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Title: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Author: Benjamin Franklin

Editor: Frank Woodworth Pine

Illustrator: E. Boyd Smith

Release date: December 28, 2006 [eBook #20203]
Most recently updated: October 19, 2022

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ***

FRANKLIN ARMS

FRANKLIN SEAL

"He was therefore, feasted and invited to all the court parties. At these he sometimes met
the old Duchess of Bourbon, who, being a chess player of about his force, they very
generally played together. Happening once to put her king into prize, the Doctor took it.
'Ah,' says she, 'we do not take kings so.' 'We do in America,' said the Doctor."—Thomas
Jefferson

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF

BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
by
E. BOYD SMITH,

EDITED
by
FRANK WOODWORTH PINE

New York
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1916

Copyright, 1916,
BY
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
June, 1922

THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS
RAHWAY, N. J.

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction vii
The Autobiography 1

I. Ancestry and Early Life in Boston 3
II. Beginning Life as a Printer 21
III. Arrival in Philadelphia 41
IV. First Visit to Boston 55
V. Early Friends in Philadelphia 69
VI. First Visit to London 77
VII. Beginning Business in Philadelphia 99
VIII. Business Success and First Public Service 126
IX. Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection 146
X. Poor Richard's Almanac and Other Activities 169
XI. Interest in Public Affairs 188
XII. Defense of the Province 201
XIII. Public Services and Duties 217
XIV. Albany Plan of Union 241
XV. Quarrels with the Proprietary Governors 246
XVI. Braddock's Expedition 253
XVII. Franklin's Defense of the Frontier 274
XVIII. Scientific Experiments 289
XIX. Agent of Pennsylvania in London 296

Appendix
Electrical Kite 327
The Way to Wealth 331
The Whistle 336
A Letter to Samuel Mather 340

Bibliography 343

ILLUSTRATIONS

Franklin at the Court of Louis XVI Frontispiece

"He was therefore, feasted and invited to all the court parties. At these
he sometimes met the old Duchess of Bourbon, who, being a chess
player of about his force, they very generally played together. Happening
once to put her king into prize, the Doctor took it. 'Ah,' says she, 'we do
not take kings so.' 'We do in America,' said the Doctor."—Thomas
Jefferson

Page
Portrait of Franklin vii
Pages 1 and 4 of The Pennsylvania Gazette, Number XL,
the first number after Franklin took control xxi
First page of The New England Courant of December 4-11,
1721 33
"I was employed to carry the papers thro' the streets to the
customers" 36
"She, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I
certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance" 48
"I took to working at press" 88
"I see him still at work when I go home from club" 120
Two pages from Poor Richard's Almanac for 1736 171
"I regularly took my turn of duty there as a common
soldier" 204
"In the evening, hearing a great noise among them, the
commissioners walk'd out to see what was the matter" 224
"Our axes ... were immediately set to work to cut down
trees" 278
"We now appeared very wide, and so far from each other in
our opinions as to discourage all hope of agreement" 318
"You will find it stream out plentifully from the key on the
approach of your knuckle" 328
Father Abraham in his study 330
The end papers show, at the front, the Franklin arms and
the Franklin seal; at the back, the medal given by the
Boston public schools from the fund left by Franklin for
that purpose as provided in the following extract from
his will:

"I was born in Boston, New England, and owe my first instructions in
literature to the free grammar-schools established there. I therefore give one
hundred pounds sterling to my executors, to be by them ... paid over to the
managers or directors of the free schools in my native town of Boston, to be
by them ... put out to interest, and so continued at interest forever, which
interest annually shall be laid out in silver medals, and given as honorary
rewards annually by the directors of the said free schools belonging to the
said town, in such manner as to the discretion of the selectmen of the said
town shall seem meet."

From an engraving by J. Thomson from the original picture by J. A. Duplessis.

INTRODUCTION

E Americans devour eagerly any piece of writing that purports
to tell us the secret of success in life; yet how often we are
disappointed to find nothing but commonplace statements, or
receipts that we know by heart but never follow. Most of the life
stories of our famous and successful men fail to inspire because they lack
the human element that makes the record real and brings the story within
our grasp. While we are searching far and near for some Aladdin's Lamp to
give coveted fortune, there is ready at our hand if we will only reach out
and take it, like the charm in Milton's Comus,
"Unknown, and like esteemed, and the dull swain
Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon;"

the interesting, human, and vividly told story of one of the wisest and most
useful lives in our own history, and perhaps in any history. In Franklin's
Autobiography is offered not so much a ready-made formula for success, as
the companionship of a real flesh and blood man of extraordinary mind and
quality, whose daily walk and conversation will help us to meet our own
difficulties, much as does the example of a wise and strong friend. While
we are fascinated by the story, we absorb the human experience through
which a strong and helpful character is building.
The thing that makes Franklin's Autobiography different from every other
life story of a great and successful man is just this human aspect of the
account. Franklin told the story of his life, as he himself says, for the benefit
of his posterity. He wanted to help them by the relation of his own rise from
obscurity and poverty to eminence and wealth. He is not unmindful of the
importance of his public services and their recognition, yet his accounts of
these achievements are given only as a part of the story, and the vanity
displayed is incidental and in keeping with the honesty of the recital. There
is nothing of the impossible in the method and practice of Franklin as he
sets them forth. The youth who reads the fascinating story is astonished to
find that Franklin in his early years struggled with the same everyday
passions and difficulties that he himself experiences, and he loses the sense
of discouragement that comes from a realization of his own shortcomings
and inability to attain.
There are other reasons why the Autobiography should be an intimate friend
of American young people. Here they may establish a close relationship

with one of the foremost Americans as well as one of the wisest men of his
age.
The life of Benjamin Franklin is of importance to every American primarily
because of the part he played in securing the independence of the United
States and in establishing it as a nation. Franklin shares with Washington
the honors of the Revolution, and of the events leading to the birth of the
new nation. While Washington was the animating spirit of the struggle in
the colonies, Franklin was its ablest champion abroad. To Franklin's cogent
reasoning and keen satire, we owe the clear and forcible presentation of the
American case in England and France; while to his personality and
diplomacy as well as to his facile pen, we are indebted for the foreign
alliance and the funds without which Washington's work must have failed.
His patience, fortitude, and practical wisdom, coupled with self-sacrificing
devotion to the cause of his country, are hardly less noticeable than similar
qualities displayed by Washington. In fact, Franklin as a public man was
much like Washington, especially in the entire disinterestedness of his
public service.
Franklin is also interesting to us because by his life and teachings he has
done more than any other American to advance the material prosperity of
his countrymen. It is said that his widely and faithfully read maxims made
Philadelphia and Pennsylvania wealthy, while Poor Richard's pithy sayings,
translated into many languages, have had a world-wide influence.
Franklin is a good type of our American manhood. Although not the
wealthiest or the most powerful, he is undoubtedly, in the versatility of his
genius and achievements, the greatest of our self-made men. The simple yet
graphic story in the Autobiography of his steady rise from humble boyhood
in a tallow-chandler shop, by industry, economy, and perseverance in self-
improvement, to eminence, is the most remarkable of all the remarkable
histories of our self-made men. It is in itself a wonderful illustration of the
results possible to be attained in a land of unequaled opportunity by
following Franklin's maxims.
Franklin's fame, however, was not confined to his own country. Although he
lived in a century notable for the rapid evolution of scientific and political
thought and activity, yet no less a keen judge and critic than Lord Jeffrey,

the famous editor of the Edinburgh Review, a century ago said that "in one
point of view the name of Franklin must be considered as standing higher
than any of the others which illustrated the eighteenth century.
Distinguished as a statesman, he was equally great as a philosopher, thus
uniting in himself a rare degree of excellence in both these pursuits, to excel
in either of which is deemed the highest praise."
Franklin has indeed been aptly called "many-sided." He was eminent in
science and public service, in diplomacy and in literature. He was the
Edison of his day, turning his scientific discoveries to the benefit of his
fellow-men. He perceived the identity of lightning and electricity and set up
the lightning rod. He invented the Franklin stove, still widely used, and
refused to patent it. He possessed a masterly shrewdness in business and
practical affairs. Carlyle called him the father of all the Yankees. He
founded a fire company, assisted in founding a hospital, and improved the
cleaning and lighting of streets. He developed journalism, established the
American Philosophical Society, the public library in Philadelphia, and the
University of Pennsylvania. He organized a postal system for the colonies,
which was the basis of the present United States Post Office. Bancroft, the
eminent historian, called him "the greatest diplomatist of his century." He
perfected the Albany Plan of Union for the colonies. He is the only
statesman who signed the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of
Alliance with France, the Treaty of Peace with England, and the
Constitution. As a writer, he has produced, in his Autobiography and in
Poor Richard's Almanac, two works that are not surpassed by similar
writing. He received honorary degrees from Harvard and Yale, from Oxford
and St. Andrews, and was made a fellow of the Royal Society, which
awarded him the Copley gold medal for improving natural knowledge. He
was one of the eight foreign associates of the French Academy of Science.
The careful study of the Autobiography is also valuable because of the style
in which it is written. If Robert Louis Stevenson is right in believing that his
remarkable style was acquired by imitation then the youth who would gain
the power to express his ideas clearly, forcibly, and interestingly cannot do
better than to study Franklin's method. Franklin's fame in the scientific
world was due almost as much to his modest, simple, and sincere manner of
presenting his discoveries and to the precision and clearness of the style in
which he described his experiments, as to the results he was able to

announce. Sir Humphry Davy, the celebrated English chemist, himself an
excellent literary critic as well as a great scientist, said: "A singular felicity
guided all Franklin's researches, and by very small means he established
very grand truths. The style and manner of his publication on electricity are
almost as worthy of admiration as the doctrine it contains."
Franklin's place in literature is hard to determine because he was not
primarily a literary man. His aim in his writings as in his life work was to
be helpful to his fellow-men. For him writing was never an end in itself, but
always a means to an end. Yet his success as a scientist, a statesman, and a
diplomat, as well as socially, was in no little part due to his ability as a
writer. "His letters charmed all, and made his correspondence eagerly
sought. His political arguments were the joy of his party and the dread of
his opponents. His scientific discoveries were explained in language at once
so simple and so clear that plow-boy and exquisite could follow his thought
or his experiment to its conclusion." [1]
As far as American literature is concerned, Franklin has no contemporaries.
Before the Autobiography only one literary work of importance had been
produced in this country—Cotton Mather's Magnalia, a church history of
New England in a ponderous, stiff style. Franklin was the first American
author to gain a wide and permanent reputation in Europe. The
Autobiography, Poor Richard, Father Abraham's Speech or The Way to
Wealth, as well as some of the Bagatelles, are as widely known abroad as
any American writings. Franklin must also be classed as the first American
humorist.
English literature of the eighteenth century was characterized by the
development of prose. Periodical literature reached its perfection early in
the century in The Tatler and The Spectator of Addison and Steele.
Pamphleteers flourished throughout the period. The homelier prose of
Bunyan and Defoe gradually gave place to the more elegant and artificial
language of Samuel Johnson, who set the standard for prose writing from
1745 onward. This century saw the beginnings of the modern novel, in
Fielding's Tom Jones, Richardson's Clarissa Harlowe, Sterne's Tristram
Shandy, and Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield. Gibbon wrote The Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire, Hume his History of England, and Adam Smith
the Wealth of Nations.

In the simplicity and vigor of his style Franklin more nearly resembles the
earlier group of writers. In his first essays he was not an inferior imitator of
Addison. In his numerous parables, moral allegories, and apologues he
showed Bunyan's influence. But Franklin was essentially a journalist. In his
swift, terse style, he is most like Defoe, who was the first great English
journalist and master of the newspaper narrative. The style of both writers is
marked by homely, vigorous expression, satire, burlesque, repartee. Here
the comparison must end. Defoe and his contemporaries were authors. Their
vocation was writing and their success rests on the imaginative or creative
power they displayed. To authorship Franklin laid no claim. He wrote no
work of the imagination. He developed only incidentally a style in many
respects as remarkable as that of his English contemporaries. He wrote the
best autobiography in existence, one of the most widely known collections
of maxims, and an unsurpassed series of political and social satires, because
he was a man of unusual scope of power and usefulness, who knew how to
tell his fellow-men the secrets of that power and that usefulness.

The Story of the Autobiography

The account of how Franklin's Autobiography came to be written and of the
adventures of the original manuscript forms in itself an interesting story.
The Autobiography is Franklin's longest work, and yet it is only a fragment.
The first part, written as a letter to his son, William Franklin, was not
intended for publication; and the composition is more informal and the
narrative more personal than in the second part, from 1730 on, which was
written with a view to publication. The entire manuscript shows little
evidence of revision. In fact, the expression is so homely and natural that
his grandson, William Temple Franklin, in editing the work changed some
of the phrases because he thought them inelegant and vulgar.
Franklin began the story of his life while on a visit to his friend, Bishop
Shipley, at Twyford, in Hampshire, southern England, in 1771. He took the
manuscript, completed to 1731, with him when he returned to Philadelphia
in 1775. It was left there with his other papers when he went to France in
the following year, and disappeared during the confusion incident to the
Revolution. Twenty-three pages of closely written manuscript fell into the
hands of Abel James, an old friend, who sent a copy to Franklin at Passy,

near Paris, urging him to complete the story. Franklin took up the work at
Passy in 1784 and carried the narrative forward a few months. He changed
the plan to meet his new purpose of writing to benefit the young reader. His
work was soon interrupted and was not resumed until 1788, when he was at
home in Philadelphia. He was now old, infirm, and suffering, and was still
engaged in public service. Under these discouraging conditions the work
progressed slowly. It finally stopped when the narrative reached the year
1757. Copies of the manuscript were sent to friends of Franklin in England
and France, among others to Monsieur Le Veillard at Paris.
The first edition of the Autobiography was published in French at Paris in
1791. It was clumsily and carelessly translated, and was imperfect and
unfinished. Where the translator got the manuscript is not known. Le
Veillard disclaimed any knowledge of the publication. From this faulty
French edition many others were printed, some in Germany, two in
England, and another in France, so great was the demand for the work.
In the meantime the original manuscript of the Autobiography had started
on a varied and adventurous career. It was left by Franklin with his other
works to his grandson, William Temple Franklin, whom Franklin
designated as his literary executor. When Temple Franklin came to publish
his grandfather's works in 1817, he sent the original manuscript of the
Autobiography to the daughter of Le Veillard in exchange for her father's
copy, probably thinking the clearer transcript would make better printer's
copy. The original manuscript thus found its way to the Le Veillard family
and connections, where it remained until sold in 1867 to Mr. John Bigelow,
United States Minister to France. By him it was later sold to Mr. E. Dwight
Church of New York, and passed with the rest of Mr. Church's library into
the possession of Mr. Henry E. Huntington. The original manuscript of
Franklin's Autobiography now rests in the vault in Mr. Huntington's
residence at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street, New York City.
When Mr. Bigelow came to examine his purchase, he was astonished to
find that what people had been reading for years as the authentic Life of
Benjamin Franklin by Himself, was only a garbled and incomplete version
of the real Autobiography. Temple Franklin had taken unwarranted liberties
with the original. Mr. Bigelow says he found more than twelve hundred
changes in the text. In 1868, therefore, Mr. Bigelow published the standard

edition of Franklin's Autobiography. It corrected errors in the previous
editions and was the first English edition to contain the short fourth part,
comprising the last few pages of the manuscript, written during the last year
of Franklin's life. Mr. Bigelow republished the Autobiography, with
additional interesting matter, in three volumes in 1875, in 1905, and in
1910. The text in this volume is that of Mr. Bigelow's editions.[2]
The Autobiography has been reprinted in the United States many scores of
times and translated into all the languages of Europe. It has never lost its
popularity and is still in constant demand at circulating libraries. The reason
for this popularity is not far to seek. For in this work Franklin told in a
remarkable manner the story of a remarkable life. He displayed hard
common sense and a practical knowledge of the art of living. He selected
and arranged his material, perhaps unconsciously, with the unerring instinct
of the journalist for the best effects. His success is not a little due to his
plain, clear, vigorous English. He used short sentences and words, homely
expressions, apt illustrations, and pointed allusions. Franklin had a most
interesting, varied, and unusual life. He was one of the greatest
conversationalists of his time.
His book is the record of that unusual life told in Franklin's own unexcelled
conversational style. It is said that the best parts of Boswell's famous
biography of Samuel Johnson are those parts where Boswell permits
Johnson to tell his own story. In the Autobiography a no less remarkable
man and talker than Samuel Johnson is telling his own story throughout.
F. W. P.
The Gilman Country School,
Baltimore, September, 1916.

Pages 1 and 4 of The Pennsylvania Gazette, the first number after Franklin took control. Reduced
nearly one-half. Reproduced from a copy at the New York Public Library.
[1] The Many-Sided Franklin. Paul L. Ford.
[2] For the division into chapters and the chapter titles, however, the present
editor is responsible.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

OF

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

I

ANCESTRY AND EARLY YOUTH IN BOSTON

Twyford,[3] at the Bishop of St. Asaph's, 1771.

EAR SON: 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 favourable. But though this were denied, I should still accept
the offer. Since such a repetition is not to be expected, the next thing most
like living one's life over again seems to be a recollection of that life, and to
make that recollection as durable as possible by putting it down in writing.
Hereby, too, I shall indulge the inclination so natural in old men, to be
talking of themselves and their own past 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 anyone 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.[4] 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 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.
Gibbon and Hume, the great British historians, who were contemporaries of
Franklin, express in their autobiographies the same feeling about the
propriety of just self-praise.
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 lead me to the means I used and gave them success. My
belief of this induces me to hope, though I must not presume, that the same
goodness will still be exercised toward me, in 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,[5] 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, viz.: Thomas,

John, Benjamin and Josiah. I will give you what account I can of them at
this distance from my papers, and if these are not lost in my absence, you
will among them find many more particulars.
Thomas was bred a smith under his father; but, being ingenious, and
encouraged in learning (as all my brothers were) by an Esquire Palmer, then
the principal gentleman in that parish, he qualified himself for the business
of scrivener; became a considerable man in the county; was a chief mover
of all public-spirited undertakings for the county or town of Northampton,
and his own village, of which many instances were related of him; and
much taken notice of and patronized by the then Lord Halifax. He died in
1702, January 6, old style,[7] just four years to a day before I was born. The
account we received of his life and character from some old people at
Ecton, I remember, struck you as something extraordinary, from its
similarity to what you knew of mine. "Had he died on the same day," you
said, "one might have supposed a transmigration."
John was bred a dyer, I believe of woollens, 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, MS., of his own poetry, consisting of little occasional
pieces addressed to his friends and relations, of which the following, sent to
me, is a specimen.[8] He had formed a short-hand of his own, which he
taught me, but, never practising it, I have now forgot it. I was named after
this uncle, there being a 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 short-hand, and had with him many volumes of them. He
was also much of a politician; too much, perhaps, for his station. There fell
lately into my hands, in London, a collection he had made of all the
principal pamphlets relating to public affairs, from 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 in octavo. A dealer in
old books met with them, and knowing me by my sometimes buying of
him, he brought them to me. It seems my uncle must have left them here
when he went to America, which was about fifty years since. There are
many of his notes in the margins.

This obscure family of ours was early in the Reformation, and continued
Protestants through the reign of Queen Mary, when they were sometimes in
danger of trouble on account of their zeal against popery. They had got an
English Bible, and to conceal and secure it, it was fastened open with tapes
under and within the cover of a joint-stool. When my great-great-
grandfather read it to his family, he turned up the joint-stool upon his knees,
turning over the leaves then under the tapes. One of the children stood at the
door to give notice if he 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 the Second's reign, when some of the
ministers that had been outed for non-conformity, holding conventicles[9] in
Northamptonshire, Benjamin and Josiah adhered to them, and so continued
all their lives: the rest of the family remained with the Episcopal Church.

Birthplace of Franklin. Milk Street, Boston.

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.[10] 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,[11] in
his church history of that country, entitled Magnalia Christi Americana, as
"a godly, learned Englishman," if I remember the words rightly. I have
heard that he wrote sundry small occasional pieces, but only one of them
was printed, which I saw now many years since. It was written in 1675, in
the home-spun verse of that time and people, and addressed to those then
concerned in the government there. It was in favour of liberty of
conscience, and in behalf of the Baptists, Quakers, and other sectaries that
had been under persecution, ascribing the Indian wars, and other distresses
that had befallen the country, to that 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 libeller (says he)
I hate it with my heart;
From Sherburne town,[12] where now I dwell
My name I do put here;
Without offense your real friend,
It is Peter Folgier."

My elder brothers were all put apprentices to different trades. I was put to
the grammar-school at eight years of age, my father intending to devote me,
as the tithe[13] 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 short-
hand volumes of sermons, I suppose as a stock to set up with, if I would

learn his character.[14] I continued, however, at the grammar-school not
quite one year, though in that time I had risen gradually from the middle of
the class of that year to be the head of it, and farther was removed into the
next class above it, in order to go with that into the third at the end of the
year. But my father, in the meantime, from a view of the expense of a
college education, which having so large a family he could not well afford,
and the mean living many so educated were afterwards able to obtain—
reasons that he gave to his friends in my hearing—altered his first intention,
took me from the grammar-school, and sent me to a school for writing and
arithmetic, kept by a then famous man, Mr. George Brownell, very
successful in his profession generally, and that by mild, encouraging
methods. Under him I acquired fair writing pretty soon, but I failed in the
arithmetic, and made no progress in it. At ten years old I was taken home to
assist my father in his business, which was that of a tallow-chandler and
sope-boiler; a 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 mould and the moulds for cast candles,
attending the shop, going of errands, etc.
I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination for the sea, but my father
declared against it; however, living near the water, I was much in and about
it, learnt early to swim well, and to manage boats; and when in a boat or
canoe with other boys, I was commonly allowed to govern, 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, tho' not
then justly conducted.
There was a salt-marsh that bounded part of the mill-pond, on the edge of
which, at high water, we used to stand to fish for minnows. By much
trampling, we had made it a mere quagmire. My proposal was to build a
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, 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 publick affairs. In
the latter, indeed, he was never employed, the numerous family he had to
educate and the straitness of his circumstances keeping him close to his
trade; but I remember well 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 bro't up in such a
perfect inattention to those matters as to be quite indifferent what kind of
food was set before me, and so unobservant of it, that to this day if I am
asked I can scarce tell a few hours after dinner what I dined upon. This has
been a convenience to me in 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: she suckled all her ten
children. I never knew either my father or mother to have any sickness but
that of which they dy'd, he at 89, and she at 85 years of age. They lie buried
together at Boston, where I some years since placed a marble over their
grave,[15] 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, Ætat 89.
A. F. born 1667, died 1752, —— 85.

By my rambling digressions I perceive myself to be grown old. I us'd to
write more methodically. But one does not dress for private company as for
a publick ball. 'Tis perhaps only negligence.
To return: I continued thus employed in my father's business for two years,
that is, till I was twelve years old; and my brother John, who was bred to
that business, having left my father, married, and set up for himself at
Rhode Island, there was all appearance that I was destined to 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, braziers, etc., at their work, that he might

observe my inclination, and endeavor to fix it on some trade or other on
land. It has ever since been a pleasure to me to see good workmen handle
their tools; and it has been useful to me, having learnt so much by it as to be
able to do little jobs myself in my house when a workman could not readily
be got, and to 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.
[3] A small village not far from Winchester in Hampshire, southern England.
Here was the country seat of the Bishop of St. Asaph, Dr. Jonathan Shipley, the
"good Bishop," as Dr. Franklin used to style him. Their relations were intimate
and confidential. In his pulpit, and in the House of Lords, as well as in society,
the bishop always opposed the harsh measures of the Crown toward the
Colonies.—Bigelow.
[4] In this connection Woodrow Wilson says, "And yet the surprising and
delightful thing about this book (the Autobiography) is that, take it all in all, it
has not the low tone of conceit, but is a staunch man's sober and unaffected
assessment of himself and the circumstances of his career."
[5] See Introduction.
[6] A small landowner.
[7] January 17, new style. This change in the calendar was made in 1582 by Pope
Gregory XIII, and adopted in England in 1752. Every year whose number in the
common reckoning since Christ is not divisible by 4, as well as every year whose
number is divisible by 100 but not by 400, shall have 365 days, and all other
years shall have 366 days. In the eighteenth century there was a difference of
eleven days between the old and the new style of reckoning, which the English
Parliament canceled by making the 3rd of September, 1752, the 14th. The Julian
calendar, or "old style," is still retained in Russia and Greece, whose dates
consequently are now 13 days behind those of other Christian countries.
[8] The specimen is not in the manuscript of the Autobiography.
[9] Secret gatherings of dissenters from the established Church.
[10] Franklin was born on Sunday, January 6, old style, 1706, in a house on Milk
Street, opposite the Old South Meeting House, where he was baptized on the day
of his birth, during a snowstorm. The house where he was born was burned in
1810.—Griffin.
[11] Cotton Mather (1663-1728), clergyman, author, and scholar. Pastor of the
North Church, Boston. He took an active part in the persecution of witchcraft.

[12] Nantucket.
[13] Tenth.
[14] System of short-hand.
[15] This marble having decayed, the citizens of Boston in 1827 erected in its
place a granite obelisk, twenty-one feet high, bearing the original inscription
quoted in the text and another explaining the erection of the monument.

II

BEGINNING LIFE AS A PRINTER

ROM 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
books, [16] and cheap, 40 or 50 in all. My father's little library consisted
chiefly of books in polemic divinity, most of which I read, and have since
often regretted that, at a time when I had such a thirst for knowledge, more
proper books had 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
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-
ballad style;[17] 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 one another, which
disputatious turn, by the way, is apt to become a very bad habit, making
people often extremely disagreeable in company by the contradiction that is
necessary to bring it into practice; and thence, besides souring and 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 Edinborough.

A question was once, somehow or other, started between Collins and me, of
the propriety of educating the female sex in learning, and their abilities for
study. He was of opinion that it was 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 one
another again for some time, I sat down to put my arguments in writing,
which I copied fair and sent to him. He answered, and I replied. Three or
four letters 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; observed that,
though I had the advantage of my antagonist in correct spelling and
pointing (which I ow'd to the printing-house), I fell far short in elegance of
expression, in method and in perspicuity, of which he convinced me by
several instances. I saw the justice of his remarks, and thence grew more
attentive to the manner in writing, and determined to endeavor at
improvement.

About this time I met with an odd volume of the Spectator.[18] 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, try'd to compleat 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 compleat the paper. This was to teach me method in the
arrangement of thoughts. By comparing my work afterwards with the
original, I discovered many faults and amended them; but I sometimes had
the pleasure of fancying that, in certain particulars of small import, I had
been lucky enough to improve the method of 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, thought I could not, as it seemed to me, afford
time to practise it.
When about 16 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 refusing to eat flesh occasioned an
inconveniency, and I was frequently chid for my singularity. I made myself
acquainted with Tryon's manner of preparing some of his dishes, such as
boiling potatoes or rice, making hasty pudding, and a few others, and then
proposed to my brother, that if he would give me, weekly, half the money
he paid for my board, I would board myself. He instantly agreed to it, and I
presently found that I could save half what he paid me. This was an
additional fund for buying books. But I had another advantage in it. My
brother and the rest going from the printing-house to their meals, I remained
there alone, and, dispatching presently my light repast, which often was no
more than a bisket or a slice of bread, a handful of raisins or a tart from the
pastry-cook's, and a glass of water, had the rest of the time till their return
for study, in which I made the greater progress, from that greater clearness
of head and quicker apprehension which usually attend temperance in
eating and drinking.
And now it was that, being on some occasion made asham'd of my
ignorance in figures, which I had twice failed in learning when at school, I
took Cocker's book of Arithmetick, and went through the whole by myself

with great ease. I also read Seller's and Shermy's books of Navigation, and
became acquainted with the little geometry they contain; but never
proceeded far in that science. And I read about this time Locke On Human
Understanding,[19] and the Art of Thinking, by Messrs. du Port Royal.[20]
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[21] method; and soon after I procur'd
Xenophon's Memorable Things of Socrates, wherein there are many
instances of the same method. I was charm'd with it, adopted it, dropt my
abrupt contradiction and positive argumentation, and put on the humble
inquirer and doubter. And being then, from reading Shaftesbury and Collins,
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, practis'd 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
continu'd this method some few years, but gradually left it, retaining only
the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest diffidence; never using,
when I advanced anything that may possibly be disputed, the words
certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that give the air of positiveness to an
opinion; but rather say, I conceive or apprehend a thing to be so and so; it
appears to me, or 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 everyone 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 fix'd 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[22] says, judiciously:
"Men should be taught as if you taught them not,
And things unknown propos'd as things forgot;"

farther recommending to us
"To speak, tho' sure, with seeming diffidence."

And he might have coupled with this line that which he has coupled with
another, I think, less properly,
"For want of modesty is want of sense."

If you ask, Why less properly? I must repeat the lines,
"Immodest words admit of no defense,
For want of modesty is want of sense."

Now, is not want of sense (where a man is so 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,[23] and was called the New England
Courant. 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 thro' the streets to the customers.

First page of The New England Courant of Dec. 4-11, 1721. Reduced about one-
third. From a copy in the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society

He had some ingenious men among his friends, who amus'd themselves by
writing little pieces for this paper, which gain'd it credit and made it more in
demand, and these gentlemen often visited us. Hearing their conversations,
and their accounts of the approbation their papers were received 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 call'd in as usual. They read it, commented on it in my hearing, and I
had the exquisite pleasure of finding it met with their approbation, and that,
in their different guesses at the author, none were named but men of some
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 esteem'd them.
Encourag'd, however, by this, I wrote and conveyed in the same way to the
press several more papers which were equally approv'd; and I kept my
secret till my small fund of sense for such performances was pretty well
exhausted, and then I discovered[24] 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 demean'd
me too much in some he requir'd of me, who from a brother expected more
indulgence. Our disputes were often brought before our father, and I fancy I
was either generally in the right, or else a better pleader, because the
judgment was generally in my favor. But my brother was passionate, and
had often beaten me, which I took extreamly amiss; and, thinking my
apprenticeship very tedious, I was continually wishing for some opportunity
of shortening it, which at length offered in a manner unexpected.

"I was employed to carry the papers thro' the streets to the customers"

One of the pieces in our newspaper on some political point, which I have
now forgotten, gave offense to the Assembly. He was taken up, censur'd,
and imprison'd for a month, by the speaker's warrant, I suppose, because he
would not discover his author. I too was taken up and examin'd before the
council; but, tho' 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 satyr. My brother's discharge
was accompany'd with an order of the House (a very odd one), that "James
Franklin should no longer print the paper called the New England
Courant."

There was a consultation held in our printing-house among his friends, what
he should do in this case. Some proposed to evade the order by changing
the name of the paper; but my brother, seeing inconveniences in that, it was
finally concluded on as a better way, to let it be printed for the 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 return'd to me, with a full discharge on
the back of it, to be shown on occasion, but to secure to him the benefit of
my service, I was to sign new indentures for the remainder of the term,
which were to be kept 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 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-natur'd 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 refus'd to give me work. I then
thought of going to New York, as the nearest place where there was a
printer; and I was rather inclin'd to leave Boston when I reflected that I had
already made 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 stay'd, soon bring myself into scrapes; and farther, that my
indiscreet disputations about religion began to make me pointed at with
horror by good people as an infidel or atheist. I determin'd on the point, but
my father now siding with my brother, I was sensible that, if I attempted to
go openly, means would be used to prevent me. My friend Collins,
therefore, undertook to manage a little for me. He agreed with the captain of
a New York sloop for my passage, under the notion of my being a young
acquaintance of his. So I sold some of my books to raise a little money, was
taken on board privately, and as we had a fair wind, in three days I found
myself in New York, near 300 miles from home, a boy of but 17, without

the least recommendation to, or knowledge of, any person in the place, and
with very little money in my pocket.
[16] Small books, sold by chapmen or peddlers.
[17] Grub-street: famous in English literature as the home of poor writers.
[18] A daily London journal, comprising satirical essays on social subjects,
published by Addison and Steele in 1711-1712. The Spectator and its
predecessor, the Tatler (1709), marked the beginning of periodical literature.
[19] John Locke (1632-1704), a celebrated English philosopher, founder of the
so-called "common-sense" school of philosophers. He drew up a constitution for
the colonists of Carolina.
[20] A noted society of scholarly and devout men occupying the abbey of Port
Royal near Paris, who published learned works, among them the one here
referred to, better known as the Port Royal Logic.
[21] Socrates confuted his opponents in argument by asking questions so
skillfully devised that the answers would confirm the questioner's position or
show the error of the opponent.
[22] Alexander Pope (1688-1744), the greatest English poet of the first half of
the eighteenth century.
[23] Franklin's memory does not serve him correctly here. The Courant was
really the fifth newspaper established in America, although generally called the
fourth, because the first, Public Occurrences, published in Boston in 1690, was
suppressed after the first issue. Following is the order in which the other four
papers were published: Boston News Letter, 1704; Boston Gazette, December 21,
1719; The American Weekly Mercury, Philadelphia, December 22, 1719; The
New England Courant, 1721.
[24] Disclosed.

III

ARRIVAL IN PHILADELPHIA

Y inclinations for the sea were by this time worne out, or I
might now have gratify'd them. But, having a trade, and
supposing myself a pretty good workman, I offer'd my service
to the printer in the place, old Mr. William 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, Aquilla Rose, by death; if you go thither, I believe
he may employ you." Philadelphia was a hundred miles further; I set out,
however, in a boat for Amboy, leaving my chest and things to follow me
round by sea.
In crossing the bay, we met with a squall that tore our rotten sails to pieces,
prevented our getting into the Kill,[25] 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 desir'd 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 was the first that I know of who mix'd
narration and dialogue; a method of writing very engaging to the reader,
who in the most interesting parts finds himself, as it were, brought into the
company and present at the discourse. De Foe in his Cruso, his Moll
Flanders, Religious Courtship, Family Instructor, and other pieces, has
imitated it with success; and Richardson[26] 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 surff on the stony beach. So we dropt

anchor, and swung round towards the shore. Some people came down to the
water edge and hallow'd to us, as we did to them; but the wind was so high,
and the surff so loud, that we could not hear so as to understand each other.
There were canoes on the shore, and we made signs, and hallow'd that they
should fetch us; but they either did not understand us, or thought it
impracticable, so they went away, and night coming on, we had no remedy
but to wait till the wind should abate; and, in the meantime, the boatman
and I concluded to sleep, if we could; and so crowded into the scuttle, with
the Dutchman, who was still wet, and the spray beating over the head of our
boat, leak'd thro' to us, so that we were soon almost as wet as he. In this
manner we lay all night, with very little rest; but, the wind abating the next
day, 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, and
the water we sail'd on being salt.
In the evening I found myself very feverish, and went in to bed; but, having
read somewhere that cold water drank plentifully was good for a fever, I
follow'd 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, where I was told I should find boats
that would carry me the rest of the way to Philadelphia.

It rained very hard all the day; I was thoroughly soak'd, and by noon a good
deal tired; so I stopt at a poor inn, where I staid all night, beginning now to
wish that I had never left home. I cut so miserable a figure, too, that I

found, by the questions ask'd me, I was suspected to be some runaway
servant, and in danger of being taken up on that suspicion. However, I
proceeded the next day, and got in the evening to an inn, within eight or ten
miles of Burlington, kept by one Dr. Brown. He entered into conversation
with me while I took some refreshment, and, finding I had read a little,
became very sociable and friendly. Our acquaintance continu'd as long as he
liv'd. He had been, I imagine, an itinerant doctor, for there was no town in
England, or country in Europe, of which he could not give a very particular
account. He had some letters, and was ingenious, but much of an
unbeliever, and wickedly undertook, some years after, to travesty the Bible
in doggrel verse, as Cotton had done Virgil. By this means he set many of
the facts in a very ridiculous light, and might have hurt weak minds if his
work had been published; but it never was.
At his house I lay that night, and the next morning reach'd Burlington, but
had the mortification to find that the regular boats were gone a little before
my coming, and no other expected to go before Tuesday, this being
Saturday; wherefore I returned to an old woman in the town, of whom I had
bought gingerbread to eat on the water, and ask'd her advice. She invited me
to lodge at her house till a passage by water should offer; and being tired
with my foot 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 towards Philadelphia, with several people in her. They
took me in, and, as there was no wind, we row'd all the way; and about
midnight, not having yet seen the city, some of the 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, 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 arriv'd there about eight or nine
o'clock on the Sunday morning, and landed at the Market-street wharf.

I have been the more particular in this description of my journey, and shall
be so of my first entry into that city, that you may in your mind compare
such unlikely beginnings with the figure I have since made there. I was in
my working dress, my best clothes being to come round by sea. I was dirty
from my journey; my pockets were stuff'd out with shirts and stockings, and
I knew no soul nor where to look for lodging. I was fatigued with 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. The latter I gave
the people of the boat for my passage, who at first refus'd it, on account of
my rowing; but I insisted on their taking it. A man being sometimes more
generous when he has but a little money than when he has plenty, perhaps
thro' fear of being thought to have but 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 ask'd for bisket, intending such as we had in Boston; but they, it seems,
were not made in Philadelphia. Then I asked for a three-penny loaf, and was
told they had none such. So not considering or knowing the difference of
money, and the greater cheapness nor the names of his bread, I bade him
give me three-penny worth of any sort. He gave me, accordingly, three great
puffy rolls. I was surpris'd at the quantity, but took it, and, having no room
in my pockets, walk'd 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.

"She, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most
awkward, ridiculous appearance"

Thus refreshed, I walked again up the street, which by this time had many
clean-dressed people in it, who were all walking the same way. I joined
them, and thereby was led into the great meeting-house of the Quakers near
the market. I sat down among them, and, after looking round awhile and
hearing nothing said, being very drowsy thro' labour and want of rest the
preceding night, I fell fast asleep, and continu'd so till the meeting broke up,
when one was kind enough to rouse me. This was, therefore, the first house
I was in, or slept in, in Philadelphia.
Walking down again toward the river, and, looking in the faces of people, I
met a young Quaker man, whose countenance I lik'd, and, accosting him,
requested he would tell me where a stranger could get lodging. We were
then near the sign of the Three Mariners. "Here," says he, "is one place that
entertains strangers, but it is not a 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 return'd, and being shown to a bed, I lay down
without undressing, and slept till six in the evening, was call'd to supper,
went to bed again very early, and slept soundly till next morning. Then I
made myself as tidy as I could, and went to Andrew Bradford the printer's. I
found in the shop the old man his father, whom I had seen at New York, and
who, traveling on horseback, had got to Philadelphia before me. He
introduc'd me to his son, who receiv'd me civilly, gave me a breakfast, but
told me he did not at present want a hand, being lately suppli'd 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, "Neighbour," says Bradford, "I have brought to see you a
young man of your business; perhaps you may want such a one." He ask'd
me a few questions, put a composing stick in my hand to see how I work'd,
and then said he would employ me soon, 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 town's people that had a good will for him, enter'd into a
conversation on his present undertaking and prospects; while Bradford, not
discovering that he was the other printer's father, on Keimer's saying he
expected soon to get the greatest part of the business into his own hands,
drew him on by artful questions, and starting little doubts, to explain all his
views, what interest he reli'd on, and in what manner he intended to
proceed. I, who stood by and heard all, saw immediately that one of them
was a crafty old sophister, and the other a mere novice. Bradford left me
with Keimer, who was greatly surpris'd when I told him who the old man
was.
Keimer's printing-house, I found, consisted of an old shatter'd press, and
one small, worn-out font of English, which he was then using himself,
composing an Elegy on Aquilla 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,
[27]
but one pair of cases, and the Elegy likely to require all the letter, no one
could help him. I endeavour'd to put his press (which he had not yet us'd,
and of which he understood nothing) into order fit to be work'd with; and,
promising to come and print off his Elegy as soon as he should have got it
ready, I return'd to Bradford's, who gave me a little job to do for the present,
and there I lodged and dieted. A few days after, Keimer sent for me to print
off the Elegy. And now he had got another pair of cases,[28] 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, tho' something of a
scholar, was a mere compositor, knowing nothing of presswork. He had
been one of the French prophets,[29] 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 work'd with him. He had a house,
indeed, but without furniture, so he could not lodge me; but he got me a
lodging at Mr. Read's 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 happen'd to see me eating my roll in the street.
I began now to have some acquaintance among the young people of the
town, that were lovers of reading, with whom I spent my evenings very
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, thank'd
him for his advice, but stated my reasons for quitting Boston fully and in
such a light as to convince him I was not so wrong as he had apprehended.
[25] Kill van Kull, the channel separating Staten Island from New Jersey on the
north.
[26] Samuel Richardson, the father of the English novel, wrote Pamela, Clarissa
Harlowe, and the History of Sir Charles Grandison, novels published in the form
of letters.
[27] Manuscript.
[28] The frames for holding type are in two sections, the upper for capitals and
the lower for small letters.
[29] Protestants of the South of France, who became fanatical under the
persecutions of Louis XIV, and thought they had the gift of prophecy. They had
as mottoes "No Taxes" and "Liberty of Conscience."

IV

FIRST VISIT TO BOSTON

IR WILLIAM KEITH, governor of the province, was then at
Newcastle, and Captain Holmes, happening to be in company
with him when my letter came to hand, spoke to him of me, and
show'd him the letter. The governor read it, and seem'd surpris'd
when he was told my age. He said I appear'd a young man of promising
parts, and therefore should be encouraged; the printers at Philadelphia were
wretched ones; and, if I would set up there, he made no doubt I should
succeed; for his part, he would procure me the public business, and do me
every other service in his power. This my brother-in-law afterwards told me
in Boston, but I knew as yet nothing of it; when, one day, Keimer and I
being at work together near the window, we saw the governor and another
gentleman (which proved to be Colonel French, of Newcastle), finely
dress'd, come directly across the street to our house, and heard them at the
door.

Keimer ran down immediately, thinking it a visit to him; but the governor
inquir'd for me, came up, and with a condescension and politeness I had
been quite unus'd to, made me many compliments, desired to be acquainted
with me, blam'd me kindly for not having made myself known to him when
I first came to the place, and would have me away with him to the tavern,
where he was going with Colonel French to taste, as he said, some excellent
Madeira. I was not a little surprised, and Keimer star'd like a pig poison'd.
[30]
I went, however, with the governor and Colonel French to a tavern, at
the corner of Third-street, and over the Madeira he propos'd my setting up
my business, laid before me the probabilities of success, and both he and
Colonel French assur'd me I should have their interest and influence in
procuring the public business of both governments.[31] 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
meantime 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 honour I thought it, and conversing with me in the most
affable, familiar, and friendly manner imaginable.
About the end of April, 1724, a little vessel offer'd for Boston. I took leave
of Keimer as going to see my friends. The governor gave me an ample
letter, saying many 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 oblig'd to pump
almost continually, at which I took my turn. We arriv'd safe, however, at
Boston in about a fortnight. I had been absent seven months, and my friends
had heard nothing of me; for my br. Holmes was not yet return'd, and had
not written about me. My unexpected appearance surpris'd the family; all
were, however, very glad to see me, and made me welcome, except my
brother. I went to see him at his printing-house. I was better dress'd than
ever while in his service, having a genteel new suit from head to foot, a
watch, and my pockets lin'd with near five pounds sterling in silver. He
receiv'd me not very frankly, look'd me all over, and turn'd to his work
again.

The journeymen were inquisitive where I had been, what sort of a country it
was, and how I lik'd it. I prais'd it much, and the happy life I led in it,
expressing strongly my intention of returning to it; and, one of them asking
what kind of money we had there, I produc'd a handful of silver, and spread
it before them, which was a kind of raree-show[32] they had not been us'd to,
paper being the money of Boston.[33] 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[34] to drink, and took my leave. This visit of mine
offended him extreamly; for, when my mother some time after spoke to him
of a reconciliation, and of her wishes to see us on good terms together, and
that we might live for the future as brothers, he said I had insulted him in
such a manner before his people that he could never forget or 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 some days, when Capt. Holmes returning he show'd
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 favour 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,
pleas'd with the account I gave him of my new country, determined to go
thither also; and, while I waited for my father's determination, he set out
before me by land to Rhode Island, leaving his books, which were a pretty
collection of mathematicks and natural philosophy, to come with mine and
me to New York, where he propos'd to wait for me.
My father, tho' he did not approve Sir William's proposition, was yet pleas'd
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, advis'd me to
behave respectfully to the people there, endeavour 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 embark'd again for New York, now with their
approbation and their blessing.
The sloop putting in at Newport, Rhode Island, I visited my brother John,
who had been married and settled there some years. He received me very
affectionately, for he always lov'd 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 afterwards occasion'd
me a good deal of uneasiness.
At Newport we took in a number of passengers for New York, among which
were two young women, companions, and a grave, sensible, matronlike
Quaker woman, with her attendants. I had shown an obliging readiness to
do her some little services, which impress'd her I suppose with a degree of
good will toward me; therefore, when she saw a daily growing familiarity

between me and the two young women, which they appear'd to encourage,
she took me aside, and said, "Young man, I am concern'd for thee, as thou
hast no friend with thee, and seems not to know much of the world, or of
the snares youth is expos'd to; depend upon it, those are very bad women; I
can see it in all their actions; and if thee art not upon thy guard, they will
draw thee into some danger; they are strangers to thee, and I advise thee, in
a friendly concern for thy welfare, to have no acquaintance with them." As I
seem'd at first not to think so ill of them as she did, she mentioned some
things she had observ'd and heard that had escap'd my notice, but now
convinc'd me she was right. I thank'd her for her kind advice, and promis'd
to follow it. When we arriv'd at New York, they told me where they liv'd,
and invited me to come and see them; but I avoided it, and it was well I did;
for the next day the captain miss'd a silver spoon and some other things, that
had been taken out of his cabin, and, knowing that these were a couple of
strumpets, he got a warrant to search their lodgings, found the stolen goods,
and had the thieves punish'd. So, tho' we had escap'd a sunken rock, which
we scrap'd upon in the passage, I thought this escape of rather more
importance to me.
At New York I found my friend Collins, who had arriv'd there some time
before me. We had been intimate from children, and had read the same
books together; but he had the advantage of more time for reading and
studying, and a wonderful genius for mathematical learning, in which he far
outstript me. While I liv'd in Boston, most of my hours of leisure for
conversation were spent with him, and he continu'd a sober as well as an
industrious lad; was much respected for his learning by several of the clergy
and other gentlemen, and seemed to promise making a good figure in life.
But, during my absence, he had acquir'd a habit of sotting with brandy; and
I found by his own account, and what I heard from others, that he had been
drunk every day since his arrival at New York, and behav'd very oddly. He
had gam'd, too, and lost his money, so that I was oblig'd to discharge his
lodgings, and defray his expenses to and at Philadelphia, which prov'd
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, desir'd 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 gov'r. treated me with great civility, show'd me his library, which
was a very large one, and we had a good deal of conversation about books
and authors. This was the second governor who had done me the honour to
take notice of me; which, to a poor boy like me, was very pleasing.
We proceeded to Philadelphia. I received on the way Vernon's money,
without which we could hardly have finish'd our journey. Collins wished to
be employ'd in some counting-house; but, whether they discover'd his
dramming by his breath, or by his behaviour, tho' he had some
recommendations, he met with no success in any application, and continu'd
lodging and boarding at the same house with me, and at my expense.
Knowing I had that money of Vernon's, he was continually borrowing of
me, still promising repayment as soon as he should be in business. At length
he had got so much of it that I was distress'd to think what I should do in
case of being call'd on to remit it.
His drinking continu'd, about which we sometimes quarrel'd; 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 row'd
home," says he. "We will not row you," says I. "You must, or stay all night
on the water," says he, "just as you please." The others said, "Let us row;
what signifies it?" But, my mind being soured with his other conduct, I
continu'd to refuse. So he swore he would make me row, or throw me
overboard; and coming along, stepping on the thwarts, toward me, when he
came up and struck at me, I clapped my hand under his crutch, and, rising,
pitched him head-foremost into the river. I knew he was a good swimmer,
and so was under little concern about him; but before he could get round to
lay hold of the boat, we had with a few strokes pull'd her out of his reach;
and ever when he drew near the boat, we ask'd if he would row, striking a
few strokes to slide her away from him. He was ready to die with vexation,
and obstinately 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 exchang'd a civil word afterwards, and a West India
captain, who had a commission to procure a tutor for the sons of a
gentleman at Barbados, 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 show'd that my father was not much out in his
judgment when he suppos'd me too young to manage business of
importance. But Sir 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 resolv'd to have a good printer here, and I am
sure you must succeed." This was spoken with such an appearance of
cordiality, that I had not the least doubt of his meaning what he said. I had
hitherto kept the proposition of my setting up, a secret in Philadelphia, and I
still kept it. Had it been known that I depended on the governor, probably
some friend, that knew him better, would have advis'd me not to rely on
him, as I afterwards heard it as his known character to be liberal of
promises which he never meant to keep. Yet, unsolicited as he was by me,
how could I think his generous offers insincere? I believ'd him one of the
best men in the world.
I presented him an inventory of a little print'-house, amounting by my
computation to about one hundred pounds sterling. He lik'd it, but ask'd me
if my being on the spot in England to chuse the types, and see that
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;" which was the annual ship, and the only one at that time usually
passing between London and Philadelphia. But it would be some months
before Annis sail'd, so I continued working with Keimer, fretting about the
money Collins had got from me, and in daily apprehensions of being call'd
upon by Vernon, which, however, did not happen for some years after.
I believe I have omitted mentioning that, in my first voyage from Boston,
being becalm'd off Block Island, our people set about catching cod, and
hauled up a great many. Hitherto I had stuck to my resolution of not eating
animal food, and on this occasion I consider'd, with my master Tryon, the
taking every fish as a kind of unprovoked 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 smelt admirably well. I balanc'd
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
din'd 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 is it to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make
a reason for everything one has a mind to do.
[30] Temple Franklin considered this specific figure vulgar and changed it to
"stared with astonishment."
[31] Pennsylvania and Delaware.
[32] A peep-show in a box.
[33] There were no mints in the colonies, so the metal money was of foreign
coinage and not nearly so common as paper money, which was printed in large
quantities in America, even in small denominations.
[34] Spanish dollar about equivalent to our dollar.

V

EARLY FRIENDS IN PHILADELPHIA

EIMER and I liv'd on a pretty good familiar footing, and agreed
tolerably well, for he suspected nothing of my setting up. He
retained a great deal of his old enthusiasms and lov'd
argumentation. We therefore had many disputations. I used to
work him so with my Socratic method, and had trepann'd him so often by
questions apparently so distant from any point we had in hand, and yet by
degrees 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." He likewise kept
the Seventh day, Sabbath; and these two points were essentials with him. I
dislik'd both; but agreed to admit them upon condition of his adopting the
doctrine of using no animal food. "I doubt," said he, "my constitution will
not bear that." I assur'd him it would, and that he would be the better for it.
He was usually a great glutton, and I promised myself some diversion in
half starving him. He agreed to try the practice, if I would keep him
company. I did so, and we held it for three months. We had our victuals
dress'd, and brought to us regularly by a woman in the neighborhood, who
had from me a list of forty dishes, to be prepar'd for us at different times, in
all which there was neither fish, flesh, nor fowl, and the whim suited me the
better at this time from the cheapness of it, not costing us above
eighteenpence sterling each per week. I have since kept several Lents most
strictly, leaving the common diet for that, and that for the common,
abruptly, without the least inconvenience, so that I think there is little in the
advice of making those changes by easy gradations. I went on pleasantly,
but poor Keimer suffered grievously, tired of the project, long'd for the
flesh-pots of Egypt, and order'd a roast pig. He invited me and two women
friends to dine with him; but, it being brought too soon upon table, he could
not resist the temptation, and ate the whole before we came.
I had made some courtship during this time to Miss Read. I had a great
respect and affection for her, and had some reason to believe she had the
same for me; but, as I was about to take a long voyage, and we were both
very young, only a little above eighteen, it was thought most prudent by her
mother to prevent our going too far at present, as a 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 Brockden; 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
criticizing. 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 conferr'd on what we read.

Ralph was inclin'd to pursue the study of poetry, not doubting but he might
become eminent in it, and make his fortune by it, alleging that the best
poets must, when they first began to write, make as many faults as he did.
Osborne dissuaded him, assur'd him he had no genius for poetry, and
advis'd him to think of nothing beyond the business he was bred to; that, in
the mercantile way, tho' he had no stock, he might, by his diligence and
punctuality, recommend himself to employment as a factor, and in time
acquire wherewith to trade on his own account. I approv'd the amusing
one's self with poetry now and then, so far as to improve one's language, but
no farther.
On this it was propos'd that we should each of us, at our next meeting,
produce a piece of our own composing, in order to improve by our mutual
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 a Deity. When the time of our meeting drew nigh,
Ralph called on me first, and let me know his piece was ready. I told him I
had been busy, and, having little inclination, had done nothing. He then
show'd me his piece for my opinion, and I much approv'd it, as it appear'd
to me to have great merit. "Now," says he, "Osborne never will allow the
least merit in anything of mine, but makes 1000 criticisms out of mere envy.
He is not so jealous of you; I wish, therefore, you would take this piece, and
produce it as yours; I will pretend not to have had time, and so produce
nothing. We shall then see what he will say to it." It was agreed, and I
immediately transcrib'd it, that it might appear in my own hand.
We met; Watson's performance was read; there were some beauties in it, but
many defects. 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 could be admitted; produce I
must. It was read and repeated; Watson and Osborne gave up the contest,
and join'd in applauding it. Ralph only made some criticisms, and propos'd
some amendments; but I defended my text. Osborne was against Ralph, and
told him he was no better a critic than poet, so he dropt the argument. As
they two went home together, Osborne expressed himself still more
strongly in favor of what he thought my production; having restrain'd
himself before, as he said, lest I should think it flattery. "But who would
have imagin'd," said he, "that Franklin had been capable of such a
performance; such painting, such force, such fire! He has even improv'd the
original. In his common conversation he seems to have no choice of words;
he hesitates and blunders; and yet, good God! how he writes!" When we
next met, Ralph discovered the trick we had plaid him, and Osborne was a
little 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.[35] 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 happen'd first to die should,
if possible, make a friendly visit to the other, and acquaint him how he
found things in that separate state. But he never fulfill'd his promise.
[35] "In one of the later editions of the Dunciad occur the following lines:

'Silence, ye wolves! while Ralph to Cynthia howls,
And makes night hideous—answer him, ye owls.'

To this the poet adds the following note:
'James Ralph, a name inserted after the first editions, not known till he writ a
swearing-piece called Sawney, very abusive of Dr. Swift, Mr. Gay, and myself.'"

VI

FIRST VISIT TO LONDON

HE governor, seeming to like my company, had me frequently
to his house, and his setting me up was always mention'd as a
fixed thing. I was to take with me letters recommendatory to a
number of his friends, besides the letter of credit to furnish me
with the necessary money for purchasing the press and types, paper, etc. For
these letters I was appointed to call at different times, when they were to be
ready; but a future time was still named. Thus he went on till the ship,
whose departure too had been several times postponed, was on the point of
sailing. Then, when I call'd to take my leave and receive the letters, his
secretary, Dr. Bard, came out to me and said the governor was extremely
busy in writing, but would be down at Newcastle, before the ship, and there
the letters would be delivered to me.
Ralph, though married, and having one child, had determined to accompany
me in this voyage. It was thought he intended to establish a correspondence,
and obtain goods to sell on commission; but I found afterwards, that, thro'
some discontent with his wife's relations, he purposed to leave her on their
hands, and never return again. Having taken leave of my friends, and
interchang'd some promises with Miss Read, I left Philadelphia in the ship,

which anchor'd at Newcastle. The governor was there; but when I went to
his lodging, the secretary came to me from him with the civillest message in
the world, that he could not then see me, being engaged in business of the
utmost importance, but should send the letters to me on board, wished me
heartily a good voyage and a speedy return, etc. I returned on board a little
puzzled, but still not doubting.
Mr. Andrew Hamilton, a famous lawyer of 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) return'd from Newcastle to Philadelphia, the father
being recall'd by a great fee to plead for a seized ship; and, just before we
sail'd, Colonel French coming on board, and showing me great respect, I
was more taken notice of, and, with my friend Ralph, invited by the other
gentlemen to come into the cabin, there being now room. Accordingly, we
remov'd thither.
Understanding that Colonel French had brought on board the governor's
despatches, I ask'd the captain for those letters that were to be under my
care. He said all were put into the bag together and he could not then come
at them; but, before we landed in England, I should have an opportunity of
picking them out; so I was satisfied for the 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 arriv'd 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, "O! this is from Riddlesden. I have lately found him to be
a compleat rascal, and I will have nothing to do with him, nor receive any
letters from him." So, putting the letter into my hand, he turn'd on his heel
and left me to serve some customer. I was 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 laught at the notion
of the governor's giving me a letter of credit, having, as he said, no credit to
give. On my expressing some concern about what I should do, he advised
me to endeavour getting some employment in the way of my business.
"Among the printers here," said he, "you will improve yourself, and when
you return to America, you will set up to greater advantage."

We both of us happen'd to know, as well as the stationer, that Riddlesden,
the attorney, was a very knave. He had half ruin'd Miss Read's father by
persuading him to be bound for him. By this letter it appear'd there was a
secret scheme on foot to the prejudice of Hamilton (suppos'd to be then
coming over with us); and that Keith was concerned in it with Riddlesden.
Denham, who was a friend of Hamilton's, thought he ought to be acquainted
with it; so, when he arriv'd 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 thank'd me cordially,
the information being of importance to him; and from that time he became
my friend, greatly to my advantage afterwards on many 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 wish'd to please everybody; and, having little to give, he gave
expectations. He was otherwise an ingenious, sensible man, a pretty good
writer, and a good governor for the people, tho' not for his constituents, the
proprietaries, whose instructions he sometimes disregarded. Several of our
best laws were of his planning and passed during his administration.
Ralph and I were inseparable companions. We took lodgings together in
Little Britain[36] 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;[37] so he borrowed occasionally of me to
subsist, while he was looking out for business. He first endeavoured to get
into the play-house, believing himself qualify'd for an actor; but Wilkes,[38]
to whom he apply'd, advis'd him candidly not to think of that employment,
as it was impossible he should succeed in it. Then he propos'd to Roberts, a
publisher in Paternoster Row,[39] to write for him a weekly paper like the
Spectator, on certain conditions, which Roberts did not approve. Then he
endeavoured to get employment as a hackney writer, to copy for the
stationers and lawyers about the Temple,[40] but could find no vacancy.
I immediately got into work at Palmer's, then a famous printing-house in
Bartholomew Close, and here I continu'd near a year. I was pretty diligent,
but spent with Ralph a good deal of my earnings in going to plays and other
places of amusement. We had together consumed all my pistoles, and now
just rubbed on from hand to mouth. He seem'd quite to forget his wife and
child, and I, by degrees, my engagements with Miss Read, to whom I never
wrote more than one letter, and that 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 for the second edition of
Wollaston's "Religion of Nature." Some of his reasonings not appearing to
me well founded, I wrote a little metaphysical piece in which I made
remarks on them. It was entitled "A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity,
Pleasure and Pain." I inscribed it to my friend Ralph; I printed a small
number. It occasion'd my being more consider'd by Mr. Palmer as a young
man of some ingenuity, tho' he seriously expostulated with me upon the
principles of my pamphlet, which to him appear'd abominable. My printing
this pamphlet was another erratum.
While I lodg'd in Little Britain, I made an acquaintance with one Wilcox, a
bookseller, whose shop was at the next door. He had an immense collection
of second-hand books. Circulating libraries were not then in use; but we
agreed that, on certain reasonable terms, which I have now forgotten, I
might take, read, and return any of his books. This I esteem'd a great
advantage, and I made as much use of it as I could.

My pamphlet by some means falling into the hands of one Lyons, a
surgeon, author of a book entitled "The Infallibility of Human Judgment," it
occasioned an acquaintance between us. He took great notice of me, called
on me often to converse on those subjects, carried me to the Horns, a pale
alehouse in—— Lane, Cheapside, and introduced me to Dr. Mandeville,
author of the "Fable of the Bees," who had a club there, of which he was the
soul, being a most facetious, entertaining companion. Lyons, too,
introduced me to Dr. Pemberton, at Batson's Coffee-house, who promis'd to
give me an opportunity, sometime or other, of seeing Sir Isaac Newton, of
which I was extreamly desirous; but this never happened.
I had brought over a few curiosities, among which the principal was a purse
made of the asbestos, which purifies by fire. Sir Hans Sloane heard of it,
came to see me, and invited me to his house in Bloomsbury Square, where
he show'd me all his curiosities, and persuaded me to let him add that to the
number, for which he paid me handsomely.
In our house there lodg'd a young woman, a milliner, who, I think, had a
shop in the Cloisters. She had been genteelly bred, was sensible and lively,
and of most pleasing conversation. Ralph read plays to her in the evenings,
they grew intimate, she took another lodging, and he followed her. They
liv'd together some time; but, he being still out of business, and her income
not sufficient to maintain them with her child, he took a resolution of going
from London, to try for a country school, which he thought himself well
qualified to undertake, as he wrote an excellent hand, and was a master of
arithmetic and accounts. This, however, he deemed a business below him,
and confident of future better fortune, when he should be unwilling to have
it known that he once was so meanly employed, he changed his name, and
did me the honour 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 endeavour'd rather to

discourage his proceeding. One of Young's Satires[41] was then just
published. I copy'd and sent him a great part of it, which set in a strong light
the folly of pursuing the Muses with any hope of advancement by them. All
was in vain; sheets of the poem continued to come by every post. In the
meantime, Mrs. T——, having on his account lost her friends and business,
was often in distresses, and us'd to send for me and borrow what I could
spare to help her out of them. I grew fond of her company, and, being at that
time under no religious restraint, and presuming upon my importance to
her, I attempted familiarities (another erratum) which she repuls'd with a
proper resentment, and acquainted him with my behaviour. This made a
breach between us; and, when he returned again to London, he let me know
he thought I had cancell'd all the obligations he had been under to me. So I
found I was never to expect his repaying me what I lent to him or advanc'd
for him. This, however, was not then of much consequence, as he was
totally unable; and in the loss of his friendship I found myself relieved from
a burthen. I now began to think of getting a little money beforehand, and,
expecting better work, I left Palmer's to work at Watts's, near Lincoln's Inn
Fields, a still greater printing-house.[42] Here I continued all the rest of my
stay in London.
At my first admission into this printing-house I took to working at press,
imagining I felt a want of the bodily exercise I had been us'd to in America,
where presswork is mix'd with composing. I drank only water; the other
workmen, near fifty in 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 suppos'd, to
drink strong beer, that he might be strong to labour. I endeavoured 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.

"I took to working at press"

Watts, after some weeks, desiring to have me in the composing-room,[43] I
left the pressmen; a new bien venu or sum for drink, being five shillings,
was demanded of me by the compositors. I thought it an imposition, as I
had paid below; the master thought so too, and 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, transposing my pages, breaking my matter, etc., etc., if
I were ever so little out of the room, and all ascribed to the chappel ghost,
which they said ever haunted those not regularly admitted, that,
notwithstanding the master's protection, I found myself oblig'd to comply
and pay the money, convinc'd of the folly of being on ill terms with those
one is to live with continually.

I was now on a fair footing with them, and soon acquir'd considerable
influence. I propos'd some reasonable alterations in their chappel laws,[44]
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 supply'd from a neighbouring house with a large
porringer of hot water-gruel, sprinkled with pepper, crumb'd with bread, and
a bit of butter in it, for the price of a pint of beer, viz., three half-pence. This
was a more comfortable as well as cheaper breakfast, and keep their heads
clearer. Those who continued sotting with beer all day, were often, by not
paying, out of credit at the alehouse, and us'd to make interest with me to
get beer; their light, as they phrased it, being out. I watch'd the pay-table on
Saturday night, and collected what I stood engag'd for them, having to pay
sometimes near thirty shillings a week on their accounts. This, and my
being esteem'd a pretty good riggite, that is, a jocular verbal satirist,
supported my consequence in the society. My constant attendance (I never
making a St. Monday)[45] 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 backwards,
at an Italian warehouse. A widow lady kept the house; she had a daughter,
and a maid servant, and a journeyman who attended the warehouse, but
lodg'd abroad. After sending to inquire my character at the house where I
last lodg'd she agreed to take me in at the same rate, 3s. 6d. per week;
cheaper, as she said, from the protection she 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 times of Charles the Second. She was lame in her knees with the
gout, and, therefore, seldom stirred out of her room, so sometimes wanted
company; and hers was so highly amusing to me, that I was sure to spend
an evening with her whenever she desired it. Our supper was only half an
anchovy each, on a very little strip of bread and butter, and half a pint of ale
between us; but the 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 talk'd of a lodging I had heard of,
nearer my business, for two shillings a week, which, intent as I now was on
saving money, made some difference, she bid me not think of it, for she
would abate me two shillings a week for the future; so I remained with her
at one shilling and sixpence as long as I staid in London.
In a garret of her house there lived a maiden lady of seventy, in the most
retired manner, of whom my landlady gave me this account: that she was a
Roman Catholic, had been sent abroad when young, and lodg'd in a nunnery
with an intent of becoming a nun; but, the country not agreeing with her,
she returned to England, where, there being no nunnery, she had vow'd to
lead the life of a nun, as near as might be done in those circumstances.
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 ask'd her," says my landlady, "how she, as she liv'd,
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 convers'd pleasantly. The room was clean,
but had no other furniture than a matras, a table with a crucifix and book, a
stool which she gave me to sit on, and a picture over the chimney of Saint
Veronica displaying her handkerchief, with the miraculous figure of Christ's
bleeding face on it,[46] which she explained to me with great seriousness.
She look'd pale, but was never sick; and I give it as another instance on how
small an income, life and health may be supported.
At Watts's printing-house I contracted an 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
lov'd reading. I taught him and a friend of his to swim at twice going into
the river, and they soon became good swimmers. They introduc'd me to
some gentlemen from the country, who went to Chelsea by water to see the
College and Don Saltero's curiosities.[47] 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,[48] performing on the
way many feats of activity, both upon and under water, that surpris'd and
pleas'd those to whom they were novelties.
I had from a child been ever delighted with this exercise, had studied and
practis'd all Thevenot's motions and positions, added some of my own,
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 flatter'd by their
admiration; and Wygate, who was desirous of becoming a master, grew
more and more attach'd to me on that account, as well as from the similarity
of our studies. He at length proposed to me 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 thank'd them for the easy composition they had
favoured 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 propos'd to
take me over as his clerk, to keep his books, in which he would instruct me,
copy his letters, and attend the store. He added, that, as soon as I should be
acquainted with mercantile business, he would promote me by sending me
with a cargo of flour and bread, etc., to the West Indies, and procure me
commissions from others which would be profitable; and, if I manag'd well,
would establish me handsomely. The thing pleas'd me; for I was grown tired
of London, remembered with pleasure the happy months I had spent in
Pennsylvania, and wish'd again to see it; therefore I immediately agreed on

the terms of fifty pounds a year,[49] 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 pack'd 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
Blackfriars, and of my teaching Wygate and another young man to swim in
a few hours. He had two sons, about to set out on their travels; he wish'd to
have them first taught swimming, and proposed to gratify me handsomely if
I would teach them. They were not yet come to town, and my stay was
uncertain, so I could not undertake it; but, from this incident, I thought it
likely that, if I were to remain in England and open a swimming-school, I
might get a good deal of money; and it struck me so strongly, that, had the
overture been sooner made me, probably I should not so soon have returned
to America. After many years, you and I had something of more importance
to do with one of these sons of Sir William 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
work'd hard at my business, and spent but little upon myself except in
seeing plays and in books. My friend Ralph had kept me poor; he owed me
about twenty-seven pounds, which I was now never likely to receive; a
great sum out of my small earnings! I lov'd him, notwithstanding, for he
had many amiable qualities. I had by no means improv'd my fortune; but I
had picked up some very ingenious acquaintance, whose conversation was
of great advantage to me; and I had read considerably.
[36] One of the oldest parts of London, north of St. Paul's Cathedral, called
"Little Britain" because the Dukes of Brittany used to live there. See the essay
entitled "Little Britain" in Washington Irving's Sketch Book.
[37] A gold coin worth about four dollars in our money.
[38] A popular comedian, manager of Drury Lane Theater.
[39] Street north of St. Paul's, occupied by publishing houses.

[40] Law schools and lawyers' residences situated southwest of St. Paul's,
between Fleet Street and the Thames.
[41] Edward Young (1681-1765), an English poet. See his satires, Vol. III, Epist.
ii, page 70.
[42] The printing press at which Franklin worked is preserved in the Patent
Office at Washington.
[43] Franklin now left the work of operating the printing presses, which was
largely a matter of manual labor, and began setting type, which required more
skill and intelligence.
[44] A printing house is called a chapel because Caxton, the first English printer,
did his printing in a chapel connected with Westminster Abbey.
[45] A holiday taken to prolong the dissipation of Saturday's wages.
[46] The story is that she met Christ on His way to crucifixion and offered Him
her handkerchief to wipe the blood from His face, after which the handkerchief
always bore the image of Christ's bleeding face.
[47] James Salter, a former servant of Hans Sloane, lived in Cheyne Walk,
Chelsea. "His house, a barber-shop, was known as 'Don Saltero's Coffee-House.'
The curiosities were in glass cases and constituted an amazing and motley
collection—a petrified crab from China, a 'lignified hog,' Job's tears, Madagascar
lances, William the Conqueror's flaming sword, and Henry the Eighth's coat of
mail."—Smyth.
[48] About three miles.
[49] About $167.

VII

BEGINNING BUSINESS IN PHILADELPHIA

E sail'd from Gravesend on the 23rd 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[50] 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 thro' to old age.

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 seem'd a
little asham'd at seeing me, but pass'd without saying anything. I should
have been as much asham'd at seeing Miss Read, had not her friends,
despairing with reason of my return after the receipt of my letter, persuaded
her to marry another, one Rogers, a potter, which was done in my absence.
With him, however, she was never happy, and soon parted from him,
refusing to cohabit with him or bear his name, it being now said that he had
another wife. He was a worthless fellow, tho' an excellent workman, which
was the temptation to her friends. He got into debt, ran away in 1727 or
1728, went to the West Indies, and died there. Keimer had got a better
house, a shop well supply'd with stationery, plenty of new types, a number
of hands, tho' none good, and seem'd to have a great deal of business.
Mr. Denham took a store in Water-street, where we open'd our goods; I
attended the business diligently, studied accounts, and grew, in a little time,
expert at selling. We lodg'd and boarded together; he counsell'd me as a
father, having a sincere regard for me. I respected and loved him, and we
might have gone on together very happy; but, in the beginning of February,
1726/7, when I had just pass'd my twenty-first year, we both were taken ill.
My distemper was a pleurisy, which very nearly carried me off. I suffered a
good deal, gave up the point in my own mind, and was rather disappointed
when I found myself recovering, regretting, in some degree, that I must
now, some time or other, have all that disagreeable work to do over again. I
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 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 tri'd for farther employment as a merchant's clerk;
but, not readily meeting with any, I clos'd again with Keimer. I found in his
house these hands: Hugh Meredith, a Welsh 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
extream low wages per week to be rais'd a shilling every three months, as
they would deserve by improving in their business; and the expectation of
these high wages, to come on hereafter, was what he had drawn them in
with. Meredith was to work at press, Potts at book-binding, which he, by
agreement, was to teach them, though he knew neither one nor t'other. John
——, a wild Irishman, brought up to no business, whose service, for four
years, Keimer had purchased from the captain of a ship; he, too, was to be
made a pressman. George Webb, an Oxford scholar, whose time for four
years he had likewise bought, intending him for a compositor, of whom
more presently; and David Harry, a country boy, whom he had taken
apprentice.

I soon perceiv'd that the intention of engaging me at wages so much higher
than he had been us'd to give, was, to have these raw, cheap hands form'd
thro' me; and, as soon as I had instructed them, then they being all articled
to him, he should be able to do without me. I went on, however, very
chearfully, 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; that he was born in Gloucester, educated at a grammar-
school there, had been distinguish'd among the scholars for some apparent
superiority in performing his part, when they exhibited plays; belong'd to
the Witty Club there, and had written some pieces in prose and verse, which
were printed in the Gloucester newspapers; thence he was sent to Oxford;
where he continued about a year, but not well satisfi'd, wishing of all things
to see London, and become a player. At length, receiving his quarterly
allowance of fifteen guineas, instead of discharging his debts he walk'd out
of town, hid his gown in a furze bush, and footed it to London, where,
having no friend to advise him, he fell into bad company, soon spent his
guineas, found no means of being introduc'd among the players, grew
necessitous, pawn'd his cloaths, and wanted bread. Walking the street very
hungry, and not knowing what to do with himself, a crimp's bill[51] was put
into his hand, offering immediate entertainment and encouragement to such
as would bind themselves to serve in America. He went directly, sign'd the
indentures, was put into the ship, and came over, never writing a line to
acquaint his friends what was become of him. He was lively, witty, good-
natur'd, and a pleasant companion, but idle, thoughtless, and imprudent to
the last degree.
John, the Irishman, soon ran away; with the rest I began to live very
agreeably, for they all respected me the more, as they found Keimer
incapable of instructing them, and that from me 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 æconomist. 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 mould, made use of the
letters we had as puncheons, struck the mattrices in lead, and thus supply'd
in a pretty tolerable way all deficiencies. I also engrav'd several things on
occasion; I made the ink; I was warehouseman, and everything, and, in
short, quite a fac-totum.
But, however serviceable I might be, I found that my services became every
day of less importance, as the other hands improv'd in the business; and,
when Keimer paid my second quarter's wages, he let me know that he felt
them too heavy, and thought I should make an abatement. He grew by
degrees less civil, put on more of the master, frequently found fault, was
captious, and seem'd ready for an outbreaking. I went on, nevertheless, with
a good deal of patience, thinking that his encumber'd circumstances were
partly the cause. At length a trifle snapt our connections; for, a great noise
happening near the court-house, I put my head out of the window to see
what was the matter. Keimer, being in the street, look'd up and saw me,
call'd out to me in a loud voice and angry tone to mind my business, adding
some reproachful words, that nettled me the more for their publicity, all the
neighbours who were looking out on the same occasion being witnesses
how I was treated. He came up immediately into the printing-house,
continu'd the quarrel, high words pass'd on both sides, he gave me the
quarter's warning we had stipulated, expressing a wish that he had not been
oblig'd to so long a warning. I told him his wish was unnecessary, for I
would leave him that instant; and so, taking my hat, walk'd out of doors,
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 conceiv'd a great regard for me, and was very unwilling that I
should leave the house while he remain'd in it. He dissuaded me from
returning to my native country, which I began to think of; he reminded me
that Keimer was in debt for all he possess'd; that his creditors began to be
uneasy; that he kept his shop 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 pass'd between them, he was sure would
advance money to set us up, if I would enter into partnership with him. "My
time," says he, "will be out with Keimer in the spring; by that time we may
have our press and types in from London. I am sensible I am no workman;
if you like it, your skill in the business shall be set against the stock I
furnish, and we will share the profits equally."
The proposal was agreeable, and I consented; his father was in town and
approv'd of it; the more as he saw I had great influence with his son, had
prevailed on him to abstain long from dram-drinking, and he hop'd might
break him of that wretched habit entirely, when we came to be so closely
connected. I gave an inventory to the father, who carry'd it to a merchant;
the things were sent for, the secret was to be kept till they should arrive, and
in the meantime 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 employ'd 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 jobb from him,
sent me a very civil message, that old friends should not part for a few
words, the effect of sudden passion, and wishing me to return. Meredith
persuaded me to comply, as it would give more opportunity for his
improvement under my daily instructions; so I return'd, and we went on
more smoothly than for some time before. The New Jersey jobb was
obtained, I contriv'd a copperplate press for it, the first that had been seen in
the country; I cut several ornaments and checks for the bills. We went
together to Burlington, where I executed the whole to 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 improv'd by reading than Keimer's, I

suppose it was for that reason my conversation seem'd to be more valu'd.
They had me to their houses, introduced me to their friends, and show'd me
much civility; while he, tho' the master, was a little neglected. In truth, he
was an odd fish; ignorant of common life, fond of rudely opposing receiv'd
opinions, slovenly to extream dirtiness, enthusiastic in some points of
religion, and a little knavish withal.
We continu'd there near three months; and by that time I could reckon
among my acquired friends, Judge Allen, Samuel Bustill, the secretary of
the Province, Isaac Pearson, Joseph Cooper, and several of the Smiths,
members of 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 brick-makers, learned to write after he
was of age, carri'd the chain for surveyors, who taught him surveying, and
he had now by his industry, acquir'd a good estate; and 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 afterwards of great use to me,
as I occasionally was to some of them. They all continued their regard for
me as long as they lived.
Before I enter upon my public appearance in business, it may be well to let
you know the then state of my mind with regard to my principles and
morals, that you may see how far those influenc'd the future events of my
life. My parents had early given me religious impressions, and brought me
through my childhood piously in the Dissenting way. But I was scarce
fifteen, when, after 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[52] 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 afterwards wrong'd me greatly without the least
compunction, and recollecting Keith's conduct towards me (who was
another free-thinker), and my own towards Vernon and Miss Read, which at
times gave me great trouble, I began to suspect that this doctrine, tho' it

might be true, was not very useful. My London pamphlet, which had for its
motto these lines of Dryden:[53]
"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;"

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, appear'd now
not so clever a performance as I once thought it; and I doubted whether
some error had not insinuated itself unperceiv'd into my argument, so as to
infect all that follow'd, as is common in metaphysical reasonings.
I grew convinc'd that truth, sincerity and integrity in dealings between man
and man were of the utmost importance to the felicity of life; and I form'd
written resolutions, which still remain in my journal book, to practice them
ever while I lived. Revelation had indeed no weight with me, as such; but I
entertain'd an opinion that, though certain actions might not be bad because
they were forbidden by it, or good because it commanded them, yet
probably these 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 favourable
circumstances and situations, or all together, preserved me, thro' this
dangerous time of youth, and the hazardous situations I was sometimes in
among strangers, remote from the eye and advice of my father, without any
willful gross immorality or injustice, that might have been expected from
my want of religion. I say willful, because the 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 determin'd to preserve it.
We had not been long return'd to Philadelphia before the new types arriv'd
from London. We settled with Keimer, and left him by his consent before he
heard of it. We found a house to hire near the market, and took it. To lessen
the rent, which was then but twenty-four pounds a year, tho' I have since

known it to let for seventy, we took in Thomas Godfrey, a glazier, and his
family, who were to pay a considerable part of it to us, and we to board with
them. We had scarce opened our letters and put our press in order, before
George House, an acquaintance of mine, brought a 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, stopt one day at my door, and asked me if I
was the young man who had lately opened a new printing-house. Being
answered in the affirmative, he said he was sorry for me, because it was an
expensive 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 form'd most of my ingenious acquaintance into a club of mutual
improvement, which was called the Junto;[54] we met on Friday evenings.
The rules that I drew up required that every member, in his turn, should
produce one or more queries on any point of Morals, Politics, or Natural
Philosophy, to be discuss'd by the company; and once in three months
produce and read an essay of his own writing, on any subject he pleased.
Our debates were to be under the direction of a president, and to be

conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fondness for
dispute, or desire of victory; and, to prevent warmth, all expressions of
positiveness in opinions, or direct contradiction, were after some time made
contraband, and prohibited under small pecuniary penalties.
The first members were Joseph Breintnal, a copyer of deeds for the
scriveners, a good-natur'd, friendly middle-ag'd man, a great lover of poetry,
reading all he could meet with, and writing some that was tolerable; very
ingenious in many little Nicknackeries, and of sensible conversation.
Thomas Godfrey, a self-taught mathematician, great in his way, and
afterward inventor of what is now called Hadley's Quadrant. But he knew
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, afterwards surveyor-general, who lov'd books,
and sometimes made a few verses.
William Parsons, bred a shoemaker, but, loving reading, had acquir'd a
considerable share of mathematics, which he first studied with a view to
astrology, that he afterwards laught at it. He also became surveyor-general.
William Maugridge, a joiner, a most exquisite mechanic, and a solid,
sensible man.
Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, and George Webb I have characteriz'd
before.
Robert Grace, a young gentleman of some fortune, generous, lively, and
witty; a lover of punning and of his friends.
And William Coleman, then a merchant's clerk, about my age, who had the
coolest, clearest head, the best heart, and the exactest morals of almost any
man I ever met with. He became afterwards a merchant of great note, and
one of our provincial judges. Our friendship continued without interruption
to his death, upwards 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, everyone of these exerting themselves in recommending business to
us. Breintnal particularly procur'd us from the Quakers the printing forty
sheets of their history, the rest being to be done by Keimer; and upon this
we work'd exceedingly hard, for the price was low. It was a folio, pro patria
size, in pica, with long primer notes.[55] I compos'd of it a sheet a day, and
Meredith worked it off at press; it was often eleven at night, and sometimes
later, before I had finished my distribution for the next day's work, for the
little jobbs sent in by our other friends now and then put us back. But so
determin'd I was to continue doing a sheet a day of the folio, that one night,
when, having impos'd[56] my forms, I thought my day's work over, one of
them by accident was broken, and two pages reduced to pi,[57] I
immediately distribut'd 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 chuse to engage in shop business.
I mention this industry the more particularly and the more freely, tho' it
seems to be talking in my own praise, that those of my posterity, who shall
read it, may know the use of that virtue, when they see its effects in my
favour throughout this relation.

George Webb, who had found a female friend that lent him wherewith to
purchase his time of 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
manag'd, 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 it; but he told it to Keimer, who
immediately, to be beforehand with me, published proposals for printing
one himself, on which Webb was to be employ'd. I resented this; and, to
counteract them, as I could not yet begin our paper, I wrote several pieces
of entertainment for Bradford's paper, under the title of the Busy Body,
which Breintnal continu'd some months. By this means the attention of the
publick was fixed on that paper, and Keimer's proposals, which we
burlesqu'd and ridicul'd, were disregarded. He began his paper, however,
and, after carrying it on three quarters of a year, with at most only ninety
subscribers, he 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 prov'd in a few years
extremely profitable to me.
I perceive that I am apt to speak in the singular number, though our
partnership still continu'd; the reason may be that, in fact, the whole
management of the business lay upon me. Meredith was no compositor, a
poor pressman, and seldom sober. My friends lamented my connection with
him, but I was to make the best of it.

"I see him still at work when I go home from club"

Our first papers made a quite different appearance from any before in the
province; a better type, and better printed; but some spirited remarks of my
writing, on the dispute then going on between Governor Burnet and the
Massachusetts Assembly, struck the principal people, occasioned the paper
and the manager of it to be much talk'd of, and in a few weeks brought them
all to be our subscribers.
Their example was follow'd by many, and our number went on growing
continually. This was one of the first good effects of my having learnt a
little to scribble; another was, that the leading men, seeing a newspaper now
in the hands of one who could also handle a pen, thought it convenient to
oblige and encourage me. Bradford still printed the votes, and laws, and
other publick business. He had printed an address of the House to the
governor, in a coarse, blundering manner; we 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.[58]
Mr. Vernon, about this time, put me in mind of the debt I ow'd him, but did
not press me. I wrote him an ingenuous letter of acknowledgment, crav'd
his forbearance a little longer, which he allow'd me, and as soon as I was
able, I paid the principal with interest, and many thanks; so that erratum
was in some degree corrected.
But now another difficulty came upon me 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 su'd us all. We
gave bail, but saw that, if the money could not be rais'd in time, the suit
must soon come to a judgment and execution, and our hopeful 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 any thing, 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 remain'd of the Meredith's 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 fail'd in their
performance, and our partnership must be dissolv'd, 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 farther. I see this is a
business I am not fit for. I was bred a farmer, and it was a folly in me to
come to town, and put myself, at thirty years of age, an apprentice to learn a
new trade. Many of our Welsh people are going to settle in North Carolina,
where land is cheap. I am inclin'd to go with them, and follow my old
employment. You may find friends to assist you. If you will take the debts
of 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, sign'd, and
seal'd immediately. I gave him what he demanded, and he went soon after to
Carolina, from whence he sent me next year two long letters, containing the
best account that had been given of that country, the climate, the soil,
husbandry, etc., for in those matters he was very judicious. I printed them in
the papers, and they gave great satisfaction to the publick.
As soon as he was gone, I recurr'd to my two friends; and because I would
not give an unkind preference to either, I took half of what each had offered
and I wanted of one, and half of the other; paid off the company's debts, and
went on with the business in my own name, advertising that the partnership
was dissolved. I think this was in or about the year 1729.
[50] "Not found in the manuscript journal, which was left among Franklin's
papers."—Bigelow.
[51] A crimp was the agent of a shipping company. Crimps were sometimes
employed to decoy men into such service as is here mentioned.
[52] The creed of an eighteenth century theological sect which, while believing
in God, refused to credit the possibility of miracles and to acknowledge the
validity of revelation.
[53] A great English poet, dramatist, and critic (1631-1700). The lines are
inaccurately quoted from Dryden's Œdipus, Act III, Scene I, line 293.
[54] A Spanish term meaning a combination for political intrigue; here a club or
society.
[55] A sheet 8-1/2 by 13-1/2 inches, having the words pro patria in translucent
letters in the body of the paper. Pica—a size of type; as, A B C D: Long

Primer—a smaller size of type; as, A B C D.
[56] To arrange and lock up pages or columns of type in a rectangular iron frame,
ready for printing.
[57] Reduced to complete disorder.
[58] I got his son once £500.—Marg. note.

VIII

BUSINESS SUCCESS AND FIRST PUBLIC SERVICE

BOUT 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.[59] The wealthy inhabitants
oppos'd 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 discuss'd this point in our Junto, where I
was on the side of an addition, being persuaded that the first small sum
struck in 1723 had done much good by increasing the trade, employment,
and number of inhabitants in the province, since I now saw all the old
houses inhabited, and many new ones building: whereas I remembered
well, that when I first walk'd about the streets of Philadelphia, eating my
roll, I saw most of the houses in Walnut Street, between Second and Front
streets,[60] with bills on their doors, "To be let"; and many likewise in
Chestnut-street and other streets, which made me then think the inhabitants
of the city were deserting it one after another.
Our debates possess'd me so fully of the subject, that I wrote and printed an
anonymous pamphlet on it, entitled "The Nature and Necessity of a Paper
Currency." It was well receiv'd by the common people in general; but the
rich men dislik'd it, for it increas'd and strengthen'd the clamor for more
money, and they happening to have no writers among them that were able
to answer it, their opposition slacken'd, and the point was carried by a
majority in the House. My friends there, who conceiv'd I had been of some
service, thought fit to reward me by employing me in printing the money; a

very profitable jobb and a great help to me. This was another advantage
gain'd by my being able to write.
The utility of this currency became by time and experience so evident as
never afterwards to be much disputed; so that it grew soon to fifty-five
thousand pounds, and in 1739 to eighty thousand pounds, since which it
arose during war to upwards of three hundred and fifty thousand pounds,
trade, building, and inhabitants all the while increasing, tho' I now think
there are limits beyond which the quantity may be hurtful.[61]
I soon after obtain'd, thro' my friend Hamilton, the printing of the
Newcastle paper money, another profitable jobb as I then thought it; small
things appearing great to those in small circumstances; and these, to me,
were really great advantages, as they were great encouragements. He
procured for me, also, the printing of the laws and votes of that government,
which continu'd in my hands as long as I follow'd the business.
I now open'd a little stationer's shop. I had in it blanks of all sorts, the
correctest that ever appear'd among us, being assisted in that by my friend
Breintnal. I had also paper, parchment, chapmen's books, etc. One
Whitemash, a compositor I had known in London, an excellent workman,
now came to me, and work'd with me constantly and diligently; and I took
an apprentice, the son of Aquilla Rose.
I was under for the printing-house. In order to secure my credit and
character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be in reality industrious
and frugal, but to avoid all appearances to the contrary. I drest plainly; I was
seen at no places of idle diversion. I never went out a fishing or shooting; a
book, indeed, sometimes debauch'd me from my work, but that was seldom,
snug, and gave no scandal; and, to show that I was not above my business, I
sometimes brought home the paper I purchas'd at the stores thro' the streets
on a wheelbarrow. Thus being esteem'd an industrious, thriving young man,
and paying duly for what I bought, the merchants who imported stationery
solicited my custom; others proposed supplying me with books, and I went
on swimmingly. In the meantime, Keimer's credit and business declining
daily, he was at last forc'd to sell his printing-house to satisfy his creditors.
He went to Barbadoes, and there lived some years in very poor
circumstances.

His apprentice, David Harry, whom I had instructed while I work'd with
him, set up in his place at Philadelphia, having bought his materials. I was
at first apprehensive of a powerful rival in Harry, as his friends were very
able, and had a good deal of interest. I therefore propos'd a partnership to
him, which he, fortunately for me, rejected with scorn. He was very proud,
dress'd like a gentleman, liv'd expensively, took much diversion and
pleasure abroad, ran in debt, and neglected his business; upon which, all
business left him; and, finding nothing to do, he followed Keimer to
Barbadoes, taking the printing-house with him. There this apprentice
employ'd his former master as a journeyman; they quarrell'd often; Harry
went continually behindhand, and at length was forc'd to sell his types and
return to his country work in Pennsylvania. The person that bought them
employ'd Keimer to use them, but in a few years he died.
There remained now no competitor with me at Philadelphia but the old one,
Bradford; who was rich and easy, did a little printing now and then by
straggling hands, but was not very anxious about the business. However, as
he kept the post-office, it was imagined he had better 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, tho' I did indeed receive and send
papers by the post, yet the publick opinion was otherwise, for what I did
send was by bribing the riders, who took them privately, Bradford being
unkind enough to forbid it, which occasion'd some resentment on my part;

and I thought so meanly of him for it, that, when I afterward came into his
situation, I took care never to imitate it.
I had hitherto continu'd to board with Godfrey, who lived in part of my
house with his wife and children, and had one side of the shop for his
glazier's business, tho' he worked little, being always absorbed in his
mathematics. Mrs. Godfrey projected a match for me with a relation's
daughter, took opportunities of bringing us often together, till a serious
courtship on my part ensu'd, the girl being in herself very deserving. The
old folks encourag'd me by continual invitations to supper, and by leaving
us together, till at length it was time to explain. Mrs. Godfrey manag'd our
little treaty. I let her know that I expected as much money with their
daughter as would pay off my remaining debt for the printing-house, which
I believe was not then above a hundred pounds. She brought me word they
had no such sum to spare; I said they might mortgage their house in the
loan-office. The answer to this, after some days, was, that they did not
approve the match; that, on inquiry of Bradford, they had been informed the
printing business was not a profitable one; the types would soon be worn
out, and more wanted; that 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 pleas'd, I know not; but I suspected the latter,
resented it, and went no more. Mrs. Godfrey brought me afterward some
more favorable accounts of their disposition, and 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 look'd round me
and made overtures of acquaintance in other places; but soon found that, the
business of a printer being generally thought a poor one, I was not to expect
money with a wife, unless with such a one as I should not otherwise think
agreeable. A friendly correspondence as neighbours and old acquaintances

had continued between me and Mrs. Read's family, who all had a regard for
me from the time of my first lodging in their house. I was often invited
there and consulted in their affairs, wherein I sometimes was of service. I
piti'd poor Miss Read's unfortunate situation, who was generally dejected,
seldom chearful, and avoided company. I considered my giddiness and
inconstancy when in London as in a great degree the cause of her
unhappiness, tho' the mother was good enough to think the fault more her
own than mine, as she had prevented our marrying before I went thither,
and persuaded the other match in my absence. Our mutual affection was
revived, but there were now great objections to our union. The match was
indeed looked upon as invalid, a preceding wife being said to be living in
England; but this could not easily be prov'd, because of the distance; and,
tho' there was a report of his death, it was not certain. Then, tho' it should be
true, he had left many debts, which his successor might be call'd upon to
pay. We ventured, however, over all these difficulties, and I took her to
wife, September 1st, 1730. None of the inconveniences happened that we
had apprehended; she proved a good and faithful helpmate,[62] assisted me
much by attending the shop; we throve together, and have ever mutually
endeavour'd to make each other happy. Thus I corrected that great erratum
as well as I could.
About this time, our club meeting, not at a tavern, but in a little room of Mr.
Grace's, set apart for that purpose, a proposition was made by me, that,
since our books were often referr'd to in our disquisitions upon the queries,
it might be convenient to us to have them altogether where we met, that
upon occasion they might be consulted; and by thus clubbing our books to a
common library, we should, while we lik'd to keep them together, have each
of us the advantage of using the books of all the other members, which
would be nearly as beneficial as if each owned the whole. It was lik'd and
agreed to, and we fill'd one end of the room with such books as we could
best spare. The number was not so great as we expected; and tho' they had
been of great use, yet some inconveniences occurring for want of due care
of them, the collection, after about a year, was separated, and each took his
books home again.
And now I set on foot my first project of a public nature, that for a
subscription library. I drew up the proposals, got them put into form by our
great scrivener, Brockden, and, by the help of my friends in the Junto,

procured fifty subscribers of forty shillings each to begin with, and ten
shillings a year for fifty years, the term our company was to continue. We
afterwards obtain'd a charter, the company 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.[63]
Mem°. Thus far was written with the intention express'd in the beginning
and therefore contains several little family anecdotes of no importance to
others. What follows was written many years after in compliance with the
advice contain'd in these letters, and accordingly intended for the public.
The affairs of the Revolution occasion'd the interruption.[64]
[Continuation of the Account of my Life, begun at Passy, near Paris, 1784.]
It is some time since I receiv'd the above letters, but I have been too busy
till now to think of complying with the request they contain. It might, too,
be much better done if I were at home among my papers, which would aid
my memory, and help to ascertain dates; but my return being uncertain, and
having just now a little leisure, I will endeavour to recollect and write what
I can; if I live to get home, it may there be corrected and improv'd.
Not having any copy here of what is already written, I know not whether an
account is given of the means I used to establish the Philadelphia public
library, which, from a small beginning, is now become so considerable,
though I 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 establish'd myself in Pennsylvania, there was not a good
bookseller's shop in any of the colonies to the southward of Boston. In New
York and Philad'a the printers were indeed stationers; they sold only paper,
etc., almanacs, ballads, and a few common school-books. Those who lov'd
reading were 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 propos'd that we should all of us bring
our books to that room, where they would not only be ready to consult in
our conferences, but become a common benefit, each of us being at liberty
to borrow such as he wish'd to read at home. This was accordingly done,
and for some time contented us.
Finding the advantage of this little collection, I propos'd 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 skilful conveyancer, Mr. Charles Brockden, to put the whole in form
of articles of agreement to be subscribed, by which each subscriber engag'd
to pay a certain sum down for the first purchase of books, and an annual
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 publick amusements to
divert their attention from study, became better acquainted with books, and
in a few years were observ'd by strangers to be better instructed and more
intelligent than people of the same rank generally are in other countries.
When we were about to sign the above mentioned articles, which were to be
binding on us, our heirs, etc., for fifty years, Mr. Brockden, the scrivener,
said to us, "You are young men, but it is scarcely probable that any of you
will live to see the expiration of the term fix'd in the instrument." A number
of us, however, are yet living; but the instrument was after a few years
rendered null by a charter that incorporated and gave perpetuity to the
company.
The objections and reluctances I met with in soliciting the subscriptions,
made me soon feel the impropriety of presenting one's self as the proposer
of any useful project, that might be suppos'd to raise one's reputation in the
smallest degree above that of one's neighbours, 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
practis'd it on such occasions; and, from my frequent successes, can heartily
recommend it. The present little sacrifice of your vanity will afterwards be
amply repaid. If it remains a while uncertain to whom the merit belongs,
someone 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 repair'd in some degree
the loss of the learned education my father once intended for me. Reading
was the only amusement I allow'd myself. I spent no time in taverns, games,
or frolicks of any kind; and my industry in my business continu'd as
indefatigable as it was necessary. I was indebted for my printing-house; I
had a young family coming on to be educated, and I had to contend with for
business two printers, who were established in the place before me. My
circumstances, however, grew daily easier. My original habits of frugality
continuing, and my father having, among his instructions to me when a boy,
frequently repeated a proverb of Solomon, "Seest thou a man diligent in his
calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men," I
from thence considered industry as a means of obtaining wealth and
distinction, which encourag'd me, tho' I did not think that I should ever
literally stand before kings, which, however, has since happened; for I have
stood before five, and even had the honor of sitting down with one, the King
of Denmark, to dinner.
We have an English proverb that says, "He that would thrive, must ask his
wife." It was lucky for me that I had one as much dispos'd to industry and
frugality as myself. She assisted me chearfully in my business, folding and
stitching pamphlets, tending shop, purchasing old linen rags for the paper-
makers, etc., etc. We kept no idle servants, our table was plain and simple,
our furniture of the cheapest. For instance, my breakfast was a long time
break and milk (no tea), and I ate it out of a twopenny earthen porringer,
with a pewter spoon. But mark how luxury will enter families, and make a
progress, in spite of principle: being call'd one morning to breakfast, I found

it in a China bowl, with a spoon of silver! They had been bought for me
without my knowledge by my wife, and had cost her the enormous sum of
three-and-twenty shillings, for which she had no other excuse or apology to
make, but that she thought her husband deserv'd a silver spoon and China
bowl as well as any of his neighbors. This was the first appearance of plate
and China in our house, which afterward, in a course of years, as our wealth
increas'd, augmented gradually to several hundred pounds in value.
I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian; and though some of the
dogmas of that persuasion, such as the eternal decrees of God, election,
reprobation, etc., appeared to me unintelligible, others doubtful, and I early
absented myself from the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being my
studying day, I never was without some religious principles. I never
doubted, for instance, the existence of the Deity; that he made the world,
and govern'd it by his Providence; that the most acceptable service of God
was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime
will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter. These I
esteem'd the essentials of every religion; and, being to be found in all the
religions we had in our country, I respected them all, tho' with different
degrees of respect, as I found them more or less mix'd with other articles,
which, without any tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm morality,
serv'd principally to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another. This
respect to all, with an opinion that the worst had some good effects, induc'd
me to avoid all discourse that might tend to lessen the good opinion another
might have of his own religion; and as our province increas'd in people, and
new places of worship were continually wanted, and generally erected by
voluntary contribution, my mite for such purpose, whatever might be the
sect, was never refused.
Tho' I seldom attended any public worship, I had still an opinion of its
propriety, and of its utility when rightly conducted, and I regularly paid my
annual subscription for the support of the only Presbyterian minister or
meeting we had in Philadelphia. He us'd to visit me sometimes as a friend,
and admonished me to attend his administrations, and I was now and then
prevail'd on to do so, once for five Sundays successively. Had he been in
my opinion a good preacher, perhaps I might have continued,[65]
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 enforc'd, their aim seeming to be rather to make us
Presbyterians than good citizens.
At length he took for his text that verse of the fourth chapter of Philippians,
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, or
of good report, if there be any virtue, or any praise, think on these things."
And I imagin'd, in a sermon on such a text, we could not miss of having
some morality. But he confin'd himself to five points only, as meant by the
apostle, viz.: 1. Keeping holy the Sabbath day. 2. Being diligent in reading
the holy Scriptures. 3. Attending duly the publick 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
compos'd a little Liturgy, or form of prayer, for my own private use (viz., in
1728), entitled, Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion. I return'd to the use
of this, and went no more to the public assemblies. My conduct might be
blameable, but I leave it, without attempting further to excuse it; my present
purpose being to relate facts, and not to make apologies for them.
[59] Recalled to be redeemed.
[60] This part of Philadelphia is now the center of the wholesale business
district.
[61] Paper money is a promise to pay its face value in gold or silver. When a
state or nation issues more such promises than there is a likelihood of its being
able to redeem, the paper representing the promises depreciates in value. Before
the success of the Colonies in the Revolution was assured, it took hundreds of
dollars of their paper money to buy a pair of boots.
[62] Mrs. Franklin survived her marriage over forty years. Franklin's
correspondence abounds with evidence that their union was a happy one. "We
are grown old together, and if she has any faults, I am so used to them that I don't
perceive them." The following is a stanza from one of Franklin's own songs
written for the Junto:

"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."

[63] Here the first part of the Autobiography, written at Twyford in 1771, ends.
The second part, which follows, was written at Passy in 1784.
[64] After this memorandum, Franklin inserted letters from Abel James and
Benjamin Vaughan, urging him to continue his Autobiography.
[65] Franklin expressed a different view about the duty of attending church later.

IX

PLAN FOR ATTAINING MORAL PERFECTION

T was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project
of arriving at moral perfection. I wish'd 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.[66] While my care
was employ'd 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
propos'd to myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather more names, with
fewer ideas annex'd to each, than a few names with more ideas; and I
included under thirteen names of virtues all that at that time occurr'd to me

as necessary or desirable, and annexed to each a short precept, which fully
express'd the extent I gave to its meaning.
These names of virtues, with their precepts, were:
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 employ'd 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 extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they
deserve.
10. Cleanliness.
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
11. Tranquillity.
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. Chastity.
Rarely use venery but for Health or Offspring; Never to Dulness, Weakness,
or the Injury of your own or another's Peace or Reputation.
13. Humility.
Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these virtues, I judg'd 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 thro' the
thirteen; and, as the previous acquisition of some might facilitate the
acquisition of certain others, I arrang'd them with that view, as they stand
above. Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness
of head, which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up,
and guard maintained against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits,
and the force of perpetual temptations. This being acquir'd and establish'd,
Silence would be more easy; and my desire being to gain knowledge at the
same time that I improv'd in virtue, and considering that in conversation it
was obtain'd rather by the use of the ears than of the tongue, and therefore
wishing to break a habit I 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 endeavours to obtain all the subsequent
virtues; Frugality and Industry freeing me from my remaining debt, and
producing affluence and independence, would make more easy the practice

of Sincerity and Justice, etc., etc. Conceiving then, that, agreeably to the
advice of Pythagoras[67] in his Golden Verses, daily examination would be
necessary, I contrived the following method for conducting that
examination.

I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues.[68] I
rul'd each page with red ink, so as to have seven columns, one for each day
of the week, marking each column with a letter for the day. I cross'd these
columns with thirteen red lines, marking the beginning of each line with the
first letter of one of the virtues, on which line, and in its proper column, I
might mark, by a little black spot, every fault I found upon examination to
have been committed respecting that virtue upon that day.
Form of the pages.
TEMPERANCE.
EAT NOT TO DULLNESS
DRINK NOT TO ELEVATION.
S. M. T. W. T. F. S.
T.
S. * * * *
O. * * * * * * *
R. * *
F. * *
I. *
S.
J.
M.
C.
T.
C.
H.
J.

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 suppos'd the
habit of that virtue so much strengthen'd, and its opposite weaken'd, that I
might venture extending my attention to include the next, and for the
following week keep both lines clear of spots. Proceeding thus to the last, I
could go thro' a course compleat in thirteen weeks, and four courses in a
year. And like him who, having a garden to weed, does not attempt to
eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which would exceed his reach and his
strength, but works on one of the beds at a time, and, having accomplish'd
the first, proceeds to a second, so I should have, I hoped, the encouraging
pleasure of seeing on my pages the progress I made in virtue, by clearing
successively my lines of their spots, till in the end, by a number of courses,
I should be happy in viewing a clean book, after a thirteen weeks' daily
examination.
This my little book had for its motto these lines from Addison's Cato:
"Here will I hold. If there's a power above us
(And that there is, all nature cries aloud
Thro' all her works), He must delight in virtue;
And that which he delights in must be happy."

Another from Cicero,
"O vitæ Philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix expultrixque vitiorum!
Unus dies, bene et ex præceptis tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est
anteponendus."[69]
Another from the Proverbs of Solomon, speaking of wisdom or virtue:
"Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and
honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." iii.
16, 17.
And conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I thought it right and
necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it; to this end I formed the
following little prayer, which was prefix'd 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 favours to me."
I used also sometimes a little prayer which I took from Thomson's Poems,
viz.:
"Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme!
O teach me what is good; teach me Thyself!
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice,
From every low pursuit; and fill my soul
With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure;
Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss!"

The precept of Order requiring that every part of my business should have
its allotted time, one page in my little book contain'd the following scheme
of employment for the twenty-four hours of a natural day.

5
6 Rise, wash, and address
The Morning. Powerfull Goodness! Contrive
Question What good shall I do day's business, and take the
this day? resolution of the day: prosecute
the present study, and breakfast.
7
8
9
Work.
10
11
12 Read, or overlook my accounts,
Noon.
1 and dine.

2
3
Work.
4
5
6 Put things in their places.
Evening 7 Supper. Music or diversion, or
Question. What good have I
8 conversation.Examination of the
done to-day?
9 day.
10
11
12
Night 1 Sleep.
2
3
4

I enter'd upon the execution of this plan for self-examination, and continu'd
it with occasional intermissions for some time. I was surpris'd to find
myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the
satisfaction of seeing them diminish. To avoid the trouble of renewing now
and then my little book, which, by scraping out the marks on the paper of
old faults to make room for new ones in a new course, became full of holes,
I transferr'd my tables and precepts to the ivory leaves of a memorandum
book, on which the lines were drawn with red ink, that made a durable
stain, and on those lines I mark'd my faults with a black-lead pencil, which
marks I could easily wipe out with a wet sponge. After a while I went thro'
one course only in a year, and afterward only one in several years, till at
length I omitted them entirely, being employ'd in voyages and business
abroad, with a multiplicity of affairs that interfered; but I always carried my
little book with me.

My scheme of Order gave me the most trouble;[70] and I found that, tho' 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 extreamly 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 neighbour, desired to have the
whole of its surface as bright as the edge. The smith consented to grind it
bright for him if he would turn the wheel; he turn'd, while the smith press'd
the broad face of the ax hard and heavily on the stone, which made the
turning of it very fatiguing. The man came every now and then from the
wheel to see how the work went on, and at length would take his ax as it
was, without farther grinding. "No," said the smith, "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
employ'd, found the difficulty of obtaining good and breaking bad habits in
other points of vice and virtue, have given up the struggle, and concluded
that "a speckled ax was best"; for something, that pretended to be reason,
was every now and then suggesting to me that such extream nicety as I
exacted of myself might be a kind of foppery in morals, which, if it were
known, would make me ridiculous; that a perfect character might be
attended with the inconvenience of being envied and hated; and that a
benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in
countenance.

In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to Order; and now I am
grown old, and my memory bad, I feel very sensibly the want of it. But, on
the whole, tho' I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of
obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, 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, tho' they
never reach the wish'd-for excellence of those copies, their hand is mended
by the endeavour, and is tolerable while it continues fair and legible.
It may be well my posterity should be informed that to this little artifice,
with the blessing of God, their ancestor ow'd the constant felicity of his life,
down to his 79th year, in which this is written. What reverses may attend
the remainder is in the hand of Providence; but, if they arrive, the reflection
on past happiness enjoy'd ought to help his bearing them with more
resignation. To Temperance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what
is still left to him of a good constitution; to Industry and Frugality, the early
easiness of his circumstances and acquisition of his 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,[71] 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 remark'd that, tho' 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 anyone, 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,[72]
because it would have shown the means and manner of obtaining virtue,
which would have distinguished it from the mere exhortation to be good,
that does not instruct and indicate the means, but is like the apostle's man of
verbal charity, who only without showing to the naked and hungry how or
where they might get clothes or victuals, exhorted them to be fed and
clothed.—James ii. 15, 16.
But it so happened that my intention of writing and publishing this
comment was never fulfilled. I did, indeed, from time to time, put down
short hints of the sentiments, reasonings, etc., to be made use of in it, some
of which I have still by me; but the necessary close attention to private
business in the earlier part of my life, and public business since, have
occasioned my postponing it; for, it being 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 remain'd unfinish'd.
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, everyone's interest to be virtuous who wish'd to be happy even in
this world; and I should, from this circumstance (there being always in the
world a number of rich merchants, nobility, states, and princes, who have
need of honest instruments for the management of their affairs, and such
being so rare), have endeavoured to convince young persons that no

qualities were so likely to make a poor man's fortune as those of probity and
integrity.
My list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve; but a Quaker friend having
kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud; that my pride
show'd itself frequently in conversation; that I was not content with being in
the right when discussing any point, but was overbearing, and rather
insolent, of which he convinc'd me by mentioning several instances; I
determined endeavouring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly
among the rest, and I added Humility to my list, giving an extensive
meaning to the word.
I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this virtue, but I
had a good deal with regard to the 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 forbid myself, agreeably to the old laws of our
Junto, the use of every word or expression in the language that imported a
fix'd opinion, such as certainly, undoubtedly, etc., and I adopted, instead of
them, I conceive, I 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 deny'd 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 appear'd or seem'd to me some
difference, etc. I soon found the advantage of this change in my manner; the
conversations I engag'd in went on more pleasantly. The modest way in
which I propos'd my opinions procur'd them a readier reception and less
contradiction; I had less mortification when I was found to be in the wrong,
and I more easily prevail'd with others to give up their mistakes and join
with me when I happened to be in the right.
And this mode, which I at first put on with some violence to natural
inclination, became at length so easy, and so habitual to me, that perhaps for
these fifty years past no one has ever heard a dogmatical expression escape
me. And to this habit (after my character of integrity) I think it principally
owing that I had early so much weight with my fellow-citizens when I
proposed new institutions, or 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 compleatly overcome it, I should probably be
proud of my humility.
[Thus far written at Passy, 1784.]
["I am now about to write at home, August, 1788, but cannot have the help
expected from my papers, many of them being lost in the war. I have,
however, found the following."][73]
Having mentioned a great and extensive project which I had conceiv'd, it
seems proper that some account should be here given of that project and its
object. Its first rise in my mind appears in the following little paper,
accidentally preserv'd, viz.:
Observations on my reading history, in Library, May 19th, 1731.
"That the great affairs of the world, the wars, revolutions, etc., are carried
on and effected by parties.
"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 gain'd 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, tho' their actings bring real good
to their country, yet men primarily considered that their own and their

country's interest was united, and did not act from a principle of
benevolence.
"That fewer still, in public affairs, act with a view to the good of mankind.
"There seems to me at present to be great occasion for raising a United
Party for Virtue, by forming the virtuous and good men of all nations into a
regular body, to be govern'd by suitable good and wise rules, which good
and wise men may probably be more unanimous in their obedience to, than
common people are to common laws.
"I at present think that whoever attempts this aright, and is well 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 occurr'd to me respecting it.
Most of these are lost; but I find one purporting to be the substance of an
intended creed, containing, as I thought, the essentials of every known
religion, and being free of everything that might shock the professors of any
religion. It is express'd in these words, viz.:
"That there is one God, who made all things.
"That he governs the world by his providence.
"That he ought to be worshiped by adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving.
"But that the most acceptable service of God is doing good to man.
"That the soul is immortal.
"And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish vice, either here or
hereafter."
My ideas at that time were, that the sect should be begun and spread at first
among young and single men only; that each person to be initiated should
not only declare his assent to such creed, but should have exercised himself
with the thirteen weeks' examination and practice of the virtues, as in the

beforemention'd 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 call'd
The Society of the Free and Easy: free, as being, by the general practice and
habit of the virtues, free from the dominion of vice; and particularly 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, induc'd 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 discourag'd by the seeming magnitude of the undertaking, as I
have always thought that one man of tolerable abilities may work great
changes, and accomplish 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.
[66] Compare Philippians iv, 8.
[67] A famous Greek philosopher, who lived about 582-500 B. C. The Golden
Verses here ascribed to him are probably of later origin. "The time which he
recommends for this work is about even or bed-time, 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."
[68] This "little book" is dated July 1, 1733.—W. T. F.
[69] "O philosophy, guide of life! O searcher out of virtue and exterminator of
vice! One day spent well and in accordance with thy precepts is worth an
immortality of sin."—Tusculan Inquiries, Book V.

[70] Professor McMaster tells us that when Franklin was American Agent in
France, his lack of business order was a source of annoyance to his colleagues
and friends. "Strangers who came to see him were amazed to behold papers of
the greatest importance scattered in the most careless way over the table and
floor."
[71] While there can be no question that Franklin's moral improvement and
happiness were due to the practice of these virtues, yet most people will agree
that we shall have to go back of his plan for the impelling motive to a virtuous
life. Franklin's own suggestion that the scheme smacks of "foppery in morals"
seems justified. Woodrow Wilson well puts it: "Men do not take fire from such
thoughts, unless something deeper, which is missing here, shine through them.
What may have seemed to the eighteenth century a system of morals seems to us
nothing more vital than a collection of the precepts of good sense and sound
conduct. What redeems it from pettiness in this book is the scope of power and
of usefulness to be seen in Franklin himself, who set these standards up in all
seriousness and candor for his own life." See Galatians, chapter V, for the
Christian plan of moral perfection.
[72] Nothing so likely to make a man's fortune as virtue.—Marg. note.
[73] This is a marginal memorandum.—B.

X

POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC AND OTHER ACTIVITIES

N 1732 I first publish'd my Almanack, under the name of
Richard Saunders; it was continu'd by me about twenty-five
years, commonly call'd Poor Richard's Almanac.[74] I
endeavour'd to make it both entertaining and useful, and it
accordingly came to be in such demand, that I reap'd considerable profit
from it, vending annually near ten thousand. And observing that it was
generally read, scarce any neighborhood in the province being without it, I
consider'd 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 occurr'd between the remarkable days in the calendar
with proverbial sentences, chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality,
as the means of procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue; it being more

difficult for a man in want, to act always honestly, as, to use here one of
those proverbs, it is hard for an empty sack to stand upright.
These proverbs, which contained the wisdom of many ages and nations, I
assembled and form'd into a connected discourse prefix'd to the Almanack
of 1757, as the harangue of a wise old man to the people attending an
auction. The bringing all these scatter'd councils 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, 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.
Two pages from Poor Richard's Almanac for 1736. Size of original. Reproduced
from a copy at the New York Public Library.

I considered my newspaper, also, as another means of communicating
instruction, and in that view frequently reprinted in it extracts from the
Spectator, and other moral writers; and sometimes publish'd little pieces of
my own, which had been first 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 was not secure till its practice
became a habitude, and was free from the opposition of contrary
inclinations. These may be found in the papers about the beginning of 1735.
[75]

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 stage-coach, in which anyone 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 furnish'd him with a press and letters, on an
agreement of partnership, by which I was to receive one-third of the profits
of the business, paying one-third of the expense. He was a man of learning,
and honest but ignorant in matters of account; and, tho' he sometimes made
me remittances, I could get no account from him, nor any satisfactory state
of our partnership while he lived. On his decease, the business was
continued by his widow, who, being born and bred in Holland, where, as I
have been inform'd, the knowledge of accounts makes a part of female
education, she not only sent me as clear a state as she could find of the

transactions past, but continued to account with the greatest regularity and
exactness every quarter afterwards, and managed the business with such
success, that she not only brought up reputably a family of children, but, at
the expiration of the term, was able to purchase of me the printing-house,
and establish her son in it.
I mention this affair chiefly for the sake of recommending that branch of
education for our young females, as likely to be of more use to them and
their children, in case of widowhood, than either music or dancing, by
preserving them from losses by imposition of crafty men, and enabling
them to continue, perhaps, a profitable mercantile house, with establish'd
correspondence, till a son is grown up fit to undertake and go on with it, to
the lasting advantage and enriching of the family.
About the 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 join'd in admiring them.
Among the rest, I became one of his constant hearers, his sermons pleasing
me, as they had little of the dogmatical kind, but inculcated strongly the
practice of virtue, or what in the religious stile are called good works.
Those, however, of our congregation, who considered themselves as
orthodox Presbyterians, disapprov'd his doctrine, and were join'd by most of
the old clergy, who arraign'd him of heterodoxy before the synod, in order
to have him silenc'd. I became his zealous partisan, and contributed all I
could to raise a party in his favour, and we combated for him awhile with
some hopes of success. There was much scribbling pro and con upon the
occasion; and finding that, tho' an elegant preacher, he was but a poor
writer, I lent him my pen and wrote for him two or three pamphlets, and one
piece in the Gazette of April, 1735. Those pamphlets, as is generally the
case with controversial writings, tho' eagerly read at the time, were soon out
of vogue, and I question whether a single copy of them now exists.[76]
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.[77] This detection gave

many of our party disgust, who accordingly abandoned his cause, and
occasion'd our more speedy discomfiture in the synod. I stuck by him,
however, as I rather approv'd his giving us good sermons composed by
others, than bad ones of his own manufacture, tho' the latter was the
practice of our common teachers. He afterward acknowledg'd to me that
none of those he preach'd were his own; adding, that his memory was such
as enabled him to retain and repeat any sermon after one reading only. On
our defeat, he left us in search elsewhere of better fortune, and I quitted the
congregation, never joining it after, tho' I continu'd many years my
subscription for the support of its ministers.
I had begun in 1733 to study languages; I soon made myself so much a
master of the French as to be able to read the books with ease. I then
undertook the Italian. An acquaintance, who was also learning it, us'd often
to tempt me to play chess with him. Finding this took up too much of the
time I had to spare for study, I at length refus'd to play any more, unless on
this condition, that the victor in every game should have a right to impose a
task, either in parts of the grammar to be got by heart, or in translations,
etc., which tasks the vanquish'd was to perform upon honour, before our
next meeting. As we play'd pretty equally, we thus beat one another into that
language. I afterwards with a little painstaking, acquir'd as much of the
Spanish as to read their books also.
I have already mention'd 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 surpris'd to find, on looking over a Latin Testament, that
I understood so much more of that language than I had imagined, which
encouraged me to apply myself again to the study of it, and I met with more
success, as those preceding languages had greatly smooth'd my way.
From these circumstances, I have thought that there is some inconsistency
in our common mode of teaching languages. We are told that it is proper to
begin first with the Latin, and, having acquir'd that, it will be more easy to
attain those modern languages which are deriv'd from it; and yet we do not
begin with the Greek, in order more easily to acquire the Latin. It is true
that, if you can clamber and get to the top of a staircase without using the
steps, you will more easily gain them in descending; but certainly, if you

begin with the lowest you will with more ease ascend to the top; and I
would therefore offer it to the consideration of those who superintend the
education of our youth, whether, since many of those who begin with the
Latin quit the same after spending some years without having made any
great proficiency, and what they have learnt becomes almost useless, so that
their time has been lost, it would not have been better to have begun with
the French, proceeding to the Italian, etc.; for, tho', after spending the same
time, they should quit the study of languages and never arrive at the Latin,
they would, however, have acquired another tongue or two, that, being in
modern use, might be serviceable to them in common life.[78]
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 call'd at Newport to see my brother,
then settled there with his printing-house. Our former differences were
forgotten, and our meeting was very cordial and affectionate. He was fast
declining in his health, and requested of me that, in case of his death, which
he apprehended not far distant, I would take home his son, then but ten
years of age, and bring him up to the printing business. This I accordingly
perform'd, sending him a few years to school before I took him into the
office. His mother carried on the business till he was grown up, when I
assisted him with an assortment of new types, those of his father being in a
manner worn out. Thus it was that I made my brother ample amends for the
service I had depriv'd him of by leaving him so early.

In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the small-
pox, taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that
I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of
parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that 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, viz., twelve. We had from the beginning made it a rule
to keep our institution a secret, which was pretty well observ'd; the intention
was to avoid applications of 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 endeavour 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 pass'd in his
separate club; the promotion of our particular interests in business by more
extensive recommendation, and the increase of our influence in public
affairs, and our power of doing good by spreading thro' the several clubs the
sentiments of the Junto.
The project was approv'd, and every member undertook to form his club,
but they did not all succeed. Five or six only were compleated, 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.
My first promotion was my being chosen, in 1736, clerk of the General
Assembly. The choice was made that year without opposition; but the year

following, when I was again propos'd (the choice, like that of the members,
being annual), a new member made a long speech against me, in order to
favour some other candidate. I was, however, chosen, which was the more
agreeable to me, as, besides the pay for the immediate service as clerk, the
place gave me a better opportunity of keeping up an interest among the
members, which secur'd to me the business of printing the votes, laws,
paper money, and other occasional jobbs for the public, that, on the whole,
were very profitable.
I therefore did not like the opposition of this new 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, afterwards
happened. I did not, however, aim at gaining his favour by paying any
servile respect to him, but, after some time, took this other method. Having
heard that he had in his library a certain very scarce and curious book, I
wrote a note to him, expressing my desire of perusing that book, and
requesting he would do me the favour of lending it to me for a few days. He
sent it immediately, and I return'd it in about a week with another note,
expressing strongly my sense of the favour. When we next met in the
House, he spoke to me (which he had never done before), and with great
civility; and he ever after manifested a readiness to serve 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, tho' the salary was small, it
facilitated the correspondence that improv'd my newspaper, increas'd the
number demanded, as well as the advertisements to be inserted, so that it
came to afford me a considerable income. My old competitor's newspaper
declin'd proportionately, and I was satisfy'd without retaliating his refusal,
while postmaster, to permit my papers being carried by the riders. Thus he

suffer'd greatly from his neglect in due accounting; and I mention it as a
lesson to those young men who may be employ'd in managing affairs for
others, 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.

[74] The almanac at that time was a kind of periodical as well as a guide to
natural phenomena and the weather. Franklin took his title from Poor Robin, a
famous English almanac, and from Richard Saunders, a well-known almanac
publisher. For the maxims of Poor Richard, see pages 331-335.
[75] June 23 and July 7, 1730.—Smyth.
[76] See "A List of Books written by, or relating to Benjamin Franklin," by Paul
Leicester Ford. 1889. p. 15.—Smyth.
[77] Dr. James Foster (1697-1753):—

"Let modest Foster, if he will excel
Ten metropolitans in preaching well."

—Pope (Epilogue to the Satires, I, 132).
"Those who had not heard Farinelli sing and Foster preach were not qualified to
appear in genteel company," Hawkins. "History of Music."—Smyth.
[78] "The authority of Franklin, the most eminently practical man of his age, in
favor of reserving the study of the dead languages until the mind has reached a
certain maturity, is confirmed by the confession of one of the most eminent
scholars of any age.
"'Our seminaries of learning,' says Gibbon, 'do not exactly correspond with the
precept of a Spartan king, that the child should be instructed in the arts which
will be useful to the man; since a finished scholar may emerge from the head of
Westminster or Eton, in total ignorance of the business and conversation of
English gentlemen in the latter end of the eighteenth century. But these schools
may assume the merit of teaching all that they pretend to teach, the Latin and
Greek languages.'"—Bigelow.

XI

INTEREST IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS

BEGAN now to turn my thoughts a little to public affairs,
beginning, however, with small matters. The city watch was one
of the first things that I conceiv'd to want 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

excus'd, which was suppos'd to be for hiring substitutes, but was, in reality,
much more than was necessary for that purpose, and made the
constableship a place of profit; and the constable, for a little drink, often got
such ragamuffins about him as a watch, that respectable housekeepers did
not choose to mix with. Walking the rounds, too, was often neglected, and
most of the nights spent in tippling. I thereupon wrote a paper to be read in
Junto, representing these irregularities, but 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 proportion'd to the
property. This idea, being approv'd by the Junto, was communicated to the
other clubs, but as arising in each of them; and though the plan was not
immediately carried into execution, yet, by preparing the minds of people
for the change, it paved the way for the law obtained a few years after,
when the members of our clubs were grown into more influence.
About this time I wrote a paper (first to be read in Junto, but it was
afterward publish'd) on the different accidents and carelessnesses by which
houses were set on fire, with cautions against them, and means proposed of
avoiding them. This was much spoken of as a 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 oblig'd every member to keep
always in good order, and fit for use, a certain number of leather buckets,
with strong bags and baskets (for packing and transporting of goods), which
were to be brought to every fire; and we agreed to meet once a month and
spend a social evening together, in discoursing and communicating such
ideas as occurred to us upon the subjects of fires, as might be useful in our
conduct on such occasions.

The utility of this institution soon appeared, and many more desiring to be
admitted than we thought convenient for one company, they were advised
to 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, tho' upward of fifty years since its establishment,
that which I first formed, called the Union Fire Company, still subsists and
flourishes, tho' the first members are all deceas'd but myself and one, who is
older by a year than I am. The small fines that have been paid by members
for absence at the monthly meetings have been apply'd to the purchase of
fire-engines, ladders, fire-hooks, and other useful implements for each
company, so that I question whether there is a city in the world better
provided with the means of putting a stop to beginning 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 Reverend Mr. Whitefield,[79]
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 refus'd him their pulpits, and he was oblig'd 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 admir'd and respected him, notwithstanding
his common abuse of them, by assuring them they were naturally half
beasts and half devils. It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the

manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about
religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one
could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in
different families of every street.
And it being found inconvenient to assemble in the open air, subject to its
inclemencies, the building of a house to meet in was no sooner propos'd,
and persons appointed to receive contributions, but sufficient sums were
soon receiv'd to procure the ground and erect the building, which was one
hundred feet long and seventy broad, about the size of Westminster Hall;[80]
and the work was carried on with such spirit as to be finished in a much
shorter time than could have been expected. Both house and ground were
vested in trustees, expressly for the use of any preacher of any religious
persuasion who might desire to say something to the people at Philadelphia;
the design in building 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 thro' the colonies
to Georgia. The settlement of that province had lately been begun, but,
instead of being made with hardy, industrious husbandmen, accustomed to
labour, the only people fit for such an enterprise, it was with families of
broken shop-keepers and other insolvent debtors, many of indolent and idle
habits, taken out of the jails, who, being set down in the woods, unqualified
for clearing land, and unable to endure the hardships of a new settlement,
perished in numbers, leaving many helpless children unprovided for. The
sight of their miserable situation inspir'd the benevolent heart of Mr.
Whitefield with the idea of building an Orphan House there, in which they
might be supported and educated. Returning northward, he preach'd 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 advis'd; but he

was resolute in his first project, rejected my counsel, and I therefore refus'd
to contribute. I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the
course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection, and I
silently resolved he should get nothing from me. I had in my pocket a
handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in
gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the coppers.
Another stroke of his oratory made me asham'd of that, and determin'd me
to give the silver; and he finish'd so admirably, that I empty'd my pocket
wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all. At this sermon there was also
one of our club, who, being of my sentiments respecting the building in
Georgia, and suspecting a collection might be intended, had, by precaution,
emptied his pockets before he came from home. Towards the conclusion of
the discourse, however, he felt a strong desire to give, and apply'd to a
neighbour who stood near him, to borrow some money for the purpose. The
application was unfortunately [made] to perhaps the only man in the
company who had the firmness not to be 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 favour ought to have the more weight, as
we had no religious connection. He us'd, indeed, sometimes to pray for my
conversion, but never had the satisfaction of believing that his prayers were
heard. Ours was a mere civil friendship, sincere on both sides, and lasted to
his death.
The following instance will show something of the terms on which we
stood. Upon one of his arrivals from England at Boston, he wrote to me that
he should come soon to Philadelphia, but knew not where he could lodge
when there, as he 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 reply'd, that if I made that kind offer for Christ's sake, I
should not miss of a reward. And I returned, "Don't let me be mistaken; it

was not for Christ's sake, but for your sake." One of our common
acquaintance jocosely remark'd, that, knowing it to be the custom of the
saints, when they received any favour, to shift the burden of the obligation
from off their own shoulders, and place it in heaven, I had contriv'd to fix it
on earth.
The last time 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 auditories, however numerous, observ'd the most exact
silence. He preach'd 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 fill'd with his
hearers to a considerable distance. Being among the hindmost in Market-
street, I had the curiosity to learn how far he could be heard, by retiring
backwards down the street towards the river; and I found his voice distinct
till I came near Front-street, when some noise in that street obscur'd it.
Imagining then a semicircle, of which my distance should be the radius, and
that it were fill'd with auditors, to each of whom I allow'd two square feet, I
computed that he might well be heard by more than thirty thousand. This
reconcil'd me to the newspaper accounts of his having preach'd to twenty-
five thousand people in the fields, and to the ancient histories of generals
haranguing whole armies, of which I had sometimes doubted.
By hearing him often, I came to distinguish easily between sermons newly
compos'd, and those which he had often preach'd in the course of his
travels. His delivery of the latter was so improv'd by frequent repetitions
that every accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice, was so
perfectly well turn'd and well plac'd, that, without being interested in the
subject, one could not help being pleas'd with the discourse; a pleasure of
much the same kind with that receiv'd from an excellent piece of musick.
This is an advantage itinerant preachers have over those who are stationary,
as the latter 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 afterwards explain'd or qualifi'd by supposing
others that might have accompani'd them, or they might have been deny'd;
but litera scripta manet. Critics attack'd his 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 neighbouring provinces.
I experienced, too, the truth of the observation, "that after getting the first
hundred pound, it is more easy to get the second," money itself being of a
prolific nature.
The partnership at Carolina having succeeded, I was encourag'd to engage
in others, and to promote several of my workmen, who had behaved well,
by establishing them with printing-houses in different colonies, on the same
terms with that in Carolina. Most of them did well, being enabled at the end
of our term, six 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 partnerships;
for, whatever esteem partners may have for, and confidence in each other at
the time of the contract, little jealousies and disgusts may arise, with ideas
of inequality in the care and burden of the business, etc., which are attended
often with breach of friendship and of the connection, perhaps with lawsuits
and other disagreeable consequences.

[79] George Whitefield, pronounced Hwit'field (1714-1770), a celebrated
English clergyman and pulpit orator, one of the founders of Methodism.
[80] A part of the palace of Westminster, now forming the vestibule to the
Houses of Parliament in London.

XII

DEFENSE OF THE PROVINCE

HAD, on the whole, abundant reason to be satisfied with my
being established in Pennsylvania. There were, however, two,
things that I regretted, there being no provision for defense, nor
for a compleat 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 Reverend Mr. Peters, who was out of employ, a fit
person to superintend such an institution, I communicated the project to
him; but he, having more profitable views in the service of the proprietaries,
which succeeded, declin'd 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. 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 join'd by France, which brought us into
great danger; and the laboured and long-continued endeavour of our
governor, Thomas, to prevail with our Quaker Assembly to pass a militia
law, and make other provisions for the security of the province, having
proved abortive, I determined to try what might be done by a voluntary
association of the people. To promote this, I first wrote and published a
pamphlet, entitled Plain Truth, in which I stated our defenceless situation
in strong lights, with the necessity of union and discipline for our defense,
and promis'd to propose in a few days an association, to be generally signed
for that purpose. The pamphlet had a sudden and surprising effect. I was
call'd upon for the instrument of association, and having settled the draft of

it with a few friends, I appointed a meeting of the citizens in the large
building before mentioned. The house was pretty full; I had prepared a
number of printed copies, and provided pens and ink dispers'd all over the
room. I harangued them a 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 colours, which they presented to the companies, painted with
different devices and mottos, which I supplied.

One of the flags of the Pennsylvania Association, 1747. Designed by Franklin
and made by the women of Philadelphia.

The officers of the companies composing the Philadelphia regiment, being
met, chose me for their colonel; but, conceiving myself unfit, I declin'd that
station, and recommended Mr. Lawrence, a fine person, and man of
influence, who was accordingly appointed. I then propos'd a lottery to
defray the expense of building a battery below the town, and furnishing it

with cannon. It filled expeditiously, and the battery was soon erected, the
merlons being fram'd of logs and fill'd with earth. We bought some old
cannon from Boston, but, these not being sufficient, we wrote to England
for more, soliciting, at the same time, our proprietaries for some assistance,
tho' without much expectation of obtaining it.
Meanwhile, Colonel Lawrence, William Allen, Abram Taylor, Esqr., and
myself were sent to New York by the associators, commission'd to borrow
some cannon of Governor Clinton. He at first refus'd us peremptorily; but at
dinner with his council, where there was great drinking of Madeira wine, as
the custom of that place then was, he softened by degrees, and said he
would lend us six. After a few more bumpers he advanc'd to ten; and at
length he very good-naturedly conceded eighteen. They were fine cannon,
eighteen-pounders, with their carriages, which we soon transported and
mounted on our battery, where the 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.

"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 propos'd to them the proclaiming a fast, to
promote reformation, and implore the blessing of Heaven on our
undertaking. They embrac'd the motion; but, as it was the first fast ever
thought of in the province, the secretary had no precedent from which to
draw the proclamation. My education in New England, where a fast is
proclaimed every year, was here of some advantage: I drew it in the
accustomed stile, it was translated into German,[81] printed in both
languages, and divulg'd thro' 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 interven'd.
It was thought by some of my friends that, by my activity in these affairs, I
should offend that sect, and thereby lose my interest in the Assembly of the
province, where they formed a great majority. A young gentleman who had
likewise some friends in the House, and wished to succeed me as their
clerk, acquainted me that it was decided to displace me at the next election;
and he, therefore, in good will, advis'd me to resign, as more consistent with
my honour than being turn'd out. My answer to him was, that I had read or
heard of some public man who made it a rule never to ask for an office, and
never to refuse one when offer'd to him. "I approve," says I, "of his rule,
and will practice it with a small addition; I shall never ask, never refuse, nor
ever resign an office. If they will have my office of clerk to dispose of to
another, they shall take it from me. I will not, by giving it up, lose my right
of some time or other making reprisals on my adversaries." I heard,
however, no more of this; I was chosen again unanimously as usual at the
next election. Possibly, as they dislik'd my late intimacy with the members
of council, who had join'd the governors in all the disputes about military
preparations, with which the House had long been harass'd, they might have
been pleas'd if I would voluntarily have left them; but they did not care to
displace me on account merely of my zeal for the 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 requir'd to assist in it.

And I found that a much greater number of them than I could have
imagined, tho' against offensive war, were clearly for the defensive. Many
pamphlets pro and con were publish'd on the subject, and some by good
Quakers, in favour of defense, which I believe convinc'd most of their
younger people.
A transaction in our fire company gave me some insight into their
prevailing sentiments. It had been propos'd that we should encourage the
scheme for building a battery by laying out the present stock, then about
sixty pounds, in tickets of the lottery. By our rules, no money could be
dispos'd of till the next meeting after the proposal. The company consisted
of thirty members, of which twenty-two were Quakers, and eight only of
other persuasions. We eight punctually attended the meeting; but, tho' we
thought that some of the Quakers would join us, we were by no means sure
of a majority. Only one Quaker, Mr. James Morris, appear'd to oppose the
measure. He expressed much sorrow that it had ever been propos'd, as he
said Friends were all against it, and it would create such discord as might
break up the company. We told him that we saw no reason for that; we were
the minority, and if Friends were against the measure, and outvoted us, we
must and should, agreeably to the usage of all societies, submit. When the
hour for business arriv'd it was mov'd to put the vote; he allow'd we might
then do it by the rules, but, as he could assure us that a number of members
intended to be present for the purpose of opposing it, it would be but candid
to allow a little time for their appearing.
While we were disputing this, a waiter came to tell me two gentlemen
below desir'd to speak with me. I went down, and found they were two of
our Quaker members. They told me there were eight of them assembled at a
tavern just by; that they were determin'd to come and vote with us if there
should be occasion, which they hop'd would not be the case, and desir'd we
would not call for 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 allow'd to be extreamly
fair. Not one of his opposing friends appear'd, at which he express'd great
surprize; and, at the expiration of the hour, we carri'd 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 inclin'd to

oppose the measure, I afterward estimated the proportion of Quakers
sincerely against defense as one to twenty-one only; for these were all
regular members of that society, and in good reputation among them, and
had due notice of what was propos'd at that meeting.
The honorable and learned Mr. Logan, who had always been of that sect,
was one who wrote an address to them, declaring his approbation of
defensive war, and supporting his opinion by many strong arguments. He
put into my hands sixty pounds to be laid out in lottery tickets for the
battery, with 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
chas'd by an armed vessel, suppos'd to be an enemy. Their captain prepar'd
for defense; but told William Penn, and his company of Quakers, that he did
not expect their assistance, and they might retire into the cabin, which they
did, except James Logan,[82] who chose to stay upon deck, and was
quarter'd to a gun. The suppos'd enemy prov'd a friend, so there was no
fighting; but when the secretary went down to communicate the
intelligence, William Penn rebuk'd him severely for staying upon deck, and
undertaking to assist in defending the vessel, contrary to the principles of
Friends, especially as it had not been required by the captain. This reproof,
being before all the company, piqu'd the secretary, who answer'd, "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 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), and the government
of New England solicited a grant of some from Pennsylvania, which was
much urg'd on the House by Governor Thomas, they could not grant money
to buy powder, because that was an ingredient of war; but they voted an aid
to New England of three thousand pounds, to be put into the hands of the
governor, and appropriated it for the purchasing of bread, flour, wheat or
other grain. Some of the council, desirous of giving the House still further
embarrassment, advis'd the governor not to accept provision, as not being
the thing he had demanded; but he repli'd, "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.[83]
It was in allusion to this fact that, when in our fire company we feared the
success of our proposal in favour of the lottery, and I had said to my friend
Mr. Syng, one of our members, "If we fail, let us move the purchase of a
fire-engine with the money; the Quakers can have no 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 improv'd by being so long in the Assembly; your equivocal project
would be just a match for their wheat or other grain."
These embarrassments that the Quakers suffer'd from having establish'd and
published it as one of their principles that no kind of war was lawful, and
which, being once published, they could not afterwards, however they
might change their minds, easily get rid of, reminds me of what I think a
more prudent conduct in another sect among us, that of the Dunkers. I was
acquainted with one of its founders, Michael Welfare, soon after it appear'd.
He complain'd to me that they were grievously calumniated by the zealots
of other persuasions, and charg'd with abominable principles and practices
to which they were utter strangers. I told him this had always been the case
with new sects, and that, to put a stop to such abuse, I imagin'd it might be
well to publish the articles of their belief, and the rules of their discipline.
He said that it had been propos'd among them, but not agreed to, for this
reason: "When we were first drawn together as a society," says he, "it had
pleased God to enlighten our minds so far as to see that some doctrines,
which we once esteemed truths, were errors; and that others, which we had

esteemed errors, were real truths. >From time to time He has been pleased
to afford us farther light, and our principles have been improving, and our
errors diminishing. Now we are not sure that we are arrived at the end of
this progression, and at the perfection of spiritual or theological knowledge;
and we fear that, if we should once print our confession of faith, we should
feel ourselves as if bound and confin'd by it, and 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, tho' in truth he is as much in the
fog as any of them. To avoid this kind of embarrassment, the Quakers have
of late years been gradually declining the public service in the Assembly
and in the magistracy, choosing rather to quit their power than their
principle.
In order of time, I should have mentioned before, that having, in 1742,
invented an open stove[84] 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,[85] found the casting of the plates for these stoves a
profitable thing, as they were growing in demand. To promote that demand,
I wrote and published a pamphlet, entitled "An Account of the new-invented
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. Gov'r. Thomas was so pleas'd 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 declin'd it from
a principle which has ever weighed with me on such occasions, viz., That,
as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be

glad of an 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, tho' not always with the same
success, which I never contested, as having no desire of profiting by patents
myself, and hating disputes. The use of these fireplaces in very many
houses, both of this and the neighbouring colonies, has been, and is, a great
saving of wood to the inhabitants.
[81] Wm. Penn's agents sought recruits for the colony of Pennsylvania in the low
countries of Germany, and there are still in eastern Pennsylvania many Germans,
inaccurately called Pennsylvania Dutch. Many of them use a Germanized
English.
[82] James Logan (1674-1751) came to America with William Penn in 1699, and
was the business agent for the Penn family. He bequeathed his valuable library,
preserved at his country seat, "Senton," to the city of Philadelphia.—Smyth.
[83] See the votes.—Marg. note.
[84] The Franklin stove is still in use.
[85] Warwick Furnace, Chester County, Pennsylvania, across the Schuylkill
River from Pottstown.

XIII

PUBLIC SERVICES AND DUTIES
(1749-1753)
EACE being concluded, and the association business therefore
at an end, I turn'd 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 judg'd the subscription might be larger, and I
believe it was so, amounting to no less, if I remember right, than five
thousand pounds.
In the introduction to these proposals, I stated their publication, not as an
act of mine, but of some publick-spirited gentlemen, avoiding as much as I
could, according to my usual rule, the presenting myself to the publick as
the author of any scheme for their benefit.
The subscribers, to carry the project into immediate execution, chose out of
their number twenty-four trustees, and appointed Mr. Francis,[86] then
attorney-general, and myself to draw up constitutions for the government of
the academy; which being done and signed, a house was hired, masters
engag'd, and the schools opened, I think, in the same year, 1749.
The scholars increasing fast, the house was soon found too small, and we
were looking out for a piece of ground, properly situated, with intention to
build, when Providence threw into our way a large house ready built,
which, with a few alterations, might well serve our purpose. This was the
building before mentioned, erected by the hearers of Mr. Whitefield, and
was obtained for us in the following manner.
It is to be noted that the contributions to this building being made by people
of different sects, care was taken in the nomination of trustees, in whom the
building and ground 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, viz., one
Church-of-England man, one Presbyterian, one Baptist, one Moravian, etc.,
those, in case of vacancy by death, were to fill it by election from among
the contributors. The Moravian happen'd not to please his colleagues, and
on his death they resolved to have no other of that 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 mention'd me, with the observation that I was merely an honest man,
and of no sect at all, which prevailed with them to chuse me. The
enthusiasm which existed when the house was built had long since abat'd,
and its trustees had not been able to procure fresh contributions for paying
the ground-rent, and discharging some other debts the building had
occasion'd, which embarrass'd 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 remov'd into the
building. The care and trouble of agreeing with the workmen, purchasing
materials, and superintending the work, fell upon me; and I went thro' it the
more cheerfully, as it did not then interfere with my private business,
having the year before taken a very able, industrious, and honest partner,
Mr. David Hall, with whose character I was well acquainted, as he had
work'd for me four years. He took off my hands all care of the printing-
office, paying me punctually my share of the profits. The partnership
continued eighteen years, successfully for us both.
The trustees of the academy, after a while, were incorporated by a charter
from the governor; their funds were increas'd by contributions in Britain
and grants of land from the proprietaries, to which the Assembly has since
made considerable addition; and thus was established the present University
of Philadelphia.[87] I have been continued one of its trustees from the
beginning, now near forty years, and have had the very great pleasure of
seeing a number of the youth who have receiv'd their education in it,
distinguish'd by their improv'd abilities, serviceable in public stations, and
ornaments to their country.

When I disengaged myself, as above mentioned, from private business, I
flatter'd myself that, by the sufficient tho' moderate fortune I had acquir'd, I
had secured leisure 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 publick, now considering me as a man of leisure, laid
hold of me for their purposes, every part of our civil government, and
almost at the same time, imposing some duty upon me. The governor put
me into the commission of the peace; the corporation of the city chose me
of the common council, and soon after an alderman; and the citizens at large
chose me a burgess to represent them in Assembly. This latter station was
the more agreeable to me, as I was at length tired with sitting there to hear
debates, in which, as clerk, I could take no part, and which were often so
unentertaining that I was induc'd to amuse myself with making magic
squares or circles, or anything to avoid weariness; and I conceiv'd my
becoming a member would enlarge my power of doing good. I would not,
however, insinuate that my ambition was not flatter'd by all these
promotions; it certainly was; for, 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 try'd a little, by attending a few courts,
and sitting on the bench to hear causes; but finding that more knowledge of
the common law than I possess'd was necessary to act in that station with
credit, I gradually withdrew from it, excusing myself by my being oblig'd to
attend the higher duties of a legislator in the 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 join'd with some members of
council, as commissioners for that purpose.[88] The House named the
speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself; and, being commission'd, we went to
Carlisle, and met the Indians accordingly.

As those people are extreamly apt to get drunk, and, when so, are very
quarrelsome and disorderly, we strictly forbad the selling any liquor to
them; and when they complain'd 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 promis'd 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 claim'd and received the
rum; this was in the afternoon: they were near one hundred men, women,
and children, and were lodg'd in temporary cabins, built in the form of a
square, just without the town. In the evening, hearing a great noise among
them, the commissioners walk'd out to see what was the matter. We found
they had made a great bonfire in the middle of the square; they were all
drunk, men and women, quarreling and fighting. Their dark-colour'd bodies,
half naked, seen only by the gloomy light of the bonfire, running after and
beating one another with firebrands, accompanied by their horrid yellings,
form'd a scene the most resembling our ideas of hell that could well be
imagin'd; there was no appeasing the tumult, and we retired to our lodging.
At midnight a number of them came thundering at our door, demanding
more rum, of which we took no notice.
The next day, sensible they had misbehav'd in giving us that disturbance,
they sent three of their old counselors to make their apology. The orator
acknowledg'd the fault, but laid it upon the rum; and then endeavoured to
excuse the rum by saying, "The Great Spirit, who made all things, made
everything for some use, and whatever use he design'd 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 sea-coast.

"In the evening, hearing a great noise among them, the commissioners walk'd out
to see what was the matter"

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 ascrib'd 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 endeavouring to procure subscriptions for it, but
the proposal being a novelty in America, and at first not well understood, he
met but with small success.
At length he came to me with the compliment that he found there was no
such thing as carrying a public-spirited project through without my being
concern'd in it. "For," says he, "I am often ask'd by those to whom I propose
subscribing, Have you consulted Franklin upon this business? And what
does he think of it? And when I tell them that I have not (supposing it rather
out of your line), they do not subscribe, but say they will consider of it." I
enquired into the nature and probable utility of his scheme, and receiving
from him a very satisfactory explanation, I not only subscrib'd to it myself,
but engag'd heartily in the design of procuring subscriptions from others.

Previously, however, to the solicitation, I endeavoured to prepare the minds
of the people by writing on the subject in the newspapers, which was my
usual custom in such cases, but which he had omitted.
The subscriptions afterwards were more free and generous; but, beginning
to flag, I saw they would be insufficient without some assistance from the
Assembly, and therefore propos'd 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 approv'd of it. My allegation on the contrary, that it met with such
approbation as to leave no doubt of our being able to raise two thousand
pounds by voluntary donations, they considered as a most extravagant
supposition, and utterly impossible.
On this I form'd my plan; and, asking leave to bring in a bill for
incorporating the contributors according to the prayer of their petition, and
granting them a blank sum of money, which leave was obtained chiefly on
the consideration that the House could throw the bill out if they did not like
it, I drew it so as to make the important clause a conditional one, viz., "And
be it enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that when the said contributors
shall have met and chosen their managers and treasurer, and shall have
raised by their contributions a capital stock of——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 oppos'd
the grant, and now conceiv'd they might have the credit of being charitable
without the expense, agreed to its passage; and then, in soliciting
subscriptions among the people, we urg'd the conditional promise of the law
as an additional motive to give, since every man's donation would be
doubled; thus the clause work'd both ways. The subscriptions accordingly

soon exceeded the requisite sum, and we claim'd and receiv'd the public
gift, which enabled us to carry the design into execution. A convenient and
handsome building was soon erected; the institution has by constant
experience been found useful, and flourishes to this day; and I do not
remember any of my political manoeuvers, the success of which gave me at
the time more pleasure, or wherein, after thinking of it, I more easily
excus'd myself for having made some use of cunning.

It was about this time that another projector, the Rev. Gilbert Tennent[89],
came to me with a request that I would assist him in procuring a
subscription for erecting a new meeting-house. It was to be for the use of a
congregation he had gathered among the Presbyterians, who were originally
disciples of Mr. Whitefield. Unwilling to make myself disagreeable to my
fellow-citizens by too frequently soliciting their contributions, I absolutely
refus'd. He then desired I would furnish him with a list of the names of
persons I knew by experience to be generous and public-spirited. I thought
it would be unbecoming in me, after their kind compliance with my
solicitations, to mark them out to be worried by other beggars, and therefore
refus'd also to give such a list. He then desir'd I would at least give him my
advice. "That I will readily do," said I; "and, in the first place, I advise you
to apply to all those whom you know will give 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 laugh'd and thank'd me, and said he would take my advice. He did so,
for he ask'd of everybody, and he obtain'd a much larger sum than he
expected, with which he erected the capacious and very elegant meeting-
house that stands in Arch-street.
Our city, tho' 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 unpav'd, and in wet weather the wheels of heavy
carriages plough'd them into a quagmire, so that it was difficult to cross
them; and in dry weather the dust was offensive. I had liv'd near what was
call'd the Jersey Market, and saw with pain the inhabitants wading in mud
while purchasing their provisions. A strip of ground down the middle of that
market was at length pav'd with brick, so that, being once in the market,
they had firm footing, but were often over shoes in dirt to get there. By

talking and writing on the subject, I was at length instrumental in getting
the street pav'd with stone between the market and the brick'd foot-
pavement, that was on each side next the houses. This, for some time, gave
an easy access to the market dry-shod; but, the rest of the street not being
pav'd, whenever a carriage came out of the mud upon this pavement, it
shook off and left its dirt upon it, and it was soon cover'd with mire, which
was not remov'd, the city as yet having no scavengers.
After some inquiry, I found a poor, industrious man, who was willing to
undertake keeping the pavement clean, by sweeping it twice a week,
carrying off the dirt from before all the neighbours' doors, for the sum of
sixpence per month, to be paid by each house. I then wrote and printed a
paper setting forth the advantages to the neighbourhood that might be
obtain'd by this small expense; the greater ease in keeping our houses clean,
so much dirt not being brought in by people's feet; the benefit to the shops
by more custom, etc., etc., as buyers could more easily get at them; and by
not having, in windy weather, the dust blown in upon their goods, etc., etc. I
sent one of these papers to each house, and in a day or two went round to
see who would subscribe an agreement to pay these sixpences; it was
unanimously sign'd, and for a time well executed. All the inhabitants of the
city were delighted with the cleanliness of the pavement that surrounded the
market, it being a convenience to all, and this rais'd a general desire to have
all the streets paved, and made the people more willing to submit to a tax
for that purpose.
After some time I drew a bill for paving the city, and brought it into the
Assembly. It was just before I went to England, in 1757, and did not pass
till I was gone,[90] 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
impress'd with the idea of enlighting all the city. The honour of this public
benefit has also been ascrib'd to me, but it belongs truly to that 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
supply'd with from London. Those we found inconvenient in these respects:
they admitted no air below; the smoke, therefore, did not readily go out

above, but circulated in the globe, lodg'd on its inside, and soon obstructed
the light they were intended to afford; giving, besides, the daily trouble of
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 continu'd bright till morning, and an accidental stroke
would generally break but a single pane, easily repair'd.
I have sometimes wonder'd that the Londoners did not, from the effect holes
in the bottom of the globe lamps us'd at Vauxhall[91] have in keeping them
clean, learn to have such holes in their street lamps. But, these holes being
made for another purpose, viz., to communicate flame more suddenly to the
wick by a little flax hanging down thro' them, the other use, of letting in air,
seems not to have been thought of; and therefore, after the lamps have been
lit a few hours, the streets of London are very poorly illuminated.
The mention of these improvements puts me in mind of one I propos'd,
when in London, to Dr. Fothergill, who was among the best men I have
known, and a great promoter of useful projects. I had observ'd that the
streets, when dry, were never swept, and the light dust carried away; but it
was suffer'd to accumulate till wet weather reduc'd it to mud, and then, after
lying some days so deep on the pavement that there was no crossing but in
paths kept clean by poor people with brooms, it was with great labour rak'd
together and thrown up into carts open above, the sides of which 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,[92] one morning, a
poor woman sweeping my pavement with a birch broom; she appeared very
pale and feeble, as just come out of a fit of sickness. I ask'd who employ'd
her to sweep there; she said, "Nobody, but I am very poor and in distress,
and I sweeps before gentle-folkses doors, and hopes they will give me
something." I bid her sweep the whole street clean, and I would give her a
shilling; this was at nine o'clock; at 12 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 plac'd in the gutter,
which was in the middle; and the next rain wash'd it quite away, so that the
pavement and even the kennel were perfectly clean.
I then judg'd that, if that feeble woman could sweep such a street in three
hours, a strong, active man might have done it in half the time. And here let
me remark the convenience of having but one gutter in such a narrow street,
running down its middle, instead of two, one on each side, near the
footway; for where all the rain that falls on a street runs 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, it is proposed that the several watchmen be contracted
with to have the dust swept up in dry seasons, and the mud rak'd up at other
times, each in the several streets and lanes of his round; that they be
furnish'd with brooms and other proper instruments for these purposes, to
be kept at their respective stands, ready to furnish the poor people they may
employ in the service.
"That in the dry summer months the dust be all swept up into heaps at
proper distances, before the shops and windows of houses are usually
opened, when the scavengers, with close-covered carts, shall also carry it all
away.
"That the mud, when rak'd up, be not left in heaps to be spread abroad again
by the wheels of carriages and trampling of horses, but that the scavengers
be provided with bodies of carts, not plac'd high upon wheels, but low upon
sliders, with lattice bottoms, which, being cover'd with straw, will retain the
mud thrown into them, and permit the water to drain from it, whereby it
will become much lighter, water making the greatest part of its weight;
these bodies of carts to be plac'd at convenient distances, and the mud
brought to them in wheelbarrows; they remaining where plac'd till the mud
is drain'd, and then horses brought to draw them away."
I have since had doubts of the practicability of the latter part of this
proposal, on account of the narrowness of some streets, and the difficulty of
placing the draining-sleds so as not to encumber too much the passage; but I
am still of opinion that the former, requiring the dust to be swept up and
carry'd away before the shops are open, is very practicable in the summer,
when the days are long; for, in walking thro' the Strand and Fleet-street one
morning at seven o'clock, I observ'd there was not one shop open, tho' it had
been daylight and the sun up above three hours; the inhabitants of London
chusing voluntarily to live much by candle-light, and sleep by sunshine, and
yet often complain, a 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 tho' dust blown into the eyes of a single person, or
into a single shop on a windy day, is but of small importance, yet the great

number of the instances in a populous city, and its frequent repetitions give
it weight and consequence, perhaps they will not 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. 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 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
Britain. We were to have six hundred pounds a year between us, if we could
make that sum out of the profits of the office. To do this, a variety of
improvements were necessary; some of these were inevitably at first
expensive, so that in the first four years the office became above nine
hundred pounds in debt to us. But it soon after began to repay us; and
before I was displac'd by a freak of the ministers, of which I shall speak
hereafter, we had brought it to yield three times as much clear revenue to
the crown as the post-office of Ireland. Since that imprudent transaction,
they have receiv'd from it—not one farthing!
The business of the post-office occasion'd my taking a journey this year to
New England, where the College of Cambridge, of their own motion,
presented me with the degree of Master of Arts. Yale College, in
Connecticut, had before made me a similar compliment. Thus, without
studying in any college, I came to partake of their honours. They were

conferr'd in consideration of my improvements and discoveries in the
electric branch of natural philosophy.
[86] Tench Francis, uncle of Sir Philip Francis, emigrated from England to
Maryland, and became attorney for Lord Baltimore. He removed to Philadelphia
and was attorney-general of Pennsylvania from 1741 to 1755. He died in
Philadelphia August 16, 1758.—Smyth.
[87] Later called the University of Pennsylvania.
[88] See the votes to have this more correctly.—Marg. note.
[89] Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) came to America with his father, Rev. William
Tennent, and taught for a time in the "Log College," from which sprang the
College of New Jersey.—Smyth.
[90] See votes.
[91] Vauxhall Gardens, once a popular and fashionable London resort, situated
on the Thames above Lambeth. The Gardens were closed in 1859, but they will
always be remembered because of Sir Roger de Coverley's visit to them in the
Spectator and from the descriptions in Smollett's Humphry Clinker and
Thackeray's Vanity Fair.
[92] A short street near Charing Cross, London.

XIV

ALBANY PLAN OF UNION

N 1754, war with France being again apprehended, a congress
of commissioners from the different colonies was, by an order
of the Lords of Trade, to be assembled at Albany, there to confer
with the chiefs of the Six Nations concerning the means of
defending both their country and ours. Governor Hamilton, having receiv'd
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
approv'd the nomination, and provided the goods for the present, and tho'
they did not much like treating out of the provinces; and we met the other
commissioners at Albany about the middle of June.

In our way thither, I projected and drew a plan for the union of all the
colonies under one government, so far as might be necessary for defense,
and other important general purposes. As we pass'd thro' New York, I had
there shown my project to Mr. James Alexander and Mr. Kennedy, two
gentlemen of great knowledge in public affairs, and, being fortified by their
approbation, I ventur'd to lay it before the Congress. It then appeared that
several of the commissioners had form'd plans of the same kind. A previous
question was first taken, whether a union should be established, which
pass'd in the affirmative unanimously. A committee was then appointed, one
member from each colony, to consider the several plans and report. Mine
happen'd to be preferr'd, and, with a few amendments, was accordingly
reported.

By this plan the general government was to be administered by a president-
general, appointed and supported by the crown, and a grand council was to
be chosen by the representatives of the people of the several colonies, met
in their respective 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 in it, and in England it was judg'd to have too much of the
democratic. The Board of Trade therefore did not approve of it, nor
recommend it for the approbation of his majesty; but another scheme was
form'd, supposed to answer the same purpose better, whereby the governors
of the provinces, with some members of their respective councils, were to

meet and order the raising of troops, building of forts, etc., and to draw on
the treasury of Great Britain for the expense, which was afterwards to be
refunded by an act of Parliament laying a tax on America. My 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 makes 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 have defended themselves; there would
then have been no need of troops from England; of course, the subsequent
pretence for taxing America, and the bloody contest it 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 forc'd 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
happen'd to be absent, which I thought not very fair, and reprobated it
without paying any attention to it at all, to my no small mortification.

XV

QUARRELS WITH THE PROPRIETARY GOVERNORS

N my journey to Boston this year, I met at New York with our
new governor, Mr. Morris, just arriv'd there from England, with
whom I had been before intimately acquainted. He brought a
commission to supersede Mr. Hamilton, who, tir'd with the
disputes his proprietary instructions subjected him to, had resign'd. Mr.
Morris ask'd me if I thought he must expect as uncomfortable an
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
appear'd 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 retain'd 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-natur'd a man that no personal
difference between him and me was occasion'd by the contest, and we often
din'd together.

One afternoon, in the height of this public quarrel, we met in the street.
"Franklin," says he, "you must go home with me and spend the evening; I
am to have some company that you will like;" and, taking me by the arm,
he led me to his house. In gay conversation over our wine, after supper, he
told us, jokingly, that he much admir'd the idea of Sancho Panza,[93] who,
when it was proposed to give him a government, requested it might be a
government of blacks, as then, if he could not agree with his people, he
might sell them. One of his friends, who sat next to me, says, "Franklin,
why do you continue to side with these damn'd Quakers? Had not you better
sell them? The proprietor would give you a good price." "The governor,"
says I, "has not yet blacked them enough." He, indeed, had laboured hard to
blacken the Assembly in all his messages, but they wip'd off his colouring
as fast as he laid it on, and plac'd it, in return, thick upon his own face; so
that, finding he was likely to be negrofied himself, he, as well as Mr.
Hamilton, grew tir'd of the contest, and quitted the government.

These public quarrels[94] were all at bottom owing to the proprietaries, our
hereditary governors, who, when any expense was to be incurred for the
defense of their province, with incredible meanness instructed their deputies
to pass no act for levying the necessary taxes, unless their vast estates were
in the same act expressly excused; and they had even taken bonds of these
deputies to observe such instructions. The Assemblies for three years held
out against this injustice, tho' constrained to bend at last. At length Captain
Denny, who was Governor Morris's successor, ventured to disobey those
instructions; how that was brought about I shall show hereafter.

But I am got forward too fast with my story: there are still some
transactions to be mention'd that happened during the administration of
Governor Morris.
War being in a manner commenced with France, the government of
Massachusetts Bay projected an attack upon Crown Point,[95] and sent Mr.
Quincy to Pennsylvania, and Mr. Pownall, afterward Governor Pownall, to
New York, to solicit assistance. As I was in the Assembly, knew its temper,
and was Mr. Quincy's countryman, he appli'd to me for my influence and
assistance. I dictated his address to them, which was well received. They
voted an aid of ten thousand pounds, to be laid out in provisions. But the
governor refusing his assent to their bill (which included this with other
sums granted for the use of the crown), unless a clause were inserted
exempting the proprietary estate from bearing any part of the tax that would
be necessary, the Assembly, tho' very desirous of making their grant to New
England effectual, were at a loss how to accomplish it. Mr. Quincy labored
hard with the governor to obtain his assent, but he was obstinate.
I then suggested a method of doing the business without the governor, by
orders on the trustees of the Loan office, 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 propos'd that the orders should be payable in a
year, and to bear an interest of five per cent. With these orders I suppos'd
the provisions might easily be purchas'd. The Assembly, with very little
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,
which being known to be more than sufficient, they obtain'd instant credit,
and were not only receiv'd in payment for the provisions, but many money'd
people, who had cash lying by them, vested it in those orders, which they
found advantageous, as they bore interest while upon hand, and might on
any occasion be used as money; so that they were eagerly all bought up, and
in a few weeks none of them were to be seen. Thus this important affair was
by my means completed. Mr. Quincy return'd thanks to the Assembly in a
handsome memorial, went home highly pleas'd with this success of his
embassy, and ever after bore for me the most cordial and affectionate
friendship.

[93] The "round, selfish, and self-important" squire of Don Quixote in Cervantes'
romance of that name.
[94] My acts in Morris's time, military, etc.—Marg. note.
[95] On Lake Champlain, ninety miles north of Albany. It was captured by the
French in 1731, attacked by the English in 1755 and 1756, and abandoned by the
French in 1759. It was finally captured from the English by the Americans in
1775.

XVI

BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITION

HE British government, not chusing to permit the union of the
colonies as propos'd at Albany, and to trust that union with their
defense, lest they should thereby grow too military, and feel
their own strength, suspicions and jealousies at this time being
entertain'd of them, sent over General Braddock with two regiments of
regular English troops for that purpose. He landed at Alexandria, in
Virginia, and thence march'd to Frederictown, in Maryland, where he halted
for carriages. Our Assembly apprehending, from some information, that he
had conceived violent prejudices against them, as averse to the service,
wish'd me to wait upon him, not as from them, but as postmaster-general,
under the guise of proposing to settle with him the mode of conducting with
most celerity and certainty the despatches between him and the governors
of the several provinces, with whom he must necessarily have continual
correspondence, and of which they propos'd to pay the expense. My son
accompanied me on this journey.
We found the general at Frederictown, waiting impatiently for the return of
those he had sent thro' the back parts of Maryland and Virginia to collect
waggons. I stayed with him several days, din'd with him daily, and had full
opportunity of 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
waggons to be obtained were brought in, by which it appear'd that they

amounted only to twenty-five, and not all of those were in serviceable
condition. The general and all the officers were surpris'd, declar'd the
expedition was then at an end, being impossible, and exclaim'd against the
ministers for ignorantly landing them in a country destitute of the means of
conveying their stores, baggage, etc., not less than one hundred and fifty
waggons being necessary.
I happen'd to say I thought it was pity they had not been landed rather in
Pennsylvania, as in that country almost every farmer had his waggon. The
general eagerly laid hold of my words, and said, "Then you, sir, who are a
man of interest there, can probably procure them for us; and I beg you will
undertake it." I ask'd what terms were to be offer'd the owners of the
waggons, and I was desir'd to put on paper the terms that appeared to me
necessary. This I did, and they were agreed to, and a commission and
instructions accordingly prepar'd immediately. What those terms were will
appear in the advertisement I publish'd as soon as I arriv'd at Lancaster,
which being, from the great and sudden effect it produc'd, a piece of some
curiosity, I shall insert it at length, as follows:
"Advertisement.
"Lancaster, April 26, 1755.
"Whereas, one hundred and fifty waggons, with four horses to each
waggon, 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 waggons and teams, or single horses, on the following
terms, viz.: 1. That there shall be paid for each waggon, with four good
horses and a driver, fifteen shillings per diem; and for each able horse with
a pack-saddle, or other saddle and furniture, two shillings per diem; and for
each able horse without a saddle, eighteen pence per diem. 2. That the pay
commence from the time of their joining the forces at Will's Creek, which
must be on or before the 20th of May ensuing, and that a reasonable
allowance be paid over and above for the time necessary for their travelling

to Will's Creek and home again after their discharge. 3. Each waggon and
team, and every saddle or pack horse, is to be valued by indifferent persons
chosen between me and the owner; and in case of the loss of any waggon,
team, or other horse in the service, the price according to such valuation is
to be allowed and paid. 4. Seven days' pay is to be advanced and paid in
hand by me to the owner of each waggon and team, or horse, at the time of
contracting, if required, and the remainder to be paid by General Braddock,
or by the paymaster of the army, at the time of their discharge, or from time
to time, as it shall be demanded. 5. No drivers of waggons, or persons
taking care of the hired horses, are on any account to be called upon to do
the duty of soldiers, or be otherwise employed than in conducting or taking
care of their carriages or horses. 6. All oats, Indian corn, or other forage that
waggons or horses bring to the camp, more than is necessary for the
subsistence of the horses, is to be taken for the use of the army, and a
reasonable price paid for the same.
"Note.—My son, William Franklin, is 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[96] at the camp at Frederic a few days since, I found the
general and officers extremely exasperated on account of their not being
supplied with horses and carriages, which had been expected from this
province, as most able to furnish them; but, through the dissensions
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 waggons and horses will amount
to upward of thirty thousand pounds, which will be paid you in silver and
gold of the king's money.
"The service will be light and easy, for the army will scarce march above
twelve miles per day, and the waggons and baggage-horses, as they carry
those things that are absolutely necessary to the welfare of the army, must
march with the army, and no faster; and are, for the army's sake, always
placed where they can be most secure, whether in a march or in a camp.
"If you are really, as I believe you are, good and loyal subjects to his
majesty, you may now do a most acceptable service, and make it easy to
yourselves; for three or four of such as cannot separately spare from the
business of their plantations a waggon and four horses and a driver, may do
it together, one furnishing the waggon, another one or two horses, and
another the driver, and divide the pay 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; waggons
and horses must be had; violent measures will probably be used, and you
will be left to seek for a recompense where you can find it, and your case,
perhaps, be little pitied or regarded.
"I have no particular interest in this affair, as, except the satisfaction of
endeavouring to do good, I shall have only my labour for my pains. If this
method of obtaining the waggons and horses is not likely to succeed, I am
obliged to send word to the general in fourteen days; and I suppose Sir John
St. Clair, the hussar, with a body of soldiers, will immediately enter the
province for the purpose, which I shall be sorry to hear, because I am very
sincerely and truly your friend and well-wisher,

"B. Franklin."
I received of the general about eight hundred pounds, to be disbursed in
advance-money to the waggon owners, etc.; but that sum being insufficient,
I advanc'd upward of two hundred pounds more, and in two weeks the one
hundred and fifty waggons, with two hundred and fifty-nine carrying
horses, were on their march for the camp. The advertisement promised
payment according to the valuation, in case any waggon or horse should be
lost. The owners, however, alleging they did not know General Braddock,
or what dependence might be had on his promise, insisted on my bond for
the performance, which I accordingly gave them.
While I was at the camp, supping one evening with the officers of Colonel
Dunbar's regiment, he represented to me his concern for the subalterns,
who, he said, were generally not in affluence, and could ill afford, in this
dear country, to lay in the stores that might be necessary in so long a march,
thro' a wilderness, where nothing was to be purchas'd. I commiserated their
case, and resolved to endeavour procuring them some relief. I said nothing,
however, to him of my intention, but wrote the next morning to the
committee of the Assembly, who had the disposition of some public money,
warmly recommending the case of these officers to their consideration, and
proposing that a present should be sent them of necessaries and
refreshments. My son, who had some experience of a camp life, and of its
wants, drew up a list for me, which I enclos'd in my letter. The committee
approv'd, and used such diligence that, conducted by my son, the stores
arrived at the camp as soon as the waggons. They consisted of twenty
parcels, each containing

6 lbs. loaf sugar. 1 Gloucester cheese.
6 lbs. good Muscovado do. 1 kegg containing 20 lbs. good
butter.
1 lb. good green tea. 2 doz. old Madeira wine.
1 lb. good bohea do. 2 gallons Jamaica spirits.
6 lbs. good ground coffee. 1 bottle flour of mustard.
6 lbs. chocolate. 2 well-cur'd hams.
1-2 cwt. best white biscuit. 1-2 dozen dry'd tongues.
1-2 lb. pepper. 6 lbs. rice.

1 quart best white wine 6 lbs. raisins.
1 quart best white wine vinegar.

These twenty parcels, well pack'd, were placed on as many horses, each
parcel, with the horse, being intended as a present for one officer. They
were very thankfully receiv'd, and the kindness acknowledg'd by letters to
me from the colonels of both regiments, in the most grateful terms. The
general, too, was highly satisfied with my conduct in procuring him the
waggons, etc., and readily paid my account of disbursements, thanking me
repeatedly, and requesting my farther assistance in sending provisions after
him. I undertook this also, and was busily employ'd in it till we heard of his
defeat, advancing for the service of my own money, upwards of one
thousand pounds sterling, of which I sent him an account. It came to his
hands, luckily for me, a few days before the battle, and he return'd me
immediately an order on the paymaster for the round sum of one thousand
pounds, leaving the remainder to the next account. I consider this payment
as good luck, having never been able to obtain that remainder, of which
more hereafter.
This general was, I think, a brave man, and might probably have made a
figure as a good officer 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, join'd him on his march with one hundred of those people, who
might have been of great use to his army as guides, scouts, etc., if he had
treated them kindly; but he slighted and neglected them, and they gradually
left him.
In conversation with him one day, he was giving me some account of his
intended progress. "After taking Fort Duquesne,"[97] says he, "I am to
proceed to Niagara; and, having taken that, to Frontenac,[98] if the season
will allow time; and I suppose it will, for Duquesne can hardly detain me
above three or four days; and then I see nothing that can obstruct my march
to Niagara." Having before revolv'd in my mind the long line his army must
make in their march by a very narrow road, to be cut for them thro' the
woods and bushes, and also what I had read of a former defeat of fifteen

hundred French, who invaded the Iroquois country, I had conceiv'd some
doubts and some fears for the event of the campaign. But I ventur'd only to
say, "To be sure, sir, if you arrive well before Duquesne, with these fine
troops, so well provided with artillery, that place not yet 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 attack'd 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 smil'd at my ignorance, and reply'd, "These savages may, indeed, be a
formidable enemy to your raw American militia, but upon the king's regular
and disciplin'd troops, sir, it is impossible they should make any
impression." I was conscious of an impropriety in my disputing with a
military man in matters of his profession, and said no more. The enemy,
however, did not take the advantage of his army which I apprehended its
long line of march expos'd it to, but let it advance without interruption till
within nine miles of the place; and then, when more in a body (for it had
just passed a river, where the front had halted till all were come over), and
in a more open part of the woods than any it had pass'd, attack'd its
advanced guard by 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, thro' waggons, baggage, and cattle; and
presently the fire came upon their flank: the officers, being on horseback,
were more easily distinguish'd, pick'd out as marks, and fell very fast; and
the soldiers were crowded together in a huddle, having or hearing no orders,
and standing to be shot at till two-thirds of them were killed; and then,
being seiz'd with a panick, the whole fled with precipitation.

The waggoners took each a horse out of his team and scamper'd; their
example was immediately followed by others; so that all the waggons,
provisions, artillery, and stores were left to the enemy. The general, being
wounded, was brought off with difficulty; his secretary, Mr. Shirley, was
killed by his side; and out of eighty-six officers, sixty-three were killed or
wounded, and seven hundred and fourteen men killed out of eleven
hundred. These eleven hundred had been picked men from the whole army;
the rest had been left behind with Colonel Dunbar, who was to follow with
the heavier part of the stores, provisions, and baggage. The flyers, not being
pursu'd, arriv'd at Dunbar's camp, and the panick they brought with them
instantly seiz'd him and all his people; and, tho' he had now above one
thousand men, and the enemy who had beaten Braddock did not at most
exceed four hundred Indians and French together, instead of proceeding,
and endeavouring to recover some of the lost honour, he ordered all the
stores, ammunition, etc., to be destroy'd, that he might have more horses to
assist his flight towards the settlements, and less lumber to remove. He was
there met with requests from the governors of Virginia, Maryland, and
Pennsylvania, that he would post his troops on the frontier, so as to afford
some protection to the inhabitants; but he continued his hasty march thro'
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.[99]
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 thro' the most inhabited
part of our country from Rhode Island to Virginia, near seven hundred
miles, occasioned not the smallest complaint for the loss of a pig, a chicken,
or even an apple.
Captain Orme, who was one of the general's aids-de-camp, and, being
grievously wounded, was brought off with him, and continu'd with him to
his death, which happen'd in a few days, told me that he was totally silent
all the first day, and at night only said, "Who would have thought it?" That
he was silent again the following day, saying only at last, "We shall better
know how to deal with them another time"; and dy'd in a few minutes after.
The secretary's papers, with all the general's orders, 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,[100] 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 ask'd only one, which was, that he would give
orders to his officers not to enlist any more of our bought servants, and that
he would discharge such as had been already enlisted. This he readily
granted, and several were accordingly return'd to their masters, on my
application. Dunbar, when the command devolv'd on him, was not so
generous. He being at Philadelphia, on his retreat, or rather flight, I apply'd
to him for the discharge of the servants of three poor farmers of Lancaster
county that he had 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 refus'd to perform his
promise, to their great loss and disappointment.
As soon as the loss of the waggons and horses was generally known, all the
owners came upon me for the valuation which I had given bond to pay.
Their demands gave me a great deal of trouble, my 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,[101] and my assuring them that
I had apply'd to that general by letter; but, he being at a distance, an answer
could not soon be receiv'd, and they must have patience, all this was not
sufficient to satisfy, and some began to sue me. General Shirley at length
relieved me from this terrible situation by appointing commissioners to
examine the claims, and ordering payment. They amounted to near twenty
thousand pound, which to pay would have ruined me.
Before we had the news of this defeat, the two Doctors Bond came to me
with a subscription paper for raising money to defray the expense of a grand
firework, which it was intended to exhibit at a 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 seem'd surpris'd that I did not
immediately comply with their proposal. "Why the d——l!" 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 dropt, 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, continu'd firm, believing they had justice on their side, and that it

would be giving up an essential right if they suffered the governor to amend
their money-bills. In one of the last, indeed, which was for granting fifty
thousand pounds, his propos'd amendment was only of a single word. The
bill express'd "that all estates, real and personal, were to be taxed, those of
the proprietaries not 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, rais'd 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 form'd, with an exempting clause, which
passed accordingly. By this act I was appointed one of the commissioners
for disposing of the money, sixty thousand pounds. I had been active in
modelling the bill and procuring its passage, and had, at the same time,
drawn a bill for establishing and disciplining a voluntary militia, which I
carried thro' the House without much difficulty, as care was taken in it to
leave the Quakers at their liberty. To promote the association necessary to
form the militia, I wrote a dialogue,[102] stating and answering all the
objections I could think of to such a militia, which was printed, and had, as
I thought, great effect.
[96] By chance.
[97] Pittsburg.
[98] Kingston, at the eastern end of Lake Ontario.
[99] Other accounts of this expedition and defeat may be found in Fiske's
Washington and his Country, or Lodge's George Washington, Vol. 1.
[100] A famous Scotch philosopher and historian (1711-1776).
[101] Governor of Massachusetts and commander of the British forces in
America.
[102] This dialogue and the militia act are in the Gentleman's Magazine for
February and March, 1756.—Marg. note.

XVII

FRANKLIN'S DEFENSE OF THE FRONTIER

HILE the several companies in the city and country were
forming, and learning their exercise, the governor prevail'd with
me to take charge of our North-western frontier, which was
infested by the enemy, and provide for the defense of the
inhabitants by raising troops and building a line of forts. I undertook this
military business, tho' I did not conceive myself well qualified for it. He
gave me a commission with full powers, and a parcel of blank commissions
for officers, to be given to whom I thought fit. I had but little difficulty in
raising men, having soon five hundred and sixty under my command. My
son, who had in the preceding war been an officer in the army rais'd against
Canada, was my aid-de-camp, and of great use to me. The Indians had
burned Gnadenhut,[103] 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, 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 plac'd quantities of small paving stones between the windows of their
high stone houses, for their women to throw down upon the heads of any
Indians that should attempt to force into them. The armed brethren, too,
kept watch, and reliev'd as methodically as in any garrison town. In
conversation with the bishop, Spangenberg, I mention'd this my surprise;
for, knowing they had obtained an act of Parliament exempting them from
military duties in the colonies, I had suppos'd they were conscientiously
scrupulous of bearing arms. He answer'd me that it was not one of their
established principles, but that, at the time of their obtaining that act, it was
thought to be a principle with many of their people. On this occasion,
however, they, to their surprise, found it adopted by but a few. It seems they

were either deceiv'd in themselves, or deceiv'd the Parliament; but common
sense, aided by present danger, will sometimes be too strong for whimsical
opinions.
It was the beginning of January when we set out upon this business of
building forts. I sent one detachment toward the Minisink, with instructions
to erect one for the security of that upper part of the country, and another to
the lower part, with similar instructions; and I concluded to go myself with
the rest of my force to Gnadenhut, where a fort was tho't more immediately
necessary. The Moravians procur'd me five waggons for our tools, stores,
baggage, etc.
Just before we left Bethlehem, eleven farmers, who had been driven from
their plantations by the Indians, came to me requesting a supply of firearms,
that they might go back and fetch off their cattle. I gave them each a gun
with suitable ammunition. We had not march'd many miles before it began
to rain, and it continued raining all day; there were no habitations on the
road to shelter us, till we arriv'd near night at the house of a German, where,
and in his barn, we were all huddled together, as wet as water could make
us. It was well we were not attack'd in our march, for our arms were of the
most ordinary sort, and our men could not keep their gun locks[104] 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 escap'd inform'd that his and his companions' guns
would not go off, the priming being wet with the rain.

The next day being fair, we continu'd our march, and arriv'd at the desolated
Gnadenhut. There was a saw-mill near, round which were left several piles
of boards, with which we soon hutted ourselves; an operation the more
necessary at that inclement season, as we had no tents. Our first work was
to bury more effectually the dead we found there, who had been half interr'd
by the country people.
The next morning our fort was plann'd and mark'd out, the circumference
measuring four hundred and fifty-five feet, which would require as many
palisades to be made of trees, one with another, of a foot diameter each. Our
axes, of which we had seventy, were immediately set to work to cut down
trees, and, our men being dexterous in the use of them, great despatch was
made. Seeing the trees fall so fast, I had the curiosity to look at my watch
when two men began to cut at a pine; in six minutes they had it upon the
ground, and I found it of fourteen inches diameter. Each pine made three
palisades of eighteen feet long, pointed at one end. While these were
preparing, our other men dug a trench all round, of three feet deep, in which
the palisades were to be planted; and, our waggons, the bodys being taken
off, and the fore and hind wheels separated by taking out the pin which
united the two parts of the perch,[105] 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 thro' the loopholes. We had one
swivel gun, which we mounted on one of the angles, and fir'd it as soon as
fix'd, to let the Indians know, if any were within hearing, that we had such
pieces; and thus our fort, if such a magnificent name may be given to so
miserable a stockade, was finish'd in a week, though it rain'd so hard every
other day that the men could not work.

"Our axes ... were immediately set to work to cut down trees"

This gave me occasion to observe, that, when men are employ'd, they are
best content'd; for on the days they worked they were good-natur'd and
cheerful, and, with the consciousness of having done a good day's work,
they spent the evening jollily; but on our idle days they were mutinous and
quarrelsome, finding fault with their pork, the bread, etc., and in continual
ill-humour, 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 ventur'd out in parties to scour
the adjacent country. We met with no Indians, but we found the places on
the neighbouring 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 discover'd their position at a

distance. They had therefore dug holes in the ground about three feet
diameter, and somewhat deeper; we saw where they had with their hatchets
cut off the 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
observ'd among the weeds and grass the prints of their bodies, made by
their laying all round, with their legs hanging down in the holes to keep
their feet warm, which, with them, is an essential point. This kind of fire, so
manag'd, could not discover them, either by its light, flame, sparks, or even
smoke: it appear'd that their number was not great, and it seems they saw
we were too many to be attacked by them with 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 serv'd 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 tho't, undertook the office, and, with
the help of a few hands to measure out the liquor, executed it to satisfaction,
and never were prayers more generally and more punctually attended; so
that I thought this method preferable to the punishment inflicted by some
military laws for non-attendance on divine service.
I had hardly finish'd this business, and got my fort well stor'd with
provisions, when I receiv'd a letter from the governor, acquainting me that
he had call'd the Assembly, and wished my attendance there, if the posture
of affairs on 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
compleated, and the inhabitants contented to remain on their farms under
that protection, I resolved to return; the more willingly, as a New England
officer, Colonel Clapham, experienced in Indian war, being on a visit to our
establishment, consented to accept the command. I gave him a commission,
and, parading the garrison, had it read before them, and introduc'd him to
them as an officer who, from his skill in military affairs, was much more fit
to command them than myself; and, giving them a little exhortation, took

my leave. I was escorted as far as Bethlehem, where I rested a few days to
recover from the fatigue I had undergone. The first night, being in a good
bed, I could hardly sleep, it was so different from my hard lodging on the
floor of our hut at Gnaden wrapt only in a blanket or two.
While at Bethlehem, I inquir'd a little into the practice of the Moravians:
some of them had accompanied me, and all were very kind to me. I found
they work'd for a common stock, 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 entertain'd with good musick, the organ being accompanied with
violins, hautboys, flutes, clarinets, etc. I understood that their sermons were
not usually preached to mixed congregations of men, 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 plac'd in rows on benches; the boys under the
conduct of a young man, their tutor, and the girls conducted by a young
woman. The discourse seem'd well adapted to their capacities, and was
delivered in a pleasing, familiar manner, coaxing them, as it were, to be
good. They behav'd very orderly, but looked pale and unhealthy, which
made me suspect they were kept too much within doors, or not allow'd
sufficient exercise.
I inquir'd concerning the Moravian marriages, whether the report was true
that they were by lot. I was told that lots were us'd only in particular cases;
that generally, when a young man found himself dispos'd to marry, he
inform'd the elders of his class, who consulted the elder ladies that govern'd
the young women. As these elders of the different sexes were well
acquainted with the tempers and dispositions of their respective pupils, they
could best judge what matches were suitable, and their judgments were
generally acquiesc'd in; but if, for example, it should happen that two or
three 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," answer'd my informer, "if you let the parties chuse for
themselves;" which, indeed, I could not deny.

Being returned to Philadelphia, I found the association went on
swimmingly, the inhabitants that were not Quakers having pretty generally
come into it, formed themselves into companies, and chose their captains,
lieutenants, and ensigns, according to the new law. Dr. B. visited me, and
gave me an account of the pains he had taken to spread a general good
liking to the law, and ascribed much to those endeavours. 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 field-
pieces, which they had become so expert in the use of as to fire twelve
times in a minute. The first time I reviewed my regiment they accompanied
me to my house, and would salute me with some rounds fired before my
door, which shook down and broke several glasses of my electrical
apparatus. And my new honour proved not much less brittle; for all our
commissions were soon after broken by a repeal of the law in England.
During this short time of my colonelship, being about to set out on a
journey to Virginia, the officers of my regiment took it into their heads that
it would be proper for them to escort me out of town, as far as the Lower
Ferry. Just as I was getting on 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 chagrin'd at their appearance, as I could not avoid their accompanying
me. What made it worse was, that, as soon as we began to move, they drew
their swords and rode with them naked all the way. Somebody wrote an
account of this to the proprietor, and it gave him great offense. No such
honour had been paid him when in the province, nor to any of his
governors; and he said it was only proper to princes of the blood royal,
which may be true for aught I know, who was, and still am, ignorant of the
etiquette in such cases.
This silly affair, however, greatly increased his rancour against me, which
was before not a little, on account of my conduct in the Assembly
respecting the exemption of his estate from taxation, which I had always

oppos'd 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, tho' 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 prevail'd with, if possible, to post his troops on the
frontiers for their protection, till, by reinforcements 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 profess'd
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 dropt, and he
soon after left the government, being superseded by Captain Denny.

[103] Pronounced Gna´-den-hoot.
[104] Flint-lock guns, discharged by means of a spark struck from flint and steel
into powder (priming) in an open pan.
[105] Here the pole connecting the front and rear wheels of a wagon.

XVIII

SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS

EFORE 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.
In 1746, being at Boston, I met there with a Dr. Spence, who was lately
arrived from Scotland, and show'd me some electric experiments. They
were imperfectly perform'd, as he was not very expert; but, being on a
subject quite new to me, they equally surpris'd and pleased me. Soon after
my return to Philadelphia, our library company receiv'd from Mr. P.
Collinson, Fellow of the Royal Society[106] 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 glass-house, with which they furnish'd
themselves, so that we had at length several performers. Among these, the
principal was Mr. Kinnersley, an ingenious neighbour, who, being out of
business, I encouraged to undertake showing the experiments for money,
and drew up for him two lectures, in which the experiments were rang'd in
such order, and accompanied with such explanations in such method, as that
the foregoing should assist in comprehending the following. He procur'd an

elegant apparatus for the purpose, in which all the little machines that I had
roughly made for myself were nicely form'd by instrument-makers. His
lectures were well attended, and gave great satisfaction; and after some time
he went thro' the colonies, exhibiting them in every capital town, and pick'd
up some money. In the West India islands, indeed, it was with difficulty the
experiments could be made, from the general moisture of the air.
Oblig'd as we were to Mr. Collinson for his present of the tube, etc., I
thought it right he should be inform'd of our success in using it, and wrote
him several letters 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,[107] I sent
to Dr. Mitchel, an acquaintance of mine, and one of the members also of
that society, who wrote me word that it had been read, but was laughed at
by the connoisseurs. The papers, however, being shown to Dr. Fothergill, he
thought them of too much value to be stifled, and advis'd the printing of
them. Mr. Collinson then gave them to Cave for 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 swell'd to a quarto
volume, which has had five editions, and cost him nothing for copy-money.
It was, however, some time before those papers were much taken notice of
in England. A copy of them happening to fall into the hands of the Count de
Buffon,[108] a philosopher deservedly of great reputation in France, and,
indeed, all over Europe, he prevailed with M. Dalibard[109] to translate them
into French, and they were printed at Paris. The publication offended the
Abbé Nollet, preceptor in Natural Philosophy to the royal family, and an
able experimenter, who had form'd and publish'd a theory of electricity,
which then had the general vogue. He could not at first believe that such a
work came from America, and said it must have been fabricated by his
enemies at Paris, to decry his system. Afterwards, having been assur'd that
there really existed such a person as Franklin at Philadelphia, which he had
doubted, he wrote and published a volume of Letters, chiefly address'd to
me, defending his theory, and denying the verity of my experiments, and of
the positions deduc'd from them.

I once purpos'd answering the abbé, and actually began the answer; but, on
consideration that my writings contained a description of experiments
which anyone might repeat and verify, and if not to be verifi'd, could not be
defended; or of observations offer'd 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 abbé'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 contain'd was by degrees universally adopted by the philosophers
of Europe, in preference to that of the abbé; so that he lived to see himself
the last of his sect, except Monsieur B——, of Paris, his élève 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 engag'd the public
attention everywhere. M. de Lor, who had an apparatus for experimental
philosophy, and lectur'd in that branch of science, undertook to repeat what
he called the Philadelphia Experiments; and, after they were performed
before the king and court, all the curious of Paris flocked to see them. I will
not swell this narrative with an account of that capital experiment, nor of
the infinite pleasure I receiv'd 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 were in
among the learned abroad, and of their wonder that my writings had been so
little noticed in England. The society, on this, resum'd the consideration of
the letters that had been read to them; and the celebrated Dr. Watson drew
up a summary account of them, and of all I had afterwards sent to England

on the subject, which he accompanied with some praise of the writer. This
summary was then printed in their Transactions; and some members of the
society in London, particularly the very ingenious Mr. Canton, having
verified the experiment of procuring lightning from the clouds by a pointed
rod, and acquainting them with the success, they soon made me more than
amends for the slight with which they had before treated me. Without my
having made any application for that honour, they chose me a member, and
voted that I should be excus'd the customary payments, which would have
amounted to twenty-five guineas; and ever since have given me their
Transactions gratis. They also presented me with the gold medal of Sir
Godfrey Copley[110] for the year 1753, the delivery of which was
accompanied by a very handsome speech of the president, Lord
Macclesfield, wherein I was highly honoured.
[106] The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge was
founded in 1660 and holds the foremost place among English societies for the
advancement of science.
[107]See page 327.
[108] A celebrated French naturalist (1707-1788).
[109] Dalibard, who had translated Franklin's letters to Collinson into French,
was the first to demonstrate, in a practical application of Franklin's experiment,
that lightning and electricity are the same. "This was May 10th, 1752, one month
before Franklin flew his famous kite at Philadelphia and proved the fact
himself."—McMaster.
[110] An English baronet (died in 1709), donator of a fund of £100, "in trust for
the Royal Society of London for improving natural knowledge."

XIX

AGENT OF PENNSYLVANIA IN LONDON

UR 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 engag'd in
drinking, he took me aside into another room, and acquainted me that he
had been advis'd by his friends in England to cultivate a friendship with me,
as one who was capable of giving him the best advice, and of contributing
most 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 towards the province, and of the advantage it
might be to us all, and to me in particular, if the opposition that had been so
long continu'd to his measures was dropt, and harmony restor'd between
him and the people; in effecting which, it was thought no one could be more
serviceable than myself; and I might depend on adequate acknowledgments
and recompenses, etc., etc. The drinkers, finding we did not return
immediately to the table, sent us a decanter of 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 favours 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 propos'd should appear to be for the good of the people,
no one should espouse and forward them more zealously than myself; my
past opposition having been founded on this, that the measures which had
been urged were evidently intended to serve the proprietary interest, with
great prejudice to that of the people; that I was much obliged to him (the
governor) for his professions of regard to me, and that he might rely on
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 instruction his predecessor had been hampered with.
On this he did not then explain himself; but when he afterwards came to do
business with the Assembly, they appear'd 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 publish'd. But between us personally no
enmity arose; we were often together; he was a man of letters, had seen
much of the world, and was very entertaining and pleasing in conversation.
He gave me the first information that my old friend Jas. Ralph was still
alive; that he was esteem'd one of the best political writers in England; had
been employed in the dispute[111] between Prince Frederic and the king, and
had obtain'd a pension of three hundred a year; that his reputation was
indeed small as a poet, Pope having damned his poetry in the Dunciad,[112]
but his prose was thought as good as any man's.
The Assembly finally finding the proprietary obstinately persisted in
manacling their deputies with instructions inconsistent not only with the
privileges of the people, but with the service of the crown, resolv'd to
petition the king against them, and appointed me their agent to go over to
England, to present and support the petition. The House had sent up a bill to
the governor, granting a sum of sixty thousand pounds for the king's use
(ten thousand pounds of which was subjected to the orders of the then
general, Lord Loudoun), which the governor absolutely refus'd to pass, in
compliance with his instructions.
I had agreed with Captain Morris, of the packet at New York, for my
passage, and my stores were put on board, when Lord Loudoun arriv'd at
Philadelphia, expressly, as he told me, to endeavour an accommodation
between the governor and Assembly, that his majesty's service might not be
obstructed by their dissensions. Accordingly, he desir'd the governor and
myself to meet him, that he might hear what was to be said on both sides.
We met and 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 disobey'd, yet seemed not unwilling to
hazard himself if Lord Loudoun would advise it. This his lordship did not
chuse to do, though I once thought I had nearly prevail'd with him to do it;
but finally he rather chose to urge the compliance of the Assembly; and he
entreated me to use my endeavours with them for that 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 expos'd to the enemy.
I acquainted the House with what had pass'd, and, presenting them with a
set of resolutions I had drawn up, declaring our rights, and that we did not
relinquish our claim to those rights, but only suspended the exercise of them
on this occasion thro' force, against which we protested, they at length
agreed to drop that bill, and frame another conformable to the proprietary
instructions. This of course the governor pass'd, and I was then at liberty to
proceed on my voyage. But, in the meantime, 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, 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 sail'd. 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 arriv'd; she too was detain'd; and, before we sail'd, a fourth

was expected. Ours was the first to be dispatch'd, 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
avail'd nothing; his lordship's letters were not ready; and yet whoever
waited on him found him always at his desk, pen in hand, and concluded he
must needs write abundantly.
Going myself one morning to pay my respects, I found in his antechamber
one Innis, a messenger of Philadelphia, who had come from thence express
with a packet from Governor Denny for the general. He delivered to me
some letters from my friends there, which occasion'd my inquiring when he
was to return, and where he lodg'd, that I might send some letters by him.
He told me he was order'd to call to-morrow at nine for the general's answer
to the governor, and should set off immediately. I put my letters into his
hands the same day. A fortnight after I met him again in the same place.
"So, you are soon return'd, Innis?" "Return'd! 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[113] 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 oblig'd to procure more. At length the fleet sail'd, the general and
all his army on board, bound to Louisburg, with the 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 afterwards in London Captain Bonnell, who commanded one of those
packets. He told me that, when he had been detain'd a month, he acquainted
his lordship that his ship was grown foul, to a degree that must necessarily
hinder her fast sailing, a point of consequence for a 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 obtain'd leave,
though detained afterwards from day to day during full three months.
I saw also in London one of Bonnell's passengers, who was so enrag'd
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 wonder'd much how such a man came to be intrusted[114]
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, tho' Shirley was not a bred soldier, he was
sensible and sagacious in himself, and attentive to good advice from others,
capable of forming judicious plans, and quick and active in carrying them
into execution. Loudoun, instead of defending the colonies with his great
army, left them totally expos'd while he paraded idly at Halifax, by which
means Fort George was lost, besides, he derang'd all our mercantile
operations, and distress'd our trade, by a long embargo on the exportation of
provisions, on pretence of keeping supplies from being obtain'd by the
enemy, but in reality for beating down their price in favour 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 Charlestown, the Carolina fleet was detain'd near
three months longer, whereby their bottoms were so much damaged by the
worm that a great part of them foundered in their passage home.
Shirley was, I believe, sincerely glad of being 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, tho'
thereby superseded, was present also. There was a great company of
officers, citizens, and strangers, and, some chairs having been borrowed in
the neighborhood, there was one among them very low, which fell to the lot
of Mr. Shirley. Perceiving it as I sat by him, I said, "They have given you,
sir, too low a seat." "No matter," says he, "Mr. Franklin, I find a low seat
the easiest."
While I was, as afore mention'd, detain'd at New York, I receiv'd all the
accounts of the provisions, etc., that I had furnish'd to Braddock, some of
which accounts could not sooner be obtain'd from the different persons I
had employ'd to assist in the business. I presented them to Lord Loudoun,
desiring to be paid the balance. He caus'd them to be regularly examined by
the proper officer, who, after comparing every article with its voucher,
certified them to be right; and the balance due for which his lordship
promis'd to give me an order on the paymaster. This was, however, put off
from time to time; and tho' I call'd often for it by appointment, I did not get
it. At length, just before my departure, he told me he had, on better
consideration, concluded not to mix his accounts with those of his
predecessors. "And you," says he, "when in England, have only to exhibit
your accounts at the treasury, and you will be paid immediately."
I mention'd, but without effect, the great and unexpected expense I had been
put to by being detain'd so long at New York, as a reason for my desiring to
be presently paid; and on my observing that it was not right I should be put
to any further trouble or delay in obtaining the money I had advanc'd, as I
charged no commission for my service, "O, Sir," says he, "you must not
think of persuading us that you are no gainer; we understand better those
affairs, and know that every one concerned in supplying the army finds

means, in the doing it, to fill his own pockets." I assur'd him that was not
my case, and that I had not pocketed a farthing; but he appear'd clearly not
to believe me; and, indeed, I have since learnt that immense fortunes are
often made in such employments. As to my 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, gain'd upon us, the captain ordered all hands
to come aft, and stand as near the ensign staff as possible. We were,
passengers included, about forty persons. While we stood there, the ship
mended her pace, and soon left her neighbour far behind, which prov'd
clearly what our captain suspected, that she was loaded too much by the
head. The casks of water, it seems, had been all plac'd forward; these he
therefore order'd to be mov'd further aft, on which the ship recover'd her
character, and proved the best sailer in the fleet.
The captain said she had once gone at the rate of thirteen knots, which is
accounted thirteen miles per hour. We had on board, as a passenger, Captain
Kennedy, of the Navy, who contended that it was impossible, and that no
ship ever sailed so fast, and that there must have been some error in the
division of the log-line, or some mistake in heaving the log.[115] A wager
ensu'd between the two captains, to be decided when there should be
sufficient wind. Kennedy thereupon examin'd rigorously the log-line, and,
being satisfi'd with that, he determin'd to throw the log himself.
Accordingly some days after, when the wind blew very fair and fresh, and
the captain of the packet, Lutwidge, said he believ'd she then went at the
rate of thirteen knots, Kennedy made the experiment, and own'd his wager
lost.
The above fact I give for the sake of the following observation. It has been
remark'd, 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 follow'd in a new
one, which has prov'd, on the contrary, remarkably dull. I apprehend that
this may partly be occasion'd 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 form'd, fitted for the sea, and sail'd by the same
person. One man builds the hull, another rigs her, a third lades and sails her.
No one of these has the advantage of knowing all the ideas and experience
of the others, and, therefore, cannot draw just conclusions from a
combination of the whole.
Even in the simple operation of sailing when at sea, I have often observ'd
different judgments in the officers who commanded the successive watches,
the wind being the same. One would have the sails trimm'd sharper or
flatter than another, so that they seem'd to have no certain rule to govern by.
Yet I think a set of experiments might be instituted; first, to determine the
most proper form of the hull for swift sailing; next, the best dimensions and
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 combin'd
would be of great use. I am persuaded, therefore, that ere long some
ingenious philosopher will undertake it, to whom I wish success.

We were several times chas'd in our passage, but out-sail'd every thing, and
in thirty days had soundings. We had a good observation, and the captain
judg'd himself so near our port, Falmouth, that, if we made a good run in
the night, we might be off the mouth of that harbor in the morning, and by
running in the night might escape the notice of the enemy's privateers, who
often cruis'd near the entrance of the channel. Accordingly, all the 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,
shap'd his course, as he thought, so as to pass wide of the Scilly Isles; but it
seems there is sometimes a strong indraught setting up St. George's
Channel, which deceives seamen and caused the loss of Sir Cloudesley
Shovel's squadron. This indraught was probably the cause of what happened
to us.
We had a watchman plac'd in the bow, to whom they often called, "Look
well out before there," and he as often answered, "Ay, ay"; but perhaps had
his eyes shut, and was half asleep at the time, they sometimes answering, as
is said, mechanically; for he did not see a light just before us, which had
been hid by the studding-sails from the man at the helm, and from the rest
of the watch, but by an accidental yaw of the ship was discover'd, and
occasion'd a great alarm, we being very near it, the light appearing to me as
big as a cartwheel. 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 more of them in America if I should live to return
there.
In the morning it was found by the soundings, etc., that we were near our
port, but a thick fog hid the land from our sight. About nine o'clock the fog
began to rise, and seem'd to be lifted up from the water like the curtain at a
play-house, discovering underneath, the town of Falmouth, the vessels in its
harbor, and the fields that surrounded it. This was a most pleasing spectacle
to those who had been so long without any other prospects than the uniform
view of a vacant ocean, and it gave us the more pleasure as we were now
free from the anxieties which the state of war occasion'd.
I set out immediately, with my son, for London, and we only stopt a little by
the way to view Stonehenge[116] 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.[117]
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 advis'd to obtain. He was
against an immediate complaint to government, and thought the
proprietaries should first be personally appli'd to, who might possibly be
induc'd by the interposition and persuasion of some private friends, to
accommodate matters amicably. I then waited on my old friend and
correspondent, Mr. Peter Collinson, who told me that John Hanbury, the
great Virginia merchant, had requested to be informed when I should arrive,
that he might carry me to Lord Granville's,[118] 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 receiv'd me with great civility; and
after some questions respecting the present state of affairs in America and
discourse thereupon, he said to me: "You Americans have wrong ideas of
the nature of your constitution; you contend that the king's instructions to
his governors are not laws, and think yourselves at liberty to regard or
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,"[119] 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 assur'd me I was
totally mistaken. I did not think so, however, and his lordship's conversation
having a little alarm'd me as to what might be the sentiments of the court
concerning us, I wrote it down as soon as I return'd to my lodgings. I
recollected that about 20 years before, a clause in a bill brought into
Parliament by the ministry had propos'd 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
towards us in 1765 it seem'd that they had refus'd that point of sovereignty
to the king only that they might reserve it for themselves.
With his keen insight into human nature and his consequent knowledge of
American character, he foresaw the inevitable result of such an attitude on
the part of England. This conversation with Grenville makes these last
pages of the Autobiography one of its most important parts.
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
justify'd 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 promis'd then to
consider them. I did so soon after, but they put the paper into the hands of
their solicitor, Ferdinand John Paris, who managed for them all their law
business in their great suit with the neighbouring proprietary of Maryland,
Lord Baltimore, which had subsisted 70 years, and wrote for them all their
papers and 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 declin'd the proprietary's proposal
that he and I should discuss the heads of complaint between our two selves,
and refus'd treating with anyone 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 learnt, for they did not communicate it to
me, but sent a long message to the Assembly drawn and signed by Paris,
reciting my paper, complaining of its want of formality, as a rudeness on my
part, and giving a flimsy justification of their conduct, adding that they
should be willing to accommodate matters if the Assembly would send out
some person of candour to treat with them for that purpose, intimating
thereby that I was not such.

"We now appeared very wide, and so far from each other in our opinions as to
discourage all hope of agreement"

The want of formality or rudeness was, probably, my not having address'd
the paper to them with their assum'd titles of True and Absolute
Proprietaries of the Province of Pennsylvania, which I omitted as not
thinking it necessary in a paper, the intention of which was only to reduce to
a certainty by writing, what in conversation I had delivered viva voce.
But during this delay, the Assembly having prevailed with Gov'r Denny to
pass an act taxing the proprietary estate in common with the estates of the
people, which was the grand point in dispute, they omitted answering the
message.
When this act however came over, the proprietaries, counselled 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 employ'd by them against the act, and two by me in support of
it. They alledg'd that the act was intended to load the proprietary estate in
order to spare those of the people, and that if it were suffer'd to continue in
force, and the proprietaries, who were in odium with the people, left to their
mercy in proportioning the taxes, they would inevitably be ruined. We
reply'd that the act had no such intention, and would have no such effect.
That the assessors were honest 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,
£100,000, being printed and given to the king's use, expended in his service,
and now spread among the people, the repeal would strike it dead in their
hands to the ruin of many, and the total discouragement of future grants,
and the selfishness of the proprietors in soliciting such a general
catastrophe, merely from a groundless fear of their estate being taxed too
highly, was insisted on in the 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 answer'd, "None at all." He then
call'd in Paris, and after some discourse, his lordship's proposition was
accepted on both sides; a paper to the purpose was drawn up by the Clerk of
the Council, which I sign'd with Mr. Charles, who was also an Agent of the
Province for their ordinary affairs, when Lord Mansfield returned to the
Council Chamber, where finally the law was allowed to pass. Some changes
were however recommended and we also engaged they should be made by
a subsequent law, but the Assembly did not think them necessary; for one
year's tax having been levied by the act before the order of Council arrived,
they appointed a committee to examine the proceedings of the assessors,
and on this committee they put several particular friends of the
proprietaries. After a full enquiry, they unanimously sign'd a report that they
found the tax had been assess'd with perfect equity.
The Assembly looked into my entering into the first part of the engagement,
as an essential service to the Province, since it secured the credit of the
paper money then spread over all the country. They gave me their thanks in
form when I return'd. But the proprietaries were enraged at Governor
Denny for having pass'd the act, and turn'd him out with threats of suing
him for breach of 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, despis'd the
threats and they were never put in execution.... [unfinished]
[111] Quarrel between George II and his son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, who
died before his father.
[112] A satirical poem by Alexander Pope directed against various contemporary
writers.
[113] William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), a great English statesman
and orator. Under his able administration, England won Canada from France. He
was a friend of America at the time of our Revolution.
[114] This relation illustrates the corruption that characterized English public life
in the eighteenth century. (See page 308). It was gradually overcome in the early
part of the next century.
[115] A piece of wood shaped and weighted so as to keep it stable when in the
water. To this is attached a line knotted at regular distances. By these devices it is
possible to tell the speed of a ship.
[116] A celebrated prehistoric ruin, probably of a temple built by the early
Britons, near Salisbury, England. It consists of inner and outer circles of

enormous stones, some of which are connected by stone slabs.
[117] "Here terminates the Autobiography, as published by Wm. Temple
Franklin and his successors. What follows was written in the last year of Dr.
Franklin's life, and was never before printed in English."—Mr. Bigelow's note in
his edition of 1868.
[118] George Granville or Grenville (1712-1770). As English premier from 1763
to 1765, he introduced the direct taxation of the American Colonies and has
sometimes been called the immediate cause of the Revolution.
[119] This whole passage shows how hopelessly divergent were the English and
American views on the relations between the mother country and her colonies.
Grenville here made clear that the Americans were to have no voice in making or
amending their laws. Parliament and the king were to have absolute power over
the colonies. No wonder Franklin was alarmed by this new doctrine.

APPENDIX

ELECTRICAL KITE

To Peter Collinson
[Philadelphia], Oct. 19, 1752.
Sir,
As frequent mention is made in public papers from Europe of the success of
the Philadelphia experiment for drawing the electric fire from clouds by
means of pointed rods of iron erected on high buildings, &c., it may be

agreeable to the curious to be informed, that the same experiment has
succeeded in Philadelphia, though made in a different and more easy
manner, which is as follows:
Make a small cross of two light strips of cedar, the arms so long as to reach
to the four corners of a large, thin silk handkerchief when extended; tie the
corners of the handkerchief to the extremities of the cross, so you have the
body of a kite; which being properly accommodated with a tail, loop, and
string, will rise in the air, like those made of paper; but this being of silk, is
fitter to bear the wet and wind of a thunder-gust without tearing. To the top
of the upright stick of the cross is to be fixed a very sharp-pointed wire,
rising a foot or more above the wood. To the end of the twine, next the
hand, is to be tied a silk ribbon, and where the silk and twine join, a key
may be fastened. This kite is to be raised when a thunder-gust appears to be
coming on, and the person who holds the string must stand within a door or
window, or under some cover, so that the silk ribbon may not be wet; and
care must be taken that the twine does not touch the frame of the door or
window. As soon as any of the thunder clouds come over the kite, the
pointed wire will draw the electric fire from them, and the kite, with all the
twine will be electrified, and the loose filaments of the twine will stand out
every way and be attracted by an approaching finger. And when the rain has
wet the kite and twine, so that it can conduct the electric fire freely, you will
find it stream out plentifully from the key on the approach of your knuckle.
At this key the phial may be charged; and from electric fire thus obtained,
spirits may be kindled, and all the electric experiments be performed, which
are usually done by the help of a rubbed glass globe or tube, and thereby the
sameness of the electric matter with that of lightning completely
demonstrated.
B. Franklin.

"You will find it stream out plentifully from the key on the approach of your
knuckle"

Father Abraham in his Study.

From "Father Abraham's Speech," 1760. Reproduced from a copy at the
New York Public Library.

THE WAY TO WEALTH

(From "Father Abraham's Speech," forming the preface to Poor Richard's
Almanac for 1758.)
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, if we reckon all that is spent in absolute Sloth, or doing of
nothing, with that which is spent in idle Employments or Amusements, that
amount to nothing. Sloth, by bringing on Diseases, absolutely shortens Life.
Sloth, like Rust, consumes faster than 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's 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 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, as Poor Richard says; and He that riseth late
must trot all Day, and shall scarce overtake his Business at Night; while
Laziness travels so slowly, that Poverty soon overtakes him, as we read in
Poor Richard, who adds, Drive thy Business, let not that drive thee; and
Early to Bed, and early to rise, makes a Man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Industry need not wish, and he that lives upon Hope will die fasting.
There are no Gains without Pains.
He that hath a Trade hath an Estate; and he that hath a Calling, hath an
Office of Profit and Honor; but then the Trade must be worked at, and the
Calling well followed, or neither the Estate nor the Office will enable us to
pay our Taxes.
What though you have found no Treasure, nor has any rich Relation left you
a Legacy, Diligence is the Mother of Good-luck, as Poor Richard says, and
God gives all Things to Industry.
One To-day is worth two To-morrows, and farther, Have you somewhat to
do To-morrow, do it To-day.
If you were a Servant, would you not be ashamed that a good Master should
catch you idle? Are you then your own Master, be ashamed to catch
yourself idle.
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; so that, as
Poor Richard says, A Life of Leisure and a Life of Laziness are two things.
Keep thy Shop, and thy Shop will keep thee; and again, If you would have
your business done, go; if not, send.
If you would have a faithful Servant, and one that you like, serve yourself.
A little Neglect may breed great Mischief: adding, for want of a Nail the
Shoe was lost; for want of a Shoe the Horse was lost; and for want of a
Horse the Rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the Enemy; all for
the want of Care about a Horse-shoe Nail.
So much for Industry, my Friends, and Attention to one's own Business; but
to these we must add Frugality.
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 what Poor Richard says, Many a Little
makes a Mickle.
Beware of little expenses; A small Leak will sink a great Ship; and again,
Who Dainties love, shall Beggars prove; and moreover, Fools make Feasts,
and wise Men eat them.
Buy what thou hast no Need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy Necessaries.
If you would know the Value of Money, go and try to borrow some; for, he
that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing.
The second Vice is Lying, the first is running in Debt.
Lying rides upon Debt's Back.
Poverty often deprives a Man of all Spirit and Virtue: 'Tis hard for an empty
Bag to stand upright.

And now to conclude, Experience keeps a dear School, but Fools will learn
in no other, and scarce in that; for it is true, we may give Advice, but we
cannot give Conduct, as Poor Richard says: However, remember this, They
that won't be counseled, can't be helped, as Poor Richard says: and farther,
That if you will not hear Reason, she'll surely rap your Knuckles.

THE WHISTLE

To Madame Brillon
Passy, November 10, 1779.
I am charmed with your description of Paradise, and with your plan of
living there; and I approve much of your conclusion, that, in the meantime,
we should draw all the good we can from this world. In my opinion, we
might all draw more good from it than we do, and suffer less evil, if we
would take care not to give too much for whistles. For to me it seems, that
most of the unhappy people we meet with, are become so by neglect of that
caution.
You ask what I mean? You love stories, and will excuse my telling one of
myself.
When I was a child of seven year old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my
pocket with coppers. I went directly to a shop where they sold toys for
children; and being charmed with the sound of a whistle, that I met by the
way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered and gave all my
money for one. I then came home, and went whistling all over the house,
much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers,
and sisters, and cousins, understanding the bargain I had made, told me I
had given four times as much for it as it was worth; put me in mind what
good things I might have bought with the rest of the money; and laughed at
me so much for my folly, that I cried with vexation; and the reflection gave
me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure.

This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing on
my mind; so that often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing,
I said to myself, Don't give too much for the whistle; and I saved my money.
As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I
thought I met with many, very many, who gave too much for the whistle.
When I saw one too ambitious of court favor, sacrificing his time in
attendance on levees, his repose, his liberty, his virtue, and perhaps his
friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, This man gives too much for his
whistle.
When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself in
political bustles, neglecting his own affairs, and ruining them by neglect, He
pays, indeed, said I, too much for his whistle.
If I knew a miser who gave up every kind of comfortable living, all the
pleasure of doing good to others, all the esteem of his fellow citizens, and
the joys of benevolent friendship, for the sake of accumulating wealth, Poor
man, said I, you pay too much for your whistle.
When I met with a man of pleasure, sacrificing every laudable improvement
of the mind, or of his fortune, to mere corporeal sensations, and ruining his
health in their pursuit, Mistaken man, said I, you are providing pain for
yourself, instead of pleasure; you give too much for your whistle.
If I see one fond of appearance, or fine clothes, fine houses, fine furniture,
fine equipages, all above his fortune, for which he contracts debts, and ends
his career in a prison, Alas! say I, he has paid dear, very dear, for his
whistle.
When I see a beautiful, sweet-tempered girl married to an ill-natured brute
of a husband, What a pity, say I, that she should pay so much for a whistle!
In short, I conceive that great part of the miseries of mankind are brought
upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value of things, and
by their giving too much for their whistles.
Yet I ought to have charity for these unhappy people, when I consider, that,
with all this wisdom of which I am boasting, there are certain things in the

world so tempting, for example, the apples of King John, which happily are
not to be bought; for if they were put to sale by auction, I might very easily
be led to ruin myself in the purchase, and find that I had once more given
too much for the whistle.
Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever yours very sincerely and with
unalterable affection,
B. Franklin.

A LETTER TO SAMUEL MATHER

Passy, May 12, 1784.
Revd Sir,
It is now more than 60 years since I left Boston, but I remember well both
your father and grandfather, having heard them both in the pulpit, and seen
them in their houses. The last time I saw your father was in the beginning of
1724, when I visited him after my first trip to Pennsylvania. He received me
in his library, and on my taking leave showed me a shorter way out of the
house through a narrow passage, which was crossed by a beam overhead.
We were still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I
turning partly towards him, when he said hastily, "Stoop, stoop!" I did not
understand him, till I felt my head hit against the beam. He was a man that
never missed any occasion of giving instruction, and upon this he said to
me, "You are young, and have the world before you; stoop as you go
through it, and you will miss many hard thumps." This advice, thus beat into
my head, has frequently been of use to me; and I often think of it, when I
see pride mortified, and misfortunes brought upon people by their carrying
their heads too high.
B. Franklin.
THE END

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The last and most complete edition of Franklin's works is that by the late
Professor Albert H. Smyth, published in ten volumes by the Macmillan
Company, New York, under the title, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin.
The other standard edition is the Works of Benjamin Franklin by John
Bigelow (New York, 1887). Mr. Bigelow's first edition of the
Autobiography in one volume was published by the J. B. Lippincott
Company of Philadelphia in 1868. The life of Franklin as a writer is well
treated by J. B. McMaster in a volume of The American Men of Letters
Series; his life as a statesman and diplomat, by J. T. Morse, American
Statesmen Series, one volume; Houghton, Mifflin Company publish both
books. A more exhaustive account of the life and times of Franklin may be
found in James Parton's Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin (2 vols., New
York, 1864). Paul Leicester Ford's The Many-Sided Franklin is a most
chatty and readable book, replete with anecdotes and excellently and fully
illustrated. An excellent criticism by Woodrow Wilson introduces an edition
of the Autobiography in The Century Classics (Century Co., New York,
1901). Interesting magazine articles are those of E. E. Hale, Christian
Examiner, lxxi, 447; W. P. Trent, McClure's Magazine, viii, 273; John Hay,
The Century Magazine, lxxi, 447.
See also the histories of American literature by C. F. Richardson, Moses
Coit Tyler, Brander Matthews, John Nichol, and Barrett Wendell, as well as
the various encyclopedias. An excellent bibliography of Franklin is that of
Paul Leicester Ford, entitled A List of Books Written by, or Relating to
Benjamin Franklin (New York, 1889).
The following list of Franklin's works contains the more interesting
publications, together with the dates of first issue.
1722. Dogood Papers.
Letters in the style of Addison's Spectator, contributed to James
Franklin's newspaper and signed "Silence Dogood."
1729. The Busybody.

A series of essays published in Bradford's Philadelphia Weekly
Mercury, six of which only are ascribed to Franklin. They are
essays on morality, philosophy and politics, similar to the
Dogood Papers.
1729. A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper
Currency.
1732. Prefaces to Poor Richard's Almanac.
to Among these are Hints for those that would be Rich, 1737; and
1757. Plan for saving one hundred thousand pounds to New Jersey,
1756.
1743. A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge Among the British
Plantations in America.
"This paper appears to contain the first suggestion, in any public
form, for an American Philosophical Society." Sparks.
1744. An Account of the New Invented Pennsylvania Fire-Places.
1749. Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania.
Contains the plan for the school which later became the
University of Pennsylvania.
1752. Electrical Kite.
A description of the famous kite experiment, first written in a
letter to Peter Collinson, dated Oct. 19, 1752, which was
published later in the same year in The Gentleman's Magazine
1754. Plan of Union.
A plan for the union of the colonies presented to the colonial
convention at Albany.
1755. A Dialogue Between X, Y and Z.
An appeal to enlist in the provincial army for the defense of
Pennsylvania.
1758. Father Abraham's Speech.
Published as a preface to Poor Richard's Almanac and gathering
into one writing the maxims of Poor Richard, which had already
appeared in previous numbers of the Almanac. The Speech was
afterwards published in pamphlet form as the Way to Wealth.
1760. Of the Means of disposing the enemy to Peace.
A satirical plea for procecution of the war against France,

1760. The Interest of Great Britain Considered, with regard to her
Colonies, and the Acquisitions of Canada and Guadaloupe.
1764. Cool Thoughts on the Present Situation of our Public Affairs.
A pamphlet favoring a Royal Government for Pennsylvania in
exchange for that of the Proprietors.
1766. The Examination of Doctor Benjamin Franklin, etc., in The British
House of Commons, Relative to The Repeal of The American
Stamp Act.
1766. Rules by which A Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One.
Some twenty satirical rules embodying the line of conduct
England was pursuing with America.
1773. An Edict of The King of Prussia.
A satire in which the King of Prussia was made to treat England
as England was treating America because England was
originally settled by Germans.
1777. Comparison of Great Britain and the United States in Regard to the
Basis of Credit in The Two Countries.
One of several similar pamphlets written to effect loans for the
American cause.
1782. On the Theory of the Earth.
The best of Franklin's papers on geology.
1782. Letter purporting to emanate from a petty German Prince and to be
addressed to his officer in Command in America.
1785. On the Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimneys.
1786. Retort Courteous.
Sending Felons to America.
Answers to the British clamor for the payment of American
debts.
1789. Address to the Public from the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting
Abolition of Slavery.
1789. An Account of the Supremest Court of Judicature in Pennsylvania,
viz. The Court of the Press.
1790. Martin's Account of his Consulship.
A parody of a pro-slavery speech in Congress.
1791. Autobiography.

The first edition.
1818. Bagatelles.
The Bagatelles were first published in 1818 in William Temple
Franklin's edition of his grandfather's works. The following are
the most famous of these essays and the dates when they were
written:
1774? A Parable Against Persecution.
Franklin called this the LI Chapter of Genesis.
1774? A Parable on Brotherly Love.
1778 The Ephemera, an Emblem of Human Life.
A new rendition of an earlier essay on Human
Vanity.
1779 The Story of the Whistle.
1779? The Levee.
1779? Proposed New Version of the Bible.
Part of the first chapter of Job modernized.
(1779 Published) The Morals of Chess.
1780? The Handsome and Deformed Leg.
1780 Dialogue between Franklin and the Gout.
(Published in 1802.)
1802. A Petition of the Left Hand.
1806. The Art of Procuring Pleasant Dreams.

MEDAL GIVEN BY THE BOSTON PUBLIC
SCHOOLS FROM THE FRANKLIN FUND

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