No More Learning

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. 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 re-
moved into the next class above it, in order to go with that into
the third at the end of the year. But my father in the mean
time, from a view of the expense of a college education, which
having so large a family he could not well afford, and the mean
living many so educated were 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 soap-boiler,-a business he was not bred to, but had as-
sumed on his arrival in New England, and on finding his dyeing
trade would not maintain his family, being in little request.
--


## p. 5939 (#527) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5939
Accordingly I was employed in cutting wick for the candles,
filling the dipping-mold and the molds 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 pub-
lic spirit, though not then justly conducted.
There was a salt-marsh that bounded part of the mill-pond,
on the edge of which, at high water, we used to stand to fish
for minnows. By much trampling we had made it a mere quag-
mire. 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 playfel-
lows, 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 discov-
ered 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 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, mar-
ried, 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 some-
times 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


## p. 5940 (#528) ###########################################

5940
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
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 displeas-
ing my father, I was taken home again.
From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money
that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased
with the Pilgrim's Progress,' my first collection was of John
Bunyan's works in separate little volumes. I afterward sold them
to enable me to buy R. Burton's Historical Collections'; they
were small chapmen's books, and cheap, 40 or 50 in all. My
father's little library consisted chiefly of books in polemic divin-
ity, 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 ad-
vantage. There was also a book of De Foe'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 Eng-
land 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 per-
suaded, 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 dur-
ing 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 appren-
tices of booksellers enabled me sometimes to borrow a small


## p. 5941 (#529) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5941
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.
FRANKLIN'S JOURNEY TO PHILADELPHIA: HIS ARRIVAL
THERE
From the Autobiography,' in Bigelow's Edition of Franklin's Works
(
I
PROCEEDED on my journey on foot, having fifty miles to Bur-
lington, where I was told I should find boats that would carry
me the rest of the way to Philadelphia.
It rained very hard all the day; I was thoroughly soaked, and
by noon a good deal tired; so I stopt at a poor inn, where I
stayed all night, beginning now to wish that I had never left
home. I cut so miserable a figure too that I found, by the ques-
tions asked me, I was suspected to be some runaway servant,
and in danger of being taken up on that suspicion. However, I
proceeded the next day, and got in the evening to an inn within
eight or ten miles of Burlington, kept by one Dr. Brown. He
entered into conversation with me while I took some refresh-
ment; and finding I had read a little, became very sociable and
friendly. Our acquaintance continued as long as he lived. 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 travestie the Bible in doggrel verse, as Cotton had done.
Virgil. By this means he set many of the facts in a very ridicu-
lous light, and might have hurt weak minds if his work had been
published, but it never was.
At his house I lay that night, and the next morning reached
Burlington, but had the mortification to find that the regular
boats were gone a little before my coming, and no other expected
to go before Tuesday, this being Saturday; wherefore I returned
to an old woman in the town, of whom I had bought ginger-
bread to eat on the water, and asked her advice. She invited
me to lodge at her house till a passage by water should offer;
and being tired with my foot-traveling, I accepted the invitation.
She, understanding I was a printer, would have had me stay at


## p. 5942 (#530) ###########################################

5942
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
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
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 rowed all the way; and about midnight, not having
yet seen the city, some of the company were confident we must
have passed it, and would row no farther; the others knew not
where we were; so we put toward the shore, got into a creek,
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 Coop-
er's Creek, a little above Philadelphia, which we saw as soon as
we got out of the creek, and arrived there about eight or nine
o'clock on the Sunday morning, and landed at the Market Street
wharf.
I have been the more particular in this description of my
journey, and shall be so of my first entry into that city, that you
may in your mind compare such unlike beginnings with the fig-
ure I have since made there. I was in my working dress, my
best clothes being to come round by sea. I was dirty from
my journey; my pockets were stuffed out with shirts and stock-
ings, 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 refused it, on account of
my rowing, but I insisted on their taking it; a man being some-
times more generous when he has but a little money than when
he has plenty, perhaps through fear of being thought to have
but little.
Then I walked up the street, gazing about, till near the
market-house I met a boy with bread. I had made many a meal
on bread, and inquiring where he got it, I went immediately to
the baker's he directed me to, in Second Street, and asked for
biscuit, intending such as we had in Boston; but they, it seems,
were not made in Philadelphia. Then I asked for a threepenny
loaf, and was told they had none such. So, not considering or
knowing the difference of money, and the greater cheapness nor


## p. 5943 (#531) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5943
the names of his bread, I bade him give me threepenny worth of
any sort.
He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy rolls. I
was surprised at the quantity, but took it, and having no room
in my pockets, walked off with a roll under each arm and eat-
ing the other. Thus I went up Market Street as far as Fourth
Street, passing by the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father;
when she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as
I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance. Then I
turned and went down Chestnut Street and part of Walnut Street,
eating my roll all the way, and coming round found myself again
at Market Street wharf, near the boat I came in, to which I went
for a draught of the river water; and being filled with one of
my rolls, gave the other two to a woman and her child that
came down the river in the boat with us, and were waiting to
go farther.
Thus refreshed, I walked again up the street, which by this
time had many clean-dressed people in it, who were all walking
the same way. I joined them, and thereby was led into the
great 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 through labor and want of rest
the preceding night, I fell fast asleep, and continued so till the
meeting broke up, when one was kind enough to rouse me.
This was therefore the first house I was in, or slept in, in
Philadelphia.
FRANKLIN AS A PRINTER
From the Autobiography,' in Bigelow's Edition of Franklin's Works
I
NOW began to think of getting a little money beforehand, and
expecting better work, I left Palmer's to work at Watts's,
near Lincoln's Inn Fields, a still greater printing-house. Here
I continued all the rest of my stay in London.
At my first admission into this printing-house I took to work-
ing at press, imagining I felt a want of the bodily exercise I had
been used to in America, where presswork is mixed with com-
posing. 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


## p. 5944 (#532) ###########################################

5944
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
me, was stronger than themselves, who drank strong beer! We
had an alehouse boy, who attended always in the house to sup-
ply the workmen. My companion at the press drank every day
a pint before breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his bread and
cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a pint at dinner, a
pint in the afternoon about six o'clock, and another when he had
done his day's work. I thought it a detestable custom; but it
was necessary, he supposed, to drink strong beer that he might
be strong to labor. I endeavored to convince him that the bodily
strength afforded by beer could only be in proportion to the
grain or flour of the barley dissolved in the water of which it
was made; that there was more flour in a pennyworth of bread;
and therefore, if he would eat that with a pint of water, it
would give him more strength than a quart of beer. He drank
on, however, and had four or five shillings to pay out of his
wages every Saturday night for that muddling liquor; an ex-
pense I was free from. And thus these poor devils keep them-
selves always under.
Watts after some weeks desiring to have me in the composing-
room, 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 pro-
tection I found myself obliged to comply and pay the money,
convinced of the folly of being on ill terms with those one is to
live with continually.
I was now on a fair footing with them, and soon acquired
considerable influence. I proposed some reasonable alterations in
their chappel laws, and carried them against all opposition.
From my example, a great part of them left their muddling
breakfast of beer and bread and cheese, finding they could with
me be supplied from a neighboring house with a large porringer
of hot water-gruel sprinkled with pepper, crumbed with bread,
and a bit of butter in it, for the price of a pint of beer; viz. ,
three half-pence. This was a more comfortable as well as cheaper


## p. 5945 (#533) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5945
+
breakfast, and kept their heads clearer. Those who continued
sotting with beer all day were often, by not paying, out of credit
at the alehouse, and used to make interest with me to get beer;
their light, as they phrased it, being out. I watched the pay-
table on Saturday night, and collected what I stood engaged for
them, having to pay sometimes near thirty shillings a week on
their account. This, and my being esteemed a pretty good rig-
ite,—that is, a jocular verbal satirist,—supported my consequence
in the society. My constant attendance (I never making a St.
Monday) 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.
RULES OF HEALTH
From Poor Richard's Almanack: 1742
E
AT and drink such an exact quantity as the constitution of thy
body allows of, in reference to the services of the mind.
They that study much ought not to eat as much as those
that work hard, their digestion being not so good.
The exact quantity and quality being found out, is to be kept
to constantly.
Excess in all other things whatever, as well as in meat and
drink, is also to be avoided.
Youth, age, and sick require a different quantity.
And so do those of contrary complexions; for that which is too
much for a phlegmatic man, is not sufficient for a choleric.
The measure of food ought to be (as much as possibly may
be) exactly proportionable to the quality and condition of the
stomach, because the stomach digests it.
That quantity that is sufficient, the stomach can perfectly con-
coct and digest, and it sufficeth the due nourishment of the body.
A greater quantity of some things may be eaten than of others,
some being of lighter digestion than others.
The difficulty lies in finding out an exact measure; but eat
for necessity, not pleasure: for lust knows not where necessity
ends.
Wouldst thou enjoy a long life, a healthy body, and a vigor-
ous mind, and be acquainted also with the wonderful works of
God, labor in the first place to bring thy appetite to reason.


## p. 5946 (#534) ###########################################

5946
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
THE WAY TO WEALTH
From Poor Richard's Almanack
C
OURTEOUS reader, I have heard that nothing gives an author
so great pleasure as to find his works respectfully quoted
by others. Judge, then, how much I must have been
gratified by an incident I am going to relate to you. I stopped
my horse lately where a great number of people were collected.
at an auction merchants' goods. The hour of the sale not
being come, they were conversing on the badness of the times;
and one of the company called to a plain, clean old man with
white locks: "Pray, Father Abraham, what think you of the
times? Will not these heavy taxes quite ruin the country ? How
shall we ever be able to pay them? What would you advise us
to ? »
Father Abraham stood up and replied, "If you would
have my advice, I will give it you in short; for 'A word to the
wise is enough,' as Poor Richard says. " They joined in desiring
him to speak his mind, and gathering round him, he proceeded
as follows:-
"Friends," said he, "the taxes are indeed very heavy, and if
those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to
pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many
others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed
twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride,
and four times as much by our folly; and from these taxes the
commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an abate-
ment. However, let us hearken to good advice, and something
may be done for us: 'God helps them that help themselves,' as
Poor Richard says.
"Beware of little expenses: 'A small leak will sink a great
ship,' as Poor Richard says; and again, 'Who dainties love, shall
beggars prove; and moreover, Fools make feasts, and wise.
men eat them. '
<
"Here you are all got together at this sale of fineries and
knick-knacks. You call them goods; but if you do not take care,
they will prove evils to some of you. You expect they will be
sold cheap, and perhaps they may, for less than they cost; but
if you have no occasion for them, they must be dear to you.
Remember what Poor Richard says: 'Buy what thou hast no


## p. 5947 (#535) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5947
need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessaries. ' And
again, At a great pennyworth pause a while. ' He means that
perhaps the cheapness is apparent only and not real; or the bar-
gain, by straitening thee in thy business, may do thee more
harm than good. For in another place he says, 'Many have
been ruined by buying good pennyworths. ' Again, 'It is foolish
to lay out money in a purchase of repentance;' and yet this
folly is practiced every day at auctions, for want of minding the
Almanack. Many a one, for the sake of finery on the back,
have gone with a hungry belly and half starved their families.
'Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire,' as
Poor Richard says.
"These are not the necessaries of life; they can scarcely be
called the conveniences: and yet, only because they look pretty,
how many want to have them! By these and other extravagances
the genteel are reduced to poverty, and forced to borrow of those
whom they formerly despised, but who through industry and fru-
gality have maintained their standing; in which case it appears
plainly that 'A plowman on his legs is higher than a gentle-
man on his knees,' as poor Richard says. Perhaps they have had
a small estate left them, which they knew not the getting of;
they think, 'It is day, and will never be night;' that a little to
be spent out of so much is not worth minding; but 'Always tak-
ing out of the meal-tub and never putting in, soon comes to the
bottom,' as Poor Richard says; and then, 'When the well is dry,
they know the worth of water. ' But this they might have known
before, if they had taken his advice. 'If you would know the
value of money, go and try to borrow some: for he that goes
a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing,' as Poor Richard says; and indeed,
so does he that lends to such people, when he goes to get it in
again. Poor Dick further advises and says:-
'Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse;
Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse. '
And again, 'Pride is as loud a beggar as Want, and a great
deal more saucy. ' When you have bought one fine thing, you
must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all of a piece;
but Poor Dick says, 'It is easier to suppress the first desire, than
to satisfy all that follow it. ' And it is as truly folly for the poor
to ape the rich, as for the frog to swell in order to equal the
OX.


## p. 5948 (#536) ###########################################

5948
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
'Vessels large may venture more,
But little boats should keep near shore. '
It is however a folly soon punished; for, as Poor Richard says,
'Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt. Pride breakfasted
with Plenty, dined with Poverty, and supped with Infamy. ' And
after all, of what use is this pride of appearance, for which so
much is risked, so much is suffered ? It cannot promote health
nor ease pain; it makes no increase of merit in the person; it
creates envy; it hastens misfortune.
"But what madness must it be to run in debt for these super-
fluities! We are offered by the terms of this sale six months'
credit; and that perhaps has induced some of us to attend it,
because we cannot spare the ready money, and hope now to be
fine without it. But ah! think what you do when you run in
debt: you give to another power over your liberty. If you can-
not pay at the time, you will be ashamed to see your creditor;
you will be in fear when you speak to him; you will make poor,
pitiful, sneaking excuses, and by degrees come to lose your ve-
racity and sink into base downright lying; for The second vice
is lying, the first is running in debt,' as Poor Richard says: and
again to the same purpose, Lying rides upon Debt's back;'
whereas a free-born Englishman ought not to be ashamed nor
afraid to see or speak to any man living. But poverty often
deprives a man of all spirit and virtue. It is hard for an empty
bag to stand upright. '
(
"What would you think of that prince or of that government
who should issue an edict forbidding you to dress like a gentle-
man or a gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment or servitude?
Would you not say that you were free, have a right to dress as
you please; and that such an edict would be a breach of your
privileges, and such a government tyrannical? And yet you are
about to put yourself under such tyranny, when you run in debt
for such dress! Your creditor has authority, at his pleasure, to
deprive you of your liberty by confining you in jail till you shall
be able to pay him. When you have got your bargain, you may
perhaps think little of payment; but as Poor Richard says, 'Cred-
itors have better memories than debtors; creditors are a super-
stitious sect, great observers of set days and times. ' The day
comes round before you are aware, and the demand is made
before you are prepared to satisfy it; or if you bear your debt in


## p. 5949 (#537) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5949
mind, the term which at first seemed so long will, as it lessens,
appear extremely short. Time will seem to have added wings to
his heels as well as his shoulders. Those have a short Lent
who owe money to be paid at Easter. ' At present, perhaps, you
may think yourselves in thriving circumstances, and that you can
bear a little extravagance without injury, but-
-
'For age and want save while you may;
No morning sun lasts a whole day. '
Gain may be temporary and uncertain, but ever while you live,
expense is constant and certain; and 'It is easier to build two
chimneys than to keep one in fuel,' as Poor Richard says; so,
Rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt. '
'Get what you can, and what you get hold;
'Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold. '
And when you have got the Philosopher's Stone, sure you will
no longer complain of bad times or the difficulty of paying
taxes.
"This doctrine, my friends, is reason and wisdom: but after
all, do not depend too much upon your own industry and fru-
gality and prudence, though excellent things; for they may all be
blasted, without the blessing of Heaven; and therefore ask that
blessing humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at pres-
ent seem to want it; but comfort and help them. Remember,
Job suffered and was afterwards prosperous.
"And now, to conclude, 'Experience keeps a dear school, but
fools will learn in no other,' as Poor Richard says, and scarce in
that; for it is true, 'We may give advice, but we cannot give
conduct. ' However, remember this: They that will not be
counseled, cannot be helped;' and further, that 'If you will not
hear Reason, she will surely rap your knuckles,' as Poor Richard
says. "
Thus the old gentleman ended his harangue.
The people
heard it and approved the doctrine; and immediately practiced
the contrary, just as if it had been a common sermon; for the
auction opened and they began to buy extravagantly. I found
the good man had thoroughly studied my Almanacks, and digested
all I had dropped on these topics during the course of twenty-
five years.
The frequent mention he made of me must have
tired any one else; but my vanity was wonderfully delighted


## p. 5950 (#538) ###########################################

5950
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
with it, though I was conscious that not a tenth part of the wis-
dom was my own, which he had ascribed to me, but rather the
gleanings that I had made of the sense of all ages and nations.
However, I resolved to be the better for the echo of it; and
though I had at first determined to buy stuff for a new coat, I
went away resolved to wear my old one a little longer. Reader,
if thou wilt do the same, thy profit will be as great as mine. I
am, as ever, thine to serve thee,
RICHARD SAUNDERS.
SPEECH IN THE FEDERAL CONVENTION, IN FAVOR OF OPEN-
ING ITS SESSIONS WITH PRAYER
Mr. President:
THE
HE small progress we have made, after four or five weeks'
close attendance and continual reasons with each other, our
different sentiments on almost every question, several of
the last producing as many Noes as Ayes, is, methinks, a melan-
choly proof of the imperfection of the human understanding.
We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom,
since we have been running all about in search of it. We have
gone back to ancient history for models of government, and ex-
amined the different forms of those republics, which, having been
originally formed with the seeds of their own dissolution, now
no longer exist; and we have viewed modern States all round
Europe, but find none of their constitutions suitable to our cir
cumstances.
In this situation of this assembly, groping as it were in the
dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it
when presented to us, how has it happened, sir, that we have
not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of
Lights to illuminate our understandings?
In the beginning of
the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we
had daily prayers in this room for the Divine protection.
prayers, sir, were heard; and they were graciously answered. All
of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed fre-
quent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. To
that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consult-
ing in peace on the means of establishing our future national
felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? or


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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5951
do we imagine we no longer need its assistance? I have lived,
sir, a long time; and the longer I live, the more convincing.
proofs I see of this truth, that GOD governs in the affairs of
men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his
notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?
We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings, that "except
the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. " I
firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring
aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the
builders of Babel: we shall be divided by our little partial local
interests, our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall
become a reproach and a byword down to future ages. And
what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate
instance, despair of establishing government by human wisdom,
and leave it to chance, war, and conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move,—
That henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven
and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in this assembly
every morning before we proceed to business; and that one or
more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that
service.
ON WAR
I
AGREE with you perfectly in your disapprobation of war. Ab-
stracted from the inhumanity of it, I think it wrong in point
of human prudence; for whatever advantage one nation would
obtain from another, whether it be part of their territory, the
liberty of commerce with them, free passage on their rivers, etc. ,
it would be much cheaper to purchase such advantage with
ready money than to pay the expense of acquiring it by war.
An army is a devouring monster; and when you have raised it,
you have, in order to subsist it, not only the fair charges of pay,
clothing, provisions, arms, and ammunition, with numberless
other contingent and just charges to answer and satisfy, but you
have all the additional knavish charges of the numerous tribe of
contractors to defray, with those of every other dealer who fur-
nishes the articles wanted for your army, and takes advantage of
that want to demand exorbitant prices. It seems to me that if
statesmen had a little more arithmetic, or were more accustomed
to calculation, wars would be much less frequent. I am confident


## p. 5952 (#540) ###########################################

5952
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
that Canada might have been purchased from France for a tenth
part of the money England spent in the conquest of it. And if
instead of fighting with us for the power of taxing us, she had
kept us in good humor by allowing us to dispose of our own
money, and now and then giving us a little of hers, by way of
donation to colleges, or hospitals, or for cutting canals, or forti-
fying ports, she might have easily drawn from us much more by
our occasional voluntary grants and contributions than ever she
could by taxes. Sensible people will give a bucket or two of
water to a dry pump, that they may afterwards get from it all
they have occasion for. Her ministry were deficient in that little
point of common-sense; and so they spent one, hundred millions
of her money and after all lost what they contended for.
REVENGE
LETTER TO MADAME HELVÉTIUS
M
ORTIFIED at the barbarous resolution pronounced by you
so positively yesterday evening,-that you would remain
single the rest of your life, as a compliment due to the
memory of your husband,-I retired to my chamber. Throwing
myself upon my bed, I dreamt that I was dead, and was trans-
ported to the Elysian Fields.
I was asked whether I wished to see any persons in particu-
lar; to which I replied that I wished to see the philosophers. —
"There are two who live here at hand in this garden; they are
good neighbors, and very friendly towards one another. " - "Who
are they? ". Socrates and Helvétius. "-"I esteem them both
highly; but let me see Helvétius first, because I understand a
little French, but not a word of Greek. " I was conducted to
him he received me with much courtesy, having known me, he
said, by character, some time past. He asked me a thousand
questions relative to the war, the present state of religion, of
liberty, of the government in France. "You do not inquire,
then," said I, "after your dear friend, Madame Helvétius; yet she
loves you exceedingly: I was in her company not more than an
hour ago. " "Ah," said he, "you make me recur to my past hap-
piness, which ought to be forgotten in order to be happy here.
For many years I could think of nothing but her, though at
length I am consoled. I have taken another wife, the most like
--


## p. 5953 (#541) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5953
her that I could find; she is not indeed altogether so handsome,
but she has a great fund of wit and good sense; and her whole
study is to please me. She is at this moment gone to fetch the
best nectar and ambrosia to regale me; stay here awhile and you
will see her. " "I perceive," said I, "that your former friend is
more faithful to you than you are to her; she has had several
good offers, but refused them all. I will confess to you that I
loved her extremely; but she was cruel to me, and rejected me
peremptorily for your sake. " "I pity you sincerely," said he,
"for she is an excellent woman, handsome and amiable. But do
not the Abbé de la Roche and the Abbé Morellet visit her? "
"Certainly they do; not one of your friends has dropped her ac-
quaintance. "—"If you had gained the Abbé Morellet with a
bribe of good coffee and cream, perhaps you would have suc-
ceeded: for he is as deep a reasoner as Duns Scotus or St.
Thomas: he arranges and methodizes his arguments in such a
manner that they are almost irresistible. Or if by a fine edition
of some old classic you had gained the Abbé de la Roche to
speak against you, that would have been still better; as I always
observed that when he recommended anything to her, she had a
great inclination to do directly the contrary. " As he finished
these words the new Madame Helvétius entered with the nectar,
and I recognized her immediately as my former American friend
Mrs. Franklin! I reclaimed her, but she answered me coldly:-
"I was a good wife to you for forty-nine years and four months,
-nearly half a century; let that content you. I have formed a
new connection here, which will last to eternity. "
Indignant at this refusal of my Eurydice, I immediately re-
solved to quit those ungrateful shades, and return to this good
world again, to behold the sun and you! Here I am: let us
avenge ourselves!
THE EPHEMERA; AN EMBLEM OF HUMAN LIFE
LETTER TO MADAME BRILLON OF PASSY, WRITTEN IN 1778
--
You
may remember, my dear friend, that when we lately spent
that happy day in the delightful garden and sweet society
of the Moulin Joly, I stopped a little in one of our walks,
and stayed some time behind the company. We had been shown
numberless skeletons of a kind of little fly, called an ephemera,
X-373


## p. 5954 (#542) ###########################################

5954
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
whose successive generations, we were told, were bred and ex-
pired within the day. I happened to see a living company of
them on a leaf, who appeared to be engaged in conversation.
You know I understand all the inferior animal tongues. My too
great application to the study of them is the best excuse I can
give for the little progress I have made in your charming lan-
guage. I listened through curiosity to the discourse of these
little creatures; but as they in their natural vivacity spoke three
or four together, I could make but little of their conversation.
I found however by some broken expressions that I heard now
and then, they were disputing warmly on the merit of two foreign
musicians, one a cousin, the other a moscheto; in which dispute
they spent their time, seemingly as regardless of the shortness
of life as if they had been sure of living a month. Happy peo-
ple! thought I; you are certainly under a wise, just, and mild
government, since you have no public grievances to complain of,
nor any subject of contention but the perfections and imperfec-
tions of foreign music. I turned my head from them to an old
gray-headed one, who was single on another leaf, and talking to
himself. Being amused with his soliloquy, I put it down in
writing, in hopes it will likewise amuse her to whom I am so
much indebted for the most pleasing of all amusements, her
delicious company and heavenly harmony.
"It was," said he, "the opinion of learned philosophers of our
race who lived and flourished long before my time, that this
vast world, the Moulin Joly, could not itself subsist more than
eighteen hours; and I think there was some foundation for that
opinion, since by the apparent motion of the great luminary that
gives life to all nature, and which in my time has evidently de-
clined considerably towards the ocean at the end of our earth, it
must then finish its course, be extinguished in the waters that
surround us, and leave the world in cold and darkness, necessa-
rily producing universal death and destruction. I have lived
seven of those hours, a great age, being no less than four hun-
dred and twenty minutes of time. How very few of us continue
so long! I have seen generations born, flourish, and expire.
My present friends are the children and grandchildren of the
friends of my youth, who are now, alas, no more! And I must
soon follow them; for by the course of nature, though still in
health, I cannot expect to live above seven or eight minutes
longer. What now avails all my toil and labor in amassing


## p. 5955 (#543) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5955
honey-dew on this leaf, which I cannot live to enjoy? What the
political struggles I have been engaged in for the good of my
compatriot inhabitants of this bush, or my philosophical studies
for the benefit of our race in general? for in politics, what can
laws do without morals? Our present race of ephemera will in
a course of minutes become corrupt, like those of other and
older bushes, and consequently as wretched. And in philosophy
how small our progress! Alas! art is long and life is short! My
friends would comfort me with the idea of a name they say I
shall leave behind me; and they tell me I have lived long enough
to nature and to glory. But what will fame be to an ephemera
who no longer exists? and what will become of all history in
the eighteenth hour, when the world itself, even the whole Mou-
lin Joly, shall come to its end, and be buried in universal ruin ? »
To me, after all my eager pursuits, no solid pleasures now
remain but the reflection of a long life spent in meaning well,
the sensible conversation of a few good lady ephemeræ, and now
and then a kind smile and a tune from the ever amiable Bril.
lante.
A PROPHECY
LETTER TO LORD KAMES, JANUARY 3D, 1760
N°
O ONE can more sincerely rejoice than I do, on the reduction
of Canada; and this is not merely as I am a colonist, but
as I am a Briton. I have long been of opinion that the
foundations of the future grandeur and stability of the British
empire lie in America; and though like other foundations they are
low and little now, they are nevertheless broad and strong enough
to support the greatest political structure that human wisdom.
ever yet erected. I am therefore by no means for restoring
Canada. If we keep it, all the country from the St. Lawrence to
the Mississippi will in another century be filled with British peo-
ple. Britain itself will become vastly more populous, by the
immense increase of its commerce; the Atlantic sea will be cov-
ered with your trading ships; and your naval power, thence con-
tinually increasing, will extend your influence round the whole
globe, and awe the world! If the French remain in Canada they
will continually harass our colonies by the Indians, and impede
if not prevent their growth; your progress to greatness will at


## p. 5956 (#544) ###########################################

5956
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
best be slow, and give room for many accidents that may forever
prevent it. But I refrain, for I see you begin to think my
notions extravagant, and look upon them as the ravings of a mad
prophet.
EARLY MARRIAGES
LETTER TO JOHN ALLEYNE, DATED CRAVEN STREET, AUGUST 9TH, 1768
You
ou desire, you say, my impartial thoughts on the subject of
an ea marriage, way of answer to the numberless
objections that have been made by numerous persons to
your own. You may remember, when you consulted me on the
occasion, that I thought youth on both sides to be no objection.
Indeed, from the marriages that have fallen under my observa-
tion, I am rather inclined to think that early ones stand the best
chance of happiness. The temper and habits of the young are
not become so stiff and uncomplying as when more advanced in
life; they form more easily to each othe and hence many occa-
sions of disgust are removed. And if youth has less of that pru-
dence which is necessary to manage a family, yet the parents and
elder friends of young married persons are generally at hand to
afford their advice, which amply supplies that defect; and by
early marriage, youth is sooner formed to regular and useful life;
and possibly some of those accidents or connections that might
have injured the constitution or reputation, or both, are thereby
happily prevented.
Particular circumstances of particular persons may possibly
sometimes make it prudent to delay entering into that state; but
in general, when nature has rendered our bodies fit for it, the pre-
sumption is in nature's favor, that she has not judged amiss in
making us desire it. Late marriages are often attended, too, with
this further inconvenience: that there is not the same chance
that the parents will live to see their offspring educated. "Late
children," says the Spanish proberb, "are early orphans. " A mel-
ancholy reflection to those whose case it may be! With us in
America, marriages are generally in the morning of life; our
children are therefore educated and settled in the world by noon:
and thus, our business being done, we have an afternoon and
evening of cheerful leisure to ourselves; such as our friend at
present enjoys. By these early marriages we are blessed with


## p. 5957 (#545) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5957
more children; and from the mode among us, founded by nature,
every mother suckling and nursing her own child, more of them
are raised.
Thence the swift progress of population among us,
unparalleled in Europe.
In fine, I am glad you are married, and congratulate you most
cordially upon it. You are now in the way of becoming a useful
citizen; and you have escaped the unnatural state of celibacy for
life, the fate of many here who never intended it, but who, having
too long postponed the change of their condition, find at length
that it is too late to think of it, and so live all their lives in a
situation that greatly lessens a man's value. An odd volume of
a set of books bears not the value of its proportion to the set.
What think you of the odd half of a pair of scissors? It cannot
well cut anything; it may possibly serve to scrape a trencher.
Pray make my compliments and best wishes acceptable to
your bride.
I am old and heavy, or I should ere this have pre-
sented them in person. I shall make but small use of the old
man's privilege, that of giving advice to younger friends. Treat
your wife always with respect: it will procure respect to you, not
only from her, but from all that observe it. Never use a slight-
ing expression to her, even in jest; for slights in jest, after fre-
quent bandyings, are apt to end in angry earnest. Be studious
in your profession, and you will be learned. Be industrious and
frugal, and you will be rich. Be sober and temperate, and you
will be healthy. Be in general virtuous, and you will be happy:
at least, you will, by such conduct, stand the best chance for
such consequences. I pray God to bless you both; being ever
your affectionate friend.
THE ART OF VIRTUE
From the Autobiography,' in Bigelow's Edition of Franklin's Works
WⓇ
WE HAVE an English proverb that says, "He that would thrive
must ask his wife. " It was lucky for me that I had one
as much disposed to industry and frugality as myself.
She assisted me cheerfully in my business, folding and stitching
pamphlets, tending shop, purchasing old linen rags for the paper-
makers, etc. , etc. We kept no idle servants; our table was plain
and simple, our furniture of the cheapest. For instance, my
breakfast was a long time bread and milk (no tea), and I ate it


## p. 5958 (#546) ###########################################

5958
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
But
out of a twopenny earthen porringer, with a pewter spoon.
mark how luxury will enter families, and make a progress, in
spite of principle: being called one morning to breakfast, I found
it in a china bowl, with a spoon of silver! They had been
bought for me without my knowledge by my wife, and had cost
her the enormous sum of three-and-twenty shillings, for which
she had no other excuse or apology to make but that she
thought her husband deserved a silver spoon and china bowl as
well as any of his neighbors. This was the first appearance of
plate and china in our house, which afterward, in a course of
years, as our wealth increased, augmented gradually to several
hundred pounds in value.
I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian; and though
some of the dogmas of that persuasion, such as the eternal de-
crees of God, election, reprobation, etc. , appeared to me unintelligi-
ble, 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 in-
stance, the existence of the Deity; that he made the world, and
governed it by his Providence; that the most acceptable service
of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal;
and that all crime will be punished and virtue rewarded, either
here or hereafter. These I esteemed the essentials of every
religion; and being to be found in all the religions we had in
our country, I respected them all, though with different degrees
of respect, as I found them more or less mixed with other ar-
ticles, which, without any tendency to inspire, promote, or con-
firm morality, served principally to divide us and make us
unfriendly to one another. This respect to all, with an opinion
that the worst had some good effects, induced me to avoid all
discourse that might tend to lessen the good opinion another
might have of his own religion; and as our province increased in
people, and new places of worship were continually wanted, and
generally erected by voluntary contribution, my mite for such
purpose, whatever might be the sect, was never refused.
Though I seldom attended any public worship, I had still an
opinion of its propriety, and of its utility when rightly conducted,
and I regularly paid my annual subscription for the support of
the only Presbyterian minister or meeting we had in Philadelphia.
He used to visit me sometimes as a friend, and admonish me
to attend his administrations; and I was now and then prevailed


## p. 5959 (#547) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5959
on to do so, once for five Sundays successively. Had he been in
my opinion a good preacher, perhaps I might have continued,
notwithstanding the occasion I had for the Sunday's leisure in
my course of study; but his discourses were chiefly either polemic
arguments, or explications of the peculiar doctrines of our sect,
and were all to me very dry, uninteresting, and unedifying, since
not a single moral principle was inculcated or enforced; their
aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians than good
citizens.
At length he took for his text that verse of the fourth chap-
ter 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 imagined, in
a sermon on such a text, we could not miss of having some
morality. But he confined himself to five points only, as meant
by the Apostle, viz. :- 1. Keeping holy the Sabbath day. 2.
Being diligent in reading the holy Scriptures. 3. Attending duly
the public worship. 4. Partaking of the Sacrament. 5. Paying a
due respect to God's ministers. —These might be all good things;
but as they were not the kind of good things that I expected
from that text, I despaired of ever meeting with them from any
other, was disgusted, and attended his preaching no more. I
had some years before composed a little liturgy, or form of
prayer, for my own private use (viz. , in 1728), entitled 'Articles
of Belief and Acts of Religion. ' I returned to the use of this,
and went no more to the public assemblies. My conduct might
be blamable, but I leave it, without attempting further to excuse
it; my present purpose being to relate facts, and not to make
apologies for them.
It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous pro-
ject of arriving at moral perfection. I wished to live without
committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all that
either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me
into. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong,
I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the
other.
I made a little book in which I allotted a page for each of
the virtues. I ruled each page with red ink so as to have seven
columns, one for each day of the week, marking each column
with a letter for the day. I crossed these columns with thirteen
red lines, marking the beginning of each line with the first letter


## p. 5960 (#548) ###########################################

5960
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
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 ex-
amination to have been committed respecting that virtue upon
that day.
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 pre-
fixed to my tables of examination, for daily use:
―
"O powerful Goodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide! Increase
in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. Strengthen
my resolutions to perform what that wisdom dictates. Accept my
kind offices to thy other children as the only return in my power for
thy continual favors to me. "
I used also sometimes a little prayer which I took from Thom-
son'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! "
I entered upon the execution of this plan for self-examination,
and continued it with occasional intermissions for some time. I
was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had
imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish.
My scheme of Order gave me the most trouble; and I found
that though it might be practicable where a man's business was
such as to leave him the disposition of his time,- that of a jour-
neyman printer, for instance, it was not possible to be exactly
observed by a master, who must mix with the world, and often
receive people of business at their own hours. Order, too, with
regard to places for things, papers, etc. , I found extremely diffi-
cult to acquire. I had not been early accustomed to it; and hav-
ing 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


## p. 5961 (#549) ###########################################

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
5961
respect; like the man who in buying an axe of a smith, my
neighbor, desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as the
edge. The smith consented to grind it bright for him if he
would turn the wheel; he turned, while the smith pressed the
broad face of the axe 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 axe 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 axe best. " And I believe this may have
been the case with many who, having for want of some such
means as I employed, found the difficulty of obtaining good and
breaking bad habits in other points of vice and virtue, have given
up the struggle and concluded that "a speckled axe was best":
for something that pretended to be reason was every now and
then suggesting to me that such extreme nicety as I exacted of
myself might be a kind of foppery in morals, which if it were
known would make me ridiculous; that a perfect character might
be attended with the inconvenience of being envied and hated;
and that a benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself,
to keep his friends in countenance.
In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to order;
and now I am grown old, and my memory bad, I feel very
sensibly the want of it. But on the whole, though I never
arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining,
but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavor, a better and
a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not
attempted it; as those who aim at perfect writing by imitating
the engraved copies, though they never reach the wished-for
excellence of those copies, their hand is mended by the endeavor,
and is tolerable while it continues fair and legible.
It may be well my posterity should be informed that to this
little artifice, with the blessing of God, their ancestor owed the
constant felicity of his life down to his 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 enjoyed ought to help his bearing them with more
resignation. To Temperance he ascribes his long-continued
health, and what is still left to him of a good constitution; to
Industry and Frugality, the early easiness of his circumstances


## p. 5962 (#550) ###########################################

5962
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
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 con-
ferred upon him; and to the joint influence of the whole mass of
the virtues, even in the imperfect state he was able to acquire
them, all that evenness of temper, and that cheerfulness in con-
versation, which makes his company still sought for, and agree-
able even to his younger acquaintance. I hope therefore that
some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the
benefit.
It will be remarked that though my scheme was not wholly
without religion, there was in it no mark of any of the distin-
guishing tenets of any particular sect. I had purposely avoided
them; for being fully persuaded of the utility and excellency of
my method, and that it might be serviceable to people in all
religions, and intending some time or other to publish it, I
would not have anything in it that should prejudice any one of
any sect against it.
In this piece it was my design to explain and enforce this
doctrine: that vicious actions are not hurtful because they are
forbidden, but forbidden because they are hurtful, the nature of
man alone considered; that it was therefore every one's interest
to be virtuous, who wished to be happy even in this world; and
I should from this circumstance (there being always in the world
a number of rich merchants, nobility, States, and princes who
have need of honest instruments for the management of their
affairs, and such being so rare) have endeavored to convince
young persons that no qualities were so likely to make a poor
man's fortune as those of probity and integrity.
My list of virtues contained at first but twelve: but a Quaker
friend having kindly informed me that I was generally thought
proud; that my pride showed itself frequently in conversation;
that I was not content with being in the right when discussing
any point, but was overbearing and rather insolent, of which he
convinced me by mentioning several instances; I determined
endeavoring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly among
the rest, and I added Humility to my list, giving an extensive
meaning to the word.