Chapter VI: Introduction (5)

[i-112] _Ibid._, X, 31. Compare similar views in Benjamin Rush's "Observations upon the Study of the Latin and Greek Languages," in _Essays, Literary, Moral and Philosophical_ (Philadelphia, 1798), and Francis Hopkinson's "An Address to the American Philosophical Society," in _Miscellaneous Essays and Occasional Writings_ (Philadelphia, 1792), I.

[i-113] _Writings_, IV, 22.

[i-114] _Ibid._, VI, 153.

[i-115] Quoted in J. B. Bury's _The Idea of Progress_, 104. See also Lois Whitney's _Primitivism and the Idea of Progress_, especially chap. V.

[i-116] Bury, _op. cit._, 96.

[i-117] _Writings_, VIII, 451.

[i-118] For example see _ibid._, IX, 74, 557.

[i-119] See _Writings_, VIII, 454.

[i-120] See R. M. Gummere, "Socrates at the Printing Press. Benjamin Franklin and the Classics," _Classical Weekly_, XXVI, 57-9 (Dec. 5, 1932).

[i-121] Several of the following arguments are included in C. E. Jorgenson's "Sidelights on Benjamin Franklin's Principles of Rhetoric," _Revue Anglo-Américaine_, Feb., 1934, 208-22.

[i-122] Hume wrote to Franklin: "You are the first philosopher, and indeed the first great man of letters for whom we are beholden to her [America]" (_Writings_, IV, 154). Cowper exclaimed that Franklin was "one of the most important [men] in the literary world, that the present age can boast of" (Parton, _op. cit._, II, 439); for other engaging estimates of Franklin as a man of letters consult C. W. Moulton, _Library of Literary Criticism ..._, IV, 79-106.

[i-123] Franklin found in an appendix to Greenwood's _English Grammar_ and in the _Memorabilia_ specimens of the Socratic method which influenced him to adopt the manner of "the humble inquirer and doubter," to write and harangue with a "modest diffidence." On several occasions he approvingly quotes Pope's rule: "to speak, tho' sure, with seeming Diffidence." Jefferson recognized Franklin's use of this kind of Machiavellian diffidence, noting, "It was one of the rules which, above all others, made Dr. Franklin the most amiable of men in society, never to contradict anybody," and that "if he was urged to announce an opinion, he did it rather by asking questions, as if for information, or by suggesting doubts." In the _Autobiography_ Franklin sees the Socratic method as a necessary ally to "doing good," observing that many who mean to be helpful "lessen their power of doing good by a positive, assuming manner, that seldom fails to disgust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat every one of those purposes for which speech was given to us."

[i-124] Bunyan's dignified simplicity, his "sound and honest Gospel strains," may have been one of Franklin's incentives to write lucidly and compellingly. For Bunyan's literary ideals, see the prefaces to his works, especially that to _Grace Abounding_. The best study of Defoe and Swift as literary theorists is W. Gückel and E. Günther, _D. Defoes und J. Swifts Belesenheit und literarische Kritik_ (Leipzig, 1925).

[i-125] E. C. Cook, _Literary Influences in Colonial Newspapers, 1704-1750_, 15. This scholarly work shows the great influence in America of neoclassical authors.

[i-126] For a generous catalog of the devices borrowed see _ibid._, 15 f.

[i-127] _Spectator_, No. 167.

[i-128] For a fuller discussion of Franklin's view of the ancients, see section on "Franklin's Theories of Education," p. xxxii above.

[i-129] Cited in R. F. Jones, "Science and English Prose Style ...," _Publications of the Modern Language Association_, XLV, 982 (Dec., 1930). On the backgrounds of literary theories underlying the sermons which Franklin heard, see scholarly studies such as Caroline F. Richardson's _English Preachers and Preaching, 1640-1670_ (New York, 1928), and W. F. Mitchell's _English Pulpit Oratory_ (New York, 1932). From 1750 on, however, the Puritan clergy in America increasingly advocated a simple, clear, and easy style. See Howard M. Jones, "American Prose Style; 1700-1770," _Huntington Library Bulletin_, No. 6, 115-51 (Nov., 1934).

[i-130] _History of the Royal Society ..._ (2d ed., London, 1702), 113.

[i-131] R. F. Jones, _op. cit._, 989. Tillotson, whom Franklin suggested as a model worthy of emulation (_Writings_, II, 391), was "another great exponent of the new style" (R. F. Jones, _op. cit._, 1002).

[i-132] L. M. MacLaurin (_Franklin's Vocabulary_, 21) also suggests Franklin's probable indebtedness to the Royal Society program.

[i-133] O. Elton, _The Augustan Age_, 8-12.

[i-134] A. O. Lovejoy, "The Parallel of Deism and Classicism," _Modern Philology_, XXIX, 281-99 (Feb., 1932).

[i-135] Franklin's friend Henry Pemberton, in his _View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy_ (London, 1728), had said (pp. 2-3) that the Newtonian thirst for knowledge, especially of the causes of the operations of nature, had become "so general, that all men of letters, I believe, find themselves influenced by it."

[i-136] _Writings_, II, 157.

[i-137] _Ibid._, I, 37.

[i-138] _Ibid._, I, ix.

[i-139] _Ibid._, III, 121. For his demand that sculpture and music have "beautiful simplicity" of form see _ibid._, VII, 194; VIII, 578; IV, 210, 377-8, 381; V, 530; VIII, 94. On the basis of confusion of genres, Franklin disliked the opera.

[i-140] _Ibid._, I, 41. See also X, 33, 51.

[i-141] Miss MacLaurin's research has disclosed that Franklin's vocabulary (4,062 words, between 1722 and 1751) contained only 19 words which "were discovered to be pure 'Americanisms,' and of these, 6 are the names of herbs or grasses; 1 is derived from the name of an American university, and 1 from the name of an American state" (_op. cit._, 38-9).

[i-142] Quoted in Bruce, _op. cit._, II, 439. Also see his letters to Noah Webster, _Writings_, I, 29; X, 75-6.

[i-143] S. A. Leonard, _The Doctrine of Correctness in English Usage, 1700-1800_, 14.

[i-144] See L. Richardson, _A History of Early American Magazines, 1741-1789_, index, for the vogue of Swift. In the library of the _New England Courant_, as early as 1722, there was a copy of _The Tale of a Tub_ (T. G. Wright, _Literary Culture in Early New England, 1620-1730_, 187-8). Franklin was probably indebted to the Dean for his prophecies of the death of Titan Leeds (although he could have learned the use of this device from Defoe). In _Idea of the English School_ Franklin recommends Swift for use in the sixth class (_Writings_, III, 28). His _Meditation on a Quart Mugg_ is undoubtedly derived from Swift's _Meditation upon a Broomstick_, each forced to undergo the indignities of a "dirty wench." In 1757 he made the acquaintance of Dr. John Hawksworth, who in 1755 had edited Swift's works. It is likely that this friendly union may have helped to produce Franklin's 1773 masterpieces of caustic irony and the disarmingly effective hoaxes. Variously he quotes (acknowledged and otherwise) bits from Swift's poetry and prose. See Herbert Davis's "Swift's View of Poetry," in _Studies In English by Members of University College, Toronto_ (1931), collected by M. W. Wallace.

[i-145] _Writings_, III, 26.

[i-146] To suggest that Franklin knew his Horace, see _ibid._, VI, 150; VIII, 148.

[i-147] It seems unnecessary to extend a discussion of the didacticism inherent in Franklin's writing. Addison, and the ethical bent of neoclassicism in general, impinging on a mind no small part of which was motivated by its Puritan heritage, help to account for Franklin's ethicism, a lifelong quality. References illustrating his assumed role as _Censor Morum_ are: _Writings_, I, 37, 243; II, 4, 50, 101, 110-1, 117, 175. Franklin proposes not only to delight, but also, in the Jonsonian and Meredithian sense, to instruct through a mild catharsis brought about by holding up man's excesses and vagaries for ridicule. He is firm in distinguishing good writing by its "tendency to benefit the reader, by improving his virtue or his knowledge." Consonant with Horace's

"To teach--to please--comprise the poet's views, Or else at once to profit and amuse,"

and with Sidney's "to teach delightfully," Franklin's literary purpose included a basic ethical motivation.

[i-148] _Writings_, I, 226.

[i-149] _Ibid._, I, 42-3.

[i-150] Fully aware "that I am no _Poet born_" (Bruce, _op. cit._, II, 498), apparently agreeing with his father that poets "were generally beggars" (_Writings_ I, 240), Franklin allowed only that writing poetry may improve one's language. Yet _Dogood Paper_ No. VII and his estimate of Cowper (characterized by easiness in manner, correctness in language, clarity of expression, perspicuity, and justness of the sentiments) (_ibid._, VIII, 448-9), and the "Tears of Pleasure" he shed over Thomson, all suggest that he was not wholly blind to poetry. He hoped to see Philadelphia "become the Seat of the _American_ Muses" (_ibid._, II, 245, 110; IV, 181, 184; VI, 437).

[i-151] A. Bosker, _Literary Criticism in the Age of Johnson_, 34. For important qualifications see the thorough study by Donald F. Bond, "'Distrust' of Imagination in English Neo-Classicism," _Philological Quarterly_, XIV, 54-69 (Jan., 1935). Those interested in considering Franklin with reference to contemporary literary theory will find full materials in J. W. Draper's _Eighteenth-Century English Aesthetics: A Bibliography_, and additions to it by R. S. Crane, _Modern Philology_, XXIX, 25 ff. (1931); W. D. Templeman, _ibid._, XXX, 309-16; R. D. Havens, _Modern Language Notes_, XLVII, 118-20 (1932).

[i-152] _Writings_, II, 24.

[i-153] _Ibid._, V, 182; also II, 43, and VIII, 128, 163, 604.

[i-154] See G. S. Eddy, "Dr. Benjamin Franklin's Library," _Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society_, N. S. XXXIV, 206-26 (Oct., 1924).

[i-155] See C. E. Jorgenson, "Benjamin Franklin and Rabelais," _Classical Journal_, XXIX, 538-40 (April, 1934).

[i-156] _The Travels of Cyrus._

[i-157] _Independent Whig_ and _Cato's Letters_.

[i-158] For an interesting summary of Franklin's references to the classics, see R. M. Gummere, _op. cit._

[i-159] Add to this, Franklin's use of the Swiftian hoax and complex irony. After writing _Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One_ (1773) he explained to a friend: "These odd ways of presenting Matters to the publick View sometimes occasion them to be more read, talk'd of, and more attended to" (_Writings_, VI, 137). Parton observes that the _Edict of the King of Prussia_ "was the nine-days' talk of the kingdom." Raynal unsuspectingly used Franklin's _Polly Baker_, as an authentic document in his _Histoire ..._. Franklin's _Exporting of Felons to the Colonies_, _The Sale of Hessians_, and _A Dialogue between Britain, France, Spain, Holland, Saxony, and America_ illustrate these trenchant devices used to achieve a political purpose.

[i-160] _Writings_, I, 49.

[i-161] _The True Benjamin Franklin_, 158.

[i-162] _Writings_, I, 239.

[i-163] Smyth's note, _Writings_, VIII, 336.

[i-164] _Writings_, I, 238.

[i-165] _Writings_, X, 4 (to Mrs. Catherine Greene, March 2, 1789).

[i-166] There were eight towns in the colonies which had presses when Franklin went into business for himself: Cambridge, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Annapolis, New London (Conn.), Woodbridge (N. J.), and Williamsburg. See Isaiah Thomas, _The History of Printing in America_ (Worcester, 1810), II, _passim_.

[i-167] "A printer of first-rate eminence," according to Charles Henry Timperley's _A Dictionary of Printers and Printing_ (London, 1839), 714 note.

[i-168] R. A. Austen Leigh, "William Strahan and His Ledgers," in _Transactions of the Bibliographical Society_, N. S. III, 286. For Strahan see also Spottiswoode & Co.'s _The Story of a Printing House, Being a Short Account of the Strahans and Spottiswoodes_ (London, 1911); and Timperley, _op. cit._, 754-6.

[i-169] See G. S. Eddy, "Correspondence Between Dr. Benjamin Franklin and John Walter, Regarding the Logographic Process of Printing," _Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society_, N. S. XXXVIII, 349-69 (Oct., 1928).

[i-170] _Writings_, II, 175.

[i-171] See W. P. and J. P. Cutler, _Life, Journals and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler_, I, 269, letter of July 13, 1787; also G. S. Eddy, _op. cit._

[i-172] See Thomas, _loc. cit._

[i-173] A notable exception was the type of "letter to the editor" which Franklin used as a means of suggesting reforms, such as those affecting the city watch, the fire companies, and the cleaning and lighting of the streets. See J. B. McMaster, _Benjamin Franklin as a Man of Letters_, 82-5.

[i-174] A correspondent of Franklin's paper commended Zenger's stand (see _Pennsylvania Gazette_, May 11-18, 1738; reprinted in W. G. Bleyer, _Main Currents in the History of American Journalism_, 66-7), but Franklin shrewdly kept his own paper free of factional politics. See Livingston Rutherford, _John Peter Zenger_ (New York, 1904).

[i-175] See Clarence S. Brigham, "American Newspapers to 1820," _Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society_, N. S. XXXII, 157-9 (April, 1922), for detailed bibliography of the _Gazette_.

[i-176] A. H. Smyth, _Philadelphia Magazines and Their Contributors_, 200.

[i-177] _Writings_, I, 360.

[i-178] For a list of the printers with whom Franklin had such connections, see M. R. King, "One Link in the First Newspaper Chain, the _South Carolina Gazette," Journalism Quarterly_, IX, 257 (Sept., 1932).

[i-179] For sketches of both magazines, see L. N. Richardson, _A History of Early American Magazines_, 17-35, and F. L. Mott, _A History of American Magazines_, 1741-1850, 71-7. See also Philip Biddison, "The Magazine Franklin Failed to Remember," _American Literature_, IV, 177 (June, 1932); the writer thinks certain accusations in the Bradford-Franklin controversy over the magazines discreditable to Franklin, so that the latter's lapse of memory saved him "embarrassment."

[i-180] See letter to John Wright, Nov. 4, 1789 (_Writings_, X, 60-3). For European backgrounds of Franklin's economic views see Gide and Rist, in Bibliography. On American backgrounds the standard work is E. A. J. Johnson's _American Economic Thought in the Seventeenth Century_ (London, 1932), which shows the intimate relation between economic and religious theories.

[i-181] Lewis J. Carey, _Franklin's Economic Views_ (Garden City, N. Y., 1928), 72.

[i-182] Cited in Carey, 73. He had used in this article facts lent by Benezet concerning the "detestable commerce" motivated in part by English "laws for promoting the Guinea trade" (_Writings_, V, 431-2).

[i-183] _Writings_, IX, 627.

[i-184] In 1779 he professed mortification that the King of France gave "freedom to Slaves, while a king of England is endeavouring to make Slaves of Freemen" (_ibid._, VII, 402).

[i-185] _Ibid._, IX, 404. See also _ibid._, 6.

[i-186] Suggestive notes on this point may be found in N. Foerster's article in the _American Review_, IV, 129-46 (Dec., 1934).

[i-187] _Writings_, VI, 102. See also VI, 39-40.

[i-188] _Ibid._, III, 66.

[i-189] _Ibid._, III, 66-7.

[i-190] _Ibid._, III, 68.

[i-191] Carey, _op. cit._, 69.

[i-192] _Writings_, III, 65.

[i-193] _Ibid._, III, 73.

[i-194] That others in the colonies saw slavery as an economically unsound investment (without any reference to its being _malum in se_) may be witnessed in an article in the _Boston News-Letter_ (March 3, 1718): "In the previous year there had been eighty burials of Indians and negroes in Boston. The writer argued that the loss of £30 each amounted to £2,400. If white servants had been employed instead, at £15 for the time of each, the 'town had saved £1,200.' A man could procure £12 to £15 to purchase the time of a white servant that could not pay £30 to £50 for a negro or Indian. 'The Whites Strengthens [_sic_] and Peoples the Country, others do not'" (W. B. Weeden, _Economic and Social History of New England, 1620-1789_, Boston, 1891, II, 456). Congruent with Franklin's _Observations_ is John Adams's note that "Argument might have some weight in the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts, but the real cause was the multiplication of labouring white people, who would no longer suffer the rich to employ these sable rivals so much to their injury" (_ibid._, II, 453).

[i-195] In Franklin's view, slavery was also politically subversive. In 1756 he feared that the slaves, along with servants and loose people in general, would desert to the French (_Writings_, III, 359). Since the danger undoubtedly existed (_ibid._, VII, 48, 69), Franklin had a right to be sardonic in commenting on Dr. Johnson's advice that slaves be incited "to rise, cut the throats of their purchasers, and resort to the British army, where they should be rewarded with freedom" (_ibid._, X, 110-1).

[i-196] Printed in _Maryland Gazette_ (Dec. 17, 1728); later as pamphlet (April 3, 1729).

[i-197] Carey, _op. cit._, 7. See _Writings_ I, 306-7, for Franklin's own account of the effect of this work.

[i-198] C. J. Bullock, _Essays on the Monetary History of the United States_, 51.

[i-199] Weeden, _op. cit._, II, 485.

[i-200] _Financial History of the United States_, 21. Bullock observes another factor: "Sooner or later all the plantations were deeply involved in the mazes of a fluctuating currency, for the burdens attending the various wars of the eighteenth century were so great as to induce even the most conservative colonies to resort to this easy method of meeting public obligations" (_op. cit._, 33).

[i-201] _Writings_, II, 133-5.

[i-202] See Carey, _op. cit._, chap. I, for suggestive survey of this pamphlet. Carey points out Franklin's indebtedness to writings of Sir William Petty.

[i-203] Carey (chap. II, "Value and Interest") quotes Franklin: "Riches of a Country are to be valued by the Quantity of Labour its inhabitants are able to purchase, and not by the Quantity of Silver and Gold they possess" (_Writings_, II, 144).

[i-204] See, for example, _Plan for Saving One Hundred Thousand Pounds_, 1755 (_Writings_, III, 293-5).

[i-205] Writings, IV, 420: _Examination of Benjamin Franklin_. He was obliged to admit that Massachusetts colonists had taken a calmer view of the 1751 act (IV, 428).

[i-206] G. L. Beer, _British Colonial Policy, 1754-1765_, 188.

[i-207] Although it is true that Pennsylvania suffered less from paper money because of better security (Carey, _op. cit._, 23 note), it seems curious that Franklin should have been blind to the evils of inflation and the operations of Gresham's law.

[i-208] Paper in William Smith Mason Collection; cited in Carey, _op. cit._, 20. See also _Writings_, V, 189, in which he repeats the threat. British restraint must hence provoke colonial "industry and frugality."

[i-209] _Writings_, VII, 294. Cf. _ibid._, IX, 231-6.

[i-210] See _Writings_, VII, 275, 335, 341.

[i-211] To Josiah Quincy, Sept. 11, 1783 (_Writings_, IX, 93-5).

[i-212] In 1779 (see _Writings_, VII, 294) Franklin explained that the French knew little of paper currency. Mr. Carey offers convincing evidence to show that Franklin helped to predispose the deputies of the first National Assembly to use assignats (_op. cit._, 27-33). See _Of the Paper Money of the United States of America_ (_Writings_, IX, 231-6).

[i-213] J. F. Watson, _Annals of Philadelphia_ (1844 ed.), I, 533.

[i-214] Cited by J. Rae in his _Life of Adam Smith_ (London, 1895), 265.

[i-215] _Ibid._, 266. See Carey's chapter, "Franklin's Influence on Adam Smith," for an exhaustive survey of the _personalia_ linking Adam Smith and Franklin. Both were in London in 1773-1776 and were occasional companions, having in 1759 met in Edinburgh at the home of Dr. Robertson. Probably they again met in Glasgow during the same year. Smith could have received copies of Franklin's works through Hume and Lord Kames; among Franklin's works in Smith's library was _Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind_; when Smith in the _Wealth of Nations_ observes that colonial population doubles in every twenty to twenty-five years, it seems reasonable to infer that he was beholden to Franklin for the suggestion. It is within the realm of reasonable inference, says Mr. Carey, that Franklin did, as Parton urges, help to educate Smith in the colonial point of view. T. D. Eliot, in "The Relations Between Adam Smith and Benjamin Franklin before 1776," _Political Science Quarterly_, XXXIX, 67-96 (March, 1924), after calling attention to the lack of extant correspondence between them and the silence of their contemporaries concerning a vital relationship, shows a reasonable hesitancy in observing that little is known about Smith's alleged debt to Franklin. Like Wetzel and Carey, Eliot thinks the debt has been exaggerated. He has been unable to prove Dr. Patten's intuition that in 1759 Franklin went to Smith in Scotland to urge him to write a treatise on colonial policy. In 1765 Turgot met Adam Smith. In the following year he published his _Réflexions sur la formation et la distribution des richesses_, antedating Smith's _Wealth of Nations_ by ten years. See J. Delvaille's _Essai sur l'histoire de l'idée de progrès_ (Paris, 1910), chap. IV, on Adam Smith; and Carey, _op. cit._, 152, 158-9, for the relationship between Turgot and Franklin.

[i-216] Although both Franklin and Smith held to the labor theory of value (Franklin was indebted to Petty for his use of the term), Smith was confirmed in his belief before he knew of Franklin or his works.

[i-217] According to Jacob Viner ("Adam Smith and Laissez Faire," in _Adam Smith, 1776-1926. Lectures to Commemorate the Sesqui-Centennial of the Publication of 'The Wealth of Nations_,' 116-55), "Smith's major claim to fame ... seems to rest on his elaborate and detailed application to the economic world of the concept of a unified natural order, operating according to natural law, and if left to its own course producing results beneficial to mankind" (p. 118), which suggests, especially in _Theory of Moral Sentiments_, that self-love and social are the same. When Smith came to write the _Wealth of Nations_, he tended, Viner asserts, to distrust the operations of the harmonious natural order--yet Viner admits that many passages tend to corroborate his earlier view expressed in _Theory of Moral Sentiments_ and that "There is no possible room for doubt that Smith in general believed that there was, to say the least, a stronger presumption against government activity beyond its fundamental duties of protection against its foreign foes and maintenance of justice" (p. 140). We shall see elsewhere that Franklin seems to have urged a less frugal governmental restraint in activities other than economic.

[i-218] _The Colonial Mind_, 173. It is generally thought that _Principles of Trade_ is "partly" Franklin's "own composition" (Carey, _op. cit._, 161).

[i-219] Philadelphia, Sept. 13, 1775: MS letter (unpublished) in W. S. Mason Collection.

[i-220] London, Sept. 29, 1769: MS letter (unpublished) in W. S. Mason Collection.

[i-221] London, Feb. 20, 1768 (_Writings_, V, 102).

[i-222] Dated April 4, 1769 (_ibid._, V, 200-2).

[i-223] _Writings_, V, 202.

[i-224] Cited by F. W. Garrison in "Franklin and the Physiocrats," _Freeman_, VIII, 154-6 (Oct. 24, 1923).

[i-225] Dupont de Nemours's opinion of Franklin (_Writings_, V, 153-4).

[i-226] _Writings_, V, 156. See W. Steell's entertaining "The First Visit to Paris," in _Benjamin Franklin of Paris_, 3-21; also E. E. Hale and E. E. Hale, Jr., _Franklin in France_, I, 7-13.

[i-227] C. Gide and C. Rist, _A History of Economic Doctrines_, 4 note.

[i-228] _Writings_, V, 155.

[i-229] As an _experimental_ agriculturist Franklin has been given too little honor. He performed many valuable services in introducing Old-World plants, trees, and fruits to the New, and in encouraging others to carry on practical botanical experiments. Particularly from 1747 to 1757 he experimented in agriculture and was in constant communication with that pioneer scientific husbandman, Jared Eliot. See E. D. Ross's "Benjamin Franklin as an Eighteenth-Century Agriculture Leader," _Journal of Political Economy_, XXXVII, 52-72 (Feb., 1929).

[i-230] Although no scholarly substitute for the works of Quesnay, Mirabeau, Mercier de la Rivière, Dupont de Nemours, Le Trosne, Abbé Bandeau, Abbé Roubaud, and some pieces of the occasional physiocrat Turgot, the following will enable the student to derive adequately for general purposes the thought of the Économistes: H. Higgs, _The Physiocrats_ (1897); Gide and Rist, op. cit.; L. H. Haney, _History of Economic Thought_ (1911), 133-57; G. Weulersse, _Le mouvement physiocratique en France (de 1756 à 1770)_; A. Smith, _Wealth of Nations_, Bk. IV, chap. IX; J. Bonar, _Philosophy and Political Science_ (1893); in addition see critical and interpretative writings of Oncken, Stem, Kines, Hasbach, Schelle, Bauer, Feilbogen, De Lavergne.

[i-231] An integral idea of the French school was its advocacy of the _impôt unique_--a single tax on land. It is difficult to find evidence to controvert Mr. Carey's assertion that Franklin seems never to have advocated this tax (_op. cit._, 154). However, in marginalia on a pamphlet by Allan Ramsay, Franklin held: "Taxes must be paid out of the Produce of the Land. There is no other possible Fund" (cited by Carey, 155). Another reference is found in a letter of 1787 to Alexander Small: "Our Legislators are all Land-holders; and they are not yet persuaded, that all taxes are finally paid by the Land" (_Writings_, IX, 615). It is probable that he felt that a land tax would be dubiously effective in view of the difficulties of collection in sparse settlements.

[i-232] _Writings_, II, 313 (July 16, 1747). See also _Note Respecting Trade and Manufactures_, London, July 7, 1767 (Sparks, II, 366):

"Suppose a country, X, with three manufactures, as _cloth_, _silk_, _iron_, supplying three other countries. A, B, C, but is desirous of increasing the vent, and raising the price of cloth in favor of her own clothiers.

In order to do this, she forbids the importation of foreign cloth from A.

A, in return, forbids silks from X.

Then the silk-workers complain of a decay of trade.

And X, to content them, forbids silks from B.

B, in return, forbids iron ware from X.

Then the iron-workers complain of decay.

And X forbids the importation of iron from C.

C, in return, forbids cloth from X.

What is got by all these prohibitions?

_Answer._--All four find their common stock of the enjoyments and conveniences of life diminished."

[i-233] _Writings_, IV, 469-70.

[i-234] _Ibid._, V, 155.

[i-235] Passy, May 27, 1779 (_Writings_, VII, 332).

[i-236] _Ibid._, IV, 242-5 (April 30, 1764). As Mr. Carey notes. Franklin in several places. _On the Labouring Poor_ and in a letter (IX, 240-8), suggests that private vices--demands for luxuries--make public benefits, hence resembling, if not ultimately derived from, Mandeville's _Fable of the Bees_. Franklin's sanction of free trade is, however, antithetical to Mandeville's 'dog eat dog' basis. (See Kaye's Intro. to _The Fable of the Bees_, xcviii ff.) Franklin in no uncertain terms looks upon trade restrictions definitely as the result of "the abominable selfishness" of men (VII, 332). As long as selfishness is the rule, mercantilism, not economic laissez faire, will be king. It is theoretically probable also that belief in man's innate altruism could furnish emotional if not logical sanction for laissez faire--but this abstraction is in Franklin's case futile, since like Swift he was not blind to man's malevolence!

[i-237] _Writings_, IV, 245; see also _ibid._, VIII, 107-8, 261, 19.

[i-238] _Ibid._, IX, 41; also 63, 578, 588.

[i-239] Cited in Carey, _op. cit._, 160-1.

[i-240] See Gide and Rist, _op. cit._, 7 note.

[i-241] _Ibid._, 7 note.

[i-242] _Ibid._

[i-243] Mercier de la Rivière, cited in _ibid._, 8 note.

[i-244] _Ibid._, 9-10.

[i-245] "Economics and the Idea of Natural Law," _Quarterly Journal of Economics_, XLIV, 16 (1929). See also O. H. Taylor's valuable dissertation, "The Idea of a 'Natural Order' in Early Modern Economic Thought," summarized in Harvard University _Summaries of Theses_, 1928, 102-6, and available in manuscript at the Harvard University Library.

[i-246] Taylor, "Economics and the Idea of Natural Law," _loc. cit._, 16.

[i-247] Even this fragmentary view of the more obvious economic principles held by Franklin offers convincing evidence that had he been less incidentally an economist he would have been at least a lesser Adam Smith. Mr. Wetzel, in _Benjamin Franklin as an Economist_, offers a convenient summary of Franklin as an economist, some items suggesting aspects of his views which, had space permitted, we should have included in this study: "1. Money as coin may have a value higher than its bullion value. 2. Natural interest is determined by the rent of so much land as the money loaned will buy. 3. High wages are not inconsistent with a large foreign trade. 4. Population will increase as the means of gaining a living increase. 5. A high standard of living serves to prolong single life, and thus acts as a check upon the increase of population. 6. People are adjusted among the different countries according to the comparative well-being of mankind. 7. The value of an article is determined by the amount of labor necessary to produce the food consumed in making the article. 8. While manufactures are advantageous, only agriculture is truly productive. 9. Manufactures will naturally spring up in a country as the country becomes ripe for them. 10. Free trade with the world will give the greatest return at the least expense. 11. Wherever practicable, State revenue should be raised by direct taxes."

[i-248] _Writings_, II, 110.

[i-249] _Ibid._, II, 295. In 1736 Franklin wrote: "Faction, if not timely suppressed, may overturn the balance, the palladium of liberty, and crush us under its ruins" (cited in R. G. Gettell, _History of American Political Thought_, 149).

[i-250] W. R. Shepherd, _History of Proprietary Government in Pennsylvania_ (New York, 1896), 5.

[i-251] _Writings_, II, 351.

[i-252] _Ibid._

[i-253] _Ibid._, II, 352.

[i-254] _Ibid._, II, 347.

[i-255] Shepherd, _op. cit._, 222. In 1764 Penn thought that Franklin was one "who may lose the government of a post office by grasping at that of a province" (_ibid._, 564). In turn one of the proprietors wrote to him: "Franklin is certainly destined to be our plague" (_ibid._, 566). Penn professed not to fear "your mighty Goliath." For proof that Franklin's fear expressed in _Plain Truth_ was not idle see _Extracts from Chief Justice William Allen's Letter Book_, 17, 22-3, 25, 31-2.

[i-256] _Plain Truth_ inspirited the colonists to defend themselves, even if it failed in its larger purpose; see _Writings_, II, 354, 362.

[i-257] To James Parker, March 20, 1750/51 (_Writings_, III, 40-5). L. C. Wroth, in _An American Bookshelf_, 1755 (Philadelphia, 1934), 12 ff., reviews A. Kennedy's _The Importance of Gaining the Friendship of the Indians to the British Interest_ (1751), to which was appended a letter, prefiguring the Albany Plan of Union. This letter, Mr. Wroth observes, was by Franklin. C. E. Merriam states that "The storm centre of the democratic movement during the colonial period was the conflict between the governors and the colonial legislatures or assemblies" (_A History of American Political Theories_, 34). Also see E. B. Greene, _The Provincial Governor in the English Colonies of North America_.

[i-258] _Writings_, III, 71.

[i-259] Cited in G. L. Beer, _British Colonial Policy_, 1754-1765, 17.

[i-260] _Writings_, III, 197.

[i-261] For a suggestive source study see Mrs. L. K. Mathews's "Benjamin Franklin's Plans for a Colonial Union, 1750-1775," _American Political Science Review_, VIII, 393-412 (Aug., 1914).

[i-262] Cited in Beer, _op. cit._, 49.

[i-263] _Writings_, III, 242.

[i-264] _Ibid._, III, 226. As Beer has pointed out (_op. cit._, 23 note), since the plan was not ratified, it never went before the Crown; hence Franklin's retrospective glance is misleading: "The Crown disapproved it, as having placed too much Weight in the Democratic Part of the Constitution; and every Assembly as having allowed too much to Prerogative. So it was totally rejected" (_Writings_, III, 227).

[i-265] _Ibid._, III, 233.

[i-266] To Peter Collinson, Nov. 22, 1756 (_Writings_, III, 351).

[i-267] As A. H. Smyth says, this was probably _inspired_ by Franklin although not written by him; at any rate "it undoubtedly reflects" his opinions (III, vi). Isaac Sharpless observes that Franklin "had sympathy with their [Quakers'] demands for political freedom, but none for their non-military spirit" (_Political Leaders of Provincial Pennsylvania_, New York, 1919, 178).

[i-268] _Writings_, III, 372.

[i-269] A. Bradford, _Memoir of the Life and Writings of Rev. J. Mayhew_ (Boston, 1838), 119.

[i-270] See for capable studies: B. F. Wright, _American Interpretations of Natural Law_; C. F. Mullett, _Fundamental Law and the American Revolution_; D. G. Ritchie, _Natural Rights_ (London, 1895), and his "Contributions to the History of the Social Contract Theory," _Political Science Quarterly_, VI, 656-76 (1891); C. Becker, _The Declaration of Independence_, chap. II; C. E. Merriam, _op. cit._, chap. II; H. J. Laski, _Political Thought in England from Locke to Bentham_ (New York, 1920).

[i-271] Becker, _op. cit._, 24.

[i-272] _Ibid._, 27.

[i-273] Burke said that nearly as many copies of this work were sold in the colonies as in Great Britain. It will be remembered that Hamilton leaned heavily on Blackstone in _The Farmer Refuted_ (1773).

[i-274] Cited in Wright, _op. cit._, 11.

[i-275] _The Farmer Refuted._ For discussion of changes in Hamilton's political theory see F. C. Prescott's Introduction to _Hamilton and Jefferson_ (American Writers Series, New York, 1934).

[i-276] Franklin acknowledges his close reading of Locke's _Essay Concerning Human Understanding_ (_Writings_, I, 243). In 1749 he urges that Locke be read in the Philadelphia Academy (II, 387) and refers again to the great logician in _Idea of the English School_ (III, 28). He is supposed to have defended in spirited debate Locke's treatise on Toleration (I, 179). The catalogues of the Philadelphia Library Company disclose that by 1757 all of Locke's works had been obtained. One may ask how an alert eighteenth-century mind could have escaped the impact of Locke's thought.

It is more difficult to establish satisfactorily a nexus between Rousseau's and Franklin's minds. Mr. George Simpson Eddy has kindly allowed us to consult his "Catalogue of Pamphlets, Once a Part of the Library of Benjamin Franklin, and now owned by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania" in which are included Rousseau's _Preface de la Nouvelle Hélöise ..._ (1761) and _Discours sur l'économie politique ..._ (1760). Even if Rousseau's mistress, Countess d'Houdetot, feted Franklin in 1781, and Franklin was acquainted with Rousseau's physician, Achille-Guillaume le Bègue de Presle, and directly in 1785 mentions Rousseau on child-education (_Writings_, IX, 334), one can not be sure to what extent Rousseau's writings may have aided Franklin in formulating notions similar to the social contract theory (IX, 138).

[i-277] Cited in A. M. Baldwin, _The New England Clergy and the American Revolution_, 6.

[i-278] _Ibid._, xii. See also C. H. Van Tyne's able study, "The Influence of the Clergy, and of Religious and Sectarian Forces, on the American Revolution," _American Historical Review_, XIX, 44-64 (Oct., 1913). He takes issue with the economic determinists and concludes that of all the causes of the Revolution, religious causes are "among the most important" (p. 64). The Revolution was in large measure caused by a conflict of political ideas, and these were disseminated mostly by the clergy.

[i-279] _An Oration, Delivered March 5, 1773_ (Boston, 1773), 6.

[i-280] _Ibid._, 10-11.

[i-281] _Ibid._, 8. Also see S. Stillman, _Election-Sermon_, May 26, 1779 (Boston, 1779); J. Clarke, _Election-Sermon_, May 30, 1781 (Boston, 1781).

[i-282] Although Franklin denied having written it (_Writings_, IV, 82), Mr. Ford (_Franklin Bibliography_, III) asserts that "this work must still be treated as from Franklin's pen." He sent 500 copies to Pennsylvania consigned to his partner, David Hall, for distribution.

[i-283] To Joseph Galloway, April 11, 1757 (unpublished MS letter in W. S. Mason Collection). For a description of the unpublished Franklin-Galloway correspondence see W. S. Mason's article in _Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society_ for Oct., 1924.

[i-284] To Joseph Galloway, Feb. 17, 1758 (unpublished MS letter in W. S. Mason Collection).

[i-285] June 10, 1758 (unpublished MS letter in W. S. Mason Collection).

[i-286] April 7, 1759 (unpublished MS letter in W. S. Mason Collection).

[i-287] _The Works of Benjamin Franklin_ (Philadelphia, 1809), II, 147.

[i-288] _Ibid._, II, 7.

[i-289] _Ibid._, II, 1.

[i-290] _Ibid._, II, vii.

[i-291] _Ibid._, II, xvi.

[i-292] Apropos of many colonial ferments, not unlike the one we have considered above, Carl Becker writes: "Throughout the eighteenth century, little colonial aristocracies played their part, in imagination clothing their governor in the decaying vesture of Old-World tyrants and themselves assuming the homespun garb, half Roman and half Puritan, of a virtuous republicanism.... It was the illusion of sharing in great events rather than any low mercenary motive that made Americans guard with jealous care their legislative independence" (_The Eve of the Revolution_, New Haven, 1918, 60). Also see C. H. Lincoln, _The Revolutionary Movement in Pennsylvania, 1760-1776_.

[i-293] _Writings_, III, 408-9.

[i-294] _Ibid._, III, 457.

[i-295] V. W. Crane, "Certain Writings of Benjamin Franklin on the British Empire and the American Colonies," _Papers of the Bibliographical Society_, XXVIII, Pt. 1, 6 (1934). Also see W. L. Grant, "Canada vs. Guadaloupe," _American Historical Review_, XVII, 735-43, (Oct., 1911-July, 1912).

[i-296] Beer, _op. cit._, 313.

[i-297] _Writings_, IV, 224.

[i-298] _Ibid._, IV, 229.

[i-299] The massacre led by the "Paxton boys."

[i-300] _Writings_, IV, 314.

[i-301] _Writings_, IV, 418.

[i-302] _Ibid._, IV, 419. See Beer, _op. cit._, 294 f.

[i-303] _A History of American Political Theories_, 46.

[i-304] _Writings_, IV, 445-6.

[i-305] To Joseph Galloway, May 20, 1767 (photostat of unpublished MS letter in W. S. Mason Collection; original in W. L. Clements Library).

[i-306] To Joseph Galloway, Aug. 20, 1768 (photostat of unpublished MS letter in W. S. Mason Collection; original in W. L. Clements Library).

[i-307] To Joseph Galloway, April 14, 1767 (photostat of unpublished MS letter in W. S. Mason Collection; original in W. L. Clements Library). Cf. also letter to the same, Jan. 11, 1770, _ibid._

[i-308] See, for example, _An Edict by the King of Prussia_ (1773)--for its effect see _Writings_, VI, 146--and _Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One_ (1773). Crane, _op. cit._, concludes that Franklin appears as "the chief agent of the American propaganda in England, especially between 1765 and 1770" (p. 26). For treatment of American propagandists see P. G. Davidson, "Whig Propagandists of the American Revolution," _American Historical Review_, XXXIX, 442-53 (April, 1934), and his _Revolutionary Propagandists in New England, New York and Pennsylvania, 1763-1776_ (unpublished dissertation, University of Chicago, 1929); summarized in _Abstracts of Theses_, Humanistic Series VII, 239-42; F. J. Hinkhouse, _The Preliminaries of the American Revolution as Seen in the English Press_ (New York, 1926).

[i-309] _Writings_, V, 297.

[i-310] See R. G. Adams, _Political Ideas of the American Revolution_, 35, 62-3.

[i-311] Oct. 2, 1770 (_Writings_, V, 280). See also _Causes of the American Discontents before 1768_ (V, 78 f., 160-2). An aspect of his loyalty to the crown may be seen in his hatred of French desire to separate the colonies from England (V, 47, 231, 254, 323). The printing of the _Examination_ and other of Franklin's pieces in Europe buttressed the predisposition of France to hate Great Britain (V, 231). The best comprehensive treatment of backgrounds is C. H. Van Tyne's _The Causes of the War of Independence_.

[i-312] _Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography_, XXV, 311 (1901). See also _ibid._, 307-22, and XXVI, 81-90, 255-64 (1902). See _Writings_, VI, 144.

[i-313] _Writings_, VI, 173.

[i-314] _Ibid._, VI, 319. His unpublished letters of 1775 in the Original Correspondence of Benjamin Franklin with the Bishop of St. Asaph (in the W. S. Mason Collection) emphasize his progressive apathy toward a reconciliation. Especially see letters of May 15 and July 7.

[i-315] _Ibid._, VI, 460.

[i-316] Cited in Davidson, _op. cit._, 442.

[i-317] Hugh Williamson claimed that he actually gave Franklin the letters. Apparently another person went to the office where the letters were archived and posing as an authorized person secured the desired correspondence (D. Hosack, _Biographical Memoir of Hugh Williamson_, New York, 1820, 37 ff.).

[i-318] For an interesting account of this episode see Parton, _op. cit._, 1, chap. IX.

[i-319] _Writings_, V, 134. Franklin and Burke were friendly; see their correspondence. The best exposition of Burke's doctrines is that by John MacCunn, _The Political Philosophy of Edmund Burke_ (London, 1913).

[i-320] _Ibid._, V, 439; see also 527.

[i-321] London, April 20, 1771; unpublished MS letter in W. S. Mason Collection. Compare with Abbé Raynal's opinion that "society is essentially good; government, as is well known, may be, and is but too often evil" (_The Revolution of America_, Dublin, 1781, 45).

[i-322] M. Eiselen (_Franklin's Political Theories_, Garden City, N. Y., 1928) observes that Franklin as presiding officer had actually little to do with casting the instrument. From his later paper on the Constitution it is possible, however, to see that he accepted most of its major ideas (pp. 57-8). See S. B. Harding, "Party Struggles over the First Pennsylvania Constitution," _Annual Report of the American Historical Association for 1894_, 371-402.

[i-323] That Franklin "had more to do with the phraseology of the Declaration of Independence than has been recognized up to now" (J. C. Fitzpatrick, _Spirit of the Revolution_, Boston, 1924, 11) has been shown by Becker, _op. cit._

[i-324] See text in S. E. Morison, _Sources and Documents Illustrating the American Revolution, 1764-1788, and the Formation of the Federal Constitution_ (Oxford, 1923, 162-76).

[i-325] C. H. Lincoln, _The Revolutionary Movement in Pennsylvania, 1760-1776_, 277.

[i-326] Cited in N. G. Goodman, _Benjamin Rush_ (Philadelphia, 1934), 62. Another wrote that the unicameral form is good "if men were wise and virtuous as angels" (Lincoln, _op. cit._, 282; see also 283). The American Philosophical Society, of which Franklin was president, declared against it.

[i-327] T. F. Moran, _The Rise and Development of the Bicameral System in America_ (Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, 13th ser., V [Baltimore, 1895]), 42. The legislative Council (upper chamber) had been destroyed by the 1701 constitution. See B. A. Konkle, _George Bryan and the Constitution of Pennsylvania_ (Philadelphia, 1922), 114. P. L. Ford ("The Adoption of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776," _Political Science Quarterly_, X, Sept., 1895, 426-59) observes: "The one-chamber legislature and the annual election were hardly the work of the Convention, for they were merely transferred from the Penn Charter; having yielded such admirable results in the past, it is not strange that they were grafted into the new instrument" (p. 454).

[i-328] Defending (in 1789) the Pennsylvania constitution, Franklin wrote, "Have we not experienced in this Colony, when a Province under the Government of the Proprietors, the Mischiefs of a second Branch existing in the Proprietary Family, countenanced and aided by an Aristocratic Council?" (_Writings_, X, 56.)

[i-329] In 1775 he submitted to the Second Continental Congress his _Articles of Confederation_ (_Writings_, VI, 420-6) which called for a "firm League of Friendship" motivated by a unicameral assembly and a plural executive, a Council of twelve. It was democratic also in its "basing representation upon population instead of financial support" (Eiselen, _op. cit._, 54).

[i-330] _Writings_, VII, 48.

[i-331] _Ibid._, VII, 23. No dull sidelight on the quality of Franklin's radicalism during this period is the fact that he brought Thomas Paine to the colonies and was partly responsible for the writing of _Common Sense_. It is alleged that Franklin considered Paine "his adopted political son" (cited in M. D. Conway's _Life of Thomas Paine_, 3d ed., New York, 1893, II, 468). For explication of Paine's political theories see C. E. Merriam, "Political Theories of Thomas Paine," _Political Science Quarterly_, XIV, 389-403.

[i-332] Hale and Hale, _op. cit._, I, 70; see also 75.

[i-333] _Ibid._, I, 32.

[i-334] Cited in J. B. Perkins, _France in the American Revolution_, 140.

[i-335] _Ibid._, 127.

[i-336] See D. J. Hill, "A Missing Chapter of Franco-American History," _American Historical Review_, XXI, 709-19, (July, 1916).

[i-337] _Ibid._, 710.

[i-338] _Writings_, IX, 132. The Due de la Rochefoucauld translated them into French (IX, 71). Franklin thought they would induce emigration to the colonies. See the scores of requests (on the part of notable Frenchmen) and thanks for copies of the constitutions of the United States listed in _Calendar of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in the Library of the American Philosophical Society_.

[i-339] J. S. Schapiro, _Condorcet and the Rise of Liberalism_, 79-81 and _passim_.

[i-340] _Ibid._, 222.

[i-341] Cited in W. T. Franklin's edition, I, 303-4. E. P. Oberholtzer, essentially hostile to Franklin, is obliged to admit that Franklin "seems not to have had more than an advisory part" in making the Constitution of 1776. He adds that if Franklin did not form it, "he was at any rate a loyal defender of its principles," and that he seems to have allowed the French to think that the Constitution was his own (_The Referendum in America_, New York, 1900, 26-42). For Franklin's later defenses of unicameralism, see _Writings_, IX, 645, 674; X; 56-8.

[i-342] Cited in B. Faÿ, _The Revolutionary Spirit In France and America_, 289. Faÿ shows that in France the "revolutionary leaders" who took lessons from Franklin regarded him as "the prophet and saint of a new religion," as the "high priest of Philosophy." See also E. J. Lowell, _The Eve of the French Revolution_ (Boston, 1892), chaps. XVI and XVIII.

[i-343] B. Faÿ, _The Revolutionary Spirit in France and America_, 302.

[i-344] _Writings_, VIII, 34.

[i-345] _Ibid._, VIII, 452; June 7, 1782 (to Joseph Priestley).

[i-346] _Ibid._, IX, 241.

[i-347] _Ibid._, IX, 330.

[i-348] _Ibid._, IX, 521; see also IX, 489.

[i-349] Although the preponderance of evidence bears out the trustworthiness of this assertion, one can not idly dismiss his _Some Good Whig Principles_ or disregard his expressed belief that the people "seldom continue long in the wrong" and if misled they "come right again, and double their former affections" (cited in W. C. Bruce, _Benjamin Franklin, Self-Revealed_, II, 100; also see _Writings_, X, 130). There is a clearly evident polarity in Franklin's mind between ultra-democratic faith and a rigorous observation that if "people" are so constituted, many men are utter rascals. One almost senses a dichotomy between Franklin the politician and Franklin the man and moralist.

[i-350] See his _The Constitution of the United States_ (New York, 1924).

[i-351] _The Records of the Federal Convention_, ed. by Max Farrand, I, 488; see _Writings_, IX, 602-3, 595-9.

[i-352] _Writings_, IX, 596.

[i-353] _The Records of the Federal Convention_, I, 47.

[i-354] _Ibid._, I, 165.

[i-355] _Writings_, IX, 593.

[i-356] _The Records of the Federal Convention_, I, 109.

[i-357] _Ibid._, II, 120.

[i-358] _Ibid._, II, 204.

[i-359] Franklin objected to primogeniture and entail.

[i-360] _Ibid._, II, 249.

[i-361] Gettell, _op. cit._, 122.

[i-362] _Writings_, X, 56-8.

[i-363] _Ibid._, IX, 698-703.

[i-364] _Ibid._, IX, 608.

[i-365] _Ibid._, IX, 638.

[i-366] _Writings_, X, 7.

[i-367] Letter in American Philosophical Society Library; cited by B. M. Victory, _Benjamin Franklin and Germany_, 128.

[i-368] _Writings_, III, 96.

[i-369] _Ibid._, III, 97.

[i-370] _Ibid._, III, 107.

[i-371] _Ibid._, IV, 221.

[i-372] _Ibid._, IV, 377.

[i-373] _Ibid._, V, 165. He repeated this thought to Beccaria in 1773 (_ibid._, VI, 112). Also see V, 206, 410-1, VII, 49.

[i-374] _Ibid._, VII, 418; also see VIII, 211.

[i-375] _Ibid._, VIII, 315; also see letter to Priestley, June 7, 1782, VIII, 451; to Comte de Salmes, July 5, 1785, IX, 361.

[i-376] _Ibid._, IX, 652.

[i-377] _Ibid._, IX, 621. He wrote this after he was reappointed President of Pennsylvania in 1787. He confessed, however, that this honor gave him "no small pleasure."

[i-378] W. P. and J. P. Cutler, _Life, Journals and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler_, I, 269-70.

[i-379] _Joseph and Benjamin, A Conversation_, Trans. from a French Manuscript (London, 1787), 72. If this meeting never took place, the reported conversation is anything but "decidedly silly" as Ford opines (_Franklin Bibliography_, #936, 371).

[i-380] _Writings_, IV, 143.

[i-381] _Ibid._, VIII, 601. Also see IX, 53.

[i-382] _Ibid._, VIII, 593.

[i-383] Brother Potamian and J. J. Walsh, _Makers of Electricity_, 126.

[i-384] "Letters and Papers of Cadwallader Colden, IV (1748-54)," _Collections of the New York Historical Society_ (1920), 372.

[i-385] "An Outline of Philosophy in America," _Western Reserve University Bulletin_ (March, 1896). See also I. W. Riley, _American Philosophy: The Early Schools_, 229-65.

[i-386] _Franklin, the Apostle of Modern Times_, iv.

[i-387] _Writings_, I, 295.

[i-388] _Boston News-Letter_, Jan. 17, 1744/5. Also see 1669-1882. _An Historical Catalogue of the Old South Church (Third Church), Boston_ (Boston, 1883), 304.

[i-389] _Writings_, I, 324.

[i-390] _Writings_, IX, 208.

[i-391] _Essays to do Good_, with an Introductory Essay by A. Thomson (Glasgow, 1825), 102.

[i-392] _Ibid._, 213-4.

[i-393] _Works of Daniel Defoe_, ed. by Wm. Hazlitt (London, 1843), I, 22.

[i-394] _Writings_, I, 239.

[i-395] See _New England Courant_, No. 48, June 25-July 2, 1722.

[i-396] _Writings_, I, 244.

[i-397] Consecrated to piety, Robert Boyle at his death left £50 per annum, for a clergyman elected to "preach eight sermons in the year for proving the Christian religion against notorious infidels, _viz._ Atheists, Theists, Pagans, Jews, and Mahometans...." (_Works of Robert Boyle_, London, 1772, I, clxvii.)

[i-398] _Writings_, I, 295.

[i-399] In his Introduction to _Selections from Cotton Mather_ (New York, 1926), xlix-li, K. B. Murdock agrees with I. W. Riley that _The Christian Philosopher_ (1721) represents the first stage of the reaction from scriptural Calvinism to the scientific deism of Paine and Franklin. T. Hornberger's "The Date, the Source, and the Significance of Cotton Mather's Interest in Science" (_loc. cit._) shows that "as early as 1693 Cotton Mather was expressing that delight in the wonder and beauty of design in the external world which Professors Murdock and Riley regard as deistic in tendency," that he "was unconsciously vacillating between two points of view."

[i-400] _Works of Richard Bentley_, ed. by A. Dyce (London, 1838), III, 74-5.

[i-401] _Ibid._, III, 79.

[i-402] _Physico-Theology ..._ (5th ed., London, 1720), 25-6. God's "exquisite Workmanship" is seen in "every Creature" (p. 27).

[i-403] See _A Discourse of Free-Thinking_ (London, 1713).

[i-404] _Priestcraft in Perfection ..._ (London, 1710).

[i-405] _Writings_, I, 243.

[i-406] A. C. Fraser ed. (Oxford, 1894), II, 425-6.

[i-407] _Ibid._, II, 121. For Locke and his place in the age see S. G. Hefelbower's _The Relation of John Locke to English Deism_. About the time he read Locke, Franklin notes he studied Arnauld and Nicole's _La logique ou l'art de penser_. Mr. G. S. Eddy has informed one of the editors that the Library Company of Philadelphia owns John Ozell's translation of the work (London, 1718), and that this was the copy owned by Franklin. (See Lowndes's _Bibliographer's Manual_, IV, 1930, and _Dictionary of National Biography_, "John Ozell.") In accord with the English deistic and rationalistic tendency, _La logique_ admits that Aristotle's authority is not good, that "Men cannot long endure such constraint" (Thomas S. Bayne's trans., 8th ed., Edinburgh and London, n.d., 23). Indebted to Pascal and Descartes, it admits with the latter that geometry and astronomy may help one achieve justness of mind, but it vigorously asserts that this justness of mind is more important than speculative science (p. 1). Anti-sensational, it denies "that all our ideas come through sense" (p. 34), affirming that we have within us ideas of things (p. 31). It is uncertain of the value of induction, which "is never a certain means of acquiring perfect knowledge" (p. 265; see also 304, 307, 308, 350). It accords little praise to the sciences and reason, and seems wary of metaphysical speculation, assuring more humbly that "Piety, wisdom, moderation, are without doubt the most estimable qualities in the world" (p. 291). As we shall discover, this work on the whole seems to have had (with the exception of the last very general principle) little formative influence on the young mind which was fast impregnating itself with scientific deism. Were it not for the recurring implications (particularly in the harvest of editions of the _Autobiography_) that _La logique_ is as significant for our study as, for example, the works of Locke and Shaftesbury, this note would be pedantic supererogation.

[i-408] A. C. Fraser, _op. cit._, I, 99. See also 190, 402-3; II, 65, 68, 352.

[i-409] Cited in C. A. Moore, "Shaftesbury and the Ethical Poets in England, 1700-1760," _Publications of the Modern Language Association_, XXXI (N. S. XXIV), 276 (June, 1916).

[i-410] _Ibid._, 271.

[i-411] J. M. Robertson, ed., _Characteristics ..._ (New York, 1900), I, 27.

[i-412] _Ibid._, I, 241-2.

[i-413] Moore, _op. cit._, 267.

[i-414] In _Dogood Paper_ No. XIV Franklin suggests (autobiographically?): "In Matters of Religion, he that alters his Opinion on a _religious Account_, must certainly go thro' much Reading, hear many Arguments on both Sides, and undergo many Struggles in his Conscience, before he can come to a full Resolution" (_Writings_, II, 46).

[i-415] He read Thomas Tryon's _The Way to Health, Long Life and Happiness_, probably the second edition (London, 1691), a copy of which is in the W. S. Mason Collection. Tryon holds that no "greater Happiness" than Attic sobriety is "attainable upon Earth" (p. 1). Divine Temperance is the "spring head of all Virtues" (p. 33). Inward harmony "is both the Glory and the Happiness, the Joy and Solace of created Beings, the celebrated Musick of the Spheres, the Eccho of Heaven, the Business of Seraphims, and the Imployment of Eternity" (p. 500). From Xenophon he learned that "self-restraint" is "the very corner-stone of virtue." The classic core of the _Memorabilia_ is the love of the moderate contending with the love of the incontinent. Franklin has impressed many as representing an American Socrates. Emerson was certain that Socrates "had a Franklin-like wisdom" (Centenary Ed., IV, 72). Franklin's fondness for Socratic centrality, discipline, and knowledge of self is fragmentarily shown by the aphorisms appropriated in _Poor Richard_. There are scores of the quality of the following: "He that lives carnally won't live eternally." "Who has deceived thee so oft as thyself?" "Caesar did not merit the triumphal car more than he that conquers himself." "If Passion drives, let Reason hold the Reins." "A man in a Passion rides a mad Horse." "There are three Things extremely hard, Steel, a Diamond and to know one's self." Consult T. H. Russell's _The Sayings of Poor Richard, 1733-1758_.