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THE LIFE

AND

MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS

OF

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

GREATLY EXTENDED AND IMPROVED.

SEEST THOU A MAN DILIGENT IN HIS CALLING, HE SHALL STAND BEFORE KINGS, HE SHALL NOT

STAND BEFORE MEAN MEN.PROVERBS OF SOLOMON.

EDINBURGH:

PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS;
AND W. S. ORR AND COMPANY, LONDON.

1839.

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1889

PREFACE.

VARIOUS editions of the Philosophical Papers of Franklin appeared before the year 1766; collections, comprehending political and miscellaneous pieces, were issued in different forms in 1779 and 1787; and in 1793, appeared for the first time that well-known miscellany, which has been so often printed, under the title of the Life and Essays of Dr Franklin.

In 1806, a much larger collection was published by two London bookselling houses, under the title of "The Complete Works, in Philosophy, Politics, and Morals, of the late Dr Benjamin Franklin," forming three volumes octavo; and in the editor's preface the following remarkable statement was made, with reference to the nonpublication of an authentic edition of the works of the American philosopher by the individual to whom he entrusted the task on his deathbed :

"In bequeathing his papers, it was no doubt the intention of the testator, that the world should have the chance of being benefited by their publication. It was so understood by the person in question, his grandson, who, accordingly, shortly after the death of his great relative, hastened to London, the best mart for literary property, employed an amanuensis for many months in copying, ransacked our public libraries that nothing might escape, and at length had so far prepared the works of Dr Franklin for the press, that proposals were made by him to several of our principal booksellers for the sale of them. They were to form three quarto volumes, and were to contain all the writings, published and unpublished, of Franklin, with Memoirs of his Life, brought down by himself to the year 1757, and continued to his death by the legatee. They were to be published in three different languages, and the countries corresponding to those languages, France, Germany, and England, on the same day. The terms asked for the copyright of the edition were high, amounting to several thousand pounds, which occasioned a little demur; but eventually they would have no doubt been obtained. Nothing more was heard of the proposals or the work, in this its fair market. The proprietor, it seems, had found a bidder of a different description in some emissary of government, whose object was to withhold the manuscripts from the world, not to benefit it by their publication; and they thus either passed into other hands, or the person to whom they were bequeathed received a remuneration for suppressing them. This, at least, has been asserted by a variety of persons, both in this country and America, of whom some were at the time intimate with the grandson, and not wholly unacquainted with the machinations of the ministry; and the silence which has been preserved for so many years respecting the publication, gives additional credibility to the report. What the manuscripts contained, that should have excited the jealousy of government, we are unable, as we have never seen them, positively to affirm; but from the conspicuous part acted by the author in the American Revolution and the wars connected with it, it is by no means difficult to guess; and of this we are sure, from his character, that no disposition of his writings could have been more contrary to his intentions or wishes."

Whatever truth there may be in this statement—and we have never heard of its being contradicted-the authentic edition ultimately did appear in 1817, under the care of Dr Franklin's grandson, William Temple Franklin. Such is a brief outline of the history of Dr Franklin's writings. It remains that a few words be said respecting the present edition.

It is designed as an improvement upon the popular miscellany which was first published in 1793. The British Booksellers have printed that work over and over again, without making any attempt to remedy its deficiencies, or to accommodate it to the present state of information on the subjects it embraces. In this edition, an effort has been made to render the work, in these respects, more worthy of the public patronage.

1. The life of the Author by himself, from his birth to 1731, has received some additional notes, marked by being enclosed within brackets.

2. Instead of the continuation of the Life, usually given, and which now appears meagre and unsatisfactory, a very ample Memoir has been prepared. It not only details his philosophical and political career with considerable minuteness, but presents notices of the chief associates of Franklin, besides many historical and geographical notes which seem necessary for the British reader of the present day. In the preparation of this narrative, and its notes, besides various historical works, recourse has been had to the pages of the North American Review, the American Encyclopedia, Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, Lord Woodhouselee's Life of Kames, the Biographie Universelle, and some other European and American publications. Care has also been taken that the Memoir should be consistent with such parts of the publication of 1817 as bear upon the subject. With these advantages, it may be confidently described as the most complete account of Franklin which has ever been given to the British public.

3. The Miscellany which follows the Life has received several important additions.

Altogether, the publishers allow themselves to hope, that, in the present edition, the wisdom which Franklin has bequeathed to mankind, in the example of his life, and in his writings, will carry more meaning to the understandings of the great bulk of men, than it has ever done in any previous form.

EDINBURGH, March 1, 1833.

M371017

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LIFE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

MY DEAR SON,

EARLY LIFE.

I HAVE amused myself with collecting some little anecdotes of my family. You may remember the inquiries 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 now relate them: 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 to 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 wherever 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 same 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 sufficed 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, 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 Wellingborough, afterwards sold it to Mr Estead, 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 a 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 compe* In early times in England, franklin was a title of honour,

equivalent to the term country gentleman. Chaucer calls his country gentleman a franklin; and, after describing his good house-keeping, thus characterises him :

This worthy franklin bore a purse of silk
Fix'd to his girdle, white as morning milk;
Knight of the shire, first justice at th' assize,
To help the poor, the doubtful to advise.
In all employments generous, just, he proved,
Renown'd for courtesy, by all beloved.

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