M£mr;'rp.hi ^f,:,X

^ETVE^P"^

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of
WILLIAM SMITH MASON
Yale 1888 S

Of this book one hundred and fifty-five copies
were printed. This copy is No. *7 Y

Pastel, by Duplessis, in 1783. The original, owned by John Bigelow, is in
the Lenox Library, New York. This very interesting portrait of Franklin
was generally unknown until it was acquired by Mr. Bigelow, when Ameri
can Minister in Paris, in 1867. It was presented by Franklin to his friend,
M. Louis de Veillard, to whom also he gave the manuscript of his Autobi
ography.

THE
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
LIBERTY EMERY HOLDEN

CLEVELAND
THE ROWFANT CLUB
M D ccc xcvm

Copyright, 1898, by The Rowfant Club.

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INTRODUCTION.
** The chief glory of every people arises from its authors." Dr. jfohnson.
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin -was written, os
tensibly, to his son William. The beginning of the letter is
dated in 1771, at Twyford, England. The anther was then
sixty-six years of age, and was taking a vacation at the coun
try seat of the Bishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Jonathan Shipley.
The Doctor was on intimate terms with him, and styled him
"the good Bishop," undoubtedly because he was kindly dis
posed towards the American colonies.
Referring to his son William Franklin, he said : "Imagin
ing it may be equally agreeable to you to know the circum
stances 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 induce
ments. Having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in
which I was 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 conduc
ing means I made use ofj which with the blessing of God so
A* V

vi Introduction.
well succeeded, my posterit)' may like to know, as diey may
find some of them suitable to their own situations, and there
fore fit to be imitated." Always a firm believer in Divine
Providence, in the early pages of the Autobiography he says :
' ' I speak of thanking God, I desire with all humility to ac
knowledge that I owe the mentioned happiness of my past
life to His kind providence, which lead me to the means I
used and gave them success." This is Dr. Franklin's intro
duction to his Autobiography, giving his purpose and acknow
ledging his dependence upon and belief in God.
He was dilatory in completing the Autobiography which
had gready interested his friends. Many urged him to com
plete the work. Mr. Adell James WTOte Dr. Franklin
urging him to complete his Autobiography, and said in that
letter : "It almost insensibly leads the youth into the resolu
tion of endeavoring to become as good and eminent as the
journalist  I know ot no character living, nor among
all of them put together who have so much influence and
power as thyself to promote a greater spirit of industrv and
early attention to business, frugalit)', and temperance with the
American youth."
His friend Benjamin Brougham wrote from Paris, January
31, 1783, urging the Doctor to complete the Autobiography.
He said : "Sir, I solicit the histori- of your life from the fol
lowing motives. Your history is so remarkable that if vou do
not give it somebody else will certainly give it and perhaps
so as nearly to do as much harm as your own management
ot the thing might do good. . . . Your biography will not
merely teach selt-education, but the education of a wise man,
and the wise man will receive lights and improve his progress

Introduction. vii
by seeing detailed the conduct of another wise man. ... It
will be worth all Plutarch's Lives put together. I am earnest
ly desirous, then, my dear sir, that you should let the world
into the traits of your genuine character, 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 anyone besides yourself
can be sufiiciently master of the facts of your life or the inten
tions of your mind. . . . Take, then, my dear sir, this work
most speedily into hand, show yourself good as you are good,
temperate as you are temperate, and above all things prove
yourself as one who from infancy have loved justice, liberty,
and concord in a way that has made it natural and consistent
as we have seen you act in the last seventeen years of your
Hfe." The first part covers his life from his birth in 1 706 to his
marriage in 1730. The second part was written while he
was Minister to France in 1 7 84, and the third part in Phila
delphia in 1788, and covers his life down to 1757. The
fourth part, found in almost a miraculous, and certainly in a
providential, way by Mr. Bigelow, was edited and printed in
1867. This edition contains a few pages written in 1789,
the year before Dr. Franklin died, and corrects many changes
from the original manuscript.
There is something as providential in the preservation of
the manuscript of the Autobiography as in Dr. Franklin's own
life. By his will he left all his manuscripts, including his
Autobiography, to his grandson William Temple Franklin.
The father of William Temple Franklm was an under-

viii Introduction.
officer in the British Army, and a subject of the British Em
pire. It is charged by some that because of the fact that he
was dependent on the position and its salary he influenced
his son William Temple not to publish the works of Dr.
Franklin, because of the then strong anti-American sentiment
in England. Others charge that William Temple Franklin
was paid a money consideration to defer the publication of Dr.
Franklin's works because of the great influence he was known
to have exercised during his lifetime against Great Britain.
Whether either or both of these statements are true, I do not
propose to discuss the question, but it does seem exceedingly
strange that no edition of Dr. Franklin's works was published
until after an interval of twenty-seven years from his death.
When one thinks of the extraordinary influence that this great
man had during his lifetime, both at the French and English
Courts, in shaping the destinies of his country, standing as he
did the most distinctive figure in the then history of those two
nations as well as that of America, it appears exceedingly
strange that the one to whom he had intrusted their publica
tion should not have taken advantage of the Doctor's great
popularity and personality in publishing his works as soon as
possible after his death.
My mission is to tell the story of the manuscript of the
Autobiography. In some mysterious way the first part of this
manuscript fell into the hands of a Frenchman, and was par
tially translated and published in France in 1791. This
publication is supposed to have been possible from the fact
that two or three copies of the first part had been sent to
friends in Europe before the second part was written. The
first English edition of the first part of the Autobiography was

Introduction. ix
translated from the French, edited by Dr. Price, and pub
lished in London in 1793. This edition was practically
reprinted in Dublin, Edinburgh, New York, and Salem, and
was the only one in the market up to 181 7, when William
Temple Franklin published a new edition of the Autobiogra
phy in his collection of the works of his grandfather. This
was printed from the copy sent by Dr. Franklin to his friend
M. Le Veillard, the Mayor of Passy, one of his dearest and
most devoted friends.
The original copy of the Autobiography, given under the
will to William Temple Franklin, had disappeared. The
world is indebted to Mr. John Bigelow for buying, pub
lishing, and preserving this valuable manuscript. The man
ner in which these papers were preserved and discovered is
providential. One day at dinner in Paris in the summer of 1 866, Mr.
Bigelow, in conversation with Prof. Laboulaye, asked whether
they had any reason to suspect that the original manuscript of
Franklin's Autobiography was in France. It was suggested
during the conversation that a professional book-collector had
said that he saw the manuscript at Amiens, in France. Then
reference was made to a note in the diary of Sir Samuel
Romily, in which he speaks of having seen the Autobiography
of Franklin at the house of a friend in Paris in 1802. It was
suggested that if this valuable paper was ever in France, in all
probability it would not be destroyed ; that if it was in the
United States, its lodging place would be a matter of common
notoriety, and yet, that none of Franklin's biographers pro
fessed to have any trace of it after the death of William
Temple Franklin in 1 823. It was said that since the grand-

X Introduction.
son had inherited all the papers, and went in a few weeks
after the death of his grandfather to Europe with them, it was
a fair presumption that the manuscript must be in Europe.
After this conversation Prof. Laboulaye said that he had a
friend at Amiens who would be sure to know if such a manu
script was in that city, and he kindly volunteered to look into
the matter. At a subsequent interview Mr. Bigelow learned
from M. Laboulaye that his friend, on whom he relied, had
not been able to find the manuscript or throw any, light upon
it, and that he intended to inquire of his associates of the
French Academy about the manuscript, and said he felt certain
that he would find it if it was in France. Mr. Bigelow was
in London, had prepared to sail for the United States, had
nearly abandoned all hope of finding the Autobiography, when
on the 19th of January, 1867, he received a letter from M.
Laboulaye informing him that the manuscript had been dis
covered, together with several other precious relics of the
illustrious Franklin, and that the same could be bought for
25,000 francs. I cannot refrain from quoting that letter
giving this wonderfiil information to Mr. Bigelow.
12 Janvier, 1867, 34 Rue Taitbout.
Cher Monsieur Bigelow:
Eureka t J'ai trouve, grace a un ami, le manuscrit de
Franklin et son possesseur.
M. de Senarmont, heritier de la famille Le Veillard, et qui
demeure a Paris, rue de Varennes, No. 98, nous ecrit qu'il
possede :
I. La MS. original autograph complet (?) des memou-es de
Franklin.

Introduction, xi
2. Une collection considerable de lettres de Franklin, for-
mant un ensemble correspondance.
3. Un portrait en pastel de Franklin, donne par lui a M.
Le VeOlard.
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
qui vous conviendra. Adieu ! Recevez encore tons mes
voeux pour votre bonheur en ce monde et dans I'autre (je
parle du Nouveau Monde). Votre bien devoue.
Ed. Laboulaye.
Mr. Bigelow, by next mail, sent a letter to his friend
William H. Huntington, then in Paris, asking him to go and
examine the papers and satisfy himself of their genuineness,
and authorized him to offer 1 5,000 francs. Mr. Hunting
ton went to the owner, examined the manuscripts and the
portrait, and after repeated interviews, trying to get them for
less than the price asked, finally, by the instructions of Mr.
Bigelow, paid the 25,000 francs and sent the manuscript with
the portrait, which was painted by J. S. Duplessis in 1783,
to Mr. Bigelow, then in London. On the 28th of January,
1867, after various trials, tribulations, and great anxiety on
account of delays and misdirection, Mr. Bigelow received the
manuscripts and the portrait, more proud of the trophies than
a victorious general returning from war with trains of spoils.
He says himself, "So absurd was I in getting the treasure in
my possession, I immediately took it, heavy as it was, put it
into the cab myself, I would allow no one else to touch it,
and drove oif triumphantiy to Cleveland Square." Not till
after several months was Mr. Bigelow enabled, on his return
B

xii Introduction,
to the United States, to verify the correctness of M. De
Senarmont that the manuscript was more complete than the
copy which had been used in the edition published by Wil
liam Temple Franklin and copied by Dr. Sparks. He found
that the original text bad been tampered with in those editions
after they left the writer's hands. A carefijl comparison with
the London edition published 1817, the only one that was
ever purported to have been printed from the manuscript,
proved that more that 1 200 separate and distinct changes had
been made in the text, and that eight pages of the manuscript
had been omitted entirely. Thus the edition of Mr. Bigelow,
published by J. B. Lippincott & Co., of Philadelphia, in
1867, more than seventy years after the author's death, was
the first to give the Autobiography to the public as it was
written by Dr. Franklin.
It is by the kindness of Mr. Bigelow that the Rowfant
Club is permitted to use his text in this edition as pub
lished by the J. B. Lippincott Co. in 1893, and I have
the great pleasure of acknowledging his courtesy and the
obligations of the Club to him for his devotion to the memory
of Dr. Franklin, and of congratulating him and the world at
large who love and revere the memory of Dr. Franklin, for
that providence which preserved the manuscript of this charm
ing Autobiography and brought it into the hands of such a true
American and worthy successor in the ownership of this price
less treasure. We trust it may ever remain on American soil.
We send this volume as a tribute to the genius of Dr. Frank
lin, as an expression of our devotion and appreciation of the
man, philosopher, friend, and patriot, and we commend it to
that same Providence tiiat guided his life, guarded his works.

Introduction. xiii
and made him and them the heritage, not only of the Amer
ican people, but of all the civilized world. When he was 8 1
years of age he wrote : "I have lived a long time, and the
longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth,
that God governs in the affairs of Man. ' '
Among the many acts that distinguished his life, beside the
Autobiography, I note the following :
He founded the first Public Library in the United States.
Was Postmaster- General for the Colonies, and father of our
postal system.
Originated the American Philosophical Society.
Established the University of Pennsylvania.
First demonstrated that lightning and electricity are the
same. In 1754, as a delegate in the Congress of Commissioners
of the Colonies in Albany, he suggested articles of union be
tween the Colonies which were adopted and became the
foundation of our Constitution.
He was an officer in the army on the frontier in 1756.
From 1757 to 1762 he was Agent for Pennsylvania in
England. Degree of Doctor of Laws conferred on him by Edinburgh
and Oxford Universities.
He was chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society.
By his testimony before Parliament in 1766 the Stamp
Act was repealed.
Was Minister Plenipotentiary to France in 1776, where
he went after signing the Declaration of Independence, ar
riving there in December of that year.
B*

xiv Introduction.
Returned to Philadelphia in 1785, at the age of eighty
years, and was received with enthusiastic acclamations of a
grateful nation.
A letter to him from George Washington, bearing date
September 25, 1785, said, "As no one entertains more
respect for your character, so no one can salute you with
more sincerity or with greater pleasure than I do on the
occasion." In 1787 he sat with Washington and Hamilton in the
Federal Convention which framed the Constitution of the
United States.
His last public act was to sign his name as President of the
Abolition Society to a memorial to Congress.
He died the 17th of April, 1790.
His death was mourned in Europe and America. Mira-
beau, on the receipt of the news, said in the General Assembly
of France: "The genius which had freed America and
poured a flood of light over Europe had returned to the
bosom of the Divinity. . . . Antiquity would have raised
altars to this mighty genius."
Says Priesdy, referring to "Dr. Franklin's discovery of
electricity " : " Nothing was ever written on the subject more
justly applauded of the world ; even kings flocked to see them,
and retired fiill of admiration. ' '
Lord Brougham said : "His genius ranks him with the
Gallileos and the Newtons of the old world."
Sir Humphrey Davy said: "A singular felicity of induc
tion guided his researches, and by very small means he es
tablished very grand truths. The style and manner of his

Introduction. xv
publication on electricity are almost as worthy of admiration
as the doctrine it contains."
Lord Jeffrey said of him: "This self-taught American is
the most rational perhaps of all philosophers. He never loses
sight of common sense in any of his speculations. . . . He
never suffered himself in conduct to be turned aside by the
seductions of interest or vanity, or to be scared by hesitation
and fear, or to be misled by the arts of adversaries."
Turgot, in celebrating " Franklin's Discoveries in Electric
ity " and his "Labors in Behalf of Liberty," wrote the fol
lowing striking line under Dr. Franklin's portrait: " Eripuit
coelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyr annis."
May I be indulged in this my consecration to him, to
uhose spirit I am more indebted than any other person >.
In the days of my youth, when I was forming, thy spirit
was over me and thy words of wisdom were with me. Thou
didst say the best that man ever said on thrift, economy, in
tegrity, and industry. From thee as a teacher, friend, and
prophet to all the dwellers in the colonies in the unfolding of
this great nation, came council, strength, and union. In thy
divine soul the idea of this government was first conceived.
When war had done its work, and independence was estab
lished, no hand but thine could convince the nations of
Europe that America was free and that on her soil liberty,
right, and justice could be maintained for all men. Greater
than kings or kingly courts, thou didst conquer all Europe by
thy simple manners, thy self-control, and thy masterful mind.
To thee more than any other man do thy countrymen ac
knowledge their deep sense of debt and gratitude for the

xvi Introduction.
RepubUc. Thou didst foresee all. In hours of danger thou
didst bring relief and make France our ally with money and
men. When all others failed thou alone didst compel Eng
land to respect us and acknowledge our national rights. All
that man could do thou hast done for thy countrymen. If
ever a soul was immortal, thy soul, O Franklin, still lives
and cares for the people and the government of America.
Tliis my poor tribute to thee, this my loving pleasure and
offering for the tuition I owe thee, I now bring in a simple
introduction of thy Autobiography. The Fellowes of the
Rowfant Club, and thousands in every land and every lan
guage, unite in paying thee tribute, as I do, for having been
helped and inspired to be more, to do more, and to do better
the work of life.
To the poor apprentice thy life, patient, studious, and
courageous, is an ever present example. May it not be that
thy words of cheer and duty made Emerson say:
So nigh is Grandeur to our dust.
So near is God to man,
When Duty whispers low, *'Thou must,"
The youth replies, "I can."
Thy words, O great master, come as no others to the
mother at the fireside, the farmer in his field, the workman
in his shop, the merchant in liis store — to men, as men, in
all the walks of life. We love the Teacher
For the Teacher's sake ;
We hear with pleasure,
And with pride obey.

Introduction, xvii
Thou great economist, who knew that " Time is money,"
and that "Lost time is never found again," thou didst say,
" Dost thou love hfe ? Then do not squander time, for that is
the stuff" life is made of." Thy words of wisdom permeate
the world. Who else could have said, " He that hath a trade
hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of
profit and honor. Diligence gives all things to industry."
As wise as Solomon or Confucius, all the motives of men
thou didst know, all chords of the human soul thou didst
touch. Thine eyes see all ; — in thy life immortal thou muit behold
with gratitude thy countrymen trying to perpetuate thy
memory, loving thee and Uving out thy precepts.
With sincere gratitude to thee for the record of thy life
which thou didst write, in behalf of the Fellowes of the
Rowfant Club I commit this volume to the loving care of
posterity. Liberty Emery Holden.
Cleveland, Ohio, January 15, 1898.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

[Copie d'un Projet tres Curieux de Benjamin Franklin —
\ere Esquisse de ses Memoires, Les additions a I'encre
rouge sont de la main de Franklin.'yf-
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 at
tempt to get employ with other Printers. He prevents me.
Our frequent pleadings before our Father. The final
Breach. My Inducements to quit Boston. Manner of
coming to a Resolution. My leaving him and going to
New York (return to eating flesh); thence to Pennsyl
vania. The journey, and its events on the Bay, at Amboy.
The road. Meet with Dr. Brown. His charafter. His
great work. At Burlington. The Good Woman. On
the River. My Arrival at Philadelphia. First Meal and
first Sleep. Money left. Employment. Lodging. First
acquaintance with my afterward Wife. With J. Ralph.
With Keimer. Their charafters. Osborne. Watson.
The Governor takes notice of me. The Occasion and
Manner. . His charafter. Offers to set me up. My re
turn to Boston. Voyage and accidents. Reception. My
Father dislikes the proposal. I return to New York and
* This memorandum, probably in the handwriting of M. le Veillard,
immediately precedes the Outline in the MS.

4 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
Philadelphia. Governor Burnet. J. Collins. The Money
for Vernon. The Governor's Deceit. Collins not finding
employment goes to Barbados much in my Debt. Ralph
and I go to England. Disappointment of Governor's Let
ters. Colonel French his Friend. Cornwallis's Letters.
Cabbin. Denham. Hamilton. Arrival in England. Get
employment. Ralph not. He is an expense to me. Ad
ventures in England. Write a Pamphlet and print loo.
Schemes. Lyons. Dr. Pemberton. My diligence, and
yet poor through Ralph. My Landlady. Her charafter.
Wygate. Wilkes. Cibber. Plays. Books I borrowed.
Preachers I heard. Redmayne. At Watts's. Temper
ance. Ghost. Conduft and Influence among the Men.
Persuaded by Mr. Denham to return with him to Philadel
phia and be his clerk. Our voyage and arrival. My reso
lutions 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. Agreement with H. Meredith
to set up in Partnership. Do so. Success with the Assem
bly. Hamilton'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. Ga
zette from Keimer. Junto credit ; its plan. Marry. Li
brary erected. Manner of conducting the projeft. Its plan
and utility. Children. Almanac. The use I made of it.
Great industry. Constant study. Father's Remark and
Advice upon Diligence. Carolina Partnership. Learn

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 5
French and German. Journey to Boston after ten years.
Affeftion 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. Project of subordinate
Juntos. Write occasionally in the papers. Success in Busi
ness. Fire companies. Engines. Go again to Boston in
1743. See Dr. Spence. Whitefield. My conneftion
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.
Partnership with D. Hall, &c. Dispute in Assembly upon
Defence. Projedt for it. Plain Truth. Its success. Ten
thousand Men raised and disciplined. Lotteries. Battery
built. New Casde. My influence in the Council. Colors,
Devices, and Mottos. Ladies' Military Watch. Quakers
chosen of the Common Council. Put in the commission
of the peace. Logan fond of me. His Library. Ap
pointed Postmaster-General. Chosen Assemblyman. Com
missioner to treat with Indians at Cariisle and at Easton.
Projeft and establish Academy. Pamphlet on it. Journey
to Boston. At Albany. Plan of union of the colonies.
Copy of it. Remarks upon it. It fails, and how. Jour
ney to Boston in 1754. Disputes about it in our Assem
bly. My part in them. New Governor. Disputes with
him. His charafter and sayings to me. Chosen Alder
man. Projeft of Hospital. My share in it. Its success.
Boxes. Made a Commissioner of the Treasury. My com
mission to defend the frontier counties. Raise Men and

6 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
build Forts. Militia Law of my drawing. Made Colonel.
Parade of my Officers. Offence to Proprietor. Assistance
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 charafter of me. Success of my Electrical Experi
ments. Medal sent me. Present Royal Society, and
Speech of President. Denny's Arrival and Courtship to
me. His charafter. My service to the Army in the affair
of Quarters. Disputes about the Proprietor's Taxes con
tinued. Projeft for paving the City. I am sent to Eng
land. Negotiation there. Canada delenda est. My Pam
phlet. Its reception and effeft. Projefts drawn from me
concerning the Conquest. Acquaintance made and then-
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 Affafrs in England.
Delays. Eventfiil Journey into Holland and Flanders.
Agency from Maryland. Son's appointment. My return.
Allowance and thanks. Journey to Boston. John Penn,
Governor. My conduft toward him. The Paxton Mur
ders. My Pamphlet. Rioters march to Pliiladelphia.
Governor retires to my House. My conduft. Sent out
to the Insurgents. Turn them back. Littie thanks. Dis
putes revived. Resolutions against continuing under Pro
prietary Government. Another Pamphlet. Cool thoughts.
Sent again to England with Petition. Negotiation there.
Lord H. His charafter. Agencies from New Jersey,

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 7
Georgia, Massachusetts. Journey into Germany, 1766.
Civilities received there. GSttingen Observations. 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 Discov
eries. My manner of prosecuting that Study. King of
Denmark invites me to dinner. Recolleft my Father's
Proverb. Stamp Act. My opposition to it. Recommen
dation of J. Hughes. Amendment of it. Examination in
Parliament. Reputation it gave me. Caressed by Ministry.
Charles Townsend's Aft. Opposition to it. Stoves and
chimney-plates. Armonica. Acquaintance with Ambas
sadors. Russian Intimation. Writing in newspapers.
Glasses from Germany. Grant of Land in Nova Scotia.
Sicknesses. Letters to America returned hither. The con
sequences. Insurance Office. My character. Costs me
nothing to be civil to inferiors ; a good deal to be sub
missive to superiors, &c., &c. Farce of Perpetual Motion.
Writing for Jersey Assembly. Hutchinson's Letters.
Temple. Suit in Chancery. Abuse before the Privy
Council. Lord Hillsborough's character and conduct.
Lord Dartmouth. Negotiations to prevent the V/ar. Re
turn to America. Bishop of St. Asaph.' Congress. As
sembly. Committee of Safety. Chevaux-de-frise. Sent
to Boston, to the Camp. To Canada, to Lord Howe.
To France. Treaty, &c.

From an exquisite marble statuette obtained in London, thirty years
and more ago, by Hon. R. C. Parsons. It was the work of a
prominent English sculptor (name forgotten), made for an Italian
gentleman. He not claiming it as soon as expected, Mr. Parsons
was permitted to buy it.

B=^E3!^=SE=*

a (S B IB. a o m IS B y*^^t^^^^^^^^¦¦^'^i^wt^5^a^.al mniiiiiBSiaiBBia'^

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY.

Dear Son:

Twyford, af the Bisiop of St. AsapKs, \TJl.

¦*>'Hf>S0S%'5*:>'*''¥^ have ever had pleasure in obtaining
**. I

*^^» any little anecdotes of my ancestors.
You may remember the inquiries I
made among the remains of my rela-

* -a^ af^ i^- ^""i* when you were with me in Eng-
if '^' ^-^W ¦^'i*! ^^"^^' *ii'^ the journey I undertook for
,*J*L*!^?i*i«j*J+"*JC'^- that purpose. Imagining it may be
equally agreeable to 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 which I was bom 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 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.

lo Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 advantages authors have in a sec
ond edition to correct 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 so natural in
old men, to be talking of themselves and their own past ac
tions ; and I shall indulge it without 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 vanity. Indeed, I scarce
ever heard or saw the introductory words, " Without vanity
I may say," Sec, but some vain thing immediately followed.
Most people dislike vanity in others, whatever share they
have of it themselves ; but I give it fair quarter wherever I
meet with it, being persuaded that it is often productive of
good to the possessor, and to others 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.
And now I speak of thanking God, I desire with all

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I I
humility to acknowledge that I owe the mentioned happi
ness of my past life to His kind providence, which lead me
to the means I used and gave them success. My belief of
this induces me to hope, though I must not presume, that the
same goodness will still be exercised toward me, in continu
ing that happiness, or enabling me to bear a fatal reverse,
which I may experience as others have done ; the complex
ion of my fiiture fortune being known to Him only in whose
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, fiimished me with several particulars relating to our
ancestors. From these notes I learned that the family had
lived in the same village, Ecton, in Northamptonshire, for
three hundred years, and how much longw he knew not
(perhaps from the time when the name of Franklin, that be
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 continued in the family till his
time, the eldest son being always bred to that business ; a
custom which he and my fether followed as to their eldest
sons. When I 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 I perceived that I was the
youngest son of the youngest son for five generations back.
My grandfather Thomas, who was born in 1598, lived at
Ecton till he grew too old to follow business longer, when
he went to live with his son John, a dyer at Banbury, in

I J Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
Oxfordshire, with whom my father served an apprenticeship.
There my grandfather died and lies buried. We saw his
gravestone in 1758. His eldest son Thomas lived in the
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.
Thomas was bred a smith under his father ; but, being in
genious, and encouraged in learning (as all my brothers
were) by an Esquire Palmer, then the principal gentleman
in that parish, he qualified himself for the business of scrive
ner ; became a considerable 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 extraordinary, 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 was bred a dyer, I believe of woolens. Benjamin
was bred a silk dyer, serving an apprenticeship at London.
He was an ingenious man. I remember him well, for when
I was a boy he came over to my father in Boston, and lived

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 1 3
in die 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 occasional pieces addressed to his
friends and relations, of which the following, sent to me, is
a specimen. [Here follows in the margin the words, in
brackets, "Here insert it," but the poetry is not given.]
He had formed a short-hand of his own, which he
taught me, but, never practising it, I have now forgot
it. I was named after this uncle, there being a particu
lar affection between him and my father. 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 much, 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 1 64 1 to
1717; many of the voluiries are wanting as appears by the
numbering, but there 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 buying
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. This obscure family of ours was early in the Reformation,
and continued Protestants through the reign of Queen 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

14 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
tapes under and within 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 sav/ the apparitor coming, who was an officer of
the spiritual court. In that case the stool was turned down
again upon its feet, when the Bible rtmained 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, Benjamin and Josiah ad
hered 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 considerable men of his acquaintance
to remove to that country, and he was prevailed with to ac
company them thither, where they expected to enjoy their
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 married ; I was the youngest son, and the
youngest child but two, and was born in Boston, New Eng
land. My mother, the second wife, was Abiah Folger,
daughter of Peter Folger, one of the first settiers of New
England, of whom honorable mention is made by Cotton
Mather, in his church history of that country, entitled Mag-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. \ 5
nalia Christi Americana, as "a godly, learned Englishman,"
it 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 gov
ernment there. It was in favor of liberty of conscience, and
in behalf of the Baptists, Quakers, and other sectaries that
had been under persecution, ascribing the Indian wars, and
other distresses that had befallen the country, to that perse
cution, as so many judgments of God to punish so heinous
an offense, and 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)
1 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."
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 remember when I could not read), and the opinion of all

1 6 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
his friends, that I should certainly make a good scholar, en
couraged 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 set up
with, if I would learn his character. I continued, however,
at the grammar-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 intention, took me from the grammar-school, and
sent me to a school for writing and arithmetic, kept by a then
famous man, Mr. George Brownell, very successful in his
profession generally, and that by mild, encouraging methods.
Under him I acquired 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 busi
ness he was not bred to, but had assumed on his arrival in
New England, and on finding his dying trade would not
maintain his family, being in little request. Accordingly, I
was employed in cutting wick for the candles, filling the dip
ping mold and the molds for cast candles, attending the
shop, going of errands, etc.
I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination for the
sea, but my father declared against it ; however, living near

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 17
the water, I was much in and about it, learnt early to swim
well, and to manage boats ; and when in a boat or canoe
with other boys, I was commonly allowed to govern, es
pecially in any case of difficulty; and upon other occasions I
was generally a leader among the boys, and sometimes 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. By much trampling, we had made it a
mere quagmire. My proposal was to build a wharff" there fit
for us to stand upon, and I showed my comrades a large
heap of stones, which were intended for a new house near
the marsh, and which would very well suit our purpose.
Accordingly, in the evening, when the workmen were gone,
I assembled a number of my play-fellows, and working with
them diligentiy 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 surprised
at missing the stones, which were found in our wharff". In
quiry was made after the removers ; we were discovered and
complained of; several of us were corrected by our fathers ;
and, though I pleaded the usefiilness of the work, mine con
vinced me that nothing was usefiil which was not honest.
I think you may like to know something of his person and
character. He had an excellent constitution of body, was
of middle stature, but well set, and very strong ; he was in
genious, could draw prettily, was skilled a little in music,
and had a clear pleasing voice, so that when he played psalm
3 V

1 8 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
tunes on his violin and sung withal, as he sometimes did in
an evening after the business of the day was over, it was ex
tremely agreeable to hear. He had a mechanical genius too,
and, on occasion, was very handy in the use of other trades
men's tools ; but his great excellence lay in a sound under
standing 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 and
the straitness of his circumstances keeping him close to his
trade ; but I remember well iiis being frequently visited by
leading people, who consulted him 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 af&irs
when any difficulty occurred, and frequently chosen an arbi
trator 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 ingen
ious or usefiil topic for discourse, which might tend to im
prove the minds of his children. By this means he turned
our attention to what was good, just, and prudent in the
conduct of life ; and little or no notice was ever taken of what
related to the victuals on the table, whether it was well or ill
dressed, in or out of season, of good or bad flavor, preferable
or inferior to this 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 what 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-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 19
panions have been sometimes very unhappy for want of a
suitable gratification of their more delicate, because better in
structed, tastes and appetites.
My mother had likewise an excellent constitution ; she
suckled all her ten children. I never knew either my father
or mother to have any sickness but that of which they dy'd,
he at 89, and she at 85 years of age. They lie buried to
gether at Boston, where I some years since placed a marble
over their grave, with this inscription :
Josiah Franklin, and
Abiah his wife,
lie here interred.
They lived lovingly 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 fiunily
comfortably,
and brought up thirteen children
and seven grandchildren
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. bom 1655, died 1744, Mtat 89.
A. F. born 1667, died 1751,  85.

20 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
By my rambling digressions I perceive myself to be grown
old. I us'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 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, married, and set up for himself at Rhode
Island, there was all appearance that I was destined to sup
ply his place, and become a tallow-chandler. But my dislike
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 vexation. He therefore sometimes took me to walk
with him, and see joiners, bricklayers, turners, braziers, etc.,
at their work, that he might observe my inclination, 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 usefiil to me, having learnt so
much by it as to be able to do littie jobs myself in my house
when a workman could not readily be got, and to construct
little machines for my experiments, while the intention of
making the experiment was fresh and warm in my mind.
My father at last fixed upon the cuder'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 expecta
tions of a fee with me displeasing my father, I was taken
home again.
From a child I was fond of reading, and all the litde

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 21
money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books.
Pleased with the Pilgrim's Progress, my first collection was
of John Bunyan's works in separate littie volumes. I after
wards 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 littie 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 not fallen in my way,
since it was now resolved I should not be a clergyman.
Plutarch's Lives there was in which I read abundantiy, and
I still think that time spent to greit 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 thinking that had an influence on
some of the principal future events of my life.
This bookish inclination at length determined my father
to make me a printer, though he had already one son
(James) of that profession. In 17 17 my brother James re
turned from England with a press and letters to set up his
business in Boston. I liked it much better than that of my
father, but still had a hankering for the sea. To prevent the
apprehended effect of such an inclination, my father was im
patient 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 years of age, only I was to
be allowed journeyman's wages during the last year. In a
littie time I made great proficiency in the business, and be
came a useful hand to my brother. I now had access to better

22 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
books. An acquaintance with die apprentices of booksellers
enabled me sometimes to borrow a small one, which I was
carefiil to return soon and clean. Often I sat up in my
room reading the greatest part of the night, when the book
was borrowed 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. Mat
thew 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
littie pieces ; my brother, thinking it might turn to account,
encouraged me, and put me on composing occasional ballads.
One was called The Lighthouse Tragedy, and contained an
account of the drowning of Captain Wortliilake, with his
two daughters ; the other was a sailor's song, on the taking
of Teach (or Blackbeard) the pirate. They were 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 dis
couraged me by ridiculing my performances, and telling me
verse-makers were generally beggars. So I 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 litde ability I have in
that way.
There was another bookish lad in the town, John Collins
by name, with whom I was intimately acquainted. We

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 23
sometunes disputed, and very fond we were of argument,
and very desirous of confuting one another, which disputa
tious 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 spoiling the conversation, is
productive of disgust and perhaps 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 law
yers, university men, and men of all sorts that have been bred
at Edinborough.
A question was once, somehow or other, started between
Collins and me, of the propriety of educating the female sex
in learning, and their abilities for study. He was of opinion
that it was unproper, and that they were naturally unequal
to it. I took the contrary side, perhaps a litde for dispute's
sake. He was naturally more eloquent, had a ready plenty
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 setding the point, and were not to see one
another again for some time, I sat down to put my argu
ments in writing, which I copied fair and sent to him. He
answered, and I replied. Three or four letters of a 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 ; ob
served 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

24 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
and in perspicuity, of which he convinced me by several in
stances. I saw the justice of his remarks, and thence grew
more attentive to the manner in writing, and determined to
endeavor at improvement.
About this time I met with an odd volume of the Specta
tor. 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 pos
sible, 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, without look
ing at the book, try'd to compleat the papers again, by
expressing each hinted sentiment at length, and as fiiUy as it
had been expressed before, in any suitable words that should
come to hand. Then I compared my Spectator with the
original, discovered some of my faults, and corrected them.
But I found I wanted a stock of words, or a readiness in
recollecting and using them, which I thought I should have
acquired before that time if I had gone on making verses ;
since the continual 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
necessity of searching for variety, and also have tended to fix
that variety in my mind, and make me master of it. There
fore 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 collections of hints into confiision, and after some weeks
endeavored to reduce them into the best order, before I be
gan to form the fiill sentences and compleat the paper. This

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 25
\vas to teach me method in the arrangement of thoughts.
By comparing my work afterwards with the original, I dis
covered many faults and amended them ; but I sometimes
had the pleasure of fancying that, in certain particulars of
small import, I 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 exer
cises 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, evading as much as I could
the common attendance on public worship 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 practise it.
When about 1 6 years of age I happened to meet with a
book, written by one Tryon, recommending a vegetable diet.
I determined to go into it. My brother, being yet unmar
ried, did not keep house, but boarded himself and his ap
prentices in another family. My refusing to eat flesh
occasioned an inconveniency, and I was frequentiy chid for
my singularity. I made myself acquainted with Tryon's
manner of preparing some of his dishes, such as boiling po
tatoes 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 instantiy agreed to it, and I presently found
that I could save half what he paid me. This was an addi
tional fiind for buying books. But I had another advantage
in it. My brother and the rest going from the print-
4

26 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
ing-house to their meals, I remained there alone, and,
despatching presentiy 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 till their return for study, in which I made
the greater progress, from that greater clearness of head and
quicker apprehension which usually attend temperance in
eating and drinking.
And now it was that, being on some occasion made
asham'd of my ignorance in figures, which I had twice failed
in learning when at school, I took Cocker's book of Arith
metick, and went through the whole by myself with great
ease. I also read Seller's and Shermy's books of Navigation,
and became acquainted with the little geometry they contain ;
but never proceeded far in that science. And I read about
this time Locke on Human Understanding, and the Art of
Thinking, by Messrs. du Port Royal.
While I was intent on improving my language, I met
with an English grammar (I think it was Greenwood'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 Memorable 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 inquirer and doubter.
And being then, from reading Shaftesbury and Collins, be
come 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 delight

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 27
in it, practis'd it continually, and grew very artful and ex
pert in drawing people, even of superior knowledge, into
concessions, the consequences of which they did not foresee,
entangling them in difficulties out of which they could not
extricate themselves, and so obtaining victories that neither
myself nor my cause always deserved. I continu'd this
method some few years, but gradually left it, retaining only
the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest diffidence ;
never using, when I advanced any thing that may possibly
be disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any 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 / should think it so or so, for such and such rea
sons ; or / imagine it to be so ; or // is so, if I am not mis
taken. 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 con
versation are to inform or to be informed, to please or to
persuade, I wish well-meaning, sensible men would not lessen
their power of doing good by a positive, assuming manner,
that seldom fails to disgust, tends to create opposition, and
to defeat every one of those purposes for which speech was
given to us, to wit, giving or receiving information or plea
sure. For, if you would inform, a positive and dogmatical
manner in advancing your sentiments may provoke contra
diction and prevent a candid attention. If you wish infor
mation and improvement from the knowledge of others, and
yet at the same time express yourself as firmly fix'd in your
present opinions, modest, sensible men, who do not love dis-

28 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
putation, will probably leave you undisturbed in the posses
sion of your error. And by such a manner, you can seldom
hope to recommend yourself in pleasing your hearers, of to
persuade those whose concurrence you desire. Pope says,
judiciously :
^^Men should be taught as if you taught them nor,
And things unknown proposed as things forgot i**
ferther 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 vnnt of sense."
Now, is not want of sense (where a man is so unfortunate as
to want it) some apology for his want ef modesty ? and would
not the lines stand more justiy thus ?
" Immodest words admit hut 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 news
paper. It was the second that appeared in America, and
was called the New England Courant. The only one be
fore it was the Boston News-Letter. I remember his being
dissuaded by some of his friends from the undertaking, as not
likely to succeed, one newspaper being, in their judgment,
enough for America. At this time (1771) there are not less
than five-and-twenty. He went on, however, with the

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 29
undertaking, and after having worked in composing the types
and printing off" the sheets, I was employed to carry the pa
pers thro' the streets to the customers.
He had some ingenious men among his friends, who
amus'd themselves by writing littie pieces for this paper,
which gain'd it credit and made it more in demand, and
these gentiemen often visited us. Hearing their conversa
tions, and their accounts of the approbation their papers were
received with, I was excited to try my hand among them ;
but, being still a boy, and suspecting that my brother would
object to printing anything of mine in his paper if he knew
it to be mine, I contrived to disguise my hand, and, writing
an anonymous paper, I put it in at night under the door of
the printing-house. It was fotmd in the morning, and com
municated 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 diff'erent guesses at the author, none were
named but men of some character among us for learning and
ingenuity. I suppose now that I was rather lucky in my
judges, and perhaps they were not really so very good ones
as I then esteem'd them.
Encourag'd, however, by this, I wrote and convey'd in
the same way to the press several more papers which were
equally approv'd ; and I kept my secret till my small fiind of
sense for such performances was pretty well exhausted, and
then I discovered it, when I began to be considered a little
more by my brother's acquaintances and in a manner that
did not quite please liim, as he thought, probably with rea
son, that it tended to make me too vain. And, perhaps, this

30 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
might be one occasion of the differences that we began to
have about this time. Though a brother, he considered him
self 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 in
dulgence. Our disputes were often brought before our
father, and I fancy I was either generally in the right, or else
a better pleader, because the judgment was generally in my
favor. But my brother was passionate, and had often beaten
me, which I took extreamly amiss ; and, thinking my ap
prenticeship very tedious, I was 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 political
point, which I have now forgotten, gave offense to the As
sembly. He was taken up, censur'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 ex
amin'd before 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 resented a
good deal, notwithstanding our private differences, I had the
management of the paper ; and I made bold to give our rulers
some rubs in it, which my brother took very kindly, while
"^ 1 fancy his harsh and tyrannical treatment of me might be a means of
impressing me with that aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to me
through my whole life.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 31
others began to consider me in an unfavorable light, as a
young genius that had a turn for libelling and satyr. My
brother's discharge was accompany'd with an order of the
House (a very odd one), that " James Franklin should no
longer print the paper called the New England Courant. ' '
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 changing 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 fu
ture under the name of Benjamin Franklin ; and to avoid
the censure of the Assembly, that might fall on him as still
printing it by his apprentice, the contrivance was that my
old indenture should be return'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 pri
vate. A very flimsy scheme it was ; however, it was im
mediately executed, and the paper went on accordingly,
under my name for several months.
At length, a fresh difference arising between lily brother
and me, I took upon me to assert my freedom, presuming
that he would not venture to produce the new indentures.
It was not fair in me to take this advantage, and this I
therefore reckon one of the first errata of my life ; but the
unfairness of it weighed litde with me, when under the im
pressions of resentment for the blows his passion too often
urged him to bestow upon me, though he was otherwise not
an ill-natur'd man : perhaps I was too saucy and provoking.
When he found I would leave him, he took care to pre-

32 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
vent 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 go
ing 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 myself a litde obnoxious to
the governing party, and, from the arbitrary 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 littie 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 to come
away publicly. So I sold some of my books to raise a litde
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 home, a boy of but 1 7, without the least recom
mendation to, or kno>vledge 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, having a trade,
and supposing myself a pretty good workman, I offer'd my
service to the printer in the place, old Mr. William Brad
ford, who had been the first printer in Pennsylvania, but re-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 3 3
moved 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 Dutch
man, who was a passenger too, fell overboard ; when he
was sinking, I reached through the water to his shock pate,
and drew him up, so that we got him in again. His duck
ing sobered him a little, and he went to sleep, taking first
out of his pocket a book, which he desir'd I would dry for
him. It proved to be my old favorite author, Bunyan's Pil
grim's Progress, in Dutch, finely 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 narration and dialogue ; a method of writing
very engaging to the reader, who in the most interesting
parts finds himself, as it were, brought into the company
and present at the discourse. De Foe in his Cruso, his Moll
Flanders, Religious Courtship, Family Instructor, and other
pieces, has imitated it with success ; and Richardson has
done the same in his Pamela, etc.

34 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
When we drew near the island, we found it was at a
place where there could be no landing, there being a great
surff on the stonv 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 hallow'd that they should
fetch us ; but they either did not understand us, or thought
it impracticable, so they went away, and night coining on,
we had no remedy but to wait till the wind should abate ;
and, in the mean time, the boatman and I concluded to
sleep, if we could ; and so crowded into the scuttie, 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 littie rest ; but, the wind abating the next
day, we made a shift to reach Amboy before night, having
been thirty hours on the water, without victuals, or any
drink but a bottie of filthy rum, the water we 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
plentifidly was good for a fever, I follow'd the prescription,
sweat plentifidly most of the night, my fever left me, and in
the morning, crossing the ferry, I proceeded on my journey
on foot, having fifty miles to Burlington, where I was told
I should find boats that would carry me the rest of the way
to Philadelphia.
It rained very hard all the day ; I was thoroughly soak'd.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 35
and by noon a good deal tired ; so I stopt at a poor inn,
where I staid all night, beginning now to wish that I had
never left home. I cut so miserable 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 into con
versation with me while I took some refreshment, and, find
ing I had read a littie, became very sociable and friendly.
Our acquaintance continu'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 very ridiculous light, and might have
hurt weak minds if his work had been published ; but it
never was.
At his house I lay that night, and the next morning
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 Satur
day ; 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 fol-
c*

36 Autcbiograpty of Ben'-artin Frank. in.
low my business, being ignorant of the stock necessary to
begin with. She \^¦as verv hospitable, gave me a dinner of
ox-cheek with great good will, accepting only of a pot of
ale in return ; and I thought myself fixed till Tuesday
should come. However, walking in the evening by the side
of the river, a boat came by, which I found was going
to^vards 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 ha™g yet seen the city,
some of the company were confident we must ha\-e passed
it, and would 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 re
mained till daylight. Then one of the company knew the
place to be Cooper's Creek, a litde 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 city, that
you may in your mind compare such unlikely beginnings
with the figure I have since made there. I was in my work
ing 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 cop
per. The latter I gave the people of the boat for my pas-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 37
sage, who at first 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 littie.
Then 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 im
mediately 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 knowing the difference of
money, and the greater cheapness nor the names of his
bread, I bad him give me three-penny worth of any sort.
He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy rolls. I was
surpriz'd at the quantity, but took it, and, having no room
in my pockets, walk'd off with a roll under each afin, 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 certainly did, a most awkward, ridic
ulous appearance. Then I turned and went down- Chestnut-
street and part of Walnut-street, eating my roll all the way,
and, coining round, found myself again at Market-street
wharf, near the boat I came in, to which I went for a
draught of the river water ; and, being filled with one of my
rolls, gave the other two to a woman and her child that
came down the river in the boat with us, and were waiting
to go farther.
Thus refreshed, I walked again up the street, which by

38 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 con
tinu'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, looking 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 that entertains strangers, but it is not a reput
able 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, while I was eating it,
several sly questions were asked me, as it seemed to be sus
pected from my youth and appearance, that I might be some
runaway. After dinner, my sleepiness return'd, and being shown to
a bed, I lay down without undressing, and 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
horseback, had got to Philadelphia before me. He intro
duc'd me to his son, who receiv'd me civilly, gave me a

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 3 9
breakfast, but told me he did not at present want a hand,
being lately suppli'd with one ; but there was another
printer in town, lately set up, one Keimer, who, perhaps,
might employ me ; if not, I should be welcome to lodge at
his house, and he would give me a httie work to do now
and then till fidler business should offer.
The old gentieman said he would go with me to the new
printer; and when we found him, "Neighbor," says Brad
ford, "I have brought to see you a young man of your busi
ness; 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, though
he had just then nothing for me to do ; andj takilig old
Bradford, whom he had never seen before, to be one of the
town's people that had a good will for him, enter'd into a
conversation on his present undertaking and prospects ; while
Bradford, not discovering that he was the other printer's
father, on Keimer's saying he expected soon to get the
greatest part of the business into his ovra hands, drew him
on by aitfiil questions, and starting littie doubts, to explain
all his views, what interest he reli'd on, and in what man
ner he intended to proceed. I, who stood by and heard
all, saw immediately that one of them was a crafty old
sophister, and the other a mere novice. Bradford left me
with Keimer, who was greatiy 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 ingenious young man, of

40 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 likely to require all the letter, no one could
help him. I endeavor'd to put his 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, I
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 off the Elegy. And now
he had got another pan- of cases, and a pamphlet to reprint,
on which he set me to work.
These two printers I found poorly qualified for their busi
ness. Bradford had not been bred to it, and was very
illiterate ; and Keimer, tho' something of a scholar, was a
mere compositor, knowing nothing of presswork. He had
been one of the French prophets, and could act their en
thusiastic agitations. At this time he did not profess any
particular religion, but something of all on occasion ; was
very ignorant of the world, and had, as I afterward found,
a good deal of the knave in his composition. He did not
like my lodging at Bradford's while I work'd with him.
He had a house, indeed, but without furniture, so he could
not lodge me ; but he got me a lodging at Mr. Read's, be
fore mentioned, who 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 41
I had done when she first happen'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 pleasantiy ; and gaining money by
my mdustry and frugality, I lived very agreeably, forgetting
Boston as much as I could, and not desiring that any there
should know where I resided, except my friend Collins,
who was in my secret, and kept it when I wrote to him.
At length, an incident happened that sent me back again
much sooner than I had intended; I had a brother-in-law,
Robert Holmes, master of a sloop that traded between Bos
ton and Delaware. He being at Newcastie, forty miles be
low Philadelphia, heard there of me, and wrote me a letter
mentioning the concern of my friends in Boston at my abrupt
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 earnestiy. I wrote an
answer to his letter, thank'd him for his advice, but stated
my reasons for quitting Boston fiilly and in such a light as to
comdnce him I was not so wrong as he had apprehended.
Sir William Keith, governor of the province, was then at
Newcastie, and Captain Holmes, happening to be in com
pany with him when my letter came to hand, spoke to him
of me, and show'd him the letter. The governor read it,
and seem'd surpris'd when he was 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
6

42 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
the public business, and do me every other service in his
power. This my brother-in-law afterwards told me in Bos
ton, but I knew as yet pothing of it ; when, one day, Kei
mer 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, 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 con
descension and politeness I had been quite unus'd to, made
me many compliments, desired to be acquainted with me,
blam'd me kindly for not having made myself known to him
when I first came to the place, and would have me away
with him to the tavern, where he was going with Colonel
French to taste, as he said, some excellent Madeira. I was
not a little surprised, and Keimer 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 Colonel French as
sur'd me I should have their interest and influence in pro
curing the public business of both governments. On my
doubting whether my father would assist me in it. Sir Wil
liam said he would give me a letter to him, in which he
would state the advantages, and he did not doubt of prevail
ing with him. So it was concluded I should return to Boston
in the first vessel, with 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 governor sending for me now and then to dine with him.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 43
a very great honor I thought it, and conversing with me in
the most affable, familiar, 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 flatter
ing things of me to my father, and strongly recommending
the project of my setting 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 continually, 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 had there, I 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
6*

44 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
a piece of eight 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 might live for
the future as brothers, he said I had insulted him in such a
manner before his people that he could never forget or for
give it. In this, however, he was mistaken.
My father received the governor's letter with some ap
parent surprise, but said litde 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 was ;
adding his opinion that he must be of small discretion to
think of setting a boy up in business who wanted yet three
years of being at man's estate. Holmes said what he could
in favor of the project, but my father was clear in the im
propriety of it, and at last gave a flat denial to it. Then he
wrote a civil letter to Sir William, thanking him for the pa
tronage 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 management of a business so important,
and for which the preparation must be so expensive.
My friend 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 determination, 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 William's propo-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 45
sition, was yet pleas'd that I had been able to obtain so ad
vantageous a character from a person of such note where I
had resided, and that I had been so industrious and careful as
to equip myself so handsomely in so short a time ; therefore,
seeing no prospect of an accommodation between my brother
and me, he gave his consent to my returning again to Phila
delphia, advis'd me to behave respectfully to the people
there, endeavor to obtain the general esteem, and avoid lam
pooning and libeling, to which he thought I had too much
inclination ; telling me, that by steady industry and a pru
dent parsunony I might save enough by the time I was one-
and-twenty to set me up ; and that, if I came near the mat
ter, he would help me out with the rest. This was all I
could obtain, except some small gifts as tokens of his and my
mother's love, when I embark'd again for New York, now
with their approbation and their blessing.
The sloop putting in at Newport, Rhode Island, I visited
my brother John, who had been married and settled there
some years. He received me very affectionately, for he al
ways 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 till
I had his directions what to remit it in. Accordingly, he
gave me an order. This afterwards occasion'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

46 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 very 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 ad
vise thee, in a friendly concern for thy welfare, to have no
acquaintance with them." As I seem'd at first not to think
so ill of them as she did, she mentioned some things she had
observ'd and heard that had escap'd my notice, but now
convinc'd me she was right. I thank'd her for her kind ad
vice, and promis'd to follow it. V/hen 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 was well I did ;
for the next day the captain miss'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 vve 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

AuDbicgr.jphy of Bt-nj,:-::;! Fr.mklin. 47
leisure for conversation were spent with him, and he con
tinu'd a sober as well as an industrious lad ; was much re
spected for his le-irning by several of the clergy and other
gentiemen, and seemed to promise making a good figure in
life. But, during my absence, he had acquir'd a habit of
sotting \vith brandy ; and I found by his own account, and
what I heard from others, that he had been drunk ever\' day
since his arri\-al at New York, and behav'd very oddlv. He
had gam'd, too. and lost his m.onev, so that I was oblig'd to
discharge his lodgings, and to defray his expenses to and at
Philadelphia, which prov'd extreniely inconvenient to me.
The then governor of New York, Burnet (son of Bishop
Burnet), hearing from the captain that a voung man, one of
his passengers, had a great many books, desir'd he would
bring me to see him. I waited upon him accordinglv, and
should have taken Collins with me but that he was not sober.
The gov'r. treated me with great ci^^lity, 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 journev. Collins wished to be employ'd in
some counting-house ; but, whether they discover' d his
dramming bv his breath, or b)' his beha^nour, tho' he had
some recommendations, he met with no success in any ap
plication, and continu'd lodging and boarding at the same
house with me, and at mv expense. Knowing I had that
money of Vernon's, he was continually borrowing of me.

48 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
still promising repayment 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 sometimes quar
rel' d ; for, when a littie intoxicated, he was very fractious.
Once, in a boat on the Delaware with some other young
men, he refused to row in his turn. "I will 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
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, L
clapped my hand under his crutch, and, rising, pitched him
head-foremost into the river, I knew he was a good swim
mer, 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 pull'd her out of 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 from him. He was ready to
die with vexation, and obstinately yvould not promise to row.
However, seeing him at last beginning to tire, we lifted him
in and brought him home dripping 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 gentleman at Barbadoes, happening to meet with
him, agreed to carry him thither. He left me then, promis
ing to remit me the first money he should receive in order to
discharge the debt ; but I never heard of him after.

From the original portrait of Franklin painted by Mason Chamberlain, an orig
inal member of the Royal Academy. He painted it for Col. Philip Ludwell,
of Virginia, who went to England in 1760. The original, once owned by
Joshua Bates, of Boston, is now in the possession of his grandson, M. Victor
Van de Weyer, London, England.

Autobiography of ¦ Benjamin Franklin, 49
The breaking into this money of Vernon's was ofi£i of the
first great errata of my life ; and this affair show'd that my
father was not much out in his judgment when he suppos'd
me too young to manage business of importance. But Sir
^^ illiam, on reading 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 inventory 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 insin
cere? I believ'd him one of the best men in the world.
I presented him an inventory of a littie 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, "when there, you may make acquain
tances, and establish correspondences in the bookselling and
stationery way." I agreed that this might be advantageous.

50 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
"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 sail'd, so I continu'd
working with Keimer, fretting about the money Collins had
got from me, and in daily apprehensions of being call'd
upon by Vernon, which, however, did not happen for some
years after.
I believe I have omitted mentioning that, in my first voy
age from Boston, being becalm'd off Block Island, our peo
ple set about catching cod, and hauled up a great many.
Hitherto I had stuck to my resolution of not eating animal
food, and on this occasion I consider'd, with my master
Tryon, the taking every fish as a kind of unprovoked mur
der, since none of them had, or ever could do us any injury
that might justify the slaughter. All this seemed very rea
sonable. But I had formerly been a great lover of fish, and,
when this came hot out of the frying-pan, it smelt admirably
well. I balanc'd some time between principal and inclina
tion, till I recollected that, when the fish were opened, I
saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs ; then thought
I, "If you eat one another, I don 't see why we mayn 't
eat you." So I din'd upon cod very heartily, and continued
to eat with other people, returning only now and then oc
casionally to a vegetable diet. So convenient a thing it is to
be a reasonable creature, since it enables on,e to find or make
a reason for every thing one has a mind to do.
Keimer and I liv'd on a pretty good familiar footing, and
agreed tolerably well, for he suspected nothing of my setting
up. He retained a great deal of his old enthusiasms and

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 51
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 by degrees lead to
the point, and brought him into difficulties and contradic
tions, that at last he grew ridiculously cautious, and would
hardly answer me the most common question, without ask
ing first, " What do you intend to infer from that?" How
ever, it gave him so high an opinion of my abilities in the
confuting way, that he seriously proposed my being his col
league in a project he had of setting up a new sect. He was
to preach the doctrines, and I was to confound all opponents.
When he came to explain with me upon the doctrines, I
found several conundrums which I objected to, unless I
might have my way a little too, and introduce some of mine.
Keimer wore his beard at full length, because somewhere
in the Mosaic law it is said, " Thou shalt not mar the cor
ners 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," said he, "my constitution will not bear that." I
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 prepar'd for us at different
times, in all which there was neither fish, flesh, nor fowl,
7*

52 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 inconvenience, so that I think
there is little in the advice of making those changes by easy
gradations. I went on pleasantly, but poor Keimer suffered
grievously, 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,
I had a great respect and affection for her, and had 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 above eighteen, it was thought most prudent by
her mother to prevent our going too far at present, as a mar
riage, if it was to take place, would be more convenient
after my return, when I should be, as I expedted, set up in
my business. Perhaps, too, she thought my expeftations not
so well founded as I imagined them to be.
My chief acquaintances at this time were Charles Os
borne, Joseph Watson, and James Ralph, all lovers of read
ing. The two first were clerks to an eminent scrivener or
conveyancer in the town, Charles Brogden ; the other was
clerk to a merchant, Watson was a pious, sensible young
man, of great integrity ; the others rather more lax in their
principles of religion, particularly Ralph, who, as well as
Collins, had been unsettied by me, for which they both made

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 53
me suffer, Osborne was sensible, candid, frank ; sincere
and affeftionate to his friends ; but, in literary matters, too
fond of criticising. Ralph was ingenious, genteel in his man
ners, 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 to one another, and con
ferr'd on what we read.
Ralph was inclin'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 best 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
advis'd him to think of nothing beyond the business he was
bred to ; that, in the mercantile way, tho' he had no stock,
he might, by his diligence and punctuality, recommend him
self to employment as a factor, and in time acquire where
with 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 inprove by our mutual observations, criticisms, and
correftions. 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

54 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
been busy, and, having litde 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 looo 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 pre
tend not to have had time, and so produce nothing. We shall
then see what he will say to it," It was agreed, and I imme
diately 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. Osborne'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 ex
cused ; had not had sufficient time to correft, 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 w^s no better
a critic than poet, so he dropt the argument. As they two
went home together, Osborne expressed himself stUl more
strongly in favor of what he thought my produftion ; 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 5 5
God! how he writes ! " When we next met, Ralph dis
covered the trick vve had plaid him, and Osborne was a
httle laught at.
Tltis transaftion fixed Ralph in his resolution of becoming
a poet. I did all I could to dissuade him from it, but he
continued scribbling vefses till Pope cured him. He became,
however, a pretty good prose writer. More of him here
after. But, as I 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 friendly visit to the
other, and acquaint him how he found things in that separate
state. But he never fulfill'd his promise.
The governor, seeming to like my company, had me fre
quently 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 let
ter 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 delivered to me.

56 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
Ralph, though married, and having one cliild, had deter
mined to accompany me in this voyage. It was thought he
intended to establish a correspondence, and obtain goods to
sell on commission ; but I found afterwards, that, thro'
some discontent with his wife's relations, he purposed to
leave her on their hands, and never return again. Having
taken leave of my friends, and interchang'd some promises
with Miss Read, I left Philadelphia in the ship, which
anchor'd at Newcastie. 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 me, being engaged in business of the utmost importance,
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 litde puzzled, but still not doubting.
Mr. Andrew Hamilton, a famous lawyer of Philadelphia,
had taken passage in the same ship for himself and son, and
with Mr. Denham, a Quaker merchant, and Messrs. Onion
and Russel, masters of an iron work in Maryland, had en
gag'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 persons. But Mr.
Hamilton and his son (it was James, since governor) re
turn'd from Newcastie to Philadelpliia, the father being re
call'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. Accordingly,
we remov'd thither.

Autviiegraphy of Benjamin Franklin. 57
Understanding that Colonel French had brought on board
the governor's despatches, I ask'd the captain for those let
ters that were to be under mv care. He said all were put
into the bag together and he could not then come at them ;
but, before we landed in England, I should have an oppor
tunity' of picking them out ; so I was satisfied for the pres
ent, and we proceeded on our voyage. We had a sociable
company in the cabin, and lived uncommonly well, having
the addition of all Mr. Hamilton's stores, who had laid in
plentifiilly. In this passage Mr. Denham contracted a friend
ship 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
word with me, and gave me an opportunity of examining
the bag for the governor's letters. I found none upon which
mv name was put as under my care. I picked out six or
seven, that, by the handwriting, I thought might be the
promised letters, especially as one of them was directed to
Basket, the king's printer, and another to some stationer.
We arriv'd in London the 24th of December, 1724. I
waited upon the stationer, who came first in my way, deliv
ering the letter as from Governor Keith. " I don't know such
a person," savs he ; but, opening the letter, "O ! this is from
Riddlesden. I have lately found him to be a compleat ras
cal, 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 recollecting and comparing circumstances, I began

58 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
to doubt his sincerity. I found my friend Denham, and
opened the whole affair to him. He let me into Keith's
character ; told me there was not the least probability that
he had written any letters for me ; that no one, who knew
him, had the smallest dependence on him ; and he 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 en
deavor 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 well 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 with us) ; and that Keith was concerned
in it with Riddlesden. Denham, who was a friend of Ham
ilton's, thought he ought to be acquainted with it ; so, when
he arrived in England, which was soon after, partly from
resentment and ill-wOl to Keith and Riddlesden, and partly
from good-will to him, I waited on him, and gave him the
letter. He thank'd me cordially, the information being of
importance to him ; and from that time he became my
friend, greatly to my advantage afterwards on many occa
sions. But what shall we think of a governor's playing such
pitiful tricks, and imposing so grossly on a poor ignorant boy !
It was a habit he had acquired. He wish'd to please every-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 59
body ; and, having litde to give, he gave expectations. He
was otherwise an ingenious, sensible man, a prettv good
writer, and a good governor for the people, tho' not for his
constituents, the proprietaries, whose instructions he some
times disregarded. Several of our best laws were of his
planning and passed during his administration.
Ralph and I were inseparable companions. We took
lodgings together in Littie Britain at three shillings and six
pence a week — as much as we could then afford. He found
some relations, but thev 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 hav
ing been expended in paying his passage. I had fifteen pis
toles ; so he borrowed occasionally of me to subsist, while
he was looking out for business. He first endeavored to get
into the playhouse, believing himself qualifj^'d for an actor;
but ^^ ilkes, to whom he apply'd, advds'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, on certain conditions, which Roberts did not ap
prove. Then he endeavored to get emplo}Tnent as a hackney
writer, to copy for the stationers and lawyers about the
Temple, but could find no vacancy.
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,
8*

6o Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
and now just rubbed on from hand to mouth. He seem'd
quite to forget his wife and child, and I, by degrees, my en
gagements with Miss Read, to whom I never wrote more
than one letter, and that was to let her know I was not
likely soon to return. This was another of the great errata
of my life, which I should wish to correct if I were to live
it over again. In fact, by our expenses, I was constandy
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 con
sider'd by Mr. Palmer as a young man of some ingenuity,
tho' he seriously expostulated 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 door. He had an
immense collection of second-hand books. Circulating libra
ries 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 Infalli
bility of Human Judgment," it occasioned an acquaintance
between us. He took great notice of me, called on me often

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 6 1
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 conSpanion. Lyons, too, intro
duced me to Dr. Pemberton, at Batson's Coffee-house, who
promis'd to give me an opportunity, some time or other, of
seeing Sir Isaac Newton, of which I was extreamely desir
ous ; 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 in
vited me to his house in Bloomsbury Square, where he
show'd me aU 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 milliner,
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 intimate, 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 resolution 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 a master of arithmetic and accounts. This, however, he
deemed a business below him, and confident of future better
fortune, when he should be unwilling to have it known that
he once was so meanly employed, he changed his name, and
did me the honor to assume mine ; for I soon after had a let-

62 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
ter from him, acquainting me that he was settled in a small
village (in Berkshire, I think it was, where he taught read
ing and writing to ten or a dozen boys, at sixpence each per
week), recommending Mrs. T  to my care, and desir
ing me to write to him, direfting for Mr. Franklin, school
master, at such a place.
He continued to write frequently, sending me large speci
mens of an epic poem which he was then composing, and
desiring my remarks and correftions. These I gave him from
time to time, but endeavor'd rather to discourage his pro
ceeding. 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 Muses with any hope of ad
vancement by them. All was in vain ; sheets of the poem
continued to come by every post. In the mean time, Mrs.
T  , having on his account lost her friends and business,
was often in distresses, and us'd to send for me, and bor
row what I could spare to help her out of them. I grew
fond of her company, and, being at that time under no re
ligious restraint, and presuming upon my importance to her,
I attempted familiarities (another erratum) which she repuls'd
with a proper resentment, and acquainted him with my be
haviour. This made a breach between us ; and, when he re
turned 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 expeft 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 burtiien. I
now began to think of getting a little money beforehand, and.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 63
expecting better work, I left Palmer's to work at Watts's,
near Lincoln's Inn Field, a still greater printing-house. Here
I continued all the rest of my stay in London.
At my first admission into this printing-house I took to
working at press, imagining I felt a want of the bodily ex
ercise 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 number, 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 several in
stances, that the Water-American, as they called me, was
stronger than themselves, who drank strong beer 1 We had
an alehouse boy who attended always in the house to supply
the workmen. My companion at the press drank every day
a pint before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his bread and
cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a pint at din
ner, 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 to labor. I endeavored to con
vince him that the bodily strength afforded by beer could
only be in proportion to the grain or flour of the barley dis
solved in the water of which it was made ; that there was
more flour in a pennyworth of bread ; and therefore, if he
would eat that with a pint of water, it would give him more
strength than a quart of beer. He drank on, however, and
had four or five shillings to pay out of his wages every Satur
day night for that muddling liquor ; an expense I was free from.
And thus these poor devils keep themselves always under.

64 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
Watts, after some weeks, desiring to have me in the com
posing-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 be
low ; 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 pri
vate mischief done me, by mixing my sorts, transposing my
pages, breaking my matter, etc., etc., if I were ever so lit
tle out of the room, and all ascribed to the chappel ghost,
which they said ever haunted those not regularly admitted,
that, notwithstanding the master's proteftion, I found my
self 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 altera
tions in their chappel laws, and carried them against all op
position. From my example, a great part of them left their
muddling breakfast of beer, and bread, and cheese, finding
they could with me be supply'd from a neighboring house
with a large porringer of hot water-gruel, sprinkled with
pepper, crumb'd with bread, and a bit of butter 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 light, as they phrased it, beings out. I watch'd the
pay-table on Saturday night, and collected what I stood en-

Autobiography of Benjamin Fraitklin. 65
gag'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 consequence in the society. My constant attendance (I
never making a St. Monday) recommended me to the mas
ter ; and my uncommon quickness at composing occasioned
my being put upon all work of dispatch, which was gener
ally better paid. So I went on now very agreeably.
My lodging in Littie Britain being too remote, I found
another in Duke-street, opposite to the Romish 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 ware
house, but lodg'd abroad. After sending to inquire my char
after 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 proteftion she expected in having a man lodge
in the house. She was a widow, an elderly woman ; had
been bred a Protestant, being a clerg}'man'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 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 en
tertainment was in her conversation. My always keeping
9

66 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
good hours, and giving little trouble in the family, made her
unwilling to part with me ; so that, when I talk'd of a lodg
ing I had heard of, nearer my business, for two shillings a
week, which, intent as I now was on saving money, made
some difference, she bid me not think of it, for she would
abate me two shillings a week for the future ; so I 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, reserv
ing 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 only, and using no fire but to boil it. She had
lived many years in that garret, being permitted to remain
there gratis by successive Catholic tenants of the house be
low, as they deemed it a blessing to have her there. A
priest visited her to confess her every day. "I have ask'd
her," says my landlady, "how she, as she liv'd, could pos
sibly find so much employment for a confessor?" "Oh,"
said she, "it is impossible to avoid vain thoughts." I was
permitted once to visit her. She was chearful and polite,
and convers'd pleasantly. The room was clean, but had no
other furniture than a matras, a table with a crucifix and

du:ji::gr,:pb\ f .S.r ,;->;> F'.:':i.'!':. 67
book, a stool which she g-^ve me to sit or., and a ricture
over the chimney of S:iin: Veronica disp'.avine hst har.d-
kerchiet, with the miraculous figure of Chriit's b'.eedir.e ^ace
on It, which she exp'ainei to me with great seriousnesj.
i'he look'd pale, but was never sick; and I give it as
an^th;- instance on how smill an income, life and health
mav be supported.
At Watts's printing-house I contracted an acquaintance
with an ingenious voung man, one Wvgate, who, havine
wealthv relations, had been better educated than most prin
ters ; was a tolerable Latirdst, spoke French, and lov d read
ing. I taught him and a rrlend 01 his to swim at twice goiss
into the river, and thev soon became good swimmers. Tnev
introduc'd me to some gentlemen icm the country, who
went to Chelsea bv water to see the College and Don Sal
tero's curiosities. In our return, at the recuest of the com-
panr, whose curiosity" W^ gate had excited, I 5tripT>ed and
learned into the river, and swam f-om near Chelsea to Black-
trrar's, performing on the way manv reats of activdrr, both
upon and under water, that surpris'd and pleas'd tho=e to
whom thev were noveldes.
I had from a child been ever delighted with this eserolse,
had srudleJ and practis'd all Thevenot's motions and posi
tions, added some of mv own, ainoing at the gracerul and
easv as well as the useful. All these I took this occasion of
exhd'riting to the comranv, and was much natter' d by their
admiration ; and Wvgate, who was desirous ot becoming a
master, grew more and more attach'^l to me on that account,
as well as n'om the similarlrr c: our srudies. He at length

68 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
ing ourselves everywhere by working at our busines's\( I vvas
once inclined to it ; but, mentioning it to my good friend
Mr. Denham, with whom I often spent an hour when I had
leisure, he dissuaded me from it, advising me to think only
of returning to Pennsilvania, which he was now about to do.
I must record one trait of this good man's charafter. He
had formerly been in business at Bristol, but failed in debt to
a number of people, compounded and went to America.
There, by a close application to business as a merchant, he
acquir'd a plentiful 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, when they ex
pected 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 Philadelphia,
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 instruft 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 profitable; and, if I manag'd well,
would establish me handsomely. The thing pleas'd me; for
I was grown tked 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, Pennsylvania money ; less, indeed, than my

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 69
present gettings as a compositor, but aft'ording a better pros-
peft. 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 dispatch', etc. ; and, when all was on
board, I had a few davs' leisure. On one of these days, I
was, to my surprise, sent for by a great man I knew only by
name, a Sir N\'illiain A^^yndham, 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 impor
tance to do with one of these sons of Sir William Wynd
ham, become Earl of Egremont, which I shall mention 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 litde upon myself except in seeing plays and in books.
My tnend Ralph had kept me poor ; he owed me about

70 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
twenty-seven pounds, which I was now never likely to re
ceive ; a great sum out of my small earnings ! I lov'd him,
notwithstanding, for he liad many amiable qualities, I had
by no means improv'd my fortune; but I had picked up
some very ingenious acquaintance, whose 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 con
duct in life. It is the more remarkable, as being formed
when I was so young, and yet being pretty faithfully ad
hered to quite thro' to old age.
We landed in Philadelphia on the 1 1 th of October, where
I found sundry alterations. Keith was no longer governor,
being superseded by Major Gordon. I met him walking the
streets as a common citizen. He seem'd a litde 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 re
ceipt 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 fel
low, tho' an excellent workman, which was the temptation
to her friends. He got into debt, ran away in 1727 or
1728, went to the West Indies, and died there. - Keimer
had got a better house, a shop well supply'd with stationery.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 71
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 diligentiy, studied
accounts, and grew, in a littie time, expert at selling. We
lodg'd and boarded together; he counsell'd me as a father,
having a sincere regard 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 HI. 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, regret
ting, in some degree, that I must now, some time or other,
have all that disagreeable work to do over again. I forget
what his distemper was ; it held him a long time, and at
length carried him off. He left me a small legacy in a nun
cupative wUl, as a token of his kindness for me, and he left
me once more to the wide world ; for the store was taken
into the care of his executors, and my employment under
him ended.
My brother-in-law. Holmes, being now at Philadelphia,
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 charafter 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 anv, I clos'd again with Keimer. I found in his house

72 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
these hands : Hugh Meredith, a Welsh Pensilvanian, thirty
years of age, bred to country work ; honest, sensible, had a
great deal of solid observation, was something of a reader,
but given to drink. Stephen Potts, a young countryman 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 expeftation 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 Irishman,
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 for a compositor, of whom more presently ;
and David Harry, a country boy, whom he had taken ap
prentice. I 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 instrufted them, then they being all articled to
him, he should be able to do without me. I went on, how
ever, 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 situ
ation of a bought servant. He was not more than eighteen

AmtMtgr^ij rf BeMf--rm FrjmiEM. 73
years q£ i^e, and gave me this account of himsdf ; that he
was bom in Gloucester, edncated at a gnmmar-scdioid there,
had been dismngnashd nmnng the sdxJais fer some arpar-
ent sapoiority in perfrrming his pan, whoi thev exhibited
plays ; bdong'd to tie Wkty Cfaib there, and had written
scHne pieces in pose and rose, whidi were printed in die
Giocceser newspapers ; tbsice he was sent to Oi^rd ;
where he ccmdmied aboot a year, bat not well sadsfi'd,
wiping v£ aQ things to see I/Bidon, and become a plsyer.
At length, receiving his qparteriy allowance of ctteen
guineas, instead of ^bcbai^ng hk debts he walk'd oat of
town, hid hk gown in a fcxze bosh, and &oted it to Lon-
diHi, where, having no fiiend to advise him, he ixH into bad
ctBnpany, sochi spoit his guineas, foond no means of beii^
intiodnc'd amcHig the jjayeis, grew necesatoos, pawn'd his
<^oaihs, and wanted bread. Walking die stiea veiy hnngry,
and not knowing what to do widt himsd^ a camp's lull was
pet into his hand, ofiering immediate entertainmait and en-
couiagtauent id SDch as would land diemsdres to serve in
America. He went dneoiy, sgn'd die mdentnres, was pot
into die shq>, and came over, never writing a line to acciaint
his fiiends what was bectane of" him. He was finely, witry,
good-natur'd, and a jdeasant mmjanma^ hai idle, dioa^u-
less, and im^sndent to tiie \a3t degree.
Jcdm, die In^nnan, soon ran away ; widi die r^ I began
to Bre very agieeaUy, fe diey all lespefied me the mote, as
ther tbund Seimo' incapable of iastmfiing them, and that
fiooi me diey learned 'innvrliing da^-v. We never worked
on Satmdav, that being Kdbner's Sab-bsdi, so I had two
dars fer iea<£i^. M~ aoccainance widi mgeciODS peojde in

74 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
the town increased. Keimer himself treated me with great
civility and apparent regard, and nothing now made me un
easy but my debt to Vernon, 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 attention to the manner ; how
ever, I now contrived a mould, made use of the letters we
had as puncheons, struck the matrices in lead, and thus sup
ply'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 civU, put on more of the master, fre
quently found fault, was captious, and seem'd ready for an
outbreaking. I went on, nevertheless, with a good deal of
patience, thinking that his encumber'd circumstances were
partiy the cause. At length a trifle snapt our conneftaons ;
for, a great noise happening near the court-house, I put my
head out of die window to see what was the matter. Kei
mer, being in the street, look'd up and saw me, call'd out
to me in a loud voice and angry tone to mind my business,
adding some reproachful words, that netded me the more for
their publicity, all the neighbors who were looking out on

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 75
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, expressing a wish that
he had not been oblig'd to so long a warning. I told him
his wish was unnecessary, for I would leave him that instant ;
and so, taking my hat, walk'd out of doors, desh-ing 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 I 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 misera
bly, 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 ob
jected my want of money. He then let me know that his
father had a high opinion of me, and, from some discourse
that had pass'd between them, he was sure would advance
money to set us up, if I would enter into partnership with
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 you like
it, your 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

76 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
great influence with his son, had prevail'd on him to abstain
long from dram -drinking, and he hop'd might break him of
that wretched habit entirely, when we came to be so closely
connected. 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 there, and so remain'd idle a few days,
when Keimer, on a prospeft of being employ'd to print
some paper money in New Jersey, which would require cuts
and various types that I only could supply, and apprehend
ing 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 effeft of sudden passion, and wishing
me to return, Meredith persuaded me to comply, as it would
give more opportunity for his improvement under my daily
instruftions ; so I return'd, and we went on more smoothly
than for some time before. The New Jersey jobb was ob
tain'd, I contriv'd a copperplate 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 satisfaftion ; 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 princi
pal people of the province. Several of them had been ap
pointed by the Assembly a committee to attend the press,
and take care that no more 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

Autobiography of Bertjdmin Franklin. 77
two fof Company. My mind having been much more im
prov'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 neglefted. In truth, he was an odd fish ; ignorant of
common life, fond of rudely opposing receiv'd opinions,
slovenly to extrearn dirtiness, enthusiastic in some points of
religion, and a litde 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 As
sembly, and Isaac Decow, the surveyor-general. The latter
was a shrewd, sagacious old man, who told me that he
began for himself, when young, by wheeling clay for the
brickmakers, learned to write after he was of age, carri'd the
chain for sur\'eyors, who taught him surveying, and he had
now by his industry, acquir' d a good estate ; and says he,
"I foresee that you will soon work this man out of his busi
ness, 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 of great use to
me, as I occasionally was to some of them. They all' con
tinued 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

78 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
through my childhood piously in the Dissenting way. But I
was scarce fifteen, when, after doubting by turns of several
points, as I found them disputed 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
substance of sermons preached at Boyle's Lectures. It hap
pened 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,
particularly Collins and Ralph ; but, each of them having
afterwards wrong'd me greatly without the least compunc
tion, and recollefting Keith's conduft towards me (who was
another freethinker), and my own towards Vernon and Miss
Read, which at times gave me great trouble, I began to sus-
peft that this doftrine, tho' it might be true, was not very
usefiil. My London pamphlet, which had for its motto
these lines of Dryden :
"Whatever is, is light. Though purblind man
Sees but a part o' the chain, the nearest link :
His eyes not carrying to the equal beam.
That poises all above ; "
and from the attributes of God, his infinite wisdom, good
ness and power, concluded that nothing could possibly be
wrong in the world, and that vice and virtue were empty
distinftions, no such things existing, appear'd now not so
clever a performance as I once thought it ; and I doubted
whether some error had not insinuated itself unperceiv'd into

Autobiography of Benjamin Frdnklifi. 79
my ai'gument, so as to infeft all that follow'd, as is common
in metaphysical reasonings.
I grew convinc'd that truth, sincerity and integrity in
dealings between man and man were of the utmost impor
tance 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 forbidden by
it, or good because v. commanded them, yet probably those
aftions 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 Providence, or some guar
dian angel, or accidental favorable circumstances and situa
tions, 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 instances I have mentioned had some
thing of necessity in them, from my youth, inexperience, and
the knavery of others, I had therefore a tolerable charafter
to begin the world with ; I valued it properly, and deter
min'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 twenty-four pounds a year, tho' I

8o Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
have since known it to let for seventy, we took in Thomas
Godfrey, a glazier, and his family, who were to pay a con
siderable part of it to us, and we to board with them. We
had scarce opened our letters and put our press in order, be
fore George House, an acquaintance of mine, brought a
countryman to us, whom he had met in the street inquiring
for a printer. All our cash was now expended in the variety
of particulars we had been obliged to procure, and this coun
tryman'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 boding its
ruin. Such a one then liv^ed in Philadelphia ; a person of
note, an elderly man, with a wise look and a very grave
manner of speaking ; his name was Samuel Mickle. This
gentieman, a stranger to me, stopt one day at my door, and
asked me if I was the young man who had lately opened a
new printing-house. Being answered in the affirmative, he
said he was sorry for me, because it was an expensive under
taking, and the expense would be lost ; for Philadelphia was
a sinking place, the people already half bankrupts, or 'near
being so ; all appearances to the contrary, such as new build
ings and the rise of rents, being to his certain knowledge fal
lacious ; 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 melancholy. Had I known him before I engaged in this
business, probably I never should have done it. This man

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 8 1
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 destruftion ; and at last I had the
pleasure of seeing liim 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 autumn of
the preceding year, I had form'd most of my ingenious ac
quaintance into a club of mutual improvement, which we
called the Junto ; we met on Friday evenings. The rules
that I drew up required that every member, in his turn,
should produce one or more queries on any point of Morals,
Politics, or Natural Philosophy, to be discuss'd by the com
pany ; and once in three months produce and read an essay
of his own writing, on any subjeft he pleased. Our debates
were to be under the direflion of a president, and to be con-
dufted 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 direft
contradiftion, were after some rime made contraband, and
prohibited under small pecuniary penalties.
The first members were 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 litde Nicknackeries, 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 littie out of his way, and was not
a pleasing companion ; as, like most great mathematicians I
have met with, he expected universal precision in every thing

82 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
said, or was for ever denying or distinguishing upon trifles,
to the disturbance of all conversation. He soon left us.
Nicholas Scull, a surveyor, afterward surveyor-general,
who lov'd books, and sometimes made a few verses.
William Parsons, bred a shoemaker, but, loving reading,
had acquir'd a considerable share of mathematics, which he
first studied with a view to astrology, that he afterwards
laught at. 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
charafteriz'd before.
Robert Grace, a young gentleman of some fortune, gener
ous, 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 exaftest 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 in
terruption to his death, upward of forty years ; and the club
continued almost as long, and was the best school of philos
ophy, morality, and politics that then existed in the prov
ince ; for our queries, which were read the week preceding
their discussion, put us upon reading with attention upon the
several subjects, that we might speak more to the purpose ;
and here, too, we acquired better habits of conversation,
every thing being studied in our rules which might prevent
our disgusting each other. From hence the long continuance
of the club, which I shall have frequent occasion to speak
further of hereafter.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 83
But my giving this account of it here is to show something
of the interest I had, every one of these exerting themselves
in recommending business to us. Breintnal pai-ticularly pro
cur'd us from the Quakers the printing forty sheets of their
history, the rest being to be done by Keimer ; and upon this
we 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 Meredith worked it off at
press ; it was often eleven at night, and sometimes later,
before I had finished my distribution for the next day's
work, for the little jobbs sent in by our other friends now
and then put us back. But so determin'd I was to continue
doing a sheet a day of the folio, that one night, when, hav
ing impos'd my 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 be
fore I went to bed ; and this industry, visible to our neigh
bors, began to give us charafter and credit ; particularly, I
was told, that mention being made of the new printing-
office at the merchants' Every-night club, the general opin
ion 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 any thing I ever
saw of the kind ; I see him still at work when I go home
from club, and he is at work again before his neighbors are
out of bed." This struck the rest, and we soon after had
offers from one of them to supply us with stationery ; but as
yet we did not chuse to engage in shop business.

84 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 effefts in my favour through
out this relation.
George Webb, who had found a female friend that lent
him wherewith to purchase his time of Keimer, now came
to offer himself as a journeyman to us. We could not then
imploy him ; but I foolishly let him know as a secret that I
soon intended to begin a newspaper, and might then have
work for him. My hopes of success, as I told him, were
founded on this, that the then only newspaper, printed by
Bradford, was a paltry thing, wretchedly manag'd, no way
entertaining, and yet was profitable to him; I therefore
thought a good paper would scarcely fail of good encourage
ment. I requested Webb not to mention it f but he told it
to Keimer, who immediately, to be beforehand with me,
published 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 tide
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 burlesqu'd 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 subscribers, he offer'd it to me for a trifle ;
and I, having been ready some time to go on with it, took it
in hand directly ; and it prov'd in a few years extremely
profitable to me.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 85
I perceive that I am apt to speak in the singular number,
though our partnership stiU continu'd; the reason may be
that, in fact, the whole management of the business lay upon
me. Meredith was no compositor, a poor pressman, and
seldom sober. My friends lamented my connection with
him, but I was to make the best of it.
Our first papers made a quite different appearance from
any before in the province ; a better type, and better printed ;
but some spirited remarks of my writing, on the dispute then
going on between Governor Burnet and the Massachusetts
Assembly, struck the principal people, occasioned the paper
and the manager of it to be much talk'd of, and in a few
weeks brought them aU to be our subscribers.
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 littie to scribble ; another was,
that the leading men, seeing a newspaper now in the hands
of one who could also handle a pen, thought it convenient to
oblige and encourage me. Bradford stiU printed the votes,
and laws, and other publick business. He had printed an
address of the House to the governor, in a coarse, blunder
ing manner; we reprinted it elegantiy and correctiy, and
sent one to every member. They were sensible of the dif
ference: it strengthened the hands of our friends in the
House, and they voted us their printers for the year ensuing.
Among my friends in the House I must not forget Mr.
Hamilton, before mentioned, who was then returned from
England, and had a seat in it. He interested himself for me
strongly in that instance, as he did in many others after
ward, continuing his patronage till his death.

86 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
Mr. Vernon, about this time, put me in mind of the debt
I ow'd him, but did not press me. I wrote him an ingenu
ous 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 which I had
never the least reason to expeft. Mr. Meredith's father, who
was to have paid for our printing-house, according to the ex-
peftations given me, was able to advance only one hundred
pounds currency, 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 prospefts must, with us, be
ruined, as the press and letters must be sold for payment, per
haps 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 application from me, offering each of them to ad
vance me all the money that should be necessary to enable me
to take the whole business upon myself, if that should be prac
ticable ; but they did not like my continuing the partnership
with Meredith, who, as they said, was often seen drunk in
the streets, and playing at low games in alehouses, much to
our discredit. These two friends were William Coleman 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 agreement, because I thought myself under great

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 87
obligations to them for what they had done, and would do if
they could ; but, if they finally fail'd in their performance,
and our partnership must be dissolv'd, I should then think
mvself at liberty to accept the assistance of my friends.
Thus the matter rested for some time, when I said to my
partner, "Perhaps your father is dissatisfied at the part you
have undertaken in this affair of ours, and is unwilling to ad
vance 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 my business." "No," said he, "my father has
reallv been disappointed, and is really unable ; and I am un
willing to distress him farther. I see 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 ap
prentice to learn a new trade. Many of our Welsh people
are going to setde in North Carolina, where land is cheap.
I am inclin'd to go with them, and follow my old employ
ment. You may find friends to assist you. If you will take
the debts of the company upon you ; return to my father the
hundred pound he has advanced ; pay my littie 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
¦(v-riting, 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 satisfaftion to the publick.

88 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
As soon as he was gone, I recurr'd to my two friends ;
and because I would not give an unkind preference to either,
I took half of what each had offered and I wanted of one,
and half of the other ; paid off the company's debts, and
went on with the business in my own name, advertising that
the partnership was dissolved. I think this was in or about
the year 1729.
About this time there was a cry among the people for
more paper money, only fifteen thousand pounds being ex
tant in the province, and that soon to be sunk. The wealthy
inhabitants oppos' d any addition, being against all paper cur
rency, from an apprehension 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 prov
ince, since I now saw all the old houses inhabited, and many
new ones building : 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, between
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.
Our debates possess'd me so fully of the subject, that I
wrote and printed an anonymous pamphlet on it, entitied
" The Nature and 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 89
for more money, and they happening to have no writers
among them that were able to answer it, their opposition
slacken'd, and the point was carried by a majority in the
House. My friends there, who conceiv'd I had been of
some service, thought fit to reward me by employing me in
printing the money ; a very 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 experi
ence so evident as never afterwards to be much disputed ;
so that it grew soon to fifty-five thousand pounds, and in
1739 to eighty thousand pounds, since which it arose dur
ing war to upwards of three hundred and fifty thousand
pounds, trade, building, and inhabitants all the while in
creasing, tho' I now think there are limits beyond which the
quantity may be hurtful.
I soon after obtain'd, thro' my friend Hamilton, the print
ing 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 ad
vantages, as they were great encouragements. He procured
for me, also, the printing of the laws and votes of that gov
ernment, 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, be
ing 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 work
man, now came to me, and work'd with me constantly

90 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
and diligentiy ; 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
charafter 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,
indeed, 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 sometimes brought home the
paper I purchas'd at the stores thro' the streets on a wheel
barrow. 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 with 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 went to Barbadoes, and there lived some
years in very poor circumstances.
His apprentice, David Harry, whom I had instructed
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 partner
ship to him, which he, fortunately for me, rejected with
scorn. He was very proud, dress'd like a gentieman, liv'd
expensively, took much diversion and pleasure abroad, ran
in debt, and neglected his business ; upon which, all business
left him ; and, finding nothing to do, he follow'd Keimer to

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 91
Barbadoes, taking the printing-house with him. There this
apprentice employ'd his former master as a journevman ; they
quarrel'd often; Harry went continually behindhand, and
at length was forc'd to sell his types and return to his coun
try work in Pensilvania. The person that bought them em
ploy'd Keimer to use them, but in a few years he died.
There remained now no competitor with me at Philadel
phia 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 opportunities
of obtaining news; his paper was thought a better distribu
ter of advertisements than mine, and therefore had many
more, which was a profitable thing to him, and a disadvan
tage 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, which occasion'd
some resentment on my part ; and I 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 her
self very deserving. The old folks encourag'd me by con
tinual invitations to supper, and by leaving us together, till

92 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
at length it was time to explain. Mrs. Godfrey manag'd our
little treaty. I let her know that I expected as much money
with their daughter as would pay off my remaining debt for
the printing-house, which I believe was not then above a
hundred pounds. She brought me word they had no such
sum to spare ; I said they might mortgage their house in the
loan-office. The answer to this, after some days, was, that
they did not approve the match ; that, on inquiry of Brad
ford, they had been inform'd the printing business was not a
profitable one ; the types would soon be worn out, and more
wanted ; that S. Keimer and D, Harry had failed one after
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 only arti
fice, on a supposition of our being too far engaged in affec
tion to retract, and therefore that we should steal a marriage,
which would leave them at liberty to give or withhold what
they pleas'd, I know not; but I suspected the latter, re
sented it, and went no more. Mrs. Godfrey brought me
afterward some more favorable accounts of their disposition,
and would have drawn me on again ; but I declared abso
lutely my resolution to have nothing more to do with that
family. This was resented by the Godfreys ; we differ'd,
and they removed, leaving me the whole house, and I re
solved to take no more inmates.
But this affair having turned my thoughts to marriage, I
look'd round me and made overtures of acquaintance in other
places ; but soon found that, the business of a printer being
generaUy thought a poor one, I was not to expect money

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 93
with a wife, unless with such a one as I should not otherwise
think agreeable. In the mean time, that hard-to-be-governed
passion of youth 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 health by a distemper which of all things I
dreaded, though by great good luck I escaped it. A friendly
correspondence as neighbors and old acquaintances had con
tinued 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 de
jected, seldom cheerful, and avoided company. I consid
ered my giddiness and inconstancy when in London as in a
great degree the cause of her unhappiness, tho' the mother
was good enough to think the &ult 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 ob
jections to our union. The match was indeed looked upon
as invalid, a preceding wife being said to be living in Eng
land ; but this could not easily be prov'd, because of the
distance ; 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, September 1st, 1730. None of the inconveniences
happened that we had apprehended ; she proved a good and
faithfiil helpmate, assisted me much by attending the shop ;

94 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
we throve together, and have ever mutually endeavor'd to
make each other happy. Thus I corrected that great erratum
as well as I could.
About this time, our club meeting, not at a tavern, but in
a littie 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 occasion they might be consulted ; and by
thus clubbing 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 other members, which
would be nearly as beneficial as if each owned the whole.
It was lik'd and agreed to, and we fill'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 occurring for want of due
care of them, the colleftion, after about a year, was separ
ated, 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 sub
scribers of forty shillings each to begin with, and ten shil
lings a year for fifty years, the term our company was to
continue. We afterwards obtain'd a charter, the company
being increased to one Jiundred : this was the mother of all
the North American subscription libraries, now so numerous.
It is become a great thing itself, and contmually increasing.
These libraries have improved the general conversation of the

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 95
Americans, made the common tradesmen and farmers as in
telligent as most gentiemen from other countries, and perhaps
have contributed in some degree to the 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 others. What follows was
written many years after in compliance with the advice con
tain'd in these letters, and accordingly intended for the public.
The aft'airs of the Revolution occasion'd the interruption.

LETTER FROM MR, ABEL JAMES, WITH NOTES
OF MY LIFE (RECEIVED IN PARIS).
My Dear and Honored Friend :
I have 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 myself censure.
Some time since there fell into my hands, to my great joy,
about twenty-three sheets in thy own handwriting, contain
ing an account of the parentage and life of thyself, directed
to thy son, ending 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 up to a
later period, that the first and latter part may be put to
gether ; and if it is not yet continued, I hope thee will not

96 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
delay it. Li.fe 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 become as
good and eminent as the journalist. Should thine, for in
stance, when published (and I think it could not fail of it),
lead the youth to equal the industry and temperance of thy
early youth, what a blessing with that class would such a
work be ! I know of no charafter 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 im
portance that I know nothing that can equal it.
The foregoing letter and the minutes accompanying it be
ing shown to a friend, I received from him the following :
LETTER FROM MR. BENJAMIN VAUGHAN.
Paris, January 31, 1783.
My Dearest Sir:
When I had read over your sheets of minutes of the prin
cipal incidents of your life, recovered for you by your Quaker
acquaintance, I told you I would send you a letter express-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 97
ing my reasons why I thought it would be useful to complete
and publish it as he desired. Various concerns have for some
time past prevented this letter being written, and I do not
know whether it was worth any expeftation ; happening
to be at leisure, however, at present, I shall by writing, at
least, interest and ifistruft myself; but as the terms I am in
clined 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 history is so remarkable,
that if you do not give it, somebody else will 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 more
over 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 ex
tent of your reputation, I do not know of a more efficacious
advertisement than your biography would give. All that has
happened to you is also connefted with the detail of the
manners and situation of a rising people ; and in this respeft
I do not think that the writings of Csesar 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 conjunftion with your Art of Vir
tue (which you design to publish) of improving the features
of private charafter, and consequently of aiding all happi
ness, both public and domestic. The two works I allude to,
13

98 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
sir, will in particular give a noble rule and example of self-
education. School and other education constantiy proceed
upon false principles, 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 pre
pared 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 charafter, late in life, is not only
an influence late in life, but a weak influence. 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 matri
mony. In youth, therefore, the turn is given ; in youth the
education even of the next generation is given ; in youth the
private and public charafter is determined ; and the 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 objefts. 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 deprived of such helps, when we
see our race has been blundering on in the dark, almost with
out 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 states
men and warriors can be to the human race, and how absurd
distinguished men can be to their acquaintance, it will be in-
struftive to observe the instances multiply of pacific, acqui-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 99
escing manners ; and to find how compatible it is to be great
and domestic, enviable and yet good-humored.
The litde 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 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 simplicity 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 discussions
in politics or philosophy ; and what more worthy of experi
ments and system (its importance and its errors considered)
than human life ?
Some men have been virtuous blindly, others have specu
lated fantastically, and others have been shrewd to bad pur
poses ; 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 charafter, 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

too Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 demon
strated will be the propriety of every man's waiting for his
time for appearing upon the stage of the world. Our sensa
tions being very much fixed to the moment, we are apt to
forget that more moments are to follow the first, and conse
quently that man should arrange his conduft so as to suit the
whole of a life. Your attribution appears to have been ap
plied 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 conduft is
easy for those who make virtue and themselves in countenance
by examples of other truly great men, of whom patience is
so often the charafteristic. Your Quaker correspondent, sir
(for here again I will suppose the subjeft of my letter resem
bling Dr. Franklin), praised your finigality, diligence and
temperance, which he considered as a pattern for all youth ;
but it is singular that he should have forgotten your modesty
and your disinterestedness, without which you never could
have waited for your advancement, or found your situation 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 would have said. Your former
writings and measures would secure attention to your Biog
raphy, and Art of Virtue ; and your Biography and Art of
Virtue, in return, would secure attention to them. This is
an advantage attendant upon a various charafter, and which
brings all that belongs to it into greater play ; and it is the

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. loi
more useful, as perhaps more persons are at a loss for the
means of improving their minds and charafters, than thev are
for the time or the inclination to do it. But there is one con
cluding refleftion, sir, that will shew tiie use of your life as a
mere piece of biography. This style of writing seems a littie
gone out of vogue, and yet it is a very useful one ; and )'our
specimen of it may be particularly serviceable, as it will make
a subjeft of comparison with the lives of various public cut
throats and intriguers, and with absurd monastic self-tormen
tors or vain literary triflers. If it encourages 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
Ijves put together. But being tired of figuring to myself
a charafter of which every feature suits only one man in
the world, without giving him the praise of it, I shall end
mv letter, mv dear Dr. Franklin, with a personal application
to your proper self. I am earnestly desirous, then, my dear
sir, that you should let the world into the traits of your genu
ine charafter, as civil broils may otherwise tend to disguise
or traduce it. Considering your great age, the caution of
your charafter, and your peculiar stvle of thinking, it is not
likely that any one besides yourself can be sufficientiy master
of the facts of your life, or the intentions of your mind. Be
sides 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 shew that such have really influ
enced ; and, as your own charafter will 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

102 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
upon Europe) that it should stand respectable and eternal.
For the furtherance of human happiness, I have always main
tained 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 charafters 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 work most speedily into hand : shew
yourself good as you are good ; temperate as you are temper
ate ; 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 well of individuals in
your native country, they will go nearer to thinking well of
your country ; and when your countrymen see themselves
well thought of by Englishmen, they will go nearer to think
ing 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 better
ing the whole race of men. As I have not read any part of
the life in question, but know only the charafter 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 103
necessarily fulfil die chief of my expeftations ; and still more
so if you take up the measure of suiting these performances
to the several views above stated. Should they even prove
unsuccessfiil 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 die 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, 1784.
It is some time since I receiv'd the above letters, but I
have been too busy till now to think of complying 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 leisure, I will endeavor
to recollect and write what 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 written, I
know not whether an account is given of the means I used to
establish the Philadelphia public library, which, from a small
beginning, is now become so considerable, though I remem
ber to have come down to near the time of that transaftion

I04 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
(1730). I will therefore begin here with an account of it,
which may be struck out if found to have been already
given. At the time I establish'd 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 were indeed stationers ; they sold only paper, etc.,
almanacs, ballads, and a few common school-books. Those
who lov'd reading were oblig'd to send for their books from
England ; 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 to
read at home. This was accordingly done, and for some
time contented us.
Finding the advantage of this litde colleftion, I propos'd
to render the benefit from books more common, by commenc
ing a public subscription library, I drew a sketch of the plan
and rules that would be necessary, and got a skilful convey
ancer, Mr. Charles Brockden, to put the whole in form of
articles of agreement to be subscribed, by which each sub
scriber engag'd to pay a certain sum down for the first pur
chase of books, and an annual contribution 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
tradesmen, willing to pay down for this purpose forty shil
lings each, and ten shillings per annum. On this little fiind

From a heliotype of the engraving by St. Aubin of the original portrait of
Franklin by Charles Nicholas Cochin, in 1777. This original has disappeared,
and the noted engravings from it of J. M. Will and St. Aubin are very rare
and valuable. Hence the importance of the heliotype, absolutely reproduc
ing the original.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 105
we began. The books were imported ; the library was
opened one day in the week for lending to the subscribers,
on their promissory notes to pay double the value if not duly
returned. The institution soon manifested its utility, was
imitated by other towns, and in other provinces. The libra
ries were augmented by donations ; reading became fashion
able ; 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.
When we were about to sign the above-mentioned articles,
which were to be binding on us, our heirs, etc, for fifty
years, Mr. Brockden, the scrivener, said to us, "You are
young men, but it is scarcely probable that any of you will
live to see the expiration of the term fix'd in the instrument,"
A number 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 company.
The objeftions and reluftances I met with in soliciting the
subscriptions, made me soon feel the impropriety of present
ing 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 assistance to accomplish that project, I therefore put
myself as much as I could out of sight, and stated it as a
scheme of a number of friends, who had requested me to go
about and propose it to such as they thought lovers of read
ing. In this way my affair went on more smoothly, and I
ever after practis'd it on such occasions ; and, from my fre-
14

1 06 Autobiography of Benjamin , Franklin.
quent successes, can heartily recommend it. The present
little sacrifice of your vanity will afterwards be amply re
paid. If it remains a while uncertain to whom the merit
belongs, some one more vain than yourself will be encour
aged to claim it, and then even envy will be disposed to do
you justice by plucking those assumed feathers, and restor
ing them to their right owner.
This library afforded me the means of improvement by
constant study, for which I set apart an hour or two each
day, and thus repair'd in some degree the loss of the
learned education my father once intended for me, Reading
was the only amusement 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 necessary.
I was indebted for my printing-house ; I had a young fam
ily coming on to be educated, and I had to contend with for
business two printers, who were established in the place be
fore me. My circumstances, however, grew daily easier.
My original habits of frugality continuing, and my father
having, among his instruftions to me when a boy, frequentiy
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 distinftion, which encourag'd
me, tho' I did not think that I should ever literally stand be
fore kings, which, however, has since happened ; for I have
stood before five, and even had the honor of sitting down
with one, the King of Denmark, to dinner.
We have an English proverb that says, " He that would
thrive, must ask his wife." It was lucky for me that I had

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 107
one as much dispos'd to industry and frugality as myself.
She assisted me cheerfully in my business, folding and stitch
ing pamphlets, tending shop, purchasing old linen rags for the
papermakers, etc., etc. We kept no idle servants, our table
was plain and simple, our furniture of the cheapest. For in
stance, my breakfast was a long time bread arid 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 ex
cuse or apology to make, but that she thought her husband
deserv'd a silver spoon and China bowl as well as any of
his neighbors. This was the first appearance of plate and
China in our house, which afterward, in a course of years,
as our wealth increas'd, augmented gradually to several hun
dred pounds in value.
I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian ; and
tho' some of the dogmas of that persuasion, 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 princi
ples. I never doubted, for instance, the existence of the
Deity ; that he made the world, and govern'd it by his
Providence ; that the most acceptable service of God was the
doing good to man ; that our souls are immortal ; and that
all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here
14*

io8 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
or hereafter. These I esteem'd the essentials of every re
ligion ; and, being to be found in all the religions we 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, without 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 opin
ion 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
contribution, my mite for such purpose, whatever might be
the sect, was never refused.
Tho' I seldom attended any public worship, I had still an
opinion of its propriety, and of its utility when rightly con
ducted, and I regularly paid my annual subscription for the
support of the only Presbyterian minister or meeting we had
in Philadelphia, He us'd to visit me sometimes as a friend,
and admonish 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 occa
sion I had for the Sunday's leisure in my course of study ;
but his discourses were chiefly either polemic arguments, or
explications of the peculiar doctrines of our sect, and were
all to me very dry, uninteresting, and unedifying, since not
a single moral principle was inculcated or enforc'd, their aim
seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians than good
citizens.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 09
At length he took for his text that verse of the fourth
chapter of Philippians, " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things
are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, or of good report, if there
be 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. : 1 , Keeping holy the
Sabbath day. 2. Being diligent in reading the holy Scrip
tures. 3. Attending duly the publick worship. 4. Partak
ing of the Sacrament. 5. Paying a due respect to God's
ministers. These might be all good things ; but, as they
were not the kind of good things that I expected from that
text, I despaired of ever meeting with them from any other,
was disgusted, and attended his preaching no more. I had
some years before compos'd a little Liturgy, or form of
prayer, for my own private use (viz., in 1728), entitied.
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 blameable, but I leave it, without attempt
ing 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. I wish'd to live with
out committing any fault at any time ; I would conquer all
that either natural inclination, custom, or company might
lead me into. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was
right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do
the one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had under
taken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined. While
my care was employ'd in guarding against one fault, I was

no Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
often surprised by another ; habit took the advantage of inat
tention ; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason. I
concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviftion
that it was our interest to be completely virtuous, was not
sufficient to prevent our slipping ; and that the contrary
habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and estab
lished, before we can have any dependence on a steady,
uniform rectitude of conduft. 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. Temperance, for example, was by
some confined to eating 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 an
nex'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 :
I Temperance. Eat not to dullness ; drink not to eleva
tion. 2 Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or
yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 1 1
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 ; per
form without faU what you resolve.
5 Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others
or yourself; /. e., waste nothing.
6 Industry. Lose no time ; be always employ'd in
something useful ; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7 Sincerity, Use no hurtful deceit ; think innocentiy
and justiy ; and, if you speak, speak accordingly,
8 Justice, Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting
the benefits that are your duty,
9 Moderation. Avoid extreams ; forbear resenting in
juries so much as you think they deserve,
lo Cleanliness, Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths,
or habitation,
1 1 Tranquillity, Be not disturbed at trifles, or at acci
dents common or unavoidable.
1 2 Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or off
spring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your
own or another's peace or reputation.
1 3 Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

112 . Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
My intention being to acquire -the habitude of all these
virtues, I judg'd it would be well not to distraft my atten
tion 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 facilitate the acquisition of certain others, I arrang'd
them with that view, as they stand above. Temperance
first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of
head, which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to
be kept up, and guard maintained against the unremitting at
traction of ancient habits, and the force of perpetual tempta
tions. This being acquir'd and establish'd. Silence would be
more easy ; and my desire being to gain knowledge at the
same time that I improv'd in virtue, and considering that in
conversation it was obtain'd rather by the use of the ears
than of the tongue, and therefore wishing to break a habit I
^as 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 expefted
would allow me more time for attending to my projeft and
my studies. Resolution, once become habitual, would keep
me firm in my endeavors to obtain all the subsequent virtues ;
Frugality and Industry freeing me from my remaining debt,
and producing affluence and independence, would make more
easy the practice of Sincerity and Justice, etc., etc. Con
ceiving then, that, agreeably to the advice of Pythagoras in
his Golden Verses, daily examination would be necessary, I
contrived the following method for conducting that exam
ination.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

113

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 with 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 litde black spot,
every fault I found upon examination to have been com
mitted respecting that virtue upon that day.
Form of the pages.

TEMPERANCE.

Eat Not to Dullness;
Drink Not to Elevation.

S.

M.

T.

W.

T.

F.

S.

T.

S.
*
*
*
*
0.
* *
*
*
*
*
#
R.
1 *
*
F.
#
*
I.
*
S.
.T-
M.
c.
T.
C.
H.
15
1 1 4 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 offense against Temper
ance, leaving the other virtues to their ordinary chance, only
marking every evening the faults of the day. Thus, if in the
first week I could keep my first line, marked T, clear of
spots, I suppos'd the habit of that virtue so much strength
en'd, and its opposite weaken'd, that I might venture ex
tending 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 thir
teen weeks, and four courses in a year. And like him who,
having a garden to weed, does not attempt to eradicate all
the bad herbs at once, which would exceed his reach and his
strength, but works on one of the beds at a time, and, hav
ing accomplish'd the first, proceeds to a second, so I should
have, I hoped, the encouraging 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."

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 1 5
Another from Cicero,
"O vitaf 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 wis
dom 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, 1 6, 17.
And conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I
thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for ob
taining it ; to this end I formed the following litde prayer,
which was prefix'd to my tables of examination, for daily
use. "O powerfij Goodness! bountifiil Father! mercifiil Guide! Increase
in me that wisdom wfiich discovers my truest interest. Strengthen my
resolutions to perform what that wisdom dictates. Accept my kind offices
to thy other children as the only return in my power for thy continual
favours to me."
I used also sometimes a littie 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 bUss !"
The precept of Order requiring that every part of my
business should have its allotted time, one page in my littie

ii6

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,

book contain'd the following scheme of employment for the
twenty-four hours of a natural day.

The Morning.
Sluestion. What good shall I
do this day ?

S 6
7 g9
loII

Rise, wash, and address Pow
er/a/ Goodness ! Contrive day's
.business, and take the resolution
of the day ; prosecute the pres
ent study, and breakfast.

Work.

Noon.

12-1 Read, or overlook
I / counts, and dine.

my

Evening. S^uestion. What good have I
done to-day ?

Night.

3
4 5 67g
L 9J
loII12 I
2 3
4

Work.

Put things in their places.
Supper. Music or diversion,
or conversation. Examination
of the day.

Sleep.

I enter'd upon the execution of this plan for self-exami
nation, and continu'd it with occasional intermissions for
some time. I was surpris'd to find myself so much fuller of

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 1 7
faults than I had imagined ; but I had the satisfaftion of see
ing them diminish. To avoid the trouble of renewing now
and then 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 memorandum book, on
which the lines were drawn with red ink, that made a dur
able stain, and on those lines I mark'd my faults with a
black-lead pencil, which marks I could easily wipe out with
a wet 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 employ'd in voyages
and business abroad, with a multiplicity of affairs that inter
fered ; but I always carried my little book with me.
My scheme of Order gave me the most trouble ; and I
found that, tho' it might be practicable where a man's busi
ness was such as to leave him the disposition of his time,
that of a journeyman printer, for instance, it was not possible
to be exactiy observed by a master, who must mix with the
world, and often receive people of business at their own
hours. Order, too, with regard to places for things, papers,
etc, I found extreamly difficult to acquire, I had not been
early accustomed to it, and, having an exceeding good mem
ory, I was not so sensible of the inconvenience attending
want of method. This article, therefore, caused me so much
painful attention, and my faults in it vexed me so much, and
I made so littie progress in amendment, and had such fre
quent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up the at
tempt, and content myself with a faulty character in that
respect, like the man who, in buying an ax of a smith, my

1 1 8 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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, while 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 went on, and at length would take his ax as it
was, without farther grinding. "No," said the smith,
"iturn on, turn on ; we shall have it bright by-and-by ; as
yet, it is only speckled." "Yes," says the man, "but I
think 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 ob
taining 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 myself might be a kind
of foppery in morals, which, if it were known, would make
me ridiculous ; that a perfect character might be attended
with the inconvenience of being envied and hated ; and that
a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to
keep his friends in countenance.
In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to
Order; and now I am grown old, and my memory bad, I
feel very sensibly the want of it. But, on the whole, 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 en
deavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should
have been if I had not attempted it ; as those who aim at

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 1 9
perfect 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 littie artifice, with the blessing of God, their ancestor
ow'd the constant felicity of his life, down to his 79th year,
in which this is written. What reverses may attend the re
mainder is in the hand of Providence ; but, if they arrive,
the reflection on past happiness enjoy'd ought to help his
bearing them with more resignation. To Temperance he
ascribes his long-continued health, and what is still left to
him of a good constitution ; to Industry and Frugality, the
early easiness of his circumstances and acquisition of his for
tune, with all that knowledge that enabled him to be a use-
fid citizen, and obtained for him some degree of reputation
among the learned ; to Sincerity and Justice, the confidence
of his country, and the honorable employs it conferred upon
him; and to the joint influence of the whole mass of the
virtues, even in the imperfect state he was able to acquire
them, all that evenness of temper, and that cheerfulness in
conversation, which makes his company still sought for, and
agreeable even to his younger acquaintance. I hope, there
fore, that some of my descendants may follow the example
and reap the benefit.
It will be remark'd that, tho' my scheme was not wholly
without religion, there was in it no mark of any of the dis
tinguishing tenets of any particular sect. I had purposely
avoided them ; for, being fully persuaded of the utility and
excellence of my method, and that it might be serviceable to

I 20 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
people in all religions, and intending some time or other to
publish it, I would not have any thing in it that should pre
judice 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 opposite 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 distin
guished it from the mere exhortation to be good, that does
not instruct and indicate the means, but is like the apostie'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 pub
lishing 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 project, that
required the whole man to execute, and which an unforeseen
succession of employs prevented my attending to, it has
hitherto remain'd unfinish'd.
In this piece it was my design to explain and enforce this
doftrine, 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
* Nothing so likely to make a man's fortune as virtue. — Marg. note.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. i 2 1
interest 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, who have need of honest instruments for
the management of tiieir affairs, and such being so rare),
have endeavored to convince young persons that no qualities
were so likely to make a poor man's fortune as those of
probity and integrity.
My list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve ; but a
Quaker friend having kindly informed me that I was gener
ally 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 mentioning several
instances ; I determined endeavouring to cure myself, if I
could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and I added Hu
mility 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 appear
ance 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 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, undoubtedly,
etc., and I adopted, instead of them, I conceive, I appre
hend, or I imagine a. thing to be so or so ; or it so appears
to me at present. When another asserted something that I
thought an error, I deny'd myself the pleasure of contra-
difting him abruptly, and of showing immediately some ab
surdity in his proposition ; and in answering I began by
16

122 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
observing that in certain cases or circumstances his opinion
would be right, but in the present case there appear' d or
seem' d to me some difference, etc. I soon found the advan
tage of this change in my manner ; the conversations I en
gag'd in went on more pleasantly. The modest way in
which I propos'd my opinions procur'd them a readier re
ception and less contradiftion ; 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 charafter of integrity) I think it princi
pally owing that I had early so much weight with my fel
low-citizens when I proposed new institutions, or alterations
in the old, and so much influence in public councils when I
became a member ; for I was but a bad speaker, never elo
quent, subject to much hesitation in my choice of words,
hardly correft in language, and yet I generally carried my
points. In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural pas
sions 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 I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome
it, I should probably be proud of my humility,
[Thus far written at Passy, 1784,]

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 123

["/ am now about to write at home, August, 1788, but
can not have the help expected from my papers, many of
them being lost in the war, I have, however, found the
following,^'* — Marginal Memorandum.]
Having mentioned a great and extensive project which I
had conceiv'd, it seems proper that some account should be
here given of that project and its object. Its first rise in my
mind appears in the following little paper, accidentally pre
serv'd, viz. :
Observations on my reading history^ in Library^ May i^th^ ^7Z^'
"That the great affairs of the world, the wars, revolutions, etc., are
carried on and effected by parties.
"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 parties occasion all con
fusion. "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 be
comes intent upon his particular interest ; which, thwarting others, breaks
that party into divisions, and occasions more confusion.
**That few in public affairs act from a meer view of the good of their
country, whatever they may pretend j 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 affiiirs, act with a view to the good of
mankind, 16*

1 24 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
"There seems to me at present to be great occasion for raising a United
Party for Virtue, by forming the virtuous and good men of all nations into
a regular body, to be govern'd by suitable good and wise rules, which good
and wise men may probably be more unanimous in their obedience to, than
common people are to common laws.
" I at present think that whoever attempts this aright, and is well quali
fied, can not fail of pleasing God, and of meeting with success. B. F."
Revolving this project in my mind, as to be undertaken
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 respe6Ung 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 rehgion. 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 thanks
giving. ** 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. l 2 5
thirteen weeks' examination and practice of the virtues, as in
the before-mention'd model ; that the existence of such a so
ciety should be kept a secret, till it was become considerable,
to prevent solicitations for the admission 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 com
municated ; 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 praftice and
habit of the virtues, free from the dominion of vice ; and
particularly by the practice of industry and frugality, free
from debt, which exposes a man to confinement, and a
species of slavery to his creditors.
This is as much as I can now recolleft of the projeft, ex
cept that I communicated it in part to two young men, who
adopted it with some enthusiasm ; but my then narrow cir
cumstances, and the necessity I was under of sticking close
to my business, occasion'd my postponing the further prose
cution of it at that time ; and my multifarious occupations,
public and private, induc'd me to continue postponing, so
that it has been omitted till I have no longer strength or ac
tivity left sufficient for such an enterprise ; tho' I am still of
opinion that it was a practicable scheme, and might have
been very usefiil, by forming a great number of good citi
zens; and I was not discourag'd by the seeming magnitude
of the undertaking, as I have always thought that one man
of tolerable abilities may work great changes, and accomplish

1 26 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
great affairs among mankind, if he first forms a good plan,
and, cutting off all amusements -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
oi Richard Saunders; it was continu'd by me about twenty-
five years, commonly call'd Poor Richard' s Almanac, I en
deavor'd to make it both entertaining and useful, and it
accordingly came to be in such demand, that I reap'd con
siderable profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand.
And observing that it was generally read, scarce any neigh
borhood in the province being without it, I consider'd it as
a proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the com
mon people, who bought scarcely any other books; I there
fore filled all the 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, it is hard
for an empty sack to stand upright.
These proverbs, which contamed 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 auftion. The
bringing all these scatter'd counsels tiius into a focus enabled
them to make greater impression. The piece, being univer
sally approved, was copied in all the' newspapers of the Con
tinent ; reprinted in Britain on a broad side, to be stuck up
in houses ; two translations were made of it in French, and

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 127
great numbers bought by the clergy and gentry, to distribute
gratis among their poor parishioners and tenants. In Penn
sylvania, as it discouraged useless expense in foreign super
fluities, some thought it had its share of influence in produc
ing that growing plenty of money which was observabk for
several years after its publication,
I considered my newspaper, also, as another means of
communicating instruction, and in that view frequently re
printed in it extrafts from the Speftator, 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, whatever
might be his parts and abilities, a vicious man could not
properly be called a man of sense ; and a discourse on self-
denial, showing that virtue was not secure till its praftice
became a habitude, and was free from the opposition of con
trary inclinations. These may be found in the papers about
the beginning of 1 73 5.
In the conduft of my newspaper, I carefully excluded all
libelling and personal abuse, which is of late years become
so disgracefiil 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 distribute himself, but that I
would not take upon me to spread his detraftion ; and that,
having contrafted with my subscribers to furnish them with
what might be either usefiil or entertaining, I could not fill

128 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
their papers with private altercation, in which they had no
concern, without doing them manifest injustice. Now, many
of our printers make no scruple of gratifying the malice of
individuals by false accusations of the fairest charafters
among ourselves, augmenting animosity even to the produc
ing of duels ; and are, moreover, so indiscreet as to print
scurrilous refleftions on the government of neighboring states,
and even on the conduft of our best national allies, which
may be attended with the most pernicious consequences.
These things I mention as a caution to young printers, and
that they may be encouraged not to pollute their presses and
disgrace their profession by such infamous praftices, but re
fuse steadily, as they may see by my example that such a
course of conduft will not, on the whole, be injurious to
their interests.
In 1733 I sent one of my journeymen to Charleston,
South Carolina, where a printer was wanting, I fiirnish'd
him with a press and letters, on an agreement 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 partner
ship while he lived. On his decease, the business was con
tinued 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 transaftions past, but
continued to account with the greatest regularity and exact
ness every quarter afterwards, and managed the business with

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 29
such success, that she not only brought up reputably a family
of children, but, at the expiration of the term, was able to
purchase of me the printing-house, and establish her son in it.
I mention this affair chiefly for the sake of recommending
that branch of education for our young females, as likely to
be of more use to them and their children, in case of widow
hood, 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 estab
lish'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 year 1734 there arrived among us from Ireland
a young Presbyterian preacher, named Hemphill, who de
livered with a good voice, and apparentiy extempore, most
excellent discourses, which drew together considerable num
bers of different 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 congregation, who considered themselves as orthodox
Presbyterians, disapprov'd his doctrine, and were join'd by
most of the old clergy, who arraign'd 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 while 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, I lent him my pen and
17

1 30 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 whether a
single copy of them now exists.
During the contest an unlucky occurrence hurt his cause
exceedingly. One of our adversaries having heard him
preach a sermon that was much admired, thought he had
somewhere read the sermon before, or at least a part of it.
On search, he found that part quoted at length, in one of die
British Reviews, from a discourse of Dr. Foster's. This de-
teftion gave many of our party disgust, who accordingly
abandoned liis cause, and occasion'd our more speedy dis
comfiture 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 lat
ter was the practice of our common teachers. He afterward
acknowledg'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 reading only. On
our defeat, he left us in search elsewhere of better fortune,
and I quitted the congregation, never joining it after, tho' I
continu'd many years my subscription for the support of its
ministers. I had begun in 1733 to study languages; I soon made
myself so much a master of the French as to be able to read
the books with ease. I then undertook the Italian. An ac
quaintance, 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 3 i
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 vanquish'd was to perform upon honour, be
fore our next meeting. As we play'd pretty equally, we
thus beat one another into that language, I afterwards with
a littie painstaking, acquir'd as much of the Spanish as to
read their books also,
I have already mention'd that I had only one year's in-
struftion in a Latin school, and that when very young, after
which I neglefted that language entirely. But, when I had
attained an acquaintance with the French, Italian, and Span
ish, I was surpriz'd to find, on looking over a Latin Testa
ment, 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 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 lan
guages. We are told that it is proper to begin first with the
Latin, and, having acquir'd that, it will be more easy to at
tain those modem 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
17*

1 3 2 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
after spending some years without having made any great
proficiency, and what they have learnt becomes almost use
less, 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 common life.
After ten years' absence from Boston, and having become
easy in my circumstances, I made a journey thither to visit
my relations, which I could not sooner well afford. In re
turning, I call'd at Newport to see my brother, then settied
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 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 assortment
of new types, those of his father being in a manner worn
out. Thus it was that I made my brother ample amends for
the service I had depriv'd him of by leaving him so early.
In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years
old, by the small-pox, taken in the common way. I long
regretted bitterly, and stUl 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 they should

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 3 3
never 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 several were desirous
of introducing their friends, which could not well be done
without exceeding what we had settied as a convenient num
ber, 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 applications of im
proper persons for admittance, some of whom, perhaps, we
might find it difficult to, refiise. I was one of those who
were against any addition to our number, but, instead of it,
made in writing a proposal, that every member separately
should endeavor to form a subordinate club, with the same
rules respecting queries, etc., and without informing them of
the conneftion with the Junto. The advantages proposed
were, the improvement of so many more young citizens by
the use of our institutions ; our better acquaintance with the
general sentiments of the inhabitants on any occasion, as the
Junto member might propose what queries we should desire,
and was to report to the Junto what pass'd in his separate
club ; the promotion of our particular interests in business
by more extensive recommendation, 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 succeed. Five or six
only were completed, which were called by different names.

1 34 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
as the Vine, the Union, the Band, etc. They were useful
to themselves, and afforded u's a good deal of amusement,
information, and instruftion, besides answering, in some con
siderable 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 my being chosen, in 1736, clerk
of the General Assembly. The choice was made that year
without opposition ; but the year following, when I was
again 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 mem
ber, who was a gentleman of fortune and education, 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
respeft 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 de
sire 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 strongly my sense of the favour. When we

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 3 5
next met in the House, he spoke to me (which he had never
done before), and with great ci^dlity ; and he ever after
manifested a readiness to sers'e me on all occasions, so that
we became great friends, and our friendship continued to
his death. This is another instance of the truth of an old
maxim I had learned, which says, •' He that has once done
you a kindness tcill be more ready to do you another, than he
whom you yourself have obliged. ' ' And it shows how much
more profitable it is prudentiy to remove, than to resent, re
turn, and continue inimical proceedings.
In 1737, Colonel Spotswood, late governor of Virginia,
and then postmaster-general, being dissatisfied with the con
duft of his deputy at Philadelphia, respecting some negli
gence 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 correspondence that im
prov'd my ne^vspaper, increas'd the number demanded, as
well as the advertisements to be inserted, so that it came
to afford me a considerable income. My old competitor's
newspaper declin'd proportionably, and I was satisfy'd with
out retaliating his refusal, while postmaster, to permit my
papers being carried by the riders. Thus he suffer'd gready
from his negleft in due accounting ; and I mention it as a
lesson to those young men who mav be employ'd in man
aging affairs for others, that they should always render ac
counts, and make remittances, with great clearness and
punctuality. The character of observing such a conduct is
the most powerfiil of all recommendations to new employ
ments and increase of business.

136 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
I began now to turn my thoughts a little to public affairs,
beginning, however, with small matters. The city watch
was one of the first things that I conceiv'd to want regula
tion. It was managed by the constables of the respective
wards in turn ; the constable warned a number of house
keepers to attend 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 respectable housekeepers did not choose to mix with.
Walking the rounds, too, was often neglected, and most of
the nights spent in tippling. I thereupon wrote a paper to
be read in Junto, representing these irregularities, but insist
ing more particularly on the inequality of this six-shilling
tax of the constables, respecting the circumstances of those
who paid it, since a poor widow housekeeper, all whose
property to be guarded by the watch did not perhaps exceed
the value of fifty pounds, paid as much as the wealthiest
merchant, who had thousands of pounds' worth of goods in
his stores.
On the whole, I proposed as a more effectual watch, the
hiring of proper men to serve constandy in that business;
and as a more equitable way of supporting the charge, the
levying a tax that should be proportion'd to the property.
This idea, being approv'd by the Junto, was communicated
to the other clubs, 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 3 7
paved the way for the law obtained a few years after, when
the members of our clubs were 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 different 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 usefiil piece, and gave rise to
a project, which soon followed it, of forming a company for
the more ready extinguishing of fires, and mutual assistance in
removing and securing of goods when in danger. Associates
in this scheme were presently found, amounting to thirty.
Our articles of agreement 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), which 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 usefiil in our conduct on such occasions.
The utility of this institution soon appeared, and many
more desiring to be admitted than we thought convenient for
one company, they were advised to form another, which was
accordingly done; and this went on, one new company be
ing formed after another, 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' upward 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
18

138 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
been paid by members for absence at the monthly meetings
have been apply'd to the purchase of fire-engines, ladders,
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 con
flagrations ; and, in faft, since these institutions, the city has
never lost by fire more than one or two houses at a time, and
the flames have often been extinguished before the house in
which they began has been half consumed.
In 1739 arrived among us from Ireland the Reverend Mr.
Whitefield, who had made himself remarkable 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 refiis'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, and it was
matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to
observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his
hearers, and how much they admir'd and respefted him, not
withstanding his common abuse of them, by assuring them
they were naturally half beasts and half devils. It was won
derful to see the change soon made in the manners of our
inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about re
ligion, 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, subjeft to its inclemencies, the building of a house to
meet in was no sooner propos'd, and persons appointed to

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 139
receive contributions, but sufficient sums were soon receiv'd
to procure the ground and ereft the building, which was one
hundred feet long and seventy broad, about the size of West
minster Hall ; and the work was carried on vvith such spirit
as to be finished in a much shorter time than could have been
expefted. Both house and ground were vested in trustees,
expressly for the use of any preacher of any religious persua
sion who might desire to say something to the people at
Philadelphia ; the design in building not being to accommo
date any particular sect, but the inhabitants in general ; so
that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a mis
sionary to preach Mohammedanism 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 settlement of that prov
ince had lately been begun, but, instead of being made with
hardy, industrious husbandmen, accustomed to labor, the
only people fit for such an enterprise, it was with families of
broken shop-keepers and other insolvent debtors, many of
indolent and idle habits, taken out of the jails, who, being
set down in the woods, unqualified for clearing land, and
unable to endure the hardships of a new settlement, perished
in numbers, leaving many helpless children unprovided for.
The sight of their miserable situation inspir'd the benevolent
heart of Mr, Whitefield with the idea of building an Orphan
House there, in which they might be supported and edu
cated. Returning northward, he preach'd up this charity,
and made large collections, for his eloquence had a wonder
ful power over the hearts and purses of his hearers, of which
I myself was an instance,
18*

140 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 children to it. This I advis'd ; but he was reso
lute in his first projeft, rejefted my counsel, and I therefore
refus'd to contribute. I happened soon after to attend one
of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he in
tended 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 pis
toles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and con
cluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his oratory
made me asham'd of that, and determin'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
sentiments respefting the building in Georgia, and suspefting
a collection might be intended, had, by precaution, emptied
his pockets before he came from home. Towards the con
clusion 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 affefted by the
preacher. His answer was, " At any other time. Friend
Hopkinson, I would lend to thee freely ; but not now, for thee
seems to be out of thy right senses."
Some of Mr. Whitefield's enemies affected to suppose
that he would apply these coUeftions to his own private

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 141
emolument ; but I, who was intimately acquainted with him
(being employed in printing his Sermons and Journals, etc),
never had the least suspicion of his integrity, but am to this
day decidedly of opinion that he was in all his conduft a
perfeftly honest man; and methinks my testimony in his
favour ought to have the more weight, as we had no religious
conneftion. He us'd, indeed, sometimes to pray for my
conversion, but never had the satisfaftion 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 Phila
delphia, but knew not where he could lodge when there, as
he understood his old friend and host, Mr. Benezet, was re
moved to Germantown. My answer was, "You know my
house ; if you can make shift with its scanty accommoda
tions, 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, "Don't let me be mis
taken; it was not for Christ's sake, but for your sake." One
of our common acquaintance jocosely remark'd, that, know
ing 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 I saw Mr. Whitefield was in London,
when he consulted me about his Orphan House concern,
and his purpose of appropriating it to the establishment of
a college.

142 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
He had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his words
and sentences so perfectiy, that he might be heard and un
derstood at a great distance, especially as his auditories,
however numerous, observ'd the most exaft 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 fill'd with his hearers to a considerable distance.
Being among the hindmost in Market-street, I had the curi
osity to learn how far he could be heard, by retiring back
wards down the street towards the -river ; and I found his
voice distinft 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 ac
counts of his having preach'd to twenty-five thousand peo
ple 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 be
tween 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 frequent repetitions that every
accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice, was so
perfectly well turn'd and well plac'd, that, without being in
terested 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 ad-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 143
vantage itinerant preachers have over those who are station
ary, 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 ad
vantage to his enemies ; unguarded expressions, and even
erroneous opinions, delivered in preaching, might have been
afterwards explain'd or qualifi'd by supposing others that
might have accompani'd them, or they might have been
deny'd ; but litera scripta manet. Critics attack'd his writ
ings ^olently, and with so much appearance of reason as to
diminish the number of liis votaries and prevent their en-
crease ; so that I am of opinion if he had never written any
thing, he would have left behind him a much more numer
ous and important sect, and his reputation might in that case
have been still growing, even after his death, as there being
nothing of his writing on which to found a censure and give
him a lower character, his proselytes would be left at liberty
to feign for him as great a variety of excellences as their en
thusiastic admiration might wish liim to have possessed.
My business was now continually augmenting, and my
circumstances growing daily easier, my newspaper having be
come very profitable, as being for a time almost the only one
in this and the neighbouring provinces. I experienced, too,
the truth of the observation, " that after getting the first
hundred pound, it is more easy to get the second," money it
self being of a prolific nature.
The partnersliip at Carolina having succeeded, I was en
courag'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

144 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
that in Carolina, Most of them did well, being enabled at
the end of our term, six years, to purchase the types of me
and go on working for themselves, by which means several
families were raised. Partnerships often finish in quarrels ;
but I was happy in this, that mine were all carried on and
ended amicably, owing, I think, a good deal to the precau
tion of having -vtiy explicitiy settied, in our articles, every
thing to be done by or expefted from each partner, so that
there was nothing to dispute, which precaution I would
therefore recommend to all who enter into partnerships ; for,
whatever esteem partners may have for, and confidence in
each other at the time of the contract, little jealousies and
disgusts may arise, with ideas of inequality in the care and
burden of the business, etc., which are attended often with
breach of friendship and of the connection, perhaps with
lawsuits and other disagreeable consequences.
I had, on the whole, abundant reason to be satisfied with
my being established in Pennsylvania. There were, how
ever, two things that I regretted, there being no provision
for defense, nor for a compleat education of youth; no
mihtia, nor any college. 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 communi
cated the projeft to him ; but he, having more profitable
views in the service of the proprietaries, 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 pro
posing and establishing a Philosophical Society. The paper

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 145
I wrote for that purpose will be found among my writings,
when collected.
With respeft to defense, Spain having been several years
at war against Great Britain, and being at length join'd by
France, which brought us into great danger ; and the
laboured and long-continued endeavour of our governor,
Thomas, to prevail vvith otir Quaker Assembly to pass a
militia law, and make other provisions for the security of the
province, 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 published a pamphlet, en
titied Plain Truth, in which I stated our defenceless situa
tion 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 effeft, I was
call'd upon for die instrument of association, and having
settied the draft of it with a few friends, I appointed a meet
ing of the citizens in the large building before mentioned.
The house was pretty full ; I had prepared a number of
printed copies, and provided pens and ink dispers'd all over
the room. I harangued them a littie on the subjeft, read the
paper, and explained it, and then distributed the copies,
which were eagerly signed, not the least objeftion being
made. When the company separated, and the papers were col-
lefted, we found above twelve hundred hands ; and, other
copies being dispersed in the country, the subscribers
amounted at length to upward of ten thousand. These all
furnished themselves as soon as they could with arms, formed
19

146 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
themselves into companies and regiments, chose their own
officers, and met every week to be instrufted 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 differ
ent devices and mottos, which I supplied.
The officers of the companies composing the Philadelphia
regiment, being met, chose me for their colonel ; but, con
ceiving myself unfit, I declin'd that station, and recom
mended Mr, Lawrence, a fine person, and man of influence,
who was accordingly 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 expeditiously, and
the battery was soon erefted, the merlons 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 proprie
taries for some assistance, tho' without much expeftation of
obtaining it,
Meanwliile, Colonel Lawrence, William Allen, Abram
Taylor, Esqr., and myself were sent to New York by the
associators, commission'd to borrow some cannon of Gov
ernor Clinton. He at first refus'd us peremptorily ; but at
dinner with his council, 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 carriages, which we
soon transported and mounted on our battery, where the as-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 147
sociators kept a nightiy guard while the war lasted, and
among the rest I regularly took my turn of duty there as a
common soldier.'
My aftivity in these operations was agreeable to the gov
ernor and council ; they took me into confidence, and I was
consulted by them in every measure wherein their concur
rence was thought useful to the association. Calling in the
aid of religion, I 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 year, was here of some advantage : I drew it in the
accustomed stile, it was translated into German, printed in
both languages, and divulg'd thro' the province. This gave
the clergy of the different sects an opportunity of influenc
ing their congregations to join in the association, 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 afiairs, 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 like
wise 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 with 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
19*

148 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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, they 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 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 would voluntarily have left them ; but they did not care
to displace me on account merely of my zeal for the associa
tion, and they could not well give another reason.
Indeed I had some cause to believe that the defense of the
country was not disagreeable to any of them, provided they
were not 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 were publish'd on the subjeft, and
some by good Quakers, in favour of defense, which I believe
convinc'd most of their younger people.
A transaftion 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 dis
pos'd of till the next meeting after the proposal. The com
pany consisted of tliirty members, of which twenty-two

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 49
were Quakers, and eight only of other persuasions. We
eight punftually attended the meeting ; but, tho' we thought
that some of the Quakers would join us, we were by no
means sure of a majority. Only one Quaker, Mr. James
Morris, appear'd to oppose the measure. He expressed
much sorrow 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 Friends
were against the measure, and outvoted us, we must and
should, agreeably to the usage of all societies, submit. When
the hour for business 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 can
did to allow a litde time for their appearing.
While we were disputing this, a waiter came to tell me
two gentiemen 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 their as
sistance if we could do without it, as their voting for such a
measure might embroil them with their elders and friends.
Being thus secure of a majority, I went up, and after a littie
seeming hesitation, agreed to a delay of another hour. This
Mr, Morris allow'd to be extreamly fair. Not one of his
opposing friends appear'd, at which he express'd great sur
prize ; and, at the expiration of the hour, we carry'd the

150 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
resolution eight to one ; and as, of the twenty-two Quakers,
eight were ready to vote with us, and thirteen, by their ab
sence, manifested that they were not inclin'd to oppose the
measure, I afterward estimated the proportion of Quakers
sincerely against defense as one to twenty-one only ; for
these were all regular members of 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 defensive war, and supporting
his opinion by many strong arguments. He put into my
hands sixty pounds to be laid out in lottery tickets for the
battery, with direftions to apply what prizes might be drawn
wholly to that service. He told me the following anecdote
of his old master, William Penn, respefting defense. He
came over from England, when a young man, with that
proprietary, and as his secretary. 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 Wil
liam Penn, and his company of Quakers, that he did not
expeft their assistance, and they might retire into the cabin,
which they did, except James Logan, who chose to stay
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 communicate the intelligence,
William Penn rebuk'd him severely for staying upon deck,
and undertaking to assist in defending the vessel, contrary to
the principles of Friends, especially as it had not been re
quired by the captain. This reproof, being before all the

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. i 5 1
company, piqu'd the secretary, who answer'd, " / being thy
servant, why did thee not order me to come down? But thee
was willing enough that I should stay and help to fight the
ship when thee thought there was danger,"
My being many years in the Assembly, the majority of
which were constantiy Quakers, gave me frequent oppor
tunities of seeing the embarrassment given them by their
principle against war, whenever application was made to
them, by order of the crown, to grant aids for military pur
poses. They were unwilling to offend government, on the
one hand, by a direct refusal ; and their friends, the body
of the Quakers, on the other, by a compliance contrary to
their principles ; hence a variety of evasions to avoid com
plying, and modes of disguising the compliance when it be
came 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 direftiy from the crown, that
phrase was found not so proper, and some other was to be
invented. As, when powder was wanting (I think it was
for the garrison at Louisburg), and the government of New
England 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 appropriated it for the purchasing of bread,
flour, wheat, or other grain. Some of the council, desirous
of giving the House still fiirther embarrassment, advis'd the
governor not to accept provision, as not being the thing he

152 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
had demanded; but he reply'd, "I shall take the money,
for I understand very well their meaning ; other grain is
gunpovvder," which he accordingly bought, and they never
objected to it,*
It was in allusion to this fact that, when in our fire com
pany we feared the success of our proposal in favour of the
lottery, and I had said to my 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 objeftion
to that ; and then, if you nominate me and I you as a com
mittee for that purpose, we will buy a great gun, which is
certainly a. fire-engine." "I see," says he, "you have im
prov'd by being so long in the Assembly ; your equivocal
projeft would be just a match for their wheat or other grain. ' '
These embarrassments that the Quakers suffer'd from hav
ing establish'd and published it as one of their principles
that no kind of war was lawful, and which, being once
published, they could not afterwards, however they might
change their minds, easily get rid of, reminds me of what I
think a more prudent conduft in another seft among us, that
of the Dunkers, I was acquainted with one of its founders,
Michael Welfare, soon after it appear'd. He complain'd to
me that they were grievously calumniated by the zealots of
other persuasions, and charg'd with abominable principles
and praftices, to which they were utter strangers, I told
him this had always been the case with new sefts, and that,
to put a stop to such abuse, I imagin'd it might be well to
publish the articles of their belief, and the rules of their dis
cipline. He said that it had been propos'd among them, but
* See the votes. — Marg. note.

Franklin about 1780. Drawn by Louis Carrogis, called Carmontelle. The
original, hke that of Cochin, has not come down to us, but a contemporary
engraving, by Francois Denis Nee, is in the collection of Mr. C. S. Bement,
of Philadelphia. It is spirited, full of life, and happily dignified.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 153
not agreed to, for this reason : " When we were first drawn
together as a society," says he, "it had pleased God to en
lighten our minds so far as to see that some doftrines, 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 diminish
ing. Now we are not sure that we are arrived at the end of
this progression, and at the perfection of spiritual or theo
logical 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 perhaps be unwilling to receive far
ther improvement, and our successors still more so, as con
ceiving what we their elders and founders had done, to be
something sacred, never to be departed from."
This modesty in a seft is perhaps a singular instance in
the history of mankind, every other seft supposing itself in
possession of all truth, and that those who differ are so far in
the wrong ; 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 nearer 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 declining the public service in the Assembly
and in the magistracy, choosing rather to quit their power
than their principle.
In order of time, I should have mentioned before, that
having, in 1742, invented an open stove for the better
warming of rooms, and at the same time saving fuel, as the

1 54 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 growing in
demand. To promote that demand, I wrote and published
a pamphlet, entitled "An Account of the new-invented Penn
sylvania Fireplaces ; wherein their ConstruBion and Manner
of Operation is particularly explained ; their Advantages above
every other Method of warming Rooms demonstrated; and all
Objeftions that have been raised against the Use of them an
swered and obviated," etc. This pamphlet had a good effeft.
Gov'r, Thomas was so pleas'd with the construftion of this
stove, as described in it, that he offered to give me a patent
for the sole vending of them for a term of years ; but I de
clin'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 oppor
tunity 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 mak
ing 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 instance of
patents taken out for my inventions by others, tho' 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 fireplaces in very many houses,
both of this and the neighboring colonies, has been, and is,
a great saving of wood to the inhabitants.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. i 5 5
Peace being concluded, and the association business there
fore at an end, I turn'd my thoughts again to the. affair of
establishing an academy. The first step I took was to asso
ciate in the design a number of aftive friends, of whom the
Junto furnished a good part ; the next was to write and
publish a pamphlet, entitled Proposals relating to the Educa
tion of Touth in Pennsylvania. This I distributed among the
principal inhabitants gratis ; and as soon as I could suppose
their minds a littie 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
believe it was so, amounting to no less, if I remember right,
than five thousand pounds.
In the introduftion of these proposals, I stated their pub
lication, not as an aft of mine, but of some publick-spirited
gentlemen, 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 su'oscribers, to carry the projeft into immediate ex
ecution, chose out of their number twenty-four trustees, and
appointed Mr. Francis, then attorney-general, and myself to
draw up constitutions for the government of the academy ;
which being done and signed, a house was hired, masters
engag'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, when Providence
threw into our way a large house ready built, which, with a

156 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
few alterations, might well serve our purpose. This was the
building before mentioned, erected by the hearers of Mr.
Whitefield, and was obtained for us in the following
manner. It is to be noted that the contributions to this building
being made by people of different sefts, 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 seft, lest in time that predominancy might be a means
of appropriating the whole to the use of such seft, contrary
to the original intention. It was therefore that one of each
seft was appointed, viz., one Church-of-England man, one
Presbyterian, one Baptist, one Moravian, etc., those, incase
of vacancy by death, were to fill it by election from among
the contributors. The Moravian happen'd not to please his
colleagues, and on his death they resolved to have no other
of that seft. The difficulty then was, how to avoid having
two of some other seft, 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 observa
tion that I was merely an honest man, and of no seft 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 trustees had not been able to procure fresh
contributions for paying the ground-rent, and discharging
some other debts the building had occasion'd, which embar
rass'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 finally to an agreement, by which the trustees

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 157
for the building were 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 preachers, ac
cording to the original intention, and maintain a free-school
for the instruction of poor children, ^^'ritings were accord
ingly drawn, and on paying the debts the trustees of the
academy were put in possession of the premises ; and by
di\-iding the great and lofty hall into stories, and different
rooms above and below for the several schools, and purchas
ing some additional ground, the whole was soon made fit
for our purpose, and the scholars remov'd into the building.
The care and trouble of agreeing with the workmen, pur
chasing 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 be
fore taken a very able, industrious, and honest partner, Mr.
Da\'id Hall, with whose character I was well acquainted, as
he had work'd for me four years. He took off my hands all
care of the printing-office, paying me punctually my share
of the profits. This partnership continued eighteen years,
successfiiUy for us both.
The trustees of the academy, after a while, were incor
porated 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 education in it, distinguish'd by

158 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 acquir'd, I had secured leisure dur
ing the rest of my life for philosophical studies and amuse
ments. I purchased all Dr. Spence's apparatus, who had
come from England to lecture here, and I proceeded in my
electrical experiments with great alacrity ; but the publick,
now considering me as a man of leisure, laid hold of me for
their purposes, every part of our civil government, and
almost at the same time, imposing some duty upon me. The
governor put me into the commission of the peace ; the cor
poration 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 agreeable 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 spon
taneous testimonies of the public good opinion, and by me
entirely unsolicited.
The office of justice of the peace I try'd a little, by at
tending a few courts, and sitting on the bench to hear

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 159
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 Assembly. My election to this trust was repeated every
year for ten years, without my ever asking any elector for
his vote, or signifying, either directiy or indirecdy, any de
sire of being chosen. On taking my seat in the House, my
son was appointed their clerk.
The year foUowing, 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 purpose.* The House named the
speaker (Mr. Norris) 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 stri6Uy
forbad the selling any liquor to them; and when they com
plain'd of this restriftion, we told them that if they would
continue sober during the treaty, we would give them plenty
of rum when business was over. They promis'd this, and
they kept their promise, because they could get no liquor,
and the treaty was condufted very orderly, and concluded
to mutual satisfaction. They then claim'd and receiv'd the
rum ; this was in the afternoon : they were near one hun
dred men, women, and children, and were lodg'd in tem
porary cabins, built in the form of a square, just without the
town. In the evening, hearing a great noise among them,
* See the votes to have this more correctly. — Marg. note.

i6o Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
the commissioners walk'd out to see what was the matter.
We found they had made a great bonfire in the middle of
the square ; they were all drunk, men and women, quarrel
ing and fighting. Their dark-colour'd bodies, half naked,
seen only by the gloomy light of the bonfire, running after
and beating one another with firebrands, accompanied by
their horrid yellings, form'd a scene the most resembling our
ideas of hell that could well be imagin'd ; there was no ap
peasing the tumult, and we retired to our lodging. At mid
night a number of them came thundering at our door, de
manding 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 acknowledg'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 design' d
any thing for, that use it should always be put to. Now,
when he made rum, he said, ' Let this be for the Indians to
get drunk with,' and it must be so." And, indeed, if it be
the design of Providence to extirpate these savages in order
to make room for cultivators of the earth, it seems not im
probable 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 hospital in Philadelphia
(a very beneficent design, which has been ascrib'd to me,
but was originally his), for the reception and cure of poor
sick persons, whether inhabitants of the province or stran-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. i6i
gers. He was zealous and aftive 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), they 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 sub
scrib'd to it myself, but engag'd heartily in the design of
procuring subscriptions from others. Previously, however,
to the solicitation, I endeavoured to prepare the minds of the
people by writing on the subjeft in the newspapers, which
was my usual custom in such cases, but which he had
omitted. The subscriptions afterwards were more free and gener
ous ; but, beginning to flag, I saw they would be insufficient
without some assistance from the Assembly, and therefore
propos'd to petition for it, which was done. The country
members did not at first relish the projeft ; they objefted that
it could 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 generally approv'd
of it. My allegation on the contrary, that it met with such
approbation as to leave no doubt of our being able to raise

1 62 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
two thousand pounds by voluntary donations, they consid
ered 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 according to the
prayer of their petition, and granting them a blank sum of
money, which leave was obtained chiefly on the considera
tion 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 authority afore
said, that when the said contributors shall have met and
chosen their managers and treasurer, and shall have raised by
their contributions " capital 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, at
tendance, advice, and medicines), and shall make the same
appear to the satisfaction of the speaker of the Assembly for
the time being, that then it shall and may be lawful for the
said speaker, and he is hereby required, to sign an order on
the provincial treasurer for the payment of two thousand
pounds, in two yearly payments, to the treasurer of the said
hospital, to be applied to the founding, building, and finish
ing of the same,"
This condition carried the bill through ; for the members,
who had oppos'd the grant, and now conceiv'd they might
have the credit of being charitable 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.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 163
The subscriptions accordingly soon exceeded the requisite
sum, and vve claim'd and receiv'd the public gift^ which
enabled us to carry the design into execution. A convenient
and handsome building was soon erected ; the institution
has by constant experience been found useful, and flourishes
to this day ; and I do not remember any of my political
manoeuvres, the success of which gave me at the time more
pleasure, or wherein, after thinking of it, I more easily ex
cus'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 request that I would
assist him in procuring a subscription for erefting a new
meeting-house. It was to be for the use of a congregation
he had gathered among the Presbyterians, who were origin
ally disciples of Mr, Whitefield. Unwilling to make myself
disagreeable to my fellow-citizens by too frequently solicit
ing their contributions, I absolutely refus'd. He then de
sired 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 wor
ried 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
something ; 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 negleft 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

164 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
would take my advice. He did so, for he ask'd of every
body, and he obtain'd a much larger sum than he expefted,
with which he erefted the capacious and very elegant meet
ing-house that stands in Arch-street.
Our city, tho' laid out with a beautifull regularity, the
streets large, strait, and crossing each other 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 weather the dust was offensive. I
had liv'd near what was call'd the Jersey Market, and saw
with pain the inhabitants wading in mud while purchasing
their provisions. A strip of ground down the middle of that
market was at length 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
subjeft, I was at length instrumental in getting the street
pav'd witk 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
was willing to undertake keeping the pavement clean, by
sweeping it twice a week, carrying 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 165
be obtain' d by this small expense ; the greater ease in keep
ing our houses clean, so much dirt not being brought in by
people's feet ; the benefit to the shops by more custom, etc.,
etc., as buyers could more easily get at them; and by not
having, in windy weather, the dust blown in upon their
goods, etc., etc. I sent one of these papers to each house,
and in a day or two went round to see who would subscribe
an agreement to pay these sixpences ; it was 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 before I went to
England, in 1757, and did not pass till I was gone,* and
then with an alteration in the mode of assessment, which I
thought not for the better, but with an additional provision
for lighting as well as paving the streets, which was a great
improvement. It was by a private person, the late Mr. John
Clifton, his giving a sample of the utility of lamps, by plac
ing one at his door, that the people were first impress'd with
the idea of enlighting all the city. The honour of this pub
lic benefit has also been ascrib'd to me, but it belongs truly
to that gentieman. I did but follow his example, and have
only some merit to claim respefting 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
* See votes.

1 66 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
respefts : they admitted no air below ; the smoke, therefore,
did not readily go out above, but circulated in the globe,
lodg'd on its inside, and soon obstructed the light they were
intended to afford ; giving, besides, the daily trouble of wip
ing them clean ; and an accidental stroke on one of them
would demolish it, and render it totally useless. I therefore
suggested the composing them of four flat panes, with a long
funnel above to draw up the smoke, and crevices admitting
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 I propos'd, when in London, to Dr. FothergiU, who
was among the best men I have known, and a great promo
ter of useful projefts, 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
mud, and then, after lying some days so deep on the pave
ment that there was no crossing but in paths kept clean by

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 167
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 pave
ment to shake out and fall, sometimes to the annoyance of
foot-passengers. The reason given for not sweeping the
dusty streets was, that the dust would fly into the windows
of shops and houses.
An accidental occurrence had instrufted me how much
sweeping might be done in a littie time. I found at my
door in Craven-street, one morning, a poor woman sweep
ing 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 something."
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 slowness I saw at first in her work
ing, 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.
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 here let me remark the convenience
of having but one gutter in such a narrow street, running
down its middle, instead of two, one on each side, near the
footway ; for where all the rain that falls on a street runs

1 68 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
from the sides and meets in the middle, it forms there a cur
rent strong enough to wash away all the mud it meets with ;
but when divided into two channels, it is often too weak to
cleanse either, and only 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, communicated to the good doc
tor, 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 contrafted 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 respeftive stands, ready to fur
nish 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 win
dows of houses are usually opened, when the scavengers,
with close-covered carts, shall 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 tramp
ling of horses, but that the scavengers 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 retain 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 169
brought to them in wheelbarrows ; 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 of 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 prafti-
cable in the summer, when the days are long ; for, in walk
ing thro' the Strand and Fleet-street one morning at seven
o'clock, I observ'd there was not one shop open, tjio' it had
been daylight and the sun up above three hours ; the inhab
itants of London chusing voluntarily to live much by candle
light, and sleep by sunshine, and yet often complain, a litde ab
surdly, 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 repeti
tions give it weight and consequence, perhaps they will not
censure ver}' severely those who bestow some attention to
affairs of this seemingly low nature. Human felicity is pro
duc'd not so much by great pieces of good fortune that sel
dom happen, as by littie advantages that occur every day.
Thus, if you teach a poor young man to shave himself, and
keep his razor in order, you may contribute more to the
happiness of his' life than in giving him a thousand guineas.
The money may be soon spent, the regret only remaining of

1 70 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
having foolishly consumed it ; but in the other case, he es
capes the frequent vexation 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 usefiil to a city I love, having lived many years
in it very happily, and perhaps to some of our towns in
America. Having been for some time employed by the postmaster-
general of America as his comptroller in regulating several
offices, and bringing the officers to account, I was, upon his
death in 1753, appointed, jointiy with Mr. William Hun
ter, 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 in
evitably 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 im
prudent 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 1 7 1
Cambridge, of their own motion, presented me with the
degree of Master of Arts. Yale College, in Connecticut,
had before made me a similar compliment. Thus, without
studying in any coUege, I came to partake of their honours.
They were conferr'd in consideration of my improvements
and discoveries in the electric branch of natural philosophy.
In 1754, ^^ yv'ith France being again apprehended, a
congress of commissioners from the different colonies was,
by an order of the Lords of Trade, to be assembled at
Albany, there to confer with the chiefs of the Six Nations
concerning the means of defending both their country and
ours. Governor Hamilton, having receiv'd this order, ac
quainted the House with it, requesting they would furnish
proper presents for the Indians, to be given on this occasion ;
and naming the speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself to join
Mr. Thomas Penn and Mr. Secretary Peters as commission
ers to act for Pennsylvania. The House approv'd the nomi
nation, and provided the goods for the present, and tho'
they did not much like treating out of the prorinces ; and
we met the other commissioners at Albany about the middle
of June,
In our way tliither, I projected and drew a plan for the
union of all the colonies under one government, 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 projeft to Mr. James Alexander and Mr. Ken
nedy, two gentlemen 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 pre-

172 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
vious question was first taken, whether a union should be
established, which pass'd in the affirmative unanimously. A
committee was then appointed, one member from each col
ony, 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 admin
istered 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 respeftive assemblies. The debates upon it in Congress
went on daily, hand in hand with the Indian business.
Many objeftions and difficulties were started, but at length
they were all overcome, and the plan was unanimously
agreed to, and copies ordered to be transmitted to the Board
of Trade and to the assemblies of the several provinces. Its
fate was singular : the assemblies did not adopt it, as they
all thought there was too much prerogative in it, and in
England it was 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, whereby the governors of the provinces,
with some members of their respeftive councils, were to
meet and order the raising of troops, building of forts, etc.,
and to draw on the treasury of Great Britain for the ex
pense, which was afterwards to be refunded by an aft of
Parliament laying a tax on America, My plan, with my
reasons in support of it, is to be found among my political
papers that are printed.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, ' 173
Being the winter following in Boston, I had much con
versation with Governor Shirley upon both the plans. Part
of what passed between us on the occasion may also be seen
among those papers. The different and contrary reasons of
dislike to my plan makes me suspeft that it was really the
true medium ; 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 sufficientiy strong to
have defended themselves ; there would then have been no
need of troops from England ; of course, the subsequent
pretence for taxing America, and the bloody contest it oc
casioned, 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 projefts. The best public
measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom,
but fore' d by the occasion.
The Governor of Pennsylvania, in sending it down to
the Assembly, express'd his approbation of the plan, "as
appearing to him to be drawn up with great clearness and
strength of judgment, and therefore recommended it as well
worthy of their closest and most serious attention," The
House, however, by the management of a certain member,
took it up when I 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.

174 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
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 ac
quainted. He brought a commission to supersede Mr.
Hamilton, who, tir'd with the disputes his proprietary in
struftions subjefted him to, had resign'd, Mr, Morris ask'd
me if I thought he must expeft as uncomfortable an admin
istration. I said, " No ; you iriay, on the contrary, have a
very comfortable one, if you will only take care not to enter
into any dispute with the Assembly." "My dear friend,"
says he, pleasantly, "how can you advise my avoiding dis
putes ? You know I love disputing ; it is one of my greatest
pleasures ; however, to show the regard I have for your
counsel, I promise you I will, if possible, avoid them."
He had some reason for loving to dispute, being eloquent,
an acute sophister, and, therefore, generally successful in
argumentative conversation. He had been brought up to it
from a boy, his father, as I have heard, accustoming his
children to dispute with one another for his 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, notwithstanding his
promise to me, he and the House were already in high con
tention ; and it was a continual battle between them as long
as he retain'd the government, I had my share of it; for.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 175
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 messages, were often tart, and
sometimes indecentiy 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 between him and
me was occasion'd by the contest, and we often din'd
together. One afternoon, in the height of this public quarrel, we
met in the street. "Franklin," says he, "you must go
home with me and spend the evening ; I am to have some
company that you will like;" and, taking me by the arm,
he led me to his 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 proposed to give
him a government, requested it might be a government of
blacks, as then, if he could not agree with his people, he
might sell them. One of his friends, who sat next to me,
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 gover
nor," 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 liis coloring as fast as he laid
it on, and plac'd it, in return, thick upon his own face; so
that, finding he was likely to be negrofied himself, he, as
well as Mr. Hamilton, grew tir'd of the contest, and
quitted the government.

176 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
* These public quarrels were all at bottom owing to the
proprietaries, our hereditary governors, who, when any ex
pense was to be incurred for the defense of their province,
with incredible meanness instrufted their deputies to pass no
aft for levying the necessary taxes, unless their vast estates
were in the same aft expressly excused ; and they had even
taken bonds of these deputies to observe such instruftions.
The Assemblies for three years held out against this injustice,
tho' constrained to bend at last. At length Captain Denny,
who was Governor Morris's successor, ventured to disobey
those instruftions : how that was brought about I shall show
hereafter. But I am got forward too fast with my story : there are
still some transaftions 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 projefted 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 influence and assistance, I diftated his address to
them, which was well receiv'd. They voted an aid of ten
thousand pounds, to be laid out in provisions. But the gov
ernor refusing his assent to their bill (which included this
with other sums granted for the use of the crown), unless a
clause were inserted exempting the proprietary estate from
bearing any part of the tax that would be necessary, the
Assembly, tho' very desirous of making their grant to New
* My acts in Morris's time, military, etc. — Marg. note.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 177
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 trustees of the Loan Office,
which, by law, the Assembly had the right of drawing.
There was, indeed, littie or no money at that time in the
office, and therefore I 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 litde hesitation,
adopted the proposal. The orders were immediately printed,
and I was one of the committee direfted 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 be
ing known to be more than sufficient, they obtain'd instant
credit, and were not only receiv'd in payment for the pro
visions, but many money'd people, who had cash lying by
them, vested it in those orders, which they found advan
tageous, 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 return'd thanks to the As
sembly in a handsome memorial, went home highly pleas'd
with the success of his embassy, and ever after bore for me
the most cordial and affeftionate friendship.
The British government, not chusing to permit the union
of the colonies as propos'd at Albany, and to trust that
23

178 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
union with their defense, lest they should thereby grow too
military, and feel their own strength, suspicions and jeal
ousies at this time being entertain'd of them, sent over Gen
eral Braddock with two regiments of regular English troops
for that purpose. He landed at Alexandria, in Virginia,
and thence march'd to Frederictown, in Maryland, where
he halted for carriages. Our Assembly apprehending, from
some information, that he had conceived violent prejudices
against them, as averse to the service, wish'd me to wait
upon him, not as from them, but as postmaster-general,
under the guise of proposing to settle with him the mode of
condufting with most celerity and certainty the despatches
between him and the governors of the several provinces,
with whom he must necessarily have continual correspon
dence, and of which they propos'd to pay the expense. My
son accompanied me on this journey.
We found the general at Frederictown, waiting impa
tiently for the return of those he had sent thro' the back
parts of Maryland and Virginia to colleft waggons. I stayed
with him several days, din'd with him daily, and had full
opportunity of removing all his prejudices, by the informa
tion of what the Assembly had before his arrival aftually
done, and were still willing to do, to facilitate his operations.
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 the expedition was then at an end, being
impossible, and exclaim'd against the ministers for ignorantiy
landing them in a country destitute of the means of convey-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 179
ing 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 win undertake it." I ask'd what terms were to be
offer'd the owners of the waggons ; and I was desir'd to
put on paper the terms that appeared to me necessary. This
I did, and they were agreed to, and a commission and in
struftions accordingly prepar'd immediately. What these
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 curiosity, I
shall insert it at length, as follows :
' ' Advertisement. "Lancastir, April T.f), 1755.
"Whereas, one hundred and fifty waggons, with four horses to each
waggon, and fifteen hundred saddle or pack horses, are wanted for the ser
vice of his majesty's forces now about to rendezvous at Will's Creek, and
his excellency General Braddock having been pleased to empower me to
contract for the hire of the same, I hereby give notice that I shall attend
for that purpose at Lancaster from this day to next Wednesday evening,
and at York from next Thursday morning till Friday evening, where I
shall be ready to agree for waggons and teams, or single horses, on
the following terms, viz.: i. That there shall be paid for each wag
gon, 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
23*

i8o Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
before the 20th of May ensuing, and that a reasonable allowance be paid
over and above for the time necessary for their travelhng to Wiirs 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 j 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 oi the army, at the time of their discharge, or from
time to time, as it shall be demanded. 5. No drivers of waggons, or per
sons taking care of the hired horses, are on any account to be called upon
to do the duty of soldiers, or be otherwise employed than in condu^ng
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 neces
sary 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 FrankUn, is empowered to enter into like
contracts with any person in Cumberland county. B. Franklin."
*' To the inhabitants of the Counties of Lancaster, York,
and Cumberland,
** Friends and Countrymen,
** Being occasionally at the camp at Frederic a few days since, I found
the general and officers extremely exasperated on account of their not be
ing supplied with horses and carriages, which had been expected from this
province, as most able to furnish them ; but, through the dissensions be
tween our governor and Assembly, money had not been provided, nor any
steps taken for that purpose.
*'It was proposed to send an armed force immediately into these coun
ties, 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 soldiers through these coun
ties on such an occasion, especially considering the temper they are in, and
their resentment against us, would be attended with many and great incon-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 8 i
veniences to the inhabitants, and therefore more willingly took the trouble
of trying first what might be done by fair and equitable means. The peo
ple of these back counties have lately complained to the Assembly that a
sufficient currency was wanting ; you have an opportunity of receiving and
dividing among you a very considerable sum ; for, if the service of this
expedition should continue, as it is more than probable it will, for one hun
dred 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
majest)', you may now do a most acceptable service, and make it easy to
yourselves ; for three or four of such as can not separately spare from the
business of their plantations a waggon and four horses and a driver, may
do it together, one furnishing the waggon, another one or 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 suspected. The king's business must be done j so many brave
troops, come so far for your defense, must not stand idle through your
backwardness to do what may be reasonably expedled from you ; waggons
and horses must be had ; violent measures will probably be used, and you
win 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 satlsfadlion of
endeavoring to do good, I shall have only my labor for my pains. If this
method of obtalrung 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.'*

1 82 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
I received of the general about eight hundred pounds, to
be disburs'd in advance-money to the waggon owners, etc.;
but that sum being insufficient, I advanc'd upward of two
hundred pounds more, and in two weeks the one hundred
and fifty waggons, with two hundred and fifty-nine carrying
horses, were on their march for the camp. The advertise
ment 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 de
pendence 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 Dtmbar'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 was to be purchas'd. I
commiserated their case, and resolved to endeavor procuring
them some relief. I said nothing, however, to him of my
intention, but wrote the next morning to the committee of
the Assembly, who had the disposition of some public
money, warmly recommending the case of these officers to
their consideration, and 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, con
dufted by my son, the stores arrived at the camp as soon
as the waggons. They consisted of twenty parcels, each
containing

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 183
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 re
ceiv'd, and the kindness acknowledg'd by letters to me from
the colonels of both regiments, in the most grateful terms.
The general, too, was highly satisfied with my conduft in
procuring him the waggons, etc., and readily paid my ac
count of disbursements> thanking me repeatedly, and request
ing 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 im
mediately an order on the paymaster for the round sum of
one thousand pounds, leaving the remainder to the next ac
count. 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 prob
ably have made a figure as a good officer 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

1 84 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
one of both Americans and Indians. George Croghan, our
Indian interpreter, join'd him on his march with one hun
dred 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 neglefted them, and they grad
ually 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 obstruft 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
only danger I apprehend of obstruftion to your march is
from ambuscades 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 dis
tance, can not come up in time to support each other."

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, I85
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 discipliii'd troops,
sir, it is impossible they should malce any impression," I
was conscious of an impropriety in my disputing with a
military man in matters of his profession, and said no more.
The enemy, however, did not take the advantage of his
army which I apprehended its long line of march 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 intelligence the general had of an enemy's being near
him. This guard being disordered, the general hurried the
troops up to their assistance, which was done in great con
fusion, thro' waggons, baggage, and cattie ; and presently
the fire came upon their flank : the officers, being on horse
back, were more easily distinguish'd, pick'd out as marks,
and fell very fast ; and the soldiers were crowded together
in a huddle, having or hearing no orders, and standing to be
shot at till two-thirds of them were killed ; and then, being
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 followed by
others ; so that all the waggons, provisions, artillery, and
stores were left to the enemy. The general, being wounded,
was brought off with difficulty ; his secretary, Mr. Shirley,
was killed by his side ; and out of eighty-six officers, sixty-
24

1 86 Autobiograp'ay of Benjamin Franklin.
three were killed or wounded, and seven hundred and four
teen men killed out of eleven hundred. These eleven hun
dred had been picked men from the whole army ; the rest
had been left behind with Colonel Dunbar, who was to fol
low with the heavier part of the stores, provisions, and bag
gage. The flyers, not being pursu'd, arriv'd at Dunbar's
camp, and the panick they brought with them instantiy
seiz'd him and all his people; and, tho' he had now above
one thousand men, and the enemy who had beaten Brad
dock 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 was there met with requests from the
governors of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that he
would post his troops on the frontiers, so as to afford some
proteftion 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 proteft
him. This whole transaftion gave us Americans the first
suspicion 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 in
sulting, abusing, and confining the people if they remon
strated. This was enough to put us out of conceit of such
defenders, if we had really wanted any. How different was
the conduft of our French friends in 1 78 1, who, during a

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 1 87
march thro' die most inhabited part of our country from
Rhode Island to Virginia, near seven hundred miles, occa
sioned not the smallest complaint for the loss of a pig, a
chicken, or even an apple.
Captain Orme, who was one of the general's aids-de-
' camp, and, being grievously wounded, was brought off with
him, and continu'd with him to his death, which happen'd
in a few days, told me that he was totally silent all the first
da^-, and at night only said, " Who would have thought it? "
That he was silent again the following day, saying only at
last, " We shall better know how to deal with them another
time;" and dy'd in a few minutes after.
The secretary's papers, with all the general's orders,
instruftions, and correspondence, falling into the enemy's
hands, they selefted and translated into French a number of
the articles, which they printed, to prove the hostile inten
tions of the British court before the declaration of war.
Among these I saw some letters of the general to the min
istry, 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 Gen
eral Conway, when secretary of state, told me he had seen
among the papers in that office, letters from Braddock highly
recommending me. But, the expedition having been unfor
tunate, 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 dis-
24.*

1 88 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,
charge such as had been already enlisted. This he readily
granted, and several were accordingly return'd to their mas
ters, on my application. Dunbar, \'shen the command de
volv'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 Lan
caster county that he had enlisted, reminding him of the late
general's orders on that head. He promised me that, if the
masters would come to him 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
expense and trouble of going to Trenton, and there he re
fiis'd to perform his promise, to their great loss and disap
pointment. As soon as the loss of the waggons and horses was gener-
erally known, all the owners came upon me for the valua
tion which I had given bond to pay. Their demands gave
me a great deal of trouble, my acquainting them that the
money was ready in the paymaster's hands, but that orders
for paying it must first be obtained from General Shirley,
and my assuring 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 order
ing 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1 89
to defray the expense of a grand firework, which it was in
tended to exhibit at a rejoicing 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
\\t knew we should have occasion to rejoice. They seem'd
surpris'd that I did not immediately comply with their pro
posal. "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 subjeft to great uncertainty." I gave them the
reasons of my doubting ; the subscription was dropt, and the
projeftors thereby missed the mortification they would have
undergone if the firework had been prepared. Dr. Bond,
on some other occasion afterward, said that he did not like
Franklin's forebodings.
Governor Morris, who had continually worried the As
sembly with message after message before the defeat of Brad
dock, to beat them into the making of afts to raise money
for the defense of the province, without taxing, among
others, the proprietary estates, and had rejefted 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, be
lieving they had justice on their side, and that it would be
giving up an essential right if they suffered the governor to
amend their money-bills. In one of the last, indeed, which
was for granting fifty thousand pounds, liis propos'd amend
ment 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 excepted." His amendment was, for not

190 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
read only: a small, but very material alteration. However,
when the news of this disaster reached England, our friends
there, whom we had taken care to furnish with all the As
sembly's answers to the governor's messages, rais'd a clamor
against the proprietaries for their meanness and injustice in
giving their governor such instruftions ; some going so far
as to say that, by obstrufting the defence of thair 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 aft I was appointed one of the commissioners for dis
posing of the money, sixty thousand pounds. I had been
aftive in modelling the bill and procuring its passage, and
had, at the same time, drawn a bUl for establishing and dis
ciplining 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 neces
sary to form the militia, I wrote a dialogue,* stating and
answering all the objeftions I could think of to such a
militia, which was printed, and had, as I thought, great
effeft. 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
* This dialogue and the militia act are in the Gentleman's Magazine
for February and March, 1756. — Marg. note.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 191
was infested by the enemy, and provide for the defense of
the inhabitants by raising troops and building a line of forts.
I undertook this military business, tho' I did not conceive
myself well qualified for it. He gave me a commission with
full powers, and a parcel of blank commissions for officers,
to be given to whom I thought fit. I had but little difficulty
in raising men, having soon five hundred and sixty under
my command. My son, who had in the preceding war
been an 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 settied by the Moravians, and
massacred the inhabitants ; but the place was thought a good
situation for one of the forts.
In order to march thither, I assembled the companies at
Bethlehem, the chief establishment of those people. I was
surprised to find it in so good a posture of defense ; the de
struction of Gnadenhut had made them apprehend danger.
The principal buildings were defended by a stockade ; they
had purchased 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 force into them. The armed brethren,
too, kept watch, and reliev'd as methodically as in any gar
rison town. In conversation with the bishop, Spangenberg,
I mention'd this my surprise; for, knowing they had ob
tained an act of Parliament exempting them from military
duties in the colonies, I had suppos'd they were conscien
tiously scrupulous of bearing arms. He answer'd me that it
was not one of their established principles, but that, at the

192 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
time of their obtaining that aft, it was thought to be a prin
ciple with many of their people. On this occasion, how
ever, 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 dan
ger, will sometimes be too strong for whimsical opinions.
It was the beginning of January when we set out upon
this business of building forts, I sent one detachment
toward the Minisink, with instruftions to ereft one for
the security of that upper part of the country, and another
to the lower part, with similar instruftions ; and I concluded
to go myself with the rest of my force to Gnadenhut, where
a fort was tho't more immediately necessary. The Mora
vians procur'd me five waggons for our tools, stores, bag
gage, 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 cattie, I gave them each a gun with
suitable ammunition. We had not march'd many miles be
fore it began to rain, and it continued raining all day ; there
were no habitations on the road to shelter us, till we arriv'd
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 dex
trous 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 193
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 season, as we had no tents. Our
first work was to bury more effeftually 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, and, 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 oft", and
the fore and hind wheels separated by taking out the pin
which united the two parts of the perch, we had ten car
riages, with two horses each, to bring the palisades from the
woods to the spot. When tiiey wore set up, our carpenters
built a stage of boards all round within, about six feet high,
for the men to stand on when to fire thro' the loopholes.
M'e had one s\\ivcl gun, which wc mounted on one of the
-5

1 94 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 cheerfiil, and, with the
consciousness of having done a good day's work, they spent
the evening jollily ; but on our idle days they were mutinous
and quarrelsome, 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 constandy at
work; and, when his mate once told him that they had
done every thing, and there was nothing fvirther to employ
them about, " Oh," says he, "make them scour the anchor."
This kind of fort, however contemptible, is a sufficient
defense against Indians, who have no cannon. Finding our
selves 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 neighboring hills where they had lain to watch our
proceedings. 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 common fire on the surface
of the ground would by its hght have discover'd their posi
tion 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 charcoal
from the sides of burnt logs lying in the woods. With these

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 195
coals they had made small fires in the bottom of the holes,
and we observ'd 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 man
ag'd, 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 prospeft of advantage.
We had for our chaplain a zealous Presbyterian minister,
Mr. Beatty, who complained to me that the men did not
generally attend his prayers and exhortations. When they
enlisted, they were promised, 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 receive it ;
upon which I said to Mr. Beatty, "It is, perhaps, below
the dignity of your profession to aft 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 punftually attended ;
so that I thought this method preferable to the punishment
inflifted 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 call'd the Assembly,
and wished my attendance there, if the posture of affairs on
25*

196 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
the frontiers was such that my remaining there was no
longer necessary. My friends, too, of the Assembly, press
ing me by 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
proteftion, I resolved to return ; the more willingly, as a
New England officer. Colonel Clapham, experienced in In
dian 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 introduc'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 exhortation, took my leave. I was
escorted as far as Bethlehem, where I rested a few days to
recover 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 littie into the praftice
of the Moravians ; some of them had accompanied me, and
all were very kind to me. I found they work'd for a com
mon stock, eat at common tables, and slept in common dor
mitories, great numbers together. In the dormitories I ob
served loopholes, at certain distances all along just under the
ceiling, which I thought judiciously placed for change of air.
I was at their church, where I was entertain'd with good
musick, the organ being accompanied with violins, hautboys,
flutes, clarinets, etc. I understood that their sermons were
not usually preached to mixed congregations of men, wo
men, and children, as is our common praftice, but that they

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 197
assembled sometimes the married men, at other times their
wives, then the young men, the young women, and the lit
tie children, 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 dis
course seem'd well adapted to their capacities, and was de
livered 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 suspeft 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
' young man fotmd 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 tempers and disposi
tions of their respeftive pupils, they could best judge what
matches were siutable, and their judgments were generally
acquiesc'd in; but if, for example, it should happen that
two or three young women were found to be equally proper
for the young man, the lot was then recurred to. I objefted,
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," answer'd my informer, "if you let
the parties chuse for themselves;" which, indeed, I could
not deny.
Being returned to Philadelphia, I found the association
went on swimmingly, the inhabitants that were not Quakers

198 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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 en
deavors. 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 colonel 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 artil
lery, 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 electrical appa
ratus. 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 horseback they came to my door, between
thirty and forty, mounted, and all in their uniforms. I had
not been previously acquainted with the projeft, 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

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 199
then- 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 pro
prietor, and it gave him great offense. No such honor had
been paid him when in the province, nor to any of his gov
ernors ; 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 afiair, however, greatiy increased his rancour
against me, which was before not a litde, on account of
my conduft in the Assembly respefting the exemption of
his estate from taxation, which I had always oppos'd very
warmly, and not without severe refleftions on his meanness
and injustice of contending for it. He accused me to the
ministry as being the great obstacle to the king's service,
preventing, by my influence in the House, the proper form
of the bills for raising money, and he instanced this parade
with my officers as a proof of my having an intention to
take the government of the province out of his hands by
force. He also applied to Sir Everard Fawkener, the post
master-general, to deprive me of my office ; but it had no
other effeft than to procure from Sir Everard a gentle ad
monition. Notwithstanding the continual wrangle between the gov
ernor and the House, in which I, as a member, had so
large a share, there stUl subsisted a civU intercourse between
that gentieman and myself, and we never had any personal
difference. I have sometimes since thought that his little or
no resentment against me, for the answers it was known I

200 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
drew up to his messages, might be the effeft of professional
habit, and that, being bred a lawyer, he might consider us
both as merely advocates for contending clients in a suit, he
for the proprietaries and I for the Assembly, He would,
therefore, sometimes call in a friendly way to advise with
me on difficult points, and sometimes, tho' not often, take
my advice.
We afted in concert to supply Braddock's army with pro
visions ; and, when the shocking news arrived of his defeat,
the governor sent in haste for me, to consult with him on
measures for preventing the desertion of the back counties.
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 proteftion, 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 conduft
of such an expedition with provincial troops, for the reduc
tion of Fort Duquesne, Dunbar and his men being other
wise employed ; and he proposed to commission me as gen
eral. I had not so good an opinion of my military abilities
as he profess'd to have, and I believe his professions must
have exceeded his real sentiments ; but probably he might
think that my popularity would facUitate 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 ex
pefted, the projeft was dropt, and he soon after left the
government, being superseded by Captain Denny,
Before I proceed in relating the part I had in public affairs

Modelled by Ceracchi in 1784. The original marble is in the Pennsyl
vania Academy of Fine Arts. Giuseppe Ceracchi was born in Rome,
July 4th, 1751, and died in Paris, by the guillotine, January 31, 1801.
This bust of Franklin is held by many superior In vigor and character
to Houdon's bust of Franklin in the Boston Athenaeum.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 201
under this new governor's administration, it may not be
amiss here to give some account of the rise and progress of
my phUosophical reputation.
In 1746, being at Boston, I met there with a Dr.
Spence, who was lately arrived from Scotiand, and show'd
me some electric experiments. They were imperfectly per
form'd, as he was not very expert; but, being on a subjeft
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. CoUinson, Fellow of the Royal
Society of London, a present of a glass tube, with some
account of the use of it in making such experiments. I
eagerly seized the opportunity of repeating what I had seen
at Boston; and, by much practice, acquir'd great readiness
in performing those, also, which we had an account of from
England, adding a number of new ones. I say much prac
tice, for my house was continually full, for some time, with
people who came to see these new wonders.
To divide a littie this incumbrance among my friends, I
caused a number of simUar tubes to be blown at our glass
house, with which they furnish'd themselves, so that we
had at length several performers. Among these, the princi
pal was Mr. Kinnersley, an ingenious neighbor, who, being
out of business, I encouraged to undertake showing the ex
periments for money, and drew up for him two lectures, in
which the experiments were rang'd in such order, and ac
companied with such explanations in such method, as that
the foregoing should assist in comprehending the following.
He procur'd an elegant apparatus for the purpose, in which
all the little machines that I had roughly made for myself
26

202 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
were nicely form'd by instrument-makers. His lectures
were well attended, and gave great satisfaftion ; 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 ex
periments could be made, from the general moisture of
the air.
Oblig'd as we were to Mr. Collinson for his present of
the tube, etc., I thought it right he should be inform'd of
our success in using it, and wrote him several letters con
taining accounts of our experiments. 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 Transaftions.
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. FothergUl, 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 publication in
his Gentleman's Magazine ; but he chose to print them
separately in a pamphlet, and Dr. FothergUl wrote the pre
face. Cave, it seems, judged rightiy for his profit, for by
the additions that arrived afterward, they swell'd to a quarto
volume, which has had five editions, and cost him nothing
for copy-money.
It was, however, some time before those papers were
much taken notice of in England. A copy of them hap
pening to fall into the hands of the Count de Buffon, a

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 203
phUosopher deservedly of great reputation in France, and,
indeed, all over Europe, he prevaUed with M. Dalibard to
translate them into French, and they were printed at Paris.
The publication offended the Abbe Nollet, preceptor in
Natural PhUosophy to the royal family, and an able experi
menter, who had form'd and publish'd a theory of elec
tricity, 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 reaUy existed such a person as Franklin at PhUadel
phia, 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 con
tain'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 observations offer'd as conjeftures, and not
delivered dogmatically, therefore not laying me under any
obligation to defend them ; and reflefting that a dispute be
tween two persons, writing in different languages, might be
lengthened greatiy by mistranslations, and thence miscon
ceptions of one another's meaning, much of one of the
abbe's letters being founded on an error in the translation,
I concluded to let my papers shift for themselves, believing
it was better to spend what time I could spare from public
business in making new experiments, than in disputing about
those already made, I therefore never answered M, Nollet,
26*

Z04 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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
doctrine 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 seft,
except Monsieur B  , of Paris, his eleve and immedi
ate disciple.
What gave my book the more sudden and general celeb
rity, was the success of one of its proposed experiments,
made by Messrs. Dalibard and De Lor at Marly, for draw
ing lightning from the clouds. This engag'd the public at
tention 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 before the
king and court, all the curious of Paris flocked to see them.
I will not swell this narrative with an account of that capi
tal experiment, nor of the infinite pleasure I receiv'd in the
success of a simUar one I made soon after with a kite at
PhUadelphia, as both are to be found in the histories of
electricity. Dr. Wright, an English physician, when at Paris, wrote
to a friend, who was 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 celebrated Dr. Watson drew up a summary account

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 205
of them, and of all I had afterwards sent to England on the
subjeft, which he accompanied with some praise of the wri
ter. This summary was then printed in their Transactions ;
and some members of the society in London, particularly
the very ingenious Mr. Canton, having verified the experi
ment of procuring lightning from the clouds by a pointed
rod, and acquainting 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 applica
tion for that honor, they chose me a member, and voted
that I should be excus'd the customary payments, which
would have amounted to twenty-five guineas ; and ever
since have given me their Transaftions gratis. They also
presented me with the gold medal of Sir Godfrey Copley
for the year 1753, the delivery of which was accompanied
by a very handsome speech of the president. Lord Maccles
field, wherein I was highly honoured.
Our new governor. Captain Denny, brought over for me
the before-mentioned medal from the Royal Society, which
he presented to me at an entertainment given him by the
city. He accompanied it with very polite expressions of
his esteem for me, having, as he said, been long acquainted
with my charafter. After dinner, when the company, as
was customary at that time, were engag'd in drinking, he
took me aside into another room, and acquainted 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 effeftually to the
making his administration easy ; that he therefore desired of
all things to have a good understanding with me, and he

2o6 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
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
towards 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 har
mony restor'd between him and the people ; in effefting
which, it was thought no one could be more serviceable
than myself; and I might depend on adequate acknowledg
ments and recompenses, etc., etc. The drinkers, finding we
did not return immediately to the table, sent us a decanter of
Madeira, which the governor made liberal use of, and in pro
portion became more profuse of his solicitations and promises.
My answers were to this purpose : that my circumstances,
thanks to God, were such as to make proprietary favours
unnecessary to me ; and that, being a member of the As
sembly, I could not possibly 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 opposi
tion having been founded on this, that the measures which
had been urged were evidently intended to serve the pro
prietary interest, with great prejudice to that of the people ;
that I was much obliged to him (the governor) for his pro
fessions 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 instruftion his predecessor
had been hamper'd with.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 207
On this he did not then explain himself; but when he
afterwards came to do business with the Assembly, they ap
pear'd again, the disputes were renewed, and I was as aftive
as ever in the opposition, being the penman, first, of the re
quest to have a communication of the instruftions, and then
of the remarks upon them, which may be found in the votes
of the time, and in the Historical Review I afterward pub
lish'd. But between us personally no enmity arose ; we
were often together ; he was a man of letters, had seen
much of the world, and was 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 ; that
his reputation was indeed small as a poet. Pope having
damned his poetry in the Dunciad ; but his prose was
thought as good as any man's,
* The Assembly finally finding the proprietary obstinately
persisted in manacling their deputies with instruftions in
consistent not only with the privUeges 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 bUl to the governor, granting a sum of sixty
thousand pounds for the king's use (ten thousand pounds of
which was subjected to the orders of the then general. Lord
Loudoun), which the governor absolutely refus'd to pass, in
compliance with his instruftions.
* The many unanimous resolves of the Assembly — what date.?
— Marg. note.

2o8 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
I had agreed with Captain Morris, of the paquet at New
York, for my passage, and my stores were put on board,
when Lord Loudoun arriv'd at PhUadelphia, expressly, as
he told me, to endeavor an accommodation between the
governor and Assembly, that his majesty's service might not
be obstrufted 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 writing, and are printed with
the minutes of the Assembly ; and the governor pleaded his
instruftions ; 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
prevaU'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 purpose, declaring
that he woiJd spare none of the king's troops for the de
fense of our frontiers, and that, if we did not continue to
provide for that defense ourselves, they must remain expos'd
to the enemy.
I acquainted the House with what had pass'd, and, pre
senting them with a set of resolutions I had drawn up, de
claring 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 bUl, and frame another con
formable to the proprietary instruftions. This of course the

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 209
governor pass'd, and I was then at 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
recompense was his lordship's thanks for my service, all the
credit of obtaining the accommodation falling to ids share.
He set out for New York before me ; and, as the time for
dispatching the paquet-boats was at his disposition, and there
were two then remaining there, one of which, he said, was
to saU very soon, I requested 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 wUl 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 saUed, as the wind was fair; but I was soon
made easy by the information that she was stUl in the har
bor, 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 was not then so well ac
quainted with his lordship's charafter, of which indecision
was one of the strongest features. I shall give some in
stances. It was about the beginning of April that I came to
New York, and I think it was near the end of June before
we saU'd. There were then two of the paquet-boats, which
had been long in port, but were detained for the general's
letters, which were always to be ready to-morrow. Another
paquet arriv'd; she too was detain'd ; and, before we saU'd,
a fourth was expefted. Ours was the first to be dispatch'd,
as having been there longest. Passengers were engag'd in
27

210 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
aU, and some extremely impatient to be gone, and the mer
chants 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 respefts, 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 return, and where he lodg'd, that I might send
some letters by him. He told me he was ordered 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.?"
" Return' dl 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 con
stantly 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 sending Generals Amherst and Wolfe, that the minister
never heard from him, and could not know what he was
doing.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 2 1 1
This daily expeftation of sailing, and all the three paquets
going down to Sandy Hook, to join the fleet there, the pas
sengers 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 Gen
eral's ship, ready to receive his dispatches 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 de
tained, 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 Louisburg, 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 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 com
manded 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 degree that must necessarily
hinder her fast sailing, a point of consequence for a paquet-
boat, and requested 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; other-
27*

212 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
wise not ; for you must certainly saU the day after to-mor
row." So he never obtain'd leave, though detained after
wards from day to day during fiill three months.
I saw also in London one of Bonnell's passengers, who
was so enrag'd against his lordship for deceiving and detain
ing 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 conduft
of a great army ; but, having since seen more of the great
world, and the means of obtaining, and motives for giv
ing places, my wonder is diminished. General Shirley, on
whom the command of the army devolved upon the death
of Braddock, would, in my opinion, if continued in place,
have made a much better campaign than that of Loudoun in
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 himself, and
attentive to good advice from others, capable of forming
judicious plans, and quick and aftive 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 Halifax, by which means Fort George was lost, be
sides, he derang'd all our mercantile operations, and dis
tress'd our trade, by a long embargo on the exportation of
provisions, on pretence of keeping supplies from being ob
tain'd by the enemy, but in reality for beating down their
price in favor of the contraftors, in whose profits, it was

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 2 1 3
said, perhaps from suspicion only, he had a share. And,
when at length the embargo was taken off, by neglefting to
send notice of it to Charlestown, the Carolina fleet was
detain'd near three months longer, whereby their bottoms
were so much damaged bv the worm that a great part of
them foundered in their passage home.
Shirley was, I believe, sincerely glad of being relieved
from so burdensome a charge as the conduft of an army
must be to a man unacquainted with mihtary business. I
was at the entertainment given by the city of New York to
Lord Loudoun, on his taking upon him the command. Shir
ley, tho' thereby superseded, was present also. There was
a great company of officers, citizens, and strangers, and,
some chairs having been borrowed in the neighborhood,
there was one among them very low, which fell to the lot of
Mr. Shirley, 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."
^'i'^^Ue I was, as afore mention'd, detain'd at New York,
I receiv'd all the accounts of the provisions, etc., that I had
furnish'd to Braddock, some of which accounts could not
sooner be obtain'd from the different persons I had em
ploy'd to assist in the business. I presented them to Lord
Loudoun, desiring to be paid the baUance. He caus'd them
to be regularly examined by the proper officer, who, after
comparing every article with its voucher, certified them to
be right ; and the balance due for which his lordship prom
is'd to give me an order on the paymaster. This was, how
ever, put off from time to time ; and, tho' I call'd often for it
by appointment, I did not get it. At length, just before my

214 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
departure, he told me he had, on better consideration, con
cluded not to mix his accounts with those of his predeces
sors. "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 effeft, the great and unexpefted
expense I had been put to by being detain'd 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 ad
vanc'd, as I charged 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 baUance, I am not
paid it to this day, of which more hereafter.
Our captain of the paquet had boasted much, before we
sailed, of the swiftness of his ship ; unfortunately, when we
came to sea, she proved the dullest of ninety-six sail, to his
no small mortification. After many conjeftures respefting
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 included, about forty per
sons. While we stood there, the ship mended her pace, and
soon left her neighbour far behind, which prov'd clearly

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 2 1 5
what our captain suspefted, that she was loaded too much
by the head. The casks of water, it seems, had been all
plac'd forward; these he therefore order'd to be mov'd fur
ther aft, on which the ship recover'd her charafter, and
proved the best sailer in the fleet.
The captain said she had once gone at the rate of thir
teen knots, which is accounted thirteen mUes per hour. We
had on board, as a passenger. Captain Kennedy, of the
Navy, who contended that it was impossible, and that no
ship ever saUed so fast, and that there must have been some
error in the division of the log-line, or some imstake in heav
ing the log. A wager ensu'd between the two captains, to
be decided when there should be sufficient wind. Kennedy
thereupon examin'd rigorously the log-line, and, being satis
fi'd with that, he determin'd to throw the log himself. Ac
cordingly some days after, when the wind blew very fair
and fresh, and the captain of the paquet, Lutwidge, said he
behev'd she then went at the rate of thirteen knots, Ken
nedy made the experiment, and own'd his wager lost.
The above faft I give for the sake of the foUowing obser
vation. It has been remark'd, as an imperfection in the art
of ship-buUding, that it can never be known, till she is tried,
whether a new ship wUl or wUl not be a good saUer ; for
that the model of a good-sailing ship has been exaftly fol
low'd in a new one, which has prov'd, on the contrary, re
markably duU. I apprehend that this may partly be oc
casion'd by the different opinions of seamen respefting the
modes of lading, rigging, and sailing of a ship ; each has his
system ; and the same vessel, laden by the judgment and
orders of one captain, shaU saU better or worse than when

2i6 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
by the orders of another. Besides, it scarce ever happens
that a ship is form'd, fitted for the sea, and sail'd by the
same person. One man builds the hull, another riggs her, a
third lades and sails her. No one of these has the advantage
of knowing aU the ideas and experience of the others, and,
therefore, can not draw just conclusions from a combination
of the whole.
Even in the simple operation of saUing 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 insti
tuted, first, to determine the most proper form of the hull
for swift sailing; next, the best dimensions and properest
place for the masts ; then the form and quantity of saUs, and
their position, as the wind may be ; and, lastly, the dispo
sition of the lading. This is an age of experiments, and I
think a set accurately made and combin'd would be of great
use. I am persuaded, therefore, that ere long some ingen
ious phUosopher wUl 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 soundings. 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 off 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 entrance of
the channel. Accordingly, all the saU was set that we could
possibly make, and the wind being very fresh and fair, we

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. z 1 7
went right before it, and made great way. The captain,
after his observation, shap'd his course, as he thought, so as
to pass wide of the SciUy Isles ; but it seems there is some
times a strong indraught setting up St. George's Channel,
which deceives seamen and caused the loss of Sir Cloudesley
Shovel's squadron. This indraught 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 hght just before us,
which had been hid by the studding-saUs from the man at
the hekn, and from the rest of the watch, but by an acci
dental yaw of the ship was discover'd, and occasion'd a
great alarm, we being very near it, the light appearing to
me as big as a cart-wheel. It was midnight, and our cap
tain fast asleep ; but Captain Kennedy, jumping upon deck,
and seeing the danger, ordered the ship to wear round, all
saUs 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
erefted. This deliverance impressed me strongly with the
utility of hght-houses, and made me resolve to encourage
the buUding 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
28

2 1 8 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
play-house, discovering underneath, the town of Falmouth,
the vessels in its harbor, and the fields that surrounded it.
This was a most pleasing speftacle to those who had been so
long without any other prospefts 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 oc
casion'd, I set out immediately, with my son, for London, and we
only stopt a little by the way to view Stonehenge on Salis
bury Plain, and Lord Pembroke's house and gardens, with
his very curious antiquities at WUton, We arrived in Lon
don the 27th of July, 1757.

^Here terminates the Autobiography, as published by Wm.
Temple Franklin and his successors. What follows was writ
ten the last year of Dr. Franklin's life.'\

As soon as I was settled in a lodging Mr. Charles had
provided for me, I went to visit Dr. FothergiU, to whom I
was strongly recommended, and whose counsel respefting
my proceedings I was advis'd to obtain. He was against an
immediate complaint to government, and thought the pro
prietaries should first be personally appli'd to, who might
possibly be induc'd by the interposition and persuasion of
some private friends, to accommodate matters amicably. I
then waited on my old friend and correspondent, Mr. Peter
Collinson, who told me that John Hanbury, the great Vir
ginia merchant, had requested to be informed when I should
arrive, that he might carry me to Lord GranviUe's, who

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 219
was then President of the Council and wished to see me as
soon as possible. I agreed to go with him the next morn
ing. Accordingly Mr. Hanbury called for me and took me
in his carriage to that nobleman's, who receiv'd me with
great civility ; and after some questions respefting the pres
ent state of affairs in America and discourse thereupon, he
said to me: "You Americans have wrong ideas of the na
ture of your constitution ; you contend that the king's in
struftions to his governors are not laws, and think yourselves
at liberty to regard or disregard them at your own discre
tion. But those instruftions are not like the pocket instruc
tions given to a minister going abroad, for regulating his
conduft 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 Colonies." I told his lordship this was
new do6b-ine to me. I had always understood from our
charters that our laws were to be made by our Assemblies,
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 Assemblies could not make permanent laws with
out his assent, so neither could he make a law for them
without theirs. He assur'd me I was totally mistaken. I
did not think so, however, and his lordship's conversation
having a little alarm'd me as to what might be the senti
ments of the court concerning us, I wrote it down as soon
as I return'd to my lodgings. I recoUefted that about 20
years before, a clause in a bill brought into Parliament by
28"

2 20 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
the ministry had propos'd to make the king's instruftions
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 conduft 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. FothergUl having spoken to the pro
prietaries, 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
consideration of our several points of complaint, which I
enumerated. The proprietaries justify'd their conduft 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 con
cluded that I 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 sub
sisted 70 years, and wrote for them all their papers and
messages in their dispute with the Assembly. 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 ex
pression, he had conceived a mortal enmity to me, which
discovering itself whenever we met, I declin'd the proprie-

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 221
tary's proposal that he and I should discuss the heads of
complaint between our two selves, and refus'd treating
with any one but them. They then by his advice put the
paper into the hands of the Attorney and Solicitor-Gen
eral for their opinion and counsel upon it, where it lay un
answered 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 Solicitor-General.
^^^hat 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 conduft,
adding that they should be wUUng to accommodate matters
if the Assembly would send out some person of candour to
treat with them for that purpose, intimating 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 Proprietaries of the Province of Penn
sylvania, 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 prevaUed with
Gov'r Denny to pass an aft 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 aft however came over, the proprietaries.

222 Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
counselled by Paris, determined to oppose its receiving the
royal assent. Accordingly they petition'd the king in Coun
cU, and a hearing was appointed in which two lawyers were
employ'd by them against the aft, and two by me in sup
port of it. They aUedg'd that the aft was intended to load
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 inevit
ably be ruined. We reply'd that the aft had no such inten
tion, and would have no such effeft. That the assessors
were honest and discreet men under an oath to assess fairly
and equitably, and that any advantage each of them might
expeft in lessening his own tax by augmenting that of the
proprietaries was too trifling to induce them to perjure them
selves. This is the purport of what I remember as urged by
both sides, except that we insisted strongly on the mischie
vous consequences 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 catastrophe, merely from a groundless fear of their
estate being taxed too highly, was insisted on in the strong
est terms. On this. Lord Mansfield, one of the counsel
rose, and beckoning me took me into the clerk's chamber,
while the lawyers were pleading, and asked me if I was
really of opinion that no injury would be done the proprie
tary estate in the execution of the aft. I said certainly.

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 223
"Then," says he, "you can have little objeftion to enter
into 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 accepted 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 aft before the order of CouncU 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 fiill enquiry, they unan
imously 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
all over 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 aft, and turn'd him
out with threats of suing him for breach of instruftions
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 some powerfiil interest at court, despis'd
the threats and they were never put in execution.

THIS EDITION OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WAS PRINTED AT THE
MARION PRESS, JAMAICA, QUEENSBOROUGH,
NEW-YORK, UPON AN ANTIQUE OAK HAND-
PRESS, IN TWO-PAGE FORMS, FROM JANU
ARY TO JULY, 1898.

h^.^sk

Oak hand-press (at the Marion Press, Jamaica, Queensborough, New- York) on
which this edition of "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" was printed,
for the Rowftnt Club, 1898.

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