Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

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Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Chapter 1

¹Produced by Turgut Dincer, Brian Sogard and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: FRANKLIN ARMS] [Illustration: FRANKLIN SEAL] [Illustration: Franklin at the Court of Louis XVI "He was therefore, feasted and invited to all the court parties. ²At these he sometimes met the old Duchess of Bourbon, who, being a chess player of about his force, they very generally played together. ³Happening once to put her king into prize, the Doctor took it. ⁴'Ah,' says she, 'we do not take kings so.' ⁵'We do in America,' said the Doctor."--Thomas Jefferson.] ⁶AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WITH ILLUSTRATIONS _by_ E. ⁷BOYD SMITH EDITED _by_ FRANK WOODWORTH PINE [Illustration: Printers Mark] _New York_ HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1916 Copyright, 1916, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY June, 1922 THE QUINN & BODEN CO. ⁸PRESS RAHWAY, N. ⁹CONTENTS PAGE Introduction vii The Autobiography I. ¹⁰Ancestry and Early Life in Boston 3 II. ¹¹Beginning Life as a Printer 21 III. ¹²Arrival in Philadelphia 41 IV. ¹³First Visit to Boston 55 V. ¹⁴Early Friends in Philadelphia 69 VI. ¹⁵First Visit to London 77 VII. ¹⁶Beginning Business in Philadelphia 99 VIII. ¹⁷Business Success and First Public Service 126 IX. ¹⁸Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection 146 X. ¹⁹_Poor Richard's Almanac_ and Other Activities 169 XI. ²⁰Interest in Public Affairs 188 XII. ²¹Defense of the Province 201 XIII. ²²Public Services and Duties 217 XIV. ²³Albany Plan of Union 241 XV. ²⁴Quarrels with the Proprietary Governors 246 XVI. ²⁵Braddock's Expedition 253 XVII. ²⁶Franklin's Defense of the Frontier 274 XVIII. ²⁷Scientific Experiments 289 XIX. ²⁸Agent of Pennsylvania in London 296 Appendix Electrical Kite 327 The Way to Wealth 331 The Whistle 336 A Letter to Samuel Mather 34O Bibliography 343 ILLUSTRATIONS Franklin at the Court of Louis XVI _Frontispiece_ "He was therefore, feasted and invited to all the court parties. ²⁹At these he sometimes met the old Duchess of Bourbon, who, being a chess player of about his force, they very generally played together. ³⁰Happening once to put her king into prize, the Doctor took it. ³¹'Ah,' says she, 'we do not take kings so.' ³²'We do in America,' said the Doctor."--Thomas Jefferson. ³³PAGE 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. ³⁴I 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." ³⁵[Illustration: B. ³⁶Franklin From an engraving by J. ³⁷Thomson from the original picture by J. ³⁸Duplessis] [Illustration: B. ³⁹Franklin's signature] INTRODUCTION We 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. ⁴⁰Most 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. ⁴¹While 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. ⁴²In 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. ⁴³While we are fascinated by the story, we absorb the human experience through which a strong and helpful character is building. ⁴⁴The 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. ⁴⁵Franklin told the story of his life, as he himself says, for the benefit of his posterity. ⁴⁶He wanted to help them by the relation of his own rise from obscurity and poverty to eminence and wealth. ⁴⁷He 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. ⁴⁸There is nothing of the impossible in the method and practice of Franklin as he sets them forth. ⁴⁹The 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. ⁵⁰There are other reasons why the _Autobiography_ should be an intimate friend of American young people. ⁵¹Here they may establish a close relationship with one of the foremost Americans as well as one of the wisest men of his age. ⁵²The 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. ⁵³Franklin shares with Washington the honors of the Revolution, and of the events leading to the birth of the new nation. ⁵⁴While Washington was the animating spirit of the struggle in the colonies, Franklin was its ablest champion abroad. ⁵⁵To 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. ⁵⁶His 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. ⁵⁷In fact, Franklin as a public man was much like Washington, especially in the entire disinterestedness of his public service. ⁵⁸Franklin 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. ⁵⁹It 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. ⁶⁰Franklin is a good type of our American manhood. ⁶¹Although 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. ⁶²The 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. ⁶³It is in itself a wonderful illustration of the results possible to be attained in a land of unequaled opportunity by following Franklin's maxims. ⁶⁴Franklin's fame, however, was not confined to his own country. ⁶⁵Although 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. ⁶⁶Distinguished 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." ⁶⁷Franklin has indeed been aptly called "many-sided." ⁶⁸He was eminent in science and public service, in diplomacy and in literature. ⁶⁹He was the Edison of his day, turning his scientific discoveries to the benefit of his fellow-men. ⁷⁰He perceived the identity of lightning and electricity and set up the lightning rod. ⁷¹He invented the Franklin stove, still widely used, and refused to patent it. ⁷²He possessed a masterly shrewdness in business and practical affairs. ⁷³Carlyle called him the father of all the Yankees. ⁷⁴He founded a fire company, assisted in founding a hospital, and improved the cleaning and lighting of streets. ⁷⁵He developed journalism, established the American Philosophical Society, the public library in Philadelphia, and the University of Pennsylvania. ⁷⁶He organized a postal system for the colonies, which was the basis of the present United States Post Office. ⁷⁷Bancroft, the eminent historian, called him "the greatest diplomatist of his century." ⁷⁸He perfected the Albany Plan of Union for the colonies. ⁷⁹He 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. ⁸⁰As a writer, he has produced, in his _Autobiography_ and in _Poor Richard's Almanac_, two works that are not surpassed by similar writing. ⁸¹He received honorary degrees from Harvard and Yale, from Oxford and St. ⁸²Andrews, and was made a fellow of the Royal Society, which awarded him the Copley gold medal for improving natural knowledge. ⁸³He was one of the eight foreign associates of the French Academy of Science. ⁸⁴The careful study of the _Autobiography_ is also valuable because of the style in which it is written. ⁸⁵If 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. ⁸⁶Franklin'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. ⁸⁷Sir 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. ⁸⁸The style and manner of his publication on electricity are almost as worthy of admiration as the doctrine it contains." ⁸⁹Franklin's place in literature is hard to determine because he was not primarily a literary man. ⁹⁰His aim in his writings as in his life work was to be helpful to his fellow-men. ⁹¹For him writing was never an end in itself, but always a means to an end. ⁹²Yet 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. ⁹³"His letters charmed all, and made his correspondence eagerly sought. ⁹⁴His political arguments were the joy of his party and the dread of his opponents. ⁹⁵His 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."[ ⁹⁶1] [1] _The Many-Sided Franklin. ⁹⁷_ Paul L. ⁹⁸Ford. ⁹⁹As far as American literature is concerned, Franklin has no contemporaries. ¹⁰⁰Before 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. ¹⁰¹Franklin was the first American author to gain a wide and permanent reputation in Europe. ¹⁰²The _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. ¹⁰³Franklin must also be classed as the first American humorist. ¹⁰⁴English literature of the eighteenth century was characterized by the development of prose. ¹⁰⁵Periodical literature reached its perfection early in the century in _The Tatler_ and _The Spectator_ of Addison and Steele. ¹⁰⁶Pamphleteers flourished throughout the period. ¹⁰⁷The 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. ¹⁰⁸This 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_. ¹⁰⁹Gibbon wrote _The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, Hume his _History of England_, and Adam Smith the _Wealth of Nations_. ¹¹⁰In the simplicity and vigor of his style Franklin more nearly resembles the earlier group of writers. ¹¹¹In his first essays he was not an inferior imitator of Addison. ¹¹²In his numerous parables, moral allegories, and apologues he showed Bunyan's influence. ¹¹³But Franklin was essentially a journalist. ¹¹⁴In his swift, terse style, he is most like Defoe, who was the first great English journalist and master of the newspaper narrative. ¹¹⁵The style of both writers is marked by homely, vigorous expression, satire, burlesque, repartee. ¹¹⁶Here the comparison must end. ¹¹⁷Defoe and his contemporaries were authors. ¹¹⁸Their vocation was writing and their success rests on the imaginative or creative power they displayed. ¹¹⁹To authorship Franklin laid no claim. ¹²⁰He wrote no work of the imagination. ¹²¹He developed only incidentally a style in many respects as remarkable as that of his English contemporaries. ¹²²He 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. ¹²³The 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. ¹²⁴The _Autobiography_ is Franklin's longest work, and yet it is only a fragment. ¹²⁵The 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. ¹²⁶The entire manuscript shows little evidence of revision. ¹²⁷In 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. ¹²⁸Franklin began the story of his life while on a visit to his friend, Bishop Shipley, at Twyford, in Hampshire, southern England, in 1771. ¹²⁹He took the manuscript, completed to 1731, with him when he returned to Philadelphia in 1775. ¹³⁰It 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. ¹³¹Twenty-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. ¹³²Franklin took up the work at Passy in 1784 and carried the narrative forward a few months. ¹³³He changed the plan to meet his new purpose of writing to benefit the young reader. ¹³⁴His work was soon interrupted and was not resumed until 1788, when he was at home in Philadelphia. ¹³⁵He was now old, infirm, and suffering, and was still engaged in public service. ¹³⁶Under these discouraging conditions the work progressed slowly. ¹³⁷It finally stopped when the narrative reached the year 1757. ¹³⁸Copies of the manuscript were sent to friends of Franklin in England and France, among others to Monsieur Le Veillard at Paris. ¹³⁹The first edition of the _Autobiography_ was published in French at Paris in 1791. ¹⁴⁰It was clumsily and carelessly translated, and was imperfect and unfinished. ¹⁴¹Where the translator got the manuscript is not known. ¹⁴²Le Veillard disclaimed any knowledge of the publication. ¹⁴³From 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. ¹⁴⁴In the meantime the original manuscript of the _Autobiography_ had started on a varied and adventurous career. ¹⁴⁵It was left by Franklin with his other works to his grandson, William Temple Franklin, whom Franklin designated as his literary executor. ¹⁴⁶When 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. ¹⁴⁷The original manuscript thus found its way to the Le Veillard family and connections, where it remained until sold in 1867 to Mr. ¹⁴⁸John Bigelow, United States Minister to France. ¹⁴⁹By him it was later sold to Mr. ¹⁵⁰Dwight Church of New York, and passed with the rest of Mr. ¹⁵¹Church's library into the possession of Mr. ¹⁵²Henry E. ¹⁵³Huntington. ¹⁵⁴The original manuscript of Franklin's _Autobiography_ now rests in the vault in Mr. ¹⁵⁵Huntington's residence at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street, New York City. ¹⁵⁶When Mr. ¹⁵⁷Bigelow 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_. ¹⁵⁸Temple Franklin had taken unwarranted liberties with the original. ¹⁵⁹Mr. ¹⁶⁰Bigelow says he found more than twelve hundred changes in the text. ¹⁶¹In 1868, therefore, Mr. ¹⁶²Bigelow published the standard edition of Franklin's _Autobiography_. ¹⁶³It 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. ¹⁶⁴Mr. ¹⁶⁵Bigelow republished the _Autobiography_, with additional interesting matter, in three volumes in 1875, in 1905, and in 1910. ¹⁶⁶The text in this volume is that of Mr. ¹⁶⁷Bigelow's editions.[ ¹⁶⁸2] [2] For the division into chapters and the chapter titles, however, the present editor is responsible. ¹⁶⁹The _Autobiography_ has been reprinted in the United States many scores of times and translated into all the languages of Europe. ¹⁷⁰It has never lost its popularity and is still in constant demand at circulating libraries. ¹⁷¹The reason for this popularity is not far to seek. ¹⁷²For in this work Franklin told in a remarkable manner the story of a remarkable life. ¹⁷³He displayed hard common sense and a practical knowledge of the art of living. ¹⁷⁴He selected and arranged his material, perhaps unconsciously, with the unerring instinct of the journalist for the best effects. ¹⁷⁵His success is not a little due to his plain, clear, vigorous English. ¹⁷⁶He used short sentences and words, homely expressions, apt illustrations, and pointed allusions. ¹⁷⁷Franklin had a most interesting, varied, and unusual life. ¹⁷⁸He was one of the greatest conversationalists of his time. ¹⁷⁹His book is the record of that unusual life told in Franklin's own unexcelled conversational style. ¹⁸⁰It 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. ¹⁸¹In the _Autobiography_ a no less remarkable man and talker than Samuel Johnson is telling his own story throughout. ¹⁸²The Gilman Country School, Baltimore, September, 1916. ¹⁸³[Illustration: Pages 1 and 4 of The Pennsylvania Gazette, the first number after Franklin took control. ¹⁸⁴Reduced nearly one-half. ¹⁸⁵Reproduced from a copy at the New York Public Library.] ¹⁸⁶[Transcriber's note: Transcription of these pages are given at the end of the text.] ¹⁸⁷AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

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