Letter III (part 2 of 2)
[Footnote 95: Franklin writes to William Carmichael (Passy, June 17, 1780): "The Moulin Joli is a little island in the Seine about two leagues hence, part of the country-seat of another friend [Claude-Henri Watelet], where we visit every summer, and spend a day in the pleasing society of the ingenious, learned, and very polite persons who inhabit it. At the time when the letter was written, all conversations at Paris were filled with disputes about the music of Gluck and Picini, a German and Italian musician, who divided the town into violent parties. A friend of this lady [Madame Brillon] having obtained a copy of it, under a promise not to give another, did not observe that promise; so that many have been taken, and it is become as public as such a thing can well be, that is not printed; but I could not dream of its being heard of at Madrid! The thought was partly taken from a little piece of some unknown writer, which I met with fifty years since in a newspaper, and which the sight of the Ephemera brought to my recollection" (Writings, VIII, 100). A. H. Smyth observes that it is generally thought that the Ephemera is a reworking of an essay on "Human Vanity" which appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette, Dec. 4, 1735. Also see M. K. Jackson, op. cit; 75; and L. S. Livingston, Franklin and His Press at Passy (New York, 1914), 30. Compare Wm. Bartram's similar description of Ephemera in his Travels ed. by M. Van Doren (An American Bookshelf), New York, 1928, 88-9. See H. H. Clark's Introduction to Poems of Freneau (New York, 1929), xlvii-lviii, for provocative discussion of the degree to which naturalism may motivate an obsession with transience, mutability, and death.]
[Footnote 96: On Oct. 22, 1779, Bache wrote to Franklin explaining that Lee and Izard objected to his employing William Temple Franklin, his grandson.]
[Footnote 97: Benjamin Franklin Bache (1769-1798), son of Richard Bache, Franklin's son-in-law. See B. Faÿ, The Two Franklins: Fathers of American Democracy (Boston, 1933). See The Diary of B. F. B. Aug. 1, 1782, to Sept. 14, 1785. Trans. from the French by William Duane, 1865 (in W. S. Mason Collection). A charming self-portrait of a precocious lad who is grief-stricken when rain prevents him from going to the mountains to witness M. du Villard's experiments, who follows avidly the ascensions of "aërostatic globes," who takes M. Charles's course in natural philosophy. Franklin had Didot, the master type founder, come to Passy to teach Ben how "to cast printing types." On July 12, 1785, he records the patriarch's exodus from Passy: "A mournful silence reigned around him and was only interrupted by sobs."]
[Footnote 98: Barbeu Dubourg (June 28, Paris) wrote to Franklin, "sending Franklin's manuscript on 'The Morals of Chess,' of which he has retained a copy; expects to have it printed shortly in le Journal de Paris; hopes to follow it with a few reflections of his own on the subject." (Calendar of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in the Library of the American Philosophical Society, III, 102.) [XIV, 218.] Brackets in selection indicate Smyth's collation of incomplete MS copy and printed version.]
[Footnote 99: The Parable against Persecution.]
[Footnote 100: Consult Benjamin Franklin's Story of the Whistle, with an Introductory Note by L. S. Livingston, and A Bibliography to 1820 (Cambridge, Mass., 1922).]
[Footnote 101: Matthew Arnold in Sweetness and Light appraises Franklin as "a man the most considerable, ... whom America has yet produced." Missing the irony of Franklin's burlesque, however, Arnold exclaimed after reading the Proposed Version: "After all, there is a stretch of humanity beyond Franklin's victorious good sense!"]
[Footnote 102: Two days before, he wrote to Richard Price: "We make daily great Improvements in Natural, there is one I wish to see in Moral Philosophy; the Discovery of a Plan, that would induce and oblige Nations to settle their Disputes without first Cutting one another's Throats" (Writings, VIII, 9). One remembers Franklin's classic utterance (in a letter to David Hartley, Passy, Feb. 2, 1780): "There hardly ever existed such a thing as a bad Peace, or, a good War" (ibid., VIII, 5; also see VIII, 506). An interesting comment on Franklin's devotion to peace may be found in A Project of Universal and Perpetual Peace. Written by Pierre-André Gargaz, a former Galley-Slave, and printed by Benjamin Franklin at Passy in the Year 1782. Here reprinted, together with an English Version, Introduction, and Typographical Note by George Simpson Eddy, New York, 1922.]
[Footnote 103: Sainte-Beuve asks, "Is not that a comparison which, by the sweetness of its inspiration and the breadth of its imagery, recalls the Homeric comparisons of the Odyssey?" (Portraits of the Eighteenth Century, Historic and Literary, 366.)]
[Footnote 104: The famous Orientalist, later Sir William Jones. Married Georgiana Shipley. In 1779 Jones attempted unofficially to bring about a reconciliation between the colonies and England. See Parton, op. cit., II, 333-4.]
[Footnote 105: Essay on the Population of England, 2d ed., 1780.]
[Footnote 106: London Coffee House.]
[Footnote 107: Madame Helvétius. Consult A. Guillois, Le salon de Madame Helvétius (Paris, 1894).]
[Footnote 108: Georgiana Shipley (in a letter, May 6, 1781) acknowledges his Dialogue with the Gout and this piece. See Calendar of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in the Library of the American Philosophical Society, III, 371 (XXII, 8). This delightful letter is printed in Sparks, IX, 25; Bigelow, VII, 230; and Stifler, "My Dear Girl" ... (New York, 1927). Smyth brackets a passage, not in the MS draft, which is printed in the W. T. Franklin edition.]
[Footnote 109: Date uncertain. A. H. Smyth notes that since Miss Shipley replied May 6, 1781 (cf. note 108), it was probably written between January and May, 1781. MS incomplete at both beginning and end.]
[Footnote 110: For Hartley's letter see Calendar of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in the Library of the American Philosophical Society, III, 398 (XXII, 162), Sept. 26, 1781. From Passy (Jan. 15, 1782) Franklin writes to Hartley: "Whatever may be the Fate of our poor Countries, let you and I die as we have lived, in Peace with each other" (Writings, VIII, 361).]
[Footnote 111: Excellent summary of the effect of this hoax may be found in L. S. Livingston, Franklin and His Press at Passy, 59-67. Walpole wrote to the Countess of Ossory, Oct. 1, 1782; "Have you seen in the papers an excellent letter of Paul Jones to Sir Joseph York? Elle nous dit bien des verités! I doubt poor Sir Joseph cannot answer them! Dr. Franklin himself, I should think, was the author. It is certainly written by a first-rate pen, and not by a common man-of-war" (ibid., 62). A. H. Smyth quotes Wm. Temple Franklin's note: "The deception intended by this supposed 'Supplement,' (which was very accurately imitated with respect to printing, paper, the insertion of advertisements, etc.,) was, that, by transmitting it to England, it might actually be taken for what it purported to be" (Writings, VIII, 437). To Charles W. F. Dumas, Franklin writes (Passy, May 3, 1782): "Enclosed I send you a few copies of a paper that places in a striking light, the English barbarities in America, particularly those committed by the savages at their instigation. The Form may perhaps not be genuine, but the substance is truth; the number of our people of all kinds and ages, murdered and scalped by them being known to exceed that of the invoice. Make any use of them you may think proper to shame your Anglomanes, but do not let it be known through what hands they come" (ibid., 448). Brackets are Franklin's.]
[Footnote 112: William Cowper. See Correspondence of William Cowper, ed. by Thomas Wright, I, 479, for his note that Thornton, a merchant, had sent Franklin his poems.]
[Footnote 113: Henri-Léonard-Jean-Baptiste Bertin (1719-1792).]
[Footnote 114: President of the Royal Society (1743-1820). See Dictionary of National Biography, III, 129-33.]
[Footnote 115: Dr. Pierre-Marie-Auguste Broussonet (1761-1807) met Sir Joseph Banks in 1782.]
[Footnote 116: A. H. Smyth believes that this was "written in September, 1782" (Writings, VIII, 603 note). It was often translated and may well have drawn many immigrants to the colonies.]
[Footnote 117: Probably written after signing of the peace treaty. Compare his letter to Richard Oswald, Passy, Nov. 26, 1782 (Writings, VIII, 621-7); and his The Retort Courteous (ibid., X, 105-16).]
[Footnote 118: Sir Charles Blagden (1748-1820), physician and physicist, friend to Sir Joseph Banks, F. R. S., in 1772. (Dictionary of National Biography, V, 155-6.)]
[Footnote 119: B. Faÿ in "Franklin et Mirabeau collaborateurs" (see Bibliography) shows that Franklin furnished information for Considerations on the Order of Cincinnatus ... (London ed., 1785). Mirabeau thunders, "Must we then own, with the enemies of freedom, that the noble ideas of Sidney, Locke, Rousseau, and others, who have indulged dreams of political happiness, may be the object of a sublime theory, but cannot possibly be reduced into practice?" (Mirabeau, op. cit., 73.) The members of the order will in time become "Gothic tyrants" (ibid., 14). He warns America against paralleling the decadence of Rome (ibid., 25), suggesting a Rousseauistic equalitarianism. Other references to Franklin's antipathy for the Order are Writings, IX, 222, 269-70. Smyth observes that "passages in brackets are not found in the draft in Library of Congress."]
[Footnote 120: The Quinquet lamp was invented in 1784. A. H. Smyth suggests that March 20, 1784, is the exact date of composition, from Franklin's sentence, "In the six months between the 20th of March and the 20th of September...."]
[Footnote 121: Son of Cotton Mather. Died June 27, 1785.]
[Footnote 122: Benjamin Vaughan (1751-1835), unitarian, pro-colonial, and a Lord Shelburne man. He edited the first collective edition of Franklin's works in London (1779). See Dictionary of National Biography, LVIII, 158-9.]
[Footnote 123: See Writings, IX, 264. Sparks (II, 383-426) reprints George Whately's Principles of Trade. Elision marks indicate that parts of this letter are omitted.]
[Footnote 124: A. H. Smyth quotes W. T. Franklin, who observes that the book was Paley's Moral Philosophy (Writings, IX, 488 note).]
[Footnote 125: A. H. Smyth thinks The Retort Courteous (ibid., IX, 489 note).]
[Footnote 126: At Rancocas, New Jersey.]
[Footnote 127: Sparks (X, 281-2) prints this letter as to Thomas Paine. Smyth, suggesting that Paine's "deistical writings" were not done before 1786, denies that Paine is the correspondent. H. H. Clark has argued shrewdly (and with evidence) that since part of The Age of Reason was written before 1781 (this M. C. Conway in his Life of Paine admits), it is not implausible that Franklin's letter was directed to Paine. ("An Historical Interpretation of Thomas Paine's Religion," University of California Chronicle, XXXV, 84, 1933.)]
[Footnote 128: Since Franklin was acquainted with John Ray's Wisdom of God ..., it is not improbable that he was acquainted with his aphorisms published in 1670 (Cambridge), in which this wit occurs. It is also found in Wollaston's Religion of Nature Delineated, but as in Ray, in crude form: "It is as when a man spits at heaven, and the spittle falls back upon his own face" (1725 ed., 132). Remembering that Franklin helped set up this piece while working for Samuel Palmer in 1725, his use of it may not be wholly fortuitous.]
[Footnote 129: His speech (delivered June 11, 1787) On the Proportion of Representation and Votes (Writings, IX, 595-9) shows how with gift for compromise he helped to bring together the large and small states through his dual scheme of equal and proportional representation in the Senate and House.]
[Footnote 130: Compare Writings, IX, 659. He observes to Dupont de Nemours (June 9, 1788), "The wisest must agree to some unreasonable things, that reasonable ones of more consequence may be obtained." Brackets are Franklin's.]
[Footnote 131: Clergyman of Boston and friend of Mrs. Mecom, Franklin's sister. Elision marks indicate that parts of this letter are omitted.]
[Footnote 132: Charles Carroll (1737-1832). He had accompanied Franklin on his Canada commission. See Dictionary of American Biography, III, 522-3.]
[Footnote 133: Compare Writings, IX, 636-9.]
[Footnote 134: Compare Writings, X, 60-3, 127-9.]
[Footnote 135: He writes (Nov. 2, 1789) to Benjamin Vaughan: "The revolution in France is truly surprising. I sincerely wish it may end in establishing a good constitution for that country. The mischiefs and troubles it suffers in the operation, however, give me great concern" (Writings, X, 50). He confesses (Nov. 13, 1789) to Jean Baptiste Le Roy: "The voice of Philosophy I apprehend can hardly be heard among those tumults" (ibid., 69).]
[Footnote 136: Rev. Ezra Stiles (1727-1795), member of the American Philosophical Society (1768), theologian and Newtonian scientist, President of Yale (1778-1795). For the activities of this versatile clergyman, see his Literary Diary, ed. by F. B. Dexter (3 vols., New York, 1901), and I. M. Calder (ed.), Letters and Papers of Ezra Stiles (New Haven, 1933). Also see Abiel Holmes's Life of Ezra Stiles (Boston, 1798).]
[Footnote 137: Dr. Stuber's note, cited in Writings, X, 86-7: "Dr. Franklin's name, as President of the Abolition Society, was signed to the memorial presented to the House of Representatives of the United States, on the 12th of February, 1789, praying them to exert the full extent of power vested in them by the Constitution, in discouraging the traffic of the human species. This was his last public act. In the debates to which this memorial gave rise, several attempts were made to justify the trade. In the Federal Gazette of March 25th, 1790, there appeared an essay, signed Historicus, written by Dr. Franklin, in which he communicated a Speech, said to have been delivered in the Divan of Algiers, in 1687, in opposition to the prayer of the petition of a sect called Erika, or Purists, for the abolition of piracy and slavery. This pretended African speech was an excellent parody of one delivered by Mr. Jackson, of Georgia. All the arguments, urged in favour of negro slavery, are applied with equal force to justify the plundering and enslaving of Europeans. It affords, at the same time, a demonstration of the futility of the arguments in defence of the slave-trade, and of the strength of mind and ingenuity of the author, at his advanced period of life. It furnishes, too, a no less convincing proof of his power of imitating the style of other times and nations, than his Parable against Persecution. And as the latter led many persons to search the Scriptures with a view to find it, so the former caused many persons to search the bookstores and libraries for the work from which it was said to be extracted." According to the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, XX, 50, the memorial was presented in 1790.]
[Footnote 138: Date of composition uncertain. Printed as pamphlet in 1784.]
[Footnote 139: Date unknown.]
[Footnote 140: A. H. Smyth dates this piece as during the summer of 1786 (Writings, X, 131-2 note). Sparks and Bigelow had conjecturedly dated it 1772.]
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
5. Minor punctuation corrections have been made without comment and include missing or misplaced periods, opening or closing quotation marks and parentheses, apostrophes, hypens, etc., however no punctuation has been added, a specific example being on:
p. 281, In the speech of "Father Abraham", p. 281-288, added closing quote at end of speech to match opening quote at beginning, however intervening paragraphs are without quote punctuation in the original and have been retained so in this e-text.
6. Minor spacing corrections have been made as follows:
p. v, Contents, page numbers have been right justified in a column. p. 13, "some how" to "somehow" (was once somehow or other) p. 21 "De foe" to "Defoe" (Defoe in his Cruso) p. 206, replaced blank space with double emdash, (are under ---- Years of Age) p. 410, "TitlePage" to "Title Page" (Lines in the Title Page)
7. p. 3, In "Selections from BENJAMIN FRANKLIN", moved note about the "Notes" section from the bottom to the top of selection, above the header, as it pertains to ALL remaining pages.
8. SPELLING CORRECTIONS: (not otherwise marked by editor)
p. xxxix, "strengthned" to "strengthened" (14) (strengthened by long prescription) p. ci, "transfererd" to "transferred" (1) (transferred from the Penn Charter) (in Footnote i-327) *p. 9, "Wharf" to "Wharff" (My proposal was to build a Wharff) p. 16, "Shaftsbury" to "Shaftesbury" (33) (reading Shaftesbury and Collins) p. 67, "preceeding" to "preceding" (16) (a preceding Wife) p. 184, "hear" to "here" (I have here described) *p. 266, "harrassed" to "harassed" (past has harassed them) *p. 369, "harrassed" to "harassed" (order them to be harassed) p. 347, "exhilirates" to "exhilerates" (exhilerates me more) p. 451, "Univers" to "Universe" (greatest in the Universe;)
*Correction made because word occurs correctly or alternately spelled elsewhere in the SAME document.
9. WORD VARIATIONS: (found to be valid spellings in W. E. D.)
"abovementioned" (1) and "above-mentioned" (1) "abridgment" (15) and "abridgement" (2) "agreable" (11) and "agreeable" (26) "ale-house" (1) and "alehouse" (1) "Algernon Sidney" (1) and "Algernoon Sidney" (1) "allege" (7) and "alledge" (2) "Almanac" (10) and "Almanack" (38) "antient" (15) and "ancient" (50) "apetite" (1) and "appetite" (7) "arithmetic" (9) and "arithmetick" (5)
"balance" (13) and "ballance" (5) "beforementioned" (1) and "before-mentioned" (1) "bias" (4) and "biass" (2) "Boulogne" (2) and "Bouloigne" (1) "boundlessly" (1) and "boundlesly" (1) "Brientnal" (3) (in Autobiography), "Breintnal" (1) (in Introduction) and "Breintnall" (3) (in footnotes) "Broussonet" (1) and "Broussonnet" (1) "burden" (7) and "burthen" (12)
"Cabin" (5) and "Cabbin" (2) "Caesar" (1) and "Cesar" (1) "characteris'd" (1) and "characterized" (1) "chearfulness" (1) and "cheerfulness" (1) "Chelsea" (2) and "Chelsey" (1) "Chesnut Street" (1) and "Chestnut Street" (1) "chuse" (8) and "choose" (7) "Classics" (2) and "Classicks" (1) "Clothes" (4) and "Cloaths" (4) "Coffee House" (2) and "Coffee-house" (2) "compleat" (10) and "complete" (11) "control" (3) and "controul" (4) "courthouse" (1) and "court-house" (1) "croud" (3) and "crowd" (12) "Curiositee" (1) and "Curiosity" (8) "Customhouse" (1) and "Custom-house" (1)
"d'Alibard" (2) and "Dalibared" (2) "dependence" (5) and "dependance" (6) "disagreable" (3) and "disagreeable" (5) "drove" (3) and "drave" (1)
"Edinborough" (1) and "Edinburgh" (9) "Eliptic" (1) and "Eliptick" (1) "Encyclopædia" (4) and "Encyclopedia" (2) "Encyclopædists" (2) and "Encyclopedists" (1) "enlightened" (2) and "enlightned" (2) "enter" (7) and "entre" (5) "entitled" (8) and "entituled" (Old Fr. Sp.) (2) "expel" (1) and "expell" (1) "Expence" (22) and "Expense" (3) "extreme" (21) and "extream" (26)
"Falsehood" (2) and "Falshood" (4) "Favor" (1) and "Favour" (26) "fixt" (3) and "fixed" (14) "Folger" (1) and "Folgier" (1) (Peter ----) "foretell" (1) and "fortel" (1) "Free-will" (1) and "Free-Will" (1) "froze" (2) and "Frose" (1)
"Good-Will" (1), "Good-will" (3), and "Goodwill" (1) "Governor" (47) and "Governour" (1) "Grub-Street" (1) and "Grub-street" (1)
"Hawksworth" (1) and "Hawkesworth" (4) "hainous" (1) and "heinous" (1) "height" (6), "heigth" (1), and "heighth" (1) "hindered" (2) and "hindred" (1) "home-spun" (1) and "homespun" (1) "Humor" (1) and "Humour" (5)
"Ill-will" (2) and "Ill-Will" (1) "Increase" (114) and "Encrease" (8) "indiscrete" (1) and "indiscreet" (3) "intolerable" (2) and "intollerable" (1)
"Jealousy" (3) and "Jealousie" (1) "Job" (12) and "Jobb" (4) (as in work) "Joli" (1) and "Joly" (3) (Moulin ----) "Journey-man" (1),"Journeyman('s)" (3) and JourneyMen (1)
"Knicknacks" (1) and "Nicknack" (1)
"Labors" (1) and "Labours" (5) "land-holder" (1) and "Land-holder" (1) "Latinè" (1) and "Latine" (1) "laught" (3) and "laughed" (3) "Linnaeus" (1) and "Linnæus" (2) (a Naturalist) "Livlihood" (4) and "Livelyhood" (1)
"Mama" (1) and "Mamma" (1) "mankind" (35) and "man-kind" (1) (in quoted material) "Mathmatics" (4) and "Mathmaticks" (1) "Mechanic" (7) and "Mechanick" (4) "melancholy" (4) and "melancholly" (2) "Merchandise" (1) and "Merchandize" (2) "middle-ag'd" (1) and "middle-aged" (1) "music" (7) and "musick" (4)
*"natural" (193) and "naturall" (1) (in Bacon Quote) "Negro" (3) and "Negroe" (11) "Neighbor" (1) and "Neighbour" (11) "News-Paper" (2) and "NewsPapers" (1) "News-writers" (1) and "Newswriters" (1) "nonsense" (5) and "nonsence" (1)
*"obtain" (28) and "obteyn" (1) (in Mather quote) "Offence" (14) and "Offense" (2) "Optics" (1) and "Opticks" (1)
"partial" (7) and "partiall" (1) "Penny-worth" (1) and "Pennyworth(s)" (1) "Pennsylvania" (159) and "Pensilvania" (15) and "Pensylvania" (1) "persuaded" (16) and "perswaded" (2) "Physic" (1) and "Physick" (2) "Polly" (9) and "Polley" (1) (---- Stevenson) "Portrait" (9) and "Pourtrait" (1) "possest" (1) and "possessed" (10) "printing-house" (2), "Printing-house" (2), "Printing-House" (7) and "Printinghouse" (2) "Priviledge" (1) and "Privilege" (3) "Public" (22) and "Publick" (43) *"Puffendorf" (3) and "Puffendorff" (1)
"rejoicing" (5) and "rejoycing" (1) "rendered" (7) and "rendred" (1) "rendering" (3) and "rendring" (1) "Rhetoric" (6) and "Rhetorick" (1) "rhime" (3) and "rhyme" (3) "Rhode Island" (4) and "Rhodeisland" (3) "Ribands" (1) and "Ribbands" (4) "Rochefoucauld" (2), "Rochefoucault" (1) and "Larochefoucault" (1) "role" (5) and rôle (2) "rouse" (1) and "rouze" (1)
"satirize" (1) and "satyrize" (1) "Scolar" (7) and "Scollar" (1) "seacoasts" (1) and "sea-coasts" (1) "Silinc" (1) and "Silence" (4) (---- Dogood) "smoke" (3) and "smoak" (2) "soured" (1) and "sowred" (1) "staied" (2) and "stayed" (2) "straight" (4) and "strait" (8) "subtle" (1) and "subtile" (1) "sunset" (1) and "sun-set" (1) "surprise" (11) and "surprize" (16) "Surveyor-General" (1) and "Surveyor General" (2) "Susquehannah" (1), "Susquehanah" (1) and "Sasquehannah" (1)
"threatened" (5) and "threatned" (1) "tiger" (1) and "tyger" (1) "to-day" (6) (in text) and "today" (5) "topic" (2) and "topick" (1)
"Une loge" (1) and "Un loge" (1)
"virtuous" (19) and "vertuous" (1)
"Watergruel" (1) and "Water-gruel" (1) "wellmeaning (1) and "well-meaning" (1) "wondered" (4) and "wondred" (1) "Wool" (3) and "Wooll" (4)
(* found within directly quoted material)
10. Several instances of mixed case words appear in the text as follows: footPath, JourneyMen, mySelf, thySelf, etc., and have been retained.