His reputation as a man of letters rests upon his journalistic work,
essays, and correspondence, and his unique autobiography. He founded the
first literary newspaper in America, thus becoming the first editor as
distinguished from the mere news-gatherer. He founded the first literary
club in America--the famous Junto. He was the first to illustrate a
newspaper, and to point out the advantages of illustrated advertisements.
Though his claim to eminence as a man of letters is not to be gainsaid, he
was not, in the finer distinction, a literary man. He represented no
literary tradition, nor did he establish one. His practical genius
confined the elements of his literary manner to lucidity, simplicity, and
directness. There was no really idealistic touch in his writing. But his
frankness and his genial humor kept him from ever becoming dull. His
autobiography is one of the most interesting personal narratives ever
written.
But Franklin's greatest work was his work as a statesman and diplomat.
Between 1757 and 1775 he represented in England first his own colony of
Pennsylvania and later the group of colonies. His zeal got him into
trouble, for he made public, though by permission, some letters written
by Governor Hutchison, of Massachusetts, in which the English government
was advised to use harsh measures with the colony.
Attacked in the Privy Council for his "bad faith," Franklin stood silent
until the vituperation ended, and then quietly withdrew. His demeanor
inspired Horace Walpole's famous epigram:
The calm philosopher, without reply,
Withdrew, and gave his country liberty.
On that fateful day Franklin was dressed in "a new suit of spotted
Manchester velvet." The man's sense of humor appears in the fact that he
deliberately laid that suit aside and did not put it on again until the
day when he signed the treaty of alliance between France and the American
colonies.
His labors in France during the period of the American Revolution are part
of the history of the time. As the French historian Lacretelle says:
His virtues and renown negotiated for him; and before the
second year of his mission had expired no one conceived it
possible to refuse fleets and armies to the countrymen of
Franklin.