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ECLECTIC ENGLISH CLASSICS

"033.2-

^ FRANKLIN'S

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

EDITED BY

O. LEON REID

HEAD OF ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, LOUISVILLE MALE

HIGH SCHOOL, LOUISVILLE, KY,

NEW YORK ":" CINCINNATI -:" CHICAGO

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

Copyright, 1896 and1910, by

American Book Company

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

W. P. 7

THE LIBRARY

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITT

PROVO, UTAH

INTRODUCTION.

When Franklin was born, in 1706, Queen Anne was on the \

English throne, and Swift and Defoe were pamphleteering. The

one had not yet written " Gulliver's Travels," nor the other "Rob-inson

Crusoe ;" neither had Addison and Steele and other wits of

Anne's reign begun the " Spectator." Pope was eighteen years

old.

At that time ships bringing news, food and raiment, and laws

and governors to the ten colonies of America, ran grave chances

of fallinginto the hands of the pirateswho infested the waters of

the shores. In Boston Cotton Mather was persecuting witches.

There were no stage coaches in the land," merely a bridle path led

from New York to Philadelphia," and a printingpress through-out

the colonies was a raree-show.

Only six years before Franklin's birth,the first newspaper re-port

for the first newspaper in the country was written on the death

of Captain Kidd and six of his companions near Boston, when

the editor of the " News-Letter " told the story of the hanging of

the pirates,detailingthe exhortations and prayers and their taking-

off. Franklin links us to another world of action.

His boyhood in Boston was a stern beginning of the habit of

hard work and rigid economy which marked the man. For a

year he went to the Latin Grammar School on School Street,but

5

6 INTRODUCTION.

left off at the age of ten to helphis father in making soap and

candles. He persistedin showing such "bookish inclination,"

however, that at twelve his father apprenticedhim to learn the

printer'strade. At seventeen he ran off to Philadelphiaand there

began his independentcareer.

In the main he led such a lifeas the maxims of " Poor Richard " *

enjoin.The pages of the Autobiographyshow few deviations

from such a course. He felt the need of school trainingand

set to work to educate himself. He had an untiringindustry,

and love of the approvalof his neighbor; and he knew that more

thingsfailthroughwant of care than want of knowledge. His

practicalimaginationwas continuallyformingprojects; and,for-tunately

for the world,his greatphysicalstrengthand activitywere

alwayssettinghis ideas in motion. He was human-hearted,and

this strong sympathyof his,alongwith his strengthand zeal and

"projectinghead" (asDefoe calls such a spirit),devised much

that helpedlife to amenityand comfort. In politicshe had

the outlook of the self-reliantcolonist whose devotion to the

mother institutionsof England was finallyalienated by the ex-cesses

of a power which thoughtitselfall-powerful.

In this AutobiographyFranklin tells of his own life to the

year 1757, when he went to England to support the petitionof

the legislatureagainstPenn's sons. The grievanceof the colo-nists

was a very considerable one, for the proprietariesclaimed

that taxes should not be levied upon a tract greater than the

whole State of Pennsylvania.

Franklin was received in England with applause.His experi-ments

in electricityand his inventions had made him known, and

the sayingsof " Poor Richard "were alreadyin the mouths of the

1 See pp. 198-206.

INTRODUCTION. 7

people0But he waited nearlythree years before he could obtain

a hearingfor the matter for which he had crossed the sea.

During the delayhe visited the ancient home of his family,

and made the acquaintanceof men of mark,receivingalso that

degreeof Doctor of Civil Law by which he came to be known

as Dr. Franklin. In thistime,too, he found how prejudicedwas

the common Englishestimate of the value of the colonies. He

wrote Lord Karnes in 1760,after the defeat of the French in

Canada: "No one can more sincerelyrejoicethan I do on the

reduction of Canada ; and this is not merelyas I am a colonist,

but as I am a Briton. I have longbeen of opinionthat the foun-dations

ofthefuturegrandeurand stabilityofthe British empirelie

in America; and though,like other foundations,theyare low and

littlenow, theyare, nevertheless,broad and strongenough to sup-port

the greatestpoliticalstructure that human wisdom ever yet

erected. I am, therefore,by no means for restoringCanada. If

we keep it allthe country from the St. Lawrence to the Missis-sippi

willin another centurybe filledwith Britishpeople.Britain

itselfwillbecome vastlymore populousby the immense increase

of itscommerce ; the Atlantic sea willbe covered with your trad-ing

ships; and your naval power, thence continuallyincreasing,

will extend your influence round the whole globeand awe the

world!. . o

But I refrain,for I see you begin to think my

notions extravagant, and look upon them as the ravingsof a

madman."

At last Franklin won the king'ssignatureto a billby the terms

of which the surveyedlands of the proprietariesshould be as-sessed,

and, his business accomplished,he returned to Phila-delphia.

"You requiremy history,"he wrote to Lord Karnes," from the time I set sailfor America. I leftEnglandabout the

8 INTRODUCTION.

end of August,1762,in company with ten sailof merchant ships

under a convoy of a man-of-war. We had a pleasantpassage

to Madeira.. . .

Here we furnished ourselves with fresh provi-sions,

and refreshments of all kinds ; and,after a few days,pro-ceeded

on our voyage, runningsouthward until wre got into the

trade winds,and then with them westward tillwe drew near the

coast of America. The weather was so favorable that there were

few days in which we could not visitfrom shipto ship,dining

with each other and on board of the man-of-war ; which made

the time pass agreeably,much more so than when one goes in a

singleship; for this was like travelingin a moving village,with

allone's neighborsabout one.

" On the 1st of November I arrived safe and well at my own

home, after an absence of near six years, found my wife and

daughterwell," the lattergrown quitea woman, with many ami-able

accomplishmentsacquiredin my absence," and my friends as

heartyand affectionateas ever, with whom my house was filled

for many days to congratulateme on my return. I had been

chosen yearlyduringmy absence to representthe cityof Phila-delphia

in our Provincial Assembly;and on my appearance in

the House,theyvoted me three thousand poundssterlingfor my

services in England,and their thanks,delivered by the Speaker.

In Februaryfollowing,my son arrived with my new daughter;

for,with my consent and approbation,he married,soon after I left

England,a very agreeableWest India lady,with whom he isvery

happy. I accompaniedhim to his government [New Jersey],

where he met with the kindest receptionfrom the peopleof all

ranks,and has lived with them ever since in the greatestharmony.

A river onlyparts that provinceand ours, and his residence is

within seventeen miles of me, so that we frequentlysee each other.

INTRODUCTION. 9

" In the spring of 1 763 I set out on a tour throughallthe north-ern

colonies to inspectand regulatethe post officesin the several

provinces.In thisjourneyI spent the summer, traveled about

sixteen hundred miles,and did not get home tillthe beginningof

November. The Assemblysittingthroughthe followingwinter,

and warm disputesarisingbetween them and the governor, I be-came

whollyengaged in publicaffairs; for,besides my dutyas

an Assemblyman,I had another trust to execute, that of being

one of the commissioners appointedby law to disposeof the pub-lic

money appropriatedto the raisingand payingan army to act

againstthe Indians and defend the frontiers. And then,in De-cember,

we had two insurrectionsof the back inhabitants of our

province.. . .Governor Penn made my house for some time

his headquarters,and did everythingby my advice ; so that for

about forty-eighthours I was a very great man, as I had been

once some years before,in a time of publicdanger.1" But the fightingface we put on and the reasoningwe used

with the insurgents. . . havingturned them back and restored

quietto the city,I became a less man than ever; for I had by

thistransaction made myselfmany enemies among the populace;

and the governor, . . . thinkingita favorable opportunity,joined

the whole weightof the proprietaryinterestto get me out of the

Assembly; which was accordinglyeffected at the lastelectionby

a majorityof about twenty-fivein four thousand voters. The

House,however,when theymet in October,approvedof the reso-lutions

taken,while I was Speaker,of petitioningthe Crown for

a change of government, and requestedme to return to England

to prosecutethat petition; which service I accordinglyundertook,

and embarked at the beginningof November last,beingaccom-

1 The time of Braddock's defeat.

I o IN TROD UCTION.

paniedto the ship,sixteen miles,by a cavalcade of three hundred

of my friends,who filledour sailswith their good wishes,and I

arrived in thirtydaysat London."

Instead of givinghis effortsto the proposedchangeof govern-ment

Franklin found greater duties. The debt which England

had incurred duringthe war with the French in Canada she now

looked to the colonistsfor aid in removing.At home taxes were

levied by every device. The whole country was in distressand

laborers starving.In the colonies there was the thriftthat comes

from narrowest means ; but the peoplerefused to answer parlia-mentary

levies and claimed that theywould laytheir own taxes

throughtheirown legislatures.They resistedso successfullythe

enforcement of the Stamp Act that Parliament began to discuss

itsrepeal.At this junctureFranklin was examined before the

Commons in regardto the results of the act.

Q. Do you not think the peopleof America would submit to pay the stamp

dutyif it was moderated?

A. No, never, unless compelledby force of arms. . . .

Q. What was the temper of America toward Great Britain before the year

1763?1

A. The best in the world. They submitted willinglyto the government

of the Crown, and paid,in their courts, obedience to the acts of Parliament.

Numerous as the peopleare in the several old provinces,theycost you nothing

in forts,citadels,garrisons,or armies,to keep them in subjection.They

were governedby this country at the expense onlyof a littlepen, ink,and

paper ; theywere led by a thread. They had not onlya respectbut an affec-tion

for Great Britain,for its laws,its customs and manners, and even a

fondness for its fashions that greatlyincreased the commerce. Natives of

Britain were alwaystreated with particularregard;to be an" Old England

1 When the old duties "

upon all rum, spirits,molasses,syrups, sugar,"etc.,were renewed, and extended to other articles.

IN TROD UCTION. 1 1

man"

was, of itself,a character of some respect,and gave a kind of rank

among us.

Q. And what is their temper now?

A. Oh, very much altered.. . .

Q. If the Stamp Act should be repealed,would itinduce the assemblies

of America to acknowledgethe rightof Parliament to tax them, and would

theyerase their resolutions?

A, No, never.

Q. Are there no means of obligingthem to erase those resolutions?

A, None that I know of; theywill never doit unless compelledby force

of arms.

Q, Is there a power on earth that can force them to erase them?

A. No power, how great soever, can force men to change their opin-ions.

...

Q. What used to be the prideof the Americans?

A. To indulgein the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain.

Q. What is now their pride?

A. To wear their old clothes over again,tilltheycan make new ones.

After the repealof the act,Franklin wrote to his wife :" I am

willingyou should have a new gown, which you may suppose I

did not send sooner as I knew you would not liketo be finer than

your neighborsunless in a gown of your own spinning.Had the

trade between the two countries totallyceased,it was a comfort

to me to recollectthat I had once been clothed from head to foot

in woolen and linen of my wife'smanufacture,that I never was

prouderof any dress in my life,and that she and her daughter

mightdo itagainif itwas necessary."

Franklin stayedten years in England. In 1774 he presented

to the king the petitionof the first Continental Congress,in

which the petitioners,who protestedtheirloyaltyto Great Britain,

claimed the rightof taxingthemselves. But,findingthis and

other efforts at adjustmentof littleavail,he returned to Phila-

1 2 IN TROD UCTION.

delphiain May, 1775. On the 5thof Julyhe wrote to Mr. Stra-

han,an old friend in London :" You are a member of Parliament,

and one of that majoritywhich has doomed my country to de-struction.

You have begun to burn our towns and murder our

people. Look upon your hands ; theyare stained with the blood

of your relations! You and I were longfriends; you are now

my enemy, and I am yours."

After the Declaration of Independenceand the establishment

of the States as a nation,Franklin was chosen as representative

to France. "I am old and good for nothing,"he said,when

told of the choice,"but, as the storekeeperssay of their rem-nants

of cloth,I am but a fag-end; you may have me for what

you please."

It was a most importantpost. France was the ancient enemy

of England,and the contingentof men and aid of money which

Franklin gainedserved to the successful issue of the Revolution.

He lived while in France at Passy,near Paris,from which he

wrote to a friend in England:" You are too early...

in call-ing

me rebel ; you should wait for the event which will determine

whether it is a rebellion or only a revolution....

I know you

wish you could see me ; but,as you cannot, I will describe my-self

to you. Figureme in your mind as jollyas formerly,and as

strong and hearty,onlya few years older ; very plainlydressed,

wearingmy thin,gray, straighthair,that peeps out under my only

coiffure,a fine fur cap which comes down my forehead almost to

my spectacles.Think how this must appear among the powdered

heads of Paris! I wish every lady and gentlemanin France

would onlybe so obligingas to follow my fashion,comb their

own heads as I do mine,dismiss their friseurs,and pay me half

the money theypay to them."

INTRO D UCTION. 1 3

At last, in 1785, he came home, old and broken in health. He

was chosen president, or governor, of Pennsylvania, and the faith

of the people in his wisdom made him delegate to the conven-tion

which framed the Constitution in 1787. He died in 1790,

and was buried by his wife in the graveyard of Christ Church,

Philadelphia.

The epitaph which he had written when a printer was not put

uponhis tomb :

THE BODY

OF

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,

PRINTER

(Like the cover of an old book,

Its contents torn out,

And stript of its lettering and gilding,)

Lies here, food for worms.

But the work shall not be lost,

For it will (as he believed) appear once more

In a new and elegant edition,

Revised and corrected

by

The Author.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

" I. PARENTAGE AND BOYHOOD.

Twyford,1 at the Bishop of St. Asaph's, 1 771.

DEAR SON:2 I have ever had pleasure in obtaining any

little anecdotes of my ancestors. You may remember the

inquiriesI made among the remains of my relations when you

were with me in England, and the journey I undertook for that

purpose. Imagining it may be equallyagreeable to you to know

the circumstances of my life,many of which you are yet unac-quainted

with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week's uninter-rupted

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 obscurityin which

I was born and bred, to a state of affluence and some degree of

reputationin 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 blessingof God so well succeeded, my poster-

1 A villagenear Winchester, Hampshire, England, where Dr. Jonathan

Shipley had his country house. Dr. Shipley was Bishop of St. Asaph's in

Wales, and Franklin's friend.

2 Franklin's only livingson, William, who in 1762 had been made royal

governor of New Jersey,with the hope of detaching Franklin from the cause

of the colonists.

15

1 6 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

itymay like to know, as theymay find some of them suitableto

their own situations,and therefore fitto be imitated.

That felicity,when I reflected on it,has induced me sometimes

to say that,were it offered to my choice,I should have no objec-tion

to a repetitionof the same lifefrom itsbeginning,onlyask-ing

the advantagesauthors have in a second edition to correct

some faults of the first.So I might,besides correctingthe faults,

change some sinisteraccidents and events of it for others more

favorable. But thoughthis were denied,I should stillaccept the

offer. Since such a repetitionis not to be expected,the next

thinglike livingone's lifeover againseems to be a recollection

of that life,and to make that recollection as durable as possible

by puttingit down in writing.

Hereby,too, I shall indulgethe inclination,so natural in old

men, to be talkingof themselves and their own past actions ; and

I shallindulgeitwithout beingtiresome to others," who,through

respect to age, might conceive themselves obligedto giveme a

hearing," since thismay be read or not as any one pleases.And,

lastly,(Imay as well confess it,since my denial of itwill be be-lieved

by nobody,)perhapsI shall a good deal gratifymy own

vanity.Indeed,I scarce ever heard or saw the introductorywords,"Without vanity,I may say,"etc.,but some vain thingimmedi-ately

followed. Most peopledislike vanityin others,whatever

share theymay have of it themselves ; but I giveit fair quarterwherever I meet with it,beingpersuadedthat itis often produc-tive

of good to the possessor, and to others that are within his

sphereof action ; and therefore,in many cases, itwould not be

altogetherabsurd if a man were to thank God for his vanity

among the other comforts of life.

And now I speakof thankingGod, I desire with allhumilityto acknowledgethat I owe the mentioned happinessof my pastlifeto his kind providence,which led me to the means I used and

gave them success. My belief of thisinduces me to hope,thoughI must not presume, that the same goodnesswill stillbe exercised

toward me in continuingthat happiness,or enablingme to bear

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 17

a fatalreverse, which I may experienceas others have done ; the

complexionof my future fortune being known to Him onlyin

whose power itis to bless to us even our afflictions.

The notes one of my uncles (who had the same kind of curiosityin collectingfamilyanecdotes)once put into my hands furnished

me with several particularsrelatingto our ancestors. From these

notes I learned that the familyhad lived in the same village,

Ecton, in Northamptonshire,11for three hundred years, and how

much longerhe knew not, (perhapsfrom the time when the name

of Franklin,that before was the name of an order of people,1was

assumed by them as a surname when others took surnames all

over the kingdom,)on a freehold of about thirtyacres, aided bythe smith's business,which had continued in the familytillhis

time,the eldest son beingalwaysbred to that business," a custom

which he and my father followed as to their eldest sons. When

I searched the registersat Ecton, I found an account of their

births,marriages,and burialsfrom the year 1555 only,there beingno registerskept in that parishat any time preceding.By that

registerI perceivedthat I was the youngest son of the youngest

son for five generationsback. My grandfather,Thomas, who was

born in 1598,lived at Ecton tillhe grew too old to follow busi-ness

longer,when he went to live with his son John,a dyerat

Banbury,in Oxfordshire,with whom my father served an appren-ticeship.

There my grandfatherdied and liesburied. We saw

hisgravestonein 1 758. His eldestson, Thomas, lived in the house

at Ecton,and left itwith the land to his onlychild,a daughter,

who, with her husband,one Fisher,of Wellingborough,sold it to

Mr. Isted,now lord of the manor there. My grandfatherhad

four sons that grew up, namely,Thomas, John,Benjamin,and

n (hereand elsewhere)See Note at end of book, pp. 203-205.1 A franklin was a freeman, or freeholder,or owner of the land on which

he dwelt. The franklins were by their possessionsfittedfor becomingsher-iffs,

knights,etc. After the Norman Conquest,men in Englandtook,in ad-dition

to the firstname, another which was suggestedby their condition in

life,their trade,or some personalpeculiarity.See Note, p. 203.


Josiah. I willgiveyou what account I can of them,at this dis-tance

from my papers, and ifthese are not lostin my absence,you

will among them find many more particulars.Thomas was bred a smith under his father ; but,beingingen-ious,

and encouragedin learning(asallmy brothers were)by an

Esquirex Palmer,then the principalgentlemanin that parish,he

qualifiedhimself for the business of scrivener;2became a consid-erable

man in the county ; was a chief mover of allpublic-spirited

undertakingsfor the county or town of Northamptonand his own

village,of which many instances were related of him ; and much

taken notice of and patronizedby the then Lord Halifax. He

died in 1702, Jan.6, old style,3justfour years to a day before

I was born. The account we received of his lifeand character

from some old peopleat Ecton,I remember,struck you as some-thing

extraordinary,from itssimilarityto what you knew of mine.

"Had he died on the same day,"you said,"one might have

supposeda transmigration."4

John was bred a dyer,I believe,of woolens. Benjamin was

bred a silkdyer,servingan apprenticeshipat London. He was

an ingeniousman. I remember him well,for when I was a boyhe came over to my father in Boston,and lived in the house with

us some years. He lived to a great age. His grandson,Samuel

Franklin,now livesin Boston. He leftbehind him two quarto vol-umes,

inmanuscript,of his own poetry,consistingof littleoccasional

piecesaddressed to his friends and relations,of which the follow-ing,

sent to me, is a specimen.5He had formed a shorthand of

his own, which he taughtme, but,never practicingit,I have now

1 A titlegivenin Englandin Franklin's time to the descendants of knightsand noblemen.

2 A writer whose duties were similar to those of our notary.3 " Old style,"i.e.,the method of reckoningtime which formerlyprevailed

and which had caused an error of eleven days. The new styleof reckoningwas adoptedin Englandin 1752.

4 The passage of the soul into another body; one might have supposedthat the soul of the uncle had taken up abode in Franklin's body.

5 Franklin omitted the verses.


forgotit. I was named after thisuncle,there beinga particularaffectionbetween him and my father. He was very pious,a great

attender of sermons of the best preachers,which he took down

in his shorthand,and had with him many volumes of them. He

was also much of a politician; too much, perhaps,for his station.

There felllatelyinto my hands,in London, a collection he had

made of all the principalpamphletsrelatingto publicaffairs,from

1 64 1 to 1 71 7 ; many of the volumes are wanting,as appears bythe numbering,but there stillremain eightvolumes in folio and

twenty-fourin quarto and octavo. A dealer in old books met

with them,and knowingme by my sometimes buyingof him, he

broughtthem to me. It seems my uncle must have left them

here when he went to America,which was above fiftyyears since.

There are many of his notes in the margins.This obscure familyof ours was earlyin the Reformation,and

continued Protestants throughthe reignof Queen Mary,1when

theywere sometimes in dangerof trouble on account of theirzeal

againstthe queersreligion.They had got an EnglishBible,and

to conceal and secure it,itwas fastened open with tapesunder and

within the cover of a jointstool.2 When my great-great-grand-fatherread itto his family,he turned up the jointstool upon his

knees,turningover the leaves then under the tapes. One of the

children stood at the door to givenotice ifhe saw the apparitor

coming,who was an officerof the spiritualcourt. In that case

the stoolwas turned down againupon itsfeet,when the Bible re-mained

concealed under itas before. This anecdote I had from

my uncle Benjamin."

The familycontinued all of the Church of England tillabout

the end of Charles II.'sreign,when some of the ministers that

had been outed for nonconformity,3holdingconventicles in

1 Who was queen from 1553 to 1558.2 " Jointstool,"i.e.,a stool made of partsfittedtogether.3 " Outed for nonconformity,"i.e.,turned out of the church for not con-forming

to the usages of the Church of Englandand for holdingmeetingsof

dissenters for publicworship.

20 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

Northamptonshire,Benjaminand Josiahadhered to them,and so

continued alltheirlives; the rest of the familyremained with the

EpiscopalChurch.

Josiah,my father,married young, and carried his wife,with

three children,into New England,about 1682. The conventicles

havingbeen forbidden by law,and frequentlydisturbed,induced

some considerable men of hisacquaintanceto remove to that coun-try,

and he was prevailedwith to accompany them thither,where

theyexpectedto enjoytheirmode of religionwith freedom. By

the same wife he had four children more born there,and by a

second wife ten more." in allseventeen, of which I remember thir-teen

sittingat one time at his table,who all grew up to be men

and women and married. I was the youngestson, and the young-est

child but two, and was born in Boston, New England.1 My

mother,the second wife,was Abiah Folger,daughterof Peter

Folger,one of the firstsettlersof New England,of whom honor-able

mention is made by Cotton Mather,in his Church historyof

that country entitled " MagnaliaChristiAmericana,"as "

a goodlylearned Englishman,"if I remember the words rightly.I have

heard that he wrote sundrysmall occasional pieces,but onlyone

of them was printed,which I saw now many years since. It was

written in 1675,in the homespun verse of that time and people,and addressed to those then concerned in the government there.

It was in favor of libertyof conscience,and in behalf of the Bap-tists,Quakers,and other sectariesthat had been under persecu-tion,2

ascribingthe Indian wars, and other distressesthat had be-fallen

the country, to that persecution,as so many judgmentsof

God to punishso heinous an offense,and exhortinga repealof

those uncharitable laws. The whole appearedto me as written

with a good deal of decent plainnessand manly freedom. The

1 Franklin was born Sunday,Jan. 17, 1706 (Jan.6, old style).The

familythen lived in a small house on Milk Street,near the Old South Church,where the Boston Post buildingnow stands.

2 The persecutionwhich the firstsettlerspracticedagainstallwho differed

with them in religiousdoctrines.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 21

six concludinglines I remember,thoughI have forgottenthe two

firstof the stanza ; but the purportof them was that his censures

proceededfrom good will,and,therefore,he would be known to

be the author.

" Because to be a libeler[sayshe]I hate itwith my heart ;

From Sherburne1 town, where now I dwell,

My name I do put here ;

Without offense your real friend,

It is Peter Folgier."2

My elder brothers wrere all put apprenticesto differenttrades.

I was put to the grammar school 3 at eightyears of age, my father

intendingto devote me, as the tithe of his sons, to the service of

the church. My earlyreadiness in learningto read,(whichmusthave been very early,as I do not remember when I could %not

read,)and the opinionof all his friends that I should certainlymake a good scholar,encouragedhim in thispurpose of his. Myuncle Benjamin,too,approvedof it,and proposedto giveme all

his shorthand volumes of sermons, I suppose as a stock to set up

with,if 1 would learn his character.4 I continued,however,at

the grammar school not quiteone year, thoughin that time I had

risen graduallyfrom the middle of the class of that year to be

the head of it,and,further,was removed into the next class above

1 Sherburne is now called Nantucket.

2 The lines which Dr. Franklin had forgottenare these :

M I am for peace and not for war,

And that's the reason whyI write more plainthan some men do,

That used to daub and lie.

But I shall cease, and set my name

To what I here insert,Because to be a libeler

I hate itwith my heart."

3 In Franklin's time the grammar school was a school for teachingLatin,which was begunby committingthe grammar to memory.

4 Characters,or method of writingshorthand.


itin 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

collegeeducation,which,havingso largea family,he could not

well afford,and the mean livingmany so educated were after-ward

able to obtain," reasons that he gave to his friends in my

hearing," altered his firstintention,took me from the grammar

school,and sent me to a school for writingand arithmetic,kept

by a ên famous man, Mr. GeorgeBrownell,very successful in

Kfcprofessiongenerally,and that by mild,encouragingmethods.

"Under him I acquiredfairwritingprettysoon, but I failed in the

arithmetic,and made no progress in it. At ten years old I was

taken home to assistmy father in his business,which was that of

a tallow chandler and soap boiler,a business he was not bred to,

but had assumed on his arrival in New England,and on findinghis dyeingtrade would not maintain his family,beingin littlere-quest.

Accordingly,I was employed in cuttingwick for the

candles,fillingthe dippingmold and the molds for cast candles,1

attendingthe shop,goingof errands,etc.

I disliked the trade,and had a strong inclinationfor the sea,

but my father declared againstit. However, livingnear the water,

I was much in and about it,learned earlyto swim well and to

manage boats ; and when in a boat or canoe with other boys I

was commonly allowed to govern, especiallyin any case of diffi-culty

; and upon other occasions I was generallya leader among

the boys,and sometimes led them into scrapes, of which I will

mention one instance,as it shows an earlyprojectingpublic

spirit,thoughnot then justlyconducted.

There was a salt marsh that bounded part of the mill pond, on

the edge of which,at highwater, we used to stand to fish for

minnows. By much tramplingwe had made it a mere quagmire.

My proposalwas to build a wharf there fitfor us to stand upon,

and I showed my comrades a largeheap of stones which were in-tended

for a new house near the marsh and which would very well

1 Candles were made by dippingwicks in the fat a number of times,and

also by settingthe wicks in a mold and pouringthe fat round them.


suit our purpose. Accordingly,in the evening,when the work-men

were gone, I assembled a number of my playfellows,and

workingwith them diligentlylike so many emmets,1sometimes

two or three to a stone, we broughtthem all away and built our

littlewharf. The next morningthe workmen were surprisedat

missingthe stones, which were found in our wharf. Inquirywasmade after the removers; we were discovered and complainedof ; several of us were corrected by our fathers ; and, thoughI

pleadedthe usefulness of the work, mine convinced me that

nothingwas useful which was not honest.

# I think you may like to know somethingof hisperson and char-acter.

He had an excellent constitutionof body,was of middle

stature,but well set and very strong. He was ingenious,could

draw prettily,was skilled a littlein music,and had a clear,pleas-ing

voice,so that when he playedpsalmtunes on his violinand

sung withal,as he sometimes did in an eveningafter the business

of the day was over, itwas extremelyagreeableto hear. He had

a mechanical genius,too,and on occasion was very handyin the

use of other tradesmen's tools ; but his greatexcellence layin a

sound understandingand solid judgmentin prudentialmatters,both in privateand publicaffairs. In the latter,indeed,he was

never employed,the numerous familyhe had to educate and the

straitnessof his circumstances keepinghim close to his trade ; but

I remember well his beingfrequentlyvisitedby leadingpeople,who consulted him for his opinionin affairsof the town or of the

church he belongedto,and showed a good deal of respectfor his

judgment and advice ; he was also much consulted by private

persons about theiraffairswhen any difficultyoccurred,and fre-quently

chosen an arbitratorbetween contendingparties.At his

table he liked to have as often as he could some sensible friend

or neighborto converse with,and alwaystook care to start some

ingeniousor useful topicfor 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 prudentin the conduct of

1 Ants.


life,and littleor no notice was ever taken of what related to the

victuals on the table,whether it was well or illdressed,in or out

of season, of good or bad flavor,preferableor inferior to thisor

that other thingof the kind,so that I was broughtup in such a

perfectinattentionto those matters as to be quiteindifferentwhat

kind of food was set before me, and so unobservant of itthat to

thisday 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 travel-ing,

where my companionshave been sometimes very unhappyfor want of a suitablegratificationof their more delicate,because

better instructed,tastes and appetites.

_My mother had likewise an excellent constitution. I never

knew either my father or mother to have any sickness but that

of which theydied,he at eighty-nineand she at eighty-fiveyears

of age. They lieburied togetherat Boston,where I some years

since placeda marble 1over their grave with thisinscription:

JosiahFranklin,and

Abiah his wife,liehere interred.

They lived lovinglytogetherin wedlock

fifty-fiveyears.

Without an estate, or any gainfulemployment,

By constant labor and industry,with God's blessing,

They maintained a largefamily

comfortably,and broughtup thirteen children

and seven grandchildren

reputably.From this instance,reader,

Be encouragedto diligencein thycalling,And distrust not Providence.

1 The marble havingcrumbled, a largerstone was placedover the grave

in 1827, and Franklin's inscriptionrepeated.It stands in the GranaryBury-ingGround.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 2$

He was a piousand prudentman ;

She, a discreet and virtuous woman.

Their youngest son,

In filialregardto their memory,

Places this stone.

J. F. born 1655,died 1744, aetat189.A. F. born 1667,died 1752, 85.

By my ramblingdigressionsI perceivemyselfto be grown old.

I used to write more methodically.But one does not dress for

privatecompany as for a publicball. Tis perhapsonlynegli-gence.

To return : I continued thus employedin my father'sbusiness

for two years,that is,tillI was twelve years old ; and my brother

John,who was bred to that business,havingleftmy father,mar-ried,

and set up for himself at Rhode Island,there was all appear-ance

that I was destined to supplyhis placeand become a tal-low

chandler. But my disliketo the trade continuing,my father

was under apprehensionsthat if he did not find one for me more

agreeableI should break away and get to sea, as his son Josiahhad done,to his greatvexation.He therefore sometimes took me

to walk with him,and see joiners,bricklayers,turners,brasiers,2

etc.,at theirwork,that he might observe my inclinationand en-deavor

to fix it on some trade or other on land. It has ever since

been a pleasureto me to see good workmen handle their tools ;

and ithas been useful to me, havinglearned so much by itas to

be able to do littlejobsmyselfin my house when a workman could

not readilybe got,and to construct littlemachines for my experi-mentswhile the intention of making the experimentwas fresh

and warm in my mind. My father at lastfixed upon the cutler's

trade,and my uncle Benjamin'sson, Samuel,who was bred to that

business in London, beingabout that time established in Boston,I was sent to be with him some time on liking.But his expecta-

1 Aged.* A joineris a mechanic who does the woodwork of houses,etc. ; a turner,

one who works with a lathe ; a brasier,a worker in brass.


tions of a fee with me displeasingmy father,I was taken home

again.From a child I was fond of reading,and all the littlemoney

that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased

with the " Pilgrim'sProgress,"my firstcollection was of John

Bunyan'sworks in separatelittlevolumes. I afterward sold them

to enable me to buy R. Burton's " Historical Collections;"they

were small chapmen's1 books,and cheap,fortyor fiftyin all. Myfather's littlelibraryconsisted chieflyof books in polemicdivin-ity,

most of which I read,and have since often regrettedthat,at

a time when I had such a thirstfor 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

abundantly,and I stillthink that time spent to greatadvantage.There was also a book of Defoe's called an

"

Essayon Projects,"and another of Dr. Mather's called " Essaysto Do Good," which

perhapsgave me a turn of thinkingthat had an influence on some

of the principalfuture events of my life.

This bookish inclination at lengthdetermined my father to make

me a printer,thoughhe had alreadyone son (James)of that pro-fession.

In 1 717 my brother James returned from Englandwith

a press and lettersto set up his business in Boston. I liked it

much better than that of my father,but stillhad a hankeringfor

the sea. To prevent the apprehendedeffect of such an inclina-tion,

my father was impatientto have me bound to my brother.

I stood out some time,but at last wras persuadedand signedthe

indentures 2 when I was yet but twelve years old. I was to serve

as an apprenticetillI was twenty-oneyears of age, onlyI was to

be allowed journeyman'swages duringthe last year. In a little

time I made greatproficiencyin the business,and became a use-ful

hand to my brother. I now had access to better books. An

acquaintancewith the apprenticesof booksellers enabled me some-

1 A chapman was a peddler.2 Agreementswritten upon sheets,the edgesof which were cut or indented

to match each other,for securityand identification.


times to borrow a small one, which I was careful to return soon

and clean. Often I sat up in my room readingthe greatestpart

of the night,when the book was borrowed in the eveningand to

be returned earlyin the morning,lestitshould be missed or wanted.

" And after some time an ingenioustradesman,Mr. Matthew

Adams, who had a prettycollectionof books,and who frequentedour printinghouse,took notice of me, invited me to his library,and very kindlylent me such books as I chose to read. I now

took a fancyto poetry,and made some littlepieces;my brother,

thinkingit might turn to account, encouragedme, and put me

on composingoccasional ballads. One was called " The Light-house

Tragedy,"and contained an account of the drowningof

CaptainWorthilake with histwo daughters; the other was a sailor's

song on the takingof Teach (orBlackbeard),the pirate.Theywere wretched stuff,in the Grub Street 1 ballad style; and when

theywere printedhe sent me about the town to sellthem. The

firstsold wonderfully,the event beingrecent,havingmade a greatnoise. This flattered my vanity; but my father discouragedme

by ridiculingmy performancesand tellingme verse makers were

generallybeggars. So I escapedbeinga poet, most probablya

very bad one ; but as prose writinghas been of great use to me in

the course of my life,and was a principalmeans of my advance-ment,

I shalltellyou how, in such a situation,I acquiredwhat

littleabilityI have in that way.

There was another bookish lad in the town, John Collins by

name, with whom I was intimatelyacquainted.We sometimes

disputed,and very fond we were of argument and very desirous

of confutingeach other ; which disputatiousturn,by the way, is

apt to become a very bad habit,nmaking peopleoften extremely

disagreeablein company by the contradiction that isnecessary to

bringitinto practice; and thence,besides souringand spoiling

1 A street in London in which many writers of small abilityor reputation,or of unhappyfortune,had lodgings." Grub Street style,"therefore,means

poor or worthless in literaryvalue. The term, which alwaysimplieda sneer,

was made current by Pope and Swift and their coterie.


the conversation,is productiveof disgustsand perhapsenmitieswhere you may have occasion for friendship.I had caught it

by readingmy father's books of disputeabout religion.Persons

of good sense, I have since observed,seldom fallinto it,except

lawyers,universitymen, and men of all sorts that have been bred

at Edinburgh.A questionwas once, somehow or other,started between Col-lins

and me, of the proprietyof educatingthe female sex in learn-ing,

and their abilitiesfor study. He was of opinionthat itwas

improper,and that theywere naturallyunequalto it. I took the

contrary side,perhapsa littlefor dispute'ssake. He was natu-rally

more eloquent,had a readyplentyof words,and sometimes,as I thought,bore me down more by his fluencythan by the

strengthof his reasons. As we partedwithout settlingthe point,and were not to see each other againfor some time,I sat down

to put my arguments in writing,which I copiedfair and sent to

him. He answered,and I replied.Three or four lettersof a

side had passed,when my father happened to find my papers and

read them. Without enteringinto the discussion,he took occa-sion

to talk to me about the manner of my writing.He observed

that,though I had the advantageof my antagonistin correct

spellingand pointing(whichI owed to the printinghouse),I fell

far short in eleganceof expression,in method,and in perspicuity,of which he convinced me by several instances. I saw the jus-tice

of his remarks,and thence grew more attentive to the manner

in writing,and determined to endeavor at improvement.About thistime I met with an odd volume of the " Spectator."1

It was the third. I had never before seen any of them. I bought

it,read it over and over, and was much delightedwith it. I

thoughtthe writingexcellent,and wished,ifpossible,to imitate it.

With thisview,I took some of the papers, and,making short hints

1 A paper publishedin London every week day from the 1st of March,

1711, to the 6th of December, 1712, and made up for the most partof essays

by Addison, Steele,and their friends. It held aloof from politics,and dealt

with the manners of the time and with literature.


i

of the sentiment in each sentence, laid them by a few days,and

then,without lookingat the book, tried to completethe papers

again,by expressingeach hinted sentiment at length,and as fullyas ithad been expressedbefore,in any suitablewords that should

cohie to hand. Then I compared my" Spectator" with the orig-inal,

discovered some of my faults,and corrected them. But I

found I wanted a stock of words,or a readiness in recollectingand usingthem,which I thoughtI should have acquiredbefore

that time if I had gone on making verses ; since the continual

occasion for words of the same import,but of differentlengthto

suitthe measure, or of different sound for the rhyme,would have

laid me under a constant necessityof searchingfor variety,andalso have tended to fixthat varietyin my mind and make me mas-ter

of it. Therefore I took some of the tales and turned them

into verse ; and, after a time,when I had prettywell forgottenthe prose, turned them back again. I also sometimes jumbled

my collectionsof hints into confusion,and after some weeks en-deavored

to reduce them into the best order before I began to

form the fullsentences and completethe paper. This was to teach

me method in the arrangement of thoughts.By comparingmywork afterward with the original,I discovered many faults and

amended them ; but I sometimes had the pleasureof fancyingthat in certain particularsof small importI had been lucky

enough to improvethe method or the language,and this encour-aged

me to think I mightpossiblyin time come to be a tolerable

Englishwriter,of which I was extremelyambitious. My time

for these exercises and for readingwas at nightafter work, or

before itbegan in the morning,or on Sundays,when I contrived

to be in the printinghouse alone,evadingas much as I could the

common attendance on publicworship,which my father used to

exact of me when I was under his care, and which indeed I still

thoughta duty,though I could not, as it seemed to me, afford

time to practiceit.When about sixteen years of age I happened to meet with a

book,written by one Tryon,recommending a vegetablediet. I


determined to go into it. My brother,beingyet unmarried,did

not keephouse,but boarded himself and hisapprenticesin another

family.My refusal to eat fleshoccasioned an inconveniency,and

I was frequentlychid for my singularity.I made myselfac-quainted

with Tryon'smanner of preparingsome of his dishes,such as boilingpotatoesor rice,makinghastypudding,and a few

others,and then proposedto my brother that if he would giveme weeklyhalf the money he paidfor my board I would board

myself. He instantlyagreedto it,and I presentlyfound that I

could save half what he paidme. This was an additional fund

for buying books. But I had another advantagein it. Mybrother and the rest goingfrom the printinghouse to theirmeals,I remained there alone,and, dispatchingpresentlymy lightre-past,

which often was no more than a biscuitor a sliceof bread,

a handful of raisins,or a tart from the pastrycook's,and a glassof water, had the rest of the time tilltheir return for study,in

which I made the greaterprogress from that greaterclearness of

head and quickerapprehensionwhich usuallyattend temperance

in eatingand drinking.And now it was that,beingon some occasion made ashamed

of my ignorancein figures,which I had twice failed in learningwhen at school,I took Cocker's book of arithmetic,and went

throughthe whole by myselfwith great ease. I also read Seller's

and Shermy'sbooks of navigation,and became acquaintedwiththe littlegeometry theycontain,but never proceededfar in that

science. And I'read about this time Locke " On the Human

Understanding,"and the " Art of Thinking,"by Messrs. du Port

Royal.1

fWhile I was intent on improvingmy language,I met with an

nglishgrammar (Ithink itwas Greenwood's),at the end of which

there were two littlesketches of the arts of rhetoric and logic,the latter finishingwith a specimenof a disputein the Socratic

1 These gentlemenof Port Royal lived.

in the old convent of Port Royaldes Champs, near Paris. They were learned men who, with other works*

preparedschoolbooks,among which was the " Art of Thinking,"a logic.


method;1 and soon after I procuredXenophon's"Memorable

Thingsof Socrates,"wherein there are many instancesof the same

method. I was charmed with it,adoptedit,droppedmy abruptcontradiction and positiveargumentation,and put on the hum-ble

inquirerand doubter. And beingthen,from readingShaftes-bury

and Collins,become a real doubter in many pointsof our re-ligious

doctrine,I found this method safest for myselfand very

embarrassingto those againstwhom I used it. Therefore I took

a delightin it,practiceditcontinually,and grew very artful and

expert in drawingpeople,even of superiorknowledge,into con-cessions

the consequences of which theydid not foresee,entan-gling

them in difficultiesout of which theycould not extricate

themselves,and so obtainingvictoriesthat neither myselfnor my

cause alwaysdeserved.

I continued this method some few years, but graduallyleftit,

retainingonlythe habit of expressingmyselfin terms of modest

diffidence ; never using,when I advanced anythingthat may pos-sibly

be disputed,the words " certainly,""

undoubtedly,"or any

others that givethe air of positivenessto an opinion; but rather

saying," I conceive "

or" apprehend" a thingto be so and so ;

" it appears to me," or" I should think itso or so,"for such and

such reasons ; or" I imagineit to be so ;

"or

" it is so, ifI am

not mistaken." This habit,I believe,has been of greatadvantageto me when I have had occasion to inculcate my opinions,and

persuademen into measures that I have been from time to .time

engagedin promoting; and,as the chief ends of conversation are

to inform or to be informed,to pleaseor to persuade,I wish well-

meaning,sensiblemen would not lessentheirpower of doinggood

by a positive,assumingmanner, that seldom failsto disgust,tends

to create opposition,and to defeat every one of those purposes for

which speechwas givento us, " to wit,givingor receivinginforma-tion

or pleasure.For ifyou would inform,a positiveand dogmat-

1 " The Socratic method,'' i.e.,the method of modest questioning,which

Socrates used with pupilsand opponents alike,and by which he led them to

concessions and unforeseen conclusions.


ical manner in advancingyour sentiments may provokecontra-diction

and prevent a candid attention. If you wish information

and improvementfrom the knowledge of others,and yet at the

same time express yourselfas firmlyfixed in your presentopinions,

modest,sensible men, who do not love disputation,will probablyleave you undisturbed in the possessionof your error. And bysuch a manner you can seldom hope to recommend yourselfin

pleasingyour hearers,or to persuadethose whose concurrence you

desire. Pope says judiciously:

" Men must be taughtas if you taughtthem not,

And thingsunknown propos'das thingsforgot;"

further recommending to us to

" Speak,though sure, with seemingdiffidence."

And he might have coupledwith this line that which he has

coupledwith another,I think,less properly:

p" For want of modestyis want of sense."

If you ask why less properly,I must repeat the lines:

" Immodest words admit of no defense,

For want of modestyis want of sense." *

Now, is not"

want of sense" (wherea man is so unfortunate as

to want it)some apologyfor his "want of modesty?" and would

not the lines stand more justlythus?

" Immodest words admit but this defense,

That want of modestyis want of sense."

This,however,I should submit to better judgments.

My brother had,in 1720 or 1721, begun to printa newspaper.

It was the second that appearedin America,and was called the

" New England Courant."2 The onlyone before itwas the " Bos-

1 These lines are not Pope's,but Lord Roscommon's, slightlymodified.2 " The New England Courant was the fourth newspaper that appearedin

America. The firstnumber of the Boston News-Letter was publishedApril


ton News-Letter." I remember his beingdissuaded by some of

his friends from the undertaking,as not likelyto succeed,one

newspaper being,in their judgment,enough for America. At

thistime (1771)there are not less than fiveand twenty. He went

on, however,with the undertaking,and after havingworked in

composingthe typesand printingoff the sheets,I was employedto carry the papers throughthe streets to the customers.

He had some ingeniousmen among his friends,who amused

themselves by writinglittlepiecesfor thispaper, which gainedit

credit and made it more in demand ; and these gentlemenoften

visited us. Hearing their conversations and their accounts of

the approbationtheir papers were received with,I was excited to

trymy hand among them ; but,beingstilla boy,and suspectingthat my brother would objectto printinganythingof mine in his

paper ifhe knew it to be mine,I contrived to disguisemy hand,

and,writingan anonymous paper, I put it in at nightunder the

door of the printinghouse. It was found in the morning,and

communicated to hiswritingfriendswhen theycalled in as usual.

They read it,commented on itin my hearing,and I had the ex-quisite

pleasureof findingitmet with theirapprobation,and that,in theirdifferentguesses at the author,none were named but men

of some character among us for learningand ingenuity.I sup-pose

now that I was rather luckyin my judges,and that per-haps

theywere not reallyso very good ones as I then esteemed

them.

Encouraged,however,by this,I wrote and conveyedin the

same way to the press several more papers, which were equally

approved; and I keptmy secret tillmy small fund of sense for

such performanceswas prettywell exhausted,and then I dis-

24, 1704. This was the firstnewspaper in America. The Boston Gazette

commenced Dec. 21, 1719; the American Weekly Mercury,at Philadelphia,Dec. 22, 1719; the New England Courant,Aug. 21, 1721. Dr. Franklin's

error of memory probablyoriginatedin the circumstance of his brother havingbeen the printerof the Boston Gazette when it was firstestablished. This

was the second newspaper publishedin America." " Sparks.


covered l it,when I began to be considered a littlemore by my

brother's acquaintance,and in a manner that did not quiteplease

him,as he thought,probablywith reason, that ittended to make

me too vain. And perhapsthis might be one occasion of the

differences that we began to have about this time. Though a

brother,he considered himself as my master and me as his ap-prentice,

and accordinglyexpectedthe same services from me as

he would from another,while I thoughthe demeaned 2me too

much in some he requiredof me, who from a brother expectedmore indulgence.Our disputeswere often broughtbefore our

father,and I fancyI was either generallyin the rightor else a

better pleader,because the judgmentwas generallyin my favor.

But my brother was passionate,and had often beaten me, which

I took extremelyamiss;and, thinkingmy apprenticeshipverytedious,I was continuallywishingfor some opportunityof short-ening

it,which at lengthoffered in a manner unexpected.One of the piecesin our newspaper, on some politicalpoint

which I have now forgotten,gave offense to the Assembly.3He

was taken up, censured,and imprisonedfor a month, by the

Speaker'swarrant, I suppose, because he would not discover his

author. I,too, was taken up and examined before the council ;

but,thoughI did not givethem any satisfaction,theycontented

themselves with admonishingme, and dismissed me, considering

me, perhaps,as an apprentice,who was bound to keephis mas-ter's

secrets.

Duringmy brother'sconfinement,which I resented a good deal,

notwithstandingour privatedifferences,I had the management of

the paper ; and I made bold to giveour rulers some rubs in it,which my brother took very kindly,while others began to con-sider

me in an unfavorable light,as a young geniusthat had a

turn for libelingand satire. My brother's dischargewas accom-panied

with an order of the House (a very odd one)that JamesFranklin should no longerprintthe paper called the " New Eng-land

Courant."

1 Told. 2 Lowered ; put down. n 3 The legislature.

.


There was a consultation held in our printinghouse among his

friends what he should do in this case. Some proposedto evade

the order by changingthe name of the paper; but my brother

seeinginconveniences in that,it was finallyconcluded on, as a

better way, to let it be printedfor the future under the name of

BenjaminFranklin;and to avoid the censure of the Assemblythat might fall on him as stillprintingit by his apprentice,the

contrivance was that my old indenture should be returned to me,

with a fulldischargeon the back of it,to be shown on occasion ;

but to secure to him the benefit of my service I was to signnewindentures for the remainder of the term, which were to be keptprivate.A very flimsyscheme it was ; however,it was immedi-ately

executed,and the paper went on accordinglyunder my

name for several months.

At length,a fresh differencearisingbetween my brother and me,

I took upon me to assert my freedom,presumingthat he would

not venture to producethe new indentures. It was not fairin

me to take thisadvantage,and thisI therefore reckon one of the

firsterrata x of my life; but the unfairness of itweighedlittlewith

me when under the impressionsof resentment for the blows his

passiontoo often urged him to bestow upon me, thoughhe was

otherwise not an ill-naturedman. PerhapsI was too saucy and

provoking.When he found I would leave him, he took care to prevent

my gettingemployment in any other printinghouse of the town,

by goinground and speakingto every master, who accordinglyrefused to giveme work. I then thoughtof goingto New York,

as the nearest placewhere there was a printer; and I was rather

inclined to leave Boston when I reflected that I had alreadymade myselfa littleobnoxious to the governingparty,and,from

the arbitraryproceedingsof the Assemblyin my brother's case,

it was likelyI might,if I stayed,soon bringmyselfinto scrapes ;

and,further,that my indiscreetdisputationsabout religionbeganto make me pointedat with horror by good peopleas an infidel

l Errors; mistakes.


or atheist. I determined on the point,but,my father now sidingwith my brother,I was sensible that,if I attemptedto go openly,means would be used to prevent me. My friend Collins,there-fore,

undertook to manage a littlefor me. He agreedwith the

captainof a New York sloopfor my passage, under the notion of

my beinga young acquaintanceof his that had got into trouble,and therefore I could not appear or come away publicly.So I

sold some of my books to raise a littlemoney, was taken on board

privately,and, as we had a fair wind,in three daysI found my-self

in New York, near three hundred miles from home, a boyof but seventeen, without the least recommendation to,or knowl-edge

of,any person in the place,and with very littlemoney in

my pocket.

" 2. SEEKS HIS FORTUNE.

MY inclinationsfor the sea were by this time worn out, or I

mightnow have gratifiedthem. But,havinga trade,and

supposingmyselfa prettygood workman, I offered my service to

the printerin the place,old Mr. William Bradford,who had been

the firstprinterin Pennsylvania,but removed from thence upon

the quarrelof GeorgeKeith. He could giveme no employment,

havinglittleto do and helpenough already; but says he, "

Myson at Philadelphiahas latelylost his principalhand, Aquila

Rose,by death ; if you go thither I believe he may employyou."

Philadelphiawas a hundred miles farther ; I set out, however,in

a boat for Amboy, leavingmy chest and thingsto follow me

round by sea.

In crossingthe bay we met with a squallthat tore our rotten

sailsto pieces,preventedour gettinginto the Kill,1and drove us

upon Long Island. In our way, a drunken Dutchman, who was

a passenger too,felloverboard. When he was sinking,I reached

1 Kill von Kull,the straitbetween Staten Island and New Jersey.


throughthe water to his shock pate,and drew him up so that we

got him in again.His duckingsobered him a little,and he went

to sleep,takingfirstout of his pocketa book,which he desired

I would dry for him. It provedto be my old favoriteauthor,

Bunyan's" Pilgrim'sProgress,"in Dutch,finelyprintedon good

paper, with copper cuts,a dress better than I had ever seen it

wear in its own language. I have since found that ithas been

translated into most of the languagesof Europe,and suppose it

has been more generallyread than any other book, except,per-haps,

the Bible. Honest John} was the firstthat I know of who

mixed narration and dialogue; a method of writingvery engagingto the reader,who in the most interestingpartsfinds himself,as

itwere, broughtinto the company and present at the discourse.

Defoe n in his "Crusoe/'his "Moll Flanders," " ReligiousCourt-ship,"

" FamilyInstructor,"and other pieces,has imitated itwith

success ; and Richardson has done the same in his " Pamela,"etc.When we drew near the island we found itwas at a placewhere

there could be no landing,there beinga great surf on the stony

beach. So we dropped anchor,and swung round toward the

shore. Some peoplecame down to the water edgeand hallooed

to us, as we did to them ; but the wind was so highand the surf

so loud that we could not hear so as to understand each other.

There were canoes on the shore,and we made signs,and hallooed

that theyshould fetch us ; but theyeitherdid not understand us

or thoughtitimpracticable,so theywent away, and nightcom-ing

on, we had no remedy but to wait tillthe wind should abate.

In the mean time,the boatman and I concluded to sleepif we

could,and so crowded into the scuttlewith the Dutchman, who

was stillwet, and the spray beatingover the head of our boat

leaked throughto us, so that we were soon almost as wet as he.

In thismanner we layallnight,with very littlerest ; but the wind

abatingthe next day,we made a shift to reach Amboy before

night,havingbeen thirtyhours on the water,without victuals,or any

drink but a bottle of filthyrum, the water we sailed on beingsalt.

l That is,John Bunyan,the author of the book.


In the eveningI found myself-very feverish,and went in to

bed ; but,havingread somewhere that cold water, drunk plenti-fully,was good for a fever,I followed the prescription,sweat

plentifullymost of the night,my fever leftme, and in the morn-ing,

crossingthe ferry,I proceededon my journeyon foot,hav-ing

fiftymiles to Burlington,1where I was told I should find boats

that would carry me the rest of the way to Philadelphia.It rained very hard allthe day. I was thoroughlysoaked,and

by noon a good deal tired,so I stoppedat a poor inn,where I

stayedallnight,beginningnow to wish that I had never lefthome.

I cut so miserable a figure,too, that I found,by the questionsasked me, I was suspectedto be some runaway servant and in

dangerof beingtaken up on that suspicion.However, I pro-ceeded

the next day,and got in the eveningto an inn,within

eightor ten miles of Burlington,keptby one Dr. Brown. He

entered into conversation with me while I took some refreshment,

and,findingI had read a little,became very sociable and friendly.Our acquaintancecontinued as longas he lived.11 He had been,I imagine,an itinerantdoctor ; for there was no town in England,or countryin Europe,of which he could not givea very particu-lar

account. He had some letters,2and was ingenious,but much

of an unbeliever,and wickedlyundertook,some years after,to

travestythe Bible in doggerelverse, as Cotton had done Virgil.

By this means he set many of the facts in a very ridiculous light,and mighthave hurt weak minds if his work had been published;but it never was.

At his house I laythat night,and the next morning reached

Burlington,but had the mortification to find that the regularboats

were gone a littlebefore my coming,and no other expectedto

go before Tuesday,this beingSaturday; wherefore I returned to

an old woman in the town of whom I had boughtgingerbreadto

eat on the water, and asked her advice. She invited me to lodgeat her house tilla passage by water should offer; and,beingtired

with my foot traveling,I acceptedthe invitation. She,under-

1 In New Jersey 2 Learning.


standingI was a printer,would have had me stay at that town

and follow my business,beingignorantof the stock necessary to

beginwith. She was very hospitable,gave me a dinner of ox

cheek with great good will,acceptingonlyof a pot of ale in re-turn;

and I thoughtmyselffixed tillTuesday should come.

However, walkingin the eveningby the side of the river,a boat

came by,which I found was goingtoward Philadelphia,with sev-eral

peoplein her. Theytook me in,and,as there was no wind,we

rowed all the way, and about midnight,not havingyet seen the

city,some of the company were confident we must have passedit,and would row no farther. The others knew not where we

were ; so we put toward the shore,got into a creek,and landed

near an old fence,with the railsof which we made a fire,the

nightbeingcold,in October,and there wTe remained tilldaylight.Then one of the company knew the placeto be Cooper'sCreek,

a littleabove Philadelphia,which we saw as soon as we got out

of the creek,and arrived there about eightor nine o'clock on the

Sunday morning,and landed at the Market Street wharf.

I have been the more particularin thisdescriptionof my jour-ney,and shall be so of my firstentry into that city,that you may

in your mind compare such unlikelybeginningswith the figureI have since made there. I was in my workingdress,my best

clothes beingto come round by sea. I was dirtyfrom my jour-ney

; my pocketswere stuffed out with shirtsand stockings,and

I knew no soul,nor where to look for lodging. I was fatiguedwith traveling,rowing,and want of rest ; I was very hungry; and

my whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar and about a

shillingin copper.1 The latter I gave the peopleof the boat for

my passage, who at firstrefused it,on account of my rowing; but

I insisted on their takingit,a man beingsometimes more gen-erous

when he has but a littlemoney than when he has plenty,

perhapsthroughfear of beingthoughtto have but little.

Then I walked up the street,gazingabout,tillnear the market

1 Englishpenny pieces.The coin money used by the colonists was at

this time of foreignmake.


house I met a boy with bread. I had made many a meal on

bread,and,inquiringwhere he got it,I went immediatelyto the

baker's he directed me to,in Second Street,and asked for biscuit,

intendingsuch as we had in Boston; but they,it seems, were

not made in Philadelphia.Then I asked for a threepennyloaf,and was told theyhad none such. So not consideringor know-ing

the difference of money and the greatercheapness,nor the

names of his bread,I bade him giveme threepennyworth of any

sort. He gave me, accordingly,three great puffyrolls. I was

surprisedat the quantity,but took it,and,havingno room in my

pockets,walked off with a roll under each arm, and eatingtheother. Thus I went up Market Street as far as Fourth Street,

passingby the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father ; when

she,standingat the door,saw me, and thoughtI made, as I cer-tainly

did,a most awkward, ridiculousappearance. Then I turned

and went down Chestnut Street and part of Walnut Street,eat-ing

my rollall the way, and,cominground,found myselfagainat Market Street wharf,near the boat I came in,to which I went

for a draughtof the riverwater ; and,beingfilledwith one of my

rolls,gave the other two to a woman and her child that came

down the riverin the boat with us, and were waitingto go farther.

Thus refreshed,I walked againup the street,which by this

time had many clean-dressed peoplein it,who were all walkingthe same way. I joinedthem,and therebywas led into the great

meetinghouseof the Quakers near the market.1 I sat down

among them,and,after lookinground awhile and hearingnoth-ing

said,beingvery drowsy throughlabor and want of rest the

precedingnight,I fellfast asleep,and continued so tillthe meet-ing

broke up, when one was kind enough to rouse me. This was,

therefore,the firsthouse I was in,or sleptin,in Philadelphia.Walkingdown againtoward the river,and lookingin the faces

of people,I met a young Quaker man, whose countenance I liked,

and,accostinghim,requestedhe would tellme where a strangercould get lodging. We were then near the signof the Three

1 This market stood on the southwest corner of Second and Market Streets.


Mariners. " Here,"says he," is one placethat entertainsstran-gers,

but itis not a reputablehouse ; ifthee wilt walk with me I'll

show thee a better." He broughtme to the Crooked Billet,in

Water Street. Here I got a dinner,and while I was eatingitseveralslyquestionswere asked me, as itseemed to be suspectedfrom my youthand appearance that I mightbe some runaway.

After dinner my sleepinessreturned ; and, beingshown to a

bed,I laydown without undressingand slepttillsix in the even-ing,

was called to supper, went to bed againvery early,and sleptsoundlytillnext morning. Then I made myselfas tidyas I

could,and went to Andrew Bradford the printer's.I found in

the shopthe old man, his father,whom I had seen at New York,and who, travelingon horseback,had got to Philadelphiabefore

me. He introduced me to his son, who received me civilly,and

gave me a breakfast,but told me he did not at present want a

hand,beinglatelysuppliedwith one ; but there was another printerin town, latelyset up, one Keimer,who, perhaps,mightemployme ; if not, I should be welcome to lodgeat his house,and he

would giveme a littlework to do now and then tillfullerbusiness

should offer.

The old gentlemansaid he would go with me to the new

printer;and when we found him, " Neighbor,"says Bradford," I

have broughtto see you a young man of your business ; perhaps

you may want such a one." He asked me a few questions,puta composingstick1 in my hand to see how I worked,and then

said he would employ me soon, thoughhe had justthen nothingfor me to do ; and,takingold Bradford,whom he had never seen

before,to be one of the townspeoplethat had a good willfor him,he entered into a conversation on his present undertakingand

prospects; while Bradford,not discoveringthat he was the other

printer'sfather,on Keimer's sayinghe expectedsoon to get the

greatestpart of the business into his own hands,drew him on by

1 A composingstick is a small tray which the compositorholds in his left

hand and in which he arranges the type that he picksout of the cases with his

righthand.


artfulquestions,and startinglittledoubts,to explainallhisviews,what interesthe relied on, and in what manner he intended to pro-ceed.

I,who stood by and heard all,saw immediatelythat one

of them was a craftyold sophister,1and the other a mere novice.

Bradford left me with Keimer,who was greatlysurprisedwhen I

told him who the old man was.

Keimer's printinghouse,I found,consisted of an old shattered

press and one small,worn-out font of English,2which he was

then usinghimself,composingan elegyon AquilaRose, before

mentioned,an ingeniousyoung man of excellentcharacter,much

respectedin the town, clerk of the Assembly,and a prettypoet.

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,directlyout of his head. So,there beingno copy,3but one

pairof cases, and the elegylikelyto requireallthe letter,no one

could helphim. I endeavored to put hispress (whichhe had not

yet used and of which he understood nothing)into order fitto

be worked with ; and,promisingto come and printoff his elegyas soon as he should have got itready,I returned to Bradford's,

who gave me a littlejobto do for the present,and there I lodgedand dieted.4 A few daysafter Keimer sent for me to printoff

the elegy. And now he had got another pairof cases, and a

pamphletto reprint,on which he set me to"work.

These two printersI found poorlyqualifiedfor theirbusiness.

Bradford had not been bred to it,and was very illiterate; and

Keimer,thoughsomethingof a scholar,was a mere compositor,

knowingnothingof press work. Pie had been one of the French

prophets,5and could act their enthusiasticagitations.At this

time he did not professany particularreligion,but somethingof

1 A false reasoner, and hence a deceiver.

2 The name of a kind of type.3 Manuscriptor printingof originalmatter. 4 Boarded.

5 The Camisards, who broke away from the state religionof France, and

suffered persecutionat the hands of Louis XIV. They showed their spirit-ual

zeal by the propheticmania and by working miracles,as well as by a

stout attachment to their creed.


all on occasion, was very ignorantof the world,and had,as I

afterward found,a good deal of the knave in his composition.He did not like my lodgingat Bradford's while I worked with

him. He had a house,indeed,but without furniture,so he could

not lodgeme ; but he got me a lodgingat Mr. Read's,before

mentioned,who was the owner of his house ; and,my chest and

clothes beingcome by thistime,I made rather a more respect-able

appearance in the eyes of Miss Read than I had done when

she firsthappenedto see me eatingmy rollin the street.

"piI begannow to have some acquaintanceamong the young peo-pleof the town that were lovers of reading,with whom I spent

my eveningsvery pleasantly; and,gainingmoney by my industryand frugality,I lived very agreeably,forgettingBoston as much

as I could,and not desiringthat any there should know where I

resided,except my friend Collins,who was in my secret and keptit when I wrote to him. At lengthan incident happened that

sent me back againmuch sooner than I had intended. I had a

brother-in-law,Robert Holmes, master of a sloopthat traded be-tween

Boston and Delaware. He beingat Newcastle,fortymiles

below Philadelphia,heard there of me, and wrote me a letter,men-tioning

the concern of my friends in Boston at my abruptdepar-ture,

assuringme of their gdod will to me and that everythingwould be accommodated to my mind if I would return,to which

he exhorted me very earnestly.I wrote an answer to his letter,

thanked him for his advice,but stated my reasons for quittingBoston fullyand in such a lightas to convince him I was not so

wrong as he had apprehended.Sir William Keith,governor of the province,was then at New-castle;

and CaptainHolmes, happeningto be in company with

him when my lettercame to hand,spoketo him of me and showed

him the letter. The governor read it,and seemed surprisedwhen

he was told my age. He said I appeareda young man of prom-ising

parts,and therefore should be encouraged; the printersat

Philadelphiawere wretched ones ; and, if I would set up there,

he made no doubt I should succeed : for his part,he would pro-


cure me the publicbusiness,and do me every other servicein his

power. This my brother-in-law afterward told me in Boston,

but I knew as yet nothingof itwhen, one day,Keimer and I

beingat work togethernear the window, we saw the governor

and another gentleman(whichproved to be Colonel French of

Newcastle),finelydressed,come directlyacross the street to our

house,and heard them at the door.

Keimer ran down immediately,thinkingit a visitto him ; but

the governor inquiredfor me, came up, and with a condescension

and politenessI had been quiteunused to, made me many com-pliments,

desired to be acquaintedwith me, blamed me kindlyfor

not havingmade myselfknown to him when I firstcame to the

place,and would have me away with him to the tavern,where he

was goingwith Colonel French to taste,as he said,some excellent

Madeira. I was not a littlesurprised,and Keimer stared like a

pigpoisoned.I went, however,with the governor and Colonel

French to a tavern at the corner of Third Street,and over the

Madeira he proposedmy settingup my business,laid before me

the probabilitiesof success, and both he and Colonel French as-sured

me I should have theirinterestand influence in procuringthe publicbusiness of both governments.1 On my doubtingwhether my father would assistme in it,SirWilliam said he would

giveme a letterto him, in which he would state the advantages,and he did not doubt of prevailingwith him. So itwas concluded

I should return to Boston in the firstvessel,with the governor's

letterrecommendingme to my father. In the mean time the inten-tion

was to be kepta secret,and I went on workingwith Keimer

as usual,the governor sendingfor me now and then to dine

with him, a very great honor I thoughtit,and conversingwith

me in the most affable,familiar,and friendlymanner imagin-able.

About the end of April,1724, a littlevessel offered for Boston.

I took leave of Keimer as goingto see my friends. The governor

gave me an ample letter,sayingmany flatteringthingsof me to

1 " Both governments,"i.e.,both Pennsylvaniaand Delaware.


my father,and stronglyrecommendingthe projectof my setting

up at Philadelphiaas a thingthat must make my fortune. We

struck on a shoal in goingdown the bay,and sprung a leak ; we

had a blusteringtime at sea, and were obligedto pump almost

continually,at v/hich I took my turn. We arrived safe,however,at Boston in about a fortnight.I had been absent seven months,and my friends had heard nothingof me ; for my brother Holmes

was not yetreturned,and had not written about me. My unex-pected

appearance surprisedthe family; all were, however,verygladto see me, and made me welcome, except my brother. I

went to see him at his printinghouse. I was betterdressed than

ever while in his service,havinga genteelnew suit from head to

foot,a watch,and my pocketslined with near five pounds ster-ling

in silver. He received me not very frankly,looked me all

over, and turned to his work again.The journeymenwere inquisitivewhere I had been,what sort

of a country it was, and how I liked it. I praiseditmuch, and

the happy lifeI led in it,expressingstronglymy intention of re-turning

to it; and one of them askingwhat kind of money we had

there,I produceda handful of silverand spreadit before them,

which was a kind of raree-show 1 theyhad not been used to,paper

beingthe money of Boston. Then I took an opportunityof let-ting

them see my watch ; and lastly(my brother stillgrum and sul-len)

I gave them a pieceof eight2 to drink,and took my leave.

This visitof mine offended him extremely; for,when my mother

some time after spoketo him of a reconciliation,and of her wishes

to see us on good terms together,and that we mightlivefor the

future as brothers,he said I had insulted him in such a manner

before his peoplethat he could never forgetor forgiveit. In

this,however,he was mistaken.

My father received the governor'sletter with some apparent

surprise,but said littleof it to me for several days,when, Captain

1 Peep show.

2 " Piece of eight,"i.e.,the Spanishdollar,containingeightreals. The

presentvalue of a real is about five cents.

4" THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

Holmes returning,he showed itto him,asked him ifhe knew Keith,-and what kind of man he was, addinghis opinionthat he must

be of small discretionto think of settinga boyup in businesswho

wanted yet three years of beingat man's estate. Holmes said

what he could in favor of the project,but my father was clear in

the improprietyof it,and at last gave a flatdenial to it. Then he

wrote a civilletterto SirWilliam,thankinghim for the patronagehe had so kindlyoffered me, but decliningto assistme as yet in

settingup, I being,in his opinion,too young to be trusted with

the management of a business so important,and for which the

preparationmust be so expensive.

My friend and companion,Collins,who was a clerk in the post

office,pleasedwith 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,

leavinghis books,which were a prettycollectionof mathematics

and natural philosophy,to come with mine and me to New York,where he proposedto wait for me.

My father,thoughhe did not approve SirWilliam's proposition,was yet pleasedthat I had been able to obtain so advantageousa character from a person of such note where I had resided,and

that I had been so industrious and careful as to equipmyselfso

handsomelyin so short a time ; therefore,seeingno prospect of

an accommodation between my brother and me, he gave his con-sent

to my returningagainto Philadelphia,advised me to behave

respectfullyto the peoplethere,endeavor to obtain the general

esteem, and avoid lampooningand libeling,to which he thoughtI had too much inclination; tellingme that by steadyindustryand a prudentparsimonyI mightsave enoughby the time I was

one and twenty to set me up ; and that,if I came near the mat-ter,

he would helpme out with the rest. This was all I could

obtain,except some small giftsas tokens of his and my mother's

love,when I embarked againfor New York, now with their ap-probation

and theirblessing.The sloopputtingin at Newport, Rhode Island,I visitedmy


brotherJohn,who had been married and settled there some years.

He received me very affectionately,for he alwaysloved me. A

friend of his,one Vernon, having some money due to him in

Pennsylvania,about thirty-fivepounds currency, desired I would

receive it for him, and keep it tillI had his directionswhat to

remit itin. Accordingly,he gave me an order. This afterward

occasioned 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,matronlike Quaker woman, with her attendants. I had

shown an obligingreadiness to do her some littleservices,which

impressedher,I suppose, with a degreeof good willtoward me ;

therefore,when she saw a dailygrowingfamiliaritybetween me

and the two young women, which theyappearedto encourage,

she took me aside,and said," Young man, I am concerned for

thee,as thou hast no friend with thee,and seems not to know

much of the world,or of the snares youthisexposedto. Depend

upon it,those are very bad women; I can see it in all their

actions ; and if thee art not upon thyguard,theywill draw thee

into some danger.They are strangersto thee,and I advise thee,in a friendlyconcern for thywelfare,to have no acquaintancewith them." As I seemed at firstnot to think so illof them as

she did,she mentioned some thingsshe had observed and heard

that had escapedmy notice,but now convinced me she was right.I thanked her for her kind advice,and promisedto follow it.

When we arrived at New York, theytold me where theylived,and invited me to come and see them ; but I avoided it,and it

was well I did ; for the next daythe captainmissed a silverspoon

and some other things,that had been taken out of his cabin,and

he got a warrant to search theirlodgings,found the stolen goods,

and had the thieves punished. So,though we had escapeda

sunken rock,which we scrapedupon in the passage, I thoughtthis

escape of rather more importanceto me.

At New York I found my friend Collins,who had arrived there

some time before me. We had been intimate from children,and


had read the same books together; but he had the advantageof

more time for readingand studying,and a wonderful geniusfor

mathematical learning,in which he far outstrippedme. While I

lived in Boston most of my hours of leisure for conversation were

spentwith him,and he continued a sober as well as an industrious

lad,was much respectedfor his learningby several of the clergyand other gentlemen,and seemed to promisemaking a good fig-ure

in life. But,duringmy absence,he had acquireda habit of

sottingwith brandy; and I found,by his own account, and what

I heard from others,that he had been drunk every day since his

arrival at New York,and behaved very oddly. He had gamed,

too, and lost his money, so that I was obligedto dischargehis

lodgings,and defrayhis expenses to and at Philadelphia,which

provedextremelyinconvenient to me.

The then governor of New York, Burnet (sonof BishopBur-net),

hearingfrom the captainthat a young man, one of his pas-sengers,

had a great many books,desired he would bringme to

see him. I waited upon him accordingly,and should have taken

Collinswith me but that he was not sober. The governor treated

me with great civility,showed me his library,which was a very

largeone, 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 proceededto Philadelphia.I received on the way Vernon's

money, without which we could hardlyhave finished our journey.Collins wished to be employed in some countinghouse; but,whether theydiscovered his dramming by his breath or by his

behavior,thoughhe had some recommendations he met with no

success in any application,and continued lodgingand boardingat the same house with me and at my expense. Knowing I had

that money of Vernon's,he was continuallyborrowingof me, still

promisingrepayment as soon as he should be in business. At

lengthhe had got so much of it that I was distressed to think

what I should do in case of beingcalled on to remit it.


His drinkingcontinued,about which we sometimes quarreled;for,when a littleintoxicated,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 rowed home," says he. " We will not

row you,"says I. " You must, or stay all nighton the water,"

says he; "justas you please."The others said,"Let us row;

what signifiesit?" But, my mind beingsoured with his other

conduct,I continued to refuse. So he swore he would make

me row, or throw me overboard ; and comingalong,steppingonthe thwarts,1toward me, when he came up and struck at me I

clutched him,and?rising,pitchedhim headforemost into the river.

I knew he was a good swimmer, and so was under littleconcern

about him ; but betore he could getround to layhold of the boat,we had with a few strokes pulledher out of his reach ; and ever

when he drew near the boat,we asked if he would row, strikinga few strokes to slideher away from him. He was readyto die

with vexation,and obstinatelywould not promiseto row. How-ever,

seeinghim at lastbeginningto tire,we lifted him in and

broughthim home drippingwet in the evening. We hardlyex-changed

a civilword afterward,and a West India captain,who

had a commission to procure a tutor for the sons of a gentlemanat Barbadoes,happeningto meet with him,agreedto carry him

thither. He leftme then,promisingto remit me the firstmoney

he should receive in order to dischargethe debt ; but I never

heard of him after.

The breakinginto thismoney of Vernon's was one of the first

great errata of my life; and this affairshowed that my father was

not much out in his judgmentwhen he supposedme too young

to manage business of importance.But SirWilliam,on readinghis letter,said he was too prudent. There was great difference

in persons, and discretiondid not alwaysaccompany years, nor

was youthalwayswithout it. "And since he will not set you

up,"says he," I will do itmyself. Give me an inventoryof the

thingsnecessary to be had from England,and I willsend for them.

1 The seats across the boat on which the oarsmen sit.


You shallrepay me when you are able ; I am resolved to have a

good printerhere,and I am sure you must succeed." This was

spokenwith such an appearance of cordialitythat I had not the

least doubt of his meaningwhat he said. I had hithertokeptthe

propositionof my settingup a secret in Philadelphia,and I still

keptit. Had it been known that I depended on the governor,

probablysome friend that knew him better would have advised

me not to relyon him, as I afterward heard it as his known

character to be liberalof promiseswhich he never meant to keep.

Yet,unsolicited as he was by me, how could I think his gener-ous

offers insincere? I believed him one of the best men in the

world.1

I presentedhim an inventoryof a littleprintinghouse,amount-ing,

by my computation,to about one hundred pounds sterling.He liked it,but asked me ifmy beingon the spot in Englandto

choose the types,and see that everythingwas good of the kind,

mightnot be of some advantage." Then,"says he," when there

you may make acquaintances,and establishcorrespondencesin

the booksellingand stationeryway." I agreedthat thismightbe advantageous.

" Then," says he, "

get yourselfreadyto go

with Annis,"2which was the annual ship,and the onlyone at

that time usuallypassingbetween London and Philadelphia.But

itwould be some months before Annis sailed,so I continued work-ing

with Keimer,frettingabout the money Collins had got from

me, and in dailyapprehensionsof beingcalled upon by Vernon ;

which,however,did not happen for some years after.

I believe I have omitted mentioningthat,in my firstvoyage

from Boston,beingbecalmed off Block Island,our peopleset

about catchingcod,and hauled up a good many. Hitherto I had

stuck to my resolutionof not eatinganimal food ; and on this oc-casion

I considered,with my master Tryon,the takingevery fish

as a kind of unprovokedmurder,since none of them had,or ever

could,do us any injurythat mightjustifythe slaughter.All this

1 For Governor Keith's character and popularity,see p. 58.2 CaptainAnnis, commander of the ship,is here referred to.


seemed very reasonable ; but I had formerlybeen a great lover

of fish,and when this came hot out of the fryingpan it smelled

admirablywell. I balanced some time between principleand in-clination,

tillI recollected that,when the fishwere opened,I saw

smaller fish taken out of their stomachs ; then thoughtI," If you

eat one another,I don't see why we mayn'teat you." So I dined

upon cod very heartily,and continued to eat with other people,returningonlynow and then occasionallyto a vegetablediet. So

convenient a. thingitis to be a" reasonable "

creature,sinceiten-ables

one to find or make a reason for everythingone has a mind

to do.

Keimer and I lived on a prettygood,familiarfooting,and

agreedtolerablywell,for he suspectednothingof my settingup.He retained a great deal of his old enthusiasms,and loved argu-mentation.

We therefore had many disputations.I used to

work him so with my Socratic method, and had trepanned* him

so often by questionsapparentlyso distant from any pointwehad in hand and yet by degreesled to the point,and broughthim into difficultiesand contradictions,that at last he grew ridic-ulously

cautious,and would hardlyanswer me the most common

questionwithout askingfirst," What do you intend to infer from

that ? " However, itgave him so highan opinionof my abilities

in the confutingway that he seriouslyproposedmy beinghis col-league

in a projecthe had of settingup a new sect. He was

to preachthe doctrines,and I was to confound all opponents.

When he came to explainwith me upon the doctrines,I found

several conundrums which I objectedto,unless I mighthave my

way a littletoo,and introduce some of mine.

Keimer wore his beard at full length,because somewhere in

the Mosaic law itissaid," Thou shalt not mar the corners of thybeard." 2 He likewise keptthe seventh day Sabbath ; and these

two pointswere essentialswith him. 'I dislikedboth,but agreed

to admit them upon condition of hisadoptingthe doctrine of using

no animal food. " I doubt,"said he, "

my constitutionwill not

1 Entrapped. 2 Lev. xix. 27.


bear that." I assured him itwould,and that he would be better

for it. He was usuallya great glutton,and I promisedmyselfsome diversionin half starvinghim. He agreedto trythe prac-tice

if I would keephim company. I did so, and we held itfor

three months. We had our victualsdressed and broughtto us

regularlyby a woman in the neighborhood,who had from me a

listof fortydishes,to be preparedfor us at differenttimes,in all

which there was neither fish,flesh,nor fowl ; and the whim suited

me the better at thistime from the cheapnessof it,not costingusabove eighteenpence sterlingeach per week. I have since keptseveral Lents most strictly,leavingthe common diet for that,and

that for the common, abruptly,without the leastinconvenience,so

that I think there islittlein the advice of making those changes

by easy gradations.I went on pleasantly,but poor Keimer suf-fered

grievously,tired of the project,longedfor the flesh pots of

Egypt,and ordered a roast pig. He invited me and two women

friends to dine with him; but,it beingbroughttoo soon upon

table,he could not resist the temptation,and ate the whole be-fore

we came.

I had made some courtshipduringthistime 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 longvoyage, and we were both very young, " onlya littleabove

eighteen," itwas thoughtmost prudentby her mother to prevent

our goingtoo far at present,as a marriage,ifitwas to take place,would be more convenient after my return,when I should be,as

I expected,set up in my business. Perhaps,too,she thoughtmy

expectationsnot so well founded as I imaginedthem to be.

My chief acquaintancesat this time were Charles Osborne,

JosephWatson,and James Ralph,alllovers of reading.The two

firstwere clerks to an eminent scrivener or conveyancer in the

town, Charles Brogden; the other was clerk to a merchant.

Watson was a pious,sensibleyoung man, of great integrity; the

others rather more lax in their principlesof religion,particularly

Ralph,who, as well as Collins,had been unsettledbyme, for which


theyboth made me suffer. Osborne was sensible,candid,frank ;

sincere and affectionateto hisfriends,but,in literarymatters,too

fond of criticising.Ralph was ingenious,genteelin his manners,

and extremelyeloquent; I think I never knew a prettiertalker.Both of them were greatadmirers of poetry,and beganto trytheir

hands in littlepieces.Many pleasantwalks we four had togetheron Sundaysinto the woods,near Schuylkill,where we read to one

another and conferred on what we read.

Ralphwas inclined to pursue the studyof poetry,not doubtingbut he might become eminent in it,and make his fortune by it,allegingthat the best poets must, when theyfirstbegan to write,make as many faults as he did. Osborne dissuaded him,assured

him he had no geniusfor poetry, and advised him to think of

nothingbeyond the business he was bred to ; that,in the mercan-tile

way, thoughhe had no stock,he might,by his diligenceand

punctuality,recommend himself to employmentas a factor,1and

in time acquirewherewith to trade on his own account. I ap-proved

the amusingone's self with poetry now and then,so far

as to improveone's language,but no farther.

On thisitwas proposedthat we should each of us, at our next

meeting,producea pieceof our own composing,in order to im-prove

by our mutual observations,criticisms,and corrections. As

languageand expressionwere what we had in view,we excluded

allconsiderationsof invention by agreeingthat the task should be

a version of the eighteenthPsalm,which describes the descent of

Deity. When the time of our meetinggrew nigh,Ralph called

on me first,and let me know, his piecewas ready. I told him I

had been busy,and, havinglittleinclination,had done nothing.He then showed me his piecefor my opinion,and I much ap-proved

it,as it appearedto me to have great merit. " Now,"

says he," Osborne never willallow the least merit in anythingof

mine,but makes a thousand criticisms out of mere envy. He is

not so jealousof you ; I wish,therefore,you would take thispiece,and produceit as yours ; I will pretendnot to have had time,and

1 An agent or commission merchant.


so producenothing. We shallthen see what he will say to it."

It was agreed,and I immediatelytranscribed it that itmightap-pear

in my own hand.

We met; Watson's performancewas read; there were some

beauties in it,but many defects. Osborne's was read ; itwas much

better ; Ralphdid itjustice;remarked some faults,but applaudedthe beauties. He himself had nothingto produce. I was back-ward

; seemed desirous of beingexcused ; had not had sufficient

time to correct,etc. But no excuse would be admitted ; produceI must. It was read and repeated; Watson and Osborne gave

up the contest,and joinedin applaudingit. Ralph onlymade

some criticisms,and proposedsome amendments ; but I defended

my text. Osborne was againstRalph,and told him he was no

better a criticthan poet, so he droppedthe argument. As they

two went home together,Osborne expressedhimself stillmore

stronglyin favor of what he thoughtmy production,havingre-strained

himself before,as he said,lest I should think itflattery."But who would have imagined,"said he, "that Franklin had

been capableof such a performance; such painting,such force,

such fire! He has even improvedthe original.In his common

conversation he seems to have no choice of words ; he hesitates

and blunders;and yet,good heavens! how he writes!" When

we next met, Ralph discovered the trickwe had playedhim,and

Osborne was a littlelaughedat.

This transaction fixed Ralph in his resolution of becoming a

poet. I did all I could to dissuade him from it,but he continued

scribblingverses tillPope cured him.1 He became,however, a

prettygood prose writer. More of him hereafter. But,as I may

l In 1728Alexander Pope publishedhis Dunciad, and in Book III. lines

165,166,he refers to Ralph,who was then livingin London:

M Silence,ye wolves ! while Ralph to Cynthiahowls,

And makes nighthideous" answer him, ye owls !"

Later,his Historyof England duringthe Reigns of King William, Queen

Anne, and King George I. was highlypraised(seepp. 177, 178).


not have occasion againto mention the other two, I shalljustre-mark

here that Watson died in my arms a few years after,much

lamented,beingthe best of our set. Osborne went to the West

Indies,where he became an eminent lawyerand made money,but died young. He and I had made a serious agreement that

the one who happened firstto die should,if possible,make a

friendlyvisitto the other,and acquainthim how he found thingsin that separate state. But he never fulfilledhis promise,

The governor, seemingto like my company, had me frequentlyto his house,and his settingme up was alwaysmentioned as a

fixed thing. I was to take with me lettersrecommendatoryto a

number of his friends,besides the letter of credit to furnish me

with the necessary money for purchasingthe press and types,

paper, etc. For these lettersI was appointedto call at different

times,when theywere to be ready; but a future time was still

named. Thus he went on tillthe ship,whose departure,too,had

been several times postponed,was on the pointof sailing.Then,when I called to take my leave and receive the letters,his secre-tary,

Dr. Baird,came out to me and said the governor was ex-tremely

busyin writing,but would be down at Newcastle before

the ship,and there the letterswould be delivered to me.

Ralph,thoughmarried,and havingone child,had determined

to accompany me on thisvoyage. It was thoughthe intended to

establisha correspondence,and obtain goods to sellon commis-sion

; but I found afterward that,throughsome discontent with

his wife'srelations,he proposedto leave her on theirhands,and

never return again. Having taken leave of my friends,and in-terchanged

some promiseswith Miss Read, I leftPhiladelphiain

the ship,which anchored at Newcastle. The governor was there ;

but when I went to his lodging,the secretarycame to me from

him with the civilestmessage in the world,that he could not then

see me, beingengagedin business of the utmost importance,but

should send the lettersto me on board,and wished me heartilya

good voyage and a speedyreturn, etc. I returned on board a

littlepuzzled,but stillnot doubting.


" 3. FIRST VISIT TO LONDON.

MR.ANDREW HAMILTON, a famous lawyerof Phila-delphia,

had taken passage in the same shipfor himself and

son, and with Mr. Denham, a Quaker merchant,and Messrs. Onion

and Russel,masters of an iron work in Maryland,had engaged

the greatcabin ; so that Ralph and I were forced to take up with

a berth in the steerage,and,none on board knowingus, were con-sidered

as ordinarypersons. But Mr. Hamilton and his son (it

was James,since governor)returned from Newcastle to Phila-delphia,

the father beingrecalled by a greatfee to pleadfor a

seized ship; and,justbefore we sailed,Colonel French coming

on board,and showingme greatrespect,I was more taken notice

of,and,with my friend Ralph,invitedby the other gentlemento

come into the cabin,there being now room. Accordingly,we

removed thither.

Understandingthat Colonel French had broughton board the

governor'sdispatches,I asked the captainfor those lettersthat

were to be put under my care. He said allwere put intothe bag

together,and he could not then come at them ; but,before we

landed in England,I should have an opportunityof pickingthem

out ; so I was satisfiedfor the present,and we proceededon our

voyage. We had a sociable company in the cabin,and lived un-commonly

well,havingthe addition of all Mr. Hamilton's stores,

who had laid in plentifully.In this passage Mr. Denham con-tracted

a friendshipfor me that continued duringhis life. The

voyage was otherwisenot a pleasantone, as we had a greatdeal

of bad weather.

When we came intothe Channel the captainkepthisword with

me, and gave me an opportunityof examiningthe bag for the

governor'sletters. I found none upon which my name was put

as under my care. I pickedout six or seven, that,by the hand-writing,

I thoughtmightbe the promisedletters,especiallyas one


of them was directed to Basket,the king'sprinter,and another to

some stationer.

We arrived in London the 24thof December, 1724. I waited

upon the stationer,who came firstin my way, deliveringthe letter

as from Governor Keith. " I don't know such a person,"sayshe; but,openingthe letter,"Oh! this is from Riddlesden. I

have latelyfound him to be a completerascal,and I will have

nothingto do with him, nor receive any lettersfrom him." So,

puttingthe letterinto my hand,he turned on his heel and leftme,

to serve some customer. I was surprisedto find these were not

the governor'sletters; and,after recollectingand comparingcir-cumstances,

I began to doubt his sincerity.I found my friend

Denham, and opened the whole affairto him. He let me into

Keith's character ; told me there was not the leastprobabilitythat

he had written any lettersfor me ; that no one who knew him had

the smallest dependenceon him ; and he laughedat the notion

of the governor'sgivingme a letterof credit,having,as he said,

no credit to give. On my expressingsome concern about what

I should do,he advised me to endeavor gettingsome employmentin the way of my business. "

Among the printershere,"said he,"

you willimproveyourself,and when you return to America you

willset up to greateradvantage."We both of us happenedto know, as well as the stationer,that

Riddlesden,the attorney,was a very knave. He had half ruined

Miss Read's father bypersuadinghim to be bound * for him. Bythis letteritappearedthere was a secret scheme on foot to the

prejudiceof Hamilton* (supposedto be then coming over with

us),and that Keith was concerned in itwith Riddlesden. Den-ham,

who was a friend of Hamilton's,thoughthe ought to be

acquaintedwith it; so, when he arrived in England,which was

soon after,partlyfrom resentment and illwillto Keith and Rid-dlesden

and partlyfrom good will to him, I waited on him,and

gave him the letter. He thanked me cordially,the informa-tion

beingof importanceto him ; and from that time he became

1 Responsiblefor the payment of a note.


my friend,greatlyto my advantageafterward on many occa-sions.

But what shall we think of a governor'splayingsuch pitifultricks,and imposingso grosslyon a poor ignorantboy! It was

a habit he had acquired.He wished to pleaseeverybody; and,

havinglittleto give,he gave expectations.He was otherwise an

ingenious,sensibleman, a prettygood writer,and a good gov-ernor

for the people,thoughnot for his constituents,the proprie-taries,1whose instructionshe sometimes disregarded.Several of

our best laws were of his planning,and passedduringhis admin-istration.

Ralph and I were inseparablecompanions.We took lodgings

togetherin LittleBritain 2 at three shillingsand sixpencea week,

"as much as we could then afford. He found some relations,but theywere poor, and unable to assisthim. He now let me

know his intentions of remainingin London, and that he never

meant to return to Philadelphia.He had broughtno money with

him, the whole he could muster havingbeen expendedin pay-ing

his passage. I had fifteenpistoles;3so he borrowed occasion-ally

of me to subsistwhile he was lookingout for business. He.

firstendeavored to get into the playhouse,believinghimself quali-fiedfor an actor ; but Wilkes,4to whom he applied,advised him

candidlynot to think of that employment,as it was impossiblehe should succeed in it. Then he proposedto Roberts,a pub-lisher

in Paternoster Row, to write for him a weeklypaper like

the "

Spectator,"on certain conditions which Roberts did not ap-prove.

Then he endeavored to get employment as a hackneywriter,5to copy for the stationersand lawyersabout the Temple,6but could find no vacancy.

1 The owners or proprietorsof Pennsylvania,which Charles II. had givenWilliam Penn, were Penn's sons. They lived in England.

2 A street in London.

3 A pistolewas a Spanishgoldcoin worth about four dollars.

4 A comedian of some note.

5 A hackneywriter,or hack writer,is one employedto write accordingto

direction. 6 Inns of Court in London, occupiedby lawyers.


I immediatelygot into work at Palmer's,then a famous printinghouse in Bartholomew Close,and here I continued near a year.

I was prettydiligent,but spent with Ralph a good deal of my

earningsin goingto playsand other placesof amusement. We

had togetherconsumed all my pistoles,and now justrubbed on

from hand to mouth. He seemed quiteto forgethis wife and

child,and I,by degrees,my engagements with Miss Read, to

whom I never wrote more than one letter,and that was to let her

know I was not likelysoon to return. This was another of the

greaterrata of my life,which I should wish to correct ifI were

to live it over again. In fact,by our expenses I was constantlykeptunable to pay my passage.

At Palmer's I was employedin composing1 for the second edi-tion

of Wollaston's " Religionof Nature." Some of his reason-ings

not appearingto me well founded,I wrote a littlemetaphys-ical

piece,in which I made remarks on them. It was entitled," Dissertation on Libertyand Necessity,Pleasure and Pain." I

inscribed it to my friend Ralph; I printeda small number. It

occasioned my beingmore considered by Mr. Palmer as a young

man of some ingenuity,though he seriouslyexpostulatedwith

me upon the principlesof my pamphlet,which to him appearedabominable. My printingthispamphletwas another erratum.

While I lodgedin Little Britain I made an acquaintancewith

one Wilcox,a bookseller,whose shop was at the next door. He

had an immense collection of secondhand books. Circulatinglibrarieswere not then in use ; but we agreedthat,on certainrea-sonable

terms, which I have now forgotten,I mighttake,read,and return any of his books. This I esteemed a greatadvantage,and I made as much use of itas I could.

My pamphletfallinginto the hands of one Lyons,a surgeon,

author of a book entitled " The Infallibilityof Human Judgment,'ît occasioned an acquaintancebetween us. He took greatnotice

of me, called on me often to converse on those subjects,carried

me to the Horns, a pale-alehouse in Lane, Cheapside,and

1 Settingtype.


introduced me to Dr. Mandeville,author of the " Fable of the

Bees,"who had a club there,of which he was the soul,beinga most facetious,entertainingcompanion. Lyons,too,introduced

me to Dr. Pemberton,at Batson's Coffee-house,who promisedto giveme an opportunity,some time or other,of seeingSir

Isaac Newton, of which I was extremelydesirous ; but this never

happened.I had broughtover a few curiosities,among which the princi-palwas a purse made of the asbestos,which purifiesby fire. Sir

Hans Sloane * heard of it,came to see me, and invited me to his

house in BloomsburySquare,where he showed me allhis curios-ities,

and persuadedme to let him add that to the number, for

which he paidme handsomely.P In our house there lodgeda young woman, a milliner,who, I

think,had a shopin the Cloisters. She had been genteellybred,was sensibleand lively,and of most pleasingconversation. Ralphread playsto her in the evenings; theygrew intimate ; she took

another lodging,and he followed her. They lived togethersometime ; but,he beingstillout of business,and her income not suf-ficient

to maintain them with her child,he took a resolution of

goingfrom London to tryfor a countryschool,which he thoughthimself well qualifiedto 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 unwillingto have itknown 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 letterfrom

him,acquaintingme that he was settled in a small village,(in

1 A celebrated physicianand naturalist. To him Franklin wrote :

" Sir : Havinglatelybeen in the northern partsof America, I have broughtfrom thence a purse made of the asbestos,. . .

calledby the inhabitants ' sala-mander

cotton.' As you are noted to be a lover of curiosities,I have informed

you of this ; and ifyou have any inclination to purchaseor see it,let me know

your pleasureby a line for me at the Golden Fan, Little Britain,and I will

wait upon you with it. I am, sir,your most humble servant," B. Franklin."


Berkshire,I think itwas, where he taughtreadingand writingtoten or a dozen boys,at sixpenceeach per week,)recommendingMrs. T to my care, and desiringme to write to him,directingfor Mr. Franklin,Schoolmaster,at such a place.

He continued to write frequently,sendingme largespecimensof an epicpoem which he was then composing,and desiringmyremarks and corrections. These I gave him from time to time,but endeavored rather to discouragehis proceeding.One of

Young'sn satires was then justpublished.I copiedand sent him

a greatpart of it,which set in a strong lightthe follyof pursuingthe Muses with any hope of advancement by them. All was in

vain ; sheets of the poem continued to come by every post.A breach at last arose between us ; and,when he returned again

to London, he let me know he thoughtI had canceled all the

obligationshe had been under to me. So I found I was never to

expect his repayingme what I lent to him or advanced for him.

This,however,was not then of much consequence, as he was

totallyunable ; and in the loss of his friendshipI found myselfrelieved from a burden, I now began to think of gettinga little

money beforehand ; and,expectingbetter work,I leftPalmer's to

work at Watts's,near Lincoln's Inn Fields,a stillgreaterprint-inghouse. Here I continued all the rest of my stay in London.

" At my firstadmission into thisprintinghouse I took to work-ing

at press,1imaginingI felta want of the bodilyexerciseI had

been used to in America,where press work ismixed with compos-ing.

I drank onlywater ; the other workmen, near fiftyin num-ber,

were great guzzlersof beer. On occasion,I carried up and

down stairsa largeform of typesin each hand,when others car-ried

but one in both hands. They wondered to see, from this

and several instances,that the "Water- American,"as theycalled

me, was strongerthan themselves,who drank strong beer! We

had an alehouse boy who attended alwaysin the house to sup-ply

the workmen. My companion at the press drank every day

a pintbefore breakfast,a pintat breakfast with his bread and

1 This press is now preservedat the Patent Office in Washington.


cheese,a pintbetween breakfast and dinner,a pintat dinner,a

pintin the afternoon about sixo'clock,and another when he had

done his day'swork. I thoughtit a detestable custom ; but it

was necessary, he supposed,to drink strong beer that he mightbe

strong to labor. I endeavored to convince him that the bodilystrengthafforded by beer could onlybe in proportionto the

grainor flour of the barleydissolved in the water of which it

was made ; that there was more flour in a pennyworthof bread ;

and therefore,ifhe would eat that with a pintof water,itwould

givehim more strengththan a quart of beer. He drank on, how-ever,

and had four or five shillingsto pay out of his wages every

Saturdaynightfor that muddlingliquor"an expense I was free

from. And thus these poor devils keep themselves alwaysunder.

Watts after some weeks desiringto have me in the composing

room, I left the pressmen ; a new bien venu^-or sum for drink,

beingfive shillings,was demanded of me by the compositors.I

thoughtitan imposition,as I had paidbelow ; the master thought

so too, and forbade my payingit. I stood out two or three

weeks,was accordinglyconsidered as an excommunicate,and had

so many littlepiecesof privatemischief done me, by mixingmysorts,2transposingmy pages, breakingmy matter, etc.,if I were

ever so littleout of the room, and all ascribed to the chapel3

ghost,which theysaid ever haunted those not regularlyadmitted;

that,notwithstandingthe master's protection,I found myself

obligedto comply and pay the money, convinced of the follyof

beingon illterms with those one is to livewith continually.I was now on a fairfootingwith them,and soon acquiredcon*

siderable influence. I proposedsome reasonable alterationsin

theirchapellaws,and carried them againstallopposition.From

1 A French expressionmeaning" welcome."

2 Pieces in a font of type.3 " A printinghouse used to be called a chapelby the workmen, and a

journeyman,on enteringa printinghouse, was accustomed to pay one oi

more gallonsof beer' forthe goodof the chapel/"" W. F. Franklin, quoted

by Bigelow.


my example,a greatpart of them lefttheir muddlingbreakfastofbeer and bread and cheese,findingtheycould with me be sup-plied

from a neighboringhouse with a largeporringerof hot

water gruel,sprinkledwith pepper, crumbed with bread,and a bit

of butter in it,for the priceof a pintof beer,namely,three half-pence.

This was a more comfortable as well as cheaperbreak-fast,

and kepttheirheads clearer. Those who continued sottingwith beer all day were often,by not paying,out of credit at the

alehouse,and used to make interestwith me to get beer,their" light,"as theyphrasedit," beingout." I watched the pay table

on Saturdaynight,and collected what I stood engagedfor them,

havingto pay sometimes near thirtyshillingsa week on their ac-counts.

This,and my beingesteemed a prettygood " riggite,"" that

is,a jocularverbal satirist," supportedmy consequence in the so-ciety.

My constant attendance (Inever making a SaintMonday !)recommended me to the master; and my uncommon quicknessat composingoccasioned my being put upon all work of dis-patch,

which was generallybetter paid. So I went on now very

agreeably.

My lodgingin LittleBritain beingtoo remote, I found another

in Duke Street,oppositeto the Romish Chapel.It was two pairof stairsbackward,at an Italian warehouse. A widow ladykeptthe house ; she had a daughter,and a maidservant,and a journey-man

who attended the warehouse,but lodged abroad. After

sendingto inquiremy character at the house where I lastlodged,she agreedto take me in at the same rate,three shillingsand six-pence

per week ; cheaper,as she said,from the protectionshe ex-pected

in havinga man lodgein the house. She was a widow, an

elderlywoman ; had been bred a Protestant,beinga clergyman's

daughter,but was converted to the Catholic religionby her hus-band,

whose memory she much revered ; had lived much among

peopleof distinction,and knew a thousand anecdotes of them as

1 "Never making,"etc.,i.e.,never making a holidayof Monday. The

heavy drinkers of Saturdaynightand Sunday needed Monday to recover

from their excesses.

%


far back as the time of Charles II. She was lame in her knees

with the gout, and,therefore,seldom stirredout of her room, so

sometimes wanted company; and hers was so highlyamusingto me that I was sure to spendan eveningwith her whenever she

desired it. Our supper was onlyhalf an anchovyeach,on a very

littlestripof bread and butter,and half a pintof ale between us ;

but the entertainment was in her conversation. My alwayskeep-ing

good hours,and givinglittletrouble in the family,made her

unwillingto part with me ; so that,when I talked of a lodgingIhad heard of,nearer my business,for two shillingsa week,which,intent as I now was on savingmoney, made some difference,she

bid me not think of it,for she would abate me two shillingsa

week for the future ; so I remained with her at one shillingand

sixpenceas longas I stayedin London.

In a garretof her house there lived a maiden lady of seventy,in the most retired manner, of whom my landladygave me this

account : she was a Roman Catholic,had been sent abroad when

young, and lodged in a nunnery with an intent of becominga nun ; but,the country not agreeingwith her,she returned to

England,where,there beingno nunnery, she had vowed to lead

the life of a nun, as near as might be done in those circum-stances.

Accordingly,she had givenallher estate to charitable

uses, reservingonlytwelve pounds a year to live on, and out of

this sum she stillgave a great deal in charity,livingherself on

water gruelonly,and usingno firebut to boil it. She had lived

many years in that garret,beingpermittedto remain there gratis

by successive Catholic tenants of the house below, as theydeemed it a blessingto have her there. A priestvisitedher to

confess her every day." I have asked her,"says my landlady,

" how she,as she lived,could possiblyfind so much employmentfor a confessor." " Oh," said she,"it isimpossibleto avoid vain

thoughts."I was permittedonce to visither. She was cheerful

and polite,and conversed pleasantly.The room was clean,but

had no other furniture than a mattress,a table with a crucifixand

book,a stool which she gave me to siton, and a pictureover the


chimneyof St. Veronica * displayingher handkerchief,with the

miraculous figureof Christ's bleedingface on it,which she ex-plained

to me with great seriousness. She looked pale,but was

never sick; and I giveitas another instance on how small an in-come

lifeand health may be supported.At Watts's printinghouse I contracted an acquaintancewith

an ingeniousyoung man, one Wygate,who, havingwealthyrela-tions,

had been better educated than most printers," was a toler-able

Latinist,spokeFrench,and loved reading. I taughthim

and a friend of histo swim at twice goinginto the river,and theysoon became good swimmers. They introduced me to some gen-tlemen

from the country,who went to Chelsea 2 by water to see

the collegeand Don Saltero's3curiosities. In our return,at the

requestof the company, whose curiosityWygate had excited,I

strippedand leapedinto the river,and swam from near Chelsea

to Blackfriar's,4performingon the way many feats of activity,both upon and under the water, that surprisedand pleasedthose

to whom theywere novelties.

I had from a child been ever delightedwith thisexercise,had

studied and practicedall Thevenot's motions and positions,and

added some of my own, aimingat the gracefuland easy as well as

the useful. All these I took thisoccasion of exhibitingto the com-pany,

and was much flatteredby theiradmiration ; and Wygate,who was desirous of becoming a master, grew more and more at-tached

to me on that account, as well as from the similarityof

our studies. He at lengthproposedto me travelingall over

Europetogether,supportingourselves everywhereby workingat

our business. I was once inclined to it; but,mentioningit to

1 The woman who, accordingto legend,wiped the face of Jesuson his

way to Calvary,and carried away the likeness of his face,which had been

miraculouslyprintedon the cloth.

2 A suburb of London, north of the Thames.

3 Don Saltero had been a servant to Sir Hans Slpane,and had learned

from him to treasure curiosities. He now had a coffeehouse at Chelsea.

4 A name givento a partof London. The distance Franklin swam was

about three miles.


my good friend,Mr. Denham, with whom I often spent an hour

when I had leisure,he dissuaded me from it,advisingme to think

onlyof returningto Pennsylvania,which he was now about to do.

I must record one traitof this good man's character. He had

formerlybeen in business at Bristol,but failed,in debt to a num-ber

of people,compounded,and went to America. There,by a

close applicationto business as a merchant,he acquireda plenti-fulfortune in a few years. Returningto Englandin the shipwith

me, he invited his old creditorsto an entertainment,at which he

thanked them for the easy composition1 theyhad favored him

with,and,when theyexpectednothingbut the treat,every man

at the firstremove found under his platean order on a banker

for the full amount of the unpaidremainder,with interest.

He now told me he was about to return to Philadelphia,and

should carry over a great quantityof goods,in order to open a

store there. He proposedto take me over as his clerk,to keephis books (inwhich he would instructme),copy his letters,and

attend the store. He added that,as soon as I should be ac-quainted

with mercantile business,he would promote me by send-ing

me with a cargo of flour and bread,etc.,to the West Indies,and procure me commissions from others which would be profit-able;

and, if I managed well,would establish me handsomely.The thingpleasedme, for I was grown tiredof London, remem-bered

with pleasurethe happy months I had spent in Pennsyl-vania,and wished againto see it; therefore I immediatelyagreed

on the terms of fiftypounds a year, Pennsylvaniamoney ; less,

indeed,than my presentgettingsas a compositor,but affording

a better prospect.I now took leave of printing,as I thought,forever,and was

dailyemployedin my new business,goingabout with Mr. Den-ham

among the tradesmen to purchasevarious articles,and see-ing

them packed up, doing errands,callingupon workmen to

dispatch,etc. ; arid,when all was on board,I had a few days'leisure. On one of these days,I was, to my surprise,sent for by

l Settlement.


a greatman I knew onlyby name, a Sir William Wyndham, and

I waited upon him. He had heard by some means or other of

my swimming from Chelsea to Blackfriar's,and of my teachingWygate and another young man to swim in a few hours. He

had two sons about to set out on their travels; he wished to have

them firsttaughtswimming,and proposed to gratify1 me hand-somely

if I would teach them. They were not yet come to town,and my staywas uncertain,so I could not undertake it; but from

thisincident I thoughtitlikelythat,if I were to remain in Eng-landand open a swimmingschool,I might get a good deal of

money ; and itstruck me so stronglythat,had the overture been

sooner made me, probablyI should not so soon have returned to

America. After many years, you and I had somethingof more

importanceto 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 eighteenmonths in London ; most part of

the time I worked hard at my business,and spent but littleupon

myselfexcept in seeingplaysand in books. My friend Ralphhad kept me poor; he owed me about twenty-sevenpounds,which I was now never likelyto receive," a greatsum out of my

small earnings!I loved him,notwithstanding,for he had many

amiable qualities.I had by no means improvedmy fortune;

but I had pickedup some very ingeniousacquaintance,whose

conversation was of greatadvantageto me ; and I had read con-siderably.

We sailedfrom Gravesend on the 23d of July,1726. For the

incidents of the voyage I refer you to my journal,where you will

find them allminutelyrelated. Perhapsthe most importantpartof that journalis the plan2to be found in it,which I formed at

sea, for regulatingmy future conduct in life. It isthe more re-markable,

as beingformed when I was so young, and yet being

prettyfaithfullyadhered to quitethroughto old age.

1 Pay. 2 This planhas never been found.


" 4. IN PHILADELPHIA AND IN BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF.

WE landed in Philadelphiaon the nth of October,where I

found sundryalterations. Keith was no longergovernor,

beingsupersededby Major Gordon. I met him walkingthe streets

as a common citizen. He seemed a littleashamed at seeingme,but passedwithout sayinganything.I should have been as much

ashamed at seeingMiss Read, had not her friends,despairingwith reason of my return after the receiptof my letter,persuadedher to marry another,one Rogers,a potter,which was done in

my absence. With him, however, she was never happy,and

soon partedfrom him,refusingto bear his name, it beingnow

said that he had another wife. He was a worthless fellow,

thoughan excellent workman, which was the temptationto her

friends. He got into debt,ran away in 1727 or 1728,went to

the West Indies,and died there. Keimer had got a betterhouse,

a shop well suppliedwith stationery,plentyof new types,a

number of hands,thoughnone good,and seemed to have a great

deal of business.

Mr. Denham took a store in Water Street,where we opened

our goods; I attended the business diligently,studied accounts,

and grew, in a littletime,expert at selling.We lodged and

boarded together; he counseled me as a father,havinga sincere

regardfor me. I respectedand loved him,and we mighthave

gone on togethervery happy; but,in the beginningof February,

1 72-f-j1when I had justpassedmy twenty-firstyear, we were both

taken ill. My distemperwas a pleurisy,which very nearlycar-ried

me off. I suffered a good deal,gave up the pointin my own

mind,and was rather disappointedwhen I found myselfrecover-

1 This method of expressionwas adoptedon the reformation of the calen-dar

in Englandin 1752. It shows in this case that the Februarywas of the

year 1726accordingto the old style,and 1727 accordingto the new calendar.

The year 1751 began on the 25thof March, the former New-Year's Day,and

ended,by act of Parliament,at the 1st of January,1752.


ing,regretting,in some degree,that I must now, some time or

other,have all that disagreeablework to do over again.I forgetwhat his distemperwas ; itheld him a longtime,and at lengthcarried him off. He leftme a small legacyin a nuncupative1 will,as a token of his kindness for me, and he left me once more to

the wide world ; for the store was taken into the care of his ex-ecutors,

and my employmentunder him ended.

My brother-in-law,Holmes,beingnow at Philadelphia,advised

my return to my business ; and Keimer temptedme, with an offer

of largewages by the year, to come and take the management

of his printinghouse,that he mightbetter attend his stationer's

shop. I had heard a bad character of him in London from his

wife and her friends,and was not fond of havingany more to do

with him. I triedfor further employmentas a merchant's clerk ;

but,not readilymeetingwith any, I closed againwith Keimer.

I found in his house these hands: Hugh Meredith,a Welsh

Pennsylvanian,thirtyyears of age, bred to country work ; honest,

sensible,had a greatdeal of solid observation,was somethingof

a reader,but givento drink. StephenPotts,a young country-man

of fullage, bred to the same, of uncommon natural parts,

and greatwit and humor, but a littleidle. These he had agreedwith at extremelylow wages per week, to be raised a shilling

every three months,as theywould deserve by improvingin their

business;and the expectationof these highwages, to come on

hereafter,was what he had drawn them in with. Meredith was

to work at press, Potts at bookbinding,which he,by agreement,

was to teach them, though he knew neither one nor the other.

John ,a wild Irishman,broughtup to no business,whose

service,for four years, Keimer had purchased2 from the captainof a ship; he,too, was to be made a pressman. George Webb,

an Oxford scholar,whose time for four years he had likewise

1 Declared by word of mouth, not written.

2 Those who were unable to pay for their passage by shipfrom one coun-try

to another,sometimes sold their service for a term of years to the captain

who broughtthem over.


bought,intendinghim for a compositor,of whom more presently;and David Harry,a country boy,whom he had taken apprentice.

I soon perceivedthat the intention of engagingme at wages

so much higherthan he had been used to givewas to have these

raw, cheaphands formed throughme ; and, as soon as I had in-structed

them, then theybeingall articled x to him,he should be

able to do without me. I went on, however,very cheerfully,puthis printinghouse in order,which had been in great confusion,and broughthis hands by degreesto mind their business and to

do itbetter.

It was an odd thingto find an Oxford scholar in the situation

of a bought servant. He was not more than eighteenyearsof age, and gave me this account of himself: he was born in

Gloucester,educated at a grammar school there,and had been dis-tinguished

among the scholars for some apparent superiorityin

performinghis part when theyexhibited plays. He belongedto

the WittyClub there,and had written some piecesin prose and

verse, which were printedin the Gloucester newspapers. Thence

he was sent to Oxford,where he continued about a year, but not

well satisfied,wishingof allthingsto see London, and become a

player.At length,receivinghis quarterlyallowance of fifteen

guineas,2instead of discharginghis debts he walked out of town,

hid his gown in a furze bush,and footed it to London, where,

havingno friends to advise him, he fellinto bad company, soon

spent his guineas,found no means of beingintroduced among

the players,grew necessitous,pawned his clothes,and wanted

bread. Walking the street very hungry,and not knowing what

to do with himself,a crimp's3 billwas put into his hand,offeringimmediate entertainment and encouragement to such as would

bind themselves to serve in America. He went directly,signedthe indentures,was put into the ship,and came over, never writ-

1 Bound by articlesof apprenticeship.2 The guineacontains twenty-one shillings,while the pound has twenty.3 A crimpis one who bringsrecruits to the army or sailors to shipsby false

inducements.


inga line to acquainthis friends what was become of him. He

was lively,witty,good-natured,and a pleasantcompanion,but

idle,thoughtless,and imprudentto the last degree.

John,the Irishman,soon ran away ; with the rest I began to

live very agreeably,for theyall respectedme the more as theyfound Keimer incapableof instructingthem, and that from me

theylearned somethingdaily.We never worked on Saturday,that beingKeimer's Sabbath,so I had two days for reading.

My acquaintancewith ingeniouspeoplein the town increased.

Keimer himself treated me wTithgreat civilityand apparent re-gard,

and nothingnow made me uneasy but my debt to Vernon,which I was yet unable to pay, beinghitherto but a poor econo-mist.

He, however,kindlymade no demand of it.

Our printinghouse often wanted sorts,and there was no let-ter

foundei in America. I had seen types cast at James'sin

London, but without much attention to the manner ; however,I

now contrived a mold, made use of the letterswe had as punch-eons,struck the matrices 1 in lead,and thus suppliedin a pretty

tolerable way alldeficiencies. I also engravedseveral thingsonoccasion ; I made the ink ; I was warehouseman,2and everything,

and,in short,quitea factotum.

But,however serviceable I mightbe,I found that my services

became every day of lessimportance,as the other hands improvedin the business;and when Keimer paid my second quarter's

wages he letme know that he feltthem too heavy,and thoughtI should make an abatement. He grew by degreeslesscivil,puton more of the master, frequentlyfound fault,was captious,and

seemed readyfor an outbreaking.I went on, nevertheless,with

a good deal of patience,thinkingthat his encumbered circum-stances

were partlythe cause. At lengtha triflesnapped our

connections ; for,a great noise happeningnear the courthouse,I put my head out of the window to see what was the matter.

Keimer,beingin the street,looked up and saw me, and called out

to me in a loud voice and angry tone to mind my business,adding1 Molds. 2 Here used for salesman.


some reproachfulwords that nettled me the more for their pub-licity,all the neighbors,who were lookingout on the same occa-sion,

beingwitnesses how I was treated. He came up immedi-ately

into the printinghouse ; continued the quarrel; highwords

passedon both sides. He gave me the quarter'swarningwe had

stipulated,expressinga wish that he had not been obligedto so

longa warning. I told him that his wish was unnecessary, for

I would leave him that instant; and so, takingmy hat,walked

out of doors,desiringMeredith,whom I saw below,to take care

of some thingsI left,and bringthem to my lodgings.Meredith came accordinglyin the evening,when we talked my

affair over. He had conceived a greatregardfor me, and was

very unwillingthat I should leave the house while he remained

in it. He dissuaded me from returningto my native country,which I began to think of; he reminded me that Keirner was in

debt for allhe possessed; that his creditorsbegan to be uneasy ;

that he kepthis shop miserably,sold often without profitfor

readymoney, and often trusted without keepingaccounts ; that

he must therefore fail,which would make a vacancy I might

profitof. IKobjectedmy want of money. He then letme know

that his father had a highopinionof me, and, from some dis-course

that had passedbetween them,he was sure wc old advance

money to set us up, if I would enter into partnershipwith him.

" My time,"says he," willbe out with Keimer in the spring; by

that time we may have our press and typesin from London. I

am sensible I am no workman ; if you like it,your skill in the

business shall be set againstthe stock I furnish,and we will share

the profitsequally."The proposalwas agreeable,and I consented. His father was

in town, and approvedof it,the more as he saw I had great in-fluence

with his son, had prevailedon him to abstain longfrom

dram drinking,and he hoped mightbreak him of that wretched

habit entirelywhen we came to be so closelyconnected. I gave

an inventoryto the father,who carried it to a merchant; the

thingswere sent for,the secret was to be kept tilltheyshould


arrive,and in the mean time I was to get work,if I could,atthe other printinghouse. But I found no vacancy there,and so

remained idle a few days,when Keimer, on a prospect of beingemployedto printsome paper money in New Jersey,which would

requirecuts and various typesthat I onlycould supply,and ap-prehendingBradford mightengage me and get the jobfrom him,

sent me a very civilmessage, that old friends should not part for

a few words,the effect of sudden passion,and wishingme to re-

tunio Meredith persuadedme to comply,as itwould givemore

opportunityfor his improvementunder my dailyinstructions; so

I returned,and we went on more smoothlythan for some time

before. The New Jerseyjob was obtained,I contrived a cop-perplate

press for it,the firstthat had been seen in the country;I cut several ornaments and checks 1 for the bills. We went to-gether

to Burlington,where I executed the whole to satisfaction;

and he received so largea sum for the work as to be enabled

therebyto keephis head much longerabove waterc

At BurlingtonI made an acquaintancewith many principalpeopleof the province0Several of them had been appointedbythe Assemblya committee to attend the press, and take care that

no more billswere printedthan the law directed. They were

therefore,by turns,constantlywith us, and generallyhe who at-tended

broughtwith him a friend or two for company. My mind

havingbeen much more improvedby readingthan Keimer's,I

suppose it was for that reason my conversation seemed to be

more valued. They had me to their houses,introduced me to

theirfriends,and showed me much civility; while he,thoughthe

master,was a littleneglected.In truth,he was an odd fish; igno-rantof common life,fond of rudelyopposingreceived opinions,

slovenlyto extreme dirtiness,enthusiasticin some pointsof re-ligion,

and a littleknavish withal.

We continued there near three months ; and by that time I could

reckon among my acquiredfriendsJudge Allen,Samuel Bustill,

the secretaryot the province,Isaac Pearson,JosephCooper,and

1 Marks or registersby which a billmay be identified.


severalof the Smiths,members of Assembly,and Isaac Decow,

the surveyor general.The latter was a shrewd,sagaciousold

man, who told me that he began for himself,when young, by

wheelingclayfor the brickmakers,learned to write after he was

of age, carried the chain for surveyors, who taughthim survey-ing,

and he had now by his industryacquireda good estate ; and

says he, " I foresee that you will soon work thisman out of his

business,and make a fortune in itat Philadelphia."He had not

then the least intimation of my intention to set up there or any-where.

These friends were afterward of greatuse to me, as I

occasionallywas to some of them. They allcontinued theirre-gard

for me as longas theylived.

Before I enter upon my publicappearance in business,it maybe well to let you know the then state of my mind with regard

to my principlesand morals,that you may see how far those in-fluenced

the future events of my life. My parents had early

given me religiousimpressions,and brought me throughmychildhood piouslyin the Dissenting1 way. But I was scarce fif-teen

when, after doubtingby turns of several points,as I found

them disputedin the different books I read,I began to doubt of

revelationitself.Some books againstDeism 2 fellinto my hands ;

theywere said to be the substance of sermons preachedat Boyle'sLectures. It happenedthat theywroughtan effecton me quite

contrary to what was intended by them; for the arguments of

the Deists,which were quoted to be refuted,appearedto me

much stronger than the refutations; in short,I soon became a

thoroughDeist. My arguments pervertedsome others,particu-larlyCollins and Ralph; but,each of them having afterward

wronged me greatlywithout the leastcompunction,and recollect-ing

Keith's conduct toward me (who was another freethinker),and my own toward Vernon and Miss Read, which at times

gave me great trouble,I began to suspect that this doctrine,

1 See Note 3, p. 19.2 Belief in the existence of a personalGod,but denyingrevelation.


thoughitmightbe true,was not very useful. My London pam-phlet,

which had for itsmotto these lines of Dryden :

" Whatever is,isright. Though purblindmanSees but a part o* the chain,the nearest link:

His eyes not carryingto the equalbeamThat poisesallabove; "l

and from the attributes of God, his infinitewisdom,goodness,and power, concluded that nothingcould possiblybe wrong in

the world,and that vice and virtue were empty distinctions,no

such thingsexisting,appearednow not so clever a performanceas I once thoughtit; and I doubted whether some error had not

insinuated itselfunperceivedinto my argument, so as to infectall

:.that followed,as is common in metaphysicalreasonings.

J/ I grew convinced that truth,sincerity,and integrityin dealingsbetween man and man were of the utmost importanceto the felic-ity

of life; and I formed written resolutions,which stillremain

in my journalbook, to practicethem ever while I lived. Reve-lation

had indeed no weightwith me as such ; but I entertained

an opinionthat,M;houghcertain actions mightnot be bad because

theywere forbidden by it,or good because itcommanded them,

yetprobablythose actions mightbe forbidden because theywere

bad for us, or commanded because theywere beneficialto us, in

their own natures,all the circumstances of thingsconsideredÂnd thispersuasion,with the kind hand of Providence,or some

guardianangel,or accidental favorable circumstances and situa-tions,

or alltogether," preservedme, throughthisdangeroustime

of youthand the hazardous situationsI was sometimes in among

strangers,remote from the eye and advice of my father,without

1 " Whatever is,is in its causes just,Since allthingsare by fate. But purblindmanSees but a parto' the chain,the nearest links ;

His eyes not carryingto the equalbeam

That poisesallabove."

Dryden, (Edipus,act iii.sc. I.


any willful grossimmoralityor injustice,that might have been

expectedfrom my want of religion.I say willful,because the

instances I have mentioned had somethingof necessityin them,from my youth,inexperience,and the knaveryof others. I had,

therefore,a tolerable character to beginthe world with ; I valued

itproperly,and determined to preserve it.

We had not been longreturned to Philadelphiabefore the new

types arrived from London. We settled with Keimer, and left

him by his consent before he heard of it. We found a house to

hire near the market,and took it. To lessen the rent,which was

then but twenty-fourpounds a year, thoughI have since known

it to let for seventy,we took in Thomas Godfrey,a glazier,and

his family,who were to pay a considerable part of it to us, and

we to board with them. We had scarce opened our lettersand

put our press in order,before George House, an acquaintanceof

mine,broughta countryman to us, whom he had met in the street

inquiringfor a printer.All our cash was now expendedin the

varietyof particularswe had been obligedto procure, and this

countryman'sfive shillings,beingour firstfruits,and coming so

seasonably,gave me more pleasurethan any crown I have since

earned ; and the gratitudeI felttoward House has made me often

more readythan perhapsI should otherwise have been to assist

young beginners.There are croakers in every country,alwaysboding itsruin.

Such a one then lived in Philadelphia,a person of note, an

elderlyman, with a wise look and a very grave manner of speak-ing.His name was Samuel Mickle. This gentleman,a stranger

to me, stoppedone day at my door,and asked me if I was the

young man who had latelyopened a new printinghouse. Beinganswered in the affirmative,he said he was sorry for me, because

itwas an expensiveundertaking,and the expense would be lost;

for Philadelphiawas a sinkingplace,the peoplealreadyhalf

bankrupts,or near being so, all appearances to the contrary,such as new buildingsand the riseof rents,beingto his certain

knowledgefallacious;for theywere, in fact,among the things


that would soon ruin us. And he gave me such a detailof mis-fortunes

now existing,or that were soon to exist,that he left me

half melancholy. Had I known him before I engaged in this

business,probablyI never should have done it. This man con-tinued

to live in thisdecayingplace,and to declaim in the same

strain,refusingfor many years to buy a house there,because all

was goingto destruction; and at lastI had the pleasureof seeinghim givefive times as much for one as he mighthave boughtitfor when he firstbegan his croaking.

I should have mentioned before,that in the autumn of the

precedingyear I had formed most of my ingeniousacquaint-anceinto a club of mutual improvement,which we called the

" Junto."1 We met on Fridayevenings.The rules that I drew up

requiredthat every member, in his turn,should produceone or

more querieson any pointof morals,politics,or natural philoso-phy,to be discussed by the company ; and once in three months

produceand read an essay of his own writing,on any subjecthe

pleased.Our debates were to be under the direction of a presi-dent,and to be conducted in the sincere spiritof inquiryafter

truth,without fondness for disputeor desire of victory; and, to

prevent warmth, all expressionsof positivenessin opinions,ordirectcontradiction,were after some time made contraband,and

prohibitedunder small pecuniarypenalties.11The firstmembers were : JosephBreintnal,a copierof deeds

for the scriveners,a good-natured,friendly,middle-agedman, a

great lover of poetry,readingall he could meet with,and writ-ing

some that was tolerable;very ingeniousin many littleknick-

knackeries,and of sensible conversation. Thomas Godfrey,a

self-taughtmathematician,great in his way, and afterward in-ventor

of what is now called Hadley'sQuadrant.2 But he

knew littleout of his way, and was not a pleasingcompanion;

as, likemost greatmathematicians I have met with,he expected

1 The word means an assemblyof persons engagedfor a common pur-pose.

It is from the Spanishjunta(" a council ").2 An instrument used in navigationfor measuringthe altitude of the sun.


universal precisionin everythingsaid,or was forever denyingor distinguishingupon trifles,to the disturbance of all con-versation.

He soon left us. Nicholas Scull,a surveyor, after-ward

surveyor general,who loved books,and sometimes made

a few verses. William Parsons,bred a shoemaker,but loving

reading,had acquireda considerable share of mathematics,

which he firststudied with a view to astrologythat he after-ward

laughedat. He also became surveyor general.William

Maugridge,a joiner,a most exquisitemechanic,and a solid,

sensible man. Hugh Meredith,StephenPotts,and GeorgeWebb

I have characterized before. Robert Grace,a young gentlemanof some fortune,generous, lively,and witty; a lover of punningand of hisfriends. And William Coleman,then a merchant's clerk,

about my age, who had the coolest,clearesthead,the best heart,

and the exactest morals of almost any man I ever met with. He

became afterward a merchant of great note, and one of our pro-vincial

judges.Our friendshipcontinued without interruptionto

his death,upward of fortyyears ; and the club continued almost

as long,and was the best school of philosophy,morality,and poli-ticsthat then existed in the province; for our queries,which were

read the week precedingtheir discussion,put us upon readingwith

attention upon the several subjects,that we mightspeakmore to

the purpose ; and here,too,we acquiredbetter habits of conversa-tion,

everythingbeingstudied in our rules which mightpreventour disgustingeach other. From hence the longcontinuance of

the club,which I shall have frequentoccasion to speakfurther of

hereafter.

But my givingthisaccount of ithere is to show somethingof

the interestI had, every one of these exertingthemselves in

recommending business to us. Breintnal particularlyprocured

us from the Quakersthe printingfortysheets of their history,the

rest beingto be done by Keimer ; and upon thiswe worked ex-ceedingly

hard,for the pricewas low. It was a folio,pro patria

size,in pica,with longprimernotes. I composedof it a sheet a

day,and Meredith worked itoff at press ; itwas often eleven at


night,and sometimes later,before I had finishedmy distribution1

for the next day'swork,for the littlejobs sent in by our other

friends now and then put us back. But so determined I was to

continue doing a sheet a day of the foliothat one night,when,

havingimposed2 my forms,I thoughtmy day'swork over, one

of them by accident was broken,and two pages reduced to pi,3I immediatelydistributed and composed it over againbefore I

went to bed ; and thisindustry,visibleto our neighbors,beganto

giveus character and credit; particularly,I was told,that men-tion

beingmade of the new printingoffice at the merchants'

Every-NightClub,the generalopinionwas that itmust fail,there

beingalreadytwo printersin 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 contraryopinion:" For

the industryof that Franklin,"says he, " is superiorto anythingI ever saw of the kind ; I see him stillat work when I go home

from club,and he is at work againbefore his neighborsare out

of bed." This struck the rest,and we soon after had offers from

one of them to supplyus with stationery; but as yet we did not

choose to engage in shopbusiness.

I mention this industrythe more particularlyand the more

freely,thoughit seems to be talkingin my own praise,that those

of my posteritywho shallread itmay know the use of that virtue,when theysee itseffectsin my favor throughoutthisrelation.

GeorgeWebb, who had found a female friend that lent him

wherewith to purchasehistime of Keimer,now came to offerhim-self

as a journeymanto us. We could not then employhim ; but

I foolishlylethim know, as a secret,that I soon intended to begina newspaper, and might then have work for him. My hopesof success, as I told him,were founded on this: that the then only

newspaper, printedby Bradford,was a paltrything,wretchedly

managed,no way entertaining,and yet was profitableto him ; I

therefore thoughta good paper would scarcelyfail of good en-

1 Puttingthe types no longerneeded for printinginto the proper boxes.

2 Set up for printing. 3 Type in a jumbledmass.


couragement. I requestedWebb not to mention this; but he

told it to Keimer, who immediately,to be beforehand with me,

publishedproposalsfor printingone himself,on which Webb was

to be employed. I resented this;and, to counteract them, as

I could not yet beginour paper, I wrote several piecesof en-tertainment

for Bradford's paper, under the titleof the "

Busy

Body,"which Breintnal continued some months. By this means

the attention of the publicwas fixed on that paper, and Keimer's

proposals,which were burlesquedand ridiculed,were disregarded.He began his paper, however,and, after carryingit on three

quartersof a year, with at most onlyninetysubscribers,he offered

itto me for a trifle; and I,havingbeen readysome time to go

on with it,took it in hand directly,and itprovedin a few years

extremelyprofitableto me.1

1 perceivethat I am apt to speakin the singularnumber,

though our partnershipstillcontinued ; 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 firstpapers made a quitedifferent appearance from any

before in the province;a better type,and better printed;but

some spiritedremarks of my writing,on the dispute2 then going

on between Governor Burnet and the Massachusetts Assembly,

1 " This paper was called The Universal Instructor in allArts and Sciences

and PennsylvaniaGazette. Keimer printedhis last number " the thirty-ninth" on the twenty-fifthday of September,1729."" Bigelow.

2 The governor broughtinstructions from the kingthat his salaryshouldbe one thousand pounds. The legislatureclaimed the libertyof fixingthe

sum themselves. Franklin ended his articlewith this sentence :" Their happy

mother country will perhapsobserve with pleasurethat,thoughher gallantcocks and matchless dogsabate their natural fire and intrepiditywhen trans-ported

to a foreignclime (asthis nation is),yet her sons in the remotest partof the earth,and even to the third and fourth descent,stillretain that ardent

spiritof liberty,and that undaunted courage, which has in every age so

gloriouslydistinguishedBritons and Englishmenfrom the rest of mankind."

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 8 1

struck the principalpeople,occasioned the paper and the manager

of it to be much talked of,and in a few weeks broughtthem all

to be our subscribers.

" Their example was followed by many, and our number went

on growingcontinually.This was one of the firstgood effects

of my havinglearned a littleto scribble;n another was that the

leadingmen, seeinga newspaper now in the hands of one who

could also handle a pen, thoughtitconvenient to obligeand en-courage

me. Bradford stillprintedthe votes and laws and other

publicbusiness. He had printedan address of the House to the

governor in a coarse, blunderingmanner; we reprintedit ele-gantly

and correctly,and sent one to every member. Theywere sensible of the difference; itstrengthenedthe hands of our

friendsin the House, and theyvoted us theirprintersfor the year

ensuing.

Among my friends in the House I must not forgetMr. Ham-ilton,

before mentioned,who was then returned from England,and had a seat in it. He interested himself for me stronglyin

that instance,as he did in many others afterward,continuinghis

patronage tillhis death.1

Mr. Vernon,about thistime,put me in mind of the debt I owed

him,but did not press me. I wrote him an ingenuousletterof

acknowledgment,craved his forbearance a littlelonger,which

he allowed me, and as soon as I was able I paidthe principle,with interest,and many thanks ; so that erratum was in some de-gree

corrected.

But now another difficultycame upon me which I had never

the least reason to expect. Mr. Meredith's father,who was to

have paidfor our printinghouse,accordingto the expectations

givenme, was able to advance onlyone hundred pounds cur-rency,

which had been paid; and a hundred more was due to the

merchant,who grew impatient,and sued us all. We gave bail,but saw that,if the money could not be raised in time,the suit

1 Franklin's Note." I got his son once fivehundred pounds.


must soon come to a judgmentand execution,and our hopeful

prospects must, with us, be ruined,as the press and lettersmust

be sold for payment, perhapsat half price.In this distresstwo true friends,whose kindness I have never

forgotten,nor ever shallforgetwhile I can remember anything,came to me separately,unknown to each other,and,without any

applicationfrom me, offeringeach of them to advance me all the

money that should be necessary to enable me to take the whole

business upon myself,ifthat should be practicable; but theydid

not like my continuingthe partnershipwith Meredith,who, as

theysaid,was often seen drunk in the streets,and playingat 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 separationwhile any prospect remained of the

Merediths' fulfillingtheirpart of our agreement, because I thought

myselfunder great obligationsto them for what theyhad done

and would do if theycould; but,if theyfinallyfailed in their

performance,and our partnershipmust be dissolved,I should

then think myselfat libertyto accept the assistance of my

friends.

Thus the matter rested for some time,when I said to my part-ner," Perhapsyour father is dissatisfiedat the part you have

undertaken in thisaffairof ours, and is unwillingto advance for

you and me what he would for you alone. If that is the case,

tellme, and I will resignthe whole to you, and go about my busi-

ness." " No," said he,"

my father has reallybeen disappointed,and isreallyunable ; and I am unwillingto distresshim further.

I see thisisa business I am not fitfor. I was bred a farmer,and

it was a follyin me to come to town, and put myself,at thirty

years of age, an apprenticeto learn a new trade. Many of our

Welsh peopleare goingto settlein North Carolina,where land is

cheap. I am inclined to go with them,and follow my old em-ployment.

You may find friends to assistyou. If you will take

the debts of the company upon you, return to my father the hun-dred

pounds he has advanced,pay my littlepersonaldebts,and


giveme thirtypounds and a new saddle,I will relinquishthe

partnership,and leave the whole in your hands." I agreedto

thisproposal; itwas drawn up in writing,signed,and sealed im-mediately.

I gave him what he demanded, and he went soon

after to Carolina,from whence he sent me next year two long

letters,containingthe best account that had been givenof that

country,the climate,the soil,husbandry,etc.,for in those mat-ters

he was very judicious.I printedthem in the papers, and

theygave great satisfactionto the public.As soon as he was gone, I recurred to my two friends;and

because I would not givean unkind preferenceto either,I took

half of what each had offered and I wanted of one, and half of

the other,paidoff the company'sdebts,and went on with the

business in my own name, advertisingthat the partnershipwasdissolved. I think thiswas in or about the year 1729.

About this time there was a cry among the peoplefor more

paper money, onlyfifteen thousand pounds beingextant in the

province,and that soon to be sunk. The wealthyinhabitants

opposedany addition,beingagainstall paper currency, from an

apprehensionthat it would depreciate,as it had done in New

England,to the prejudiceof all creditors. We had discussed

thispointin our Junto,where I was on the side of an addition,

beingpersuadedthat the firstsmall sum struck in 1723 had done

much good by increasingthe trade,employment,and number of

inhabitants in the province,since I now saw all the old houses

inhabited and many new ones building; whereas,I remembered

well that when I firstwalked about the streets of Philadelphia,

eatingmy roll,I saw most of the houses in Walnut Street,be-tween

Second and Front Streets,with billson their doors," To

be Let;" and many likewise in Chestnut Street and other streets,

which made me then think the inhabitants of the citywere desert-ing

itone after another.

Our debates possessedme so fullyof the subjectthat I wrote

and printedan anonymous pamphleton it,entitled," The Nature

and Necessityof a Paper Currency." It was well received by


the common peoplein general; but the rich men disliked it,for

it increased and strengthenedthe clamor for more money, and

they,happeningto have no writers among them that were able to

answer it,their oppositionslackened,and the pointwas carried

by a majorityin the House. My friends there,who conceived I

had been of some service,thoughtfitto reward me by employingme in printingthe money, " a very profitablejoband a greathelpto me. This was another advantagegainedby my beingable to

write.

The utilityof this currency became by time and experienceso

evident as never afterward to be much disputed; so that it grew

soon to fifty-fivethousand pounds,and in 1739 to eightythousand

pounds,since which it rose duringwar to upward of three hun-dred

and fiftythousand pounds,trade,building,and inhabitants

allthe while increasing,thoughI now think there are limits,beyondwhich the quantitymay be hurtful.1

I soon after obtained,throughmy friend Hamilton,the print-ingof the Newcastle paper money, another profitablejob,as I

then thoughtit,small thingsappearinggreat to those in small

circumstances ; and these,to me, were reallygreatadvantages,as

theywere great encouragements. He procuredfor me, also,the

printingof the laws and votes of that government,2which contin-ued

in my hands as longas I followed the business.

I now openeda littlestationer'sshop. I had in itblanks of all

sorts,the correctest that ever appearedamong us, beingassisted

in that by my friend Breintnal. I had also paper, parchment,

chapmen'sbooks, etc. One Whitemash, a compositorI had

known in London, an excellent workman, now came to me, and

worked with me constantlyand diligently; and I took an appren-tice,

the son of AquilaRose.

I began now graduallyto pay off the debt I was under for the

printinghouse. In order to secure my credit and character as a

tradesman,I took care not onlyto be in realityindustrious and

1 This money had not the fullvalue of the pound sterling.2 That is,the government of Delaware.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 8 tj

frugal,but to avoid all appearances to the contrary. I dressed

plainly; I was seen at no placesof idle diversion; I never went

out a-fishingor shooting; a book,indeed,sometimes debauched

me from my work,but that was seldom,snug,1and gave no scan-dal

; and,to show that I was not above my business,I sometimes

broughthome the paper I purchasedat the stores throughthe

streets on a wheelbarrow. Thus,beingesteemed an industrious,

thrivingyoung man, and payingduly for what I bought,the

merchants who importedstationerysolicitedmy custom ; others

proposedsupplyingme with books,and I went on swimmingly.In the mean time,Keimer's credit and business decliningdaily,he was at last forced to sellhis printinghouse to satisfyhis cred-itors.

He went to Barbadoes,and there lived some years in very

poor circumstances.

His apprentice,David Harry,whom I had instructed while I

worked with him, set up in his placeat Philadelphia,having

boughthis materials. I was at firstapprehensiveof a powerfulrivalin Harry,as his friends were very able and had a good deal

of interest. I therefore proposeda partnershipto him,which he,

fortunatelyfor me, rejectedwith scorn. He was very proud,dressed like a gentleman,lived expensively,took much diversion

and pleasureabroad,ran in debt,and neglectedhis business ;

upon which,all business left him ; and,findingnothingto do,he

followed Keimer to Barbadoes,takingthe printinghouse with

him. There this apprenticeemployed his former master as a

journeyman;theyquarreledoften;Harry went continuallybe-hindhand,

and at lengthwas forced to sellhis typesand return

to his country work in Pennsylvania.The person that boughtthem employedKeimer to use them,but in a few years he died.

There remained now no competitorwith me at Philadelphiabut the old one, Bradford,who was rich and easy, did a little

printingnow and then by stragglinghands,but was not very

anxious about the business. However, as he keptthe post office,it was imaginedhe had better opportunitiesof obtainingnews.

1 In secret.


His paper was thoughta better distributerof advertisements than

mine,and therefore had many more, which was a profitablethingto him, and a disadvantageto me ; for,thoughI did indeed re-ceive

and send papers by post,yet the publicopinionwas other-wise,

for what I did send was by bribingthe riders,1who took

them privately,Bradford beingunkind enoughto forbid it,which

occasioned some resentment on my part; and I thoughtso

meanly of him for itthat,when I afterward came into his situ-ation,

I took care never to imitate it.

yI had hitherto continued to board with Godfrey,who lived in

part of my house with his wife and children,and had one side of

the shopfor his glazier'sbusiness,thoughhe worked little,being

alwaysabsorbed in his mathematics. Mrs. Godfreyprojectedamatch for me with a relation'sdaughter,and took opportunitiesof bringingus often together,tilla serious courtshipon my part

ensued,the girlbeingin herself very deserving.The old folks

ncouragedme by continual invitationsto supper, and by leav-ing

us together,tillat lengthitwas time to explain.Mrs. God-frey

managed our littletreaty. I let her know that I expectedasmuch money

n with theirdaughteras would pay off my remainingdebt for the printinghouse,which I believe was then above a

hundred pounds. She broughtme word theyhad no such sum to

spare. I said theymightmortgage their house in the loan office.

The answer to this,after some days,was that theydid not ap-prove

the match ; that,on inquiryof Bradford,theyhad been

informed the printingbusiness was not a profitableone ; the typeswould 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 daughtershut up.

Whether thiswas a real change of sentiment,or onlyartifice,

on a suppositionof our beingtoo far engagedin affection to re-tract,

and therefore that we should steal a marriage,which would

leave them at libertyto giveor withhold what theypleased,I

1 Men on horseback who carried the mail.

*"


know not ; but I suspectedthe latter,resented it,and went no

more. Mrs. Godfreybroughtme afterward some more favor-able

accounts of theirdisposition,and would have drawn me on

again; but I declared absolutelymy resolution to have nothingmore to do with that family.This was resented by the God-freys

; we differed,and theyremoved,leavingme the whole house,

and I resolved to take no more inmates.

But thisaffairhavingturned my thoughts\n mam's pp, I looked

round me and made overtures of acquaintancein other places;but soon found that,the business of a printerbeinggenerally

thoughta poor one, I was not to expect money with a wife,un-less

with such a one as I should not otherwise think agreeable.In the mean time a friendlycorrespondenceas neighborsand old

acquaintanceshad continued between me and Mr. Read's family,who all had a regardfor me from the time of my firstlodgingin their house. I was often invited there and consulted in their

affairs,wherein I sometimes was of service. I pitiedpoor Miss

Read's unfortunate situation,who was generallydejected,seldom

cheerful,and avoided company. I considered my giddinessand

inconstancywhen in London as in a greatdegreethe cause of

her unhappiness,though the mother was good enough to think

the fault more her own than mine, as she had preventedour

marryingbefore I went thither,and persuadedthe other match in

my absence. Our mutual affectionwas revived,but there were

now greatobjectionsto our union. The match 1 was indeed looked

upon as invalid,a precedingwife beingsaid to be livingin Eng-land

; but thiscould not easilybe provedbecause of the distance ;

and thoughthere was a report of his death,it was not certain.

Then,thoughitshould be true,he had leftmany debts,which his

successor mightbe called upon to pay. We ventured,however,

over all these difficulties,and I took her to wife Sept.1, 1730.

None of the inconveniences happenedthat we had apprehended;she proveda good and faithfulhelpmate,assisted me much by

attendingshop,we throve together,and have ever mutuallyen-1 Miss Reed's firstmarriage.

SS THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

deavored to make each other happy. Thus I corrected that

great erratum as well as I could.1

About this time,our club meetingnot at a tavern but in a

littleroom of Mr. Grace's set apart for that purpose, a proposi-tionwas made by me that,since our books were often referred

to in our disquisitionsupon the queries,it might be convenient

to us to have them all togetherwhere we met, that upon occa-sion

theymight be consulted;and by thus clubbingour books

to a common library,we should,while we liked to keepthem to-gether,

have each of us the advantageof usingthe books of all

the other members,which would be nearlyas beneficial as if each

owned the whole. It was liked and agreedto,and we filledone

end of the room with such books as we could best spare. The

number was not so greatas we expected; and thoughtheyhad

been of great use, yet,some inconveniences occurringfor want

of due care of them, the collection,after about a year, was sep-arated,

and each took his books home again.And now I set on foot my firstprojectof a publicnature," that

1 Mrs. Franklin died Dec. 19, 1774. Franklin celebrated his wife in a

song, of which the followingverses are a part :

" Of their Chloes and Phyllisespoets may prate,

I sing my plaincountry Joan,These twelve years my wife,stillthe joy of my life,

Blest day that I made her my own.

Am I loaded with care, she takes off a largeshare,That the burden ne'er makes me to reel ;

Does good fortune arrive,the joyof my wife

Quite doubles the pleasureI feel.

Some faults have we all,and so has my Joan,But then they'reexceedinglysmall ;

And, now I'm grown used to them, so like my own,

I scarcelycan see them at all.

Were the finestyoung princesswith millions in purse,

To be had in exchange for my Joan,I could not get better wife,might get a worse,

So I'llstick to my dearest old Joan."


for a subscriptionlibrary.11I drew up the proposals,got them

put into form by our greatscrivener,Brockden,and,by the helpof my friends in the Junto,procuredfiftysubscribers of forty

shillingseach to beginwith,and ten shillingsa year for fifty

years, the term our company was to continue. We afterward

obtained a charter,the company beingincreased to one hun-dred.

This was the mother of all the North American subscrip-tionlibraries,now so numerous. It is become a great thing

itself,and continuallyincreasing.These librarieshave improvedthe generalconversation of the Americans,made the common

tradesmen and farmers as intelligentas most gentlemenfrom

other countries,and perhapshave contributed in some degreetothe stand so generallymade throughoutthe colonies in defense

of their privileges.1

Continuation of the Account of my Life,Begun at

Passy,near Paris,1784.

It is some time since I received the above letters,2but I have

been too busy tillnow to think of complyingwith the request

theycontain. It might,too, be much better done if I were at

home among my papers, which would aid my memoiy, and helpto ascertain dates; but my return beinguncertain,and havingjustnow a littleleisure,I will endeavor to recollect and write

what I can ; if I live to get home, itmay there be corrected and

improved.Not havingany copy here of what is alreadywritten,I know

not whether an account isgivenof the means I used to establish

the PhiladelphiaPublic Library,which,from a small beginning,

1 Franklin's Memorandum." Thus far was written with the intention

expressedin the beginning,and therefore contains several littlefamilyanec-dotes

of no importanceto others. What follows was written many yearsafter in compliancewith the advice contained in these letters(seep. 192),and accordinglyintended for the public.The affairs of the Revolution

occasioned the interruption. 2 See Note 1.


is now become so considerable,thoughI remember to have come

down to near the time of that transaction (1730).I will there-fore

beginhere with an account of it,which may be struck out

iffound to have been alreadygiven.At the time I establishedmyselfin Pennsylvaniathere was not

a good bookseller'sshopin any of the colonies to the southward

of Boston. In New York and Philadelphiathe printerswere

indeed stationers;theysold onlypaper, etc.,almanacs,ballads,

and a few common schoolbooks. Those who loved readingwere

obligedto send for their books from England; the members of

the Junto had each a few. We had left the alehouse where

we firstmet, and hired a room to hold our club in. I proposedthat we should all of us bringour books to that room, where

theywould not onlybe readyto consult in our conferences,but

become a common benefit,each of us beingat libertyto borrow

such as he wished to read at home. This was accordinglydone,and for some time contented us.

Findingthe advantage of this littlecollection,I proposedto

render the benefit from books more common by commencing a

publicsubscriptionlibrary.I drew a sketch of the plan and

rules that would be necessary, and got a skillfulconveyancer,

Mr. Charles Brockden,to put the whole in form of articlesof

agreement to be subscribed,by which each subscriber engagedto

pay a certain sum down for the firstpurchaseof books,and an

annual contribution for increasingthem. So few were the read-ers

at that time in Philadelphia,and the majorityof us so poor,

that I was not able,with greatindustry,to find more than fifty

persons, mostlyyoung tradesmen,willingto pay down for this

purpose fortyshillingseach and ten shillingsper annum.

On thislittlefund we began. The books were imported; the

librarywas opened one day in the week for lendingto the sub-scribers,

on theirpromissorynotes to pay double the value if not

dulyreturned. The institutionsoon manifested itsutility,was

imitated by other towns and in other provinces.The libraries

were augmentedby donations ; readingbecame fashionable ; and


our people,havingno publicamusements to divert their atten-tion

from study,became better acquaintedwith books,and in a

few years were observed by strangersto be better instructed and

more intelligentthan peopleof the same rank generallyare in

other countries.

When we were about to signthe above-mentioned articles,which were to be bindingon us, our heirs,etc.,for fiftyyears,Mr. Brockden,the scrivener,said to us :

" You are young men,

but itisscarcelyprobablethat any of you will liveto see the ex-piration

of the term fixed in the instrument." A number of us,

however,are yet living; but the instrument was, after a few years,

rendered null by a charter that incorporatedand gave perpetuityto the company.1

The objectionsand reluctances I met with in solicitingthe

subscriptionsmade me soon feel the improprietyof presentingone's self as the proposer of any useful projectthat might be

supposedto raise one's reputationin the smallest degreeabove

that of one's neighbors,when one has need of their assistanceto

accomplishthat project.I therefore put myselfas much as I

could out of sight,and stated it as a scheme of a" number of

1 The PhiladelphiaLibrarywas incorporatedin 1742. In its buildingis

a tablet which reads as follows :

Be itremembered,in honor of the Philadelphiayouth

(thenchieflyartificers),thatinMDCCXXXI.

theycheerfully,

at the instance of Benjamin Franklin,

one of their number,

instituted the PhiladelphiaLibrary,which, though small at first,

is become highlyvaluable and extensivelyuseful,and which the walls of this edifice

are now destined to contain and preserve ;

the firststone of whose foundation

was here placedthe thirty-firstday of August, 1789.

The inscription,save the mention of himself,was preparedby Franklin.


friends,"who had requestedme to go about and propose itto such

as theythoughtlovers of reading. In this way my affairwent

on more smoothly,and I ever after practicedit on such occa-sions,

and,from my frequentsuccesses, can heartilyrecommend

it. The presentlittlesacrificeof your vanitywill afterward be

amplyrepaid. If itremains awhile uncertain to whom the merit

belongs,some one more vain than yourselfwill be encouraged

to claim it,and then even envy will be disposedto do you justice

by pluckingthose assumed feathers,and restoringthem to their

rightowner.This libraryafforded me the means of improvementby con-stant

study,for which I set apart an hour or two each day,and

thus repairedin some degreethe loss of the learned education

my father once intended for me. Reading was the onlyamuse-ment

I allowed myself. I spent no time in taverns, games, or

frolicsof any kind ; and my industryin my business continued

as indefatigableas it was necessary. I was indebted for my

printinghouse ; I had a young familycoming on to be educated,

and I had to contend for business with two printers,who were

establishedin the placebefore me. My circumstances,however,

grew dailyeasier. My originalhabits of frugalitycontinuing,and

my father having,among his instructionsto me when a boy,fre-quently

repeateda proverbof Solomon," Seest thou a man diligent

in hisbusiness? he shallstand before kings; he shallnot stand be-fore

mean men," * I from thence considered industryas a means

of obtainingwealth and distinction,which encouragedme, thoughI did not think that I should ever literally" stand before kings; "

which,however,has since happened,for I have stood before five,

and even had the honor of sittingdown with one (theKing of

Denmark) to dinner.11

"jfWehave an Englishproverbthat says," He that would thrive

must ask his wife." It was luckyfor me that I had one as much

disposedto industryand frugalityas myself.She assisted me

cheerfullyin my business,foldingand stitchingpamphlets,tend-

1 See Prov. xxii. 29.


ing shop,purchasingold linen rags for the paper makers,etc.

We kept no idle servants, our table was plainand simple,ourfurniture of the cheapest.For instance,my breakfast was a

long time bread and milk (notea),and I ate it out of a two-penny

earthen porringer,with a pewter spoon. But mark how

luxurywill enter familiesand make a progress in spiteof princi-ple.Beingcalled one morningto breakfast,I found itin a china

bowl with a spoon of silver! They had been boughtfor me with-out

my knowledgeby my wife,and had cost her the enormous

sum of three-and-twentyshillings,for which she had no other ex-cuse

or apologyto make but that she thoughther husband de-served

a silverspoon and china bowl as well as any of his neigh-bors.This was the firstappearance of plateand china in our

house,which afterward,in a course of years, as our wealth in-creased,

augmented graduallyto several hundred pounds in

value.

I had been religiouslyeducated as a Presbyterian; and,thoughI earlyabsented myselffrom the publicassemblies of the sect,

Sundaybeingmy studyingday,I never was without some re-ligious

principles.I never doubted,for instance,the existence

of the Deity; that he made the world,and governedit by his

providence; that the most acceptableservice of God was the

doinggood to man ; that our souls are immortal ; and that all

crime willbe punished,and virtuerewarded,eitherhere or here-after.

These I esteemed the essentialsof every religion;and

beingto be found in allthe religionswe had in our country,I

respectedthem all,thoughwith different degreesof respect as

I found them more or lessmixed with other articleswhich,without

any tendencyto inspire,promote, or confirm morality,served

principallyto divide us, and make us unfriendlyto one another.

This respectto all,with an opinionthat the worst had some good

effects,induced me to avoid all discourse that might tend to

lessen the good opinionanother mighthave of his own religion;and as our provinceincreased in people,and new placesof wor-ship

were continuallywanted,and generallyerected by voluntary


contribution,my mite for such purpose, whatever mightbe the

sect,was never refused.

Though I seldom attended any publicworship,I had stillan

opinionof itsproprietyand of itsutilitywhen rightlyconducted,and I regularlypaid my annual subscriptionfor the support of

the onlyPresbyterianminister or meetingwe had in Philadel-phia.

He used to visitme sometimes as a friend,and admonish

me to attend his administrations,and I was now and then pre-vailed

on to do so, once for five Sundayssuccessively.Had he

been in my opiniona good preacher,perhapsI mighthave con-tinued,

notwithstandingthe occasion I had for the Sunday'slei-sure

in my course of study; but his discourses were chieflyeither

polemicarguments or explicationsof the peculiardoctrines of

our sect,and were all to me very dry,uninteresting,and unedify-

ing,since not a singlemoral principlewas inculcated or enforced,their aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyteriansthan

good citizens.

At lengthhe took for his text that verse of the fourth chapterof Philippians:

" Finally,brethren,whatsoever thingsare true,

whatsoever thingsare honest,whatsoever thingsare just,whatso-ever

thingsare pure, whatsoever thingsare lovely,whatsoever

thingsare of good report; ifthere be any virtue,and ifthere be

any praise,think on these things;"and I imagined,in a sermon

on such a text, we could not miss of having some morality.But he confined himself to five pointsonly,as meant by the

apostle:i. Keeping holythe Sabbath day. 2. Beingdiligentin

readingthe holyScriptures.3. Attendingdulythe publicwor-ship.

4. Partakingof the sacrament. 5. Payinga due respect

to God's ministers. These mightbe all good things; but,as theywere not the kind of good thingsthat I expectedfrom that text,

I despairedof ever meetingwith them from any other,was dis-gusted,

and attended his preachingno more. I had some years

before composeda littleliturgy,or form of prayer, for my own

privateuse (in1728),entitled " Articles of Belief and Acts of

Religion."I returned to the use of this,and went no more to


the publicassemblies. My conduct might be blamable,but I

leave itwithout attemptingfurther to excuse it,my present pur-pose

beingto relate facts,and not to make apologiesfor them.

"5. CONTINUED SELF-EDUCATION.

ITwas about this time I conceived the bold and arduous pro-jectof arrivingat moral perfection.I wished to live with-out

committingany fault at any time ; I would conquer all that

either natural inclination,custom, or company might lead me

into. As I knew, or thoughtI knew,what was rightand wrong,

I did not see why I might not alwaysdo the one and avoid the

other. But I soon found I had undertaken a task of more diffi-culty

than I had imagined* While my care was employedin

guardingagainstone fault,I was often surprisedby another;habit took the advantageof inattention; inclinationwas some-times

too strong for reason. I concluded at lengththat the

mere speculativeconviction that it was our interestto be com-pletely

virtuous was not sufficientto prevent our slipping; and

that the contraryhabits must be broken,and good ones acquiredand established,before we can have any dependenceon a steady,uniform rectitudeof conduct. For thispurpose I therefore con-trived

the followingmethod.In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I had met

with in my reading,I found the cataloguemore or less numer-ous,

as differentwriters included more or fewer ideas under the

same name. Temperance, for example,was by some confined

to eatingand drinking,while by others itwas extended to mean

the moderatingevery other pleasure,appetite,inclination,or

passion,bodilyor mental,even to our avarice and ambition. I

proposedto myself,for the sake of clearness,to use rather more

names, with fewer ideas annexed to each,than a few names with


more ideas ; and I included under thirteen names of virtues all

that at that time occurred to me as necessary or desirable,and

annexed to each a short precept,which fullyexpressedthe extent

I gave to itsmeaning.These names of virtues,with theirprecepts,were :

i .Temperance.

Eat not to dullness ; drink not to elevation.

2. Silence.

Speaknot but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid tri-fling

conversation.

3. Order.

Let all your thingshave their places; let each part of your

business have itstime.

4. Resolution.

Resolve to performwhat you ought; performwithout fail

what you resolve.

5. Frugality.

Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself;i.e.,waste nothing.

6. Industry.

Lose no time; be alwaysemployed in somethinguseful;cut

off all unnecessary actions.

7. Sincerity.

Use no hurtful deceit; think innocentlyand justly; and,if youspeak,speakaccordingly.

8. Justice.

Wrong none by doinginjuriesor omittingthe benefits that are

your duty.

9. Moderation.

Avoid extremes ; forbear resentinginjuriesso much as you

think theydeserve.


10. Cleanliness.

Tolerate no uncleanliness in body,clothes,or habitation.

11. Tranquillity.

Be not disturbed at trifles,or at accidents common or unavoid-able.

12. Chastity.

13. Humility.

Imitate Jesusand Socrates.

My intentionbeingto acquirethe habitude of all these virtues,I judgeditwould be well not to distract my attention byattempt-ing

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 proceedto another,and so on, tillI should have gone throughthe thirteen; and, as

the previousacquisitionof some might facilitatethe acquisitionof certain others,I arrangedthem with that view as theystandabove. Tpnipprnr"rpfirst,as ittends to procure that coolness and

clearness of head which is so necessary where constant vigilancewas to be keptup, and guaxdmaintained againstthe unremittingattraction of ancient habits and the force of perpetualtempta-tions.

This beingacquiredand established, Silence.would be

more easy ; and my desire beingto gainknowledgeat the same

time that I improvedin virtue,and consideringthat in conver-sation

itwas obtained rather by the use of the ears than of the

tongue,and thereforewishingto break a habit I was gettingintoof prattling,punning,and joking,which onlymade me accept-able

to triflingcompany, I gave Silence the second place. This

and the next,.Order,I expectedwould allow me more time for

attendingto my projectand my studies. 'Reso1iiHonJonce be-come

habitual,would keep me firm in my endeavors to obtain all

the subsequentvirtues;-Frugalityand IndustryT freeingme from

my remainingdebt,and producingaffluence and independence,would make more easy the practiceof Sincerityand Just.ir.ejetc.

0*5 TiXE AUTO^BIt \{APHY OF

Conceivingthen that,agreeablyto the advice of Pythagorasin

his " Golden Verses,"1dailyexamination would be necessary, I

contrived the followingmethod for conductingthat examination.

I made a littlebook,2in which I allotted a page for each of

the virtues. I ruled each page with red ink,so as to have seven

columns, one for each day of the week, marking each column

with a letterfor the day. I crossed these columns with thirteen

red lines,markingthe beginningof each line with the firstletter

of one of the virtues,on which line,and in itsproper column,I

mightmark,by a littleblack spot,every fault I found upon exami-nation

to have been committed respectingthat virtueupon that day.I determined to givea week's strictattention to each of the

virtuessuccessively.Thus,in the firstweek my greatguardwas

to avoid every (theleast)offense againstTemperance,leavingthe

other virtues to theirordinarychance,onlymarkingevery even-ing

the faults of the day. Thus,ifin the firstweek I could keep

my firstline,marked T.,clear of spots,I supposedthe habit of

that virtue so much strengthened,and itsoppositeweakened,that

1 The followingis taken from the commentary of Hierocles upon the

Golden Verses of Pythagoras. The Englishversion is givenby Bigelowin

his edition of the Autobiography:" He [Pythagoras,who lived in the sixth century B.C.] requiresalso

that this gygrniflfitinnhe dailyrepeated,The time which he recommends for

this work is about even or bedtime, that we may conclude the action of the

day with the judgmentof conscience,making the examination of our conver-sation

an eveningsong to God. Wherein have I transgressed?What have I

done? What dutyhave I omitted? So shall we measure our livesby rules.

" We should have our parentsand relationsin highesteem, love and em-brace

good men, raise ourselves above corporealaffections,everywherestand

in awe of ourselves,carefullyobserve justice,consider the frailtyof riches and

momentary life,embrace the lot which fallsto us by divine judgment,delightin a divine frame of spirit,convert our mind to what is most excellent,love

good discourses,not lieopen to impostures,not be servilelyaffected in the

possessionof virtue,advise before action to preventrepentance,free ourselves

from uncertain opinions,live with knowledge,and lastly,that we should

adaptour bodies and the thingswithout to the exercise of virtue. These are

the thingswhich the lawgivingmind has implantedin the souls of men."

2 It is dated JulyI, 1733.


I mightventure extendingmy attention to include the next,and

for the followingweek keep both lines clear of spots. Proceed-ing

thus to the last,I could go througha course completein thir-teen

weeks, and four courses in a year. And, like him who, hav-ing

a gardento weed, does not attempt to eradicate all the bad

FORM OF THE PAGES.

herbs at once, which would exceed hisreach and hisstrength,but

works on one of the beds at a time,and, havingaccomplishedthe first,proceedsto a second,so I should have, I hoped,the

encouragingpleasureof seeingon my pages the progress I made

in virtue,by clearingsuccessivelymy lines of their spots,tillin

the end,by a number of courses, I should be happy in viewinga

ioo THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

clean book, after a thirteen-weeks'dailyexamination. My little

book had for itsmotto these linesfrom Addison's " Cato :"

u 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 delightin virtue;And that which He delightsin must be happy."

Another from Cicero :

"O vitae Philosophiadux! O virtuturn indagatrixexpultrixquevitiorum ! Unus dies,bene et ex praeceptistuis actus, peccantiim-mortalitati est anteponendus."1

Another from the Proverbs of Solomon,speakingof wisdom or

virtue:

" Length of daysis in her righthand ; and in her lefthand riches

and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness,and allher pathsare

peace." (Hi.16,17.)

And, conceivingGod to be the fountain of wisdom,I thoughtitrightand necessary to solicithis assistancefor obtainingit. To

this end I formed the followinglittleprayer, which was prefixedto my tables of examination,for dailyuse :

"O powerfulGoodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide! In-crease

in me thatwisdom which discovers my truest interest. Strength-en

my resolutions to performwhat that wisdom dictates. Accept my

kind offices to thy other children as the onlyreturn in my power for

thycontinual favors to me."

I used also sometimes a littleprayer which I took from Thom-son's

Poems :

" Father of lightand 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 fillmy soul

With knowledge,conscious peace, and virtue pure;

Sacred,substantial,never-fadingbliss!"

1 " O philosophy,thou guideof life! O thou searcher aftervirtue and ban-

isher of vice ! One day lived well and in obedience to thypreceptsshould be

preferredto an eternityof sin."

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN IOI

The preceptof Order requiringthat every part of my business

should have itsallotted time,one page in my littlebook contained

the followingscheme of employmentfor the twenty-fourhours of

a natural day.

The Morning.

Question.What goodshallI do this day?

910

ii

Rise,wash,and address Power-ful

Goodness!11 Contrive day'sbusiness,and take the resolution

of the day ; prosecute the presentstudy,and breakfast.

y Work.

Noon. \-\

Evening.

Question.What goodhaveI done to-day?

Night.

2

3

4

5)

78

910

ii

12

I

2

3

4J

Read, or overlook my ac

counts, and dine.

Work.

Put things in their places.Supper. Music or diversion,oiconversation. Examination o/

the day.

Sleep.

I entered upon the execution of thisplanfor self-examination,

and continued it,with occasional intermissions,for some time. 1

was surprisedto find myselfso much fuller of faults than I had

imagined;but I had the satisfactionof seeingthem diminish,

To avoid the trouble of renewingnow and then my littlebook,

which,by scrapingout the marks on the paper of old faults to

make room for new ones in a new course, became fullof holes,I

transferred my tables and precepts to the ivoryleaves of a mem-


orandum book, on which the lines were drawn with red ink,that

made a durable stain,and on those lines I marked my faultswith

a black lead pencil,which marks I could easilywipe out with a

wet sponge. After a while I went throughone course onlyin a

year, and afterward only one in several years, tillat lengthI

omitted them entirely,beingemployed in voyages and business

abroad,with a multiplicityof affairsthat interfered ; but I alwayscarried my littlebook with me.

My scheme of Order gave me the most trouble ; and I found

that,thoughitmight be practicablewhere a man's business was

such as to leave him the dispositionof his time," that of a jour-neyman

printer,for instance," it was not possibleto be exactlyobserved by a master, who must mix with the world,and often

receive peopleof business at their own hours. Order,too,with

regardto placesfor things,papers, etc.,I found extremelydiffi-cult

to acquire.I had not been earlyaccustomed to it,and,hav-ing

an exceedinggood memory, I was not so sensibleof the in-convenience

attendingwant of method. This article,therefore,

cost me so much painfulattention,and my faults in itvexed me

so much, and I made so littleprogress in amendment and had

such frequentrelapses,that I was almost readyto giveup the at-tempt,

and content myselfwith a faultycharacter in that respect,

like the man who, in buyingan ax of a smith,my neighbor,de-sired

to have the whole of itssurface as brightas the edge. The

smith consented to grindit brightfor him if he would turn the

wheel. He turned,while the smith pressedthe broad face of the

ax hard and heavilyon the stone,which made the turningof it

very fatiguing.The man came every now and then from the

wheel to see how the work went on, and at lengthwould take

his ax as itwas, without farther grinding." No," said the smith,"turn on, turn on ; we shall have itbrightby and by ; as yet,it

is onlyspeckled.""Yes," says the man, "but I think I like a

speckledax best." And I believe this may have been the case

with many, who, having,for want of some such means as I em-ployed,

found the difficultyof obtaininggood and breakingbad


habits in other pointsof vice and virtue,have givenup the strug-gle,and concluded that a

"

speckledax "was best. For something,

that pretendedto be reason, was every now and then suggestingto me that such extreme nicetyas I exacted of myselfmightbe a

kind of fopperyin morals,which,if itwere known, would make

me ridiculous ; that a perfectcharacter might be attended with

che inconvenience of beingenvied and hated ; and that a benevo-lent

man should allow a few faultsin himself,to keephis friendsin countenance.

In truth,I found myselfincorrigiblewith respect to order;

and,now I am grown old and my memory bad, I feel very sen-sibly

the want of it. But on the whole,thoughI never arrived

at the perfectionI had been so ambitious of obtaining,but fell

far short of it,yet I was, by the endeavor,a better and a happierman than I otherwise should have been if I had not attemptedit; as those who aim at perfectwritingby imitatingthe engravedcopies,thoughtheynever reach the wished-for excellence of

those copies,theirhand ismended by the endeavor,and istoler-able

while itcontinues fairand legible.It may be well my posterityshould be informed that to thislittle"

artifice,with the blessingof God, theirancestor owed the constant

^^felicjtyof his life,down to his seventy-ninthyear, in which thisis.

written. What reverses may attend the remainder isin the hand

of Providence ; but,iftheyarrive,the reflectionon pasthappiness

enjoyedoughtto helphis bearingthem with more resignation.To temperance he ascribes his long-continuedhealth,and what is

stillleftto him of a good constitution; to industryand frugality,the earlyeasinessof his circumstances and acquisitionof his for-tune,

with allthat knowledgethat enabled him to be a useful citi-zen,

and obtained for him some degreeof reputationamong the

learned;to sincerityand justice,the confidence of his country,

and the honorable employsit conferred upon him ; and to the

jointinfluence of the whole mass of the virtues,even in the im-perfect

state he was able to acquirethem,allthat evenness of tem-per

and that cheerfulness in conversation which makes hiscompany


stillsoughtfor,and agreeableeven to his younger acquaintance.I hope,therefore,that some of my descendants may follow the

exampleand reap the benefit. "-^

It will be remarked that,though my scheme was not whollywithout religion,there was in it no mark of any of the distin-guishing

tenets of any particularsect. I had purposelyavoided

them ; for,beingfullypersuadedof the utilityand excellencyof

my method, and that it mightbe serviceable to peoplein all re-ligions,

and intendingsome time or other to publishit,I would

not have anythingin it that should prejudiceany one, of any

sect,againstit. I purposedwritinga littlecomment on each vir-tue,

in which I would have shown the advantagesof possessing

it,and the mischiefs attendingits oppositevice ; and I should

have called my book " The Art of Virtue,"1 because it would

have shown the means and manner of obtainingvirtue,which

would have distinguishedit from the mere exhortation to be

good,that does not instructand indicate the means, but is like

the apostle'sman of verbal charity,who only,without showing

to the naked and hungryhow or where theymightget clothes or

victuals,exhorted them to be fed and clothed. (Jamesii.15, 16.)But itso happenedthat my intentionof writingand publishing

this comment was never fulfilled. I did,indeed,from time to

time,put down short hints of the sentiments,reasonings,etc.,to

be made use of in it,some of which I have stillby me ; but the

necessary close attention to privatebusiness in the earlierpartof

my life,and publicbusiness since,has occasioned my postpon-ing

it; for,itbeingconnected in my mind with a great and exten-sive

project,that requiredthe whole man to execute,and which

an unforeseen succession of employspreventedmy attendingto,ithas hitherto remained unfinished.

In thispieceitwas my designto explainand enforce thisdoc-trine,

that vicious actions are not hurtful because theyare forbid-den,

but forbidden because theyare hurtful,the nature of man

1 Franklin's Note. " Nothing so likelyto make a man's fortune as

virtue.


alone considered ; that itwas, therefore,every one's interest to

be virtuous who wished to be happy even in this world ; and I

should,from thiscircumstance,(therebeingalwaysin the world a

number of rich merchants,nobility,states,and princes,who have

need of honest instruments for the management of theiraffairs,and such beingso rare,)have endeavored to convince young per-sons

that no qualitieswere so likelyto make a poor man's fortune

as those of probityand integrity.

My listof virtuescontained at firstbut twelve ; but a Quakerfriend havingkindlyinformed me that I was generallythought

proud; that my prideshowed itselffrequentlyin conversation ;

that I was not content with beingin the rightwhen discussing

any point,but was overbearingand rather insolent,of which he

convinced me by mentioningseveral instances," I determined

endeavoringto cure myself,ifI could,of thisvice or follyamongthe rest,and I added Humilityto my list,givingan extensive mean-ing

to the word.

I cannot boast of much success in acquiringthe realityof this

virtue,but I had a good deal with regardto the appearance of it.

I made ita rule to forbear alldirectcontradiction to the sentiments

of others,and allpositiveassertionof my own. I even forbade

myselfj agreeablyto the.old laws of our Junto,the use of every

word or expressionin the languagethat importeda fixed opinion,such as

" certainly,""undoubtedly,"etc.,and I adopted,instead of

them," I conceive,"" I apprehend,"or " I imagine" a thingto be so

or so ; or" itso appears to me at present."When another asserted

somethingthat I thoughtan error, I denied myselfthe pleasureof

contradictinghim abruptly,and of showingimmediatelysome ab-surdity

in his proposition; and in answeringI beganby observingthat in certain cases or circumstances his opinionwould be right,but in the presentcase there " appeared" or

" seemed "to me some

difference,etc./J soon found the advantageof this changein mymanner : the conversations I engagedin went on more pleasantly;the modest way in which I proposedmy opinionsprocuredthem

a readier receptionand less contradiction; I had less mortiSca-


tion when I was found to be in the wrong; and I more easilyprevailedwith others to giveup their mistakes and joinwith me

when I happenedto be in the right.And thismode, which I at firstput on with some violence to

natural inclination,became at lengthso easy and so habitual to

me, that perhapsfor these fiftyyears past no one has ever heard

a dogmaticalexpressionescape me. And to thishabit (aftermycharacter of integrity)I think itprincipallyowingthat I had earlyso much weightwith my fellow-citizenswhen I proposednew in-stitutions,

or alterationsin the old,and so much influencein publiccouncilswhen I became a member ; for I was but a bad speaker,never eloquent,subjectto much hesitationin my choice of words,

hardlycorrect in language,and yetI generallycarried my points.In realitythere is,perhaps,no one of our natural passionsso

hard to subdue as pride. Disguiseit,strugglewith it,beat itdown,

stifleit,mortifyit as much as one pleases,itisstillalive,and will

every now and then peep out and show itself.You will see it,

perhaps,often in thishistory; for,even if I could conceive that

I had completelyovercome it,I should probablybe proud of my

humility.1

["I AM NOW ABOUT TO WRITE AT HOME, AUGUST, 1 788, BUT

CANNOT HAVE THE HELP EXPECTED FROM MY PAPERS, MANY

OF THEM BEING LOST IN THE WAR.2 I HAVE, HOWEVER,

FOUND THE FOLLOWING."]

Having mentioned a greatand extensive projectwhich I had

conceived,it seems proper that some account should be here

givenof that projectand itsobject.Its firstrise in my mind ap-pears

in the followinglittlepaper, accidentallypreserved: i

Observations on my ReadingHistory,in Library,May 19, 1731.

u That the greataffairsof the world," the wars, revolutions,etc.,"

are carried on and effectedby parties." That the view of these partiesis'theirpresentgeneralinterest,or

what theytake to be such.

1 Thus far written at Passy,1784. 2 The Revolution.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'

107

"That the differentviews of these different partiesoccasion all

confusion." That while a party is carryingon a generaldesign,each man has

his particularprivateinterest in view.

" That as soon as a party has gained itsgeneralpoint,each mem-ber

becomes intent upon his particularinterest;which,thwarting

others,breaks that party into divisions,and occasions more confusion.

" That few in publicaffairsact from a mere view of the goodof their

country, whatever theymay pretend; and though their actingsbringreal good to their country, yet men primarilyconsider that their own

and their country'sinterest is united,and do not act from a principleof benevolence.

" That fewer still,in publicaffairs,act with a view to the good of

mankind.

" There seems to me at present to be great occasion for raisingaUnited Partyfor Virtue,by formingthe virtuous and good men of all

nations into a regularbody,to be governedby suitable good and wise

rules,which good and wise men may probablybe more unanimous in

their obedience to than common peopleare to common laws." I at present think that whoever attempts this aright,and is well

qualified,cannot failof pleasingGod, and of meetingwith success.

B. F."

Revolvingthis projectin my mind,as to be undertaken here-after,

when my circumstances should afford me the necessary

leisure,I put down from time to time,on piecesof paper, such

thoughtsas occurred to me respectingit. Most of these are lost;

but I find one purportingto be the substance of an intended

creed,containing,as I thought,the essentials of every known

religion,and beingfree of everythingthat might shock the pro-fessors

of any religion.It isexpressedin these words :

" That there is one God, who made allthings." That he governs the world by his providence."That he ought to be worshipedby adoration,prayer, and

thanksgiving." But that the most acceptableserviceof God isdoinggood to

man.

H That the soul is immortal.


" And that God will certainlyreward virtue and punishvice,either here or hereafter."

My ideas at that time were that the sect should be begun and

spreadat firstamong young and singlemen only;that each

person to be initiated should not onlydeclare his assent to such

creed,but should have exercised himself with the thirteen-weeks*

examination and practiceof the virtues,as in the before-men-tioned

model ; that the existence of such a societyshould be kepta secret tillit was become considerable,to prevent solicitations

for the admission of improperpersons, but that the members

should each of them search among his acquaintancefor ingenu-ous,

well-disposedyouths,to whom, with prudentcaution,the

scheme should be graduallycommunicated ; that the members

should engage to afford theiradvice,assistance,and support to

each other in promotingone another's interests,business,and

advancement in life; that,for distinction,we should be called

" The Societyof the Free and Easy :" free,as being,by the gen-eral

practiceand habit of the virtues,free from the dominion of

vice ; and particularly,by the practiceof industryand frugality,free from debt,which exposes a man to confinement and a speciesof slaveryto his creditors.

This is as much as I can now recollect of the project,exceptthat I communicated itin part to two young men, who adopteditwith some enthusiasm ; but my then narrow circumstances,and

the necessityI was under of stickingclose to my business,occa-sioned

my postponingthe further prosecutionof it at that time ;

and my multifarious occupations,publicand private,induced me

to continue postponing,so that ithas been omitted tillI have no

longerstrengthor activityleftsufficientfor such an enterprise;

thoughI am stillof opinionthat itwas a practicablescheme,and

mighthave been very useful,by forminga greatnumber of good

citizens; and I was not discouragedby the seemingmagnitudeof the undertaking,as I have alwaysthoughtthat one man of

tolerable abilitiesmay work greatchanges,and accomplishgreataffairsamong mankind,ifhe firstforms a good plan,and,cutting


off all amusements or other employmentsthat would divert his

attention,makes the execution of that same plan his sole studyand business,

fy In 1732 I firstpublishedmy Almanac,1 under the name of" Richard Saunders;" it was continued by me about twenty-five

years,and commonly called "Poor Richard's Almanac." I endeav-ored

to make it both entertainingand useful,and itaccordinglycame to be in such demand that I reapedconsiderable profitfrom

it,vendingannuallynear ten thousand. And observingthat itwas

generallyread,scarce any neighborhoodin the provincebeingwithout it,I considered it as a proper vehicle for conveyingin-struction

among the common people,who bought scarcelyanyother books. I therefore filledall the littlespaces that occurred

between the remarkable days in tne calendar with proverbialsentences,2chieflysuch as inculcated industryand frugalityasthe means of procuringwealth,and therebysecuringvirtue ; it

beingmore difficultfor a man in want to act alwayshonestly,as

(touse here one of those proverbs)" itis hard for an empty sack

to stand upright."These proverbs,which contained the wisdom of many ages and

nations,I assembled and formed into a connected discourse,3

prefixedto the Almanac of 1757 as the harangueof a wise old

1 Almanacs were the firstissues of the American press. It is not easy in

our day to understand their importanceto the earlycolonists,and their con-sequent

popularity.The makers, philomaths("lovers of learning")as Frank-lin

called them, set out their wares in every attractive form the taste and in-genuity

of the age could devise. They made them a diary,a receiptbook, a

jestbook, and a weather prophet,as well as a calendar book of dates. The

household was poor indeed which could not scrape up a twopence or a six-pence

for the annual copy. Once bought,it hung by the bigchimney-piece,or layupon the clock shelf with the Bible and a theologicaltract or two. It

was read by the lightthat shone from the blazinglogsof the fireplaceor the

homemade tallow dip. Its recipeshelpedthe mother in her dyeingor weav-ing

or cooking. Its warnings of " cold storms," "flurries of snow," cau-tioned

the farmer againsttoo earlyplantingof corn ; and its perennialjokesflavored the mirth of many a corn husking or appleparing.

2 See p. 201.3 See pp. 193-200.

no THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

man to the peopleattendingan auction. The bringingall these

scattered counsels thus into a focus enabled them to make greater

impression.The piece,beinguniversallyapproved,was copiedin all the newspapers of the Continent,reprintedin Britain on a

broadside,1to be stuck up in houses,two translationswere made of

itin French,and greatnumbers boughtby the clergyand gentry

to distributegratisamong their poor parishionersand tenants.

In Pennsylvania,as itdiscourageduseless expense in foreignsu-perfluities,

some thoughtit had itsshare of influence in producingthat growingplentyof money which was observable for several

years after itspublication.I considered my newspaper, also,as another means of com-municating

instruction,and in that view frequentlyreprintedin

it extracts from the " Spectator,"and other moral writers,and

sometimes publishedlittlepiecesof my own, which had been first

composed for readingin our Junto. Of these are a Socratic dia-logue,

tendingto prove that,whatever might be his parts and

abilities,a vicious man could not properlybe called a man of

sense ; and a discourse on self-denial,showingthat virtueis not

secure tillitspracticebecomes a habitude,and is free from the

oppositionof contrary inclinations. These may be found in the

papers about the beginningof 1735.

In the conduct of my newspaper, I carefullyexcluded alllibel-ing

and personalabuse,which isof late years become so disgrace-fulto our country. Whenever I was solicitedto insertanything

of that kind,and the writers pleaded,as theygenerallydid,the

libertyof the press, and that a newspaper was like a stagecoach,in which any one who would pay had a rightto a place,my an-swer

was that I would printthe pieceseparatelyif desired,andthe author mighthave as many copiesas he pleasedto distribute

himself,but that I would not take upon me to spreadhis detrac-tion

; and that,havingcontracted with my subscribers to furnish

them with what might be either useful or entertaining,I could

not filltheir papers with privatealtercation,in which theyhad

1 A sheet printedon one side onlyand without arrangement in columns.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. in

no concern, without doingthem manifest injustice.Now many

of our printersmake no scrupleof gratifyingthe malice of indi-viduals

by false accusations of the fairestcharacters among our-selves,

augmentinganimosityeven to the producingof duels ; and

are, moreover, so indiscreet as to printscurrilousreflectionsonthe government of neighboringstates,and even on the conduct

of our best national allies,which may be attended with the most

perniciousconsequences. These thingsI mention as a caution

to young printers,and that theymay be encouragednot to pollutetheir presses and disgracetheir professionby such infamous prac-tices,

but refuse steadily,as theymay see by my example that

such a course of conduct will not, on the whole,be injuriousto

theirinterests.

* In 1733 I sent one of my journeymento Charleston,South

Carolina,where a printerwas wanting. I furnished him with a

press and letters,on an agreement of partnershipby which I was

to receive one third of the profitsof the business,payingone third

of the expense. He was a man of learning,and honest but

ignorantin matters of account; and,thoughhe sometimes made

me remittances,I could get no account from him,nor any satis-factory

state of our partnershipwhile he lived. On his decease

the business was continued by his widow, who, beingborn and

bred in Holland,where,as I have been informed,the knowledgeof accounts makes a partof female education,11she not onlysent

me as clear a state 1as she could find of the transactions past,

but continued to account with the greatestregularityand exactness

every quarter afterward,and managed the business with such

success that she not onlybroughtup reputablya familyof chil-dren,

but,at the expirationof the term, was able to purchaseof

me the printinghouse,and establishher son in it.

I mention this affairchieflyfor the sake of recommendingthat

branch of education for our young women, as likelyto be of more

use to them and theirchildren,in case of widowhood, than either

music or dancing,by preservingthem from lossesby imposition1 Statement.

TI2 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

of craftymen, and enablingthem to continue,perhaps,a profit-ablemercantile house,with established correspondence,tilla son

is grown up fitto undertake and go on with it,to the lastingad-vantage

and enrichingof the family.About the year 1734 there arrived among us from Ireland a

young Presbyterianpreacher,named Hemphill,who delivered

with a good voice,and apparentlyextempore, most excellent dis-courses,

which drew togetherconsiderable numbers of different

persuasions,who joinedin admiringthem. Among the rest I

became one of his constant hearers,his sermons pleasingme, as

theyhad littleof the dogmaticalkind,but inculcated stronglythe practiceof virtue,or what in the religiousstyleare called

" goodworks." Those,however,of our congregationwho consid-ered

themselves as orthodox Presbyterians,disapprovedhis doc-trine,

and were joinedby most of the old clergy,who arraignedhim of heterodoxy1 before the synod,in order to have him silenced.

I became his zealous partisan,and contributed allI could to raise

a partyin his favor,and we combated for him awhile with some

hopesof success. There was much scribblingpro and con2upon

the occasion ; and findingthat,thoughan elegantpreacher,he

was but a poor writer,I lent him my pen and wrote for him two

or three pamphlets,and one piecein the " Gazette " of April,1 735. Those pamphlets,as isgenerallythe case with controver-sial

writings,thougheagerlyread at the time,were soon out of

vogue, and I questionwhether a singlecopy of them now exists.

Duringthe contest an unluckyoccurrence hurt his cause exceed-ingly.

One of our adversarieshavingheard him preacha sermon

that was much admired,thoughthe had somewhere read the ser-mon

before,or at least a part of it. On search,he found that

part quotedat lengthin one of the British Reviews,from a dis-course

of Dr. Foster's. This detection gave many of our party

disgust,who accordinglyabandoned his cause, and occasioned

our more speedydiscomfiture in the synod. I stuck by him,

* Departurefrom the faithheld by the members of the synodor assemblye2 '* Pro and con,"i.e.,for and against


however,as I rather approvedhis givingus good sermons com-posed

by others than bad ones of his own manufacture,thoughthe latter was the practiceof our common teachers. He after-ward

acknowledgedto me that none of those he preachedwere

his own, addingthat his memory was such as enabled him to re-tain

and repeat any sermon after one readingonly. On our de-feat,

he leftus in search elsewhere of better fortune,and I quittedthe congregation,never joiningitafter,thoughI continued many

years my subscriptionfor the support of itsministers.

,

I had begun in 1733 to studylanguages;I soon made myselfso much a master of the French as to be able to read the books

with ease. I then undertook the Italian. An acquaintance,who

was also learningit,used often to tempt me to playchess with

him. Findingthis took up too much of the time I had to spare

for study,I at lengthrefused to playany more, unless on this

condition : that the victor in every game should have a rightto

imposea task,either in partsof the grammar to be got by heart,

or in translations,etc.,which task the vanquishedwas to performon honor before our next meeting.*As we playedprettyequally,we thus beat one another into that language. I afterward,with

a littlepainstaking,acquiredas much of the Spanishas to read

their books also.

I have alreadymentioned that I had onlyone year'sinstruc-tion

in a Latin school,and that when very young, after which I

neglectedthat languageentirely.But,when I had attained an

acquaintancewith the French,Italian,and Spanish,I was sur-prised

to find,on lookingover a Latin Testament,that I under-stood

so much more of that languagethan I had imagined,which

encouragedme to applymyselfagainto the studyof it,and I met

with more success, as those precedinglanguageshad greatlysmoothed my way.

From these circumstances,I have thoughtthat there is some

inconsistencyin our common mode of teachinglanguages.11We

are told that it is proper to beginfirstwith the Latin,and,hav-ing

acquiredthat,it will be more easy to attain those modern

f.


languageswhich are derived from it; and yet we do not beginwith the Greek in order more easilyto acquirethe Latin. It is

true that,if you can clamber and get to the top of the staircase

without usingthe steps,you will more easilygainthem in de-scending

; but certainly,ifyou beginwith the lowest you willwith

more ease ascend to the top ; and I would therefore offer it to

the consideration of those who superintendthe education of our

youth,whether," since many of those who beginwith the Latin

quitthe same after spendingsome years without havingmade

any greatproficiency,and what theyhave learned becomes almost

useless,so that theirtime has been lost," itwould not have been

better to have begun with the French,proceedingto the Italian,

etc. ; for,though,after spendingthe same time,theyshould quitthe studyof languagesand never arrive at the Latin,theywould,

however,have acquiredanother tongue or two, that,being in

modern use, mightbe serviceable to them in common life.

After ten years'absence from Boston,and havingbecome easy

in my circumstances,I made a journeythither to visitmy rela-tions,

which I could not sooner well afford. In returning,I

called at Newport to see my brother,then settledthere with his

printinghouse. Our former differences were forgotten,and our

meetingwas very cordial and affectionate. He was fast declin-ing

in his health,and requestedof me that,in case of his death,

which he apprehendednot far distant,I would take home his son,

then but ten years of age, and bringhim up to the printingbusi-ness.

This I accordinglyperformed,sendinghim a few years to

school before I took him into the office. His mother carried on

the business tillhe was grown up, when I assisted him with an

assortment of new types,those of his father beingin a man-ner

worn out. Thus it was that I made my brother ampleamends for the service I had deprivedhim of by leavinghim

so early.In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old,by

the smallpox,taken in the common way. I longregrettedbit-terly,

and stillregret,that I had riot givenit to him by inocula-

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 1 1 5

tion.1 This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that

operationon the suppositionthat theyshould never forgivethem-selves

if a child died under it;my example showing that the

regretmay be the same eitherway, and that,therefore,the safer

should be chosen.

Our club,the Junto,was found so useful,and afforded such

satisfactionto the members, that several were desirous of intro-ducing

theirfriends,which could not well be done without exceed-ing

what we had settledas a convenient number,namely,twelve.

We had from the beginningmade it a rule to keepour institution

a secret,which was prettywell observed. The intention was to

avoid applicationsof improperpersons for admittance,some of

whom, perhaps,we mightfind it difficultto refuse. I was one of

those who were againstany addition to our number,but,instead

of it,made in writinga proposalthat every member separatelyshould endeavor to form a subordinate club,with the same rules

respectingqueries,etc.,and without informingthem of the con-nection

with the Junto. The advantagesproposedwere the im-provement

of so many more young citizensby the use of our in-stitutions

; our better acquaintancewith the generalsentiments of

the inhabitantson any occasion,as the Juntomember mightpro-pose

what querieswe should desire,and was to report to the

Juntowhat passedin his separateclub ; the promotionof our

particularinterestsin business by more extensive recommenda-tion

; and the increase of our influence in publicaffairsand our

power of doinggood by spreadingthroughthe several clubs the

sentiments of the Junto.The projectwas approved,and every member undertook to form

his club,but theydid not all succeed. Five or six onlywere

completed,which were called by different names, as" The Vine,"

" The Union,,, " The Band," etc. They were useful to them-selves,

and afforded us a good deal of amusement, information,

and instruction,besides answering,in some considerable degree,

1 Vaccination was not at this time known. By inoculation the smallpox

poisonwas introduced into the arm, and produceda milder form of the disease.11

Ii6 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

our views of influencingthe publicopinionon particularoccasions,of which I shall givesome instances in course of time as they

happened.

" 6. ENTERS PUBLIC LIFE.

MY firstpromotionwas my beingchosen,in 1736,clerkof the

General Assembly. The choice was made that year without

opposition; but the year foliowing,whenI was againproposed,(thechoice,like that of the members, beingannual,)a new member

made a longspeechagainstme, in order to favor some other

candidate. I was, however,chosen,which was the more agree-able

to me as, besides the pay for the immediate service as clerk,

the placegave me a better opportunityof keepingup an interest

among the members, which secured to me the business of print-ingthe votes,laws,paper money, and other occasional jobsfor

the public,that,on the whole,were very profitable.I therefore did not like the oppositionof thisnew member, who

was a gentlemanof fortune and education,with talents that were

likelyto givehim,in time,great influence in the House ; which,

indeed,afterward happened.'".I did not, however,aim at gaininghis favor by payingany servilerespectto him, but,after some

time,took this other method. Having heard that he had in his

librarya certain very scarce and curious book, I wrote a note to

him,expressingmy desire of perusingthat book,and requestinghe would do me the favor of lendingit to me for a few days.He sent itimmediately,and I returned itin about a week with an-other

note, expressingstronglymy sense of the favor. When we

next met in the House, he spoketo me (whichhe had never done

before),and with great civility; and he ever after manifested a

readiness to serve me on all occasions,so that we became great

friends,and our friendshipcontinued to his death. This is an-other

instance of the truth of an old maxim I had learned,which


says :" He that has once done you a kindness willbe more ready

to do you another than he whom you yourselfhave obliged."And

itshows how much more profitableitisprudentlyto remove, than

to resent,return,and continue,inimical proceedings.In 1737, Colonel Spotswood,late governor of Virginia,and

then postmaster-general,beingdissatisfiedwith the conduct of his

deputyat Philadelphiarespectingsome negligencein renderingand inexactitude of his accounts, took from him the commission

and offered itto me. I accepteditreadily,and found itof great

advantage; for,thoughthe salarywas small,itfacilitatedthe corre-spondence

thatimprovedmy newspaper and increased 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 declined proportionably,and I was satisfiedwithout

retaliatinghisrefusal,while postmaster,to permitmy papers beingcarried by the riders. Thus he suffered greatlyfrom his negleci:in due accounting; and I mention it as a lesson to those young

men who may be employed in managing affairsfor others,that

theyshould alwaysrender accounts and make remittances with

greatclearness and punctuality.The character of observingsuch

a conduct is the most powerfulof all recommendations to new

employmentsand increase of business.

I began now to turn my thoughtsa littleto publicaffairs,be-ginning,

however,with small matters. The citywatch was one

of the firstthingsthat I conceived to want regulation.It was

managed by the constables of the respectivewards in turn. The

constable warned a number of housekeepersto attend him for the

night.Those who chose never to attend,paidhim six shillings

a year to be excused,which was supposedto be for hiringsubsti-tutes,

but was, in reality,much more than was necessary for that

purpose, and made the constableshipa placeof profit; and the

constable,for a littledrink,often got such ragamuffinsabout him

as a watch that respectablehousekeepersdid not choose to mix

with them.n Walkingthe rounds,too, was often neglected,and

most of the nightsspent in tippling.I thereuponwrote a paper to

n8 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

be read in Junto,representingthese irregularities,but insistingmore particularlyon the inequalityof this six-shillingtax of the

constables respectingthe circumstances of those who paidit,since

a poor widow housekeeper,all whose property to be guardedbythe watch did not perhapsexceed the value of fiftypounds,paidas much as the wealthiestmerchant,who had thousands of pounds'worth of goodsin his stores.

J On the whole,I proposedas a more effectual watch the hiringr of proper men to serve constantlyin that business ; and as a more

equitableway of supportingthe charge,the levyinga tax that

should be proportionedto the property. This idea,beingap-proved

by the Junto,was communicated to the other clubs,but

as arisingin each of them ; and thoughthe planwas not imme-diately

carried into execution,yet,by preparingthe minds of peo-ple

for the change,itpaved the way for the law obtained a few

years after,when the members of our clubs were grown into more

influence.

About thistime I wrote a paper, (firstto be read in Junto,but

it was afterward published,)on the different accidents and care-lessnesses

by which houses were set on fire,with cautions against

them, and means proposedof avoidingthem. This was much

spokenof as a useful piece,and gave riseto a projectwhich soon

followed it,of forminga company for the more readyextinguish-ingof fires,and mutual assistance in removingand securingof

goodswhen in danger. Associates in thisscheme were presently

found,amountingto thirty.Our articlesof agreement obliged

every member to keep alwaysin good order,and fitfor use, a

" certain number of leather buckets,with strong bagsand baskets

(forpackingand transportingof goods),which were to be brought

to every fire; and we agreedto meet once a month and spenda

social eveningtogether,in discoursingand communicatingsuch

ideas as occurred to us upon the subjectof firesas mightbe use-ful

in our conduct on such occasions.

The utilityof this institutionsoon appeared,"and many more

desiringto be admitted than we thoughtconvenient for one com-

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 1 9

pany, theywere advised to form another,which was accordinglydone ; and this went on, one new company beingformed after

another,tilltheybecame so numerous as to include most of the

inhabitantswho were men of property; and now, at the time of

my writingthis,thoughupward of fiftyyears since itsestablish-ment,

that which I firstformed,called the "Union Fire Company,"stillsubsistsand flourishes,thoughthe firstmembers are all de-ceased

but myselfand one who is older by a year than I am.

The small finesthat have been paidby members for absence from

the monthlymeetingshave been appliedto the purchaseof fire

engines,ladders,firehooks,and other useful implementsfor each

company, so that I questionwhether there is a cityin the world

better providedwith the means of puttinga stop to beginning

conflagrations; and,in fact,since these institutions,the cityhas

never lostby firemore than one or two houses at a time,and the

flames have often been extinguishedbefore the house in which

theybegan has been half consumed.

In 1739 arrived among us from Ireland the Rev. Mr. White-

field,1who had made himself remarkable there as an itinerant

preacher.He was at firstpermittedto preachin some of our

churches ; but the clergy,takinga dislike to him,soon refused

him their pulpits,and he was obligedto preachin the fields.

The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his

sermons were enormous, and itwas matter of speculationto me,

who was one of the number, to observe the extraordinaryinfluence

of his oratoryon his hearers,and how much theyadmired and

respectedhim,notwithstandinghis common abuse of them by as-suring

them theywere naturally" half beasts and half devils." It

was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of

our inhabitants. From beingthoughtlessor indifferentabout re-ligion,

itseemed as if all the world were growingreligious,so that

one could not walk throughthe town in an eveningwithout

hearingpsalmssung in different families of every street.

1 GeorgeWhitefield,one of the founders of Methodism, who was born in

Gloucester,England,in 1714, and died in Newburyport,Mass.,in 1770.11


And, it beingfound inconvenient to assemble in the open air,

subjectto its inclemencies,the buildingof a house to meet in

was no sooner proposed,and persons appointedto receive con-tributions,

but sufficientsums were soon received to procure the

groundand erect the building,which was one hundred feet longand seventy broad,about the size of Westminster Hall;1and the

work was carried on with such spiritas to be finishedin a much

shorter time than could have been expected. Both house and

ground were vested in trustees,expresslyfor the use of any

preacherof any religiouspersuasionwho might desire to say

somethingto the peopleof Philadelphia; the designin buildingnot beingto accommodate any particularsect,but the inhabitants

in general;so that even if the Mufti of Constantinoplewere to

send a missionaryto preachMohammedanism to us, he would

find a pulpitat his service.

Mr. Whitefield,in leavingus, went preachingall the way

throughthe colonies to Georgia.The settlement of that provincehad latelybeen begun,but,instead of beingmade with hardy,industrioushusbandmen, accustomed to labor," the onlypeoplefit

for such an enterprise," itwas with families of broken shopkeepersand other insolvent debtors,many of indolent and idle habits,

taken out of the jails,who, beingset down in the woods,unquali-fiedfor clearingland and unable to endure the hardshipsof a

new settlement,perishedin numbers,leavingmany helplesschil-dren

unprovidedfor.2 The sightof their miserable situationin-spired

the benevolent heart of Mr. Whitefield with the idea of

buildingan orphanhouse 3 there,in which theymightbe supportedand educated. Returningnorthward,he preachedup thischar-ity,

and made largecollections,for his eloquencehad a wonder-

1 In London.

2 General Oglethorpefounded an Englishcolonyin Georgiain 1 732. He

wished to make an asylumto which debtors,whose libertythe laws of Eng-land

put into the hands of the creditor,(seeWay to Wealth, p. 204,)might

escape, and where those fleeingfrom religiouspersecutionmightbe safe from

their pursuers.3 This institutionwas established in Savannah,and called Bethesda.


ful power over the hearts and purses of his hearers,of which I

myselfwas an instance.

I did not disapproveof the design,but,as Georgiawas then

destituteof materials and workmen, and it was proposedto send

them from Philadelphiaat a great expense, I thoughtit wouldhave been better to have built the house here,and broughtthechildren to it. This I advised ; but he was resolute in his first

project,rejectedmy counsel,and I therefore refused to contrib-ute.

I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the

course of which I perceivedhe intended to finishwith a collec-tion,

and I silentlyresolved he should get nothingfrom me. I

had in my pocketa handful of copper money, three or four silver

dollars,and five pistolesin gold. As he proceededI began to

soften,and concluded to givethe coppers. Another stroke of

his oratorymade me ashamed of that,and determined me to givethe silver; and he finishedso admirablythat I emptiedmy pocket

whollyinto the collector'sdish,goldand all. At thissermon there

was also one of our club,who, beingof my sentiments respectingthe buildingin Georgia,and suspectinga collectionmightbe in-tended,

had,by precaution,emptiedhis pocketsbefore he came

from home. Toward the conclusion of the discourse,however,

he felta strong desireto give,and appliedto a neighborwho stood

near him,to borrow some money for the purpose. The application

was unfortunatelyto perhapsthe onlyman in the company who

had the firmness not to be affected by the preacher.His answer

was: "At any other time,friend Hopkinson,I would lend to

thee freely; but not now, for thee seems to be out of thyrightsenses."

Some of Mr. Whitefield'senemies affectedto suppose that hb

would applythese collectionsto his own privateemolument ; but

I,who was intimatelyacquaintedwith him, beingemployedin

printinghis sermons and journals,etc.,never had the least sus-picion

of his integrity,but am to this day decidedlyof opinionthat he was in all his conduct a perfectlyhonest man ; and me-

thinks my testimonyin his favor oughtto have the more weight


as we had no religiousconnection. He used,indeed,sometimes

to pray for my conversion,but he never had the satisfaction of

believingthat his prayers were heard. Ours was a mere civil

friendship,sincere on both sides,and lasted to his death.

The followinginstance will show somethingof the terms on

which we stood. Upon one of his arrivals from England at

Boston,he wrote to me that he should come soon to Philadelphia,but knew not where he could lodgewhen there,as he understood

his old friend and host,Mr. Benezet,was removed to German-

town. My answer was :" You know my house ; ifyou can make

shiftwith itsscanty accommodations,you will be most heartilywelcome." He repliedthat if I made that kind offer for Christ's

sake I should not miss of a reward ; and I returned :" Don't Jet

me be mistaken ; it was not for Christ'ssake,but for your own

sake." One of our common acquaintanceremarked that,know-ing

it to be the custom of the saints,when theyreceived any

favor,to shift the burden of the obligationfrom off their own

shoulders and placeit in heaven,I had contrived to fix it on

earth.

The last time I saw Mr. Whitefield was in London, when he

consulted me about his orphan house concern, and his purpose

of appropriatingitto the establishment of a college.He had a loud and clear voice,and articulatedhis words and

sentences so perfectlythat he might be heard and understood

at a great distance,especiallyas his auditors,however numerous,

observed the most exact silence. He preachedone eveningfrom

the top of the courthouse steps,which are in the middle of Market

Street,and on the west side of Second Street,which crosses itat

rightangles. Both streets were filledwith his hearers to a con-siderable

distance. Beingamong the hindmost in Market Street,I had the curiosityto learn how far he could be heard,by retir-ing

backward down the street toward the river;and I found

his voice distincttillI came near Front Street,when some noise

in that street obscured it. Imaginingthen a semicircle,of which

my distance should be the radius,and that it were filledwith


auditors,to each of whom I allowed two square feet,I computedthat he mightwell be heard by more than thirtythousand. This

reconciled me to the newspaper accounts of his havingpreachedto twenty-fivethousand peoplein the fields,and to the ancient

historiesof generalsharanguingwhole armies,of which I had

sometimes doubted.

By hearinghim often,I could distinguisheasilybetween ser-mons

newlycomposed and those which he had often preachedin

the course of his travels. His deliveryof the latter was so im-proved

by frequentrepetitionsthat every accent,every emphasis,

every modulation of voice,was so perfectlywell turned and well

placedthat,without beinginterested in the subject,one could

not helpbeingpleasedwith the discourse ; a pleasureof much the

same kind with that received from an excellent pieceof music.

This is an advantageitinerantpreachershave over those who are

stationary,as the latter cannot well improvetheir deliveryof a

sermon by so many rehearsals.

His writingand printingfrom time to time gave greatadvan-tage

to his enemies. Unguarded expressionsand even erroneous

opinions,delivered in preaching,might have been afterward ex-plained

or qualifiedby supposingothers that mighthave accom-panied

them,or theymighthave been denied ; but litem scriptamanet.1 Criticsattacked hiswritingsviolently,and with so much

appearance of reason as to diminish the number of his votaries

and preventtheirincrease ; so that I am of opinionifhe had never

written anything,he would have leftbehind him a much more nu-merous

and importantsect,and hisreputationmightin that case

have been stillgrowing,even after hisdeath ; as, there beingnoth-ing

of hiswritingon which to found a censure and givehim a lower

character,his proselyteswould be leftat libertyto feignfor him

as great a varietyof excellences as their enthusiasticadmiration

mightwish him to have possessed.

My business was now continuallyaugmenting,and my circum-stances

growingdailyeasier,my newspaper havingbecome very

1 Written words endure.


profitable,as beingfor a time almost the onlyone in thisand the

neighboringprovinces.I experienced,too, the truth of the ob-servation

that " after gettingthe firsthundred pounds it is more

easy to get the second,"money itselfbeingof a prolificnature.

The partnershipat Carolina havingsucceeded,I was encour-aged

to engage in others,and to promote several of my work-men

who had behaved well,by establishingthem with printinghouses in differentcolonies,on the same terms as that in Caro-lina.

Most of them did well,beingenabled at the end of our

term, six years, to purchasethe typesof me and go on workingfor themselves,by which means several familieswere raised. Part-nerships

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 precautionof havingvery explicitlysettled,in

our articles,everythingto be done by or expectedfrom each

partner,so that there was nothingto dispute,which precautionI would therefore recommend to allwho enter into partnership;for,whatever esteem partners may have for and confidence in

each other at the time of the contract, littlejealousiesand dis-gusts

may arise,with ideas of inequalityin the care and burden

of the business,etc.,which are attended often with breach of

friendshipand of the connection,perhapswith lawsuits and other

disagreeableconsequences. ^

I had, on the whole,abundant reason to be satisfiedwith my

being established in Pennsylvania.There were, however,two

thingswhich I regretted," there beingno provisionfor defense,nor

for a completeeducation of youth; no militia,nor any college.I therefore,in 1743, drew up a proposalfor establishingan acad-emy,

and at that time thinkingthe Rev. Mr. Peters,who was out

of employ,a fitperson to superintendsuch an institution,I com-municated

the projectto him; but he,having more profitableviews in the serviceof the proprietaries,which succeeded,declined

the undertaking; and, not knowing another at that time suitable

for such a trust,I let the scheme lie awhile dormant. I suc-ceeded

better the next year, 1744, in proposingand establishing


a philosophicalsociety.1The paper I wrote for that purpose will

be found among my writingswhen collected.

With respect to defense," Spainhavingbeen several years at

war againstGreat Britain,and beingat lengthjoinedby France,which broughtus into great danger,and the labored and long-continued endeavor of our governor, Thomas, to prevailwith our

Quaker Assembly2to pass a militialaw and make other provi-sionsfor the securityof the province,havingprovedabortive," I

determined to trywhat mightbe done by a voluntaryassociationof the people. To promote this I firstwrote and publisheda

pamphletentitled" Plain Truth,"in which I stated our defense-less

situationin strong lights,with the necessityof union and dis-cipline

for our defense,and promisedto propose in a few daysan

association,to be generallysignedfor that purpose. The pam-phlet

had a sudden and surprisingeffect. I was called upon for

the instrument of association,and havingsettled the draft of it

with a few friends,I appointeda meetingof the citizensin the

largebuildingbefore mentioned. The house was prettyfull. I

had prepareda number of printedcopies,and providedpens and

ink dispersedall over the room. I haranguedthem a littleon

the subject,read the paper and explainedit,and then distributed

the copies,which were eagerlysigned,not the least objection

beingmade.

When the company separatedand the papers were collected,

we found above twelve hundred hands ; and,other copiesbeing

dispersedin the country,the subscribers amounted at lengthto

1 This societycontinues. The planof it was discussed by the Junto,from

which came six of the nine originalmembers. Its investigationswere to be

in botany,medicine,mineralogyand mining,mathematics,chemistry,me-chanics,

arts,trades and manufactures,geography,topography,agriculture,and " all philosophicalexperimentsthat let lightinto the nature of things,tend to increase the power of man over matter, and multiplythe conveniences

and pleasuresof life.'' "

BenjaminFranklin,the writer of this proposal,offershimself to serve the societyas theirsecretarytilltheyshall be providedwith one more capable."

2 The Pennsylvanialegislature.


upward of ten thousand. These allfurnished themselves as soon

as theycould with arms, formed themselves into companiesand

regiments,chose their own officers,and met every week to be in-structed

in the manual exercise and other partsof militarydisci-pline.

The women, by subscriptionsamong themselves,providedsilkcolors,which theypresentedto the companies,paintedwithdifferentdevices and mottoes which I supplied.

The officersof the companiescomposingthe Philadelphiaregi-ment,being met, chose me for their colonel;but,conceiving

myselfunfit,I declined that station,and recommended Mr. Law-rence,

a fine person and man of influence,who was accordinglyappointed.I then proposeda lottery1 to defraythe expense of

buildinga batterybelow the town, and furnishingitwith cannon.

It filledexpeditiously,and the batterywas soon erected,the mer-lons2

beingframed of logsand filledwith earth. We boughtsome old cannon from Boston,but,these not beingsufficient,we

wrote to England for more, solicitingat the same time our pro-prietaries

for some assistance,though without much expectationof obtainingit.

Meanwhile Colonel Lawrence,William Allen,Abram Taylor,

Esq.,and myselfwere sent to New York by the associators,com-missioned

to borrow some cannon of Governor Clinton. He at

firstrefused us peremptorily; but at dinner with hiscouncil,where

there was greatdrinkingof Madeira wine,as the custom of that

placethen was, he softened by degrees,and said he would lend

us six. After a few more bumpers he advanced to ten, and at

lengthhe very good-naturedlyconceded eighteen.They were

fine cannon, eighteen-pounders,with their carriages,which we

soon transportedand mounted on our battery,where the associ-ators

kepta nightlyguardwhile the war lasted,and among the

rest I regularlytook my turn of dutythere as a common soldier.

1 At this time lotterieswere used for raisingmoney to supportthe govern-ment,

to carry on wars, and to build churches,colleges,roads,etc. Theywere not then looked upon as fosteringgambling.

2 The walls of defense between the openingsfor the cannon.


My activityin these operationswas agreeableto the governor

and council ; theytook me into confidence,and I was consulted

by them in every measure wherein their concurrence was thoughtuseful to the association. Callingin the aid of religion,I pro-posed

to them the proclaiminga fast,to promote reformation

and implorethe blessingof Heaven on our undertaking.Theyembraced the motion ; but as itwas the firstfast ever thoughtofin the province,the secretaryhad no precedentfrom which to

draw the proclamation.My education in New England,where

a fast isproclaimedevery year, was here of some advantage. I

drew itin the accustomed style.It was translated into German,

printedin both languages,and divulgedthroughthe province.This gave the clergyof the differentsects an opportunityof influ-encing

theircongregationsto joinin the association,and itwould

probablyhave been generalamong all but Quakers if the peace

had not soon intervened.

It was thoughtby some of my friends that by my activityinthese affairsI should offend that sect,and therebylose my inter-est

in the Assemblyof the province,where theyformed a great

majority.A young gentlemanwho had likewise some friends in

the House, and wished to succeed me as their clerk,acquainted

me that itwas decided to displaceme at the next election,and

he therefore,in good will,advised me to resign,as more consist-ent

with my honor than beingturned out. My answer to him

was, that I had read or heard of some publicman who made it

a rule never to ask for an office and never to refuse one when

offered to him. " I approve,"says I," of his rule,and willprac-tice

itwith a small addition : I shall never ask,never refuse,nor

ever resignan office. If theywill have my officeof clerk to dis-pose

of to another,theyshalltake itfrom me. I willnot,by giv-ingit up, lose my rightof some time or other making reprisals1

on my adversaries." I heard,however,no more of this; I was

chosen againunanimously,as usual,at the next election.Possibly,

as theydisliked my late intimacywith the members of council,

1 Retaliation.


who had joinedthe governors in all the disputesabout militarypreparationswith which the House had longbeen harassed,they

might have been pleasedif I would voluntarilyhave leftthem ;

but theydid not care to displaceme on account merelyof my

zeal for the association,and theycould not well giveanother

reason.

Indeed I had some cause to believe that the defense of the

countrywas not disagreeableto any of them,providedtheywere

not requiredto assistin it. And I found that a much greater

number of them than I could have imagined,though againstoffensive war, were clearlyfor the defensive. Many pamphlets

pro and con were publishedon the subject,and some by good

Quakers in favor of defense,which I believe convinced most of

theiryounger people.A transaction in our firecompany gave me some insightinto

their prevailingsentiments. It had been proposedthat we should

encourage the scheme for buildinga battery,by layingout the

present stock,then about sixtypounds,in ticketsof the lottery.

By our rules no money could be disposedof tillthe next meetingafter the proposal.The company consisted of thirtymembers,of which twenty-two were Quakers,and eight,only,of other per-suasions.

We eightpunctuallyattended the meeting;but thoughwe thoughtthat some of the Quakers would joinus, we were

by no means sure of a majority.Only one Quaker, Mr. James

Morris,appearedto oppose the measure. He expressedmuch

sorrow that it had ever been proposed,as he said Friends were

allagainstit,and itwould create such discord as mightbreak up

the company. We told him that we saw no reason for that ; we

were the minority,and if Friends were againstthe measure, and

outvoted us, we must and should,agreeablyto the usage of allsoci-eties,

submit. When the hour for business arrived itwas moved

to put the vote. He allowed 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 opposingit,itwould be but candid

to allow a littletime for their appearing.


While we were disputingthis a waiter came to tellme two gen-tlemen

below desired to speakwith me. I went down and found

theywere two of our Quaker members. They told me that there

were eightof them assembled at a tavern justby ; that theywere

determined to come and vote with us if there should be occasion,

which theyhoped would not be the case, and desired we would

not call for their assistanceifwe could do without it,as their vot-ing

for such a measure mightembroil them with theirelders and

friends. Beingthus secure of a majority,I went up, and after a

littleseeminghesitationagreedto a delayof another hour. This

Mr. Morris allowed to be extremelyfair. Not one of his oppos-ing

friends appeared,at which he expressed,great surprise,and

at the expirationof the hour we carried the resolution eightto

one ; and as, of the twenty-twoQuakers,eightwere readyto vote

with us, and thirteen by their absence manifested that theywerenot inclined to oppose the measure, I afterward estimated the pro-portion

of Quakerssincerelyagainstdefense as one to twenty-one

only; for these were all regularmembers of that society,and in

goodreputationamong them,and had due notice of what was pro-posed

at that meeting.The honorable and learned Mr. Logan,who had alwaysbeen

of that sect,was one who wrote an address to them, declaringhis approbationof defensive war and supportinghis opinionby

many strong arguments. He put into my hands sixtypoundsto

be laid out in lotterytickets for the battery,with directions to

applywhat prizesmight be drawn whollyto that service. He

told me the followinganecdote of his old master, William Penn,

respectingdefense. He came over from England,when a young

man, with that proprietary,and as his secretary. It was war time,

and theirshipwas chased by an armed vessel,supposedto be an

enemy. Their captainpreparedfor defense,but told William

Penn and his company of Quakers that he did not expect their

assistance,and theymightretire into the cabin ; which theydid,

except James Logan,who chose to stayupon deck,and was quar-tered

to a gun. The supposedenemy proveda friend,so there

13" THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

was no fighting; but when the secretarywent down to communis

cate the intelligence,William Penn rebuked him severelyfor stay-ingupon deck and undertakingto assistin defendingthe vessel,

contrary to the principlesof Friends,especiallyas ithad not been

requiredby the captain.This reproof,beingbefore all the com-pany,

piqued the secretary,who answered :" I beingthy ser-vant,

why did thee not order me to come down? But thee was

willingenough that I should stayand helpto fightthe shipwhenthee thoughtthere was danger."

My beingmany years in the Assembly,the majorityof which

were constantlyQuakers,gave me frequentopportunitiesof see-ing

the embarrassment giventhem by their principleagainstwarwhenever applicationwas made to them,by order of the Crown,to grant aids for militarypurposes. They were unwillingtooffend government, on the one hand,by a directrefusal,and their

friends,the body of the Quakers,on the other,by a compliance

contraryto their principles; hence a varietyof evasions to avoid

complying,and modes of disguisingthe compliancewhen it be-came

unavoidable. The common mode at last was to grant

money under the phraseof itsbeing"for the King'suse,"and

never to inquirehow itwas applied.But ifthe demand was not directlyfrom the Crown, that phrase

was found not so proper, and some other was to be invented.

As,when powder was wanting(Ithink itwas for the garrisonat

Louisburg1),and the government of New England soliciteda

grant of some from Pennsylvania,which was much urgedon the

House by Governor Thomas, theycould not grant money to buy

powder,because that was an ingredientof war ; but theyvoted

an aid to New England of three thousand pounds,to be put into

the hands of the governor, and appropriateditfor the purchasingof bread,flour,wheat,or other grain. Some of the council,de-sirous

of givingthe House stillfurther embarrassment,advised

the governor not to accept provision,as not beingthe thinghe

had demanded ; but he replied: " I shalltake the money, for I

l See Note 2, p. 181.


understand very well theirmeaning;' other grain' isgunpowder,"

which he accordinglybought,and theynever objectedto it.

It was in allusion to this fact that,when in our firecompany

we feared the success of our proposalin favor of the lottery,and

I had said to my friend Mr. Syng,one of our members :" If we

fail,let us move the purchaseof a fireenginewith the money ; the

Quakerscan have no objectionto that ; and then,ifyou nominate

me and I you as a committee for that purpose, we will buy a

great gun, which is certainlya fireengine,"" "I see,"says he,

"you have improved by beingso longin the Assembly;yourequivocalprojectwould be justa match for their' wheat or other

grain.'"

These embarrassments that the Quakers suffered from havingestablishedand publisheditas one of theirprinciplesthat no kind

of war was lawful,and which,beingonce published,theycould

not afterward,however theymightchangetheirminds,easilygetrid of,reminds me of what I think a more prudentconduct in

another sect among us, that of the Dunkers.1 I was acquaintedwith one of itsfounders,Michael Welfare,soon after itappeared.He complainedto me that theywere grievouslycalumniated bythe zealots of other persuasions,and chargedwith abominable

principlesand practicesto which they were utter strangers.I

told him thishad alwaysbeen the case with new sects,and that,

to put a stop to such abuse,I imagineditmightbe well to pub-lishthe articlesof their belief and the rules of their discipline.

He said that it had been proposedamong them,but not agreed

to,for this reason :" When we were firstdrawn togetheras a

society,"says he, " ithad pleasedGod to enlightenour minds so

far as to see that some doctrines,which we once esteemed truths,

were errors ; and that others,which we have esteemed errors, were

real truths. From time to time He has been pleasedto afford us

furtherlight,and our principleshave been improvingand our er-rors

diminishing.Now we are not sure that we are arrived at the

1 A sect of German-American Baptists,whose name comes from the Ger-man

tunken ("to immerse").


end of this progressionand at the perfectionof spiritualor theo-logical

knowledge,and we fear that if we should once printourconfession of faith we should feel ourselves as ifbound and con-fined

by it,and perhapsbe unwillingto receive further improve-ment,and our successors stillmore so, as conceivingwhat we,

their elders and founders,had done to be somethingsacred,neverto be departedfrom."

This modestyin a sect isperhapsa singularinstance in the his-tory

of mankind,every other sect supposingitselfin possessionofalltruth,and that those who differare so far in the wrong. Like

a man travelingin foggyweather ; those at some distance before

him on the road he sees wrappedup in the fog as well as those

behind him, and also the peoplein the fields on each side,but

near him all appears clear,thoughin 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 graduallydecliningthe publicservice in the Assemblyand in the magistracy,choosingrather to

quittheir power than their principle.In order of time I should have mentioned before that,having

in 1742 invented an open stove 1 for the better warmingof rooms

and at the same time savingfuel,as the fresh air admitted was

warmed in entering,I made a presentof the model to Mr. Robert

Grace,one of my earlyfriends,who, having an iron furnace,found the castingof the platesfor these stoves a profitablething,as theywere growingin demand.11 To promote that demand I

wrote and publisheda pamphletentitled,"An Account of the

new-invented PennsylvaniaFireplaces;wherein their Construc-tion

and Manner of Operationis particularlyexplained;their

Advantagesabove every other Method of warmingRooms demon-strated

; and allObjectionsthat have been raised againstthe Use

of them answered and obviated," etc. This pamphlethad a goodeffect. Governor Thomas was so pleasedwith the construction

of this stove, as described in it,that he offered to giveme a

patent,for the sole vendingof them for a term of years ; but I de*

1 It is stillused, and called the " Franklin stove."


clined itfrom a principlewhich has ever weighedwith me on such

occasions ; namely,that as we enjoygreatadvantagesfrom the in-ventions

of others,we should be gladof an opportunityto serve

others by any invention of ours ; and thiswe should do freelyand

generously.An ironmongerin London, however,assuminga good deal of

my pamphlet,and workingitup into his own, and making some

small changesin the machine,which rather hurt itsoperation,gota patentfor itthere,and made, as I was told,a littlefortune byit. And thisisnot the onlyinstance of patentstaken out for myinventions by others,"thoughnot alwayswith the same success,

" which I never contested,as havingno desireof profitingby pat-ents

myself,and hatingdisputes.The use of these fireplacesin

very many houses,both of thisand the neighboringcolonies,has

been and is a greatsavingof wood to the inhabitants.

" 7. PROJECTS FOR THE PUBLIC GOODo

PEACEbeingconcluded,and the association business there-fore

at an end,I turned my thoughtsagainto the affairof

establishingan academy. The firststepI took was to associate

in the designa number of active friends,of whom the Juntofurnished a good part. The next was to write and publisha

pamphletentitled " Proposalsrelatingto the Education of Youth

in Pennsylvania."This I distributed among the principalin-habitants

gratis;and as soon as I could suppose their minds

a littlepreparedby the perusalof it,I set on foot a subscriptionfor openingand supportingan academy. It was to be paidin

quotas yearlyfor five years. By so dividingit I judgedthe sub-scription

mightbe larger,and I believe it was so, amountingto

no less,if I remember right,than five thousand pounds.In the introduction to these ProposalsI stated theirpublication,

not as an act of mine,but of some" public-spiritedgentlemen,"


avoidingas much as I could,accordingto my usual rule,the pre-senting

myselfto the publicas the author of any scheme for their

benefit.

The subscribers,to carry the projectinto immediate execution,

chose out of their number twenty-fourtrustees,and appointed

Mr. Francis,then attorney-general,and myselfto draw up con-stitutions

for the government of the academy ; which beingdone

and signed,a house was hired,masters engaged,and the schools

opened,I think,in the same year, 1749.

The scholars increasingfast,the house was soon found too

small,and we were lookingout for a pieceof ground,properly

situated,with intention to build,when Providence threw into our

way a largehouse readybuilt,which,with a few alterations,mightwell serve our purpose. This was the buildingbefore mentioned,

erected by the hearers of Mr. Whitefield,1and was obtained for

us in the followingmanner.It is to be noted that the contributions to thisbuildingbeing

made by peopleof different sects,care was taken in the nomina-tion

of trustees,in whom the buildingand ground was to be

vested,that a predominancyshould not be givento any sect,lest

in time that predominancymightbe a means of appropriatingthe

whole to the use of such sect,contraryto the originalintention.

It was therefore that one of each sect was appointed; namely,one Church of Englandman, one Presbyterian,one Baptist,one

Moravian,2etc. ; those,in case of vacancy by death,were to fill

itby election from among the contributors. The Moravian hap-penednot to pleasehiscolleagues,and on his death theyresolved

to have no other of that sect. The difficultythen was, how to

avoid havingtwo of some other sect by means of the new choice.

Several persons were named, and for that reason not agreedto.At lengthone mentioned me, with the observation that I was

1 It stood on Fourth Street,below Arch.

2 A member of a denomination which has itsname from Moravia, a divi-sion

of Austria- Hungary. For an account of their home and practices,see

pp. 168-170.


merelyan honest man and of no sect at all,which prevailedwith

them to choose me. The enthusiasm which existed when the

house was built had longsince abated,and itstrustees had not

been able to procure fresh contributions for payingthe groundrent and dischargingsome other debts the buildinghad occa-sioned,

which embarrassed them greatly.Beingnow a member

of both sets of trustees,that for the buildingand that for the

academy,I had a goodopportunityof negotiatingwith both,and

broughtthem finallyto an agreement, by which the trustees for

the buildingwere to cede it to those of the academy,the latter

undertakingto dischargethe debt,to keep forever open in the

buildinga largehall for occasional preachers,accordingto the

originalintention,and maintain a free school for the instruction

of poor children. Writingswere accordinglydrawn,and on pay-ing

the debts the trustees of the academy were put in possessionof the premises; and by dividingthe greatand loftyhall into

stories,and different rooms above and below for the several

schools,and purchasingsome additional ground,the whole was

soon made fitfor our purpose, and the scholars removed into the

building.The care and trouble of agreeingwith the workmen,

purchasingmaterials,and superintendingthe work,fellupon me ;

and I went throughit the more cheerfullyas it did not then in-terfere

with my privatebusiness,havingthe year before taken a

very able,industrious,and honest partner,Mr. David Hall,with

whose character I was well acquainted,as he had worked for me

four years. He took off my hands all care of the printingoffice,

payingme punctuallymy share of the profits.This partnershipcontinued eighteenyears, successfullyfor us both.

The trustees of the academy after a while were incorporated

by a charter from the government ; theirfunds were increased bycontributions in Britainand grantsof land from the proprietaries,to which the Assemblyhas since made considerable addition ; and

thus was established the present Universityof Philadelphia.I

have been continued one of itstrustees from the beginning,now

near fortyyears, and have had the very greatpleasureof seeing


a number of the youthwho have received their education in it

distinguishedby their improvedabilities,serviceable in publicstations,and ornaments ô their country.

When I disengagedmyselfas above mentioned from privatebusiness,I flatteredmyselfthat,by the sufficientthoughmoderatefortune I had acquired,I had secured leisure duringthe rest of

my lifefor philosophicalstudies and amusements. I purchasedall Dr. Spence'sapparatus,who had come from England to lec-ture

here,and I proceededin my electricalexperimentswith great

alacrity.But the public,now consideringme as a man of leisure,laid hold of me for theirpurposes, every part of our civilgovern-ment,

and almost at the same time,imposingsome dutyupon me.

The governor put me into the commission of the peace, the cor-poration

of the citychose me of the common council and soon

after an alderman,and the citizens at largechose me a burgessx

to representthem in Assembly. This latter station was the more

agreeableto me, as I was at lengthtired with sittingthere to hear

debates in which,as clerk,I could take no part,and which were

often so unentertainingthat I was induced to amuse myselfwith

makingmagicsquares 2or circles,or anythingto avoid weariness ;

and I conceived my becoming a member would enlargemy power

of doinggood. I would not, however,insinuate that my ambi-tion

was not flatteredby all these promotions. It certainly

was, for,consideringmy low beginning,theywere greatthingsto

me, and theywere stillmore pleasingas beingso many sponta-neous

testimonies of the publicgood opinion,and by me entirelyunsolicited.

The officeof justiceof the peace I tried a littleby attendinga

few courts and sittingon the bench to hear causes ; but finding

1 A representativein the lower house of the legislature.2 " Magicsquares,"i.e.,square figuresof a series of numbers so disposed

that the sums of each row or line,taken in any direction,are equal. Magic

squares are also formed of words or phrasesso arrangedas to read the same

in all directions. The magic circle is a modification of the magicsquare, one

form of which was devised by Franklin.


that more knowledgeof the common law than I possessedwas

necessary to act in that stationwith credit,I graduallywithdrew

from it,excusingmyselfby my beingobligedto attend the higherduties of a legislatorin the Assembly. My election to this trust

was repeatedevery year for ten years without my ever askinganyelector for his vote, or signifying,either directlyor indirectly,any

desireof beingchosen. On takingmy seat in the House my son

was appointedtheir clerk.

The year following,a treatybeingto be held with the Indians

at Carlisle,the governor sent a message to the House, proposingthat theyshould nominate some of their members, to be joinedwith some members of council,as commissioners for that pur-pose.

The House named the speaker(Mr.Norris)and myself;

and,beingcommissioned,we went to Carlisle and met the Indians

accordingly.As those peopleare extremelyapt to get drunk,and when so

are very quarrelsomeand disorderly,we strictlyforbade the sell-ing

any liquorto them ; and when theycomplainedof thisrestric-tion,

we told them that if theywould continue sober duringthe

treaty,we would givethem plentyof rum when business was over.

They promisedthis,and theykept their promise,because theycould get no liquor,and the treatywas conducted very orderly,and concluded to mutual satisfaction. They then claimed and

received the rum.

This was in the afternoon ; theywere near one hundred men,

women, and children,and were lodgedin temporary cabins,built

in the form of a square, justwithout the town. In the evening,

hearinga great noise among them,the commissioners walked out

to see what was the matter. We found theyhad made a greatbonfire in the middle of the square. They were alldrunk,men

and women, quarrelingand fighting.Their dark colored bodies,half naked,seen onlyby the gloomy lightof the bonfire,runningafter and beatingone another with firebrands,accompaniedbytheir horrid yellings,formed a scene the most resemblingourideas of hell that could well be imagined. There was no appeas-


ingthe tumult,and we retired to our lodging. At midnightanumber of them came thunderingto our door,demanding more

rum, of which we took no notice.

The next day,sensibletheyhad misbehaved in givingus that

disturbance,theysent three of their old counselors to make their

apology. The orator acknowledgedthe fault,but laid it upon

the rum ; and then endeavored to excuse the rum by saying: " The

Great Spirit,who made allthings,made everythingfor some use,

and whatever use he designedanythingfor,that use it should

alwaysbe 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,ifitbe the designof Providence to extirpatethese savages

in order to make room for cultivators of the earth,itseems not im-probable

that rum may be the appointedmeans. It has alreadyannihilated all the tribeswho formerlyinhabited the seacoast.

In 1 75 1 Dr. Thomas Bond, a particularfriend of mine, con-ceived

the idea of establishinga hospitalin Philadelphia(averybeneficent designwhich has been ascribed to me but was origi-nally

his)for the receptionand cure of poor sick persons, whether

inhabitantsof the provinceor strangers. He was zealous and ac-tive

in endeavoringto procure subscriptionsfor it,but the pro-posal

beinga noveltyin America,and at firstnot well understood,

he met with but small success.

At lengthhe came to me with -the complimentthat he found

here was no such thingas carryinga public-spiritedproject

throughwithout my beingconcerned in it. "

For,"says he, " I

am often asked by those to whom I propose subscribing,' Have

you consulted Franklin upon this business ? And what does he

think of it? ' And when I tellthem that I have not (supposingit rather out of your line),theydo not subscribe,but say theywill consider of it." I inquiredinto the nature and probable

utilityof his scheme,and receivingfrom him a very satisfactory

explanation,I not onlysubscribed to itmyself,but engagedheart-ily

in the designof procuringsubscriptionsfrom others. Previ-ously,

however, to the solicitation,I endeavored to prepare the


minds of the peopleby writingon the subjectin the newspapers,

which was my usual custom in such cases, but which he had

omitted.

The subscriptionsafterward were more free and generous ; but,

beginningto flag,I saw theywould be insufficientwithout some

assistancefrom the Assembly,and therefore proposedto petitionfor it,which was done. The country members did not at first

relishthe project.They objectedthat it could onlybe service-able

to the city,and therefore the citizensalone should be at the

expense of it; and theydoubted whether the citizensthemselves

generallyapprovedof it. My allegationon the contrary,that

it met with such approbationas to leave no doubt of our beingable to raise two thousand pounds by voluntarydonations,theyconsidered as a most extravagantsuppositionand utterlyim-possible.

On thisI formed my plan; and,askingleave to bringin a bill1

for incorporatingthe contributors accordingto the prayer of their

petition,and grantingthem a blank sum of money, which leave

was obtained chieflyon the consideration that the House could

throw the billout iftheydid not like it,I drew it so as to make

the importantclause a conditional one, namely:" And be it en-acted,

by the authorityaforesaid,that when the said contributors

shallhave met and chosen theirmanagers and treasurer,and shall

have raised bytheircontributions a capitalstockof value,(the

yearlyinterestof which isto be appliedto the accommodatingof

the sick poor in the said hospital,free of chargefor diet,attend-ance,

advice,and medicines,)and shall make the same appearto the

satisfactionofthe speakerofthe Assemblyforthe time bei?ig,that

then itshalland may be lawful for the said speaker,and he ishere-by

required,to signan order on the provincialtreasurer for the pay-ment

of two thousand pounds,in two yearlypayments,to the treas-urer

of the said hospital,to be appliedto the founding,building,and finishingof the same."

This condition carried the billthrough; for the members who

1 A form or draft of the law,presentedto the legislaturefor adoption.


had opposedthe grant,and now conceived theymighthave the

creditof beingcharitable without the expense, agreedto its pas-sage

; and then,in solicitingsubscriptionsamong the people,we

urged the conditional promiseof the law as an additional motive

to give,since every man's donation would be doubled ; thus the

clause worked both ways. The subscriptionsaccordinglysoonexceeded the requisitesum, and we claimed and received the

publicgift,which enabled us to carry the designinto execution.

A convenient and handsome buildingwas soon erected ; the

institutionhas,by constant experience,been found useful,and

flourishesto thisday ; and I do not remember any of my political

maneuvers the success of which gave me at the time more pleas-ure,or wherein,after thinkingof it,I more easilyexcused myself

for havingmade 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 assisthim in

procuringa subscriptionfor erectinga new meetinghouse.It

was to be for the use of a congregationhe had gatheredamongthe Presbyterianswho were originallydisciplesof Mr. Whitefield.

Unwillingto make myselfdisagreeableto my fellow-citizens bytoo frequentlysolicitingtheir contributions,I absolutelyrefused.

He then desired I would furnish him with a list of the names

of persons I knew by experienceto be generous and public-

spirited.I thoughtit would be unbecoming in me, after their

kind compliancewith my solicitations,to mark them out to be

worried by other beggars,and therefore refused also to givesuch

a list. He then desired I would at least givehim my advice." That I willreadilydo,"said I ;

" and in the firstplace,I advise

you to applyto all those whom you know will givesomething;

next, to those whom you are uncertain whether theywillgiveany-thing

or not, and show them the listof those who have given; and,

lastly,do not neglectthose who you are sure will givenothing,for

in some of them you may be mistaken." He laughedand thanked

me, and said he would take my advice. He did so, for he asked of

everybody,and he obtained a much largersum than he expected,


with which he erected the capaciousand very elegantmeeting-housethat stands in Arch Street.1

Our city,thoughlaid out with a beautiful regularity,the streets

large,straight,and crossingeach other at rightangles,had the

disgraceof sufferingthose streets to remain longunpaved,and in

wet weather the wheels of heavycarriagesplowed them into a

quagmire,so that itwas difficultto cross them,and in dryweather

the dust was offensive. I had lived near what was called the

JerseyMarket,and saw with painthe inhabitants wadingin mud

while purchasingtheir provisions.A stripof ground down the

middle of that market was at lengthpaved with brick,so that,

beingonce in the market,theyhad firm footing,but were often

over shoes in dirt to get there. By talkingand writingon the

subjectI was at lengthinstrumental in gettingthe street pavedwith stone between the market and the bricked 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

beingpaved,whenever a carriagecame out of the mud upon this

pavement, it shook off and left itsdirt upon it,and it was soon

covered with mire,which was not removed, the cityas yet hav-ing

no scavengers.

After some inquiryI found a poor, industrious man, who was

willingto undertake keepingthe pavement clean by sweepingit

twice a week,carryingoff the dirt from before all the neighbors'doors for the sum of sixpenceper month to be paidby each

house.11 I then wrote and printeda paper settingforth the ad-vantages

to the neighborhoodthat might be obtained by this

small expense: the greater ease in keepingour houses clean,

so much dirt not beingbroughtin by people'sfeet ; the benefit

to the shopsby more custom, etc.,as buyerscould more easily

get at them, and by not having,in windy weather,the dust

blown in upon theirgoods,etc. I sent one of these papers to

each house,and in a day or two went round to see who would

1 The church of this societyis now on the corner of Walnut and Twenty-firstStreets.

H2 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

subscribe an agreement to pay these sixpences. It was unani-mously

signed,and for a time well executed. All the inhabitants

of the citywere delightedwith the cleanlinessof the pavementthat surrounded the market,it beinga convenience to all; and

thisraised a generaldesire to have all the streets paved,and made

the peoplemore willingto submit to a tax for that purpose.

After some time I drew a billfor pavingthe city,and broughtit into the Assembly. It was justbefore I went to England in

1757, and did not pass tillI was gone, and then with an altera-tion

in the mode of assessment which I thoughtnot for the better,but with an additional provisionfor lightingas well as pavingthe

streets,which was a great improvement. It was by a private

person, the late Mr. John Clifton,"his givinga sampleof the

utilityof lamps by placingone at his door,"that the peoplewere firstimpressedwith the idea of enlightingall the city.The

honor of this publicbenefit has also been ascribed to me, but it

belongstrulyto that gentleman. I did but follow his example,and have onlysome merit to claim respectingthe form of our

lamps,as differingfrom the globelampswe were at firstsuppliedwith from London. Those we found inconvenient in these re-spects

: theyadmitted no air below ; the smoke,therefore,did not

readilygo out above,but circulated in the globe,lodgedon its

inside,and soon obstructed the lighttheywere intended to afford,

giving,besides,the dailytrouble of wipingthem clean ; and an

accidental stroke on one of them would demolish it and render

ittotallyuseless. I therefore suggestedthe composingthem of

four flatpanes, with a longfunnel above to draw up the smoke,and crevices admittingair below to facilitatethe ascent of the

smoke. By this means theywere keptclean,and did not grow

dark in a few hours,as the London lamps do, but continued

brighttillmorning,and an accidental stroke would generallybreak but a singlepane, easilyrepaired.

I have sometimes wondered that the Londoners did not, from

the effectholes in the bottom of the globelampsused at Vauxhall 1

l Pleasure gardensin the London of Franklin's day.


have in keepingthem clean,learn to have such holes in their

street lamps. But,these holes beingmade for another purpose,

namely,to communicate flame more suddenlyto the wick by a

littleflax hangingdown throughthem,the other use, of lettingin

air,seems not to have been thoughtof ; and therefore,after the

lampshave been lita few hours,the streets of London are very

poorlyilluminated.

The mention of these improvementsputs me in mind of one I

proposed,when in London, to Dr. Fothergill,who was among the

best men I have known, and a great promoter of useful projects.I had observed that the streets,when dry,were never swept,and

the lightdust carriedaway ; but itwas suffered to accumulate till

wet weather reduced it to mud, and then,after lyingsome daysso deep on the pavement that there was no crossingbut in paths

keptclean by poor peoplewith brooms,itwas with great labor

raked togetherand thrown up into carts open above,the sides of

which suffered some of the slush at every jolton the pavement to

shake out and fall,sometimes to the annoyance of foot passengers.

The reason givenfor not sweepingthe dustystreets was that the

dust would flyinto the windows of shopsand houses.

An accidental occurrence had instructed me how much sweep-ing

mightbe done in a littletime. I found at my door in Craven

Street 1 one morning,a poor woman sweepingmy pavement with

a birch broom. She appearedvery paleand feeble,as justcome

out of a fitof sickness. I asked who employedher to sweep

there. She said," Nobody ; but I am very poor and in distress,

and I sweeps before gentlefolksesdoors,and hopestheywillgiveme something."I bid her sweep the whole street clean,and I

would giveher a shilling.This was at nine o'clock ; at twelve she

came for the shilling.From the slowness I saw at firstin her

workingI could scarce believe that the work was done so soon,

and sent my servant to examine it,who reportedthat the whole

street was swept perfectlyclean,and all the dust placedin the

gutter,which was in the middle ; and the next rain washed it

1 A street in London in which Franklin had apartments.


quiteaway, so that the pavement, and even the kennel,1were

perfectlyclean.

I then judged that if that feeble woman could sweep such a

street in three hours,a strong,active man might have done itin

half the time. And here letme remark the convenience of havingbut one gutterin such a narrow street,runningdown itsmiddle,instead of two, one on each side,near the footway; for where all

the rain that fallson a street runs from the sides and meets in the

middle,itforms there a current strong enough to wash away all

the mud it meets with ; but when divided into two channels,itis

often too weak to cleanse either,and onlymakes the mud it finds

more fluid,so that the wheels of carriagesand feet of horses throw

and dash it upon the foot pavement, which is therebyrendered

foul and slippery,and sometimes splashit upon those who are

walking. My proposalcommunicated to the good doctor was as

follows :

" For the more effectual cleaningand keepingclean the streets

of London and Westminster 2 itisproposedthat the several watch-men

be contracted with to have the dust swept up in dryseasons,and the mud raked up at other times,each in the several streets

and lanes of his round ; that theybe furnished with brooms and

other proper instruments for these purposes, to be keptat their

respectivestands,readyto furnish the poor peopletheymay em-ploy

in the service." That in the drysummer months the dust be all swept up into

heapsat proper distances,before the shopsand windows of houses

are usuallyopened,when the scavengers, with close-covered carts,

shall also carry it all away." That the mud, when raked up, be not left in heaps to be

spreadabroad againby the wheels of carriagesand tramplingof

horses,but that the scavengers be providedwith bodies of carts,

not placedhighupon wheels,but low upon sliders,with lattice

bottoms,which,beingcovered with straw, will retain the mud

1 Little channel or gutter.2 Now a part of London, but formerlya separatecorporation.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. H5

thrown into them,and permitthe water to drain from it,wherebyitwill become much lighter,water making the greatestpartof its

weight; these bodies of carts to be placedat convenient distances,and the mud broughtto them in wheelbarrows,theyremainingwhere placedtillthe mud isdrained,and then horses broughttodraw them away."

I have since had doubts of the practicabilityof the latterpart

of thisproposal,on account of the narrowness of some streets,and

the difficultyof placingthe drainingsleds so as not to encumber

too much the passage ; but I am stillof opinionthat the former,

requiringthe dust to be swept up and carried away before the

shopsare open, isvery practicablein summer, when the daysare

long; for,in walkingthroughthe Strand and Fleet Street one

morningat seven o'clock,I observed there was not one shopopen,thoughit had been daylightand the sun up above three hours,

the inhabitants of London choosingvoluntarilyto live much by

candlelightand sleepby sunshine ; and yet theyoften complain,a littleabsurdly,of the duty on candles and the highpriceof

tallow.

Some may think these triflingmatters,not worth mindingor re-lating

; but when theyconsider that thoughdust blown into the

eyes of a singleperson, or into a singleshop,on a windyday is

but of small importance,yet the greatnumber of the instances in

a populouscity,and itsfrequentrepetitions,giveitweightand

consequence, perhapstheywill not censure very severelythose

who bestow some attentionto affairsof thisseeminglylow nature.

Human felicityisproducednot so much by greatpiecesof goodfortune that seldom happen,as by littleadvantagesthat occur

every day. Thus,ifyou teach a poor young man to shave him-self

and keephis razor in order,you may contribute more to the

happinessof his lifethan in givinghim a thousand guineas.The

money may be soon spent,the regretonlyremainingof having

foolishlyconsumed it; but in the other case, he escapes the fre-quent

vexation of waitingfor barbers,and of their sometimes

dirtyfingers,offensivebreathsvand dull razors. He shaves when

t n


most convenient to him,and enjoysdailythe pleasureof itsbeingdone with a good instrument.1 With these sentiments I have

hazarded the few precedingpages, hopingtheymay afford hints

which some time or other may be useful to a cityI love,havinglived many years in itvery happily,and perhapsto some of our

towns in America.

Having been for some time employedby the postmaster-gen-eralof America as his comptroller2 in regulatingseveral offices,

and bringingthe officers to account, I was, upon his death,in

1753, appointed,jointlywith Mr. William Hunter, to succeed

him,by a commission from the postmaster-generalin England.The American officenever had hitherto paidanythingto that of

Great Britain. We were to have six hundred poundsa year be-tween

us, if we could make that sum out of the profitsof the

office. To do this a varietyof improvementswere necessary.

Some of these were inevitablyat firstexpensive,so that in the

firstfour years the office became above nine hundred pounds in

1 u From the manuscriptjournalof Mr. Andrew Ellicott,"says Mr. John

Bigelowin one of his editions of the Autobiography," I have been kindlyfavored by Mr. J.C. G. Kennedy,of Washington,one of his descendants,with the followingextract,which was written three years before the preceding

paragraphin the Autobiography:" ' I found him [Franklin]in his littleroom among his papers. He received

me very politely,and immediatelyentered into conversation about the west-ern

country. His room makes a singularappearance, beingfilledwith old

philosophicalinstruments,papers, boxes, tables,and stools. About ten

o'clock he placedsome water on the fire,but not beingexpertthroughhis

greatage, I desired him to giveme the pleasureof assistinghim. He thanked

me, and repliedthat he ever made it a pointto wait upon himself,and,al-though

he began to find himself infirm,he was determined not to increase his

infirmitiesby givingway to them. After the water was hot,I observed his

objectwas to shave himself,which operationhe performedwithout a glassand with great expedition.I asked him if he ever employeda barber ; he

answered: "No; I think happinessdoes not consist so much in particular

piecesof good fortune,which perhapsoccasionallyfall to a man's lot,as .to

be able in his old age to do those littlethingswhich,beingunable to performhimself,would be done by others with a sparinghand." ' "

2 That is,he examined the accounts and managed the financialaffairs.


debt to us ; but it soon after began to repay us, and before I

was displacedby a freak of the ministers,1of which I shall speakhereafter,we had broughtit to yieldthree times as much clear

revenue to the Crown as the post office of Ireland. Since that

imprudenttransaction they have received from it" not one

farthing!

.Y'Thebusiness of the post officeoccasioned my takinga journey

/"thisyear to New England,where the Collegeof Cambridge,2of

theirown motion,presentedme with the degreeof Master of Arts.

Yale College,in Connecticut,had before made me a similarcom-pliment.

Thus, without studyingin any college,I came to par-take

of their honors. They were conferred in consideration of

my improvementsand discoveriesin the electricbranch of natural

philosophy.In 1754, war with France beingagainapprehended,a congress

of commissioners from the different colonies was, by an order of

the Lords of Trade,3to be assembled at Albany,there to confer

with the chiefs of the Six Nations 4 concerningthe means of de-fending

both their country and ours. Governor Hamilton,hav-ing

received this order,acquaintedthe House with it,requesting

theywould furnish proper presentsfor the Indians,to be givenonthisoccasion,and naming the speaker(Mr.Norris)and myselfto

joinMr. Thomas Penn and Mr. SecretaryPeters as commissioners

to act for Pennsylvania.The House approvedthe nomination,and providedthe goodsfor the present,thoughtheydid not much

liketreatingout of the provinces; and we met the other commis-sioners

at Albany about the middle of June.In our way thither I projectedand drew a planfor the union

of all the colonies under one government, so far as might be"

1 The ministers of the Crown in London.

2 The collegein Cambridge,Harvard College.3 The commissioners of trade,who lived in England,and to whom the colo-nial

governors made their reportsand returns. Their dutywas"

to put

thingsinto a form and order of government that should alwayspreserve these

countries in obedience to the Crown."

* A union of six of the more considerable Indian tribes.

I48 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

necessary for defense and other importantgeneralpurposes. As

we passedthroughNew York I had there shown my projecttoMr. James Alexander and Mr. Kennedy,two gentlemenof great

knowledgein publicaffairs; and,beingfortifiedby theirapproba-tion,I ventured to layit before the congress. It then appeared

that several of the commissioners had formed plansof the same

kind. A previousquestionwas firsttaken,whether a union

should be established,which passedin the affirmative unani-mously.

A committee was then appointed,one member from

each colony,to consider the several plansand report. Mine

happened to be preferred,and,with a few amendments, was

accordinglyreported.

By thisplanthe generalgovernment was to be administered bya president-general,appointedand supportedby the Crown, and

a grandcouncil was to be chosen by the representativesof the

peopleof the several colonies,met in their respectiveassemblies.The debates upon itin congress went on daily,hand in hand with

the Indian business. Many objectionsand difficultieswere started,but at lengththeywere all overcome, and the planwas unani-mously

agreedto, and copiesordered to be transmitted to the

Board of Trade and to the assemblies of the several provinces.Its fate was singular; the assemblies did not adoptit,as theyall

thoughtthere was too much prerogative1 in it,and in Englandit

was judgedto have too much of the democratic.2 The Board of

Trade,therefore,did not approve of itnor recommend itfor the

approbationof his Majesty; but another scheme was formed,sup-posed

to answer the same purpose better,wherebythe governors

of the provinces,with some members of their respectivecouncils,

were to meet and order the raisingof troops,buildingof forts,

etc.,and to draw on the treasuryof Great Britain for the expense,

which was afterward to be refunded by an act of Parliament lay-inga tax on America. My plan,with my reasons in supportof

it,is to be found among my politicalpapers that are printed.

1 The power of the king.2 The government of the people.


Beingthe winter followingin Boston,I had much conversation

with Governor Shirleyupon both the plans. Part of what passedbetween us on the occasion may also be seen among those papers.

The differentand contrary reasons of disliketo my planmake

me suspect that it was reallythe true medium, and I am stillof

opinionit would have been happyfor both sides the water if it

had been adopted. The colonies,so united,would have been

sufficientlystrong to defend themselves;there would then have

been no need of troopsfrom England. Of course the subsequent

pretensefor taxingAmerica,and the bloodycontest itoccasioned,would have been avoided. But such mistakes are not new ; his-tory

isfull 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, havingmuch business on theirhands,do

not generallylike to take the trouble of consideringand carry-inginto execution new projects.The best publicmeasures are

therefore seldom adoptedfrom previouswisdom, but forced bythe occasion.

The governor of Pennsylvania,in sendingit down to the

Assembly,expressedhis approbationof the plan,as appearingto him to be drawn up with great clearness and strengthof judg-ment,

and therefore recommended it as "well worthyof their

closest and most seriousattention." The House,however,by the

management of a certain member, took itup when I happenedto

be absent,which I thoughtnot very fair,and reprobateditwithout

payingany attention to it at all,to my no small mortification.

In my journeyto Boston thisyear I met at New York with our

new governor, Mr. Morris,justarrived there from England,with

whom I had been before intimatelyacquainted.He broughta

commission to supersedeMr. Hamilton,who, tired with the dis-putes

his proprietaryinstructionssubjectedhim to,had resigned.Mr. Morris asked me if I thoughthe must expect as uncomfort-able

an administration. I said," No ; you may, on the contrary,


have a very comfortable one, if you will onlytake care not to

enter into any disputewith the Assembly." "

My dear friend,"

says he,pleasantly,"how can you advise my avoidingdisputes?You know I love disputing; it is one of my greatestpleasures.

However, to show the regardI have for your counsel,I promise

you I will,ifpossible,avoid them." He had some reason for lov-ing

to dispute,beingeloquent,an acute sophister,and therefore

generallysuccessful in argumentativeconversation. He had been

broughtup to it from a boy,his father,as I have heard,accus-toming

his children to disputewith one another for his diversion

while sittingat table after dinner. But I think the practicewas

not wise ; for in the course of my observation,these disputing,

contradicting,and confutingpeopleare generallyunfortunate in

their affairs. They get victorysometimes,but they never get

good will,which would be of more use to them. We parted,he

goingto Philadelphiaand I to Boston.

In returningI met at New York with the votes of the Assem-bly,

by which it appearedthat,notwithstandinghis promiseto

me, he and the House were alreadyin highcontention;and it

was a continual battle between them as long as he retained the

government.

I had my share of it; for,as soon as I got back to my seat

in the Assembly,I was put on every committee for answeringhis speechesand messages, and by the committees alwaysdesired

to make the drafts. Our answers, as well as his messages, were

often tart,and sometimes indecentlyabusive,and, as he knew I

wrote for the Assembly,one mighthave imaginedthat when we

met we could hardlyavoid cuttingthroats; but he was so good-natured a man that no personaldifference between him and me

was occasioned by the contest,and we often dined together.One afternoon,in the heightof thispublicquarrel,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,takingme by the arm, he led me to his house. In

gay conversation over our wine after supper, he told us jokingly


that he much admired the idea of Sancho Panza,1who, when it

was proposed to givehim a government, requestedit 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

Quakers? Had not you better sell them? The proprietorwould

giveyou a good price." "The governor,"says I, "has not yetblacked them enough." He, indeed,had labored hard to blacken

the Assembly in all his messages, but they wiped off his coloring

as fast as he laid it on, and placeditin return thick upon his own

face ; so that,findinghe was likelyto be negrofiedhimself,he, as

well as Mr. Hamilton, grew tired of the contest, and quittedthe

government.

These publicquarrelswere all at bottom owing to the proprie-taries,

our hereditarygovernors, who, when any expense was to

be incurred for the defense of their province,with incredible

meanness instructed their deputies2 to pass no act for levyingthe necessary tax'es,unless their vast estates were in the same act

expresslyexcused,and they had even taken bonds of these dep-uties

to observe such instructions. The Assemblies for three

years held out againstthis injustice,though constrained to bend

at last. At lengthCaptain Denny, who was Governor Morris's

successor, ventured to disobeythose instructions. How that was

brought about I will show hereafter.

But I am got forward too fast with my story. There are still

some transactions to be mentioned that happened duringthe ad-ministration

of Governor Morris.

1 The squire of Don Quixote, to whom a duke jokinglygrantedthe

government of an island for a few days. This is one of the best-known

episodesin that amusing history.2 The governors of the provinces,who were appointedby the proprietaries

(seeNote 1, p. 58).


" 8. FRANKLIN ACTS IN CONCERT WITH BRADDOCK'S ARMY.

ORGANIZATION OF MILITIA.

WAR beingin a manner commenced with France,1the gov-ernment

of Massachusetts Bay projectedan attack upon

Crown Point,2and sent Mr. Quincyto Pennsylvania,and Mr.

Pownall,afterward Governor Pownall,to New York,to solicit

assistance. As I was in the Assembly,knew itstemper, and was

Mr. Quincy'scountryman,3he appliedto me for my influence

and assistance. I dictated his address to them,which was well

received. They voted an aid of ten thousand pounds,to be laid

out in provisions; but the governor refusinghis assent to their

bill(whichincluded thiswith other sums grantedfor the use of

the Crown),unless a clause were inserted exemptingthe proprie-taryestate 4 from bearingany part of the tax that would be neces-sary,

the Assembly,thoughvery desirous of making their grant

to New England effectual,were at a loss how to accomplishit.

Mr. Quincy labored hard with the governor to obtain his assent,

but he was obstinate.

I then suggesteda method of doingthe business without the

governor, by orders on the trustees of the Loan Office,5which,

by law,the Assemblyhad the rightof drawing. There was, in-deed,

littleor no money at that time in the office,and therefore

I proposedthat the orders should be payablein a year, and to

bear an interest of five per cent. With these orders I supposedthe provisionsmight easilybe purchased. The Assembly,with

very littlehesitation,adoptedthe proposal.The orders were

1 In 1752 the French began connectingtheir settlements on the Lakes

and on the Mississippiby a chain of forts on the Ohio. The Englishwarned

off the intruders upon what they deemed their territory,and sent General

Braddock to the colonists'aid. War was declared in 1756.2 A French fort upon the west side of Lake Champlain.3 That is,he was born in Boston.

4 The estate of the Penn family.5 Through which the peopleloaned money to the government.


immediatelyprinted,and I was one of the committee directed to

signand disposeof them. The fund for payingthem was the

interestof all the paper currency then extant in the provinceuponloan,togetherwith the revenue arisingfrom the excise,1which

beingknown to be more than sufficient,theyobtained instant

credit,and were not onlyreceived in payment for the provisions,but many moneyed peoplewho had cash lyingby them invested

it in those orders,which theyfound advantageous,as theybore

interestwhile upon hand and mighton any occasion be used as

money ; so that theywere eagerlyall boughtup, and in a few

weeks none of them were to be seen. Thus this importantaffair

was by my means completed. Mr. Quincy returned thanks to

the Assemblyin a handsome memorial,went home highlypleasedwith the success of his embassy,and ever after bore for me the

most cordial and affectingfriendship.The British government, not choosingto permitthe union of

the colonies as proposedat Albany,and to trust that union with

theirdefense,lesttheyshould therebygrow too militaryand feel

their own strength,suspicionsand jealousiesat this time beingentertained of them, sent over General Braddock with two regi-ments

of regularEnglishtroopsfor that purpose. He landed at

Alexandria,in Virginia,and thence marched to Fredericktown,in

Maryland,where he halted for carriages.2Our Assembly,appre-hending

from some information that he had conceived violent

prejudicesagainstthem as averse to the service,wished me to

wait upon him,not as from them, but as postmaster-general,under the guiseof proposingto settlewith him the mode of con-ducting

with most celerityand certaintythe dispatchesbetween

him and the governors of the several provinces,with whom he

must necessarilyhave continual correspondence,and of which

theyproposedto pay the expense. My son accompaniedme on

thisjourney.We found the generalat Fredericktown,waitingimpatientlyfor

1 A tax or dutyon certain home productions.2 Gun carriages,transportwagons, etc.


the return of those he had sent throughthe back parts of Mary-landand Virginiato collect wagons. I stayedwith him several

days,dined with him daily,and had fullopportunityof removingall his prejudicesby the information of what the Assemblyhadbefore his arrivalactuallydone,and were stillwillingto do, to

facilitatehisoperations.When I was about to depart,the returns

of wagons to be obtained were broughtin,by which itappearedthat theyamounted onlyto twenty-five,and not all of those were

in serviceable condition. The generaland all the officerswere

surprised,declared the expeditionwTas then at an end,beingim-possible,

and exclaimed againstthe ministers1 for ignorantlylandingthem in a country destituteof the means of conveyingtheir stores,baggage,etc.,not less than one hundred and fiftywagons beingnecessary.

I happened to say I thoughtit was pitytheyhad not been

landed rather in Pennsylvania,as in that country almost everyfarmer had his wagon. The generaleagerlylaid hold of my

words,and said :" Then you, sir,who are a man of interestthere,

can probablyprocure them for us, and I beg you will undertake

it." I asked what terms were to be offered the owners of the

wagons, and I was desired to put on paper the terms that ap-peared

to me necessary. This I did,and theywere agreedto,and a commission and instructionsaccordinglypreparedimme-diately.

What those terms were will appear in the advertisement

1 publishedas soon as I arrived at Lancaster,which being,from

the great and sudden effect itproduced,a pieceof some curiosity,I shallinsertitat lengthas follows :

Advertisement.

Lancaster, April26, 1755.

Whereas, one hundred and fiftywagons, with four horses to each wagon,

and fifteenhundred saddle or packhorses,are wanted for the service of his

Majesty'sforces now about to rendezvous at Will's Creek,and his Excellency,General Braddock,havingbeen pleasedto empower me to contract for the

hire of the same, I herebygivenotice that I shall attend for that purpose at

1 Of the government at London, as on p. 147.


Lancaster from this day to next Wednesday evening, and at York from next

Thursday morning tillFridayevening,where I shall be readyto agree for

wagons and teams, or singlehorses,on the followingterms, viz.: I. That

there shall be paidfor each wagon, with four goodhorses and a driver,fifteen

shillingsper diem j1and for each able horse with a packsaddle,or other sad-dle

and furniture,two shillingsper diem ; and for each able horse without a

saddle,eighteenpenceper diem. 2. That the pay commence from the time

of their joiningthe forces at Will's Creek, which must be on or before the

20th of May ensuing,and that a reasonable allowance be paidover and above

for the time necessary for their travelingto Will's Creek and home againafter

their discharge.3. Each wagon and team, and every saddle or packhorse,is to be valued by indifferent2 persons chosen between me and the owner ; and

in case of the loss of any wagon, team, or other horse in the service,the price

accordingto such valuation is to be allowed and paid. 4. Seven days'pay is

to be advanced and paidin hand by me to the owner of each wagon and team,

or horse,at the time of contracting,ifrequired,and the remainder to be paid

by General Braddock, or by the paymaster of the army, at the time of their

discharge,or from time to time,as it shall be demanded. 5. No drivers of

wagons, or persons takingcare of the hired horses,are on any account to be

called upon to do the dutyof soldiers,or be otherwise employedthan in con-ducting

or takingcare of their carriagesor horses. 6. All oats, Indian corn,

or other foragethat wagons or horses bringto 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 pricepaidfor the same.

Note. " My son, William Franklin,is empowered to enter into like con-tracts

with any person in Cumberland County.B. Franklin.

^To the Inhabitants of the Counties of Lancaster, York, and

Cumberland.

Friends and Countrymen : Beingoccasionallyat the camp at Frederick,

a few dayssince,I found the generaland officersextremelyexasperatedon ac-count

of their not beingsuppliedwith horses and carriages,which had been

expectedfrom this province,as most able to furnish them ; but,throughthe

dissensions between our governor and Assembly,money had not been pro-vided,

nor any stepstaken for that purpose.

It was proposedto send an armed force immediatelyinto these counties,to

seize as many of the best carriagesand horses as should be wanted, and com-pel

as many persons into the service as would be necessary to drive and take

care of them.

1 " Per diem,"i.e.,a day,or per day. 2 Disinterested.


I apprehendedthat the progress of British soldiers throughthese counties

on such an occasion,especiallyconsideringthe temper theyare in,and their

resentment againstus, would be attended with many and greatinconveniences

to the inhabitants,and therefore more willinglytook the trouble of tryingfirstwhat mightbe done by fair and equitablemeans. The peopleof these back

counties have latelycomplainedto the Assemblythat a sufficientcurrency was

wanting. You have an opportunityof receivingand dividingamong you a

very considerable sum ; for,ifthe service of this expeditionshould continue,

as itis more than probableitwill,for one hundred and twentydays,the hire

of these wagons and horses will amount to upwardof thirtythousand pounds,which will be paidyou in silver and goldof the king'smoney.

The service will be lightand easy, for the army will scarce march above

twelve miles per day,and the wagons and baggagehorses,as theycarry those

thingsthat are absolutelynecessary to the welfare of the army, must march

with the army, and no faster;and are, for the army'ssake,alwaysplacedwhere theycan be most secure, whether in a march or in a camp.

If you are really,as I believe you are, goodand loyalsubjectsto his Majesty,

you may now do a most acceptableservice,and make it easy to yourselves;for three or four of such as cannot separatelyspare from the business of their

plantationsa wagon and four horses and a driver,may do it together,one

furnishingthe wagon, another,one or two horses,and another,the driver,and divide the pay proportionatelybetween you ; but ifyou do not thisservice

to your king and country voluntarily,when such good pay and reasonable

terms are offered to you, your loyaltywill be stronglysuspected.The king'sbusiness must be done ; so many brave troops,come so far for your defense,must not stand idlethroughyour backwardness to do what may be reasonablyexpectedfrom you ; wagons and horses must be had ; violent measures will

probablybe used,and you will be leftto seek for a recompense where you can

find it,and your case, perhaps,be littlepitiedor regarded.I have no particularinterest in this affair,as, exceptthe satisfactionof en-deavoring

to do good,I shall have onlymy labor for my pains. If this

method of obtainingthe wagons and horses is not likelyto succeed,I am

obligedto send word to the generalin fourteen days; and I suppose Sir JohnSt. Clair,the hussar,!with a body of soldiers,will immediatelyenter the

provincefor the purpose, which I shall be sorry to hear,because I am very

sincerelyand trulyyour friend and wellwisher,B. Franklin.

I received of the generalabout eighthundred pounds,to be

disbursed in advance money to the wagon owners, etc. ; but that

1 A member of the lightcavalry.


sum beinginsufficient,I advanced upward of two hundred pounds

more, and in two weeks the one hundred and fiftywagons, with

two hundred and fifty-ninecarryinghorses,1were on their march

for the camp. The advertisement promisedpayment accordingto the valuation,in case any wagon or horse should be lost. The

owners, however,allegingtheydid not know General Braddock,or what dependencemightbe had on his promise,insistedon my

bond for the performance,which I accordinglygave them.

While I was at the camp suppingone eveningwith the officers

of Colonel Dunbar's regiment,he representedto me his concern

foi'the subalterns,2who, he said,were generallynot in affluence,and could illafford,in this dear country,to layin the stores that

might be necessary in so long a march througha wilderness,where nothingwas to be purchased. I commiserated theircase,

and resolved to endeavor procuringthem some relief. I said

nothing,however,to him of my intention,but wrote the next

morningto the.committee of the Assemblywho had the disposi-tionof some publicmoney, warmly recommending the case of

these officersto theirconsideration,and proposingthat a present

should be sent them of necessaries and refreshments. My son,

who had some experienceof a camp lifeand of itswants, drew

up a listfor me, which I inclosed in my letter. The committee

approved,and used such diligencethat,conducted by my son, the

stores arrived at the camp as soon as the wagons. They consisted

of twenty parcels,each containing

6 lbs. loaf sugar, I Gloucester cheese,6 lbs. good Muscovado 3 do., I keg containing20 lbs. good butter,

I lb. good green tea, 2 doz. old Madeira wine,

I lb. goodbohea do., 2 gals.Jamaicaspirits,6 lbs. good groundcoffee, I bottle flour of mustard,

6 lbs. chocolate, 2 well-cured hams,

i cwt. best white biscuit, -Jdoz. dried tongues,

i lb. pepper, 6 lbs. rice,

I quart best white wine vinegar, 6 lbs. raisins.

l'" Carryinghorses,"i.e.,carryingpacksor burdens upon the back.

2 Juniorand subordinate officers. 3 Muscovado sugar is brown sugar,


These twenty parcels,well packed,were placedon as many

horses,each parcel,with the horse,beingintended as a present

for one officer. They were very thankfullyreceived,and the kind-ness

acknowledgedby letters to me from the colonels of both

regimentsin the most gratefulterms. The general,too, was

highlysatisfiedwith my conduct in procuringhim the wagons,

etc.,and readilypaidmy account of disbursements,thankingme

repeatedly,and requestingmy further assistancein sendingpro-visions

afterhim. I undertook thisalso,and was busilyemployedin ittillwe heard of his defeat,advancingfor the service,of my

own money, upward of one thousand poundssterling,of which I

sent him an account. It came to his hands,luckilyfor me, a few

daysbefore the battle,and he returned me immediatelyan order

on the paymaster for the round sum of one thousand pounds,

leavingthe remainder to the next account. I consider thispay-ment

as good luck,having never been able to obtain that re-mainder,

of which more hereafter.

This generalwas, I think,a brave man, and mightprobably

haye made a figureas a good officer in some European war.

But he had too much self-confidence,too highan opinionof the

validityof regulartroops,and too mean a one of both Americans

and Indians. GeorgeCroghan,our Indian interpreter,joinedhim

on his march with one hundred of those people,who mighthave

been of great use to his army as guides,scouts,etc.,if he had

treated them kindly; but he slightedand neglectedthem,and

theygraduallylefthim.

In conversation with him one day he was givingme some ac-count

of his intended progress." After takingFort Duquesne,"*

says he, " I am to proceedto Niagara; and,havingtaken that,

to Frontenac,ifthe season will allow time,and I suppose itwill,for Duquesne can hardlydetain me above three or four days;and then I see nothingthat can obstruct my march to Niagara."

Having before revolved in my mind the longline his army must

-1 Upon the siteof this fort Pittsburgis built. The French were also for-tified

at Niagaraand at Frontenac on Lake Ontario.


make in theirmarch by a very narrow road,to be cut for them

throughthe woods and bushes,and also what I had read of a

former defeat of fifteenhundred French,who invaded the Iroquois

country, I had conceived some doubts and some fears for the

event of the campaign. But I ventured onlyto say: "To be

sure, sir,ifyou arrivewell before Duquesnewith thesefinetroops,

so well providedwith artillery,that place,not yet completelyfortified,and, as we hear,with no very strong garrison,can

probablymake but a short resistance. The onlydangerI appre-hend

of obstruction to your march isfrom ambuscades of Indians,

who, by constant practice,are dexterous in layingand executingthem ; and the slender line,near four miles long,which your army

must make, may expose itto be attacked by surprisein itsflanks,and to be cut like a thread into several pieces,which,from their

distance,cannot come up in time to support each other."

He smiled at my ignorance,and replied: " These savages may,

indeed,be a formidable enemy to your raw American militia,but

upon the king'sregularand disciplinedtroops,sir,itisimpossible

theyshould make any impression."I was conscious of an im-propriety

in my disputingwith a militaryman in matters of his

profession,and said no more. The enemy, however,did not take

the advantageof his army which I apprehendeditslongline of

march exposeditto,but let it advance without interruptiontill

within nine miles of the place; and then,when more in a body

(forithad justpasseda riverwhere the front had halted tillall

had come over),and in a more open partof the woods than any

it had passed,attacked itsadvance guardby a heavyfire from

behind trees and bushes,which was the firstintelligencethe gen-eral

had of an enemy'sbeingnear him. This guardbeingdis-ordered,

the generalhurried the troops up to their assistance,

which was done in greatconfusion,throughwagons, baggage,and

cattle; and presentlythe firecame upon theirflank. The officers,

beingon horseback,were more easilydistinguished,pickedout as

marks,and fellvery fast ; and the soldierswere crowded togetherin a huddle,havingor hearingno orders,and standingto be shot

l6o THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

at tilltwo thirds of them were killed; and then,beingseized with

a panic,the whole fled with precipitation.The wagoners took each a horse out of his team, and scam-pered

; theirexamplewas immediatelyfollowed by others,so that

all the wagons, provisions,artillery,and stores were leftto the

enemy. The general,beingwounded, was broughtoff with diffi-culty

; his secretary,Mr. Shirley,was killed by his side; and out

of eighty-sixofficers,sixty-threewere killedor wounded,and seven

hundred and fourteen men killed out of eleven hundred. .These

eleven hundred had been pickedmen from the whole army ; the

rest had been leftbehind with Colonel Dunbar,who was to follow

with the heavier part of the stores,provisions,and baggage. The

flyers,not beingpursued,arrived at Dunbar's camp, and the panic

theybroughtwith them instantlyseized him and allhis people;and thoughhe had now above one thousand men, and the enemy

who had beaten Braddock did not at most exceed four hundred

Indians and French together,instead of proceedingand endeav-oring

to recover some of the lost honor,he ordered allthe stores,

ammunition,etc.,to be destroyed,that he mighthave more horses

to assisthis flighttoward the settlements and lesslumber to re-move.

He was there met with requestsfrom the governors of

Virginia,Maryland,and Pennsylvania,that he would post his

troopson the frontiers so as to afford some protectionto the in-habitants;

but he continued his hastymarch throughall the

country,not thinkinghimself safe tillhe arrived at Philadelphia,where the inhabitants could protecthim. This whole transaction

gave us Americans the firstsuspicionthat our exalted ideas of the

prowess of British regularshad not been well founded.

In their firstmarch,too,from theirlandingtilltheygotbeyondthe settlements,theyhad plunderedand strippedthe inhabitants,

totallyruiningsome poor families,besides insulting,abusing,and

confiningthe peopleif theyremonstrated. This was enough to

put us out of conceit of such defenders,if we had reallywanted

any. How different was the conduct of our French friends in

1 781, who, duringa march throughthe most inhabited part of


our countryfrom Rhode Island to Virginia,near seven hundred

miles,occasioned not the smallest complaintfor the lossof a pig,a chicken,or even an apple.

CaptainOrme, who was one of the general'saids-de-camp,

and,beinggrievouslywounded, was broughtoff with him and

continued with him to his death,which happenedin a'few days,told me that he was totallysilentall the firstday,and at night

onlysaid: "Who would have thoughtit?" that he was silent

againthe followingday,sayingonlyat last: "We shall better

know how to deal with them another time,"and died in a few

minutes after.

The secretary'spapers, with all the general'sorders,instruc-tions,

and correspondence,fallinginto the enemy'shands,theyselected and translated into French a number of the articles,which theyprinted,to prove the hostile intentionsof the British

court before the declaration of war. Among these I saw some

lettersof the generalto the ministry,speakinghighlyof the great

service I had rendered the army, and recommendingme to their

notice. David Hume,1 too,who was some years after secretaryto Lord Hertford when minister in France,and afterward to*

General Conway when secretaryof state,told me he had seen,

among the papers in that office,letters from Braddock highlyrecommending me. But,the expeditionhavingbeen unfortu-nate,

my service,it seems, was not thoughtof much value,for

those recommendations were never of any use to me.

As to rewards from himself,I asked onlyone, which was that

he would giveorders to his officersnot to enlistany more of our

boughtservants,2and that he would dischargesuch as had been

alreadyenlisted. This he readilygranted,and several were ac-cordingly

returned to their masters on my application.Dunbar,when the command devolved on him,was not so generous. He

beingat Philadelphia,on his retreat,or rather flight,I applied

1 The historian and philosopher.He was born in 171 1 and died in 1776.2 " Bought servants,"i.e.,those whose service had been boughtfor a

term of years (seeNote 2, p. 69).

II


to him for the dischargeof the servants of three poor farmers

of Lancaster County that he had enlisted,remindinghim of the

late general'sorders on that head. He promisedme that,ifthe

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 accordinglywere at the expense and

trouble of goingto Trenton,and there he refused to performhis

promise,to theirgreat loss and disappointment.As soon as the loss of the wagons and horses was generally

known, all the owners came upon me for the valuation which I

had givenbond to pay. Their demands gave me a greatdeal of

trouble. My acquaintingthem that the money was readyin the

paymaster'shands,but that orders for payingitmust firstbe ob-tained

from General Shirley,and my assuringthem that I had

appliedto that generalby letter,but,he beingat a distance,an an-swer

could not soon be received,and theymust have patience,"

all thiswas not sufficientto satisfy,and some began to sue me.

General Shirleyat lengthrelieved me from thisterriblesituation

by appointingcommissioners to examine the claims,and order-ing

payment. They amounted to near twenty thousand pounds,which to pay would have ruined me.

Before we had the news of thisdefeat,the two Doctors Bond

came to me with a subscriptionpaper for raisingmoney to defraythe expense of a grand firework,which it was intended to

exhibit at a rejoicingon receiptof the news of our takingFort

Duquesne. I looked grave, and said it would, I thought,be

time enough to prepare for the rejoicingwhen we knew we

should have occasion to rejoice.They seemed surprisedthat I

did not immediatelycomply with theirproposal." Why," says

one of them, "

you surelydon't suppose that the fort willnot be

taken? " "I don't know that it will not be taken,but I know

that the events of war are subjectto greatuncertainty."I gave

them the reasons of my doubting; the subscriptionwas dropped,and the projectorstherebymissed the mortificationtheywould

have undergoneif 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 continuallyworried the Assembly

with message after message, before the defeat of Braddock,to

beat them into the making of acts to raise money for the defense

of the provincewithout taxing,among others,the proprietaryestates,and had rejectedall their billsfor not havingsuch an

exemptingclause,now redoubled his attacks with more hope of

success, the dangerand necessitybeinggreater. The Assembly,however,continued firm,believingtheyhad justiceon theirside,and that itwould be givingup an essentialrightiftheysuffered

the governor to amend their money bills. In one of the last,

indeed,which was for grantingfiftythousand pounds,his pro-posed

amendment was onlyof a singleword. The billexpressedthat all estates,real and personal,were to be taxed,those of the

proprietariesnot excepted. His amendment was," for not 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

Assembly'sanswers to the governor'smessages, raised a clamor

againstthe proprietariesfor theirmeanness and injusticein givingtheir governor such instructions; some goingso far as to say that,

by obstructingthe defense of theirprovince,theyforfeitedtheir

rightto it. They were intimidated by this,and sent orders to their

receiver-generalto add five thousand pounds of theirmoney to

whatever sum mightbe givenby the Assemblyfor such purpose.

This,beingnotifiedto the House, was acceptedin lieu of their

share of a generaltax,and a new billwas formed,with an ex-empting

clause,which passedaccordingly.By this act I was

appointedone of the commissioners for disposingof the money,

" sixtythousand pounds. I had been active in modelingthe bill

and procuringits passage, and had,at the same time,drawn a

billfor establishingand disciplininga voluntarymilitia,which I

carried throughthe House without much difficulty,as care was

taken in it to leave the Quakers at their liberty.To promote


the associationnecessary to form the militia,I wrote a dialogue,1

statingand answeringallthe objectionsI could think of to such

a militia,which was printed,and had,as I thought,great effect.

While the several companiesin the cityand country were

forming,and learningtheir exercise,the governor prevailedwith

me to take chargeof our northwestern frontier,which was in-fested

by the enemy, and providefor the defense of the inhabit-ants

by raisingtroops and buildinga line of forts. I undertook

this militarybusiness,though I did not conceive myselfwell

qualifiedfor it. He gave me a commission with full powers,

and a parcelof blank commissions for officers,to be givento

whom I thoughtfit. I had but littledifficultyin raisingmen,

havingsoon five hundred and sixtyunder my command. My

son, who had in the precedingwar been an officerin the army

raised againstCanada, was my aid-de-camp,and of great use to

me. The Indians had burned Gnadenhut, a villagesettledbythe Moravians,and massacred the inhabitants; but the placewas

thoughta good situationfor one of the forts.

In order to march thither,I assembled the companiesat Beth-lehem,2

the chief establishment of those people.I was surprised

to find it in so good a posture of defense ; the destruction of

Gnadenhut had made them apprehenddanger. The principal

buildingswere defended by a stockade,theyhad purchaseda

quantityof arms and ammunition from New York,and had even

placedquantitiesof small pavingstones between the windows of

their highstone houses,for theirwomen to throw down upon the

heads of any Indians that should attempt to force into them.

The armed brethren,too,keptwatch,and relieved3 as method-ically

as in any garrisontown. In conversation with the bishop,

Spangenberg,I mentioned this my surprise; for,knowing theyhad obtained an act of Parliament exemptingthem from military

1 This dialogueand the militia act are in the Gentleman's Magazinefor

Februaryand March, 1756.2 Fifty-fivemiles north of Philadelphia.3 Relieved one another in militaryduty.


duties in the colonies,I had supposedtheywere conscientiouslyscrupulousof bearingarms. He answered me that it was not

one of their established principles,but that,at the time of their

obtainingthat act,itwas thoughtto be a principlewith many of

their people. On thisoccasion,however,they,to theirsurprise,found itadoptedby but a few. It seems theywere either de-ceived

in themselves or deceived the Parliament ; but common

sense, aided by presentdanger,willsometimes be too strongfor

whimsical opinions.It was the beginningof Januarywhen we set out upon this

business of buildingforts. I sent one detachment toward the

Minisink,1with instructionsto erect one for the securityof that

upper part of the country,and another to the lower part,with

similarinstructions; and I concluded to go myselfwith the rest

of my force to Gnadenhut,where a fort was thoughtmore im-mediately

necessary. The Moravians procuredme five wagons

for our tools,stores,baggage,etc.

Justbefore we leftBethlehem,eleven farmers,who had been

driven from theirplantationsby the Indians,came to me request-ing

a supplyof firearms,that theymightgo back and fetch off

theircattle. I gave them each a gun with suitableammunition.

We had not marched many miles before itbegan to rain,and it

continued rainingallday. There were no habitationson the road

to shelterus tillwe arrived,near night,at the house of a German,

where,and in his barn,we were all huddled together,as wet as

water could make us. It was well we were not attacked in our

march,for our arms were of the most ordinarysort,and our men

could not keep their gunlocksdry. The Indians are dexterous

in contrivances for that purpose, which we had not. They met

that day the eleven poor farmers above mentioned,and killedten

of them. The one who escapedinformed us that his and his com-panions'

guns would not go off,the priming2beingwet with the rain.

1 The exact location is not known.

2 The powder used to fire the cha *ge. It was ignitedby a sparkfrom the

flintlock. \


The next daybeingfair,we continued our march, and arrived

at the desolated Gnadenhut. There was a sawmill near, round

which were leftseveral pilesof boards,with which we soon hutted

ourselves,"an operationthe more necessary at that inclement

season as we had no tents. Our firstwork was to burymore

effectuallythe dead we found there,who had been half interred

by the countrypeople.The next morning our fort was plannedand marked out,the

circumference measuringfour hundred and fifty-fivefeet,which

would requireas many palisadesto be made of trees,one with

another,of a foot diameter each. Our axes, of which we had

seventy,were immediatelyset to work to cut down trees,and,

our men beingdexterous in the use of them, greatdispatchwasmade. Seeingthe trees fallso fast,I had the curiosityto look

at my watch when two men began to cut at a pine;in six

minutes theyhad itupon the ground,and I found itof fourteen

inches' diameter. Each pinemade three palisadesof eighteenfeet long,pointedat one end. While these were preparing,ourother men dug a trench all round,of three feet deep,in which

the palisadeswere to be planted; and our wagons, the bodies

beingtaken off,and the fore and hind wheels separatedby takingout the pinwhich united the two partsof the perch,1we had ten

carriages,with two horses each,to bringthe palisadesfrom the

woods to the spot. When theywere set up, our carpentersbuilt

a stage of boards all round within,about six feet high,for the

men to stand on when to firethroughthe loopholes.We had

one swivel gun,2which we mounted on one of the angles,and

fired it as soon as fixed,to let the Indians know, if any were

within hearing,that we had such pieces; and thus our fort,if

such a magnificentname may be givento so miserable a stock-ade,

was finished in a week,thoughitrained so hard every other

day that the men could not work.

This gave me occasion to observe that,when men are em-

i Pole.

2 " Swivel gun,"i.e.,a gun turningupon a swivel or pivotin any direction.


ployed,theyare best contented ; for on the daystheyworked

theywere good-naturedand cheerful,and,with the conscious-ness

of havingdone a good day'swork,theyspent the eveningjollily; but on our idle daystheywere mutinous and quarrel-some,

findingfault with their pork,the bread,etc.,and in con-tinual

illhumor, which put me in mind of a sea captain,whose

rule itwas to keep his men constantlyat work ; and,when his

mate once told him that theyhad done everything,and there

was nothingfurtherto employthem about,"Oh,"says he," make

them scour the anchor."

This kind of fort,however contemptible,is a sufficientdefense

againstIndians,who have no cannon. Findingourselves now

postedsecurely,and havinga placeto retreat to on occasion,weventured out in partiesto scour the adjacentcountry. We met

with no Indians,but we found the placeson the neighboringhillswhere theyhad lain to watch our proceedings.There was

an art in theircontrivance of those placesthat seems worth men-tion.

It beingwinter,a firewas necessary for them ; but a com-mon

fire on the surface of the groundwould,by itslight,have

discovered theirpositionat a distance. They had therefore dugholes in the ground about three feet in diameter,and somewhat

deeper. We saw where theyhad with theirhatchets cut off the

charcoal from the sides of burnt logslyingin the woods. With

these coals theyhad made small firesin the bottom of the holes,and we observed among the weeds and grass the printsof their

bodies,made by their lyingall round,with their legshangingdown in the holes to keep theirfeet warm, which,with them,is

an essentialpoint. This kind of fire,so managed, could not

discover them, either by itslight,flame,sparks,or even smoke.

It appeared that their number was not great,and it seems theysaw we were too many to be attacked by them with prospect of

advantage.We had for our chaplaina zealous Presbyterianminister,Mr.

Beatty,who complainedto me that the men did not generallyattend his prayers and exhortations. When theyenlisted,they


were promised,besides pay and provisions,a gillof rum a day,which was punctuallyserved out to them,half in the morning,and the other half in the evening,and I observed theywere as

punctualin attendingto receive it;upon which I said to Mr.

Beatty:" It is,perhaps,below the dignityof your professionto

act as steward of the rum, but if you were to deal it out,and

onlyjustafter prayers, you would have them all about you."He liked the thought,undertook the office,and,with the helpof

a few hands to measure out the liquor,executed itto satisfaction,and never were prayers more generallyand more punctuallyattended ; so that I thoughtthis method preferableto the pun-ishment

inflictedby some militarylaws for nonattendance on

divine service.

I had hardlyfinished thisbusiness,and got my fort well stored

with provisions,when I received a letter from the governor,

acquaintingme that he had called the Assembly,and wished my

attendance there if the posture of affairson the frontierswas

such that my remainingthere was no longernecessary. My

friends,too, of the Assembly,pressingme by their lettersto be,

ifpossible,at the meeting,and my three intended fortsbeingnow

completed,and the inhabitants contented to remain on their

farms under that protection,I resolved to return ; the more will-ingly,

as a New England officer,Colonel Clapham,experiencedin Indian war, beingon a visitto our establishment,consented

to accept the command. I gave him a commission,and,parad-ingthe garrison,had itread before them, and introduced him

to them as an officerwho, from his skillin militaryaffairs,was

much more fitto command them than myself; and,givingthem

a littleexhortation,took my leave. I was escorted as far as

Bethlehem,where I rested a few daysto recover from the fatigueI had undergone. The firstnight,beingin a good bed,I could

hardlysleep,it was so different from my hard lodgingon the

floor of our hut at Gnaden, wrappedonlyin a blanket or two.

While at Bethlehem,I inquireda littleinto the practiceof the

Moravians ; some of them had accompaniedme, and all were


very kind to me. I found theyworked for a common stock,1

ate at common tables,and sleptin common dormitories,greatnumbers together.In the dormitories I observed loopholes,atcertain distances allalongjustunder the ceiling,which I thought

judiciouslyplacedfor change of air. I was at their church,where I was entertained with good music,the organ beingaccom-panied

with violins,hautboys,flutes,clarinets,etc. I understood

that their sermons were not usuallypreachedto mixed congrega-tions

of men, women, and children,as is our common practice,but that theyassembled sometimes the married men, at other

times their wives,then the young men, the young women, and

the littlechildren,each division by itself. The sermon I heard

was to the latter,who came in and were placedin rows on

benches; the boys under the conduct of a young man, their

tutor,and the girlsconducted by a young woman. The dis-course

seemed well adaptedto theircapacities,and was delivered

in a pleasing,familiar manner, coaxingthem, as it were, to be

good. They behaved very orderly,but looked pale and un-healthy,

which made me suspecttheywere kepttoo much within

doors,or not allowed sufficientexercise.

I inquiredconcerningthe Moravian marriages, whether the

report was true that theywere by lot. I was told that lots were

used onlyin particularcases ; that generally,when a young man

found himself disposedto marry, he informed the elders of his

class,who consulted the elder ladies that governedthe young

women. As these elders of the different sexes were well ac-quainted

with the tempers and dispositionsof their respective

pupils,theycould best judgewhat matches were suitable,and

their judgmentswere generallyacquiescedin ; but if,for exam-ple,

itshould happen that two or three young women were found

to be equallyproper for the young man, the lot was then recurred

to. I objected,if the matches are not made by the mutual

choice of the parties,some of them may chance to be very un-happy.

" And so theymay,"answered my informer," ifyou let

* Fund,


the partieschoose for themselves;"which,indeed,I could not

deny.

Beingreturned to Philadelphia,I found the association went

on swimmingly,the inhabitants that were not Quakers having

prettygenerallycome into it,formed themselves into companies,and chosen theircaptains,lieutenants,and ensigns,accordingto

the new law. Dr. B. visitedme, and gave me an account of the

painshe had taken to spreada generalgood likingto the law,and ascribed much to those endeavors. I had had the vanityto

ascribe all to my" Dialogue;"however,not knowingbut that he

mightbe in the right,I let him enjoyhis opinion,which I take

to be generallythe best way in such cases. The officers,meet-ing,

chose me to be colonel of the regiment,which I this time

accepted.I forgethow many companieswe had,but we paradedabout twelve hundred well-lookingmen, with a company of artil-lery,

who had been furnished with six brass fieldpieces,1which

theyhad become so expert in the use of as to firetwelve times

in a minute. The firsttime I reviewed my regimenttheyaccom-panied

me to my house,and would salute me with some rounds

firedbefore my door,which shook down and broke several glassesof my electricalapparatus. And my new honor proved not

much less brittle; for allour commissions were soon after broken

by a repealof the law in England.

During this short time of my colonelship,beingabout to set

out on a journeyto Virginia,the officersof my regimenttook it

into their heads that it would be proper for them to escort me

out of town, as far as the Lower Ferry. Justas I was gettingon horseback theycame to my door,between thirtyand forty,

mounted, and all in their uniforms. I had not been previously

acquaintedwith the project,or I should have preventedit,being

naturallyaverse to the assumingof state on any occasion ; and

I was a good deal chagrinedat theirappearance, as I could not

avoid their accompanyingme. What made it worse was that

as soon as we began to move, theydrew their swords and rode

1 Lightcannon mounted on ci

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I ^ I

with them naked all the way. Somebody wrote an account of

this to the proprietor,and it gave him great offense. No such

honor had been paidhim when in the province,nor to any of his

governors, and he said it was onlyproper to princesof the blood

royal; which may be true for aughtI know, who was, and still

am, ignorantof the etiquettein such cases.

This sillyaffair,however,greatlyincreased his rancor against

me, which was before not a littleon account of my conduct in

the Assemblyrespectingthe exemptionof his estate from taxa-tion,

which I had alwaysopposedvery warmly,and not without

severe reflections on his meanness and injusticeof contendingfor

it. He accused me to the ministryas beingthe great obstacle

to the king'sservice,preventing,by my influence in the House,the proper form of the billsfor raisingmoney ; and he instanced

this paradewith my officersas a proofof my havingan intention

to take the government of the provinceout of his hands by force.

He alsoappliedto Sir Everard Fawkener,the postmaster-general,to depriveme of my office; but it had no other effect than to

procure from Sir Everard a gentleadmonition.

Notwithstandingthe continual wranglebetween the governor

and the House, in which I,as a member, had so largea share,there stillsubsisted a civilintercourse between that gentlemanand myself,and we never had any personaldifference. I have

sometimes since thoughtthat his littleor no resentment against

me for the answers it was known I drew up to his messages,

mightbe the effect of professionalhabit,and that,beingbred a

lawyer,he might consider us both as merelyadvocates for con-tending

clientsin a suit,he for the proprietariesand I for the

Assembly. He would,therefore,sometimes call in a friendly

way to advise with me on difficultpoints,and sometimes,thoughnot often,take my advice.

We acted in concert to supplyBraddock's army with provi-sions;and when the shockingnews arrived of his defeat,the

governor sent in haste for me to consult with him on measures

for preventingthe desertion of the back counties. I forgetnow

172 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OE

the advice I gave ; but I think it was that Dunbar should be

written to, and prevailedwith,if possible,to post his troops on

the frontiers for their protection,till,by reinforcements from the

colonies,he mightbe able to proceedon the expedition.And,after my return from the frontier,he would have had me under-take

the conduct of such an expeditionwith provincialtroops,for the reduction of Fort Duquesne,Dunbar and his men beingotherwise employed; and he proposedto commission me as

general.I had not so good an opinionof my militaryabilities

as he professedto have,and I believe his professionsmust have

exceeded his real sentiments ; but probablyhe might think that

my popularitywould facilitatethe raisingof the men, and my

influence in Assembly,the grant of money to pay them,and that,

perhaps,without taxingthe proprietaryestate. Findingme not

so forward to engage as he expected,the projectwas dropped,and he soon after leftthe government, beingsupersededby Cap-tain

Denny.Before I proceedin relatingthe part I had in publicaffairs

under this new governor'sadministration,it may not be amiss

here to givesome account of the rise and progress of my philo-sophical

reputation.

" 9. THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENTS.

IN1746,beingat Boston,I met there with a Dr. Spence,who

was latelyarrived from Scotland,and showed me some elec-tric

experiments.They were imperfectlyperformed,as he was

not very expert; but,beingon a subjectquitenew to me, they

equallysurprisedand pleasedme. Soon after my return to Phil-adelphia,

our librarycompany received from Mr. Collinson,

Fellow of the RoyalSocietyof London, a presentof a glasstube,with some account of the use of it in making such experiments.


I eagerlyseized the opportunityof repeatingwhat I had seen at

Boston ; and,by much practice,acquiredgreat readiness in per-forming

those,also,which we had an account of from England,

adding a number of new ones. I say much practice,for my

house was continuallyfull,for some time,with peoplewho came

to see these new wonders.

To divide a littlethisincumbrance among my friends,I caused

a number of similar tubes to be blown at our glasshouse,with

which theyfurnished themselves,so that we had at lengthseveral

performers.Among these,the principalwas Mr. Kinnersley,an

ingeniousneighbor,who, beingout of business,I encouragedto

undertake showingthe experimentsfor money, and drew up for

him two lectures,in which the experimentswere rangedin such

order,and accompaniedwith such explanationsin such method,

as that the foregoingshould assistin comprehendingthe follow-ing.

He procuredan elegantapparatus for the purpose, in which

all the littlemachines that I had roughlymade for myselfwere

nicelyformed by instrument makers. His lectures were well

attended,and gave great satisfaction; and after some time he

went throughthe colonies,exhibitingthem in every capitaltown,and pickedup some money. In the West India islands,indeed,it was with difficultythe experimentscould be made, from the

generalmoisture of the air.

Obligedas we were to Mr. Collinson for his present of the

tube,etc.,I thoughtitrighthe should be informed of our suc-cess

in usingit,and wrote him several letterscontainingaccountsof our experiments.He got them read in the Royal Society,where theywere not at firstthoughtworth so much notice as to

be printedin their " Transactions." One paper, which I wrote

for Mr. Kinnersley,on the sameness of lightningwith electricity,I sent to Dr. Mitchel,an acquaintanceof mine,and one of the

members also of that society,who wrote me word that it had

been read,but was laughedat by the connoisseurs. The papers,

however,beingshown to Dr. Fothergill,he thoughtthem of too

much value to be stifled,and advised the printingof them. Mr.


Collinson then gave them to Cave 1 for publicationin his " Gen-tleman's

Magazine;"but he chose to printthem separatelyin a

pamphlet,and Dr. Fothergillwrote the preface. Cave,it seems,

judgedrightlyfor his profit,for,by the additions that arrived

afterward,theyswelled to a quarto volume,which has had five

editions,and cost him nothingfor copy money.2It was, however,some time before those papers were much

taken notice of in England. A copy of them happeningto fall

into the hands of the Count de BufTon,a philosopherdeservedlyof great reputationin France,and, indeed,all over Europe,he

prevailedwith M.3 Dalibard to translatethem into French,and

theywere printedat Paris. The publicationoffended the Abbe 4

Nollet,preceptor in natural philosophyto the royalfamilyand

an able experimenter,who had formed and publisheda theoryof electricitywhich then had the generalvogue. He could not

at firstbelieve that such a work came from America,and said it

must have been fabricated by his enemies at Paris,to decryhis

system. Afterward,havingbeen assured that there reallyexisted

such a person as Franklin at Philadelphia,which he had doubted,

he wrote and publisheda volume of "

Letters,"chieflyaddressed

to me, defendinghis theory,and denyingthe verityof my experi-ments,and of the positionsdeduced from them.

I once purposedansweringthe abbe,and actuallybegan the

answer ; but,on consideration that my writingscontained a de-scription

of experimentswhich any one mightrepeat and verify,and if not to be verified,could not be defended ; or of observa-tions

offered as conjectures,and not delivered dogmatically,therefore not layingme under any obligationto defend them;

1 The publisher,Edward Cave (i691-1754),was the founder of the Gen-tleman's

Magazine,the earliestliteraryjournalof the kind.

2 "

Copy money," i.e.,money paidfor the copy or article.

3 Monsieur.

4 A titleformerlyassumed in France by a classof men who had slightcon-nections

with the church,and were employedas teachers or engagedin some

literarypursuit.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 75

and reflectingthat a disputebetween two persons writingin dif-ferent

languagesmightbe lengthenedgreatlyby mistranslations,and thence misconceptionsof one another's meaning,much of

one of the abbe's lettersbeingfounded on an error in the transla-tion,

I concluded to let my papers shiftfor themselves,believingit was better to spendwhat time I could spare from publicbusi-ness

in making new experiments,than in disputingabout those

alreadymade. I therefore never answered M. Nollet,and the

event gave me no cause to repent my silence;for my friend

M. le Roy, of the RoyalAcademy of Sciences,took up my cause

and refuted him, my book was translated into the Italian,Ger-man,

and Latin languages,and the doctrine it contained was bydegreesuniversallyadoptedby the philosophersof Europe,in

preferenceto that of the abbe ; so that he lived to see himself

the last of his sect,except Monsieur B,of Paris,his e'leve1

and immediate disciple.What gave my book the more sudden and generalcelebrity

was the success of one of its proposedexperiments,made byMessrs. Dalibard and De Lor at Marly,for drawinglightningfrom the clouds. This engagedthe publicattention everywhere.M. de Lor,who had an apparatusfor experimentalphilosophy,and lectured in that branch of science,undertook to repeatwhat

he called the "Philadelphiaexperiments,"and,aftertheywere per-formed

before the kingand court,allthe curious of Paris flocked

to see them. I will not swell this narrative with an account of

that capitalexperiment,nor of the infinitepleasureI received in

the success of a similar one I made soon after with a kite at Phil-adelphia,

as both are to be found in the historiesof electricity.Dr. Wright,an Englishphysician,when at Paris,wrote to a

friend 'who was of the Royal Society,an account of the highesteem my experiments11were in among the learned abroad,and

of their wonder that my writingshad been so littlenoticed in

England. The society,on this,resumed the consideration of the

lettersthat had been read to them ; and the celebrated Dr. Wat-

1 Pupil.


son drew up a summary account of them,and of all I had after-ward

sent to England on the subject,which he accompaniedwith some praiseof the writer. This summary was then printedin their "Transactions;"and some members of the societyin

London, particularlythe very ingeniousMr. Canton,havingveri-fied

the experimentof procuringlightningfrom the clouds by a

pointedrod,1and acquaintingthem with the success, theysoon

made me more than amends for the slightwith which theyhad

before treated me. Without my havingmade any applicationfor that honor,theychose me a member, and voted that I should

be excused the customary payments,which would have amounted

to twenty-fiveguineas,and ever since have givenme their " Trans-actions

" gratis.They also presentedme with the gold medal

of Sir GodfreyCopley for the year 1753, the deliveryof which

was accompaniedby a very handsome speechof the president,Lord Macclesfield,wherein I was highlyhonored.

Our new governor, CaptainDenny, broughtover for me the

before-mentioned medal from the Royal Society,which he pre-sented

to me at an entertainment givenhim by the city.He

accompaniedit with very politeexpressionsof his esteem for

me, having,as he said,been longacquaintedwith my character.

After dinner,when the company, as was customary at that time,

were engagedin drinking,he took me aside into another room,

and acquaintedme that he had been advised by his friends in

England to cultivatea friendshipwith me, as one who was capa-ble

of givinghim the best advice,and of contributingmost effec-tually

to the makinghis administration easy ; that he therefore de-sired

of allthingsto have a good understandingwith me, and he

beggedme to be assured of his readiness on alloccasions to render

me every service that mightbe in his power. He said much to

me, also,of the proprietor'sgood dispositiontoward the province,

1 The iron rod was on the kite which Franklin flew in a thunderstorm in

1752. A hemp cord conducted the electricityto a keynear his hand, and from

this he received the shock which provedthe truth of his theorythat lightningand electricityare one and the same.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. I 77

and of the advantageitmightbe to us all,and to me in particu-lar,ifthe oppositionthat had been so longcontinued to his meas-ures

was dropped,and harmony restored between him and the

people; in effectingwhich it was thoughtno one could be more

serviceable than myself,and I might depend on adequateac-knowledgments

and recompenses, etc. The drinkers,findingwe did not return immediatelyto the table,sent us a decanter

of Madeira,which the governor made liberaluse of,and in pro-portion

became more profuseof his solicitationsand promises.

My answers were to this purpose: that my circumstances,thanks to God, were such as to make proprietaryfavors unneces-sary

to me ; and that,beinga member of the Assembly,I could

not possiblyacceptof any ; that,however,I had no personalen-mity

to the proprietary,and that,whenever the publicmeasureshe proposedshould appear to be for the good of the people,no

one should espouse and forward them more zealouslythan my-self,

my past oppositionhavingbeen founded on this,that the

measures which had been urgedwere evidentlyintended to serve

the proprietaryinterest,with great prejudiceto that of the peo-ple

; that I was much obligedto him (thegovernor)for his pro-fessions

of regardto me, and that he mightrelyon everythingin

my power to make his administration as easy as possible,hopingat the same time that he had not broughtwith him the same un-fortunate

instructionshis predecessorhad been hamperedwith.

On thishe did not then explainhimself;but when he after-ward

came to do business with the Assembly,theyappearedagain,the disputes1were renewed,and I was as active as ever in

the opposition,beingthe penman, first,of the requestto have a

communication of the instructions,and then of the remarks upon

them,which may be found in the votes of the time,and in the

" Historical Review " I afterward published.But between us

personallyno enmityarose ; we were often together.He was a

man of letters,had seen much of the world,and was very enter-taining

and pleasingin conversation. He gave me the firstin-formation

that my old friend James Ralph was stillalive ; that

12


he was esteemed one of the best politicalwriters in England; had

been employedin the disputebetween Prince Frederic and the

king,and had obtained a pensionof three hundred a year ; that

his reputationwas indeed small as a poet, Pope havingdamned

.hispoetry in the " Dunciad,"but his prose was thoughtas goodas any man's.

The Assembly,finallyfindingthe proprietaryobstinatelyper-sisted

in manaclingtheirdeputies* with instructionsinconsistent

not onlywith the privilegesof the peoplebut with the service of

the Crown, resolved to petitionthe kingagainstthem, and ap-pointed

me theiragent to go over to England to presentand sup-port

the petition.The House had sent up a billto the governor,

grantinga sum of sixtythousand pounds for the king'suse, (tenthousand pounds of which was subjectedto the orders of the

then general,Lord Loudoun,)which the governor absolutelyre-fused

to pass, in compliancewith his instructions.

" 10. MISSION TO ENGLAND.

I HAD agreedwith CaptainMorris,of the packet2at New

York,for my passage, and my stores were put on board,when

Lord Loudoun arrived at Philadelphia,expressly,as he told me,

to endeavor an accommodation between the governor and Assem-bly,

that his Majesty'sservice might not be obstructed by their

dissensions. Accordingly,he desired the governor and myselfto

meet him,that he mighthear what was to be said on both sides.

We met and discussed the business. In behalf of the Assembly,I urgedall the various arguments that may be found in the pub-lic

papers of that time,which were of my writing,and are printedwith the minutes of the Assembly; and the governor pleadedhis

1 See Note 2, p. 151.2 A vessel startingat some set time and conveyinglettersand passengers

from country to country.


instructions,the bond he had givento observe them,and his ruin

if he disobeyed,yet seemed not unwillingto hazard himself if

Lord Loudoun would advise it. This his lordshipdid not choose

to do,thoughI once thoughtI had nearlyprevailedwith him to

do it; but finallyhe rather chose to urge the complianceof the

Assembly,and he entreated me to use my endeavors with them

for that purpose, declaringthat he would spare none of the king's

troops for the defense of our frontiers,and that,if we did not

continue to providefor that defense ourselves,theymust remain

exposedto the enemy.

I acquaintedthe House with what had passed,,and, present-ingthem with a set of resolutions I had drawn up, declaringour

rights,and that we did not relinquishour claims to those rights,but onlysuspendedthe exerciseof them on this occasion throughforce,againstwhich we protested,theyat lengthagreedto dropthat bill,and frame another,conformable to the proprietaryin-structions.

This of course the governor passed,and I was then

at libertyto proceedon my voyage. But,in the mean time,the

packethad sailedwith my sea stores,which was some loss to me,

and my onlyrecompense was his lordship'sthanks for my serv-ice,

all the credit of obtainingthe accommodation fallingto his

share.

He set out for New York before me ; and,as the time for dis-patching

the packetboats was at his disposition,and there were

two then remainingthere,one of which,he said,was to sailvery

soon, I requestedto know the precisetime,that I mightnot miss

her by any delayof mine. His answer was :" I have givenout

that she is to sail on Saturdaynext; but I may let you know,entre nous,1that if you are there by Monday morning,you will

be in time,but do not delaylonger."By some accidental hin-drance

at a ferry,it was Monday noon before I arrived,and

I was much afraid she might have sailed,as the wind was fair;

but I was soon made easy by the information that she was stillin

the harbor,and would not move tillthe next day.1 Between ourselves.


One would imagine that I was now on the very pointof

departingfor Europe. I thoughtso; but I was not then so

well acquaintedwith his lordship'scharacter,of which indecision

was one of the strongestfeatures. I shall givesome instances.

It was about the beginningof Aprilthat I came to New York,and I think itwas near the end of June before we sailed. There

were then two of the packetboats,which had been longin port,

but were detained for the general'sletters,which were alwaysto be readyto-morrow. Another packetarrived;she too was

detained;and, before we sailed,a fourth was expected.Ours

was the firstto be dispatched,as having been there longest.

Passengerswere engaged in all,and some extremelyimpatientto be gone, and the merchants uneasy about their lettersand

the orders theyhad givenfor insurance (itbeingwar time)for

fallgoods; but theiranxietyavailed nothing; his lordship'sletters

were not ready;and yet whoever waited on him found him

alwaysat his desk,pen in hand, and concluded he must needs

write abundantly.

Going myselfone morningto pay my respects,I found in his

antechamber one Innis,a messenger of Philadelphia,who had

come from thence express with a packetfrom Governor Dennyfor the general.He delivered to me some lettersfrom my friends

there,which occasioned my inquirywhen he was to return,and

where he lodged,that I might send some letters by him. He

told me he was ordered to call to-morrow at nine for the general's

answer to the governor, and should set off immediately.I put

my lettersinto his hands the same day. A fortnightafter I met

him againin the same place. " So,you are soon returned,In-nis?

" " Returned! no, I am not gone yet."" How so? " " I

have calledhere by order every morningthese two weeks pastfor

his lordship'sletter,and it is not yet ready."" Is itpossible,

when he is so great a writer? for I see him constantlyat his

escritoire." "Yes," says Innis,"but he is like St. George on

the signs,alwayson horseback,and never rides on." This obser-vation

of the messenger was, it seems, well founded ; for,when

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN I Si

in England,I understood that Mr. Pitt1 gave it as one reason

for removing this general,and sendingGenerals Amherst and

Wolfe,that the minister never heard from him,and could not know

what he was doing.This dailyexpectationof sailing,and all the three packetsgo-ing

down to Sandy Hook, to jointhe fleet there,the passengers

thoughtitbest to be on board,lest by a sudden order the shipsshould sailand theybe left behind. There,ifI remember right,we were about six weeks,consumingour sea stores,and obligedto procure more. At lengththe fleet sailed,the generaland all

his army on board,bound to Louisburg,2with intent to besiegeand take that fortress; all the packetboats in company ordered

to attend the general'sship,readyto receive his dispatcheswhen

theyshould be ready. We were out five days before we got a

letterwith leave to part,and then our shipquittedthe fleetand

steered for England. The other two packetshe stilldetained,

carried them with him to Halifax,where he stayedsome time to

exercise the men in sham attacks upon sham forts,then altered

his mind as to besiegingLouisburg,and returned to New York

with allhis troops,togetherwith the two packetsabove men-tioned,

and all their passengers!Duringhis absence the French

and savages had taken Fort George,on the frontierof that prov-ince,

and the savages had massacred many of the garrisonafter

capitulation.I saw afterward in London CaptainBonnell,who commanded

one of those packets. He told me that,when he had been de-tained

a month, he acquaintedhis lordshipthat his shipwas

grown foul to a degreethat must necessarilyhinder her fast

sailing,a pointof consequence for a packetboat,and requested

an allowance of time to heave her down and clean her bottom.

He was asked how longtime that would require.He answered,

1 William Pitt (1708-78).See Macaulay'sEssayon the Earl of Chatham

(EclecticEnglishClassics,American Book Company).2 A possessionof the French in Cape Breton,Nova Scotia. It was taken

by the Englishin 1758. '


" Three days." The generalreplied: " If you can do it in one

day,I giveleave ; otherwise not ; for you must certainlysailthe

day after to-morrow." So he never obtained leave,thoughde-tained

afterward from day to day duringfullthree months.

I saw also in London one of Bonnell's passengers, who was so

enragedagainsthis lordshipfor deceivingand detaininghim so

long at New York,and then carryinghim 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 representedthe injurytohis affairs,it was very considerable.

On the whole,I wondered much how such a man came to be

intrusted with so importanta business as the conduct of a great

army ; but,havingsince seen more of the great world,and the

means of obtainingand motives for givingplaces,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 campaignthan that

of Loudoun in 1757, which was frivolous,expensive,and dis-graceful

to our nation beyond conception; for,thoughShirleywas not a bred soldier,he was sensibleand sagaciousin himself,and attentive to good advice from others,capableof forming

judiciousplans,and quickand active in carryingthem into exe-cution.

Loudoun, instead of defendingthe colonies with his

great army, left them totallyexposed,while he paradedidlyat

Halifax,by which means Fort Georgewas lost. Besides,he de-ranged

allour mercantile operations,and distressedour trade,bya longembargo* on the exportationof provisions,on pretenseof

keepingsuppliesfrom beingobtained by the enemy, but in realityfor beatingdown theirpricein favor of the contractors,in whose

profits,it was said,perhapsfrom suspiciononly,he had a share.

And when at lengththe embargo was taken off by neglectingto

send notice of it to Charleston,the Carolina fleet was detained

near three months longer,wherebytheir bottoms were so much

1 A prohibitionto preventshipsleavingport.


damaged by the worm x that a great part of them foundered in

theirpassage home.

Shirleywas, I believe,sincerelygladof beingrelievedfrom so

burdensome a chargeas the conduct of an army must be to a

man unacquaintedwith militarybusiness. I was at the entertain-ment

givenby the cityof New York to Lord Loudoun, on his

takingupon him the command. Shirley,thoughtherebysuper-seded,

was presentalso. There was a great company of officers,

citizens,and strangers,and, some chairs havingbeen borrowed

in the neighborhood,there was one among them very low,which

fellto the lot of Mr. Shirley.Perceivingit as I sat by him, I

said," They have givenyou, sir,too low a seat." " No matter,"

says he," Mr. Franklin,I find a low seat the easiest."

While I was, as afore mentioned,detained at New York, I

received all the accounts of the provisions,etc.,that I had fur-nished

to Braddock,some of which accounts could not sooner

be obtained from the differentpersons I had employedto assist

in the business. I presentedthem to Lord Loudoun, desiringto

be paidthe balance. He caused them to be regularlyexamined

by the proper officer,who, after comparingevery articlewith its

voucher,certifiedthem to be right,and the balance due,for

which his lordshippromisedto giveme an order on the paymas-ter.

This was, however,put off from time to time ; and,thoughI called often for itby appointment,I did not get it. At length,

justbefore my departure,he told me he had,on better consider-ation,

concluded not to mix his accounts with those of his prede-cessors." And you,"says he, " when in England,have onlyto

exhibit your accounts at the treasury,and you willbe paidim-mediately."

I mentioned,but without effect,the great and unexpectedex-pense

I had been put to by beingdetained so longat New York,

as a reason for my desiringto be presentlypaid; and on my ob-serving

that itwas not rightI should be put to any further trou-ble

or delayin obtainingthe money I had advanced,as I charged1 The worm which eats into the wood bottoms of ships.

I "4 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

no commission for my service," 0 sir,"says he, "

you must not

think of persuadingus that you are no gainer;we understand

better those affairs,and know that every one concerned in supply-ingthe'armyfinds means, in the doingit,to fillhis own pockets.''

I assured him that was not my case, and that I had not pocketeda farthing,but he appeared clearlynot to believe me ; and,in-deed,

I have since learned that immense fortunes are often made

in such employments. As to my balance,I am not paidit tothis day,of which more hereafter.

Our captainof the packethad boasted much, before we sailed,of the swiftnessof his ship; unfortunately,when we came to sea,

she provedthe dullest of ninety-sixsail,to his no small mortifi-cation.

After many conjecturesrespectingthe cause, when we

were near another shipalmost as dull as ours, which,however,

gainedupon us, the captainordered all hands to come aft,and

stand as near the ensignstaff1 as possible.We were, passengers

included,about fortypersons. While we stood there,the shipmended her pace, and soon lefther neighborfar behind,which

provedclearlywhat our captainsuspected,that she was loaded

too much by the head. The casks of water, it seems, had been

allplacedforward ; these he therefore ordered to be moved far-ther

aft,on which the shiprecovered her character,and provedthe best sailerin the fleet.

The captainsaid she had once gone at the rate of thirteen

knots,which is accounted thirteen miles per hour. We had on

board,as a passenger, CaptainKennedy, of the navy, who con-tended

that it was impossible,that no shipever sailed so fast,and that there must have been some error, in the divisionof the

logline,2or some mistake in heavingthe log. A wager ensued

between the two captains,to be decided when there should be

sufficientwind. Kennedy thereupon examined rigorouslythe

logline,and,being satisfiedwith that,he determined to throw

1 " Ensignstaff,"i.e.,flagstaff.2 The log line is a line fastened to the log-chip,by which, when it is

thrown over the side of a vessel,the rate of speedis found.


the loghimself. Accordingly,some days after,when the wind

blew very fairand fresh,and the captainof the packet,Lutwidge,said he believed she then went at the rate of thirteen knots,Ken-nedy

made the experiment,and owned his wager lost.

The above fact I givefor the sake of the followingobserva-tion.

It has been remarked,as an imperfectionin the art of ship

building,that it can never be known, tillshe is tried,whether a

new shipwill or will not be a good sailer; for that the model of

a good sailingshiphas been exactlyfollowed in a new one, which

has proved,on the contrary,remarkablydull. I apprehendthat

thismay partlybe occasioned by the differentopinionsof seamen

respectingthe modes of lading,rigging,and sailingof a ship.Each has his system ; and the same vessel,laden by the judgmentand orders of one captain,shall sailbetter or worse than when

by the orders of another. Besides,it scarce ever happensthat a

shipisformed,fittedfor the sea, and sailed by the same person.

One man builds the hull,another rigsher,a third lades and sails

her. No one of these has the advantageof knowingallthe ideas

and experienceof the others,and therefore cannot draw justcon-clusions

from a combination of the whole.

Even in the simpleoperationof sailingwhen at sea, I have

often observed different judgments in the officerswho com-manded

the successivewatches,1the wind beingthe same. One

would have the sailstrimmed sharperor flatterthan another,so

that theyseemed to have no certain rule to govern by. Yet I

think a set of experimentsmightbe instituted,11first,to determine

the most proper form of the hull for swiftsailing; next,the best

dimensions and properestplacefor the masts ; then the form and

quantityof sails,and their position,as the wind may be ; and,

lastly,the dispositionof the lading.This is an age of experi-ments,and I think a set accuratelymade and combined would

be of great use. I am persuaded,therefore,that ere longsome

ingeniousphilosopherwill undertake it,to whom I wish success.

1 A watch is a certain part of a vessel's officersand crew who have the

care and workingof her for a periodof time,commonly for four hours.


We were several times chased x in our passage, but outsailed

everything,and in thirtydays had soundings.2We had a good

observation,3and the captainjudged himself so near our port,

Falmouth,that,ifwe made a good run in the night,we mightbe

off the mouth of that harbor in the morning,and by runningin

the nightmightescape the notice of the enemy'sprivateers,4who

often cruised near the entrance of the channel. Accordingly,all

the sailwas set that we could possiblymake, and the wind being

very fresh and fair,we went rightbefore it,and made greatway.The captain,after his observation,shaped his course, as he

thought,so as to pass wide of the ScillyIsles; but itseems there

is sometimes a strong indraught5 settingup St. George'sChan-nel,

which deceives seamen and caused the loss of Sir CloudesleyShovel's squadron. This indraughtwas probablythe cause of

what happenedto us.

We had a watchman placedin the bow, to whom theyoften

called," Look well out before there,"and he as often answered,"

Ay,ay ;" but perhapshe had his eyes shut,and was half asleepat

the time,theysometimes answering,as issaid,mechanically; for

he did not see a lightjustbefore us, which had been hid by the

studdingsails6 from the man at the helm,and from the rest of

the watch,but by an accidental yaw of the shipwas discovered

and occasioned a greatalarm,we beingvery near it,the lightap-pearing

to me as bigas a cart wheel. It was midnight,and our

captainfast asleep; but CaptainKennedy,jumpingupon deck,

and seeingthe danger,ordered the shipto wear round,all sails

standing" an operationdangerousto the masts ; but itcarried us

1 By French vessels.

2 Measurements of the depthof the water with a plummet and line.

3 Of the sun's altitude in order to calculate the latitude (seeNote 2, p.

77).

4 Vessels armed and officeredby privatepersons, but actingunder a com-mission

from government.5 An inward current.

6 Studdingsails are sails set between the edges of the chief sguare sails

duringa fairwind.


clear,and we escapedshipwreck,for we were runningrightuponthe rocks on which the lighthousewas erected. This deliverance

impressedme stronglywith the utilityof lighthouses,and made

me resolve to encourage the buildingof more of them in Amer-ica,

ifI should live to return there.

In the morningit was found by the soundings,etc.,that we

were near our port,but a thick foghid the land from our sight.About nine o'clock the fogbeganto rise,and seemed to be lifted

up from the water like the curtain at a playhouse,discoveringunderneath the town of Falmouth,the vessels in itsharbor,and

the fieldsthat surrounded it. This was a most pleasingspectacleto those who had been so longwithout any other prospectsthan

the uniform view of a vacant ocean, and it gave us the more

pleasureas we were now free from the anxietieswhich the state

of war occasioned.

I set out immediately,with my son, for London, and we onlystoppeda littleby the way to view Stonehengeon SalisburyPlain,and Lord Pembroke's house and gardens,with his very

curious antiquitiesat Wilton. We arrived in London the 27 th of

July,1757.1As soon as I was settledin a lodgingMr. Charles had provided

for me, I went to visitDr. Fothergill,to whom I was stronglyrecommended, and whose counsel respectingmy proceedingsI

was advised to obtain. He was againstan immediate complaintto government, and thoughtthe proprietariesshould firstbe

personallyappliedto,who might possiblybe induced by the

interpositionand persuasionof some privatefriends,to accom-modate

matters amicably.I then waited on my old friend and

correspondent,Mr. Peter Collinson,who told me that John Han-

bury,the greatVirginiamerchant,had requestedto be informed

when I should arrive,that he mightcarry me to Lord Granville's,

1 " Here terminates the Autobiography,as publishedby William TempleFranklin and his successors. What follows was written the lastyear of Dr.

Franklin's life,and was never before printedin English.""-BlGELOW's Auto-biography

ofFranklin, 1868,p. 350, note.


who was then President of the Council,and wished to see me as

soon as possible.I agreedto go with him the next morning.Accordingly,Mr. Hanbury called for me and took me in his car-riage

to that nobleman's,who received me with great civility;

and after some questionsrespectingthe present state of affairsin

America and discourse thereupon,he said to me :" You Amer-icans

have wrong ideas of the nature of your Constitution ; you

contend that the king'sinstructionsto his governors are not laws,and think yourselvesat libertyto regardor disregardthem at

your own discretion. But those instructions are not like the

pocketinstructionsgivento a minister goingabroad,for regu-lating

his conduct in some triflingpointof ceremony. They are

firstdrawn up by judgeslearned in the laws ; theyare then con-sidered,

debated,and perhapsamended in Council,after which

theyare signedby the king. They are then,so far as theyrelate

to you, the law of the land,for the king is the legislatorof

the colonies."

I told his lordshipthis was new doctrine to me. I had

alwaysunderstood from our charters that our laws were to be

made by our Assemblies,to be presentedindeed to the kingfor his royalassent, but that beingonce given,the kingcould

not repeal or alter them; and as the Assemblies could not

make permanent laws without his assent, so neither could he

make a law for them without theirs. He assured me I was to-tally

mistaken. I did not think so, however,and his lordship'sconversation havinga littlealarmed me as to what mightbe the

sentiments of the court concerningus, I wrote it down as soon

as I returned to my lodgings.I recollected that about twenty

years before,a clause in a bill broughtinto Parliament by the

ministryhad proposedto make the king'sinstructionslaws in

the colonies,but the clause was thrown out by the Commons,for which we adored them as our friends and friends of liberty,tillby their conduct toward us in 1765 it seemed that theyhad

refused that pointof sovereigntyto the kingonlythat theymightreserve itfor themselves.


After some days,Dr. Fothergillhavingspokento the proprie-taries,theyagreedto a meetingwith me at Mr. T. Penn's house

in SpringGarden. The conversation at firstconsisted of mutual

declarations of dispositionto reasonable accommodations,but I

suppose each party had itsown ideas of what should be meant

by " reasonable." We then went into consideration of our several

pointsof complaint,which I enumerated. The proprietariesjus-tifiedtheir conduct as well as theycould,and I the Assembly's.

We now appearedvery wide,and so far from each other in our

opinionsas to discourageall hope of agreement. However,it

was concluded that I should givethem the heads of our com-plaints

in writing,and theypromisedthen to consider them. I

did so soon after,but theyput the paper into the hands of their

solicitor,Ferdinand John Paris,who managed for them all their

law business in their greatsuitwith the neighboringproprietaryof Maryland,Lord Baltimore,which had subsisted seventy years,

and who wrote for them all their papers and messages in their

disputewith the Assembly. He was a proud,angry man, and

as I had occasionallyin the answers of the Assemblytreated his

papers with some severity,theybeingreallyweak in pointof

argument and haughtyin expression,he had conceived a mortal

enmityto me, which discoveringitselfwhenever we met, I de-clined

the proprietaries'proposalthat he and I should discussthe

heads of complaintbetween our two selves,and refused treatingwith any one but them. They then by his advice put the paper

into the hands of the attorney and solicitor-general,for their

opinionand counsel upon it,where it layunanswered a year

wantingeightdays,duringwhich time I made frequentdemands

of an answer from the proprietaries,but without obtaininganyother than that theyhad not yet received the opinionof the at-torney

and solicitor-general.What itwas when theydid receive

itI never learned,for theydid not communicate it to me, but

sent a longmessage to the Assembly,drawn and signedby Paris,

recitingmy paper, complainingof itswant of formalityas a rude-ness

on my part,and givinga flimsyjustificationof theirconduct,


adding that theyshould be willingto accommodate matters if

the Assemblywould send out"

some person of candor "to treat

with them for that purpose, intimatingtherebythat I was not such.

The want of formality,or rudeness,was, probably,my not hav-ing

addressed the paper to them with their assumed titlesof

"True and Absolute Proprietariesof the Province of Pennsyl-vania,"which I omitted as not thinkingit necessary in a paper

the intention of which was onlyto reduce to a certaintyby writ-ing

what in conversation I had delivered viva voce.1

But duringthis delay,the Assembly havingprevailedwithGovernor Denny to pass an act taxingthe proprietaryestate in

common with the estates of the people,which was the grand

pointin dispute,theyomitted answeringthe message.

When this act,however, came over, the proprietaries,coun-seled

by Paris,determined to oppose itsreceivingthe royalas-sent.

Accordinglytheypetitionedthe king in Council,and a

hearingwas appointedin which two lawyerswere employedbythem againstthe act,and two by me in support of it. Theyallegedthat the act was intended to load the proprietaryestate

in order to spare those of the people,and that ifitwere suffered

to continue in force,and the proprietaries,who were in odium

with the people,left to their mercy in proportioningthe taxes,

theywould inevitablybe ruined. We repliedthat the act had

no such intention,and would have no such effect; that the asses-sors

were honest and discreet men under an oath to assess fairlyand equitably,and that any advantageeach of them might ex-pect

in lesseninghis own tax by augmentingthat of the proprie-tarieswas too triflingto induce them to perjurethemselves.

.This isthe purportof what I remember as urgedby both sides,

except that we insistedstronglyon the mischievous consequences

that must attend a repeal,for that the money, one hundred thou-sand

pounds,beingprintedand givento the king'suse, expendedin hisservice,and now spreadamong the people,the repealwould

strikeit dead in their hands to the ruin of many, and the total

1 By word of mouth.


discouragementof future grants; and the selfishnessof the pro-prietors

in solicitingsuch a generalcatastrophe,merelyfrom a

groundlessfear of their estate beingtaxed too highly,was insisted

on in the strongestterms.

On this,Lord Mansfield,one of the counsel,rose, and beckon-ing

me, took me into the clerk's chamber, while the lawyerswere pleading,and asked me if I was reallyof opinionthat

no injurywould be done the proprietaryestate in the execution

of the act. I said," Certainly.""Then," says he, "you can

have littleobjectionto enter into an engagement to assure that

point." I answered," None at all." He then called in Paris,and after some discourse,his lordship'spropositionwas acceptedon both sides ; a paper to the purpose was drawn up by the clerk

of the Council,which I signedwith Mr. Charles,who was also an

agentof the provincefor their ordinaryaffairs,when Lord Mans-field

returned to the council chamber,where finallythe law was

allowed to pass. Some changeswere, however,recommended,and we also engagedtheyshould be made by a subsequentlaw,but the Assembly did not think them necessary ; for one year'stax havingbeen levied by the act before the order of Council

arrived,theyappointeda committee to examine the proceedingsof the assessors, and on thiscommittee theyput several particu-lar

friends of the proprietaries.After a fullinquiry,theyunani-mously

signeda reportthat theyfound the tax had been assessed

with perfectequity.The Assemblylooked upon my enteringinto the firstpartof the

engagement as an essential service to the province,since it se-cured

the credit of the paper money then spreadover all the

country. They gave me their thanks in form when I returned.

But the proprietarieswere enragedat Governor Denny for hav-ing

passedthe act, and turned him out with threats of suinghim

for breach of instructionswhich he had givenbond to observe.

He, however,havingdone it at the instance of the general,andfor his Majesty'sservice,and havingsome powerfulinterestat

court,despisedthe threats,and theywere never put in execution.


letters referred to on page 89.

From Mr. Abel James (Received in Paris).

" My dear and honored Friend : I have often been desirous

of writingto thee, but could not be reconciled to the thought that

the letter might fall into the hands of the British,lest some printeror

busybody should publish some part of the contents, and give our

friend pain, and myself censure.

" Some time since there fellinto my hands, to my great joy,about

twenty-threesheets in thy own handwriting,containingan 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, ifthou continued

it up to a later period,that the firstand latter part may be put to-gether

; and if it is not yet continued, I hope thee will not delay it.

Life is uncertain,as the preacher tells us; and what will the world say

ifkind, humane, and benevolent Ben. Franklin should leave his friends

and the world deprivedof so pleasingand profitablea work; a work

which would be useful and entertainingnot only to a few,but to mil-lions

? The influence writingsunder that class have on the minds of

youth is very great, and has nowhere appeared to me so plain as

in our publicfriend's journals. It almost insensiblyleads the youthinto the resolution of endeavoringto become as good and eminent as

the journalist. Should thine,for instance,when published(and I

think it could not fail of it),lead the youth to equal the industryand

temperance of thy earlyyouth, what a blessingwith that class would

such a work be ! I know of no character living,nor many of them

put together,who has so much in his power as thyselfto promote a

greater spiritof industryand earlyattention 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

firstis of such vast importance that I know nothing that can equal it."

The other letter,from Mr. Benjamin Vaughan, gave similar advice.


/ THE WAY TO WEALTH,

AS CLEARLY SHOWN IN THE PREFACE OF AN OLD PENNSYLVANIA

ALMANAC ENTITLED"

POOR RICHARD IMPROVED."

Courteous Reader : I have heard that nothinggivesan author so

greatpleasureas to find his works respectfullyquotedby other learned

authors. This pleasureI have seldom enjoyed; for,thoughI have been,ifI may say itwithout vanity,an eminent author (ofalmanacs)annually,now a fullquarterof a century,my brother authors in the same way, for

what reason I know not, have ever been very sparingin theirapplausesand no other author has taken the least notice of me ; so that,did not

my writingsproduceme some solid pudding,the great deficiencyof

praisewould have quitediscouragedme.I concluded at lengththat the peoplewere the best judgesof

my merit,for theybuy my works; and,besides,in my rambles where

I am not personallyknown, I have frequentlyheard one or other

of my adagesrepeatedwith u As Poor Richard says"at the end of

it. This gave me some satisfaction,as it showed not onlythat my

instructions were regarded,but discovered likewise some respect for

my authority; and I own that,to encourage the practiceof remember-ing

and readingthose wise sentences,I have sometimes quotedmyselfwith great gravity.Judge,then,how much I must have been gratifiedby an incident I

am goingto relate to you. I stoppedmy horse latelywhere a great

number of peoplewere collected at an auction of merchants' goods.The hour of the sale not being come, theywere conversingon the

badness of the times ; and one of the company called to a plain,clean

old man with white locks,"Pray, Father Abraham, what think you

of the times? Will not these heavy taxes quiteruin the country?How shall we ever be able to pay them ? What would you advise us

to do ? " Father Abraham stood up and replied," If you would have

my advice,I will giveit to you in short ; for A word to the wise is

enough,as Poor Richard says." They joinedin desiringhim to speakhis mind, and gatheringround him, he proceededas follows :

" Friends,"said he, " the taxes are indeed very heavy,and ifthose

laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we

might more easilydischargethem ; but we have many others,and

much more grievousto some of us. We are taxed twice as much by


our idleness,three times as much by our pride,and four times as much

by our folly;and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease

or deliver us by allowingan abatement. However, let us hearken to

good advice,and something may be done for us; God helpsthe_mthat helpthemselves,as Poor Richard says.

I. "It would be thought a hard government that should tax its

peopleone tenth part of their time,to be employed in itsservice ; but

idleness taxes many of us much more ; sloth,by bringingon diseases,

absolutelyshortens life. Sloth,like rust, consumes faster than labor

wears, while The used key is alwaysbright,as Poor Richard says.

But dost thou love life? Then do not squandertime,for that is the stuff

lifeis made of,as Poor Richard says. How much more than is neces-sary

do we spend in sleep,forgettingthat the sleepingfox catches no

poultry,and that there will be sleepingenough in the grave, as Poor

Richard says. If time be of all thingsthe most precious,wastingtime must be, as Poor Richard says, the greatestprodigality; since,as he elsewhere tellsus, Lost time is never found again,and what we

call time enough alwaysproves littleenough. Let us, then,be up and

be doing,and doingto the purpose ; so by diligenceshall we do more

with less perplexity.Sloth makes allthingsdifficult,but industry,all

easy ; and,He that riseth late must trot allda\ and shall scarce overtake

his business at night; while Laziness travels so slowlythat Povertysoon overtakes him. Drive thybusiness,let not that drive thee ; and,

Early to bed,and earlyto rise,makes a man healthy,wealthy,and

wise,as Poor Richard says.u So what signifieswishing and hoping for better times ? We

make these times better if we bestir ourselves. Industryneed not

wish,and he that livesupon hopeswill die fasting.There are no gainswithout pains;then help,hands,for I have no lands; or, if I have,

theyare smartlytaxed. He that hath a trade hath an estate ; and he

that hath a calling,hath an officeof profitand honor,as Poor Richard

says ; but then the trade must be worked at and the callingfollowed,or neither the estate nor the officewill enable us to pay our taxes. If

we are industrious,we shall never starve; for,At the workingman'shouse hunger looks in,but dares not enter. Nor will the bailiffor

the constable enter; for Industrypays debts,while Despairincreaseththem. What though you have found no treasure, nor has any rich

relation leftyou a legacy; Diligenceis the mother of good luck,andGod givesall thingsto Industry.Then plowdeep while sluggards

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN " 195

sleep,and you shall have corn to sell and to keep. Work while itis

called to-day,for you know not how much you may be hindered to-morrow.

One to-dayis worth two to-morrows, as Poor Richard says ;

and,further,Never leave that tillto-morrow which you can do to-day.If you were a good servant, would you not be ashamed that a goodmaster should catch you idle ? Are you, then,your own master ? Be

ashamed to catch yourselfidle,when there is so much to be done for

yourself,your family,your country, your kin. Handle your toolswith-out

mittens ; remember that The cat in glovescatches no mice,as Poor *

Richard says. It is true there is much to be done,and perhapsyouare weak-handed; but stick to itsteadily,and you will see great effects;

for,Constant dropping wears away stones ; and, By diligenceand

patiencethe mouse ate in two the cable;and,Little strokes fellgreatoaks.

~~

"Methinks I hear some of you say, Must a man afford himself no

leisure ? I will tell thee,my friend,what Poor Richard says : Em-ploy

thy time well,ifthou meanest to gainleisure ; and since thou art

not sure of a minute,throw not away an hour. Leisure is time for

doingsomethinguseful;this leisure the diligentman will obtain,but

the lazyman never ; for,A lifeof leisure and a lifeof laziness are two

things. Many, without labor,would live by their wits only,but theybreak for want of stock;whereas industrygivescomfort and plentyand respect. Fly pleasuresand theywill follow you. The diligentspinnerhas a largeshift; and now I have a sheepand a cow, every

one bids me good morrow. .a

II. " But with our industrywe must likewise be steadyand carefulând oversee our own affairswith our own eyes, and not trust too much

to others ; for,as Poor Richard says :

I never saw an oft-removed tree,

Nor yet an oft-removed family,That throve so well as those that settled be.

And again,Three removes are as bad as a fire; and again,Keep thyshop,and thyshopwill keep thee;and again,Ifyou would have your

business done,go ; ifnot, send ; and again:

ê^thatby the plow would thrive,Himself must either hold or drive.

196 " THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

And again,The eye of the master will do more work than both his

hands ; and again,Want of care does us more damage than want of

knowledge; and again,Not to oversee workmen isto leave them your

purse open. Trustingtoo much to others* care is the ruin of many ;

for,In the affairsof this world men are saved,not by faith,but by the

want of it. But a man's own care isprofitable; for,If you would have a

faithfulservant and one that you like,serve yourself.A littleneglect

may breed great mischief;for want of a nail the shoe was lost,for

want of a shoe the horse was lost,and for want of a horse the rider

was lost,beingovertaken and slain by the enemy; all for want of a

littlecare about a horseshoe nail.

III. " So much for industry,my friends,and attention to one's own

business ; but to these we must add frugality,ifwe would make our in-dustry

more certainlysuccessful. A man may, ifhe knows not how

to save as he gets,keephis nose all his lifeto the grindstone,and die

not worth a groat at last. A fat kitchen makes a lean will; and

Many estates are spent in the getting,Since women forsook spinningand knitting,And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting.

If you would be wealthy,think of savingas well as of getting.The

Indies have not made Spainrich,because her outgoes are greaterthan

her incomes.

"Away, then,with your expensivefollies,and you will not then

have so much cause to complainof hard times,heavytaxes,and charge-ablefamilies;for

Pleasure and wine,game and deceit,Make the wealth small,and the want great.

And further,What maintains one vice would bringup two children.

You may think,perhaps,that a littletea or a littlepunch now and

then,diet a littlemore costly,clothes a littlefiner,and a littleenter-tainment

now and then,can be no great matter ; but remember, Manya littlemakes a mickle. Beware of littleexpenses ; A small leak will

sink a greatship,as Poor Richard says; and again,Who dainties love

shall beggarsprove ; and moreover, Fools make feasts and wise men

eat them.

t" Here you are all got togetherat this sale of fineries and knick-


knacks. You call them goods;but,if you do not take care, theywill prove evils to some of you. You expect theywill be sold cheap,and perhapstheymay for less than theycost ; but,ifyou have no oc-casion

for them, theymust be dear to you. Remember what Poor

Richard says : Buy what thou hast no need of,and ere longthou shalt

sellthynecessaries. And again,At a great pennyworth pause awhile.

He means that perhaps the cheapnessis apparent only,and not

real;or, the bargain,by straiteningthee in thy business,may do

thee more harm than good. For in another placehe says, Manyhave been ruined bybuyinggood pennyworths. Again, It is foolish

to layout money in a purchase of repentance ; and yet this follyis

practicedevery day at auctions for want of mindingthe Almanac. 1

Many for the sake of fineryon the back have gone hungry and half-

starved their families. Silks and satins,scarlet and velvets,put out

thejdtchen fire,as Poor Richard says." These are not the necessaries of life; they can scarcelybe called

the conveniences ; and yet,onlybecause theylook pretty,how many

want to have them. By these and other extravagances the genteelare reduced to poverty,and forced to borrow of those whom theyfor-merly

despised,but who, throughindustryand frugality,have main-tained

their standing; in which case itappears plainlythat,A plow-manon his legsis higherthan a gentleman on his knees,as Poor

Richard says. Perhapstheyhave a small estate leftthem which theyknew not the gettingof; they think,It is day and it never will

be night; that a littleto be spent out of so much is not worth mind-ing

; but,Alwaystakingcut of the meal tub and never puttingin,sooncomes to the bottom, as Poor Richard says; and then,When the

well is dry,theyknow the worth of water. But this theymighthaveknown before,iftheyhad taken his advice. If you would know the

value of money, go and try to borrow some ; for,He that goes a-bor-

rowing goes a-sorrowing,as Poor Richard says ; and, indeed,so does

he that lends to such people,when he goes to get itin again. Poor

Dick further advises and says :

Fond prideof dress is sure a very curse ;

Ere fancyyou consult,consult your purse.

And again,Pride is as loud a beggar as Want, and a great deal more

1 Poor Richard's maxims in the Almanac,


saucy. When you have bought one fine thing,you must buy ten

more, that your appearance may be all of a piece;but Poor Dick says,

It is easier to suppress the firstdesire than to satisfyall that follow it.

And it is as trulyfollyfor the poor to ape the rich,as for the frogto

swell in order to equalthe ox.

Vessels largemay venture more,

But littleboats should keep near shore.

Itis,however, a follysoon punished; for,as Poor Richard says, Pride

that dines on vanity,sups on contempt. Pride breakfasted with

Plenty,dined with Poverty,and supped with Infamy. And, after all,

of what use is this prideof appearance, for which so much is risked,

so much is suffered? It cannot promote health nor ease pain; it

makes no increase of merit in the person ; itcreates envy ; ithastens

misfortune.

" But what madness must itbe to run in debt for these superfluities?

We are offered by the terms of this sale six months' credit;and

that,perhaps,has induced some of us to attend it,because we can-not

spare the readymoney, and hope now to be fine without it. But

ah ! think what you do when you run in debt ; you giveto another

power over your liberty.If you cannot pay at the time,you will be

ashamed to see your creditor ; you will be in fear when you speak to

him ; you will make poor, pitiful,sneakingexcuses, and by degrees

come to lose your veracity,and sink into base,downrightlying; for,

The second vice is lying,the first is running in debt,as Poor

Richard says ; and againto the same purpose, Lying rides upon debt's

back; whereas a freeborn Englishman ought not to be ashamed nor

afraid to see or speak to any man living.But poverty often deprives

a man of allspiritand virtue. It is hard for an empty bag to stand

upright." What would you think of that prince,or of that government, who

should issue an edict forbiddingyou to dress like a gentlemanor gen-tlewoman,

on pain of imprisonmentor servitude ? Would you not

say that you are free,have a rightto dress as you please,and that

such an edict would be a breach of your privilegesand such a govern-ment

tyrannical?And yet you are about to put yourselfunder such

tyranny, when you run in debt for such dress. Your creditor has

authority,at his pleasure,to depriveyou of your libertyby confin-ing

you in jailtillyou shall be able to pay him. When you have

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1 99

got your bargain,you may, perhaps,think littleof payment; but,as

Poor Richard says, Creditors have better memories than debtors;

creditors are a superstitioussect,greatobservers of set daysand times.

The day comes round before you are aware, and the demand is made

before you are preparedto satisfyit; or, if you bear your debt in

mind, the term, which at firstseemed so long,will,as itlessens,ap-pear

extremelyshort. Time will seem to have added wings to his

heels as well as his shoulders. Those have a short Lent who owe

money to be paid at Easter. At present, perhaps,you may think

yourselvesin thrivingcircumstances,and that you can bear a little

extravagance without injury;but

For age and want save while you may ;

No morning sun lasts a whole day.

Gain may be temporary and uncertain,but ever, while you live,ex-pense

is constant and certain ; and, It is easier to build two chimneysthan to keep one in fuel,as Poor Richard says ; so, Rather go to bed

supperlessthan rise in debt.

Get what you can, and what you get,hold,'Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold.

And when you have got the philosopher'sstone, be sure you will no

longercomplainof bad times or the difficultyof paying taxes.

IV. "This doctrine,my friends,is reason and wisdom; but,after

all,do not depend too much upon your own industryand frugalityand prudence,though excellent things;for theymay all be blasted,without the blessingof Heaven ; and,therefore,ask that blessinghum-bly,

and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to want it,but comfort and helpthem. Remember Job suffered,and was after-ward

prosperous." And now, to conclude,Experiencekeeps a dear school,but fools

will learn in no other,as Poor Richard says, and scarce in that ; for,it is true,we may giveadvice,but we cannot giveconduct. How-ever,

remember this: They that will not be counseled cannot be

helped; and further that,If you will not hear Reason, she will surely

rap your knuckles,as Poor Richard says."Thus the old gentleman ended his harangue. The peopleheard it,

and approved the doctrine,and immediatelypracticedthe contrary,


just as if it had been a common sermon ;for the auction opened and

they began to buy extravagantly. I found the good man had thor-oughly

studiedmy almanacs, and digested all I had dropped on these

topics during the course of twenty-five years.The frequent mention

he made of me must have tired any one else;but

my vanity was won-derfully

delighted with it, though I was conscious that not a tenth

part of the wisdom was my own which he ascribed to me,but rather

the gleanings that I had made of the sense of allages

and nations.

However, I resolved to be the better for the echo of it; and, though I

had at first determined to buy stuff for a new coat, I went away re-solved

to wear myold one a little longer. Reader, if thou wilt do the

same, thy profit will be as great as mine. I am, as ever,thine to

serve thee,

Richard Saunders.


PROVERBS FROM POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC.

The noblest questionin the world is,What good may I do in it?

The masterpieceof man is to live to the purpose.

The nearest way to come at gloryis to do that for conscience which

we do for glory.

Do not do that which you would not have known.

Well done is better than well said.

Who has deceived thee so oft as thyself?

Search others for their virtues,thyselffor thy vices.

He that can have patience,can have what he will.

After crosses and losses men grow humbler and wiser.

In a discreet man's mouth a publicthing is private.

Wealth is not his that has it,but his that enjoysit.

No better relation than a prudent and faithful friend.

He that can compose himself is wiser than he that composes books.

"Ie that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities.

None but the well-bred man knows how to confess a fault,or ac-knowledge

himself in error.

Read much, but not too many books.

None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing."* Forewarned, forearmed.

To whom thy secret thou dost tell,

To him thy freedom thou dost sell.

Don't misinform your doctor or your lawyer.

He that pursues two hens at once, does not catch one and lets the

other go.

The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.

There are no gainswithout pains.If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philoso-pher's

stone.

Every littlemakes a mickle.

He that can travel well a-foot keeps a good horse.

He is no clown that drives the plow, but he that doth clownish

things.

NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS

Though he did not consider himself a man of letters,Franklin

was throughouthis long lifea writer. His writingwas incidental to

his business as a journalistand statesman. He also corresponded

widelywith various classes of people. Fortunatelymany of these

writingshave been preserved,and from these and the Autobiographysl number of valuable liveshave been written. The student willfind

pleasurein referringto the Franklin volumes of the American States-men

Series and of the American Men of Letters Series. The three

volume lifeby Mr. John Bigelowand the one volume,The Many-sided Franklin,by Paul Leicester Ford, will supply the years of

Franklin's life not included in his autobiography,the writingof

which was several times interruptedby publicbusiness of the great-est

importance,and finallycut short by the longillnessthat precededhis death.

Read the pages devoted to Franklin in Brander Matthews' Intro-duction

to American Literature. Matthews says of him, "He was the

firstgreatAmerican " for Washington was twenty-sixyears younger.""He was the only man who signedthe Declaration of Independence,the Treaty of Alliance with France,the Treaty of Peace with Eng-land,

and the Constitution under which we stilllive."

As you read Franklin's pages be on the alert for material to sup-port

Mr. Matthews' statement, "Franklin was the firstof American

humorists,and to this day he has not been surpassedin his own

line." Will one of you report to the class on "Franklin's Humor"?

Franklin was far in advance of his times on many questions.In

1783,when concludingthe Treaty of Peace with England,he tried

to secure the adoptionof a clause protectingthe property of non-

belligerentsin subsequent wars. England would not accept this

advanced idea,but Frederick II of Prussia agreedto it,and since

that time all civilizedgovernments have united in embodying it in

the Law of Nations.

Franklin was one of the firstand, in proportionto his means, one

202

NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS, 203

of the greatestof American philanthropists.He said that he had

"a trick for doing a deal of good with a littlemoney." In lendingsome money to one who had appliedto him for assistance,he in-structed

the borrower to pass it on to some one else in distressas

soon as he could afford to repay it. "I hope it may thus go through

many hands,before it meets with a knave that will stop itsprogress."Mr. Bigelow'sLife of Franklin reproducesthe philosopher'sexact

spelling.He was one of the earlyspellingreformers. See his "Peti-tion

of the Letter Z,"p. 116,The Many-sidedFranklin.

{Inthefollowingnotes the numerals referto the pages ofthe text.)

Page 17. "Ecton, in Northamptonshire."In 1657 George Wash-ington's

grandfatheremigratedto Virginiafrom this same English

county.

"Franklin,... an order of people."Do you recallone of the

titlesof Cedric,the Saxon,in Scott'sIvanhoe?

27. Notice his judgmentregardingcontroversy. It will be profit-able,from time to time,to consider his remarks as throwinglight

on the subject,"Franklin,a Manager of Men."

28. Read carefullythe paragraphopening with a reference to

The Spectator,and usingFranklin's method,reproducethat para-graph.

Apply this method to other good Englishselectionsand try

to adaptitto your translationsfrom other languages.As you read Franklin's account of his self-education,ask yourself

what qualityit is in the student that givesbest assurance of final

success in securinga real education.

34. Is Franklin's use of the word "demeaned" good?

37. In his reference to Bunyan and Defoe,Franklin proves him-self

one of the firstcriticsto recognizethose writers as the fathers

of the modern novel.

38. "Our acquaintancecontinued as long as he lived." Few men

have placeda highervalue on friends than did Franklin. He took

the trouble necessary to make friends and to keep them.

61. Read parts of Young'sNightThoughts.

7*7.Carefullyobserve the planof the Junto and its subordinate

branches,and consider the value of such organizationsfor yourselfand friends. By referringto Bigelow'sLife of Franklin,Vol. I, p, 185,

you willfind detailed information concerningthe rules of the Junto.

204 NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS.

81. Years later,while in London in 1773, Franklin showed his

abilitywith his pen and put througha successful journalistichoax.

He publishedin The Public Advertiser what was for a time accepted

by many as an authentic edict of the King of Prussia. In this the

kingheld that the Englishwere German colonistssettled in Britain,and that theyshould be taxed for the benefit of the Prussian coffers.

What claims were the Englishmaking in 1773? By lookingthroughother livesof Franklin,you may find an account of another literaryhoax by which he helpedthe American cause.

86. Franklin's originaldetermination to secure money with his

wife should be judgedby the standards of his time.

89. Beginningwith the establishment of the Philadelphiapublic

library,keep a listof Franklin's plansand achievements for the

publicgood.

92. The highhonors accorded to Franklin by foreignnations have

never been extended to any other American, with the possibleex-ception

of Theodore Roosevelt.

101. "Address Powerful Goodness." Thomas Paine submitted

the manuscriptof hisAge ofReason to Franklin for criticism. Frank-lin

advised him to burn it and concluded,"If men are so wicked with

religion,what would theybe without it? "

A facsimileof Franklin's motion for prayers in the Federal Con-vention

of 1787,when agreement on the Constitution seemed hope-less,will be found on page 168 of The Many-sidedFranklin. The

convention,thoughmuch given to actingon Franklin's advice,wasallbut unanimous in defeatingthis motion.

in. Franklin's boyhood debate on the subjectof the education

of young women is reflectedhere as a settled conviction.

113. The great scholar and historian,Gibbon,agreedwith Frank-lin

concerningthe languages.

115. "Inoculation." Will you volunteer to make a reportto the

class on inoculation and vaccination? The two combine in makingone of the most interestingchaptersin the historyof medical science.

117. You will be interestedin comparingthe constable's watch

of ragamuffinswith the watch in Shakespeare'sMuch Ado About

Nothing.118. In many towns and cities there is much of interest con-nected

with the firedepartment. "The Historyof Our Fire De-

NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS. 205

partment," "Fire Fighting," and many other subjects may suggest

themselves to you for written or oral reports. Possibly some one

in the class may be able to tell in this connection how Crassus, the

friend of Julius Caesar, gained a great part of his wealth.

119. Have you read of the work of Whitefield and his associates

in England? See "The Methodist Movement" in Halleck's History

of English Literature,or in some good English history.

132. Your classmates will be interested in a report on the Franklin

stove. Make some simple drawings to illustrate its principles.

141. Find out definitely what system of street cleaning prevails

in your home town. Write a feature article on that system, as if

for a magazine. Some member of the class who has a camera will

secure illustrations for you. Also write an editorial for a newspaper,

an editorial inspired by the disclosures of the feature article.

175. Will several of you take up the subject of "Franklin's Electri-cal

Experiments" and make reports to the class?

185. Notice Franklin's alertness in suggesting the application of

scientific methods to practical affairs. Do you think that Emerson's

definition of "genius" as given in the first paragraph of his essay on

"Self-Reliance" can be justly applied to Franklin?

You will be interested in following Franklin's experiments in

determining the value of oil in stilling the waves, and also his in-vestigations

of the Gulf Stream and of the nature of storms. He

asked, "What signifies philosophy that does not apply to some

use?" Yet he had a wonderful imagination back of his practical

nature.

Emerson says that the chief use of a book is to inspire. On this

basis how do you rank the Autobiography in usefulness?


THE 20 CENT SERIES

Addison's SirRoger de CoverleyPapers(Underwood).$o 20

Arnold's Sohrab and Rustum (Tanner) 20

Bunyan's Pilgrim'sProgress(Jones and Arnold)...20

Burke's Conciliation with the American Colonies

(Clark) 20

Burns's Poems " Selections (Venable) 20

Byron's Childe Harold (Canto IV), Prisoner of Chil-

lon,Mazeppa, and other Selections (Venable).....

Carlyle'sEssay on Burns (Miller)Chaucer's Prologueand Knighte'sTale (Van Dyke)

. .

Coleridge'sRime of the Ancient Mariner (Garrigues).

Cooper'sPilot (Watrous). Double number

Defoe's Historyof the Plague in London (Syle)Robinson Crusoe (Stephens)

De Quincey'sRevolt of the Tartars

Dickens's Tale of Two Cities (Pearce). Double

number

Dryden'sPalamon and Arcite (Bates)Emerson's American Scholar, Self-Reliance,Com-pensation

(Smith)Franklin's Autobiography(Rdd)George Eliot'sSilas Marner (McKitrick)Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield (Hansen)

Deserted Village(See Gray's Elegy in a CountryChurchyard)

Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard, and Gold-smith's

Deserted Village(Van Dyke)Irving'sSketch Book " Selections (St.John)

Tales of a Traveler (Rutland). Double number.. .

Lincoln,Addresses and Letters (Moores)Address at Cooper Union (SeeMacaulay'sSpeeches

on Copyright)Macaulay'sEssay on Addison (Matthews)Essay on Milton (Mead)Essayson Lord Clive and Warren Hastings(Holmes)Double number

(s.95)


Lays of Ancient Rome and other Poems (Atkinson).$o 20

Life of Johnson (Lucas) 20

Speeches on Copyright and Lincoln's Address at

Cooper Union (Pittenger) 20

Milton's L' Allegro,II Penseroso, Comus, Lycidas(Buck) 20

Paradise Lost. Books I and II (Stephens) 20

Old Testament Narratives (Baldwin) 20

Poe's Selected Poems and Tales (Stott) 20,

Pope'sHomer's Iliad. Books I,VI, XXII, and XXIV 20

Rape of the Lock, and Essay on Man (Van Dyke). .

20

Scott'sAbbot. Double number 40 J"Ivanhoe (Schreiber).Double number 40Lady of the Lake (Bacon) 20

Marmion (Coblentz) 20

Quentin Durward (Norris).Double number 40Woodstock. Double number 40

Shakespeare'sAs You Like It (North) 20

Hamlet (Shower) 20

Henry V (Law) 20

JuliusCaesar (Baker) 20

Macbeth (Livengood) 20

Merchant of Venice (Blakely) 20

Midsummer Night'sDream (Haney) 20

i

Twelfth Night (Weld) 20

Southey'sLife of Nelson. Double number 40Stevenson's Inland Voyage,and Travels with a Don-key

(Armstrong) 20

Treasure Island (Fairley) 20

Swift's Gulliver's Travels (Gaston)#

20

Tennyson'sIdyllsof the King" Selections(Willard). .

20

Princess (Shryock) 20

Thackeray'sHenry Esmond (Bissell).Double num-ber

40

Washington's Farewell Address, and Webster's First

Bunker Hill Oration (Lewis). . .

20

Webster's Bunker Hill Orations (See also Washing-ton'sFarewell Address) 20

Wordsworth's Poems " Selections (Venable) 20

(S.9Sa)

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