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FROM BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD
LIFE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
By William M. Thayer
Author of "From Farm House to White House," "From Log Cabin to White
House," "From Pioneer Home to White House," "From Tannery to White
House," etc., etc.
ILLUSTRATED
1889.
PREFACE
The life of Benjamin Franklin is stranger than fiction. Its realities
surpass the idealities of novelists. Imagination would scarcely venture
to portray such victories over poverty, obscurity, difficulties, and
hardships. The tact, application, perseverance, and industry, that he
brought to his life-work, make him an example for all time. He met with
defeats; but they inspired him to manlier efforts. His successes
increased his desire for something higher and nobler. He was satisfied
only with _going up still higher_. He believed that "one to-day is
worth two to-morrows"; and he acted accordingly, with the candle-shop
and printing office for his school-room, and Observation for his
teacher. His career furnishes one of the noblest examples of success
for the young of both sexes to study. We offer his life as one of the
brightest and best in American history to inspire young hearts with
lofty aims.
The first and principal source of material for this book was Franklin's
"Autobiography." No other authority, or treasure of material, can take
the place of that. Biographies by Sparks, Sargent, Abbott, and Parton
have freely consulted together with "Franklin in France," and various
eulogies and essays upon his life and character.
That Franklin was the real father of the American Union, is the view
which the author of this biography presents. It is the view of
Bancroft, as follows:--
"Not half of Franklin's merits have been told. He was the true father
of the American Union. It was he who went forth to lay the foundation
of that great design at Albany; and in New York he lifted up his voice.
Here among us he appeared as the apostle of the Union. It was Franklin
who suggested the Congress of 1774; and but for his wisdom, and the
confidence that wisdom inspired, it is a matter of doubt whether that
Congress would have taken effect. It was Franklin who suggested the
bond of the Union which binds these States from Florida to Maine.
Franklin was the greatest diplomatist of the eighteenth century. He
never spoke a word too soon; he never spoke a word too much; he never
failed to speak the right word at the right season."
The closing years of Franklin's life were so identified with the Union
of the States, and the election and inauguration of Washington as the
first President, that his biography becomes a fitting companion to the
WHITE HOUSE SERIES.
CONTENTS
I.
FROM OLD ENGLAND TO NEW ENGLAND.
Persecution Driving Franklin and Others Away--Discussion about
Emigrating--Josiah Franklin--His Trade--Benjamin Franklin--Doctor
Franklin's Account of His Ancestors--Meetings of Dissenters Broken
Up--Why Josiah Decided to Go--Account of Their Family Bible--The Final
Decision--The Franklin Family Influential--Thomas Franklin--The
Franklin Poet--Doctor Franklin about His Father--What Boston was Then
and Now--Exploring the Wilderness--Influence of Franklins in Boston.
II.
THE FIFTEENTH GIFT.
Birth of Benjamin Franklin on Sunday--The Fifteenth Child--God's
Gift--Proposition to Baptize Him the Same Day--Discussion over
It--Baptized on That Day by Doctor Willard--The Church Record--House
in Which He was Born--Josiah's Children--Death of Wife and Second
Marriage--The Folger Family--Name for Uncle Benjamin--Personal
Beauty--Words of Parton--Josiah Took Up Trade of Tallow-chandler--The
Business and Place Described--Sons Apprenticed--Josiah a Good
Musician--Condition of the World When Benjamin was Born in 1706.
III.
PAYING TOO DEAR FOR THE WHISTLE.
Seven Years Old--First Money to Spend as He Pleased--Advice Gratis--Boy
with Whistle--Benjamin Buys a Whistle--Going into the Concert
Business--Scene in the Family--Tormented by John for Paying All His
Money--Ben Breaks Down--Father and Mother Takes His Part--The Lesson
He Learned--What He Wrote about It at Seventy-two Years of Age--When
Boys Pay Too Dear for the Whistle--Dickens--Keeping the Secret--How
the Secret Came Out.
IV.
IN SCHOOL.
Uncle Benjamin and His Poetry--His Family--His Letter about Ben--Plans
for School and Doctor Willard--Goes to School at Eight Years of
Age--Description of His Father--Of His Mother--Inscription on Their
Monument--Nathaniel Williams, Teacher--Description of School-house--His
Scholarship High--His Teacher Praises Him--Led the School--Prophecies
about Him--Webster--Rittenhouse--Stephenson.
V.
OUT OF SCHOOL.
Poverty Forces Him to Leave School--His Mother's View--Hard Time for
Ministers--Brownell's School of Penmanship--How Ben Could Help His
Father--Boys Put to Work Young Then--His Obedience--A Well-Disciplined
Boy--Incident of His Manhood to Rebuke a Landlord--Robert Peel and
Harry Garland--The Eight Hall Brothers--His Progress.
VI.
FROM SCHOOL TO CANDLE-SHOP.
Arrival of Uncle Benjamin--Opposed to Taking His Nephew Out of School--
Thinks Ben is Very Talented--Prospects of the Business--Benjamin's
Talk with His Mother--Blessings of Industry--Doctor Franklin's
Proverbs--Became Wiser Than His Father--Tallow-Chandler at Ten Years
of Age--His Father Saw His Dissatisfaction--Josiah, the Runaway Son,
Returns--Wanted to Go to Sea--The Proposition Vetoed--Uncle Benjamin
Against It.
VII.
CHOOSING A TRADE AND STEALING SPORT.
Love of a Trade Necessary to Success--Following "Natural Bent"--Square
Boys in Round Holes--Smeaton--Benjamin Pleased with a New Plan--
Examining Different Trades--The Cutler, Brazier, etc.--Chooses Cutler's
Trade--Enters Shop on Trial--Disagreement on Terms--The Good It Did
Him--Sport on the Water--An Evil Proposition--Stealing Stones--The
Wharf Built--The Thieves Detected--How Benjamin's Father Found Him
Out--Benjamin's Confession and Promise--The End.
VIII.
BECOMING PRINTER-BOY.
James Franklin Returns from England a Printer--His Father's Talk About
Learning That Trade--Benjamin Likes It--Arrangement with James--
Printing in Its Infancy Then--Censorship over Printing--Bound to
His Brother--Form of Indenture--William Tinsley--White Slavery--Poor
Children Sold at Auction--A Printer-boy and How He Liked--Time for
Reading--Budget!--The Printing-office, Where and What--Being on
Time--After a Book Before Breakfast--Washington's Punctuality--
Franklin's Like It.
IX.
TABLE-TALK EDUCATION.
What Franklin Said of Table-talk--What Heard at Table Now--Its
Moulding Influence--That of His Grandfather--The Franklins Good in
Conversation--Extract from Parton--Letter of Franklin to His Wife in
1758--Pythagoras--Cicero--Josiah Franklin--His Wise Counsels--Origin
of His Temperance Principles--No Temperance Cause Then--The Washburne
Family--The Way the Twig is Bent.
X.
LEADER OF SPORTS AND THOUGHTS.
Love of Reading and Fun--The Best Swimmer, etc.--Invention to Promote
Swimming--His Secret of Success--The Trial of the Apparatus--Hard on
the Wrists--Another Experiment Proposed--Swimming Promoted by a
Kite--Delight of the Boys--What Franklin Said of It in Manhood--The
Seed Thought of Drawing Lightning from a Cloud with a Kite--His
Experiment and Joy--What He Wrote about It--Advocate of Liberal Female
Education--Correspondence with Collins--His Father's Opinion--How
Benjamin Tried to Improve--How He Gained Time--Wise Maxims in
Age--Maxims--C.G. Frost and One Hour a Day--What Spare Moments Did
for Benjamin.
XI.
STARTING A NEWSPAPER.
Only Three Newspapers in America--Created a Stir--What Newspaper
Business is in Boston Now--How to Estimate It--Benjamin Manages the
Printing of It--His Interest in It--Its Warm Reception--Proposition
to Board Himself--What He Gained by It--His Object Self-improvement--
James Selfish, Benjamin Generous--Their Talk about the Plan--What His
Bill-of-Fare Was--How Come to Adopt Vegetable Diet--More Maxims--
Cocker's Arithmetic--His Success.
XII.
THE RUSE, AND WHAT CAME OF IT.
What Parton Says of _Courant_--The Knot of Liberals--Ben's First
Anonymous Article, and His Ruse--Discussion over It by the _Courant_
Club--Decided to Publish It--Benjamin Puts It in Type--It Created a
Sensation--The Second Article, Better Than First--Excitement over It
Still Greater--Ben's Exultation--James' Astonishment--Surprise of the
"Knot"--Ben a Favorite Now--How the Autobiography Tells the Story--
Decided Ben's Career--Canning and Microcosm--Examples of Industry,
Tact, etc.--Boy without a Name.
XIII.
BOOKS OF HIS BOYHOOD.
Four Classes of Readers--Ben after Diamonds--Hungry Mind--Words of
Thomas Hood--What Franklin Said--First Book Pilgrim's Progress--Talk
with His Father--What Franklin Said of Narrative--Plutarch's Lives--Easy
to Do Good--What They Were--Incident by Parton--Plan to Buy Burton's
Historical Collections--Describes Them--Boyle's Lectures--Kind Offer
of Matthew Adams--Borrowing Books of Booksellers' Clerks--Great
Favor--Books Very Scarce Then--Greenwood's English Grammar--Talk with
Collins--Other Books Read--Habit of Taking Notes--Letter of Franklin
about It--Professor Atkinson's Words--Garfield Had Same Habit.
XIV.
LEARNING THE ART OF COMPOSITION.
Began to Write Poetry at Seven--Had Practised Putting Thoughts
Together--James Praised His Pieces--Proposition to Write, Print,
and Sell Verses--Wrote Two--Sold Well--His Father's Severe Rebuke--
After-talk with James--Best Writers Deficient at First--Reporting to
James--Benefit to Ben--One of His Verses Preserved--What Franklin
Said of It in Manhood--How He Used the _Spectator_--Determined to
Improve--His Own Description of His Literary Work--How He Acquired
Socratic Method--Rhetoric and Logic--How a Single Book Made Wesley,
Martin, Pope, Casey, Lincoln, and Others What They Were--A Striking
Case.
XV.
THE "COURANT" IN TROUBLE.
The Startling News from the Assembly--A Discussion--A Sarcastic Letter
the Cause--James and Benjamin Summoned before the Council--James
Defiant--Benjamin Dismissed--How Mather Assailed the _Courant_--How
James Answered Him--James in Prison--Benjamin Editing the Paper--
Quotation from Parton--Persecution of Printers in the Old Country--A
Horrible Case--James Released, and Still Defiant--Inoculation a Remedy
for Small Pox--The _Mercury_ Denouncing James' Imprisonment--James
Still for Freedom of the Press--Secured It for All Time.
XVI.
THE BOY EDITOR.
Attacking the Government--The Council Exasperated--Action of the
_Courant_ Club--Plan to Evade Order of the Council--Benjamin, the
Boy-editor--His Address in _Courant_--Quotations from _Courant_ of
January 14, 1723--Not Libelous--Extract from Parton's Life--When
Newspapers Ceased to be Carried Free--How Long Ben Was in Printing
Office--Remarks by Mr. Sparks--What He Says of General Court--How the
Experience Developed Benjamin--Right Boy in Right Place--Extract from
_Courant_ about Bears.
XVII.
THE YOUNG SKEPTIC.
Reading Shaftesbury's Work--Discussion with Collins--Ben's Orthodoxy in
Peril--Benjamin a Thinker--Saying Grace over the Pork Barrel--Reading
from Collins--Several Paragraphs Repugnant to Orthodoxy--Shaftesbury
Attacking Miracles--Ben's Influence over John--Charged with Being
Atheist--His Confession--Letter to His Father--Letter to Sister--Seeing
His Folly--His Prayer--Sad Experience with Infidel Books--Similar to
Lincoln's and Garfield's--Lincoln's Farewell.
XVIII.
HOW HE QUIT BOSTON.
Decision to Leave James--Cruelty of the Latter--The Indenture--
Discussion over It with Collins--Advised to Get Place in Another
Printing Office in Boston--James Had Warned Them against Hiring
Him--Discloses His Decision to James--Unfair Use of Indenture--What
Benjamin Said of It Afterwards--Resolved to Run Away--Planned The
Method With Collins--Why Go by Water--How He Obtained Money--Collins
Engages His Passage--Collins' Deliberate Lie--On the Road to
Ruin--Collins' Report to Benjamin--Final Arrangements--Boarding the
Sloop--Scene off Block Island--Ben Converted to Flesh--Benjamin
Franklin's Experience Like William Hutton's.
XIX.
TRIALS OF A RUNAWAY.
Applies for Work in New York--Bradford's Advice and Kindness--Starts
for Philadelphia--The Drunken Dutch man--Driven on Shore by a Squall--
A Fearful Night--At Amboy--Benjamin Sick--A Young Man Travelling in
Maine--Advantage of Reading--Sir Walter Scott's Advice--Going in
Rain to Burlington--Landlord Suspected He Was a Runaway--At Doctor
Brown's--A Fine Time with the Doctor--Buying Gingerbread of Old
Woman--His Disappointment--Way out of It--Unexpected Deliverance--His
Skill at Rowing Again Useful--Finally Reaches Philadelphia.
XX.
THE WALKING COMEDY.
Meeting a Boy Eating--Buys Three Loaves--His Surprise--A Walking
Comedy--Sees His Future Wife--His Generosity to Mother and Child--A
Trait of His Life--Back to the Boat--On the Street Again and in Quaker
Church--Sleeping in Church--The Kind Quaker--The Crooked Billet--
Suspected of being a Runaway--Meeting the New York Bradford--Interview
with Young Bradford--Interview with Keimer--Showing His Skill at
Type-setting--Senior Bradford's Ruse--Giving Account of His Boston
Life--Doing Things Well--Case of Budgett--What Parton Said to Maydoll.
XXI.
GETTING ON.
Repairing the Old Printing Press--Caution to Keep Secrets--Repairing
for Bradford--Conversation with Bradford about Work in Boston--
Unbelief--Changing Boarding-place--Talk with Boarding-master Read--
Study and Companions There--High Rank of Printing Then--Letter from
Collins--Found by His Brother-in-law, Captain Homes--Letter from
the Captain--Benjamin's Reply--His Letter Read by Governor Keith--His
History Told Keith--The Latter's Promise--Colonel French--Two Traits
of Ben's Character, Observation and Humility.
XXII.
GOING UP HIGHER.
Governor Keith and Colonel French Call on Benjamin--Keimer's
Surprise--Benjamin's Interview with Them--Proposition to Establish
Printing House--Keith Proposed He Should See His Father--Keimer Very
Inquisitive about the Interview--Waiting for Vessel to Boston--Letter
to Collins--How Long Take to Start Printing House--Tells Keimer He is
Going to Boston--Sails for Boston--A Great Storm--Experience in
Reaching Boston.
XXIII.
THE SURPRISE, AND ITS RESULTS.
Hastens to See His Parents--Joyful Meeting--Account of Correspondence
with Homes--Going to See James--Delight of Journeymen--Many Inquiries--
Proposition to Treat Them--Report of James' Treatment to Parents--His
Mother's Counsel--Meets Collins--The Latter Intemperate--Counsels Him
to Let Strong Drink Alone--His Father's Opinion of Keith's Letter--
Arrival of Captain Homes--Approves Plans of Benjamin--Calling on
Friends--Seeing Doctor Mather--An Incident and Its Lesson--Collins
Decides to Go to Philadelphia--Benjamin's Father Declines to Help
Him--About _Courant_--Bidding Parents Farewell and Returning.
XXIV.
HIS RETURN, AND WHAT CAME OF IT.
Leaves Boston for New York--Collins to Meet Him There--Calls at Newport
to See His Brother John--Takes a Debt to Collect--Finds Collins Drunk
in New York--Talk with Landlord--Governor Burnett Sends for Him--
Benjamin's Words about It--Rebukes John Drunk--Arrival in Philadelphia--
Called on Governor Keith--The Governor Proposes to Set Him up--Amusing
Talk with Keimer--Collins Can Not Get Work--Trouble with Collins on
the Delaware--End of Collins--Governor Keith Sends for Him--Going to
England to Buy Outfit.
XXV.
WORKING, READING, AND COURTING.
Keimer's Religious Creed--Argument with Benjamin--Establishing a New
Sect and Foregoing a Good Dinner--Benjamin's Three Literary
Associates--Literary Club Formed--Discussion on Ralph as a
Poet--Benjamin's Views--Each One Writing Poetry--Paraphrase of 18th
Psalm--Benjamin Reading Ralph's--Plan to Outwit Osborne--Its
Success--Osborne's Mortification--The Club a Good One--Benjamin and
Deborah Read--The Result.
XXVI.
A BOGUS SCHEME.
Ralph Going to England with Benjamin--Time to Sail--Governor Keith
Promises Letters--No Suspicion of Keith--Letters Not Ready as
Promised--Second Application for Letters--Final Promise--Bag of Letters
Come on Board--Looked over Letters in English Channel--The Revelation
of Rascality--Benjamin's Situation Alone in London--Ralph Discloses
that He Has Abandoned His Wife--Rebuked by Benjamin--Advice of
Denham--Governor Keith a Fraud--Finds Work at Palmer's Printing
House--Had Ralph to Support--Ralph a Schoolmaster--Accepting Trouble
Philosophically.
XXVII.
"OUR WATER DRINKER."
Letter from Ralph to Benjamin--Ralph's Epic Poem--Assisted Ralph's
Wife--How He and Ralph Separated--Kindness of Wilcox, the Bookseller--
Loaning Books--Benjamin Reviews "Religion of Nature"--Talk with Watts,
and His Opinion of It--Interview with Doctor Lyons--Doctor Pemberton--
Lived to See His Folly--Interview with Sir Hans Sloane--Benjamin's
Attack on Beer Drinking--His Sound Argument--Jake, the Ale Boy--Called
"A Water Drinker"--Discussion with Watts--Refused to Treat the Company--
Visits His Old Press Forty Years After.
XXVIII.
AT HOME AGAIN.
What Became of Ralph--Benjamin Teaching Two Companions to Swim--Who Was
Wygate?--The Excursion to Chelsea--Benjamin Swims Four Miles--Antics in
the Water--Sir W. Wyndham Proposes He Should Open a Swimming School--
Wygate's Proposition to Travel--Denham's Advice--Cheaper Board--Incident
Showing Denham's Character--Denham Offers to Employ Him as Clerk in
Philadelphia--Leaves Printing House for Warehouse--Returns to
Philadelphia.
XXIX.
UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE.
Visits Keimer's Printing Office--Calls on Deborah Read--Her Marriage to
Rogers, and Divorce--Visit to Deborah Leads to Re-engagement--Now a
Merchant's Clerk--Denham and Benjamin Both Sick--Denham Died and Left
Legacy to Benjamin--Arrival of Captain Homes--Working for Keimer
Again--The Latter Making Trouble--Benjamin Leaves Him--Interview with
Meredith--Proposition to Go into Company in Printing Business--Meredith's
Father Loans Capital.
XXX.
THE LEATHERN APRON CLUB.
Reflecting on His Religious Belief--Rules He Wrote on the _Berkshire_
and Introduction to Them--The Leathern Apron Club--Patterned after
Cotton Mather's--The Questions Asked--Benjamin's Explanation--The
Compact Signed--Bringing in Books They Owned--Establishing the First
Library in the Land--Questions Discussed by the Club--No Improvement
on This Club--Benjamin's View of It in Age--Organizing Other Clubs--
Studying the Languages--Benjamin's Success.
XXXI.
BRIGHTER DAYS.
Proposition from Keimer--Discussion of It with Meredith--Returns to
Keimer--Printing Money for New Jersey at Burlington--The Surveyor
General's Life--His Talk with Benjamin--Starting New Firm, Franklin
and Meredith--The First Job--Predictions of Its Failure by Nickle
and Merchants' Club--Doctor Baird Differed--A Proposition from a
Stationer--Interview with Webb--Plan for Starting a Paper Made Known--
Keimer's Paper--Benjamin's Articles in _Mercury_--Buys Keimer's
Paper--Dissolves Partnership--Rum the Cause--The _Gazette_ a Success.
XXXII.
NO LONGER A SKEPTIC.
Time is Money--The Lounger Rebuked--Maxims--Avoiding Slander and
Abuse--Revising His Religious Belief--Articles of Belief--Code of
Morals Adopted--Creed for "United Party of Virtue "--Letters to
Friends--Proposed Prayers in Congress and Speech--Epitaph for His
Tombstone Written at Twenty-three.
XXXIII.
POOR RICHARD'S ALMANAC.
Publishing an Almanac--Discussion about It--When It Was Started--
Maxims Found in It--Very Popular, and Great Circulation--Franklin's
Fame Spreading--The Junto Pleased--Franklin's Account of Success--
How He Conducted His Paper--The Libeller Suppressed--Success of His
Stationer's Shop--Visit to Boston--Visits His Brother James--
Reconciliation--Takes His Son Home--He Buries a Child--His Defense
of Rev. George Whitefield--Building a House of Worship for Him.
XXXIV.
MORE HONORS AND MORE WORK.
Clerk of the Assembly--Postmaster--Night-watch Discussed in the
Junto--Plan of a Fire Department--Many Fire Companies Formed--Plan
to Pave the Streets--Paper on Smoky Chimneys--Franklin Invents a
Stove--Gives Away the Patent--Franklin Founds the University of
Philadelphia--Its Great Success--Franklin Organized Militia--Influence
of Quakers against It--Eighty Companies Formed--Franklin Secured Fast
Day--Peace.
XXXV.
PHILOSOPHER AND STATESMAN.
Entering into Partnership with Hall--His Large Income--Time for Study
and Research--Rapid Progress in Science--His Fame in Both Hemispheres--
What Mignet Said of His Labors--Kimmersley on His Lightning Rod--
Called Again to Political Life--List of Offices He Filled--Drafting
Declaration of Independence--Hanging Separately--Anecdote--His First
Labors at Court of England--Minister to England--Source of Troubles--
Hatred of Tories--Firm before House of Commons--Death of Mrs. Franklin--
Famous Letter to Strahan--The Eight Years' War--Franklin Author of the
Union--First Name in History--Library and Letters of Franklin, Mass.--
His Death--Bequest to Washington.
BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD.
I.
FROM OLD ENGLAND TO NEW ENGLAND.
"I am tired of so much persecution under the reign of our corrupt king,"
said a neighbor to Josiah Franklin, one day in the year 1685, in the
usually quiet village of Banbury, England, "and I believe that I shall
pull up stakes and emigrate to Boston. That is the most thriving port
in America."
"Well, I am not quite prepared for that yet," replied Franklin. "Our
king is bad enough and tyrannical enough to make us all sick of our
native land. But it is a great step to leave it forever, to live among
strangers; and I could not decide to do it without a good deal of
reflection."
"Nor I; but I have reflected upon it for a whole year now, and the more
I reflect the more I am inclined to emigrate. When I can't worship God
here as my conscience dictates, I will go where I can. Besides, I think
the new country promises much more to the common people than the old in
the way of a livelihood."
"Perhaps so; I have not given the subject much attention. Dissenters
have a hard time here under Charles II, and we all have to work hard
enough for a livelihood. I do not think you can have a harder time in
Boston."
Josiah Franklin was not disposed to emigrate when his neighbor first
opened the subject. He was an intelligent, enterprising, Christian
man, a dyer by trade, was born in Ecton, Leicestershire, in 1655, but
removed to Banbury in his boyhood, to learn the business of a dyer of
his brother John. He was married in Banbury at twenty-two years of age,
his wife being an excellent companion for him, whether in prosperity or
adversity, at home among kith and kin, or with strangers in New
England.
"You better consider this matter seriously," continued the neighbor,
"for several families will go, I think, if one goes. A little colony of
us will make it comparatively easy to leave home for a new country."
"Very true; that would be quite an inducement to exchange countries,
several families going together," responded Franklin. "I should enjoy
escaping from the oppression of the Established Church as much as
you; but it is a too important step for me to take without much
consideration. It appears to me that my business could not be as good
in a new country as it is in this old country."
"I do not see why, exactly. People in a new country must have dyeing
done, perhaps not so much of it as the people of an old country; but
the population of a new place like Boston increases faster than the
older places of our country, and this fact would offset the objection
you name."
"In part, perhaps. If Benjamin could go, I should almost feel that I
must go; but I suppose it is entirely out of the question for him to
go."
Benjamin was an older brother of Josiah, who went to learn the trade of
a dyer of his brother John before Josiah did. The Benjamin Franklin of
this volume, our young hero, was named for him. He was a very pious
man, who rendered unto God the things that are God's with full as much
care as he rendered unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. He was a
very intelligent, bright man, also quite a poet for that day, and he
invented a style of short-hand writing that he used in taking down
sermons to which he listened. In this way he accumulated several
volumes of sermons, which he held as treasures.
"I have not spoken with your brother about the matter," replied the
neighbor. "I think it would be more difficult for him to arrange to go
than for most of us, at least for the present. I intend to speak with
him about it."
"He will not want me to go if he can not," added Josiah, "and I shall
think about it a good while before I should conclude to go without him.
We have been together most of our lives, and to separate now, probably
never to meet again, would be too great a trial."
"You will experience greater trials than that if you live long, no
doubt," said the neighbor, "but I want you should think the matter
over, and see if it will not be for your interest to make this change.
I will see you again about it."
While plans are being matured, we will see what Doctor Franklin said,
in his "Autobiography," about his ancestors at Ecton:
"Some notes, which one of my uncles, who had the same curiosity in
collecting family anecdotes, once put into my hands, furnished me with
several particulars relative to our ancestors. From these notes I learned
that they lived in the same village, Ecton, in Northamptonshire, on a
freehold of about thirty acres, for at least three hundred years, and
how much longer could not be ascertained. This small estate would not
have sufficed for their maintenance without the business of a smith
[blacksmith] which had continued in the family down to my uncle's
time, the eldest son being always brought up to that employment, a
custom which he and my father followed with regard to their eldest
sons. When I searched the records in Ecton, I found an account of
their marriages and burials from the year 1555 only, as the registers
kept did not commence previous thereto. I, however, learned from it
that I was the youngest son of the youngest son for five generations
back. My grandfather, Thomas, who was born in 1598, lived in Ecton
till he was too old to continue his business, when he retired to
Banbury, Oxfordshire, to the house of his son John, with whom my
father served an apprenticeship. There my uncle died and lies buried.
We saw his grave-stone in 1758. His eldest son, Thomas, lived in the
house at Ecton, and left it with the land to his only daughter, who,
with her husband, one Fisher, of Wellingborough, sold it to Mr. Ioted,
now lord of the manor there. My grandfather had four sons, who grew
up, viz.: Thomas, John, Benjamin, and Josiah."
"I do not know how you like it, but it arouses my indignation to have
our meeting broken up, as it was last week," remarked Josiah Franklin
to the aforesaid neighbor, a short time after their previous interview.
"If anything will make me exchange Banbury for Boston it is such
intolerance."
"I have felt like that for a long time, and I should not have thought
of leaving my native land but for such oppression," replied the
neighbor, "and what is worse, I see no prospect of any improvement;
on the other hand, it appears to me that our rights will be infringed
more and more. I am going to New England if I emigrate alone."
"Perhaps I shall conclude to accompany you when the time comes. There
do not appear to be room in this country for Dissenters and the
Established Church. I understand there is in New England. I may
conclude to try it."
"I am glad to hear that. We shall be greatly encouraged if you decide
to go. I discussed the matter with Benjamin since I did with you, and
he would be glad to go if his business and family did not fasten him
here. I think he would rather justify your going."
"Did he say so?"
"No, not in so many words. But he did say that he would go if his
circumstances favored it as much as your circumstances favor your
going."
"Well, that is more than I supposed he would say. I expected that he
would oppose any proposition that contemplated my removal to Boston.
The more I think of it the more I am inclined to go."
The Franklins, clear back to the earliest ancestors, had experienced
much persecution. Some of them could keep and read their Bible only by
concealing it and reading it in secret. The following, from Franklin's
"Autobiography," is an interesting and thrilling incident:
"They had an English Bible, and, to conceal it and place it in safety,
it was fastened open with tapes under and within the cover of a
joint-stool. When my great-grandfather wished to read it to his family,
he placed the joint-stool on his knees, and then turned over the leaves
under the tapes. One of the children stood at the door to give notice
if he saw the apparitor coming, who was an officer of the spiritual
court. In that case the stool was turned down again upon its feet, when
the Bible remained concealed under it as before. This anecdote I had
from Uncle Benjamin."
The Dissenters from the Established Church loved their mode of worship
more, if any thing, than members of their mother church. But under
the tyrannical king, Charles II, they could not hold public meetings
at the time to which we refer. Even their secret meetings were often
disturbed, and sometimes broken up.
"It is fully settled now that we are going to New England," said the
aforesaid neighbor to Josiah Franklin subsequently, when he called upon
him with two other neighbours, who were going to remove with him; "and
we have called to persuade you to go with us; we do not see how we can
take no for an answer."
"Well, perhaps I shall not say no; I have been thinking the matter
over, and I have talked with Benjamin; and my wife is not at all averse
to going. But I can't say _yes_ to-day; I may say it to-morrow, or
sometime."
"That is good," answered one of the neighbors; "we must have one of
the Franklins with us to be well equipped. Banbury would not be well
represented in Boston without one Franklin, at least."
"You are very complimentary," replied Franklin; "even misery loves
company, though; and it would be almost carrying home with us for
several families to emigrate together. The more the merrier."
"So we think. To escape from the intolerant spirit that pursues
Dissenters here will make us merry, if nothing else does. Home is no
longer home when we can worship God as we please only in secret."
"There is much truth in that," continued Franklin. "I am much more
inclined to remove to New England than I was a month ago. The more I
reflect upon the injustice and oppression we experience, the less I
think of this country for a home. Indeed, I have mentally concluded to
go if I can arrange my affairs as I hope to."
"Then we shall be content; we shall expect to have you one of the
company. It will be necessary for us to meet often to discuss plans and
methods of emigration. We shall not find it to be a small matter to
break up here and settle there."
It was settled that Josiah Franklin would remove to New England with
his neighbors, and preparations were made for his departure with them.
These facts indicate the standing and influence of the Franklins. They
were of the common people, but leading families. Their intelligence,
industry, and Christian principle entitled them to public confidence
and respect. Not many miles away from them were the Washingtons,
ancestors of George Washington, known as "the father of his country."
The Washingtons were more aristocratic than the Franklins, and
possessed more of the world's wealth and honors. Had they been near
neighbors they would not have associated with the Franklins, as they
belonged to a different guild. Such were the customs of those times.
Thomas Franklin was a lawyer, and "became a considerable man in the
county,--was chief mover of all public-spirited enterprises for the
county or town of Northampton, as well as of his own village, of which
many instances were related of him; and he was much taken notice of
and patronized by Lord Halifax." Benjamin was very ingenious, not only
in his own trade as dyer, but in all other matters his ingenuity
frequently cropped out. He was a prolific writer of poetry, and, when
he died, "he left behind him two quarto volumes of manuscript of his
own poetry, consisting of fugitive pieces addressed to his friends." An
early ancestor, bearing the same Christian name, was imprisoned for a
whole year for writing a piece of poetry reflecting upon the character
of some great man. Note, that he was not incarcerated for writing bad
poetry, but for libelling some one by his verse, though he might have
been very properly punished for writing such stuff as he called poetry.
It is nothing to boast of, that his descendant, Uncle Benjamin, was not
sent to prison for producing "two quarto volumes of his own poetry," as
the reader would believe if compelled to read it.
Dr. Franklin said, in his "Autobiography": "My father married young,
and carried his wife with three children to New England about 1685. The
conventicles [meetings of Dissenters] being at that time forbidden by
law, and frequently disturbed in the meetings, some considerable men of
his acquaintance determined to go to that country, and he was prevailed
with to accompany them thither, where they expected to enjoy their
religion with freedom."
Boston was not then what it is now, and no one living expected that it
would ever become a city of great size and importance. It contained
less than six thousand inhabitants. The bay, with its beautiful
islands, spread out in front, where bears were often seen swimming
across it, or from one island to another. Bear-hunting on Long Wharf
was a pastime to many, and twenty were killed in a week when they were
numerous.
In the rear of the town stood the primeval forests, where Red Men and
wild beasts roamed at their pleasure. It is claimed that an Indian or
pioneer might have traveled, at that time, through unbroken forests
from Boston to the Pacific coast, a distance of more than three
thousand miles, except here and there where western prairies stretched
out like an "ocean of land," as lonely and desolate as the forest
itself. That, in two hundred years, and less, sixty millions of people
would dwell upon this vast domain, in cities and towns of surprising
wealth and beauty, was not even thought of in dreams. That Boston would
ever grow into a city of three hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants,
with commerce, trade, wealth, learning, and influence to match, the
wildest enthusiast did not predict. A single fact illustrates the
prevailing opinion of that day, and even later. The town of Boston
appointed a commission to explore the country along Charles River, to
learn what prospects there were for settlers. The commissioners
attended to their duty faithfully, and reported to the town that they
had explored ten miles west, as far as settlers would ever penetrate
the forest, and found the prospects as encouraging as could be
expected.
It was to this Boston that Josiah Franklin emigrated in 1685, thinking
to enjoy liberty of conscience, while he supported his growing family
by his trade of dyer. There is no record to show that he was ever sorry
he came. On the other hand, there is much to prove that he always had
occasion to rejoice in the change. Certainly his family, and their
posterity, exerted great influence in building up the nation. Next to
Washington Josiah's son Benjamin ranked in his efforts to secure
American Independence, and all the blessings that followed.
II.
THE FIFTEENTH GIFT.
"The fifteenth!" remarked Josiah Franklin to a relative, as he took the
fifteenth child into his arms. "And a son, too; he must bear the name
of his Uncle Benjamin."
"Then, we are to understand that his name is Benjamin?" answered the
relative, inquiringly.
"Yes, that is his name; his mother and I settled that some time ago,
that the next son should bear the name of my most beloved brother,
who, I hope, will remove to this country before long."
"Well, a baby is no curiosity in your family," remarked the relative,
laughing. "Some men would think that fifteen was too much of a good
thing."
"A child is God's gift to man, as I view it, for which parents should
be thankful, whether it is the first or fifteenth. Each child imposes
an additional obligation upon parents to be true to the Giver as well
as to the gift. I am poor enough, but no man is poorer for a large
family of children. He may have to labor harder when they are young
and helpless, but in age they are props on which he can lean."
Mr. Franklin spoke out of the depths of his soul. He was a true
Christian man, and took the Christian view of a child, as he did
of any thing else. While some men are annoyed by the multiplicity
of children, he found a source of comfort and contentment in the
possession. The seventeenth child, which number he had, he hailed with
the same grateful recognition of God's providence that he did when the
first was born. Yet he was poor, and found himself face to face with
poverty most of the time. Each child born was born to an inheritance
of want. But to him children were God's gift as really as sunshine or
showers, day or night, the seventeenth just as much so as the first.
This fact alone marks Josiah Franklin as an uncommon man for his day
or ours.
"If more men and women were of your opinion," continued the relative,
"there would be much more enjoyment and peace in all communities. The
most favorable view that a multitude of parents indulge is, that
children are troublesome comforts."
"What do you think of the idea of taking this baby into the house of
God to-day, and consecrating him to the Lord?" Mr. Franklin asked, as
if the thought just then flashed upon his mind. "It is only a few
steps to carry him."
It was Sunday morning, Jan. 6, 1706, old style; and the "Old South
Meeting House," in which Dr. Samuel Willard preached, was on the other
side of the street, scarcely fifty feet distant.
"I should think it would harmonize very well with your opinion about
children as the gift of God, and the Lord may understand the matter so
well as to look approvingly upon it, but I think your neighbors will
say that you are rushing things somewhat. It might be well to let the
little fellow get used to this world before he begins to attend
meeting."
The relative spoke thus in a vein of humor, though she really did not
approve of the proposed episode in the new comer's life. Indeed it
seemed rather ridiculous to her, to carry a babe, a few hours old, to
the house of God.
"I shall not consult my neighbors," Mr. Franklin replied. "I shall
consult my wife in this matter, as I do in others, and defer to her
opinion. I have always found that her judgment is sound on reducing it
to practice."
"That is so; your wife is a woman of sound judgment as well as of
strong character, and you are wise enough to recognize the fact, and
act accordingly. But that is not true of many men. If your wife
approves of taking her baby into the meeting-house for consecration
to-day, then do it, though the whole town shall denounce the act."
There is no doubt his relative thought that Mrs. Franklin would veto
the proposition at once, and that would end it. But in less than a
half hour he reported that she approved of the proposition.
"Benjamin will be consecrated to the Lord in the afternoon; my wife
approves of it as proper and expressive of our earnest desire that he
should be the Lord's. I shall see Mr. Willard at once, and nothing but
his disapproval will hinder the act."
"And I would not hinder it if I could," replied his relative, "if your
wife and Pastor Willard approve. I shall really be in favor of it if
they are, because their judgment is better than mine."
"All the difference between you and me," continued Mr. Franklin, with
a smile playing over his face, "appears to be that you think a child
may be given to the Lord too soon, and I do not; the sooner the
better, is my belief. With the consecration come additional
obligations, which I am willing to assume, and not only willing, but
anxious to assume."
"You are right, no doubt; but you are one of a thousand in that view,
and you will have your reward."
"Yes; and so will that contemptible class of fathers, who can endure
_five_ children, but not _fifteen_,--too irresponsible to see that one
of the most inconsistent men on earth is the father who will not
accept the situation he has created for himself. The Franklins are not
made of that sort of stuff; neither are the Folgers [referring to his
wife's family], whose fervent piety sanctifies their good sense, so
that they would rather please the Lord than all mankind."
Mr. Willard was seen, and he endorsed the act as perfectly proper,
and in complete harmony with a felt sense of parental obligation.
Therefore, Benjamin was wrapped closely in flannel blankets, and
carried into the meeting-house in the afternoon, where he was
consecrated to the Lord by the pastor.
On the "Old Boston Town Records of Births," under the heading, "Boston
Births Entered 1708," is this: "Benjamin, son of Josiah Franklin, and
Abiah, his wife, born 6 Jan. 1706."
From some mistake or oversight the birth was not recorded until two
years after Benjamin was born; but it shows that he was born on Jan.
6, 1706.
Then, the records of the "Old South Church," among the baptism of
infants, have this: "1706, Jan. 6, Benjamin, son of Josiah and Abiah
Franklin."
Putting these two records together, they establish beyond doubt the
fact that Benjamin Franklin was born and baptized on the same day. The
Old South Church had two pastors then, and it is supposed that Dr.
Samuel Willard officiated instead of Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, because
the record is in the handwriting of Doctor Willard.
We are able to furnish a picture of the house in which he was born. It
measured twenty feet in width, and was about thirty feet long,
including the L. It was three stories high in appearance, the third
being the attic. On the lower floor of the main house there was only
one room, which was about twenty feet square, and served the family
the triple purpose of parlor, sitting-room, and dining-hall. It
contained an old-fashioned fire-place, so large that an ox might have
been roasted before it. The second and third stories originally
contained but one chamber each, of ample dimensions, and furnished in
the plainest manner. The attic was an unplastered room, which might
have been used for lodgings or storing trumpery. The house stood about
one hundred years after Josiah Franklin left it, and was finally
destroyed by fire, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 1810. The spot on which it
stood is now occupied by a granite warehouse bearing the inscription,
"BIRTHPLACE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN."
Mr. Franklin had three children when he left Banbury, and four more
were given to him during the first four years of his residence in
Boston, one of whom died. Soon after the birth of the seventh child
Mrs. Franklin died.
So young and large a family needed a mother's watch and care, as
Josiah Franklin found to his sorrow. The additional burden laid upon
him by the death of his wife interfered much with his business, and he
saw fresh reasons each day for finding another help-mate as soon as
possible. To run his business successfully, and take the whole charge
of his family, was more than he could do. In these circumstances he
felt justified in marrying again as soon as possible, and, with the
aid of interested friends, he made a fortunate choice of Abiah Folger,
of Nantucket, a worthy successor of the first Mrs. Franklin. He married
her a few months after the death of his first wife. The second Mrs.
Franklin became the mother of ten children, which, added to those
of the first Mrs. Franklin, constituted a very respectable family of
seventeen children, among whom was Benjamin, the fifteenth child. His
"Autobiography" says: "Of the seventeen children I remember to have
seen thirteen sitting together at the table, who all grew up to years
of maturity and were married." Of the second wife it says: "My mother,
the second wife of my father, was Abiah Folger, daughter of Peter
Folger, one of the first settlers of New England, of whom honorable
mention is made by Cotton Mather in his ecclesiastical history of that
country, 'as a godly and learned Englishman.'"
Josiah Franklin was an admirer not only of his wife, Abiah, but of
the whole Folger family, because they were devoutly pious, and as
"reliable as the sun, or the earth on its axis." They were unpolished
and unceremonial, and he liked them all the more for that. He wrote to
his sister in a vein of pleasantry, "They are wonderfully shy. But I
admire their honest plainness of speech. About a year ago I invited
two of them to dine with me; their answer was that they would if they
could not do better. I suppose they did better, for I never saw them
afterwards, and so had no opportunity of showing my miff if I had
any."
We have said that Benjamin was named for his uncle in England, and,
possibly some of the other children were named for other relatives in
the mother country. Certainly there were enough of them to go round
any usual circle of relatives, taking them all in. Uncle Benjamin was
very much pleased with the honor conferred upon him, and he always
manifested great interest in his namesake, though he did not dream
that he would one day represent the country at the court of St. James.
It is claimed that the uncle's interest in his namesake brought him to
this country, a few years later, where he lived and died. Be that as
it may, he ever manifested a lively interest in a protege, and
evidently regarded him as an uncommonly bright boy, who would some day
score a creditable mark for the family.
Benjamin was more than a comely child; he was handsome. From babyhood
to manhood he was so fine-looking as to attract the attention of
strangers. His eye beamed with so much intelligence as to almost
compel the thought, "There are great talents behind them." Mr. Parton
says: "It is probable that Benjamin Franklin derived from his mother
the fashion of his body and the cast of his countenance. There are
lineal descendants of Peter Folger who strikingly resemble Franklin in
these particulars; one of whom, a banker in New Orleans, looks like a
portrait of Franklin stepped out of its frame."
Josiah Franklin did not enter upon the trade of a dyer when he settled
in Boston, as he expected. The new country was very different from the
old in its fashions and wants. There was no special demand for a dyer.
If people could earn money enough to cover their nakedness, they cared
little about the color of their covering. One color was just as good
as another to keep them warm, or to preserve their decency. There was
no room for Josiah Franklin as a dyer. There was room for him, however,
as a "tallow-chandler," and he lost no time in taking up this new but
greasy business. He must work or starve; and, of the two, he preferred
work, though the occupation might not be neat and congenial.
The word "chandler" is supposed to have been derived from the French
_chandelier_, so that a tallow candle-maker was a sort of chandelier
in society at that early day. He furnished light, which was more
necessary than color to almost every one. The prevailing method of
lighting dwellings and stores was with tallow candles. Candles and
whale oil were the two known articles for light, and the latter was
expensive, so that the former was generally adopted. Hence, Josiah
Franklin's business was honorable because it was necessary; and by it,
with great industry and economy, he was able to keep the wolf of
hunger from his door.