civil war, which Franklin and others averted. This episode marks the
beginnings of the predominance of the Ulster Scotch and other
Calvinists in Pennsylvania affairs, replacing the old Quaker
supremacy." (A. Nevins, _The American States During and After the
Revolution_, 1775-1789, New York, 1924, 12.) This uprising, suggests
Mr. Nevins, may be viewed as a fragment of that "struggle between East
and West, Tidewater and Uplands" which "cut in the later Colonial
period across the alignment between people and Crown" (_ibid._, 11).
[69] Pope's translation. Franklin omits lines not essential to the
thought in a particular sequence.
[70] From Herodotus refracted through Rabelais? See C. E. Jorgenson's
"Benjamin Franklin and Rabelais."
[71] For Franklin's activities in behalf of the repeal of the Stamp
Act see especially _The Examination of Dr. B. F. Etc. in the British
House of Commons, Relative to the Repeal of the American Stamp Act, in
1766_ (_Writings_, IV, 412-48).
[72] A. F. Tytler, in _Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the
Honourable Henry Home of Kames ..._ (2d ed., Edinburgh, 1814, II, 99,
112), suggests that this letter never reached its destination, but
"was in all probability intercepted." Brackets in excerpt from letter
to Lord Kames, June 2, 1765, pp. 318-21 above, are the result of
Smyth's collation of Tytler's and Sparks's versions.
[73] Sir John Pringle (1707-1782). Physician (student of Albinus and
Boerhaave) whose "great work in life was the reform of military
medicine and sanitation" (_Dictionary of National Biography_, XLVI,
386-8). From 1772 to 1778 he was President of the Royal Society. In
1778 he was made one of the eight foreign members of the Academy of
Sciences at Paris. Since Pringle was physician to the queen, Parton
thinks it probable that he was used by Franklin "to forward to the
king such papers and documents as tended to show how loyal to his
person and his throne were the vast majority of the American
colonists" (_op. cit._, I, 506). George III, having sided with Dr.
Wilson who championed _blunt_ lightning rods, asked Pringle to use his
influence to have the Royal Society rescind its opinion in favor of
_pointed_ ones. Pringle's answer "was to the effect that duty as well
as inclination would always induce him to execute his majesty's wishes
to the utmost of his power: but 'Sire,' said he, 'I cannot reverse the
laws and operations of nature'" (_ibid._, II, 217 note).
[74] The full title of Dupont de Nemours's work is _Physiocratie, ou
constitution naturelle du gouvernement le plus avantageux au genre
humain_. 2 vols. Leyden and Paris, 1767, 1768. Peter Templeman
(1711-1769) was Secretary of the London Society of Arts, Manufactures,
and Commerce and in 1762 corresponding member of the Royal Academy of
Sciences at Paris (_Dictionary of National Biography_, LVI, 53-4).
"Ami des hommes" is the Marquis de Mirabeau (1715-1789) who wrote
_L'Ami des hommes, ou traité de la population_. [1756] 5th ed.,
Hamburg, 1760, 4 vols. The "crowning work" of the Physiocrats is
François Quesnay's _Tableau économique_. Published by the British
Economic Association, London, 1894.
Dupont's letter of May 10, 1768, to which Franklin's is an answer, is
printed in _Writings_, V, 153-4. From London (Oct. 2, 1770) Franklin
writes to Dupont: "Would to God I could take with me [to America]
Messrs. du Pont, du Bourg, and some other French Friends with their
good Ladies! I might then, by mixing them with my Friends in
Philadelphia, form a little happy Society that would prevent my ever
wishing again to visit Europe" (_Writings_, V, 282). Elision marks in
letter of July 28 are Franklin's own.
[75] John Alleyne. See his The _Legal Degrees of Marriage Stated and
Considered ..._, London, 1774. The second edition (London, 1775)
includes Franklin's letter to Alleyne, Appendix, pp. 1-2.
[76] Compare _To the Printer of the London Public Advertiser_ (August
25, 1768; _Writings_, V, 162-5): "And what are we to gain by this war,
by which our trade and manufactures are to be ruined, our strength
divided and diminished, our debt increased, and our reputation, as a
generous nation, and lovers of liberty, given up and lost? Why, we are
to convert millions of the King's loyal subjects into rebels, for the
sake of establishing a new claimed power in P---- to tax a distant
people, whose abilities and circumstances they cannot be acquainted
with, who have a constitutional power of taxing themselves; who have
never refused to give us voluntarily more than we can ever expect to
wrest from them by force; and by our trade with whom we gain millions
a year!" (_Ibid._, 164-5.)
[77] William Hewson (1739-1774). He was married to Miss Stevenson in
1770. Hewson received the Copley medal in 1769 and was made a Fellow
of the Royal Society in 1770. (_Dictionary of National Biography_,
XXVI, 312-3.)
[78] Daughter of Jonathan Shipley, Bishop of St. Asaph, who wrote _A
Speech Intended to have been Spoken on the Bill for Altering the
Charters of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay_. New York. Ed. 1774.
(Cf. _Writings_, I, 164-6.) Urging that "the true art of government
consists in NOT GOVERNING TOO MUCH" (cited in Parton, _op. cit._, I,
549), Shipley lent sanction to colonial resistance. Franklin writes to
Thomas Cushing (London, Oct. 6, 1774): "The Bishop of St. Asaph's
intended speech, several Copies of which I send you, and of which many
Thousands have been printed and distributed here has had an
extraordinary Effect, in changing the Sentiments of Multitudes with
regard to America" (_Writings_, VI, 250).
Mungo was a "fine large grey Squirrel" which Deborah sent to her
husband (_ibid._, VI, 16).
[79] Printed in _Experiments and Observations on Electricity_. London,
1769.
[80] Printed in _Éphémérides du Citoyen_ (edited by Dupont after
1767), periodical of the French Physiocrats; and in the _London
Chronicle_ in 1766.
[81] J. Parton observes that this brilliant illustration of Franklin's
use of Swiftian hoax and irony "was the nine-days' talk of the
kingdom" (_op. cit._, I, 518).
[82] See R. M. Bache, in Bibliography. In addition, article in New
York _Times_, Dec. 3, 1896, and notes in E. P. Buckley's "The Library
of a Philadelphia Antiquarian," _Magazine of American History_, XXIV,
388-98 (1890). Mr. Buckley reviews the making of the prayer book;
"Column after column of the calendar disappeared with a single stroke
of the pen--nearly the whole of the Exhortation, a portion of the
Confession, all the Absolution, nearly all the Venite, exultemus
Domino. Likewise, the Te Deum, and all the Canticle. Of the Creed all
he retained was the following: 'I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ His Son our Lord. I
believe in the Holy Ghost, the forgiveness of sins, and the life
everlasting, Amen'" (_ibid._, 393). Franklin collaborated with Lord Le
Despencer in this work. For Franklin's own comments see _Writings_,
IX, 358-9, 556. Smyth brackets parts of the _Preface_ found in an
incomplete MS draft.
[83] Date unknown. For history of this hoax see _Writings_, I, 179-81,
and L. S. Livingston, _Benjamin Franklin's Parable against
Persecution_. _With an Account of the Early Editions_ (Cambridge,
Mass., 1916).
[84] Date unknown.
[85] This letter was never sent.
[86] A. H. Smyth thinks that the friend might have been David Hartley.
[87] A photostat in the W. S. Mason Collection from the Huntington
Library gives the date as July 20, 1776.
[88] Time and place of first publication unknown. For an interesting
discussion of this piece, see M. C. Tyler's _Literary History of the
American Revolution_, II, 367-80. "A British magazine of 1786, says
that there was then a transfer made at the Bank of England of £471,000
to Mr. Van Otten on account of the Landgrave of Hesse, for so much due
for Hessian soldiers lost in the American war, at £30 a head, thus
making the total number lost to be 15,700 men." (Cited in J. F.
Watson, _Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania_, Philadelphia, 1857,
II, 294.)
[89] He writes to M. Lith (April 6, 1777); "If I were to practise
giving Letters of Recommendation to Persons of whose Character I knew
no more than I do of yours, my Recommendations would soon be of no
Authority at all" (_Writings_, VII, 39); and to George Washington
(June 13, 1777), apropos of foreign applicants for American posts: "I
promise nothing" (VII, 59). In another letter (Oct. 7, 1777) he
admitted that "the Numbers we refuse" are "incredible" (VII, 66).
Elsewhere he confesses that "These Applications are my perpetual
Torment" (VII, 81). Consult E. Repplier, "Franklin's Trials as a
Benefactor" (in Bibliography).
[90] This controversy evoked the following verse:
"While you, great George, for safety hunt, And sharp conductors change
for blunt, The Empire's out of joint. Franklin a wiser course pursues,
And all your thunder fearless views, By keeping to the _point_."
(Cited in Parton, _op. cit._, II, 217.)
[91] Son of the philosopher, David Hartley. Hartley the younger
(1732-1813) met Franklin about 1759. A Lord Rockingham man, he opposed
the war with the colonies. He and Franklin drew up the Peace Treaty of
1783. See _Dictionary of National Biography_, XXV, 68-9.
[92] A. H. Smyth thinks that this dialogue was "written soon after
Franklin's arrival in France" (_Writings_, VII, 82 note).
[93] A Charles de Weissenstein included in his letter from Brussels,
June 16, 1778, a "Plan of Reconciliation," plans for a future American
government: he wished to have a secret conference with Franklin
(_Writings_, VII, 166; Smyth note).
[94] _Arcana imperii detecta: or, divers select cases in Government_,
London, 1701. [A trans. of _Disquisitiones politicae_ by Mark Zuirius
Boxhorn.] (A. H. Smyth note, _Writings_, VII, 169.)
[95] Franklin writes to William Carmichael (Passy, June 17, 1780):
"The Moulin Joli is a little island in the Seine about two leagues
hence, part of the country-seat of another friend [Claude-Henri
Watelet], where we visit every summer, and spend a day in the pleasing
society of the ingenious, learned, and very polite persons who inhabit
it. At the time when the letter was written, all conversations at
Paris were filled with disputes about the music of Gluck and Picini, a
German and Italian musician, who divided the town into violent
parties. A friend of this lady [Madame Brillon] having obtained a copy
of it, under a promise not to give another, did not observe that
promise; so that many have been taken, and it is become as public as
such a thing can well be, that is not printed; but I could not dream
of its being heard of at Madrid! The thought was partly taken from a
little piece of some unknown writer, which I met with fifty years
since in a newspaper, and which the sight of the Ephemera brought to
my recollection" (_Writings_, VIII, 100). A. H. Smyth observes that it
is generally thought that the Ephemera is a reworking of an essay on
"Human Vanity" which appeared in the _Pennsylvania Gazette_, Dec. 4,
1735. Also see M. K. Jackson, _op. cit_; 75; and L. S. Livingston,
_Franklin and His Press at Passy_ (New York, 1914), 30. Compare Wm.
Bartram's similar description of Ephemera in his _Travels_ ed. by M.
Van Doren (An American Bookshelf), New York, 1928, 88-9. See H. H.
Clark's Introduction to _Poems of Freneau_ (New York, 1929),
xlvii-lviii, for provocative discussion of the degree to which
naturalism may motivate an obsession with transience, mutability, and
death.
[96] On Oct. 22, 1779, Bache wrote to Franklin explaining that Lee and
Izard objected to his employing William Temple Franklin, his grandson.
[97] Benjamin Franklin Bache (1769-1798), son of Richard Bache,
Franklin's son-in-law. See B. Faÿ, _The Two Franklins: Fathers of
American Democracy_ (Boston, 1933). See _The Diary of B. F. B. Aug. 1,
1782, to Sept. 14, 1785. Trans. from the French by William Duane_,
1865 (in W. S. Mason Collection). A charming self-portrait of a
precocious lad who is grief-stricken when rain prevents him from going
to the mountains to witness M. du Villard's experiments, who follows
avidly the ascensions of "aërostatic globes," who takes M. Charles's
course in natural philosophy. Franklin had Didot, the master type
founder, come to Passy to teach Ben how "to cast printing types." On
July 12, 1785, he records the patriarch's exodus from Passy: "A
mournful silence reigned around him and was only interrupted by sobs."
[98] Barbeu Dubourg (June 28, Paris) wrote to Franklin, "sending
Franklin's manuscript on 'The Morals of Chess,' of which he has
retained a copy; expects to have it printed shortly in _le Journal de
Paris_; hopes to follow it with a few reflections of his own on the
subject." (_Calendar of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin in the Library
of the American Philosophical Society_, III, 102.) [XIV, 218.]
Brackets in selection indicate Smyth's collation of incomplete MS copy
and printed version.
[99] _The Parable against Persecution._
[100] Consult _Benjamin Franklin's Story of the Whistle, with an
Introductory Note_ by L. S. Livingston, and _A Bibliography to 1820_
(Cambridge, Mass., 1922).
[101] Matthew Arnold in _Sweetness and Light_ appraises Franklin as "a
man the most considerable, ... whom America has yet produced." Missing
the irony of Franklin's burlesque, however, Arnold exclaimed after
reading the _Proposed Version_: "After all, there is a stretch of
humanity beyond Franklin's victorious good sense!"
[102] Two days before, he wrote to Richard Price: "We make daily great
Improvements in _Natural_, there is one I wish to see in _Moral_
Philosophy; the Discovery of a Plan, that would induce and oblige
Nations to settle their Disputes without first Cutting one another's
Throats" (_Writings_, VIII, 9). One remembers Franklin's classic
utterance (in a letter to David Hartley, Passy, Feb. 2, 1780): "There
hardly ever existed such a thing as a bad Peace, or, a good War"
(_ibid._, VIII, 5; also see VIII, 506). An interesting comment on
Franklin's devotion to peace may be found in _A Project of Universal
and Perpetual Peace_. Written by Pierre-André Gargaz, a former
Galley-Slave, and printed by Benjamin Franklin at Passy in the Year
1782. Here reprinted, together with an English Version, Introduction,
and Typographical Note by George Simpson Eddy, New York, 1922.
[103] Sainte-Beuve asks, "Is not that a comparison which, by the
sweetness of its inspiration and the breadth of its imagery, recalls
the Homeric comparisons of the Odyssey?" (_Portraits of the Eighteenth
Century, Historic and Literary_, 366.)
[104] The famous Orientalist, later Sir William Jones. Married
Georgiana Shipley. In 1779 Jones attempted unofficially to bring about
a reconciliation between the colonies and England. See Parton, _op.
cit._, II, 333-4.
[105] _Essay on the Population of England_, 2d ed., 1780.
[106] London Coffee House.
[107] Madame Helvétius. Consult A. Guillois, _Le salon de Madame
Helvétius_ (Paris, 1894).
[108] Georgiana Shipley (in a letter, May 6, 1781) acknowledges his
_Dialogue with the Gout_ and this piece. See _Calendar of the Papers
of Benjamin Franklin in the Library of the American Philosophical
Society_, III, 371 (XXII, 8). This delightful letter is printed in
Sparks, IX, 25; Bigelow, VII, 230; and Stifler, "_My Dear Girl_" ...
(New York, 1927). Smyth brackets a passage, not in the MS draft, which
is printed in the W. T. Franklin edition.
[109] Date uncertain. A. H. Smyth notes that since Miss Shipley
replied May 6, 1781 (cf. note 108), it was probably written between
January and May, 1781. MS incomplete at both beginning and end.
[110] For Hartley's letter see _Calendar of the Papers of Benjamin
Franklin in the Library of the American Philosophical Society_, III,
398 (XXII, 162), Sept. 26, 1781. From Passy (Jan. 15, 1782) Franklin
writes to Hartley: "Whatever may be the Fate of our poor Countries,
let you and I die as we have lived, in Peace with each other"
(_Writings_, VIII, 361).
[111] Excellent summary of the effect of this hoax may be found in L.
S. Livingston, _Franklin and His Press at Passy_, 59-67. Walpole wrote
to the Countess of Ossory, Oct. 1, 1782; "Have you seen in the papers
an excellent letter of Paul Jones to Sir Joseph York? _Elle nous dit
bien des verités!_ I doubt poor Sir Joseph cannot answer them! Dr.
Franklin himself, I should think, was the author. It is certainly
written by a first-rate pen, and not by a common man-of-war" (_ibid._,
62). A. H. Smyth quotes Wm. Temple Franklin's note: "The deception
intended by this supposed 'Supplement,' (which was very accurately
imitated with respect to printing, paper, the insertion of
advertisements, etc.,) was, that, by transmitting it to England, it
might actually be taken for what it purported to be" (_Writings_,
VIII, 437). To Charles W. F. Dumas, Franklin writes (Passy, May 3,
1782): "Enclosed I send you a few copies of a paper that places in a
striking light, the English barbarities in America, particularly those
committed by the savages at their instigation. The _Form_ may perhaps
not be genuine, but the _substance_ is truth; the number of our people
of all kinds and ages, murdered and scalped by them being known to
exceed that of the invoice. Make any use of them you may think proper
to shame your Anglomanes, but do not let it be known through what
hands they come" (_ibid._, 448). Brackets are Franklin's.
[112] William Cowper. See _Correspondence of William Cowper_, ed. by
Thomas Wright, I, 479, for his note that Thornton, a merchant, had
sent Franklin his poems.
[113] Henri-Léonard-Jean-Baptiste Bertin (1719-1792).
[114] President of the Royal Society (1743-1820). See _Dictionary of
National Biography_, III, 129-33.
[115] Dr. Pierre-Marie-Auguste Broussonet (1761-1807) met Sir Joseph
Banks in 1782.
[116] A. H. Smyth believes that this was "written in September, 1782"
(_Writings_, VIII, 603 note). It was often translated and may well
have drawn many immigrants to the colonies.
[117] Probably written after signing of the peace treaty. Compare his
letter to Richard Oswald, Passy, Nov. 26, 1782 (_Writings_, VIII,
621-7); and his _The Retort Courteous_ (_ibid._, X, 105-16).
[118] Sir Charles Blagden (1748-1820), physician and physicist, friend
to Sir Joseph Banks, F. R. S., in 1772. (_Dictionary of National
Biography_, V, 155-6.)
[119] B. Faÿ in "Franklin et Mirabeau collaborateurs" (see
Bibliography) shows that Franklin furnished information for
_Considerations on the Order of Cincinnatus ..._ (London ed., 1785).
Mirabeau thunders, "Must we then own, with the enemies of freedom,
that the noble ideas of Sidney, Locke, Rousseau, and others, who have
indulged dreams of political happiness, may be the object of a sublime
theory, but cannot possibly be reduced into practice?" (Mirabeau, _op.
cit._, 73.) The members of the order will in time become "Gothic
tyrants" (_ibid._, 14). He warns America against paralleling the
decadence of Rome (_ibid._, 25), suggesting a Rousseauistic
equalitarianism. Other references to Franklin's antipathy for the
Order are _Writings_, IX, 222, 269-70. Smyth observes that "passages
in brackets are not found in the draft in Library of Congress."
[120] The Quinquet lamp was invented in 1784. A. H. Smyth suggests
that March 20, 1784, is the exact date of composition, from Franklin's
sentence, "In the six months between the 20th of March and the 20th of
September...."
[121] Son of Cotton Mather. Died June 27, 1785.
[122] Benjamin Vaughan (1751-1835), unitarian, pro-colonial, and a
Lord Shelburne man. He edited the first collective edition of
Franklin's works in London (1779). See _Dictionary of National
Biography_, LVIII, 158-9.
[123] See _Writings_, IX, 264. Sparks (II, 383-426) reprints George
Whately's _Principles of Trade_. Elision marks indicate that parts of
this letter are omitted.
[124] A. H. Smyth quotes W. T. Franklin, who observes that the book
was Paley's _Moral Philosophy_ (_Writings_, IX, 488 note).
[125] A. H. Smyth thinks _The Retort Courteous_ (_ibid._, IX, 489
note).
[126] At Rancocas, New Jersey.
[127] Sparks (X, 281-2) prints this letter as to Thomas Paine. Smyth,
suggesting that Paine's "deistical writings" were not done before
1786, denies that Paine is the correspondent. H. H. Clark has argued
shrewdly (and with evidence) that since part of _The Age of Reason_
was written before 1781 (this M. C. Conway in his _Life of Paine_
admits), it is not implausible that Franklin's letter was directed to
Paine. ("An Historical Interpretation of Thomas Paine's Religion,"
_University of California Chronicle_, XXXV, 84, 1933.)
[128] Since Franklin was acquainted with John Ray's _Wisdom of God
..._, it is not improbable that he was acquainted with his aphorisms
published in 1670 (Cambridge), in which this wit occurs. It is also
found in Wollaston's _Religion of Nature Delineated_, but as in Ray,
in crude form: "It is as when a man spits at heaven, and the spittle
falls back upon his own face" (1725 ed., 132). Remembering that
Franklin helped set up this piece while working for Samuel Palmer in
1725, his use of it may not be wholly fortuitous.
[129] His speech (delivered June 11, 1787) _On the Proportion of
Representation and Votes_ (_Writings_, IX, 595-9) shows how with gift
for compromise he helped to bring together the large and small states
through his dual scheme of equal and proportional representation in
the Senate and House.
[130] Compare _Writings_, IX, 659. He observes to Dupont de Nemours
(June 9, 1788), "The wisest must agree to some unreasonable things,
that reasonable ones of more consequence may be obtained." Brackets
are Franklin's.
[131] Clergyman of Boston and friend of Mrs. Mecom, Franklin's sister.
Elision marks indicate that parts of this letter are omitted.
[132] Charles Carroll (1737-1832). He had accompanied Franklin on his
Canada commission. See _Dictionary of American Biography_, III, 522-3.
[133] Compare _Writings_, IX, 636-9.
[134] Compare _Writings_, X, 60-3, 127-9.
[135] He writes (Nov. 2, 1789) to Benjamin Vaughan: "The revolution in
France is truly surprising. I sincerely wish it may end in
establishing a good constitution for that country. The mischiefs and
troubles it suffers in the operation, however, give me great concern"
(_Writings_, X, 50). He confesses (Nov. 13, 1789) to Jean Baptiste Le
Roy: "The voice of _Philosophy_ I apprehend can hardly be heard among
those tumults" (_ibid._, 69).
[136] Rev. Ezra Stiles (1727-1795), member of the American
Philosophical Society (1768), theologian and Newtonian scientist,
President of Yale (1778-1795). For the activities of this versatile
clergyman, see his _Literary Diary_, ed. by F. B. Dexter (3 vols., New
York, 1901), and I. M. Calder (ed.), _Letters and Papers of Ezra
Stiles_ (New Haven, 1933). Also see Abiel Holmes's _Life of Ezra
Stiles_ (Boston, 1798).