[i-110] _Writings_, II, 9-14.
[i-111] _Writings_, X, 29.
[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.