(1706-1790)
[Illustration: Benjamin Franklin. [TN]]
Though eminent qualities are generally necessary to the acquisition of
permanent fame, the life of Franklin affords signal proof that moderate
talents, judiciously directed, when aided by industry and perseverance,
will enable a man to render signal services to his country and his kind,
and give him a claim to the homage of posterity. He was the fifteenth
child of a tallow-chandler in Boston, where he was born January 17,
1706. His father at first intended to educate him for the church, but
finding that the expense was likely to exceed his means, he took the boy
home after he had acquired little more than the elements of learning, to
assist him in his own trade. The boy greatly disliked the nature of the
employment, and was very anxious to become a sailor. Fortunately for him
his friends controlled his inclinations; instead of going to sea he was
apprenticed to his eldest brother, James, who was a printer. Franklin
records in his Memoirs that though he had only at this time entered his
twelfth year he paid so much attention to his business that he soon
became proficient in all its details, and, by the quickness with which
he executed his work, obtained a little leisure, which he devoted to
study. His studious habits were noticed by a gentleman named Adams, who
had a large collection of books, which he placed at the disposal of
Franklin; among these were some volumes of poetry, which fired his
emulation, and he began to compose little pieces in verse. Two of these
were printed by his brother and sold as street-ballads, but they were,
as he informs us, wretched doggerel, and the ridicule thrown on them by
his father deterred him from similar attempts. But though he laid aside
poetry, he did not abandon his ambition to become a good English writer;
he studied the art of composition with great labor, being rewarded by
the consciousness of improvement.
Franklin's self-denial and power of control over his appetites were not
less remarkable than his industry. Having, at the age of sixteen, read a
work which recommended vegetable diet, he determined to adopt the
system, and undertook to provide for himself upon his brother's allowing
him one-half of the ordinary expenses of board. On this pittance he not
only supported himself, but contrived, by great abstemiousness, to save
a portion of it, which he devoted to the purchase of books. He soon had
an opportunity of testing his literary progress; in 1720 his brother
commenced the publication of a newspaper, the second which had appeared
in America, called the _New England Courant_. This paper, at a time when
periodicals were rare, attracted most of the literary men of Boston to
the house of the proprietor; their conversation, and particularly their
remarks on the authorship of the various articles contributed to the
paper, revived Franklin's literary ambition; he sent some communications
to the journal in a feigned hand; they were inserted, and he tells us
that "he had the exquisite pleasure to find that they met with
approbation, and that, in the various conjectures respecting the author,
no one was mentioned who did not enjoy a high reputation in the country
for talents and genius." He was thus encouraged to reveal his secret to
his brother, but he did not obtain the respect and fraternal indulgence
which he had anticipated. James Franklin was a man of violent temper; he
treated Benjamin with great harshness, and often proceeded to the
extremity of blows.
An article which appeared in the _Courant_ having given offence to the
authorities, James was thrown into prison for a month, and the
management of the paper devolved on Benjamin. He conducted it with great
spirit, but with questionable prudence, for he made it the vehicle of
sharp attacks on the principal persons in the colony. This gave such
offence that when James was liberated from prison, an arbitrary order
was issued that he should no longer print the paper called the _New
England Courant_. To evade this order it was arranged that Benjamin's
indentures should be cancelled in order that the paper might be
published in his name, but at the same time a secret contract was made
between the parties, by which James was entitled to his brother's
services during the unexpired period of apprenticeship. A fresh quarrel,
however, soon arose, and Benjamin separated from his brother, taking
what he has confessed to be an unfair advantage of the circumstance
that the contract could not be safely brought forward.
The circumstance produced an unfavorable impression on the minds of the
printers in Boston, and Franklin, finding it impossible to obtain
employment in his native town, resolved to seek it in New York. Aware
that his father would be opposed to this measure, he was compelled to
sell his books to raise money for defraying the expenses of his journey.
America was at this time very thinly inhabited; there were no public
conveyances on the roads, the inns were few, and their accommodations
miserable; but Franklin had accustomed himself to hard fare, and he did
not allow the inconvenience he endured to interfere with his enjoyment
of new scenery. On reaching New York he found that the printers there
had no occasion for his services, and he continued his journey to
Philadelphia. Having obtained employment in that city from a printer
named Keimer, Franklin continued to devote his leisure hours to
literature. The respectability of his appearance and the superior tone
of his conversation began soon to be remarked; they led to his being
introduced to several eminent men, and particularly to Sir William
Keith, the Governor of Pennsylvania, who frequently invited him to his
table. Keith urged Franklin to commence business on his own account, and
when the young man had ineffectually applied for assistance to his
father in Boston, he advised him to go to London and form a connection
with some of the great publishing houses, promising him letters of
credit and recommendation. Franklin sailed for London, but the promised
letters were never sent; and he found himself, on his arrival in
England, thrown entirely on his own resources.
Having soon obtained employment, he exhibited to his fellow-workmen an
edifying example of industry and temperance, by which many of them
profited. He also published a little work of a sceptical tendency, which
procured him introductions to some eminent men, but which he afterward
lamented as one of the greatest errors of his life. After remaining
about eighteen months in England, he returned to Philadelphia as a clerk
to Mr. Denham, and on the death of that gentleman went back once more to
his old employer, Keimer. About this time he established a debating
society, or club of persons of his own age, for the discussion of
subjects connected with morals, politics, and natural philosophy. These
discussions gradually assumed political importance, and had a great
effect in stimulating the public mind during the War of Independence.
Having quarrelled with Keimer, Franklin entered into partnership with a
young man named Meredith, and commenced publishing a paper in opposition
to one which had been started by his former employer. Meredith proving
negligent of business, Franklin was enabled by his friends to dissolve
the partnership, and to take the entire business into his own hands. His
steady adherence to habits of industry and economy had brought him
comparative wealth; and he now married Miss Read, whom he had met on his
first arrival in Philadelphia.
In 1732 Franklin began the publication of "Poor Richard's Almanac,"
which soon became celebrated for its important lessons of practical
morality. These were subsequently collected in a little volume, and are
still highly esteemed both in England and America. His high character
for probity and intelligence induced the citizens of Philadelphia to
intrust him with the management of public affairs; he was appointed
clerk of the general assembly, postmaster, and alderman, and was put by
the governor into the commission of the peace. All the hours he could
spare from business he now devoted to objects of local utility, and the
city of Philadelphia is indebted to him for some of its finest buildings
and best institutions. As his wealth increased he obtained leisure to
devote himself to the study of philosophy, and to take a leading part in
political life.
We shall first look at his philosophical labors, by which his name first
became known abroad. His attention was drawn to the subject of
electricity in 1746, by some experiments exhibited by Dr. Spence, who
had come to Boston from Scotland. These isolated experiments were made
with no regard to system, and led to no results. A glass tube, and some
other apparatus that had been sent to Franklin by a friend in London,
enabled him to repeat and verify these experiments. He soon began to
devise new forms of investigation for himself, and at length made the
great discovery, which may be said to be the foundation of electrical
science, that there is a positive and negative state of electricity. By
this fact he explained the phenomenon of the Leyden phial, which at that
time excited great attention in Europe, and had foiled the sagacity of
its principal philosophers. In the course of his investigations he was
led to suspect the identity of lightning and the electric fluid; and he
resolved to test this happy conjecture by a direct experiment. His
apparatus was simply a paper-kite with a key attached to the tail.
Having raised the kite during a thunder-storm, he watched the result
with great anxiety; after an interval of painful suspense, he saw the
filaments of the string exhibit by their motion signs of electrical
action; he drew in the kite, and, presenting his knuckles to the key,
received a strong spark, which of course decided the success of the
experiment. Repeated sparks were drawn from the key, a phial was
charged, a shock given, and the identity of lightning with the electric
fluid demonstrated beyond all possibility of doubt.
Franklin had from time to time transmitted accounts of his electrical
experiments to his friend, Mr. Collinson, in England, in order that they
should be laid before the Council of the Royal Society; but, as they
were not published in the "Transactions" of that learned body, Collinson
gave copies of the communications to Cave, for insertion in the
_Gentleman's Magazine_. Cave resolved to publish them in a separate
form, and the work, soon after its appearance, became generally
recognized as the text-book of electrical science. It was translated
into French, German, and Latin; the author's experiments were repeated,
and verified by the leading philosophers of France, Germany, and even
Russia; the Royal Society atoned for its former tardiness by a hearty
recognition of their value, and Franklin was elected a member of their
body without solicitation or expense. The universities of St. Andrews,
Edinburgh, and Oxford subsequently conferred upon him the honorary title
of Doctor of Laws.
We must pass more briefly over Franklin's political career. In 1753 he
was appointed Deputy Postmaster of the American colonies. The
post-office, which had previously supplied no revenue to the Government,
became very productive under his management, and yielded three times as
much as the post-office in Ireland. Nor was this the only service he
rendered to the Government. At the time of Braddock's unfortunate
expedition against the French and Indians, he provided conveyances for
the troops and stores at his own risk; he took a leading part in
obtaining a militia bill, and he proposed a plan for the union of the
several colonies in a common system of defence against the Indians.
These measures greatly increased his influence and popularity.
Pennsylvania was at this period a proprietary government, and the
proprietary body claimed exemption from taxation. In consequence of the
disputes to which these claims gave rise, he was sent to England by the
General Assembly, as agent for the provinces. He performed his duties
with such zeal and ability, that he was appointed agent for the
provinces of Massachusetts, Georgia, and Maryland; and, on his return to
America in 1762, received not only the thanks of the House of Assembly,
but a grant of L5,000. Previous to his return he made a short visit to
the continent, and was everywhere received with great honor, especially
at the court of Louis XV.
In the year 1764, the American colonies, alarmed at the system of
taxation with which they were menaced by the British, resolved that
Franklin should be sent to England, no longer as an agent, but as the
general representative of the States. In this character he arrived in
London about forty years after his first appearance in that city as a
distressed mechanic. His own mind was strongly impressed by the
contrast; he went to the printing-office where he had worked, introduced
himself to the men employed there, and joined in a little festival in
honor of printing. He officially presented to Mr. Grenville a petition
against the Stamp Act, but finding that the minister was not deterred
from his purpose, he zealously exerted himself to organize an opposition
to the measure. When it was proposed to repeal the bill in the following
year, Franklin was examined before the House of Commons; the effect of
his evidence was decisive, and the Stamp Act was repealed.
The quarrel with the colonies, however, grew more and more bitter; and
while Franklin's words were always of peace, he championed the American
cause with power and dignity. Attempts were made to win him over to the
side of the Government, by offers of high honors and liberal emoluments;
but threats and promises were alike unavailing to divert him from his
course. He lingered in England, hoping that some turn in public affairs
would avert the fatal necessity of war; but when the petition of the
American Congress was rejected, and Lord Chatham's plan of
reconciliation outvoted, he resolved to return home and share the
fortunes of his countrymen. His departure was hastened by the
intelligence that the ministers intended to arrest him on a charge of
fomenting rebellion in the colonies; he narrowly escaped this danger,
and on landing in America, he was elected a member of Congress.
Soon after the declaration of independence was issued, Dr. Franklin was
sent as ambassador to France, to solicit aid for the infant republic. On
his first arrival, in 1776, he was not officially received; but when the
intelligence of the English losses had given courage to the French
court, negotiations were formally commenced, and on February 7, 1778, he
had the honor of signing the first treaty between the United States and
a foreign power. He remained at the French court as ambassador until the
end of the war, when, as an American plenipotentiary, he signed the
treaty of Paris, by which Great Britain recognized the independence of
the United States. At the close of the negotiations (November, 1782), he
was anxious to be recalled; but his diplomatic services were too highly
valued to be spared, and he remained at Paris three years longer, during
which period he negotiated treaties with Sweden and with Prussia. His
residence in France was cheered by the enthusiasm with which he was
regarded by all classes, particularly persons of literature and science;
his departure from that city was lamented as a general loss to society.
Honors of every kind awaited him on his return to his native land; he
was appointed President of the State of Pennsylvania, and a member of
the Federal Convention, by which the American Constitution was framed.
But old age, and a painful disease, to which he had been long subject,
compelled him to retire into the bosom of his family. Notwithstanding
his sufferings, he preserved his affections and faculties unimpaired to
the last, and died tranquilly, April 17, 1790. The American Congress,
and the National Assembly of France, both went into mourning on
receiving the intelligence of his death.
Franklin's powers were useful rather than brilliant; his philosophical
discoveries were the result of patience and perseverance; with a warmer
imagination he would probably have been misled by speculative theory,
like so many of his contemporaries. His industry and his temperance were
the sources of his early success, and they nurtured in him that spirit
of independence which was the leading characteristic of his private and
public career.