Works of the late Doctor Benjamin Franklin

Front matter

Works

of the Late

Doctor Benjamin Franklin:

Life of Dr. Franklin, as written by himſelf

OF

DOCTOR BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, &c.

MY DEAR SON,

I HAVE amuſed myſelf with collecting ſome little anecdotes of my family. You may remember the enquiries I made, when you were with me in England, among ſuch of my relations as were then living; and the journey I undertook for that purpoſe. To be acquainted with the particulars of my parentage and life, many of which are unknown to you, I flatter myſelf, will afford the ſame pleaſure to you as to me. I ſhall relate them upon paper: it will be an agreeable employment of a week's uninterrupted leiſure, which I promiſe myſelf during my preſent retirement in the country. There are alſo other motives which induce me to the undertaking. From the boſom of poverty and obſcurity, in which I drew my firſt breath and ſpent my earlieſt years, I have raiſed myſelf to a ſtate of opulence and to ſome degree of celebrity in the world. A conſtant good fortune has attended me through every period of life to my preſent advanced age; and my deſcendants may be deſirous of learning what were the means of which I made uſe, and which, thanks to the, aſſiſting hand of Providence, have proved ſo eminently ſucceſsful. They may alſo, ſhould they ever be placed in a ſimilar ſituation, derive ſome advantage from my narrative.

When I reflect, as I frequently do, upon the felicity I have enjoyed, I ſometimes ſay to myſelf, that, were the offer made me, I would engage to run again, from beginning to end, the ſame career of life. All I would aſk ſhould be the privilege of an author, to correct, in a ſecond edition, certain errors of the firſt. I could wiſh, likewiſe, if it were in my power, to change ſome trivial incidents and events for others more favourable. Were this however denied me, ſtill would I not decline the offer. But ſince a repetition of life cannot take place, there is nothing which, in my opinion, ſo nearly reſembles it, as to call to mind all its circumſtances, and, to render their remembrance more durable, commit them to writing. By thus employing myſelf, I ſhall yield to the inclination, ſo natural in old men, to talk of themſelves and their exploits, and may freely follow my bent, without being tireſome to thoſe who, from reſpect to my age, might think themſelves obliged to liſten to me; as they will be at liberty to read me or not as they pleaſe. In fine—and I may as well avow it, ſince nobody would believe me were I to deny it—I ſhall perhaps, by this employment, gratify my vanity. Scarcely indeed have I ever heard or read the introductory phraſe, "I may ſay without vanity" but ſome ſtriking and characteriſtic inſtance of vanity has immediately followed. The generality of men hate vanity in others, however ſtrongly they may be tinctured with it themſelves: for myſelf, I pay obeiſance to it whereever I meet with it, perſuaded that it is advantageous, as well to the individual whom it governs, as to thoſe who are within the ſphere of its influence. Of conſequence, it would in many caſes, not be wholly abſurd, that a man ſhould count his vanity among the other ſweets of life, and give thanks to Providence for the bleſſing.

And here let me with all humility acknowledge, that to Divine Providence I am indebted for the felicity I have hitherto enjoyed. It is that Power alone which has furniſhed me with the means I have employed, and that has crowned them with ſucceſs. My faith in this reſpect leads me to hope, though I cannot count upon it, that the divine goodneſs will ſtill be exerciſed towards me, either by prolonging the duration of my happineſs to the cloſe of life, or by giving me fortitude to ſupport any melancholy reverſe, which may happen to me, as to ſo many others. My future fortune is unknown but to him in whoſe hand is our deſtiny, and who can make our very afflictions ſubſervient to our benefit.

One of my uncles, deſirous, like myſelf, of collecting anecdotes of our family, gave me ſome notes, from which I have derived many particulars reſpecting our anceſtors. From theſe I learn, that they had lived in the fame village (Eaton in Northamptonſhire), upon a freehold of about thirty acres, for the ſpace at leaſt of three hundred years. How long they had reſided there prior to that period, my uncle had been unable to diſcover; probably ever ſince the inſtitution of ſurnames, when they took the appellation of Franklin, which had formerly been the name of a particular order of individuals.

This petty eſtate would not have ſuſſiced for their ſubſiſtence, had they not added the trade of blackſmith, which was perpetuated in the family down to my uncle's time, the eldeſt ſon having been uniformly brought up to this employment: a cuſtom which both he and my father obſerved with reſpect to their eldeſt ſons.

In the reſearches I made at Eaton, I found no account of their births, marriages, and deaths, earlier than the year 1555; the pariſh regiſter not extending farther back than that period. This regiſter informed me, that I was the youngeſt ſon of the youngeſt branch of the family, counting five generations. My grandfather, Thomas, who was born in 1598, lived at Eaton till he was too old to continue his trade, when he retired to Banbury in Oxfordſhire, where his ſon John who was a dyer, reſided, and with whom my father was apprenticed. He died, and was buried there: we ſaw his monument in 1758. His eldeſt ſon lived in the family houſe at Eaton, which he bequeathed, with the land belonging to it, to his only daughter; who, in concert with her huſband, Mr. Fiſher of Wellinborough, afterwards ſold it to Mr. Eſted, the preſent proprietor.

My grandfather had four ſurviving ſons, Thomas, John, Benjamin, and Joſias. I ſhall give you ſuch particulars of them as my memory will furniſh, not having my papers here, in which you will find a more minute account, if they are not loſt during my abſence.

Thomas had learned the trade of blackſmith under his father; but poſſeſſing a good natural underſtanding, he improved it by ſtudy, at the ſolicitation of a gentleman of the name of Palmer, who was at that time the principal inhabitant of the village, and who encouraged in like manner all my uncles to cultivate their minds. Thomas thus rendered himſelf competent to the functions of a country attorney; ſoon became an eſſential perſonage in the affairs of the village; and was one of the chief movers of every public enterprize, as well relative to the county as the town of Northampton. A variety of remarkable incidents were told us of him at Eaton. After enjoying the eſteem and patronage of lord Halifax, he died, January 6, 1702, preciſely four years before I was born. The recital that was made us of his life and character, by ſome aged perſons of the village, ſtruck you, I remember, as extraordinary, from its analogy to what you knew of myſelf. "Had he died," ſaid you, "juſt four years later, one might have ſuppoſed a tranſmigration of ſouls."

John, to the beſt of my belief, was brought up to the trade of a wool-dyer.

Benjamin ſerved his apprenticeſhip in London to a ſilk-dyer. He was an induſtrious man: I remember him well; for, while I was a child, he joined my father at Boſton, and lived for ſome years in the houſe with us. A particular affection had always ſubſiſted between my father and him; and I was his godſon. He arrived to a great age. He left behind him two quarto volumes of poems in manuſcript, conſiſting of little fugitive pieces addreſſed to his friends. He had invented a ſhort-hand, which he taught me, but having never made uſe of it, I have now forgotten it. He was a man of piety, and a conſtant attendant on the beſt preachers, whoſe ſermons he took a pleaſure in writing down according to the expeditory method he had deviſed. Many volumes were thus collected by him. He was alſo extremely fond of politics, too much ſo perhaps for his ſituation. I lately found in London a collection which he had made of all the principal pamphlets relative to public affairs, from the year 1641 to 1717. Many volumes are wanting, as appears by the ſeries of numbers; but there ſtill remain eight in folio, and twenty-four in quarto and octavo. The collection had fallen into the hands of a ſecond-hand bookſeller, who, knowing me by having ſold me ſome books, brought it to me. My uncle, it ſeems, had left it behind him on his departure for America, about fifty years ago. I found various notes of his writing in the margins. His grandſon, Samuel, is now living at Boſton.

Our humble family had early embraced the Reformation. They remained faithfully attached during the reign of Queen Mary, when they were in danger of being moleſted on account of their zeal againſt popery. They had an Engliſh Bible, and, to conceal it the more ſecurely, they conceived the project of faſtening it, open, with packthreads acroſs the leaves, on the inſide of the lid of a cloſe-ſtool. When my great-grandfather wiſhed to read to his family, he reverſed the lid of the cloſe-ſtool upon his knees, and paſſed the leaves from one ſide to the other, which were held down on each by the packthread. One of the children was ſtationed at the door, to give notice if he ſaw the proctor (an officer of the ſpiritual court) make his appearance: in that caſe, the lid was reſtored to its place, with the Bible concealed under it as before. I had this anecdote from my uncle Benjamin.

Th whole family preſerved its attachment to the Church of England till towards the cloſe of the reign of Charles II. when certain miniſters, who had been ejected as nonconformiſts, having held conventicles in Northamptonſhire, they were joined by Benjamin and Joſias, who adhered to them ever after. The reſt of the family continued in the epiſcopal church.

My father, Joſias, married early in life. He went, with his wife and three children, to New England, about the year 1682. Conventicles being at that time prohibited by law, and frequently diſturbed, ſome conſiderable perſons of his acquaintance determined to go to America, where they hoped to enjoy the free exerciſe of their religion, and my father was prevailed on to accompany them.

My father had alſo by the ſame wiſe four children born in America, and ten others by a ſe wife, making in all ſeventeen. I remember to have ſeen thirteen ſeated together at his table, who all arrived to years of maturity, and were married. I was the laſt of the ſons, and the youngeſt child, excepting two daughters. I was born at Boſton in new England. My mother, the ſecond wife, was Abiah Folger, daughter of Peter Folger, one of the firſt coloniſts of New England, of whom Cotton Mather makes honourable mention, in his Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory of that province, as "a pious and learned Engliſhman" if I rightly recollect his expreſſions. I have been told of his having written a variety of little pieces; but there appears to be only one in print, which I met with many years ago. It was publiſhed in the year 1675, and is in familiar verſe, agreeably to the taſte of the times and the country. The author addreſſes himſelf to the governors for the time being, ſpeaks for liberty of conſcience, and in favour of the anabaptiſts, quakers, and other ſectaries, who had ſuffered perſecution. To this perſecution he attributes the wars with the natives, and other calamities which afflicted the country, regarding them as the judgments of God in puniſhment of ſo odious an offence, and he exhorts the government to the repeal of laws ſo contrary to charity. The poem appeared to be written with a manly freedom and a pleaſing ſimplicity. I recollect the ſix concluding lines, though I have forgotten the order of words of the two firſt; the ſenſe of which was, that his cenſures were dictated by benevolence, and that, of conſequence, he wiſhed to be known as the author; becauſe, ſaid he I hate from my very ſoul diſſimulation:

From Sherburne, where I dwell, I therefore put my name, Your friend, who means you well,

Peter Folger.

My brothers were all put apprentice to different trades. With reſpect to myſelf, I was ſent, at the age of eight years, to a grammar ſchool. My father deſtined me for the church, and already regarded me as the chaplain of the family. The promptitude with which from my infancy I had learned to read, for I do not remember to have been ever without this acquirement, and the encouragement of his friends, who aſſured him that I ſhould one day certainly become a man of letters, confirmed him in this deſign. My uncle Benjamin approved alſo of the ſcheme, and promiſed to give me all his volumes of ſermons, written, as I have ſaid, in the ſhort-hand of his invention, if I would take the pains to learn it.

I remained however ſcarcely a year at the grammar ſchool, although, in this ſhort interval, I had riſen from the middle to the head of my claſs, from thence to the claſs immediately above, and was to paſs, at the end of the year, to the one next in order. But my father, burthened with a numerous family, found that he was incapable, without ſubjecting himſelf to difficulties, of providing for the expence of a collegiate education; and conſidering beſides, as I heard him ſay to his friends, that perſons ſo educated were often poorly provided for, he renounced his firſt intentions, took me from the grammar ſchool, and ſent me to a ſchool for writing and arithmetic, kept by a Mr. George Brownwel, who was a ſkilful matter, and ſucceeded very well in his proſeſſion by employing gentle means only, and ſuch as were calculated to encourage his ſcholars. Under him I ſoon acquired an excellent hand; but I failed in arithmetic, and made therein no ſort of progreſs.

At ten years of age, I was called home to aſſiſt my father in his occupation, which was that of ſoap-boiler and tallow-chandler; a buſineſs to which he had ſerved no apprenticeſhip, but which he embraced on his arrival in New England, becauſe he found his own, that of a dyer, in too little requeſt to enable him to maintain his family. I was accordingly employed in cutting the wicks, filling the moulds, taking care of the ſhop, carrying meſſages, &c.

This buſineſs diſpleaſfed me, and I felt a ſtrong inclination for a ſea life; but my father ſet his face againſt it. The vicinity of the water, however, gave me frequent opportunities of venturing myſelf both upon and within it, and I ſoon acquired the art of ſwimming, and of managing a boat. When embarked with other children, the helm was commonly deputed to me, particularly on difficult occaſions; and, in every other project, I was almoſt always the leader of the troop, whom I ſometimes involved in embarraſſments. I ſhall give an inſtance of this, which demonſtrates an early diſpoſition of mind for public enterpriſes, though the one in queſtion was not conducted by juſtice.

The mill-pond was terminated on one ſide by a marſh, upon the borders of which we were accuſtomed to take our ſtand, at high water, to angle for ſmall fiſh. By dint of walking, we had converted the place into a perfect quagmire. My propoſal was to erect a wharf that ſhould afford us firm footing; and I pointed out to my companions a large heap of ſtones, intended for the building a new houſe near the marſh, and which were well adapted for our purpoſe. Accordingly, when the workmen retired in the evening, I aſſembled a number of my playfellows, and by labouring diligently, like ants, ſometimes four of us uniting our ſtrength to carry a ſingle ſtone, we removed them all, and conſtructed our little quay. The workmen were ſurpriſed the next morning at not finding their ſtones, which had been conveyed to our wharf. Enquiries were made reſpecting the authors of this conveyance; we were diſcovered; complaints were exhibited againſt us; many of us underwent correction on the part of our parents; and though I ſtrenuouſly defended the utility of the work, my father at length convinced me, that nothing which was not ſtrictly honeſt could be uſeful.

It will not, perhaps, be unintereſting to you to know what ſort of a man my father was. He had an excellent conſtitution, was of a middle ſize, but well made and ſtrong, and extremely active in whatever he undertook. He deſigned with a degree of neatneſs, and knew a little of muſic. His voice was ſonorous and agreeable; ſo that when he ſung a pſalm or hymn, with the accompaniment of his violin, as was his frequent practice in an evening, when the labours of the day were finiſhed, it was truly delightful to hear him. He was verſed alſo in mechanics, and could, upon occaſion, uſe the tools of a variety of trades. But his greateſt excellence was a ſound underſtanding and ſolid judgment, in matters of prudence, both in public and private life. In the former indeed he never engaged, becauſe his numerous family, and the mediocrity of his fortune, kept him unremittingly employed in the duties of his proſeſſion. But I very well remember, that the leading men of the place uſed frequently to come and aſk his advice reſpecting affairs of the town, or of the church to which he belonged, and that they paid much deference to his opinion. Individuals were alſo in the habit of conſulting him in their private affairs, and he was often choſen arbiter between contending parties.

He was fond of having at his table, as often as poſſible, ſome friends or well-informed neighbours capable of rational converſation, and he was always careful to introduce uſeful or ingenious topics of diſcourſe, which might tend to form the minds of his children. By this means he early attracted our attention to what was juſt, prudent, and beneficial in the conduct of life. He never talked of the meats which appeared upon the table, never diſcuſſed whether they were well or ill dreſſed, of a good or bad flavour, high-ſeaſoned or otherwiſe, preferable or inferior to this or that diſh of a ſimilar kind. Thus accuſtomed, from my infancy, to the utmoſt inattention as to theſe objects, I have always been perfectly regardleſs of what kind of food was before me; and I pay ſo little attention to it even now, that it would be a hard matter for me to recollect, a few hours after I had dined, of what my dinner had conſiſted. When travelling, I have particularly experienced the advantage of this habit; for it has often happened to me to be in company with perſons, who, having a more delicate, becauſe a more exerciſed taſte, have ſuffered in many caſes conſiderable inconvenience; while, as to myſelf, I have had nothing to deſire.

My mother was likewiſe poſſeſſed of an excellent conſtitution. She ſuckled all her ten children, and I never heard either her or my father complain of any other diſorder than that of which they died: my father at the age of eighty-ſeven, and my mother at eighty-five. They are buried together at Boſton, where, a few years ago, I placed a marble over their grave, with this inſcription:

"Here lie

"Josias Franklin and Abiah his wife: They lived together with reciprocal affection for fifty-nine years; and without private fortune, without lucrative employment, by aſſiduous labour and honeſt induſtry, decently ſupported a numerous family, and educated, with ſucceſs, thirteen children, and ſeven grand-children. Let this example, reader, encourage thee diligently to diſcharge the duties of thy calling, and to rely on the ſupport of Divine Providence. "He was pious and prudent, "She diſcreet and virtuous. "Their youngeſt ſon, from a ſentiment of filial duty, conſecrates this ſtone

"To their memory."

I perceive, by my rambling digreſſions, that I am growing old. But we do not dreſs for a private company as for a formal ball. This deſerves perhaps the name of negligence.

To return. I thus continued employed in my father's trade for the ſpace of two years; that is to ſay, till I arrived at twelve years of age. About this time my brother John, who had ſerved his apprenticeſhip in London, having quitted my father, and being married and ſettled in buſineſs on his own account at Rhode Iſland, I was deſtined, to all appearance, to ſupply his place, and be a candle-maker all my life: but my diſlike of this occupation continuing, my father was apprehenſive, that, if a more agreeable one were not offered me, I might play the truant and eſcape to ſea; as, to his extreme mortification, my brother Joſias had done. He therefore took me ſometimes to ſee maſons, coopers, braziers, joiners, and other mechanics, employed at their work; in order to diſcover the bent of my inclination, and fix it if he could upon ſome occupation that might retain me on ſhore. I have ſince, in conſequence of theſe viſits, derived no ſmall pleaſure from ſeeing ſkilful workmen handle their tools; and it has proved of conſiderable benefit, to have acquired thereby ſufficient knowledge to be able to make little things for myſelf, when I have had no mechanic at hand, and to conſtruct ſmall machines for my experiments, while the idea I have conceived has been freſh and ſtrongly impreſſed on my imagination.

My father at length decided that I ſhould be a cutler, and I was placed for ſome days upon trial with my couſin Samuel, ſon of my uncle Benjamin, who had learned this trade in London, and had eſtabliſhed himſelf at Boſton. But the premium he required for my apprenticeſhip diſpleaſing my father, I was recalled home.

From my earlieſt years I had been paſſionately fond of reading, and I laid out in books all the little money I could procure. I was particularly pleaſed with accounts of voyages. My firſt acquiſition was Bunyan's collection in ſmall ſeparate volumes. Theſe I afterwards ſold in order to buy an hiſtorical collection by R. Burton, which conſiſted of ſmall cheap volumes, amounting in all to about forty or fifty. My father's little library was principally made up of books of practical and polemical theology. I read the greateſt part of them. I have ſince often regretted, that at a time when I had ſo great a thirſt for knowledge, more eligible books had not fallen into my hands, as it was then a point decided that I ſhould not be educated for the church. There was alſo among my father's books Plutarch's Lives, in which I read continually, and I ſtill regard as advantageouſly employed the time I devoted to them. I found beſides a work of De Foe's, entitled, an Eſſay on Projects, from which, perhaps, I derived impreſſions that have ſince influenced ſome of the principal events of my life.

My inclination for books at laſt determined my father to make me a printer, though he had already a ſon in that profeſſion. My brother had returned from England, in 1717, with a preſs and types, in order to eſtabliſh a printing-houſe at Boſton. This buſineſs pleaſed me much better than that of my father, though I had ſtill a predilection for the ſea. To prevent the effects which might reſult from this inclination, my father was impatient to ſee me engaged with my brother. I held back for ſome time; at length however I ſuffered myfelf to be perfuaded, and ſigned my indentures, being then only twelve years of age. It was agreed that I ſhould ſerve as apprentice to the age of twenty-one, and ſhould receive journeyman's wages only during the laſt year.

In a very ſhort time I made great proficiency in this buſineſs, and became very ſerviceable to my brother. I had now an opportunity of procuring better books. The acquaintance I neceſſarily formed with bookſellers’ apprentices, enabled me to borrow a volume now and then, which I never failed to return punctually and without injury. How often has it happened to me to paſs the greater part of the night in reading by my bed-ſide, when the book had been lent me in the evening, and was to be returned the next morning, left it might be miſſed, or wanted!

At length, Mr. Matthew Adams, an ingenious tradeſman, who had a handſome collection of books, and who frequented our printing-houſe, took notice of me. He invited me to ſee his li , and had the goodneſs to lend me any books I was deſirous of reading. I then took a ſtrange fancy for poetry, and compoſed ſeveral little pieces. My brother, thinking he might find his account in it, encouraged me, and engaged me to write two ballads. One, called the Lighthouſe Tragedy, contained an account of the ſhipwreck of captain Worthilake and his two daughters; the other was a ſailor's ſong on the capture of the noted pirate called Teach, or Black-beard. They were wretched verſes in point of ſtyle, mere blind-men's ditties. When printed, he diſpatched me about the town to ſell them. The firſt had a prodigious run, becauſe the event was recent, and had made a great noiſe.

My vanity was flattered by this ſucceſs; but my father checked my exultation, by ridiculing my productions, and telling me that veriſiers were always poor. I thus eſcaped the misfortune of being, probably, a very wretched poet. But as the faculty of writing proſe has been of great ſervice to me in the courſe of my life, and principally contributed to my advancement, I ſhall relate by what means, ſituated as I was, I acquired the ſmall ſkill I may poſſeſs in that way.

There was in the town another young man, a great lover of books, of the name of John Collins, with whom I was intimately connected. We frequently engaged in diſpute, and were indeed fond of argumentation, that nothing was ſo agreeable to us as a war of words. This contentious temper, I would obſerve by the by, is in danger of becoming a very bad habit, and frequently renders a man's company inſupportable, as being no otherwiſe capable of indulgence than by indiſcriminate contradiction. Independently of the acrimony and diſcord it introduces into converſation, it is often productive of diſlike, and even hatred, between perſons to whom friendſhip is indiſpenſably neceſſary. I acquired it by reading, while I lived with my father, books of religious controverſy. I have ſince remarked, that men of ſenſe ſeldom fall into this error; lawyers, fellows of univerſities, and perſons of every profeſſion educated at Edinburgh, excepted.

Collins and I fell one day into an argument relative to the education of women; namely, whether it were proper to inſtruct them in the ſciences, and whether they were competent to the ſtudy. Collins ſupported the negative, and affirmed that the taſk was beyond their capacity. I maintained the oppoſite opinion, a little perhaps for the pleaſure of diſputing. He was naturally more eloquent than I; words flowed copiouſly from his lips; and frequently I thought myſelf vanquiſhed, more by his volubility than by the force of his arguments. We ſeparated without coming to an agreement upon this point; and as we were not to ſee each other again for ſome time, I committed my thoughts to paper, made a fair copy, and ſent it him. He anſwered, and I replied. Three or four letters had been written by each, when my father chanced to light upon my papers and read them. Without entering into the merits of the cauſe, he embraced the opportunity of ſpeaking to me upon my manner of writing. He obſerved, that though I had the advantage of my adverſary in correct ſpelling and pointing, which I owed to my occupation, I was greatly his inferior in elegance of expreſſion, in arrangement, and perſpicuity. Of this he convinced me by ſeveral examples. I felt the juſtice of his remarks, became more attentive to language, and reſolved to make every effort to improve my ſtyle. Amidſt theſe reſolves an odd volume of the Spectator fell into my hands. This was a publication I had never ſeen. I bought the volume, and read it again and again. I was enchanted with it, thought the ſtyle excellent, and wiſhed it were in my power to imitate it. With this view I ſelected ſome of the papers, made ſhort ſummaries of the ſenſe of each period, and put them for a few days aſide. I then, without looking at the book, endeavoured to reſtore the eſſays to their true form, and to expreſs each thought at length, as it was in the original, employing the moſt appropriate words that occurred to my mind. I afterwards compared my Spectator with the original; I perceived ſome faults, which I corrected: but I found that I wanted a fund of words, if I may ſo expreſs myſelf, and a facility of recollecting and employing them, which I thought I ſhould by that time have acquired, had I continued to make verſes. The continual need of words of the ſame meaning, but of different lengths for the meaſure, or of different ſounds for the rhyme, would have obliged me to ſeek for a variety of ſynonymes, and have rendered me maſter of them. From this belief, I took ſome of the tales of the Spectator and turned them into verſe; and after a time, when I had ſufficiently forgotten them, I again converted them into proſe.