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diff --git a/36151.txt b/36151.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e8368e --- /dev/null +++ b/36151.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8022 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Franklin's Autobiography, by Benjamin Franklin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Franklin's Autobiography + (Eclectic English Classics) + +Author: Benjamin Franklin + +Editor: O. Leon Reid + +Release Date: May 18, 2011 [EBook #36151] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANKLIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY *** + + + + +Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration] + + ECLECTIC ENGLISH CLASSICS + + 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 and 1910, by + AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY + + BENJAMIN FRANKLIN + + W. P. 12 + + + + +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 "Robinson 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 falling +into the hands of the pirates who 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 printing press throughout the colonies was a +raree-show. + +Only six years before Franklin's birth, the first newspaper report 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, detailing +the 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 left off at the age of ten +to help his father in making soap and candles. He persisted in showing +such "bookish inclination," however, that at twelve his father +apprenticed him to learn the printer's trade. At seventeen he ran off +to Philadelphia and there began his independent career. + +In the main he led such a life as the maxims of "Poor Richard"[1] +enjoin. The pages of the Autobiography show few deviations from such a +course. He felt the need of school training and set to work to educate +himself. He had an untiring industry, and love of the approval of his +neighbor; and he knew that more things fail through want of care than +want of knowledge. His practical imagination was continually forming +projects; and, fortunately for the world, his great physical strength +and activity were always setting his ideas in motion. He was +human-hearted, and this strong sympathy of his, along with his +strength and zeal and "projecting head" (as Defoe calls such a +spirit), devised much that helped life to amenity and comfort. In +politics he had the outlook of the self-reliant colonist whose +devotion to the mother institutions of England was finally alienated +by the excesses of a power which thought itself all-powerful. + +In this Autobiography Franklin tells of his own life to the year 1757, +when he went to England to support the petition of the legislature +against Penn's sons. The grievance of the colonists was a very +considerable one, for the proprietaries claimed that taxes should not +be levied upon a tract greater than the whole State of Pennsylvania. + +Franklin was received in England with applause. His experiments in +electricity and his inventions had made him known, and the sayings of +"Poor Richard" were already in the mouths of the people. But he +waited nearly three years before he could obtain a hearing for the +matter for which he had crossed the sea. + +During the delay he visited the ancient home of his family, and made +the acquaintance of men of mark, receiving also that degree of Doctor +of Civil Law by which he came to be known as Dr. Franklin. In this +time, too, he found how prejudiced was the common English estimate of +the value of the colonies. He wrote Lord Kames in 1760, after the +defeat of the French in Canada: "No one can more sincerely rejoice +than I do on the reduction of Canada; and this is not merely as I am a +colonist, but as I am a Briton. I have long been of opinion that the +_foundations of the future grandeur and stability of the British +empire lie in America_; and though, like other foundations, they are +low and little now, they are, nevertheless, broad and strong enough to +support the greatest political structure that human wisdom ever yet +erected. I am, therefore, by no means for restoring Canada. If we keep +it all the country from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi will in +another century be filled with British people. Britain itself will +become vastly more populous by the immense increase of its commerce; +the Atlantic sea will be covered with your trading ships; and your +naval power, thence continually increasing, will extend your influence +round the whole globe and awe the world!... But I refrain, for I see +you begin to think my notions extravagant, and look upon them as the +ravings of a madman." + +At last Franklin won the king's signature to a bill by the terms of +which the surveyed lands of the proprietaries should be assessed, and, +his business accomplished, he returned to Philadelphia. "You require +my history," he wrote to Lord Kames, "from the time I yet sail for +America. I left England about the end of August, 1762, in company +with ten sail of merchant ships, under a convoy of a man-of-war. We +had a pleasant passage to Madeira.... Here we furnished ourselves with +fresh provisions, and refreshments of all kinds; and, after a few +days, proceeded on our voyage, running southward until we got into the +trade winds, and then with them westward till we drew near the coast +of America. The weather was so favorable that there were few days in +which we could not visit from ship to ship, dining with each other and +on board of the man-of-war; which made the time pass agreeably, much +more so than when one goes in a single ship; for this was like +traveling in a moving village, with all one's neighbors about 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 daughter well,--the +latter grown quite a woman, with many amiable accomplishments acquired +in my absence,--and my friends as hearty and affectionate as ever, +with whom my house was filled for many days to congratulate me on my +return. I had been chosen yearly during my absence to represent the +city of Philadelphia in our Provincial Assembly; and on my appearance +in the House, they voted me three thousand pounds sterling for my +services in England, and their thanks, delivered by the Speaker. In +February following, my son arrived with my new daughter; for, with my +consent and approbation, he married, soon after I left England, a very +agreeable West India lady, with whom he is very happy. I accompanied +him to his government [New Jersey], where he met with the kindest +reception from the people of all ranks, and has lived with them ever +since in the greatest harmony. A river only parts that province and +ours, and his residence is within seventeen miles of me, so that we +frequently see each other. + +"In the spring of 1763 I set out on a tour through all the northern +colonies to inspect and regulate the post offices in the several +provinces. In this journey I spent the summer, traveled about sixteen +hundred miles, and did not get home till the beginning of November. +The Assembly sitting through the following winter, and warm disputes +arising between them and the governor, I became wholly engaged in +public affairs; for, besides my duty as an Assemblyman, I had another +trust to execute, that of being one of the commissioners appointed by +law to dispose of the public money appropriated to the raising and +paying an army to act against the Indians and defend the frontiers. +And then, in December, we had two insurrections of the back +inhabitants of our province.... Governor Penn made my house for some +time his headquarters, and did everything by my advice; so that for +about forty-eight hours I was a very great man, as I had been once +some years before, in a time of public danger.[2] + +"But the fighting face we put on and the reasoning we used with the +insurgents ... having turned them back and restored quiet to the city, +I became a less man than ever; for I had by this transaction made +myself many enemies among the populace; and the governor, ... thinking +it a favorable opportunity, joined the whole weight of the proprietary +interest to get me out of the Assembly; which was accordingly effected +at the last election by a majority of about twenty-five in four +thousand voters. The House, however, when they met in October, +approved of the resolutions taken, while I was Speaker, of petitioning +the Crown for a change of government, and requested me to return to +England to prosecute that petition; which service I accordingly +undertook, and embarked at the beginning of November last, being +accompanied to the ship, sixteen miles, by a cavalcade of three +hundred of my friends, who filled our sails with their good wishes, +and I arrived in thirty days at London." + +Instead of giving his efforts to the proposed change of government +Franklin found greater duties. The debt which England had incurred +during the war with the French in Canada she now looked to the +colonists for aid in removing. At home taxes were levied by every +device. The whole country was in distress and laborers starving. In +the colonies there was the thrift that comes from narrowest means; but +the people refused to answer parliamentary levies and claimed that +they would lay their own taxes through their own legislatures. They +resisted so successfully the enforcement of the Stamp Act that +Parliament began to discuss its repeal. At this juncture Franklin was +examined before the Commons in regard to the results of the act. + + _Q._ Do you not think the people of America would submit to pay + the stamp duty if it was moderated? + + _A._ No, never, unless compelled by force of arms.... + + _Q._ What was the temper of America toward Great Britain before + the year 1763?[3] + + _A._ The best in the world. They submitted willingly to the + government of the Crown, and paid, in their courts, obedience to + the acts of Parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several + old provinces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, + or armies, to keep them in subjection. They were governed by this + country at the expense only of a little pen, ink, and paper; they + were led by a thread. They had not only a respect but an affection + for Great Britain, for its laws, its customs and manners, and even + a fondness for its fashions that greatly increased the commerce. + Natives of Britain were always treated with particular regard; to + be an "Old England man" was, of itself, a character of some + respect, and gave a kind of rank among us. + + _Q._ And what is their temper now? + + _A._ Oh, very much altered.... + + _Q._ If the Stamp Act should be repealed, would it induce the + assemblies of America to acknowledge the right of Parliament to + tax them, and would they erase their resolutions? + + _A._ No, never. + + _Q._ Are there no means of obliging them to erase those + resolutions? + + _A._ None that I know of; they will never do it unless compelled + by force of arms. + + _Q._ Is there a power on earth that can force them to erase them? + + _A._ No power, how great soever, can force men to change their + opinions.... + + _Q._ What used to be the pride of the Americans? + + _A._ To indulge in the fashions and manufactures of Great Britain. + + _Q._ What is now their pride? + + _A._ To wear their old clothes over again, till they can make new + ones. + +After the repeal of the act, Franklin wrote to his wife: "I am willing +you should have a new gown, which you may suppose I did not send +sooner as I knew you would not like to be finer than your neighbors +unless in a gown of your own spinning. Had the trade between the two +countries totally ceased, it was a comfort to me to recollect that I +had once been clothed from head to foot in woolen and linen of my +wife's manufacture, that I never was prouder of any dress in my life, +and that she and her daughter might do it again if it was necessary." + +Franklin stayed ten years in England. In 1774 he presented to the king +the petition of the first Continental Congress, in which the +petitioners, who protested their loyalty to Great Britain, claimed the +right of taxing themselves. But, finding this and other efforts at +adjustment of little avail, he returned to Philadelphia in May, 1775. +On the 5th of July he wrote to Mr. Strahan, an old friend in London: +"You are a member of Parliament, and one of that majority which has +doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns and +murder our people. Look upon your hands; they are stained with the +blood of your relations! You and I were long friends; you are now my +enemy, and I am yours." + +After the Declaration of Independence and 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 storekeepers say of their remnants of cloth, I am but a +fag-end; you may have me for what you please." + +It was a most important post. France was the ancient enemy of England, +and the contingent of men and aid of money which Franklin gained served +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 calling 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 myself to +you. Figure me in your mind as jolly as formerly, and as strong and +hearty, only a few years older; very plainly dressed, wearing my thin, +gray, straight hair, 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 +gentleman in France would only be so obliging as to follow my fashion, +comb their own heads as I do mine, dismiss their friseurs, and pay me +half the money they pay to them." + +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 convention 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 upon his +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. + +[Footnote 1: See pp. 198-206.] + +[Footnote 2: The time of Braddock's defeat.] + +[Footnote 3: When the old duties "upon all rum, spirits, molasses, +syrups, sugar," etc., were renewed, and extended to other articles.] + + + + +THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. + + + + +Sec. 1. PARENTAGE AND BOYHOOD. + + + TWYFORD,[4] _at the Bishop of St. Asaph's, 1771_. + +Dear Son:[5] I have ever had pleasure in obtaining any little +anecdotes of my ancestors. You may remember the inquiries I made among +the remains of my relations when you were with me in England, and the +journey I undertook for that purpose. Imagining it may be equally +agreeable to you to know the circumstances of my life, many of which +you are yet unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week's +uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement, I sit down to +write them for you. To which I have besides some other inducements. +Having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which I was born and +bred, to a state of affluence and some degree of reputation in the +world, and having gone so far through life with a considerable share +of felicity, the conducing means I made use of, which with the +blessing of God so well succeeded, my posterity may like to know, as +they may find some of them suitable to their own situations, and +therefore fit to be imitated. + +That felicity, when I reflected on it, has induced me sometimes to say +that, were it offered to my choice, I should have no objection to a +repetition of the same life from its beginning, only asking the +advantages authors have in a second edition to correct some faults of +the first. So I might, besides correcting the faults, change some +sinister accidents and events of it for others more favorable. But +though this were denied, I should still accept the offer. Since such a +repetition is not to be expected, the next thing like living one's +life over again seems to be a recollection of that life, and to make +that recollection as durable as possible by putting it down in writing. + +Hereby, too, I shall indulge the inclination, so natural in old men, +to be talking of themselves and their own past actions; and I shall +indulge it without being tiresome to others,--who, through respect to +age, might conceive themselves obliged to give me a hearing,--since +this may be read or not as any one pleases. And, lastly, (I may as +well confess it, since my denial of it will be believed by nobody,) +perhaps I shall a good deal gratify my own vanity. Indeed, I scarce +ever heard or saw the introductory words, "Without vanity, I may say," +etc., but some vain thing immediately followed. Most people dislike +vanity in others, whatever share they may have of it themselves; but I +give it fair quarter wherever I meet with it, being persuaded that it +is often productive of good to the possessor, and to others that are +within his sphere of action; and therefore, in many cases, it would +not be altogether absurd if a man were to thank God for his vanity +among the other comforts of life. + +And now I speak of thanking God, I desire with all humility to +acknowledge that I owe the mentioned happiness of my past life to his +kind providence, which led me to the means I used and gave them +success. My belief of this induces me to hope, though I must not +presume, that the same goodness will still be exercised toward me in +continuing that happiness, or enabling me to bear a fatal reverse, +which I may experience as others have done; the complexion of my +future fortune being known to Him only in whose power it is to bless +to us even our afflictions. + +The notes one of my uncles (who had the same kind of curiosity in +collecting family anecdotes) once put into my hands furnished me with +several particulars relating to our ancestors. From these notes I +learned that the family had lived in the same village, Ecton, in +Northamptonshire,[n] for three hundred years, and how much longer he +knew not, (perhaps from the time when the name of Franklin, that +before was the name of an order of people,[6] was assumed by them as a +surname when others took surnames all over the kingdom,) on a freehold +of about thirty acres, aided by the smith's business, which had +continued in the family till his time, the eldest son being always +bred to that business,--a custom which he and my father followed as to +their eldest sons. When I searched the registers at Ecton, I found an +account of their births, marriages, and burials from the year 1555 +only, there being no registers kept in that parish at any time +preceding. By that register I perceived that I was the youngest son of +the youngest son for five generations back. My grandfather, Thomas, +who was born in 1598, lived at Ecton till he grew too old to follow +business longer, when he went to live with his son John, a dyer at +Banbury, in Oxfordshire, with whom my father served an apprenticeship. +There my grandfather died and lies buried. We saw his gravestone in +1758. His eldest son, Thomas, lived in the house at Ecton, and left it +with the land to his only child, a daughter, who, with her husband, +one Fisher, of Wellingborough, sold it to Mr. Isted, now lord of the +manor there. My grandfather had four sons that grew up, namely, +Thomas, John, Benjamin, and Josiah. I will give you what account I +can of them, at this distance from my papers, and if these are not +lost in my absence, you will among them find many more particulars. + +Thomas was bred a smith under his father; but, being ingenious, and +encouraged in learning (as all my brothers were) by an Esquire[7] +Palmer, then the principal gentleman in that parish, he qualified +himself for the business of scrivener;[8] became a considerable man in +the county; was a chief mover of all public-spirited undertakings for +the county or town of Northampton and his own village, of which many +instances were related of him; and much taken notice of and patronized +by the then Lord Halifax. He died in 1702, Jan. 6, old style,[9] just +four years to a day before I was born. The account we received of his +life and character from some old people at Ecton, I remember, struck +you as something extraordinary, from its similarity to what you knew +of mine. "Had he died on the same day," you said, "one might have +supposed a transmigration."[10] + +John was bred a dyer, I believe, of woolens. Benjamin was bred a silk +dyer, serving an apprenticeship at London. He was an ingenious man. I +remember him well, for when I was a boy he came over to my father in +Boston, and lived in the house with us some years. He lived to a great +age. His grandson, Samuel Franklin, now lives in Boston. He left +behind him two quarto volumes, in manuscript, of his own poetry, +consisting of little occasional pieces addressed to his friends and +relations, of which the following, sent to me, is a specimen.[11] He +had formed a shorthand of his own, which he taught me, but, never +practicing it, I have now forgot it. I was named after this uncle, +there being a particular affection between him and my father. He was +very pious, a great attender of sermons of the best preachers, which +he took down in his shorthand, and had with him many volumes of them. +He was also much of a politician; too much, perhaps, for his station. +There fell lately into my hands, in London, a collection he had made +of all the principal pamphlets relating to public affairs, from 1641 +to 1717; many of the volumes are wanting, as appears by the numbering, +but there still remain eight volumes in folio and twenty-four in +quarto and octavo. A dealer in old books met with them, and knowing me +by my sometimes buying of him, he brought them to me. It seems my +uncle must have left them here when he went to America, which was +above fifty years since. There are many of his notes in the margins. + +This obscure family of ours was early in the Reformation, and +continued Protestants through the reign of Queen Mary,[12] when they +were sometimes in danger of trouble on account of their zeal against +the queen's religion. They had got an English Bible, and to conceal +and secure it, it was fastened open with tapes under and within the +cover of a joint stool.[13] When my great-great-grandfather read it to +his family, he turned up the joint stool upon his knees, turning over +the leaves then under the tapes. One of the children stood at the door +to give notice if he saw the apparitor coming, who was an officer of +the spiritual court. In that case the stool was turned down again upon +its feet, when the Bible remained concealed under it as before. This +anecdote I had from my uncle Benjamin. + +The family continued all of the Church of England till about the end +of Charles II.'s reign, when some of the ministers that had been outed +for nonconformity,[14] holding conventicles in Northamptonshire, +Benjamin and Josiah adhered to them, and so continued all their lives; +the rest of the family remained with the Episcopal Church. + +Josiah, my father, married young, and carried his wife, with three +children, into New England, about 1682. The conventicles having been +forbidden by law, and frequently disturbed, induced some considerable +men of his acquaintance to remove to that country, and he was +prevailed with to accompany them thither, where they expected to enjoy +their mode of religion with freedom. By the same wife he had four +children more born there, and by a second wife ten more,--in all +seventeen, of which I remember thirteen sitting at one time at his +table, who all grew up to be men and women and married. I was the +youngest son, and the youngest child but two, and was born in Boston, +New England.[15] My mother, the second wife, was Abiah Folger, +daughter of Peter Folger, one of the first settlers of New England, of +whom honorable mention is made by Cotton Mather, in his Church history +of that country entitled "Magnalia Christi Americana," as "a goodly +learned Englishman," if I remember the words rightly. I have heard +that he wrote sundry small occasional pieces, but only one of them was +printed, which I saw now many years since. It was written in 1675, in +the homespun verse of that time and people, and addressed to those +then concerned in the government there. It was in favor of liberty of +conscience, and in behalf of the Baptists, Quakers, and other +sectaries that had been under persecution,[16] ascribing the Indian +wars, and other distresses that had befallen the country, to that +persecution, as so many judgments of God to punish so heinous an +offense, and exhorting a repeal of those uncharitable laws. The whole +appeared to me as written with a good deal of decent plainness and +manly freedom. The six concluding lines I remember, though I have +forgotten the two first of the stanza; but the purport of them was +that his censures proceeded from good will, and, therefore, he would +be known to be the author. + + "Because to be a libeler [says he] + I hate it with my heart; + From Sherburne[17] town, where now I dwell, + My name I do put here; + Without offense your real friend, + It is Peter Folgier."[18] + +My elder brothers were all put apprentices to different trades. I was +put to the grammar school[19] at eight years of age, my father intending +to devote me, as the tithe of his sons, to the service of the church. My +early readiness in learning to read, (which must have been very early, +as I do not remember when I could not read,) and the opinion of all his +friends that I should certainly make a good scholar, encouraged him in +this purpose of his. My uncle Benjamin, too, approved of it, and +proposed to give me all his shorthand volumes of sermons, I suppose as a +stock to set up with, if I would learn his character.[20] I continued, +however, at the grammar school not quite one year, though in that time I +had risen gradually from the middle of the class of that year to be the +head of it, and, further, was removed into the next class above it in +order to go with that into the third at the end of the year. But my +father in the mean time, from a view of the expense of a college +education, which, having so large a family, he could not well afford, +and the mean living many so educated were afterward able to +obtain,--reasons that he gave to his friends in my hearing,--altered his +first intention, took me from the grammar school, and sent me to a +school for writing and arithmetic, kept by a then famous man, Mr. George +Brownell, very successful in his profession generally, and that by mild, +encouraging methods. Under him I acquired fair writing pretty soon, but +I failed in the arithmetic, and made no progress in it. At ten years old +I was taken home to assist my father in his business, which was that of +a tallow chandler and soap boiler, a business he was not bred to, but +had assumed on his arrival in New England, and on finding his dyeing +trade would not maintain his family, being in little request. +Accordingly, I was employed in cutting wick for the candles, filling the +dipping mold and the molds for cast candles,[21] attending the shop, +going of errands, etc. + +I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination for the sea, but my +father declared against it. However, living near the water, I was much +in and about it, learned early to swim well and to manage boats; and +when in a boat or canoe with other boys I was commonly allowed to +govern, especially in any case of difficulty; and upon other occasions +I was generally a leader among the boys, and sometimes led them into +scrapes, of which I will mention one instance, as it shows an early +projecting public spirit, though not then justly conducted. + +There was a salt marsh that bounded part of the mill pond, on the edge +of which, at high water, we used to stand to fish for minnows. By much +trampling we had made it a mere quagmire. My proposal was to build a +wharf there fit for us to stand upon, and I showed my comrades a large +heap of stones which were intended for a new house near the marsh and +which would very well suit our purpose. Accordingly, in the evening, +when the workmen were gone, I assembled a number of my playfellows, +and working with them diligently like so many emmets,[22] sometimes +two or three to a stone, we brought them all away and built our little +wharf. The next morning the workmen were surprised at missing the +stones, which were found in our wharf. Inquiry was made after the +removers; we were discovered and complained of; several of us were +corrected by our fathers; and, though I pleaded the usefulness of the +work, mine convinced me that nothing was useful which was not honest. + +I think you may like to know something of his person and character. He +had an excellent constitution of body, was of middle stature, but well +set and very strong. He was ingenious, could draw prettily, was +skilled a little in music, and had a clear, pleasing voice, so that +when he played psalm tunes on his violin and sung withal, as he +sometimes did in an evening after the business of the day was over, it +was extremely agreeable to hear. He had a mechanical genius, too, and +on occasion was very handy in the use of other tradesmen's tools; but +his great excellence lay in a sound understanding and solid judgment +in prudential matters, both in private and public affairs. In the +latter, indeed, he was never employed, the numerous family he had to +educate and the straitness of his circumstances keeping him close to +his trade; but I remember well his being frequently visited by leading +people, who consulted him for his opinion in affairs of the town or of +the church he belonged to, and showed a good deal of respect for his +judgment and advice; he was also much consulted by private persons +about their affairs when any difficulty occurred, and frequently +chosen an arbitrator between contending parties. At his table he liked +to have as often as he could some sensible friend or neighbor to +converse with, and always took care to start some ingenious or useful +topic for discourse, which might tend to improve the minds of his +children. By this means he turned our attention to what was good, +just, and prudent in the conduct of life, and little or no notice was +ever taken of what related to the victuals on the table, whether it +was well or ill dressed, in or out of season, of good or bad flavor, +preferable or inferior to this or that other thing of the kind, so +that I was brought up in such a perfect inattention to those matters +as to be quite indifferent what kind of food was set before me, and so +unobservant of it that to this day if I am asked I can scarce tell a +few hours after dinner what I dined upon. This has been a convenience +to me in traveling, where my companions have been sometimes very +unhappy for want of a suitable gratification of 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 they died, +he at eighty-nine and she at eighty-five years of age. They lie buried +together at Boston, where I some years since placed a marble[23] over +their grave with this inscription: + + JOSIAH FRANKLIN, + and + ABIAH his wife, + lie here interred. + They lived lovingly together in wedlock + fifty-five years. + Without an estate, or any gainful employment, + By constant labor and industry, + with God's blessing, + They maintained a large family + comfortably, + and brought up thirteen children + and seven grandchildren + reputably. + From this instance, reader, + Be encouraged to diligence in thy calling, + And distrust not Providence. + He was a pious and prudent man; + She, a discreet and virtuous woman. + Their youngest son, + In filial regard to their memory, + Places this stone. + J. F. born 1655, died 1744, aetat[24] 89. + A. F. born 1667, died 1752, ---- 85. + +By my rambling digressions I perceive myself to be grown old. I used +to write more methodically. But one does not dress for private company +as for a public ball. 'Tis perhaps only negligence. + +To return: I continued thus employed in my father's business for two +years, that is, till I was twelve years old; and my brother John, who +was bred to that business, having left my father, married, and set up +for himself at Rhode Island, there was all appearance that I was +destined to supply his place and become a tallow chandler. But my +dislike to the trade continuing, my father was under apprehensions +that if he did not find one for me more agreeable I should break away +and get to sea, as his son Josiah had done, to his great vexation. He +therefore sometimes took me to walk with him, and see joiners, +bricklayers, turners, brasiers,[25] etc., at their work, that he might +observe my inclination and endeavor to fix it on some trade or other +on land. It has ever since been a pleasure to me to see good workmen +handle their tools; and it has been useful to me, having learned so +much by it as to be able to do little jobs myself in my house when a +workman could not readily be got, and to construct little machines for +my experiments while the intention of making the experiment was fresh +and warm in my mind. My father at last fixed upon the cutler's trade, +and my uncle Benjamin's son, Samuel, who was bred to that business in +London, being about that time established in Boston, I was sent to be +with him some time on liking. But his expectations of a fee with me +displeasing my father, I was taken home again. + +From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came +into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased with the "Pilgrim's +Progress," my first collection was of John Bunyan's works in separate +little volumes. I afterward sold them to enable me to buy R. Burton's +"Historical Collections;" they were small chapmen's[26] books, and +cheap, forty or fifty in all. My father's little library consisted +chiefly of books in polemic divinity, most of which I read, and have +since often regretted that, at a time when I had such a thirst for +knowledge, more proper books had 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 still think that time spent to +great advantage. There was also a book of Defoe's called an "Essay on +Projects," and another of Dr. Mather's called "Essays to Do Good," +which perhaps gave me a turn of thinking that had an influence on some +of the principal future events of my life. + +This bookish inclination at length determined my father to make me a +printer, though he had already one son (James) of that profession. In +1717 my brother James returned from England with a press and letters +to set up his business in Boston. I liked it much better than that of +my father, but still had a hankering for the sea. To prevent the +apprehended effect of such an inclination, my father was impatient to +have me bound to my brother. I stood out some time, but at last was +persuaded and signed the indentures[27] when I was yet but twelve +years old. I was to serve as an apprentice till I was twenty-one years +of age, only I was to be allowed journeyman's wages during the last +year. In a little time I made great proficiency in the business, and +became a useful hand to my brother. I now had access to better books. +An acquaintance with the apprentices of booksellers enabled me +sometimes to borrow a small one, which I was careful to return soon +and clean. Often I sat up in my room reading the greatest part of the +night, when the book was borrowed in the evening and to be returned +early in the morning, lest it should be missed or wanted. + +And after some time an ingenious tradesman, Mr. Matthew Adams, who had +a pretty collection of books, and who frequented our printing house, +took notice of me, invited me to his library, and very kindly lent me +such books as I chose to read. I now took a fancy to poetry, and made +some little pieces; my brother, thinking it might turn to account, +encouraged me, and put me on composing occasional ballads. One was +called "The Lighthouse Tragedy," and contained an account of the +drowning of Captain Worthilake with his two daughters; the other was a +sailor's song on the taking of Teach (or Blackbeard), the pirate. They +were wretched stuff, in the Grub Street[28] ballad style; and when +they were printed he sent me about the town to sell them. The first +sold wonderfully, the event being recent, having made a great noise. +This flattered my vanity; but my father discouraged me by ridiculing +my performances and telling me verse makers were generally beggars. So +I escaped being a poet, most probably a very bad one; but as prose +writing has been of great use to me in the course of my life, and was +a principal means of my advancement, I shall tell you how, in such a +situation, I acquired what little ability I have in that way. + +There was another bookish lad in the town, John Collins by name, with +whom I was intimately acquainted. We sometimes disputed, and very fond +we were of argument and very desirous of confuting each other; which +disputatious turn, by the way, is apt to become a very bad habit,[n] +making people often extremely disagreeable in company by the +contradiction that is necessary to bring it into practice; and thence, +besides souring and spoiling the conversation, is productive of +disgusts and perhaps enmities where you may have occasion for +friendship. I had caught it by reading my father's books of dispute +about religion. Persons of good sense, I have since observed, seldom +fall into it, except lawyers, university men, and men of all sorts +that have been bred at Edinburgh. + +A question was once, somehow or other, started between Collins and me, +of the propriety of educating the female sex in learning, and their +abilities for study. He was of opinion that it was improper, and that +they were naturally unequal to it. I took the contrary side, perhaps a +little for dispute's sake. He was naturally more eloquent, had a ready +plenty of words, and sometimes, as I thought, bore me down more by his +fluency than by the strength of his reasons. As we parted without +settling the point, and were not to see each other again for some time, +I sat down to put my arguments in writing, which I copied fair and sent +to him. He answered, and I replied. Three or four letters of a side had +passed, when my father happened to find my papers and read them. Without +entering into the discussion, he took occasion to talk to me about the +manner of my writing. He observed that, though I had the advantage of my +antagonist in correct spelling and pointing (which I owed to the +printing house), I fell far short in elegance of expression, in method, +and in perspicuity, of which he convinced me by several instances. I saw +the justice of his remarks, and thence grew more attentive to the manner +in writing, and determined to endeavor at improvement. + +About this time I met with an odd volume of the "Spectator."[29] It +was the third. I had never before seen any of them. I bought it, read +it over and over, and was much delighted with it. I thought the +writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to imitate it. With this +view, I took some of the papers, and, making short hints of the +sentiment in each sentence, laid them by a few days, and then, without +looking at the book, tried to complete the papers again, by expressing +each hinted sentiment at length, and as fully as it had been expressed +before, in any suitable words that should come to hand. Then I +compared my "Spectator" with the original, discovered some of my +faults, and corrected them. But I found I wanted a stock of words, or +a readiness in recollecting and using them, which I thought I should +have acquired before that time if I had gone on making verses; since +the continual occasion for words of the same import, but of different +length to suit the measure, or of different sound for the rhyme, would +have laid me under a constant necessity of searching for variety, and +also have tended to fix that variety in my mind and make me master of +it. Therefore I took some of the tales and turned them into verse; +and, after a time, when I had pretty well forgotten the prose, turned +them back again. I also sometimes jumbled my collections of hints into +confusion, and after some weeks endeavored to reduce them into the +best order before I began to form the full sentences and complete the +paper. This was to teach me method in the arrangement of thoughts. By +comparing my work afterward with the original, I discovered many +faults and amended them; but I sometimes had the pleasure of fancying +that in certain particulars of small import I had been lucky enough to +improve the method or the language, and this encouraged me to think I +might possibly in time come to be a tolerable English writer, of which +I was extremely ambitious. My time for these exercises and for reading +was at night after work, or before it began in the morning, or on +Sundays, when I contrived to be in the printing house alone, evading +as much as I could the common attendance on public worship, which my +father used to exact of me when I was under his care, and which indeed +I still thought a duty, though I could not, as it seemed to me, afford +time to practice it. + +When about sixteen years of age I happened to meet with a book, +written by one Tryon, recommending a vegetable diet. I determined to +go into it. My brother, being yet unmarried, did not keep house, but +boarded himself and his apprentices in another family. My refusal to +eat flesh occasioned an inconveniency, and I was frequently chid for +my singularity. I made myself acquainted with Tryon's manner of +preparing some of his dishes, such as boiling potatoes or rice, making +hasty pudding, and a few others, and then proposed to my brother that +if he would give me weekly half the money he paid for my board I would +board myself. He instantly agreed to it, and I presently found that I +could save half what he paid me. This was an additional fund for +buying books. But I had another advantage in it. My brother and the +rest going from the printing house to their meals, I remained there +alone, and, dispatching presently my light repast, which often was no +more than a biscuit or a slice of bread, a handful of raisins, or a +tart from the pastry cook's, and a glass of water, had the rest of the +time till their return for study, in which I made the greater progress +from that greater clearness of head and quicker apprehension which +usually attend temperance in eating and drinking. + +And now it was that, being on some occasion made ashamed of my +ignorance in figures, which I had twice failed in learning when at +school, I took Cocker's book of arithmetic, and went through the whole +by myself with great ease. I also read Seller's and Shermy's books of +navigation, and became acquainted with the little geometry they +contain, but never proceeded far in that science. And I read about +this time Locke "On the Human Understanding," and the "Art of +Thinking," by Messrs. du Port Royal.[30] + +While I was intent on improving my language, I met with an English +grammar (I think it was Greenwood's), at the end of which there were +two little sketches of the arts of rhetoric and logic, the latter +finishing with a specimen of a dispute in the Socratic method;[31] +and soon after I procured Xenophon's "Memorable Things of Socrates," +wherein there are many instances of the same method. I was charmed +with it, adopted it, dropped my abrupt contradiction and positive +argumentation, and put on the humble inquirer and doubter. And being +then, from reading Shaftesbury and Collins, become a real doubter in +many points of our religious doctrine, I found this method safest for +myself and very embarrassing to those against whom I used it. +Therefore I took a delight in it, practiced it continually, and grew +very artful and expert in drawing people, even of superior knowledge, +into concessions the consequences of which they did not foresee, +entangling them in difficulties out of which they could not extricate +themselves, and so obtaining victories that neither myself nor my +cause always deserved. + +I continued this method some few years, but gradually left it, +retaining only the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest +diffidence; never using, when I advanced anything that may possibly be +disputed, the words "certainly," "undoubtedly," or any others that +give the air of positiveness to an opinion; but rather saying, "I +conceive" or "apprehend" a thing to be so and so; "it appears to me," +or "I should think it so or so," for such and such reasons; or "I +imagine it to be so;" or "it is so, if I am not mistaken." This habit, +I believe, has been of great advantage to me when I have had occasion +to inculcate my opinions, and persuade men into measures that I have +been from time to time engaged in promoting; and, as the chief ends of +conversation are to inform or to be informed, to please or to +persuade, I wish well-meaning, sensible men would not lessen their +power of doing good by a positive, assuming manner, that seldom fails +to disgust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat every one of +those purposes for which speech was given to us,--to wit, giving or +receiving information or pleasure. For if you would inform, a positive +and dogmatical manner in advancing your sentiments may provoke +contradiction and prevent a candid attention. If you wish information +and improvement from the knowledge of others, and yet at the same time +express yourself as firmly fixed in your present opinions, modest, +sensible men, who do not love disputation, will probably leave you +undisturbed in the possession of your error. And by such a manner you +can seldom hope to recommend yourself in pleasing your hearers, or to +persuade those whose concurrence you desire. Pope says judiciously: + + "Men must be taught as if you taught them not, + And things unknown propos'd as things forgot;" + +further recommending to us to + + "Speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence." + +And he might have coupled with this line that which he has coupled +with another, I think, less properly: + + "For want of modesty is want of sense." + +If you ask why less properly, I must repeat the lines: + + "Immodest words admit of no defense, + For want of modesty is want of sense."[32] + +Now, is not "want of sense" (where a man is so unfortunate as to want +it) some apology for his "want of modesty?" and would not the lines +stand more justly thus? + + "Immodest words admit _but_ this defense, + That want of modesty is want of sense." + +This, however, I should submit to better judgments. + +My brother had, in 1720 or 1721, begun to print a newspaper. It was the +second that appeared in America, and was called the "New England +Courant."[33] The only one before it was the "Boston News-Letter." I +remember his being dissuaded by some of his friends from the +undertaking, as not likely to succeed, one newspaper being, in their +judgment, enough for America. At this time (1771) there are not less +than five and twenty. He went on, however, with the undertaking, and +after having worked in composing the types and printing off the sheets, +I was employed to carry the papers through the streets to the customers. + +He had some ingenious men among his friends, who amused themselves by +writing little pieces for this paper, which gained it credit and made +it more in demand; and these gentlemen often visited us. Hearing their +conversations and their accounts of the approbation their papers were +received with, I was excited to try my hand among them; but, being +still a boy, and suspecting that my brother would object to printing +anything of mine in his paper if he knew it to be mine, I contrived to +disguise my hand, and, writing an anonymous paper, I put it in at +night under the door of the printing house. It was found in the +morning, and communicated to his writing friends when they called in +as usual. They read it, commented on it in my hearing, and I had the +exquisite pleasure of finding it met with their approbation, and that, +in their different guesses at the author, none were named but men of +some character among us for learning and ingenuity. I suppose now that +I was rather lucky in my judges, and that perhaps they were not really +so very good ones as I then esteemed them. + +Encouraged, however, by this, I wrote and conveyed in the same way to +the press several more papers, which were equally approved; and I kept +my secret till my small fund of sense for such performances was pretty +well exhausted, and then I discovered[34] it, when I began to be +considered a little more by my brother's acquaintance, and in a manner +that did not quite please him, as he thought, probably with reason, that +it tended to make me too vain. And perhaps this might be one occasion of +the differences that we began to have about this time. Though a brother, +he considered himself as my master and me as his apprentice, and +accordingly expected the same services from me as he would from another, +while I thought he demeaned[35] me too much in some he required of me, +who from a brother expected more indulgence. Our disputes were often +brought before our father, and I fancy I was either generally in the +right or else a better pleader, because the judgment was generally in my +favor. But my brother was passionate, and had often beaten me, which I +took extremely amiss; and, thinking my apprenticeship very tedious, I +was continually wishing for some opportunity of shortening it, which at +length offered in a manner unexpected. + +One of the pieces in our newspaper, on some political point which I +have now forgotten, gave offense to the Assembly.[36] He was taken up, +censured, and imprisoned for a month, by the Speaker's warrant, I +suppose, because he would not discover his author. I, too, was taken +up and examined before the council; but, though I did not give them +any satisfaction, they contented themselves with admonishing me, and +dismissed me, considering me, perhaps, as an apprentice, who was bound +to keep his master's secrets. + +During my brother's confinement, which I resented a good deal, +notwithstanding our private differences, I had the management of the +paper; and I made bold to give our rulers some rubs in it, which my +brother took very kindly, while others began to consider me in an +unfavorable light, as a young genius that had a turn for libeling and +satire. My brother's discharge was accompanied with an order of the +House (a very odd one) that James Franklin should no longer print the +paper called the "New England Courant." + +There was a consultation held in our printing house among his friends +what he should do in this case. Some proposed to evade the order by +changing the name of the paper; but my brother seeing inconveniences +in that, it was finally concluded on, as a better way, to let it be +printed for the future under the name of Benjamin Franklin; and to +avoid the censure of the Assembly that might fall on him as still +printing it by his apprentice, the contrivance was that my old +indenture should be returned to me, with a full discharge on the back +of it, to be shown on occasion; but to secure to him the benefit of my +service I was to sign new indentures for the remainder of the term, +which were to be kept private. A very flimsy scheme it was; however, +it was immediately executed, and the paper went on accordingly under +my name for several months. + +At length, a fresh difference arising between my brother and me, I +took upon me to assert my freedom, presuming that he would not venture +to produce the new indentures. It was not fair in me to take this +advantage, and this I therefore reckon one of the first errata[37] of +my life; but the unfairness of it weighed little with me when under +the impressions of resentment for the blows his passion too often +urged him to bestow upon me, though he was otherwise not an +ill-natured man. Perhaps I was too saucy and provoking. + +When he found I would leave him, he took care to prevent my getting +employment in any other printing house of the town, by going round and +speaking to every master, who accordingly refused to give me work. I +then thought of going to New York, as the nearest place where there +was a printer; and I was rather inclined to leave Boston when I +reflected that I had already made myself a little obnoxious to the +governing party, and, from the arbitrary proceedings of the Assembly +in my brother's case, it was likely I might, if I stayed, soon bring +myself into scrapes; and, further, that my indiscreet disputations +about religion began to make me pointed at with horror by good people +as an infidel or atheist. I determined on the point, but, my father +now siding with my brother, I was sensible that, if I attempted to go +openly, means would be used to prevent me. My friend Collins, +therefore, undertook to manage a little for me. He agreed with the +captain of a New York sloop for my passage, under the notion of my +being a young acquaintance of his that had got into trouble, and +therefore I could not appear or come away publicly. So I sold some of +my books to raise a little money, was taken on board privately, and, +as we had a fair wind, in three days I found myself in New York, near +three hundred miles from home, a boy of but seventeen, without the +least recommendation to, or knowledge of, any person in the place, and +with very little money in my pocket. + +[Footnote 4: A village near 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.] + +[Footnote 5: Franklin's only living son, William, who in 1762 had been +made royal governor of New Jersey, with the hope of detaching Franklin +from the cause of the colonists.] + +[Footnote 6: A franklin was a freeman, or freeholder, or owner of the +land on which he dwelt. The franklins were by their possessions fitted +for becoming sheriffs, knights, etc. After the Norman Conquest, men in +England took, in addition to the first name, another which was +suggested by their condition in life, their trade, or some personal +peculiarity. See Note, p. 203.] + +[Footnote 7: A title given in England in Franklin's time to the +descendants of knights and noblemen.] + +[Footnote 8: A writer whose duties were similar to those of our notary.] + +[Footnote 9: "Old style," i.e., the method of reckoning time which +formerly prevailed and which had caused an error of eleven days. The +new style of reckoning was adopted in England in 1752.] + +[Footnote 10: The passage of the soul into another body; one might +have supposed that the soul of the uncle had taken up abode in +Franklin's body.] + +[Footnote 11: Franklin omitted the verses.] + +[Footnote 12: Who was queen from 1553 to 1558.] + +[Footnote 13: "Joint stool," i.e., a stool made of parts fitted +together.] + +[Footnote 14: "Outed for nonconformity," i.e., turned out of the +church for not conforming to the usages of the Church of England and +for holding meetings of dissenters for public worship.] + +[Footnote 15: Franklin was born Sunday, Jan. 17, 1706 (Jan. 6, old +style). The family then lived in a small house on Milk Street, near +the Old South Church, where the Boston Post building now stands.] + +[Footnote 16: The persecution which the first settlers practiced +against all who differed with them in religious doctrines.] + +[Footnote 17: Sherburne is now called Nantucket.] + +[Footnote 18: The lines which Dr. Franklin had forgotten are these: + + "I am for peace and not for war, + And that's the reason why + I write more plain than 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 it with my heart." +] + +[Footnote 19: In Franklin's time the grammar school was a school for +teaching Latin, which was begun by committing the grammar to memory.] + +[Footnote 20: Characters, or method of writing shorthand.] + +[Footnote 21: Candles were made by dipping wicks in the fat a number +of times, and also by setting the wicks in a mold and pouring the fat +round them.] + +[Footnote 22: Ants.] + +[Footnote 23: The marble having crumbled, a larger stone was placed +over the grave in 1827, and Franklin's inscription repeated. It stands +in the Granary Burying Ground.] + +[Footnote 24: Aged.] + +[Footnote 25: A joiner is a mechanic who does the woodwork of houses, +etc.; a turner, one who works with a lathe; a brasier, a worker in +brass.] + +[Footnote 26: A chapman was a peddler.] + +[Footnote 27: Agreements written upon sheets, the edges of which were +cut or indented to match each other, for security and identification.] + +[Footnote 28: A street in London in which many writers of small +ability or reputation, or of unhappy fortune, had lodgings. "Grub +Street style," therefore, means poor or worthless in literary value. +The term, which always implied a sneer, was made current by Pope and +Swift and their coterie.] + +[Footnote 29: A paper published in London every week day from the 1st +of March, 1711, to the 6th of December, 1712, and made up for the most +part of essays by Addison, Steele, and their friends. It held aloof +from politics, and dealt with the manners of the time and with +literature.] + +[Footnote 30: These gentlemen of Port Royal lived in the old convent +of Port Royal des Champs, near Paris. They were learned men who, with +other works, prepared schoolbooks, among which was the "Art of +Thinking," a logic.] + +[Footnote 31: "The Socratic method," i.e., the method of modest +questioning, which Socrates used with pupils and opponents alike, and +by which he led them to concessions and unforeseen conclusions.] + +[Footnote 32: These lines are not Pope's, but Lord Roscommon's, +slightly modified.] + +[Footnote 33: "The New England Courant was the fourth newspaper that +appeared in America. The first number of the Boston News-Letter was +published April 24, 1704. This was the first newspaper 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 probably originated in the +circumstance of his brother having been the printer of the Boston +Gazette when it was first established. This was the second newspaper +published in America."--SPARKS.] + +[Footnote 34: Told.] + +[Footnote 35: Lowered; put down.[n]] + +[Footnote 36: The legislature.] + +[Footnote 37: Errors; mistakes.] + + + + +Sec. 2. SEEKS HIS FORTUNE. + + +My inclinations for the sea were by this time worn out, or I might now +have gratified them. But, having a trade, and supposing myself a +pretty good workman, I offered my service to the printer in the place, +old Mr. William Bradford, who had been the first printer in +Pennsylvania, but removed from thence upon the quarrel of George +Keith. He could give me no employment, having little to do and help +enough already; but says he, "My son at Philadelphia has lately lost +his principal hand, Aquila Rose, by death; if you go thither I believe +he may employ you." Philadelphia was a hundred miles farther; I set +out, however, in a boat for Amboy, leaving my chest and things to +follow me round by sea. + +In crossing the bay we met with a squall that tore our rotten sails to +pieces, prevented our getting into the Kill,[38] and drove us upon +Long Island. In our way, a drunken Dutchman, who was a passenger too, +fell overboard. When he was sinking, I reached through the water to +his shock pate, and drew him up so that we got him in again. His +ducking sobered him a little, and he went to sleep, taking first out +of his pocket a book, which he desired I would dry for him. It proved +to be my old favorite author, Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," in Dutch, +finely printed on good paper, with copper cuts, a dress better than I +had ever seen it wear in its own language. I have since found that it +has been translated into most of the languages of Europe, and suppose +it has been more generally read than any other book, except, perhaps, +the Bible. Honest John[39] was the first that I know of who mixed +narration and dialogue; a method of writing very engaging to the +reader, who in the most interesting parts finds himself, as it were, +brought into the company and present at the discourse. Defoe[n] in his +"Crusoe," his "Moll Flanders," "Religious Courtship," "Family +Instructor," and other pieces, has imitated it with success; and +Richardson has done the same in his "Pamela," etc. + +When we drew near the island we found it was at a place where there +could be no landing, there being a great surf on the stony beach. So +we dropped anchor, and swung round toward the shore. Some people came +down to the water edge and hallooed to us, as we did to them; but the +wind was so high and the surf so loud that we could not hear so as to +understand each other. There were canoes on the shore, and we made +signs, and hallooed that they should fetch us; but they either did not +understand us or thought it impracticable, so they went away, and +night coming on, we had no remedy but to wait till the wind should +abate. In the mean time, the boatman and I concluded to sleep if we +could, and so crowded into the scuttle with the Dutchman, who was +still wet, and the spray beating over the head of our boat leaked +through to us, so that we were soon almost as wet as he. In this +manner we lay all night, with very little rest; but the wind abating +the next day, we made a shift to reach Amboy before night, having been +thirty hours on the water, without victuals, or any drink but a bottle +of filthy rum, the water we sailed on being salt. + +In the evening I found myself very feverish, and went in to bed; but, +having read somewhere that cold water, drunk plentifully, was good for +a fever, I followed the prescription, sweat plentifully most of the +night, my fever left me, and in the morning, crossing the ferry, I +proceeded on my journey on foot, having fifty miles to Burlington,[40] +where I was told I should find boats that would carry me the rest of +the way to Philadelphia. + +It rained very hard all the day. I was thoroughly soaked, and by noon a +good deal tired, so I stopped at a poor inn, where I stayed all night, +beginning now to wish that I had never left home. I cut so miserable a +figure, too, that I found, by the questions asked me, I was suspected to +be some runaway servant and in danger of being taken up on that +suspicion. However, I proceeded the next day, and got in the evening to +an inn, within eight or ten miles of Burlington, kept by one Dr. Brown. +He entered into conversation with me while I took some refreshment, and, +finding I had read a little, became very sociable and friendly. Our +acquaintance continued as long as he lived.[n] He had been, I imagine, +an itinerant doctor; for there was no town in England, or country in +Europe, of which he could not give a very particular account. He had +some letters,[41] and was ingenious, but much of an unbeliever, and +wickedly undertook, some years after, to travesty the Bible in doggerel +verse, as Cotton had done Virgil. By this means he set many of the facts +in a very ridiculous light, and might have hurt weak minds if his work +had been published; but it never was. + +At his house I lay that night, and the next morning reached +Burlington, but had the mortification to find that the regular boats +were gone a little before my coming, and no other expected to go +before Tuesday, this being Saturday; wherefore I returned to an old +woman in the town of whom I had bought gingerbread to eat on the +water, and asked her advice. She invited me to lodge at her house till +a passage by water should offer; and, being tired with my foot +traveling, I accepted the invitation. She, understanding I was a +printer, would have had me stay at that town and follow my business, +being ignorant of the stock necessary to begin with. She was very +hospitable, gave me a dinner of ox cheek with great good will, +accepting only of a pot of ale in return; and I thought myself fixed +till Tuesday should come. However, walking in the evening by the side +of the river, a boat came by, which I found was going toward +Philadelphia, with several people in her. They took me in, and, as +there was no wind, we rowed all the way, and about midnight, not +having yet seen the city, some of the company were confident we must +have passed it, and would row no 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 rails of which we made a fire, the night being +cold, in October, and there we remained till daylight. Then one of the +company knew the place to be Cooper's Creek, a little above +Philadelphia, which we saw as soon as we got out of the creek, and +arrived there about eight or nine o'clock on the Sunday morning, and +landed at the Market Street wharf. + +I have been the more particular in this description of my journey, and +shall be so of my first entry into that city, that you may in your +mind compare such unlikely beginnings with the figure I have since +made there. I was in my working dress, my best clothes being to come +round by sea. I was dirty from my journey; my pockets were stuffed out +with shirts and stockings, and I knew no soul, nor where to look for +lodging. I was fatigued with traveling, rowing, and want of rest; I +was very hungry; and my whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch +dollar and about a shilling in copper.[42] The latter I gave the +people of the boat for my passage, who at first refused it, on account +of my rowing; but I insisted on their taking it, a man being sometimes +more generous when he has but a little money than when he has plenty, +perhaps through fear of being thought to have but little. + +Then I walked up the street, gazing about, till near the market house +I met a boy with bread. I had made many a meal on bread, and, +inquiring where he got it, I went immediately to the baker's he +directed me to, in Second Street, and asked for biscuit, intending +such as we had in Boston; but they, it seems, were not made in +Philadelphia. Then I asked for a threepenny loaf, and was told they +had none such. So not considering or knowing the difference of money +and the greater cheapness, nor the names of his bread, I bade him give +me threepenny worth of any sort. He gave me, accordingly, three great +puffy rolls. I was surprised at the quantity, but took it, and, having +no room in my pockets, walked off with a roll under each arm, and +eating the other. Thus I went up Market Street as far as Fourth +Street, passing by the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father; when +she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly +did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance. Then I turned and went +down Chestnut Street and part of Walnut Street, eating my roll all the +way, and, coming round, found myself again at Market Street wharf, +near the boat I came in, to which I went for a draught of the river +water; and, being filled with one of my rolls, gave the other two to a +woman and her child that came down the river in the boat with us, and +were waiting to go farther. + +Thus refreshed, I walked again up the street, which by this time had +many clean-dressed people in it, who were all walking the same way. I +joined them, and thereby was led into the great meetinghouse of the +Quakers near the market.[43] I sat down among them, and, after looking +round awhile and hearing nothing said, being very drowsy through labor +and want of rest the preceding night, I fell fast asleep, and +continued so till the meeting broke up, when one was kind enough to +rouse me. This was, therefore, the first house I was in, or slept in, +in Philadelphia. + +Walking down again toward the river, and looking in the faces of +people, I met a young Quaker man, whose countenance I liked, and, +accosting him, requested he would tell me where a stranger could get +lodging. We were then near the sign of the Three Mariners. "Here," +says he, "is one place that entertains strangers, but it is not a +reputable house; if thee wilt walk with me I'll show thee a better." +He brought me to the Crooked Billet, in Water Street. Here I got a +dinner, and while I was eating it several sly questions were asked me, +as it seemed to be suspected from my youth and appearance that I might +be some runaway. + +After dinner my sleepiness returned; and, being shown to a bed, I lay +down without undressing and slept till six in the evening, was called to +supper, went to bed again very early, and slept soundly till next +morning. Then I made myself as tidy as I could, and went to Andrew +Bradford the printer's. I found in the shop the old man, his father, +whom I had seen at New York, and who, traveling on horseback, had got to +Philadelphia before 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, being lately supplied with one; but there was another printer in +town, lately set up, one Keimer, who, perhaps, might employ me; if not, +I should be welcome to lodge at his house, and he would give me a little +work to do now and then till fuller business should offer. + +The old gentleman said he would go with me to the new printer; and +when we found him, "Neighbor," says Bradford, "I have brought to see +you a young man of your business; perhaps you may want such a one." He +asked me a few questions, put a composing stick[44] in my hand to see +how I worked, and then said he would employ me soon, though he had +just then nothing for me to do; and, taking old Bradford, whom he had +never seen before, to be one of the townspeople that had a good will +for him, he entered into a conversation on his present undertaking and +prospects; while Bradford, not discovering that he was the other +printer's father, on Keimer's saying he expected soon to get the +greatest part of the business into his own hands, drew him on by +artful questions, and starting little doubts, to explain all his +views, what interest he relied on, and in what manner he intended to +proceed. I, who stood by and heard all, saw immediately that one of +them was a crafty old sophister,[45] and the other a mere novice. +Bradford left me with Keimer, who was greatly surprised when I told +him who the old man was. + +Keimer's printing house, I found, consisted of an old shattered press +and one small, worn-out font of English,[46] which he was then using +himself, composing an elegy on Aquila Rose, before mentioned, an +ingenious young man of excellent character, much respected in the +town, clerk of the Assembly, and a pretty poet. Keimer made verses +too, but very indifferently. He could not be said to write them, for +his manner was to compose them in the types, directly out of his head. +So, there being no copy,[47] but one pair of cases, and the elegy +likely to require all the letters, no one could help him. I endeavored +to put his press (which he had not yet used and of which he understood +nothing) into order fit to be worked with; and, promising to come and +print off his elegy as soon as he should have got it ready, I returned +to Bradford's, who gave me a little job to do for the present, and +there I lodged and dieted.[48] A few days after Keimer sent for me to +print off the elegy. And now he had got another pair of cases, and a +pamphlet to reprint, on which he set me to work. + +These two printers I found poorly qualified for their business. +Bradford had not been bred to it, and was very illiterate; and Keimer, +though something of a scholar, was a mere compositor, knowing nothing +of press work. He had been one of the French prophets,[49] and could +act their enthusiastic agitations. At this time he did not profess any +particular religion, but something of all on occasion, was very +ignorant of the world, and had, as I afterward found, a good deal of +the knave in his composition. He did not like my lodging at Bradford's +while I worked with him. He had a house, indeed, but without +furniture, so he could not lodge me; but he got me a lodging at Mr. +Read's, before mentioned, who was the owner of his house; and, my +chest and clothes being come by this time, I made rather a more +respectable appearance in the eyes of Miss Read than I had done when +she first happened to see me eating my roll in the street. + +I began now to have some acquaintance among the young people of the +town that were lovers of reading, with whom I spent my evenings very +pleasantly; and, gaining money by my industry and frugality, I lived +very agreeably, forgetting Boston as much as I could, and not desiring +that any there should know where I resided, except my friend Collins, +who was in my secret and kept it when I wrote to him. At length an +incident happened that sent me back again much sooner than I had +intended. I had a brother-in-law, Robert Holmes, master of a sloop +that traded between Boston and Delaware. He being at Newcastle, forty +miles below Philadelphia, heard there of me, and wrote me a letter, +mentioning the concern of my friends in Boston at my abrupt departure, +assuring me of their good will to me and that everything would 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 quitting Boston fully and in such a +light as to convince him I was not so wrong as he had apprehended. + +Sir William Keith, governor of the province, was then at Newcastle; +and Captain Holmes, happening to be in company with him when my letter +came to hand, spoke to him of me and showed him the letter. The +governor read it, and seemed surprised when he was told my age. He +said I appeared a young man of promising parts, and therefore should +be encouraged; the printers at Philadelphia were wretched ones; and, +if I would set up there, he made no doubt I should succeed; for his +part, he would procure me the public business, and do me every other +service in his power. This my brother-in-law afterward told me in +Boston, but I knew as yet nothing of it when, one day, Keimer and I +being at work together near the window, we saw the governor and +another gentleman (which proved to be Colonel French of Newcastle), +finely dressed, come directly across the street to our house, and +heard them at the door. + +Keimer ran down immediately, thinking it a visit to him; but the +governor inquired for me, came up, and with a condescension and +politeness I had been quite unused to, made me many compliments, +desired to be acquainted with me, blamed me kindly for not having made +myself known to him when I first came to the place, and would have me +away with him to the tavern, where he was going with Colonel French to +taste, as he said, some excellent Madeira. I was not a little +surprised, and Keimer stared like a pig poisoned. I went, however, +with the governor and Colonel French to a tavern at the corner of +Third Street, and over the Madeira he proposed my setting up my +business, laid before me the probabilities of success, and both he and +Colonel French assured me I should have their interest and influence +in procuring the public business of both governments.[50] On my +doubting whether my father would assist me in it, Sir William said he +would give me a letter to him, in which he would state the advantages, +and he did not doubt of prevailing with him. So it was concluded I +should return to Boston in the first vessel, with the governor's +letter recommending me to my father. In the mean time the intention +was to be kept a secret, and I went on working with Keimer as usual, +the governor sending for me now and then to dine with him, a very +great honor I thought it, and conversing with me in the most affable, +familiar, and friendly manner imaginable. + +About the end of April, 1724, a little vessel offered for Boston. I +took leave of Keimer as going to see my friends. The governor gave me +an ample letter, saying many flattering things of me to my father, +and strongly recommending the project of my setting up at Philadelphia +as a thing that must make my fortune. We struck on a shoal in going +down the bay, and sprung a leak; we had a blustering time at sea, and +were obliged to pump almost continually, at which I took my turn. We +arrived safe, however, at Boston in about a fortnight. I had been +absent seven months, and my friends had heard nothing of me; for my +brother Holmes was not yet returned, and had not written about me. My +unexpected appearance surprised the family; all were, however, very +glad to see me, and made me welcome, except my brother. I went to see +him at his printing house. I was better dressed than ever while in his +service, having a genteel new suit from head to foot, a watch, and my +pockets lined with near five pounds sterling in silver. He received me +not very frankly, looked me all over, and turned to his work again. + +The journeymen were inquisitive where I had been, what sort of a +country it was, and how I liked it. I praised it much, and the happy +life I led in it, expressing strongly my intention of returning to it; +and one of them asking what kind of money we had there, I produced a +handful of silver and spread it before them, which was a kind of +raree-show[51] they had not been used to, paper being the money of +Boston. Then I took an opportunity of letting them see my watch; and +lastly (my brother still grum and sullen) I gave them a piece of +eight[52] to drink, and took my leave. This visit of mine offended him +extremely; for, when my mother some time after spoke to him of a +reconciliation, and of her wishes to see us on good terms together, +and that we might live for the future as brothers, he said I had +insulted him in such a manner before his people that he could never +forget or forgive it. In this, however, he was mistaken. + +My father received the governor's letter with some apparent surprise, +but said little of it to me for several days, when, Captain Holmes +returning, he showed it to him, asked him if he knew Keith, and what +kind of man he was, adding his opinion that he must be of small +discretion to think of setting a boy up in business who wanted yet +three years of being at man's estate. Holmes said what he could in +favor of the project, but my father was clear in the impropriety of +it, and at last gave a flat denial to it. Then he wrote a civil letter +to Sir William, thanking him for the patronage he had so kindly +offered me, but declining to assist me as yet in setting up, I being, +in his opinion, too young to be trusted with the management of a +business so important, and for which the preparation must be so +expensive. + +My friend and companion, Collins, who was a clerk in the post office, +pleased with the account I gave him of my new country, determined to +go thither also; and, while I waited for my father's determination, he +set out before me by land to Rhode Island, leaving his books, which +were a pretty collection of mathematics and natural philosophy, to +come with mine and me to New York, where he proposed to wait for me. + +My father, though he did not approve Sir William's proposition, was +yet pleased that I had been able to obtain so advantageous a character +from a person of such note where I had resided, and that I had been so +industrious and careful as to equip myself so handsomely in so short a +time; therefore, seeing no prospect of an accommodation between my +brother and me, he gave his consent to my returning again to +Philadelphia, advised me to behave respectfully to the people there, +endeavor to obtain the general esteem, and avoid lampooning and +libeling, to which he thought I had too much inclination; telling me +that by steady industry and a prudent parsimony I might save enough by +the time I was one and twenty to set me up; and that, if I came near +the matter, he would help me out with the rest. This was all I could +obtain, except some small gifts as tokens of his and my mother's love, +when I embarked again for New York, now with their approbation and +their blessing. + +The sloop putting in at Newport, Rhode Island, I visited my brother +John, who had been married and settled there some years. He received +me very affectionately, for he always loved me. A friend of his, one +Vernon, having some money due to him in Pennsylvania, about +thirty-five pounds currency, desired I would receive it for him, and +keep it till I had his directions what to remit it in. 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 obliging readiness +to do her some little services, which impressed her, I suppose, with a +degree of good will toward me; therefore, when she saw a daily growing +familiarity between me and the two young women, which they appeared to +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 youth is exposed to. Depend upon it, those +are very bad women; I can see it in all their actions; and if thee art +not upon thy guard, they will draw thee into some danger. They are +strangers to thee, and I advise thee, in a friendly concern for thy +welfare, to have no acquaintance with them." As I seemed at first not +to think so ill of them as she did, she mentioned some things she had +observed and heard that had escaped my notice, but now convinced me +she was right. I thanked her for her kind advice, and promised to +follow it. When we arrived at New York, they told me where they lived, +and invited me to come and see them; but I avoided it, and it was well +I did; for the next day the captain missed a silver spoon and some +other things, that had been taken out of his cabin, and he got a +warrant to search their lodgings, found the stolen goods, and had the +thieves punished. So, though we had escaped a sunken rock, which we +scraped upon in the passage, I thought this escape of rather more +importance to me. + +At New York I found my friend Collins, who had arrived there some time +before me. We had been intimate from children, and had read the same +books together; but he had the advantage of more time for reading and +studying, and a wonderful genius for mathematical learning, in which +he far outstripped me. While I lived in Boston most of my hours of +leisure for conversation were spent with him, and he continued a sober +as well as an industrious lad, was much respected for his learning by +several of the clergy and other gentlemen, and seemed to promise +making a good figure in life. But, during my absence, he had acquired +a habit of sotting with brandy; and I found, by his own account, and +what I heard from others, that he had been drunk every day since his +arrival at New York, and behaved very oddly. He had gamed, too, and +lost his money, so that I was obliged to discharge his lodgings, and +defray his expenses to and at Philadelphia, which proved extremely +inconvenient to me. + +The then governor of New York, Burnet (son of Bishop Burnet), hearing +from the captain that a young man, one of his passengers, had a great +many books, desired he would bring me to see him. I waited upon him +accordingly, and should have taken Collins with me but that he was not +sober. The governor treated me with great civility, showed me his +library, which was a very large one, and we had a good deal of +conversation about books and authors. This was the second governor who +had done me the honor to take notice of me; which, to a poor boy like +me, was very pleasing. + +We proceeded to Philadelphia. I received on the way Vernon's money, +without which we could hardly have finished our journey. Collins +wished to be employed in some countinghouse; but, whether they +discovered his dramming by his breath or by his behavior, though he +had some recommendations he met with no success in any application, +and continued lodging and boarding at the same house with me and at my +expense. Knowing I had that money of Vernon's, he was continually +borrowing of me, still promising repayment as soon as he should be in +business. At length he had got so much of it that I was distressed to +think what I should do in case of being called on to remit it. + +His drinking continued, about which we sometimes quarreled; for, when a +little intoxicated, he was very 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 night on the water," says he; "just as you please." The +others said, "Let us row; what signifies it?" But, my mind being soured +with his other conduct, I continued to refuse. So he swore he would make +me row, or throw me overboard; and coming along, stepping on the +thwarts,[53] toward me, when he came up and struck at me I clutched him, +and, rising, pitched him headforemost into the river. I knew he was a +good swimmer, and so was under little concern about him; but before he +could get round to lay hold of the boat, we had with a few strokes +pulled her out of his reach; and ever when he drew near the boat, we +asked if he would row, striking a few strokes to slide her away from +him. He was ready to die with vexation, and obstinately would not +promise to row. However, seeing him at last beginning to tire, we lifted +him in and brought him home dripping wet in the evening. We hardly +exchanged a civil word afterward, and a West India captain, who had a +commission to procure a tutor for the sons of a gentleman at Barbadoes, +happening to meet with him, agreed to carry him thither. He left me +then, promising to remit me the first money he should receive in order +to discharge the debt; but I never heard of him after. + +The breaking into this money of Vernon's was one of the first great +errata of my life; and this affair showed that my father was not much +out in his judgment when he supposed me too young to manage business +of importance. But Sir William, on reading his letter, said he was too +prudent. There was great difference in persons, and discretion did not +always accompany years, nor was youth always without it. "And since he +will not set you up," says he, "I will do it myself. Give me an +inventory of the things necessary to be had from England, and I will +send for them. You shall repay me when you are able; I am resolved to +have a good printer here, and I am sure you must succeed." This was +spoken with such an appearance of cordiality that I had not the least +doubt of his meaning what he said. I had hitherto kept the proposition +of my setting up a secret in Philadelphia, and I still kept it. Had it +been known that I depended on the governor, probably some friend that +knew him better would have advised me not to rely on him, as I +afterward heard it as his known character to be liberal of promises +which he never meant to keep. Yet, unsolicited as he was by me, how +could I think his generous offers insincere? I believed him one of the +best men in the world.[54] + +I presented him an inventory of a little printing house, amounting, by +my computation, to about one hundred pounds sterling. He liked it, but +asked me if my being on the spot in England to choose the types, and +see that everything was good of the kind, might not be of some +advantage. "Then," says he, "when there you may make acquaintances, +and establish correspondences in the bookselling and stationery way." +I agreed that this might be advantageous. "Then," says he, "get +yourself ready to go with Annis,"[55] which was the annual ship, and +the only one at that time usually passing between London and +Philadelphia. But it would be some months before Annis sailed, so I +continued working with Keimer, fretting about the money Collins had +got from me, and in daily apprehensions of being called upon by +Vernon; which, however, did not happen for some years after. + +I believe I have omitted mentioning that, in my first voyage from +Boston, being becalmed off Block Island, our people set about catching +cod, and hauled up a good many. Hitherto I had stuck to my resolution of +not eating animal food; and on this occasion I considered, with my +master Tryon, the taking every fish as a kind of unprovoked murder, +since none of them had, or ever could, do us any injury that might +justify the slaughter. All this seemed very reasonable; but I had +formerly been a great lover of fish, and when this came hot out of the +frying pan it smelled admirably well. I balanced some time between +principle and inclination, till I recollected that, when the fish were +opened, I saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs; then thought I, +"If you eat one another, I don't see why we mayn't eat you." So I dined +upon cod very heartily, and continued to eat with other people, +returning only now and then occasionally to a vegetable diet. So +convenient a thing it is to be a "reasonable" creature, since it enables +one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do. + +Keimer and I lived on a pretty good, familiar footing, and agreed +tolerably well, for he suspected nothing of my setting up. He retained +a great deal of his old enthusiasms, and loved argumentation. We +therefore had many disputations. I used to work him so with my +Socratic method, and had trepanned[56] him so often by questions +apparently so distant from any point we had in hand and yet by degrees +led to the point, and brought him into difficulties and +contradictions, that at last he grew ridiculously cautious, and would +hardly answer me the most common question without asking first, "What +do you intend to infer from that?" However, it gave him so high an +opinion of my abilities in the confuting way that he seriously +proposed my being his colleague in a project he had of setting up a +new sect. He was to preach the doctrines, and I was to confound all +opponents. When he came to explain with me upon the doctrines, I found +several conundrums which I objected to, unless I might have my way a +little too, and introduce some of mine. + +Keimer wore his beard at full length, because somewhere in the Mosaic +law it is said, "Thou shalt not mar the corners of thy beard."[57] He +likewise kept the seventh day Sabbath; and these two points were +essentials with him. I disliked both, but agreed to admit them upon +condition of his adopting the doctrine of using no animal food. "I +doubt," said he, "my constitution will not bear that." I assured him +it would, and that he would be better for it. He was usually a great +glutton, and I promised myself some diversion in half starving him. He +agreed to try the practice if I would keep him company. I did so, and +we held it for three months. We had our victuals dressed and brought +to us regularly by a woman in the neighborhood, who had from me a list +of forty dishes, to be prepared for us at different times, in all +which there was neither fish, flesh, nor fowl; and the whim suited me +the better at this time from the cheapness of it, not costing us above +eighteen pence sterling each per week. I have since kept several Lents +most strictly, leaving the common diet for that, and that for the +common, abruptly, without the least inconvenience, so that I think +there is little in the advice of making those changes by easy +gradations. I went on pleasantly, but poor Keimer suffered grievously, +tired of the project, longed for the flesh pots of Egypt, and ordered +a roast pig. He invited me and two women friends to dine with him; +but, it being brought too soon upon table, he could not resist the +temptation, and ate the whole before we came. + +I had made some courtship during this time to Miss Read. I had a great +respect and affection for her, and had some reason to believe she had +the same for me; but, as I was about to take a long voyage, and we +were both very young,--only a little above eighteen,--it was thought +most prudent by her mother to prevent our going too far at present, as +a marriage, if it was 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 thought my expectations not so well founded as I +imagined them to be. + +My chief acquaintances at this time were Charles Osborne, Joseph +Watson, and James Ralph, all lovers of reading. The two first were +clerks to an eminent scrivener or conveyancer in the town, Charles +Brogden; the other was clerk to a merchant. Watson was a pious, +sensible young man, of great integrity; the others rather more lax in +their principles of religion, particularly Ralph, who, as well as +Collins, had been unsettled by me, for which they both made me +suffer. Osborne was sensible, candid, frank; sincere and affectionate +to his friends, but, in literary matters, too fond of criticising. +Ralph was ingenious, genteel in his manners, and extremely eloquent; I +think I never knew a prettier talker. Both of them were great admirers +of poetry, and began to try their hands in little pieces. Many +pleasant walks we four had together on Sundays into the woods, near +Schuylkill, where we read to one another and conferred on what we read. + +Ralph was inclined to pursue the study of poetry, not doubting but he +might become eminent in it, and make his fortune by it, alleging that +the best poets must, when they first began to write, make as many +faults as he did. Osborne dissuaded him, assured him he had no genius +for poetry, and advised him to think of nothing beyond the business he +was bred to; that, in the mercantile way, though he had no stock, he +might, by his diligence and punctuality, recommend himself to +employment as a factor,[58] and in time acquire wherewith to trade on +his own account. I approved the amusing one's self with poetry now and +then, so far as to improve one's language, but no farther. + +On this it was proposed that we should each of us, at our next +meeting, produce a piece of our own composing, in order to improve by +our mutual observations, criticisms, and corrections. As language and +expression were what we had in view, we excluded all considerations of +invention by agreeing that the task should be a version of the +eighteenth Psalm, which describes the descent of Deity. When the time +of our meeting grew nigh, Ralph called on me first, and let me know +his piece was ready. I told him I had been busy, and, having little +inclination, had done nothing. He then showed me his piece for my +opinion, and I much approved it, as it appeared to me to have great +merit. "Now," says he, "Osborne never will allow the least merit in +anything of mine, but makes a thousand criticisms out of mere envy. He +is not so jealous of you; I wish, therefore, you would take this +piece, and produce it as yours; I will pretend not to have had time, +and so produce nothing. We shall then see what he will say to it." It +was agreed, and I immediately transcribed it that it might appear in +my own hand. + +We met; Watson's performance was read; there were some beauties in it, +but many defects. Osborne's was read; it was much better; Ralph did it +justice; remarked some faults, but applauded the beauties. He himself +had nothing to produce. I was backward; seemed desirous of being +excused; had not had sufficient time to correct, etc. But no excuse +would be admitted; produce I must. It was read and repeated; Watson +and Osborne gave up the contest, and joined in applauding it. Ralph +only made some criticisms, and proposed some amendments; but I +defended my text. Osborne was against Ralph, and told him he was no +better a critic than poet, so he dropped the argument. As they two +went home together, Osborne expressed himself still more strongly in +favor of what he thought my production, having restrained himself +before, as he said, lest I should think it flattery. "But who would +have imagined," said he, "that Franklin had been capable of such a +performance; such painting, such force, such fire! He has even +improved the 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 trick we had played +him, and Osborne was a little laughed at. + +This transaction fixed Ralph in his resolution of becoming a poet. I +did all I could to dissuade him from it, but he continued scribbling +verses till Pope cured him.[59] He became, however, a pretty good +prose writer. More of him hereafter. But, as I may not have occasion +again to mention the other two, I shall just remark here that Watson +died in my arms a few years after, much lamented, being the best of +our set. Osborne went to the West Indies, where he became an eminent +lawyer and made money, but died young. He and I had made a serious +agreement that the one who happened first to die should, if possible, +make a friendly visit to the other, and acquaint him how he found +things in that separate state. But he never fulfilled his promise. + +The governor, seeming to like my company, had me frequently to his +house, and his setting me up was always mentioned as a fixed thing. I +was to take with me letters recommendatory to a number of his friends, +besides the letter of credit to furnish me with the necessary money +for purchasing the press and types, paper, etc. For these letters I +was appointed to call at different times, when they were to be ready; +but a future time was still named. Thus he went on till the ship, +whose departure, too, had been several times postponed, was on the +point of sailing. Then, when I called to take my leave and receive the +letters, his secretary, Dr. Baird, came out to me and said the +governor was extremely busy in writing, but would be down at Newcastle +before the ship, and there the letters would be delivered to me. + +Ralph, though married, and having one child, had determined to +accompany me on this voyage. It was thought he intended to establish a +correspondence, and obtain goods to sell on commission; but I found +afterward that, through some discontent with his wife's relations, he +proposed to leave her on their hands, and never return again. Having +taken leave of my friends, and interchanged some promises with Miss +Read, I left Philadelphia in the ship, which anchored at Newcastle. +The governor was there; but when I went to his lodging, the secretary +came to me from him with the civilest message in the world, that he +could not then see me, being engaged in business of the utmost +importance, but should send the letters to me on board, and wished me +heartily a good voyage and a speedy return, etc. I returned on board a +little puzzled, but still not doubting. + +[Footnote 38: Kill von Kull, the strait between Staten Island and New +Jersey.] + +[Footnote 39: That is, John Bunyan, the author of the book.] + +[Footnote 40: In New Jersey.] + +[Footnote 41: Learning.] + +[Footnote 42: English penny pieces. The coin money used by the +colonists was at this time of foreign make.] + +[Footnote 43: This market stood on the southwest corner of Second and +Market Streets.] + +[Footnote 44: A composing stick is a small tray which the compositor +holds in his left hand and in which he arranges the type that he picks +out of the cases with his right hand.] + +[Footnote 45: A false reasoner, and hence a deceiver.] + +[Footnote 46: The name of a kind of type.] + +[Footnote 47: Manuscript or printing of original matter.] + +[Footnote 48: Boarded.] + +[Footnote 49: The Camisards, who broke away from the state religion of +France, and suffered persecution at the hands of Louis XIV. They +showed their spiritual zeal by the prophetic mania and by working +miracles, as well as by a stout attachment to their creed.] + +[Footnote 50: "Both governments," i.e., both Pennsylvania and Delaware.] + +[Footnote 51: Peep show.] + +[Footnote 52: "Piece of eight," i.e., the Spanish dollar, containing +eight reals. The present value of a real is about five cents.] + +[Footnote 53: The seats across the boat on which the oarsmen sit.] + +[Footnote 54: For Governor Keith's character and popularity, see p. 58.] + +[Footnote 55: Captain Annis, commander of the ship, is here referred to.] + +[Footnote 56: Entrapped.] + +[Footnote 57: Lev. xix. 27.] + +[Footnote 58: An agent or commission merchant.] + +[Footnote 59: In 1728 Alexander Pope published his Dunciad, and in Book +III. lines 165, 166, he refers to Ralph, who was then living in London: + + "Silence, ye wolves! while Ralph to Cynthia howls. + And makes night hideous--answer him, ye owls!" + +Later, his History of England during the Reigns of King William, Queen +Anne, and King George I. was highly praised (see pp. 177, 178).] + + + + +Sec. 3. FIRST VISIT TO LONDON. + + +Mr. Andrew Hamilton, a Famous Lawyer of Philadelphia, Had Taken +Passage in the same ship for himself and son, and with Mr. Denham, a +Quaker merchant, and Messrs. Onion and Russel, masters of an iron work +in Maryland, had engaged the great cabin; so that Ralph and I were +forced to take up with a berth in the steerage, and, none on board +knowing us, were considered as ordinary persons. But Mr. Hamilton and +his son (it was James, since governor) returned from Newcastle to +Philadelphia, the father being recalled by a great fee to plead for a +seized ship; and, just before we sailed, Colonel French coming on +board, and showing me great respect, I was more taken notice of, and, +with my friend Ralph, invited by the other gentlemen to come into the +cabin, there being now room. Accordingly, we removed thither. + +Understanding that Colonel French had brought on board the governor's +dispatches, I asked the captain for those letters that were to be put +under my care. He said all were put into the bag together, and he +could not then come at them; but, before we landed in England, I +should have an opportunity of picking them out; so I was satisfied for +the present, and we proceeded on our voyage. We had a sociable company +in the cabin, and lived uncommonly well, having the addition of all +Mr. Hamilton's stores, who had laid in plentifully. In this passage +Mr. Denham contracted a friendship for me that continued during his +life. The voyage was otherwise not a pleasant one, as we had a great +deal of bad weather. + +When we came into the Channel the captain kept his word with me, and +gave me an opportunity of examining the bag for the governor's +letters. I found none upon which my name was put as under my care. I +picked out six or seven, that, by the handwriting, I thought might be +the promised letters, especially as one of them was directed to +Basket, the king's printer, and another to some stationer. + +We arrived in London the 24th of December, 1724. I waited upon the +stationer, who came first in my way, delivering the letter as from +Governor Keith. "I don't know such a person," says he; but, opening +the letter, "Oh! this is from Riddlesden. I have lately found him to +be a complete rascal, and I will have nothing to do with him, nor +receive any letters from him." So, putting the letter into my hand, he +turned on his heel and left me, to serve some customer. I was +surprised to find these were not the governor's letters; and, after +recollecting and comparing circumstances, I began to doubt his +sincerity. I found my friend Denham, and opened the whole affair to +him. He let me into Keith's character; told me there was not the least +probability that he had written any letters for me; that no one who +knew him had the smallest dependence on him; and he laughed at the +notion of the governor's giving me a letter of credit, having, as he +said, no credit to give. On my expressing some concern about what I +should do, he advised me to endeavor getting some employment in the +way of my business. "Among the printers here," said he, "you will +improve yourself, and when you return to America you will set up to +greater advantage." + +We both of us happened to know, as well as the stationer, that +Riddlesden, the attorney, was a very knave. He had half ruined Miss +Read's father by persuading him to be bound[60] for him. By this +letter it appeared there was a secret scheme on foot to the prejudice +of Hamilton (supposed to be then coming over with us), and that Keith +was concerned in it with Riddlesden. Denham, who was a friend of +Hamilton's, thought he ought to be acquainted with it; so, when he +arrived in England, which was soon after, partly from resentment and +ill will to Keith and Riddlesden and partly from good will to him, I +waited on him, and gave him the letter. He thanked me cordially, the +information being of importance to him; and from that time he became +my friend, greatly to my advantage afterward on many occasions. + +But what shall we think of a governor's playing such pitiful tricks, +and imposing so grossly on a poor ignorant boy! It was a habit he had +acquired. He wished to please everybody; and, having little to give, +he gave expectations. He was otherwise an ingenious, sensible man, a +pretty good writer, and a good governor for the people, though not for +his constituents, the proprietaries,[61] whose instructions he +sometimes disregarded. Several of our best laws were of his planning, +and passed during his administration. + +Ralph and I were inseparable companions. We took lodgings together in +Little Britain[62] at three shillings and sixpence a week,--as much as +we could then afford. He found some relations, but they were poor, and +unable to assist him. He now let me know his intentions of remaining in +London, and that he never meant to return to Philadelphia. He had +brought no money with him, the whole he could muster having been +expended in paying his passage. I had fifteen pistoles;[63] so he +borrowed occasionally of me to subsist while he was looking out for +business. He first endeavored to get into the playhouse, believing +himself qualified for an actor; but Wilkes,[64] to whom he applied, +advised him candidly not to think of that employment, as it was +impossible he should succeed in it. Then he proposed to Roberts, a +publisher in Paternoster Row, to write for him a weekly paper like the +"Spectator," on certain conditions which Roberts did not approve. Then +he endeavored to get employment as a hackney writer,[65] to copy for the +stationers and lawyers about the Temple,[66] but could find no vacancy. + +I immediately got into work at Palmer's, then a famous printing house +in Bartholomew Close, and here I continued near a year. I was pretty +diligent, but spent with Ralph a good deal of my earnings in going to +plays and other places of amusement. We had together consumed all my +pistoles, and now just rubbed on from hand to mouth. He seemed quite +to forget his wife and child, and I, by degrees, my engagements with +Miss Read, to whom I never wrote more than one letter, and that was to +let her know I was not likely soon to return. This was another of the +great errata of my life, which I should wish to correct if I were to +live it over again. In fact, by our expenses I was constantly kept +unable to pay my passage. + +At Palmer's I was employed in composing[67] for the second edition of +Wollaston's "Religion of Nature." Some of his reasonings not appearing +to me well founded, I wrote a little metaphysical piece, in which I +made remarks on them. It was entitled, "Dissertation on Liberty and +Necessity, Pleasure and Pain." I inscribed it to my friend Ralph; I +printed a small number. It occasioned my being more considered by Mr. +Palmer as a young man of some ingenuity, though he seriously +expostulated with me upon the principles of my pamphlet, which to him +appeared abominable. My printing this pamphlet was another erratum. + +While I lodged in Little Britain I made an acquaintance with one Wilcox, +a bookseller, whose shop was at the next door. He had an immense +collection of secondhand books. Circulating libraries were not then in +use; but we agreed that, on certain reasonable terms, which I have now +forgotten, I might take, read, and return any of his books. This I +esteemed a great advantage, and I made as much use of it as I could. + +My pamphlet falling into the hands of one Lyons, a surgeon, author of +a book entitled "The Infallibility of Human Judgment," it occasioned +an acquaintance between us. He took great notice of me, called on me +often to converse on those subjects, carried me to the Horns, a +pale-ale house in ---- Lane, Cheapside, and introduced me to Dr. +Mandeville, author of the "Fable of the Bees," who had a club there, +of which he was the soul, being a most facetious, entertaining +companion. Lyons, too, introduced me to Dr. Pemberton, at Batson's +Coffee-house, who promised to give me an opportunity, some time or +other, of seeing Sir Isaac Newton, of which I was extremely desirous; +but this never happened. + +I had brought over a few curiosities, among which the principal was a +purse made of the asbestos, which purifies by fire. Sir Hans Sloane[68] +heard of it, came to see me, and invited me to his house in Bloomsbury +Square, where he showed me all his curiosities, and persuaded me to let +him add that to the number, for which he paid me handsomely. + +In our house there lodged a young woman, a milliner, who, I think, had +a shop in the Cloisters. She had been genteelly bred, was sensible and +lively, and of most pleasing conversation. Ralph read plays to her in +the evenings; they grew intimate; she took another lodging, and he +followed her. They lived together some time; but, he being still out +of business, and her income not sufficient to maintain them with her +child, he took a resolution of going from London to try for a country +school, which he thought himself well qualified to undertake, as he +wrote an excellent hand, and was a master of arithmetic and accounts. +This, however, he deemed a business below him; and, confident of +future better fortune, when he should be unwilling to have it known +that he once was so meanly employed, he changed his name, and did me +the honor to assume mine; for I soon after had a letter from him, +acquainting me that he was settled in a small village, (in Berkshire, +I think it was, where he taught reading and writing to ten or a dozen +boys, at sixpence each per week,) recommending Mrs. T---- to my care, +and desiring me to write to him, directing for Mr. Franklin, +Schoolmaster, at such a place. + +He continued to write frequently, sending me large specimens of an +epic poem which he was then composing, and desiring my remarks and +corrections. These I gave him from time to time, but endeavored rather +to discourage his proceeding. One of Young's[n] satires was then just +published. I copied and sent him a great part of it, which set in a +strong light the folly of pursuing the Muses 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 thought I had canceled all the obligations he +had been under to me. So I found I was never to expect his repaying me +what I lent to him or advanced for him. This, however, was not then of +much consequence, as he was totally unable; and in the loss of his +friendship I found myself relieved from a burden. I now began to think +of getting a little money beforehand; and, expecting better work, I left +Palmer's to work at Watts's, near Lincoln's Inn Fields, a still greater +printing house. Here I continued all the rest of my stay in London. + +At my first admission into this printing house I took to working at +press,[69] imagining I felt a want of the bodily exercise I had been +used to in America, where press work is mixed with composing. I drank +only water; the other workmen, near fifty in number, were great +guzzlers of beer. On occasion, I carried up and down stairs a large +form of types in each hand, when others carried but one in both hands. +They wondered to see, from this and several instances, that the +"Water-American," as they called me, was stronger than themselves, who +drank strong beer! We had an alehouse boy who attended always in the +house to supply the workmen. My companion at the press drank every day +a pint before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his bread and +cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a pint at dinner, a pint +in the afternoon about six o'clock, and another when he had done his +day's work. I thought it a detestable custom; but it was necessary, he +supposed, to drink strong beer that he might be strong to labor. I +endeavored to convince him that the bodily strength afforded by beer +could only be in proportion to the grain or flour of the barley +dissolved in the water of which it was made; that there was more flour +in a pennyworth of bread; and therefore, if he would eat that with a +pint of water, it would give him more strength than a quart of beer. +He drank on, however, and had four or five shillings to pay out of his +wages every Saturday night for that muddling liquor--an expense I was +free from. And thus these poor devils keep themselves always under. + +Watts after some weeks desiring to have me in the composing room, I +left the pressmen; a new _bien venu_,[70] or sum for drink, being five +shillings, was demanded of me by the compositors. I thought it an +imposition, as I had paid below; the master thought so too, and +forbade my paying it. I stood out two or three weeks, was accordingly +considered as an excommunicate, and had so many little pieces of +private mischief done me, by mixing my sorts,[71] transposing my +pages, breaking my matter, etc., if I were ever so little out of the +room, and all ascribed to the chapel[72] ghost, which they said ever +haunted those not regularly admitted, that, notwithstanding the +master's protection, I found myself obliged to comply and pay the +money, convinced of the folly of being on ill terms with those one is +to live with continually. + +I was now on a fair footing with them, and soon acquired considerable +influence. I proposed some reasonable alterations in their chapel laws, +and carried them against all opposition. From my example, a great part +of them left their muddling breakfast of beer and bread and cheese, +finding they could with me be supplied from a neighboring house with a +large porringer of hot water gruel, sprinkled with pepper, crumbed with +bread, and a bit of butter in it, for the price of a pint of beer, +namely, three halfpence. This was a more comfortable as well as cheaper +breakfast, and kept their heads clearer. Those who continued sotting +with beer all day were often, by not paying, out of credit at the +alehouse, and used to make interest with me to get beer, their "light," +as they phrased it, "being out." I watched the pay table on Saturday +night, and collected what I stood engaged for them, having to pay +sometimes near thirty shillings a week on their accounts. This, and my +being esteemed a pretty good "riggite,"--that is, a jocular verbal +satirist,--supported my consequence in the society. My constant +attendance (I never making a Saint Monday[73]) recommended me to the +master; and my uncommon quickness at composing occasioned my being put +upon all work of dispatch, which was generally better paid. So I went on +now very agreeably. + +My lodging in Little Britain being too remote, I found another in Duke +Street, opposite to the Romish Chapel. It was two pair of stairs +backward, at an Italian warehouse. A widow lady kept the house; she +had a daughter, and a maidservant, and a journeyman who attended the +warehouse, but lodged abroad. After sending to inquire my character at +the house where I last lodged, she agreed to take me in at the same +rate, three shillings and sixpence per week; cheaper, as she said, +from the protection she expected in having a man lodge in the house. +She was a widow, an elderly woman; had been bred a Protestant, being a +clergyman's daughter, but was converted to the Catholic religion by +her husband, whose memory she much revered; had lived much among +people of distinction, and knew a thousand anecdotes of them as far +back as the time of Charles II. She was lame in her knees with the +gout, and, therefore, seldom stirred out of her room, so sometimes +wanted company; and hers was so highly amusing to me that I was sure +to spend an evening with her whenever she desired it. Our supper was +only half an anchovy each, on a very little strip of bread and butter, +and half a pint of ale between us; but the entertainment was in her +conversation. My always keeping good hours, and giving little trouble +in the family, made her unwilling to part with me; so that, when I +talked of a lodging I had heard of, nearer my business, for two +shillings a week, which, intent as I now was on saving money, made +some difference, she bid me not think of it, for she would abate me +two shillings a week for the future; so I remained with her at one +shilling and sixpence as long as I stayed in London. + +In a garret of her house there lived a maiden lady of seventy, in the +most retired manner, of whom my landlady gave me this account: she was +a Roman Catholic, had been sent abroad when young, and lodged in a +nunnery with an intent of becoming a nun; but, the country not +agreeing with her, she returned to England, where, there being no +nunnery, she had vowed to lead the life of a nun, as near as might be +done in those circumstances. Accordingly, she had given all her estate +to charitable uses, reserving only twelve pounds a year to live on, +and out of this sum she still gave a great deal in charity, living +herself on water gruel only, and using no fire but to boil it. She had +lived many years in that garret, being permitted to remain there +gratis by successive Catholic tenants of the house below, as they +deemed it a blessing to have her there. A priest visited her to +confess her every day. "I have asked her," says my landlady, "how she, +as she lived, could possibly find so much employment for a confessor." +"Oh," said she, "it is impossible to avoid vain thoughts." I was +permitted once to visit her. She was cheerful and polite, and +conversed pleasantly. The room was clean, but had no other furniture +than a mattress, a table with a crucifix and book, a stool which she +gave me to sit on, and a picture over the chimney of St. Veronica[74] +displaying her handkerchief, with the miraculous figure of Christ's +bleeding face on it, which she explained to me with great seriousness. +She looked pale, but was never sick; and I give it as another instance +on how small an income life and health may be supported. + +At Watts's printing house I contracted an acquaintance with an +ingenious young man, one Wygate, who, having wealthy relations, had +been better educated than most printers,--was a tolerable Latinist, +spoke French, and loved reading. I taught him and a friend of his to +swim at twice going into the river, and they soon became good +swimmers. They introduced me to some gentlemen from the country, who +went to Chelsea[75] by water to see the college and Don Saltero's[76] +curiosities. In our return, at the request of the company, whose +curiosity Wygate had excited, I stripped and leaped into the river, +and swam from near Chelsea to Blackfriar's,[77] performing on the way +many feats of activity, both upon and under the water, that surprised +and pleased those to whom they were novelties. + +I had from a child been ever delighted with this exercise, had studied +and practiced all Thevenot's motions and positions, and added some of +my own, aiming at the graceful and easy as well as the useful. All +these I took this occasion of exhibiting to the company, and was much +flattered by their admiration; and Wygate, who was desirous of +becoming a master, grew more and more attached to me on that account, +as well as from the similarity of our studies. He at length proposed +to me traveling all over Europe together, supporting ourselves +everywhere by working at our business. I was once inclined to it; but, +mentioning it to my good friend, Mr. Denham, with whom I often spent +an hour when I had leisure, he dissuaded me from it, advising me to +think only of returning to Pennsylvania, which he was now about to do. + +I must record one trait of this good man's character. He had formerly +been in business at Bristol, but failed, in debt to a number of +people, compounded, and went to America. There, by a close application +to business as a merchant, he acquired a plentiful fortune in a few +years. Returning to England in the ship with me, he invited his old +creditors to an entertainment, at which he thanked them for the easy +composition[78] they had favored him with, and, when they expected +nothing but the treat, every man at the first remove found under his +plate an order on a banker for the full amount of the unpaid +remainder, with interest. + +He now told me he was about to return to Philadelphia, and should carry +over a great quantity of goods, in order to open a store there. He +proposed to take me over as his clerk, to keep his books (in which he +would instruct me), copy his letters, and attend the store. He added +that, as soon as I should be acquainted with mercantile business, he +would promote me by sending me with a cargo of flour and bread, etc., to +the West Indies, and procure me commissions from others which would be +profitable; and, if I managed well, would establish me handsomely. The +thing pleased me, for I was grown tired of London, remembered with +pleasure the happy months I had spent in Pennsylvania, and wished again +to see it; therefore I immediately agreed on the terms of fifty pounds a +year, Pennsylvania money; less, indeed, than my present gettings as a +compositor, but affording a better prospect. + +I now took leave of printing, as I thought, forever, and was daily +employed in my new business, going about with Mr. Denham among the +tradesmen to purchase various articles, and seeing them packed up, +doing errands, calling upon workmen to dispatch, etc.; and, when all +was on board, I had a few days' leisure. On one of these days, I was, +to my surprise, sent for by a great man I knew only by name, a Sir +William Wyndham, and I waited upon him. He had heard by some means or +other of my swimming from Chelsea to Blackfriar's, and of my teaching +Wygate and another young man to swim in a few hours. He had two sons +about to set out on their travels; he wished to have them first taught +swimming, and proposed to gratify[79] me handsomely if I would teach +them. They were not yet come to town, and my stay was uncertain, so I +could not undertake it; but from this incident I thought it likely +that, if I were to remain in England and open a swimming school, I +might get a good deal of money; and it struck me so strongly that, had +the overture been sooner made me, probably I should not so soon have +returned to America. After many years, you and I had something of more +importance to do with one of these sons of Sir William Wyndham, become +Earl of Egremont, which I shall mention in its place. + +Thus I spent about eighteen months in London; most part of the time I +worked hard at my business, and spent but little upon myself except in +seeing plays and in books. My friend Ralph had kept me poor; he owed +me about twenty-seven pounds, which I was now never likely to +receive,--a great sum out of my small earnings! I loved him, +notwithstanding, for he had many amiable qualities. I had by no means +improved my fortune; but I had picked up some very ingenious +acquaintance, whose conversation was of great advantage to me; and I +had read considerably. + +We sailed from Gravesend on the 23d of July, 1726. For the incidents +of the voyage I refer you to my journal, where you will find them all +minutely related. Perhaps the most important part of that journal is +the plan[80] to be found in it, which I formed at sea, for regulating +my future conduct in life. It is the more remarkable, as being formed +when I was so young, and yet being pretty faithfully adhered to quite +through to old age. + +[Footnote 60: Responsible for the payment of a note.] + +[Footnote 61: The owners or proprietors of Pennsylvania, which Charles +II. had given William Penn, were Penn's sons. They lived in England.] + +[Footnote 62: A street in London.] + +[Footnote 63: A pistole was a Spanish gold coin worth about four +dollars.] + +[Footnote 64: A comedian of some note.] + +[Footnote 65: A hackney writer, or hack writer, is one employed to +write according to direction.] + +[Footnote 66: Inns of Court in London, occupied by lawyers.] + +[Footnote 67: Setting type.] + +[Footnote 68: A celebrated physician and naturalist. To him Franklin +wrote: + +"SIR: Having lately been in the northern parts of America, I have +brought from thence a purse made of the asbestos, ... called by the +inhabitants 'salamander cotton.' As you are noted to be a lover of +curiosities, I have informed you of this; and if you have any +inclination to purchase or see it, let me know your pleasure by 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." +] + +[Footnote 69: This press is now preserved at the Patent Office in +Washington.] + +[Footnote 70: A French expression meaning "welcome."] + +[Footnote 71: Pieces in a font of type.] + +[Footnote 72: "A printing house used to be called a chapel by the +workmen, and a journeyman, on entering a printing house, was +accustomed to pay one or more gallons of beer 'for the good of the +chapel,'"--W. F. FRANKLIN, quoted by Bigelow.] + +[Footnote 73: "Never making," etc., i.e., never making a holiday of +Monday. The heavy drinkers of Saturday night and Sunday needed Monday +to recover from their excesses.] + +[Footnote 74: The woman who, according to legend, wiped the face of +Jesus on his way to Calvary, and carried away the likeness of his +face, which had been miraculously printed on the cloth.] + +[Footnote 75: A suburb of London, north of the Thames.] + +[Footnote 76: Don Saltero had been a servant to Sir Hans Sloane, and +had learned from him to treasure curiosities. He now had a coffeehouse +at Chelsea.] + +[Footnote 77: A name given to a part of London. The distance Franklin +swam was about three miles.] + +[Footnote 78: Settlement.] + +[Footnote 79: Pay.] + +[Footnote 80: This plan has never been found.] + + + + +4. IN PHILADELPHIA AND IN BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF. + + +We landed in Philadelphia on the 11th of October, where I found sundry +alterations. Keith was no longer governor, being superseded by Major +Gordon. I met him walking the streets as a common citizen. He seemed a +little ashamed at seeing me, but passed without saying anything. I +should have been as much ashamed at seeing Miss Read, had not her +friends, despairing with reason of my return after the receipt of my +letter, persuaded her to marry another, one Rogers, a potter, which +was done in my absence. With him, however, she was never happy, and +soon parted from him, refusing to bear his name, it being now said +that he had another wife. He was a worthless fellow, though an +excellent workman, which was the temptation to her friends. He got +into debt, ran away in 1727 or 1728, went to the West Indies, and died +there. Keimer had got a better house, a shop well supplied with +stationery, plenty of new types, a number of hands, though none 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 +little time, expert at selling. We lodged and boarded together; he +counseled me as a father, having a sincere regard for me. I respected +and loved him, and we might have gone on together very happy; but, in +the beginning of February, 1726/7,[81] when I had just passed my +twenty-first year, we were both taken ill. My distemper was a +pleurisy, which very nearly carried me off. I suffered a good deal, +gave up the point in my own mind, and was rather disappointed when I +found myself recovering, regretting, in some degree, that I must now, +some time or other, have all that disagreeable work to do over again. +I forget what his distemper was; it held him a long time, and at +length carried him off. He left me a small legacy in a nuncupative[82] +will, as a token of his kindness for me, and he left me once more to +the wide world; for the store was taken into the care of his +executors, and my employment under him ended. + +My brother-in-law, Holmes, being now at Philadelphia, advised my +return to my business; and Keimer tempted me, with an offer of large +wages by the year, to come and take the management of his printing +house, that he might better attend his stationer's shop. I had heard a +bad character of him in London from his wife and her friends, and was +not fond of having any more to do with him. I tried for further +employment as a merchant's clerk; but, not readily meeting with any, I +closed again with Keimer. I found in his house these hands: Hugh +Meredith, a Welsh Pennsylvanian, thirty years of age, bred to country +work; honest, sensible, had a great deal of solid observation, was +something of a reader, but given to drink. Stephen Potts, a young +countryman of full age, bred to the same, of uncommon natural parts, +and great wit and humor, but a little idle. These he had agreed with +at extremely low wages per week, to be raised a shilling every three +months, as they would deserve by improving in their business; and the +expectation of these high wages, to come on hereafter, was what he had +drawn them in with. Meredith was to work at press, Potts at +bookbinding, which he, by agreement, was to teach them, though he knew +neither one nor the other. John ----, a wild Irishman, brought up to +no business, whose service, for four years, Keimer had purchased[83] +from the captain of a ship; he, too, was to be made a pressman. George +Webb, an Oxford scholar, whose time for four years he had likewise +bought, intending him for a compositor, of whom more presently; and +David Harry, a country boy, whom he had taken apprentice. + +I soon perceived that the intention of engaging me at wages so much +higher than he had been used to give was to have these raw, cheap +hands formed through me; and, as soon as I had instructed them, then +they being all articled[84] to him, he should be able to do without +me. I went on, however, very cheerfully, put his printing house in +order, which had been in great confusion, and brought his hands by +degrees to mind their business and to do it better. + +It was an odd thing to find an Oxford scholar in the situation of a +bought servant. He was not more than eighteen years of age, and gave me +this account of himself: he was born in Gloucester, educated at a +grammar school there, and had been distinguished among the scholars for +some apparent superiority in performing his part when they exhibited +plays. He belonged to the Witty Club there, and had written some pieces +in prose and verse, which were printed in the Gloucester newspapers. +Thence he was sent to Oxford, where he continued about a year, but not +well satisfied, wishing of all things to see London, and become a +player. At length, receiving his quarterly allowance of fifteen +guineas,[85] instead of discharging his debts he walked out of town, hid +his gown in a furze bush, and footed it to London, where, having no +friends to advise him, he fell into bad company, soon spent his guineas, +found no means of being introduced among the players, grew necessitous, +pawned his clothes, and wanted bread. Walking the street very hungry, +and not knowing what to do with himself, a crimp's[86] bill was put into +his hand, offering immediate entertainment and encouragement to such as +would bind themselves to serve in America. He went directly, signed the +indentures, was put into the ship, and came over, never writing a line +to acquaint his friends what was become of him. He was lively, witty, +good-natured, and a pleasant companion, but idle, thoughtless, and +imprudent to the last degree. + +John, the Irishman, soon ran away; with the rest I began to live very +agreeably, for they all respected me the more as they found Keimer +incapable of instructing them, and that from me they learned something +daily. We never worked on Saturday, that being Keimer's Sabbath, so I +had two days for reading. My acquaintance with ingenious people in the +town increased. Keimer himself treated me with great civility and +apparent regard, and nothing now made me uneasy but my debt to Vernon, +which I was yet unable to pay, being hitherto but a poor economist. +He, however, kindly made no demand of it. + +Our printing house often wanted sorts, and there was no letter founder +in America. I had seen types cast at James's in London, but without +much attention to the manner; however, I now contrived a mold, made +use of the letters we had as puncheons, struck the matrices[87] in +lead, and thus supplied in a pretty tolerable way all deficiencies. I +also engraved several things on occasion; I made the ink; I was +warehouseman,[88] and everything, and, in short, quite a factotum. + +But, however serviceable I might be, I found that my services became +every day of less importance, as the other hands improved in the +business; and when Keimer paid my second quarter's wages he let me +know that he felt them too heavy, and thought I should make an +abatement. He grew by degrees less civil, put on more of the master, +frequently found fault, was captious, and seemed ready for an +outbreaking. I went on, nevertheless, with a good deal of patience, +thinking that his encumbered circumstances were partly the cause. At +length a trifle snapped our connections; for, a great noise happening +near the courthouse, I put my head out of the window to see what was +the matter. Keimer, being in the street, looked up and saw me, and +called out to me in a loud voice and angry tone to mind my business, +adding some reproachful words that nettled me the more for their +publicity, all the neighbors, who were looking out on the same +occasion, being witnesses how I was treated. He came up immediately +into the printing house; continued the quarrel; high words passed on +both sides. He gave me the quarter's warning we had stipulated, +expressing a wish that he had not been obliged to so long a warning. I +told him that his wish was unnecessary, for I would leave him that +instant; and so, taking my hat, walked out of doors, desiring +Meredith, whom I saw below, to take care of some things I left, and +bring them to my lodgings. + +Meredith came accordingly in the evening, when we talked my affair +over. He had conceived a great regard for me, and was very unwilling +that I should leave the house while he remained in it. He dissuaded me +from returning to my native country, which I began to think of; he +reminded me that Keimer was in debt for all he possessed; that his +creditors began to be uneasy; that he kept his shop miserably, sold +often without profit for ready money, and often trusted without +keeping accounts; that he must therefore fail, which would make a +vacancy I might profit of. I objected my want of money. He then let me +know that his father had a high opinion of me, and, from some +discourse that had passed between them, he was sure would advance +money to set us up, if I would enter into partnership with him. "My +time," says he, "will be out with Keimer in the spring; by that time +we may have our press and types in from London. I am sensible I am no +workman; if you like it, your skill in the business shall be set +against the stock I furnish, and we will share the profits equally." + +The proposal was agreeable, and I consented. His father was in town, +and approved of it, the more as he saw I had great influence with his +son, had prevailed on him to abstain long from dram drinking, and he +hoped might break him of that wretched habit entirely when we came to +be so closely connected. I gave an inventory to the father, who +carried it to a merchant; the things were sent for, the secret was to +be kept till they should arrive, and in the mean time I was to get +work, if I could, at the other printing house. But I found no vacancy +there, and so remained idle a few days, when Keimer, on a prospect of +being employed to print some paper money in New Jersey, which would +require cuts and various types that I only could supply, and +apprehending Bradford might engage me and get the job from him, sent +me a very civil message, that old friends should not part for a few +words, the effect of sudden passion, and wishing me to return. +Meredith persuaded me to comply, as it would give more opportunity for +his improvement under my daily instructions; so I returned, and we +went on more smoothly than for some time before. The New Jersey job +was obtained, I contrived a copperplate press for it, the first that +had been seen in the country; I cut several ornaments and checks[89] +for the bills. We went together to Burlington, where I executed the +whole to satisfaction; and he received so large a sum for the work as +to be enabled thereby to keep his head much longer above water. + +At Burlington I made an acquaintance with many principal people of the +province. Several of them had been appointed by the Assembly a +committee to attend the press, and take care that no more bills were +printed than the law directed. They were therefore, by turns, +constantly with us, and generally he who attended brought with him a +friend or two for company. My mind having been much more improved by +reading than Keimer's, I suppose it was for that reason my +conversation seemed to be more valued. They had me to their houses, +introduced me to their friends, and showed me much civility; while he, +though the master, was a little neglected. In truth, he was an odd +fish; ignorant of common life, fond of rudely opposing received +opinions, slovenly to extreme dirtiness, enthusiastic in some points +of religion, and a little knavish withal. + +We continued there near three months; and by that time I could reckon +among my acquired friends Judge Allen, Samuel Bustill, the secretary of +the province, Isaac Pearson, Joseph Cooper, and several of the Smiths, +members of Assembly, and Isaac Decow, the surveyor general. The latter +was a shrewd, sagacious old man, who told me that he began for himself, +when young, by wheeling clay for the brickmakers, learned to write after +he was of age, carried the chain for surveyors, who taught him +surveying, and he had now by his industry acquired a good estate; and +says he, "I foresee that you will soon work this man out of his +business, and make a fortune in it at Philadelphia." He had not then the +least intimation of my intention to set up there or anywhere. These +friends were afterward of great use to me, as I occasionally was to some +of them. They all continued their regard for me as long as they lived. + +Before I enter upon my public appearance in business, it may be well +to let you know the then state of my mind with regard to my principles +and morals, that you may see how far those influenced the future +events of my life. My parents had early given me religious +impressions, and brought me through my childhood piously in the +Dissenting[90] way. But I was scarce fifteen when, after doubting by +turns of several points, as I found them disputed in the different +books I read, I began to doubt of revelation itself. Some books +against Deism[91] fell into my hands; they were said to be the +substance of sermons preached at Boyle's Lectures. It happened that +they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by +them; for the arguments of the Deists, which were quoted to be +refuted, appeared to me much stronger than the refutations; in short, +I soon became a thorough Deist. My arguments perverted some others, +particularly Collins and Ralph; but, each of them having afterward +wronged me greatly without the least compunction, and recollecting +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, though it might be true, was not +very useful. My London pamphlet, which had for its motto these lines +of Dryden: + + "Whatever is, is right. Though purblind man + Sees but a part o' the chain, the nearest link: + His eyes not carrying to the equal beam + That poises all above;"[92] + +and from the attributes of God, his infinite wisdom, goodness, and +power, concluded that nothing could possibly be wrong in the world, +and that vice and virtue were empty distinctions, no such things +existing, appeared now not so clever a performance as I once thought +it; and I doubted whether some error had not insinuated itself +unperceived into my argument, so as to infect all that followed, as is +common in metaphysical reasonings. + +I grew convinced that truth, sincerity, and integrity in dealings +between man and man were of the utmost importance to the felicity of +life; and I formed written resolutions, which still remain in my +journal book, to practice them ever while I lived. Revelation had +indeed no weight with me as such; but I entertained an opinion that, +though certain actions might not be bad because they were forbidden by +it, or good because it commanded them, yet probably those actions +might be forbidden because they were bad for us, or commanded because +they were beneficial to us, in their own natures, all the +circumstances of things considered. And this persuasion, with the kind +hand of Providence, or some guardian angel, or accidental favorable +circumstances and situations, or all together,--preserved me, through +this dangerous time of youth and the hazardous situations I was +sometimes in among strangers, remote from the eye and advice of my +father, without any willful gross immorality or injustice, that might +have been expected from my want of religion. I say willful, because +the instances I have mentioned had something of necessity in them, +from my youth, inexperience, and the knavery of others. I had, +therefore, a tolerable character to begin the world with; I valued it +properly, and determined to preserve it. + +We had not been long returned to Philadelphia before the new types +arrived from London. We settled with Keimer, and left him by his +consent before he heard of it. We found a house to hire near the +market, and took it. To lessen the rent, which was then but +twenty-four pounds a year, though I have since known it to let for +seventy, we took in Thomas Godfrey, a glazier, and his family, who +were to pay a considerable part of it to us, and we to board with +them. We had scarce opened our letters and put our press in order, +before George House, an acquaintance of mine, brought a countryman to +us, whom he had met in the street inquiring for a printer. All our +cash was now expended in the variety of particulars we had been +obliged to procure, and this countryman's five shillings, being our +first fruits, and coming so seasonably, gave me more pleasure than any +crown I have since earned; and the gratitude I felt toward House has +made me often more ready than perhaps I should otherwise have been to +assist young beginners. + +There are croakers in every country, always boding its ruin. Such a one +then lived in Philadelphia, a person of note, an elderly man, with a +wise look and a very grave manner of speaking. His name was Samuel +Mickle. This gentleman, a stranger to me, stopped one day at my door, +and asked me if I was the young man who had lately opened a new printing +house. Being answered in the affirmative, he said he was sorry for me, +because it was an expensive undertaking, and the expense would be lost; +for Philadelphia was a sinking place, the people already half bankrupts, +or near being so, all appearances to the contrary, such as new buildings +and the rise of rents, being to his certain knowledge fallacious; for +they were, in fact, among the things that would soon ruin us. And he +gave me such a detail of misfortunes now existing, or that were soon to +exist, that he left me half melancholy. Had I known him before I engaged +in this business, probably I never should have done it. This man +continued to live in this decaying place, and to declaim in the same +strain, refusing for many years to buy a house there, because all was +going to destruction; and at last I had the pleasure of seeing him give +five times as much for one as he might have bought it for when he first +began his croaking. + +I should have mentioned before, that in the autumn of the preceding +year I had formed most of my ingenious acquaintance into a club of +mutual improvement, which we called the "Junto."[93] We met on Friday +evenings. The rules that I drew up required that every member, in his +turn, should produce one or more queries on any point of morals, +politics, or natural philosophy, to be discussed by the company; and +once in three months produce and read an essay of his own writing, on +any subject he pleased. Our debates were to be under the direction of +a president, and to be conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry +after truth, without fondness for dispute or desire of victory; and, +to prevent warmth, all expressions of positiveness in opinions, or +direct contradiction, were after some time made contraband, and +prohibited under small pecuniary penalties.[n] + +The first members were: Joseph Breintnal, a copier of deeds for the +scriveners, a good-natured, friendly, middle-aged man, a great lover +of poetry, reading all he could meet with, and writing some that was +tolerable; very ingenious in many little knick-knackeries, and of +sensible conversation. Thomas Godfrey, a self-taught mathematician, +great in his way, and afterward inventor of what is now called +Hadley's Quadrant.[94] But he knew little out of his way, and was not +a pleasing companion; as, like most great mathematicians I have met +with, he expected universal precision in everything said, or was +forever denying or distinguishing upon trifles, to the disturbance of +all conversation. He soon left us. Nicholas Scull, a surveyor, +afterward surveyor general, who loved books, and sometimes made a few +verses. William Parsons, bred a shoemaker, but loving reading, had +acquired a considerable share of mathematics, which he first studied +with a view to astrology that he afterward laughed at. He also became +surveyor general. William Maugridge, a joiner, a most exquisite +mechanic, and a solid, sensible man. Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, and +George Webb I have characterized before. Robert Grace, a young +gentleman of some fortune, generous, lively, and witty; a lover of +punning and of his friends. And William Coleman, then a merchant's +clerk, about my age, who had the coolest, clearest head, the best +heart, and the exactest morals of almost any man I ever met with. He +became afterward a merchant of great note, and one of our provincial +judges. Our friendship continued without interruption to his death, +upward of forty years; and the club continued almost as long, and was +the best school of philosophy, morality, and politics that then +existed in the province; for our queries, which were read the week +preceding their discussion, put us upon reading with attention upon +the several subjects, that we might speak more to the purpose; and +here, too, we acquired better habits of conversation, everything being +studied in our rules which might prevent our disgusting each other. +From hence the long continuance of the club, which I shall have +frequent occasion to speak further of hereafter. + +But my giving this account of it here is to show something of the +interest I had, every one of these exerting themselves in recommending +business to us. Breintnal particularly procured us from the Quakers +the printing forty sheets of their history, the rest being to be done +by Keimer; and upon this we worked exceedingly hard, for the price was +low. It was a folio, pro patria size, in pica, with long primer notes. +I composed of it a sheet a day, and Meredith worked it off at press; +it was often eleven at night, and sometimes later, before I had +finished my distribution[95] for the next day's work, for the little +jobs 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 folio that one +night, when, having imposed[96] my forms, I thought my day's work +over, one of them by accident was broken, and two pages reduced to +pi,[97] I immediately distributed and composed it over again before I +went to bed; and this industry, visible to our neighbors, began to +give us character and credit; particularly, I was told, that mention +being made of the new printing office at the merchants' Every-Night +Club, the general opinion was that it must fail, there being already +two printers in the place, Keimer and Bradford; but Dr. Baird (whom +you and I saw many years after at his native place, St. Andrew's, in +Scotland) gave a contrary opinion: "For the industry of that +Franklin," says he, "is superior to anything I ever saw of the kind; I +see him still at work when I go home from club, and he is at work +again before his neighbors are out of bed." This struck the rest, and +we soon after had offers from one of them to supply us with +stationery; but as yet we did not choose to engage in shop business. + +I mention this industry the more particularly and the more freely, +though it seems to be talking in my own praise, that those of my +posterity who shall read it may know the use of that virtue, when they +see its effects in my favor throughout this relation. + +George Webb, who had found a female friend that lent him wherewith to +purchase his time of Keimer, now came to offer himself as a journeyman +to us. We could not then employ him; but I foolishly let him know, as +a secret, that I soon intended to begin a newspaper, and might then +have work for him. My hopes of success, as I told him, were founded on +this: that the then only newspaper, printed by Bradford, was a paltry +thing, wretchedly managed, no way entertaining, and yet was profitable +to him; I therefore thought a good paper would scarcely fail of good +encouragement. I requested Webb not to mention this; but he told it +to Keimer, who immediately, to be beforehand with me, published +proposals for printing one himself, on which Webb was to be employed. +I resented this; and, to counteract them, as I could not yet begin our +paper, I wrote several pieces of entertainment for Bradford's paper, +under the title of the "Busy Body," which Breintnal continued some +months. By this means the attention of the public was fixed on that +paper, and Keimer's proposals, which were burlesqued and ridiculed, +were disregarded. He began his paper, however, and, after carrying it +on three quarters of a year, with at most only ninety subscribers, he +offered it to me for a trifle; and I, having been ready some time to +go on with it, took it in hand directly, and it proved in a few years +extremely profitable to me.[98] + +I perceive that I am apt to speak in the singular number, though our +partnership still continued; the reason may be that, in fact, the +whole management of the business lay upon me. Meredith was no +compositor, a poor pressman, and seldom sober. My friends lamented my +connection with him, but I was to make the best of it. + +Our first papers made a quite different appearance from any before in +the province; a better type, and better printed; but some spirited +remarks of my writing, on the dispute[99] then going on between +Governor Burnet and the Massachusetts Assembly, struck the principal +people, occasioned the paper and the manager of it to be much talked +of, and in a few weeks brought them all to be our subscribers. + +Their example was followed by many, and our number went on growing +continually. This was one of the first good effects of my having +learned a little to scribble;[n] another was that the leading men, +seeing a newspaper now in the hands of one who could also handle a +pen, thought it convenient to oblige and encourage me. Bradford still +printed the votes and laws and other public business. He had printed +an address of the House to the governor in a coarse, blundering +manner; we reprinted it elegantly and correctly, and sent one to every +member. They were sensible of the difference; it strengthened the +hands of our friends in the House, and they voted us their printers +for the year ensuing. + +Among my friends in the House I must not forget Mr. Hamilton, before +mentioned, who was then returned from England, and had a seat in it. +He interested himself for me strongly in that instance, as he did in +many others afterward, continuing his patronage till his death.[100] + +Mr. Vernon, about this time, put me in mind of the debt I owed him, but +did not press me. I wrote him an ingenuous letter of acknowledgment, +craved his forbearance a little longer, which he allowed me, and as soon +as I was able I paid the principle, with interest, and many thanks; so +that erratum was in some degree corrected. + +But now another difficulty came upon me which I had never the least +reason to expect. Mr. Meredith's father, who was to have paid for our +printing house, according to the expectations given me, was able to +advance only one hundred pounds currency, which had been paid; and a +hundred more 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 must soon come to a judgment and execution, and our +hopeful prospects must, with us, be ruined, as the press and letters +must be sold for payment, perhaps at half price. + +In this distress two true friends, whose kindness I have never +forgotten, nor ever shall forget while I can remember anything, came +to me separately, unknown to each other, and, without any application +from me, offering each of them to advance me all the money that should +be necessary to enable me to take the whole business upon myself, if +that should be practicable; but they did not like my continuing the +partnership with Meredith, who, as they said, was often seen drunk in +the streets, and playing at low games in alehouses, much to our +discredit. These two friends were William Coleman and Robert Grace. I +told them I could not propose a separation while any prospect remained +of the Merediths' fulfilling their part of our agreement, because I +thought myself under great obligations to them for what they had done +and would do if they could; but, if they finally failed in their +performance, and our partnership must be dissolved, I should then +think myself at liberty to accept the assistance of my friends. + +Thus the matter rested for some time, when I said to my partner, +"Perhaps your father is dissatisfied at the part you have undertaken +in this affair of ours, and is unwilling to advance for you and me +what he would for you alone. If that is the case, tell me, and I will +resign the whole to you, and go about my business." "No," said he, "my +father has really been disappointed, and is really unable; and I am +unwilling to distress him further. I see this is a business I am not +fit for. I was bred a farmer, and it was a folly in me to come to +town, and put myself, at thirty years of age, an apprentice to learn a +new trade. Many of our Welsh people are going to settle in North +Carolina, where land is cheap. I am inclined to go with them, and +follow my old employment. You may find friends to assist you. If you +will take the debts of the company upon you, return to my father the +hundred pounds he has advanced, pay my little personal debts, and +give me thirty pounds and a new saddle, I will relinquish the +partnership, and leave the whole in your hands." I agreed to this +proposal; it was drawn up in writing, signed, and sealed immediately. +I gave him what he demanded, and he went soon after to Carolina, from +whence he sent me next year two long letters, containing the best +account that had been given of that country, the climate, the soil, +husbandry, etc., for in those matters he was very judicious. I printed +them in the papers, and they gave great satisfaction to the public. + +As soon as he was gone, I recurred to my two friends; and because I +would not give an unkind preference to either, I took half of what +each had offered and I wanted of one, and half of the other, paid off +the company's debts, and went on with the business in my own name, +advertising that the partnership was dissolved. I think this was in or +about the year 1729. + +About this time there was a cry among the people for more paper money, +only fifteen thousand pounds being extant in the province, and that +soon to be sunk. The wealthy inhabitants opposed any addition, being +against all paper currency, from an apprehension that it would +depreciate, as it had done in New England, to the prejudice of all +creditors. We had discussed this point in our Junto, where I was on +the side of an addition, being persuaded that the first small sum +struck in 1723 had done much good by increasing the trade, 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 first walked about the streets of Philadelphia, +eating my roll, I saw most of the houses in Walnut Street, between +Second and Front Streets, with bills on their doors, "To be Let;" and +many likewise in Chestnut Street and other streets, which made me then +think the inhabitants of the city were deserting it one after another. + +Our debates possessed me so fully of the subject that I wrote and +printed an anonymous pamphlet on it, entitled, "The Nature and +Necessity of a Paper Currency." It was well received by the common +people in general; but the rich men disliked it, for it increased and +strengthened the clamor for more money, and they, happening to have no +writers among them that were able to answer it, their opposition +slackened, and the point was carried by a majority in the House. My +friends there, who conceived I had been of some service, thought fit +to reward me by employing me in printing the money,--a very profitable +job and a great help to me. This was another advantage gained by my +being able to write. + +The utility of this currency became by time and experience so evident +as never afterward to be much disputed; so that it grew soon to +fifty-five thousand pounds, and in 1739 to eighty thousand pounds, +since which it rose during war to upward of three hundred and fifty +thousand pounds, trade, building, and inhabitants all the while +increasing, though I now think there are limits, beyond which the +quantity may be hurtful.[101] + +I soon after obtained, through my friend Hamilton, the printing of the +Newcastle paper money, another profitable job, as I then thought it, +small things appearing great to those in small circumstances; and +these, to me, were really great advantages, as they were great +encouragements. He procured for me, also, the printing of the laws and +votes of that government,[102] which continued in my hands as long as +I followed the business. + +I now opened a little stationer's shop. I had in it blanks of all +sorts, the correctest that ever appeared among us, being assisted in +that by my friend Breintnal. I had also paper, parchment, chapmen's +books, etc. One Whitemash, a compositor I had known in London, an +excellent workman, now came to me, and worked with me constantly and +diligently; and I took an apprentice, the son of Aquila Rose. + +I began now gradually to pay off the debt I was under for the printing +house. In order to secure my credit and character as a tradesman, I +took care not only to be in reality industrious and frugal, but to +avoid all appearances to the contrary. I dressed plainly; I was seen +at no places of idle diversion; I never went out a-fishing or +shooting; a book, indeed, sometimes debauched me from my work, but +that was seldom, snug,[103] and gave no scandal; and, to show that I +was not above my business, I sometimes brought home the paper I +purchased at the stores through the streets on a wheelbarrow. Thus, +being esteemed an industrious, thriving young man, and paying duly for +what I bought, the merchants who imported stationery solicited my +custom; others proposed supplying me with books, and I went on +swimmingly. In the mean time, Keimer's credit and business declining +daily, he was at last forced to sell his printing house to satisfy his +creditors. He went to Barbadoes, and there lived some years in very +poor circumstances. + +His apprentice, David Harry, whom I had instructed while I worked with +him, set up in his place at Philadelphia, having bought his materials. +I was at first apprehensive of a powerful rival in Harry, as his +friends were very able and had a good deal of interest. I therefore +proposed a partnership to him, which he, fortunately for me, rejected +with scorn. He was very proud, dressed like a gentleman, lived +expensively, took much diversion and pleasure abroad, ran in debt, and +neglected his business; upon which, all business left him; and, +finding nothing to do, he followed Keimer to Barbadoes, taking the +printing house with him. There this apprentice employed his former +master as a journeyman; they quarreled often; Harry went continually +behindhand, and at length was forced to sell his types and return to +his country work in Pennsylvania. The person that bought them employed +Keimer to use them, but in a few years he died. + +There remained now no competitor with me at Philadelphia but the old +one, Bradford, who was rich and easy, did a little printing now and +then by straggling hands, but was not very anxious about the business. +However, as he kept the post office, it was imagined he had better +opportunities of obtaining news. His paper was thought a better +distributer of advertisements than mine, and therefore had many more, +which was a profitable thing to him, and a disadvantage to me; for, +though I did indeed receive and send papers by post, yet the public +opinion was otherwise, for what I did send was by bribing the +riders,[104] who took them privately, Bradford being unkind enough to +forbid it, which occasioned some resentment on my part; and I thought +so meanly of him for it that, when I afterward came into his +situation, I took care never to imitate it. + +I had hitherto continued to board with Godfrey, who lived in part of +my house with his wife and children, and had one side of the shop for +his glazier's business, though he worked little, being always absorbed +in his mathematics. Mrs. Godfrey projected a match for me with a +relation's daughter, and took opportunities of bringing us often +together, till a serious courtship on my part ensued, the girl being +in herself very deserving. The old folks encouraged me by continual +invitations to supper, and by leaving us together, till at length it +was time to explain. Mrs. Godfrey managed our little treaty. I let her +know that I expected as much money[n] with their daughter as would pay +off my remaining debt for the printing house, which I believe was then +above a hundred pounds. She brought me word they had no such sum to +spare. I said they might mortgage their house in the loan office. The +answer to this, after some days, was that they did not approve the +match; that, on inquiry of Bradford, they had been informed the +printing business was not a profitable one; the types would soon be +worn out and more wanted; that S. Keimer and D. Harry had failed one +after the other, and I should probably soon follow them; and therefore +I was forbidden the house, and the daughter shut up. + +Whether this was a real change of sentiment, or only artifice, on a +supposition of our being too far engaged in affection to retract, and +therefore that we should steal a marriage, which would leave them at +liberty to give or withhold what they pleased, I know not; but I +suspected the latter, resented it, and went no more. Mrs. Godfrey +brought me afterward some more favorable accounts of their +disposition, and would have drawn me on again; but I declared +absolutely my resolution to have nothing more to do with that family. +This was resented by the Godfreys; we differed, and they removed, +leaving me the whole house, and I resolved to take no more inmates. + +But this affair having turned my thoughts to marriage, I looked round +me and made overtures of acquaintance in other places; but soon found +that, the business of a printer being generally thought a poor one, I +was not to expect money with a wife, unless with such a one as I +should not otherwise think agreeable. In the mean time a friendly +correspondence as neighbors and old acquaintances had continued +between me and Mr. Read's family, who all had a regard for me from the +time of my first lodging in their house. I was often invited there and +consulted in their affairs, wherein I sometimes was of service. I +pitied poor Miss Read's unfortunate situation, who was generally +dejected, seldom cheerful, and avoided company. I considered my +giddiness and inconstancy when in London as in a great degree the +cause of her unhappiness, though the mother was good enough to think +the fault more her own than mine, as she had prevented our marrying +before I went thither, and persuaded the other match in my absence. +Our mutual affection was revived, but there were now great objections +to our union. The match[105] was indeed looked upon as invalid, a +preceding wife being said to be living in England; but this could not +easily be proved because of the distance; and though there was a +report of his death, it was not certain. Then, though it should be +true, he had left many debts, which his successor might be called upon +to pay. We ventured, however, over all these difficulties, and I took +her to wife Sept. 1, 1730. None of the inconveniences happened that we +had apprehended; she proved a good and faithful helpmate, assisted me +much by attending shop, we throve together, and have ever mutually +endeavored to make each other happy. Thus I corrected that great +erratum as well as I could.[106] + +About this time, our club meeting not at a tavern but in a little room +of Mr. Grace's set apart for that purpose, a proposition was made by +me that, since our books were often referred to in our disquisitions +upon the queries, it might be convenient to us to have them all +together where we met, that upon occasion they might be consulted; and +by thus clubbing our books to a common library, we should, while we +liked to keep them together, have each of us the advantage of using +the books of all the other members, which would be nearly as +beneficial as if each owned the whole. It was liked and agreed to, and +we filled one end of the room with such books as we could best spare. +The number was not so great as we expected; and though they had been +of great use, yet, some inconveniences occurring for want of due care +of them, the collection, after about a year, was separated, and each +took his books home again. + +And now I set on foot my first project of a public nature,--that for a +subscription library.[n] I drew up the proposals, got them put into form +by our great scrivener, Brockden, and, by the help of my friends in the +Junto, procured fifty subscribers of forty shillings each to begin with, +and ten shillings a year for fifty years, the term our company was to +continue. We afterward obtained a charter, the company being increased +to one hundred. This was the mother of all the North American +subscription libraries, now so numerous. It is become a great thing +itself, and continually increasing. These libraries have improved the +general conversation of the Americans, made the common tradesmen and +farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other countries, and +perhaps have contributed in some degree to the stand so generally made +throughout the colonies in defense of their privileges.[107] + + +CONTINUATION OF THE ACCOUNT OF MY LIFE, BEGUN AT PASSY, NEAR PARIS, +1784. + +It is some time since I received the above letters,[108] but I have +been too busy till now to think of complying with the request they +contain. It might, too, be much better done if I were at home among my +papers, which would aid my memory, and help to ascertain dates; but my +return being uncertain, and having just now a little leisure, I will +endeavor to recollect and write what I can; if I live to get home, it +may there be corrected and improved. + +Not having any copy here of what is already written, I know not +whether an account is given of the means I used to establish the +Philadelphia Public Library, which, from a small beginning, is now +become so considerable, though I remember to have come down to near +the time of that transaction (1730). I will therefore begin here with +an account of it, which may be struck out if found to have been +already given. + +At the time I established myself in Pennsylvania there was not a good +bookseller's shop in any of the colonies to the southward of Boston. +In New York and Philadelphia the printers were indeed stationers; they +sold only paper, etc., almanacs, ballads, and a few common +schoolbooks. Those who loved reading were obliged to send for their +books from England; the members of the Junto had each a few. We had +left the alehouse where we first met, and hired a room to hold our +club in. I proposed that we should all of us bring our books to that +room, where they would not only be ready to consult in our +conferences, but become a common benefit, each of us being at liberty +to borrow such as he wished to read at home. This was accordingly +done, and for some time contented us. + +Finding the advantage of this little collection, I proposed to render +the benefit from books more common by commencing a public subscription +library. I drew a sketch of the plan and rules that would be +necessary, and got a skillful conveyancer, Mr. Charles Brockden, to +put the whole in form of articles of agreement to be subscribed, by +which each subscriber engaged to pay a certain sum down for the first +purchase of books, and an annual contribution for increasing them. So +few were the readers at that time in Philadelphia, and the majority of +us so poor, that I was not able, with great industry, to find more +than fifty persons, mostly young tradesmen, willing to pay down for +this purpose forty shillings each and ten shillings per annum. + +On this little fund we began. The books were imported; the library was +opened one day in the week for lending to the subscribers, on their +promissory notes to pay double the value if not duly returned. The +institution soon manifested its utility, was imitated by other towns +and in other provinces. The libraries were augmented by donations; +reading became fashionable; and our people, having no public +amusements to divert their attention from study, became better +acquainted with books, and in a few years were observed by strangers +to be better instructed and more intelligent than people of the same +rank generally are in other countries. + +When we were about to sign the above-mentioned articles, which were to +be binding on us, our heirs, etc., for fifty years, Mr. Brockden, the +scrivener, said to us: "You are young men, but it is scarcely probable +that any of you will live to see the expiration of the term 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 +incorporated and gave perpetuity to the company.[109] + +The objections and reluctances I met with in soliciting the +subscriptions made me soon feel the impropriety of presenting one's self +as the proposer of any useful project that might be supposed to raise +one's reputation in the smallest degree above that of one's neighbors, +when one has need of their assistance to accomplish that project. I +therefore put myself as much as I could out of sight, and stated it as a +scheme of a "number of friends," who had requested me to go about and +propose it to such as they thought lovers of reading. In this way my +affair went on more smoothly, and I ever after practiced it on such +occasions, and, from my frequent successes, can heartily recommend it. +The present little sacrifice of your vanity will afterward be amply +repaid. If it remains awhile uncertain to whom the merit belongs, some +one more vain than yourself will be encouraged to claim it, and then +even envy will be disposed to do you justice by plucking those assumed +feathers, and restoring them to their right owner. + +This library afforded me the means of improvement by constant study, +for which I set apart an hour or two each day, and thus repaired in +some degree the loss of the learned education my father once intended +for me. Reading was the only amusement I allowed myself. I spent no +time in taverns, games, or frolics of any kind; and my industry in my +business continued as indefatigable as it was necessary. I was +indebted for my printing house; I had a young family coming on to be +educated, and I had to contend for business with two printers, who +were established in the place before me. My circumstances, however, +grew daily easier. My original habits of frugality continuing, and my +father having, among his instructions to me when a boy, frequently +repeated a proverb of Solomon, "Seest thou a man diligent in his +business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean +men,"[110] I from thence considered industry as a means of obtaining +wealth and distinction, which encouraged me, though I did not think +that I should ever literally "stand before kings;" which, however, has +since happened, for I have stood before five, and even had the honor +of sitting down with one (the King of Denmark) to dinner.[n] + +We have an English proverb that says, "He that would thrive must ask +his wife." It was lucky for me that I had one as much disposed to +industry and frugality as myself. She assisted me cheerfully in my +business, folding and stitching pamphlets, tending shop, purchasing +old linen rags for the paper makers, etc. We kept no idle servants, +our table was plain and simple, our furniture of the cheapest. For +instance, my breakfast was a long time bread and milk (no tea), and I +ate it out of a two-penny earthen porringer, with a pewter spoon. But +mark how luxury will enter families and make a progress in spite of +principle. Being called one morning to breakfast, I found it in a +china bowl with a spoon of silver! They had been bought for me without +my knowledge by my wife, and had cost her the enormous sum of +three-and-twenty shillings, for which she had no other excuse or +apology to make but that she thought her husband deserved a silver +spoon and china bowl as well as any of his neighbors. This was the +first appearance of plate and china in our house, which afterward, in +a course of years, as our wealth increased, augmented gradually to +several hundred pounds in value. + +I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian; and, though I early +absented myself from the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being +my studying day, I never was without some religious principles. I +never doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that he made +the world, and governed it by his providence; that the most acceptable +service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; +and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here +or hereafter. These I esteemed the essentials of every religion; and +being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I +respected them all, though with different degrees of respect as I +found them more or less mixed with other articles which, without any +tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm morality, served principally +to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another. This respect to +all, with an opinion that the worst had some good effects, induced me +to avoid all discourse that might tend to lessen the good opinion +another might have of his own religion; and as our province increased +in people, and new places of worship were continually wanted, and +generally erected by voluntary contribution, my mite for such +purpose, whatever might be the sect, was never refused. + +Though I seldom attended any public worship, I had still an opinion of +its propriety and of its utility when rightly conducted, and I +regularly paid my annual subscription for the support of the only +Presbyterian minister or meeting we had in Philadelphia. He used to +visit me sometimes as a friend, and admonish me to attend his +administrations, and I was now and then prevailed on to do so, once +for five Sundays successively. Had he been in my opinion a good +preacher, perhaps I might have continued, notwithstanding the occasion +I had for the Sunday's leisure in my course of study; but his +discourses were chiefly either polemic arguments or explications of +the peculiar doctrines of our sect, and were all to me very dry, +uninteresting, and unedifying, since not a single moral principle was +inculcated or enforced, their aim seeming to be rather to make us +Presbyterians than good citizens. + +At length he took for his text that verse of the fourth chapter of +Philippians: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, +whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever +things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are +of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there 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 points only, as meant by the apostle: 1. Keeping holy the Sabbath +day. 2. Being diligent in reading the holy Scriptures. 3. Attending +duly the public worship. 4. Partaking of the sacrament. 5. Paying a +due respect to God's ministers. These might be all good things; but, +as they were not the kind of good things that I expected from that +text, I despaired of ever meeting with them from any other, was +disgusted, and attended his preaching no more. I had some years before +composed a little liturgy, or form of prayer, for my own private use +(in 1728), entitled "Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion." I +returned to the use of this, and went no more to the public +assemblies. My conduct might be blamable, but I leave it without +attempting further to excuse it, my present purpose being to relate +facts, and not to make apologies for them. + +[Footnote 81: This method of expression was adopted on the reformation +of the calendar in England in 1752. It shows in this case that the +February was of the year 1726 according to the old style, and 1727 +according to the new calendar. The year 1751 began on the 25th of +March, the former New-Year's Day, and ended, by act of Parliament, at +the 1st of January, 1752.] + +[Footnote 82: Declared by word of mouth, not written.] + +[Footnote 83: Those who were unable to pay for their passage by ship +from one country to another, sometimes sold their service for a term +of years to the captain who brought them over.] + +[Footnote 84: Bound by articles of apprenticeship.] + +[Footnote 85: The guinea contains twenty-one shillings, while the +pound has twenty.] + +[Footnote 86: A crimp is one who brings recruits to the army or +sailors to ships by false inducements.] + +[Footnote 87: Molds.] + +[Footnote 88: Here used for salesman.] + +[Footnote 89: Marks or registers by which a bill may be identified.] + +[Footnote 90: See Note 3, p. 19.] + +[Footnote 91: Belief in the existence of a personal God, but denying +revelation.] + +[Footnote 92: + + "Whatever is, is in its causes just, + Since all things are by fate. But purblind man + Sees but a part o' the chain, the nearest links; + His eyes not carrying to the equal beam + That poises all above." + + DRYDEN, _[OE]dipus_, act iii. sc. I. +] + +[Footnote 93: The word means an assembly of persons engaged for a +common purpose. It is from the Spanish _junta_ ("a council").] + +[Footnote 94: An instrument used in navigation for measuring the +altitude of the sun.] + +[Footnote 95: Putting the types no longer needed for printing into the +proper boxes.] + +[Footnote 96: Set up for printing.] + +[Footnote 97: Type in a jumbled mass.] + +[Footnote 98: "This paper was called The Universal Instructor in all +Arts and Sciences and Pennsylvania Gazette. Keimer printed his last +number--the thirty-ninth--on the twenty-fifth day of September, +1729."--BIGELOW.] + +[Footnote 99: The governor brought instructions from the king that his +salary should be one thousand pounds. The legislature claimed the +liberty of fixing the sum themselves. Franklin ended his article with +this sentence: "Their happy mother country will perhaps observe with +pleasure that, though her gallant cocks and matchless dogs abate their +natural fire and intrepidity when transported to a foreign clime (as +this nation is), yet her sons in the remotest part of the earth, and +even to the third and fourth descent, still retain that ardent spirit +of liberty, and that undaunted courage, which has in every age so +gloriously distinguished Britons and Englishmen from the rest of +mankind."] + +[Footnote 100: FRANKLIN'S NOTE.--I got his son once five hundred +pounds.] + +[Footnote 101: This money had not the full value of the pound sterling.] + +[Footnote 102: That is, the government of Delaware.] + +[Footnote 103: In secret.] + +[Footnote 104: Men on horseback who carried the mail.] + +[Footnote 105: Miss Read's first marriage.] + +[Footnote 106: Mrs. Franklin died Dec. 19, 1774. Franklin celebrated +his wife in a song, of which the following verses are a part: + + "Of their Chloes and Phyllises poets may prate, + I sing my plain country Joan, + These twelve years my wife, still the joy of my life, + Blest day that I made her my own. + + * * * * * + + "Am I loaded with care, she takes off a large share, + That the burden ne'er makes me to reel; + Does good fortune arrive, the joy of my wife + Quite doubles the pleasure I feel. + + * * * * * + + "Some faults have we all, and so has my Joan, + But then they're exceedingly small; + And, now I'm grown used to them, so like my own, + I scarcely can see them at all. + + "Were the finest young princess with millions in purse, + To be had in exchange for my Joan, + I could not get better wife, might get a worse, + So I'll stick to my dearest old Joan." +] + +[Footnote 107: FRANKLIN'S MEMORANDUM.--Thus far was written with the +intention expressed in the beginning, and therefore contains several +little family anecdotes of no importance to others. What follows was +written many years after in compliance with the advice contained in +these letters (see p. 192), and accordingly intended for the public. +The affairs of the Revolution occasioned the interruption.] + +[Footnote 108: See Note 1.] + +[Footnote 109: The Philadelphia Library was incorporated in 1742. In +its building is a tablet which reads as follows: + + Be it remembered, + in honor of the Philadelphia youth + (then chiefly artificers), + that in MDCCXXXI. + they cheerfully, + at the instance of Benjamin Franklin, + one of their number, + instituted the Philadelphia Library, + which, though small at first, + is become highly valuable and extensively useful, + and which the walls of this edifice + are now destined to contain and preserve; + the first stone of whose foundation + was here placed + the thirty-first day of August, 1789. + +The inscription, save the mention of himself, was prepared by Franklin.] + +[Footnote 110: See Prov. xxii. 29.] + + + + +Sec.5. CONTINUED SELF-EDUCATION. + + +It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of +arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without committing any +fault at any time; I would conquer all that either natural +inclination, custom, or company might lead me into. As I knew, or +thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might +not always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had +undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined. While my +care was employed in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised +by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was +sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded at length that the mere +speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely +virtuous was not sufficient to prevent our slipping; and that the +contrary habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and +established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform +rectitude of conduct. For this purpose I therefore contrived the +following method. + +In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I had met with in my +reading, I found the catalogue more or less numerous, as different +writers included more or fewer ideas under the same name. Temperance, +for example, was by some confined to eating and drinking, while by +others it was extended to mean the moderating every other pleasure, +appetite, inclination, or passion, bodily or mental, even to our +avarice and ambition. I proposed to myself, for the sake of clearness, +to use rather more names, with fewer ideas annexed to each, than a few +names with more ideas; and I included under thirteen names of virtues +all that at that time occurred to me as necessary or desirable, and +annexed to each a short precept, which fully expressed the extent I +gave to its meaning. + +These names of virtues, with their precepts, were: + +1. TEMPERANCE. + +Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation. + +2. SILENCE. + +Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling +conversation. + +3. ORDER. + +Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business +have its time. + +4. RESOLUTION. + +Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you +resolve. + +5. FRUGALITY. + +Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste +nothing. + +6. INDUSTRY. + +Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all +unnecessary actions. + +7. SINCERITY. + +Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, +speak accordingly. + +8. JUSTICE. + +Wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your +duty. + +9. MODERATION. + +Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they +deserve. + +10. CLEANLINESS. + +Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation. + +11. TRANQUILLITY. + +Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable. + +12. CHASTITY. + +13. HUMILITY. + +Imitate Jesus and Socrates. + +My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these virtues, I +judged it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the +whole at once, but to fix it on one of them at a time; and, when I +should be master of that, then to proceed to another, and so on, till +I should have gone through the thirteen; and, as the previous +acquisition of some might facilitate the acquisition of certain +others, I arranged them with that view as they stand above. Temperance +first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head +which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up, and +guard maintained against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits +and the force of perpetual temptations. This being acquired and +established, Silence would be more easy; and my desire being to gain +knowledge at the same time that I improved in virtue, and considering +that in conversation it was obtained rather by the use of the ears +than of the tongue, and therefore wishing to break a habit I was +getting into of prattling, punning, and joking, which only made me +acceptable to trifling company, I gave Silence the second place. This +and the next, Order, I expected would allow me more time for attending +to my project and my studies. Resolution, once become habitual, would +keep me firm in my endeavors to obtain all the subsequent virtues; +Frugality and Industry, freeing me from my remaining debt, and +producing affluence and independence, would make more easy the +practice of Sincerity and Justice, etc. Conceiving then that, +agreeably to the advice of Pythagoras in his "Golden Verses,"[111] +daily examination would be necessary, I contrived the following method +for conducting that examination. + +I made a little book,[112] in 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 letter for +the day. I crossed these columns with thirteen red lines, marking the +beginning of each line with the first letter of one of the virtues, on +which line, and in its proper column, I might mark, by a little black +spot, every fault I found upon examination to have been committed +respecting that virtue upon that day. + +I determined to give a week's strict attention to each of the virtues +successively. Thus, in the first week my great guard was to avoid +every (the least) offense against Temperance, leaving the other +virtues to their ordinary chance, only marking every evening the +faults of the day. Thus, if in the first week I could keep my first +line, marked T., clear of spots, I supposed the habit of that virtue +so much strengthened, and its opposite weakened, that I might venture +extending my attention to include the next, and for the following week +keep both lines clear of spots. Proceeding thus to the last, I could +go through a course complete in thirteen weeks, and four courses in a +year. And, like him who, having a garden to weed, does not attempt to +eradicate all the bad + + _FORM OF THE PAGES._ + + ----------------------------------------------------- + | TEMPERANCE. | + |---------------------------------------------------| + | EAT NOT TO DULLNESS; | + | DRINK NOT TO ELEVATION. | + |---------------------------------------------------| + | | S. | M. | T. | W. | T. | F. | S. | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | T[emperance] | | | | | | | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | S[ilence] | * | * | | * | | * | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | O[rder] | ** | * | * | | * | * | * | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | R[esolution] | | | * | | | * | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | F[rugality] | | * | | | * | | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | I[ndustry] | | | * | | | | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | S[incerity] | | | | | | | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | J[ustice] | | | | | | | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | M[oderation] | | | | | | | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | C[leanliness] | | | | | | | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | T[ranquillity] | | | | | | | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | C[hastity] | | | | | | | | + |----------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| + | H[umility] | | | | | | | | + ----------------------------------------------------- + +herbs at once, which would exceed his reach and his strength, but +works on one of the beds at a time, and, having accomplished the +first, proceeds to a second, so I should have, I hoped, the +encouraging pleasure of seeing on my pages the progress I made in +virtue, by clearing successively my lines of their spots, till in the +end, by a number of courses, I should be happy in viewing a clean +book, after a thirteen-weeks' daily examination. My little book had +for its motto these lines from Addison's "Cato:" + + "Here will I hold. If there's a power above us + (And that there is, all Nature cries aloud + Thro' all her works), He must delight in virtue; + And that which He delights in must be happy." + +Another from Cicero: + + "O vitae Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix expultrixque + vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex praeceptis tuis actus, peccanti + immortalitati est anteponendus."[113] + +Another from the Proverbs of Solomon, speaking of wisdom or virtue: + + "Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches + and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths + are peace." (iii. 16, 17.) + +And, conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I thought it right +and necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it. To this end +I formed the following little prayer, which was prefixed to my tables +of examination, for daily use: + + "O powerful Goodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide! Increase + in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. Strengthen + my resolutions to perform what that wisdom dictates. Accept my + kind offices to thy other children as the only return in my power + for thy continual favors to me." + +I used also sometimes a little prayer which I took from Thomson's Poems: + + "Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme! + O teach me what is good; teach me Thyself! + Save me from folly, vanity, and vice, + From every low pursuit; and fill my soul + With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure; + Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss!" + +The precept of Order requiring that every part of my business should +have its allotted time, one page in my little book contained the +following scheme of employment for the twenty-four hours of a natural +day. + + THE MORNING. { 5} Rise, wash, and address Powerful + _Question._ What good shall { 6} Goodness![n] Contrive day's + I do this day? { } business, and take the resolution + { 7} of the day; prosecute the present + { } study, and breakfast. + + 8} + 9} + 10} Work. + 11} + + NOON. {12} Read, or overlook my accounts, + { 1} and dine. + + 2} + 3} Work. + 4} + 5} + + EVENING. { 6} Put things in their places. + _Question._ What good have { 7} Supper. Music or diversion, or + I done to-day? { 8} conversation. Examination of + { 9} the day. + + {10} + {11} + {12} + NIGHT. { 1} Sleep. + { 2} + { 3} + { 4} + +I entered upon the execution of this plan for self-examination, and +continued it, with occasional intermissions, for some time. I was +surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; +but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish. To avoid the +trouble of renewing now and then my little book, which, by scraping +out the marks on the paper of old faults to make room for new ones in +a new course, became full of holes, I transferred my tables and +precepts to the ivory leaves of a memorandum book, on which the lines +were drawn with red ink, that made a durable stain, and on those lines +I marked my faults with a black lead pencil, which marks I could +easily wipe out with a wet sponge. After a while I went through one +course only in a year, and afterward only one in several years, till +at length I omitted them entirely, being employed in voyages and +business abroad, with a multiplicity of affairs that interfered; but I +always carried my little book with me. + +My scheme of Order gave me the most trouble; and I found that, though +it might be practicable where a man's business was such as to leave +him the disposition of his time,--that of a journeyman printer, for +instance,--it was not possible to be exactly observed by a master, who +must mix with the world, and often receive people of business at their +own hours. Order, too, with regard to places for things, papers, etc., +I found extremely difficult to acquire. I had not been early +accustomed to it, and, having an exceeding good memory, I was not so +sensible of the inconvenience attending want of method. This article, +therefore, cost me so much painful attention, and my faults in it +vexed me so much, and I made so little progress in amendment and had +such frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up the +attempt, and content myself with a faulty character in that respect, +like the man who, in buying an ax of a smith, my neighbor, desired to +have the whole of its surface as bright as the edge. The smith +consented to grind it bright for him if he would turn the wheel. He +turned, while the smith pressed the broad face of the ax hard and +heavily on the stone, which made the turning of it very fatiguing. The +man came every now and then from the wheel to see how the work went +on, and at length would take his ax as it was, without farther +grinding. "No," said the smith, "turn on, turn on; we shall have it +bright by and by; as yet, it is only speckled." "Yes," says the man, +"but I think I like a speckled ax best." And I believe this may have +been the case with many, who, having, for want of some such means as I +employed, found the difficulty of obtaining good and breaking bad +habits in other points of vice and virtue, have given up the struggle, +and concluded that a "speckled ax" was best. For something, that +pretended to be reason, was every now and then suggesting to me that +such extreme nicety as I exacted of myself might be a kind of foppery +in morals, which, if it were known, would make me ridiculous; that a +perfect character might be attended with the inconvenience of being +envied and hated; and that a benevolent man should allow a few faults +in himself, to keep his friends in countenance. + +In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to order; and, now +I am grown old and my memory bad, I feel very sensibly the want of it. +But on the whole, though I never arrived at the perfection I had been +so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the +endeavor, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been +if I had not attempted it; as those who aim at perfect writing by +imitating the engraved copies, though they never reach the wished-for +excellence of those copies, their hand is mended by the endeavor, and +is tolerable while it continues fair and legible. + +It may be well my posterity should be informed that to this little +artifice, with the blessing of God, their ancestor owed the constant +felicity of his life, down to his seventy-ninth year, in which this is +written. What reverses may attend the remainder is in the hand of +Providence; but, if they arrive, the reflection on past happiness +enjoyed ought to help his bearing them with more resignation. To +temperance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what is still +left to him of a good constitution; to industry and frugality, the +early easiness of his circumstances and acquisition of his fortune, +with all that knowledge that enabled him to be a useful citizen, and +obtained for him some degree of reputation among the learned; to +sincerity and justice, the confidence of his country, and the +honorable employs it conferred upon him; and to the joint influence of +the whole mass of the virtues, even in the imperfect state he was able +to acquire them, all that evenness of temper and that cheerfulness in +conversation which makes his company still sought for, and agreeable +even to his younger acquaintance. I hope, therefore, that some of my +descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit. + +It will be remarked that, though my scheme was not wholly without +religion, there was in it no mark of any of the distinguishing tenets +of any particular sect. I had purposely avoided them; for, being fully +persuaded of the utility and excellency of my method, and that it +might be serviceable to people in all religions, and intending some +time or other to publish it, I would not have anything in it that +should prejudice any one, of any sect, against it. I purposed writing +a little comment on each virtue, in which I would have shown the +advantages of possessing it, and the mischiefs attending its opposite +vice; and I should have called my book "The Art of Virtue,"[114] +because it would have shown the means and manner of obtaining virtue, +which would have distinguished it from the mere exhortation to be +good, that does not instruct and indicate the means, but is like the +apostle's man of verbal charity, who only, without showing to the +naked and hungry how or where they might get clothes or victuals, +exhorted them to be fed and clothed. (James ii. 15, 16.) + +But it so happened that my intention of writing and publishing this +comment was never fulfilled. I did, indeed, from time to time, put +down short hints of the sentiments, reasonings, etc., to be made use +of in it, some of which I have still by me; but the necessary close +attention to private business in the earlier part of my life, and +public business since, has occasioned my postponing it; for, it being +connected in my mind with a great and extensive project, that required +the whole man to execute, and which an unforeseen succession of +employs prevented my attending to, it has hitherto remained unfinished. + +In this piece it was my design to explain and enforce this doctrine, +that vicious actions are not hurtful because they are forbidden, but +forbidden because they are hurtful, the nature of man alone considered; +that it was, therefore, every one's interest to be virtuous who wished +to be happy even in this world; and I should, from this circumstance, +(there being always in the world a number of rich merchants, nobility, +states, and princes, who have need of honest instruments for the +management of their affairs, and such being so rare,) have endeavored to +convince young persons that no qualities were so likely to make a poor +man's fortune as those of probity and integrity. + +My list of virtues contained at first but twelve; but a Quaker friend +having kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud; that my +pride showed itself frequently in conversation; that I was not content +with being in the right when discussing any point, but was overbearing +and rather insolent, of which he convinced me by mentioning several +instances,--I determined endeavoring to cure myself, if I could, of +this vice or folly among the rest, and I added Humility to my list, +giving an extensive meaning to the word. + +I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this +virtue, but I had a good deal with regard to the appearance of it. I +made it a rule to forbear all direct contradiction to the sentiments +of others, and all positive assertion of my own. I even forbade +myself, agreeably to the old laws of our Junto, the use of every word +or expression in the language that imported a fixed opinion, such as +"certainly," "undoubtedly," etc., and I adopted, instead of them, "I +conceive," "I apprehend," or "I imagine" a thing to be so or so; or +"it so appears to me at present." When another asserted something that +I thought an error, I denied myself the pleasure of contradicting him +abruptly, and of showing immediately some absurdity in his +proposition; and in answering I began by observing that in certain +cases or circumstances his opinion would be right, but in the present +case there "appeared" or "seemed" to me some difference, etc. I soon +found the advantage of this change in my manner: the conversations I +engaged in went on more pleasantly; the modest way in which I proposed +my opinions procured them a readier reception and less contradiction; +I had less mortification when I was found to be in the wrong; and I +more easily prevailed with others to give up their mistakes and join +with me when I happened to be in the right. + +And this mode, which I at first put on with some violence to natural +inclination, became at length so easy and so habitual to me, that +perhaps for these fifty years past no one has ever heard a dogmatical +expression escape me. And to this habit (after my character of +integrity) I think it principally owing that I had early so much +weight with my fellow-citizens when I proposed new institutions, or +alterations in the old, and so much influence in public councils when +I became a member; for I was but a bad speaker, never eloquent, +subject to much hesitation in my choice of words, hardly correct in +language, and yet I generally carried my points. + +In reality there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to +subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, +mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now +and then peep out and show itself. You will see it, perhaps, often in +this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had completely +overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.[115] + + ["I AM NOW ABOUT TO WRITE AT HOME, AUGUST, 1788, BUT CANNOT HAVE + THE HELP EXPECTED FROM MY PAPERS, MANY OF THEM BEING LOST IN THE + WAR.[116] I HAVE, HOWEVER, FOUND THE FOLLOWING."] + +Having mentioned a great and extensive project which I had conceived, +it seems proper that some account should be here given of that project +and its object. Its first rise in my mind appears in the following +little paper, accidentally preserved: + +_Observations on my Reading History, in Library, May 19, 1731._ + + "That the great affairs of the world,--the wars, revolutions, + etc.,--are carried on and effected by parties. + + "That the view of these parties is their present general + interest, or what they take to be such. + + "That the different views of these different parties occasion all + confusion. + + "That while a party is carrying on a general design, each man has + his particular private interest in view. + + "That as soon as a party has gained its general point, each + member becomes intent upon his particular interest; which, + thwarting others, breaks that party into divisions, and occasions + more confusion. + + "That few in public affairs act from a mere view of the good of + their country, whatever they may pretend; and though their + actings bring real good to their country, yet men primarily + consider that their own and their country's interest is united, + and do not act from a principle of benevolence. + + "That fewer still, in public affairs, act with a view to the good + of mankind. + + "There seems to me at present to be great occasion for raising a + United Party for Virtue, by forming the virtuous and good men of + all nations into a regular body, to be governed by suitable good + and wise rules, which good and wise men may probably be more + unanimous in their obedience to than common people are to common + laws. + + "I at present think that whoever attempts this aright, and is + well qualified, cannot fail of pleasing God, and of meeting with + success. + + B. F." + +Revolving this project in my mind, as to be undertaken hereafter, when +my circumstances should afford me the necessary leisure, I put down +from time to time, on pieces of paper, such thoughts as occurred to me +respecting it. Most of these are lost; but I find one purporting to be +the substance of an intended creed, containing, as I thought, the +essentials of every known religion, and being free of everything that +might shock the professors of any religion. It is expressed in these +words: + +"That there is one God, who made all things. + +"That he governs the world by his providence. + +"That he ought to be worshiped by adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving. + +"But that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man. + +"That the soul is immortal. + +"And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either +here or hereafter." + +My ideas at that time were that the sect should be begun and spread at +first among young and single men only; that each person to be +initiated should not only declare his assent to such creed, but should +have exercised himself with the thirteen-weeks' examination and +practice of the virtues, as in the before-mentioned model; that the +existence of such a society should be kept a secret till it was become +considerable, to prevent solicitations for the admission of improper +persons, but that the members should each of them search among his +acquaintance for ingenuous, well-disposed youths, to whom, with +prudent caution, the scheme should be gradually communicated; that the +members should engage to afford their advice, assistance, and support +to each other in promoting one another's interests, business, and +advancement in life; that, for distinction, we should be called "The +Society of the Free and Easy:" free, as being, by the general practice +and habit of the virtues, free from the dominion of vice; and +particularly, by the practice of industry and frugality, free from +debt, which exposes a man to confinement and a species of slavery to +his creditors. + +This is as much as I can now recollect of the project, except that I +communicated it in part to two young men, who adopted it with some +enthusiasm; but my then narrow circumstances, and the necessity I was +under of sticking close to my business, occasioned my postponing the +further prosecution of it at that time; and my multifarious +occupations, public and private, induced me to continue postponing, so +that it has been omitted till I have no longer strength or activity +left sufficient for such an enterprise; though I am still of opinion +that it was a practicable scheme, and might have been very useful, by +forming a great number of good citizens; and I was not discouraged by +the seeming magnitude of the undertaking, as I have always thought +that one man of tolerable abilities may work great changes, and +accomplish great affairs among mankind, if he first forms a good plan, +and, cutting off all amusements or other employments that would +divert his attention, makes the execution of that same plan his sole +study and business. + +In 1732 I first published my Almanac,[117] under the name of "Richard +Saunders;" it was continued by me about twenty-five years, and +commonly called "Poor Richard's Almanac." I endeavored to make it both +entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand +that I reaped considerable profit from it, vending annually near ten +thousand. And observing that it was generally read, scarce any +neighborhood in the province being without it, I considered it as a +proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the common people, who +bought scarcely any other books. I therefore filled all the little +spaces that occurred between the remarkable days in the calendar with +proverbial sentences,[118] chiefly such as inculcated industry and +frugality as the means of procuring wealth, and thereby securing +virtue; it being more difficult for a man in want to act always +honestly, as (to use here one of those proverbs) "it is hard for an +empty sack to stand upright." + +These proverbs, which contained the wisdom of many ages and nations, I +assembled and formed into a connected discourse,[119] prefixed to the +Almanac of 1757 as the harangue of a wise old man to the people +attending an auction. The bringing all these scattered counsels thus +into a focus enabled them to make greater impression. The piece, being +universally approved, was copied in all the newspapers of the +Continent, reprinted in Britain on a broadside,[120] to be stuck up in +houses, two translations were made of it in French, and great numbers +bought by the clergy and gentry to distribute gratis among their poor +parishioners and tenants. In Pennsylvania, as it discouraged useless +expense in foreign superfluities, some thought it had its share of +influence in producing that growing plenty of money which was +observable for several years after its publication. + +I considered my newspaper, also, as another means of communicating +instruction, and in that view frequently reprinted in it extracts from +the "Spectator," and other moral writers, and sometimes published +little pieces of my own, which had been first composed for reading in +our Junto. Of these are a Socratic dialogue, tending to prove that, +whatever might be his parts and abilities, a vicious man could not +properly be called a man of sense; and a discourse on self-denial, +showing that virtue is not secure till its practice becomes a +habitude, and is free from the opposition of contrary inclinations. +These may be found in the papers about the beginning of 1735. + +In the conduct of my newspaper, I carefully excluded all libeling and +personal abuse, which is of late years become so disgraceful to our +country. Whenever I was solicited to insert anything of that kind, and +the writers pleaded, as they generally did, the liberty of the press, +and that a newspaper was like a stagecoach, in which any one who would +pay had a right to a place, my answer was that I would print the piece +separately if desired, and the author might have as many copies as he +pleased to distribute himself, but that I would not take upon me to +spread his detraction; and that, having contracted with my subscribers +to furnish them with what might be either useful or entertaining, I +could not fill their papers with private altercation, in which they +had no concern, without doing them manifest injustice. Now many of +our printers make no scruple of gratifying the malice of individuals +by false accusations of the fairest characters among ourselves, +augmenting animosity even to the producing of duels; and are, +moreover, so indiscreet as to print scurrilous reflections on the +government of neighboring states, and even on the conduct of our best +national allies, which may be attended with the most pernicious +consequences. These things I mention as a caution to young printers, +and that they may be encouraged not to pollute their presses and +disgrace their profession by such infamous practices, but refuse +steadily, as they may see by my example that such a course of conduct +will not, on the whole, be injurious to their interests. + +In 1733 I sent one of my journeymen to Charleston, South Carolina, +where a printer was wanting. I furnished him with a press and letters, +on an agreement of partnership by which I was to receive one third of +the profits of the business, paying one third of the expense. He was a +man of learning, and honest but ignorant in matters of account; and, +though he sometimes made me remittances, I could get no account from +him, nor any satisfactory state of our partnership while he lived. On +his decease the business was continued by his widow, who, being born +and bred in Holland, where, as I have been informed, the knowledge of +accounts makes a part of female education,[n] she not only sent me as +clear a state[121] as she could find of the transactions past, but +continued to account with the greatest regularity and exactness every +quarter afterward, and managed the business with such success that she +not only brought up reputably a family of children, but, at the +expiration of the term, was able to purchase of me the printing house, +and establish her son in it. + +I mention this affair chiefly for the sake of recommending that branch +of education for our young women, as likely to be of more use to them +and their children, in case of widowhood, than either music or dancing, +by preserving them from losses by imposition of crafty men, and +enabling them to continue, perhaps, a profitable mercantile house, with +established correspondence, till a son is grown up fit to undertake and +go on with it, to the lasting advantage and enriching of the family. + +About the year 1734 there arrived among us from Ireland a young +Presbyterian preacher, named Hemphill, who delivered with a good +voice, and apparently extempore, most excellent discourses, which drew +together considerable numbers of different persuasions, who joined in +admiring them. Among the rest I became one of his constant hearers, +his sermons pleasing me, as they had little of the dogmatical kind, +but inculcated strongly the practice of virtue, or what in the +religious style are called "good works." Those, however, of our +congregation who considered themselves as orthodox Presbyterians, +disapproved his doctrine, and were joined by most of the old clergy, +who arraigned him of heterodoxy[122] before the synod, in order to +have him silenced. I became his zealous partisan, and contributed all +I could to raise a party in his favor, and we combated for him awhile +with some hopes of success. There was much scribbling pro and con[123] +upon the occasion; and finding that, though an elegant preacher, he +was but a poor writer, I lent him my pen and wrote for him two or +three pamphlets, and one piece in the "Gazette" of April, 1735. Those +pamphlets, as is generally the case with controversial writings, +though eagerly read at the time, were soon out of vogue, and I +question whether a single copy of them now exists. + +During the contest an unlucky occurrence hurt his cause exceedingly. +One of our adversaries having heard him preach a sermon that was much +admired, thought he had somewhere read the sermon before, or at least +a part of it. On search, he found that part quoted at length in one of +the British Reviews, from a discourse of Dr. Foster's. This detection +gave many of our party disgust, who accordingly abandoned his cause, +and occasioned our more speedy discomfiture in the synod. I stuck by +him, however, as I rather approved his giving us good sermons +composed by others than bad ones of his own manufacture, though the +latter was the practice of our common teachers. He afterward +acknowledged to me that none of those he preached were his own, adding +that his memory was such as enabled him to retain and repeat any +sermon after one reading only. On our defeat, he left us in search +elsewhere of better fortune, and I quitted the congregation, never +joining it after, though I continued many years my subscription for +the support of its ministers. + +I had begun in 1733 to study languages; I soon made myself so much a +master of the French as to be able to read the books with ease. I then +undertook the Italian. An acquaintance, who was also learning it, used +often to tempt me to play chess with him. Finding this took up too +much of the time I had to spare for study, I at length refused to play +any more, unless on this condition: that the victor in every game +should have a right to impose a task, either in parts of the grammar +to be got by heart, or in translations, etc., which task the +vanquished was to perform on honor before our next meeting. As we +played pretty equally, we thus beat one another into that language. I +afterward, with a little painstaking, acquired as much of the Spanish +as to read their books also. + +I have already mentioned that I had only one year's instruction in a +Latin school, and that when very young, after which I neglected that +language entirely. But, when I had attained an acquaintance with the +French, Italian, and Spanish, I was surprised to find, on looking over +a Latin Testament, that I understood so much more of that language +than I had imagined, which encouraged me to apply myself again to the +study of it, and I met with more success, as those preceding languages +had greatly smoothed my way. + +From these circumstances, I have thought that there is some +inconsistency in our common mode of teaching languages.[n] We are told +that it is proper to begin first with the Latin, and, having acquired +that, it will be more easy to attain those modern languages which are +derived from it; and yet we do not begin with the Greek in order more +easily to acquire the Latin. It is true that, if you can clamber and +get to the top of the staircase without using the steps, you will more +easily gain them in descending; but certainly, if you begin with the +lowest you will with more ease ascend to the top; and I would +therefore offer it to the consideration of those who superintend the +education of our youth, whether,--since many of those who begin with +the Latin quit the same after spending some years without having made +any great proficiency, and what they have learned becomes almost +useless, so that their time has been lost,--it would not have been +better to have begun with the French, proceeding to the Italian, etc.; +for, though, after spending the same time, they should quit the study +of languages and never arrive at the Latin, they would, however, have +acquired another tongue or two, that, being in modern use, might be +serviceable to them in common life. + +After ten years' absence from Boston, and having become easy in my +circumstances, I made a journey thither to visit my relations, which I +could not sooner well afford. In returning, I called at Newport to see +my brother, then settled there with his printing house. Our former +differences were forgotten, and our meeting was very cordial and +affectionate. He was fast declining in his health, and requested of me +that, in case of his death, which he apprehended not far distant, I +would take home his son, then but ten years of age, and bring him up +to the printing business. This I accordingly performed, sending him a +few years to school before I took him into the office. His mother +carried on the business till he was grown up, when I assisted him with +an assortment of new types, those of his father being in a manner worn +out. Thus it was that I made my brother ample amends for the service I +had deprived him of by leaving him 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 long regretted bitterly, and +still regret, that I had not given it to him by inoculation.[124] +This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that operation on the +supposition that they should never forgive themselves if a child died +under it; my example showing that the regret may be the same either +way, and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen. + +Our club, the Junto, was found so useful, and afforded such +satisfaction to the members, that several were desirous of introducing +their friends, which could not well be done without exceeding what we +had settled as a convenient number, namely, twelve. We had from the +beginning made it a rule to keep our institution a secret, which was +pretty well observed. The intention was to avoid applications of +improper persons for admittance, some of whom, perhaps, we might find +it difficult to refuse. I was one of those who were against any +addition to our number, but, instead of it, made in writing a proposal +that every member separately should endeavor to form a subordinate +club, with the same rules respecting queries, etc., and without +informing them of the connection with the Junto. The advantages +proposed were the improvement of so many more young citizens by the +use of our institutions; our better acquaintance with the general +sentiments of the inhabitants on any occasion, as the Junto member +might propose what queries we should desire, and was to report to the +Junto what passed in his separate club; the promotion of our +particular interests in business by more extensive recommendation; and +the increase of our influence in public affairs and our power of doing +good by spreading through the several clubs the sentiments of the Junto. + +The project was approved, and every member undertook to form his club, +but they did not all succeed. Five or six only were completed, which +were called by different names, as "The Vine," "The Union," "The +Band," etc. They were useful to themselves, and afforded us a good +deal of amusement, information, and instruction, besides answering, in +some considerable degree, our views of influencing the public opinion +on particular occasions, of which I shall give some instances in +course of time as they happened. + +[Footnote 111: The following is taken from the commentary of Hierocles +upon the Golden Verses of Pythagoras. The English version is given by +Bigelow in his edition of the Autobiography: + +"He [Pythagoras, who lived in the sixth century B.C.] requires also +that this examination be daily repeated. The time which he recommends +for this work is about even or bedtime, that we may conclude the +action of the day with the judgment of conscience, making the +examination of our conversation an evening song to God. Wherein have I +transgressed? What have I done? What duty have I omitted? So shall we +measure our lives by rules. + +"We should have our parents and relations in high esteem, love and +embrace good men, raise ourselves above corporeal affections, +everywhere stand in awe of ourselves, carefully observe justice, +consider the frailty of riches and momentary life, embrace the lot +which falls to us by divine judgment, delight in a divine frame of +spirit, convert our mind to what is most excellent, love good +discourses, not lie open to impostures, not be servilely affected in +the possession of virtue, advise before action to prevent repentance, +free ourselves from uncertain opinions, live with knowledge, and +lastly, that we should adapt our bodies and the things without to the +exercise of virtue. These are the things which the lawgiving mind has +implanted in the souls of men."] + +[Footnote 112: It is dated July 1, 1733.] + +[Footnote 113: "O philosophy, thou guide of life! O thou searcher +after virtue and banisher of vice! One day lived well and in obedience +to thy precepts should be preferred to an eternity of sin."] + +[Footnote 114: FRANKLIN'S NOTE.--Nothing so likely to make a man's +fortune as virtue.] + +[Footnote 115: Thus far written at Passy, 1784.] + +[Footnote 116: The Revolution.] + +[Footnote 117: Almanacs were the first issues of the American press. +It is not easy in our day to understand their importance to the early +colonists, and their consequent popularity. The makers, philomaths +("lovers of learning") as Franklin called them, set out their wares in +every attractive form the taste and ingenuity of the age could devise. +They made them a diary, a receipt book, a jest book, 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 sixpence for the +annual copy. Once bought, it hung by the big chimney-piece, or lay +upon the clock shelf with the Bible and a theological tract or two. It +was read by the light that shone from the blazing logs of the +fireplace or the homemade tallow dip. Its recipes helped the mother in +her dyeing or weaving or cooking. Its warnings of "cold storms," +"flurries of snow," cautioned the farmer against too early planting of +corn; and its perennial jokes flavored the mirth of many a corn +husking or apple paring.] + +[Footnote 118: See p. 201.] + +[Footnote 119: See pp. 193-200.] + +[Footnote 120: A sheet printed on one side only and without +arrangement in columns.] + +[Footnote 121: Statement.] + +[Footnote 122: Departure from the faith held by the members of the +synod or assembly.] + +[Footnote 123: "Pro and con," i.e., for and against.] + +[Footnote 124: Vaccination was not at this time known. By inoculation +the smallpox poison was introduced into the arm, and produced a milder +form of the disease.] + + + + +Sec. 6. ENTERS PUBLIC LIFE. + + +My first promotion was my being chosen, in 1736, clerk of the General +Assembly. The choice was made that year without opposition; but the year +following, when I was again proposed, (the choice, like that of the +members, being annual,) a new member made a long speech against me, in +order to favor some other candidate. I was, however, chosen, which was +the more agreeable to me as, besides the pay for the immediate service +as clerk, the place gave me a better opportunity of keeping up an +interest among the members, which secured to me the business of printing +the votes, laws, paper money, and other occasional jobs for the public, +that, on the whole, were very profitable. + +I therefore did not like the opposition of this new member, who was a +gentleman of fortune and education, with talents that were likely to +give him, in time, great influence in the House; which, indeed, +afterward happened. I did not, however, aim at gaining his favor by +paying any servile respect to him, but, after some time, took this +other method. Having heard that he had in his library a certain very +scarce and curious book, I wrote a note to him, expressing my desire +of perusing that book, and requesting he would do me the favor of +lending it to me for a few days. He sent it immediately, and I +returned it in about a week with another note, expressing strongly my +sense of the favor. When we next met in the House, he spoke to me +(which he had never done before), and with great civility; and he ever +after manifested a readiness to serve me on all occasions, so that we +became great friends, and our friendship continued to his death. This +is another instance of the truth of an old maxim I had learned, which +says: "He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do +you another than he whom you yourself have obliged." And it shows how +much more profitable it is prudently to remove, than to resent, +return, and continue, inimical proceedings. + +In 1737, Colonel Spotswood, late governor of Virginia, and then +postmaster-general, being dissatisfied with the conduct of his deputy +at Philadelphia respecting some negligence in rendering and +inexactitude of his accounts, took from him the commission and offered +it to me. I accepted it readily, and found it of great advantage; for, +though the salary was small, it facilitated the correspondence that +improved my 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 satisfied without retaliating his refusal, +while postmaster, to permit my papers being carried by the riders. +Thus he suffered greatly from his neglect in due accounting; and I +mention it as a lesson to those young men who may be employed in +managing affairs for others, that they should always render accounts +and make remittances with great clearness and punctuality. The +character of observing such a conduct is the most powerful of all +recommendations to new employments and increase of business. + +I began now to turn my thoughts a little to public affairs, beginning, +however, with small matters. The city watch was one of the first +things that I conceived to want regulation. It was managed by the +constables of the respective wards in turn. The constable warned a +number of housekeepers to attend him for the night. Those who chose +never to attend, paid him six shillings a year to be excused, which +was supposed to be for hiring substitutes, but was, in reality, much +more than was necessary for that purpose, and made the constableship a +place of profit; and the constable, for a little drink, often got such +ragamuffins about him as a watch that respectable housekeepers did not +choose to mix with them.[n] Walking the rounds, too, was often +neglected, and most of the nights spent in tippling. I thereupon wrote +a paper to be read in Junto, representing these irregularities, but +insisting more particularly on the inequality of this six-shilling tax +of the constables respecting the circumstances of those who paid it, +since a poor widow housekeeper, all whose property to be guarded by +the watch did not perhaps exceed the value of fifty pounds, paid as +much as the wealthiest merchant, who had thousands of pounds' worth of +goods in his stores. + +On the whole, I proposed as a more effectual watch the hiring of +proper men to serve constantly in that business; and as a more +equitable way of supporting the charge, the levying a tax that should +be proportioned to the property. This idea, being approved by the +Junto, was communicated to the other clubs, but as arising in each of +them; and though the plan was not immediately carried into execution, +yet, by preparing the minds of people for the change, it paved the way +for the law obtained a few years after, when the members of our clubs +were grown into more influence. + +About this time I wrote a paper, (first to be read in Junto, but it +was afterward published,) on the different accidents and +carelessnesses by which houses were set on fire, with cautions against +them, and means proposed of avoiding them. This was much spoken of as +a useful piece, and gave rise to a project which soon followed it, of +forming a company for the more ready extinguishing of fires, and +mutual assistance in removing and securing of goods when in danger. +Associates in this scheme were presently found, amounting to thirty. +Our articles of agreement obliged every member to keep always in good +order, and fit for use, a certain number of leather buckets, with +strong bags and baskets (for packing and transporting of goods), which +were to be brought to every fire; and we agreed to meet once a month +and spend a social evening together, in discoursing and communicating +such ideas as occurred to us upon the subject of fires as might be +useful in our conduct on such occasions. + +The utility of this institution soon appeared,[n] and many more +desiring to be admitted than we thought convenient for one company, +they were advised to form another, which was accordingly done; and +this went on, one new company being formed after another, till they +became so numerous as to include most of the inhabitants who were men +of property; and now, at the time of my writing this, though upward of +fifty years since its establishment, that which I first formed, called +the "Union Fire Company," still subsists and flourishes, though the +first members are all deceased but myself and one who is older by a +year than I am. The small fines that have been paid by members for +absence from the monthly meetings have been applied to the purchase of +fire engines, ladders, fire hooks, and other useful implements for +each company, so that I question whether there is a city in the world +better provided with the means of putting a stop to beginning +conflagrations; and, in fact, since these institutions, the city has +never lost by fire more than one or two houses at a time, and the +flames have often been extinguished before the house in which they +began, has been half consumed. + +In 1739 arrived among us from Ireland the Rev. Mr. Whitefield,[125] +who had made himself remarkable there as an itinerant preacher. He was +at first permitted to preach in some of our churches; but the clergy, +taking a dislike to him, soon refused him their pulpits, and he was +obliged to preach in the fields. The multitudes of all sects and +denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was +matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to observe the +extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers, and how much +they admired and respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse of +them by assuring them they were naturally "half beasts and half +devils." It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners +of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about +religion, it seemed as if all the world were growing religious, so +that one could not walk through the town in an evening without hearing +psalms sung in different families of every street. + +And, it being found inconvenient to assemble in the open air, subject +to its inclemencies, the building of a house to meet in was no sooner +proposed, and persons appointed to receive contributions, but +sufficient sums were soon received to procure the ground and erect the +building, which was one hundred feet long and seventy broad, about the +size of Westminster Hall;[126] and the work was carried on with such +spirit as to be finished in a much shorter time than could have been +expected. Both house and ground were vested in trustees, expressly for +the use of any preacher of any religious persuasion who might desire +to say something to the people of Philadelphia; the design in building +not being to accommodate any particular sect, but the inhabitants in +general; so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a +missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at +his service. + +Mr. Whitefield, in leaving us, went preaching all the way through the +colonies to Georgia. The settlement of that province had lately been +begun, but, instead of being made with hardy, industrious husbandmen, +accustomed to labor,--the only people fit for such an enterprise,--it +was with families of broken shopkeepers and other insolvent debtors, +many of indolent and idle habits, taken out of the jails, who, being +set down in the woods, unqualified for clearing land and unable to +endure the hardships of a new settlement, perished in numbers, leaving +many helpless children unprovided for.[127] The sight of their +miserable situation inspired the benevolent heart of Mr. Whitefield +with the idea of building an orphan house[128] there, in which they +might be supported and educated. Returning northward, he preached up +this charity, and made large collections, for his eloquence had a +wonderful power over the hearts and purses of his hearers, of which I +myself was an instance. + +I did not disapprove of the design, but, as Georgia was then destitute +of materials and workmen, and it was proposed to send them from +Philadelphia at a great expense, I thought it would have been better +to have built the house here, and brought the children to it. This I +advised; but he was resolute in his first project, rejected my +counsel, and I therefore refused to contribute. I happened soon after +to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I perceived he +intended to finish with a collection, and I silently resolved he +should get nothing from me. I had in my pocket a handful of copper +money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he +proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the coppers. +Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of that, and determined +me to give the silver; and he finished so admirably that I emptied my +pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all. At this sermon +there was also one of our club, who, being of my sentiments respecting +the building in Georgia, and suspecting a collection might be +intended, had, by precaution, emptied his pockets before he came from +home. Toward the conclusion of the discourse, however, he felt a +strong desire to give, and applied to a neighbor who stood near him, +to borrow some money for the purpose. The application was +unfortunately to perhaps the only man 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 thy right senses." + +Some of Mr. Whitefield's enemies affected to suppose that he would +apply these collections to his own private emolument; but I, who was +intimately acquainted with him, being employed in printing his sermons +and journals, etc., never had the least suspicion of his integrity, +but am to this day decidedly of opinion that he was in all his conduct +a perfectly honest man; and methinks my testimony in his favor ought +to have the more weight as we had no religious connection. He used, +indeed, sometimes to pray for my conversion, but he never had the +satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard. Ours was a mere +civil friendship, sincere on both sides, and lasted to his death. + +The following instance will show something of the terms on which we +stood. Upon one of his arrivals from England at Boston, he wrote to me +that he should come soon to Philadelphia, but knew not where he could +lodge when there, as he understood his old friend and host, Mr. +Benezet, was removed to Germantown. My answer was: "You know my house; +if you can make shift with its scanty accommodations, you will be most +heartily welcome." He replied that if I made that kind offer for +Christ's sake I should not miss of a reward; and I returned: "Don't +let me be mistaken; it was not for Christ's sake, but for your own +sake." One of our common acquaintance remarked that, knowing it to be +the custom of the saints, when they received any favor, to shift the +burden of the obligation from off their own shoulders and place it in +heaven, I had contrived to fix it on earth. + +The last time I saw Mr. Whitefield was in London, when he consulted me +about his orphan house concern, and his purpose of appropriating it to +the establishment of a college. + +He had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his words and sentences +so perfectly that he might be heard and understood at a great +distance, especially as his auditors, however numerous, observed the +most exact silence. He preached one evening from the top of the +courthouse steps, which are in the middle of Market Street, and on the +west side of Second Street, which crosses it at right angles. Both +streets were filled with his hearers to a considerable distance. Being +among the hindmost in Market Street, I had the curiosity to learn how +far he could be heard, by retiring backward down the street toward the +river; and I found his voice distinct till I came near Front Street, +when some noise in that street obscured it. Imagining then a +semicircle, of which my distance should be the radius, and that it +were filled with auditors, to each of whom I allowed two square feet, +I computed that he might well be heard by more than thirty thousand. +This reconciled me to the newspaper accounts of his having preached to +twenty-five thousand people in the fields, and to the ancient +histories of generals haranguing whole armies, of which I had +sometimes doubted. + +By hearing him often, I could distinguish easily between sermons newly +composed and those which he had often preached in the course of his +travels. His delivery of the latter was so improved by frequent +repetitions that every accent, every emphasis, every modulation of +voice, was so perfectly well turned and well placed that, without +being interested in the subject, one could not help being pleased with +the discourse; a pleasure of much the same kind with that received +from an excellent piece of music. This is an advantage itinerant +preachers have over those who are stationary, as the latter cannot +well improve their delivery of a sermon by so many rehearsals. + +His writing and printing from time to time gave great advantage to his +enemies. Unguarded expressions and even erroneous opinions, delivered +in preaching, might have been afterward explained or qualified by +supposing others that might have accompanied them, or they might have +been denied; but _litera scripta manet_.[129] Critics attacked his +writings violently, and with so much appearance of reason as to +diminish the number of his votaries and prevent their increase; so +that I am of opinion if he had never written anything, he would have +left behind him a much more numerous and important sect, and his +reputation might in that case have been still growing, even after his +death; as, there being nothing of his writing on which to found a +censure and give him a lower character, his proselytes would be left +at liberty to feign for him as great a variety of excellences as their +enthusiastic admiration might wish him to have possessed. + +My business was now continually augmenting, and my circumstances +growing daily easier, my newspaper having become very profitable, as +being for a time almost the only one in this and the neighboring +provinces. I experienced, too, the truth of the observation that +"after getting the first hundred pounds it is more easy to get the +second," money itself being of a prolific nature. + +The partnership at Carolina having succeeded, I was encouraged to +engage in others, and to promote several of my workmen who had behaved +well, by establishing them with printing houses in different colonies, +on the same terms as that in Carolina. Most of them did well, being +enabled at the end of our term, six years, to purchase the types of me +and go on working for themselves, by which means several families were +raised. Partnerships often finish in quarrels; but I was happy in +this, that mine were all carried on and ended amicably, owing, I +think, a good deal to the precaution of having very explicitly +settled, in our articles, everything to be done by or expected from +each partner, so that there was nothing to dispute, which precaution I +would therefore recommend to all who enter into partnership; for, +whatever esteem partners may have for and confidence in each other at +the time of the contract, little jealousies and disgusts may arise, +with ideas of inequality in the care and burden of the business, etc., +which are attended often with breach of friendship and of the +connection, perhaps with lawsuits and other disagreeable consequences. + +I had, on the whole, abundant reason to be satisfied with my being +established in Pennsylvania. There were, however, two things which I +regretted,--there being no provision for defense, nor for a complete +education of youth; no militia, nor any college. I therefore, in 1743, +drew up a proposal for establishing an academy, and at that time +thinking the Rev. Mr. Peters, who was out of employ, a fit person to +superintend such an institution, I communicated the project to him; +but he, having more profitable views in the service of the +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 succeeded better the next year, 1744, in +proposing and establishing a philosophical society.[130] The paper I +wrote for that purpose will be found among my writings when collected. + +With respect to defense,--Spain having been several years at war +against Great Britain, and being at length joined by France, which +brought us into great danger, and the labored and long-continued +endeavor of our governor, Thomas, to prevail with our Quaker +Assembly[131] to pass a militia law and make other provisions for the +security of the province, having proved abortive,--I determined to try +what might be done by a voluntary association of the people. To +promote this I first wrote and published a pamphlet entitled "Plain +Truth," in which I stated our defenseless situation in strong lights, +with the necessity of union and discipline for our defense, and +promised to propose in a few days an association, to be generally +signed for that purpose. The pamphlet had a sudden and surprising +effect. I was called upon for the instrument of association, and +having settled the draft of it with a few friends, I appointed a +meeting of the citizens in the large building before mentioned. The +house was pretty full. I had prepared a number of printed copies, and +provided pens and ink dispersed all over the room. I harangued them a +little on the subject, read the paper and explained it, and then +distributed the copies, which were eagerly signed, not the least +objection being made. + +When the company separated and the papers were collected, we found +above twelve hundred hands; and, other copies being dispersed in the +country, the subscribers amounted at length to upward of ten +thousand. These all furnished themselves as soon as they could with +arms, formed themselves into companies and regiments, chose their own +officers, and met every week to be instructed in the manual exercise +and other parts of military discipline. The women, by subscriptions +among themselves, provided silk colors, which they presented to the +companies, painted with different devices and mottoes which I supplied. + +The officers of the companies composing the Philadelphia regiment, +being met, chose me for their colonel; but, conceiving myself unfit, I +declined that station, and recommended Mr. Lawrence, a fine person and +man of influence, who was accordingly appointed. I then proposed a +lottery[132] to defray the expense of building a battery below the +town, and furnishing it with cannon. It filled expeditiously, and the +battery was soon erected, the merlons[133] being framed of logs and +filled with earth. We bought some old cannon from Boston, but, these +not being sufficient, we wrote to England for more, soliciting at the +same time our proprietaries for some assistance, though without much +expectation of obtaining it. + +Meanwhile Colonel Lawrence, William Allen, Abram Taylor, Esq., and +myself were sent to New York by the associators, commissioned to borrow +some cannon of Governor Clinton. He at first refused us peremptorily; +but at dinner with his council, where there was great drinking of +Madeira wine, as the custom of that place then was, he softened by +degrees, and said he would lend us six. After a few more bumpers he +advanced to ten, and at length he very good-naturedly conceded eighteen. +They were fine cannon, eighteen-pounders, with their carriages, which we +soon transported and mounted on our battery, where the associators kept +a nightly guard while the war lasted, and among the rest I regularly +took my turn of duty there as a common soldier. + +My activity in these operations was agreeable to the governor and +council; they took me into confidence, and I was consulted by them in +every measure wherein their concurrence was thought useful to the +association. Calling in the aid of religion, I proposed to them the +proclaiming a fast, to promote reformation and implore the blessing of +Heaven on our undertaking. They embraced the motion; but as it was the +first fast ever thought of in the province, the secretary had no +precedent from which to draw the proclamation. My education in New +England, where a fast is proclaimed every year, was here of some +advantage. I drew it in the accustomed style. It was translated into +German, printed in both languages, and divulged through the province. +This gave the clergy of the different sects an opportunity of +influencing their congregations to join in the association, and it +would probably have been general among all but Quakers if the peace +had not soon intervened. + +It was thought by some of my friends that by my activity in these +affairs I should offend that sect, and thereby lose my interest in the +Assembly of the province, where they formed a great majority. A young +gentleman who had likewise some friends in the House, and wished to +succeed me as their clerk, acquainted me that it was decided to +displace me at the next election, and he therefore, in good will, +advised me to resign, as more consistent with my honor than being +turned out. My answer to him was, that I had read or heard of some +public man who made it a rule never to ask for an office and never to +refuse one when offered to him. "I approve," says I, "of his rule, and +will practice it with a small addition: I shall never ask, never +refuse, nor ever resign an office. If they will have my office of +clerk to dispose of to another, they shall take it from me. I will +not, by giving it up, lose my right of some time or other making +reprisals[134] on my adversaries." I heard, however, no more of this; +I was chosen again unanimously, as usual, at the next election. +Possibly, as they disliked my late intimacy with the members of +council, who had joined the governors in all the disputes about +military preparations with which the House had long been harassed, +they might have been pleased if I would voluntarily have left them; +but they did not care to displace me on account merely of my zeal for +the association, and they could not well give another reason. + +Indeed I had some cause to believe that the defense of the country was +not disagreeable to any of them, provided they were not required to +assist in it. And I found that a much greater number of them than I +could have imagined, though against offensive war, were clearly for +the defensive. Many pamphlets pro and con were published on the +subject, and some by good Quakers in favor of defense, which I believe +convinced most of their younger people. + +A transaction in our fire company gave me some insight into their +prevailing sentiments. It had been proposed that we should encourage +the scheme for building a battery, by laying out the present stock, +then about sixty pounds, in tickets of the lottery. By our rules no +money could be disposed of till the next meeting after the proposal. +The company consisted of thirty members, of which twenty-two were +Quakers, and eight, only, of other persuasions. We eight punctually +attended the meeting; but though we thought that some of the Quakers +would join us, we were by no means sure of a majority. Only one +Quaker, Mr. James Morris, appeared to oppose the measure. He expressed +much sorrow that it had ever been proposed, as he said Friends were +all against it, and it would create such discord as might break up the +company. We told him that we saw no reason for that; we were the +minority, and if Friends were against the measure, and outvoted us, we +must and should, agreeably to the usage of all societies, submit. When +the hour for business arrived it was moved to put 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 opposing +it, it would be but candid to allow a little time for their appearing. + +While we were disputing this a waiter came to tell me two gentlemen +below desired to speak with me. I went down and found they were two of +our Quaker members. They told me that there were eight of them +assembled at a tavern just by; that they were determined to come and +vote with us if there should be occasion, which they hoped would not +be the case, and desired we would not call for their assistance if we +could do without it, as their voting for such a measure might embroil +them with their elders and friends. Being thus secure of a majority, I +went up, and after a little seeming hesitation agreed to a delay of +another hour. This Mr. Morris allowed to be extremely fair. Not one of +his opposing friends appeared, at which he expressed great surprise, +and at the expiration of the hour we carried the resolution eight to +one; and as, of the twenty-two Quakers, eight were ready to vote with +us, and thirteen by their absence manifested that they were not +inclined to oppose the measure, I afterward estimated the proportion +of Quakers sincerely against defense as one to twenty-one only; for +these were all regular members of that society, and in good reputation +among them, and had due notice of what was proposed at that meeting. + +The honorable and learned Mr. Logan, who had always been of that sect, +was one who wrote an address to them, declaring his approbation of +defensive war and supporting his opinion by many strong arguments. He +put into my hands sixty pounds to be laid out in lottery tickets for +the battery, with directions to apply what prizes might be drawn +wholly to that service. He told me the following anecdote of his old +master, William Penn, respecting defense. He came over from England, +when a young man, with that proprietary, and as his secretary. It was +war time, and their ship was chased by an armed vessel, supposed to be +an enemy. Their captain prepared for defense, but told William Penn +and his company of Quakers that he did not expect their assistance, +and they might retire into the cabin; which they did, except James +Logan, who chose to stay upon deck, and was quartered to a gun. The +supposed enemy proved a friend, so there was no fighting; but when +the secretary went down to communicate the intelligence, William Penn +rebuked him severely for staying upon deck and undertaking to assist +in defending the vessel, contrary to the principles of Friends, +especially as it had not been required by the captain. This reproof, +being before all the company, piqued the secretary, who answered: "I +being thy servant, why did thee not order me to come down? But thee +was willing enough that I should stay and help to fight the ship when +thee thought there was danger." + +My being many years in the Assembly, the majority of which were +constantly Quakers, gave me frequent opportunities of seeing the +embarrassment given them by their principle against war whenever +application was made to them, by order of the Crown, to grant aids for +military purposes. They were unwilling to offend government, on the +one hand, by a direct refusal, and their friends, the body of the +Quakers, on the other, by a compliance contrary to their principles; +hence a variety of evasions to avoid complying, and modes of +disguising the compliance when it became unavoidable. The common mode +at last was to grant money under the phrase of its being "for the +King's use," and never to inquire how it was applied. + +But if the demand was not directly from the Crown, that phrase was found +not so proper, and some other was to be invented. As, when powder was +wanting (I think it was for the garrison at Louisburg[135]), and the +government of New England solicited a grant of some from Pennsylvania, +which was much urged on the House by Governor Thomas, they could not +grant money to buy powder, because that was an ingredient of war; but +they voted an aid to New England of three thousand pounds, to be put +into the hands of the governor, and appropriated it for the purchasing +of bread, flour, wheat, or other grain. Some of the council, desirous of +giving the House still further embarrassment, advised the governor not +to accept provision, as not being the thing he had demanded; but he +replied: "I shall take the money, for I understand very well their +meaning; 'other grain' is gunpowder," which he accordingly bought, and +they never objected to it. + +It was in allusion to this fact that, when in our fire company we +feared the success of our proposal in favor of the lottery, and I had +said to my friend Mr. Syng, one of our members: "If we fail, let us +move the purchase of a fire engine with the money; the Quakers can +have no objection to that; and then, if you nominate me and I you as a +committee for that purpose, we will buy a great gun, which is +certainly a fire engine,"--"I see," says he, "you have improved by +being so long in the Assembly; your equivocal project would be just a +match for their 'wheat or other grain.'" + +These embarrassments that the Quakers suffered from having established +and published it as one of their principles that no kind of war was +lawful, and which, being once published, they could not afterward, +however they might change their minds, easily get rid of, reminds me +of what I think a more prudent conduct in another sect among us, that +of the Dunkers.[136] I was acquainted with one of its founders, +Michael Welfare, soon after it appeared. He complained to me that they +were grievously calumniated by the zealots of other persuasions, and +charged with abominable principles and practices to which they were +utter strangers. I told him this had always been the case with new +sects, and that, to put a stop to such abuse, I imagined it might be +well to publish the articles of their belief and the rules of their +discipline. He said that it had been proposed among them, but not +agreed to, for this reason: "When we were first drawn together as a +society," says he, "it had pleased God to enlighten our minds so far +as to see that some doctrines, which we once esteemed truths, were +errors; and that others, which we have esteemed errors, were real +truths. From time to time He has been pleased to afford us further +light, and our principles have been improving and our errors +diminishing. Now we are not sure that we are arrived at the end of +this progression and at the perfection of spiritual or theological +knowledge, and we fear that if we should once print our confession of +faith we should feel ourselves as if bound and confined by it, and +perhaps be unwilling to receive further improvement, and our +successors still more so, as conceiving what we, their elders and +founders, had done to be something sacred, never to be departed from." + +This modesty in a sect is perhaps a singular instance in the history +of mankind, every other sect supposing itself in possession of all +truth, and that those who differ are so far in the wrong. Like a man +traveling in foggy weather; those at some distance before him on the +road he sees wrapped up in the fog as well as those behind him, and +also the people in the fields on each side, but near him all appears +clear, though in truth he is as much in the fog as any of them. To +avoid this kind of embarrassment the Quakers have of late years been +gradually declining the public service in the Assembly and in the +magistracy, choosing rather to quit their power than their principle. + +In order of time I should have mentioned before that, having in 1742 +invented an open stove[137] for the better warming of rooms and at the +same time saving fuel, as the fresh air admitted was warmed in +entering, I made a present of the model to Mr. Robert Grace, one of my +early friends, who, having an iron furnace, found the casting of the +plates for these stoves a profitable thing, as they were growing in +demand.[n] To promote that demand I wrote and published a pamphlet +entitled, "An Account of the new-invented Pennsylvania Fireplaces; +wherein their Construction and Manner of Operation is particularly +explained; their Advantages above every other Method of warming Rooms +demonstrated; and all Objections that have been raised against the Use +of them answered and obviated," etc. This pamphlet had a good effect. +Governor Thomas was so pleased with the construction of this stove, as +described in it, that he offered to give me a patent for the sole +vending of them for a term of years; but I declined it from a +principle which has ever weighed with me on such occasions; namely, +that as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we +should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of +ours; and this we should do freely and generously. + +An ironmonger in London, however, assuming a good deal of my pamphlet, +and working it up into his own, and making some small changes in the +machine, which rather hurt its operation, got a patent for it there, +and made, as I was told, a little fortune by it. And this is not the +only instance of patents taken out for my inventions by +others,--though not always with the same success,--which I never +contested, as having no desire of profiting by patents myself, and +hating disputes. The use of these fireplaces in very many houses, both +of this and the neighboring colonies, has been and is a great saving +of wood to the inhabitants. + +[Footnote 125: George Whitefield, one of the founders of Methodism, +who was born in Gloucester, England, in 1714, and died in Newburyport, +Mass., in 1770.[n]] + +[Footnote 126: In London.] + +[Footnote 127: General Oglethorpe founded an English colony in Georgia +in 1732. He wished to make an asylum to which debtors, whose liberty +the laws of England put into the hands of the creditor, (see Way to +Wealth, p. 204,) might escape, and where those fleeing from religious +persecution might be safe from their pursuers.] + +[Footnote 128: This institution was established in Savannah, and +called Bethesda.] + +[Footnote 129: Written words endure.] + +[Footnote 130: This society continues. The plan of it was discussed by +the Junto, from which came six of the nine original members. Its +investigations were to be in botany, medicine, mineralogy and mining, +mathematics, chemistry, mechanics, arts, trades and manufactures, +geography, topography, agriculture, and "all philosophical experiments +that let light into the nature of things, tend to increase the power +of man over matter, and multiply the conveniences and pleasures of +life." "Benjamin Franklin, the writer of this proposal, offers himself +to serve the society as their secretary till they shall be provided +with one more capable."] + +[Footnote 131: The Pennsylvania legislature.] + +[Footnote 132: At this time lotteries were used for raising money to +support the government, to carry on wars, and to build churches, +colleges, roads, etc. They were not then looked upon as fostering +gambling.] + +[Footnote 133: The walls of defense between the openings for the +cannon.] + +[Footnote 134: Retaliation.] + +[Footnote 135: See Note 2, p. 181.] + +[Footnote 136: A sect of German-American Baptists, whose name comes +from the German _tunken_ ("to immerse").] + +[Footnote 137: It is still used, and called the "Franklin stove."] + + + + +Sec. 7. PROJECTS FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD. + + +Peace being concluded, and the association business therefore at an +end, I turned my thoughts again to the affair of establishing an +academy. The first step I took was to associate in the design a number +of active friends, of whom the Junto furnished a good part. The next +was to write and publish a pamphlet entitled "Proposals relating to +the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania." This I distributed among the +principal inhabitants gratis; and as soon as I could suppose their +minds a little prepared by the perusal of it, I set on foot a +subscription for opening and supporting an academy. It was to be paid +in quotas yearly for five years. By so dividing it I judged the +subscription might be larger, and I believe it was so, amounting to no +less, if I remember right, than five thousand pounds. + +In the introduction to these Proposals I stated their publication, not +as an act of mine, but of some "public-spirited gentlemen," avoiding +as much as I could, according to my usual rule, the presenting myself +to the public as the author of any scheme for their benefit. + +The subscribers, to carry the project into immediate execution, chose +out of their number twenty-four trustees, and appointed Mr. Francis, +then attorney-general, and myself to draw up constitutions for the +government of the academy; which being done and signed, a house was +hired, masters engaged, and the schools opened, I think, in the same +year, 1749. + +The scholars increasing fast, the house was soon found too small, and +we were looking out for a piece of ground, properly situated, with +intention to build, when Providence threw into our way a large house +ready built, which, with a few alterations, might well serve our +purpose. This was the building before mentioned, erected by the +hearers of Mr. Whitefield,[138] and was obtained for us in the +following manner. + +It is to be noted that the contributions to this building being made +by people of different sects, care was taken in the nomination of +trustees, in whom the building and ground was to be vested, that a +predominancy should not be given to any sect, lest in time that +predominancy might be a means of appropriating the whole to the use of +such sect, contrary to the original intention. It was therefore that +one of each sect was appointed; namely, one Church of England man, one +Presbyterian, one Baptist, one Moravian,[139] etc.; those, in case of +vacancy by death, were to fill it by election from among the +contributors. The Moravian happened not to please his colleagues, and +on his death they resolved to have no other of that sect. The +difficulty then was, how to avoid having two of some other sect by +means of the new choice. + +Several persons were named, and for that reason not agreed to. At +length one mentioned me, with the observation that I was merely an +honest man and of no sect at all, which prevailed with them to choose +me. The enthusiasm which existed when the house was built had long +since abated, and its trustees had not been able to procure fresh +contributions for paying the ground rent and discharging some other +debts the building had occasioned, which embarrassed them greatly. +Being now a member of both sets of trustees, that for the building and +that for the academy, I had a good opportunity of negotiating with +both, and brought them finally to an agreement, by which the trustees +for the building were to cede it to those of the academy, the latter +undertaking to discharge the debt, to keep forever open in the +building a large hall for occasional preachers, according to the +original intention, and maintain a free school for the instruction of +poor children. Writings were accordingly drawn, and on paying the +debts the trustees of the academy were put in possession of the +premises; and by dividing the great and lofty hall into stories, and +different rooms above and below for the several schools, and +purchasing some additional ground, the whole was soon made fit for our +purpose, and the scholars removed into the building. The care and +trouble of agreeing with the workmen, purchasing materials, and +superintending the work, fell upon me; and I went through it the more +cheerfully as it did not then interfere with my private business, +having the year before taken a very able, industrious, and honest +partner, Mr. David Hall, with whose character I was well acquainted, +as he had worked for me four years. He took off my hands all care of +the printing office, paying me punctually my share of the profits. +This partnership continued eighteen years, successfully for us both. + +The trustees of the academy after a while were incorporated by a charter +from the government; their funds were increased by contributions in +Britain and grants of land from the proprietaries, to which the Assembly +has since made considerable addition; and thus was established the +present University of Philadelphia. I have been continued one of its +trustees from the beginning, now near forty years, and have had the very +great pleasure of seeing a number of the youth who have received their +education in it distinguished by their improved abilities, serviceable +in public stations, and ornaments to their country. + +When I disengaged myself as above mentioned from private business, I +flattered myself that, by the sufficient though moderate fortune I had +acquired, I had secured leisure during the rest of my life for +philosophical studies and amusements. I purchased all Dr. Spence's +apparatus, who had come from England to lecture here, and I proceeded +in my electrical experiments with great alacrity. But the public, now +considering me as a man of leisure, laid hold of me for their +purposes, every part of our civil government, and almost at the same +time, imposing some duty upon me. The governor put me into the +commission of the peace, the corporation of the city chose me of the +common council and soon after an alderman, and the citizens at large +chose me a burgess[140] to represent them in Assembly. This latter +station was the more agreeable to me, as I was at length tired with +sitting there to hear debates in which, as clerk, I could take no +part, and which were often so unentertaining that I was induced to +amuse myself with making magic squares[141] or circles, or anything to +avoid weariness; and I conceived my becoming a member would enlarge my +power of doing good. I would not, however, insinuate that my ambition +was not flattered by all these promotions. It certainly was, for, +considering my low beginning, they were great things to me, and they +were still more pleasing as being so many spontaneous testimonies of +the public good opinion, and by me entirely unsolicited. + +The office of justice of the peace I tried a little by attending a few +courts and sitting on the bench to hear causes; but finding that more +knowledge of the common law than I possessed was necessary to act in +that station with credit, I gradually withdrew from it, excusing +myself by my being obliged to attend the higher duties of a legislator +in the Assembly. My election to this trust was repeated every year for +ten years without my ever asking any elector for his vote, or +signifying, either directly or indirectly, any desire of being chosen. +On taking my seat in the House my son was appointed their clerk. + +The year following, a treaty being to be held with the Indians at +Carlisle, the governor sent a message to the House, proposing that +they should nominate some of their members, to be joined with some +members of council, as commissioners for that purpose. The House named +the speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself; and, being commissioned, we went +to Carlisle and met the Indians accordingly. + +As those people are extremely apt to get drunk, and when so are very +quarrelsome and disorderly, we strictly forbade the selling any liquor +to them; and when they complained of this restriction, we told them +that if they would continue sober during the treaty, we would give +them plenty of rum when business was over. They promised this, and +they kept their promise, because they could get no liquor, and the +treaty was conducted very orderly, and concluded to mutual +satisfaction. They then claimed and received the rum. + +This was in the afternoon; they were near one hundred men, women, and +children, and were lodged in temporary cabins, built in the form of a +square, just without the town. In the evening, hearing a great noise +among them, the commissioners walked out to see what was the matter. +We found they had made a great bonfire in the middle of the square. +They were all drunk, men and women, quarreling and fighting. Their +dark colored bodies, half naked, seen only by the gloomy light of the +bonfire, running after and beating one another with firebrands, +accompanied by their horrid yellings, formed a scene the most +resembling our ideas of hell that could well be imagined, There was no +appeasing the tumult, and we retired to our lodging. At midnight a +number of them came thundering to our door, demanding more rum, of +which we took no notice. + +The next day, sensible they had misbehaved in giving us that +disturbance, they sent three of their old counselors to make their +apology. The orator acknowledged the fault, but laid it upon the rum; +and then endeavored to excuse the rum by saying: "The Great Spirit, +who made all things, made everything for some use, and whatever use he +designed anything for, that use it should always be put to. Now when +he made rum he said, 'Let this be for the Indians to get drunk with,' +and it must be so." And, indeed, if it be the design of Providence to +extirpate these savages in order to make room for cultivators of the +earth, it seems not improbable that rum may be the appointed means. It +has already annihilated all the tribes who formerly inhabited the +seacoast. + +In 1751 Dr. Thomas Bond, a particular friend of mine, conceived the idea +of establishing a hospital in Philadelphia (a very beneficent design +which has been ascribed to me but was originally his) for the reception +and cure of poor sick persons, whether inhabitants of the province or +strangers. He was zealous and active in endeavoring to procure +subscriptions for it, but the proposal being a novelty in America, and +at first not well understood, he met with but small success. + +At length he came to me with the compliment that he found there was no +such thing as carrying a public-spirited project through without my +being concerned 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 tell them that I +have not (supposing it rather out of your line), they do not +subscribe, but say they will consider of it." I inquired into the +nature and probable utility of his scheme, and receiving from him a +very satisfactory explanation, I not only subscribed to it myself, but +engaged heartily in the design of procuring subscriptions from others. +Previously, however, to the solicitation, I endeavored to prepare the +minds of the people by writing on the subject in the newspapers, which +was my usual custom in such cases, but which he had omitted. + +The subscriptions afterward were more free and generous; but, +beginning to flag, I saw they would be insufficient without some +assistance from the Assembly, and therefore proposed to petition for +it, which was done. The country members did not at first relish the +project. They objected that it could only be serviceable to the city, +and therefore the citizens alone should be at the expense of it; and +they doubted whether the citizens themselves generally approved of it. +My allegation on the contrary, that it met with such approbation as to +leave no doubt of our being able to raise two thousand pounds by +voluntary donations, they considered as a most extravagant supposition +and utterly impossible. + +On this I formed my plan; and, asking leave to bring in a bill[142] +for incorporating the contributors according to the prayer of their +petition, and granting them a blank sum of money, which leave was +obtained chiefly on the consideration that the House could throw the +bill out if they did not like it, I drew it so as to make the +important clause a conditional one, namely: "And be it enacted, by the +authority aforesaid, that when the said contributors shall have met +and chosen their managers and treasurer, _and shall have raised by +their contributions a capital stock of ---- value_, (the yearly +interest of which is to be applied to the accommodating of the sick +poor in the said hospital, free of charge for diet, attendance, +advice, and medicines,) _and shall make the same appear to the +satisfaction of the speaker of the Assembly for the time being_, that +_then_ it shall and may be lawful for the said speaker, and he is +hereby required, to sign an order on the provincial treasurer for the +payment of two thousand pounds, in two yearly payments, to the +treasurer of the said hospital, to be applied to the founding, +building, and finishing of the same." + +This condition carried the bill through; for the members who had +opposed the grant, and now conceived they might have the credit of +being charitable without the expense, agreed to its passage; and then, +in soliciting subscriptions among the people, we urged the conditional +promise of the law as an additional motive to give, since every man's +donation would be doubled; thus the clause worked both ways. The +subscriptions accordingly soon exceeded the requisite sum, and we +claimed and received the public gift, which enabled us to carry the +design into execution. A convenient and handsome building was soon +erected; the institution has, by constant experience, been found +useful, and flourishes to this day; and I do not remember any of my +political maneuvers the success of which gave me at the time more +pleasure, or wherein, after thinking of it, I more easily excused +myself for having made some use of cunning. + +It was about this time that another projector, the Rev. Gilbert +Tennent, came to me with a request that I would assist him in +procuring a subscription for erecting a new meetinghouse. It was to be +for the use of a congregation he had gathered among the Presbyterians +who were originally disciples of Mr. Whitefield. Unwilling to make +myself disagreeable to my fellow-citizens by too frequently soliciting +their contributions, I absolutely refused. He then desired I would +furnish him with a list of the names of persons I knew by experience +to be generous and public-spirited. I thought it would be unbecoming +in me, after their kind compliance with my solicitations, to mark them +out to be worried by other beggars, and therefore refused also to give +such a list. He then desired I would at least give him my advice. +"That I will readily do," said I; "and in the first place, I advise +you to apply to all those whom you know will give something; next, to +those whom you are uncertain whether they will give anything or not, +and show them the list of those who have given; and, lastly, do not +neglect those who you are sure will give nothing, for in some of them +you may be mistaken." He laughed and thanked me, and said he would +take my advice. He did so, for he asked of everybody, and he obtained +a much larger sum than he expected, with which he erected the +capacious and very elegant meetinghouse that stands in Arch Street.[143] + +Our city, though laid out with a beautiful regularity, the streets +large, straight, and crossing each other at right angles, had the +disgrace of suffering those streets to remain long unpaved, and in wet +weather the wheels of heavy carriages plowed them into a quagmire, so +that it was difficult to cross them, and in dry weather the dust was +offensive. I had lived near what was called the Jersey Market, and saw +with pain the inhabitants wading in mud while purchasing their +provisions. A strip of ground down the middle of that market was at +length paved with brick, so that, being once in the market, they had +firm footing, but were often over shoes in dirt to get there. By talking +and writing on the subject I was at length instrumental in getting the +street paved with stone between the market and the 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 being +paved, whenever a carriage came out of the mud upon this pavement, it +shook off and left its dirt upon it, and it was soon covered with mire, +which was not removed, the city as yet having no scavengers. + +After some inquiry I found a poor, industrious man, who was willing to +undertake keeping the pavement clean by sweeping it twice a week, +carrying off the dirt from before all the neighbors' doors for the sum +of sixpence per month to be paid by each house.[n] I then wrote and +printed a paper setting forth the advantages to the neighborhood that +might be obtained by this small expense: the greater ease in keeping +our houses clean, so much dirt not being brought in by people's feet; +the benefit to the shops by more custom, etc., as buyers could more +easily get at them, and by not having, in windy weather, the dust +blown in upon their goods, etc. I sent one of these papers to each +house, and in a day or two went round to see who would subscribe an +agreement to pay these sixpences. It was unanimously signed, and for a +time well executed. All the inhabitants of the city were delighted +with the cleanliness of the pavement that surrounded the market, it +being a convenience to all; and this raised a general desire to have +all the streets paved, and made the people more willing to submit to a +tax for that purpose. + +After some time I drew a bill for paving the city, and brought it into +the Assembly. It was just before I went to England in 1757, and did not +pass till I was gone, and then with an alteration in the mode of +assessment which I thought not for the better, but with an additional +provision for lighting as well as paving the streets, which was a great +improvement. It was by a private person, the late Mr. John Clifton,--his +giving a sample of the utility of lamps by placing one at his +door,--that the people were first impressed with the idea of enlighting +all the city. The honor of this public benefit has also been ascribed to +me, but it belongs truly to that gentleman. I did but follow his +example, and have only some merit to claim respecting the form of our +lamps, as differing from the globe lamps we were at first supplied with +from London. Those we found inconvenient in these respects: they +admitted no air below; the smoke, therefore, did not readily go out +above, but circulated in the globe, lodged on its inside, and soon +obstructed the light they were intended to afford, giving, besides, the +daily trouble of wiping them clean; and an accidental stroke on one of +them would demolish it and render it totally useless. I therefore +suggested the composing them of four flat panes, with a long funnel +above to draw up the smoke, and crevices admitting air below to +facilitate the ascent of the smoke. By this means they were kept clean, +and did not grow dark in a few hours, as the London lamps do, but +continued bright till morning, and an accidental stroke would generally +break but a single pane, easily repaired. + +I have sometimes wondered that the Londoners did not, from the effect +holes in the bottom of the globe lamps used at Vauxhall[144] have in +keeping them clean, learn to have such holes in their street lamps. +But, these holes being made for another purpose, namely, to +communicate flame more suddenly to the wick by a little flax hanging +down through them, the other use, of letting in air, seems not to have +been thought of; and therefore, after the lamps have been lit a few +hours, the streets of London are very poorly illuminated. + +The mention of these improvements puts me in mind of one I proposed, +when in London, to Dr. Fothergill, who was among the best men I have +known, and a great promoter of useful projects. I had observed that +the streets, when dry, were never swept, and the light dust carried +away; but it was suffered to accumulate till wet weather reduced it to +mud, and then, after lying some days so deep on the pavement that +there was no crossing but in paths kept clean by poor people with +brooms, it was with great labor raked together and thrown up into +carts open above, the sides of which suffered some of the slush at +every jolt on the pavement to shake out and fall, sometimes to the +annoyance of foot passengers. The reason given for not sweeping the +dusty streets was that the dust would fly into the windows of shops +and houses. + +An accidental occurrence had instructed me how much sweeping might be +done in a little time. I found at my door in Craven Street[145] one +morning, a poor woman sweeping my pavement with a birch broom. She +appeared very pale and feeble, as just come out of a fit of sickness. I +asked who employed her to sweep there. She said, "Nobody; but I am very +poor and in distress, and I sweeps before gentlefolkses doors, and hopes +they will give me something." I bid her sweep the whole street clean, +and I would give her a shilling. This was at nine o'clock; at twelve she +came for the shilling. From the slowness I saw at first in her working I +could scarce believe that the work was done so soon, and sent my servant +to examine it, who reported that the whole street was swept perfectly +clean, and all the dust placed in the gutter, which was in the middle; +and the next rain washed it quite away, so that the pavement, and even +the kennel,[146] were perfectly clean. + +I then judged that if that feeble woman could sweep such a street in +three hours, a strong, active man might have done it in half the time. +And here let me remark the convenience of having but one gutter in +such a narrow street, running down its middle, instead of two, one on +each side, near the footway; for where all the rain that falls on a +street runs from the sides and meets in the middle, it forms there a +current strong enough to wash away all the mud it meets with; but when +divided into two channels, it is often too weak to cleanse either, and +only makes the mud it finds more fluid, so that the wheels of +carriages and feet of horses throw and dash it upon the foot pavement, +which is thereby rendered foul and slippery, and sometimes splash it +upon those who are walking. My proposal communicated to the good +doctor was as follows: + +"For the more effectual cleaning and keeping clean the streets of +London and Westminster[147] it is proposed that the several watchmen +be contracted with to have the dust swept up in dry seasons, and the +mud raked up at other times, each in the several streets and lanes of +his round; that they be furnished with brooms and other proper +instruments for these purposes, to be kept at their respective stands, +ready to furnish the poor people they may employ in the service. + +"That in the dry summer months the dust be all swept up into heaps at +proper distances, before the shops and windows of houses are usually +opened, 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 spread abroad +again by the wheels of carriages and trampling of horses, but that the +scavengers be provided with bodies of carts, not placed high upon +wheels, but low upon sliders, with lattice bottoms, which, being +covered with straw, will retain the mud thrown into them, and permit +the water to drain from it, whereby it will become much lighter, water +making the greatest part of its weight; these bodies of carts to be +placed at convenient distances, and the mud brought to them in +wheelbarrows, they remaining where placed till the mud is drained, and +then horses brought to draw them away." + +I have since had doubts of the practicability of the latter part of +this proposal, on account of the narrowness of some streets, and the +difficulty of placing the draining sleds so as not to encumber too +much the passage; but I am still of opinion that the former, requiring +the dust to be swept up and carried away before the shops are open, is +very practicable in summer, when the days are long; for, in walking +through the Strand and Fleet Street one morning at seven o'clock, I +observed there was not one shop open, though it had been daylight and +the sun up above three hours, the inhabitants of London choosing +voluntarily to live much by candlelight and sleep by sunshine; and yet +they often complain, a little absurdly, of the duty on candles and the +high price of tallow. + +Some may think these trifling matters, not worth minding or relating; +but when they consider that though dust blown into the eyes of a +single person, or into a single shop, on a windy day is but of small +importance, yet the great number of the instances in a populous city, +and its frequent repetitions, give it weight and consequence, perhaps +they will not censure very severely those who bestow some attention to +affairs of this seemingly low nature. Human felicity is produced not +so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by +little advantages that occur every day. Thus, if you teach a poor +young man to shave himself and keep his razor in order, you may +contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving him a +thousand guineas. The money may be soon spent, the regret only +remaining of having foolishly consumed it; but in the other case, he +escapes the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their +sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull razors. He shaves +when most convenient to him, and enjoys daily the pleasure of its +being done with a good instrument.[148] With these sentiments I have +hazarded the few preceding pages, hoping they may afford hints which +some time or other may be useful to a city I love, having lived many +years in it very happily, and perhaps to some of our towns in America. + +Having been for some time employed by the postmaster-general of +America as his comptroller[149] in regulating several offices, and +bringing the officers to account, I was, upon his death, in 1753, +appointed, jointly with Mr. William Hunter, to succeed him, by a +commission from the postmaster-general in England. The American office +never had hitherto paid anything to that of Great Britain. We were to +have six hundred pounds a year between us, if we could make that sum +out of the profits of the office. To do this a variety of improvements +were necessary. Some of these were inevitably at first expensive, so +that in the first four years the office became above nine hundred +pounds in debt to us; but it soon after began to repay us, and before +I was displaced by a freak of the ministers,[150] of which I shall +speak hereafter, we had brought it to yield three times as much clear +revenue to the Crown as the post office of Ireland. Since that +imprudent transaction they have received from it--not one farthing! + +The business of the post office occasioned my taking a journey this +year to New England, where the College of Cambridge,[151] of their own +motion, presented me with the degree of Master of Arts. Yale College, +in Connecticut, had before made me a similar compliment. Thus, without +studying in any college, I came to partake of their honors. They were +conferred in consideration of my improvements and discoveries in the +electric branch of natural philosophy. + +In 1754, war with France being again apprehended, a congress of +commissioners from the different colonies was, by an order of the +Lords of Trade,[152] to be assembled at Albany, there to confer with +the chiefs of the Six Nations[153] concerning the means of defending +both their country and ours. Governor Hamilton, having received this +order, acquainted the House with it, requesting they would furnish +proper presents for the Indians, to be given on this occasion, and +naming the speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself to join Mr. Thomas Penn and +Mr. Secretary Peters as commissioners to act for Pennsylvania. The +House approved the nomination, and provided the goods for the present, +though they did not much like treating out of the provinces; and we +met the other commissioners at Albany about the middle of June. + +In our way thither I projected and drew a plan for the union of all +the colonies under one government, so far as might be necessary for +defense and other important general purposes. As we passed through New +York I had there shown my project to Mr. James Alexander and Mr. +Kennedy, two gentlemen of great knowledge in public affairs; and, +being fortified by their approbation, I ventured to lay it before the +congress. It then appeared that several of the commissioners had +formed plans of the same kind. A previous question was first taken, +whether a union should be established, which passed in the affirmative +unanimously. A committee was then appointed, one member from each +colony, to consider the several plans and report. Mine happened to be +preferred, and, with a few amendments, was accordingly reported. + +By this plan the general government was to be administered by a +president-general, appointed and supported by the Crown, and a grand +council was to be chosen by the representatives of the people of the +several colonies, met in their respective assemblies. The debates upon +it in congress went on daily, hand in hand with the Indian business. +Many objections and difficulties were started, but at length they were +all overcome, and the plan was unanimously agreed to, and copies +ordered to be transmitted to the Board of Trade and to the assemblies +of the several provinces. Its fate was singular; the assemblies did +not adopt it, as they all thought there was too much prerogative[154] +in it, and in England it was judged to have too much of the +democratic.[155] The Board of Trade, therefore, did not approve of it +nor recommend it for the approbation of his Majesty; but another +scheme was formed, supposed to answer the same purpose better, whereby +the governors of the provinces, with some members of their respective +councils, were to meet and order the raising of troops, building of +forts, etc., and to draw on the treasury of Great Britain for the +expense, which was afterward to be refunded by an act of Parliament +laying a tax on America. My plan, with my reasons in support of it, is +to be found among my political papers that are printed. + +Being the winter following in Boston, I had much conversation with +Governor Shirley upon both the plans. Part of what passed between us +on the occasion may also be seen among those papers. The different and +contrary reasons of dislike to my plan make me suspect that it was +really the true medium, and I am still of opinion it would have been +happy for both sides the water if it had been adopted. The colonies, +so united, would have been sufficiently strong to defend themselves; +there would then have been no need of troops from England. Of course +the subsequent pretense for taxing America, and the bloody contest it +occasioned, would have been avoided. But such mistakes are not new; +history is full of the errors of states and princes. + + "Look round the habitable world, how few + Know their own good, or, knowing it, pursue!" + +Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not +generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into +execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom +adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion. + +The governor of Pennsylvania, in sending it down to the Assembly, +expressed his approbation of the plan, as appearing to him to be drawn +up with great clearness and strength of judgment, and therefore +recommended it as "well worthy of their closest and most serious +attention." The House, however, by the management of a certain member, +took it up when I happened to be absent, which I thought not very +fair, and reprobated it without paying any attention to it at all, to +my no small mortification. + +In my journey to Boston this year I met at New York with our new +governor, Mr. Morris, just arrived there from England, with whom I had +been before intimately acquainted. He brought a commission to +supersede Mr. Hamilton, who, tired with the disputes his proprietary +instructions subjected him to, had resigned. Mr. Morris asked me if I +thought he must expect as uncomfortable an administration. I said, +"No; you may, on the contrary, have a very comfortable one, if you +will only take care not to enter into any dispute with the Assembly." +"My dear friend," says he, pleasantly, "how can you advise my avoiding +disputes? You know I love disputing; it is one of my greatest +pleasures. However, to show the regard I have for your counsel, I +promise you I will, if possible, avoid them." He had some reason for +loving to dispute, being eloquent, an acute sophister, and therefore +generally successful in argumentative conversation. He had been +brought up to it from a boy, his father, as I have heard, accustoming +his children to dispute with one another for his diversion while +sitting at table after dinner. But I think the practice was not wise; +for in the course of my observation, these disputing, contradicting, +and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They +get victory sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of +more use to them. We parted, he going to Philadelphia and I to Boston. + +In returning I met at New York with the votes of the Assembly, by +which it appeared that, notwithstanding his promise to me, he and the +House were already in high contention; and it was a continual battle +between them as long as he retained the government. + +I had my share of it; for, as soon as I got back to my seat in the +Assembly, I was put on every committee for answering his speeches and +messages, and by the committees always desired to make the drafts. Our +answers, as well as his messages, were often tart, and sometimes +indecently abusive, and, as he knew I wrote for the Assembly, one might +have imagined that when we met we could hardly avoid cutting throats; +but he was so good-natured a man that no personal difference between him +and me was occasioned by the contest, and we often dined together. + +One afternoon, in the height of this public quarrel, we met in the +street. "Franklin," says he, "you must go home with me and spend the +evening; I am to have some company that you will like;" and, taking me +by the arm, he led me to his house. In gay conversation over our wine +after supper, he told us jokingly that he much admired the idea of +Sancho Panza,[156] who, when it was proposed to give him a government, +requested it might be a government of blacks, as then, if he could not +agree with his people, he might sell them. One of his friends, who sat +next to me, says, "Franklin, why do you continue to side with these +Quakers? Had not you better sell them? The proprietor would give you a +good price." "The governor," says I, "has not yet blacked them +enough." He, indeed, had labored hard to blacken the Assembly in all +his messages, but they wiped off his coloring as fast as he laid it +on, and placed it in return thick upon his own face; so that, finding +he was likely to be negrofied himself, he, as well as Mr. Hamilton, +grew tired of the contest, and quitted the government. + +These public quarrels were all at bottom owing to the proprietaries, +our hereditary governors, who, when any expense was to be incurred for +the defense of their province, with incredible meanness instructed +their deputies[157] to pass no act for levying the necessary taxes, +unless their vast estates were in the same act expressly excused, and +they had even taken bonds of these deputies to observe such +instructions. The Assemblies for three years held out against this +injustice, though constrained to bend at last. At length Captain +Denny, who was Governor Morris's successor, ventured to disobey those +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 during the administration +of Governor Morris. + +[Footnote 138: It stood on Fourth Street, below Arch.] + +[Footnote 139: A member of a denomination which has its name from +Moravia, a division of Austria-Hungary. For an account of their home +and practices, see pp. 168-170.] + +[Footnote 140: A representative in the lower house of the legislature.] + +[Footnote 141: "Magic squares," i.e., square figures of 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 +phrases so arranged as to read the same in all directions. The magic +circle is a modification of the magic square, one form of which was +devised by Franklin.] + +[Footnote 142: A form or draft of the law, presented to the +legislature for adoption.] + +[Footnote 143: The church of this society is now on the corner of +Walnut and Twenty-first Streets.] + +[Footnote 144: Pleasure gardens in the London of Franklin's day.] + +[Footnote 145: A street in London in which Franklin had apartments.] + +[Footnote 146: Little channel or gutter.] + +[Footnote 147: Now a part of London, but formerly a separate +corporation.] + +[Footnote 148: "From the manuscript journal of Mr. Andrew Ellicott," +says Mr. John Bigelow in one of his editions of the Autobiography, "I +have been kindly favored by Mr. J. C. G. Kennedy, of Washington, one +of his descendants, with the following extract, which was written +three years before the preceding paragraph in the Autobiography: + +"'I found him [Franklin] in his little room among his papers. He +received me very politely, and immediately entered into conversation +about the western country. His room makes a singular appearance, being +filled with old philosophical instruments, papers, boxes, tables, and +stools. About ten o'clock he placed some water on the fire, but not +being expert through his great age, I desired him to give me the +pleasure of assisting him. He thanked me, and replied that he ever +made it a point to wait upon himself, and, although he began to find +himself infirm, he was determined not to increase his infirmities by +giving way to them. After the water was hot, I observed his object was +to shave himself, which operation he performed without a glass and +with great expedition. I asked him if he ever employed a barber; he +answered: "No; I think happiness does not consist so much in +particular pieces of good fortune, which perhaps occasionally fall to +a man's lot, as to be able in his old age to do those little things +which, being unable to perform himself, would be done by others with a +sparing hand."'"] + +[Footnote 149: That is, he examined the accounts and managed the +financial affairs.] + +[Footnote 150: The ministers of the Crown in London.] + +[Footnote 151: The college in Cambridge, Harvard College.] + +[Footnote 152: The commissioners of trade, who lived in England, and +to whom the colonial governors made their reports and returns. Their +duty was "to put things into a form and order of government that +should always preserve these countries in obedience to the Crown."] + +[Footnote 153: A union of six of the more considerable Indian tribes.] + +[Footnote 154: The power of the king.] + +[Footnote 155: The government of the people.] + +[Footnote 156: The squire of Don Quixote, to whom a duke jokingly +granted the government of an island for a few days. This is one of the +best-known episodes in that amusing history.] + +[Footnote 157: The governors of the provinces, who were appointed by +the proprietaries (see Note 1, p. 58).] + + + + +Sec. 8. FRANKLIN ACTS IN CONCERT WITH BRADDOCK'S ARMY. + +ORGANIZATION OF MILITIA. + + +War being in a manner commenced with France,[158] the government of +Massachusetts Bay projected an attack upon Crown Point,[159] and sent +Mr. Quincy to Pennsylvania, and Mr. Pownall, afterward Governor Pownall, +to New York, to solicit assistance. As I was in the Assembly, knew its +temper, and was Mr. Quincy's countryman,[160] he applied to me for my +influence and assistance. I dictated his address to them, which was well +received. They voted an aid of ten thousand pounds, to be laid out in +provisions; but the governor refusing his assent to their bill (which +included this with other sums granted for the use of the Crown), unless +a clause were inserted exempting the proprietary estate[161] from +bearing any part of the tax that would be necessary, the Assembly, +though very desirous of making their grant to New England effectual, +were at a loss how to accomplish it. Mr. Quincy labored hard with the +governor to obtain his assent, but he was obstinate. + +I then suggested a method of doing the business without the governor, +by orders on the trustees of the Loan Office,[162] which, by law, the +Assembly had the right of drawing. There was, indeed, little or no +money at that time in the office, and therefore I proposed that the +orders should be payable in a year, and to bear an interest of five +per cent. With these orders I supposed the provisions might easily be +purchased. The Assembly, with very little hesitation, adopted the +proposal. The orders were immediately printed, and I was one of the +committee directed to sign and dispose of them. The fund for paying +them was the interest of all the paper currency then extant in the +province upon loan, together with the revenue arising from the +excise,[163] which being known to be more than sufficient, they +obtained instant credit, and were not only received in payment for the +provisions, but many moneyed people who had cash lying by them +invested it in those orders, which they found advantageous, as they +bore interest while upon hand and might on any occasion be used as +money; so that they were eagerly all bought up, and in a few weeks +none of them were to be seen. Thus this important affair was by my +means completed. Mr. Quincy returned thanks to the Assembly in a +handsome memorial, went home highly pleased with the success of his +embassy, and ever after bore for me the most cordial and affecting +friendship. + +The British government, not choosing to permit the union of the +colonies as proposed at Albany, and to trust that union with their +defense, lest they should thereby grow too military and feel their own +strength, suspicions and jealousies at this time being entertained of +them, sent over General Braddock with two regiments of regular English +troops for that purpose. He landed at Alexandria, in Virginia, and +thence marched to Fredericktown, in Maryland, where he halted for +carriages.[164] Our Assembly, apprehending from some information that +he had conceived violent prejudices against them as averse to the +service, wished me to wait upon him, not as from them, but as +postmaster-general, under the guise of proposing to settle with him +the mode of conducting with most celerity and certainty the dispatches +between him and the governors of the several provinces, with whom he +must necessarily have continual correspondence, and of which they +proposed to pay the expense. My son accompanied me on this journey. + +We found the general at Fredericktown, waiting impatiently for the +return of those he had sent through the back parts of Maryland and +Virginia to collect wagons. I stayed with him several days, dined with +him daily, and had full opportunity of removing all his prejudices by +the information of what the Assembly had before his arrival actually +done, and were still willing to do, to facilitate his operations. When +I was about to depart, the returns of wagons to be obtained were +brought in, by which it appeared that they amounted only to +twenty-five, and not all of those were in serviceable condition. The +general and all the officers were surprised, declared the expedition +was then at an end, being impossible, and exclaimed against the +ministers[165] for ignorantly landing them in a country destitute of +the means of conveying their stores, baggage, etc., not less than one +hundred and fifty wagons being necessary. + +I happened to say I thought it was pity they had not been landed +rather in Pennsylvania, as in that country almost every farmer had his +wagon. The general eagerly laid hold of my words, and said: "Then you, +sir, who are a man of interest there, can probably procure them for +us, and I beg you will undertake it." I asked what terms were to be +offered the owners of the wagons, and I was desired to put on paper +the terms that appeared to me necessary. This I did, and they were +agreed to, and a commission and instructions accordingly prepared +immediately. What those terms were will appear in the advertisement I +published as soon as I arrived at Lancaster, which being, from the +great and sudden effect it produced, a piece of some curiosity, I +shall insert it at length as follows: + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + LANCASTER, April 26, 1755. + + Whereas, one hundred and fifty wagons, with four horses to each + wagon, and fifteen hundred saddle or pack horses, are wanted for + the service of his Majesty's forces now about to rendezvous at + Will's Creek, and his Excellency, General Braddock, having been + pleased to empower me to contract for the hire of the same, I + hereby give notice that I shall attend for that purpose at + Lancaster from this day to next Wednesday evening, and at York + from next Thursday morning till Friday evening, where I shall be + ready to agree for wagons and teams, or single horses, on the + following terms, viz.: 1. That there shall be paid for each + wagon, with four good horses and a driver, fifteen shillings per + diem;[166] and for each able horse with a pack saddle, or other + saddle and furniture, two shillings per diem; and for each able + horse without a saddle, eighteenpence per diem. 2. That the pay + commence from the time of their joining the forces at Will's + Creek, which must be on or before the 20th of May ensuing, and + that a reasonable allowance be paid over and above for the time + necessary for their traveling to Will's Creek and home again + after their discharge. 3. Each wagon and team, and every saddle + or pack horse, is to be valued by indifferent[167] persons chosen + between me and the owner; and in case of the loss of any wagon, + team, or other horse in the service, the price according to such + valuation is to be allowed and paid. 4. Seven days' pay is to be + advanced and paid in hand by me to the owner of each wagon and + team, or horse, at the time of contracting, if required, and the + remainder to be paid by General Braddock, or by the paymaster of + the army, at the time of their discharge, or from time to time, + as it shall be demanded. 5. No drivers of wagons, or persons + taking care of the hired horses, are on any account to be called + upon to do the duty of soldiers, or be otherwise employed than in + conducting or taking care of their carriages or horses. 6. All + oats, Indian corn, or other forage that wagons or horses bring to + the camp, more than is necessary for the subsistence of the + horses, is to be taken for the use of the army, and a reasonable + price paid for the same. + + NOTE.--My son, William Franklin, is empowered to enter into like + contracts with any person in Cumberland County. + + B. FRANKLIN. + +TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE COUNTIES OF LANCASTER, YORK, AND CUMBERLAND. + + FRIENDS AND COUNTRYMEN: Being occasionally at the camp at + Frederick, a few days since, I found the general and officers + extremely exasperated on account of their not being supplied with + horses and carriages, which had been expected from this province, + as most able to furnish them; but, through the dissensions + between our governor and Assembly, money had not been provided, + nor any steps taken for that purpose. + + It was proposed to send an armed force immediately into these + counties, to seize as many of the best carriages and horses as + should be wanted, and compel as many persons into the service as + would be necessary to drive and take care of them. + + I apprehended that the progress of British soldiers through these + counties on such an occasion, especially considering the temper + they are in, and their resentment against us, would be attended + with many and great inconveniences to the inhabitants, and + therefore more willingly took the trouble of trying first what + might be done by fair and equitable means. The people of these + back counties have lately complained to the Assembly that a + sufficient currency was wanting. You have an opportunity of + receiving and dividing among you a very considerable sum; for, if + the service of this expedition should continue, as it is more + than probable it will, for one hundred and twenty days, the hire + of these wagons and horses will amount to upward of thirty + thousand pounds, which will be paid you in silver and gold of the + king's money. + + The service will be light and easy, for the army will scarce + march above twelve miles per day, and the wagons and baggage + horses, as they carry those things that are absolutely necessary + to the welfare of the army, must march with the army, and no + faster; and are, for the army's sake, always placed where they + can be most secure, whether in a march or in a camp. + + If you are really, as I believe you are, good and loyal subjects + to his Majesty, you may now do a most acceptable service, and + make it easy to yourselves; for three or four of such as cannot + separately spare from the business of their plantations a wagon + and four horses and a driver, may do it together, one furnishing + the wagon, another, one or two horses, and another, the driver, + and divide the pay proportionately between you; but if you do not + this service to your king and country voluntarily, when such good + pay and reasonable terms are offered to you, your loyalty will be + strongly suspected. The king's business must be done; so many + brave troops, come so far for your defense, must not stand idle + through your backwardness to do what may be reasonably expected + from you; wagons and horses must be had; violent measures will + probably be used, and you will be left to seek for a recompense + where you can find it, and your case, perhaps, be little pitied + or regarded. + + I have no particular interest in this affair, as, except the + satisfaction of endeavoring to do good, I shall have only my + labor for my pains. If this method of obtaining the wagons and + horses is not likely to succeed, I am obliged to send word to the + general in fourteen days; and I suppose Sir John St. Clair, the + hussar,[168] with a body of soldiers, will immediately enter the + province for the purpose, which I shall be sorry to hear, because + I am very sincerely and truly your friend and wellwisher, + + B. FRANKLIN. + +I received of the general about eight hundred pounds, to be disbursed +in advance money to the wagon owners, etc.; but that sum being +insufficient, I advanced upward of two hundred pounds more, and in two +weeks the one hundred and fifty wagons, with two hundred and +fifty-nine carrying horses,[169] were on their march for the camp. The +advertisement promised payment according to the valuation, in case any +wagon or horse should be lost. The owners, however, alleging they did +not know General Braddock, or what dependence might be had on his +promise, insisted on my bond for the performance, which I accordingly +gave them. + +While I was at the camp supping one evening with the officers of +Colonel Dunbar's regiment, he represented to me his concern for the +subalterns,[170] who, he said, were generally not in affluence, and +could ill afford, in this dear country, to lay in the stores that +might be necessary in so long a march through a wilderness, where +nothing was to be purchased. I commiserated their case, and resolved +to endeavor procuring them some relief. I said nothing, however, to +him of my intention, but wrote the next morning to the committee of +the Assembly who had the disposition of some public money, warmly +recommending the case of these officers to their consideration, and +proposing that a present should be sent them of necessaries and +refreshments. My son, who had some experience of a camp life and of +its wants, drew up a list for me, which I inclosed in my letter. The +committee approved, and used such diligence that, 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, + 6 lbs. good Muscovado[171] do., + 1 lb. good green tea, + 1 lb. good bohea do., + 6 lbs. good ground coffee, + 6 lbs. chocolate, + 1/2 cwt. best white biscuit, + 1/2 lb. pepper, + 1 quart best white wine vinegar, + 1 Gloucester cheese, + 1 keg containing 20 lbs. good + butter, + 2 doz. old Madeira wine, + 2 gals. Jamaica spirits, + 1 bottle flour of mustard, + 2 well-cured hams, + 1/2 doz. dried tongues, + 6 lbs. rice, + 6 lbs. raisins. + +These twenty parcels, well packed, were placed on as many horses, each +parcel, with the horse, being intended as a present for one officer. +They were very thankfully received, and the kindness acknowledged by +letters to me from the colonels of both regiments in the most grateful +terms. The general, too, was highly satisfied with my conduct in +procuring him the wagons, etc., and readily paid my account of +disbursements, thanking me repeatedly, and requesting my further +assistance in sending provisions after him. I undertook this also, and +was busily employed in it till we heard of his defeat, advancing for +the service, of my own money, upward of one thousand pounds sterling, +of which I sent him an account. It came to his hands, luckily for me, +a few days before the battle, and he returned me immediately an order +on the paymaster for the round sum of one thousand pounds, leaving the +remainder to the next account. I consider this payment as good luck, +having never been able to obtain that remainder, of which more +hereafter. + +This general was, I think, a brave man, and might probably have made a +figure as a good officer in some European war. But he had too much +self-confidence, too high an opinion of the validity of regular +troops, and too mean a one of both Americans and Indians. George +Croghan, our Indian interpreter, joined him on his march with one +hundred of those people, who might have been of great use to his army +as guides, scouts, etc., if he had treated them kindly; but he +slighted and neglected them, and they gradually left him. + +In conversation with him one day he was giving me some account of his +intended progress. "After taking Fort Duquesne,"[172] says he, "I am +to proceed to Niagara; and, having taken that, to Frontenac, if the +season will allow time, and I suppose it will, for Duquesne can hardly +detain me above three or four days; and then I see nothing that can +obstruct my march to Niagara." Having before revolved in my mind the +long line his army must make in their march by a very narrow road, to +be cut for them through the woods and bushes, and also what I had read +of a former defeat of fifteen hundred French, who invaded the Iroquois +country, I had conceived some doubts and some fears for the event of +the campaign. But I ventured only to say: "To be sure, sir, if you +arrive well before Duquesne with these fine troops, so well provided +with artillery, that place, not yet completely fortified, and, as we +hear, with no very strong garrison, can probably make but a short +resistance. The only danger I apprehend of obstruction to your march +is from ambuscades of Indians, who, by constant practice, are +dexterous in laying and executing them; and the slender line, near +four miles long, which your army must make, may expose it to be +attacked by surprise in its flanks, 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's +regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they should make +any impression." I was conscious of an impropriety in my disputing +with a military man in matters of his profession, and said no more. +The enemy, however, did not take the advantage of his army which I +apprehended its long line of march exposed it to, but let it advance +without interruption till within nine miles of the place; and then, +when more in a body (for it had just passed a river where the front +had halted till all had come over), and in a more open part of the +woods than any it had passed, attacked its advance guard by a heavy +fire from behind trees and bushes, which was the first intelligence +the general had of an enemy's being near him. This guard being +disordered, the general hurried the troops up to their assistance, +which was done in great confusion, through wagons, baggage, and +cattle; and presently the fire came upon their flank. The officers, +being on horseback, were more easily distinguished, picked out as +marks, and fell very fast; and the soldiers were crowded together in a +huddle, having or hearing no orders, and standing to be shot at till +two thirds of them were killed; and then, being seized with a panic, +the whole fled with precipitation. + +The wagoners took each a horse out of his team, and scampered; their +example was immediately followed by others, so that all the wagons, +provisions, artillery, and stores were left to the enemy. The general, +being wounded, was brought off with difficulty; his secretary, Mr. +Shirley, was killed by his side; and out of eighty-six officers, +sixty-three were killed or wounded, and seven hundred and fourteen men +killed out of eleven hundred. These eleven hundred had been picked men +from the whole army; the rest had been left behind with Colonel +Dunbar, who was to follow with the heavier part of the stores, +provisions, and baggage. The flyers, not being pursued, arrived at +Dunbar's camp, and the panic they brought with them instantly seized +him and all his people; and though he had now above one thousand men, +and the enemy who had beaten Braddock did not at most exceed four +hundred Indians and French together, instead of proceeding and +endeavoring to recover some of the lost honor, he ordered all the +stores, ammunition, etc., to be destroyed, that he might have more +horses to assist his flight toward the settlements and less lumber to +remove. He was there met with requests from the governors of Virginia, +Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that he would post his troops on the +frontiers so as to afford some protection to the inhabitants; but he +continued his hasty march through all the country, not thinking +himself safe till he arrived at Philadelphia, where the inhabitants +could protect him. This whole transaction gave us Americans the first +suspicion that our exalted ideas of the prowess of British regulars +had not been well founded. + +In their first march, too, from their landing till they got beyond the +settlements, they had plundered and stripped the inhabitants, totally +ruining some poor families, besides insulting, abusing, and confining +the people if they remonstrated. This was enough to put us out of +conceit of such defenders, if we had really wanted any. How different +was the conduct of our French friends in 1781, who, during a march +through the most inhabited part of our country from Rhode Island to +Virginia, near seven hundred miles, occasioned not the smallest +complaint for the loss of a pig, a chicken, or even an apple. + +Captain Orme, who was one of the general's aids-de-camp, and, being +grievously wounded, was brought off with him and continued with him to +his death, which happened in a few days, told me that he was totally +silent all the first day, and at night only said: "Who would have +thought it?" that he was silent again the following day, saying only +at last: "We shall better know how to deal with them another time," +and died in a few minutes after. + +The secretary's papers, with all the general's orders, instructions, +and correspondence, falling into the enemy's hands, they selected and +translated into French a number of the articles, which they printed, +to prove the hostile intentions of the British court before the +declaration of war. Among these I saw some letters of the general to +the ministry, speaking highly of the great service I had rendered the +army, and recommending me to their notice. David Hume,[173] too, who +was some years after secretary to Lord Hertford when minister in +France, and afterward to General Conway when secretary of state, told +me he had seen, among the papers in that office, letters from Braddock +highly recommending me. But, the expedition having been unfortunate, +my service, it seems, was not thought of much value, for those +recommendations were never of any use to me. + +As to rewards from himself, I asked only one, which was that he would +give orders to his officers not to enlist any more of our bought +servants,[174] and that he would discharge such as had been already +enlisted. This he readily granted, and several were accordingly +returned to their masters on my application. Dunbar, when the command +devolved on him, was not so generous. He being at Philadelphia, on his +retreat, or rather flight, I applied to him for the discharge of the +servants of three poor farmers of Lancaster County that he had +enlisted, reminding him of the late general's orders on that head. He +promised me that, if the masters would come to him at Trenton, where +he should be in a few days on his march to New York, he would there +deliver their men to them. They accordingly were at the expense and +trouble of going to Trenton, and there he refused to perform his +promise, to their great loss and disappointment. + +As soon as the loss of the wagons and horses was generally known, all +the owners came upon me for the valuation which I had given bond to +pay. Their demands gave me a great deal of trouble. My acquainting +them that the money was ready in the paymaster's hands, but that +orders for paying it must first be obtained from General Shirley, and +my assuring them that I had applied to that general by letter, but, he +being at a distance, an answer could not soon be received, and they +must have patience,--all this was not sufficient to satisfy, and some +began to sue me. General Shirley at length relieved me from this +terrible situation by appointing commissioners to examine the claims, +and ordering payment. They amounted to near twenty thousand pounds, +which to pay would have ruined me. + +Before we had the news of this defeat, the two Doctors Bond came to me +with a subscription paper for raising money to defray the expense of a +grand firework, which it was intended to exhibit at a rejoicing on +receipt of the news of our taking Fort Duquesne. I looked grave, and +said it would, I thought, be time enough to prepare for the rejoicing +when we knew we should have occasion to rejoice. They seemed surprised +that I did not immediately comply with their proposal. "Why," says one +of them, "you surely don't suppose that the fort will not be taken?" +"I don't know that it will not be taken, but I know that the events of +war are subject to great uncertainty." I gave them the reasons of my +doubting; the subscription was dropped, and the projectors thereby +missed the mortification they would have undergone if the firework had +been prepared. Dr. Bond, on some other occasion afterward, said that +he did not like Franklin's forebodings. + +Governor Morris, who had continually worried the Assembly with message +after message, before the defeat of Braddock, to beat them into the +making of acts to raise money for the defense of the province without +taxing, among others, the proprietary estates, and had rejected all +their bills for not having such an exempting clause, now redoubled his +attacks with more hope of success, the danger and necessity being +greater. The Assembly, however, continued firm, believing they had +justice on their side, and that it would be giving up an essential +right if they suffered the governor to amend their money bills. In one +of the last, indeed, which was for granting fifty thousand pounds, his +proposed amendment was only of a single word. The bill expressed that +all estates, real and personal, were to be taxed, those of the +proprietaries not excepted. His amendment was, "for _not_ read +_only_"--a small, but very material, alteration. + +However, when the news of this disaster reached England, our friends +there, whom we had taken care to furnish with all the Assembly's +answers to the governor's messages, raised a clamor against the +proprietaries for their meanness and injustice in giving their +governor such instructions; some going so far as to say that, by +obstructing the defense of their province, they forfeited their right +to it. They were intimidated by this, and sent orders to their +receiver-general to add five thousand pounds of their money to +whatever sum might be given by the Assembly for such purpose. + +This, being notified to the House, was accepted in lieu of their share +of a general tax, and a new bill was formed, with an exempting clause, +which passed accordingly. By this act I was appointed one of the +commissioners for disposing of the money,--sixty thousand pounds. I +had been active in modeling the bill and procuring its passage, and +had, at the same time, drawn a bill for establishing and disciplining +a voluntary militia, which I carried through the House without much +difficulty, as care was taken in it to leave the Quakers at their +liberty. To promote the association necessary to form the militia, I +wrote a dialogue,[175] stating and answering all the objections I +could think of to such a militia, which was printed, and had, as I +thought, great effect. + +While the several companies in the city and country were forming, and +learning their exercise, the governor prevailed with me to take charge +of our northwestern frontier, which was infested by the enemy, and +provide for the defense of the inhabitants by raising troops and +building a line of forts. I undertook this military business, though I +did not conceive myself well qualified for it. He gave me a commission +with full powers, and a parcel of blank commissions for officers, to +be given to whom I thought fit. I had but little difficulty in raising +men, having soon five hundred and sixty under my command. My son, who +had in the preceding war been an officer in the army raised against +Canada, was my aid-de-camp, and of great use to me. The Indians had +burned Gnadenhut, a village settled by the Moravians, and massacred +the inhabitants; but the place was thought a good situation for one of +the forts. + +In order to march thither, I assembled the companies at +Bethlehem,[176] 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 apprehend danger. The principal buildings +were defended by a stockade, they had purchased a quantity of arms and +ammunition from New York, and had even placed quantities of small +paving stones between the windows of their high stone houses, for +their women to throw down upon the heads of any Indians that should +attempt to force into them. The armed brethren, too, kept watch, and +relieved[177] as methodically as in any garrison town. In conversation +with the bishop, Spangenberg, I mentioned this my surprise; for, +knowing they had obtained an act of Parliament exempting them from +military duties in the colonies, I had supposed they were +conscientiously scrupulous of bearing arms. He answered me that it was +not one of their established principles, but that, at the time of +their obtaining that act, it was thought to be a principle with many +of their people. On this occasion, however, they, to their surprise, +found it adopted by but a few. It seems they were either deceived in +themselves or deceived the Parliament; but common sense, aided by +present danger, will sometimes be too strong for whimsical opinions. + +It was the beginning of January when we set out upon this business of +building forts. I sent one detachment toward the Minisink,[178] with +instructions to erect one for the security of that upper part of the +country, and another to the lower part, with similar instructions; and +I concluded to go myself with the rest of my force to Gnadenhut, where +a fort was thought more immediately necessary. The Moravians procured +me five wagons for our tools, stores, baggage, etc. + +Just before we left Bethlehem, eleven farmers, who had been driven +from their plantations by the Indians, came to me requesting a supply +of firearms, that they might go back and fetch off their cattle. I +gave them each a gun with suitable ammunition. We had not marched many +miles before it began to rain, and it continued raining all day. There +were no habitations on the road to shelter us till we arrived, near +night, at the house of a German, where, and in his barn, we were all +huddled together, as wet as water could make us. It was well we were +not attacked in our march, for our arms were of the most ordinary +sort, and our men could not keep their gunlocks dry. The Indians are +dexterous in contrivances for that purpose, which we had not. They met +that day the eleven poor farmers above mentioned, and killed ten of +them. The one who escaped informed us that his and his companions' +guns would not go off, the priming[179] being wet with the rain. + +The next day being fair, we continued our march, and arrived at the +desolated Gnadenhut. There was a sawmill near, round which were left +several piles of boards, with which we soon hutted ourselves,--an +operation the more necessary at that inclement season as we had no +tents. Our first work was to bury more effectually the dead we found +there, who had been half interred by the country people. + +The next morning our fort was planned and marked out, the +circumference measuring four hundred and fifty-five feet, which would +require as many palisades to be made of trees, one with another, of a +foot diameter each. Our axes, of which we had seventy, were +immediately set to work to cut down trees, and, our men being +dexterous in the use of them, great dispatch was made. Seeing the +trees fall so fast, I had the curiosity to look at my watch when two +men began to cut at a pine; in six minutes they had it upon the +ground, and I found it of fourteen inches' diameter. Each pine made +three palisades of eighteen feet long, pointed at one end. While these +were preparing, our other men dug a trench all round, of three feet +deep, in which the palisades were to be planted; and our wagons, the +bodies being taken off, and the fore and hind wheels separated by +taking out the pin which united the two parts of the perch,[180] we +had ten carriages, with two horses each, to bring the palisades from +the woods to the spot. When they were set up, our carpenters built a +stage of boards all round within, about six feet high, for the men to +stand on when to fire through the loopholes. We had one swivel +gun,[181] which we mounted on one of the angles, and fired it as soon +as fixed, to let the Indians know, if any were within hearing, that we +had such pieces; and thus our fort, if such a magnificent name may be +given to so miserable a stockade, was finished in a week, though it +rained so hard every other day that the men could not work. + +This gave me occasion to observe that, when men are employed, they +are best contented; for on the days they worked they were good-natured +and cheerful, and, with the consciousness of having done a good day's +work, they spent the evening jollily; but on our idle days they were +mutinous and quarrelsome, finding fault with their pork, the bread, +etc., and in continual ill humor, which put me in mind of a sea +captain, whose rule it was to keep his men constantly at work; and, +when his mate once told him that they had done everything, and there +was nothing further to employ them about, "Oh," says he, "make them +scour the anchor." + +This kind of fort, however contemptible, is a sufficient defense +against Indians, who have no cannon. Finding ourselves now posted +securely, and having a place to retreat to on occasion, we ventured +out in parties to scour the adjacent country. We met with no Indians, +but we found the places on the neighboring hills where they had lain +to watch our proceedings. There was an art in their contrivance of +those places that seems worth mention. It being winter, a fire was +necessary for them; but a common fire on the surface of the ground +would, by its light, have discovered their position at a distance. +They had therefore dug holes in the ground about three feet in +diameter, and somewhat deeper. We saw where they had with their +hatchets cut off the charcoal from the sides of burnt logs lying in +the woods. With these coals they had made small fires in the bottom of +the holes, and we observed among the weeds and grass the prints of +their bodies, made by their lying all round, with their legs hanging +down in the holes to keep their feet warm, which, with them, is an +essential point. This kind of fire, so managed, could not discover +them, either by its light, flame, sparks, or even smoke. It appeared +that their number was not great, and it seems they saw we were too +many to be attacked by them with prospect of advantage. + +We had for our chaplain a zealous Presbyterian minister, Mr. Beatty, +who complained to me that the men did not generally attend his prayers +and exhortations. When they enlisted, they were promised, besides pay +and provisions, a gill of rum a day, which was punctually served out +to them, half in the morning, and the other half in the evening, and I +observed they were as punctual in attending to receive it; upon which +I said to Mr. Beatty: "It is, perhaps, below the dignity of your +profession to act as steward of the rum, but if you were to deal it +out, and only just after prayers, you would have them all about you." +He liked the thought, undertook the office, and, with the help of a +few hands to measure out the liquor, executed it to satisfaction, and +never were prayers more generally and more punctually attended; so +that I thought this method preferable to the punishment inflicted by +some military laws for nonattendance on divine service. + +I had hardly finished this business, and got my fort well stored with +provisions, when I received a letter from the governor, acquainting me +that he had called the Assembly, and wished my attendance there if the +posture of affairs on the frontiers was such that my remaining there +was no longer necessary. My friends, too, of the Assembly, pressing me +by their letters to be, if possible, at the meeting, and my three +intended forts being now completed, and the inhabitants contented to +remain on their farms under that protection, I resolved to return; the +more willingly, as a New England officer, Colonel Clapham, experienced +in Indian war, being on a visit to our establishment, consented to +accept the command. I gave him a commission, and, parading the +garrison, had it read before them, and introduced him to them as an +officer who, from his skill in military affairs, was much more fit to +command them than myself; and, giving them a little exhortation, took +my leave. I was escorted as far as Bethlehem, where I rested a few +days to recover from the fatigue I had undergone. The first night, +being in a good bed, I could hardly sleep, it was so different from my +hard lodging on the floor of our hut at Gnaden, wrapped only in a +blanket or two. + +While at Bethlehem, I inquired a little into the practice of the +Moravians; some of them had accompanied me, and all were very kind to +me. I found they worked for a common stock,[182] ate at common tables, +and slept in common dormitories, great numbers together. In the +dormitories I observed loopholes, at certain distances all along just +under the ceiling, which I thought judiciously placed for change of +air. I was at their church, where I was entertained with good music, +the organ being accompanied with violins, hautboys, flutes, clarinets, +etc. I understood that their sermons were not usually preached to +mixed congregations of men, women, and children, as is our common +practice, but that they assembled sometimes the married men, at other +times their wives, then the young men, the young women, and the little +children, each division by itself. The sermon I heard was to the +latter, who came in and were placed in rows on benches; the boys under +the conduct of a young man, their tutor, and the girls conducted by a +young woman. The discourse seemed well adapted to their capacities, +and was delivered in a pleasing, familiar manner, coaxing them, as it +were, to be good. They behaved very orderly, but looked pale and +unhealthy, which made me suspect they were kept too much within doors, +or not allowed sufficient exercise. + +I inquired concerning the Moravian marriages, whether the report was +true that they were by lot. I was told that lots were used only in +particular cases; that generally, when a young man found himself +disposed to marry, he informed the elders of his class, who consulted +the elder ladies that governed the young women. As these elders of the +different sexes were well acquainted with the tempers and dispositions +of their respective pupils, they could best judge what matches were +suitable, and their judgments were generally acquiesced in; but if, +for example, it should happen that two or three young women were found +to be equally proper 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 unhappy. "And so they +may," answered my informer, "if you let the parties choose for +themselves;" which, indeed, I could not deny. + +Being returned to Philadelphia, I found the association went on +swimmingly, the inhabitants that were not Quakers having pretty +generally come into it, formed themselves into companies, and chosen +their captains, lieutenants, and ensigns, according to the new law. +Dr. B. visited me, and gave me an account of the pains he had taken to +spread a general good liking to the law, and ascribed much to those +endeavors. I had had the vanity to ascribe all to my "Dialogue;" +however, not knowing but that he might be in the right, I let him +enjoy his opinion, which I take to be generally the best way in such +cases. The officers, meeting, chose me to be colonel of the regiment, +which I this time accepted. I forget how many companies we had, but we +paraded about twelve hundred well-looking men, with a company of +artillery, who had been furnished with six brass fieldpieces,[183] +which they had become so expert in the use of as to fire twelve times +in a minute. The first time I reviewed my regiment they accompanied me +to my house, and would salute me with some rounds fired before my +door, which shook down and broke several glasses of my electrical +apparatus. And my new honor proved not much less brittle; for all our +commissions were soon after broken by a repeal of the law in England. + +During this short time of my colonelship, being about to set out on a +journey to Virginia, the officers of my regiment took it into their +heads that it would be proper for them to escort me out of town, as +far as the Lower Ferry. Just as I was getting on horseback they came +to my door, between thirty and forty, mounted, and all in their +uniforms. I had not been previously acquainted with the project, or I +should have prevented it, being naturally averse to the assuming of +state on any occasion; and I was a good deal chagrined at their +appearance, as I could not avoid their accompanying me. What made it +worse was that as soon as we began to move, they drew their swords and +rode with them naked all the way. Somebody wrote an account of this +to the proprietor, and it gave him great offense. No such honor had +been paid him when in the province, nor to any of his governors, and +he said it was only proper to princes of the blood royal; which may be +true for aught I know, who was, and still am, ignorant of the +etiquette in such cases. + +This silly affair, however, greatly increased his rancor against me, +which was before not a little on account of my conduct in the Assembly +respecting the exemption of his estate from taxation, which I had +always opposed very warmly, and not without severe reflections on his +meanness and injustice of contending for it. He accused me to the +ministry as being the great obstacle to the king's service, +preventing, by my influence in the House, the proper form of the bills +for raising money; and he instanced this parade with my officers as a +proof of my having an intention to take the government of the province +out of his hands by force. He also applied to Sir Everard Fawkener, +the postmaster-general, to deprive me of my office; but it had no +other effect than to procure from Sir Everard a gentle admonition. + +Notwithstanding the continual wrangle between the governor and the +House, in which I, as a member, had so large a share, there still +subsisted a civil intercourse between that gentleman and myself, and +we never had any personal difference. I have sometimes since thought +that his little or no resentment against me for the answers it was +known I drew up to his messages, might be the effect of professional +habit, and that, being bred a lawyer, he might consider us both as +merely advocates for contending clients in a suit, he for the +proprietaries and I for the Assembly. He would, therefore, sometimes +call in a friendly way to advise with me on difficult points, and +sometimes, though not often, take my advice. + +We acted in concert to supply Braddock's army with provisions; and +when the shocking news arrived of his defeat, the governor sent in +haste for me to consult with him on measures for preventing the +desertion of the back counties. I forget now the advice I gave; but I +think it was that Dunbar should be written to, and prevailed with, if +possible, to post his troops on the frontiers for their protection, +till, by reenforcements from the colonies, he might be able to proceed +on the expedition. And, after my return from the frontier, he would +have had me undertake the conduct of such an expedition with +provincial troops, for the reduction of Fort Duquesne, Dunbar and his +men being otherwise employed; and he proposed to commission me as +general. I had not so good an opinion of my military abilities as he +professed to have, and I believe his professions must have exceeded +his real sentiments; but probably he might think that my popularity +would facilitate the raising of the men, and my influence in Assembly, +the grant of money to pay them, and that, perhaps, without taxing the +proprietary estate. Finding me not so forward to engage as he +expected, the project was dropped, and he soon after left the +government, being superseded by Captain Denny. + +Before I proceed in relating the part I had in public affairs under +this new governor's administration, it may not be amiss here to give +some account of the rise and progress of my philosophical reputation. + +[Footnote 158: In 1752 the French began connecting their settlements +on the Lakes and on the Mississippi by a chain of forts on the Ohio. +The English warned off the intruders upon what they deemed their +territory, and sent General Braddock to the colonists' aid. War was +declared in 1756.] + +[Footnote 159: A French fort upon the west side of Lake Champlain.] + +[Footnote 160: That is, he was born in Boston.] + +[Footnote 161: The estate of the Penn family.] + +[Footnote 162: Through which the people loaned money to the government.] + +[Footnote 163: A tax or duty on certain home productions.] + +[Footnote 164: Gun carriages, transport wagons, etc.] + +[Footnote 165: Of the government at London, as on p. 147.] + +[Footnote 166: "Per diem," i.e., a day, or per day.] + +[Footnote 167: Disinterested.] + +[Footnote 168: A member of the light cavalry.] + +[Footnote 169: "Carrying horses," i.e., carrying packs or burdens upon +the back.] + +[Footnote 170: Junior and subordinate officers.] + +[Footnote 171: Muscovado sugar is brown sugar.] + +[Footnote 172: Upon the site of this fort Pittsburg is built. The French +were also fortified at Niagara and at Frontenac on Lake Ontario.] + +[Footnote 173: The historian and philosopher. He was born in 1711 and +died in 1776.] + +[Footnote 174: "Bought servants," i.e., those whose service had been +bought for a term of years (see Note 2, p. 69).] + +[Footnote 175: This dialogue and the militia act are in the +Gentleman's Magazine for February and March, 1756.] + +[Footnote 176: Fifty-five miles north of Philadelphia.] + +[Footnote 177: Relieved one another in military duty.] + +[Footnote 178: The exact location is not known.] + +[Footnote 179: The powder used to fire the charge. It was ignited by a +spark from the flintlock.] + +[Footnote 180: Pole.] + +[Footnote 181: "Swivel gun," i.e., a gun turning upon a swivel or +pivot in any direction.] + +[Footnote 182: Fund.] + +[Footnote 183: Light cannon mounted on carriages.] + + + + +Sec. 9. THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENTS. + + +In 1746, being at Boston, I met there with a Dr. Spence, who was lately +arrived from Scotland, and showed me some electric experiments. They +were imperfectly performed, as he was not very expert; but, being on a +subject quite new to me, they equally surprised and pleased me. Soon +after my return to Philadelphia, our library company received from Mr. +Collinson, Fellow of the Royal Society of London, a present of a glass +tube, with some account of the use of it in making such experiments. I +eagerly seized the opportunity of repeating what I had seen at Boston; +and, by much practice, acquired great readiness in performing those, +also, which we had an account of from England, adding a number of new +ones. I say much practice, for my house was continually full, for some +time, with people who came to see these new wonders. + +To divide a little this incumbrance among my friends, I caused a number +of similar tubes to be blown at our glasshouse, with which they +furnished themselves, so that we had at length several performers. Among +these, the principal was Mr. Kinnersley, an ingenious neighbor, who, +being out of business, I encouraged to undertake showing the experiments +for money, and drew up for him two lectures, in which the experiments +were ranged in such order, and accompanied with such explanations in +such method, as that the foregoing should assist in comprehending the +following. He procured an elegant apparatus for the purpose, in which +all the little machines that I had roughly made for myself were nicely +formed by instrument makers. His lectures were well attended, and gave +great satisfaction; and after some time he went through the colonies, +exhibiting them in every capital town, and picked up some money. In the +West India islands, indeed, it was with difficulty the experiments could +be made, from the general moisture of the air. + +Obliged as we were to Mr. Collinson for his present of the tube, etc., +I thought it right he should be informed of our success in using it, +and wrote him several letters containing accounts of our experiments. +He got them read in the Royal Society, where they were not at first +thought worth so much notice as to be printed in their "Transactions." +One paper, which I wrote for Mr. Kinnersley, on the sameness of +lightning with electricity, I sent to Dr. Mitchel, an acquaintance of +mine, and one of the members also of that society, who wrote me word +that it had been read, but was laughed at by the connoisseurs. The +papers, however, being shown to Dr. Fothergill, he thought them of too +much value to be stifled, and advised the printing of them. Mr. +Collinson then gave them to Cave[184] for publication in his +"Gentleman's Magazine;" but he chose to print them separately in a +pamphlet, and Dr. Fothergill wrote the preface. Cave, it seems, judged +rightly for his profit, for, by the additions that arrived afterward, +they swelled to a quarto volume, which has had five editions, and cost +him nothing for copy money.[185] + +It was, however, some time before those papers were much taken notice +of in England. A copy of them happening to fall into the hands of the +Count de Buffon, a philosopher deservedly of great reputation in +France, and, indeed, all over Europe, he prevailed with M.[186] +Dalibard to translate them into French, and they were printed at +Paris. The publication offended the Abbe[187] Nollet, preceptor in +natural philosophy to the royal family and an able experimenter, who +had formed and published a theory of electricity which then had the +general vogue. He could not at first believe that such a work came +from America, and said it must have been fabricated by his enemies at +Paris, to decry his system. Afterward, having been assured that there +really existed such a person as Franklin at Philadelphia, which he had +doubted, he wrote and published a volume of "Letters," chiefly +addressed to me, defending his theory, and denying the verity of my +experiments, and of the positions deduced from them. + +I once purposed answering the abbe, and actually began the answer; +but, on consideration that my writings contained a description of +experiments which any one might repeat and verify, and if not to be +verified, could not be defended; or of observations offered as +conjectures, and not delivered dogmatically, therefore not laying me +under any obligation to defend them; and reflecting that a dispute +between two persons writing in different languages might be lengthened +greatly by mistranslations, and thence misconceptions of one another's +meaning, much of one of the abbe's letters being founded on an error +in the translation, I concluded to let my papers shift for themselves, +believing it was better to spend what time I could spare from public +business in making new experiments, than in disputing about those +already made. I therefore never answered M. Nollet, and the event gave +me no cause to repent my silence; for my friend M. le Roy, of the +Royal Academy of Sciences, took up my cause and refuted him, my book +was translated into the Italian, German, and Latin languages, and the +doctrine it contained was by degrees universally adopted by the +philosophers of Europe, in preference to that of the abbe; so that he +lived to see himself the last of his sect, except Monsieur B----, of +Paris, his _eleve_[188] and immediate disciple. + +What gave my book the more sudden and general celebrity was the +success of one of its proposed experiments, made by Messrs. Dalibard +and De Lor at Marly, for drawing lightning from the clouds. This +engaged the public attention everywhere. M. de Lor, who had an +apparatus for experimental philosophy, and lectured in that branch of +science, undertook to repeat what he called the "Philadelphia +experiments," and, after they were performed before the king and +court, all the curious of Paris flocked to see them. I will not swell +this narrative with an account of that capital experiment, nor of the +infinite pleasure I received in the success of a similar one I made +soon after with a kite at Philadelphia, as both are to be found in the +histories of electricity. + +Dr. Wright, an English physician, when at Paris, wrote to a friend who +was of the Royal Society, an account of the high esteem my +experiments[n] were in among the learned abroad, and of their wonder +that my writings had been so little noticed in England. The society, +on this, resumed the consideration of the letters that had been read +to them; and the celebrated Dr. Watson drew up a summary account of +them, and of all I had afterward sent to England on the subject, which +he accompanied with some praise of the writer. This summary was then +printed in their "Transactions;" and some members of the society in +London, particularly the very ingenious Mr. Canton, having verified +the experiment of procuring lightning from the clouds by a pointed +rod,[189] and acquainting them with the success, they soon made me +more than amends for the slight with which they had before treated me. +Without my having made any application for that honor, they chose me a +member, and voted that I should be excused the customary payments, +which would have amounted to twenty-five guineas, and ever since have +given me their "Transactions" gratis. They also presented me with the +gold medal of Sir Godfrey Copley for the year 1753, the delivery of +which was accompanied by a very handsome speech of the president, Lord +Macclesfield, wherein I was highly honored. + +Our new governor, Captain Denny, brought over for me the +before-mentioned medal from the Royal Society, which he presented to +me at an entertainment given him by the city. He accompanied it with +very polite expressions of his esteem for me, having, as he said, been +long acquainted with my character. After dinner, when the company, as +was customary at that time, were engaged in drinking, he took me aside +into another room, and acquainted me that he had been advised by his +friends in England to cultivate a friendship with me, as one who was +capable of giving him the best advice, and of contributing most +effectually to the making his administration easy; that he therefore +desired of all things to have a good understanding with me, and he +begged me to be assured of his readiness on all occasions to render me +every service that might be in his power. He said much to me, also, of +the proprietor's good disposition toward the province, and of the +advantage it might be to us all, and to me in particular, if the +opposition that had been so long continued to his measures was +dropped, and harmony restored between him and the people; in effecting +which it was thought no one could be more serviceable than myself, and +I might depend on adequate acknowledgments and recompenses, etc. The +drinkers, finding we did not return immediately to the table, sent us +a decanter of Madeira, which the governor made liberal use of, and in +proportion became more profuse of his solicitations and promises. + +My answers were to this purpose: that my circumstances, thanks to God, +were such as to make proprietary favors unnecessary to me; and that, +being a member of the Assembly, I could not possibly accept of any; +that, however, I had no personal enmity to the proprietary, and that, +whenever the public measures he proposed should appear to be for the +good of the people, no one should espouse and forward them more +zealously than myself, my past opposition having been founded on this, +that the measures which had been urged were evidently intended to +serve the proprietary interest, with great prejudice to that of the +people; that I was much obliged to him (the governor) for his +professions of regard to me, and that he might rely on everything in +my power to make his administration as easy as possible, hoping at the +same time that he had not brought with him the same unfortunate +instructions his predecessor had been hampered with. + +On this he did not then explain himself; but when he afterward came to +do business with the Assembly, they appeared again, the disputes were +renewed, and I was as active as ever in the opposition, being the +penman, first, of the request to have a communication of the +instructions, and then of the remarks upon them, which may be found in +the votes of the time, and in the "Historical Review" I afterward +published. But between us personally no enmity arose; we were often +together. He was a man of letters, had seen much of the world, and was +very entertaining and pleasing in conversation. He gave me the first +information that my old friend James Ralph was still alive; that he +was esteemed one of the best political writers in England; had been +employed in the dispute between Prince Frederic and the king, and had +obtained a pension of three hundred a year; that his reputation was +indeed small as a poet, Pope having damned his poetry in the +"Dunciad," but his prose was thought as good as any man's. + +The Assembly, finally finding the proprietary obstinately persisted in +manacling their deputies[190] with instructions inconsistent not only +with the privileges of the people but with the service of the Crown, +resolved to petition the king against them, and appointed me their +agent to go over to England to present and support the petition. The +House had sent up a bill to the governor, granting a sum of sixty +thousand pounds for the king's use, (ten thousand pounds of which was +subjected to the orders of the then general, Lord Loudoun,) which the +governor absolutely refused to pass, in compliance with his +instructions. + +[Footnote 184: The publisher, Edward Cave (1691-1754), was the founder +of the Gentleman's Magazine, the earliest literary journal of the kind.] + +[Footnote 185: "Copy money," i.e., money paid for the copy or article.] + +[Footnote 186: Monsieur.] + +[Footnote 187: A title formerly assumed in France by a class of men +who had slight connections with the church, and were employed as +teachers or engaged in some literary pursuit.] + +[Footnote 188: Pupil.] + +[Footnote 189: The iron rod was on the kite which Franklin flew in a +thunderstorm in 1752. A hemp cord conducted the electricity to a key +near his hand, and from this he received the shock which proved the +truth of his theory that lightning and electricity are one and the +same.] + +[Footnote 190: See Note 2, p. 151.] + + + + +Sec. 10. MISSION TO ENGLAND. + + +I had agreed with Captain Morris, of the packet[191] at New York, for +my passage, and my stores were put on board, when Lord Loudoun arrived +at Philadelphia, expressly, as he told me, to endeavor an +accommodation between the governor and Assembly, that his Majesty's +service might not be obstructed by their dissensions. Accordingly, he +desired the governor and myself to meet him, that he might hear what +was to be said on both sides. We met and discussed the business. In +behalf of the Assembly, I urged all the various arguments that may be +found in the public papers of that time, which were of my writing, and +are printed with the minutes of the Assembly; and the governor pleaded +his instructions, the bond he had given to observe them, and his ruin +if he disobeyed, yet seemed not unwilling to hazard himself if Lord +Loudoun would advise it. This his lordship did not choose to do, +though I once thought I had nearly prevailed with him to do it; but +finally he rather chose to urge the compliance of the Assembly, and he +entreated me to use my endeavors with them for that purpose, declaring +that he would spare none of the king's troops for the defense of our +frontiers, and that, if we did not continue to provide for that +defense ourselves, they must remain exposed to the enemy. + +I acquainted the House with what had passed, and, presenting them with +a set of resolutions I had drawn up, declaring our rights, and that we +did not relinquish our claims to those rights, but only suspended the +exercise of them on this occasion through force, against which we +protested, they at length agreed to drop that bill, and frame another, +conformable to the proprietary instructions. This of course the +governor passed, and I was then at liberty to proceed on my voyage. +But, in the mean time, the packet had sailed with my sea stores, which +was some loss to me, and my only recompense was his lordship's thanks +for my service, all the credit of obtaining the accommodation falling +to his share. + +He set out for New York before me; and, as the time for dispatching +the packet boats was at his disposition, and there were two then +remaining there, one of which, he said, was to sail very soon, I +requested to know the precise time, that I might not miss her by any +delay of mine. His answer was: "I have given out that she is to sail +on Saturday next; but I may let you know, _entre nous_,[192] that if +you are there by Monday morning, you will be in time, but do not delay +longer." By some accidental hindrance at a ferry, it was Monday noon +before I arrived, and I was much afraid she might have sailed, as the +wind was fair; but I was soon made easy by the information that she +was still in the harbor, and would not move till the next day. + +One would imagine that I was now on the very point of departing for +Europe. I thought so; but I was not then so well acquainted with his +lordship's character, of which indecision was one of the strongest +features. I shall give some instances. It was about the beginning of +April that I came to New York, and I think it was near the end of June +before we sailed. There were then two of the packet boats, which had +been long in port, but were detained for the general's letters, which +were always to be ready to-morrow. Another packet arrived; she too was +detained; and, before we sailed, a fourth was expected. Ours was the +first to be dispatched, as having been there longest. Passengers were +engaged in all, and some extremely impatient to be gone, and the +merchants uneasy about their letters and the orders they had given for +insurance (it being war time) for fall goods; but their anxiety +availed nothing; his lordship's letters were not ready; and yet +whoever waited on him found him always at his desk, pen in hand, and +concluded he must needs write abundantly. + +Going myself one morning to pay my respects, I found in his +antechamber one Innis, a messenger of Philadelphia, who had come from +thence express with a packet from Governor Denny for the general. He +delivered to me some letters from my friends there, which occasioned +my inquiry when he was to return, and where he lodged, that I might +send some letters by him. He told me he was ordered to call to-morrow +at nine for the general's answer to the governor, and should set off +immediately. I put my letters into his hands the same day. A fortnight +after I met him again in the same place. "So, you are soon returned, +Innis?" "Returned! no, I am not gone yet." "How so?" "I have called +here by order every morning these two weeks past for his lordship's +letter, and it is not yet ready." "Is it possible, when he is so great +a writer? for I see him constantly at his escritoire." "Yes," says +Innis, "but he is like St. George on the signs, always on horseback, +and never rides on." This observation of the messenger was, it seems, +well founded; for, when in England, I understood that Mr. Pitt[193] +gave it as one reason for removing this general, and sending Generals +Amherst and Wolfe, that the minister never heard from him, and could +not know what he was doing. + +This daily expectation of sailing, and all the three packets going +down to Sandy Hook, to join the fleet there, the passengers thought it +best to be on board, lest by a sudden order the ships should sail and +they be left behind. There, if I remember right, we were about six +weeks, consuming our sea stores, and obliged to procure more. At +length the fleet sailed, the general and all his army on board, bound +to Louisburg,[194] with intent to besiege and take that fortress; all +the packet boats in company ordered to attend the general's ship, +ready to receive his dispatches when they should be ready. We were out +five days before we got a letter with leave to part, and then our ship +quitted the fleet and steered for England. The other two packets he +still detained, carried them with him to Halifax, where he stayed some +time to exercise the men in sham attacks upon sham forts, then altered +his mind as to besieging Louisburg, and returned to New York with all +his troops, together with the two packets above mentioned, and all +their passengers! During his absence the French and savages had taken +Fort George, on the frontier of that province, and the savages had +massacred many of the garrison after capitulation. + +I saw afterward in London Captain Bonnell, who commanded one of those +packets. He told me that, when he had been detained a month, he +acquainted his lordship that his ship was grown foul to a degree that +must necessarily hinder her fast sailing, a point of consequence for a +packet boat, and requested an allowance of time to heave her down and +clean her bottom. He was asked how long time that would require. He +answered, "Three days." The general replied: "If you can do it in one +day, I give leave; otherwise not; for you must certainly sail the day +after to-morrow." So he never obtained leave, though detained +afterward from day to day during full three months. + +I saw also in London one of Bonnell's passengers, who was so enraged +against his lordship for deceiving and detaining him so long at New +York, and then carrying him to Halifax and back again, that he swore he +would sue him for damages. Whether he did or not, I never heard; but, as +he represented the injury to his affairs, it was very considerable. + +On the whole, I wondered much how such a man came to be intrusted with +so important a business as the conduct of a great army; but, having +since seen more of the great world, and the means of obtaining and +motives for giving places, my wonder is diminished. General Shirley, +on whom the command of the army devolved upon the death of Braddock, +would, in my opinion, if continued in place, have made a much better +campaign than that of Loudoun in 1757, which was frivolous, expensive, +and disgraceful to our nation beyond conception; for, though Shirley +was not a bred soldier, he was sensible and sagacious in himself, and +attentive to good advice from others, capable of forming judicious +plans, and quick and active in carrying them into execution. Loudoun, +instead of defending the colonies with his great army, left them +totally exposed, while he paraded idly at Halifax, by which means Fort +George was lost. Besides, he deranged all our mercantile operations, +and distressed our trade, by a long embargo[195] on the exportation of +provisions, on pretense of keeping supplies from being obtained by the +enemy, but in reality for beating down their price in favor of the +contractors, in whose profits, it was said, perhaps from suspicion +only, he had a share. And when at length the embargo was taken off by +neglecting to send notice of it to Charleston, the Carolina fleet was +detained near three months longer, whereby their bottoms were so much +damaged by the worm[196] that a great part of them foundered in their +passage home. + +Shirley was, I believe, sincerely glad of being relieved from so +burdensome a charge as the conduct of an army must be to a man +unacquainted with military business. I was at the entertainment given +by the city of New York to Lord Loudoun, on his taking upon him the +command. Shirley, though thereby superseded, was present also. There +was a great company of officers, citizens, and strangers, and, some +chairs having been borrowed in the neighborhood, there was one among +them very low, which fell to the lot of Mr. Shirley. Perceiving it as +I sat by him, I said, "They have given you, sir, too low a seat." "No +matter," says he, "Mr. Franklin, I find a _low seat_ the easiest." + +While I was, as afore mentioned, detained at New York, I received all +the accounts of the provisions, etc., that I had furnished to Braddock, +some of which accounts could not sooner be obtained from the different +persons I had employed to assist in the business. I presented them to +Lord Loudoun, desiring to be paid the balance. He caused them to be +regularly examined by the proper officer, who, after comparing every +article with its voucher, certified them to be right, and the balance +due, for which his lordship promised to give me an order on the +paymaster. This was, however, put off from time to time; and, though I +called often for it by appointment, I did not get it. At length, just +before my departure, he told me he had, on better consideration, +concluded not to mix his accounts with those of his predecessors. "And +you," says he, "when in England, have only to exhibit your accounts at +the treasury, and you will be paid immediately." + +I mentioned, but without effect, the great and unexpected expense I +had been put to by being detained so long at New York, as a reason for +my desiring to be presently paid; and on my observing that it was not +right I should be put to any further trouble or delay in obtaining the +money I had advanced, as I charged no commission for my service, "O +sir," says he, "you must not think of persuading us that you are no +gainer; we understand better those affairs, and know that every one +concerned in supplying the army finds means, in the doing it, to fill +his own pockets." I assured him that was not my case, and that I had +not pocketed a farthing, but he appeared clearly not to believe me; +and, indeed, I have since learned that immense fortunes are often made +in such employments. As to my balance, I am not paid it to this day, +of which more hereafter. + +Our captain of the packet had boasted much, before we sailed, of the +swiftness of his ship; unfortunately, when we came to sea, she proved +the dullest of ninety-six sail, to his no small mortification. After +many conjectures respecting the cause, when we were near another ship +almost as dull as ours, which, however, gained upon us, the captain +ordered all hands to come aft, and stand as near the ensign staff[197] +as possible. We were, passengers included, about forty persons. While +we stood there, the ship mended her pace, and soon left her neighbor +far behind, which proved clearly what our captain suspected, that she +was loaded too much by the head. The casks of water, it seems, had +been all placed forward; these he therefore ordered to be moved +farther aft, on which the ship recovered her character, and proved the +best sailer in the fleet. + +The captain said she had once gone at the rate of thirteen knots, +which is accounted thirteen miles per hour. We had on board, as a +passenger, Captain Kennedy, of the navy, who contended that it was +impossible, that no ship ever sailed so fast, and that there must have +been some error in the division of the log line,[198] or some mistake +in heaving the log. A wager ensued between the two captains, to be +decided when there should be sufficient wind. Kennedy thereupon +examined rigorously the log line, and, being satisfied with that, he +determined to throw the log himself. Accordingly, some days after, +when the wind blew very fair and fresh, and the captain of the packet, +Lutwidge, said he believed she then went at the rate of thirteen +knots, Kennedy made the experiment, and owned his wager lost. + +The above fact I give for the sake of the following observation. It +has been remarked, as an imperfection in the art of ship building, +that it can never be known, till she is tried, whether a new ship will +or will not be a good sailer; for that the model of a good sailing +ship has been exactly followed in a new one, which has proved, on the +contrary, remarkably dull. I apprehend that this may partly be +occasioned by the different opinions of seamen respecting the modes of +lading, rigging, and sailing of a ship. Each has his system; and the +same vessel, laden by the judgment and orders of one captain, shall +sail better or worse than when by the orders of another. Besides, it +scarce ever happens that a ship is formed, fitted for the sea, and +sailed by the same person. One man builds the hull, another rigs her, +a third lades and sails her. No one of these has the advantage of +knowing all the ideas and experience of the others, and therefore +cannot draw just conclusions from a combination of the whole. + +Even in the simple operation of sailing when at sea, I have often +observed different judgments in the officers who commanded the +successive watches,[199] the wind being the same. One would have the +sails trimmed sharper or flatter than another, so that they seemed to +have no certain rule to govern by. Yet I think a set of experiments +might be instituted, first, to determine the most proper form of the +hull for swift sailing; next, the best dimensions and properest place +for the masts; then the form and quantity of sails, and their +position, as the wind may be; and, lastly, the disposition of the +lading. This is an age of experiments, and I think a set accurately +made and combined would be of great use. I am persuaded, therefore, +that ere long some ingenious philosopher will undertake it, to whom I +wish success. + +We were several times chased[200] in our passage, but outsailed +everything, and in thirty days had soundings.[201] We had a good +observation,[202] and the captain judged himself so near our port, +Falmouth, that, if we made a good run in the night, we might be off +the mouth of that harbor in the morning, and by running in the night +might escape the notice of the enemy's privateers,[203] who often +cruised near the entrance of the channel. Accordingly, all the sail +was set that we could possibly make, and the wind being very fresh and +fair, we went right before it, and made great way. The captain, after +his observation, shaped his course, as he thought, so as to pass wide +of the Scilly Isles; but it seems there is sometimes a strong +indraught[204] setting up St. George's Channel, which deceives seamen +and caused the loss of Sir Cloudesley Shovel's squadron. This +indraught was probably the cause of what happened to us. + +We had a watchman placed in the bow, to whom they often called, "Look +well out before there," and he as often answered, "Ay, ay;" but +perhaps he had his eyes shut, and was half asleep at the time, they +sometimes answering, as is said, mechanically; for he did not see a +light just before us, which had been hid by the studding sails[205] +from the man at the helm, and from the rest of the watch, but by an +accidental yaw of the ship was discovered and occasioned a great +alarm, we being very near it, the light appearing to me as big as a +cart wheel. It was midnight, and our captain fast asleep; but Captain +Kennedy, jumping upon deck, and seeing the danger, ordered the ship to +wear round, all sails standing--an operation dangerous to the masts; +but it carried us clear, and we escaped shipwreck, for we were +running right upon the rocks on which the lighthouse was erected. This +deliverance impressed me strongly with the utility of lighthouses, and +made me resolve to encourage the building of more of them in America, +if I should live to return there. + +In the morning it was found by the soundings, etc., that we were near +our port, but a thick fog hid the land from our sight. About nine +o'clock the fog began to rise, and seemed to be lifted up from the +water like the curtain at a playhouse, discovering underneath the town +of Falmouth, the vessels in its harbor, and the fields that surrounded +it. This was a most pleasing spectacle to those who had been so long +without any other prospects than the uniform view of a vacant ocean, +and it gave us the more pleasure as we were now free from the +anxieties which the state of war occasioned. + +I set out immediately, with my son, for London, and we only stopped a +little by the way to view Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, and Lord +Pembroke's house and gardens, with his very curious antiquities at +Wilton. We arrived in London the 27th of July, 1757.[206] + +As soon as I was settled in a lodging Mr. Charles had provided for me, I +went to visit Dr. Fothergill, to whom I was strongly recommended, and +whose counsel respecting my proceedings I was advised to obtain. He was +against an immediate complaint to government, and thought the +proprietaries should first be personally applied to, who might possibly +be induced by the interposition and persuasion of some private friends, +to accommodate matters amicably. I then waited on my old friend and +correspondent, Mr. Peter Collinson, who told me that John Hanbury, the +great Virginia merchant, had requested to be informed when I should +arrive, that he might carry me to Lord Granville's, who was then +President of the Council, and wished to see me as soon as possible. I +agreed to go with him the next morning. Accordingly, Mr. Hanbury called +for me and took me in his carriage to that nobleman's, who received me +with great civility; and after some questions respecting the present +state of affairs in America and discourse thereupon, he said to me: "You +Americans have wrong ideas of the nature of your Constitution; you +contend that the king's instructions to his governors are not laws, and +think yourselves at liberty to regard or disregard them at your own +discretion. But those instructions are not like the pocket instructions +given to a minister going abroad, for regulating his conduct in some +trifling point of ceremony. They are first drawn up by judges learned in +the laws; they are then considered, debated, and perhaps amended in +Council, after which they are signed by the king. They are then, so far +as they relate to you, the law of the land, for the king is the +legislator of the colonies." + +I told his lordship this was new doctrine to me. I had always understood +from our charters that our laws were to be made by our Assemblies, to be +presented indeed to the king for his royal assent, but that being once +given, the king could not repeal or alter them; and as the Assemblies +could not make permanent laws without his assent, so neither could he +make a law for them without theirs. He assured me I was totally +mistaken. I did not think so, however, and his lordship's conversation +having a little alarmed me as to what might be the sentiments of the +court concerning us, I wrote it down as soon as I returned to my +lodgings. I recollected that about twenty years before, a clause in a +bill brought into Parliament by the ministry had proposed to make the +king's instructions laws in the colonies, but the clause was thrown out +by the Commons, for which we adored them as our friends and friends of +liberty, till by their conduct toward us in 1765 it seemed that they had +refused that point of sovereignty to the king only that they might +reserve it for themselves. + +After some days, Dr. Fothergill having spoken to the proprietaries, +they agreed to a meeting with me at Mr. T. Penn's house in Spring +Garden. The conversation at first consisted of mutual declarations of +disposition to reasonable accommodations, but I suppose each party had +its own ideas of what should be meant by "reasonable." We then went +into consideration of our several points of complaint, which I +enumerated. The proprietaries justified their conduct as well as they +could, and I the Assembly's. We now appeared very wide, and so far +from each other in our opinions as to discourage all hope of +agreement. However, it was concluded that I should give them the heads +of our complaints in writing, and they promised then to consider them. +I did so soon after, but they put the paper into the hands of their +solicitor, Ferdinand John Paris, who managed for them all their law +business in their great suit with the neighboring proprietary of +Maryland, Lord Baltimore, which had subsisted seventy years, and who +wrote for them all their papers and messages in their dispute with the +Assembly. He was a proud, angry man, and as I had occasionally in the +answers of the Assembly treated his papers with some severity, they +being really weak in point of argument and haughty in expression, he +had conceived a mortal enmity to me, which discovering itself whenever +we met, I declined the proprietaries' proposal that he and I should +discuss the heads of complaint between our two selves, and refused +treating with any one but them. They then by his advice put the paper +into the hands of the attorney and solicitor-general, for their +opinion and counsel upon it, where it lay unanswered a year wanting +eight days, during which time I made frequent demands of an answer +from the proprietaries, but without obtaining any other than that +they had not yet received the opinion of the attorney and +solicitor-general. What it was when they did receive it I never +learned, for they did not communicate it to me, but sent a long +message to the Assembly, drawn and signed by Paris, reciting my paper, +complaining of its want of formality as a rudeness on my part, and +giving a flimsy justification of their conduct, adding that they +should be willing to accommodate matters if the Assembly would send +out "some person of candor" to treat with them for that purpose, +intimating thereby that I was not such. + +The want of formality, or rudeness, was, probably, my not having +addressed the paper to them with their assumed titles of "True and +Absolute Proprietaries of the Province of Pennsylvania," which I +omitted as not thinking it necessary in a paper the intention of which +was only to reduce to a certainty by writing what in conversation I +had delivered _viva voce_.[207] + +But during this delay, the Assembly having prevailed with Governor +Denny to pass an act taxing the proprietary estate in common with the +estates of the people, which was the grand point in dispute, they +omitted answering the message. + +When this act, however, came over, the proprietaries, counseled by +Paris, determined to oppose its receiving the royal assent. +Accordingly they petitioned the king in Council, and a hearing was +appointed in which two lawyers were employed by them against the act, +and two by me in support of it. They alleged that the act was intended +to load the proprietary estate in order to spare those of the people, +and that if it were suffered to continue in force, and the +proprietaries, who were in odium with the people, left to their mercy +in proportioning the taxes, they would inevitably be ruined. We +replied that the act had no such intention, and would have no such +effect; that the assessors were honest and discreet men under an oath +to assess fairly and equitably, and that any advantage each of them +might expect in lessening his own tax by augmenting that of the +proprietaries was too trifling to induce them to perjure themselves. + +This is the purport of what I remember as urged by both sides, except +that we insisted strongly on the mischievous consequences that must +attend a repeal, for that the money, one hundred thousand pounds, +being printed and given to the king's use, expended in his service, +and now spread among the people, the repeal would strike it dead in +their hands to the ruin of many, and the total discouragement of +future grants; and the selfishness of the proprietors in soliciting +such a general catastrophe, merely from a groundless fear of their +estate being taxed too highly, was insisted on in the strongest terms. + +On this, Lord Mansfield, one of the counsel, rose, and beckoning me, +took me into the clerk's chamber, while the lawyers were pleading, and +asked me if I was really of opinion that no injury would be done the +proprietary estate in the execution of the act. I said, "Certainly." +"Then," says he, "you can have little objection to enter into an +engagement to assure that point." I answered, "None at all." He then +called in Paris, and after some discourse, his lordship's proposition +was accepted on both sides; a paper to the purpose was drawn up by the +clerk of the Council, which I signed with Mr. Charles, who was also an +agent of the province for their ordinary affairs, when Lord Mansfield +returned to the council chamber, where finally the law was allowed to +pass. Some changes were, however, recommended, and we also engaged +they should be made by a subsequent law, but the Assembly did not +think them necessary; for one year's tax having been levied by the act +before the order of Council arrived, they appointed a committee to +examine the proceedings of the assessors, and on this committee they +put several particular friends of the proprietaries. After a full +inquiry, they unanimously signed a report that they found the tax had +been assessed with perfect equity. + +The Assembly looked upon my entering into the first part of the +engagement as an essential service to the province, since it secured +the credit of the paper money then spread over all the country. They +gave me their thanks in form when I returned. But the proprietaries +were enraged at Governor Denny for having passed the act, and turned +him out with threats of suing him for breach of instructions which he +had given bond to observe. He, however, having done it at the instance +of the general, and for his Majesty's service, and having some +powerful interest at court, despised the threats, and they were never +put in execution. + +[Footnote 191: A vessel starting at some set time and conveying +letters and passengers from country to country.] + +[Footnote 192: Between ourselves.] + +[Footnote 193: William Pitt (1708-78). See Macaulay's Essay on the +Earl of Chatham (Eclectic English Classics, American Book Company).] + +[Footnote 194: A possession of the French in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. +It was taken by the English in 1758.] + +[Footnote 195: A prohibition to prevent ships leaving port.] + +[Footnote 196: The worm which eats into the wood bottoms of ships.] + +[Footnote 197: "Ensign staff," i.e., flagstaff.] + +[Footnote 198: 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 speed +is found.] + +[Footnote 199: A watch is a certain part of a vessel's officers and +crew who have the care and working of her for a period of time, +commonly for four hours.] + +[Footnote 200: By French vessels.] + +[Footnote 201: Measurements of the depth of the water with a plummet +and line.] + +[Footnote 202: Of the sun's altitude in order to calculate the +latitude (see Note 2, p. 77).] + +[Footnote 203: Vessels armed and officered by private persons, but +acting under a commission from government.] + +[Footnote 204: An inward current.] + +[Footnote 205: Studding sails are sails set between the edges of the +chief square sails during a fair wind.] + +[Footnote 206: "Here terminates the Autobiography, as published by +William Temple Franklin and his successors. What follows was written +the last year of Dr. Franklin's life, and was never before printed in +English."--BIGELOW'S _Autobiography of Franklin_, 1868, p. 350, note.] + +[Footnote 207: By word of mouth.] + + + + +LETTERS REFERRED TO ON PAGE 89. + + +FROM MR. ABEL JAMES (RECEIVED IN PARIS). + + "MY DEAR AND HONORED FRIEND: I have often been desirous of + writing to thee, but could not be reconciled to the thought that + the letter might fall into the hands of the British, lest some + printer or busybody should publish some part of the contents, and + give our friend pain, and myself censure. + + "Some time since there fell into my hands, to my great joy, about + twenty-three sheets in thy own handwriting, containing an account + of the parentage and life of thyself, directed to thy son, ending + in the year 1730; with which there were notes, likewise in thy + writing; a copy of which I inclose, in hopes it may be a means, + if thou continued it up to a later period, that the first and + latter part may be put together; and if it is not yet continued, + I hope thee will not delay it. Life is uncertain, as the preacher + tells us; and what will the world say if kind, humane, and + benevolent Ben. Franklin should leave his friends and the world + deprived of so pleasing and profitable a work; a work which would + be useful and entertaining not only to a few, but to millions? + The influence writings under that class have on the minds of + youth is very great, and has nowhere appeared to me so plain as + in our public friend's journals. It almost insensibly leads the + youth into the resolution of endeavoring to 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 industry and temperance of thy early youth, what a + blessing with that class would such a work be! I know of no + character living, nor many of them put together, who has so much + in his power as thyself to promote a greater spirit of industry + and early attention to business, frugality, and temperance with + the American youth. Not that I think the work would have no other + merit and use in the world--far from it; but the first is of such + vast importance that I know nothing that can equal it." + +The 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 nothing gives an author so great +pleasure as to find his works respectfully quoted by other learned +authors. This pleasure I have seldom enjoyed; for, though I have been, +if I may say it without vanity, an eminent author (of almanacs) +annually, now a full quarter of a century, my brother authors in the +same way, for what reason I know not, have ever been very sparing in +their applauses and no other author has taken the least notice of me; +so that, did not my writings produce me some solid pudding, the great +deficiency of praise would have quite discouraged me. + +I concluded at length that the people were the best judges of my merit, +for they buy my works; and, besides, in my rambles where I am not +personally known, I have frequently heard one or other of my adages +repeated with "As Poor Richard says" at the end of it. This gave me some +satisfaction, as it showed not only that my instructions were regarded, +but discovered likewise some respect for my authority; and I own that, +to encourage the practice of remembering and reading those wise +sentences, I have sometimes quoted myself with great gravity. + +Judge, then, how much I must have been gratified by an incident I am +going to relate to you. I stopped my horse lately where a great number +of people were collected at an auction of merchants' goods. The hour +of the sale not being come, they were conversing on the badness of the +times; and one of the company called to a plain, clean old man with +white locks, "Pray, Father Abraham, what think you of the times? Will +not these heavy taxes quite ruin 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 give it to +you in short; for A word to the wise is enough, as Poor Richard says." +They joined in desiring him to speak his mind, and gathering round +him, he proceeded as follows: + +"Friends," said he, "the taxes are indeed very heavy, and if those +laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might +more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more +grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, +three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly; +and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by +allowing an abatement. However, let us hearken to good advice, and +something may be done for us; God helps them that help themselves, as +Poor Richard says. + +I. "It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people +one tenth part of their time, to be employed in its service; but +idleness taxes many of us much more; sloth, by bringing on diseases, +absolutely shortens life. Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor +wears, while The used key is always bright, as Poor Richard says. But +dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff +life is made of, as Poor Richard says. How much more than is necessary +do we spend in sleep, forgetting that the sleeping fox catches no +poultry, and that there will be sleeping enough in the grave, as Poor +Richard says. If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time +must be, as Poor Richard says, the greatest prodigality; since, as he +elsewhere tells us, Lost time is never found again, and what we call +time enough always proves little enough. Let us, then, be up and be +doing, and doing to the purpose; so by diligence shall we do more with +less perplexity. Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry, all +easy; and, He that riseth late must trot all day and shall scarce +overtake his business at night; while Laziness travels so slowly that +Poverty soon overtakes him. Drive thy business, let not that drive +thee; and, Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, +wealthy, and wise, as Poor Richard says. + +"So what signifies wishing and hoping for better times? We make these +times better if we bestir ourselves. Industry need not wish, and he +that lives upon hopes will die fasting. There are no gains without +pains; then help, hands, for I have no lands; or, if I have, they are +smartly taxed. He that hath a trade hath an estate; and he that hath a +calling, hath an office of profit and honor, as Poor Richard says; but +then the trade must be worked at and the calling followed, or neither +the estate nor the office will enable us to pay our taxes. If we are +industrious, we shall never starve; for, At the workingman's house +hunger looks in, but dares not enter. Nor will the bailiff or the +constable enter; for Industry pays debts, while Despair increaseth +them. What though you have found no treasure, nor has any rich +relation left you a legacy; Diligence is the mother of good luck, and +God gives all things to Industry. Then plow deep while sluggards +sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and to keep. Work while it is +called to-day, for you know not how much you may be hindered +to-morrow. One to-day is worth two to-morrows, as Poor Richard says; +and, further, Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day. +If you were a good servant, would you not be ashamed that a good +master should catch you idle? Are you, then, your own master? Be +ashamed to catch yourself idle, when there is so much to be done for +yourself, your family, your country, your kin. Handle your tools +without mittens; remember that The cat in gloves catches no mice, as +Poor Richard says. It is true there is much to be done, and perhaps +you are weak-handed; but stick to it steadily, and you will see great +effects; for, Constant dropping wears away stones; and, By diligence +and patience the mouse ate in two the cable; and, Little strokes fell +great oaks. + +"Methinks I hear some of you say, Must a man afford himself no leisure? +I will tell thee, my friend, what Poor Richard says: Employ thy time +well, if thou meanest to gain leisure; and since thou art not sure of a +minute, throw not away an hour. Leisure is time for doing something +useful; this leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man +never; for, A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. +Many, without labor, would live by their wits only, but they break for +want of stock; whereas industry gives comfort and plenty and respect. +Fly pleasures and they will follow you. The diligent spinner has a large +shift; and now I have a sheep and a cow, every one bids me good morrow. + +II. "But with our industry we must likewise be steady and careful, and +oversee our own affairs with 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 thy +shop, and thy shop will keep thee; and again, If you would have your +business done, go; if not, send; and again: + + He that by the plow would thrive, + Himself must either hold or drive. + +And again, The eye of the master will do more work than both his +hands; and again, Want of care does us more damage than want of +knowledge; and again, Not to oversee workmen is to leave them your +purse open. Trusting too much to others' care is the ruin of many; +for, In the affairs of this world men are saved, not by faith, but by +the want of it. But a man's own care is profitable; for, If you would +have a faithful servant and one that you like, serve yourself. A +little neglect 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, being overtaken and slain by the enemy; all +for want of a little care 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, if we would make our +industry more certainly successful. A man may, if he knows not how to +save as he gets, keep his nose all his life to 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 spinning and knitting, + And men for punch forsook hewing and splitting. + +If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as of getting. The +Indies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are greater than +her incomes. + +"Away, then, with your expensive follies, and you will not then have +so much cause to complain of hard times, heavy taxes, and chargeable +families; for + + Pleasure and wine, game and deceit, + Make the wealth small, and the want great. + +And further, What maintains one vice would bring up two children. You +may think, perhaps, that a little tea or a little punch now and then, +diet a little more costly, clothes a little finer, and a little +entertainment now and then, can be no great matter; but remember, Many a +little makes a mickle. Beware of little expenses; A small leak will sink +a great ship, as Poor Richard says; and again, Who dainties love shall +beggars prove; and moreover, Fools make feasts and wise men eat them. + +"Here you are all got together at this sale of fineries and +knick-knacks. You call them goods; but, if you do not take care, they +will prove evils to some of you. You expect they will be sold cheap, +and perhaps they may for less than they cost; but, if you have no +occasion for them, they must be dear to you. Remember what Poor +Richard says: Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt +sell thy necessaries. And again, At a great pennyworth pause awhile. +He means that perhaps the cheapness is apparent only, and not real; +or, the bargain, by straitening thee in thy business, may do thee more +harm than good. For in another place he says, Many have been ruined by +buying good pennyworths. Again, It is foolish to lay out money in a +purchase of repentance; and yet this folly is practiced every day at +auctions for want of minding the Almanac.[208] Many for the sake of +finery on the back have gone hungry and half-starved their families. +Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire, as +Poor Richard says. + +"These are not the necessaries of life; they can scarcely be called +the conveniences; and yet, only because they look pretty, how many +want to have them. By these and other extravagances the genteel are +reduced to poverty, and forced to borrow of those whom they formerly +despised, but who, through industry and frugality, have maintained +their standing; in which case it appears plainly that, A plowman on +his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees, as Poor Richard +says. Perhaps they have a small estate left them which they knew not +the getting of; they think, It is day and it never will be night; that +a little to be spent out of so much is not worth minding; but, Always +taking out of the meal tub and never putting in, soon comes to the +bottom, as Poor Richard says; and then, When the well is dry, they +know the worth of water. But this they might have known before, if +they had taken his advice. If you would know the value of money, go +and try to borrow some; for, He that goes a-borrowing goes +a-sorrowing, as Poor Richard says; and, indeed, so does he that lends +to such people, when he goes to get it in again. Poor Dick further +advises and says: + + Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse; + Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse. + +And again, Pride is as loud a beggar as Want, and a great deal more +saucy. When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more, +that your appearance may be all of a piece; but Poor Dick says, It is +easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow +it. And it is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the +frog to swell in order to equal the ox. + + + Vessels large may venture more, + But little boats should keep near shore. + +It is, however, a folly soon 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 pride of 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; it creates envy; it hastens misfortune. + +"But what madness must it be 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 cannot spare +the ready money, and hope now to be fine without it. But ah! think +what you do when you run in debt; you give to another power over your +liberty. If you cannot pay at the time, you will be ashamed to see +your creditor; you will be in fear when you speak to him; you will +make poor, pitiful, sneaking excuses, and by degrees come to lose your +veracity, and sink into base, downright lying; for, The second vice is +lying, the first is running in debt, as Poor Richard says; and again +to 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 all spirit and 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 forbidding you to dress like a gentleman or +gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment or servitude? Would you not say +that you are free, have a right to dress as you please, and that such +an edict would be a breach of your privileges and such a government +tyrannical? And yet you are about to put yourself under such tyranny, +when you run in debt for such dress. Your creditor has authority, at +his pleasure, to deprive you of your liberty by confining you in jail +till you shall be able to pay him. When you have got your bargain, +you may, perhaps, think little of payment; but, as Poor Richard says, +Creditors have better memories than debtors; creditors are a +superstitious sect, great observers of set days and times. The day +comes round before you are aware, and the demand is made before you +are prepared to satisfy it; or, if you bear your debt in mind, the +term, which at first seemed so long, will, as it lessens, appear +extremely short. Time will seem to have added wings to his heels as +well as his shoulders. Those have a short Lent who owe money to be +paid at Easter. At present, perhaps, you may think yourselves in +thriving circumstances, and that you can bear a little extravagance +without injury; but + + For age and want save while you may; + No morning sun lasts a whole day. + +Gain may be temporary and uncertain, but ever, while you live, expense +is constant and certain; and, It is easier to build two chimneys than +to keep one in fuel, as Poor Richard says; so, Rather go to bed +supperless than rise in debt. + + Get what you can, and what you get, hold, + 'Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold. + +And when you have got the philosopher's stone, be sure you will no +longer complain of bad times or the difficulty of paying taxes. + +IV. "This doctrine, my friends, is reason and wisdom; but, after all, +do not depend too much upon your own industry and frugality and +prudence, though excellent things; for they may all be blasted, +without the blessing of Heaven; and, therefore, ask that blessing +humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to want +it, but comfort and help them. Remember Job suffered, and was +afterward prosperous. + +"And now, to conclude, Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will +learn in no other, as Poor Richard says, and scarce in that; for, it +is true, we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct. However, +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 people heard it, and +approved the doctrine, and immediately practiced the 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 thoroughly +studied my 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 wonderfully +delighted with it, though I was conscious that not a tenth part of the +wisdom was my own which he ascribed to me, but rather the gleanings +that I had made of the sense of all ages and nations. However, I +resolved to be the better for the echo of it; and, though I had at +first determined to buy stuff for a new coat, I went away resolved to +wear my old 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. + +[Footnote 208: Poor Richard's maxims in the Almanac.] + + + + +PROVERBS FROM POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC. + + +The noblest question in the world is, What good may I do in it? + +The masterpiece of man is to live to the purpose. + +The nearest way to come at glory is 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, thyself for 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 public thing is private. + +Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it. + +No better relation than a prudent and faithful friend. + +He that can compose himself is wiser than he that composes books. + +He 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 +acknowledge 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 gains without pains. + +If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's +stone. + +Every little makes 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 +throughout his long life a writer. His writing was incidental to his +business as a journalist and statesman. He also corresponded widely +with various classes of people. Fortunately many of these writings +have been preserved, and from these and the _Autobiography_ a number +of valuable lives have been written. The student will find pleasure in +referring to the Franklin volumes of the American Statesmen Series and +of the American Men of Letters Series. The three volume life by Mr. +John Bigelow and 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 writing of which was several times +interrupted by public business of the greatest importance, and finally +cut short by the long illness that preceded his death. + +Read the pages devoted to Franklin in Brander Matthews' _Introduction +to American Literature_. Matthews says of him, "He was the first great +American--for Washington was twenty-six years younger." "He was the +only man who signed the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of +Alliance with France, the Treaty of Peace with England, and the +Constitution under which we still live." + +As you read Franklin's pages be on the alert for material to support +Mr. Matthews' statement, "Franklin was the first of American +humorists, and to this day he has not been surpassed in 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 concluding the Treaty of Peace with England, he tried to secure the +adoption of a clause protecting the property of non-belligerents in +subsequent wars. England would not accept this advanced idea, but +Frederick II of Prussia agreed to it, and since that time all civilized +governments have united in embodying it in the Law of Nations. + +Franklin was one of the first and, in proportion to his means, one of +the greatest of American philanthropists. He said that he had "a trick +for doing a deal of good with a little money." In lending some money +to one who had applied to him for assistance, he instructed the +borrower to pass it on to some one else in distress as 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 its progress." + +Mr. Bigelow's Life of Franklin reproduces the philosopher's exact +spelling. He was one of the early spelling reformers. See his +"Petition of the Letter Z," p. 116, _The Many-sided Franklin_. + + * * * * * + +(_In the following notes the numerals refer to the pages of the text._) + +=Page 17.= "Ecton, in Northamptonshire." In 1657 George Washington's +grandfather emigrated to Virginia from this same English county. + +"Franklin, ... an order of people." Do you recall one of the titles of +Cedric, the Saxon, in Scott's _Ivanhoe_? + +=27.= Notice his judgment regarding controversy. It will be +profitable, from time to time, to consider his remarks as throwing +light on the subject, "Franklin, a Manager of Men." + +=28.= Read carefully the paragraph opening with a reference to _The +Spectator_, and using Franklin's method, reproduce that paragraph. +Apply this method to other good English selections and try to adapt it +to your translations from other languages. + +As you read Franklin's account of his self-education, ask yourself +what quality it is in the student that gives best assurance of final +success in securing a real education. + +=34.= Is Franklin's use of the word "demeaned" good? + +=37.= In his reference to Bunyan and Defoe, Franklin proves himself +one of the first critics to recognize those writers as the fathers of +the modern novel. + +=38.= "Our acquaintance continued as long as he lived." Few men have +placed a higher value on friends than did Franklin. He took the +trouble necessary to make friends and to keep them. + +=61.= Read parts of Young's _Night Thoughts_. + +=77.= Carefully observe the plan of the Junto and its subordinate +branches, and consider the value of such organizations for yourself and +friends. By referring to Bigelow's Life of Franklin, Vol. I, p, 185, you +will find detailed information concerning the rules of the Junto. + +=81.= Years later, while in London in 1773, Franklin showed his +ability with his pen and put through a successful journalistic hoax. +He published in _The Public Advertiser_ what was for a time accepted +by many as an authentic edict of the King of Prussia. In this the king +held that the English were German colonists settled in Britain, and +that they should be taxed for the benefit of the Prussian coffers. + +What claims were the English making in 1773? By looking through other +lives of Franklin, you may find an account of another literary hoax by +which he helped the American cause. + +=86.= Franklin's original determination to secure money with his wife +should be judged by the standards of his time. + +=89.= Beginning with the establishment of the Philadelphia public +library, keep a list of Franklin's plans and achievements for the +public good. + +=92.= The high honors accorded to Franklin by foreign nations have +never been extended to any other American, with the possible exception +of Theodore Roosevelt. + +=101.= "Address Powerful Goodness." Thomas Paine submitted the +manuscript of his _Age of Reason_ to Franklin for criticism. Franklin +advised him to burn it and concluded, "If men are so wicked with +religion, what would they be _without it_?" + +A facsimile of Franklin's motion for prayers in the Federal Convention +of 1787, when agreement on the Constitution seemed hopeless, will be +found on page 168 of _The Many-sided Franklin_. The convention, though +much given to acting on Franklin's advice, was all but unanimous in +defeating this motion. + +=111.= Franklin's boyhood debate on the subject of the education of +young women is reflected here as a settled conviction. + +=113.= The great scholar and historian, Gibbon, agreed with Franklin +concerning the languages. + +=115.= "Inoculation." Will you volunteer to make a report to the class +on inoculation and vaccination? The two combine in making one of the +most interesting chapters in the history of medical science. + +=117.= You will be interested in comparing the constable's watch of +ragamuffins with the watch in Shakespeare's _Much Ado About Nothing_. + +=118.= In many towns and cities there is much of interest connected +with the fire department. "The History of Our Fire Department," "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 +Electrical 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 +investigations 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? + + + + +ECLECTIC ENGLISH CLASSICS + + + =Addison's= Sir Roger de Coverley Papers (Underwood) + + =Arnold's= Sohrab and Rustum (Tanner) + + =Bunyan's= Pilgrim's Progress (Jones and Arnold) + + =Burke's= Conciliation with America (Clark) + Speeches at Bristol (Bergin) + + =Burns's= Poems--Selections (Venable) + + =Byron's= Childe Harold (Canto IV), Prisoner of Chillon, Mazeppa, + and other Selections (Venable) + + =Carlyle's= Essay on Burns (Miller) + + =Chaucer's= Prologue and Knighte's Tale (Van Dyke) + + =Coleridge's= Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Garrigues) + + =Cooper's= Pilot (Watrous) + The Spy (Barnes) + + =Defoe's= History of the Plague in London (Syle) + Robinson Crusoe (Stephens) + + =De Quincey's= Revolt of the Tartars + + =Dickens's= Christmas Carol and Cricket on the Hearth (Wannamaker) + Tale of Two Cities (Pearce) + + =Dryden's= Palamon and Arcite (Bates) + + =Eliot's= Silas Marner (McKitrick) + + =Emerson's= American Scholar, Self-Reliance, Compensation + (Smith) + + =Franklin's= Autobiography (Reid) + + =Goldsmith's= Vicar of Wakefield (Hansen) + Deserted Village (See Gray's Elegy) + + =Gray's= Elegy in a Country Churchyard, and =Goldsmith's= Deserted + Village (Van Dyke) + + =Hughes's= Tom Brown's School Days (Gosling). + + =Irving's= Sketch Book--Selections (St. John) + Tales of a Traveler (Rutland) + + =Lincoln's= Addresses and Letters (Moores) + Address at Cooper Union (See =Macaulay's= Speeches on Copyright) + + =Macaulay's= Essay on Addison (Matthews) + Essay on Milton (Mead) + Essays on Lord Clive and Warren Hastings + (Holmes) + Lays of Ancient Rome and other Poems (Atkinson) + Life of Johnson (Lucas) + Speeches on Copyright, and Lincoln's Address at Cooper + Union (Pittenger) + + =Milton's= L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, Lycidas (Buck) + Paradise Lost. Books I and II (Stephens) + + =Old Ballads= (Morton). + + =Old Testament Narratives= (Baldwin) + + =Poe's= Selected Poems and Tales (Stott) + + =Pope's= Homer's Iliad. Books I, VI, XXII, and XXIV + Rape of the Lock and Essay on Man (Van Dyke) + + =Ruskin's= Sesame and Lilies (Rounds) + + =Scott's= Abbot + Ivanhoe (Schreiber) + Lady of the Lake (Bacon) + Marmion (Coblentz) + Quentin Durward (Norris) + Woodstock + + =Shakespeare's= As You Like It (North) + Hamlet (Shower) + Henry V (Law) + Julius Caesar (Baker) + Macbeth (Livengood) + Merchant of Venice (Blakely) + Midsummer Night's Bream (Haney) + The Tempest (Barley) + Twelfth Night (Weld) + + =Southey's= Life of Nelson + + =Stevenson's= Inland Voyage and Travels with a Donkey + (Armstrong) + Treasure Island (Fairley) + + =Swift's= Gulliver's Travels (Gaston) + + =Tennyson's= Idylls of the King--Selections (Willard) + Princess (Shryock) + + =Thackeray's= Henry Esmond (Bissell) + + =Washington's= Farewell Address, and =Webster's= First Bunker + Hill Oration (Lewis) + + =Webster's= Bunker Hill Orations (See also Washington's + Farewell Address) + + =Wordsworth's= Poems--Selections (Venable) + + + + +Transcriber's Note + + + * Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired. + + * Footnotes moved to the end of the appropriate chapters. + + * Text enclosed between equal signs was in bold face in the + original (=bold=). + + * Notes [n] are at the end of the book as originally published. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Franklin's Autobiography, by Benjamin Franklin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANKLIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY *** + +***** This file should be named 36151.txt or 36151.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/1/5/36151/ + +Produced by Larry B. 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