_Appointed Postmaster-General. Journey to New England. Receives
Degrees from two Colleges. Story of the Visit to his Mother._
1. Having been some time employed by the postmaster-general of America
in regulating the several offices, and bringing the officers to
account, upon his death, in 1753, Franklin was appointed, jointly with
another gentleman, to succeed him. The American office had before this
time never paid any thing to that of Great Britain; and the new
postmasters were to have six hundred pounds between them, if they
could make that sum out of the profits of the office.
2. To do this, a variety of improvements were necessary, some of which
were at first very expensive; so that, for the first four years, the
office became more than nine hundred pounds in debt to them.
Afterwards they began to be repaid, and before Franklin was displaced,
they had brought it to yield three times as much clear profit to the
crown, as the post-office of Ireland. After Franklin's dismission,
they never received a farthing from it.
3. The business of the post-office occasioned his taking a journey to
New England, where the College of Cambridge presented him with the
degree of Master of Arts. Yale College, in Connecticut, had before
paid him a similar compliment. Thus, without studying in any college,
he came to partake of their honors. They were conferred in
consideration of his discoveries and improvements in natural
philosophy.
4. It was either during this or his former journey that the story of
the visit to his mother originated. He had been some years absent from
his native city, and was at that period of life when the greatest and
most rapid alteration is made in the human appearance. Franklin was
sensible that his person had been so much changed that his mother
would not know him, unless there were some instinct to point out, at a
single glance, the child to its parent.
5. To discover the existence of this instinct by actual experiment,
Franklin determined to introduce himself to his mother as a stranger,
and to watch narrowly for the moment in which she should discover her
son. On the afternoon of a sullen cold day, in the month of January,
he knocked at his mother's door, and asked to speak with Mrs.
Franklin. He found the old lady knitting before the parlor fire,
introduced himself, by observing that he had been informed she
entertained travellers, and requested a night's lodging.
6. She eyed him with coldness, and assured him that he had been
misinformed--that she did not keep a tavern; though, to oblige some
members of the legislature, she took a number of them into her family
during the session; and at that time had four members of the council
and six of the house of representatives who boarded with her. She
added that all her beds were full, and went on knitting with a great
deal of vehemence.
7. Franklin wrapped his coat around him, pretending to shiver with the
cold, and observing that it was very chilly weather. It was, of
course, nothing more than civil for the old lady to ask him to stop
and warm himself. She pointed to a chair, and he drew himself up to
the fire.
8. The entrance of her boarders prevented any further conversation.
Coffee was soon served, and the stranger partook with the rest of the
family. To the coffee, according to the custom of the times, succeeded
a plate of apples, pipes, and a paper of tobacco. A pleasant circle of
smokers was then formed about the fire. Agreeable conversation
followed. Jokes were cracked, stories told, and Franklin was so
sensible and entertaining as to attract the attention of the whole
company.
9. In this manner the moments passed pleasantly and swiftly along, and
it was eight o'clock before any of them expected it. This was the hour
of supper, and Mrs. Franklin was always as punctual as the clock.
Busied with family affairs, she supposed the stranger had quitted the
house immediately after coffee. Imagine her surprise, when she saw
him, with the utmost coolness and impudence, taking his seat with the
family at the supper table!
10. Immediately after supper, she called an elderly gentleman, a
member of the council, with whom she was in the habit of consulting,
into another room; complained of the rudeness of the stranger, told
the manner of his coming into the house, observed that he appeared
like a foreigner, and she thought had something about him very
suspicious. The old gentleman assured her that she need not be under
any alarm, that the stranger was a man of education and agreeable
manners, and was, probably, unaware of the lateness of the hour. He
added, that it would be well to call him aside, and repeat to him that
she was unable to give him lodgings.
11. She accordingly sent her maid to him, and then repeated the
account of their situation, observed that it grew late, and gently
hinted that he would do well to seek out other accommodations. The
stranger replied that he should be very sorry to put her to any
inconvenience, and would retire after smoking one more pipe with her
boarders. He returned to the company, filled his pipe, and began
talking as pleasantly and forcibly as ever. He recounted the
hardships, and praised the piety and wisdom of their ancestors.
12. A gentleman present mentioned the subject of the day's debate in
the house of representatives. A bill had been introduced to extend the
powers of the royal governor. The stranger immediately entered upon
the subject, supported the rights of the colonies with many arguments
and much eloquence, and showed a great familiarity with the names of
influential members of the house in the time of Governor Dudley.
13. The conversation was so animated and interesting that the clock
struck eleven, unnoticed by the delighted circle. The patience of Mrs.
Franklin was by this time completely exhausted. She now entered the
room, and, before the whole company, addressed the stranger with much
anger; told him plainly that she thought herself imposed upon; that
she was a lone woman, but had friends who would protect her; and
concluded by telling him to leave the house. Franklin made a slight
apology, put on his great coat and hat, took a polite leave of the
company, and approached the street door, lighted by the maid, and
attended by the mistress.
14. While the company had been enjoying themselves within, a most
tremendous snow storm had filled the streets, knee-deep; and no sooner
had the maid lifted the latch, than a roaring wind forced open the
door, put out the light, and almost filled the entry with drifted snow
and hail. As soon as the candle was relighted, the stranger cast a
mournful look on the lady of the mansion, and said--"My dear madam, if
you turn me out of your house in this dreadful storm, I am a stranger
in the town, and shall certainly perish in the streets. You look like
a charitable lady; I should not think you could refuse shelter to a
dog on such a night."
15. "Don't tell me of charity," said the offended matron; "charity
begins at home. It is your own fault that you staid so long. In short,
sir, I do not like your looks, or your conduct in thus forcing
yourself upon my family, and I fear you have some bad designs."
16. The good lady had grown so angry as to raise her voice much above
its ordinary pitch, and the noise drew all the company into the entry.
They did not agree with Mrs. Franklin in respect to the stranger at
all. He seemed to them to be a very honest, clever-looking fellow, and
so far from wishing to turn him out of the house, there was not one of
them but would have been glad to have him for a fellow-boarder. They
thought him very sensible and pleasant, and could not account for
their landlady's aversion.
17. At length, by their united interference, the stranger was
permitted to remain in the house. There was no bed or part of a bed
unoccupied, and he was obliged to sleep all night in an easy chair,
before the parlor fire. Although her boarders appeared to have perfect
confidence in his honesty, it was not so with Mrs. Franklin. She very
carefully collected her silver spoons, pepper box and porringer from
her closet, and, after securing the parlor door, by sticking a fork
over the latch, carried them to her chamber. She charged the negro man
to sleep with his clothes on--to take the great cleaver to bed with
him, and to wake up and seize the vagrant at the first noise he made
in plundering the house. The good lady then retired to bed with her
maid, whom she compelled to sleep in the same room.
18. After a very restless night, Mrs. Franklin rose before the sun.
She called her domestics, proceeded with them in a body to unfasten
the parlor door. To her great astonishment, she found her guest
quietly sleeping in his chair. She now began to feel sorry for her
suspicions. Awaking him with a cheerful good morning, she inquired how
he had rested, and invited him to partake of her breakfast, which was
always served before that of the boarders.
19. "Pray, sir," said the old lady, as they were sipping their
chocolate at the breakfast table, "as you appear to be a stranger
here, to what distant country do you belong?"
20. Franklin put a little more sugar into his chocolate, and, helping
himself to a slice of toast, replied, that he belonged to the city of
Philadelphia. At the mention of this word, the old lady, for the first
time, exhibited emotion. "Philadelphia?" said she--"if you live in
Philadelphia, perhaps you know our Ben?"
21. "Who, madam?" replied Franklin, in the same cool and undisturbed
manner that he had put on ever since he entered the house. "Why, Ben
Franklin," said the mother; "my Ben--oh! he is the dearest child that
ever blessed a mother!"
22. "What," said the stranger, "is Ben Franklin, the printer, your
son? Why, he is my most intimate friend: he and I lodge in the same
room." "O! Heaven forgive me!" exclaimed the old lady; "and have I
suffered an acquaintance of my Benny to sleep on this hard chair,
while I myself rested on a good bed!"
23. We can well imagine that the mother was very much astonished when
she found that it was not an acquaintance of her son, but her son
himself, whose countenance and person had been so much changed, that
she had even been on the point of turning him out of doors! She was
delighted to embrace him once more before she died, and was quite
pleased that the members of the council had found him so agreeable a
fellow as to insist that he should remain all night in the house.
* * * * *
1. What appointment did Franklin receive at this time.
2. Was the post-office, under Franklin, a source of revenue to the
crown?
3. What honors did Franklin receive from the colleges?
5. Why did Franklin introduce himself to his mother as a stranger? In
what situation did he find her?
6. How did she receive him?
8. What was the evening custom at that time?