has once seen, hearing 
 of Lord Cobham's desire, set himself to recollect Penn's 
 face, with which he had been well acquainted ; and cut a 
 little bust of him in ivory, which he sent to Lord Cobham, 
 without any letter or notice that it was Penn's. But my 
 Lord, who had personally known Penn, on seeing it, 
 immediately cried out, " Whence comes this? It is William 
 Penn himself!" And from this little bust, they say, the large 
 one in the gardens w^as formed. 
 
 I doubt, too, whether the whisker was not quite out of 
 use at the time when Penn must have been of an age 
 appearing in the face of that picture. And yet, notwith- 
 standing these reasons, I am not without some hope that it 
 may be his ; because I know some eminent Quakers have 
 had their pictures privately drawn and deposited with trusty 
 friends; and know, also, that there is extant at Philadelphia 
 a very good picture of Mrs. Penn, his last wife. After all, 
 
/Et. 54. J PROSPECT OF PEACE. 401 
 
 I own I have a strong desire to be satisfied concerning this 
 picture ; and as Bevan is yet living here, and some other 
 old Quakers that remember William Penn, who died but 
 1 7 18, I would wish to have it sent to me carefully packed 
 up in a box by the wagon, (for I would not trust it by sea,) 
 that I may obtain their opinion. The charges I shall very 
 cheerfully pay ; and if it proves to be Penn's picture, I shall 
 be greatly obliged to your Lordship for leave to take a copy 
 of it, and will carefully return the original.* 
 
 My son joins with me in the most respectful compli 
 merits to you and Lady Kames. Our conversation, till we 
 came to York, was chiefly a recollection of what we had 
 seen and heard, the pleasure we had enjoyed, and the kind- 
 nesses we had received, in Scotland, and how far that 
 country had exceeded our expectations. On the whole, I 
 must say, I think the time we spent there was six weeks of 
 the densest happiness I have met with in any part of my 
 life j and the agreeable and instructive society we found 
 there in such plenty has left so pleasing an impression on 
 my memory, that, did not strong connexions draw me 
 elsewhere, I believe Scotland would be the country I should 
 choose to spend the remainder of my days in. 
 
 To John There has been for some time a talk of peace, 
 
 ted^ London' ^"^ probably we should have had one this 
 7 Jan., 1760. winter, if the king of Prussia's late misfortunes 
 had not given the enemy fresh spirits, and encouraged them 
 
 * Mr. Sparks thinks Dr. Franklin's doubts, respecting the above picture, 
 were probably just. Mr. Tytler says, in his " Life of Lord Kames," that it was 
 sent to Dr. Franklin, and never returned ; but the fact of its not having been 
 known in Philadelphia, nor ever heard of since the above letter was written, 
 is strong presumptive proc f that it was not a portrait of William Penn. — Ed,, 
 
 36 
 
402 PROPOSAL TO SETTLE IN KXGLAND. [.^T. 54. 
 
 to try their luck another campaign, and exert all their 
 remaining strength, in hopes of treating with Hanover in 
 their hands. If this should be the case, possibly most of 
 our advantages may be given up again at the treaty, and 
 some among our great men begin already to prepare the 
 minds of people for this, by discoursing that to keep 
 Canada would draw on us the envy of other powers, and 
 occasion a confederation against us; that the country is too 
 large for us to people ; not worth possessing, and the like. 
 These notions I am every day and every hour combating^ 
 and I think not without some success. The event God 
 only knows. The argument that seems to have the prin 
 cipal weight is, that, in case of another war, if we keep 
 possession of Canada, the nation will save two or three 
 millions a year, now spent in defending the American colo- 
 nies, and be so much the stronger in Europe, by the addi- 
 tion of the troops now employed on that side of the water. 
 To this I add, that the colonies would thrive and increase 
 in a much greater degree, and that avast additional demand 
 would arise for British manufactures, to supply so great an 
 extent of Indian country ; with many other topics, which 
 I urge occasionally according to the company I happen 
 into, or the persons I address. And, on the whole, I flatter 
 myself that my being here at this time may be of some 
 service to the general interest of America. 
 
 To his wife, I received the enclosed some time since from 
 don^sMarch" ^^' Strahau. I afterwards spent an evening 
 Jt76o. in conversation with him on the subject. He 
 
 was very urgent with me to stay in England, and prevail 
 with you to remove hither with Sally. He proposed several 
 advantageous schemes to me, which appeared reasonably 
 
^T. 54.] URGED TO QUIT AMERICA. 40^ 
 
 founded. His family is a very agreeable one ; Mrs. Strahan 
 a sensible and good woman, the children of amiable char- 
 acters, and particularly the young man, who is sober, inge- 
 nious, and industrious, and a desirable person. In point of 
 circumstances there can be no objection ; Mr. Strahan being 
 in such a way as to lay up a thousand pounds every year 
 from the profits of his business, after maintaining his family 
 and paying all charges. I gave him, however, two reasons 
 why I could not think of removing hither ; one, my affec- 
 tion to Pennsylvania, and long established friendships and 
 other connexions there ; the other, your invincible aversion 
 to crossing the seas. And without removing hither, I could 
 not think of parting with my daughter to such a distance. I 
 thanked him for the regard shown to us in the proposal, but 
 gave him no expectation that I should forward the letters. So 
 you are at liberty to answer or not, just as you think proper. 
 Let me, however, know your sentiments. You need not 
 deliver the letter to Sally, if you do not think it proper. 
 
 To Mary ste- I embrace, most gladly, my dear friend's 
 
 venson, dated 1 r i.* i. r r i- j 
 
 Craven St proposal of a subjcct for our future correspond- 
 London, 1 ence ; not only as it will occasion my hearing 
 from her more frequently, but as it will lay me 
 under a necessity of improving my own knowledge, that I 
 may be better able to assist in her improvement. I only 
 fear my necessary business and journeys, with the natural 
 indolence of an old man, will make me too unpunctual a 
 correspondent. For this I must hope some indulgence. 
 But why will you, by the cultivation of your mind, make 
 ycHirself still more amiable, and a more desirable companion 
 for a man of understanding, when you are determined, as I 
 hear, to live single? If we enter, as you propose, into 
 
404 ADVICE ABOUT READING. [^T. 54. 
 
 moral as well as natural philosophy, I fancy, when I have 
 established my authority as a tutor, I shall take upon me to 
 lecture you a little on the chapter of duty. 
 
 But, to be serious, our easiest mode of proceeding I think 
 will be, for you to read some books that I may recommend to 
 you ; and, in the course of your reading, whatever occurs, 
 that you do not thoroughly apprehend, or that you clearly 
 conceive and find pleasure in, may occasion either some 
 questions for further information, or some observations that 
 show how far you are satisfied and pleased with your author. 
 These will furnish matter for your letters to me, and, in 
 consequence, mine also to you. 
 
 Let me know, then, what books you have already perused 
 on the subject intended, that I may the better judge what 
 to advise for your next reading. And believe me ever, my 
 dear good girl, your affectionate friend and servant. 
 
 To Lord I have endeavored to comply with your 
 
 Kames, dated ^ . . . , . , 
 
 London, 9 Tcqucst m Writing something on the present 
 May, 1760. situation of our affairs in America, in order to 
 give more correct notions of the British interest with regard 
 to the colonies, than those I found many sensible men 
 possessed of. Enclosed you have the production, such as it 
 is. I wish it may, in any degree, be of service to the public. 
 I shall at least hope this from it, for my own part, that you 
 will consider it as a letter from me to you, and take its 
 length as some excuse for being so long a coming.* 
 
 I am now reading with great pleasure and improvement 
 your excellent work, **The Principles of Equity." It will 
 
 * This was probably the tract entitled " The Interest of Great Britain 
 Considered," which was first published in 1760. — Ed. 
 
A:t. 54.] PARABLE AGAINST PERSECUTION. 405 
 
 be of the greatest advantage to the judges in our colonies, 
 not only in those which have courts of chancery, but also 
 in those which, having no such courts, are obliged to mix 
 equity with common law. It will be of more service to the 
 colony judges, as few of them have been bred to the law. 
 I have sent a book to a particular friend, one of the judges 
 of the Supreme Court in Pennsylvania. 
 
 I will shortly send you a copy of the " Chapter"* you 
 are pleased to mention in so obliging a manner ; and shall 
 be extremely obliged in receiving a copy of the collection 
 of "Maxims for the Conduct of Life," which you are pre- 
 paring for the use of your children. I purpose likewise a 
 little work for the benefit of youth, to be called ''The Art 
 of Virtue. "f From the title I think you will hardly con- 
 jecture what the nature of such a book may be. I must 
 therefore explain it a little. Many people lead bad lives 
 that would gladly lead good ones, but do not know how to 
 make the change. They have frequently resolved and en- 
 deavoured it ; but in vain, because their endeavours have 
 not been properly conducted. To expect people to be 
 
 * Franklin here refers to a parable against persecution which he had 
 recited to Lord Karnes, and of which afterwards, at his lordship's request, 
 he sent him a copy. An imperfect version of the piece appeared in Lord 
 Karnes's " Sketches of the History of Man," some fourteen years later, with 
 the following declaration by the author : 
 
 " It was communicated to me by Dr. Franklin, of Philadelphia, a man 
 who makes a great figure in the learned world, and who would make a 
 still greater figure for benevolence and candor, were virtue as much regarded 
 in this declining age as knowledge." 
 
 The parable was of Persian origin, so far as we know, though Franklin 
 doubtless found it in the " Liberty of Prophesying" of Jeremy Taylor, who 
 says it was taken from the " Jews' books." — Ed. 
 
 f It does not appear that this intention was ever fulfilled. Some remarks 
 on the subject will be found on pp. 241-244. — Ed. 
 36* 
 
4o6 "ART OF virtue:' [^t. 54. 
 
 good, to be just, to be temperate, &c., without sJwwing 
 them how they should become so, seems like the ineffectual 
 charity mentioned by the apostle, which consisted in saying 
 to the hungry, the cold, and the naked, *'Be ye fed, be ye 
 warmed, be ye clothed," without showing them how they 
 should get food, fire, or clothing. 
 
 Most people have naturally so7ne virtues, but none have 
 naturally all the virtues. To acquire those that are wanting, 
 and secure what we acquire, as well as those we have natu- 
 rally, is the subject of an art. It is as properly an art as 
 painting, navigation, or architecture. If a man would 
 become a painter, navigator, or architect, it is not enough 
 that he is advised to be one, that he is convinced by the 
 arguments of his adviser, that it would be for his advantage 
 to be one, and that he resolves to be one, but he must also 
 be taught the principles of the art, be shown all the methods 
 of working, and how to acquire the habits of using properly 
 all the instruments ; and thus regularly and gradually he 
 arrives, by practice, at some perfection in the art. If he 
 does not proceed thus, he is apt to meet with difficulties 
 that discourage him, and make him drop the pursuit. 
 
 My *'Art of Virtue" has also its instruments, and teaches 
 the manner of using them. Christians are directed to have 
 faith in Christ, as the effectual means of obtaining the 
 change they desire. It may, when sufficiently strong, be 
 effectual with many ; for a full opinion, that a teacher is 
 infinitely wise, good, and powerful, and that he will cer- 
 tainly reward and punish the obedient and disobedient, 
 must give great weight to his precepts, and make them 
 much more attended to by his disciples. But many have 
 this faith in so weak a degree, that it does not produce the 
 effect Our ''Art of Virtue" may, therefore, be of great 
 
^T. 54.] ADVICE ABOUT READING. 407 
 
 service to those whose faith is unhappily not so strong, and 
 may come in aid of its weakness. Such as are naturally 
 well disposed, and have been so carefully educated, as that 
 good habits have been early established, and bad ones pre- 
 vented, have less need of this art ; but all may be more or 
 less benefited by it. It is, in short, to be adapted for 
 universal use. I imagine what I have now been writing 
 will seem to savour of great presumption. I must there- 
 fore speedily finish my little piece, and communicate the 
 manuscript to you, that you may judge whether it is possible 
 to make good such pretensions. I shall at the same time 
 hope for the benefit of your corrections. 
 
 To Mary ste- I scud my good girl the books I mentioned 
 Craven' ^st ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ night. I beg her to accept of them 
 16 May, 1760. as a small mark of my esteem and friendship. 
 They are written in the familiar, easy manner, for which the 
 French are so remarkable; and afford a good deal of phil- 
 osophic and practical knowledge, unembarrassed with the 
 dry mathematics used by more exact reasoners, but which 
 are apt to discourage young beginners. 
 
 I would advise you to read with a pen in your hand, and 
 enter in a little book short hints of what you find that is 
 curious, or that may be useful; for this will be the best 
 method of imprinting such particulars in your memory, 
 where they will be ready, either for practice on some future 
 occasion, if they are matters of utility, or at least to adorn 
 and improve your conversation, if they are rather points of 
 curiosity. And as many of the terms of science are such, 
 as you cannot have met with in your common reading, and 
 may therefore be unacquainted with, I think it would be 
 well for you to have a good dictionary at hand, to consult 
 
4.08 FAMILY DETAILS. [^t. 54- 
 
 immediately when you meet with a word you do not com- 
 prehend the precise meaning of. This may at first seem 
 troublesome and interrupting; but it is a trouble that will 
 daily diminish, as you will daily find less and less occasion 
 for your dictionary, as you become more acquainted with 
 the terms; and in the mean time you will read with more 
 satisfaction, because with more understanding. 
 
 When any point occurs, in which you would be glad to 
 have farther information than your book affords you, I beg 
 you would not in the least apprehend, that I should think 
 it a trouble to receive and answer your questions. It will 
 be a pleasure, and no trouble. For though I may not be 
 able, out of my own little stock of knowledge, to afford 
 you what you require, I can easily direct you to the books, 
 where it may most readily be found. 
 
 To his wife, I am Concerned that so much trouble should 
 
 dated Lon- , . 1 • 11 
 
 don, 27 June ^^ givcn you by idle reports concernmg me. 
 ^760. Be satisfied, my dear, that while I have my 
 
 senses, and God vouchsafes me his protection, I shall do 
 nothing unworthy the character of an honest man, and one 
 that loves his family.* 
 
 I have not yet seen Mr. Beatty, nor do I know where to 
 write to him. He forwarded your letter to me from Ireland. 
 
 * On a later occasion he wrote to his wife: " Let no one make you uneasy 
 with their idle or malicious scribblings, but enjoy yourself and friends, and 
 the comforts of life, that God has bestowed on you, with a cheerful heart. 
 I am glad their pamphlets give you so little concern. I make no other 
 answer to them at present, than what appears in the seal of this letter." The 
 device on the seal was a dove, standing on a coiled serpent in the act of 
 raising its head and darting out its tongue, surrounded with the motto. In- 
 nocence surmont tout. This was not his usual seal, but one adopted for the 
 occasion. — S. 
 
J&T. 54.] FA MIL V DE TAILS. 409 
 
 The paragraph of your letter, inserted in the papers, related 
 to the negro school. I gave it to the gentlemen concerned, 
 as it was a testimony in favor of their pious design. But T 
 did not expect they would print it with your name. They 
 have since chosen me one of the Society, and I am at 
 present chairman for the current year. I enclose you an 
 account of their proceedings.* 
 
 I did not receive the "Prospect of Quebec," which you 
 mention that you sent me. Peter continues with me, and 
 behaves as well as I can expect, in a country where there 
 are many occasions of spoiling servants, if they are ever so 
 good. He has as few faults as most of them, and I see 
 with only one eye, and hear only with one ear; so we rub 
 on pretty comfortably. King, that you inquire after, is 
 not with us. He ran away from our house near two years 
 ago, while we were absent in the country; but was soon 
 found in Suffolk, where he had been taken into the service 
 of a lady, that was very fond of the merit of making him 
 a Christian, and contributing to his education and improve- 
 ment. As he was of little use, and often in mischief, Billy 
 consented to her keeping him while we stay in England. 
 So the lady sent him to school, has him taught to read and 
 write, to play on the violin and French horn, with some 
 other accomplishments more useful in a servant. Whether 
 she will finally be willing to part with him, or persuade 
 Billy to sell him to her, I know not. In the mean time he 
 is no expense to us. 
 
 The accounts you give me of the marriages of our friends 
 are very agreeable. I love to hear of every thing that tends 
 
 * This relates to a scheme, which had been set on foot by the philanthropic 
 Dr.Thos. Bray, for the conversion of negroes in the British plantations. — ED. 
 
4IO liXPENSIVENESS OF ENGLISH WIVES. [^T. 54. 
 
 to increase the number of good people. You cannot con- 
 ceive how shamefully the mode here is a single life. One 
 can scarce be in the company of a dozen men of circum- 
 stance and fortune, but what it is odds that you find on 
 inquiry eleven of them are single. The great complaint is 
 the excessive expensiveness of English wives. 
 
 I am extremely concerned with you at the misfortune of 
 our friend Mr. Griffith. How could it possibly happen ? 
 It was a terrible fire that of Boston. I shall contribute 
 here towards the relief of the suff"erers. Our relations have 
 escaped, I believe, generally ; but some of my particular 
 friends must have suffered greatly. 
 
 Poor David Edwards died this day week, of a consump- 
 tion. I had a letter from a friend of his, acquainting me 
 that he had been long ill, and incapable of doing his busi- 
 ness, and was at board in the country. I feared he might 
 be in straits, as he never was prudent enough to lay up 
 any thing. So I wrote to him immediately, that, if he had 
 occasion, he might draw on me for five guineas. But he 
 died before my letter got to hand. I hear the woman, at 
 whose house he long lodged and boarded, has buried him 
 and taken all he left, which could not be much, and there 
 are some small debts unpaid. 
 
 To David I am obliged to you for the favorable senti- 
 
 Hume, dated ^ r .^ • ' . ^ 
 
 Coventry 27 ^"'"'^^^ts you express of the pieces sent to you ; 
 Sept., 1760. though the volume relating to our Pennsylvania 
 affairs* was not written by me, nor any part of it, except the 
 
 * The treatise here mentioned is probably the " Historical Review of the 
 Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania." Doubts were for a long 
 time entertained as to the authorship of this paper, which, in this letter to 
 Mr. Hume, were finally put to rest, though there is abundant reason for 
 
/Et. 54.] ^'JEALOUSY OF COMMERCEr 41 i 
 
 remarks on the Proprietor's estimate of his estate, and some 
 of the inserted messages and reports of the Assembly, which 
 I wrote when at home, as a member of committees appointed 
 by the House for that service. The rest was by another 
 hand. 
 
 But though I am satisfied by what you say, that the Duke 
 of Bedford was hearty in the scheme of the expedition, I 
 am not so clear that others in the administration were 
 equally in earnest in that matter. It is certain, that, after 
 the Duke of Newcastle's first orders to raise troops in the 
 colonies, and promise to send over commissions to the 
 officers, with arms and clothing for the men, we never had 
 another syllable from him for eighteen months; during all 
 which time the army lay idle at Albany for want of orders 
 and necessaries ; and it began to be thought at last, that, 
 if an expedition had ever been intended, the first design 
 and the orders given must, through the multiplicity of 
 business here at home, have been quite forgotten.* 
 
 I am not a little pleased to hear of your change of senti- 
 ments in some particulars relating to America; because I 
 think it of importance to our general welfare, that the 
 people of this nation should have right notions of us, and 
 I know no one, that has it more in his power to rectify 
 their notions than Mr. Hume. I have lately read with 
 great pleasure, as I do every thing of yours, the excellent 
 Essay on the "Jealousy of Commerce." I think it cannot 
 but have a good effect in promoting a certain interest, too 
 
 believing that it was written from materials furnished by him, that he revised 
 it for the press, and contributed largely to its circulation. It is composed 
 mainly of documents, and possesses little interest for the reader of to-day ; 
 conclusive proof that Franklin had little to do with its composition. — Ed. 
 * This was the expedition projected against Canada in the year 1746. — S. 
 
412 NEOLO GISMS. [vEt. 54 
 
 little thought of by selfish man, and scarcely ever men- 
 tioned, so that we hardly have a name for it; I mean the 
 interest of humanity, or common good of mankind. But I 
 hope, particularly from that Essay, an abatement of the 
 jealousy, that reigns here, of the commerce of the colonies, 
 at least so far as such abatement may be reasonable. 
 
 I thank you for your friendly admonition relating to 
 some unusual words in the pamphlet. It will be of service 
 to me. The ^^ pejorate, ^^ and the '■'colonize,'' since they 
 are not in common use here, I give up as bad ; for certainly 
 in writings intended for persuasion and for general informa- 
 tion, one cannot be too clear; and every expression in the 
 least obscure is a fault. The ^'unshakeable" too, though 
 clear, I give up as rather low. The introducing new words, 
 where we are already possessed of old ones sufficiently ex- 
 pressive, I confess must be generally wrong, as it tends to 
 change the language; yet, at the same time, I cannot but 
 wish the usage of our tongue permitted making new words, 
 when we want them, by composition of old ones whose 
 meanings are already well understood. The German allows 
 of it, and it is a common practice with their writers. Many 
 of our present English words were originally so made; and 
 many of the Latin words. In point of clearness, such 
 compound words would have the advantage of any we can 
 borrow from the ancient or from foreign languages. For 
 instance, the word inaccessible, though long in use among 
 us, is not yet, I dare say, so universally understood by our 
 people, as the word uncomeatable would immediately be, 
 which we are not allowed to write. But I hope with you, 
 that we shall always in America make the best English of 
 this Island our standard, and I believe it will be so. I 
 assure you it often gives me pleasure to reflect, how greatly 
 
-Et. 54-] BASKERVILLE'S PRINTING TYPES. 413 
 
 the audience (if I may so term it) of a good English writei 
 will, in another century or two, be increased by the increase 
 of English people in our colonies.* 
 
 My son presents his respects with mine to you and Dr. 
 Monro. We received your printed circular letter to the 
 members of the Society,f and purpose some time next 
 winter to send each of us a little philosophical essay. 
 
 To John Bas- Let me give you a pleasant instance of the 
 ted Craven prejudice somc havc entertained against your 
 St., 1760. work. Soon after I returned, discoursing with 
 
 a gentleman concerning the artists of Birmingham, he said 
 you would be a means of blinding all the readers in the 
 nation ; for the strokes of your letters, being too thin and 
 narrow, hurt the eye, and he could never read a line of 
 them without pain. " I thought," said I, " you were going 
 to complain of the gloss of the paper, which some object 
 to." "No, no," said he, "I have heard that mentioned, 
 
 * Hume was so struck with this reflection that he is said to have used it 
 to persuade Gibbon to write his " Dechne and Fall of the Roman Empire" 
 in English. This letter may be found in the Memoirs of Gibbon. — Ed. 
 
 f A Philosophical Society lately established at Edinburgh. — Ed. 
 
 I John Baskerville, whose contributions to the art of printing made him 
 famous, but not rich, as will be seen by the following extract from a letter 
 which he \vrote to Dr. Franklin, dated Birmingham, September 7th, 1767. 
 Dr. Franklin was at that time on a visit to Paris. " After having obtained 
 the reputation of exceUing in the most useful art known to mankind, of 
 which I have yoiir testimony, is it not to the last degree provoking, that I 
 cannot get even bread by it? I must starve, had I no other dependence." 
 He retired from business in 1765, but the Baskerville Press continued 
 to be highly esteemed in Birmingham until the Priestley riots of 1791, 
 when the mob destroyed the printing office. Baskerville died on the 8th 
 of January, 1775. In the year 1779 his types were purchased by a literary 
 societv in Paris for £3700, and were employed in printing Beaumarchais's 
 edition of Voltaire. — Bd. 
 
 37 T 
 
4J4 BASKERVILLE'S PRINTING TYPES. [^T. 54. 
 
 but it is not that ; it is in the form and cut of the letters 
 themselves ; they have not that height and thickness of the 
 stroke, which make the common printing so much the 
 more comfortable to the eye " You see this gentleman 
 was a connoisseur. In vain I endeavoured to support youi 
 character against the charge ; he knew what he felt, and 
 could see the reason of it, and several other gentlemen 
 among his friends had made the same observation, &c. 
 
 Yesterday he called to visit me, when, mischievously bent 
 to try his judgment, I stepped into my closet, tore off the 
 top of Mr. Caslon's specimen, and produced it to him as 
 yours, brought with me from Birmingham ; saying, I had 
 been examining it, since he spoke to me, and could not for 
 my life perceive the disproportion he mentioned, desiring 
 him to point it out to me. He readily undertook it, and 
 went over the several founts, showing me everywhere what 
 he thought instances of that disproportion ; and declared, 
 that he could not then read the specimen, without feeling 
 very strongly the pain he had mentioned to me. I spared 
 him that time the confusion of being told, that these were 
 the types he had been reading all his life, with so much 
 ease to his eyes; the types his adored Newton is printed 
 with, on which he has pored not a little; nay, the very 
 types his own book is printed with, (for he is himself an 
 author,) and yet never discovered this painful disproportion 
 in them, till he thought they were yours. 
 
 To the printer I met lately with an old quarto book on a 
 
 of the Londc 
 Chronicle.* 
 
 on on s|-aii^ the titlepage and the author's name want 
 
 ing, but containing discourses, addressed to 
 
 * In June of this year, and after a delay of three years, Franklin succeeded 
 in bringing his controversy with the proprietaries to a close, and upon terms 
 
^T. 54.] ON DISPOSING AN ENEMY TO PEACE. Alt 
 
 some king of Spain, extolling the greatness of mon- 
 archy, translated into English, and said in the last leaf 
 to be printed at London by Bonham Norton and John 
 Bill, ''Printers to the King's most excellent Majestie, 
 MDCXXIX." The author appears to have been a Jesuit, 
 for, speaking of that order in two places, he calls it our 
 Society. Give me leave to communicate to the public a 
 chapter of it, so apropos to our present situation, (only 
 clianging Spain for France,) that I think it well worth 
 general attention and observation, as it discovers the arts 
 of our enemies, and may therefore help in some degree to 
 put us on our guard against them. 
 
 What effect the artifices here recommended might have 
 had in the times when our author wrote, I cannot pretend 
 to say ; but I believe, the present age being more enlight- 
 ened and our people better acquainted than formerly with 
 our true national interest, such arts can now hardly prove so 
 generally successful ; for we may with pleasure observe, and 
 to the honor of the British people, that, though writings 
 and discourses like these have lately not been wanting, yet 
 few in any of the classes he particularizes seem to be affected 
 
 which received the entire approbation of his constituents, the right of taxing 
 the proprietary estates, the main point in dispute, being fully recognized. 
 He did not, however, return to America until two years later, occupying 
 himself with the advocacy and direction of the expedition against Canada, 
 the annexation of which to the empire he had much at heart, with scientific 
 studies and experiments, and with the manufacture of a sound public opinion 
 m England through the columns of the periodical press. In the latter cate- 
 gory should be included this communication to the London Chronicle. Its 
 date is not known, but "its contents," says Mr. Sparks, " show it to have 
 been written towards the close of the French war, and probably in 1760, 
 or the year following. Under the disguise of a pretended chapter from an 
 old book, and in the imitation of an antiquated style, he throws out hints 
 suited to attract attention and afford amusement." — Ed. 
 
41 6 ON DISPOSING AN ENEMY TO PEACE. [/Ex. 54. 
 
 by them, but all ranks and degrees among us persist hitherto 
 in declaring for a vigorous prosecution of the war, in pre- 
 ference to an unsafe, disadvantageous, or dishonorable 
 peace ; yet, as a little change of fortune may make such 
 writings more attended to, and give them greater weight, I 
 think the publication of this piece, as it shows the spring 
 from whence these scribblers draw their poisoned waters, 
 may be of public utility. A Briton. 
 
 ''Chap. XXXIV. 
 
 '' On the Meanes of disposi?ig the Enetnie to Peace, 
 
 " Warres, with whatsoever Prudence undertaken and con- 
 ducted, do not always succeed. Many Thinges out of Man's 
 Power to governe, such as Dearth of Provision, Tempests, 
 Pestilence, and the like, oftentimes interfering and totally 
 overthrowing the best Designes ; so that these Enemies 
 (England and Holland) of our Monarchy though apparently 
 at first the weaker, may by disastrous Events of Warre, on 
 our Parte, become the stronger, and though not in such 
 degree, as to endanger the Bodie of this great Kingdom, 
 yet, by their greater Power of Shipping and Aptness in Sea 
 Affairs, to be able to cut off, if I may so speake, some of its 
 smaller Limbs and Members that are remote therefrom and 
 not easily defended, to wit, our Islands and Colonies in the 
 Indies ; thereby however depriving the Bodie of its wonted 
 Nourishment, so that it must thenceforthe languish and grow 
 weake, if those Parts are not recovered, which possibly may 
 by continuance of Warre be found unlikelie to be done. And 
 the Enemie, puffed up with their successes, and hoping still 
 for more, may not be disposed to Peace on such Termes as 
 would be suitable to the honor of your Majcstie, and to the 
 
JEt. 54.] OA^ DISPOSING AN ENEMY TO PEACE. 41^ 
 
 Welfare of your State and Subjects. In such Case, the 
 following Meanes may have good Effect. 
 
 "It is well knowne, that these Northerne People, though 
 hardie of Bodie and bold in Fight, be nevertheless, through 
 overmuch Eating and other Intemperance, slowe of Wit, 
 and dull in Understanding, so that they are ofttimes more 
 easilie to be governed and turned by Skill than by Force. 
 There is therefore always Hope, that, by wise Counsel and 
 dexterous Management, those Advantages, which through 
 crosse Accidents in Warre have been lost, may again with 
 Honour be recovered. In this Place I shall say little of the 
 Power of Money secretly distributed among Grandees, or 
 their Friends or Paramours ; that Method being in all Ages 
 known and practised. If the minds of Enemies can be 
 cha7iged, they may be brought to grant willingly and for 
 nothing what much Gold would scarcely have otherwise 
 prevailed to obtaine. Yet, as the procuring this Change is 
 to be by fitte Instruments, some few Doubloones will not 
 unprofitably be distributed by your Majestic. The manner 
 whereof I shall now briefely recite. 
 
 ''In those Countries, and particularly in England, there 
 are not wanting Menne of Learning, ingenious Speakers and 
 Writers, who are nevertheless in lowe Estate, and pinched 
 by Fortune. These, being privately gained by proper 
 Meanes, must be instructed in their Sermons, Discourses, 
 Writings, Poems, and Songs, to handle and specially incul- 
 cate Points like these which followe. Let them magnifie 
 the Blessings of Peace, and enlarge mightilie thereon, which 
 is not unbecoming grave Divines and other Christian 
 Menne. Let them expatiate on the Miseries of Warre, the 
 Waste of Christian Blood, the growing Scarcitie of Labour- 
 ers and Workmen, the Dearness of all foreign Wares and 
 37^ 
 
41 8 ON DISPOSING AN ENEMY TO PEACE. [/Ivr. 54- 
 
 Merchandise, the Interruption of Commerce, the Captures 
 of Ships, the Increase and great Burthen of Taxes. Let 
 them represent the Warre as an unmeasurable Advantage to 
 Particulars, and to Particulars only, (thereby to excite envie 
 against those, who manage and provide for the same,; 
 while so prejudicial to the Commonweale and People in 
 general. Let them represent the Advantages gained against 
 us, as trivial and of little Import ; the Places taken froni us, 
 as of small Trade and Produce, inconvenient for Situation, 
 unwholesome for Ayre and Climate, useless to their Nations, 
 and greatlie chargeable to keepe, draining the home Coun- 
 trie both of Menne and Money. 
 
 "Let them urge, that, if a Peace be forced on us, and 
 those Places withheld, it will nourishe secret Griefe and 
 Malice in the King and Grandees of Spain, which will ere 
 long breake forthe in new Warres, when those Places may 
 again be retaken, without the Merit and Grace of restoring 
 them willingly for Peace' Sake. Let them represent the 
 making or Continuance of Warres, from views of Gaine, to 
 be base and unworthy a brave People, as those made from 
 Views of Ambition are mad and wicked. Let them insin- 
 uate, that the Continuance of the present Warre, on their 
 Parte, hath these Ingredients in its Nature. Then let them 
 magnifie the great Power of your Majestic, and the Strength 
 of your Kingdome, the inexhaustible Wealthe of your Mines, 
 the Greatness of your Incomes, and thence your Abilitie of 
 continuing the Warre ; hinting withal the new Alliances you 
 may possiblie make ; at the same time setting forth the 
 sincere Disposition you have for Peace, and that it is only 
 a Concerne for your Honour, and the Honour of your 
 Realme, that induceth you to insist on the Restitution of 
 the places taken. 
 
/Et. 54-] ON DISPOSING AN ENEMY TO PEACE. 419 
 
 '* If, with all this, they shrewdly intimate, and cause it 
 to be understood by artful Wordes and believed, that their 
 own Prince is himself in Heart for Peace, on your Majestie's 
 Termes, and grieved at the Obstinacy and Perverseness of 
 those among his People, who are for continuing the Warre, 
 a marvellous Effect shall by these Discourses and Writings 
 be produced; and a wonderful strong Partie shall your 
 Majestie raise among your Enemies in Favour of the Peace 
 you desire; insomuch that their own Princes and wisest 
 Counsellours will in a Sorte be constrained to yeeld 
 thereto. For, in this Warre of Wordes, the Avarice and 
 Ambition, the Hope and Fears, and all the Crowd of 
 humane Passions will be raised and put in Array to fight 
 for your Interests against the reall and substantiall Interest 
 of their own Countries. The simple and undiscerning 
 Many shall be carried away by the Plausibilitie and Well- 
 seeming of these Discourses ; and the Opinions becoming 
 more popular, all the Rich Menne, who have great Posses- 
 sions, and fear the Continuance of Taxes, and hope Peace 
 will end them, shall be emboldened thereby to crie aloud 
 for Peace; their Dependents, who are many, must do the 
 same. 
 
 *'A11 Merchaunts, fearing Loss of Ships and greater 
 Burthens on Trade by further Duties and Subsidies, and 
 hoping greater Profits by the ending of the Warre, shall 
 join in the crie for Peace. All the Usurers and Lenders of 
 Money to the State, who on a Peace hope great Profits on 
 their Bargains, and fear if the Warre be continued the 
 State shall become bankeroute, and unable to pay them; 
 these, who have no small Weighte, shall join the crie for 
 Peace. All, who maligne the bold Conductors of the 
 Warre, and envie the Glorie they may have thereby 
 
420 ^^'^' DISPOSING AN ENEMY TO PEACE, [^t. 54 
 
 obtained; these shall crie aloud for Peace, hoping, that, 
 when the Warre shall cease, such Menne becoming less 
 necessarie shall be more lightly esteemed, and themselves 
 more sought after. All the Officers of the Enemie's Armies 
 and Fleets, who wish for Repose and to enjoy their Salaries 
 or Rewardes in Quietnesse, and without Peril; these, and 
 their Friends and Families, who desire their Safetie and 
 the Solace of their Societie, shall all crie for Peace. 
 
 **A11 those, who be timorous by Nature, amongste whom 
 be reckoned Menne of Learning that lead sedentarie Lives, 
 doing little Exercise of Bodie, and thence obtaining but 
 few and weake Spirits; great Statesmen, whose natural 
 Spirits be exhausted by much Thinking, or depressed by 
 overmuch Feasting ; together with all Women, whose Power, 
 weake as they are, is not a little amongste the Menne; these 
 shall incessantly speake for Peace. And finally all Cour- 
 tiers, who suppose they conforme thereby to the Inclinations 
 of the Prince, {ad Exeuiplum Regis ^ &c.); all who are in 
 Places, fear to lose them, or hope for better; all who are 
 out of Places, and hope to obtaine them; with all the 
 worldly minded Clergy, who seeke Preferment; these, with 
 all the Weighte of their Character and Influence, shall join 
 the crie for Peace; till it becomes one universal Clamour, 
 and no Sound, but that of Peace, Peace, Peace, shall be 
 heard from every Quarter. 
 
 **Then shall your Majestie's Termes of Peace be listened 
 to with much Readinesse, the Places taken from you be 
 willingly restored, and your Kingdome, recovering its 
 Strength, shall only need to waite a few Years for more 
 favourable Occasions, when the Advantages to your Power, 
 proposed by beginning the Warre, but lost by its bad 
 Successe, shall, with better Fortune, be finally obtained." 
 
/Et. 55.] EDMUND QUINCY. 42 1 
 
 To Hugh You tell me you sometimes visit the ancient 
 ted London" Junto. I wish you would do it oftener. I 
 26 Feb., 1761. know they all love and respect you, and 
 regret your absenting yourself so much. People are apt 
 to grow strange, and not understand one another so well, 
 when they meet but seldom. Since we have held that 
 Club, till we are grown gray together, let us hold it out to 
 the end. For my own part, I find I love company, chat, 
 a laugh, a glass, and even a song, as well as ever ; and at 
 the same time relish better than I used to do the grave 
 observations and wise sentences of old men's conversation; 
 so that I am sure the Junto will be still as agreeable to me 
 as it ever has been. I therefore hope it will not be discon- 
 tinued, as long as we are able to crawl together. 
 
 To josiah I received your very obliging letter of 
 
 teT^London" December 25th, by the hand of your valuable 
 8 April, 1761. son, who had before favored me now and then 
 with a kind visit. I congratulate you on his account, as I 
 am sure you must have a great deal of satisfaction in him. 
 His ingenuous, manly, and generous behaviour, in a trans- 
 action here with the Society of Arts, gave me great pleasure, 
 as it was much to his reputation.* 
 
 I am glad my weak endeavours for our common interest 
 were acceptable to you and my American friends. I shall 
 be very happy indeed, if any good arises from them. The 
 people in power here do now seem convinced of the truth 
 of the principles I have inculcated, and incline to act upon 
 
 ♦ The gentleman here mentioned was Edmund Quincy, eldest son o) 
 Josiah Quincy, and brother of the distinguished patriot, Josiah Quincy, ]r. 
 He died at sea, March 31st, 1768, on his homeward voyage from the Wesf 
 Indies, at the age of thirty-five. — Ed. 
 
422 I'l'^NN PROPERTY IN PENNSYLVANIA. [/Et. 53 
 
 them ; but how far they will be able to do so at a peace, is 
 still uncertain, especially as the war in Germany grows 
 daily less favorable to us. My kinsman, Williams, was but 
 ill informed in the account he gave you of my situation 
 here. The Assembly voted me fifteen hundred pounds 
 sterling, when I left Philadelphia, to defray the expense of 
 my voyage, and negotiations in England, since which they 
 have given nothing more, though I have been here near 
 four years. They will, I make no doubt, on winding up 
 the affair, do what is just; but they cannot afford to be 
 extravagant, as that report would make them. 
 
 To Edward I enclose you a letter from your kinsman, 
 
 Pennington* ■»*■ o • t-» • i 1 t i 1 
 
 dated Lon- ^"^ • Springet Penn, with whom I had no 
 
 don, 9 May, acquaintance until lately, but have the pleasure 
 1761. 
 
 to find him a very sensible, discreet young 
 
 man, with excellent dispositions, which makes me the more 
 
 regret, that the government as well as property of our 
 
 province should pass out of that line. There has, by his 
 
 account, been something very mysterious in the conduct of 
 
 his uncle, Mr. Thomas Penn, towards him. He was his 
 
 guardian; but, instead of endeavouring to educate him at 
 
 home under his eye in a manner becoming the elder branch 
 
 of their house, has from his infancy been endeavouring to 
 
 get rid of him. 
 
 He first proposed sending him to the East Indies. When 
 
 that was declined, he had a scheme of sending him to 
 
 Russia ; but, the young gentleman's mother absolutely re- 
 
 * An eminent merchant of Philadelphia. There was a family connection 
 between his ancestors and William Penn's first wife, whose name before hei 
 marriage was Springet. — S. 
 
THOMAS PENN. 
 (From Martin's engraving of Davis's picture, painted in 1751.) 
 
/Et. 55.] PENN PROPERTY IN PENNSYLVANIA. 423 
 
 fusing to let him go out of the kingdom, unless to Pennsyl- 
 vania to be educated in the college there, he would by no 
 means hear of his going thither, but bound him an appren- 
 tice to a county attorney in an obscure part of Sussex, 
 which, after two years' stay, finding that he was taught 
 nothing valuable, nor could see any company that might 
 improve him, he left, and returned to his mother, with 
 whom he has been ever since, much neglected by his uncle, 
 except lately that he has been a little civil, to get him to 
 join in a power of attorney to W. Peters and R. Hockley 
 for the sale of some Philadelphia lots, of which he is told 
 three undivided fourth parts belong to him. But he is not 
 shown the right he has to them; nor has he any plan of 
 their situation, by which he may be advised of their value: 
 nor was he told, till lately, that he had any such right, 
 which makes him suspect that he may have other rights that 
 are concealed from him. 
 
 In some letters to his father's eldest brother, Springet 
 Penn, whose heir he is, he finds that Sir William Keith 
 surveyed for him, the said Springet, a manor of seventy-five 
 thousand acres on the Susquehanna, which he called Sprin- 
 getsbury, and would be glad to know what became of that 
 survey, and whether it was ever conveyed away. By search- 
 ing the records, you may possibly obtain some light in this 
 and other land affairs, that may be for his interest. The 
 good inclinations you have shown towards that interest, in 
 a letter that has been shown to me, encourage me to recom- 
 mend this matter earnestly to your care and prudence; and 
 the more privately you carry on your inquiries, for the 
 present, the better it will be. 
 
 His uncle has lately proposed to him to buy of him 
 Pennsbury manor house, with one thousand acres of the 
 
424 TOUR IN HOLLAND AND FLANDERS. [iET. 55. 
 
 land near the house, pretending that his principal reason 
 for doing it was not the value of the land, but an inclina- 
 tion he had to possess the ancient home of the head of the 
 family, and a little land round it just to support it. You 
 know the situation of that manor, and can judge whether 
 it would be prudent to sell the part proposed from the rest, 
 and will advise him concerning it. He has refused to treat 
 about it at present, as well as to sign the power of attorney 
 for the sale of the city lots; upon which his late guardian 
 has brought in an account against him, and demands a 
 debt of four hundred pounds, which he urges him to pay, 
 for that, as he says, he very much wants the money, which 
 does not seem to look well. 
 
 Not only the Land Office may be searched for warrants 
 and surveys to the young gentleman's ancestors, but also 
 the Record Office for deeds of gift from the first proprietor, 
 and other subsequent grants or conveyances. I may tell 
 you in confidence, that some lawyers are of opinion, that 
 the government was not legally conveyed from the eldest 
 branch to others of the family; but this is to be farther 
 inquired into, and at present it is not to be talked of. 
 
 To his wife, I wrotc to you just before we left London, 
 Utrecht in ^^^^^ ^^ Were about to make a short tour to 
 Holland, 14 Holland. I wrote to you since from Antwerp 
 
 Sep., 1761. 
 
 m Flanders, and am now to acquaint you, that, 
 having seen almost all the principal places, and the things 
 worthy of notice, in those two countries, we are on our re- 
 turn to London, where we hope to be next Saturday or 
 Sunday, that we may not miss the Coronation. At Am- 
 sterdam I met with Mr. Crellius and his daughter, that was 
 formerly Mrs. Neigh. Her husband. Dr. Neigh, died in 
 
^T. 55-] KAMES'S ''ART OF THINKING:' 425 
 
 Carolina, and she is married again and lives very well in 
 that city. They treated us with great civility and kindness, 
 and will be so obliging as to forward this letter to you, a 
 ship being bound to New York from Amsterdam. We are 
 in good health, and have had a great deal of pleasure, and 
 received a good deal of information in this tour, that may 
 be useful when we return to America. 
 
 To Miss Mary My dear Polly's good mamma bids me write 
 dated from ^^° °^ three Hncs, by way of apology for her 
 Craven St., 29 go long Omitting to write. She acknowledges 
 
 Oct., 1761. . . 
 
 the receiving of two agreeable letters from her 
 beloved daughter, enclosing one for Sally Franklin, which 
 was much approved (excepting one word only) and sent as 
 directed. 
 
 The reasons of her not writing are, that her time all day 
 is fully taken up, during the daylight, with the care of her 
 family, and — lying abed in the morning. And her eyes 
 are so bad, that she cannot see to write in the evening — for 
 playing at cards. So she hopes that one, who is all good- 
 ness, will certainly forgive her, when her excuses are so sub- 
 stantial. As for the secretary, he has not a word to say in 
 his own behalf, though full as great an offender, but throws 
 himself upon mercy; pleading only that he is, with the 
 greatest esteem and sincerest regard, his dear Polly's ever 
 affectionate friend. 
 
 To Lord It is long sincc I have afforded myself the 
 
 Kames, dated 1 r %• . at 
 
 London pleasure of writmg to you. As I grow m years, 
 
 Nov., 1761. I find I grow more indolent, and more apt to 
 procrastinate. I am indeed a bad correspondent ; but what 
 avails confession without amendment? 
 38 
 
4.?6 K AMES'S "ART OF TIIINKINGr [^^t. 55. 
 
 When I come so late with my thanks for your truly val- 
 uable "Introduction to the Art of Thinking," can I have 
 any right to inquire after your "Elements of Criticism" ? 
 I promise myself no small satisfaction in perusing that work 
 also, when it shall appear. By the first, you sow thick in 
 the young mind the seeds of good sense concerning moral 
 conduct, which, as they grow and are transplanted into life, 
 must greatly adorn the character and promote the happiness 
 of the person. Permit me to say, that I think I never saw 
 more solid, useful matter contained in so small a compass, 
 and yet the method and expression so clear, that the brevity 
 occasions no obscurity. In the other you will, by alluring 
 youth to the practice of learning, strengthen their judgment, 
 improve and enlarge their understanding, and increase their 
 abilities of being useful. 
 
 To produce the number of valuable men necessary in a 
 nation for its prosperity, there is much more hope from 
 schemes of early institution than from reformation. And, as 
 the power of a single man to do national service, in partic- 
 ular situations of influence, is often immensely great, a writer 
 can hardly conceive the good he may be doing, when en- 
 gaged in works of this kind. I cannot, therefore, but wish 
 you would publish it as soon as your other important em- 
 ployments will permit you to give it the finishing hand. 
 
 With these sentiments you will not doubt my being serious 
 in the intention of finishing my "Art of Virtue." It is not 
 a mere ideal work. I planned it first in 1732. I have from 
 time to time made, and caused to be made, experiments of 
 the method with success. The materials have been growing 
 ever since. The form only is now to be given ; in which I 
 purpose employing my first leisure, after my return to my 
 other country. 
 
/Et. 55-] KAMES'S "PRINCIPLES OF EQUITY:' 427 
 
 Your invitation to make another jaunt to Scotland^ 
 and offer to meet us half way en families was extremely 
 obliging. Certainly I never spent my time anywhere more 
 agreeably, nor have I been in any place, where the inhabit- 
 ants and their conversation left such lastingly pleasing im- 
 pressions on my mind, accompanied with the strongest 
 inclination once more to visit that hospitable, friendly, and 
 sensible people. The friendship your Lordship in particu- 
 lar honors me with would not, you may be assured, be 
 among the least of my inducements. My son is in the same 
 sentiments with me. But we doubt we cannot have that 
 happiness, as we are to return to America early in the next 
 spring. 
 
 I am ashamed that I have been so useless a member to youi 
 Philosophical Society, since they did me the honor of ad- 
 mitting me. But I think it will not be long before they hear 
 from me. I should be very glad to see Dr. CuUen's paper on 
 Fire. When may we expect the publication ? I have, as 
 you have heard, been dealing in Smoke, and I think it not 
 difficult to manage, when one is once acquainted thoroughly 
 with the principles. But, as the causes are various, so must 
 the remedies be ; and one cannot prescribe to a patient at 
 such a distance, without first having a clear state of its case. 
 If you should ever take the trouble of sending me a descrip- 
 tion of the circumstances of your smoky chimneys, perhaps 
 I might offer something useful towards their cure. But 
 doubtless you have doctors equally skilful nearer home. 
 
 I sent one of your '^ Principles of Equity" as a present 
 to a particular friend of mine, one of the judges of the 
 Supreme Court in Pennsylvania, where, as there is no court 
 of chancery, equity is often mixed with the common law in 
 their judgments. I since received two letters from him. In 
 
428 INDOLENCE OF AGE. [.Et. 56. 
 
 the first, when he had read but part of the work, he seemed 
 to think something wanting in it. In the next, he calls his 
 first sentiments in question. I think I will send you the 
 letters, though of no great importance, lest, since I have 
 mentioned them, you should think his remarks might be of 
 more consequence. You can return them when any friend 
 is coming this way. 
 
 To Miss Mary Your good mamma has just been raying to 
 dated*^^ Mon- ^^^' ^^^ ^^ wondcrs what can possibly be the 
 day morning, rcasou shc has not had a line from you for so 
 long a time. I have made no complaint of 
 that kind, being conscious, that, by not writing myself, I 
 have forfeited all claim to such favor, though no letters 
 give me more pleasure, and I often wish to hear from you ; 
 but indolence grows upon me with years, and writing grows 
 more and more irksome to me. 
 
 Have you finished your course of philosophy ? No more 
 doubts to be resolved ? No more questions to ask ? If so, 
 you may now be at full leisure to improve yourself in cards. 
 Mamma bids me tell you she is lately much afflicted and 
 half a cripple with the rheumatism. I send you two or 
 three French Gazettes de Medect?ie, which I have just re- 
 ceived from Paris, wherein is a translation of the extract 
 of a letter you copied out for me. You will return them 
 with my French letters on Electricity, when you have 
 perused them. 
 
 To his wife, I coudolc with you most sincerely on the 
 don, •Z4 " death of our good mother,* being extremely 
 March, 1762. sensible of the distress and affliction it must 
 
 * Mrs. Read, the mother of Mrs. Franklin — En 
 
.Et. 56.] DEATH OF HIS WIFE'S MOTHER. 429 
 
 have thrown you into. Your comfort will be, that no care 
 was wanting on your part towards her, and that she had 
 lived as long as this life could afford her any rational enjoy- 
 ment. It is, I am sure, a satisfaction to me, that I cannot 
 charge myself with having ever failed in one instance of 
 duty and respect to her during the many years that she 
 railed me son. The circumstances attending her death 
 were indeed unhappy in some respects ; but something must 
 bring us all to our end, and few of us shall see her length 
 of days. My love to brother John Read, and sister and 
 cousin Debby, and young cousin Johnny Read, and let 
 them all know, that I sympathize with them all affectionately. 
 
 This I write in haste, Mr. Beatty having just called on 
 me to let me know, that he is about to set out for Ports- 
 mouth, in order to sail for America. I am finishing all 
 business here in order for my return, which will either be 
 in the Virginia fleet, or by the packet of May next ; I am 
 not yet determined which. I pray God grant us a happy 
 meeting. 
 
 We are all well, and Billy presents his duty. Mr. Strahan 
 has received your letter, and wonders he has not been able 
 to persuade you to come over. 
 
 To David It is no small pleasure to me to hear froui 
 
 Hume, dated r\ ^ .^ r • 
 
 London iq 7°^ ^"^^ ^^^ paper on the means of preservmg 
 May, 1762. buildings from damage by lightning, was ac- 
 ceptable to the Philosophical Society. Mr. Russel's pro- 
 posals of improvement are very sensible and just. A leaden 
 spout or pipe is undoubtedly a good conductor, so far as it 
 goes. If the conductor enters the ground just at the foun- 
 dation, and from thence is carried horizontally to some well, 
 or to a distant rod driven downright into the earth, I would 
 38* 
 
430 LIGHTNING RODS. IMl. $6. 
 
 then propose, that the part under the ground should be lead, 
 as less liable to consume with rust than iron. Because, if 
 the conductor near the foot of the wall should be wasted, 
 the lightning might act on the moisture of the earth, and 
 by suddenly rarefying it occasion an explosion, that may 
 damage the foundation. In the experiment of discharging 
 my large case of electrical bottles through a piece of small 
 glass tube filled with water, the suddenly rarefied water has 
 exploded with a force equal, I think, to that of so much 
 gunpowder; bursting the tube into many pieces, and driv- 
 ing them with violence in all directions and to all parts of 
 the room. The shivering of trees into small splinters, like 
 a broom, is probably owing to this rarefaction of the sap 
 in the longitudinal pores, or capillary pipes, in the sub- 
 stance of the wood. And the blowing up of bricks or stones 
 in a hearth, rending stones out of a foundation, and splitting 
 of walls, are also probably effects sometimes of rarefied 
 moisture in the earth, under the hearth, or in the walls. 
 We should therefore have a durable conductor under 
 ground, or convey the lightning to the earth at some dis- 
 tance. 
 
 It must afford Lord Marischal a good deal of diversion 
 to preside in a dispute so ridiculous as that you mention. 
 Judges in their decisions often use precedents. I have 
 somewhere met with one, that is what the lawyers call a 
 case in point. The Church people and the Puritans in a 
 country town had once a bitter contention concerning the 
 erecting of a Maypole, which the former desired and the 
 latter opposed. Each party endeavoured to strengthen 
 itself by obtain ng the authority of the mayor, directing or 
 forbidding a Maypole. He heard their altercation with 
 great patience, and then gravely determined thus: *'You, 
 
<Et. 56.] ^ PIOUS CONTEST. 43 1 
 
 that are for having no Maypole, shall have no Maypole ; 
 and you, that are for having a Maypole, shall have a May- 
 pole. Get about your business, and let me hear no more 
 of this quarrel." * 
 
 Your compliment of gold and wisdom is very obliging to 
 me, but a little injurious to your country. The various 
 value of every thing in every part of this world arises, you 
 know, from the various proportions of the quantity to the 
 demand. We are told, that gold and silver in Solomon's 
 time were so plenty, as to be of no more value in his 
 country than the stones in the street. You have here at 
 present just such a plenty of wisdom. Your people are, 
 therefore, not to be censured for desiring no more among 
 them than they have \ and if I have any, I should certainly 
 carry it where, from its scarcity, it may probably come to 
 a better market. 
 
 To Mary ste- * * * Q^j- ghips for America do not sail 
 Lo"ndo"n ^^^7 ^^ ^^°^ ^^ ^ expected ; it will be yet five or 
 June, 1762. six weeks before we embark, and leave the old 
 world for the new. I fancy I feel a little like dying saints, 
 who, in parting with those they love in this world, are only 
 comforted with the hope of more perfect happiness in the 
 next. I have, in America, connexions of the most engag- 
 ing kind ; and, happy as I have been in the friendships 
 here contracted, those promise me greater and more lasting 
 felicity. But God only knows whether these promises shall 
 be fulfilled. 
 
 * Lord Marischal was a person of consideration in Neufchatel, to whom 
 Dr. Franklin had communicated, through Mr. Hume, a paper containing 
 
 directions for putting up lightning rods. — S. 
 
432 PLANS FOR RETURNING TO AMERICA, [^t. 56. 
 
 To Mary ste- This is the bcst paper I can get at this 
 Portsmouth wrctched inn, but it will convey what is in- 
 
 II August, trusted to it as faithfully as the finest. It will 
 1762. 
 
 tell my Polly how much her friend is afflicted, 
 
 that he must, perhaps, never again see one for whom he has 
 so sincere an affection, joined to so perfect an esteem ; who 
 he once flattered himself might become his own, in the 
 tender relation of a child, but can now entertain such pleas- 
 ing hopes no more.* Will it tell how much he is afflicted? 
 No, it cannot. 
 
 Adieu, my dearest child. I will call you so. Why 
 should I not call you so, since I love you with all the ten- 
 derness of a father? Adieu. May the God of all good- 
 ness shower down his choicest blessings upon you, and 
 make you infinitely happier, than that event would have 
 made you. And, wherever I am, believe me to be, with 
 unalterable affection, my dear Polly, your sincere friend. 
 
 To Lord I am now waiting here only for a wind to 
 
 Portsmouth ^^^^ "^^ ^^ America, but cannot leave this 
 
 17 August, happy island and my friends in it, without 
 1762. 
 
 extreme regret, though I am going to a country 
 
 and a people that I love. I am going from the old world 
 
 to the new ; and I fancy I feel like those, who are leaving 
 
 this world for the next ; grief at the parting ; fear of the 
 
 passage ; hope of the future. These different passions all 
 
 affect their minds at once ; and these have fenderedmt down 
 
 exceedingly. It is usual for the dying to beg forgiveness of 
 
 their surviving friends, if they have ever offended them. 
 
 Can you, my Lord, forgive my long silence, and my not 
 
 * This paragraph discloses Franklin's hope that his son William would 
 have married Miss Stevenson. — Ed. 
 
/€t 56.] PLANS FOR RETURNING TO AMERICA. 433 
 
 acknowledging till now the favor you did me in sending me 
 yonr excellent book ? Can you make some allowance for a 
 fault in others, which you have never experienced in your- 
 self; for the bad habit of postponing from day to day, 
 what one every day resolves to do to-morrow? A habit 
 that grows upon us with years, and whose only excuse is we 
 know not how to mend it. If you are disposed to favor 
 me, you will also consider how much one's mind is taken 
 up and distracted by the many little affairs one has to settle 
 before the undertaking such a voyage, after so long a resi- 
 dence in a country ; and how little, in such a situation, 
 one's mind is fitted for serious and attentive reading ; which, 
 with regard to the ''Elements of Criticism," I intended 
 before I should w-rite. I can now only confess and endeavour 
 to amend. In packing up my books, I have reserved yours 
 to read on the passage. I hope I shall therefore be able to 
 write to you upon it soon after my arrival. At present I 
 can only return my thanks, and say that the parts I have 
 read gave me both pleasure and instruction ; that I am 
 convinced of your position, new^ as it was to me, that a 
 good taste in the arts contributes to the improvement of 
 morals ; and that I have had the satisfaction of hearing the 
 work universally commended by those who have read it. 
 
 And now, my dear Sir, accept my sincere thanks for the 
 kindness you have shown me, and my best wishes of happi- 
 ness to you and yours. Wherever I am, I shall esteem the 
 friendship you honor me with as one of the felicities of my 
 life ; I shall endeavour to cultivate it by a more punctual 
 correspondence ; and I hope frequently to hear of your 
 welfare and prosperity.* 
 
 * Dr Franl<!in sailed for America immediately after writing this letter, 
 and after a sojourn in England of five years. — Ed. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 His Reception in America — His Son's Marriage, and appointment as Gov- 
 ernor of New Jersey — Tour through the Colonies as Postmaster-General — 
 Insurrection of the Indians — Drafts a MiUtia Bill — Its Rejection by the 
 Governor — Drafts a Petition to the Throne for a Change of Governor — 
 Is Defeated for the Assembly — Sent to England again as Agent of the 
 Colony of Pennsylvania — Parting Advice to his Daughter — Connecticut 
 Religion. 
 
 I762-I764. 
 
 ToMr.white- I THANK you for your kind congratulations 
 
 ford, dated , .• j • * rr u^ 
 
 Philadelphia °^ ^Y ^^n s promotion and marriage.^ If he 
 7 Dec, 1762. makes a good governor and husband, (as I 
 hope he will, for I know he has good principles and a good 
 disposition,) these events will both of them give me con- 
 tinual pleasure. 
 
 * Dr. Franklin sailed for America towards the end of August, 1762, but 
 did LOt reach Philadelphia until the ist of November of that year, and after 
 an absence from his country of five years. A few days before sailing, his 
 son William was named Governor of New Jersey ; and very shortly after, 
 somev/hat to the father's disappointment we may infer from his last letter to 
 Miss Stevenson, the governor married a young West Indian girl by tht 
 name of Dowes. As William had personally no pretensions to an appoint- 
 ment of such dignity, it is not easy to misunderstand the motives of the ministry 
 in making it. The differences between the mother country and the colonies 
 had already assumed such importance as to make it desirable to detach a 
 man of Franklin's influence from the colonial party. The effort to induce 
 
/Et. 57-] CAPTURE OF THE HAVANA. 435 
 
 Tlie taking of the Havana, on which I congratulate you, 
 is a conquest of the greatest importance, and will doubtless 
 contribute a due share of weight in procuring us reasonable 
 terms of peace. It has been, however, the dearest con- 
 quest, by far, that we have made this war, when we consider 
 the terrible havoc made by sickness in that brave army of 
 veterans, now almost totally ruined. 
 
 ToMrs.Cath- I received with great pleasure my dear 
 erine Greene,* fnend's favor of December 20th, as it informed 
 
 dated Phila- 
 delphia, 23 me that you and yours are all well. Mrs. 
 
 Jan., 1763, Franklin admits of your apology for dropping 
 the correspondence with her, and allows your reasons to be 
 good ; but hopes, when you have more leisure, it may be 
 resumed. She joins with me in congratulating you on your 
 present happy situation. I thank you for your kind invita- 
 tion. I purpose a journey into New England in the spring 
 or summer coming. I shall not fail to pay my respects to 
 you and Mr. Greene, when I come your way. Please to make 
 my compliments acceptable to him. 
 
 him to bring his family to England and settle there having failed, the bland- 
 ishments of patronage were essayed, with what expectations maybe inferred 
 from the following paragraph in a letter from Thomas Penn, one of the pro- 
 prietaries, to Governor Hamilton : 
 
 " I am told you will find Mr. Franklin more tractable, and I believe we 
 shall, in matters of prerogative ; as his son must obey instructions, and what 
 he is ordered to do the father cannot well oppose in Pennsylvania. ' 
 
 The artifice had its perfect work upon the son, who, to the infinite chagrin 
 of the father, from that time forth became the servile instrument of the 
 niinistry, and in the due course of events a pensioned refugee in London. 
 The ministers were not long in discovering that their compliments had been 
 wasted upon the doctor, whose zeal and vigilance in maintaining the rights 
 of the colonies increased with every new provocation. — Ed. 
 
 * Formerly Miss Catherine Ray, married to Mr. William Greene, after- 
 wards Governor of Rhode Island. — Ed. 
 
436 ACCOUNT 01' SERVICES IN AMERICA. [.Et. 57. 
 
 I have had a most agreeable time of it in Europe. I 
 have, in company with my son, been in most parts of Eng- 
 land, Scotland, Flanders, and Holland ; and generally 
 have enjoyed a good share of health. If you had asked the 
 rest of your questions, I could more easily have made this 
 letter longer. Let me have them in your next. I think I 
 am not much altered ; at least my esteem and regard for my 
 Katy (if I may still be permitted to call her so) is the same, 
 and I believe will be unalterable, whilst I am, &c. 
 
 To Lord You require my history from the time 1 : et 
 
 Kames, dated ^^.j ^^^ America. I left England about the end 
 
 Lonaon, 2 '-' 
 
 June, 1765.* of August, 1 762, in company with ten sail of 
 merchant ships, under a convoy of a man-of-war.f We had 
 a pleasant passage to Madeira, where we were kindly re- 
 ceived and entertained ; our nation being then in high 
 honor with the Portuguese, on account of the protection 
 we were then affording them against the united invasions 
 of France and Spain. It is a fertile island, and the different 
 heights and situations among its mountains afford such tem- 
 peraments of air, that all the fruits of northern and southern 
 countries are produced there; corn, grapes, apples, peaches, 
 oranges, lemons, plantains, bananas, &c. Here we furnished 
 ourbelves with fresh provisions, and refreshments of all 
 kinds; and, after a few days, proceeded on our voyage, 
 running southward until we got into the trade winds, and 
 then with them westward, till we drew near the coast of 
 America. The weather was so favorable, that there were 
 
 * This letter, written alter Franklin's return to London, is given here ior 
 the sake of its recapitulation of his experiences during his absence from 
 England. — Ed. 
 
 f England was then at war with France. — Ed. 
 
/Et. 57-] PUBLIC SERVICES IN AMERICA. 437 
 
 few days in which we could not visit from ship to ship, 
 dining with each other, and on board of the man-of-war; 
 which made the time pass agreeably, much more so than 
 when one goes in a single ship ; for this was like travelling 
 in a moving village, with all one's neighbors about one. 
 
 On the ist of November, I arrived safe and well at my 
 own home, after an absence of near six years, found my 
 wife and daughter well ; the latter grown quite a woman, 
 with many amiable accomplishments acquired in my ab- 
 sence ; and my friends as hearty and affectionate as ever, 
 with whom my house was filled for many days, to congratu- 
 late me on my return. I had been chosen yearly during 
 my absence to represent the city of Philadelphia in our pro- 
 vincial Assembly ; and, on my appearance in the House, 
 they voted me three thousand pounds sterling for my 
 services in England, and their thanks, delivered by the 
 Speaker. In February following, my son arrived with my 
 new daughter; for, with my consent and approbation, he* 
 married soon after I left England a very agreeable West 
 India lady, with whom he is very happy. I accompanied 
 him to his government, where he met with the kindest 
 reception from the people of all ranks, and has lived with 
 them ever since in the greatest harmony. A river only 
 parts that province and ours, and his residence is within 
 seventeen miles of me, so that we frequently see each other . 
 
 In the spring of 1763, I set out on a tour through all the 
 northern Colonies to inspect and regulate the post-offices in 
 the several provinces. In this journey I spent the summer, 
 travelled about sixteen hundred miles, and did not get 
 
 * This apparently superfluous statement is made doubtless to explain his 
 absence from a ceremony which took place only a few days after he left 
 England. — Ed. 
 
 39 W 
 
438 PUBLIC SERVICES IN AMERICA. [/Er. 57 
 
 home till the beginning of November. The Assembly 
 sitting through the following winter, and warm disputes 
 arising between them and the governor, I became wholly 
 engaged in public affairs ; for, besides my duty as an 
 Assemblyman, I had another trust to execute, that of being 
 one of the commissioners appointed by law to dispose of 
 tlie public money appropriated to the raising and paying 
 an army to act against the Indians, and defend the frontiers. 
 And then, in December, we had two insurrections of the 
 back inhabitants of our province, by whom twenty poor 
 Indians were murdered, that had, from the first settlement 
 of the province, lived among us, under the protection of 
 our government. This gave me a good deal of employ- 
 ment ; for, as the rioters threatened further mischief, and 
 their actions seemed to be approved by an ever-acting party, 
 I wrote a pamphlet entitled ''A Narrative, &c." (which I 
 think I sent to you) to strengthen the hands of our weak 
 government, by rendering the proceedings of the rioters 
 unpopular and odious. This had a good effect ; and after- 
 wards, when a great body of them with arms marched 
 towards the capital, in defiance of the government, with an 
 avowed resolution to put to death one hundred and forty 
 Indian converts then under its protection, I formed an 
 Association at the governor's request, for his and their 
 defence, we having no militia. Near one thousand of the 
 citizens accordingly took arms; Governor Penn made my 
 house for some time his head-quarters, and did every thing 
 by my advice ; so that, for about forty-eight hours, I was a 
 very great man ; as I had been once some years before, in 
 a time of public danger.* 
 
 * This is a reference to the defeat of General Braddock by the French, at 
 the battle of Monon^ahela. See ante, p. 323 et seq. — Ed. 
 
iET. 57-] PUBLIC SERVICES IN AMERICA. 43^ 
 
 But the fighting face we put on, and the reasonings we 
 used with the insurgents, (for I went at the request of the 
 governor and council, with three others, to meet and dis- 
 course with them,) having turned them back and restored 
 quiet to the city, I became a less man than ever ; for I had, 
 by this transaction, made myself many enemies among the 
 populace ; and the governor, (with whose family our public 
 disputes had long placed me in an unfriendly light, and the 
 services I had lately rendered him not being of the kind 
 that make a man acceptable,) thinking it a favorable oppor- 
 tunity, joined the whole weight of the proprietary interest 
 to get me out of the Assembly ; which was accordingly 
 effected at the last election, by a majority of about twenty- 
 five in four thousand voters. The House, however, when 
 they met in October, approved of the resolutions taken, 
 while I was Speaker, of petitioning the crown for a change 
 of government, and requested me to return to England, to 
 prosecute that petition ; which service I accordingly under- 
 took, and embarked at the beginning of November last, 
 being accompanied to the ship, sixteen miles, by a caval- 
 cade of three hundred of my friends, who filled our sails with 
 their good wishes, and I arrived in thirty days at London. 
 
 Here I have been ever since, engaged in that and other 
 public affairs relating to America, which are like to continue 
 some time longer upon my hands ; but I promise you, that 
 when I am quit of these, I will engage in no other ; and 
 that, as soon as I have recovered the ease and leisure I hope 
 for, the task you require of me, of finishing my "Art of 
 Virtue," shall be performed. In the mean time, I must 
 request you would excuse me on this consideration, that 
 the powers of the mind are possessed by different men in 
 different degrees, and that every one cannot, like Lord 
 
440 THE ENGLISH PEOPLE. [^t. 57. 
 
 Karnes, intermix literary pursuits and important business 
 without prejudice to either. 
 
 I send you herewith two or three other pamphlets of my 
 writing on our political affairs, during my short residence in 
 America;* but I do not insist on your reading them; for 
 I know you employ all your time to some useful purpose. 
 
 To Mary ste- Your pleasing favor of November nth is 
 
 venson, dated , ^ t r 1 
 
 Philadelphia, ^^^^^ before me. it found me, as you supposed 
 25 March, it would, happy with my American friends 
 and family about me; and it made me more 
 happy in showing me, that I am not yet forgotten by the 
 dear friends I left in England. And, indeed, why should 
 I fear they will ever forget me, when I feel so strongly that 
 I shall ever remember them? 
 
 Of all the enviable things England has, I envy it most 
 its people. Why should that petty Island, which, com- 
 pared to America, is but like a stepping-stone in a brook, 
 scarce enough of it above water to keep one's shoes dry ; 
 why, I say, should that little Island enjoy, in almost every 
 neighbourhood, more sensible, virtuous, and elegant minds, 
 than we can collect in ranging a hundred leagues of our 
 vast forests ? But it is said the Arts delight to travel west- 
 ward. You have effectually defended us in this glorious 
 war, and in time you will improve us. After the first cares 
 for the necessaries of life are over, we shall come to think 
 of the embellishments. Already, some of our young 
 geniuses begin to lisp attempts at painting, poetry, and 
 music. We have a young painter now studying at Rome. 
 
 * These were " A Narrative of the Late Massacres ;" " Cool Thoughts ;' 
 and the " Preface to Galloway's Speech." — Ed. 
 
^T. 57.] AMERICAN MUSIC. 44 1 
 
 Some specimens of our poetry I send you, which, if Dr. 
 Havvkesworth's fine taste cannot approve, his good heart 
 will at least excuse. The manuscript piece is by a young 
 friend of mine, and was occasioned by the loss of one 
 of his friends, who lately made a voyage to Antigua to 
 settle some affairs, previous to an intended marriage with 
 an amiable young lady here, but unfortunately died there. 
 I send it to you, because the author is a great admirer of 
 Mr. Stanley's musical compositions, and has adapted this 
 piece to an air in the sixth Concerto of that gentleman, the 
 sweetly solemn movement of which he is quite in raptures 
 with. He has attempted to compose a recitativo for it, but, 
 not being able to satisfy himself in the bass, wishes I could 
 get it supplied. If Mr. Stanley would condescend to do 
 that for him, he would esteem it as one of the highest 
 honors, and it would make him excessively happy. You 
 will say that a recitativo can be but a poor specimen of our 
 music. It is the best and all I have at present, but you 
 may see better hereafter. 
 
 I hope Mr. Ralph's affairs are mended since you wrote. 
 I know he had some expectations, when I came away, from 
 a hand that would help him. He has merit, and one would 
 think ought not to be so unfortunate. 
 
 I do not wonder at the behaviour you mention of Dr. 
 S towards me, for I have long since known him thor- 
 oughly. I made that man my enemy by doing him too 
 much kindness. It is the honestest way of acquiring an 
 enemy. And, since it is convenient to have at least one 
 enemy, who, by his readiness to revile one on all occasions, 
 may make one careful of one's conduct, I shall keep him 
 an enem.y for that purpose ; and shall observe your good 
 mother's advice, never again to receive him as a friend. 
 39* 
 
442 KEEPING AN ENEMY. [.Et. 57 
 
 She once admired the benevolent spirit breathed in his .ser- 
 mons. She will now see the justness of the lines your lau- 
 reate Whitehead addressed to his poets, and which I now 
 address to her. 
 
 " Full many a peevish, envious, slanderous elf 
 Is, in his works, benevolence itself. 
 For all mankind, unknov^^n, his bosom heaves; 
 He only injures those, with whom he lives. 
 Read, then, the man ; — does truth his actions guide, 
 Exempt from petulance, exempt from pride ? 
 To social duties does his heart attend. 
 As son, as father, husband, brother, /r^V^aff 
 Do those, who know him, love him ? If they do, 
 You've 7ny permission, you may love him too." 
 
 Nothing can please me more, than to see your philo- 
 sophical improvements, when you have leisure to commu- 
 nicate them to me. I still owe you a long letter on that 
 subject, which I shall pay. I am vexed with Mr. James, 
 that he has been so dilatory in Mr. Madison's Armo7iica. 
 I was unlucky in both the workmen, that I permitted to 
 undertake making those instruments. The first was fanci- 
 ful, and never could work to the purpose, because he was 
 ever conceiving some new improvement, that answered no 
 end. The other I doubt is absolutely idle. I have recom- 
 mended a number to him from hence, but must stop my 
 hand. 
 
 Adieu, my dear Polly, and believe me, as ever, with the 
 sinceiest esteem and regard, your truly affectionate friend 
 and humble servant. 
 
 To his wife, We left Woodbridge on Tuesday morning, 
 YoTk i6june ^"*^ wcut to EHzabethtowu, where I found our 
 X763. children returned from the Falls, and very 
 
^.T. 57.] POST-OFFICE INSPECTION. 443 
 
 well. The Corporation were to have a dinner that day at 
 the Point for their entertainment, and prevailed on us to 
 stay. There were all the principal people, and a great many 
 ladies. After dinner we set out, and got here before dark. 
 We waited on the governor and on General Amherst yester- 
 day ; dined with Lord Stirling; went in the evening to my 
 old friend Mr, Kennedy's funeral ; and are to dine with the 
 general to-day. Mr. Hughes and daughter are well, and 
 Betsey Holt. I have not yet seen B. Mecom, but shall to 
 day. I am very well. 
 
 I purpose to take Sally at all events, and write for her to- 
 day to be ready to go in the packet that sails next Friday 
 week.* If there is no other suitable company, Mr. Parker 
 will go with her and take care of her. I am glad you sent 
 some wax candles with the things to Boston. I am now so 
 used to them, that I cannot well do without them. You 
 spent your Sunday very well, but I think you should go 
 oftener to church. I approve of your opening all my Eng- 
 lish letters, as it must give you pleasure to see, that people, 
 who knew me there so long and so intimately, retain so 
 sincere a regard for me. 
 
 ToMrs.Cath- I am almost ashamed to tell you, that I have 
 dated Boston' ^^^^ another fall, and put my shoulder out. It 
 5 Sept., 1763. is well reduced again, but is still affected with 
 
 * Franklin was about setting out upon a five months tour through tlie 
 northern colonies for the inspection of the post-offices. He traveled aboul 
 sixteen hundred miles, accompanied by his daughter, in a light carriage, 
 driving himself. A saddle-horse made a part of the equipage, on which 
 Sally rode most of the way from Rhode Island to Philadelphia. He was 
 suffering at this time from a pain in the breast, which was aggravated by 
 a succession of accidental falls, to which allusion is made in several of his 
 letters written at this period. It passed away, however, soon after his retuHi 
 to Philade'.phia. 
 
444 RELIGIOUS HOPES. [.Et. 58. 
 
 constant, though not very acute pain. I am not yet able 
 to travel rough roads, and must lie by awhile, as I can 
 neither hold reins nor whip with my right hand till it grows 
 stronger. 
 
 Do you think, after this, that even your kindest invita- 
 tions and Mr. Greene's can prevail with me to venture my- 
 self again on such roads? And yet it would be a great 
 pleasure to me to see you and yours once more. Sally and 
 my sister Mecom thank you for your remembrance of them, 
 and present their affectionate regards. My best respects to 
 good Mr. Greene, Mrs. Ray, and love to your little ones. 
 I am glad to hear they are well, and that your Celia goes 
 alone. I am, dear friend, yours affectionately. 
 
 To George Your frequently repeated wishes for my 
 
 Whitefield, ^ , ,, 1 1 • 
 
 dated Phiia- eternal, as well as my temporal happmess, are 
 deiphia, 19 very obliging, and I can only thank you for 
 
 June, 1764. 
 
 them and offer you mme in return. I have 
 myself no doubt, that I shall enjoy as much of both as is 
 proper for me. That Being, who gave me existence, and 
 through almost threescore years has been continually show- 
 ering his favors upon me, whose very chastisements have 
 been blessings to me ; can I doubt that he loves me? And, 
 if he loves me, can I doubt that he will go on to take care 
 of me, not only here but hereafter? This to some may seem 
 presumption ; to me it appears the best grounded hope ; 
 hope of the future built on experience of the past. 
 
 Tc Mrs. Me- **;;-. j ^^^ myself at present quite clear 
 
 com, dated ^ . , , , , i ,-,-/- -i 
 
 Philadelphia, ^"^^"^ P''^^"' ^"^ SO havc at length left off the 
 Nov., 176}. cold bath. There is, however, still some weak- 
 ness in my shoulder, though much stronger than when I left 
 
^T. 58.] THE MILITIA LA W. 445 
 
 Boston, and mending. I am otherwise very happy in being at 
 home, where I am allowed to know when I have eat enough 
 and drunk enough, am warm enough, and sit in a place that I 
 like, &c., and nobody pretends to know what I feel better 
 than I do myself. Don't imagine that I am a whit the less 
 sensible of the kindness I experienced among my friends in 
 New England. I am very thankful for it, and shall always 
 retain a grateful remembrance of it. 
 
 To his daugh- ^^ ^^^ down here at sunset, having taken in 
 
 ter Sarah, ° . 
 
 dated Reedy more Hve stock at Newcastle, with some other 
 n^ Tt 8 Nov^* things we wanted. Our good friends, Mr. 
 1764- Galloway, Mr. Wharton, and Mr. James, came 
 
 * Recent disorders in the province convinced Governor John Penn, who, 
 in October, 1763, had succeeded Governor Hamilton, that the civil power 
 required strengthening, and he recommended a militia law for the embodi- 
 ment of all able-bodied citizens for the public defence. The Assembly cheer- 
 fully accepted the suggestion, and a committee of which Franklin was a 
 member rep ji ted a suitable bill, one of the clauses of which gave the gov- 
 ernor the choice of any one of three persons named by each company and 
 regiment for officers. It also fixed the scale of fines, and provided for the 
 trial of offenders by judges and juries in the courts of law. 
 
 The governor refused his signature to this bill, claiming for himself the sole 
 power of appointing officers, increasing the scale of fines, requiring all trials 
 to be by court-martial, and making some offences punishable with death. 
 
 The Assembly was shocked by these proposals, and would not listen to them 
 for a moment. The bill was lost. The ill feeling engendered by this dispute 
 was aggravated by another which soon followed. To meet the expenses of 
 the Indian war, it was proposed to raise ^,^50,000 on bills of credit, for the 
 partial redemption of which a land tax was to be laid. 
 
 By virtue of the decision made by the king in council, at Franklin's solici- 
 tation, the located unculti\ated lands of the proprietaries were not to be 
 assessed higher than the lowest rate at which any located uncultivated 
 lands belonging to the inhabitants should be assessed, — that is, as the Assem- 
 bly interpreted it, the proprietary lands were not to be rated higher than 
 lands of a similar qualify belonging to other persons. Availing himself of 
 an ambiguity in the expression, the governor insisted that all the proprietary 
 lands, whatever their quality, were to be assessed at the lowest rates. 
 
 U* 
 
^5 STRUGGLES WITH THE PROPRIETORS, [^t, 58. 
 
 with me in the ship from Chester to Newcastle, and went 
 ashore there. It was kind to favor me with their good 
 company as far as they could. The affectionate leave taken 
 
 The greater impending danger from the savages compelled the Assembly 
 to submit to this pettifogging construction, and they passed the act on the 
 governor's terms. Neither he nor the Assembly then suspected that the con- 
 cession he had extorted, and to which they had been forced to submit, was 
 to result in rebellion, revolution, and the independence of the colonies. 
 
 Before adjourning, the Assembly, in a series of resolutions, expressed their 
 belief that the peace and happiness of the province could never be restored 
 till the power of governing it was lodged directly in the crown. 
 
 These resolutions were found to have correctly interpreted the sentiments 
 of the people ; for when the Assembly met again, some seven weeks later, 
 petitions to the king for a change of government came in from more than 
 three thousand of the inhabitants. 
 
 The Assembly, encouraged by these manifestations, decided by a large 
 majority to unite in a petition for the same object drafted by Frankhn him- 
 self, who, at the same time, was chosen Speaker in the place of Norris, who 
 hesitated to affix his signature to such a document. 
 
 Pending these proceedings, the British ministry had signified its intention 
 to raise a revenue from stamp duties in the colonies. The Assembly, par- 
 ticipating in the excitement which this intelligence caused throughout the 
 country, sent to Mr. Jackson, then agent of the colony of Pennsylvania in 
 London, a remonstrance against the scheme, as tending to deprive the 
 people of their most essential rights as British subjects. The signing of 
 these instructions was Dr. Franklin's last act as Speaker of the Assembly. 
 
 The election which took place in the autumn of this year, 1764, turned on 
 the question of a change in the government, and though the proprietary 
 party succeeded by a majority of twenty-five votes out of four tliousand in 
 depriving Franklin of the seat to which he had been chosen for fourteen years 
 in succession, it proved to them a barren victory, for as soon as the Assembly 
 convened, it not only resolved to prosecute the measures and policy of the 
 previous Assembly, but to send Franklin as a special agent to England to 
 take charge of their petition for a change of government, and to look after 
 all the interests of the province abroad. 
 
 The Assembly promptly voted that a provision for the doctor's expenses 
 should be made in the next money bill, upon the strength of which the 
 merchants subscribed ;i^iioo towards his expenses in a few hours, and on 
 the 7th of November, and only twelve days after his appointment, he was 
 on his way again to England, accompanied as far as Chester, where he 
 
^T. 58.] AD VTCE TO HIS DA UGHTER. ^y 
 
 ot me by so many friends at Chester was very endearing, 
 God bless them and all Pennsylvania. 
 
 My dear child, the natural prudence and goodness of 
 heart God has blest you with make it less necessary for me 
 to be particular in giving you advice. I shall therefore only 
 say, that the more attentively dutiful and tender you are 
 towards your good mamma, the more you will recommend 
 yourself to me. But why should I mention me, when you 
 have so much higher a promise in the commandments, that 
 such conduct will recommend you to the favor of God. 
 You know I have many enemies, all indeed on the public 
 account, (for I cannot recollect that I have in a private 
 capacity given just cause of offence to any one whatever,) 
 yet they are enemies, and very bitter ones; and you must 
 expect their enmity will extend in some degree to you, so 
 that your slightest indiscretions will be magnified into 
 crimes, in order the more sensibly to wound and afflict me. 
 It is therefore the more necessary for you to be extremely 
 circumspect in all your behaviour, that no advantage may be 
 given to their malevolence. 
 
 Go constantly to church, whoever preaches. The act of 
 devotion in the Common Prayer Book is your principal 
 business there, and if properly attended to, will do more 
 towards amending the heart than sermons generally can do. 
 For they were composed by men of much greater piety and 
 
 vvas to board his vessel, by an escort of some three hundred of his fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 After a tempestuous voyage of thirty days, he landed at Portsmouth, 
 proceeded at once to London, and on the night of the lolh of December 
 vvas installed again in his old lodgings with Mrs. Stevenson, in Craven 
 Street. It was on his voyage down the Delaware, that he addressed this 
 letter of the 8th November to his daughter Sally. — Ed. 
 
44^ CONNECTICUT RELIGION [^Et. 58. 
 
 wisdom, than our common composers of sermons can pre- 
 tend to be; and therefore I wish you would never miss the 
 prayer days; yet I do not mean you should despise sermons, 
 even of the preachers you dislike, for the discourse is often 
 much better than the man, as sweet and clear waters come 
 through very dirty earth. I am the more particular on this 
 head, as you seemed to express a little before I came away 
 some inclination to leave our church, which I would not 
 have you do. 
 
 For the rest, I would only recommend to you in my 
 absence, to acquire those useful accomplishments, arithmetic 
 and book-keeping. This you might do with ease, if you 
 would resolve not to see company on the hours you set 
 apart for those studies. 
 
 We expect to be at sea to-morrow, if this wind holds ; 
 after which I shall have no opportunity of writing to you, 
 till I arrive (if it please God I do arrive) in England. I 
 pray that his blessing may attend you, which is worth more 
 than a thousand of mine, though they are never wanting. 
 
 To jarcd In- I should be glad to know what it is that 
 gersoii, da- distinguishes Connecticut religion from com- 
 
 ted Philadel- ^ ° 
 
 phia, Dec. 11, mou religion : — communicate, if you please, 
 *^ *■ some of these particulars that you think will 
 
 amuse me as a virtuoso. When I travelled in Flanders I 
 thought of your excessively strict observation of Sunday; 
 and that a man could hardly travel on that day among you 
 upon his lawful occasions without hazard of punishment, 
 while where I was every one travelled, if he pleased, or 
 diverted himself in any other way; and in the afternoon 
 both high and low went to the play or the opera, where 
 there was plenty of singing, fiddling, and dancing. I 
 
iET. 58-] VOLTAIRE ON TOLERATION. 44S a 
 
 looked round for God's judgments but saw no signs of 
 them. The cities were well built and full of inhabitants, 
 the markets filled with plenty, the people well favoured 
 and well clothed ; the fields well tilled ; the cattle fat and 
 strong; the fences, houses and windows all in repair; and 
 no OM Tenor anywhere in the country, — which would 
 almost make one suspect that the Deity is not so angry at 
 that offence as a New England Justice. 
 
 To Colonel Dear Sir, — * * * I have lately received 
 Bouquet, da- a number of new pamphlets from England 
 phia, Sept. 30, ^^^^ France, among which is a piece of Vol- 
 ^'^^^' taire's on the subject of religious toleration. 
 
 I will give you a passage of it, which, being read here a^ 
 a time when we are torn to pieces by faction, religious and 
 civil, shows us that, while we sit for our picture to the able 
 painter, 'tis no small advantage to us that he views us at a 
 favorable distance: "Mais que dirons-nous," dit il, *'de 
 ces pacifiques Primitifs que Ton a nommes Quakers par 
 derision, et qui, avec des usages peut-etre ridicules, ont ete 
 si vertueux, et ont enseigne inutilement la paix aux reste 
 des hommes? lis sont en Pensylvanie au nombre de cent 
 mille ; la Discorde, la Controverse, sont ignor^es dans 
 I'heureuse patrie qu'ils se sont faite : et le nom seul de 
 leur ville de Philadelphie, qui leur rapelle a tout moment 
 que les hommes sont freres, est I'exemple et la honte des 
 peuples qui ne connaissent pas encore la tolerance."* 
 
 * I do not find this passage precisely in any of Voltaire's writings. It 
 certainly is not in the most accepted edition of his " Traite sur la Tole- 
 rance." Franklin probably quoted at second-hand, for Voltaire knew 
 how to spell. What he actually wrote, and the foundation for Franklin's 
 quotation, probably will be found in his " Commentaire sur le livre Des 
 Deiits et Des Peines" (CEuvres de Voltaire par Beuchot, Vol. xlii. p. 
 40 
 
448^ VOLTAIRE ON TOLERATION. [.ILt. 58. 
 
 The occasion of his writing this " Traits sur la Tolerance" 
 was what he calls '' le Meurtre de Jean Galas, commis dans 
 Toulouse avec le glaive de la Justice, le 9me Mars, 1762." 
 There is in it abundance of good sense and sound reason- 
 ing mixed with some of those pleasantries that mark the 
 author as strongly as if he had affixed his name. Take 
 one of them as a sample : " J'ai apris que le Parlement de 
 Toulouse et quelques autres tribunaux, ont une jurispru- 
 dence singuliere: ils admettent des quarts; des tier six 
 iemes de preuve. Ainsi, avec six ou'i-dires d'un c6t6, trois 
 de I'autre, et quatre quarts de presomtion ils forment 
 trois preuves completes ; et sur cette belle demonstration 
 ils vous vouent un homme sans misericorde. Une leg^re 
 connaissance de I'art de raisonner sufirait pour leur faire 
 prendre une autre methode. Ce qu'on apelle une demi- 
 preuve ne peut-etre qu'un soup^on : II n'y a point a la 
 rigueur, de demi-preuve. Ou une chose est prouvee, ou 
 elle ne Test pas; il n'y a point, de milieu. Cent mille 
 soup^ons reunis ne peuvent composer un nombre." 
 
 I send you one of the pamphlets, " Jugement rendue dans 
 I'affaire du Canady," supposing it may be the more agree- 
 able to you to see it, as during your war with that colony 
 you must have been made acquainted with some of the 
 characters concerned. With the truest esteem and affec- 
 tion I am, etc. 
 
 476), and runs as follows : " Le Parlement de Toulouse a un usage 
 bien singulier. On admet ailleurs des demi-preuves, qui au fond ne 
 sont que des doutes ; car on sait qu'il n'y a point de demi-verites, mais 
 k Toulouse on admet des quarts et des huitiemos de preuves. On y peut 
 regarder, par exemple, un ou'i-dire conime un quart, un autre ouT-dire 
 plus vague comme un huiti^me ; de sorte que huit rumeurs qui ne sont 
 qu'un ^cho d'un bruit mal fonde peuvent devenir une preuve com- 
 plete." — Ed. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Jealousy of English Manufacturers — Origin of the Stamp Act— Opposition 
 of Franldin— Effect of its Passage in America — Names a Stamp Distrib- 
 utor — Unpleasant Consequences — Correspondence with Dean Tucker. 
 
 I765-I766. 
 
 To the editor SiR, — In vouF paper of Wednesday last, an 
 
 daTe^d ii"'gei"'io^is correspondent who calls himself 
 
 Monday, 20 The Speci'ator, and dates from PiiJilico, under 
 
 May, 1765.* 
 
 the guise of good will to the news-writers, 
 
 * In expelling the French from Canada, and leaving the English sole 
 masters of America, the peace of 1763 rather complicated than simplified 
 the relations of the mother country with her colonies. The fear of the 
 French had made the colonists submit to much injustice from England 
 for the sake of her protection, while England was not only pleased with the 
 advantageous markets she found in her American possessions, but greatly 
 dependent upon the colonial militia for their defence. 
 
 As soon, however, as the war with France terminated, the English ship- 
 pers and manufacturers began to complain of transatlantic competition in 
 their business. Even Mr. Pitt, who had boldly defended the political liber- 
 ties of the colonies, did not scruple to declare that if they were to manu- 
 facture so much as a horseshoe, they should feel the whole weight of 
 British power. Selfishness and ignorance invented, and the press gave 
 currency to, the most absurd stories about the danger to British industry 
 from these sources. The character of these inventions and the mischievous 
 effect they were working upon the public mind may be inferred from this 
 specimen of the communications to the press, with which Franklin strove to 
 counteract them. No one knew better when ridicule was the most powerful 
 weapon of controversy. — Ed. 
 
 449 
 
450 CARJCATURE OF THE ENGLISH PRESS. [.Et. 59. 
 
 whom he calls a ''useful body of men in this great city," 
 has, in my opinion, artfully attempted to turn them and 
 their works into ridicule, wherein, if he could succeed, 
 great injury might be done to the public as well as to these 
 good people. 
 
 Supposing, Sir, that the ^* we hears*^ they give us of this 
 or the other intended tour or voyage of this and the other 
 great personage were mere inventions, yet they at least 
 offer us an innocent amusement while we read, and useful 
 matter for conversation when we are disposed to con- 
 verse. 
 
 Englishmen, Sir, are too apt to be silent when they have 
 nothing to say, and too apt to be sullen when they are 
 silent ; and, when they are sullen, to hang themselves. 
 But, by these we hears, we are supplied with abundant funds 
 for discourse. We discuss the motives for such voyages, 
 the probability of their being undertaken, and the practica- 
 bility of their execution. Here we display our judgment 
 in politics, our knowledge of the interests of princes, and 
 our skill in geography, and (if we have it) show our dex- 
 terity in argumentation. In the mean time, the tedious 
 hour is killed, we go home pleased with the applauses we 
 have received from others, or at least with those we give to 
 ourselves ; we sleep soundly, and live on, to the comfort of 
 our families. But, Sir, I beg leave to say, that all the 
 articles of news that seem improbable are not mere inven- 
 tions. Some of them, I can assure you on the faith of a 
 traveller, are serious truths. And here, quitting Mr. Spec- 
 tator of Pimlico, give me leave to instance the various 
 accounts the news-writers have given us, with so much 
 honest zeal for the welfare of Poor Old England, of the 
 establishing manufactures in the colonies to the prejudice 
 
<Et. 59-1 CARICATURE OF THE ENGLISH PRESS. 451 
 
 of those of the kingdom. It is objected by superficial 
 readers, who yet pretend to some knowledge of those coun- 
 tries, that such establishments are not only improbable, but 
 impossible, for that their sheep have but little wool, not in 
 the whole sufficient for a pair of stockings a year to each 
 inhabitant ; that, from the universal dearness of labor 
 among them, the working of iron and other materials, ex 
 cept in a few coarse instances, is impracticable to any 
 advantage. 
 
 Dear Sir, do not let us suffer ourselves to be amused with 
 such groundless objections. The very tails of the American 
 sheep are so laden with wool, that each has a little car or 
 wagon on four little wheels, to support and keep it from 
 trailing on the ground. Would they caulk their ships, 
 would they even litter their horses with wool, if it were not 
 both plenty and cheap? And what signifies the dearness of 
 labor, when an English shilling passes for five and twenty? 
 Their engaging three hundred silk throwsters here in one 
 week for New York was treated as a fable, because, for- 
 sooth, they have '^ no silk there to throw." Those, who 
 make this objection, perhaps do not know, that, at the same 
 time the agents from the King of Spain were at Quebec to 
 contract for one thousand pieces of cannon to be made there 
 for the fortification of Mexico, and at New York engaging 
 the usual supply of woollen floor-carpets for their West India 
 ht)uses, other agents from the emperor of China were at 
 Boston treating about an exchange of raw silk for wool, 
 to be carried in Chinese junks through the Straits of 
 Magellan. 
 
 And yet all this is as certainly true, as the account said 
 
 to be from Quebec, in all the papers of last week, that the 
 
 inhabitants of Canada are making preparations for a cod 
 40* 
 
452 CARICATURE OF THE ENGLISH PRESS, [^t. 59^ 
 
 and wlialc fishery this "summer in the upper Lakes." 
 Ignorant i)tH)i)le may object, that the upper Lakes are fresh, 
 and that cod and whales are salt water fish ; but let them 
 know, Sir, that cod, like other fish when attacked by their 
 enemies, fly into any water where they can be safest ; that 
 whales, when they have a mind to eat cod, pursue them 
 wherever they fly ; and that the grand leap of the whale in 
 the chase up the Falls of Niagara is esteemed, by all who 
 have seen it, as one of the finest spectacles in nature. 
 Really, Sir, the world is grown too incredulous. It is like 
 the pendulum ever swinging from one extreme to another. 
 Formerly every thing printed was believed, because it was 
 in print. Now things seem to be disbelieved for just the 
 very same reason. Wise men wonder at the present growth 
 of infidelity. They should have considered, when they 
 taught the people to doubt the authority of newspapers 
 and the truth of predictions in the almanacs, that the next 
 step might be a disbelief of the well vouched accounts of 
 ghosts and witches, and doubts even of the truths of the 
 Creed. 
 
 Thus much I thought it necessary to say in favor of an 
 honest set of writers, whose comfortable living depends on 
 collecting and supplying the printers with news at the small 
 price of sixpence an article, and who always show their 
 regard to truth, by contradicting in a subsequent article 
 such as are wrong, for another sixpence, to the great satis- 
 faction and improvement of us coffee-house students in 
 history and politics, and all future Livys, Rapins, Robert- 
 sons, Humes, and Macaulays, who may be sincerely inclined 
 to furnish the world with that rara avis, a true history. 1 
 am. Sir, your humble servant, 
 
 A Traveller. 
 
^T. 58.] POLL Y OF CURING THE SICK. 
 
 4S2a 
 
 To Dr. Foth- Dear Doctor, — I received your favor of 
 ergi ate ^j^^ ^^^^ ^^ December. It was a great deal 
 
 March 14, o 
 
 1764. for one to write whose time was so little his 
 
 own. By the way, when do you intend to live? — i.e., to 
 enjoy life. When will you retire to your villa, give your- 
 self repose, delight in viewing the operations of nature in 
 the vegetable creation, assist her in her works, get your 
 ingenious friends at times about you, make them happy 
 with your conversation, and enjoy theirs : or, if alone, amuse 
 yourself with your books and elegant collections? 
 
 To be hurried about perpetually from one sick chamber 
 to another is not living. Do you please yourself with the 
 fancy that you are doing good ? You are mistaken. Half 
 the lives you save are not worth saving, as being useless, 
 and almost all the other half ought not to be saved, as being 
 mischievous. Does your conscience never hint to you the 
 impiety of being in constant warfare against the plans of 
 Providence? Disease was intended as the punishment of 
 intemperance, sloth, and other vices, and the example of 
 that punishment was intended to promote and strengthen 
 the opposite virtues. But here you step in officiously with 
 your Art, disappoint those wise intentions of nature, and 
 make men safe in their excesses, whereby you seem to me 
 to be of just the same service to society as some favorite 
 first minister who out of the great benevolence of his heart 
 should procure pardons of all criminals that applied to him ; 
 only think of the consequences. 
 
 You tell me the Quakers are charged on your side of the 
 water with being, by their aggressions, the cause of the 
 war. Would you believe it that they are charged here, 
 not with offending the Indians and thereby provoking the 
 war, but with gaining their friendship by presents, supply- 
 
45 2 <^ ^yiSREPRESENTATION OF QUAKERS, [^t. 53. 
 
 ing them privately with arms and ammunition, and engaging 
 them to fall upon and murder the poor white people on the 
 frontiers ? Would you think it possible that thousands even 
 here should be made to believe this, and many hundreds 
 of them be raised in arms, not only to kill some converted 
 Indians, supposed to be under the Quakers' protection, 
 but to punish the Quakers who were supposed to give that 
 protection ? Would you think these people audacious 
 enough to avow such designs in a public declaration, sent 
 to the Governor? Would you imagine that innocent 
 Quakers, men of fortune and character, should think it 
 necessary to fly for safety out of Philadelphia into the 
 Jersies, fearing the violence of such armed mobs, and con- 
 fiding little in the power or inclination of the government 
 to protect them? And would you imagine that strong sus- 
 picions now prevail that those mobs, after committing so 
 barbarous murders hitherto unpunished, are privately tam- 
 pered with to be made instruments of government to awe 
 the Assembly into proprietary measures? And yet all this 
 has happened within a itw weeks past. 
 
 More wonders. You know that I don't love the pro- 
 prietary and that he does not love me. Our totally different 
 tempers forbid it. You might therefore expect that the 
 late new appointments of one of his family would find me 
 ready for opposition. And yet when his nephew arrived, 
 our Governor — I considered government as government — 
 paid him all respect, gave him on all occasions my best 
 advice, promoted in the Assembly a ready compliance 
 with everything he proj)Osed or recommended, and when 
 those daring rioters, encouraged by the general approbation 
 ot the populace, treated his proclamation with contempt, I 
 drew my pen in the cause ; wote a pamphlet (that I have 
 
iET. 58.] INGRATITUDE OF A GOVERNOR. 452^ 
 
 sent you) to render the rioters unpopular ; promoted an 
 association to support the authority of the government and 
 defend the Governor by taking arms, signed it first myself 
 and was followed by several hundreds, who took arms ac- 
 cordingly. The Governor offered me the command of 
 them, but I chose to carry a musket and strengthen his 
 authority by setting an example of obedience to his order. 
 And would you think it, this proprietary Governor did me 
 the honor, in an alarm, to run to my house at midnight, 
 with his counsellors at his heels, for advice, and made it his 
 head-quarters for some time. And within four and twenty 
 hours, your old friend was a common soldier, a counsellor, 
 a kind of dictator, an ambassador to the country mob, and 
 on their returning home, nobody again. All this has hap- 
 pened in a few weeks. 
 
 More wonders ! The Assembly received a Governor of 
 the Proprietary family with open arms, addressed him with 
 sincere expressions of kindness and respect, opened their 
 purses to him, and presented him with six hundred pounds; 
 made a Riot Act and prepared a Militia Bill immediately, 
 at his instance, granted supplies, and did everything that he 
 requested, and promised themselves great happiness under 
 his administration. But suddenly his dropping all inquiries 
 after the murderers, and his answering the disputes of the 
 rioters privately and refusing the presence of the Assembly 
 who were equally concerned in the matters contained in 
 their remonstrance, brings him under suspicion ; his insult- 
 ing the Assembly without the least provocation by charging 
 them with disloyalty and with making an infringement on 
 the King's prerogatives, only because they had presumed to 
 name in a bill offered for his assent a trifling officer (some- 
 what like one of your tole-gatherers at a turnpike) without 
 
452^ PRO PR IE TARY GO VERNMENT. [^t. 58. 
 
 consulting him, and liis refusing several of their bills 01 
 proposing amendments needless disgusting. 
 
 These things bring him and his government into sudden 
 contempt. All regard for him in the Assembly is lost. All 
 hopes of happiness under a Proprietary Government are at 
 an end. It has now scarce authority enough to keep the 
 common peace, and was another to come, I question, though 
 a dozen men were sufficient, whether one could find so 
 many in Philadelphia willing to rescue him or his Attorney 
 General, I won't say from hanging, but from any common 
 insult. All this too happened in a few weeks. 
 
 In fine, everything seems in this country, once the land 
 of peace and order, to be running fast into anarchy and 
 confusion. But we hope there is virtue enough in your 
 great nation to support a good Prince in the execution of 
 a good government and the exercise of his just prerogatives 
 against all the attempts of unreasonable faction. I have 
 been already too long. Adieu, my dear friend, and believe 
 me ever, yours affectionately. 
 
 Note. — Had a judicious and disinterested Governor been sent to the 
 colony of Pennsylvania, instead of one of the degenerate Penns, the history 
 of this country w^ould probably have been very different from what it has 
 been. The colonists might not have received such an incurable convic- 
 tion of the absolute incompatibility of the policy pursued by the home 
 government with that which their situation prescribed for them. Franklin, 
 whose loyalty, in spite of the closing passage of this letter, had been 
 rudely shaken by the events described in it, would probably have remained 
 a peace-maker, and, out of the abundant fertility of his resources, have 
 found a modus vivendi, as was the case with Canada, and instead of being 
 the most efficient apostle of disunion, might have become the Lord Lieu- 
 tenant of the British dependencies in America. But a wise Providence, 
 that m.ikes no mistakes, ordained that the New World should be set apart 
 as the laboratory in which the soundness of the great principles of govern- 
 ment of the people, for the people, by the people, were to be experim n- 
 tallv established for the common welfare of the human race, and that the 
 madness of a king should inure to the wisdom of the nations. — Ed. 
 
/Et. 6o.] GRATITUDE OF THE COLONIES. 453 
 
 Letter to a SiR, — I have attentively perused the paper 
 person un- ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ Opinion, that the 
 
 known, con- ^ ' ^ ' 
 
 cerning the measure it proposes, of an union with the 
 
 probability . . . -i t i i_ • -n 
 
 and effects of colonies, IS a vvise one ; but 1 doubt it will 
 a union with hardlv be thought so here, till it is too late to 
 
 Great Brit- '' ° 
 
 ain, and con- attempt it. The time has been, when the 
 cerning the ^olonies would have esteemed it a great ad- 
 
 repeal or sus- ° 
 
 pension of the vantage, as well as honor to be permitted to 
 dated^ Lon- Send members to Parliament ; and would have 
 
 don, Jan. 6, asked for that privilege, if they could have had 
 1766. 
 
 the least hopes of obtaining it. The time is 
 
 now come, when they are indifferent about it, and will 
 probably not ask it, though they might accept it if offered 
 them ; and the time will come, when they will certainly 
 refuse it. But if such an union were now established 
 (which methinks it highly imports this country to establish) 
 it would probably subsist as long as Britain shall continue 
 a nation. This people, however, is too proud, and too 
 much despises the Americans, to bear the thought of 
 admitting them to such an equitable participation in the 
 government of the whole. 
 
 Then the next best thing seems to be, leaving them in the 
 quiet enjoyment of their respective constitutions ; and 
 when money is wanted for any public service, in which 
 they ought to bear a part, calling upon them by requisitorial 
 letters from the crown (according to the long-establislied 
 custom) to grant such aids as their loyalty shall dictate, 
 and their abilities permit. The very sensible and benevo- 
 lent author of that paper seems not to have known, that 
 such a constitutional custom subsists, and has always hither- 
 to been practised in America ; or he would not have ex- 
 pressed himself in this manner; '*It is evident, beyond a 
 
454 GRATITUDE OF THE COLONIES. [^T. 60. 
 
 doubt, to the intelligent and impartial, that after the very 
 extraordinary efforts, which were effectually made by Great 
 Britain in the late war to save the colonists from destruction, 
 and attended of necessity with an enormous load of debts in 
 consequence, that the same colonists, now firmly secured 
 from foreign enemies, should be somehow induced to con- 
 tribute some proportion towards the exigencies of state in 
 future." This looks as if he conceived the war had been 
 carried on at the sole expense of Great Britain, and the 
 colonies only reaped the benefit, without hitherto sharing 
 the burden, and were therefore now indebted to Britain on 
 that account. And this is the same kind of argument that 
 is used by those, who would fix on the colonies the heavy 
 charge of unreasonableness and ingratitude, which I think 
 your friend did not intend. 
 
 Please to acquaint him, then, that the fact is not so ; 
 that, every year during the war, requisitions were made by 
 the crown on the colonies for raising money and men ; 
 that accordingly they made more extraordinary efforts, in 
 proportion to their abilities, than Britain did ; that they 
 raised, paid, and clothed, for five or six years, near twenty- 
 five thousand men, besides providing for other services, as 
 building forts, equipping guard-ships, paying transports, 
 &c. And that this was more than their fair proportion 
 is not merely an opinion of mine, but was the judgment 
 of government here, in full knowledge of all the facts ; 
 for the then ministry, to make the burthen more equal, 
 recommended the case to Parliament, and obtained a re- 
 imbursement to the Americans of about two hundred thou- 
 sand pounds sterling every year; which amounted only to 
 about two-fifths of their expense ; and great part of the 
 rest lies still a load of debt upon them; heavy taxes on all 
 
ALT. So.'] GRATITUDE OF THE COLONIES. 455 
 
 their estates, real and personal, being laid by acts of their 
 assemblies to discharge it, and yet will not discharge it in 
 many years. 
 
 While, then, these burdens continue ; while Britain re- 
 strains the colonies in every branch of commerce and manu- 
 factures that she thinks interferes with her own ; while she 
 drains the colonies, by her trade with them, of all the cash 
 they can procure by every art and industry in any part of 
 the world, and thus keeps them always in her debt ; (for 
 they can make no law to discourage the importation of your 
 to them ruinous superfluities, as you do the superfluities of 
 France ; since such a law would immediately be reported 
 against by your Board of Trade, and repealed by the 
 crown ;) I say, while these circumstances continue, and 
 while there subsists the established method of royal re- 
 quisitions for raising money on them by their own assem- 
 blies on every proper occasion ; can it be necessary or 
 prudent to distress and vex them by taxes laid here, in a 
 Parliament wherein they have no representative, and in a 
 manner which they look upon to be unconstitutional and 
 subversive of their most valuable rights ? And are they to 
 be thought unreasonable and ungrateful if they oppose such 
 taxes ? 
 
 Wherewith, they say, shall we show our loyalty to oui 
 gracious King, if our money is to be given by others, with- 
 out asking our consent ? And, if the Parliament has a right 
 thus to take from us a penny in the pound, where is the 
 line drawn that bounds that right, and what shall hinder 
 their calling, whenever they please, for the other nineteen 
 shillings and eleven pence ? Have we then any thing that 
 we can call our own? It is more than probable, that 
 bringing representatives from the colonies to sit and act 
 41 V 
 
456 GRATITUDE OF THE COLONIES. [.Et. 60. 
 
 here as members of Parliament, thus uniting and consoli- 
 dating your dominions, would in a little time remove these 
 objections and difficulties, and make the future government 
 of the colonies easy ; but, till some such thing is done, I 
 apprehend no taxes, laid there by Parliament here, will ever 
 be collected, but such as must be stained with blood ; and 
 I am sure the profit of such taxes will never answer the 
 expense of collecting them, and that the respect and affec- 
 tion of the Americans to this country will in the struggle 
 be totally lost, perhaps never to be recovered ; and there- 
 with all the commercial and political advantages, that 
 might have attended the continuance of this respect and 
 this affection. 
 
 In my own private judgment, I think an immediate re- 
 peal of the Stamp Act would be the best measure for this 
 country ; but a suspension of it for three years, the best for 
 that. The repeal would fill them with joy and gratitude, 
 reestablish their respect and veneration for Parliament, re- 
 store at once their ancient and natural love for this country, 
 and their regard for every thing that comes from it ; hence 
 the trade would be renewed in all its branches; they would 
 again indulge in all the expensive superfluities you supply 
 them with, and their own new-assumed home industry would 
 languish. But the suspension, though it might continue 
 their fears and anxieties, would at the same time keep up 
 their resolutions of industry and frugality ; which in two or 
 three years would grow into habits, to their lasting advan- 
 tage. However, as the repeal will probably not be now 
 agreed to, from what I think a mistaken opinion, that the 
 honor and dignity of government is better supported by 
 persisting in a wrong measure once entered into, than by 
 rectifying an error as soon as it is discovered ; we must 
 
/Et. 6o.] HISTORY OF THE STAMP ACT. ^c^y 
 
 allow the next best thing for the advantage of both coun- 
 tries, is the suspension ; for, as to executing the act by 
 force, it is madness, and will be ruin to the whole. 
 
 To William In the pamphlet you were so kind as to lend 
 
 Alexander, , . . r • j 
 
 dated Passy, ^''^'' there IS One important fact misstated, 
 March 12, apparently from the writer's not having 
 
 been furnished with good information ; it is 
 the transaction between Mr. Grenville and the colonies, 
 wherein he understands that Mr. Grenville demanded of 
 them a specific sum, that they refused to grant anything, 
 and that it was on their refusal only, that he made the 
 motion for the Stamp Act. No one of these particulars is 
 true. The fact was this. Some time in the winter of 
 1763-64, Mr. Grenville called together the agents of the 
 several colonies, and told them that he proposed to draw a 
 revenue from America, and to that end his intention was to 
 levy a stamp duty on the colonies by act of Parliament in 
 the ensuing session, of which he thought it fit that they 
 should be immediately acquainted, that they might have 
 time to consider, and, if any other duty equally productive 
 would be more agreeable to them, they might let him know 
 it. The agents were therefore directed to write this to their 
 
 * Nor were the fiscal ideas of the British ministry less fatal than those of 
 the shippers and manufocturers to the hberty and prosperity of the colonies. 
 Mr. Grenville insisted upon deriving a revenue from the colonies, and had 
 suggested a stamp duty. The very rumor of such a purpose spread alarm 
 throughout the colonies, and provoked from them a unanimous remonstrance. 
 Dr. Franklin was distinctly instructed by the Assembly of Pennsylvania 
 to neglect no effort to prevent the passage of such an act. How faithfully 
 and successfully he executed these instructions transpires from his corre- 
 spondence, to which this letter, written some fourteen years later from Passy, 
 forms a fitting introduction. — Ed. 
 
458 HISTORY OF THE STAMP ACT. [^t. 59 
 
 respective Assemblies, and communicate to him the answers 
 they should receive ; the agents wrote accordingly. I was 
 a member in the Assembly of Pennsylvania when this notifi- 
 cation came to hand. The observations there made upon 
 it were, that the ancient, established, and regular method 
 of drawing aid from the colonies was this. The occasion 
 was always first considered by their sovereign in his privy 
 council, by whose sage advice he directed his secretary of 
 state to write circular letters to the several governors, who 
 were directed to lay them before their assemblies. In these 
 letters the occasion was explained for their satisfaction, with 
 gracious expressions of his majesty's confidence in their 
 known duty and affection, on which he relied, that they 
 would grant such sums as should be suitable to their abilities, 
 loyalty, and zeal for his service. That the colonies had 
 always granted liberally on such requisitions, and so liber- 
 ally during the late war, that the king, sensible that they had 
 granted much more than their proportion, had recommended 
 it to Parliament, five years successively, to make them some 
 Compensation, and the Parliament accordingly returned 
 them two hundred thousand pounds a year, to be divided 
 among them. That the proposition of taxing them in 
 Parliament was therefore both cruel and unjust. That, by 
 the constitution of the colonies, their business was with the 
 king, in matters of aid ; they had nothing to do with any 
 financin', nor he with them ; nor were the agents the 
 proper channels through which requisitions should be made: 
 it was therefore improper for them to enter in any stipula- 
 tion, or make any proposition, to Mr. Grenville about lay- 
 ing taxes on their constituents by Parliament, which had 
 really no right at all to tax them, especially as the notice he 
 had sent them did not appear to be by the king's order, and 
 
/Et. 59-] HISTORY OF THE STAMP ACT, 459 
 
 perhaps was without his knowledge ; as the king, when he 
 would obtain anything from them, always accompanied his 
 requisition with good words ; but this gentleman, instead 
 of a decent demand, sent them a notice, that they should 
 certainly be taxed, and only left them the choice of the 
 manner. But, all this notwithstanding, they were so far 
 from refusing to grant money, that they resolved to the 
 following purpose ; That, as they always had, so they 
 always should think it '' their duty to grant aid to the crown, 
 according to their abilities, whenever required of them in 
 the usual constitutional manner." 
 
 I went soon after to England, and took with me an 
 authentic copy of this resolution, which I presented to Mr. 
 Grenville before he brought in the Stamp Act. I asserted 
 in the House of Commons, (Mr. Grenville being present,) 
 that I had done so, and he did not deny it. Other colonies 
 made similar resolutions. And, had Mr. Grenville, instead 
 of that act, applied to the king in council for such re- 
 quisitional letters, letters to be circulated by the secretary 
 of state, I am sure he would have obtained more money 
 from the colonies by their voluntary grants, than he him- 
 self expected from his stamps. But he chose compulsion 
 rather than persuasion, and would not receive from their 
 good will what he thought he could obtain without it. And 
 thus the golden bridge, which the ingenious author thinks 
 the Americans unwisely and unbecomingly refused to held 
 out to the minister and Parliament, was actually held out 
 to them, but they refused to walk over it. This is the true 
 history of that transaction ; and, as it is probable there may 
 be another edition of that excellent pamphlet, I wish this 
 may be communicated to the candid author, who I doubt 
 
 not will correct that error. 
 41* 
 
460 IMPUTATIONS OF JOSIAH TUCKER. [^T. 59 
 
 To josiah REVEREND SiR, — Being informed tliat some 
 ted London scvere strlctures on my conduct and character 
 13 Feb., 1774. iiad appeared in a new book published under 
 your respectable name, I purchased and read it. After 
 thanking you for those parts of it that are so instructive on 
 points of great importance to the common interest of man- 
 kind, permit me to complain, that, if by the description 
 you give in pages 180, 181, of a certain American patriot. 
 
 * The proposition made to the colonies by Mr. Grenville, says M. Labou- 
 laye, much resembles the one which, twenty years later, M. de Calonne 
 addressed to the Assembly of Notables, and which a piquant caricature 
 represented by a ministerial orator addressing a flock of turkeys in the fol- 
 lowing terms : " Gentlemen, I have invited you to meet me to know with 
 what sauce you would prefer to be eaten." " But we do not wish to be 
 eaten," reply the honorable notables. " Gentlemen," retorted the minister, 
 " you dodge the question." The colonists were either to submit to a stamp 
 duty or to anything else they preferred that would yield an equivalent of 
 revenue, but be taxed they should, and that too, contrary to the fundamental 
 principles and policy of the British Constitution, without representation. 
 The proposal and its alternative were universally rejected by the colonists, 
 but the ministry were needy, felt strong, and were far from appreciating the 
 strength of the sentiment they were outraging. They passed the Stamp 
 Act, despite the firm remonstrances of the American Assemblies and the 
 strenuous opposition of Franklin. To mitigate the ill feeling such a mea- 
 sure was likely to provoke, — and when it became known to the colonists their 
 indignation knew no bounds, — Mr. Grenville invited the colonial agents in 
 London to name such persons in the respective colonies as they deemed 
 suitable for the office of stamp distributors. All the agents fell into the trap, 
 not excepting the wary doctor himself, who named his old friend John 
 Hughes for Pennsylvania. This qualified sanction of the offensive act be- 
 came the source of much annoyance to him. His enemies appealed to il 
 as evidence of his infidelity to the interests of the colonies. They repre- 
 sented him as having encouraged the offensive legislation, and as having 
 applied for the position of stamp distributor. Dr. Tucker, then Dean of 
 Worcester, a fervent and rather meddlesome parson, of whom Warburton 
 is reported to have said, "his trade of a dean is his religion, and his religion 
 is a trade," in a treatise which he felt called upon to publish on the colonial 
 troubles, reiterated these charges. The correspondence that follows was 
 one of the consequences. — ED. 
 
^Et. 59-J IMPUTATIONS OF JO SI AH TUCKER. 46 1 
 
 whom you say you need not name, you do, as is supposed, 
 mean myself, nothing can be further from the truth than 
 your assertion, that I applied or used any interest, directly 
 or indirectly, to be appointed one of the stamp officers for 
 America. I certainly never expressed a wish of the kind to 
 any person whatever; much less was I, as you say, ''more 
 than ordinarily assiduous on this bead." I have heretofore 
 seen in the newspapers insinuations of the same import, 
 naming me expressly ; but, being without the name of the 
 writer, I took no notice of them. 
 
 I know not whether they were yours, or were only your 
 authority for your present charge ; but now they have the 
 weight of your name and dignified character, I am more 
 sensible of the injury ; and I beg leave to request, that you 
 will reconsider the grounds on which you have ventured to 
 publish an accusation, that, if believed, must prejudice me 
 extremely in the opinion of good men, especially in my own 
 country, whence I was sent expressly to oppose the impo- 
 sition of that tax. If on such reconsideration and inquiry 
 you find, as I am persuaded you will, that you have been im- 
 posed upon by false reports, or have too lightly given credit 
 to hearsays in a matter that concerns another's reputation, I 
 flatter myself that your equity will induce you to do me justice, 
 by retracting that accusation. In confidence of this, I am, 
 with great esteem. Reverend Sir, your most obedient and 
 most humble servant, B. Franklin. 
 
 To Benjamin SiR, — The letter whlch you did me tne 
 
 ^.^Y'\k'^\ ^' honor to send to Gloucester, I have just re- 
 tea Monday, ' ■' 
 
 21 Feb., 1774. ceived in London, where I have resided many 
 weeks, and am now returning to Gloucester. On inquiry, 
 I find that I was mistaken in some circumstances relating 
 
462 IMPUTATIONS OF JOSIAII TUCKER, [^t. 59. 
 
 to your conduct about the Stamp Act, though right as to 
 the substance. These errors shall be rectified the first 
 opportunity. After having assured you, that I am no 
 dealer in anonymous newspaper paragraphs, nor have a con- 
 nexion with any who are, I have the honor to be, Sir, your 
 humble servant, J. Tuckep. 
 
 To josiah REVEREND SiR, — I received your favor of 
 Tuesday 22 yesterday. If the substance of what you havf 
 Feb., 1774. charged me with is right, I can have but little 
 concern about any mistakes in the circuinstances ; whether 
 they are rectified or not, will be immaterial. But, know- 
 ing the substance to be wrong, and believing that you can 
 have no desire of continuing in an error, prejudicial to any 
 man's reputation, I am persuaded you will not take it amiss, 
 if I request you to communicate to me the particulars of 
 the information you have received, that I may have an 
 opportunity of examining them ; and I flatter myself I shall 
 be able to satisfy you that they are groundless. I propose 
 this method as more decent than a public altercation, and 
 suiting better the respect due to your character. With 
 great regard, I have the honor to be. Reverend Sir, your 
 most obedient humble servant, B. Franki in. 
 
 To Benjamin SiR, — The request made in your last letter 
 
 tcT^Gi'ouces- ^^ ^° ^^'^y J*^^^ ^"^ reasonable, that I shall 
 ter, 24 Feb., comply witli it vcry readily. It has long ap- 
 peared to me, that you much exceeded the 
 bounds of morality in the methods you pursued for the 
 advancement of the supposed interests of America. If it 
 can be proved, that I have unjustly suspected you, I shall 
 acknowledge my error with as much satisfaction as you can 
 
/Et. 59-] IMPUTATIONS OF JOSIAII TUCKER. 463 
 
 have in reading my recantation of it. As to the case more 
 immediately referred to in your letters, I was repeatedly 
 informed, that you had solicited the late Mr. George Gren- 
 ville for a place or agency in the distribution of stamps in 
 America. From which circumstance I myself concluded, 
 that you had made interest for it on your own account ; 
 whereas 1 am now informed, there are no positive proofs of 
 your having solicited to obtain such a place for yourself, but 
 that there is sufficient evidence still existing of your having 
 applied for it in favor of another person. If this latter 
 should prove to be the fact, as I am assured it will, I am 
 willing to suppose, from several expressions in both your 
 letters, that you will readily acknowledge that the difference 
 in this case between yourself and your friend, is very imma- 
 terial to the general merits of the question. But, if you 
 should have distinctions in this case, which are above my 
 comprehension, I shall content myself with observing, that 
 your great abilities and happy discoveries deserve universal 
 regard ; and that, as on these accounts I respect and esteem 
 you, so I have the honor to be, Sir, your very humble 
 servant, J. Tucker. 
 
 To josiah Reverend Sir, — I thank you for the frank- 
 London ^ 26 "^^^ ^\\\)- which you have communicated to me 
 Feb., 1774. the particulars of the information you had 
 received, relating to my supposed application to Mr. Gren- 
 ville for a place in the American stamp-office. As I deny 
 that either your former or latter informations are true, it 
 seems incumbent on me, for your satisfaction, to relate all 
 the circumstances fairly to you, that could possibly give 
 rise to such mistakes. 
 
 Some days after the Stamp Act was passed, to which I 
 
464 IMPUTATIONS OF yOSlAH TUCKER. [/Et. 59. 
 
 had given all the opposition I could, with Mr. Grenville, 
 I received a note from Mr. Whately, his secretary, desiring 
 to see me the next morning. I waited upon him accord- 
 ingly, and found with him several other colony agents. 
 He acquainted us, that Mr. Grenville was desirous to make 
 the execution of the act as little inconvenient and disagree- 
 able to America as possible ; and therefore did not think 
 of sending stamp officers from this country, but wished to 
 have discreet and reputable persons appointed in each 
 province from among the inhabitants, such as would be 
 acceptable to them ; for, as they were to pay the tax, he 
 thought strangers should not have the emolument. Mr. 
 Whately therefore wished us to name for our respective 
 colonies, informing us, that Mr. Grenville would be obliged 
 to us for pointing out to him honest and responsible men, 
 and would pay great regard to our nominations. By this 
 plausible and apparently candid declaration, we were drawn 
 in to nominate ; and I named for our province Mr. Hughes, 
 saying, at the same time, that I knew not whether he 
 would accept of it, but, if he did, I was sure he would 
 execute the office faithfully. I soon after had notice of his 
 appointment. We none of us, I believe, foresaw or im- 
 agined, that this compliance with the request of the minister 
 would or could have been called an application of ours, and 
 adduced as a proof of our approbation of the act we had 
 been opposing ; otherwise I think few of us would have 
 named at all ; I am sure I should not. This, I assure you, 
 and can prove to you by living evidence, is a true account 
 of the transaction in question, which, if you compare with 
 that you have been induced to give of it in your book I 
 aJ"^ persuaded you will see a difference that is far from being 
 ' a disti7ictlon above your comprehension. ' ' 
 
iET. 59] IMPUTATIONS OF JO SI AH TUCKER. 46 c; 
 
 Permit me further to remark, that your expression of 
 there being ''no positive proofs of my having solicited to 
 obtain such a place for myself,'^ implies that there are 
 nevertheless some circumstantial proofs sufficient at least to 
 support a suspicion. The latter part however of the same 
 sentence, which says, ''there is sufficient evidence still 
 existing of my having applied for it in favor of another 
 person," must, I apprehend, if credited, destroy that sus- 
 picion, and be considered dispositive proof of the contrary; 
 for, if I had interest enough with Mr. Grenville to obtain 
 that place for another, is it likely that it would have been 
 refused me, had I asked it for myself? 
 
 There is another circumstance, which I would offer to 
 your candid consideration. You describe me as "changing 
 sides, and appearing at the bar of the House of Commons 
 to cry down the very measure I had espoused, and direct 
 the storm that was falling upon that minister." As this 
 must have been after my supposed solicitation of the favor 
 for myself or my friend, and Mr. Grenville and Mr. 
 Whately were both in the House at the time, and both 
 asked me questions, can it be conceived, that, offended as 
 they must have been with such a conduct in me, neither of 
 them should put me in mind of this my sudden changing 
 of sides, or remark it to the House, or reproach me with it, 
 or require my reasons for it ? And yet all the members 
 then present know, that not a syllable of the kind fell from 
 either of them, or from any of their party. 
 
 I persuade myself by this time you begin to suspect you 
 may have been misled by your informers. I do not ask who 
 they are, because I do not wish to have particular motives 
 for disliking people, who in general may deserve my re- 
 spect. They too may have drawn consequences beyond the 
 
^^^ IMPUTATIONS OF J OS I All TUCKER. [.Kt. 59. 
 
 information they received from others, and, hearing the 
 office had been givcti to a person of my nomination, might 
 as naturally ?,\\X)^osq I had soHcired it, as Dr. Tucker, hearing 
 that I had solicited if, might ^^ conclude'' it was for myself. 
 
 I desire you to believe, that I take kindly, as I ought, 
 your freely mentioning to me ''that it has long appeared 
 to you, that I much exceeded the bounds of morality in the 
 methods I pursued for the advancement of the supposed 
 interests of America." I am sensible there is a good deal 
 of truth in the adage, that our sins and our debts are always 
 more than we take them to be ; and though I cannot at 
 present, on examination of my conscience, charge myself 
 with any immorality of that kind, it becomes me to suspect, 
 that what has long appeared to you may have some founda- 
 tion. You are so good as to add, that, "if it can be 
 proved you have unjustly suspected me, you shall have a 
 satisfaction in acknowledging the error." It is often a 
 thing hard to prove that suspicions are unjust, even when 
 we know what they are ; and harder when we are unac- 
 quainted with them. I must presume, therefore, that in 
 mentioning them, you had an intention of communicating 
 the grounds of them to me if I should request it, which I 
 now do, and I assure you, with a sincere desire and design 
 of amending what you may show me to have been wrong in 
 my conduct, and to thank you for the admonition. In your 
 writings I appear a bad man ; but, if I am such, and you can 
 thus help me to become in reality a good one, I shall esteem 
 it more than a sufficient reparation to. Reverend Sir, your 
 most obedient humble servant, B. Franklin.* 
 
 * A memorandum was found appended to the rough draft of this letter, 
 in the handwriting of the author, dated February 7, 1775, in which he said, 
 " No answer has yet been received."' In a future edition of his work, how- 
 ever Dean Tucker omitted the offensive passages. — Ed. 
 
The examina- 
 tion of Dr. 
 Benjamin 
 Franklin, in 
 the British 
 House of 
 
 Commons, re- 
 lative to the 
 repeal of the 
 American 
 Stamp Act, in 
 1766.* 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Franklin's Examination before the House of Commons. 
 1766. 
 
 From the journal of the House of Commons, 
 as given by Mr. Vaughan. 
 
 '•^February 3^, 1766. Benjamin Franklin 
 and a number of other persons ordered to at- 
 tend the committee of the whole House, to 
 whom it was referred to consider farther the 
 several papers, which were presented to the 
 House by Mr. Secretary Conway. 
 
 ^'■February iT^th. Benjamin Franklin, hav- 
 
 * As soon as the Stamp Act was promulgated in the colonies, a cloud of 
 petitions from their various assemblies was showered upon Parliament for 
 its repeal. The stamped paper was rejected as if it were poisoned ; vessels 
 were forbidden to land it ; the distributors were compelled to resign their 
 commissions ; Hughes dared not show himself in the streets, nor did Frank- 
 lin entirely escape. A caricature of the period represents the devil whis- 
 pering in his ear: " Ben, you shall be my agent throughout my domJnions." 
 His house and family even were supposed at one time to be in peril from 
 the mob, as appears by the following extract from a letter written him by 
 his wife on the 22d September : 
 
 " You will see by the papers what work has happened in other places, and 
 something has been said relative to raising a mob in this place. I was for 
 nine days kept in a continual hurry by people to remove ; and Sally was 
 persuaded to go to Burlington (the residence of her brother, the governor) 
 for safety ; but on Mondvy last we had very great rejoicings on account of 
 42 467 
 
468 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. [.Ex. 60 
 
 ing passed through his examination, was excepted from 
 further attendance. 
 
 ^^ February 24//^. The resolutions of the committee were 
 reported by the chairman, Mr. Fuller; their seventh and 
 
 the change of the ministry, and a preparation for bonfires at night, and sev- 
 eral houses threatened to be pulled down. 
 
 " Cousin Davenport came and told me that more than twenty people had 
 told him it was his duty to be with me. I said I was pleased to receive civility 
 from any body, so he staid with me some time ; towards night I said he 
 should fetch a gun or two, as we had none. I sent to ask my brother to 
 come and bring his gun also, so we [turned] one room into a magazine ; I 
 ordered some sort of defence up-stairs, such as I could manage myself. I 
 said w^hen I was advised to remove, that I was very sure you had done 
 nothing to hurt anybody, nor had I given any offence to any person at all, 
 nor would I be made uneasy by anybody, nor would I stir or show the least 
 uneasiness, but if any one came to disturb me, I should show a proper re- 
 sentment, and I should be very much affronted with anybody. 
 
 " Sally was gone with Miss Rose to see Captain Real's daughter, and heard 
 the report there, and came home to be with me ; but I had sent her word 
 not to come. I was told there were eight hundred men ready to assist any 
 one that should be molested. 
 
 * * * " Billy (the Governor of New Jersey) came down to ask us up 
 to Burlington. I consented to Sally's going, but I will not stir, as I really 
 don't think it would be right in me to stir or show the least uneasiness al 
 all. « '» 
 
 '' It is Mr. Samuel Smith that is setting the people mad by telling them il 
 was you that had planned the Stamp Act, and that you are endeavoring to 
 get the Test Act brought over here." 
 
 Such was ihe state of affairs in America when the subject was again brought 
 before Parliament in the beginning of '66, the Marquis of Rockingham having 
 displaced Mr. Grenville. 
 
 The new ministers resolved to recommend a repeal of the Stamp Act. 
 While the question was under debate in Parliament, a motion which proba- 
 bly originated with the ministers, who we-e now striving to effect a repeal ot 
 the act, was adopt' d, thai I'ranklin be cal ed before the House and examined 
 respecting the state of affairs in America. This is the report of his examina- 
 tion. 
 
 There is nothing he ever wrote in which Franklin exhibited more of all 
 the qualities which distinguished him among men than his replies to the 
 questions put to him on this occasion. — Ed. 
 
<Et. 6o.] EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 469 
 
 last resolution setting forth, that it was their opinion that 
 the House be moved, that leave be given to bring in a bill 
 to repeal the Stamp Act." 
 
 1. Q. What is your name, and place of abode? 
 A. Franklin, of Philadelphia. 
 
 2. Q. Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes 
 among themselves? 
 
 A. Certainly many, and very heavy taxes. 
 
 3. Q. What are the present taxes in Pennsylvania, laid 
 by the laws of the colony ? 
 
 A. There are taxes on all estates real and personal ; 
 a poll tax ; a tax on all offices, professions, trades, and 
 businesses, according to their profits ; an excise on all wine, 
 rum, and other spirits ; and a duty of ten pounds per head 
 on all negroes imported, with some other duties. 
 
 4. Q. For what purposes are those taxes laid ? 
 
 A. For the support of the civil and military estab- 
 lishments of the country, and to discharge the heavy debt 
 contracted in the last war. 
 
 5. Q. How long are those taxes to continue? 
 
 A. Those for discharging the debt are to continue till 
 1772, and longer, if the debt should not be then all dis- 
 charged. The others must always continue. 
 
 6. Q. Was it not expected that the debt would have 
 been sooner discharged? 
 
 A. It was, when the peace was made with France and 
 Spain. But, a fresh war breaking out with the Indians, a 
 fresh load of debt was incurred ; and the taxes, of course, 
 continued longer by a new law. 
 
 7. Q. Are not all the people very able to pay those 
 taxes ? 
 
470 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. [/Kt. 60. 
 
 A. No. The frontier counties, all along tlie continent, 
 having been frequently ravaged by the enemy and greatly 
 impoverished, are able to pay very little tax. And there- 
 fore, in consideration of their distresses, our late tax laws 
 do expressly favor those counties, excusing the sufferers; 
 and I suppose the same is done in other governments. 
 
 8. Q. Are not you concerned in the management of the 
 post-office in America? 
 
 A. Yes. 1 am deputy -postmaster -general of North 
 America. 
 
 9. Q. Don't you think the distribution of stamps by 
 post to all the inhabitants very practicable, if there was no 
 opposition ? 
 
 A. The posts only go along the seacoasts ; they do not, 
 except in a few instances, go back into the country ; and, 
 if they did, sending for stamps by post would occasion 
 an expense of postage amounting in many cases to much 
 more than that of the stamps themselves. 
 
 10. Q. Are you acquainted with Newfoundland ? 
 A. I never was there. 
 
 11. Q. Do you know whether there are any post-roads 
 on that island ? 
 
 A. I have heard that there are no roads at all, but that 
 the communication between one settlement and another 
 is by sea only. 
 
 12. Q. Can you disperse the stamps by post in Canada? 
 A. There is only a post between Montreal and Quebec. 
 
 The inhabitants live so scattered and remote from each 
 other in that vast country, that posts cannot be supported 
 among them, and therefore they cannot get stamps per 
 post. The English colonies, too, along the frontiers are 
 very thinly settled. 
 
iEx. 6o.] EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. ^^i 
 
 13. Q. From the thinness of the back settlements, would 
 not the Stamp Act be extremely inconvenient to the inhab- 
 itants, if executed ? 
 
 A. To be sure it would ; as many of the inhabitants 
 could not get stamps w-hen they had occasion for them 
 without taking long journeys, and spending perhaps three or 
 four pounds, that the crown might get sixpence. 
 
 14. Q. Are not the colonies, from their circumstances, 
 very able to pay the stamp duty ? 
 
 A. In my opinion there is not gold and silver enough 
 in the colonies to pay the stamp duty for one year.* 
 
 15. Q. Don't you know that the money arising from the 
 stamps was all to be laid out in America? 
 
 A. I know it is appropriated by the act to the American 
 service ; but it will be spent in the conquered colonies, 
 where the soldiers are ; not in the colonies that pay it. 
 
 16. Q. Is there not a balance of trade due from the 
 colonies where the troops are posted, that will bring back 
 the money to the old colonies ? 
 
 A. I think not. I believe very little would come back. 
 I know of no trade likely to bring it back. I think it 
 
 * The Stamp Act said, " that the Americans shall have no commerce, 
 make no exchange of property with each other, neither purchase, nor grant, 
 nor recover debts ; they shall neither marry nor make their wills, unless they 
 pay such and such sums" in specie for the stamps which must give validity 
 to the proceedings. The operation of such a tax, had it obtained the couscui 
 of the people, appeared inevitable ; and its annual productiveness, on its in- 
 troduction, was estimated, by its proposer in the House of Commons at the, 
 committee for supplies, at one hundred thousand pounds sterling. The 
 colonies being already reduced to the necessity of having /^/^r money, by 
 sending to Biitain the specie they collected in foreign trade, in order to make 
 up for the deficiency of their other returns for British manufactures, there 
 were doubts whether there could remain specie sutilicient to answer the 
 tax.— B. V. 
 42* 
 
472 EXAJMINAIION BY THE COMMONS. [yEr. 60 
 
 would come, from the colonies where it was spent, directly 
 to England ; for I have always observed, that in every colony 
 the more plenty the means of remittance to England, the 
 more goods are sent for, and the more trade with England 
 carried on. 
 
 17. Q. What number of white inhabitants do you think 
 there are in Pennsylvania ? 
 
 A. I suppose there may be about one hundred and sixty 
 thousand. 
 
 18. Q. What number of them are Quakers? 
 A. Perhaps a third. 
 
 19. Q. What number of Germans? 
 
 A. Perhaps another third ; but I cannot speak witn 
 certainty. 
 
 20. Q. Have any number of the Germans seen service, 
 as soldiers, in Europe ? 
 
 A. Yes, many of them, both in Europe and America. 
 
 21. Q. Are they as much dissatisfied with the stamp 
 duty as the English ? 
 
 A. Yes, and more ; and with reason, as their stamps are, 
 in many cases, to be double.* 
 
 22. Q. How many white men do you suppose there are 
 in North America? 
 
 * The Stamp Act provided, that a double duty should be laid " where the 
 instrument, proceedings, &c., shall be engrossed, written, or printed within 
 the said colonies and plantations, in any other than the English language." 
 This measure, it is presumed, appeared to be suggested by motives of con- 
 venience, and the policy of assimilating persons of foreign to those of British 
 descent, and preventing their interference in the conduct of law business till 
 this change should be effected. It seems, however, to have been deemed 
 too precipitate, immediately to extend this clause to newly-conquered coun- 
 tries. An exemption therefore was granted, in this particular, with respect 
 to Canada and Grenada, for the space of five years, to be reckoned from the 
 commencement of the duty. See the Stamp Act. — B. V. 
 
'Ivr. 6o.] EXAMINAl'ION BY THE COMMONS. 473 
 
 A About three hundred thousand, from sixteen to sixty 
 years of age.* 
 
 23. Q. What may be the amount of one year's imports 
 into Pennsylvania from Britain ? 
 
 A. I have been informed that our merchants compute 
 the imports from Britain to be above five hundred thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 2 4, Q. What may be the amount of the produce of your 
 province exported to Britain ? 
 
 A. It must be small, as we produce little that is wanted 
 in Britain. I suppose it cannot exceed forty thousand 
 pounds. 
 
 25. Q. How then do you pay the balance? 
 
 A. The balance is paid by our produce carried to the 
 West Indies, and sold in our own islands, or to the French, 
 Spaniards, Danes, and Dutch ; by the same produce carried 
 to other colonies in North America, as to New England, 
 Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Carolina, and Georgia; by 
 the same, carried to different parts of Europe, as Spain, 
 Portugal, and Italy. In all which places we receive either 
 money, bills of exchange, or commodities that suit for re- 
 mittance to Britain ; which, together with all the profits on 
 the industry of our merchants and mariners, arising in those 
 circuitous voyages, and the freights made by their ships, 
 centre finally in Britain to discharge the balance, and pay 
 for British manufactures continually used in the provinces, 
 or sold to foreigners by our traders. 
 
 * Strangers excluded, some parts of the northern colonies doubled then 
 numbers in fifteen or sixteen years ; to the southward they were longer ; but, 
 taking one with another, they had doubled, by natural generation only, once 
 in twenty-five years. Pennsylvania, including strangers, had doubled in 
 about sixteen years. — B. V. 
 
474 EXAMJNA T/O.V B Y THE COMMONS, [.^r. Go. 
 
 26. Q. Have you heard of any difficulties lately laid on 
 the Spanish trade ? 
 
 A. Yes ; I have heard, that it has been greatly obstructed 
 by some new regulations, and by the English men-of-war 
 and cutters stationed all along the coast in America. 
 
 27. Q. Do you think it right that America should be 
 protected by this country and pay no part of the expense? 
 
 A. That is not the case. The colonies raised, clothed, 
 and paid, during the last war, near twenty-five thousand 
 men, and spent many millions. 
 
 28. Q. Were you not reimbursed by Parliament ? 
 
 A. We were only reimbursed what, in your opinion, we 
 had advanced beyond our proportion, or beyond what 
 might reasonably be expected from us ; and it was a very 
 small part of what we spent. Pennsylvania, in particular, 
 disbursed about five hundred thousand pounds, and the 
 reimbursements, in the whole, did not exceed sixty thou- 
 sand pounds. 
 
 29. Q. You have said that you pay heavy taxes in Penn- 
 sylvania ; what do they amount to in the pound ? 
 
 A. The tax on all estates, real and personal, is eighteen 
 pence in the pound, fully rated ; and the tax on the profits 
 of trades and professions, with other taxes, do, I suppose, 
 make full half a crown in the pound. 
 
 30. Q. Do you know any thing of the rate of exchange 
 in Pennsylvania, and whether it has fallen lately? 
 
 A. It is commonly from one hundred and seventy to one 
 hundred and seventy-five. I have heard, that it has fallen 
 lately from one hundred and seventy-five to one hundred and 
 sixty-two and a half; owing, I suppose, to their lessening 
 their orders for goods; and, when their debts to this country 
 are paid, I think the exchange will probably be at par. 
 
iET 6oJ EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 
 
 47 S 
 
 31. Q. Do you not think the people of America would 
 submit to pay the stamp duty, if it was moderated ? 
 
 A. No, never, unless compelled by force of arms. 
 
 32. Q. Are not the taxes in Pennsylvania laid on un- 
 equally, in order to burden the English trade ; particularly 
 the tax on professions and business ? 
 
 A. It is not more burdensome in proportion than the tax 
 on lands. It is intended and supposed to take an equal 
 proportion of profits. 
 
 33. Q. How is the assembly composed ? Of what kinds 
 of people are the members; landholders or traders? 
 
 A. It is composed of landholders, merchants, and artifi- 
 cers. 
 
 34. Q. Are not the majority landholders ? 
 A. I believe they are. 
 
 35. Q. Do not they, as much as possible, shift the tax 
 off from ihe land, to ease that, and lay the burden heavier 
 on trade? 
 
 A. I have never understood it so. I never heard such a 
 thing suggested. And indeed an attempt of that kind could 
 answer no purpose. The merchant or trader is always 
 skilled in figures, and ready with his pen and ink. If 
 unequal burdens are laid on his trade, he puts an additional 
 price on his goods ; and the consumers, who are chiefly 
 landholders, finally pay the greatest part, if not the whole. 
 
 36. Q. What was the temper of America towards Great 
 Britain before the year 1763?* 
 
 * In the year 1733, " for the welfare and prosperity of our sugar colonies 
 in America," and " for remedying discouragements of planters," duties were 
 "given and granted" to George the Second, upon all rum, spirits, molasses, 
 syrups, sugar, and paneles of foreign growth, produce, and manufacture, 
 imported into the colonies. This regulation of trade for the benefit of the 
 
4^6 EXAMIXA TION D Y THE COMMONS. [/Et. 6o. 
 
 A. The best in the world. They submitted willingly to 
 the government of the crown, and paid, in their courts, 
 obedience to the acts of Parliament. Numerous as the 
 people are in the several old provinces, they cost you 
 nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, or armies, to keep them 
 in subjection. They were governed by this country at the 
 expense only of a little pen, ink, and paper; they were led 
 by a thread. They had not only a respect, but an affection 
 for Great Britain ; for its laws, its customs and manners, 
 and even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased 
 the commerce. Natives of Britain were always treated with 
 particular regard ; to be an Old-E?ig/and man was, of itself, 
 a character of some respect, and gave a kind of rank 
 among us. 
 
 37. Q. And what is their temper now? 
 
 general empire was acquiesced in, notwithstanding the introduction of the 
 novel terms "give and grant." But the act, which was made only for the 
 term of five years, and had been several times renewed in the reign of George 
 the Second, and once in the reign of George the Third, was renewed again 
 in the year 1763, in the reign of George the Third, and exte?ided to other 
 articles upon new a?id altered grounds. It was stated in the preamble to 
 this act, " that it was expedient that new provisions and regulations should 
 be established for improving the revenue of this kingdom ;" that it " was just 
 and necessary that a revenue should be raised in America for defending, 
 protecting, and securing the same;" "and that the Commons of Great 
 Britain, desirous of making some provision towards raising the said revenue 
 in America, have resolved to give and grant to his Majesty the several rates 
 and duties," &c. Mr. Mauduit, agent for Massachusetts Bay, tells us, that 
 he was instructed in the following terms to oppose Mr. Grenville's taxing 
 system. "You are to remonstrate against these measures, and, if possible, 
 to obtain a repeal of the Sugar Act, and prevent the imposition of any 
 further duties or taxes on the colonies. Measures will be taken that you 
 may be joined by all the other agents. Boston, "jfune i^th, 1764." 
 
 The question proposed to Dr. Franklin alludes to this sugar act in 1763. 
 Or. Franklin's answer particularly merits the attention of the historian and 
 he politician. — B. V. 
 
/Et. 6o.] EXAMTNATIO.V BY THE COMMONS. ^yy 
 
 A. O, very much altered. 
 
 2,^. Q. Did you ever hear the authority of Parliament 
 to make laws for America questioned till lately? 
 
 A. The authority of Parliament was allowed to be valid 
 in all laws, except such as should lay internal taxes. It was 
 never disputed in laying duties to regulate commerce. 
 
 39. Q. In what proportion hath population increased in 
 America? 
 
 A. I think the inhabitants of all the provinces together, 
 taken at a medium, double in about twenty-five years. But 
 their demand for British manufactures increases much faster; 
 as the consumption is not merely in proportion to their 
 numbers, but grows with the growing abilities of the same 
 numbers to pay for them. In 1723, the whole importation 
 from Britain to Pennsylvania was about fifteen thousand 
 pounds sterling ; it is now near half a million. 
 
 40. Q. In what light did the people of America use to 
 consider the Parliament of Great Britain ? 
 
 A. They considered the Parliament as the great bulwark 
 and security of their liberties and privileges, and always 
 spoke of it with the utmost respect and veneration. Arbi- 
 trary ministers, they thought, might possibly, at times, at- 
 tempt to oppress them ; but they relied on it, that the Par- 
 liament, on application, would always give redress. They 
 remembered, with gratitude, a strong instance of this, when 
 a bill was brought into Parliament, with a clause to make 
 royal instructions laws in the colonies, which the House of 
 Commons would not pass, and it was thrown out. 
 
 41. Q. And have they not still the same respect for 
 Parliament ? 
 
 A. No, it is greatly lessened. 
 
 42. Q. To what cause is that owing? 
 
4^8 EXAMIhWTION BY THE COMMONS, [^t. 60. 
 
 A. To a concurrence of causes; the restraints lately laid 
 on their trade, by which the bringing of foreign gold and 
 silver into the colonies was prevented ; the prohibition of 
 making paper money among themselves, and then demand- 
 ing a new and heavy tax by stamps, taking away, at the 
 same time, trials by juries, and refusing to receive and hear 
 their humble petitions. 
 
 43. Q. Don't you think they would submit to the 
 Stamp Act, if it was modified, the obnoxious parts taken 
 out, and the duty reduced to some particulars of small mo- 
 ment? 
 
 A. No, they will never submit to it. 
 
 44. Q. What do you think is the reason that the people 
 in America increase faster than in England ? 
 
 A. Because they marry younger, and more generally. 
 
 45. (2- Why so? 
 
 A. Because any young couple, that are industrious, may 
 easily obtain land of their own, on which they can raise a 
 family. 
 
 46. Q. Are not the lower ranks of people more at their 
 ease in America than in England? 
 
 A. They may be so, if they are sober and diligent, as 
 they are better paid for their labor. 
 
 47. Q. What is your opinion of a future tax, imposed on 
 the same principle with that of the Stamp Act? How 
 would the Americans receive it ? 
 
 A. Just as they do this. They would not pay it. 
 
 48. Q. Have not you heard of the resolutions of this 
 House, and of the House of Lords, asserting the right of 
 Pa.liament relating to America, including a power to tajr 
 tlie people there ? 
 
 A. Yes, I have heard of such resolutions. 
 
jet.Go.] examination by the commons. 47g 
 
 49. Q. What will be the opinion of the Americans on 
 those resolutions? 
 
 A. They will think them unconstitutional and unjust. 
 
 50. Q. Was it an opinion in America before 1763, that 
 the Parliament had no right to lay taxes and duties there ? 
 
 A. I never heard any objection to the right of laying 
 duties to regulate commerce ; but a right to lay internal 
 taxes was never supposed to be in Parliament, as we are nor 
 represented there. 
 
 51. Q. On what do you found your opinion, that the 
 people in America made any such distinction ? 
 
 A. I know that whenever the subject has occurred in con- 
 versation where I have been present, it has appeared to be 
 the opinion of every one, that we could not be taxed by a 
 Parliament wherein we were not represented. But the pay- 
 ment of duties laid by an act of Parliament, as regulations 
 of commerce, was never disputed. 
 
 52. Q. But can you name any act of assembly, or public 
 act of any of your governments, that made such distinction ? 
 
 A. I do not know that there was any; I think there was 
 never an occasion to make any such act, till now that you 
 have attempted to tax us ; that has occasioned resolutions 
 of assembly, declaring the distinction, in which I think 
 every assembly on the continent, and every member in 
 every assembly, have been unanimous. 
 
 53- Q- What, then, could occasion conversations on 
 that subject before that time ? 
 
 A. There was in 1754 a proposition made, (I think it 
 came from hence,) that in case of a war, which was then 
 apprehended, the governors of the colonies should meet, 
 and order the levying of troops, building of forts, and tak- 
 ing every other necessary measure for the general defence ; 
 43 w 
 
480 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. [y^T. 60 
 
 and should draw on the treasury here for the sums expended, 
 which were afterwards to be raised in the colonies by a 
 general tax, to be laid on them by act of Parliai?iefit. 
 This occasioned a good deal of conversation on the subject; 
 and the general opinion was, that the Parliament neither 
 would nor could lay any tax on us, till we were duly repre- 
 sented in Parliament ; because it was not just, nor agree- 
 able to the nature of an English constitution. 
 
 54. Q. Don't you know there was a time in New York, 
 when it was under consideration to make an application to 
 Parliament to lay taxes on that colony, upon a deficiency 
 arising from the assembly's refusing or neglecting to raise the 
 necessary supplies for the support of the civil government? 
 
 A. I never heard of it. 
 
 55. Q. There was such an application under considera- 
 tion in New York ; and do you apprehend they could sup- 
 pose the right of Parliament to lay a tax in America was 
 only local, and confined to the case of a deficiency in a par- 
 ticular colony, by a refusal of its assembly to raise the 
 necessary supplies ? 
 
 A. They could not suppose such a case, as that the assem- 
 bly would not raise the necessary supplies to support its own 
 government. An assembly that would refuse it must want 
 common sense; which cannot be supposed. I think there 
 was never any such case at New York, and that it must be a 
 misrepresentation, or the fact must be misunderstood. I 
 know there have been some attempts, by ministerial instruc- 
 tions from hence, to oblige the assemblies to settle perma- 
 nent salaries on governors, which they wisely refused to do; 
 but I believe no assembly of New York, or any other colony, 
 ever refused duly to support government by proper allow- 
 ances, from time to time, to public officers. 
 
Mt. 6o.J EXAMINA TION B Y THE COMMONS. 48 1 
 
 56. Q. But, in case a governor, acting by instruction, 
 should call on an assembly to raise the necessary supplies, 
 and the assembly should refuse to do it, do you not think 
 it would then be for the good of the people of the colony, 
 as well as necessary to government, that the Parliament 
 should tax them ? 
 
 A. I do not think it would be necessary. If an assembly 
 could possibly be so absurd, as to refuse raising the supplies 
 requisite for the maintenance of government among them, 
 they could not long remain in such a situation ; the dis- 
 orders and confusion occasioned by it must soon bring them 
 to reason. 
 
 57. Q. If it should not, ought not the right to be in 
 Great Britain of applying a remedy? 
 
 A. A right, only to be used in such a case, I should have 
 no objection to ; supposing it to be used merely for the 
 good of the people of the colony. 
 
 58. Q. But who is to judge of that, Britain or the colony? 
 A. Those that feel can best judge. 
 
 59. Q. You say the colonies have always submitted to 
 external taxes, and object to the right of Parliament only 
 in laying internal taxes ; now can you show, that there is 
 any kind of difference between the two taxes to the colony 
 on which they may be laid ? 
 
 A. I think the difference is very great. An external tax 
 is a duty laid on commodities imported ; that duty is added 
 to the first cost and other charges on the commodity, and, 
 when it is offered to sale, makes a part of the price. If the 
 people do not like it at that price, they refuse it ; they are 
 not obliged to pay it. But an internal tax is forced from 
 the people without their consent, if not laid by their own 
 representatives. The Stamp Act says, we shall have no 
 
^.82 EXAMINATION BY I HE COMMONS. [/Er. 60. 
 
 commerce, make no exchange of property with each other, 
 neither purchase, nor grant, nor recover debts ; we shall 
 neither marry nor make our wills, unless we pay such and 
 such sums ; and thus it is intended to extort our money from 
 us, or ruin us by the consequences of refusing to pay it. 
 
 60. Q. But supposing the external tax or duty to be laid 
 on the necessaries of life, imported into your colony, will 
 not that be the same thing in its effects as an internal 
 tax? 
 
 A. I do not know a single article imported into the 
 northern colonies, but what they can either do without, or 
 make themselves. 
 
 61. Q. Don't you think cloth from England absolutely 
 necessary to them ? 
 
 A. No, by no means absolutely necessary; with industry 
 and good management, they may very well supply them- 
 selves with all they want. 
 
 62. Q. Will it not take a long time to establish that 
 manufacture among them ; and must they not in the mean 
 while suffer greatly? 
 
 A. I think not. They have made a surprising progress 
 already. And I am of opinion, that before their old clothes 
 are worn out, they will have new ones of their own making. 
 
 ^3- Q- Can they possibly find wool enough in North 
 America? 
 
 A. They have taken steps to increase the wool. They 
 entered into general combinations to eat no more lamb; 
 and very few lambs were killed last year. This course, per- 
 sisted in, will soon make a prodigious difference in the 
 quantity of wool. And the establishing of great manufac- 
 tories, like those in the clothing towns here, is not neces- 
 sary, as it is where the business is to be carried on for the 
 
-iiT. oo.J EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 483 
 
 purposes of trade. The people will all spin, and work for 
 themselves, in their own houses. 
 
 64. Q. Can there be wool and manufacture enough in 
 one or two years ? 
 
 A. In three years, I think there may. 
 
 65. Q. Does not the severity of the winter, in the 
 northern colonies, occasion the wool to be of bad quality ? 
 
 A. No j the wool is very fine and good. 
 
 dd. Q. In the more southern colonies, as in Virginia, 
 don't you know, that the wool is coarse, and only a kind 
 of hair ? 
 
 A. I don't know it. I never heard it. Yet I have 
 been sometimes in Virginia. I cannot say I ever took par- 
 ticular notice of the wool there, but I believe it is good, 
 though I cannot speak positively of it ; but Virginia and the 
 colonies south of it have less occasion for wool ; their win- 
 ters are short, and not very severe ; and they can very well 
 clothe themselves with linen and cotton of their own raising 
 for the rest of the year. 
 
 67. Q. Are not the people in the more northern colonies 
 obliged to fodder their sheep all the winter ? 
 
 A. In some of the most northern colonies they may be 
 obliged to do it, some part of the winter. 
 
 6^. Q. Considering the resolutions of Parliament,* as to 
 the right, do you think, if the Stamp Act is repealed, that 
 the North Americans will be satisfied ? 
 
 A. I believe they will. 
 
 69. Q. Why do you think so ? 
 
 A. I think the resolutions of right will give them very 
 little concern, if they are never attempted to be carried into 
 
 * Afterwards expressed in the Declaratory Act. — B. V. 
 43* 
 
484 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. [i*.T to 
 
 practice. The colonies will probably consider themselves 
 in the same situation, in that respect, with Ireland ; they 
 know you claim the same right with regard to Ireland, but 
 you never exercise it, and they may believe you never will 
 exercise it in the colonies, any more than in Ireland, unless 
 on some very extraordinary occasion. 
 
 70. Q. But who are to be the judges of that extraordi- 
 nary occasion ? Is not the Parliament ? 
 
 A. Though the Parliament may judge of the occasion, 
 the people will think it can never exercise such right, till 
 representatives from the colonies are admitted into Parlia- 
 ment ; and that, whenever the occasion arises, represe;.ta- 
 tives will be ordered. 
 
 71. Q. Did you never hear that Maryland, during the 
 last war, had refused to furnish a quota towards the common 
 defence ? 
 
 A. Maryland has been much misrepresented in that 
 matter. Maryland, to my knowledge, never refused to con- 
 tribute or grant aids to the crown. The assemblies, every 
 year during the war, voted considerable sums, and formed 
 bills to raise them. The bills were, according to the con- 
 stitution of that province, sent up to the Council, or Upper 
 House, for concurrence, that they might be presented to 
 the governor, in order to be enacted into laws. Unhappy 
 disputes between the two Houses, arising from the defects 
 of that constitution principally, rendered all the bills but 
 one or two, abortive. The proprietary's council rejected 
 them. It is true, Maryland did not then contribute its pro- 
 portion ; but it was, in my opinion, the fault of the govern- 
 ment, not of the people. 
 
 72. Q. Was it not talked of in the other provinces, as a 
 proper measure, to apply to Parliament to compel them ? 
 
/Et. 6o.] EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 485 
 
 A. I have heard such discourse ; but, as it was well known 
 that the people were not to blame, no such application was 
 ever made, nor any step taken towards it. 
 
 73. Q. Was it not proposed at a public meeting? 
 A. Not that I know of. 
 
 74. Q. Do you remember the abolishing of the paper 
 rurrency in New England, by act of assembly ? 
 
 A. I do remember its being abolished in the Massachusetts 
 Bay. 
 
 75. Q. Was not Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson prin- 
 cipally concerned in that transaction ? 
 
 A. I have heard so. 
 
 76. Q. Was it not at that time a very unpopular law? 
 A. I believe it might, though I can say little about it, as 
 
 I lived at a distance from that province. 
 
 77. Q. Was not the scarcity of gold and silver an argu- 
 ment used against abolishing the paper? 
 
 A. I suppose it was."^ 
 
 78. Q. What is the present opinion there of that law? 
 Is it as unpopular as it was at first ? 
 
 A. I think it is not. 
 
 79. Q. Have not instructions from hence been some- 
 times sent over to governors, highly oppressive and unpo- 
 litical ? 
 
 A. Yes, 
 
 80. Q. Have not some governors dispensed with them 
 for that reason ? 
 
 A. Yes, I have heard so. 
 
 81. Q. Did the Americans ever dispute the controlling 
 power of Parliament to regulate the commerce ? 
 
 *See Remarks and Facts relative to the American Paper Money, it) 
 Sparks's Works of Franklin, vol. ii., p. 340. 
 
^^^ EXAiMINA TION B Y THE COMMONS. [^Et. 6o. 
 
 A. No. 
 
 82. Q. Can any thing less than a military force carry the 
 Stamp Act into execution ? 
 
 A. I do not see how a military force can be applied to 
 that purpose. 
 
 83- Q- Why may it not? 
 
 A. Suppose a military force sent into America, they will 
 find nobody in arms; what are they then to do? They 
 cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to do with- 
 out them. They will not find a rebellion ; they may indeed 
 make one. 
 
 84. Q. If the act is not repealed, what do you think will 
 be the consequences? 
 
 A. A total loss of the respect and affection the people 
 of America bear to this country, and of all the commerce 
 that depends on that respect and affection. 
 
 85. Q. How can the commerce be affected? 
 
 A. You will find, that if the act is not repealed, they will 
 take a very little of your manufactures in a short time. 
 
 ^6. Q. Is it in their power to do without them? 
 
 A. I think they may very well do without them. 
 
 87. Q. Is it their interest not to take them? 
 
 A. The goods they take from Britain are either neces- 
 saries, mere conveniences, or superfluities. The first, as 
 cloth, &c., with a little industry they can make at home; 
 the second they can do without, till they are able to provide 
 them among themselves ; and the last, which are much tlie 
 greatest part, they will strike off immediately. They are 
 mere articles of fashion, purchased and consumed because 
 the fashion in a respected country ; but will now be de- 
 tested and rejected. The people have already struck off, 
 by general agreement, the use of all goods fashionable in 
 
.•*:t. 6o.] EXAMINA TION B V THE COMMONS. 487 
 
 mournings, and many thousand pounds' worth are sent back 
 as unsalable. 
 
 ZZ. Q. Is it their interest to make cloth at home ? 
 
 A, I think they may at present get it cheaper from 
 Britain ; I mean, of the same fineness and workmanship ; 
 but, when one considers other circumstances, the restraints 
 on their trade, and the difficulty of making remittances, it 
 is their interest to make every thing. 
 
 89. Q. Suppose an act of internal regulations connected 
 with a tax ; how would they receive it ? 
 
 A. I think it would be objected to. 
 
 90. Q. Then no regulation with a tax would be sub- 
 mitted to? 
 
 A. Their opinion is, that, when aids to the crown are 
 wanted, they are to be asked of the several assemblies, ac- 
 cording to the old established usage ; who will, as they 
 always have done, grant them freely. And that their money 
 ought not to be given away, without their consent, by persons 
 at a distance, unacquainted with their circumstances and abili- 
 ties. The granting aids to the crown is the only means they 
 have of recommending themselves to their sovereign ; and 
 they think it extremely hard and unjust, that a body of men, 
 in which they have no representatives, should make a merit 
 to itself of giving and granting what is not its own, but 
 theirs ; and deprive them of a right they esteem of the ut- 
 most value and importance, as it is the security of all their 
 other rights. 
 
 91. Q. But is not the post-office, which they have long 
 received, a tax as well as a regulation ? 
 
 'a. No ; the money paid for the postage of a letter is nol 
 of the nature of a tax ; it is merely a quantum meruit for a 
 service done ; no person is compellable to pay the money 
 
 w* 
 
488 EXAMINA TION B Y THE COMMONS, [.^t. 6o 
 
 if he does not choose to receive the service. A man may 
 still, as before the act, send his letter by a servant, a 
 special messenger, or a friend, if he thinks it cheaper and 
 safer. 
 
 92. Q. But do they not consider the regulations of the 
 post-office, by the act of last year, as a tax ? 
 
 A. By the regulations of last year the rate of postage was 
 generally abated near thirty per cent through all America; 
 they certainly cannot consider such abatement as a tax. 
 
 93. Q. If an excise was laid by Parliament, which they 
 might likewise avoid paying, by not consuming the articles 
 excised, would they then not object to it ? 
 
 A. They would certainly object to it, as an excise is un- 
 connected with any service done, and is merely an aid, 
 which they think ought to be asked of them, and granted 
 by them, if they are to pay it; and can be granted for 
 them by no others whatsoever, whom they have not em- 
 powered for that purpose. 
 
 94. Q. You say they do not object to the right of Par- 
 liament, in laying duties on goods to be paid on their im- 
 portation ; now, is there any kind of difference between a 
 duty on the importation of goods, and an excise on their 
 consumption ? 
 
 A. Yes, a very material one ; an excise, for the reasons 
 1 have just mentioned, they think you can have no right to 
 lay within their country. But the sea is yours; you main- 
 tain, by your fleets, the safety of navigation in it, and keep 
 it clear of pirates ; you may have, therefore, a natural and 
 equitable right to some toll or duty on merchandises carried 
 through that part of your dominions, towards defraying the 
 expense you are at in ships to maintain the safety of that 
 carriage. 
 
/Et. 6o.] EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 489 
 
 95. Q. Does this reasoning hold in the case of a duty 
 laid on the produce of their lands exported ? And would 
 they not then object to such a duty? 
 
 A. If it tended to make the produce so much dearer 
 abroad, as to lessen the demand for it, to be sure they 
 would object to such a duty ; not to your right of laying it, 
 but they would complain of it as a burden, and petition 
 you to lighten it. 
 
 96. Q. Is not the duty paid on the tobacco exported, a 
 duty of that kind? 
 
 A. That, I think, is only on tobacco carried coastwise, 
 from one colony to another, and appropriated as a fund 
 for supporting the college at Williamsburg in Virginia. 
 
 97. Q. Have not the assemblies in the West Indies the 
 same natural rights with those in North America ? 
 
 A. Undoubtedly. 
 
 98. Q. And is there not a tax laid there on their sugars 
 exported ? 
 
 A. I am not much acquainted with the West Indies; but 
 the duty of four and a half per cent on sugars exported was, 
 I believe, granted by their own assemblies. 
 
 99. Q. How much is the poll-tax in your province laid 
 on unmarried men ? 
 
 A. It is, I think, fifteen shillings, to be paid by every 
 single freeman, upwards of twenty-one years old. 
 
 100. Q. What is the annual amount of all the taxes in 
 Pennsylvania? 
 
 A. I suppose about twenty thousand pounds sterling. 
 
 loi. Q. Supposing the Stamp Act continued and en- 
 forced, do you imagine that ill humor will induce the 
 Americans to give as much for worse manufactures of their 
 own, and use them, preferable to better of ours? 
 
490 EXAMINA TION B V THE COMMONS, [^t. 6o. 
 
 A. Yes, I think so. People will pay as freely to gratify 
 one passion as another, their resentment as their pride. 
 
 102. Q. Would the people at Boston discontinue their 
 trade ? 
 
 A. The merchants are a very small number compared 
 with the body of the people, and must discontinue their 
 trade, if nobody will buy their goods. 
 
 103. Q. What are the body of the people in the colonies? 
 A. They are farmers, husbandmen, or planters. 
 
 104. Q, Would they suffer the produce of their lands 
 to rot ? 
 
 A. No ; but they would not raise so much. They would 
 manufacture more, and plough less. 
 
 105. Q. Would they live without the administration of 
 justice in civil matters, and suffer all the inconveniences 
 of such a situation for any considerable time, rather than 
 take the stamps, supposing the stamps were protected by a 
 sufficient force, where every one might have them ? 
 
 A. I think the supposition impracticable, that the stamps 
 should be so protected as that every one might have them. 
 The act requires sub-distributors to be appointed in every 
 county town, district, and village, and they would be neces- 
 sary. But the principal distributors, who were to have had 
 a considerable profit on the whole, have not thought it worth 
 while to continue in the office ; and I think it impossible 
 to find sub-distributors fit to be trusted, who, for the trifling 
 profit that must come to their share, would incur the odium, 
 and run the hazard, that would attend it ; and, if they could 
 be found, I think it impracticable to protect the stamps in 
 so many distant and remote places. 
 
 106. Q. But in places where they could be protected, 
 would not the people use them, rather than remain in such 
 
.Et. 6o.J EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. ^^i 
 
 a situation, unable to obtain any right, or recover by law 
 any debt ? 
 
 A. It is hard to say what they would do. I can only 
 judge what other people will think, and how they will act, 
 by what I feel within myself. I have a great many debts 
 due to me in America, and I had rather they should remain 
 unrecoverable by any law, than submit to the Stamp Act. 
 They will be debts of honor. It is my opinion the people 
 will either continue in that situation, or find some way to 
 extricate themselves ; perhaps by generally agreeing to pro- 
 ceed in the courts without stamps. 
 
 107. Q. What do you think a sufficient military force to 
 protect the distribution of the stamps in every part of 
 America? 
 
 A. A very great force, I can't say what, if the disposition 
 of America is for a general resistance. 
 
 108. Q. What is the number of men in America able 
 to bear arms, or of disciplined militia? 
 
 A. There are, I suppose, at least 
 
 \_Question objected to. He withdrew. Called in again.'\ 
 
 109. Q. Is the American Stamp Act an equal tax on the 
 country ? 
 
 A. I think not. 
 
 no. Q. Why so? 
 
 A. The greatest part of the money must arise from law- 
 suits for the recovery of debts, and be paid by the lower 
 sort of people, who were too poor easily to pay their debts. 
 It is, therefore, a heavy tax on the poor, and a tax upon 
 them for being poor. 
 
 1 1 ■: , Q. But will not this increase of expense be a means 
 of lessening the number of lawsuits? 
 
 A. I think not ; for as the costs all fall upon the debtor, 
 44 
 
492 EXAMINA TION B Y THE COMMONS, [^t. 6o 
 
 and are to be paid by him, they would be no discourage- 
 ment to the creditor to bring his action. 
 
 112. Q. Would it not have the effect of excessive 
 usury? 
 
 A. Yes ; as an oppression of the debtor. 
 
 113. Q. How many ships are there laden annually in 
 North America with flax-seed for Ireland ? 
 
 A. I cannot speak to the number of ships; but I know, 
 that, in 1752, ten thousand hogsheads of flax-seed, each 
 containing seven bushels, were exported from Philadelphia 
 to Ireland. I suppose the quality is greatly increased since 
 that time, and it is understood, that the exportation from 
 New York is equal to that from Philadelphia. 
 
 114. Q. What becomes of the flax that grows with that 
 flax-seed ? 
 
 A. They manufacture some into coarse, and some into a 
 middling kind of linen. 
 
 115. Q. Are there any slitting-mills in America? 
 
 A. I think there are three, but I believe only one at 
 present employed. I suppose they will all be set to work, 
 if the interruption of the trade continues. 
 
 116. Q. Are there any fulling-mills there? 
 A. A great many. 
 
 117. Q. Did you never hear, that a great quantity of 
 stockings were contracted for, for the army, during the war, 
 and manufactured in Philadelphia? 
 
 A. I have heard so. 
 
 118. Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, would not 
 tlie Americans think they could oblige the Parliament to 
 repeal every external tax law now in force ? 
 
 A. It is hard to answer questions of what people at such 
 a distance will think. 
 
^T. 6o.J EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. ^g-^ 
 
 119. Q. But what do you imagine they will think were 
 the motives of repealing the act? 
 
 A. I suppose they will think, that it was repealed from a 
 conviction of its inexpediency ; and they will rely upon it, 
 that, while the same inexpediency subsists, you will never 
 attempt to make such another. 
 
 120. Q. What do you mean by its inexpediency? 
 
 A. I mean its inexpediency on several accounts ; the 
 poverty and inability of those who were to pay the tax, the 
 general discontent it has occasioned, and the impractica- 
 bility of enforcing it. 
 
 121. Q. U the act should be repealed, and the legisla- 
 ture should show its resentment to the opposers of the Stamp 
 Act, would the colonies acquiesce in the authority of the 
 legislature? What is your opinion they would do? 
 
 A. I don't doubt at all, that if the legislature repeal the 
 Stamp Act, the colonies will acquiesce in the authority. 
 
 122. Q. But if the legislature should think fit to ascer- 
 tain its right to lay taxes, by any act laying a small tax, 
 contrary to their opinion, would they submit to pay the tax? 
 
 A. The proceedings of the people in America have been 
 considered too much together. The proceedings of the 
 assemblies have been very different from those of the mobs, 
 and should be distinguished, as having no connexion with 
 each other. The assemblies have only peaceably resolved 
 what they take to be their rights ; they have taken no mea- 
 sures for opposition by force, they have not built a fort, raised 
 a man, or provided a grain of ammunition, in order to such 
 opposition. The ringleaders of riots, they think ought to 
 be punished ; they would punish them themselves, if they 
 could. Every sober, sensible man, would wish to see rioters 
 jjunished, as, otherwise, peaceable people have no security 
 
494 EXAMINA TION B V THE COMMONS. [^T. bo. 
 
 of person or estate; but as to an internal tax, how small 
 soever, laid by the legislature here on the people theie, 
 while they have no representatives in this legislature, I think 
 it will never be submitted to; they will oppose it to the 
 last ; they do not consider it as at all necessary for you to 
 raise money on them by your taxes ; because they are, ?nd 
 always have been, ready to raise money by taxes among 
 themselves, and to grant large sums, equal to their abilities, 
 upon requisition from the crown. 
 
 They have not only granted equal to their abilities, but, 
 during all the last war, they granted far beyond their 
 abilities, and beyond their proportion with this country 
 (you yourselves being judges), to the amount of many hun- 
 dred thousand pounds; and this they did freely and readily, 
 only on a sort of promise, from the Secretary of State, that 
 it should be recommended to Parliament to make them 
 compensation. It was accordingly recommended to Par- 
 liament, in the most honorable manner for them. America 
 has been greatly misrepresented and abused here, in papers, 
 and pamphlets, and speeches, as ungrateful, and unreason- 
 able, and unjust ; in having put this nation to an immense 
 expense for their defence, and refusing to bear any part of 
 that expense. The colonies raised, paid, and clothed near 
 twenty-five thousand men during the last war; a number 
 equal to those sent from Britain, and far beyond their 
 proportion ; they went deeply into debt in doing this, and 
 all their taxes and estates are mortgaged for many years to 
 come, for discharging that debt. 
 
 Government here was at that time very sensible of this. 
 The colonies were recommended to Parliament. Every 
 year the King sent down to the House a written message to 
 this purpose; "■ that his Majesty, being highly sensible of 
 
-£t. 6o.] EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 49 ^ 
 
 che zeal and vigor with which his faithful subjects in North 
 .America had exerted themselves, in defence of his Majesty's 
 just rights and possessions, recommended it to the House 
 to take the same into consideration, and enable him to give 
 them a proper compensation." You will find those mes- 
 sages on your own journals every year of the war to the 
 very last ; and you did accordingly give two hundred thou- 
 sand pounds annually to the crown, to be distributed in 
 such compensation to the colonies. 
 
 This is the strongest of all proofs, that the colonies, far 
 from being unwilling to bear a share of the burden, did 
 exceed their proportion ; for if they had done less, or had 
 only equalled their proportion, there would have been no 
 room or reason for compensation. Indeed, the sums, 
 reimbursed them, were by no means adequate to the ex- 
 pense they incurred beyond their proportion ; but they 
 never murmured at that ; they esteemed their sovereign's 
 approbation of their zeal and fidelity, and the approbation 
 of this House, far beyond any other kind of compensation ; 
 therefore there was no occasion for this act, to force money 
 fron> a willing people. They had not refused giving money 
 for the purposes of the act ; no requisition had been made ; 
 they were always willing and ready to do what could reason- 
 ably be expected from them, and in this light they wish to 
 be considered. 
 
 123. Q. But suppose Great Britain should be engaged 
 in a war in Europe, would North America contribute to the 
 support of it? 
 
 A. I do think they would as far as their circumstances 
 
 would permit. They consider themselves as a part of the 
 
 British empire, and as having one common interest with it ; 
 
 they may be looked on here as foreigners, but they do not 
 
 44* 
 
496 EXAMINA TION B V THE COMMONS. {^J^'i. 60. 
 
 consider themselves as such. They are zealous for the 
 honor and prosperity of this nation ; and, while they are 
 well used, will always be ready to support it, as far as their 
 little power goes. In 1739 they were called upon to assist 
 in the expedition against Carthagena, and they sent th'-te 
 thousand men to join your army. It is true, Carthagena is 
 in America, but as remote from the northern colonies, as 
 if it had been in Europe. They make no distinction of 
 wars, as to their duty of assisting in them. 
 
 I know the last war is commonly spoken of here, as 
 entered into for the defence, or for the sake, of the people 
 in America. I think it is quite misunderstood. It began 
 about the limits between Canada and Nova Scotia; about 
 territories to which the crown indeed laid claim, but which 
 were not claimed by any British colony ; none of the lands 
 had been granted to any colonist ; we had therefore no 
 particular concern or interest in that dispute. As to the 
 Ohio, the contest there began about your right of trading 
 in the Indian country, a right you had by the treaty of 
 Utrecht, which the French infringed ; they seized the 
 traders and their goods, which were your manufactures ; 
 they took a fort which a company of your merchants, and 
 their factors, and correspondents, had erected there to 
 secure that trade. Braddock was sent with an army to 
 retake that fort, (which was looked on here as another en- 
 croachment on the King's territory,) and to protect your 
 trade. It was not till after his defeat that the colonies were 
 attacked.* They were before in perfect peace with both 
 
 * When this army was in the utmost distress, from the want of wagons, 
 &c., our author and his son voluntarily traversed the country, in order to 
 collect a sufficient quantity ; and they had zeal and address enough to effect 
 
/Er. 6o.J EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 49 ;t 
 
 French and Indians; the troops were not, therefore, sent 
 for their defence. 
 
 The trade with the Indians, though carried on in America, 
 is not an American interest. The people of America are 
 chiefly farmers and planters ; scarce any thing that they 
 raise or produce is an article of commerce with the Indians. 
 The Indian trade is a British interest ; it is carried on with 
 British manufactures, for the profit of British merchants and 
 manufacturers ; therefore the war, as it commenced fur the 
 defence of territories of the crown (the property of no 
 American), and for the defence of a trade purely British, 
 was really a British war, and yet the people of America made 
 no scruple of contributing their utmost towards carrying it 
 on, and bringing it to a happy conclusion. 
 
 124. Q. Do you think, then, that the taking possession 
 of the King's territorial rights, and strengthening the 
 frontiers, is not an American interest ? 
 
 A. Not particularly, but conjointly a British and an 
 American interest. 
 
 125. Q. You will not deny, that the preceding war, the 
 war with Spain, was entered into for the sake of America; 
 was it not occasioned by captures made in the American seas? 
 
 A. Yes ; captures of ships carrying on the British trade 
 there with British manufactures. 
 
 126. Q. Was not the late war with the Indians, since 
 the peace with France, a war for America only ? 
 
 A. Yes ; it was more particularly for America than the 
 former; but was rather a consequence or remains of the 
 
 their purpose, upon pledging themselves, to the amount of many thousand 
 pounds, for payment. It was just before Dr. Franklin's last return from 
 England to America, that the accounts in this transaction were passed at th« 
 British trejisury. — B. V. 
 
^CfS EXAMINA 77 ON B Y THE COMMONS. [/Ex. 60, 
 
 former war, the Indians not having been thoroughly paci- 
 fied ; and the Americans bore by much the greatest share 
 of the expense. It was put an end to by the army under 
 General Bouquet ; there were not above three hundred 
 regulars in that army, and above one thousand Pennsyl- 
 vanians. 
 
 127. Q. Is it not necessary to send troops to America, 
 to defend the Americans against the Indians? 
 
 A. No, by no means ; it never was necessary. They 
 defended themselves when they were but a handful, and the 
 Indians much more numerous. They continually gained 
 ground, and have driven the Indians over the mountains, 
 without any troops sent to their assistance from this country. 
 And can it be thought necessary now to send troops for 
 their defence from those diminished Indian tribes, when the 
 colonies have become so populous and so strong? There is 
 not the least occasion for it \ they are very able to defend 
 themselves. 
 
 128. Q. Do you say there were not more than three 
 hundred regular troops employed in the late Indian war? 
 
 A. Not on the Ohio, or the frontiers of Pennsylvania, 
 which was the chief part of the war that affected the 
 colonies. There were garrisons at Niagara, Fort Detroit, 
 and those remote posts kept for the sake of your trade ; I 
 did not reckon them ; but I believe, that on the whole the 
 number of Americans or provincial troops, employed in the 
 war, was greater than that of the regulars. I am not cer- 
 tain, but I think so. 
 
 129. Q. Do you think the assemblies have a right to 
 levy money on the subject there, to grant to the crown ? 
 
 A. I certainly think so; they have always done it. 
 
 130. Q. Are they acquainted with the Declaration of 
 
/^T. 60.] EXAMINA TIOX B V THE COMMONS. ^gg 
 
 Rights? And do they know, that, by that statute, money 
 is not to be raised on the subject but by consent of Parlia- 
 ment? 
 
 A. They are very well acquainted with it. 
 
 131. Q. How then can they think they have a right to 
 levy money for the crown, or for any other than local 
 purposes ? 
 
 A. They understand that clause to relate to subjects only 
 within the realm ; that no money can be levied on them for 
 the crown, but by consent of Parliament. The colonies 
 are not supposed to be within the realm ; they have assem- 
 blies of their own, which are their parliaments, and they 
 are, in that respect, in the same situation with Ireland. 
 When money is to be raised for the crown upon the subject 
 in Ireland, or in the colonies, the consent is given in the 
 Parliament of Ireland, or in the assemblies of the colonies. 
 They think the Parliament of Great Britain cannot properly 
 give that consent, till it has representatives from America ; 
 for the Petition of Right expressly says, it is to be by com- 
 mon consent in Parliament ; and the people of America 
 have no representatives in Parliament, to make a part of 
 that common consent. 
 
 132. Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, and an 
 act should pass, ordering the assemblies of the colonies to 
 indemnify the sufferers by the riots, would they obey it ? 
 
 A. That is a question I cannot answer. 
 
 133. Q. Suppose the King should require the colonies 
 to grant a revenue, and the Parliament should be against 
 their doing it, do they think they can grant a revenue to 
 the King, without the consent of the Parliament of Great 
 Britain? 
 
 A. That is a deep question. As to my own opinion, I 
 
500 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. [v^Lt. 60. 
 
 should think myself at liberty to do it, and should do it, if 
 I liked the occasion. 
 
 134. Q. When money has been raised in the colonies, 
 upon requisitions, has it not been granted to the King? 
 
 A. Yes, always ; but the requisitions have generally been 
 for some service expressed, as to raise, clothe, and pay 
 troops, and not for money only. 
 
 ^35- Q- ^'^ ^^ ^^^ should pass requiring the American 
 assemblies to make compensation to the sufferers, and they 
 should disobey it, and then the Parliament should, by 
 another act, lay an internal tax, would they then obey it ? 
 
 A. The people will pay no internal tax ; and, I think, 
 an act to oblige the assemblies to make compensation is 
 unnecessary ; for I am of opinion, that, as soon as the 
 present heats are abated, they will take the matter into con- 
 sideration, and if it is right to be done, they will do it of 
 themselves. 
 
 136. Q. Do not letters often come into the post-offices 
 in America, directed to some inland town where no post 
 goes? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 137- Q- Can any private person take up those letters 
 and carry them as directed ? 
 
 A. Yes ; any friend of the person may do it, paying the 
 postage that has accrued. 
 
 138. Q. But must not he pay an additional postage foi 
 the distance to such inland town? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 ^^39- Q' Can the postmaster answer delivering the letter, 
 without being paid such additional postage? 
 
 A. Certainly he can demand nothing, where he does no 
 service. 
 
.^T. 6o.] EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 501 
 
 140. Q. Suppose a person, being far from home, finds a 
 letter in a post-ofifice directed to him, and he lives in a place 
 to which the post generally goes, and the letter is directed 
 to that place ; will the postmaster deliver him the letter, 
 without his paying the postage receivable at the place 
 to which the letter is directed ? 
 
 A. Yes ; the office cannot demand postage for a letter 
 that it does not carry, or farther than it does carry it. 
 
 141. Q. Are not ferry-men in America obliged, by act 
 of Parliament, to carry over the posts without pay? 
 
 A. Yes. 
 
 142. Q. Is not this a tax on the ferry-men? 
 
 A. They do not consider it as such, as they have an ad- 
 vantage from persons travelling with the post. 
 
 143. Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, and the 
 crown should make a requisition to the colonies for a sum 
 of money, would they grant it ? 
 
 A. I believe they would. 
 
 144. Q. Why do you think so? 
 
 A. I can speak for the colony I live in; I had it in in- 
 struction from the assembly to assure the ministry, that, as 
 they always had done, so they should always think it their 
 duty, to grant such aids to the crown as were suitable to their 
 circumstances and abilities, whenever called upon for that 
 purpose, in the usual constitutional manner ; and I had the 
 honor of communicating this instruction to that honorable 
 gentleman then minister.* 
 
 * I take the following to be the history of this transaction. Until 1763, 
 and the years following, whenever Great Britain wanted supplies directly 
 from the colonies, the Secretary of State, in his Majesty's name, sent them 
 a letter of requisition, in which the occasion for supplies was expressed ; 
 and the colonies returned ■\f7-ee gift, the mode of levying which they wbollv 
 
502 EXAMINA TION B Y THE COMMONS, [^{t. 6o 
 
 145- Q- Would they do this for a British concern, as 
 suppose a war in some part of Europe^ that did not affect 
 them ? 
 
 A. Yes, for any thing that concerned the general interest. 
 They consider themselves a part of the whole. 
 
 146. Q. What is the usual constitutional manner of 
 calling on the colonies for aids? 
 
 A. A letter from the Secretary of State. 
 
 147. Q. Is this all you mean; a letter from the Secre- 
 tary of State ? 
 
 A. I mean the usual way of requisition, in a circular 
 letter from the Secretary of State, by his Majesty's com- 
 mand, reciting the occasion, and recommending it to the 
 colonies to grant such aids as became their loyalty, and were 
 suitable to their abilities. 
 
 148. Q. Did the Secretary of State ever write for money 
 for the crown ? 
 
 A. The requisitions have been to raise, clothe, and pay 
 men, which cannot be done without money. 
 
 prescribed. At this period, a chancellor of the exchequer (Mr. George 
 Grenville) steps forth, and says to the House of Commons ; " We ttutst call 
 for money from the colonies in the way of a tax ;" and to the colony agents, 
 " Write to your several colonies, and tell them, if they dislike a duty upon 
 stamps, and prefer any other method of raising the money themselves, I shall 
 be content, provided the amount be but raised." "That is," observed the 
 colonies, when commenting upon his terms, " if we will not tax ourselves, as 
 7ve maybe directed, the Parliament will tax us." Dr. Franklin's instructions, 
 spoken of above, related to this gracious option. As the colonies could not 
 choose " another tax," while they disclaimed every tax, the Parliament passed 
 the Stamp Act. 
 
 It seems, that the only part of the offer, which bore a show of favor, was 
 the grant of the mode of levying ; and this was the only circumstance which 
 was not new. 
 
 See Mr. Mauduit's account of Mr. Grenville's conference with the agents, 
 confirmed by the agents for Georgia and Virginia ; and Mr. Burke's Speech, 
 in 1774, P- 55-— B. V. 
 
/Ex. 6o.] EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 503 
 
 149. Q. Would they grant money alone, if called on? 
 A. In my opinion they would, money as well as men, 
 
 when they have money, or can make it. 
 
 150. Q. If the Parliament should repeal the Stamp Act, 
 will the assembly of Pennsylvania rescind their resolu- 
 tions? 
 
 A. I think not. 
 
 151. Q. Before there was any thought of the Stamp Act, 
 did they wish for a representation in Parliament ? 
 
 A. No. 
 
 152. Q. Don't you know, that there is, in the Penn- 
 sylvania charter, an express reservation of the right of 
 Parliament to lay taxes there? 
 
 A. I know there is a clause in the charter, by which the 
 King grants, that he will levy no taxes on the inhabitants, 
 unless it be with the consent of the assembly, or by act of 
 Parliament, 
 
 153. Q. How, then, could the assembly of Pennsylvania 
 assert, that laying a tax on them by the Stamp Act was an 
 infringement of their rights? 
 
 A. They understand it thus ; by the same charter, and 
 otherwise, they are entitled to all the privileges and liberties 
 ^i Englishmen ; they find in the Great Charters, and the 
 Petition and Declaration of Rights, that one of the privi- 
 leges of English subjects is, that they are not to be taxed 
 but by their common consent; they have therefore relied 
 upon it, from the first settlement of the province, that the 
 Parliament never would, nor could, by color of that clause 
 in the charter, assume a right of taxing them, till it had 
 qualified itself to exercise such right, by admitting represen- 
 tatives from the people to be taxed, who ought to make a 
 part of that common consent. 
 45 » 
 
504 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. [.Et. 60. 
 
 154. ^. Are there any words in the charter that justify 
 that construction ? 
 
 A. ''The common rights of Englishmen," as declared 
 by Magna Charfa, and the Petition of Right, all justify it. 
 
 ^55- Q- Does the distinction between internal and ex- 
 ternal taxes exist in the words of the charter? 
 
 A. No, I believe not. 
 
 156. Q. Then, may they not, by the same interpretation, 
 object to the Parliament's right of external taxation? 
 
 A. They never have hitherto. Many arguments have 
 been lately used here to show them, that there is no differ- 
 ence, and that, if you have no right to tax them internally, 
 you have none to tax them externally, or make any other 
 law to bind them. At present they do not reason so ; but 
 in time they may possibly be convinced by these argu- 
 ments. 
 
 157. Q. Do not the resolutions of the Pennsylvania 
 assembly say, " all taxes" ? 
 
 A. If they do, they mean only internal taxes ; the same 
 words have not always the same meaning here and in the 
 colonies. By taxes, they mean internal taxes; by duties, 
 they mean customs; these are their ideas of the language. 
 
 158. Q. Have you not seen the resolutions of the Massa- 
 chusetts Bay assembly? 
 
 A. I have. 
 
 159. Q. Do they not say, that neither external nor in- 
 ternal taxes can be laid on them by Parliament? 
 
 A. I don't know that they do; I believe not. 
 
 160. Q. If the same colony should say, neither tax nor 
 i Imposition could be laid, does not that province hold the 
 power of Parliament can lay neither? 
 
 A. I suppose, that, by the word imposition, they do not 
 
^T. 6o.] EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 505 
 
 intend to express duties to be laid on goods imported, as 
 regulations of commerce. 
 
 161. Q. What can the colonies mean then by imposition, 
 as distinct from taxes? 
 
 A. They may mean many things, as impressing of men 
 or of carriages, quartering troops on private houses, and the 
 like ; there may be great impositions that are not properly 
 taxes. " 
 
 162. Q. Is not the post-office rate an internal tax laid 
 by act of Parliament ? 
 
 A. I have answered that. 
 
 163. Q. Are all parts of the colonies equally able to pay 
 taxes ? 
 
 A. No, certainly ; the frontier parts, which have been 
 ravaged by the enemy, are greatly disabled by that means ; 
 and therefore, in such cases, are usually favored in our tax 
 laws. 
 
 164. Q. Can we, at this distance, be competent judges 
 of what favors are necessary? 
 
 A. The Parliament have supposed it, by claiming a right 
 to make tax laws for America ; I think it impossible. 
 
 165. Q. Would the repeal of the Stamp Act be any dis- 
 couragement of your manufactures? Will the people that 
 have begun to manufacture decline it ? 
 
 A. Yes, I think they will ; especially if, at the same time, 
 the trade is opened again, so that remittances can be easily 
 made. I have known several instances that make it prob- 
 able. In the war before last, tobacco being low, and making 
 little remittance, the people of Virginia went generally into 
 family manufactures. Afterwards, when tobacco bore a 
 better price, they returned to the use of British manufac- 
 tures. So fulling-mills were very much disused in the last 
 
5o6 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS, [^t. 60. 
 
 war ill Pennsylvania, because bills were then plenty, and 
 remittances could easily be made to Britain for English cloth 
 and other goods. 
 
 166. Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed, would it 
 induce the assemblies of America to acknowledge the rights 
 of Parliament to tax them, and would they erase their reso- 
 lutions? 
 
 A. No, never. 
 
 167. Q. Are there no means of obliging them to erase 
 those resolutions? 
 
 A. None that I know of; they will never do it, unless 
 compelled by force of arms. 
 
 168. Q. Is there a power on earth that can force them 
 to erase them ? 
 
 A. No power, how great soever, can force men to change 
 their opinions. 
 
 169. Q. Do they consider the post-office as a tax, or as 
 a regulation ? 
 
 A. Not as a tax, but as a regulation and conveniency , 
 every assembly encouraged it, and supported it in its infancy, 
 by grants of money, which they would not otherwise have 
 done ; and the people have always paid the postage. 
 
 170. Q. When did you receive the instructions you 
 mentioned ? 
 
 A. I brought them with me, when I came to England, 
 about fifteen months since. 
 
 171. Q. When did you communicate that instruction to 
 the minister? 
 
 A. Soon after my arrival, while the stamping of America 
 was under consideration, and before the bill was brought 
 in. 
 
 172. Q. Would it be most for the interest of Great 
 
iEx. 6o.] EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS. 507 
 
 Britain, to employ the hands of Virginia in tobacco, or in 
 manufactures ? 
 
 A. In tobacco, to be sure. 
 
 173. Q. What used to be the pride of the Americans? 
 A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great 
 
 Britain. 
 
 174. Q. What is now their pride ? 
 
 A. To wear their old clothes over again, till they can 
 make new ones. 
 
 Withdrew.'^ 
 
 * This Examination was published in 1767, without the name of printer 
 or of publisher, and the following remarks upon it are contained in the 
 Gentleinan' s Magazine for July of that year: "From this examination 
 of Dr. Franklin, the reader may form a clearer and more comprehensive idea 
 of the state and disposition of America, of the expediency or inexpediency 
 of the measure in question, and of the character and conduct of the minister 
 who proposed it, than from all that has been written upon the subject in 
 newspapers and pamphlets, under the titles of essays, letters, speeches, and 
 considerations, from the first moment of its becoming the object of public 
 attention till now. The questions in general are put with great subtilty and 
 judgment, and they are answered with such deep and familiar knowledge 
 of the subject, such precision and perspicuity, such temper and yet such 
 spirit, as do the greatest honor to Dr. Franklin, and justify the general 
 opinion of his character and abilities." 
 
 Mr. Sparks very justly says that there was no event in Franklin's life more 
 creditable to his talents and character, or which gave him so much celebrity, 
 as this examination before the House of Commons. His further statement. 
 however, that Franklin's answers were given without premeditation and 
 without knowing beforehand the nature or form of the question that was to 
 be put, is a little too sweeping. In a memorandum which Franklin gave 
 to a friend who wished to know by whom the several questions were put, 
 he admitted that many were put by friends to draw out in answer the sub- 
 stance of what he had before said upon the subject. This statement of 
 Franklin belongs to the history of the examination. It first appeared in 
 Walsh's Life of Franklin, published in Delaplaine s Repository , and pur- 
 ports to have been written by Dr. Franklin, in reply to a friend who desired 
 to know by whom the several questions were put. His statement is as 
 follows : 
 
 45* 
 
5o8 EXAMINATION BY THE COMMONS, [^t. 60. 
 
 " I have numbered the questions," says Dr. Franklin, "for the sake or 
 making references to them. 
 
 " Qu. I, is a question of form, asked of every one that is examined. — Qu. 
 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, were asked by Mr. Hewitt, a member for Coventry, a friend of 
 ours, and were designed to draw out the answers that follow ; being the sub- 
 stance of what I had before said to him on the subject, to remove a common 
 prejudice, that the colonies paid no taxes, and that their governments were 
 supported by burdening the people here ; Qu. 7, was particularly intended to 
 show by the answer, that Parliament could not properly and equally lay 
 taxes in America, as they could not, by reason of their distance, be ac- 
 quainted with such circumstances as might make it necessary to spare pai 
 ticular parts. — Qu. 8 to 13, asked by Mr. Huske, another friend, to show the 
 impracticability of distributing the stamps in America. — Qu. 14, 15, 16, by 
 one of the late administration, an adversary. — Qu. 17 to 26, by Mr. Huske 
 Again. His questions about the Germans, and about the number of people, 
 were intended to make the opposition to the Stamp Act in America appear 
 more formidable. He asked some others here that the Clerk has omitted, 
 particularly one, I remember, 
 
 " There had been a considerable party in the House for saving the honor 
 and right of Parliament, by retaining the Act, and yet making it tolerable 
 to America, by reducing it to a stamp on commissions for profitable offices, 
 and on cards and dice. I had, in conversation with many of them, objected 
 to this, as it would require an establishment for the distributors, which 
 would be a great expense, as the stamps would not be sufficient to pay them, 
 and so the odium and contention would be kept up for nothing. The notion 
 of amending, however, still continued, and one of the most active of the 
 members for promoting it told me, he was sure I could, if I would, assist 
 them to amend the Act in such a manner, that America should have little or 
 no objection to it. ' I must confess,' says I, ' I have thought of one amend- 
 ment ; if you will make it, the Act may remain, and yet the Americans will 
 be quieted. It is a very small amendment, too ; it is only the change of a 
 single word.' ' Ay,' says he, ' what is that ?' ' It is in that clause where it is 
 said, that from and after the first day of November one thousand seven hun- 
 dred and sixty-five, there shall be paid, &c. The amendment I would pro- 
 pose is, for one read two, and then all the rest of the act may stand as it 
 does. I believe it will give nobody in America any uneasiness.' Mr. Husk-e 
 had heard of this, and, desiring to bring out the same answer in the House, 
 asked me whether I could not propose a small amendment, that would make 
 the act palatable. But, as I thought the answer he wanted too light and 
 ludicrous for the House, I evaded the question. 
 
 " Qu. 27, 28, 29, I think these were by Mr. Grenville, but I am not 
 certain. — Qu. 30, 31, I know not who asked them. — Qu. 32 to 35, asked by 
 Mr. Nugent, who was against us. His drift was to establish a notion he had 
 
y^T, 6o.] EXAMINAIION BY THE COMMONS. 509 
 
 entertained, that the people in America had a crafty mode of discouraging 
 the English trade by heavy taxes on merchants. — Qu. 36 to 42, most of these 
 by Mr. Cooper and other friends, with whom I had discoursed, and were 
 intended to bring out such answers as they desired and expected from me. — 
 Qu. 43, uncertain by whom. — Qu. 44, 45, 46, by Mr. Nugent again, who I 
 suppose intended to infer, that the poor people in America were better able 
 to pay taxes than the poor in England. — Qu. 47, 48, 49, by Mr. Prescott, an 
 adversary. 
 
 " Qu. 50 to 58, by different members, I cannot recollect who. — Qu. 59 to 
 78, chiefly by the former ministry. — Qu. 79 to 82, by friends. — Qu. 83, by 
 one of the late ministry. — Qu. 84, by Mr. Cooper. — Qu. 85 to 90, by some 
 of the late ministry. — Qu. 91, 92, by Mr. Grenville. — Qu. 93 to 98, by some 
 of the late ministry. — Qu. 99, 100, by some friend, I think Sir George 
 Saville. — Qu. loi to 106, by several of the late ministry. — Qu. 107 to 114, by 
 friends. — Qu. ii5to 117, by Mr. A. Bacon. — Qu. iiSto 120, by some of the late 
 ministry. — Qn. 121, by an adversary. — ^//. 122, by afriend. — Qu. 123, 124, by 
 Mr. Charles Townshend. — Qu. 125, by Mr. Nugent. — Qtt. 126, by Mr. Gren- 
 ville. — Qu. 127, by one of the late ministry. — Qu. 128, by Mr. G. Grenville. — 
 Qu. 129, 130, 131, by Mr. Wellbore Ellis, late Secretary of War. — Qu. 132 
 to 135, uncertain. — Qu. 136 to I42,by someof the late ministry, intending to 
 prove that it operated where no service was done, and therefore it was a tax. 
 — Qu. 143, by a friend, I forget who. — Qu. 144, 145, by C. Townshend. — 
 Qm. 146 to 151, by some of the late ministry, — Qu. 152 to 157, by Mr. 
 Prescott, and others of the same side. — Qu. 158 to 162, by Charles Towns- 
 hend. — Qu. 163, 164, by a friend, I think Sir George Saville. — Qu. 165, by 
 some friend. — Qu. 166, 167, by an adversary. — Qu. 168 to 174, by friends. 
 
 " Mr. Nugent made a violent speech next day upon this examination, in 
 which he said, ' We have often experienced Austrian ingratitude and yet we 
 assisted Portugal, we experienced Portuguese ingratitude, and yet we assisted 
 America. But what is Austrian ingratitude, what is the ingratitude of Portu- 
 gal, compared to this of America ? We have fought, bled, and ruined our- 
 selves, to conquer for them ; and now they come and tell us to our noses, 
 even at the bar of this House, that they were not obliged to us,' &c. But 
 his clamor was very little minded." 
 
 A few years since, I stumbled upon an original edition, in a pamphlel 
 form, of this examination, bearing the following title : 
 
5IO 
 
 EX^IMINAIION BY THE COMMONS. [^T. 60. 
 
 THE EXAMINATION 
 
 OK 
 
 DOCTOR BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 RELATIVE TO THE REPEAL 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AMERICAN STAMP ACT 
 IN MDCCLXVI. 
 
 MDCCLXVII. 
 
 Price One Shilling 
 
 No publisher's imprint is given. In the margin, however, and in a chirog- 
 raphy which seems scarcely more recent than the printed text, are written 
 what purport to be the " names of the interrogators. " When or by whom, or 
 upon what authority, this list was made, there are no indications ; but the 
 fact that the list differs so widely from that given in Delaplaine's, and the 
 further fact that Franklin so frequently confesses his inability to recall the 
 names of some of his interrogators, seem to justify me in giving this anony- 
 mous list here for what it is worth. 
 
 As Grenville is always spelt Greenwille, and Burke Bourke, the presump- 
 tion is that all the names were written by a foreigner, who had taken them 
 from the lips of his informant. 
 
 to 103, 
 
 By the Speaker 
 
 Mr. Huske 
 
 Lord Clare 
 
 Mr. Townshend 
 
 Mr. Bourke . 
 
 Mr. Greenwille . 
 
 Marquis of Granby 
 
 Lord North 
 
 Mr. Thurloe, King's counsel-at-law 
 
 Mr. Cooper, Secretary of the Treasury 
 In this list we do not find the names of Nugent, Ellis, Bacon, or Saville 
 or Prescott, while in the other list we do not find the names of Lord Clare 
 Burke, Marquis of Granby, Lord North, or Thurlow. — Ed. 
 
 Nos. I, 2, 
 " 3 to 42, 
 " 43 to 49, 
 " 50 to 77, 
 " 78 to 89, 106, 107, 
 " 90 to 97, 122 to 148, 
 " 104, 105, 
 " 108 to 121, 149 to 156, 
 
 157 to 162, 
 
 163 to 173, 
 
 inclusive. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Franklin sends his Wife a New Dress on the Repeal of the Stamp Act — 
 New Disputes with the Mother Country — Colonies required to providf; 
 for Soldiers — Lord Chatham — Marriage of Sally Franklin — Experiment 
 of making Paper Money not a Legal Tender — Advances of the French 
 Ambassador to Franklin — Visits the Continent — First Impressions of 
 France and Germany. 
 
 1766-1767. 
 
 To James Dear Sir, — I havc your letter by Mr. Sea, 
 
 Read, dated j • , ^ x i j i. 
 
 Phiiadei hia ^^^ ^^''^ J^^ ^^^ ^^ cxprcss. 1 am glad to 
 November 2, hear the arms are well got up ; they are the 
 best that we could procure. I wish they were 
 better ; but they are well fortified, will bear a good charge, 
 and I should imagine they would do good service with 
 swan- or buck-shot, if not so fit for single ball. I have 
 been ill these eight days, confined to my room and bed 
 most of the time, but am now getting better. I have, 
 however, done what I could in sending about to purchase 
 arms, &c., for the supply of the frontiers, and can now 
 spare you fifty more, which I shall send up to-morrow with 
 some flints, lead, swan-shot, and a barrel of gunpowder. 
 The arms will be under your care and Mr. Weiser's, you 
 
 being gentlemen in commission from the governor. Keep 
 
 X* 511 
 
ciia ASPERSION OF THE AGENTS. [^t. 60. 
 
 an account of whose hands you put them into. Let them 
 be prudent, sober, careful men, such as will not rashly hurt 
 our friends with them, and such as will honestly return 
 them when peace shall be happily restored. 
 
 I sincerely commiserate the distress of your out-settlers. 
 The Assembly sit to morrow, and there is no room to doubt 
 of their hearty endeavours to do everything necessary for 
 the country's safety. I wish the same disposition may be 
 found in the governor, and I hope it. I have put off my 
 journey to Virginia, and you may depend on my best ser- 
 vices for the common welfare, so far as my little influence 
 extends. I am your affectionate kinsman and humble 
 servant, 
 
 B. Franklin. 
 
 P. S. — My best respects to Mr. Weiser. Nine hundred 
 arms with ammunition have been sent up by the Committee 
 of Assembly to different parts of the frontier. 
 
 ,„., It is now generally said to be Debert, and 
 
 From Wil- ° ^ ' 
 
 liam Frank- not Ray, who wrotc that scandalous aspersion 
 *"' ^^ ' of the agents, presented in the New York and 
 
 other papers. I really think it not at all unlikely that Mr. 
 Allen is in some degree out of his senses. Upon finding 
 that Williamson's '^ Essay," published in Bradford's " Sup- 
 plement," did not take with the people, he cried out against 
 it in the House as much as anybody. And yet, at the last 
 session, when the Assembly were about appointing their 
 agents, he made that piece the foundation of a great deal 
 of abuse he threw out against you, and spoke from it as if 
 it had been his brief. I have heard nothing further about 
 Mr. Skinner, but perhaps I may, now the Duke of Grafton 
 is again in the ministry. I long to have your copy of the 
 
JEr.eo.] TREACHERY OF HALL. ^\\b 
 
 examination. Our friends have been a considerable time 
 greatly distressed with Mr. Hall,* but his late conduct to 
 Mr. Galloway has determined them to throw him off en- 
 tirely. I have been above a year fully convinced that he 
 had a greater attachment to Mr. Allen than to you ; and 
 he treated me very insolently in a letter he wrote to me 
 on the supposition that I was the author of *' Jack Retor." 
 I have ever since dropped all kind of intercourse with him. 
 I wrote you a letter at the time with a full account of the 
 whole affair, but, as I thought it would not be long before 
 you return'd, I did not send it, thinking it best not to 
 trouble you till your return, when you would have an 
 opportunity of hearing both sides and inquiring into the 
 truth of the accusations against him. 
 
 I really had a friendship for Mr. Hall, and have fre- 
 quently endeavored to remove the prejudices our friends 
 had conceived against him, but I am now quite satisfied 
 that he has no friendship for you, and is as great an enemy 
 to your side of the question as ever Smith was. All the 
 difference is that Smith is so openly, and the other co- 
 vertly, — a mere snake in the grass. The consequence is 
 that your friends (who would have set up a press about a 
 year ago, but that they did not know but you might choose 
 to be concerned in the printing business on your return) 
 have at length engaged Goddard, who served his appren- 
 ticeship with Mr. Parker, to get up a printing office in 
 Philadelphia and publish a newspaper. 
 
 Mr. Galloway and Mr. Thomas Wharton, for his en- 
 couragement, have entered into partnership with him and 
 ha\e agreed to advance what money may be necessary. 
 
 Franklin's old partner in the printing business. 
 
cii c ^ NEWSPAPER PROJECT. [^Et. 60. 
 
 But, as their motive for doing this is not merely for the 
 sake of profit, but principally to have a press henceforth 
 as open and safe to them as Hall's and Bradford's are to 
 the other party, they have put it into their agreement, as I 
 understand, that when you return you shall have it in your 
 power to be concerned, if )'0u chuse it, in the place of 
 one of them. The young man has brought several good 
 founts of letters with him, but his press he was obliged to 
 leave with his mother, who carries on the business at Provi- 
 dence. They therefore desired me to ask my mother to 
 lend them the old press which Parker used here, and they 
 would either buy it of you or pay you what you thought 
 reasonable for the hire. My mother told me she had no 
 objection to my letting them have it, but she did not 
 chuse to do it of herself, lest Mr. Hall might be dis- 
 pleased with her for it. At the same time she said she 
 should be glad that the printer would take the old house 
 in which it was, as it stood empty and had not brought in 
 any rent for a great while. I accordingly let them have 
 the press, and they have agreed with my mother to take 
 your old house in Market Street. There is a new mahog- 
 any press there which they seem desirous to purchase if 
 you incline to part with it, but I suppose they will write to 
 you on the subject. What I have done is for the best, and 
 I hope it will prove agreeable to you. There is, indeed, 
 really a necessity for their having a press of their own 
 while our public affairs continue in their present critical 
 situation, for it is with great difficulty they can get Hall 
 or Bradford to consent to print anything for them, and 
 when they do, some of the Prop party are sure to have it 
 communicated to them before it is published. Hugh 
 Roberts and many more of your old friends have deter- 
 
Ml. 60.] PRESENTS TO HIS WIFE. <.ll d 
 
 mined to encourage the new printer all in their power, and 
 to go about the several wards to get subscriptions to the 
 newspaper. The members of Assembly will do the same in 
 their respective counties, and let him have all the public 
 work. So that I am in hopes that by the time you return 
 they will lay the foundation of a very valuable business, 
 worth your while to be concerned in if you should think 
 it proper or convenient. But I am likewise in hopes that 
 when you do return you will have something far better 
 worth your acceptance than that can possibly be made. 
 However, as all things in this life are uncertain, it may 
 not perhaps be amiss for you to have it in your power to 
 engage in this affair. 
 
 I am, honored sir, 
 
 Wm. Franklin. 
 
 To his wife, As the Stamp Act is at length repealed,* I 
 don 6 April" ^^^^ willing you shouM have a new gown, which 
 1766. you may suppose I did not send sooner, as I 
 
 knew you would not like to be finer than your neighbours, 
 unless in a gown of your own spinning. Had the trade 
 between the two countries totally ceased, it was a comfort 
 to me to recollect, that I had once been clothed from head 
 to foot in woollen and linen of my wife's manufacture, that 
 I never was prouder of any dress in my life, and that she 
 
 * Dr. Franklin's examination closed the 13th February. The bill for the 
 repeal of the Stamp Act received the royal assent the i8th of the following 
 month. Though this repeal was followed by a Declaratory Act no less 
 offensive in principle thai the one it succeeded, affirming- " the right of 
 Parliament to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever," t^ue colonies were 
 frantic with joy, and the enthusiasm for Franklin, both at home and abroad, 
 "was unbounded. — Ed. 
 46 
 
5 I 2 PJ^E SEATS TO HIS WIFE. [/Ex. 60. 
 
 and her daughter might do it again if it was necessary. I 
 told the Parliament, that it was my opinion, before the old 
 clothes of the Americans were worn out, they might have 
 new ones of their own making. I have sent you a fine piece 
 of Pompadour satin, fourteen yards, cost eleven shillings a 
 yard ; a silk negligie and petticoat of brocaded lutestring 
 for my dear Sally, with two dozen gloves, four bottles of 
 lavender water, and two little reels. The reels are to screw 
 on the edge of the table, when she would wind silk or thread. 
 The skein is to be put over them, and winds better than if 
 held in two hands. There is also a gimcrack corkscrew, 
 which you must get some brother gimcrack to show you the 
 use of. In the chest is a parcel of books for my friend Mr. 
 Coleman, and another for cousin Colbert. Pray did he 
 receive those I sent him before ? I send you also a box 
 with three fine cheeses. Perhaps a bit of them may be left 
 when I come home. Mrs. Stevenson has been very dili- 
 gent and serviceable in getting these things together for 
 vou, and presents her best respects, as does her daughter, to 
 both vou and Sally. There are two boxes included in your 
 bill oi lading for Billy. 
 
 I received your kind letter of February 20th. It gives J 
 
 me great pleasure to hear, that our good old friend Mrs. 1 
 
 Smith is on the recovery. I hope she has yet many happy 
 years to live. My love to her. I fear, from the account 
 you give of brother Peter,* that he cannot hold out long. 
 If it should please God, that he leaves us before my return, 
 I would have the postoffice remain under the manage- 
 
 * Peter Franklin, the last survmng brother of Dr. Franklin, died July ist, 
 1766, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. He had formerly resided at 
 Newport. Rhode Island ; but, at the time of his death, he was deputy post- 
 master in Philadelphia. — S. 
 
>Et. 6o.] presents to HIS WIFE 5 £ 3 
 
 ment of their son, till Mr. Foxcroft and I agree how to 
 settle it. 
 
 There are some droll prints in the box, which were given 
 me by the painter, and, being sent when I was not at home, 
 were packed up without my knowledge. I think he was 
 wrong to put in Lord Bute, who had nothing to do with 
 the Stamp Act. But it is the fashion to abuse that noble- 
 man, as the author of all mischief. 
 
 To his wife, Mrs. Stevenson has made up a parcel of 
 do^ 13 Jum] haberdashery for you, which will go by Cap- 
 '766. tain Robinson. She will also send you an- 
 
 other cloak, in the room of that we suppose is lost. I 
 wrote to you, that I had been very ill lately. I am now 
 nearly well again, but feeble. To-morrow I set out with 
 my friend Dr. Pringle (now Sir John), on a journey to 
 Pyrmont, where he goes to drink the waters ; but I hope 
 more from the air and exercise, having been used, as you 
 know, to have a journey once a year, the want of which last 
 year has, I believe, hurt me, so that, though I was not quite 
 to say sick, I was often ailing last winter, and through the 
 spring. We must be back at farthest in eight weeks, as my 
 fellow traveller is the Queen's physician, and has leave for 
 no longer, as her Majesty will then be near her time. I 
 purpose to leave him at Pyrmont, and visit some of the 
 principal cities nearest to it, and call for him again when 
 the time for our return draws nigh.* 
 
 * In the Journals of the Penrxsylvar-ii A-.-crnbly it is menroried, •hat y 
 letter had been receired from Dr Fr^" - i;-^d June loth 1766, in which 
 he had asked leave of th=: - ir. the sririr?. N^ n-..:: ^n 
 
 OTJ the subject b rec-.": a-d. on the first day of t}-:e 
 
 next session, his app teemed- — S. 
 
514 CRITICAL STATE OF THE COLONIES. [^T. 6i. 
 
 To Lord I received your obliging favor of January 
 
 London n ^^ iQth. You have kindly relieved me fronn 
 April, 1767. the pain I had long been under. You arc 
 goodness itself. I ought to have answered yours of Decem- 
 ber 25th, 1765. I never received a letter, that contained 
 sentiments more suitable to my own. It found me under 
 much agitation of mind on the very important subject it 
 treated. It fortified me greatly in the judgment I was in- 
 clined to form, though contrary to the general vogue, on 
 the then delicate and critical situation of affairs between 
 Great Britain and the colonies, and on that weighty point, 
 their union. You guessed aright in supposing that I would 
 not be a mute in that play. I was extremely busy, attending 
 members of both Houses, informing, explaining, consulting, 
 disputing, in a continual hurry from morning till night, till 
 the affair was happily ended. During the course of its 
 being called before the House of Commons, I spoke my 
 mind pretty freely. Enclosed I send you the imperfect 
 account that was taken of that examination. You will there 
 see how entirely we agree, except in a point of fact, of 
 which you could not but be misinformed ; the papers at that 
 time being full of mistaken assertions, that the colonies had 
 been the cause of the war, and had ungratefully refused to 
 bear any part of the expense of it. 
 
 I send it you now, because I apprehend some late acci- 
 dents are likely to revive the contest between the two coun- 
 tries. I fear it will be a mischievous one. It becomes a 
 matter of great importance, that clear ideas should be 
 formed on solid principles, both in Britain and America, 
 of the true political relation between them, and the mutual 
 duties belonging to that relation. Till this is done, they 
 will be often jarring. I know none whose knowledge, 
 
iET. 6i.] TAXATION AND REPRESENTATION. 515 
 
 sagacity, and impartiality qualify him so thoroughly for 
 such a service as yours do you. I wish, therefore, you 
 would consider it. You may thereby be the happy instni- 
 ment of great good to the nation, and of preventing much 
 mischief and bloodshed. I am fully persuaded with you, 
 that a consolidating uniojt, by a fair and equal representa- 
 tion of all the parts of this empire in Parliament, is the only 
 firm basis on which its political grandeur and prosperity 
 can be founded. Ireland once wished it, but now rejects 
 it. The time has been, when the colonies might have been 
 pleased with it ; they are now indifferent about it ; and, if 
 it is much longer delayed, they too will refuse it. But the 
 pride of this people cannot bear the thought of it, and 
 therefore it will be delayed. Every man in England seems 
 to consider himself as a piece of a sovereign over America; 
 seems to jostle himself into the throne with the King, and 
 talks of our subjects in the colonies. The Parliament cannot 
 well and wisely make laws suited to the colonies, without 
 being properly and truly informed of their circumstances, 
 abilities, temper, &c. This it cannot be without repre- 
 sentatives from thence ; and yet it is fond of this power, 
 and averse to the only means of acquiring the necessary 
 knowledge for exercising it ; which is desiring to be om- 
 nipotent, without being omniscient. 
 
 I have mentioned, that the contest is likely to be revived. 
 It is on this occasion. In the same session with the Stamp 
 Act, an act was passed to regulate the quartering of soldiers 
 in America ; when the bill was first brought in, it contained 
 a clause, empowering the officers to quarter their soldiers in 
 private houses ; this we warmly opposed, and got it omitted. 
 The bill passed, however, with a clause, that empty houses, 
 bams. &c., should be hired for them; and that the respective 
 46* 
 
5l6 TAXATION AND REPRESENTATION. [/Et. 6i. 
 
 provinces, where they were, should pay the expense and 
 furnish firing, bedding, drink, and some other articles to 
 the soldiers, gratis. There is no way for any province to 
 do this but by the Assembly's making a law to raise the 
 money. The Pennsylvania Assembly has made such a law; 
 the New York Assembly has refused to do it ; and now all 
 the talk liere is, of sending a force to compel them. 
 
 The reasons given by the Assembly to the governor foi 
 the refusal are, that they understand the act to mean the 
 furnishing such things to soldiers, only while on their march 
 through the country, and not to great bodies of soldiers, to 
 be fixed, as at present, in the province, the burden in the 
 latter case being greater than the inhabitants can bear ; that 
 it would put it in the power of the captain-general to 
 oppress the province at pleasure, &c. But there is supposed 
 to be another reason at bottom, which they intimate, 
 though they do not plainly express it ; to wit, that it is of 
 the nature of an internal tax laid on them by Parliament, 
 which has no right so to do. Their refusal is here called 
 rebellion, and punishment is thought of. 
 
 Now waving that point of right, and supposing the legis- 
 latures in America subordinate to the legislature of Great 
 Britain, one might conceive, I think, a power in the supe- 
 rior legislature to forbid the inferior legislatures making 
 particular laws ; but to enjoin it to make a particular law, 
 contrary to its own judgment, seems improper ; an Assembly 
 or Parliament not being an executive o^c^x of government, 
 whose duty it is, in law-making, to obey orders, but a 
 deliberative body, who are to consider what comes before 
 them, its propriety, practicability, or possibility, and to 
 determine accordingly. The very nature of a Parliament 
 seems to be destroyed by supposing it may be bound and 
 
iET. 6i.] TAXATION AND REPRESENTATION. 517 
 
 compelled, by a law of a superior Parliament, to make a 
 law contrary to its own judgment. 
 
 Indeed, the act of Parliament in question has not, as in 
 other acts when a duty is enjoined, directed a penalty on 
 neglect or refusal, and a mode of recovering that penalty. 
 It seems, therefore, to the people in America, as a mere 
 requisition, which they are at liberty to comply with or not, 
 as it may suit or not suit the different circumstances of the 
 different provinces. Pennsylvania has therefore voluntarily 
 complied. New York, as I said before, has refused. The 
 ministry that made the act, and all their adherents, call for 
 vengeance. The present ministry are perplexed, and the 
 measures they will finally take on the occasion are yet 
 unknown. But sure I am, that, \i force is used, great mis- 
 chief will ensue ; the affections of the people of America to 
 this country will be alienated ; your commerce will be 
 diminished ; and a total separation of interests will be the 
 final consequence. 
 
 It is a common, but mistaken notion here, that the colo- 
 nies were planted at the expense of Parliament, and that 
 therefore the Parliament has a right to tax them, &c. The 
 truth is, they were planted at the expense of private ad- 
 venturers, who went over there to settle, with leave of the 
 King, given by charter. On receiving this leave, and 
 those charters, the adventurers voluntarily engaged to re- 
 main the King's subjects, though in a foreign country; a 
 country which had not been conquered by either King or 
 Parliament, but was possessed by a free people. 
 
 When our planters arrived, they purchased the lands of the 
 natives, without putting King or Parliament to any expense 
 Parliament had no hand in their settlement, was never so 
 much as consulted about their constitution, and took no 
 
5i8 KING, NOT PARLIAMENT, SOVEREIGN. [^Et. 6i. 
 
 kind of notice of them, till many years after they were 
 established. I except only the two modern colonies, or 
 rather attempts to make colonies, (for they succeed but 
 poorly, and as yet hardly deserve the name of colonies,") 
 I mean Georgia and Nova Scotia, which have hitherto been 
 little better than Parliamentary jobs. Thus all the colonies 
 acknowledge the King as their sovereign ; his governors 
 there represent his person ; laws are made by their Assem- 
 blies or little parliaments, with the governor's assent, sub- 
 ject still to the King's pleasure to affirm or annul them. 
 Suits arising in the colonies, and between colony and 
 colony, are determined by the King in Council. In this view, 
 they seem so many separate little states, subject to the same 
 prince. The sovereignty of the King is therefore easily 
 understood. But nothing is more common here than to 
 talk of the sovereignty of parliament, and the sovereignty 
 of this nation over the colonies; a kind of sovereignty, the 
 idea of which is not so clear, nor does it clearly appear on 
 what foundation it is established. On the other hand, it 
 seems necessary for the common good of the empire, that a 
 power be lodged somewhere, to regulate its general com- 
 merce ; this can be placed nowhere so properly as in the 
 Parliament of Great Britain ; and therefore, though that 
 power has in some instances been executed with great par- 
 tiality to Britain and prejudice to the colonies, they have 
 nevertheless always submitted to it. Custom-houses are 
 established in all of them, by virtue of laws made here, and 
 the duties instantly paid, excej^t by a few smugglers, such 
 as are here and in all countries; but internal taxes laid on 
 them by Parliament are still and ever will be objected to, 
 for the reason that you will see in the mentioned examina- 
 tion. 
 
/Et. 6i.] UNION STILL POSSIBLE. 51Q 
 
 Upon the whole, I have lived so great a part of my life 
 in Britain, and have formed so many friendships in it, that 
 I love it, and sincerely wish it prosperity ; and therefore 
 wish to see that union, on which alone I think it can be 
 secured and established. As to America, the advantages of 
 such a union to her are not so apparent. She may suffer at 
 present under the arbitrary power of this country ; she may 
 suffer for a while in a separation from it ; but these are 
 temporary evils which she will outgrow. Scotland and 
 Ireland are differently circumstanced. Confined by the 
 sea, they can scarcely increase in numbers, wealth, and 
 strength, so as to overbalance England. But America, an 
 immense territory, favored by nature with all advantages of 
 climate, soils, great navigable rivers, lakes, &c., must be- 
 come a great country, populous and mighty ; and will, in a 
 less time than is generally conceived, be able to shake off any 
 shackles that may be imposed upon her, and perhaps place 
 them on the imposers. In the mean time every act of op- 
 pression will sour their tempers, lessen greatly, if not anni- 
 hilate, the profits of your commerce with them, and hasten 
 their final revolt ; for the seeds of liberty are universally 
 found there, and nothing can eradicate them. And yet 
 there remains among that people so much respect, venera- 
 tion, and affection for Britain, that, if cultivated prudently, 
 with a kind usage and tenderness for their privileges, they 
 might be easily governed still for ages, without force or any 
 considerable expense. But I do not see here a sufficient 
 quantity of the wisdom, that is necessary to produce such a 
 conduct, and I lament the want of it.* 
 
 * Mr. Tytler, in a note on this letter, after stating the views of Lord Karnes 
 on the controversy between Great Britain and the colonies, says : " But, if 
 
520 UNION STILL POSSIBIE. [JEt. 6l. 
 
 I borrowed at Millar's the new edition of your ''Prin- 
 ciples of Equity," and have read with great pleasure the 
 preliminary discourse on the principles of morality. I have 
 never before met with any thing so satisfactory on the sub- 
 ject. While reading it, I made a few remarks as I went 
 along. They are not of much importance, but I send you 
 the paper. 
 
 I know the lady you mention (Mrs. Montague) ; having, 
 when in England before, met her once or twice at Lord 
 Bath's. I remember I then entertained the same opinion 
 of her that you express. On the strength of your recom- 
 mendation, I purpose soon to wait on her. 
 
 This is unexpectedly grown a long letter. The visit to 
 
 such were the sentiments of Lord Karnes on the question of right between 
 Britain and her colonies, it appears, that, on viewing the matter in the light 
 of expediency, he had very early formed an opinion, that, in the relative 
 situation of the two countries, and looking to the probable chance of in- 
 creasing animosities, and matters being driven to extremity, either by the 
 erring policy or factious views of some of the leaders in both, it would be a 
 wise measure in the British government to waive the question of strict right, 
 and to consent freely to a consolidating union with America, by giving that 
 country a full representation in Parliament. On this subject he had written 
 to Dr. Franklin as early as the end of the year 1765, at the time when the 
 first intelligence arrived in this country of the disorders occasioned by the 
 attempts to carry the Stamp Act into execution ; and he had written a 
 second letter to him on the same subject, in the beginning of 1767. Dr. 
 Franklin's answer to these letters is extremely interesting, and affords a 
 striking specimen of the profound sagacity and foresight of that extraordi- 
 nary man." 
 
 Mr. Tytler adds : " This excellent letter, as appears by a subsequent one, 
 from the same hand, was in all probability intercepted, as it was not received 
 by Lord Karnes in the regular course of communication. Dr. Franklin, 
 however, having preserved a copy, transmitted it two years afterwards to his 
 correspondent. The opinions it conveyed were thus probably well known 
 to the persons at the head of administration. It had been happy, if they had 
 paid them that attention, which the wisdom of the counsels they contained 
 deserved." — Tytler'S Life 0/ Lord Karnes, Vol. ii. 2d ed. pp. 99, 112. — S. 
 
ifiT. 6i.] LORD CHATHAM'S HEALTH. 52 1 
 
 Scotland, and the *'Art of Virtue," we will talk of here- 
 after. 
 
 To Cadwaiia- I am always glad to hear from you, when you 
 
 der Evans, ^ -, • i x 1 • 
 
 dated Lon- have leisurc to write, and I expect no apologies 
 
 don, 5 May for your not writing. I wish all correspond - 
 1767. 
 
 ence was on the foot of writing and answering 
 
 when one can, or when one is disposed to it, without the 
 compulsions of ceremony. I am pleased with your scheme 
 of a Medical Library at the Hospital ; and I fancy I can 
 procure you some donations among my medical friends 
 here, if you will send me a catalogue of what books you 
 already have. Enclosed I send you the only book of the 
 kind in my possession here, having just received it as a 
 present from the author. It is not yet published to be 
 sold, and will not be for some time, till the second part 
 is ready to accompany it. 
 
 I thank you for your remarks on the gout. They may be 
 useful to me, who have already had some touches of that 
 distemper. As to Lord Chatham, it is said that his consti- 
 tution is totally destroyed and gone, partly through the 
 violence of the disease, and partly by his own continual 
 quacking with it. There is at present no access to him. 
 He is said to be not capable of receiving, any more than 
 of giving, advice. But still there is such a deference paid 
 to him, that much business is delayed on his account, that 
 so when entered on it may have the strength of his concur- 
 rence, or not be liable to his reprehension, if he should re- 
 cover his ability and activity. The ministry, we at present 
 have, has not been looked upon, either by itself or others, 
 as settled, which is another cause of postponing every thing 
 not immediately necessary to be considered. New men, 
 
5 22 LEGAL TENDER OF PAPER MONEY. [.Et. 6l. 
 
 and perhaps new measures, are often expected and appre- 
 hended, whence arise continual cabals, factions, and in- 
 trigues among the outs and ins, that keep every thing in 
 confusion. And when affairs will mend is very uncertain. 
 
 To Joseph In my last of May 20th, I mentioned my 
 ted °London ^opes that wc should at length get over all 
 13 June, 1767. obstructions to the repeal of the act restraining 
 the legal tender of paper money; but those hopes are now 
 greatly lessened. 
 
 The ministry had agreed to the repeal, and the notion 
 that had possessed them, that they might make a revenue 
 from paper money in appropriating the interest by Parlia- 
 ment, was pretty well removed by my assuring them that it 
 was my opinion no colony could make money on those 
 terms, and that the benefits arising to the commerce of this 
 country in America from a plentiful currency would there- 
 fore be lost and the repeal answer no end, if the Assemblies 
 were not allowed to appropriate the interest themselves ; 
 that the crown might get a great share upon occasional 
 requisitions, I made no doubt, by voluntary appropriations 
 of the Assemblies ; but they would never establish such 
 funds as to make themselves unnecessary to government. 
 Those and other reasons, that were urged, seemed to satisfy 
 them, so that we began to think all would go on smoothly, 
 and the merchants prepared their petition, on which the 
 repeal was to be founded. But in the House, when the 
 chancellor of the exchequer had gone through his proposed 
 American revenue, viz. by duties on glass, china ware, 
 paper, pasteboard, colors, tea, &c., Grenville stood up and 
 undervalued them alias trifles; and, says he, *' I will tell 
 the honorable gentleman of a revenue, that will produce 
 
JEt.61.'] legal tender OF PAPER MONEY. 523 
 
 something valuable in America; make paper money for the 
 colonies, issue it upon loan there, take the interest, and 
 apply it as you think proper." Mr. Townshend, finding the 
 House listened to this and seemed to like it, stood up 
 again and said, that was a proposition of his own, which 
 he had intended to make with the rest, but it had slipped 
 his memory, and the gentleman, who must have heard of it, 
 now unfairly would take advantage of that slip and make a 
 merit to himself of a proposition that was another's, and as 
 a proof of it, assured the House a bill was prepared for the 
 purpose, and would be laid before them. 
 
 This startled all our friends ; and the merchants con- 
 cluded to keep back their petition for a while, till things 
 appeared a little clearer, lest their friends in America should 
 blame them, as having furnished foundation for an act, 
 that must have been disagreeable to the colonies. I found 
 the rest of the ministry did not like this proceeding of the 
 chancellor's, but there was no going on with our scheme 
 against his declaration, and, as he daily talked of resigning, 
 there being no good agreement between him and the rest, 
 and as we found the general prejudice against the colonies 
 so strong in the House, that any thing in the shape of a 
 favor to them all was like to meet with opposition, whether 
 he was out or in, I proposed to Mr. Jackson the putting our 
 colony foremost, as we stood in a pretty good light, and 
 asking the favor for us alone. This he agreed might be 
 proper in case the chancellor should go out, and undertook 
 to bring in a bill for that purpose, provided the Philadel- 
 phia merchants would petition for it ; and he wished to 
 have such a petition ready to present, if an opening for it 
 should offer. Accordingly I applied to them, and prepared 
 a draft of a petition for them to sign, a copy of which ] 
 47 Y 
 
524 LEGAL TENDER OF PAPER MONEY, [^r. 61. 
 
 •send you enclosed. They seemed generally for the measure ; 
 but, apprehending the merchants of the other colonies, who 
 had hitherto gone hand in hand with us in all American 
 affairs, might take umbrage if we now separated from them, 
 it was thought right to call a meeting of the whole to con- 
 sult upon this proposal. 
 
 At this meeting I represented to them, as the ground of 
 this measure, that, the colonies being generally out of favoi 
 at present, any hard clause relating to paper money in the 
 repealing bill will be more easily received in Parliament, if 
 the bill related to all the colonies; that Pennsylvania, 
 being in some degree of favor, might possibly alone obtain 
 a better act than the whole could do, as it might by govern- 
 ment be thought as good policy to show favor where there 
 had been the reverse; that a good act obtained by Penn- 
 sylvania might another year, when the resentment against 
 the colonies should be abated, be made use of as a prece- 
 dent, &c. &c. But, after a good deal of debate it was 
 finally concluded not to precipitate matters, it being very 
 dangerous by any kind of petition to furnish the chancellor 
 with a horse on which he could put what saddle he thought 
 fit. The other merchants seemed rather averse to the 
 Pennsylvania merchants proceeding alone, but said they 
 were certainly at liberty to do as they thought proper. The 
 conclusion of the Pennsylvania merchants was to wait awhile, 
 holding the separate petition ready to sign and present, if 
 a proper opening should appear this session, but otherwise 
 to reserve it to the next, when the complexion of ministers 
 and measures may probably be changed. And, as this 
 session now draws to a conclusion, I begin to think nothing 
 will be farther done in it this year. 
 
 Mentioning the merchants puts me in mind of some dis- 
 
^.T. 6i.] COMPLAINTS OF MERCHANTS. 525 
 
 course I heard among them, that was by no means agree- 
 able. It was said, that, in the opposition they gave the 
 Stamp Act, and their endeavours to obtain the repeal, they 
 had spent at their meetings, and in expresses to all parts of 
 this country, and for a vessel to carry the joyful news to 
 North America, and in the entertainments given our friends 
 of both Houses, &c., near fifteen hundred pounds ; that for 
 all this, except from the little colony of Rhode Island, they 
 had not received as much as a thank ye ; that, on the con- 
 trary, the circular letters they had written with the best in- 
 tentions to the merchants of the several colonies, containing 
 their best and most friendly advice, were either answered 
 with unkind reflections, or contemptuously left without 
 answer ; and that the captain of the vessel, whom they sent 
 express with the news, having met with misfortunes, that 
 obliged him to travel by land through all the colonies from 
 New Hampshire to Pennsylvania, was everywhere treated 
 with neglect and contempt, instead of civility and hospi- 
 tality ; and nowhere more than at Philadelphia, where, 
 though he delivered letters to the merchants, that must make 
 him and his errand known to them, no one took the least 
 notice of him. I own I was ashamed to hear all this, but 
 hope there is some mistake in it. I should not have troubled 
 you with this account, but that I think we stand in truth 
 greatly obliged to the merchants, who are a very respectable 
 body, and whose friendship is worth preserving, as it may 
 greatly help us on future occasions ; and therefore I wish 
 some decent acknowledgments or thanks were sent from the 
 Assemblies of the colonies, since their correspondents have 
 omitted it. 
 
 I have said the less of lat2 in my letters concerning the 
 "petitions, because I hoped this summer to have an oppor 
 
526 MINISTERIAL THREATS. [^Et. 61 
 
 tunity of communicating every thing viva voce, and there 
 are particulars that cannot safely be trusted to paper. Per- 
 haps I may be more determined as to returning or staying 
 another winter, when I receive my next letters from you 
 and my other friends in Philadelphia. 
 
 We got the chancellor to drop his salt duty. And the 
 merchants trading to Portugal and Spain, he says, have made 
 such a clamor about the intention of suffering ships to go 
 directly with wine, fruit, and oil, from those countries to 
 America, that he has dropped that scheme, and we are it 
 seems to labor a little longer under the inconveniences of 
 the restraint. 
 
 It is said the bill to suspend the legislatures of New York 
 and Georgia, till they comply with the act of Parliament for 
 quartering soldiers, will pass this session. I fear that im- 
 prudencies on both sides may, step by step, bring on the 
 most mischievous consequences. It is imagined here, that 
 this act will enforce immediate compliance ; and, if the 
 people should be quiet, content themselves with the laws 
 they have, and let the matter rest, till in some future war 
 the King wanting aids from them, and finding himself 
 restrained in his legislation by the act as much as the 
 people, shall think fit by his ministers to propose the re- 
 peal, the Parliament will be greatly disappointed ; and 
 perhaps it may take this turn. I wish nothing worse may 
 happen.* 
 
 * Besides the offence given to the government by the legislature of New 
 York, in refusing to provide for quartering soldiers, the merchants of the city 
 of New York petitioned for the repeal of the acts of Parliament restraining 
 the trade of the colonies. The petition was presented to Parliament and 
 read, but was then ordered to lie on the table, and no further notice was 
 taken of it. The conduct of the New Yorkers, on both these accounts, 
 
Mt. 6 1.] VISIT FROM A MUSE. 5 27 
 
 The present ministry will probably continue through this 
 session. But their disagreement, with the total inability of 
 Lord Chatham, through sickness, to do any business, must 
 bring on some change before next winter. I wish it may 
 be for the better, but fear the contrary. 
 
 To Miss Mary We were greatly disappointed yesterday, 
 
 Stevenson, . 1 j i i • 1 ,- 
 
 dated Craven ^"^^ ^^'^ ^^^ ^°^ ^^'^^ pleasure, promised us, of 
 
 St., 17 June, our dear Polly's company. Your good mother 
 1767. 
 
 would have me write a line in answer to your 
 
 letter. A muse, you must know, visited me this morning ! 
 
 [ see you are surprised, as I was. I never saw one before, 
 
 raised against them a great outcry in England ; and Franklin, according to 
 his custom in such cases, endeavored to quiet the clamor and vindicate his 
 countn,'men, by an accurate representation of the circumstances in the pub 
 lie papers. Among his manuscripts I find a fragment of an article, which 
 seems to relate to this occasion, signed "A Friend to Both Countries." The 
 closing part only remains, and is as follows : 
 
 " or refuses to comply with an act of Parliament, is a rebel, I am 
 
 afraid we have many more rebels among us than we are aware of; among 
 others, they that have not registered the weights of their plate, and paid the 
 duty, are all rebels ; and these, I think, are not a few ; to whom may be 
 added the acting rebels that wear French silks and cambrics. 
 
 " As to the petition mentioned above, I have been informed it is from a 
 number of private persons, merchants of New York, stating their opinion, 
 that several restraints in the acts of trade, laid on the commerce of the col- 
 onies, are not only prejudicial to the colonies, but to the mother country. 
 They give their reasons for this opinion. These reasons are to be judged 
 of here. If they are found to be good, and supported by facts, one would 
 think, that, instead of censure, those merchants might deserve thanks. If 
 othenvise, the petition maybe laid aside. Petitioning is not rebellion. The 
 very nature of a petition acknowledges the power it petitions to, and the 
 subjection of the petitioner. 
 
 " But, in party views, molehills are often magnified to mountains ; and 
 when the wolf is determined on a quarrel with the lamb, up stream or down 
 stream is all one. Pretences are easily found or made. Reason and 
 justice are out of the question.'" — S. 
 47* 
 
5 28 J^^S DAUGHTER'S ENGAGEMENT. [.Et. 6i. 
 
 and shall never see another, so I took the op])ortunity of her 
 help to put the answer into verse, because I was some verse 
 in your debt ever since you sent me the last pair of garters. 
 This muse appeared to be no housewife. I suppose few 
 of them are. She was dressed (if the expression is allowa- 
 ble) in an undress^ a kind of slatternly «<f^//^<f^, neither neat 
 nor clean, nor well made ; and she has given the same sort 
 of dress to my piece. On reviewing it, I would have re- 
 formed the lines, and made them all of a length, as I am 
 told lines ought to be ; but I find I cannot lengthen the 
 short ones without stretching them on the rack, and I think 
 it would be equally cruel to cut off any part of the long 
 ones. Besides the superfluity of these makes up for the de- 
 ficiency oi those ; and so, from a principle of justice, I leave 
 them at full length, that I may give you, at least in one 
 sense of the word, good measure. 
 
 To his wife, It scems HOW as if I should stay here another 
 a e on- ^yjj^|.g^ ^-^^ therefore I must leave it to youi 
 
 don, 22 June, ' -' 
 
 1767. judgment to act in the affair of our daughter's 
 
 match, as shall seem best.* If you think it a suitable one, 
 I suppose the sooner it is completed the better. In that 
 case I would advise, that you do not make an expensive 
 feasting wedding, but conduct every thing with frugality 
 and economy, which our circumstances now require to be 
 observed in all our expenses. For, since my partnership 
 with Mr. Hall is expired, a great source of our income is 
 cut off; and, if I should lose the postoflfice, which, among 
 ihe many changes here, is far from being unlikely, we should 
 
 • Sally Franklin, the doctor's only daughter, married Richard Bache, 
 October 29, 1767. She was twenty-three years of age. — Ed. 
 
^T. 6i.] HIS DAUGHTER'S ENGAGEMENT. 529 
 
 be reduced to our rents and interest of money for a sub- 
 sistence, which will by no means afford the chargeable 
 housekeeping and entertainments we have been used to. 
 
 For my own part, I live here as frugally as possible not 
 to be destitute of the comforts of life, making no dinners for 
 anybody and contenting myself with a single dish when I 
 dine at home; and yet such is the dearness of living here 
 in every article, that my expenses amaze me. I see, too, 
 by the sums you have received in my absence, that yours 
 are very great ; and I am very sensible that your situation 
 naturally brings you a great many visiters, which occasions 
 an expense not easily to be avoided, especially when one 
 has been long in the practice and habit of it. But, when 
 people's incomes are lessened, if they cannot proportionably 
 lessen their outgoings, they must come to poverty. If we 
 were young enough to begin business again, it might be 
 another matter ; but I doubt we are past it, and business 
 not well managed ruins one faster than no business. In 
 short, with frugality and prudent care we may subsist 
 decently on what we have, and leave it entire to our chil- 
 dren ; but without such care we shall not be able to keep it 
 together ; it will melt away like butter in the sunshine, and 
 we may live long enough to feel the miserable consequences 
 of our indiscretion. 
 
 I know very little of the gentleman or his character, nor 
 can I at this distance. I hope his expectations are not 
 great of any fortune to be had with our daughter before our 
 death. I can only say, that, if he proves a good husband 
 to her and a good son to me, he shall find me as good a 
 father as I can be ; but at present, I suppose you would 
 agree with me, that we cannot do more than fit her out 
 handsomely in clothes and furniture, not exceeding in the 
 
C30 RELATIVES IN ENGLAND. [.Et. 61. 
 
 whole five hundred pounds of value. For the rest, they 
 must depend, as you and I did, on their own industry and 
 care, as what remains in our hands will be barely sufficient 
 for our support, and not enough for them when it comes to 
 be divided at our decease. 
 
 Sally Franklin is well. Her father, who had not seen 
 her for a twelvemonth, came lately and took her home with 
 him for a few weeks to see her friends. He is very desirous 
 I should take her with me to America. 
 
 I suppose the blue room is too blue, the wood being of 
 the same color with the paper, and so looks too dark. I 
 would have you finish it as soon as you can, thus ; paint the 
 wainscoat a dead white; paper the walls blue, and tack the 
 gilt border round just above the surbase and under the cor- 
 nice. If the paper is not equally colored when pasted on, 
 let it be brushed over again with the same color, and let the 
 papiermache musical figures be tacked to the middle of the 
 ceiling. When this is done, I think it will look very well. 
 
 I am glad to hear that Sally keeps up and increases the 
 number of her friends. The best wishes of a fond father 
 for her happiness always attend her. 
 
 To Samuel I should sooucr havc answered your kind 
 teT" London' l^^^cr of last year, but postponed it from time 
 17 July, 1767. to time, having mislaid the print I intended 
 to send you, which I have now found and send herewith. 
 I am glad to hear of the welfare of yourself and your family, 
 which I hope will long continue. My love to them all. 
 It gives me pleasure whenever I find that my endeavours* 
 
 * The grandson of Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Franklin's uncle, after whom 
 he was named. — Ed. 
 
iET. 6 1 .] FA MIL V AFFAIRS. 5 3 j 
 
 to serve America are acceptable to my friends there. Your 
 kind notices of them are very obliging. 
 
 I find here but two of our relations remaining, that bear 
 the name of Franklin, viz. Thomas Franklin of Lutterworth 
 in Leicestershire, a dyer, and his daughter Sally Franklin, 
 about fourteen years of age, who has been with me in Lon- 
 don about a year, and sends her duty to you. Thomas 
 Franklin is the grandson of John Franklin, your grand- 
 father's brother. There are besides still living, Eleanor 
 Morris, an old maiden lady, daughter of your grandfather's 
 sister Hannah ; and also Hannah Walker, granddaughter 
 of his brother John. Mrs. Walker has three sons. She 
 lives at Westbury, in Buckinghamshire, and Mrs. Morris 
 with her. And these are the whole. It is thought best by 
 my friends that I should continue here another winter. 
 
 To his wife, Captain Ourry dined here a few days since, 
 don 5 Aug" ^"^^ thanks you for remembering him, desiring 
 1767- his respects to you and Sally. Mr. Strahan 
 
 and family, the same. I received the bill sent by Mr. Potts, 
 and suppose it will be duly paid. You will return him the 
 overplus. I wish I could take my passage this time with 
 Captain Falconer. I was on board the other day with Mr. 
 and Mrs. West,* Mrs. Stevenson, and Mrs. Hopkinson, to 
 drink tea. It is a fine ship, and I think it not unlikely 
 that I may go with him next time, as he is a very kind, 
 good friend, whom I much respect. 
 
 I am glad you go sometimes to Burlington. The harmony 
 you mention in our family and among our children gives 
 
 * Mr. Benjamin West, the painter, with whom Dr. Franklin was long on 
 .erms of intimate friendship. — Ed. 
 
 V* 
 
532 FAMILY AFFAIRS. [.Et. 6l. 
 
 me great pleasure. I am sorry to hear of the death of oiy 
 good old friend Debby Norris. She was a worthy good 
 woman and will be missed. If I can in any shape be of 
 service to Mr. Francis, you may depend I shall do it, being 
 much concerned for his misfortune. I am told the affair is 
 like to turn out better for him than was expected. Sally 
 Franklin is now in the country with her father. She is an 
 only child, and a very good girl. 
 
 I received the watch chain, which you say you send to be 
 put to rights. I do not see what it wants. Mrs. Stevenson 
 says it is too old-fashioned for Sally, and advised sending the 
 watch also, to be changed away for a new watch and chain. 
 
 In your last letters you say nothing concerning Mr. Bache. 
 The misfortune, that has lately happened to his affairs, 
 though it may not lessen his character as an honest or a 
 prudent man, will probably induce him to forbear entering 
 hastily into a state, that must require a great addition to his 
 expense, when he will be less able to supply it. If you think 
 that, in the mean time, it will be some amusement to Sally 
 to visit her friends here, and return with me, I should have 
 no objection to her coming over with Captain Falconer, 
 provided Mrs. Falconer comes at the same time, as is talked 
 of. I think too it might be some improvement to her. 1 
 am at present meditating a journey somewhere, perhaps to 
 Bath or Bristol ; as I begin to find a little giddiness in m> 
 head, a token that I want the exercise I have yearly been 
 accustomed to. I long to see you, and be with you. 
 
 To Joseph The confusion among our great men still 
 ted °London' c<^'itinues as much as ever, and a melancholy 
 8 Aug., 1767. thing it is to consider, that, instead of employ- 
 ing the present leisure of peace in such measures as might 
 
iET. 6 1 . ] C04L IT/ ON MINIS TRY. 533 
 
 extend our commerce, pay off" our debts, secure allies, and 
 increase the strength and ability of the nation to support a 
 future war, the whole seems to be wasted in party conten- 
 tions about places of power and profit, in court intrigues 
 and cabals, and in abusing one another. 
 
 There has lately been an attempt to make a kind of coali- 
 tion of parties in a new ministry ; but it fell through, and 
 the present set is like to continue for some time longer, 
 which I am rather pleased with, as some of those who were 
 proposed to be introduced are professed adversaries to 
 America, which is now made one of the distinctions of 
 party here; those who have in the two last sessions shown 
 a disposition to favor us, being called by way of reproach, 
 Americans ; while the others, adherents to Grenville and 
 Bedford, value themselves on being true to the interests of 
 Britain, and zealous for maintaining its dignity and sove- 
 reignty over the colonies. 
 
 This distinction v/ill, it is apprehended, be carried much 
 higher in the next session, for the political purpose of in- 
 fluencing the ensuing election. It is already given out that 
 the compliance of New York, in providing for the quarters, 
 without taking notice of its being done in obedience to the 
 act of Parliament, is evasive and unsatisfactory ; that it is 
 high time to put the right and power of this country to tax 
 the colonies out of dispute, by an act of taxation, effectually 
 carried into execution, and that all the colonies should be 
 obliged explicitly to acknowledge that right. Every step 
 is taking to render the taxing of America a popular measure 
 here, by continually insisting on the topics of our wealth 
 and flourishing circumstances, while this country is loaded 
 with debt, great part of it incurred on our account, the dis- 
 tress- of the poor here by the multitude and weight of taxes, 
 
534 TAXING AMERICA MADE POPIIIAR. [/Ex. 6i 
 
 &c. &c. ; and, though the traders and manufacturers may 
 possibly be kept in our interest, the idea of an American 
 tax is very plea.sing to the landed men, who therefore readily 
 receive and propagate these sentiments wherever they have 
 influence. 
 
 If such a bill should be brought in, it is hard to say what 
 would be the event of it, or what would be the effects. 
 Those who oppose it, though they should be strong enough 
 to throw it out, would be stigmatized as Americans, be- 
 trayers of Old England, &c., and perhaps, our friends by 
 this means \jting excluded, a majority of our adversaries 
 may get in. and then the act infallibly passes the following 
 session. To avoid the danger of such exclusion, perhaps 
 little opposition will be given, and then it passes immedi- 
 ately. I know not what to advise on this occasion, but that 
 we should all do our endeavours on both sides of the water 
 to lessen the present unpopularity of the American cause, coii 
 ciliate the affections of people here towards us, increase by all 
 possible means the number of our friends, and be careful 
 not to weaken their hands and strengthen those of our ene- 
 mies by rash proceedings on our side, the mischiefs of which 
 are inconceivable. Some of our friends have thought that 
 a publication of my Examination here might answer some 
 of the above purposes, by removing prejudices, refuting 
 falsehoods, and demonstrating our merits with regard to this 
 country. It is accordingly printed, and has a great run. I 
 have another piece in hand, which I intend to put out about 
 the time of the meeting of Parliament, if those I consult 
 with shall judge that it may be of service."^ 
 
 * Probably the piece entitled, " Causes of the American Discontents be- 
 Csre 1768." See Sparks's Works of Franklin, voL iv. p. 242. — Ed. 
 
^T. ei.J PAPER MONEY NOT LEGAL 7ENDER. 533 
 
 The next session of Parliament will probably be a short 
 one, on account of the following election ; and I am now 
 advised, by some of our great friends here, to see that out, 
 not returning to America till the spring. My presence 
 indeed is necessary there to settle some private affairs. Un- 
 foreseen and unavoidable difficulties have hitherto ob- 
 structed our proceedings in the main intent of my coming 
 over, and perhaps (though I think my being here has not 
 been altogether unserviceable) our friends in the Assembly 
 may begin to be discouraged and tired of the expense. If 
 that should be the case, I would not have you propose to 
 continue me as agent at the meeting of the new Assembly. 
 My endeavours to serve the province, in what I may while 
 I remain here, shall not be lessened by that omission. 
 
 I am glad you have made a trial of paper money, not a 
 legal tender. The quantity being small may perhaps be 
 kept in full credit notwithstanding; and, if that can be 
 avoided, I am not for applying here again very soon for a 
 repeal of the restraining act. I am afraid an ill use will be 
 made of it. The plan of our adversaries is to render As- 
 semblies in America useless, and to have a revenue, inde- 
 pendent of their grants, for all the purposes of their defence 
 and supporting governments among them. It is our interest 
 to prevent this. And, that they may not lay hold of our 
 necessities for paper money, to draw a revenue from that 
 article whenever they grant us the liberty we want, of making 
 it a legal tender, I wish some other method may be fallen 
 upon of supporting its credit. What think you of getting 
 all the merchants, traders, and principal people of all sorts, 
 to join in petitions to the Assembly for a moderate emission, 
 the petition being accompanied with a mutual engagement 
 -to take it in all dealings at the rates fixed by law ? Such an 
 48 
 
536 PAPER MONEY NOT LEGAL TENDER. [.Et. 61. 
 
 engagement had a great effect in fixing the value and rates 
 of onr gold and silver. Or, perhaps, a bank might be 
 established that would answer all purposes. Indeed I think 
 wit): you, that those merchants here, who have made diffi- 
 culties on the subject of the legal tender, have not under- 
 stood their own interest. For there can be no doubt, that, 
 should a scarcity of money continue among us, we shall take 
 off less of their merchandise, and attend more to manufac- 
 turing, and raising the necessaries and superfluities of life 
 among ourselves, which we now receive from them. And 
 perhaps this consequence would attend our making no paper 
 money at all of any sort, that, being thus by want of cash 
 driven to industry and frugality, we should gradually become 
 more rich without their trade, than we can possibly be with 
 it, and, by keeping in the country the real cash that comes 
 into it, have in time a quantity sufficient for all our occa- 
 sions. But I suppose our people will scarce have patience 
 to wait for this. 
 
 I have received the printed votes, but not the laws. 
 I hear nothing yet of any objection made by the Proprie- 
 taries to any of them at the Board of Trade. 
 
 Please to present my duty to the Assembly, with thanks 
 for their care of me, and assure them of my most faithful 
 services. 
 
 To William Last week I dined at Lord Shelburne's, and 
 
 Franklin, i 1 1 , • • i 1 • 1 ■» ^r 
 
 Governor of '^^^ ^ ^^"S Conversation with him and Mr. 
 New Jersey, Couway (there being no other company) on 
 
 dated Lon- 
 don, 28 Aug., the subject of reducing American expense. 
 
 ''^^" They have it in contemplation to return the 
 
 management of Indian affairs into the hands of the several 
 
 provinces on which the nations border, that the colonies 
 
iEx. 6i.] THE WALPOLE GRANT. 53^ 
 
 may bear the charge of treaties, &c., which they think will 
 then be managed more frugally, the treasury being tired with 
 the immense drafts of the superintendents. I took the 
 opportunity of urging it as one means of saving expense in 
 supporting the outposts, that a settlement should be made 
 in the Illinois country ; expatiated on the various advan- 
 tages, viz. furnishing provisions cheaper to the garrisons, 
 securing the country, retaining the trade, raising a strength 
 there, which on occasion of a future war might easily be 
 poured down the Mississippi upon the lower country, and 
 into the Bay of Mexico, to be used against Cuba or Mexico 
 itself. I mentioned your plan, its being approved by Sir 
 William Johnson, the readiness and ability of the gentlemen 
 concerned to carry the settlement into execution, with very 
 little expense to the crown, &c. The secretaries appeared 
 finally to be fully convinced, and there remained no ob- 
 stacle but the Board of Trade, which was to be brought 
 over privately, before the matter should be referred to them 
 officially. In case of laying aside the superintendents, a 
 provision was thought of for Sir William Johnson.* 
 
 * The subject here introduced, which is frequently mentioned in letters to 
 his son, relates to an application by a company to the crown for the grant of 
 a tract of land west of the Alleghanies, with the design of establishing a colony 
 there. It was called Walpole s Grant, from the circumstance of Mr. Thomas 
 Walpole having been the principal person concerned in procuring it. The 
 scheme originated with Colonel Croghan, William Franklin, and Sir William 
 Johnson. The project is intimated, apparently at its first stage, in the fol- 
 lowing extract from a letter written by Governor Franklin to his father. 
 
 " Colonel Croghan is highly incensed at the treatment he has received 
 from the proprietary officers in Pennsylvania, and has been a means of 
 bringing Sir William Johnson and General Gage to think favorably of the 
 Assembly, and to wish them success. K few of us, fi-om his encouragement, 
 have formed a company to purchase of the French, settled at the lUinois, 
 such lands as they have a good title to, and are inclined to dispose of. But, 
 is I thought it would be of little avail to buy lands in that country, unless a 
 
538 DISCOURSE ON AMERICAN AFFAIRS. [iEx. 6i. 
 
 We had a good deal of farther discourse on American 
 affairs, particularly on paper money. Lord Shelburne de- 
 clared himself fully convinced of the utility of taking off 
 the restraint, by my answer to the Report of the Board of 
 Trade. General Conway had not seen it, and desired me 
 to send it to him, which I did next morning. They gave 
 me expectation of a repeal next session, Lord Clare being 
 come over; but they said there was some difficulty with 
 others at the Board, who had signed that Report ; for there 
 was a good deal in what Soame Jenyns had laughingly said, 
 when asked to concur in some measure, I have 7io kind of 
 objection to it, provided we have heretofore signed nothing to 
 the contrary. 
 
 In this conversation I did not forget our main Pennsyl- 
 vania business, and I think made some farther progress, 
 though but little. The two secretaries seemed intent upon 
 preparing business for next Parliament, which makes me 
 think, that the late projects of changes are now quite over, 
 and that they expect to continue in place. But whether 
 they will do much or little, I cannot say. 
 
 Du Guerchy, the French ambassador, is gone home, and 
 
 colony were established there, I have drawn up some proposals for that pur- 
 pose, which are much approved of by Colonel Croghan and the other gen- 
 tlemen concerned in Philadelphia, and are sent by them to Sir William 
 Johnson for his sentiments, and, when we receive them, the whole will be 
 forwarded to you. It is proposed that the company shall consist of twelve, 
 now in America, and, if you like the proposals, you will be at liberty to add 
 yourself, and such gentlemen of character and fortune in England, as you 
 may think will be most likely to promote the undertaking." — April 2pth, 1766. 
 The plan of purchasing of the French seems to have been subsequently 
 abandoned, and the company applied to the crown for a tract of unsettled 
 lands mostly between the Alleghanies and the Ohio River. Lord Hills- 
 borough opposed the petition, and one of Franklin's ablest papers was written 
 in reply to a report made by him on the subject to the Board of Trade. — S 
 
i^T. 6i.] ADVANCES OF FRENCH AMBASSADOR. 539 
 
 Monsieur Diirand is left minister plenipotentiary. He is 
 extremely curious to inform himself in the affairs of Amer- 
 ica; pretends to have a great esteem for me, on account of 
 the abilities shown in my examination ; has desired to have 
 all my political writings, invited me to dine with him, was 
 very inquisitive, treated me with great civility, makes me 
 visits, &c. I fancy that intriguing nation would like very 
 well to meddle on occasion, and blow up the coals between 
 Britain and her colonies; but I hope we shall give them no 
 opportunity. 
 
 I write this in a great hurry, being setting out in an hour 
 on another journey with my steady, good friend, Sir John 
 Pringle. We propose to visit Paris. Durand has given me 
 letters of recommendation to the Lord knows who. I am 
 told I shall meet with great respect there;* but winds 
 change, and perhaps it will be full as well if I do not. We 
 shall be gone six weeks. I have a little private commission 
 to transact, of which more another time. 
 
 Communicate nothing of this letter but privately to our 
 friend Galloway. 
 
 To Miss Mary Soon after I left you in that agreeable society 
 dated"^Paris ^^ Bromlcy, I took the resolution of making a 
 
 14 September, trip with Sir John Pringle into France. We 
 1767. 
 
 set out on the 28th past. All the way to 
 
 Dover we were furnished with postchaises, 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 country; which 
 
 ■* This is the first intimation we have from Franklin of the tendency of 
 France and the British American colonies to gravitate towards a common 
 tentre, a tendency pregnant with such important consequences. — Ed. 
 48- 
 
540 '^'f^l^' TO PARIS, L^T. 6i. 
 
 being one of my great pleasures, I was engaged in perpetual 
 disputes with the innkeepers, ostlers, 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 contrary 
 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 by 
 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, be- 
 cause, 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 swallowed 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 
 between the cup and the lip. If ever you go to sea, take 
 my advice, and live sparingly a day or two beforehand. 
 The sickness, if any, will be lighter and sooner over. We 
 got to Calais that evening. 
 
 Various impositions we suffered from boatmen, porters, 
 and the like, on both sides the water. I know not which 
 are most rapacious, the English or French, but the latter 
 have, with their knavery, most politeness. 
 
< i: T. 6 1 . ] R OADS.—PEA SANTS.— WOMEN. 5 4 1 
 
 The roads we found equally good with ours in England, 
 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 the poor 
 peasants complained to us grievously, that they were obliged 
 to work upon the roads full two months in the year, without 
 being paid for their labor. Whether this is truth, or 
 whether, like Englishmen, they grumble, cause or no cause, 
 I have not yet been able fully to inform myself. 
 
 The women we saw at Calais, on the road, at Boulogne, 
 and in the inns and villages, were generally of dark com- 
 plexions; 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 woollen 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 
 industry, wheels and looms going in every house. 
 
 As soon as we left Abbeville, the swarthiness returned. 
 I speak generally; for here are some fair 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 may be 
 done. Cut a hole of three inches diameter in a piece of 
 
542 FASHION.— THE QUEEN. [^r. 6i. 
 
 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 actresses on the stage upwards 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. 
 
 You see I speak of the Queen as if I had seen her; and 
 50 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 gra- 
 ciously 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 Gra?td Convert, where the family sup in 
 piblic. The table was half a hollow square, the service 
 gold. When either made a sign for drink, the word was 
 given by one of the waiters; A boire pour le Roi, or A boire 
 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, as that othei 
 c'^airs 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 roya) 
 family; and did me too the honor of taking some notice 
 
-Et. 6i.] THE KING.— VERSAILLES. 543 
 
 of me j 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 ex- 
 ceeded eighty millions sterling. The range of buildings is 
 immense; the garden-front most magnificent, all of hewn 
 stone; the number of statues, figures, urns, &c., 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 Ver- 
 sailles 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 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 
 ivith 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 crowd 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 con- 
 
544 F/A\Sy IMPRESSIONS OF PARIS. [^r. 61. 
 
 ceive, that, though the streets here are narrow, they may 
 be much less encumbered. They are extremely well paved, 
 and the stones, being generally cubes, when worn on one 
 side, may be turned and become new. 
 
 The civilities we everywhere receive give us the strongest 
 impressions of the 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 immediately remitted on that account. At the Church 
 of Notre Dame, where we went to see a magnificent illu- 
 mination, with figures, &c., for the deceased Dauphiness, 
 we found an immense crowd, who were kept out by guards; 
 but, the officer being told that we were strangers from Eng- 
 land, he immediately admitted us, accompanied and showed 
 us every thing. Why don't we practise this urbanity to 
 Frenchmen? Why should they be allowed to outdo us in 
 any thing? 
 
 Here is an exhibition of painting, like ours in London, 
 to which multitudes flock daily. I am not connoisseur 
 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. 
 
 Travelling is one way of lengthening life, at least in 
 appearance. It is but about a fortnight since we left Lon- 
 
/Et. 6 1.] FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF PARIS. 54^ 
 
 don, 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 ! They told me I 
 was become twenty years younger, and looked very gallant. 
 
 This letter shall cost you a shilling, and you may con- 
 sider 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 the way, 
 now I mention cards, let me tell you that quadrille is now 
 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. It is true, I cannot help it, but must and 
 ever shall remember you all with pleasure. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Walpole Grant again — Change of Ministry — Hillsborough named Sec 
 retary of State for America — Franklin edits " The Farmer's Letters"— 
 Particulars of his Election to the Royal Society — Powers of Parliament 
 over the Colonies defined — Corruption at Elections — Dissolution of Par- 
 liament. 
 
 I767-1768. 
 
 To William I THINK the New Yorkers have been very 
 ted" London' ^iscreet in forbearing to write and publish 
 25 Nov., 1767. against the late act of Parliament. I wish the 
 Boston people had been as quiet, since Governor Bernard 
 has sent over all their violent papers to the ministry, and 
 wrote them word that he daily expected a rebellion. He 
 did indeed afterwards correct this extravagance, by writing 
 again, that he now understood those papers were approved 
 by few, and disliked by all the sober, sensible people of the 
 province. A certain noble Lord expressed himself to me 
 with some disgust and contempt of Bernard on this occasion, 
 saying he ought to have known his people better, than to 
 impute to the whole country sentiments, that perhaps are 
 only scribbled by some madman in a garret ; that he ap- 
 peared to be too fond of contention, and mistook tlie matter 
 greatly, in supposing such letters as he wrote were accept- 
 able to the ministry. I have heard nothing of the appoint- 
 646 
 
JiLT. 01. J THE WALPOLE GRANT. ^47 
 
 ment of General Clark to New York ; but I know he is a 
 friend of Lord Shelburne's, and the same that recommended 
 Mr. Maclean to be his secretary. Perhaps it might be talked 
 of in my absence. 
 
 The commissioners for the American Board went hence 
 while I was in France. You know before this time who they 
 are, and how they are received, which I want to hear. 
 Mr. Williams, who is gone in some office with them, is 
 brother to our cousin Williams of Boston ; but I assure you 
 I had not the least share in his appointment, having, as I 
 told you before, carefully kept out of the way of that whole 
 affair. 
 
 As soon as I received Mr. Galloway's, Mr. Samuel Whar- 
 ton's, and Mr. Croghan's letters on the subject of the 
 boundary, I communicated them immediately to Lord 
 Shelburne. He invited me the next day to dine with him. 
 Lord Clare was to have been there, but did not come. 
 There was nobody but Mr. Maclean. My Lord knew 
 nothing of the boundary's having ever been agreed on by 
 Sir William, had sent the letters to the Board of Trade, 
 desiring search to be made there for Sir William's letters, 
 and ordered Mr. Maclean to search the secretary's office, 
 who found nothing. We had much discourse about it, and 
 I pressed the importance of despatching orders immediately 
 to Sir William to complete the affair. His Lordship asked 
 who was to make the purchase, that is, be at the expense. 
 I said, that, if the line included any lands within the grants 
 of the charter colonies, they should pay the purchase money 
 of such proportion. If any within the proprietary grants, 
 they should pay their proportion ; but that what was within 
 royal governments, where the King granted the lands, the 
 
 crown should pay fDr that proportion. His Lordship was 
 49 z 
 
548 THE WALPOLE GRANT. [vEt. 6i. 
 
 pleased to say, he thought this reasonable. He finally 
 desired me to o^o to Lord Clare, as from him, and urge the 
 business there, which I undertook to do. 
 
 Among other things at this conversation, we talked of the 
 new settlement. His Lordship told me he had himself 
 drawn up a paper of reasons for those settlements, which he 
 laid before the King in Council, acquainting them that he 
 did not offer them merely as his own sentiments; they were 
 what he had collected from General Amherst, Dr. Franklin, 
 and Mr. Jackson, three gentlemen that were allowed to be 
 the best authorities for anything that related to America. 
 I think he added that the Council seemed to approve of the 
 design. I know it was referred to the Board of Trade, who 
 I believe have not yet reported on it, and I doubt will 
 report against it. My Lord told me one pleasant circum- 
 stance, viz. that he had shown his paper to the Dean of 
 Gloucester (Tucker), to hear his opinion of the matter; 
 who very sagaciously remarked, that he was sure that papei 
 was drawn up by Dr. Franklin ; he saw him in every para 
 graph; adding, that Dr. Franklin wanted to remove the 
 seat of government to America ; that, says he, is his c»n 
 stant plan. 
 
 I waited next morning upon Lord Clare, and pressed tne 
 matter of the boundary closely upon him. He said they could 
 not find they had ever received any letters from Sir William 
 concerning this boundary, but were searching farther ; 
 agreed to the necessity of settling it ; but thought there 
 would be some difficulty about who should pay the purchase 
 money ; for that this country was already so loaded, it could 
 bear no more. We then talked of the new colonies. I 
 found he was inclined to think one near the mouth of the 
 Ohio might be of use in securing the country, but did no* 
 
Mt.6i.} paper money in PENNSYLVANIA. c^q 
 
 much approve that at Detroit. And, as to the trade, he 
 imagined it would be of little consequence, if we had all the 
 peltry to be purchased there, but supposed our traders would 
 sell it chiefly to the French and Spaniards at New Orleans, 
 as he heard they had hitherto done. 
 
 At the same time that we Americans wish not to be judged 
 of, in the gross, by particular papers written by anonymous 
 scribblers and published in the colonies, it would be well 
 if we could avoid falling into the same mistake in America, 
 in judging of ministers here by the libels printed against 
 them. The enclosed is a very abusive one, in which if there 
 is any foundation of truth, it can only be in the insinuation 
 contained in the words ^' after elevc7i adjournments,'' that 
 they are too apt to postpone business ; but, if they have 
 given any occasion for this reflection, there are reasons and 
 circumstances that may be urged in their excuse. 
 
 It gives me pleasure to hear, that the people of the other 
 colonies are not insensible of the zeal, with which I occa- 
 sionally espouse their respective interests, as well as the 
 interests of the whole. I shall continue to do so as long as 
 I reside here and am able. 
 
 To Joseph I am inclined to think with you, that the 
 ted '^London small sum you have issued to discharge the 
 I Dec, 1767. public debts only will not be materially af- 
 fected in its credit for want of the legal tender, considering 
 especially the present extreme want of money in the prov- 
 ince. You appear to me to point out the true cause of the 
 general distress, viz. the late luxurious mode of living intro- 
 duced by a too great plenty of cash. It is indeed amazing 
 to consider, that we had a quantity sufficient before the 
 ^ar began, and that the war added immensely to that quan- 
 
550 ^^^- GRENVILLE. fiET. 6l. 
 
 tity, by the sums spent among us by the crown, and the 
 paper struck and issued in the province ; and now in so few 
 years all the money spent by the crown is gone away, and 
 has carried with it all the gold and silver we had before, 
 leaving us bare and empty, and at the same time more in 
 debt to England than ever we were. But I am inclined to 
 think, that the mere making more money will not mend our 
 circumstances, if we do not return to that industry and fru- 
 gality, which were the fundamental causes of our former 
 prosperity. I shall nevertheless do my utmost this winter 
 to obtain the repeal of the act restraining the legal tender, 
 if our friends the merchants think it practicable, and will 
 heartily espouse the cause ; and, in truth, they have full as 
 much interest in the event as we have. 
 
 The present ministry, it is now thought, are likely to con- 
 tinue at least till a new Parliament ; so that our apprehen- 
 sions of a change, and that Mr. Grenville would come in 
 again, seem over for the present. He behaves as if a little 
 out of his head on the article of America, which he brings 
 into every debate without rhyme or reason, when the matter 
 has not the least connexion with it. Thus, at the beginning 
 of this session on the debate upon the King's speech, he 
 tired everybody, even his friends, with a long harangue 
 about and against America, of which there was not a word 
 in the speech. Last Friday he produced in the House a 
 late Boston Gazette, which he said denied the legislative 
 authority of Parliament, was treasonable, rebellious, &c., 
 and moved it might be read, and that the House would take 
 cognizance of it ; but, it being moved on the other hand 
 that Mr. Grenville's motion should be postponed to that 
 day six months, it was carried without a division; and, as 
 it is known that this Parliament will expire before that time, 
 
.«T. 6 1 . J BOS TON RESOL UTIONS, 5 5 i 
 
 it was equivalent to a total rejection of the motion. The 
 Duke of Bedford, too, it seems, moved in vain for a con- 
 sideration of this paper in the House of Lords. These are 
 favorable symptoms of the present disposition of Parliament 
 towards America, which I hope no conduct of the Americans 
 will give just cause of altering. 
 
 To William The resolutions of the Boston people con- 
 tlT^London" ccrning trade make a great noise here. Par- 
 10 Dec, 1767. liament has not yet taken notice of them, but 
 the newspapers are in full cry against America. Colonel 
 Onslow told me at court last Sunday, that I could not con- 
 ceive how much the friends of America were run upon and 
 hurt by them, and how much the Grenvillians triumphed. 
 I have just written a paper for next Tuesday's Chronicle to 
 extenuate matters a little.* 
 
 Mentioning Colonel Onslow reminds me of something, 
 that passed at the beginning of this session in the House 
 
 * Scarcely had Franklin returned to London from his continental trip, 
 when news arrived of the retaliatory measures which the series of revenue 
 acts of Parliament had provoked in Boston. They were regarded as but the 
 Stamp Act in a new disguise, and as a continuation of a poHcy which it was 
 hoped had been abandoned with that odious measure. Disappointed and 
 indignant, the Bostonians assembled in town meeting, formally recommended 
 the encouragement of domestic manufactures and the abandonment of all 
 superfluities, and engaged themselves, after a stated time, to eschew entirely 
 the use of certain specified articles of foreign manufacture. 
 
 These resolutions, adopted on the 28th of October, 1767, produced 
 scarcely less excitement in England than the acts of Parliament which pro- 
 voked them had produced in the colonies. They were denounced as de- 
 liberately disrespectful to Parliament, and little short of rebellious. These 
 threats from the colonies worried Franklin, because they strengthened the 
 enemies of the actual ministry, which was doing the best it could for America. 
 To calm the excitement, Dr. Franklin wrote a paper which was printed, 
 though, as Dr. Franklin said, with the teeth drawn and the nails pared, that 
 
 49* 
 
5^2 BOSTON RESOLUTIONS. [^T. 6l 
 
 between him and Mr. Granville. The latter had been 
 raving against America, as traitorous, rebellious, &c., when 
 the former, who has always been its firm friend, stood up 
 and gravely said, that in reading the Roman history he 
 found it was a custom among that wise and magnanimous 
 people, whenever the senate was informed of any discontent 
 in the provinces, to send two or three of their body into 
 the discontented provinces, to inquire into the grievances 
 complained of, and report to the senate, that mild measures 
 might be used to remedy what was amiss, before any severe 
 steps were taken to enforce obedience; that this example 
 he thought worthy of our imitation in the present state of 
 our colonies, for he did so far agree with the honorable 
 gentleman, that spoke just before him, as to allow there 
 were great discontents among them. He should therefore 
 beg leave to move, that two or three members of Parliament 
 be appointed to go over to New England on this service. 
 And that it might not be supposed he was for imposing 
 burdens on others, which he would not be willing to bear 
 himself, he did at the same time declare his own willing- 
 ness, if the House should think fit to appoint them, to go 
 over thither with that honorable gentlema?i. Upon this there 
 was a great laugh, which continued some time, and was 
 rather increased by Mr. Grenville's asking, "Will the gen- 
 tleman engage, that I shall be safe there ? Can I be assured 
 
 it could neither scratch nor bite, in the London Chronicle, entitled " Causes 
 of the American Discontents before 1768." It did not save the ministry, 
 however. The king was determined that the colonies should feel and re- 
 spect his power, and so at the commencement of the following year Lord 
 Hillsborough took the place of Lord Shelbume, and was made Secretary of 
 State for America, a newly-created department, and was also placed at the 
 head of the Board of Trade. — Ed. 
 
Mt.6i.'\ AMERICAN representation. 55^ 
 
 that I shall be allowed to come back again to make the 
 report?" As soon as the laugh was so far subsided, as that 
 Mr. Onslow could be heard again, he added, "I cannot 
 absolutely engage for the honorable gentleman's safe return ; 
 but if he goes thither upon this service, I am strongly of 
 opinion the event will contribute greatly to the future quiet 
 of both countries." On which the laugh was renewed and 
 redoubled. 
 
 If our people should follow the Boston example in enter- 
 ing into resolutions of frugality and industry, full as neces- 
 sary for us as for them, I hope they will among other things 
 give this reason, that it is to enable them more speedily and 
 effectually to discharge their debts to Great Britain. This 
 will soften a little, and at the same time appear honorable 
 and like ourselves. 
 
 To John Ross, The instruction you mention, as proposed by 
 
 dated Lon- ^ . , n ., , 
 
 don 13 Dec. ^ ccrtam great man, was really a wild one. 
 1767- The reasons you made use of against it were 
 
 clear and strong, and could not but prevail. It will be time 
 enough to show a dislike to the coalition, when it is pro- 
 posed to us. Meanwhile we have all the advantage in the 
 argument of taxation, which our not being represented will 
 continue to give us. I think, indeed, that such an event 
 is very remote. This nation is indeed too proud to propose 
 admitting American representatives into their Parliament ; 
 and America is not so humble, or so fond of the honor, as 
 to petition for it. In matrimonial matches it is said, when 
 one party is willing, the match is half made ; but, where 
 neither party is willing, there is no great danger of their 
 coming together. And, to be sure, such an important 
 business would never be treated of by agents unempowered 
 
554 
 
 ELECTION TO THE ROYAL SOCLETY. f^T. 6i. 
 
 and uninstructed ; nor would government here act upon the 
 private opinion of agents, which might be disowned by their 
 constituents. 
 
 The present ministry seem now likely to continue through 
 this session ; and this, as a new election approaches, gives 
 them the advantage of getting so many of their friends chosen 
 as may give a stability to their administration. I heartily 
 wish it, because they are all well disposed towards America 
 
 To William Dear Son, — We have had an ng\y affair at 
 
 Franklin, da- ° ^ 
 
 ted London, the Royal Society lately. One Dacosta, a Jew, 
 19 December, ^^j^^ ^^ ^^j. ^\q^t^ ^g^ intrustcd with Collecting 
 
 our monies has been so unfaithful as to em- 
 bezzle near ^^1300 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 enquiry into and unravelling his 
 accounts in order to come to 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 this affair 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 who have not requested 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 
 
^T. 62.] CHANGE OF MINISTERS. 555 
 
 asked or expected the honor, I was, as I said before, 
 curious to see how the business was managed. I found that 
 the certificate, worded very advantageously for me, was 
 signed by Lord Macclesfield then President, Lord Parker 
 and Lord Willoughby ; that the election was by a unani- 
 mous 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 composition ; so that 
 my name was entered on the list with a vote of council that 
 I was not to pay a7iy thing, 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 contribution, or twenty-five 
 guineas down in lieu of it. In my case a substantial favor 
 accompanied the honor. 
 
 To William \yg have had so many alarms of changes, 
 
 Franklin, da- 
 ted London, 9 which did not take place, that just when I wrote 
 
 January, 1768. -^ ^^^^ thought the ministry would stand their 
 ground. However, immediately after, the talk was re- 
 newed, and it soon appeared that the Sunday changes were 
 actually settled. Mr. Conway resigns and Lord Weymouth 
 takes his place. Lord Gower is made President of the 
 Council in the room of Lord Northington. Lord Shel- 
 burne is stripped of the American business, which is given 
 to Lord Hillsborough as secretary of state for America, a 
 new distinct department. Lord Sandwich, it is said, comes 
 into the postoffice in his place. Several of the Bedford 
 party are now to come in. 
 
 How these changes may affect us, a little time will show. 
 Little at present is thought of but elections, which gives 
 
 me hopes that nothing will be done against America this 
 
 z* 
 
556 BOSTON RESOLUT/OiVS. [^Et. 62 
 
 session, though the Boston Gazette had occasioned some 
 heats, and the Boston Resolutions a prodigious clamor. I 
 have endeavoured to palliate matters for them as well as I 
 can. I send you my manuscript of one paper, though I 
 think you take the Chronicle. The editor of that paper, one 
 Jones, seems a Grenvillian, or is very cautious, as you will 
 5ee by his corrections and omissions. He has drawn the 
 teeth and pared the nails of my paper, so that it can neither 
 scratch nor bite. It seems only to paw and mumble. 1 
 send you also two other late pieces of mine. There is 
 another which I cannot find. 
 
 I am told there has been a talk of getting me appointed 
 under-secretary to Lord Hillsborough; but with little like 
 lihood, as it is a settled point here, that I am too much ot 
 an American. I am in very good health, thanks to God. 
 
 To Joseph I wrote to you by way of Boston, and have 
 ted Lrndon^g ^i^tlc to add, cxccpt to acquaint you that some 
 January, 1768. changes have taken place since my last, which 
 have not the most promising aspect for America, several of 
 the Bedford party being come into employment again ; a 
 party that has distinguished itself by exclaiming against us 
 on all late occasions, Mr. Conway, one of our friends, 
 has resigned, and Lord Weymouth takes his place. Lord 
 Shelburne, another friend, is stripped of the American part 
 of the business of his office, which now makes a distinct 
 department, in which Lord Hillsborough is placed. I do 
 not think this nobleman in general an enemy to America; 
 but, in the affair of paper money, he was last winter strongly 
 against us. 
 
 I did hope I had removed some of his prejudices on that 
 head, but am not certain. We have, however, increased 
 
-^T. 62.] FAMILY MATTERS. c^c^y 
 
 the cry for it here, and I believe shall attempt to obtain the 
 repeal of the act, though the Boston Gazette and their 
 resolutions about manufactures have hurt us much, having 
 occasioned an immense clamor here. I have endeavoured 
 to palliate matters for them as well as I can, and hope with 
 some success. For having, in a large company in which 
 were some members of Parliament, given satisfaction to all, 
 by what I alleged in explanation of the conduct of the 
 Americans, and to show that they were not quite so unrea- 
 sonable as they appeared to be, I was advised by several 
 present to make my sentiments public, not only for the sake 
 of America, but as it would be some ease to our friends 
 here, who are triumphed over a good deal by our adversaries 
 on the occasion. I have accordingly done it in the enclosed 
 paper. 
 
 To his wife, I received your kind letter by Captain Story, 
 don^ p°i^' of November 19th, and a subsequent one by 
 1768. Captain Falconer without date. I have re- 
 
 ceived also the Indian and buckwheat meal, that they 
 brought from you, with the apples, cranberries, and nuts, for 
 all which I thank you. They all prove good, and the 
 apples were particularly welcome to me and my friends, as 
 there happens to be scarce any of any kind in England this 
 year. We are much obliged to the captains, who are so 
 good as to bring these things for us, without charging any 
 thing for their trouble. 
 
 I am much concerned for my dear sister's loss of her 
 daughter. It was kind in you to write a letter of condo- 
 lence. I have also written to her on the occasion. I am 
 not determined about bringing Sally over with me, but am 
 obliged to you for the kind manner in which you speak of it, 
 
q ^ 3 LEGAL TENDER. [ /Et. 62. 
 
 and possibly I may conclude to do it.* I am sorry you 
 had so much trouble with that Nelson. By what is now 
 said of her here, she did not deserve the notice you took of 
 her, or that any credit should be given to her stories. I 
 am afraid she has made mischief in my family by her false- 
 hoods. I think your advice good, not to help any one to 
 servants. I shall never be concerned in such business again ; 
 I never was lucky in it. 
 
 P. S. I forgot to tell you that a certain very great lady, 
 the best woman in England, was graciously pleased to 
 accept some of your nuts, and to say they were excellent 
 This is to yourself only.f 
 
 To Joseph In mine of January 9th, I wrote to you thai 
 ted °London ^ believed, notwithstanding the clamor against 
 17 Feb., 1768. America had been greatly increased by the 
 Boston proceedings, we should attempt this session to 
 obtain the repeal of the restraining act relating to paper 
 money. The change of the administration, with regard to 
 American affairs, which was agreed on some time before the 
 new secretary kissed hands and entered upon business, made 
 it impossible to go forward with that affair, as the minister 
 quitting that department would not, and his successor could 
 not, engage in it ; but now our friends the merchants have 
 
 * This was Sally Franklin, the daughter of Thomas Franklin, a remote 
 family connexion. As this Thomas Franklin was in narrow circumstances, 
 Dr. Franklin took the charge of his daughter for several years. She married 
 in England, and did not visit America. — Ed. 
 
 f The following note explains this postscript : 
 
 " Dr. Franklin presents his respectful compliments to Lord Bathurst, with 
 some American nuts ; and to Lady Bathurst with some American apples ; 
 which he prays they will accept as a tribute from that countr)^ small indeed, 
 but voluntary." — Ed. 
 
^T. 62.] LORD HILLSBOROUGH. c^^c^ 
 
 been moving in it, and some of them have conceived hopes, 
 from the manner in which Lord Hillsborough attended to 
 their representations. It had been previously concluded 
 among us, that, if the repeal was to be obtained at all, it 
 must be proposed in the light of a favor to the merchants 
 of this country, and asked for by them, not by the agents 
 as a favor to America. But, as my Lord had, at sundry 
 times before he came into his present station, discoursed 
 with me on the subject, and got from me a copy of my 
 answer to his report, when at the head of the Board of 
 Trade, which some time since he thanked me for, and said 
 he would read again and consider carefully, I waited upon 
 him this morning, partly with intent to learn if he had 
 changed his sentiments. 
 
 We entered into the subject, and had a long conversation 
 upon it, in which all the arguments he used, against the 
 legal tender of paper money, were intended to demonstrate, 
 that it was for the benefit of the people themselves to have 
 no such money current among them ; and it was strongly 
 his opinion, that, after the experience of being without it 
 a few years, we should all be convinced of this truth, as he 
 said the New England colonies now were; they having 
 lately, on the rumor of an intended application for taking 
 off the restraint, petitioned here, that it might be continued 
 as to them. However, his Lordship was pleased to say, 
 that, if such application was made for the three colonies of 
 Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, as I proposed, 
 it should have fair play, he would himself give it no sort of 
 opposition ; but he was sure it would meet with a great 
 deal, and he thought it could not succeed. He was pleased 
 to make me compliments upon my paper, assuring me he 
 had read it with a great deal of attention, that I had said 
 50 
 
5 6o /^ ORD IJIL L SB OR O UGH. [,Et. 62 
 
 much more in favor of such a currency than he thought 
 could be said, and all he believed that the subject would 
 admit of; but that it had not on the whole changed his 
 opinion, any further than to induce him to leave the matter 
 now to the judgment of others, and let it take its course, 
 without opposing it as last year he had determined to have 
 done. 
 
 I go into the city to-morrow, to confer with the mer- 
 chants again upon it ; that, if they see any hopes, we may 
 at least try the event. But I own my expectations are now 
 very slender, knowing as I do, that nothing is to be done 
 in Parliament, that is not a measure adopted by ministry 
 and supported by their strength, much less any thing they 
 are averse X.o or indifferent about. 
 
 I took the opportunity of discoursing with his Lordship 
 concerning our particular affair of the change of govern- 
 ment, gave him a detail of all proceedings hitherto, the 
 delays it had met with, and its present situation. He was 
 pleased to say, he would inquire into the matter, and would 
 talk with me further upon it. He expressed great satisfac- 
 tion in the good disposition, that, he said, appeared now 
 to be general in America, with regard to government here, 
 according to the latest advices; and informed me, that he 
 had by his Majesty's order wrote the most healing letters 
 to the several governors, which, if shown to the Assemblies, 
 as he supposed they would be, could not but confirm th;it 
 good disposition. As to the permission we want to bring 
 wine, fruit, and oil directly from Spain and Portugal, and 
 to carry iron direct to foreign markets, it is agreed on all 
 hands that this is an unfavorable time to move in those 
 matters; George Grenville and those in the opposition, on 
 rvery hint of the kind, making a great noise about the Act 
 
^Et. 62.] PARLIAMENTARY BRIBERY. ^5i 
 
 of Navigation, that palladium of England, as they call it, 
 to be given up to rebellious America, &c. &c., so that the 
 ministry would not venture to propose it, if they approved. 
 I am to wait on the secretary again next Wednesday, and 
 shall write you further what passes, that is material. 
 
 The Parliament have of late been acting an egregious 
 farce, calling before them the mayor and aldermen of Ox- 
 ford, for proposing a sum to be paid by their old members 
 on being rechosen at the next election ; and sundry printers 
 and brokers, for advertising and dealing in boroughs, &c. 
 The Oxford people were sent to Newgate, and discharged, 
 after some days, on humble petition, and receiving the 
 Speaker's reprimand upon their knees. The House could 
 scarcely keep countenances, knowing as they all do, that 
 the practice is general. People say, they mean nothing 
 more than to beat down the price by a little discouragement 
 of borough jobbing, now that their own elections are all 
 coming on. The price indeed is grown exorbitant, no less 
 than four thousand pounds for a member. 
 
 Mr. Beckford has brought in a bill for preventing bribery 
 and corruption in elections, wherein was a clause to oblige 
 every member to swear, on his admission into the House, 
 that he had not directly or indirectly given any bribe to 
 any elector ; but this was so universally exclaimed against, as 
 answering no end but perjuring the members, that he has 
 been obliged to withdraw that clause. It was indeed a cruel 
 contrivance of his, worse than the gunpowder plot ; for 
 that was only to blow the Parliament up to heaven, this to 
 
 sink them all down to . Mr. Thurlow opposed his 
 
 bill by a long speech. Beckford, in reply, gave a dry hit 
 to the House, that is repeated everywhere. "The honor- 
 able gentleman," says he, "in his learned discourse, gave 
 
562 SECRETARY CONWAY [^t. 62. 
 
 US first one definition of corruption, then he gave us another 
 definition of corruption, and I think he was about to give 
 us a third. Pray does that gentleman imagine there is any 
 mernber of this House that does not know what corruption 
 is?" which occasioned only a roar of laughter, for they 
 are so hardened in the practice, that they are very little 
 ashamed of it. This between ourselves. 
 
 To Thomas The story you mention of Secretary Con- 
 ted London ' ^^ay's wondcring what I could be doing in 
 ao Feb., 1768. England, and that he had not seen me for a 
 considerablj time, savours strongly of the channel through 
 which it came, and deserves no notice. But, since his name 
 is mentioned, it gives me occasion to relate what passed 
 between us the last time I had the honor of conversing with 
 him. It was at court, when the late changes were first 
 rumored, and it was reported he was to resign the secre- 
 tary's office. Talking of America, I said I was sorry to 
 find, that our friends were one after another quitting the 
 administration, that I was apprehensive of the consequences, 
 and hoped what I heard of his going out was not true. He 
 said it was really tr; e, the employment had not been of his 
 choice, he had never any taste for it, but had submitted to 
 engage in it for a time, at the instance of his friends, and 
 he believed his removal could not be attended with any ill 
 consequences to America ; that he was a sincere welhvisher 
 to the prosperity of that country as well as this, and hoped 
 the imprudences of either side would never be carried to 
 such a height, as to create a breach of the union, so essen- 
 tially necessary to the welfare of both ; that, as long as his 
 Majesty continued to honor him with a share in his coun- 
 sels, America should always find in him a friend, &c. Thiji 
 
iEx. 62.] DANGERS FROM USE OF LEAD PIPE. 563 
 
 I write, as it was agreeable to me to hear, and I suppose will 
 be so to you to read. For his character has more in it of 
 the frank honesty of the soldier, than of the plausible insin- 
 cerity of the courtier ; and therefore what he says is more 
 to be depended on. 
 
 The Proprietor's dislike to my continuing in England, to 
 be sure, is very natural ; as well as to the repeated choice 
 of Assembly men, not his friends ; and probably he would, 
 as they so little answer his purposes, wish to see elections as 
 well as agencies abolished. They make him very unhappy, 
 but it cannot be helped. 
 
 To Mr. Live- I received your kind letter of November 
 London ^ 20 ^^^h. With a very welcome present of another 
 Feb., 1768. dozen of your wine. The former had been 
 found excellent by many good judges ; my wine merchant 
 in particular was very desirous of knowing what quantity of 
 it might be had, and at what price, to which I could give 
 him no satisfaction. I only said, that the grapes, being 
 uncultivated, were not very juicy ; I apprehended, so many 
 of them must be required, and so much labor in gathering 
 and pressing them, to produce a little wine, that the price 
 could not be very low. I shall apply this parcel as I did 
 the last, towards warming the hearts of the friends of our 
 country, and wellwishers to the change of its government. 
 
 To Cadwaiia- I wrote you a few lines by Capt. Falconer 
 
 dated Lon- ^"^ ^^'^^ y^^ ^^* Watson's new piece of Experi- 
 
 don, 30 Feb., mcnts in inoculation, which I hope will be 
 
 agreeable to you. 
 
 In yours of Nov. 20th you mention the lead in the worms 
 
 of stills as a probable cause of the dry bellyache among 
 50* 
 
564 . I^IANUFACrUKIiS DISCOURAGED. f^T. 62. 
 
 punch drinkers in our West Indies. I had before acquainted 
 Dr. Baker with a fact of that kind, the general mischief 
 done by the use of lead worms, when rum-distilling was 
 first practised in New England, which occasioned a severe 
 law there against them ; and he has mentioned it in the 
 2d part of the piece not yet published. I have long been 
 of opinion, that this distemper proceeds always from a 
 metallic cause only, observing that it affects, among trades- 
 men those that use lead, however different their trades, as 
 glaciers, letter founders, plumbers, potters, white lead 
 makers, and painters ; (from the latter, it has been conjec- 
 tured, it took its name Colica Pictomvn^ by the mistake of a 
 letter and not from its being the disease of Picton ;) and 
 although the worms of stills ought to be of pure tin, they 
 are often made of pewter, which has a mixture in it of lead. 
 The Boston people pretending to interfere with the manu- 
 factures of this country, makes a great clamor here against 
 America in general. I have endeavored therefore to palli- 
 ate matters a little in several public papers. It would as 
 you justly observe give less umbrage if we meddled only 
 with such manufactures as England does not attend to. 
 That of linen might be carried on more or less in every 
 family, (perhaps it can only do in a family way,) and silk 
 I think in most of the colonies. But there are many manu- 
 factures that we cannot carry on to advantage, though we 
 were at entire liberty. And after all this country is fond 
 of manufactures beyond their real value ; for the true source 
 of riches is husbandry. Agriculture is truly productive of 
 new wealth ; manufactures only change forms; and what- 
 ever value they give to the material they work upon, they 
 in the mean time consume an equal value of provisions, &c. 
 So that riches are not increased by manufacturing ; the only 
 
X.T. 62,] HILLSBOROUGH'S PLANS. 505 
 
 advantage is that provisions in the shape of manufactures 
 are more easily carried for sale in foreign markets. And 
 where the provisions cannot be easily carried to market, it 
 is well so to transform them for our own use as well as for 
 foreign sale. In families also where the children and ser- 
 vants of farmers have some spare time, it is well to employ 
 it in making something ; and in spinning or knitting, &c., 
 to gather up fragments (of time) that nothing may be lost ; 
 for these fragments, though small in themselves, amount to 
 something great in the year and the family must eat whether 
 they work or are idle. 
 
 But this nation seems to have increased the number of its 
 manufactures beyond reasonable bounds (for there are 
 bounds to every thing) whereby provisions are now risen to an 
 exorbitant price by the demand for supplying home mouths : 
 so that there may be an importation from foreign countries; 
 but the expense of bringing provisions from abroad to feed 
 manufacturers here will so enhance the price of the manu- 
 factures that they may be made cheaper where the provi- 
 sions grow and the mouths will go to the meat.''' 
 
 To William The purposc of settling the new colonies 
 ted London" secms at present to be dropped, the change of 
 
 13 March, American administration not appearing favor- 
 1768. 
 
 able to it. There seems rather to be an incli- 
 nation to abandon the posts in the back country, as more 
 expensive than useful; but counsels are so continually 
 fluctuating here, that nothing can be depended on. The 
 
 * In the decade in which England drove her American Colonies to re- 
 bellion she first began to experience the necessity of importing grain. 
 Her needs have increased with her population, until now she imports more 
 than half her breadstuffs, and is more dependent upon America than upon 
 all other countries in the world together for the food she consumes. Brit- 
 ish mouths, too, for the last quarter of a century have been going in con- 
 Btantly increasing proportions to the meat. — Ed. 
 
^^^ THE '' FARMER'S letters:' [i^T. 62. 
 
 new secretary, my Lord Hillsborough, is, I find, of opinion, 
 that the troops should be placed, the chief part of them, in 
 Canada and Florida, only three battalions to be quartered 
 in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; and that 
 Forts Pitt, Oswego, Niagara, &c., should be left to the 
 colonies to garrison and keep up, if they think it necessary, 
 for the protection of their trade. Probably his opinion may 
 be followed, if the new changes do not produce other ideas. 
 
 As to my own sentiments, I am weary of suggesting them 
 to so many different inattentive heads, though I must con- 
 tinue to do it while I stay among them. The letters from 
 Sir William Johnson, relating to the boundary, were at 
 last found, and orders were sent over about Christmas for 
 completing the purchase and settlement of it. My Lord 
 Hillsborough has promised me to send duplicates by this 
 1 acket, and urge the speedy execution, as we represented 
 to him the danger, that these dissatisfactions of the Indians 
 might produce a war. But I can tell you, there are many 
 here, to whom the news of such a war would give pleasure ; 
 who speak of it as a thing to be wished; partly as a chas- 
 tisement to the colonies, and partly to make them feel the 
 want of protection from this country, and pray for it. For 
 it is imagined, that we could not possibly defend ourselves 
 against the Indians without such assistance; so little is the 
 state of America understood here. 
 
 My Lord Hillsborough mentioned the '' Farmer's Let- 
 ters" to me, said he had read them, that they were well 
 written, and he believed he could guess who was the author, 
 looking in my face at the same time, as if he thought it 
 was me. He censured the doctrines as extremely wild. I 
 have read them as far as No. 8. I know not if any 
 more have been published. I should have thought they 
 
JET. 62.] I'lIE ''FARMER'S LETTERSP 567 
 
 had been written by Mr. Delancey, not having heard any 
 mention of the others you point out as joint authors."^ I 
 am not yet master of the idea these and the New England 
 writers have of the relation between Britain and her colo- 
 nies. I know not what the Boston people mean by the 
 ''subordination" they acknowledge in their Assembly to 
 Parliament, while they deny its power to make laws for 
 them, nor what bounds the Farmer sets to the power he 
 acknowledges in Parliament to ''regulate the trade of the 
 colonies," it being difficult to draw lines between duties for 
 regulation and those for revenue; and, if the Parliament is 
 to be the judge, it seems to me that establishing such prin- 
 ciples of distinction will amount to little. 
 
 The more I have thought and read on the subject, the 
 more I find myself confirmed in opinion, that no middle 
 doctrine can be well maintained, I mean not clearly with 
 intelligible arguments. Something might be made of either 
 of the extremes; that Parliament has a power to make all 
 laws for us, or that it has a power to make 710 laws for us; 
 and I think the arguments for the latter more numerous and 
 weighty, than those for the former. Supposing that doctrine 
 established, the colonies would then be so many separate 
 states, only subject to the same king, as England and Scot- 
 land were before the union. And then the question would 
 be, whether a union like that with Scotland would or would 
 not be advantageous to the whole. I should have no doubt 
 of the affirmative, being fully persuaded that it would be 
 best for the whole, and that though particular parts might 
 
 * The "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" were written by John 
 Dickenson, and pvblished the following year in England, with a preface by 
 Dr. Franklin. — Ed. 
 
568 THE '^ FARMER'S letters:' [i*:T. 62. 
 
 find particular disadvantages in it, they would find greater 
 advantages in the security arising to every part from the 
 increased strength of the whole. But such union is not 
 likely to take place, while the nature of our present relation 
 is so little understood on both sides of the water, and 
 sentiments concerning it remain so widely different. 
 
 As to the Farmer's combating, as you say they intend to 
 do, my opinion, that the Parliament might lay duties though 
 not impose internal taxes, I shall not give myself the 
 trouble to defend it. Only to you, I may say, that not 
 only the Parliament of Britain, but every state in Europe, 
 claims and exercises a right of laying duties on the exporta- 
 tion of its own commodities to foreign countries. A duty 
 is paid here on coals exported to Holland, and yet England 
 has no right to lay an internal tax on Holland. All goods 
 brought out of France to England, or any other country, 
 are charged with a small duty in France, which the con- 
 sumers pay, and yet France has no right to tax other coun- 
 tries. And in my opinion the grievance is not that Britain 
 puts duties upon her own manufactures exported to us, but 
 that she forbids us to buy the like manufactures from any 
 other country. This she does, however, in virtue of her 
 allowed right to regulate the commerce of the whole empire, 
 allowed I mean by the Farmer, though I think whoever 
 would dispute that right might stand upon firmer ground, 
 and make much more of the argument; but my reasons are 
 too many and too long for a letter. 
 
 Mr. Grenville complained in the House, that the gov- 
 ernors of New Jersey, New Hampshire, East and West 
 Florida, had none of them obeyed the orders sent them, to 
 give an account of the manufactures carried on in theii 
 respective provinces. Upon hearing this, I went after the 
 
^T. 62.] JEALOUSY OF THE COLONIES. 569 
 
 House was up, and got a sight of the reports made by the 
 other governors. They are all much in the same strain, 
 that there are no manufactures of any consequence; in 
 Massachusetts a little coarse woollen only, made in families 
 for their own wear; glass and linen have been tried and 
 failed. Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York much the 
 same. Pennsylvania has tried a linen manufactory, but it is 
 dropped, it being imported cheaper; there is a glasshouse 
 in Lancaster county, but it makes only a little coarse ware 
 for the country neighbours. Maryland is clothed all with 
 English manufactures. Virginia the same, except that in 
 their families they spin a little cotton of their own growing. 
 South Carolina and Georgia none. All speak of the dear- 
 ness of labor, that makes manufactures impracticable. 
 Only the governor of North Carolina parades with a large 
 manufacture in his country, that may be useful to Britain, 
 oi pine boards; they having fifty sawmills on one river. 
 
 These accounts are very satisfactory here, and induce the 
 Parliament to despise and take no notice of the Boston 
 resolutions. I wish you would send your account before 
 the meeting of next Parliament. You have only to report 
 a glasshouse for coarse window glass and bottles, and some 
 domrstic manufactures of linen and woollen for family use, 
 that do not half clothe the inhabitants, all the finer good^ 
 coming from England and the like. I believe you will be 
 puzzled to find any other, though I see great puffs in the 
 papers. 
 
 The Parliament is up, and the nation in a ferment with 
 the new elections. Great complaints are made that the 
 natural interests of country gentlemen in their neighbour- 
 ing boroughs is overborne by the moneyed interests of the 
 new people, who have got sudden fortunes in the Indies, 01 
 
570 VENALITY OF PARLIAMENT. [^t. 62. 
 
 as contractors. Four thousand poujids is now tlie market 
 price for a borough. In short, this whole venal nation is 
 now at market, will be sold for about two millions, and 
 might be bought out of the hands of the present bidders 
 (if he would offer half a million more) by the very Devil 
 himself. 
 
 I shall wait on Lord Hillsborough again next Wednesday, 
 on behalf of the sufferers by Indian and French depreda- 
 tions, to have an allowance of lands out of any new grant 
 made by the Indians, so long solicited, and perhaps still to 
 be solicited, in vain. 
 
 Petition of the '^^ "^^^ WORSHIPFUL ISAAC BiCKERSTAFF, 
 
 letter Z. 1768. ESQUIRE, CeNSOR-GeNERAL. 
 
 The petition of the letter Z, commonly called Ezzard, 
 Zed, or Izard, most humbly showeth : 
 
 That your petitioner is of as high extraction, and has as 
 good an estate as any other letter of the alphabet ; that 
 there is therefore no reason why he should be treated as 
 he is, with disrespect and indignity; that he is not only 
 actually placed at the tail of the alphabet, when he had as 
 much right as any other to be at the head ; but it is by the 
 injustice of his enemies totally excluded from the word 
 WISE, and his place injuriously filled by a little hissing, 
 crooked, serpentine, venomous letter, called S, when it 
 must be evident to your worship, and to all the world, that 
 W, I, S, E, do not spell Wize, but Wise. Your petitioner, 
 therefore, prays that the alphabet may, by your censorial 
 authority, be reversed ; and that in consideration of his 
 long suffering and patience he may be placed at the head 
 of it ; that S may be turned out of the word Wise, and the 
 petitioner employed instead of him. 
 
i^T. 62.] PETITION OF THE lETTER Z. t^ji 
 
 And your petitioner, as in duty bound, shall ever pray 
 &c., &c. Mr. Bickerstaff, having examined the allegations 
 of the above petition, judges and determines, that Z be 
 admonished to be content with his station, forbear reflec- 
 tions upon his brother letters, and remember his own small 
 usefulness, and the little occasion there is for him in the 
 Republic of Letters, since S, whom he so despises, can so 
 well serve instead of him. 
 
 %\ 2A 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 POOR RICHARDS ALMANAC. 
 
 The fame of this Almanac, which appeared under the 
 pseud' >nyme of Richard Saunders, and the first number of 
 which was issued when Franklin was only twenty-six }ears 
 of age, is one of the marvels of modern literature. Ex- 
 clusive of the monthly calendar, its contents have prob- 
 ably had a wider circulation, had more readers, and been 
 clothed in more languages, than any other publication in 
 the English or, indeed, any other tongue. It has also the 
 unique distinction of being the only almanac ever pub- 
 lished that owed its popularity entirely to its literary 
 merit. Yet all that Franklin himself liad to say of it in 
 his autobiography, when writing fifty-five years after the 
 first number appeared, will be found in the following 
 modest paragraph : 
 
 ''In 1732 I first publish'd my Almanack, under the 
 name of Richard Saunders ; it was continu'd by me about 
 twenty-five )ears, commonly call'd Poor Richard's Al- 
 manack. I endeavor' d to make it both entertaining and 
 useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand, that 
 I reap'd considerable profit from it, vending annually near 
 ten thousand. And observing tliat it was generally read, 
 scarce any neighborhood in the province being without it, 
 I consider' d it as a j^roper vehicle for conveying instruction 
 among the common people, who bought scarcely any other 
 572 
 
POOR RICHARD- S ALMANAC. 
 
 573 
 
 books; I there "ore filled aU 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 difficult for a man in wanr, to act 
 always honestly, as, to use here one of these proverbs, it is 
 hard for an empty sack to stand upright. 
 
 *' These proverbs, which contain the wisdom of many 
 ages and nations, I assembled and formed into a connected 
 discourse prefix'd to the Almanack 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 news- 
 papers of the Continent; reprinted in Britain on a broad 
 side, 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 
 paris'nioners and tenants. In Pennsylvania, as it dis- 
 couraged 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." 
 
 Franklin makes no allusion here to the humorous device 
 by which he insured the success of his Almanac ab ova, and 
 disi osed of the only competitor then in the almanac- 
 making business in Pennsylvania, but which in his assumed 
 character of an astrologer, under the name of Richard 
 Saunders, Philomath, is thus recorded in his first issue of 
 
 1733: 
 
 "The plain truth of the matter is. I am excessive poor, 
 and mv wife, good woman, is, I tell her, excessive proud ; 
 she cannot bear, she says, to sit spinning in her shift of 
 
5;74 rOOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 tow, while I do nothing but gaze at the stars ; and has 
 threatened more than once to burn all my books and rattling 
 traps (as she calls my instruments) if I do not make some 
 profitable use of them for my family. The printer has 
 offered me some considerable share of the profits, and I 
 have thus begun to comply with my dame's desire. 
 
 " Indeed this motive would have had force enough to 
 have made me publish an Almanac many years since, had it 
 not been overpowered by my regard for my good friend 
 and fellow student, Mr. Titan Leeds, whose interest I was 
 extreamly unwilling to hurt. 
 
 ''But this obstacle (I am far from speaking of it with 
 pleasure) is soon to be removed, since inexorable death, 
 who was never known to respect merit, has already prepared 
 the mortal dart ; the fatal sister has already extended her 
 destroying shears, and that ingenious man must soon be 
 taken from us. He dies, by my calculation, made at his 
 request, on Oct. 17, 1733. 3 ^^o-j 29 min., P. M., at the 
 very instant of the c/ of O and ? . By his own calculation 
 he will survive till the 26th of the same month. This small 
 difference between us we have disputed whenever we have 
 met these nine years past ; but at length he is inclinable 
 to agree with my judgment ; which of us is most exact, a 
 little time will now determine. As, therefore, these prov- 
 inces may not longer expect to see any of his performances 
 after this year, I think niNself free to take up the task, and 
 request a share of public encouragement, which I am the 
 more apt to hope for on this account ; that the buyer of 
 my Almanac may consider himsc^lf not only as purchasing 
 an useful utensil, but as performing an act of charity to his 
 
 poor Friend and Servant, 
 
 ''R. Saunders." 
 
 Among nature's gifts to Titan Leeds, unfortunately for 
 him, a sense of humor was not included, and in nu way 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 575 
 
 could he more effectually have played into his new com- 
 petitor's hands than by taking this bit of horse-play seri- 
 ously. But that was exactly what he did. When the time 
 rolled around for Leeds to issue his next Almanac, no 
 better way occurred to him of dealing with Franklin's 
 melancholy prognostications than to protest soberly and 
 earnestly against their correctness. In his Almanac for 
 1734 Leeds, to the great amusement of the public, thus 
 sets his rival right : 
 
 ''Kind Reader : 
 
 ''Perhaps it may be expected that I should say some- 
 thing conrerning an Almanack printed for the Year 1733, 
 Said to be writ by Poor Richard or Richard Saunders, 
 who for want of other matter was pleased to tell his 
 Readers, that he had calculated my Nativity, and from 
 thence predicts my Death to be the 17th of October, 1733, 
 at 22 min. past 3 a-Ch)ck in the Afternoon, and that these 
 Provinces may not exj ect to see any more of his {Titan 
 Leeds) Performances, and this precise Predicter, who pre- 
 dicts to a Minute, proposes to succeed me in Writing of 
 Almanacks ; but notwithstanding his false Prediction, I 
 have by the Mercy of God lived to write a Diary for the 
 Year 1734, and to publish the Folly and Ignorance of this 
 presumptuous Author. Nay, he adds another gross False- 
 hood in his said Almanack, viz — That by my own Calcu- 
 lation^ I shall survive until the 26th of the said Months 
 (October) which is as untrue as the former, for I do not 
 ])retend to that Knowledge, altho' he has usurpt the Know- 
 ledge of the Almighty herein, and manifested himself a 
 Fool and a Lyar. And by the mercy of God I have lived 
 to survive this conceited Scribblers Day and Minute 
 whereon he has predicted my Death ; and as I have sup- 
 plyed my Country with Almanacks for three seven Years 
 
57^ 
 
 J'OOA' A- IC HARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 by past, to general Satisfaction, so perhaps I may live to 
 write when his I'erformances are Dead. llius rmich from 
 your annual Friend, Titan Leeds. October ig, 1733 i 3- 
 Iw. J J ini?t. P. J/" 
 
 Had Franklin himself had the writing of Titan Leeds's 
 reply to his yW/ d' esprit, he could have produced nothing 
 that would have more perfectly answered his purpose, or 
 perhaps his expectations. 
 
 In his Almanac for 1734, whi^ h app^eared only a week 
 or two after that of his rival, he thus carries on the joke : 
 
 ''Courteous Reader: 
 
 " Your kind and charitable assistance last year in pur 
 chasing so large an impression of my Almanacks, has made 
 my cirrumstances much more easy in the wodd, and re- 
 quires my grateful acknowledgment. 
 
 ''My wife has been enabled to get a pot of her own, 
 and is no longer obliged to borrow one from a neighbour; 
 nor have we ever since 1 een without something of our own 
 to put in it. She has also got a pair of shoes, two new 
 shifts, and a new warm jetticoat; and for my part I have 
 bought a second-hand coat, so good that I am n')t now 
 ashamed to go to town or be seen there. These things 
 have rend r'd hci- temper so much more pacifick than it 
 us'd to be, that I may say, I have slept more and more 
 quietly within this last year, than in the three foregoing 
 yeas put together. Accept my hearty thanks therefor, and 
 mv sincere wishes for your health and prosperity. 
 
 " In the preface to my last Almanack, I foretold the 
 de th of my dear old friend and fellow-student, the learned 
 and ingenious Mr. Titan Leeds, which was to be the 17th 
 of October, 1733, 3 h ,. 29 m., P. M., at the very instant 
 of the c/ of O and ^ . By his own calculation, he was to 
 survive till the 26th of the same month, and expire in the 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 S77 
 
 time of the eclipse, near ii o'clock, A. M. At which of 
 these times he died, or whct'^.er he be really yet dead, I 
 cannot at this present writing positively assure my readers : 
 for as much as a disorder in my own family demanded m\- 
 presence, and would not permit me, as 1 had intended, to 
 be with him in his last moments, to receive his last em- 
 brace, to close his eyes, and do the duty of a friei d in 
 performing the last offices to the departed. 'I'herefore it is 
 that I cannot positively affirm wheiher he be dead or not ; 
 for the stars only show to the skilful what will ha|'pen in 
 the natural and universal chain of causes and effects; but 
 't is well known, that the events which would otherwise 
 certainly happen, at certain times, in the course of nature, 
 are sometimes set aside or postpon'd, for wise and good 
 reasons, by the immediate particular disposition of Provi- 
 dence; which i^articular dispositioi's the stars can by no 
 means discover or foreshow. There is, however, /'and I 
 cannot speak it vv-ithout sorrow,) the strongest probability 
 that my dear fi iend is no more ; for there appears in his 
 name, as I am assured, an Almanack for the year i 734, in 
 which 1 am treated in a very gross and unhandsome 
 manner; in which I am called a false predicter, an igno- 
 rant, a conceited scribbler, a fool, and a lyar. Mr. Leeds 
 was too well bred to use any man so indecently and so 
 scurrilously, and moreover h s esteem and affection for me 
 was extraordinary ; so that it is to be feared that pamphlet 
 may be only a contrivance of somebody or o her, who 
 hopes, i^erhajs, to sell two or three years' Almanacks still, 
 by the sole force and virtue of Mr. Leeds' name. But, 
 certainly, to put words into the miouth of a gentleman and 
 a man of letters against his friend, which the meanest and 
 most scand dous of the people might be ashamed to utter, 
 even in a drunken quarrel, is an unpardonable injury to 
 his memory, and an imposition upon the publick. 
 
 "Mr. Leeds was not only profoundly skilful in the 
 
578 
 
 POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 useful science he profess' d, but he was a man of exemplary 
 sobriety, a most sincere friend, and an exact performer of 
 his word. Tliese valuable qualifications, with many others, 
 so much endeared him to me, that although it should be 
 so, that contrary to all probability, contrary to my predic- 
 tion and his own, he might possibly be yet alive, yet my 
 loss of honour, as a prognosticator, cannot afford me so 
 much mortification as his life, health, and safety, would 
 give me joy and satisfaction. 
 
 " 1 am, courteous and kind reader, your poor friend and 
 
 servant, 
 
 *' R. Saunders. 
 
 " October 30, 1733." 
 
 Poor Leeds was still too dull to see the use which his 
 rival was making of him, and in his Almanac for 1735 thus 
 proceeds seriously to rebuke Franklin for the inaccuracy of 
 his predictions : 
 
 ''CORTEOUS AND KiND READER: 
 
 ** My Almanack being in its usual Method, needs no 
 Explanation ; but perhaps it may be expected by some that 
 I shall say something concerning Poor Richard, or other- 
 wise Richard Saunders' s Almanack, which I suppose was 
 printed in tlie Year 1733, ^^^ the ensuing year 1734, 
 wherein he useth me with such good Manners, I can 
 hardly find what to say to him, without it is to advise him 
 not to be too proud because by his Praedi^ ting my Death, 
 and his writing an Almanack (I suppose at his AVifes Re- 
 quest) as be himself says, she has got a Pot of her own 
 and not longer obliged to borrow one from a neighbour, 
 she has got also two new Shifts, a pair of New Shoes and 
 a new warm Petticoat ; and for his own j)art he had bought 
 a se( ond-hand Coat so good that he is not ashamed to go 
 to Town, or to be seen there, (Parturiant Montcs !) Put 
 if Falshood and Inginuity be so rewarded, \Vhat may he 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 579 
 
 expect if ever he be in a capacity to publish that that is 
 either Just or according to Art? Therefore I shall ^ay 
 little more about it than, as a Friend, to advise he will 
 never take upon him to praedict or ascribe any Persons 
 Death, till he has learned to do it better than he did 
 before." 
 
 Franklin's run on Titan Leeds had already effectually 
 secured the attention of the public, — he was now selling 
 his Almanacs at the rate of ten thousand a year, — and every 
 one was on the alert to know what new prank he would play 
 upon his enfeebled competitor. Nor did Franklin fail to 
 turn their curiosity to good account. He took the ground 
 that Leeds was really dead and others were speculating 
 upon his reputation by continuing the publication under 
 his name. 
 
 In his Almanac for 1735 he says, — 
 
 ''Courteous Reader: 
 
 ''This is the third time of my appearing in print, 
 hitherto very much to my own satisfaction, and I have 
 reason to hope, to the satisfaction of the publick also ; for 
 the publick is generous, and has been very charitable and 
 good to me. I should be ungrateful then, if I did not 
 take every opportunity of expressing my gratitude ; for 
 ingnitiim si dixcris omnia dixcris. I therefore return the 
 publick my most humble and hearty thanks. 
 
 " Whatever may be the musick of the spheres, how great 
 soever the harmony of the stars, 't is certain there is no 
 harmony among the star-gazers ; but they are perpetually 
 growling and snarling at one another like strange curs, or 
 like some men at their wives. I had resolved to keep the 
 peace on my own part, and affront none of them ; and I 
 shall persist in that resolution. But having receiv'd much 
 abuse from Titan Leeds deceas'd, (Titan Leeds when living 
 
^SO POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 would not have iist-d me so:) I say having receiv'd much 
 abuse from the ghost of Titan Leeds, who pretends to be 
 still living, and to write Almanacks in spight of me and 
 my predictions, I cannot help saying, that tho' I take it 
 patiently, I take it very unkindly. And whatever he may 
 pretend, 't is undoubtedly true that he is really defunct 
 and dead. First, because the stars are seldom disappointed, 
 never but in the case of wise men, sapiens doinijiabitiir 
 astris, and they foreshadowed his death at the time I 
 predicted it. Secondly, 't was requisite and necessary 
 he should die punctually at that time for the honor of 
 astrology, the art j-rofesscd both by him and his father 
 before him. Thirdly, 't is plain to every one that reads 
 his two last Almanacks, (for 1734 and '35,) that they are 
 not written with that life his performances use to be 
 written with ; the wit is low and flat ; the little hints dull 
 and spiritless ; nothing smart in them but Hudibras's 
 verses against astrology at the. heads of the months in the 
 last, which no astrologer but a dead 07ie would have in- 
 serted, and n(; man living \vov\A or could write such stuff 
 as the rest. But lastly, I shall co vince him from his own 
 words that he is dead, i ex o?'e sua condeninatus est,^ for in 
 his preface to his Almanack for 1734, he says: 'Saunders 
 adds another gross falsehood in his Almanack, viz., that 
 by my own calculation, I shall survive until the 26th of 
 the said month, October, 1733, whi h is as untrue as the 
 former.' Now if it be as Leeds says, untrue and a gross 
 falsehood, that he survived till the 26th of October, 1733, 
 then it is certainly true that he died before that time ; and 
 if he died before that time, he is dead now to all intents 
 and purposes, any thing he may say to the contrary not- 
 withstanding. And at what time before the 26th is it so 
 likely he should die, as at the time by me predicted, viz., 
 the i7!h of Oct'^ber aforesaid? But if some people will 
 walk and be troublesome after death, it may perhajis be 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 581 
 
 borne with a little, because it cannot well be avoided, un- 
 less one would be at the pains and expence of laying them 
 in the Red Sea ; however, they should not presume too 
 much upon the liberty allowed them. I know confine- 
 ment must needs be mighty irksome to the free spirit of 
 an astronomer, and I am too compassionate to proceed 
 suddenly to extremities with it; nevertheless, tho' I re- 
 solve with reluctance, I shall not long defer, if it does 
 not speedily learn to treat its living friends with better 
 manners. 
 
 * ' I am, courteous reader, your obliged friend and servant, 
 
 "■ R. Saunders. 
 
 " October 30, 1734." 
 
 By this time the suspicion had found its way into the 
 rather dense head of Friend Leeds that Franklin was 
 making game of him, and he proved to have wit enough 
 to carry no more grist to that mill. Franklin, having no 
 further use for him, looked about for some new device for 
 making his Almanac to be talked about. He found what 
 he sought in the following portentous catastrophes, which 
 his prophetic genius informed him were to overtake the 
 country during the current year 1736.* 
 
 * It was with pleasure I learned rince the publication of the last edition 
 of this work that the Leeds race in Pennsylvania is not extinct, but was 
 until recently, and I hope continues still to be, well represented by Mr. 
 Josiah W. Leeds, of Rocouncey, Pennsylvania, who is widely known by 
 his writings against war, intemperance, and gambling, and on education. 
 He tells me that his ancestor, six generations back, Daniel Leeds, of 
 Burlington, who was surveyor-general of West New Jersey, was also the 
 compiler of the first Leeds Almanac. The publication was continued 
 by his son Felix, and by the latter's son Titan, whom Franklin, as we 
 have seen, drove from the field. 
 
 It is a curious coincidence that Josiah W. Leeds's maternal grand- 
 father, Nathan Bassett, of Wilmington, Delaware, who had some reputa- 
 tion as a mathematician and an astronomer, was also a compiler and 
 publisher of an almanac. 
 
^32 POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 " ENIGMATICAL PROPHECIES 
 
 " Which they that do not understand, cannot well explain. 
 
 '* I. Before the middle of this year, a wind at N. East 
 will arise, during which the luater of the sea and rivers will 
 be in such a manner raised, that great part of the towns 
 of Boston, Newport, New- York, PhiladelpJiia, the low lands 
 of Marylatid and Virginia, and the town of Charleston in 
 South Carolina will be under water. Happy will it be for 
 the sugar and salt, standing in the cellars of those places, 
 if there be tight roofs and ceilings overhead ; otherwise 
 without being a Conjurer, a man may easily foretel that 
 such commodities will receive damage. 
 
 *' 2. About the middle of the year, great number of 
 vessels fully laden, will be taken out of the ports aforesaid, 
 by a power with which we are not now at war, and whose 
 forces shall not be descried or seen, either coming or 
 going. But in the end this may not be disadvantageous to 
 those places. 
 
 '' 3. However, not long after, a visible Army of 20,000 
 Musketeers will land, S(;me in Virginia and Maryland, and 
 some in the lower counties on both sides of Delaware, who 
 will over run the country, and sorely annoy the inhabitants: 
 But the air in this climate will agree with them so ill to- 
 wards winter, that they will die in tlie beginning of cold 
 weather like rotten sheep, and by Christmas the inhabitants 
 will get the better of them. 
 
 '' Note, — /// my nxt Almanack these Enigmatical Proph- 
 ecies 7vill be explained. ' ' 
 
 Accordingly, in his Almanac for 1737 we have the ex- 
 })lanati()n promi.-ed, — viz. : 
 
 *' T. The water of the sea and rivers is raised in vapours 
 by the sun, is form'd into clouds in the air, and thence 
 descends in rain. Now when there is rain overhead (which 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 583 
 
 frequently happens when the wind is at N. E.) the cities 
 and places on the earth beluw, are certainly iitider water. 
 
 "2. The power with which we were not then at war, 
 but which, it was said, would take many full laden vessels 
 out of our ports before the end of the year, is the Wind, 
 whose forces also are not descried either coning or going. 
 
 ** 3. The army which it was said would la?id in Virginia, 
 Maryiaftd, and the lower counties on Delaware, were not 
 Musketeers, with guns on their shoulders as some expected; 
 but their namesakes, in pronunciation, tho' truly spelt 
 Moschitos, arm'd only with a sharp sting. Every one 
 knows they are fish before they fly, being bred in the 
 water ; and therefore may properly be said to la?id before 
 they become generally troublesome." 
 
 In 1 738 Poor Richard surprises his readers with a preface 
 from Mistress Saunders, in which she sets forth at length 
 and in a very womanly way her reasons for refusing to 
 have the preface printed which her husband, who had gone 
 on a visit to ''an old star-gazer of his acquaintance," had 
 prepared and left for her to put in type. 
 
 ''preface by mistress SAUNDERS. 
 
 " Dear Readers : 
 
 " My good man set out last week for Potowmack, to 
 visit an old star-gazer of his acquaintance, and to see about 
 a little place for us to settle and end our days on. He left 
 a copy of his Almanack seal'd up, and bid me send it to 
 the press. I suspected something, and therefore, as soon 
 as he was gone, I open'd it, to see if he had not been 
 flinging some of his old skitts at me Just as I thought, 
 so it was. And truly (for want of something else to say, I 
 suppose,) he had put into his preface, that his wife, Bridget, 
 was this, and that, and t' other. What a pease-cods ! can- 
 not I have a little fault or two, but all the country must 
 
584 
 
 POOR RICHARD'S ALMAATAC. 
 
 see it in print ! They have already been told, at one time 
 that I am proud, another time that I am loud, and that I 
 have got a new petticoat, and abundance of that kind of 
 stuff; and now forsooth ! all the world must know, that 
 poor Dick's wife has lately taken a fancy to drink a liitle 
 tea now and then. A mighty matter truly, to make a song 
 of! 'T is true I had a liitle tea of a present from the 
 Printer last year; and what, must a- body throw it away? 
 In short, I thought the preface was not worth a-printing, 
 and so I fairly scratch' d it all out, and I believe you '11 
 like our Almanack never the worse for it. 
 
 ''Upon looking over the months, I see he has put in 
 abundance of foul weather this year ; and therefor I have 
 scattered here and there, where I could find room, some 
 fair, pleasant, sunshiny, &c., for the good women to dry 
 their clothes in. If it does not come to pass according to 
 my desire, I have shown my goodwill, however; and I 
 hope they'll take it in good part. 
 
 " I had a design to make some other corrections; and 
 particularly to change some of the verses that I don't very 
 well like ; but I have just now unluckily broke my spec- 
 tacles ; which obliges me tjD give it you as it is, and con- 
 clude your loving friend, 
 
 ' ' Bridget Saunders. ' ' 
 
 This preface by Mistress Bridget is followed by two 
 quodlibets of opposite sex from Poor Richard : 
 
 " Dick's wife was sick, and pos'd the doctors' skill. 
 Who differ' d how to cure th' inveterate ill. 
 Purging the one prescribed. No, quo'h another. 
 That will do neither good nor harm, my brother, 
 BIeedi?ig ' s the only way ; 't was quick reply'd, 
 That's certain death ; but e'en let Dick decide. 
 * r sc no great skill, ^ quo' Richard, ' ly the Rood, 
 But I think bleeding 'j- like to do most good. ^ " 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 585 
 
 "There are three faithful friends — an old wife, an old 
 dog, and ready money." 
 
 This introduction of Mistress Bridget recalls the ro- 
 mantic story he has given in his autobiography of his 
 landing in Philadelphia, yet a lad in his teens, with only a 
 few pence in his pocket, and, while munching a roll he 
 had bought on his way up Market Street, seeing his future 
 wife standing on her door-step as he passed, making to her 
 eyes, as she afterwards informed him, 'a most awkward 
 and ridiculous figure " This did not prevent her marrying 
 him some two }ears later, and making him ''a good and 
 faithful wife for forty-nine years." She died a few months 
 before Franklin returned from his mission to England as 
 agent of the Colonies, December 19, 1774. 
 
 In running over the several Poor Richard Almanacs one 
 can hardly fail to be struck with the numerous and kalei- 
 doscopic phases in which matrimony figures in their pages. 
 The quarre's and reconciliations of Punch and Judy are 
 the theme of the oldest drama in the world that yet keeps 
 the stage ; and Franklin, with the instinct of true genius, 
 was the first publisher to see how that theme could be 
 made available in the domestication of an almanac 
 
 In the very first one issued he pretends to have been 
 driven into business by his wife, who, he said, " is exces- 
 sive proud and cannot 1 ear to sit spinning in her shift 
 of tf)w while I do nothing but gaze at the stars." To 
 show with what va?ied skill he dealt with the lights and 
 shadows of matrimony, we will here present a few speci- 
 mens : 
 
 ''Ne'er take a wife till thou hast a house (and a fire) 
 to put her in." 
 
586 POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 And farther on the following : 
 
 ''Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut 
 afterwards." 
 
 The importance of punctuation is cleverly illustrated in 
 the following lines : 
 
 "a doubtful meaning. 
 
 '' The female kind is counted ill : 
 And is indeed : the contrary ; — 
 No man can find : that hurt they will : 
 But everywhere : shew charity : 
 To nobody ; malicious still ; 
 In word or deed : believe you me." 
 
 "the two or three necessaries. 
 
 ''Two or three frolicks abroad in sweet May, 
 Two or three civil things said by the way, 
 Two or three languishes, two or three sighs, 
 Two or three bless me'' s and let me die' s / 
 Two or three squeezes, aud two or three tow-zes. 
 With two or three hundred pounds spent at their houses, 
 Can never fail cuckolding two or three spouses." 
 
 January, 1735. 
 
 "Would men but follow what the Sex advise, 
 All things would prosper, all the World grow wise. 
 'T was by Rebecea' s Aid \k\2X Jacob won 
 His Father's Blessing from an elder Son. 
 Abusive Nabal ow'd his forfeit Life 
 To the wise Conduct of a prudent Wife. 
 At Hes/e?-' s Suit, the persecuting Sword 
 Was sheath'd, and Israel XWd to bless the Lord." 
 
 August, 1744. 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. rg^ 
 
 " Good Death, said a Woman, for once be so kind 
 To take me, and leave my dear Husband behind, 
 But when Death appear' d with a sour Grimace, 
 The Woman was dash'd at his thin hatchet face; 
 So she made him a Courts' y, and modestly sed, 
 If you come for my Husband, he lies there in Bed." 
 
 '■ ' Dick told his spouse, he durst be bold to swear 
 Wliate'er she praf d for, Heav'n would thwart her 
 
 prafr: 
 'Indeed !' says Nell, ' 't is what I'm pleased to hear ; 
 For now I II pray for your long life, my dear' " 
 
 September, 1743. 
 
 *' Time was my spo'^se and I could not agree, 
 Striving about superiority : 
 
 The text which saith that man and \vife are one, 
 Was the chief argument we stood upon : 
 She held, they both one woman should become ; 
 I held they should be man, and both but one. 
 l^hus we contended daily, but the strife 
 Could not be ended, till both were one wife." 
 
 October, 1733. 
 
 ' My sickly spouse, with many a si-h 
 Once told m^t,— -Dicky, I shall die; 
 I griev'd, but recollected strait, 
 'T was bootless to contend with fate : 
 So resignation to Heaven's will 
 Prepar'd me for succeeding ill ; 
 'T was well it did ; for on my life, 
 'T was Heaven's will to spare my wife." 
 
 January, 1740. 
 
r83 POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 " Says Roger to his wife, My dear, 
 The strangest piece of news I hear ! 
 A law, 't is said, will quickly pass 
 To purge the matrimonial class ; 
 Cuckolds, if any such we have here, 
 Must to a man be thrown i' the river. 
 She smiling cry'd — My dear, you seem 
 Surpriz'd — Fray ha' n' t you learn! d to swrni?'' 
 
 April, 1740. 
 
 '' Having considered," he says in his Almanac for 1739, 
 ''the infinite abuses arising from the false prognostications 
 published among you, made under the shadow of a pot of 
 drink or so, 1 have here calculated one of the most sure 
 and unerring that ever was seen in black and white, as 
 hereafter you will find, for doubtless it is a heinous, foul 
 and crying sin to deceive the poor gaping world, greedy 
 of the knowledge of futurity as we Americans all are." 
 
 He then proceeds to give what he terms •' a true prog- 
 nostication for 1739." Here is what he says under the 
 head of Eclipses : 
 
 " ECLIPSES. 
 
 ''There are so many invisible eclipses this year, that I 
 fear, not unjustly, our pockets will suffer inanition, be full 
 empty, and our feeling at a loss During the first visible 
 eclipse Saturn is retrograde : For which reason the crabs 
 will go sidelong and the ropemakers 1 ackward. The belly 
 
 will wag before, and the shall sit down first. Mercury 
 
 will have his share in these affairs, and so confound the 
 speech of the people, that when a Pennsylvanian would 
 say Panther he shall say Painter. When a New Yorker 
 thinks to say This, he shall say Diss, and the People in 
 New- England and Cape May will not be able to say Cow 
 for their Lives, but will be forc'd to say Keow by a certain 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 589 
 
 involuntary Twist in the Rcot of their Tongues. No Con- 
 necticut-Man nor Marylandcr will be able to open his 
 Mouth this Year, but Sir shall be the first or last Syllable 
 he pronounces, and sometimes both. Brutes shall speak 
 in many Places, and there will be above seven and twenty 
 irregular Verbs made this Year, if Grammar don't inter- 
 pose. Who can help these Misfortunes ! 
 
 ''of the DlSEASeS THIS YEAR. 
 
 ''This Year the Stone-blind shall see but very little; 
 the Deaf shall hear but poorly ; and the Dumb shan't speak 
 veiy plain. And it's much, if my Dame Bridget talks at 
 all this Year. Whole Flocks, Herds and Droves of Sheep, 
 Swine and Oxen, Cocks and Hens, Ducks and Drakes, 
 Geese and Ganders shall go to Pot ; but the Mortality will 
 not be altogether so great among Cats, Dogs and Horses. 
 As for old age, 'twill be incurable this Year, because of the 
 Years past. And towards the Fall some P^ ople will be 
 seiz'd with an unaccountable Inclination to roast and eat 
 their own Ears: Should this be call'd Madness, Doctors? 
 I think not. But the w^orst Disease of all will be a cer- 
 tain most horrid, dreadful, malignant, catching, pervt rse 
 and odious Malady, almost epidemical, insomuch that many 
 shall run Mad upon it ; I quake for very Fear when I thmk 
 on't; for I assure you very fcw^ will escape this Disease; 
 which is called by the learned Albumazar Lackd mony. 
 
 "of the fruits of the earth. 
 . find that this will be a plentiful Year of all manner 
 of good I'hings, to those who have enough ; but the Orange 
 Trees in G?'eenland w\\\ go near to fare the worse for the 
 Cold. As for Oats, they'll be a great hielp to Horses. 
 I dare say there won't be much more Bacon than Swine. 
 Mercury somewhat threatens our Parsley Beds, yet Parsley 
 will be to be had for Money. Hemp will grow faster than 
 
590 
 
 POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 the Children of this Age, and some will find there's but 
 too much on't. As for Corn, Fruit, Cyder and Turnips, 
 there never was such Plenty as will be now ; if poor Folks 
 may have their Wish. 
 
 **0F THE, CONDITIONS OF SOME COUNTRIES. 
 
 '* I Foresee an universal Droughth this Year thro' all the 
 Northern Colonics Hence there will be dry Rice in Caro- 
 lina^ dry Tobacco in Virginia and Maryland, dry Bread in 
 Pennsylvania and New York ; and, in New England, dry 
 Fish & Dry Doctrine. Dry Throats there will be every- 
 where; but then how pleasant it will be to drink cool Cyder! 
 tho' some will tell you nothing is more contrary to Thirst. 
 I believe it ; and indeed, Contraria Contrariis CuraJttur. 
 
 ''R. Saunders." 
 
 In 1738 Titan Leeds actually did die. Franklin could 
 not resist the temptation, even on the l-order of the grave, 
 to have one more joke at his rival's expense, or, rather, at 
 the expense of his successors in the almanac business, and 
 at the same time opened a new quarry of jokes, at the ex- 
 pense of one John Jerman, another almanac-maker, pre- 
 dicting that he would soon be reconciled to the Church 
 of Rome, a fate which, in the prevailing religious feeling 
 in the Colonies at that time, was nearly as disastrous as 
 that which had been predicted for poor Let^ds in 1733. 
 The W. B. and A. B. herein referred to were the brothers 
 William and Andrew Bradford, the first of whom subse- 
 (picntly established the first printing-press in New York. 
 
 "Courteous Reader: 
 
 " You may remember that in my first Almanac, pub- 
 lished for the Year 1733, I i)redicted the Death of my 
 dear Friend Titan Leeds, Philomat, to happen that Year 
 on the 17th Day of October, 3 h. 29 m. P. M. But W. B. 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 591 
 
 and A. B. have continued to publish Ahnanacks in his 
 Name ever since ; asserting for some Years that he was 
 still living. At length when the Truth could no longer 
 be conceal' d from the World, they confess his Death in 
 their Almanack for 1739, but pretend that he died not till 
 last Year, and that before his departure he had furnished 
 them with Calculations for 7 Years to come. Ah, My 
 Friends, these are poor Shifts and thin Disguises ; of which 
 indeed I should have taken little or no Notice, if you had 
 not at the same time accus'd me as a false Predictor; an 
 Aspersion that the more affects me, as my whole Lively- 
 hood depends on a contrary Character. 
 
 '' But to put this Matter beyond Dispute, I shall acquaint 
 the World with a fact, as strange and surprising as it is 
 true; being as follows, viz. 
 
 ''On the 4th Instant, towards midnight, as I sat in my 
 little Study writing this Preface, I fell fast asleep ; and con- 
 tinued in that Condition for some time, without dreaming 
 any thing, to my Knowledge. On awaking, I found lying 
 before me the following Letter, viz. 
 
 "'Dear Friend Saunders, — My Respect for you con- 
 tinues even in this separate State, and I am griev' d to see 
 the Aspersions throimi on you by the Malevolence of ava- 
 ricious Puhlishej's of Alnia?iacks, who envy your Success. 
 They say your Pi^ediction of my Death in lyjj was false, 
 and they pi'etend that I remained alive inany Years after. 
 But I do hereby certify, that I did actually die at that time, 
 precisely at the Hour you mention' d, with a Variation only 
 of ^ min. 53 sec. which ??iust be allowed to be no great 
 matter in such Cases. And I do further declare that 1 
 furnisKd them with no Calculations of the Planets Motions, 
 cr'c. seven Years after my Death, as they are pleased to give 
 out : so that the Stuff they publish as an Almanack in my 
 Name is no more mine than V is youi^s. 
 
59-' 
 
 PO OR RICH A RD ' S A LMANA C. 
 
 ** ' Yon will wonder perhaps , Junu this Paper comes written 
 on your Table. You must knoia that no separate Spirits 
 are under a?iy Conjiuenient till after the final Settlement 
 of all Accounts. In the ?nean ti/ne we wander ivhere we 
 please, visit our old Friends, observe their Actions, enter 
 sometimes into their Imagi?iations, and give them Hints 
 waking or sleeping that may be of Advantage to the?n. 
 Finding you asleep I entered your left Nostril, ascended into 
 your Brain, found out where the ends of those Nerves were 
 fastened that move your right Hand and Fiftgers, by the 
 Help of which I am now writing unknown to you ; but whe?i 
 you open your Eyes, you will see that the Hand 7vriting is 
 mine, tho' wrote with yours. 
 
 " '■ The People of this Infidel Age, perhaps, will hardly 
 believe this Story. But you may give them these three Signs 
 by which they shall be convinc^ d of the Truth of it. About 
 
 the middle of June next, J. J ;;, Philomat, shall be 
 
 openly reconciled to the Church of Rome, and give all his 
 Goods and Chattels to the Chappel, being pej'vei'ted by a 
 certaiji Country Schoolmaster. On the 'jth of September 
 
 following my old Friend W, B 1 shall be sober 9 Hours, 
 
 to the Astonishment of all his Neighbo7's : And about the 
 same timeyV. B. and K. B. will publish another A hnafiack 
 in my Name, i?t spight of Truth and Common-Sense. 
 
 ' ' As I can see much clearer into Futurity, sifice I got 
 free from the dark Prison of Flesh, in which I was con- 
 tinually molested and almost blinded 7vith Fogs arising fro?n 
 Tijf, and the smoke of burnt Drams, I shall in kindness to 
 you, frequently give you I1 formations of things to come, for 
 the Impi'ovement of your Almanack : Being, Dear Dick, 
 Kwr affectionate Friend, T. Leeds.' 
 
 ** For my own part I am convinc'd that the above Fetter 
 is genuine. If the Reader doubts of it, let him carefully 
 observe the three Signs ; and if they do not actually 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 593 
 
 come to pass, believe as he pleases. I am his humble 
 
 Friend, 
 
 " R. Saunders." 
 
 Jerman failed to profit by the defunct rival's experience, 
 ai^d in his next almanac denied, as Franklin no doubt 
 expected he would, that he was or ever had any intention 
 to become a papist, and denounced Franklin as one of 
 Baal's false prophets. In his Almanac for 1742 Franklin 
 produces the evidence of Jerman's perversion : 
 
 '' During the Course of these nine Years, what Buffetings 
 have I not sustained ! The Fraternity have been all in 
 Arms. Honest Titan, deceas'd, was rais'd, and made to 
 abuse his old Friend. Both Authors and Printers were 
 angry. Hard Names, and many were bestow' d on me. 
 They deny'd me to be the Author of my own Works; 
 declar'd there never was any such Person; asserted that I 
 was dead 60 Years ago ; prognosticated my Death to hap- 
 pen within a Twelve-Month : with many other malicious 
 Inconsistencies, the Effects of blind Passion, Envy at my 
 Success ; and a vain hope of depriving me, (dear reader) 
 of thy wonted Countenance and Favor. — IVJio knows him ? 
 they cry : WJiere does he live ? — But what is that to them ? 
 if I delight in a private life, have they any Right to drag 
 me out of my Retirement? I have good Reasons for con- 
 cealing the Place of my Abode. 'T is time for an old 
 Man, as I am, to think of preparing for his great Remove. 
 The perpetual Teasing of both Neighbors and Strangers, 
 to calculate Nativities, give Judgments on Schemes, erect 
 Figures, discover Thieves, detect Horse-Stealers, describe 
 the Route of Run-Aways and stray'd Cattle. The Croud 
 of Visitors with a looo trifling Questions; Will my Ship 
 return safe ? Will my Mare win the Race ? Will her next 
 Colt be a Pacer ? Wlien will my Wife die ? Wlio shall be 
 
594 
 
 POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 viy Husband J and Hoiv Long first ? When is the best time 
 to cut Hair, trim Cocks j or sow Sallad ? These and the 
 like Impertinences I have now neither Taste nor Leisure 
 for. I have had enough of 'em. All that these angry- 
 Folks can say, will never provoke me to lell them where 
 I live. 1 would eat my Nails first. 
 
 *' My last Adversary is J. J n, Philomat, Who de- 
 clares and protests (in his Preface, 1741J that \\\ft false 
 propJiecy put in my Almanack, concerning him, the Year 
 before, is altogether false and untrue : and that I am one 
 of Baal' s false Prophets. This false, false prophecy he 
 speaks of, related to his Reconciliation with the Church 
 of Rome ; which, notwithstanding his Declaring and Pro- 
 testing, is I fear, too true. Two things in his elegiac 
 Verses confirm me in this Suspicion. He calls the First 
 of November l)y the name of All-Hallows Day. Reader ; 
 does not this smell of Popery? Does it in the least savour 
 of the pure Language of Friends? P)Ut the ])lainest thing 
 is his Adoration of Saints, which he confesses to be his 
 Practice in these Words, page 4, 
 
 lllicn any trouhle did me befall. 
 To my dear Mary then I would call. 
 
 Did he think the whole World vrere so stupid as not to 
 take Notice of this? v^o ignorant as not to l:now ^hat all 
 Cathol'cks, pay the highest Regard to thj Virgin-Mary ? 
 Ah ! Friend John, We must allow you to be a Poet, but 
 you are certainly no Protestant. I could heartily wish 
 your Religion were as good as your Verses. 
 
 *' Richard Saunders." 
 
 jerraan was not quite so long as T>eeds in discovering 
 the use Franklin was making of him, and in his American 
 Almanac for 1743 says, — 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 505 
 
 ''The Reader may expect a reply from me to R 
 
 S rs alias B F ns facetious Way of proving me 
 
 no Protestant. I do hereby protest, that for tJiat and such 
 kind of Usage the Printer of that witty Performance shall 
 not have the Benefit of my Almanack for this Year. To 
 avoid further Contention, and judging it unnecessary to 
 offer any Proofs to those of my Acquaintance that I am 
 not a Papist, I shall with these few Lines conclude, and 
 give place to what I think more agreeable to my Readers. 
 
 '' John Jerman." 
 
 Franklin, wh never alk wed his rivals to have the last 
 word, and anxious, no dcubt, to provoke this one to further 
 controversy, returns to the attack in his Almanac for 1 744. 
 He says, — 
 
 " My Adversary J n J n has indeed made an 
 
 Attempt to out-shine me by pretending to penetrate a Year 
 deeper into Futurity ; and giving his Readers gratis in his 
 Almanac for 1743 an Eclipse of the Year 1744, to be before- 
 hand with me : His Words are, ' The first day of April 
 next Year 1744, there will be a Great Eclipse of the Sun; 
 it begins about an Hour before Sunset. It being in the 
 Sign Aries, the House of Mars, and in the 7th, shows Heat, 
 Difference and Animosities between Persons of the highest 
 Rank and Quality,' &c. I am very glad, for the sake of 
 *^*se Persons of Rank and Quality, that there is * * man- 
 ner of Truth in this Prediction : They may, =^ * ^ =^ please, 
 live in Love and Peace. And I * * ^ * his Readers (they 
 are but few, indeed, and so the Matter's the less) not to 
 give themselves any Trouble about observing this imaginary 
 Great Eclipse ; for they may stare till they're blind without 
 seeing the least Sign of it. I mighr, on this Occasion, 
 
 return Mr. J n the name of BaaV s false Prophet he 
 
 gave me some Years ago in his Wrath, on Account of my 
 
5(j6 
 
 POOR KlCIIARirS ALMANAC. 
 
 Predicting his Reconciliation with the Church of Rome, 
 (tho' he seems now to have given up that Point) but I 
 think such Language ****-!< ^ ^> old Men and 
 Scholars unbecoming ; and ^ -'^^ ^^ -'^ '^- -'^ * '•- the Affair 
 with the Buyers of his Almanack as well as he can, who 
 perhaps will not take it kindly, that he has done what in 
 him lay (sending them out to gaze at an invisible Eclipse 
 on the first of April) to make April Fools of them all. 
 His old thread-bare Excuse which he repeats Year after 
 Year about the Weather, ' That no Man can be infallible 
 therein, by Reason of the many contrary Causes happening 
 at or near the same time, and the Un constancy of the Sum- 
 mer Showers and Gusts,' &c. will hardly serve him in the 
 A^2i\x oi Eclipses ; and I know not where he'll get another." 
 
 In his issue for 1 746 Franklin gave his preface in verse, 
 and it is worthy of being cited here as a specimen of the 
 sort of verse which he thought good enough, at least for 
 an Almanac. 'I'he reader will see that so far as Franklin 
 had cultivated the Muses he had studied in the school of 
 Alexander Pope. 
 
 '* Who is Poor Richard ? People oft enquire 
 Where lives ; What is he ? — never yet the nigher. 
 Somewhat to ease your Curiositie, 
 Take these slight Sketches of my Dame and me. 
 Thanks to kind Readers and a careful Wife, 
 With plenty bless' d, I lead an easy Life, 
 My Business Writing ; hers to drain the Mead, 
 Or crown the barren Hill with useful Shade ; 
 In the smooth Glebe to see the Plowshare worn, 
 And fill the Granary with needful Corn. 
 Press nectarous Cyder from my loaded Trees, 
 Print the sweet Butter, turn the drying Cheese. 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. rgy 
 
 Some Books we read, tho' few there are that hit 
 The happy Point where Wisdom joins with Wit; 
 '1 hat set fair Virtue naked to our View, 
 And teach us what is decent, what is true. 
 The Friend sincere, and honest Man, with Joy 
 Treating or treated oft our Time employ. 
 Our Table neat, Meals temperate ; and our Door 
 Op'ning spontaneous to the bashful Poor. 
 Free from the Bitter Rage of Party Zeal, 
 All those we love w ho seek the publick Weal. 
 Nor blindly follow Superstition's Lore, 
 Which cheats deluded Mankind o'er and o'er. 
 Not over righteous, quite beyond the Rule, 
 Conscience perplext by every canting Tool. 
 Nor yet when Folly hides the dubious Line, 
 Where Good and Bad their blended Colours join ; 
 Rush indiscreetly down the dangerous Steep, 
 And plunge uncertain in the darksome Deep. 
 Cautious, if right; if wrong resolv'd to part 
 The Inmate Snake that folds about the Heart. 
 Observe the Mean, the Motive and the End ; 
 Mending ourselves, or striving still to mend. 
 Our Souls sincere, our Purpose fair and free, 
 Without Vain Glory or Hypocrisy : 
 Thankful if well ; if ill, we kiss the Rod ; 
 Resign with Hope, and put our Trust in God." 
 
 (Preface, 1746.) 
 
 Owing to the costlir.ess of paper in those da}s, and the 
 scarcity of money in the colonies, Franklin allowed the 
 printer no '' fat" in his Almanacs, but in every unoccupied 
 space or line he 'interspersed" — to use his own expres- 
 sion in the preface for 1747 — '^ moi-al ^QXitences, pnident 
 Maxims, and zaise Sayings, many of them containing 7?iuc/i 
 good se?ise in 7>e7y few Words, and therefore apt to leave 
 
598 
 
 POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 sfroni^ nnd /as/ing Impressions on the Memory of young 
 Persons, whereby they may receive Benefit as long as they 
 live, when both Almanack and Almanack-maker have been 
 thrown by and forgotten. 
 
 "If I now and then," he continues, ''insert a Joke or 
 two, that seem to have little in them, my Apology is, that 
 such may have their Use, since perhaps for their Sake light 
 airy Minds peruse the rest, and so are struck by somewhat 
 of more Weight and Moment." 
 
 These '' prudent maxims and wise sayings," the most of 
 which, and for their purpose I susi ect the best of which, 
 were his own, soon entered into the current coin of popu- 
 lar speech. They all inculcated the homely virtues of 
 honesty, frugality, industry, modesty, patience, faith in 
 the right, loyalty to engagements, contentment, and, as 
 expressed in the concluding lines of the preface of 1746, 
 just cited, a strict observance of 
 
 " ;■:• «■ -;;:- the Mean, the Motive and the End ; 
 Mendhig ourselves, or striving still to mend." 
 
 It would be difficult to exaggerate or even to estimate 
 the effect of these concentrated lessons of w-isdom upon 
 the character of the American people, or to say when their 
 influence will ce.ise to be operative. 
 
 Mr. Ford, in his admirable discourse on the Almanacs 
 of Poor Richard, says,'-'^ — 
 
 "Few if any now living can appreciate how large a 
 space this little pamphlet of a dozen leaves filled only one 
 
 *■ The Prefaces, Proverbs, and Poems of Benjamin ?'ranklin, originally 
 printed in Poor Richard's Almanacs for 1733-1758. Collected and edited 
 by Paul Leicester Ford. 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 599 
 
 hundred years ago, and this importance increases as we 
 trace it back to its first appearance in this country. To 
 the present generation it is merely a cover for soap, patent 
 medicine, or other quackery advertising, but in our colo- 
 nial period it was the vade mecum of every household, — 
 a calendar, diary, meteorological bureau, jest-, recipe-, and 
 indeed sometimes school-book, for, with the exception of 
 the Bible, it was often the ) ear's sole reading matter in 
 many families, and a poor and shiftless one it was, in- 
 deed, which, as the new year approached, had not the 
 necessary sum, ranging Irom a penny to sixpence, to be 
 exchanged for the annual issue. In every v/ell-ordered 
 kitchen a nail was driven in the chimney-breast, on which, 
 as the old year waned, a fresh almanac was hung. How 
 eagerly must all have read it for the first time ! How im- 
 portant were its weather predictions and statistical matter ! 
 How amusing its jokes and anecdotes, which, served up 
 anew year after year, were greeted by no chestnut-bell, 
 and never became old or stale ! But if the humor was 
 perennial, not so the almanac ! Slowly as the season ad- 
 vanced it lost its first youthful freshness, became brown 
 and thumbed, then ragged, till when the trees commenced 
 to shed their leaves the almanac proved itself no bad imi- 
 t:itor, and its successor found no rival to contest its right 
 to the hook." 
 
 The reader, I am sure, will welcome a few more speci- 
 mens of the golden sentences with which Franklin enriched 
 the otherwise unoccupied spaces of his Almanacs, and which 
 most distinctly bear the impress of his genius : 
 
 Beware of meat twice boil'd, and an old foe reconcil'd. 
 A false friend and a shadow attend only while the sun 
 shines. 
 
 There is no little enemy. 
 
5oo POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 He's the best physician that knows the worthlessness of 
 the most medicines. 
 
 Love your neighbor, but don't pull down your hedges. 
 
 Whate'er's begun in anger ends in shame. 
 
 Don't think to hunt two hares with one dog. 
 
 Where there's marriage without love, there will be love 
 without marriage. 
 
 He that is rich need not live sparingly, and he that can 
 live sparingly need not be rich. 
 
 None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing. 
 
 A long life may not be good enough, but a good life is 
 long enough. 
 
 God heals, and the doctor takes the fees. 
 
 He that can travel well afoot keeps a good horse. 
 
 Vainglory flowereth, but beareth no fruit. 
 
 If you'd have a good servant that you like, serve yourself. 
 
 Pride breakfasted with Plenty, dined with Poverty, 
 supped with Infamy. 
 
 To be proud of virtue is to poison yourself with the 
 antidote. 
 
 Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt 
 sell thy necessaries. 
 
 If you do what you should not, you must hear what you 
 would not. 
 
 A good example is the best sermon. 
 
 Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices. 
 
 Sound and sound doctrine may pass through a ram's 
 horn and a preacher without straightening the one or 
 amending the other. 
 
 Proclaim not all thou knowest, all thou owest, all thou 
 hast, nor all thou canst. 
 
 Lend money to an enemy, and thou' It gain him ; to a 
 friend, and thou'lt lose him. 
 
 If you would keep your secret from an enemy, tell it not 
 to a friend. 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 60 1 
 
 111 company is like a dog who dirts those most that he 
 loves best. 
 
 If man could have half his wishes, he would double his 
 troubles. 
 
 Prosperity discovers vice ; adversity, virtue. 
 
 An ounce of wit that is bought is worth a pound that is 
 taught. 
 
 Many a man would have been worse had his estate been 
 better. 
 
 A ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on 
 his knees. 
 
 You may be too cunning for one, but not for all. 
 
 Good sense is a thing all need, few have, and none think 
 they want. 
 
 Craft must be at charge for clothes, but Truth can go 
 naked. 
 
 Proportion your charity to the strength of your estate, 
 or God will proportion your estate to the weakness of your 
 charity. 
 
 He is not well bred that cannot bear ill-breeding in others. 
 
 Words may show a man's wit, but actions his meaning. 
 
 Drink does not drown care, but waters it and makes it 
 grow faster. 
 
 Different sects, like different clocks, may be all near the 
 matter, tho' they don't quite agree. 
 
 The wise man draws more advantage from his enemies 
 than the fool from his friends. 
 
 Doing an injury puts you below your enem\- ; revenging 
 one makes you but even with him ; forgiving it sets you 
 above him. 
 
 A cipher and humility make the other figures and virtues 
 of tenfold value. 
 
 You can bear your own faults, and why not a fault in 
 your wife ? 
 
 What's a sundial in the shade? 
 
5o2 POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 If your riches are yours, why don't you take them with 
 you to the other world ? 
 
 He that drinks his cyder alone, let him catch his horse 
 alone. 
 
 Work as if you were to live a hundred years; pray as if 
 you were to die to-morrow. 
 
 Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a 
 good one. 
 
 When out of favor none know thee; when in, thou dost 
 not know thyself. 
 
 Be civil to all ; serviceable to many ; familiar with few ; 
 friend to one ; enemy to none. 
 
 A wise man will desire no more than what he may get 
 justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave con- 
 tentedly. 
 
 An honest man will receive neither money nor praise 
 that is not his due. 
 
 He that's content hath enough ; he that complains has 
 too much. 
 
 The first mistake in public business is the going into it. 
 
 Original Poor Richard Almanacks are now about as 
 difficult to find as a griffin or a unicorn. Though the 
 average sale of the Almanac was about ten thousand copies 
 annually for a period of twenty-six years, I believe there is 
 no longer any complete collection in existence. ''The 
 issue for 1735, however, is the only one of which we have 
 no trace. Copies for all the other years, it is stated in the 
 first publication of the Duodecimos, may be found dis- 
 tributed among public institutions and private individuals, 
 as follows:" 
 
 Pennsylvania Historical Society, of Philadelphia: 1733, 
 
 1736, 1737, 173S, 1741, 1744, 1747, 1748, 1749. 1750^ 
 1751, 1752, 1753, 1754, 1755, 1756, 1757, 1758. 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC, 
 
 603 
 
 American Antiquarian So iety, of Worcester, Massachu- 
 setts : 1734, 1736, 1737. 
 
 Lenox Library, of New York : 1736, 1737, 1738, 1740, 
 1745. 1746, 1747, 1748, 1749. i75i> 1752, 1753. 1754, 
 
 1755. 1756, 1757, I758' 
 
 Library Company of Philadelphia: 1738, 1739 (ii^per- 
 fect), 1740, 1742, 1746, 1747, 1748, 1749, 1750, 1 75 1, 
 
 1752, 1753. 1754, 1756, 1758. 
 
 Society of Antiquity, of Worcester, Massachusetts : 1 739. 
 
 Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. : 1740, 1741, 
 
 1742, 1743, 1748, 1749, 1750, 1752, 1753, 1754, 1755, 
 
 1756, i757> 1758. 
 
 Public Library of Boston : 1748, 1749, 1750, 1751, 1752, 
 
 i753> 1754, 1755. 1756, 1758. 
 
 Bishop John F. Hurst, of Washington, D.C: 1739, 
 1744, 1748 (imperfect), 1751, 1753, 1755, 1756, 1757, 
 1758 (imperfect). 
 
 William L. Andrews, Esq., of New York: 1752, 1753, 
 
 1756. 
 
 Marshall C. Leffeits, Esq., of New York: 1748, 1752, 
 
 1753. 1754, 1757 (imperfect). 
 
 In the summer of 1757 Franklin was sent to London as 
 agent of the colonies. This mission terminated his career as 
 a maker of almanacs. His issue for that year is the one to 
 which Poor Richard owes his world-wide celebrity, for in 
 it he gathered all the wise saws and modern instances, 
 verses, aphorisms, and proverbs of the entire series to- 
 gether, a,.d formed them into a connected discourse as the 
 harangue of a wise old man to the people attending an 
 auction. This com.pilation, which is commonly entitled 
 "''TliC Way to Weallh," may be found in nearly every 
 written language under the sun, and is republished, we 
 
6o4 POOR KICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 venture to say, more frequently still than any other publi- 
 cation of the century in which it a})peared. 
 
 It seems worth noting here that in 1785, the year that 
 Franklin retired from his mission to France, an edition 
 of ''The Way to Wealth" was published in Gaelic at 
 Edinburgh, at the instance, and presumably at the ex- 
 pense, of the Karl of Buchan.-'^ Jt was subjoined to a 
 collection of Gaelic proverbs at the request of the Earl 
 of Buchan, with an address from his lordship in Gaelic, 
 which, as it has hitherto escaped the noiice of Franklin's 
 biographers, I give in a translation, for which I am in- 
 debted to Mr. D. MacGregor Creerar, of New York City.f 
 
 * A Collection of Gaelic Proverbs and Familiar Phrases, accompanied 
 with an English Translation, intended to facilitate the Study of the Lan- 
 guage. Illustrated with Notes. To which is added the "Way to 
 Wealth," by Dr. Franklin, translated into Gaelic by Donald Macintosh. 
 Edinburgh, printed for the author and sold by Messrs. Donaldson 
 Creech, Elliott & Sabbald, booksellers, Edinburgh ; John Gillie, Perth, 
 James Gillie, Glasgow, and by all the booksellers in town and country. 
 MDCCLXXXV. 
 
 f Letter of David, Earl of Buchatt, to the Heroic Highlanders of 
 Alb an, or Scotland. 
 
 " Noble race of my native land, I am as proud of your prowess as of 
 the fact that your blood courses through my veins ; and it shall ever be 
 my wish to testify my high admiration. I was the first man to don your 
 manly dress in the Lowlands after the prohibition of it was revoked, and 
 that in time of snow and storm. When I can discern opportunities 
 where I can render assistance in stimulating professional, fishing, or other 
 employment throughout the country, it will be my pleasure to do so. 
 Meantime, I place within your reach, embodied with the Proverbs, old 
 sayings rich in thought, written by the wise and venerable Franklin, of 
 America. These will be fruitful to you in wisdom in the world's ways ; 
 and if you will add these to your faith in Jesus Christ, knowledge of 
 God, His love and obedience in your hearts, in your daily walk and con- 
 versation, you will be esteemed by all, and will enjoy peace and happi- 
 ness within. 
 
 " Farewell." 
 
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. 
 
 605 
 
 I will premise that it was to the Earl of lUichan that Burns 
 sent his famous lines entitled " Bruce lo his Men at Ban- 
 nockburn," beginning, "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," 
 and with it a note in which he speaks of those verses "as 
 a small tribute of gratitude for the acquaintance with which 
 you have been pleased to honor me. ' ' 
 
APPENDIX No. I. See p. 54. 
 
 Preface to Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin 
 Franklin^ by Win. Temple Franklin. Edition of iSiy. 
 
 " An apology for presenting to the republic of letters the 
 authentic memorials of Benjamin Franklin, illustrative of his 
 life and times, written almost entirely with his own hands, would 
 be at once superfluous and disrespectful. If any observation 
 be at all requisite in the shape of explanations, it must be in 
 answer to the inquiry, why such interesting documents have 
 been so long withheld from public view ? To this the editor has 
 no hesitation in replying, that were he conscious of having neg- 
 lected a solemn trust, by disobeying a positive injunction ; or 
 could he be convinced that the world has sustained any real 
 injury by the delay of the publication, he certainly should take 
 shame to himself for not having sooner committed to the press 
 what at an earlier period would have been much more to his 
 pecuniary advantage ; but aware as he is, of the deference due 
 to the general feeling of admiration for the illustrious dead, he 
 is not less sensible that there are times and seasons when pru- 
 dence imposes the restriction of silence in the gratification even 
 of the most laudable curiosity. It was the lot of this distinguished 
 character, above most men, to move, in the prominent parts of 
 his active life, within a sphere agitated to no ordinary degree of 
 heat by the inflammatory passions of political fury ; and he had 
 scarcely seated himself in the shade of repose from the turmoil 
 of public employment, when another revolution burst forth with 
 
 607 
 
6o8 APPENDIX. 
 
 far more tremendous violence, during Ihe progress of which his 
 name was adduced by anarchists as a sanction for their practices, 
 and his authority quoted by dreamy theorists in support of their 
 visionary projects. 
 
 " Whether, therefore, the publication of his Memoirs and other 
 papers, amidst such a scene of perturbation, would have been 
 conducive to the desirable ends of peace, may be a matter of 
 question ; but, at all events, the sober and inquisitive part of 
 mankind can have no cause to regret the suspension of what 
 might have suffered from the perverted talents of designing par- 
 tisans and infuriated zealots. It may fairly be observed, that the 
 writings of Dr. Franklin are calculated to serve a far more im- 
 portant purpose than that of ministering to the views of party and 
 keeping alive national divisions, which, however necessitated 
 by circumstances, ought to cease with the occasion, and yield to 
 the spirit of philanthropy. Even amidst the din of war and the 
 contention of faction, it was the constant aim of this excellent 
 man to promote a conciliatory disposition, and to correct the 
 acerbity of controversy. Though no one could feel more sensi- 
 bly for the wrongs of his country, or have more enlarged ideas 
 on the subject of general liberty, his powerful efforts to redress 
 the one and extend the other, were always connected with the 
 paramount object of social improvement, in the recommendation 
 of those habits which tend more effectually to unite men together 
 in the bonds of amity. Happening, however, to live himself in 
 a turbulent period, and called upon to take a leading part in those 
 scenes which produced a new empire in the Western World, 
 much of his latter Memoirs and correspondence will be to ex- 
 hibit his undisguised thoughts upon the public men and occur- 
 rences of the day. These sketches, anecdotes, and reflections 
 will now be read by men of opposite sentiments, without awaken- 
 ing painful recollections or rekindling the dying embers of ani- 
 mosity, while the historian and the moralist may learn from them 
 the secret springs of public events, and the folly of being carried 
 away by political prejudice. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 609 
 
 " While, therefore, some contracted minds in different coun- 
 tries may be querulously disposed to censure the delay that has 
 taken place in the publication of these posthumous papers, it is 
 presumed that the more considerate and liberal on either side of 
 the Atlantic will approve of the motives which have operated for 
 the procrastination, even though the period has so far exceeded 
 the nonum atinum assigned by Horace, the oldest and best of 
 critics, for the appearance of a finished performance. 
 
 " The editor, in offering this justificatory plea to the public, 
 and taking credit for having exercised so much discretion as to 
 keep these relics in his private custody till the return of halcyon 
 days and a brightened horizon, when their true value might be 
 best appreciated, feels that he has discharged his duty in that 
 manner which the venerable writer himself would have pre- 
 scribed, could he have anticipated the disorders which have 
 ravaged the most polished and enlightened states since his re- 
 moval from this scene of pride and weakness, where nations as 
 well as individuals have their periods of infancy and decrepi- 
 tude, of moral vigor and wild derangement. 
 
 " Shortly after the death of Dr. FrankHn, there were not want- 
 ing the usual train of literary speculators to exercise their indus- 
 try in collecting his avowed productions, together with those 
 which public rumor ascribed to his pen. These miscellanies 
 were printed in various forms, both in England and America, 
 greatly to the advantage of the publishers ; nor did the possessor 
 of the originals avail himself of the general avidity and the celeb- 
 rity of his ancestor, to deprive those persons of the profits 
 which they continued to reap from repeated editions of papers 
 that have cost them nothing. When, however, they had reason 
 to apprehend that the genuine Memoirs and other works of 
 Franklin, as written and corrected by himself, would be brought 
 forward in a manner suitable to their importance and the digni- 
 fied rank of the author in the political and literary world, in- 
 vidious reports were sent abroad, and circulated with uncommon 
 diligence ; asserting that all the literary remains of Dr. Frankhn 
 51* 
 
6lO APPENDIX. 
 
 had been purchased at an enormous rate by the British ministry, 
 who [fniniHle dictic) it seems were more afraid of this arsenal 
 of paper tlian of the power of France, with all her numerous re- 
 sources and auxiliaries. This convenient tale, absurd as it was, 
 found reporters both in Europe and in the United States, who 
 bruited it about with so much art as to make many who were un- 
 acquainted with the legatee of the manuscripts, believe it to be 
 true, and to lament feelingly, that such inestimable productions 
 should be suppressed, and lost for ever, through the cupidity of 
 the person to whom tliey were bequeathed. Provoking as the 
 story was, the party whom it most affected, and whose interests 
 it was designed to injure, felt too much of the conscia mens recti 
 to do otherwise than treat the ridiculous invention with con- 
 tempt, from a persuasion that the refutation of an improbable 
 falsehood is beneath the dignity of truth. He, therefore, endured 
 the opprobrium without complaint, and even suffered it to be 
 repeated without being goaded into an explanation ; contented 
 to wait for the time when he might best fulfill his duty and shame 
 his calumniators. That period has at length arrived, and the 
 world will now see whether an enlightened government could 
 be weak enough to be frightened by the posthumous works of a 
 philosopher ; or whether a man of integrity, bred under Frank- 
 lin, bearing his name, and entrusted with his confidence, could 
 be bribed into an act of treachery to his memory. 
 
 " Of the present collection it remains to be observed, that the 
 only portion which has hitherto appeared in any form, is the first 
 fasciculus of the Memoirs of Dr. Franklin, extending from his 
 birth to the year 1757, forming one hundred and seventy-five 
 pages only of the present volume. But even what has formerly 
 been printed of this part, can scarcely lay claim to originality, 
 since the English edition is no more than a translation from the 
 French, which of itself is a professed version of a transcription ; 
 so that the metamorphoses of this interesting piece of biography 
 may be said to resemble the fate of Milton's epic poem, which a 
 French Abbe paraphrased into inflated prose, and which an 
 
APPENDIX. 6ll 
 
 English writer, ignorant of its origin, turned back again iindei 
 the double disguise into its native tongue. 
 
 "Admitting, however, that the small portion of the Memoir 
 given to the world, is substantially correct in the materials of 
 the narrative, the present publication of it must be infinitely 
 more estimable by beijig printed literally fro?7i the origijtal auto- 
 graph. 
 
 " It is much to be regretted, that Dr. Franklin was not enabled, 
 by his numerous avocations and the infirmities of old age, to 
 complete the narrative of his life in his own inimitable manner. 
 That he intended to have done this is certain, from his corre- 
 spondence, as well as from the parts in continuation of the 
 Memoir which are now for the first time communicated to the 
 world. But the convulsed state of things during the American 
 Revolution, the lively concern which he had in that event, and 
 his multiplied public engagements, after contributing to the 
 establishment of the independence of his country, prevented 
 him from indulging his own inclinations, and complying with 
 the earnest desire of his numerous friends." 
 
 APPENDIX No. II. See p. 60. 
 
 Preface to " Corresportdaiice Liedite, etc., de B. Franklmy 
 By M. Charles Malo. 
 
 [Translation.] 
 
 " In publishing in France a complete Correspondence of Dr. 
 Franklin, I have intended to afford the public an opportunity 
 of enjoying the only part of the works of this celebrated man 
 which has remained unknown to us up to this time. This Cor- 
 respondence has the inappreciable advantage of being neither 
 altered nor abridged. France, England, America, there play a 
 part so important that I should reproach myself if I had sup- 
 
5i2 APPENDIX. 
 
 pressed the smallest passage of it. Franklin will be found 
 there in this Correspondence complete and characteristic, with 
 all that freedom of speech so piquant and so noble which he 
 indulged toward all the courts of Europe. 
 
 " Two or three journals have announced a Select Correspond- 
 ence of Franklin. It is my duty to enlighten the public on this 
 fraudulent speculation of M. Temple (Franklin). Desirous of 
 prejudicing the interests of French booksellers, and at the same 
 time desperate at having been so unfortunately anticipated by 
 the appearance of a Complete Correspondejice, this gentleman 
 had no other resource but to make a Selected Cor7'espondence ; 
 but he has not foreseen that in reducing to one-half the work 
 which I publish to-day in two octavo volumes, he would really 
 give only an abridgment of it, an extract ; that his boasted 
 Selection will be but an insignificant piece of claptrap, a thing 
 of shreds and patches. When, in fact, will the formidable 
 scissors stop of a foreigner who is directed by considerations of 
 self-love, and animated by local passions ? In purchasing ' the 
 Abridged Correspondence' of M. Temple (Frankhn), one will 
 still not have Franklin. But let us be just. If M. Temple 
 (Franklin) cuts up and piteously lacerates a Correspondence as 
 yet entirely unpublished, and which was absolutely unknown in 
 France, in revenge, and by an equally reasonable calculation, 
 he is about to reproduce for the fourth time, that is to say to 
 satiety, the ' Memoirs of the Life of Franklin,' printed at Paris, 
 for the first time, in 1791 (one volume in 8vo., by Buisson) ; for 
 the second time, in the year II. (one volume in i2mo.. Rue 
 Therese) ; and for the third time, in 1800 (two volumes in 8vo., 
 by Buisson), from the English edition of Dundee. 
 
 '* I owe this confidence to my readers, especially to that public 
 which M. Temple (Franklin) appeals to, that it may be duly 
 instructed as to the merit of the editions of which this person 
 wishes to give France the benefit. 
 
 " Since the month of January, and by many French book- 
 sellers, with a com[)(.tition much more formidable than the 
 
APPENDIX. 613 
 
 "Extracts of Correspondence' which M. Temple (Franklin) an- 
 nounces to-day, and to satisfy also the impatient subscribers of 
 this Complete Correspondence, the literary gentleman charged 
 with it has judged proper to confide to two literary men, equally 
 known and esteemed, MM. Cohen and Breton, the translation 
 of a certain number of sheets of the second volume. 
 
 " The style of Franklin became, as he advanced in years, less 
 clear and less vigorous ; that of his correspondents also was 
 frequently diffuse and confused. In imposing upon himself the 
 rule never to depart from the original in any respect, the trans- 
 lator has necessarily encountered numberless difficulties, and 
 has seen himself forced to reproduce thousands of abstract 
 ideas. By the aid of a convenient selection he might easily have 
 been able to avoid the one, and substitute his own ideas for the 
 others ; but the glory of belittling a great man, of abridging 
 Franklin, was reserved for one of his descendants. Ought wc 
 to inherit from one we have assassinated ?" 
 
 END OF VOL. r 
 
 i4*