APPENDIX

We now appeared very wide, and so far from each other in our opinions as to discourage all hope of agreement

"We now appeared very wide, and so far from each other in our opinions as to discourage all hope of agreement"

The want of formality or rudeness was, probably, my not having address'd the paper to them with their assum'd titles of True and Absolute Proprietaries of the Province of Pennsylvania, which I omitted as not thinking it necessary in a paper, the intention of which was only to reduce to a certainty by writing, what in conversation I had deliveredviva voce.

But during this delay, the Assembly having prevailed with Gov'r Denny to pass an act taxing the proprietary estate in common with the estates of the people, which was the grand point in dispute, they omitted answering the message.

When this act however came over, the proprietaries, counselled by Paris, determined to oppose its receiving the royal assent. Accordingly they petitioned the king in Council, and a hearing was appointed in which two lawyers were employ'd by them against the act, and two by me in support of it. They alledg'd that the act was intended to load the proprietary estate in order to spare those of the people, and that if it were suffer'd to continue in force, and the proprietaries, who were in odium with the people, left to their mercy in proportioning the taxes, they would inevitably be ruined. We reply'd that the act had no such intention, and would have no such effect. That the assessors were honest and discreet men under an oath to assess fairly and equitably, and that any advantage each of them might expect in lessening his own tax by augmenting that of the proprietaries was too trifling to induce them to perjure themselves. This is the purport of what I remember as urged by both sides, except that we insisted strongly on the mischievous consequences that must attend a repeal, for that the money, £100,000, being printed and given to the king's use, expended in his service, and now spread among the people, the repeal would strike it dead in their hands to the ruin of many, and the total discouragement of future grants, and the selfishness of the proprietors in soliciting such a general catastrophe, merely from a groundless fear of their estate being taxed too highly, was insisted on in the strongest terms. On this, Lord Mansfield, one of the counsel, rose, and beckoning me took me into the clerk's chamber, while the lawyers were pleading, and asked me if I was really of opinion that no injury would be done the proprietary estate in the execution of the act. I said certainly. "Then," says he, "you can have little objection to enter into an engagement to assure that point." I answer'd, "None at all." He then call'd in Paris, and after some discourse, his lordship's proposition was accepted on both sides; a paper to the purpose was drawn up by the Clerk of the Council, which I sign'd with Mr. Charles, who was also an Agent of the Province for their ordinary affairs, when Lord Mansfield returned to the Council Chamber, where finally the law was allowed to pass. Some changes were however recommended and we also engaged they should be made by a subsequent law, but the Assembly did not think them necessary; for one year's tax having been levied by the act before the order of Council arrived, they appointed a committee to examine the proceedings of the assessors, and on this committee they put several particular friends of the proprietaries. After a full enquiry, they unanimously sign'd a report that they found the tax had been assess'd with perfect equity.

The Assembly looked into my entering into the first part of the engagement, as an essential service to the Province, since it secured the credit of the paper money then spread over all the country. They gave me their thanks in form when I return'd. But the proprietaries were enraged at Governor Denny for having pass'd the act, and turn'd him out with threats of suing him for breach of instructions which he had given bond to observe. He, however, having done it at the instance of the General, and for His Majesty's service, and having some powerful interest at court, despis'd the threats and they were never put in execution.... [unfinished]

[111]Quarrel between George II and his son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, who died before his father.

[112]A satirical poem by Alexander Pope directed against various contemporary writers.

[113]William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), a great English statesman and orator. Under his able administration, England won Canada from France. He was a friend of America at the time of our Revolution.

[114]This relation illustrates the corruption that characterized English public life in the eighteenth century. (See page308). It was gradually overcome in the early part of the next century.

[115]A piece of wood shaped and weighted so as to keep it stable when in the water. To this is attached a line knotted at regular distances. By these devices it is possible to tell the speed of a ship.

[116]A celebrated prehistoric ruin, probably of a temple built by the early Britons, near Salisbury, England. It consists of inner and outer circles of enormous stones, some of which are connected by stone slabs.

[117]"Here terminates theAutobiography, as published by Wm. Temple Franklin and his successors. What follows was written in the last year of Dr. Franklin's life, and was never before printed in English."—Mr. Bigelow's note in his edition of 1868.

[118]George Granville or Grenville (1712-1770). As English premier from 1763 to 1765, he introduced the direct taxation of the American Colonies and has sometimes been called the immediate cause of the Revolution.

[119]This whole passage shows how hopelessly divergent were the English and American views on the relations between the mother country and her colonies. Grenville here made clear that the Americans were to have no voice in making or amending their laws. Parliament and the king were to have absolute power over the colonies. No wonder Franklin was alarmed by this new doctrine.

Medal with inscription: BENJ. FRANLIN NATUS BOSTON XVII, JAN. MDCCVI.

To Peter Collinson

[Philadelphia], Oct. 19, 1752.

Sir,

As frequent mention is made in public papers from Europe of the success of thePhiladelphiaexperiment for drawing the electric fire from clouds by means of pointed rods of iron erected on high buildings, &c., it may be agreeable to the curious to be informed, that the same experiment has succeeded inPhiladelphia, though made in a different and more easy manner, which is as follows:

Make a small cross of two light strips of cedar, the arms so long as to reach to the four corners of a large, thin silk handkerchief when extended; tie the corners of the handkerchief to the extremities of the cross, so you have the body of a kite; which being properly accommodated with a tail, loop, and string, will rise in the air, like those made of paper; but this being of silk, is fitter to bear the wet and wind of a thunder-gust without tearing. To the top of the upright stick of the cross is to be fixed a very sharp-pointed wire, rising a foot or more above the wood. To the end of the twine, next the hand, is to be tied a silk ribbon, and where the silk and twine join, a key may be fastened. This kite is to be raised when a thunder-gust appears to be coming on, and the person who holds the string must stand within a door or window, or under some cover, so that the silk ribbon may not be wet; and care must be taken that the twine does not touch the frame of the door or window. As soon as any of the thunder clouds come over the kite, the pointed wire will draw the electric fire from them, and the kite, with all the twine will be electrified, and the loose filaments of the twine will stand out every way and be attracted by an approaching finger. And when the rain has wet the kite and twine, so that it can conduct the electric fire freely, you will find it stream out plentifully from the key on the approach of your knuckle. At this key the phial may be charged; and from electric fire thus obtained, spirits may be kindled, and all the electric experiments be performed, which are usually done by the help of a rubbed glass globe or tube, and thereby the sameness of the electric matter with that of lightning completely demonstrated.

B. Franklin.

You will find it stream out plentifully from the key on the approach of your knuckle

"You will find it stream out plentifully from the key on the approach of your knuckle"

Father Abraham in his Study

FatherAbrahamin hisStudy.

From "Father Abraham's Speech," 1760. Reproduced from a copy at the New York Public Library.

(From "Father Abraham's Speech," forming the preface to PoorRichard's Almanacfor 1758.)

It would be thought a hard Government that should tax its People one-tenth Part of theirTime, to be employed in its Service. ButIdlenesstaxes many of us much more, if we reckon all that is spent in absoluteSloth, or doing of nothing, with that which is spent in idle Employments or Amusements, that amount to nothing.Sloth, by bringing on Diseases, absolutely shortens Life.Sloth, like Rust, consumes faster than Labor wears; while the used key is always bright, as Poor Richard says. But dost thou love Life, then do not squander Time, for that's the stuff Life is made of, as Poor Richardsays. How much more than is necessary do we spend in sleep, forgetting thatThe sleeping Fox catches no Poultry, and thatThere will be sleeping enough in the Grave, asPoor Richardsays.

If Time be of all Things the most precious, wasting Time must be, as Poor Richardsays,thegreatest Prodigality; since, as he elsewhere tells us,Lost Time is never found again; and what we call Time enough, always proves little enough: Let us then up and be doing, and doing to the Purpose; so by Diligence shall we do more with less Perplexity.Sloth makes all Things difficult, but Industry all easy, asPoor Richardsays; andHe that riseth late must trot all Day, and shall scarce overtake his Business at Night; while Laziness travels so slowly, that Poverty soon overtakes him, as we read inPoor Richard, who adds,Drive thy Business, let not that drive thee; andEarly to Bed, and early to rise, makes a Man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Industry need not wish, and he that lives upon Hope will die fasting.

There are no Gains without Pains.

He that hath a Trade hath an Estate; and he that hath a Calling, hath an Office of Profit and Honor; but then theTrademust be worked at, and theCallingwell followed, or neither theEstatenor theOfficewill enable us to pay our Taxes.

What though you have found no Treasure, nor has any rich Relation left you a Legacy,Diligence is the Mother of Good-luck, asPoor Richardsays,and God gives all Things to Industry.

One To-day is worth two To-morrows, and farther,Have you somewhat to do To-morrow, do it To-day.

If you were a Servant, would you not be ashamed that a good Master should catch you idle? Are you then your own Master,be ashamed to catch yourself idle.

Stick to it steadily; and you will see great Effects, forConstant Dropping wears away Stones, and byDiligence and Patience the Mouse ate in two the Cable; andLittle Strokes fell great Oaks.

Methinks I hear some of you say,Must a Man afford himself no Leisure? I will tell thee, my friend, whatPoor Richardsays,Employ thy Time well, if thou meanest to gain Leisure; and, since thou art not sure of a Minute, throw not away an Hour. Leisure, is Time for doing something useful; this Leisure the diligent Man will obtain, but the lazy Man never; so that, asPoor Richardsays,A Life of Leisure and a Life of Laziness are two things.

Keep thy Shop, and thy Shop will keep thee; and again,If you would have your business done, go; if not, send.

If you would have a faithful Servant, and one that you like, serve yourself.

A little Neglect may breed great Mischief:adding,for want of a Nail the Shoe was lost; for want of a Shoe the Horse was lost; and for want of a Horse the Rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the Enemy; all for the want of Care about a Horse-shoe Nail.

So much for Industry, my Friends, and Attention to one's own Business; but to these we must addFrugality.

What maintains one Vice, would bring up two Children. You may think perhaps, that alittleTea, or alittlePunch now and then, Diet alittlemore costly, Clothes alittlefiner, and alittleEntertainment now and then, can be nogreatMatter; but remember whatPoor Richardsays,Many a Little makes a Mickle.

Beware of little expenses; A small Leak will sink a great Ship; and again,Who Dainties love, shall Beggars prove; and moreover,Fools make Feasts, and wise Men eat them.

Buy what thou hast no Need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy Necessaries.

If you would know the Value of Money, go and try to borrow some; for, he that goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing.

The second Vice is Lying, the first is running in Debt.

Lying rides upon Debt's Back.

Poverty often deprives a Man of all Spirit and Virtue: 'Tis hard for an empty Bag to stand upright.

And now to conclude,Experience keeps a dear School, but Fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that; for it is true,we may give Advice, but we cannot give Conduct, asPoor Richardsays: However, remember this,They that won't be counseled, can't be helped, asPoor Richardsays: and farther, Thatif you will not hear Reason, she'll surely rap your Knuckles.

To Madame Brillon

Passy, November 10, 1779.

I am charmed with your description of Paradise, and with your plan of living there; and I approve much of your conclusion, that, in the meantime, we should draw all the good we can from this world. In my opinion, we might all draw more good from it than we do, and suffer less evil, if we would take care not to give too much for whistles. For to me it seems, that most of the unhappy people we meet with, are become so by neglect of that caution.

You ask what I mean? You love stories, and will excuse my telling one of myself.

When I was a child of seven year old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my pocket with coppers. I went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children; and being charmed with the sound of awhistle, that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered and gave all my money for one. I then came home, and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with mywhistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers, and sisters, and cousins, understanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth; put me in mind what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money; and laughed at me so much for my folly, that I cried with vexation; and the reflection gave me more chagrin than thewhistlegave me pleasure.

This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing on my mind; so that often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing, I said to myself,Don't give too much for the whistle; and I saved my money.

As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I thought I met with many, very many, whogave too much for the whistle.

When I saw one too ambitious of court favor, sacrificing his time in attendance on levees, his repose, his liberty, his virtue, and perhaps his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself,This man gives too much for his whistle.

When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself in political bustles, neglecting his own affairs, and ruining them by neglect,He pays, indeed, said I,too much for his whistle.

If I knew a miser who gave up every kind of comfortable living, all the pleasure of doing good to others, all the esteem of his fellow citizens, and the joys of benevolent friendship, for the sake of accumulating wealth,Poor man, said I,you pay too much for your whistle.

When I met with a man of pleasure, sacrificing every laudable improvement of the mind, or of his fortune, to mere corporeal sensations, and ruining his health in their pursuit,Mistaken man, said I,you are providing pain for yourself, instead of pleasure; you give too much for your whistle.

If I see one fond of appearance, or fine clothes, fine houses, fine furniture, fine equipages, all above his fortune, for which he contracts debts, and ends his career in a prison,Alas! say I,he has paid dear, very dear, for his whistle.

When I see a beautiful, sweet-tempered girl married to an ill-natured brute of a husband,What a pity, say I,that she should pay so much for a whistle!

In short, I conceive that great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value of things, and by theirgiving too much for their whistles.

Yet I ought to have charity for these unhappy people, when I consider, that, with all this wisdom of which I am boasting, there are certain things in the world so tempting, for example, the apples of King John, which happily are not to be bought; for if they were put to sale by auction, I might very easily be led to ruin myself in the purchase, and find that I had once more given too much for thewhistle.

Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever yours very sincerely and with unalterable affection,

B. Franklin.

Passy, May 12, 1784.

Revd Sir,

It is now more than 60 years since I left Boston, but I remember well both your father and grandfather, having heard them both in the pulpit, and seen them in their houses. The last time I saw your father was in the beginning of 1724, when I visited him after my first trip to Pennsylvania. He received me in his library, and on my taking leave showed me a shorter way out of the house through a narrow passage, which was crossed by a beam overhead. We were still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying me behind, and I turning partly towards him, when he said hastily, "Stoop, stoop!" I did not understand him, till I felt my head hit against the beam. He was a man that never missed any occasion of giving instruction, and upon this he said to me, "You are young, and have the world before you; stoop as you go through it, and you will miss many hard thumps." This advice, thus beat into my head, has frequently been of use to me; and I often think of it, when I see pride mortified, and misfortunes brought upon people by their carrying their heads too high.

B. Franklin.

THE END

The last and most complete edition of Franklin's works is that by the late Professor Albert H. Smyth, published in ten volumes by the Macmillan Company, New York, under the title,The Writings of Benjamin Franklin. The other standard edition is theWorks of Benjamin Franklinby John Bigelow (New York, 1887). Mr. Bigelow's first edition of theAutobiographyin one volume was published by the J. B. Lippincott Company of Philadelphia in 1868. The life of Franklin as a writer is well treated by J. B. McMaster in a volume ofThe American Men of Letters Series; his life as a statesman and diplomat, by J. T. Morse,American Statesmen Series, one volume; Houghton, Mifflin Company publish both books. A more exhaustive account of the life and times of Franklin may be found in James Parton'sLife and Times of Benjamin Franklin(2 vols., New York, 1864). Paul Leicester Ford'sThe Many-Sided Franklinis a most chatty and readable book, replete with anecdotes and excellently and fully illustrated. An excellent criticism by Woodrow Wilson introduces an edition of theAutobiographyinThe Century Classics(Century Co., New York, 1901). Interesting magazine articles are those of E. E. Hale,Christian Examiner, lxxi, 447; W. P. Trent,McClure's Magazine, viii, 273; John Hay,The Century Magazine, lxxi, 447.

See also the histories of American literature by C. F. Richardson, Moses Coit Tyler, Brander Matthews, John Nichol, and Barrett Wendell, as well as the various encyclopedias. An excellent bibliography of Franklin is that of Paul Leicester Ford, entitledA List of Books Written by, or Relating to Benjamin Franklin(New York, 1889).

The following list of Franklin's works contains the more interesting publications, together with the dates of first issue.

Dogood Papers.

Letters in the style of Addison'sSpectator, contributed to James Franklin's newspaper and signed "Silence Dogood."

The Busybody.

A series of essays published in Bradford's PhiladelphiaWeekly Mercury, six of which only are ascribed to Franklin. They are essays on morality, philosophy and politics, similar to theDogood Papers.

A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency.

Prefaces to Poor Richard's Almanac.

Among these areHints for those that would be Rich, 1737; andPlan for saving one hundred thousand pounds to New Jersey, 1756.

A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge Among the British Plantations in America.

"This paper appears to contain the first suggestion, in any public form, for anAmerican Philosophical Society." Sparks.

An Account of the New Invented Pennsylvania Fire-Places.

Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pennsylvania.

Contains the plan for the school which later became the University of Pennsylvania.

Electrical Kite.

A description of the famous kite experiment, first written in a letter to Peter Collinson, dated Oct. 19, 1752, which was published later in the same year inThe Gentleman's Magazine

Plan of Union.

A plan for the union of the colonies presented to the colonial convention at Albany.

A Dialogue Between X, Y and Z.

An appeal to enlist in the provincial army for the defense of Pennsylvania.

Father Abraham's Speech.

Published as a preface to Poor Richard's Almanac and gathering into one writing the maxims of Poor Richard, which had already appeared in previous numbers of the Almanac.The Speechwas afterwards published in pamphlet form as theWay to Wealth.

Of the Means of disposing the enemy to Peace.

A satirical plea for procecution of the war against France,

The Interest of Great Britain Considered, with regard to her Colonies, and the Acquisitions of Canada and Guadaloupe.

Cool Thoughts on the Present Situation of our Public Affairs.

A pamphlet favoring a Royal Government for Pennsylvania in exchange for that of the Proprietors.

The Examination of Doctor Benjamin Franklin, etc., in The British House of Commons, Relative to The Repeal of The American Stamp Act.

Rules by which A Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One.

Some twenty satirical rules embodying the line of conduct England was pursuing with America.

An Edict of The King of Prussia.

A satire in which the King of Prussia was made to treat England as England was treating America because England was originally settled by Germans.

Comparison of Great Britain and the United States in Regard to the Basis of Credit in The Two Countries.

One of several similar pamphlets written to effect loans for the American cause.

On the Theory of the Earth.

The best of Franklin's papers on geology.

Letter purporting to emanate from a petty German Prince and to be addressed to his officer in Command in America.

On the Causes and Cure of Smoky Chimneys.

Retort Courteous.

Sending Felons to America.

Answers to the British clamor for the payment of American debts.

Address to the Public from the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting Abolition of Slavery.

An Account of the Supremest Court of Judicature in Pennsylvania, viz. The Court of the Press.

Martin's Account of his Consulship.

A parody of a pro-slavery speech in Congress.

The first edition.

Bagatelles.

The Bagatelles were first published in 1818 in William Temple Franklin's edition of his grandfather's works. The following are the most famous of these essays and the dates when they were written:

A Parable Against Persecution.

Franklin called this the LI Chapter of Genesis.

A Parable on Brotherly Love.

The Ephemera, an Emblem of Human Life.

A new rendition of an earlier essay on Human Vanity.

The Story of the Whistle.

The Levee.

Proposed New Version of the Bible.

Part of the first chapter ofJobmodernized.

Published)The Morals of Chess.

The Handsome and Deformed Leg.

Dialogue between Franklin and the Gout.

(Published in 1802.)

A Petition of the Left Hand.

The Art of Procuring Pleasant Dreams.

MEDAL GIVEN BY THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS FROM THE FRANKLIN FUND

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