# A History of American Literature/Chapter 4

IV.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
1706–1790
"The first philosopher and indeed the first great man of letters for whom we are beholden to America." - David Hume.
Pennsylvania. — (See Goldwin Smith's On the Foundation of the American Colonies, 26; also Tyler, II., 225.) The life and work of Benjamin FranklinAutobiography. Father Abraham's Speech. Essays and Letters Works in 10 volumes. turn our eyes for the first time toward the Middle Colonies. The Plantation of Pennsylvania, with which his life after the age of seventeen was identified, has in its history much to remind one of early New England. It was settled by those who came for conscience' sake. The Quakers were as zealous in their efforts to found schools as were the men of Massachusetts; they were as unworldly, as serious, and as intellectual as wore the Puritans themselves. Unlike the Puritans, they were not persecutors, nor did they ever interfere with the liberty of the press.
Early in the eighteenth century, about the time that Franklin appeared in Philadelphia, that city was the centre of literary activity second only to Boston. It is said that there are now in the old library of Philadelphia, "four hundred and twenty-five original books and ​pamphlets that were printed in that city before the Revolution."—Wharton's Prov. Lit. of Pa.
Thomas Godfrey. — (Tyler, 244-251, with extract.) Most of these early writers have been forgotten though some have found immortality in The Autobiography. Only one, Thomas Godfrey, son of the Thomas Godfrey mentioned by Franklin, deserves consideration here. Born in Philadelphia in 1736, he became a watchmaker and a writer of verses, dying at the early age of twenty=eight. Two years after his death there appeared in Philadelphia his collected verses entitled Juvenile Poems on Various Subjects; with the Prince of Parthia, a Tragedy. The poems possess little merit, but the drama is a strong production. It being the first dramatic composition produced in America, its young author enjoys the distinction of being the father of the American drama.
Life of Franklin. (Biographies of Franklin in English, French, and German, and studies of his life-work and character, by many eminent writers, are numerous. Any one wishing the complete list should consult The Franklin Bibliography of all the works written by or relating to Franklin, by Paul L. Ford, Brooklyn, 1889. The most helpful Lives for school use are by Jared Sparks, 1844; by James Parton, 1864; by John T. Morse, Jr., 1890. See also Everett's Boyhood and Youth of Franklin, and Hale's Franklin in France, 1877. The most useful books, however, to the student of American Literature are The Autobiography, completed by Bigelow, and Benjamin Franklin as a Man of Letters, by ​J. Bach McMaster, 1890.) Whoever attempts, even briefly, to tell the story of Franklin's life, does so under great disadvantages, for a comparison with The Autobiography is sure to result. The biographer can do no better than quote frequently from this work.
The Early Life of Franklin. — "My father married young, and carried his wife, with three children, to New England about 1685... His family increased to seventeen, of whom I remember to have seen thirteen sitting together at his table, who all grew up to years of maturity and were married. I was the youngest son and the youngest of all the children except two daughters. I was born in Boston in New England. 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, entitled Magnalia Christi Americana.... My elder brothers were all put apprentices to different trades. I was put to the grammar school at eight years of age, my father intending to devote me, as the tithe of his sons, to the service of the church. My early readiness in learning to read, which must have been very early, as I do not remember when I could not read, and the opinion of all his friends that I should certainly make a good scholar, encouraged him in this purpose of his. My uncle Benjamin, too, approved of it, and proposed to give me his short-hand volumes of sermons, to set up with, if I would learn his short-hand. I continued however at the grammar school rather less than a year, though in that time I had risen gradually from the middle class of that year to be at the head of the same class, and was removed into the next class, whence I was to be placed in the third at the end of the year.
"But my father, burdened with a numerous family, was unable, without inconvenience, to support the expense of a college education. Considering, moreover, as he said to one of his friends in my presence, the little encouragement that line afforded to those educated for it, he gave up his first intentions, took me from the grammar school and sent me to a school for writing and arithmetic ​kept by a then famous man, Mr. George Brownwell.... Under him I learned to write a good hand pretty soon, but failed entirely in arithmetic. At ten years old I was taken to help my father in his business, which was that of a tallow chandler and soap boiler, a business to which he was not bred, but had assumed on his arrival in New England, because he found that his dyeing trade being in little request, would not maintain his family. Accordingly, I was employed in cutting wicks for the candles, filling the moulds for cast candles, attending to the shop, going of errands, etc.... I continued thus in my father's business for two years, that is till I was twelve years old; and my brother John, who was bred to that business, having left my father, married and set up in business in Rhode Island, there was every appearance that I was destined to supply his place and become a tallow chandler. But my dislike to the trade continuing, my father had apprehension that, if he did not put me to one more agreeable, I should break loose and go to sea as my brother Josiah had done, to his great vexation.... From my infancy I was passionately fond of reading and all the money that came into my hands was laid out in the purchasing of books.... This bookish inclination at length determined my father to make me a printer, though he had already one son Jaines of that profession. In 1717 my brother James returned from England with a press and letters to set up his business in Boston. I liked it much better than that of my father, but still had a hankering for the sea. To prevent the apprehended effect of such an inclination, my father was impatient to have me bound to my brother. I stood out some time, but at last was persuaded and signed the indenture when I was but twelve years old." — The Autobiography
In Philadelphia. — Franklin's story of his early attempts at self-improvement should be read by every youth. In his brother's office he learned rapidly, but he scems to have had numerous difficulties with his master, and at the age of seventeen we find him running away to New York. Not finding work there, he proceeded to Philadelphia. The next year he was ​lured by Sir William Keith to London, and soon found himself penniless. Here he worked with great industry for two years, in which time he succeeded in earning enough to buy a complete printing outfit, enabling him at the age of twenty to settle in Philadelphia in an office of his own. In 1730, he bought the Pennsylvania Gazette, and from this time his progress toward fame and power was very rapid. His paper exerted a wide influence both in literature and politics. It strongly advocated everything that promised good to the public. Through Franklin's influence a public library was started in Philadelphia; he founded the American Philosophical Society and the University of Pennsylvania. In 1753, he was appointed Postmaster General for the Colonies, when he at once revolutionized the mail service of the times. He spared no labor for the public good. At one time he made a carriage journey of six months through the Colonies, visiting every office. He was sent several times to England as ambassador to the king in behalf of the Colonies, and, in 1766, secured the repeal of the obnoxious Stamp Act. He was a member of the Continental Congress of 1775, and of all the important conventions until after the adoption of the Constitution. During the Revolution he was minister to England and France, at which time his services can hardly be overestimated. The complete biography of this remarkable man is in reality a history of the most important epoch in our nation's life. He died in Philadelphia at the ripe age of eighty-four.
​Poor Richard's Almanac. — (See Parton's Life and Times of Benjamin Eranklin, 1., 227-240.) Franklin did more for literature as an influence than as an actual producer. He was only incidentally a man of letters. He was greater as a statesnian, a diplomatist, a scientist, than as a writer, and yet his literary productions are of great value. Perhaps the best known of all his writings are the series of essays and proverbs which appeared originally in Poor Richard's Almanac, an annual publication which was first issued in 1833, bearing the pseudonym "Richard Saunders, Philomath," and which was continued with great success for nearly quarter of a century.
"I endeavored to make it both entertaining and useful; and it accordingly came to be in such demand that I reaped considerable profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand. And observing that it was generally read, scarce any neighborhood being without it, I considered it as a proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the common people, who bought scarcely any other books; I therefore filled all the little spaces that occurred between the remarkable days in the calendar with proverbial sentences, chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality as the means of procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue; it being inore difficult for a man in want to act always honestly, as, to use here one of those proverbs, 'it is hard for an empty sack to stand upright.' These proverbs, which contain the wisdom of many ages and nations, I assembled and formed into a connected discourse, profixed to the almanac of 1757, as the harangue of a wise old man to the people attending an auction. The bringing all these scattered counsels thus into a focus enabled them to make greater impression. The piece, being universally approved, was copied in all the newspapers of the continent; reprinted in Britain on a broadside to be stuck up in houses; two translations were made of it in French, and great numbers bought by the clergy and gentry to distribute gratis among their poor parishioners and tenants." — The Autobiography.
​Franklin's proverbs have become household words. Every one has heard from childhood,
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
"God helps them that help themselves."
"Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee."
"Three removes are as bad as a fire."
Required Reading. — "Father Abraham's Speech." See also Riverside Literature Series, No. 24. For fac-simile of a page of Poor Richard's Almanac, see Fiske's History of the United States, p. 186.
The Autobiography.
"The best Autobiography in the language."
Franklin is his own Boswell." — Lawrence.
This work, written in the seventy-ninth year of his age, is Franklin's chief contribution to literature. It tells the story of his life up to the year 1757. After reading it one has á perfect picture of its author. It has become the world's model for an autobiography. Nowhere in literature can we find a more complete opening of an author's heart to the public. Its popularity has been wonderful, fifty editions having been disposed of in this country alone.
The history of the manuscript of the work has been an interesting one. The grandson of Franklin, who was a Tory pensioner, caused the work to be suppressed. It was printed, however, in French in 1791, but not till 1817 was it published in the original English. In John Bigelow's edition of the book the original spelling is retained, and the story is told exactly as Franklin wrote it.
A STUDY OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
(After A Careful Reading of as Much of it as Possible.)
Give reason for each statement:
I. Words. — What percentage have more than two syllables? Are there many of Latin derivation? of Saxon? Are any used that might be dropped? If so, give example. Does he use commonplace words, sometimes not elegant ones? Are his words on the whole well chosen? Where did he get his command of words?
II. Sentences. — Long and involved? Periodic? Balanced? Short and clear? Obscure? Or yielding their meaning easily? What adjectives describe Franklin's sentences?
I1I. Style. — Interesting or dry? Give example to prove statement. Is it ornamental? Are there figures of speech? Give example. Are there many quotations from other authors? Allusions to history which must be looked up to be understood? Are there words and phrases from other languages? Chiefly from what language? What adjectives describe his style? From whom did he learn it, judging from his own account? How does it compare with Pilgrim's Progress, Gulliver's Travels, and Robinson Crusoe?
IV. Subject Matter. — (a) What purpose had the author in writing the book? To instruct? To magnify himself? To produce a literary work? To reward friends and punish enemies? To discover the moral of life? If none of these, what was his object? (b) Is the story important? How much of the story of the times is incidentally told? How important an epoch did it cover? What leading historical events are touched? (c) Is it complete? Is the author honest? Is anything concealed? ​Does he omit to mention when he was wrong? Is he proud of his faults?
V. Why has the book had such a wonderful popularity?
Essays and Papers.—The remainder of Franklin's literary work consists of essays on various topics, The Busybody, a series after the style of Addison, being prominent papers on scientific topics, political essays. and letters. Some of his lighter work, like "The Whistle," and "Dialogue between Franklin and the Gout," have been very popular.
Franklin's Versatility.—Franklin is the best example of a self-made man that history affords. No American has ever achieved greatness in so many dircctions. He ornamented everything that he touched, whether science, literature, invention, or statescraft. In science he made the discovery that electricity is the cause of lightning, and he wrote papers on electricity and kindred subjects that won the admiration of Europe. He invented the stove, lightning rod, and water organ. He organized the first police force, and the first fire company. His name is signed to all the great documents of our early history. In addition to all this, he was one of the first statesmen of his age and perhaps the ablest representative our nation has over sent abroad.