Title: Extracts from the Gazette, 1735
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

	[Advertisement] Any Township or Neighbourhood in the Country, wanting a School-Master, to teach Reading, Writing, or Arithmetick, may hear of one well qualified by enquiring of the Printer hereof. [January 9]

	  [Advertisement] By the Indulgence of the Honourable Col. Spotswood, Post-Master General, the Printer hereof is allow’d to send the Gazettes by the Post, Postage free, to all Parts of the Post-Road from Virginia to New England: So that all Gentlemen and others, living on the Post Roads, may have this Paper sent them by every Post, as usual before the late Obstruction. [January 23]

	  [Advertisement] A Quantity of Spanish Pistoles to be disposed of, enquire of the Printer hereof. [March 4]

	  Saturday Night last a House in Strawberry-Alley was broke open, and about 10 Pounds in Money, and some other odd Things taken out of a little Trunk that was lock’d up in a Chest: Three Servants belonging to different Masters being missing next day, were suspected of the Theft, and being taken at Byberry and brought to Town, they confess’d the Fact, and are now confin’d in Goal in order to a Tryal. One of them is a Lad about 18 Years of Age. The Money belong’d to some poor People, who had been some Years getting it together, in order to put themselves into some better Way of Business. [March 27]

	  Wednesday Night last a Fire broke out near the Prison, in a Smith’s Shop, which was presently consumed; together with another Smith’s Shop, and two Wheelwrights Shops, they being all of Wood. The Prison was in great Danger, as also a Row of Houses to the Westward of the Fire, one of which was considerably Damag’d; but by the extraordinary Diligence and Activity of the People, the Fire was at length suppress’d, with only the entire Loss of those four Shops. [April 10]

	  Thursday next a Commission of the Presbyterian Synod meet, to try the Reverend Mr. Hemphill, upon a Charge of Heterodoxy. [April 10]

	  We hear from Chester County, that last Week at a Vendue held there, a Man being unreasonably abusive to his Wife upon some trifling Occasion, the Women form’d themselves into a Court, and order’d him to be apprehended by their Officers and brought to Tryal: being found guilty he was condemn’d to be duck’d 3 times in a neighbouring Pond, and to have one half cut off, of his Hair and Beard (which it seems he wore at full length) and the Sentence was accordingly executed, to the great Diversion of the Spectators. [April 17]

[Advertisement] The Subscribers to the Library in Philadelphia are advertised, that Monday the 5th of May ensuing, at Two in the Afternoon, is the Time appointed for the Choice of Directors and a Treasurer for the succeeding Year, and for making the third annual Payment, at the House of John Roberts in High-Street.
Joseph Breintnal, Secr.
[April 24]

	  [Advertisement] Lately lost out of a Boat, between Bristol and Philadelphia, a large Portmantua covered with blue Cloth; and having within it sundry Holland Shirts, a Plad Night-Gown lin’d with blue Sattin, and other valuable Things. Whoever may have taken up the same, and shall forthwith deliver the Whole to the Printer hereof, shall receive a Reward of Five Pounds. [May 1]

	  Sunday last in the violent Thunder Storm about 7 in the Evening, a Boat with five Servant-Men overset about a Mile this side Gloucester, four of them held by the Boat and Masts for two Hours, till they drove against the Upper Part of this City, when their crying for Help was accidentally heard; the other a Servant belonging to Mr. Simon Edgel, was shook off by the Boat’s shifting, and drowned. [May 22]

	  [Advertisement] All Persons who are indebted to Henry Flower, late Postmaster of Pennsylvania, for Postage or otherwise, are desired to pay the same to him at the old Coffee-House in Philadelphia. [May 29]

	  To BE SOLD, By the Printer hereof, very good Chocolate at 4s. per Pound by the Dozen, and 4s. 6d. by the single Pound. [May 29]

	  Wednesday Morning died suddenly at Germantown Meeting, of an Apoplectic fit, Isaac Norris, of Fairhill, Esq; He had been many Years one of the Council, was often chosen a Representative in Assembly, had born several other Offices of Honour and Trust, and was esteemed one of the most considerable Men in the Province. [June 5]

Sunday last one Rachel Twells of this City died suddenly and the Coroner’s Inquest having sat on the Body brought in their Verdict, that by drinking too plentifully of Rum and other strong Liquors she came by her Death. ’Tis said she had drank sixteen Drams of Rum and two Mugs of strong Beer that Day. [June 19]

	  The Person that borrow’d B. Franklin’s Law-Book of this Province, is hereby desired to return it, he having forgot to whom he lent it. [July 24]

	  Sunday last the Rev. Mr. Hemphill, (who was lately suspended by the Commission of the Synod) preached twice to a very numerous Congregation, at the House where the Assembly used to meet. The first Edition of the Observations on the Proceedings against him being all sold, a Second Edition is in the Press and will speedily be published. [July 31]

	  [Advertisement] Very Good Coffee sold by the Printer hereof. [July 31]

	  Wednesday last arrived here two Frenchmen Deserters from Missisipi. They reckon they have travell’d 1500 Miles thro’ the Woods, subsisting only upon what they could kill by the Way. They were five in all, Soldiers, that deserted, but they parted at Albany, and some went towards Boston. They brought with them from Missisipi a Man that was half French half Indian: He had kill’d a Frenchman in a Quarrel, and was condemn’d to die; but they help’d him to break Prison, on condition of his guiding them to these Parts. They say they deserted because they were neither paid, fed, nor cloath’d; that there are but few People settled on that River, only here and there a Fort for Security of Trade; and that there are more Soldiers than other Inhabitants. [August 28]

	  Saturday last in the Morning, the Honourable John Penn, Esq; the eldest of our Proprietors, being attended by the principal Magistrates and Gentlemen of this City, &c. set out on his Journey for New-Castle, in order to embark on board Capt. Budden’s Ship, which lay there ready to receive him. And the next Day he set sail from thence for London. [September 25]

	  ††† This Paper Numb. 355, ends the sixth Year since we undertook printing the Gazette. Those who are indebted for more than a Year, are desired to make Payment. [September 25]

	  Thursday last being the Anniversary of His Majesty’s Birth Day, the same was solemnly observed here. An elegant Entertainment was made by our Honourable Proprietor, for the Principal Gentlemen, Merchants, &c. of this City, at which all the Loyal Healths were drank under the Discharge of Cannon, and the Day concluded with the usual Demonstrations of Joy. [November 6]

	  [Advertisement] On Wednesday Night the 19th Instant, Thieves broke into a House in this City, and stole some Paper Money, with a parcel of double worsted-flower’d Caps: Several Drops of Blood were found about the Drawer from whence the Money was taken, whence ’tis probable that the Money also may be bloodied. If such Money is offered to be passed, or such Caps to be sold, by any such suspicious Person, ’tis desired that Information may [be] given to the Printer hereof. [November 27]

Just Published. John Jerman’s and Poor Richard’s Almanacks, for the Year 1736.
Jacob Taylor’s, is now in the Press, and will speedily be published and sold by the Printer hereof. [December 4]

	  Just Publish’d. Cato’s Moral Distichs newly translated into English Verse. Very proper to be put into the Hands of young Persons, Sold by the Printer hereof. Price 1s. cover’d. [December 18]

Philadelphia: printed by B. Franklin, at the New-Printing-Office near the Market. Price 10s. a Year. Where Advertisements are taken in, and book-binding is done reasonably, in the best Manner.


Title: On Amplification, 17 June 1736
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

Amplification, or the Art of saying Little in Much, seems to be principally studied by the Gentlemen Retainers to the Law. ’Tis highly useful when they are to speak at the Bar; for by its Help, they talk a great while, and appear to say a great deal, when they have really very little to say. But ’tis principally us’d in Deeds and every thing they write. You must abridge their Performances to understand them; and when you find how little there is in a Writing of vast Bulk, you will be as much surpriz’d as a Stranger at the Opening of a Pumpkin.
It is said, that in the Reign of William the Conqueror, the Conveyance of a large Estate, might be made in about half a dozen short Lines; which was nevertheless in every Respect sufficiently authentick. For several Hundred Years past, Conveyances and Writings in the Law have been continually encreasing in Bulk, and when they will come to their full Growth, no Man knows: For the Rule, That every thing past and present ought to be express’d, and every thing future provided for, (tho’ one would think a large Writing might be made by it) does not serve to confine us at present; since all those things are not only to be express’d, but may (by the Modern Licence) be express’d by all the different Words we can think of. Probably the Invention of Printing, which took from the Scribes great Part of their former Employment, put them on the Contrivance of making up by a Multitude of Words, what they wanted in real Business; hence the plain and strong Expression, shall be his own, is now swoln into, shall and may at all Times hereafter forever, and so from time to time, freely, quietly and peaceably, have, hold and enjoy, &c. The Lawyer, in one of Steele’s Comedies, instructs his Pupil, that Tautology is the first, second, and third Parts of his Profession, that is to say, the whole of it: And adds, That he hopes to see the Time, when it will require as much Parchment to convey a Piece of Land as will cover it. That time perhaps is not far off: For I am told, that the Deeds belonging to the Title of some small Lotts, (which have gone thro’ several Hands) are nearly sufficient for the Purpose.
But of all the Writings I have ever seen, for the Multiplicity, Variety, Particularity, and prodigious Flow of Expression, none come up to the Petition of Dermond O’Folivey, an Attorney of the Kingdom of Ireland: As the Petition is curious in itself, and may serve as a Precedent for young Clerks, when they would acquire a proper Stile in their Performances, I shall give it to the Publick entire, as follows.
“To the Right Honourable Sir William Aston, Knight, and Lord Judge of Assize of the Munster Circuit.
“The humble Petition of Dermond O Folivey a well and most accomplished Gentleman.
“Most humbly, and most submissively, and most obediently, and most dutifully, by shewing, and expressing, and declaring to your Lordship, that whereby, and whereas, and wherein, the most major, and most greater, and most bigger, and the most stronger Part of the most best, and the most ablest, and the most mightiest Sort of the People of the Barony of Torrough and County of Kerry, finding, and knowing, and certifying themselves, both hereafter, and the Time past, and now, and then, and at the present time, to be very much oppressed, and distressed, and overcharged in all Taxes, and Quit-rents, and other Levies, and accidental Applotments, and Collections, and Gatherings-together in the Barony of Torrough and County of Kerry aforesaid, And for the future Prevention of all, and every such, henceforth, hereafter, heretofore, and for the time to come, and now, and then, and at this time, and forever, the aforesaid most major, and most bigger, and most better, and most stronger Part of the most best, and most ablest, and most mightiest Sort of the People of Torrough and County of Kerry aforesaid, Hath appointed, nominated, constituted, ordained, declared, elected, and made me Mr. Dermond O Folivey to solicite, and make mention to your Lordship, looking upon me now, and then, and there, and here, the said Mr. Dermond O Folivey, to be the fittest, and the most mightiest, and the most ablest, and the most best, and the most accomplished, and the most eloquentest Spokesman within the said Barony and County, their granded, and well beloved, and well bestowed, and better merited Agent and Sollicitor, to represent Oppression, and Suppression, and Extortion, for all such, and for all much, and whereof, and whereby, and whereupon, your Petitioner fairly, and finely, and honestly, and ingeniously, and deservedly appointed, nominated, constituted, and ordained, and elected, and approved, and made choice of me the said Mr. Dermond O Folivey as an Agent and Sollicitor, to undergo, and overgo, and under-run, and over-run, and manage this much, big, and mighty Service.
“These are therefore to will, and to shall be, now, and then, and there, and at this time, and at the time past, and heretofore, and formerly, and at the present, and forever, the humble, and special, and important, and mighty, and irrefatigable Request of me, your Petitioner and Sollicitor-General aforesaid; That your Lordship will be pleased, and satisfied, and resolved, to grant, and give, and deliver, and bestow, upon me Mr. Dermond O Folivey, your before recited, and nominated Petitioner and Sollicitor-General aforesaid, an Order and Judgment, and Warrant, and Authority of Preference to my Lord Kerry, and Mr. Henry Punceby, Esq; and Justice of the Peace and Quorum, or to any four or five or more or less, or either or neither of them, now, and then, and there, and here, and any where, and every where, and somewhere, and nowhere, to call and bring, and fetch, and carry, before him, or them, or either of them, or neither, or both, such Party or Parties as they shall imagine, and conceive, and consider, and suppose, and assent, and esteem, and think fit, and meet, and necessary, and decent, and convenient, all, and every, and either, or neither of them, to call, to examine, and call to a strict Account; and that Part, and most Part, Extortion; and then, and there, when, and where, and whether, to establish, and elect, and direct, and impower, and authorize all such, and all much, Bailiffs, and under Receivers, and Collectors and Gatherers-together of Money, as your Petitioner did, or do, or have, or had, or shall, or will, or may, or might, or should, or could, or ought to chuse, or pitch upon with, and punctually to desire my self Mr. Dermond O Folivey that they, them, and these, and every, and either, and neither of them, that shall, and did, and have, and do, and will him in Peace, and Unity, and Amity, and Concord, and Tranquility, henceforth, and for the time to come, and hereafter, and for the time past, and not past, and the time present, and now, and for everlasting; and especially not to molest, or trouble, or hinder, or disturb, or hurt, or meddle with the Petitioner, my self, Mr. Dermond O Folivey, in his Possession of 72 Acres of Land in Gertogolinmore in the Barony of Torrough and County of Kerry.

“Given, and granted, and dated, and signed, and sealed by my own Hand and with my own Hand, and so my own Hand, and under my own Hand and Seal this  Day of Anno Dom.
}
Mr. Dermond O Folivey.”


Title: [On Discoveries, 14 October 1736]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

Reprinted by Duane (Works, IV, 374–7) and later by William Temple Franklin, Sparks, and Bigelow, but not by Smyth (see above, I, 170), this essay, as Alfred Owen Aldridge has shown, originally appeared in The Prompter, a London literary periodical, June 11, 1736. It was reprinted, without the opening paragraph and with other excisions and changes, in the London Magazine, v (June 1736), 297–8, and the Gentleman’s Magazine, vi (June 1736), 313–14. The New England Weekly Journal reprinted it from the London Magazine, Sept. 21, 1736. Typographical similarities indicate that Franklin probably reprinted it from the Weekly Journal.


Title: [The Waste of Life, 18 November 1736]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

First printed by Duane (Works, IV, 367–70) and later by William Temple Franklin, Sparks, and Bigelow, but not by Smyth, this essay is omitted here for the reasons given above, I, 170.


Title: Articles of the Union Fire Company, 7 December 1736
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

The seventh Day of December, in the Year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and thirty six, WE whose Names are hereunto subscribed, reposing special Confidence in each others Friendship, Do, for the better preserving our Goods and Effects from Fire, mutually agree in Manner following, That is to say.
1. That we will each of us at his own proper Charge provide Two Leathern Buckets, and Four Baggs of good Oznabrigs or wider Linnen, Whereof each Bagg shall contain four Yards at least, and shall have a running Cord near the Mouth; Which said Buckets and Baggs shall be marked with the Initial Letters of our respective Names and Company Thus [A.B. & Company] and shall be apply’d to no other Use than for preserving our Goods and Effects in Case of Fire as aforesaid.
2. That if any one of us shall fail to provide and keep his Buckets and Baggs as aforesaid he shall forfeit and pay unto the Clerk for the Time being, for the Use of the Company, the Sum of Five Shillings for every Bucket and Bagg wanting.

3. That if any of the Buckets or Baggs aforesaid shall be lost or damaged at any Fire aforesaid The same shall be supplyed and repaired at the Charge of the whole Company.
4. That we will all of us, upon hearing of Fire breaking out at or near any of our Dwelling Houses, immediately repair to the same with all our Buckets and Baggs, and there employ our best Endeavours to preserve the Goods and Effects of such of us as shall be in Danger by Packing the same into our Baggs: And if more than one of us shall be in Danger at the same time, we will divide our selves as near as may be to be equally helpful. And to prevent suspicious Persons from coming into, or carrying any Goods out of, any such House, Two of our Number shall constantly attend at the Doors until all the Goods and Effects that can be saved shall be secured in our Baggs, and carryed to some safe Place, to be appointed by such of our Company as shall be present, Where one or more of us shall attend them ’till they can be conveniently delivered to, or secured for, the Owner.
5. That we will meet together in the Ev’ning of the last Second Day of the Week commonly called Monday, in every Month, at some convenient Place and Time to be appointed at each Meeting, to consider of what may be further useful in the Premises; And whatsoever shall be expended at every Meeting aforesaid shall be paid by the Members met. And if any Member shall neglect to meet as aforesaid, he shall forfeit and pay the Sum of One Shilling.
6. That we will each of us in our Turns, according to the Order of our Subscriptions, serve the Company as Clerk for the Space of one Month, Viz. That Member whose Name is hereunto first subscribed shall serve first, and so on to the last, Whose Business shall be to inspect the Condition of each of our Buckets and Baggs, and to make Report thereof at every Monthly Meeting aforesaid, To collect all the Fines and Forfeitures accruing by Virtue hereof; To warn every Member of the Time and Place of Meeting, at least Six Hours before Hand. And if any new Member be proposed to be admitted, or any Alteration to be made in any of the present Articles, he shall inform every Member thereof at the Time of Warning a[foresaid.] And shall also read over a Copy of these Presents, and a List of all the Subscribers Names, at every Monthly Meeting, before the Company proceeds to any other Bu[siness,] Which said Clerk shall be accountable to the Rest of the Company for, and pay [to] the next succeeding Clerk, all the Monies accruing or belonging unto the Company by virtue of these presents. And if any Member shall refuse to serve as Clerk in his Turn aforesaid, he shall forfeit the Sum of Five Shillings.
7. That our Company shall not exceed the Number of twenty-five Persons a[t a] time, no new Member be admitted, nor any Alteration made in these present Ar[ticles] until the Monthly Meeting after the same is first proposed, and the whole Company acquainted therewith by the Clerk as aforesaid; Nor without the Consent of Three Fourths of our whole Number, the whole Three Fourths being met. But the other Affairs relating to the Company shall be determined by Three Fourths of Members met. And that the Time of entring upon Business shall be one Hour after the Time appointed for Meeting as aforesaid.
8. That each Member shall keep two Lists of all the Subscribers Names, [one] to be fixed in open View near the Buckets and Baggs, and the Other to be pr[oduced] at every Monthly Meeting if required under pain of forfeiting the Sum of [six?] Pence.
9. That all Fines and Forfeitures arising by Virtue hereof, shall be paid unto the Clerk for the Time being, for the Use of the Company, and shall be erected into a common Stock. And if any Member shall refuse to pay any Fine or Forfeiture aforesaid when due, his Name shall be razed out, And he shall from thenceforth be excluded the Company.
10. Lastly that upon the Death of any of our Company, the Survivors shall in time of Danger as aforesaid, be aiding to the Widow of such Decedent during her Widowhood, in the same Manner as if her Husband had been living; she only keeping the Buckets and Baggs as aforesaid. In Witness whereof we have hereunto set our Hands; Dated the Day and Year abovesaid.

Joseph Paschall
1
  George House
  15

Saml: Coates
  2
  Wm Plumsted
  16

John Armitt
  3
  John Dillwyn
  17

Wm. Rawle
  4
  Wm. Cooper
  18

Benja. Shoemaker
  5
  Edwd. Shippen
  19

Hugh Roberts
  6
  Lloyd Zachary
  20

B. Franklin
  7
  P[ost] S[cripti]

Philip Syng Junr.
  8
  Saml. Powel junr.

Wm. Parsons
  9
  Thomas Lloyd

Richd: Sewell
  10
  George Emlen

James Morris
  11
  Chs. Willing

Stepn. Armitt
  12
  Tho. Lawrence

Tho Hatton
  13
  Willm. Bell

Edward Roberts
  14
  Jo Turner


Title: On the Death of His Son, 30 December 1736
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

Understanding ’tis a current Report, that my Son Francis, who died lately of the Small Pox, had it by Inoculation; and being desired to satisfy the Publick in that Particular; inasmuch as some People are, by that Report (join’d with others of the like kind, and perhaps equally groundless) deter’d from having that Operation perform’d on their Children, I do hereby sincerely declare, that he was not inoculated, but receiv’d the Distemper in the common Way of Infection: And I suppose the Report could only arise from its being my known Opinion, that Inoculation was a safe and beneficial Practice; and from my having said among my Acquaintance, that I intended to have my Child inoculated, as soon as he should have recovered sufficient Strength from a Flux with which he had been long afflicted.
B. Franklin


Title: Afterword to Every Man His Own Doctor, 1736
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

In 1734 Franklin reprinted John Tennent’s Every Man his own Doctor, which had been published earlier that year in a “second edition” in Williamsburg, Va. Franklin may have concluded this “third edition” with the address to his readers, which is reprinted below; but no complete copy is known. In 1736 he reprinted Tennent’s pamphlet in a “fourth edition” with the address to his readers and a postscript based on Tennent’s Essay on Pleurisy, published at Williamsburg in 1736.

  The Printer to the Reader wisheth Health.
This Book entituled, Every Man his own Doctor, was first printed in Virginia, for the Use of which Colony it was written by a Gentleman residing there. Great Numbers have been distributed among the People both in Virginia and Maryland, and ’tis generally allow’d that abundance of Good has been thereby done: And as some Parts of Pennsylvania, the Jerseys, and the Lower Counties on Delaware, are by the lowness and moistness of their Situation, subject to the same kind of Diseases, I have been advised to reprint this Book here, for the Use and Benefit of such People in these Countries, as live at too great a Distance from good Physicians. It is necessary, however, to give the Reader this one Caution, that the Ipecacuania or Indian Physick so frequently prescribed by the Author, is much weaker in Virginia, than that which grows in Pennsylvania; so that whereas he prescribes 80 Grains for a Vomiting Potion, and 70 for a Purge; 12 Grains of our Indian Physick, or Ipecacuania, will be sufficient for a Vomit, and 10 for a Purge: There is another Sort which comes to us from Europe, and is to be found in the Apothecaries Shops, of which 30 or 32 Grains is commonly given for a Vomit, and 27 Grains for a Purge, which will work most Constitutions sufficiently.

  Postscript.
A Physician in Virginia has lately published an Essay on the Pleurisy, in which he discovers a Method of treating that fatal Distemper, that he says he always found to succeed. The principal Part of the Cure depends on the Use of a Simple that begins to be known in this Country by the Name of Rattle-Snake Root, being the same that the Indians use in curing the Bite of that venemous Reptile. The Method which the Author practices and recommends, is as follows.
“Let the Patient first have 10 Ounces of Blood taken from the Arm of the well Side, or Foot if both Sides are affected; and every 6 Hours 3 Spoonfuls of the following Tincture is to be given, the first Dose immediately after, and continued ’till the Symptoms abate.
“Take of the Rattle-Snake Root, 3 Ounces, wild Valerian Root, an Ounce and a Half, let them be well bruised in a Mortar, then mix them with a Quart of old Canary, and digest in a proper Vessel in a Sand-Heat for Six Hours, afterwards decant for Use.
“Let fifteen Drops of Balsam Capivi, and as many of Sal volatile Oleosum, be given in a little ordinary Drink, twice between each Dose of the Tincture, beginning with the first Dose two Hours after the Tincture; and give the second Dose two Hours after.
“Let the ordinary Drink be a Tea made of Marsh-mallow Roots, always given warm.

“If the Patient has been ill some Days before any thing administred, the Balsom is to be continued for some Days after a considerable Amendment.
“Bloodletting is to be repeated the second Day, and in the same Quantity as the first, if the Patient is not much better, or the same Day unless something better in 4 Hours: But such is the Efficacy of this Medicine, that there is seldom Occasion. The Symptoms generally abate considerably in 24 Hours, and the Recovery Certain.”
But because every one may not have Conveniency for preparing this Tincture, nor have the other Medicines mentioned at hand, and do not live within reach of a Physician, it is necessary to acquaint the Reader with what the Author adds further, viz.
“A Decoction of the Rattle-Snake Root alone in Spring Water, 3 Ounces to about one Quart; together with Pectoral Teas sweetned with Honey will prove effectual, without any thing else; if the Patient has been let Blood as soon as taken, and this Decoction immediately given afterwards.”
This is to be understood of the genuine Pleurisy or Peripneumony attended with a Fever.
As for the other Disease, which often personates a Pleurisy in these Parts, the Symptoms of which are, that the Patient is cold in a somniferous State, and sometimes convulsed.
In this Case the Author omits Bloodletting as pernicious; but says the Tincture aforesaid is as effectual here as in the genuine Pleurisy, only advises that the Rattle-Snake Root and Valerian be in equal Quantities.
We have not room to add more out of the abovementioned Essay; and indeed the greatest Part of it being taken up in abstracted Reasonings on the Texture of the Blood, and the Operations of different Medicines, &c. to make a larger Extract would be of little Use to the unlearned Reader, for whom this Book was originally intended; and ’tis supposed that in Cases of Danger, the Patient will always consult a skilful Physician where it can possibly be done.
But while we are solicitous about the Health of the Body, let us not forget, that there are also Diseases of the Mind, which concern us no less to be thoroughly cured of. The divine Assistance and Blessing on our Endeavours is absolutely necessary in both Cases; which we ought therefore piously and devoutly to request. And being healed, let us gratefully bless and praise that Great Physician, from whose Goodness flows every Virtue, and the Discovery of every useful Medicine.


Title: Extracts from the Gazette, 1736
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

[Advertisement] This is to certify, that I Robert Jesson, late Merchant of Philadelphia, having been afflicted with a Dropsey, insomuch that my Life was despaired of, am now effectualy cured by an Elixir which Mr. Edward Jones of this City, Gent. has the Secret of making.
In Gratitude for the Favour, and for the Benefit of Mankind, I make this Publick; by which, all under the same Misfortune may know where to apply.
Robert Jesson
	[February 11]

The Subscribers to the Library in Philadelphia are advertised, that Monday the 3d of May ensuing, at Two in the Afternoon, is the Time appointed for the Choice of Directors and a Treasurer for the succeeding Year, and for making the fourth annual Payment, at the House of John Roberts in High-Street.

	Joseph Breintnall, Secr.
	[April 22]

	  Friday night last died here Mr. Henry Flower, in a very advanc’d Age. He was one of the first Settlers, and had been Post-Master of this Place for many Years. A vast number of People of all Ranks testified the Respect they bore him, by attending his Funeral, which was performed on Sunday Evening. [May 20]

	  Tuesday last, during the Fair, a Fire broke out at one end of the long Row of Buildings near the Draw-bridge, and had like to have carried the whole Row; but by the Diligence, Courage and Resolution of some active Men, it was suppress’d beyond Expectation, having only consum’d the Roofs of two Houses, and damaged several others. The Engines did great Service. [May 20]

	  [Advertisement] Glaz’d Fulling-Papers and Bonnet-Papers, Sold by the Printer hereof. [June 17]

[Advertisement] To be Sold by the Printer hereof; The following Books, viz.
Michaelis Etmulleri Philos. & Med. D. Opera omnia: In 3 Vols. Folio.
Testamentum novum, in folio, having the Greek, the vulgate Translation, and Beza’s, in opposite Columns; with Beza’s large Annotations.
Concordantiae Bibliorum, id est, Dictiones omnes quae in vulgata Editione Latina Librorum veteris novi Testamenti leguntur, ordine digesta, & ita distinctae ut maximae and [sic] absolutissimae (quas offert haec Editio) Concordantiae dici possint.
Gulielmi Pisonis Medici Amstelaedamensis De Indiae Utriusque Re Naturali & Medica, Libri quatuordecim.
Scapula’s Lexicon, Greek and Latin, Folio, printed at Basil. 1600. [July 15]

	  The Printer hopes the irregular Publication of this Paper will be excused a few times by his Town Readers, on consideration of his being at Burlington with the Press, labouring for the publick Good, to make Money more plentiful. [August 2]

Early on Thursday Morning last the Honourable Patrick Gordon, Esq; our Lieutenant Governor; after a long and tedious Indisposition, departed this Life in the 73d Year of his Age. His Honour arrived here in June 1726, vested with the Government of this Province, and Counties of New-Castle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware.
It may be justly said of him, that, during the whole course of his Administration, the true Interest and Happiness, Prosperity and Welfare of his Majesty’s Subjects in these Parts seemed to be his chief Concern and peculiar Care. [August 7]

	  We hear from Virginia, that not long since a Flash of Lightning fell on a House there, and struck dead a Man who was standing at the Door. Upon examining the Body they found no Mark of Violence, but on his Breast an exact and perfect (tho’ small) Representation of a Pine Tree which grew before the Door, imprest or printed as it were in Miniature. This surprizing Fact is attested by a Gentleman lately come from thence, who was himself an Eye-witness of it; and ’tis added that great Numbers of People came out of Curiosity, to view the Body before it was interr’d. [August 12]

	  [Advertisement] Lost last Week in removing the Printing Press, and either left on the Wharff at Burlington, or dropt off the Dray between the Waterside and the Market in Philadelphia, A Pine water-tite Trough, containing sundry odd Things and Utensils belonging to the Press. Whoever brings it to B. Franklin shall have Five Shillings Reward. [September 16]

	  Thursday last William Allen, Esq; Mayor of this City for the Year past, made a Feast for his Citizens at the Statehouse, to which all the Strangers in Town of Note were also invited. Those who are Judges of such Things, say, That considering the Delicacy of the Viands, the Variety and Excellency of the Wines, the great Number of Guests, and yet the Easiness and Order with which the whole was conducted, it was the most grand and the most elegant Entertainment that has been made in these Parts of America. [September 30]

	  Our late Honourable Proprietor, having from the first Settlement of this Province, made it his principal Care, to cultivate and maintain a good Understanding with all the Indians, to the Preservation of which, nothing hath contributed more than the Practice which he set on Foot, and hath since been continued, of purchasing their Claims to Lands, before he would suffer them to be taken up by his Authority: and Col. Dongan one of the Governors of New-York having about Fifty Years since, purchased for our late Proprietor, from the Indians of the Six (then the Five) Nations, all the Lands lying upon Susquehannah; We are told that the Chiefs of these Nations, now here, who are about Twenty in Number, have confirmed that Purchase made by Col. Dongan, and have absolutely released to Our present Honourable Proprietors all the Lands from about the Mouth of Susquehannah as high up that River as those called by the Indians the Twhagasachata or Endless Mountains, with all the Lands on both Sides the said River, and its Streams as far Westward as the Setting of the Sun. [October 14]

Just Published, Poor Richard’s Almanacks for the Year 1737, containing besides what is usual, a particular Description of the Herb which the Indians use to cure the Bite of that venemous Reptile a Rattle-snake, an exact Print of the Leaf of the Plant, an Account of the Places it grows in, and the Manner of using it, &c. made publick for the general Good. With Variety of other Matters serious and Comical. Printed and Sold by B. Franklin.
Where may be had Cole’s Dictionaries Latin and English, and Variety of other School-Books just imported. [November 11]

[Advertisement] Just imported and sold by B. Franklin, the following Books, viz.
Bibles, Testaments, Psalters and Primmers of several Sorts.
The British School-Master, teaching to read, spell and write true English, exactly, without learning of Latin, and in less than a quarter of the Time usually spent therein. In a new Method, for the Use of English Schools. price 1s.
English Liberties, or the Free-born Subjects’ Inheritance.
Religious Courtship, being historical Discourses on the Necessity of marrying religious Husbands and Wives only: As also of Husbands and Wives being of the same Opinions in Religion with one another.
Henry, on Prayer.
Cole’s Latin and English Dictionary.

{
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Clark’s
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For the Use of young Beginners in Latin.

Erasmus.

Ruddiman’s Rudiments of Grammar, Latin and English. Lilly’s Grammar. Virgil. Caesar’s Commentaries. Juvenal and Persius. Eutropius. Ovid’s Metamorphosis and Ovid de Tristibus. Cornelius Nepos. Hoole’s Accidence, and sundry other School-Books. Also Writing Paper of several Sorts, Dutch Quills, Inkhorns, Pen-knives, Seals, Gilt Pocket-Books, Memorandum Books and other Stationary-ware. [November 25]

	[Advertisement] Lent, or left somewhere abroad, about three or four Months ago, a very large Kersey Great-coat, burnt almost through in one or two Places, with the Edge of the Taylor’s Goose, in making it. Whoever brings it to the Printer hereof, shall be thankfully rewarded. [December 9]

Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin, at the New Printing-Office near the Market. Price 10s. a Year. Where Advertisements are taken in, and Book-Binding is done reasonably, in the best Manner.


Title: Poor Richard, 1737
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

Courteous and kind Reader,
This is the fifth Time I have appear’d in Publick, chalking out the future Year for my honest Countrymen, and foretelling what shall, and what may, and what may not come to pass; in which I have the Pleasure to find that I have given general Satisfaction. Indeed, among the Multitude of our astrological Predictions, ’tis no wonder if some few fail; for, without any Defect in the Art itself, ’tis well known that a small Error, a single wrong Figure overseen in a Calculation, may occasion great Mistakes: But however we Almanack-makers may miss it in other Things, I believe it will be generally allow’d That we always hit the Day of the Month, and that I suppose is esteem’d one of the most useful Things in an Almanack.
As to the Weather, if I were to fall into the Method my Brother J----n sometimes uses, and tell you, Snow here or in New England,—Rain here or in South-Carolina, —Cold to the Northward, —Warm to the Southward, and the like, whatever Errors I might commit, I should be something more secure of not being detected in them: But I consider, it will be of no Service to any body to know what Weather it is 1000 miles off, and therefore I always set down positively what Weather my Reader will have, be he where he will at the time. We modestly desire only the favourable Allowance of a day or two before and a day or two after the precise Day against which the Weather is set; and if it does not come to pass accordingly, let the Fault be laid upon the Printer, who, ’tis very like, may have transpos’d or misplac’d it, perhaps for the Conveniency of putting in his Holidays: And since, in spight of all I can say, People will give him great part of the Credit of making my Almanacks, ’tis but reasonable he should take some share of the Blame.
I must not omit here to thank the Publick for the gracious and kind Encouragement they have hitherto given me: But if the generous Purchaser of my Labours could see how often his Fi’-pence helps to light up the comfortable Fire, line the Pot, fill the Cup and make glad the Heart of a poor Man and an honest good old Woman, he would not think his Money ill laid out, tho’ the Almanack of his Friend and Servant
  R. Saunders
  were one half blank Paper.

Rattle-Snake Herb.
The Indians long made a Secret of the Herb they used in curing the Bite of that venemous Reptile a Rattle-Snake: but since some curious Persons among the English have fully discover’d and are now well acquainted with it, I hope it will be an acceptable Service to these Parts of the World, if I make it more publick by the following Description, with the Figure of a Leaf of it.
The Top and Branches of the Plant are thick set with small yellow flowers in August and September. It is a Species of Golden-Rod, known from the other Sorts by the smoothness of the Leaf, and its pungent Taste, and occasioning when chewed and swallow’d, a small Stoppage of the Breath, and Contraction in the Throat; and the Stalk, which is in some Places less than a yard in height when at full Growth, in others more, is of a dull purple colour, and smooth, and cover’d with a fine blue Dust, like that on many of the English Plums. It grows in most Wood-Lands, but under the Shade of Trees is seldom rank or large, or with more than one, two or three Stalks. It is also found on the Banks of dry Ditches, and sometimes in them, and in Hedge-Rows: But it is most luxuriant near to Run Sides, if the Soil be rich, and not too moist, nor too much shaded. The Root continues over the Winter, and if set in a good Garden, will send forth (in the 2d or 3d Year) at least 50 Stalks. The Plant shoots early in the Spring and withers late in the Fall.
The Indians use it variously; sometimes they bruise it between Stones, sometimes chew it and spit in the Patient’s Mouth, some lay it to the Wound, others about the Wound, sometimes they boil it and give the Water to drink, washing the Wound with it likewise: but always some of it is to be swallowed, either with the Spittle or with Water.
The Leaf figur’d in the Margin is one of the largest; for the most part they are not near so big though the Shape be the same.

Hints for those that would be Rich.
The Use of Money is all the Advantage there is in having Money.
For £6 a Year, you may have the Use of £100 if you are a Man of known Prudence and Honesty.
He that spends a Groat a day idly, spends idly above £6 a year, which is the Price of using £100.
He that wastes idly a Groat’s worth of his Time per Day, one Day with another, wastes the Privilege of using £100 each Day.
He that idly loses 5s. worth of time, loses 5s. and might as prudently throw 5s. in the River.
He that loses 5s. not only loses that Sum, but all the Advantage that might be made by turning it in Dealing, which by the time that a young Man becomes old, amounts to a comfortable Bag of Money.
Again, He that sells upon Credit, asks a Price for what he sells, equivalent to the Principal and Interest of his Money for the Time he is like to be kept out of it: therefore
He that buys upon Credit, pays Interest for what he buys.
And he that pays ready Money, might let that Money out to Use: so that
He that possesses any Thing he has bought, pays Interest for the Use of it.
Consider then, when you are tempted to buy any unnecessary Housholdstuff, or any superfluous thing, whether you will be willing to pay Interest, and Interest upon Interest for it as long as you live; and more if it grows worse by using.
Yet, in buying Goods, ’tis best to pay ready Money, because,
He that sells upon Credit, expects to lose 5 per Cent. by bad Debts; therefore he charges, on all he sells upon Credit, an Advance that shall make up that Deficiency.
Those who pay for what they buy upon Credit, pay their Share of this Advance.
He that pays ready Money, escapes or may escape that Charge.
A Penny sav’d is Twopence clear, A Pin a day is a Groat a Year. Save and have. Every little makes a mickle.

XI Mon. January hath xxxi days.

God offer’d to the Jews Salvation
And ’twas refus’d by half the Nation:
Thus, (tho’ ’tis Life’s great Preservation)
Many oppose Inoculation.
We’re told by one of the black Robe
The Devil inoculated Job:
Suppose ’tis true, what he does tell;
Pray, Neighbours, Did not Job do well?

The greatest monarch on the proudest throne, is oblig’d to sit upon his own arse.
  The Master piece of Man, is to live to the purpose.
  He that steals the old man’s supper, do’s him no wrong.
XII Mon. February hath xxviii days.

The Thracian Infant, entring into Life,
Both Parents mourn for, both receive with Grief:
The Thracian Infant snatch’d by Death away,
Both Parents to the Grave with Joy convey.
This, Greece and Rome, you with Derision view;
This is meer Thracian Ignorance to you:
But if you weigh the Custom you despise,
This Thracian Ignorance may teach the wise.

  A countryman between 2 Lawyers, is like a fish between two cats.
  He that can take rest is greater than he that can take cities.
  The misers cheese is wholesomest.
  Felix quem, &c.
I Mon. March hath xxxi days.

Doris, a Widow, past her Prime,
Her Spouse long dead, her Wailing doubles;
Her real Griefs increase by Time;
What might abate, improves her Troubles.

Those Pangs her prudent Hopes supprest,
Impatient now, she cannot smother,
How should the helpless Woman rest?
One’s gone; — nor can she get another.

  Love and lordship hate companions.
  The nearest way to come at glory, is to do that for conscience which we do for glory.
  There is much money given to be laught at, though the purchasers don’t know it; witness A’s fine horse, and B’s fine house.
II Mon. April hath xxx days.

A Nymph and a Swain to Apollo once pray’d;
The Swain had been jilted, the Nymph been betray’d.
They came for to try if his Oracle knew
E’er a Nymph that was chast or a Swain that was true.
Apollo stood mute, and had like t’have been pos’d;
At length he thus sagely the question disclos’d:
He alone may be true in whom none will confide,
And the nymph may be chast that has never been tryd.

  He that can compose himself, is wiser than he that composes books.
  Poor Dick, eats like a well man, and drinks like a sick.
  After crosses and losses men grow humbler and wiser.
Love, Cough, and a Smoke, can’t well be hid.
III Mon. May hath xxxi days.

Rich Gripe does all his Thoughts and Cunning bend
T’encrease that Wealth he wants the Soul [to] spend:
Poor Shifter does his whole Contrivance set,
To spend that Wealth he wants the Sense to get.
How happy would appear to each his Fate,
Had Gripe his Humour, or he Gripe’s Estate?

Kind Fate and Fortune, blend ’em if you can,
And of two Wretches make one happy Man.

  Well done is better than well said.

Fine linnen, girls and gold so bright,
Chuse not to take by candle-light.

  He that can travel well afoot, keeps a good horse.
  There are no ugly Loves, nor handsome Prisons.
  No better relation than a prudent and faithful Friend.
IV Mon. June hath xxx days.

Boy, bring a Bowl of China here,
Fill it with Water cool and clear:
Decanter with Jamaica right,
And Spoon of Silver clean and bright,
Sugar twice-fin’d, in pieces cut,
Knife, Sieve and Glass, in order put,
Bring forth the fragrant Fruit, and then
We’re happy till the Clock strikes Ten.

  A Traveller should have a hog’s nose, deer’s legs, and an ass’s back.
  At the working man’s house hunger looks in but dares not enter.
  A good Lawyer a bad Neighbour.
V Mon. July hath xxxi days.

Impudent Jack, who now lives by his Shifts,
Borrowing of Driblets, boldly begging Gifts;
For Twenty Shillings lent him t’other Day
(By one who ne’er expected he would pay)
On his Friend’s Paper fain a Note wou’d write;
His Friend, as needless, did refuse it quite;
Paper was scarce, and ’twas too hard, it’s true,
To part with Cash, and lose his Paper too.

Certainlie these things agree,
The Priest, the Lawyer, and Death all three:
Death takes both the weak and the strong.
The lawyer takes from both right and wrong,
And the priest from living and dead has his Fee.

  The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.
VI Mon. August hath xxxi days.

On his Death-bed poor Lubin lies;
His Spouse is in Despair;
With frequent Sobs, and mutual Cries,
They both express their Care.
A diff’rent Cause, says Parson Sly,
The same Effect may give;
Poor Lubin fears that he shall die;
His Wife, that he may live.

  Don’t misinform your Doctor nor your Lawyer.

I never saw an oft-transplanted tree,
Nor yet an oft-removed family,
That throve so well as those that settled be.

VII Mon. September hath xxx days.

To-morrow you’ll reform, you always cry;
In what far Country does this Morrow lie,
That ’tis so mighty long e’er it arrive?
Beyond the Indies does this Morrow live?
’Tis so far-fetch’d, this Morrow, that I fear,
’Twill be both very old, and very dear.
To-morrow I’ll reform, the Fool does say:
To day it self’s too late; the Wise did yesterday.

  Let the Letter stay for the Post, and not the Post for the Letter.
  Three good meals a day is bad living.

  Tis better leave for an enemy at one’s death, than beg of a friend in one’s life.

To whom thy secret thou dost tell,
To him thy freedom thou dost sell.

  VIII Mon. October hath xxxi days.

On T.T. who destroy’d his Landlord’s fine Wood.
Indulgent Nature to each kind bestows,
A secret Instinct to discern its Foes:
The Goose, a silly Bird, avoids the Fox;
Lambs fly from Wolves; and Sailors steer from rocks;
A Rogue the Gallows, as his Fate, foresees,
And bears the like Antipathy to Trees.

  If you’d have a Servant that you like, serve your self.
  He that pursues two Hares at once, does not catch one and lets t’other go.
  If you want a neat wife, chuse her on a Saturday.
  If you have time dont wait for time.
IX Mon. November hath xxx days.

You say you’ll spend Five hundred Pound
The World and Men to know,
And take a Tour all Europe round,
Improving as you go.
Dear Sam, in search of others Sense,
Discover not your own;
But wisely double the Expence
That you may pass unknown.

Tell a miser he’s rich, and a woman she’s old, you’ll get no money of one, nor kindness of t’other.
  Don’t go to the doctor with every distemper, nor to the lawyer with every quarrel, nor to the pot for every thirst.

X Mon. December hath xxxi days.

Women are Books, and Men the Readers be,
Who sometimes in those Books Erratas see;
Yet oft the Reader’s raptur’d with each Line,
Fair Print and Paper fraught with Sense divine;
Tho’ some neglectful seldom care to read,
And faithful Wives no more than Bibles heed.
Are Women Books? says Hodge, then would mine were
An Almanack, to change her every Year.

  The Creditors are a superstitious sect, great observers of set days and times.
  The noblest question in the world is What Good may I do in it?
  Nec sibi, sed toto, genitum se credere mundo.
  Nothing so popular as Goodness.

    Of the Eclipses, 1737.
There will be four Eclipses this Year, two of the Sun and two of the Moon.
The first is a great and visible Eclipse of the Sun, Feb. 18. beginning at 8 h. 1 m. A.M. middle at 9 h. 11 m. end at 10 h. 20 m. Digits eclipsed near nine, on the upper side of the Sun.
The second is of the Moon, March 5. at 10 h. 34 m. in the morning, therefore invisible here.
The third is of the Sun, Aug. 14. at 7 h. 30 m. P.M. invisible also.
The fourth is a visible Defect of the Moon, Aug. 28. beginning 9 h. 40 m. P.M. the middle at 10 h. 51 m. End near midnight. Digits eclipsed five and a quarter.
In my last, on the second Eclipse which was of the Moon, March 1736, celebrated in ♎ or the Balance, I hinted, That Germany would be weighed and found wanting. The Course of the Year (I speak without Boasting) has verified that Prediction; for that Empire now weighed in the Balance of Europe, is found to want two Kingdoms, to wit Naples and Sicily. May the Doubts I expressed concerning the Empire itself, prove groundless as to Germany, and be verified in the Turkish Dominion. Tekel, Peres.
In my last I published some Enigmatical Prophecies, which I did not expect any one would take for serious Predictions. The Explanation I promised, follows, viz.
1. The Water of the Sea and Rivers is raised in Vapours by the Sun, is form’d into Clouds in the Air, and thence descends in Rain. Now when there is Rain overhead, (which frequently happens when the Wind is at N.E.) the Cities and Places on the Earth below, are certainly under Water.
2. The Power with which we were not then at War, but which, it was said, would take many full laden Vessels out of our Ports before the End of the Year, is The Wind, whose Forces also are not descried either coming or going.
3. The Army which it was said would land in Virginia, Maryland, and the Lower Counties on Delaware, were not Musketeers with Guns on their Shoulders as some expected; but their Namesakes, in Pronunciation, tho’ truly spelt Moschitos, arm’d only with a sharp Sting. Every one knows they are Fish before they fly, being bred in the Water; and therefore may properly be said to land before they become generally troublesome.

A Wonderful Prophecy
For January 1737, which consists entirely of odd Figures.

E’er of this odd odd Year one Month has roll’d,
What Wonders, Reader, shall the World behold!
Four Kings with mighty Force shall Albion’s Isle
Infest with Wars and Tumults for a while;
Then some shall unexpected Treasures gain,
While some mourn o’er an empty Purse in vain:
And many a christian’s Heart shall ake for Fear,
When they the dreadful Sound of Trump shall hear.
Dead Bones shall then be tumbled up and down,
In every City and in every Town.


Title: The Drinker’s Dictionary, 13 January 1737
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

In his Silence Dogood Letter, No. 12 (see above, I, 39) Franklin listed nineteen terms signifying drunkenness. Fifteen of them, some with slight changes, appear in The Drinker’s Dictionary. This congruity is the principal reason for attributing the piece to Franklin.

Nothing more like a Fool than a drunken Man. Poor Richard.
  ’Tis an old Remark, that Vice always endeavours to assume the Appearance of Virtue: Thus Covetousness calls itself Prudence; Prodigality would be thought Generosity; and so of others. This perhaps arises hence, that, Mankind naturally and universally approve Virtue in their Hearts, and detest Vice; and therefore, whenever thro’ Temptation they fall into a Practice of the latter, they would if possible conceal it from themselves as well as others, under some other Name than that which properly belongs to it.
But Drunkenness is a very unfortunate Vice in this respect. It bears no kind of Similitude with any sort of Virtue, from which it might possibly borrow a Name; and is therefore reduc’d to the wretched Necessity of being express’d by distant round-about Phrases, and of perpetually varying those Phrases, as often as they come to be well understood to signify plainly that a Man is drunk.
Tho’ every one may possibly recollect a Dozen at least of the Expressions us’d on this Occasion, yet I think no one who has not much frequented Taverns would imagine the number of them so great as it really is. It may therefore surprize as well as divert the sober Reader, to have the Sight of a new Piece, lately communicated to me, entitled

The Drinkers Dictionary.

  A
He is Addled,
He’s casting up his Accounts,
He’s Afflicted,
He’s in his Airs.

B
He’s Biggy,
Bewitch’d,
Block and Block,
Boozy,
Bowz’d,
Been at Barbadoes,
Piss’d in the Brook,
Drunk as a Wheel-Barrow,
Burdock’d,
Buskey,
Buzzey,
Has Stole a Manchet out of the Brewer’s Basket,
His Head is full of Bees,
Has been in the Bibbing Plot,
Has drank more than he has bled,
He’s Bungey,
As Drunk as a Beggar,
He sees the Bears,
He’s kiss’d black Betty,
He’s had a Thump over the Head with Sampson’s Jawbone,
He’s Bridgey.
C
He’s Cat,
Cagrin’d,
Capable,
Cramp’d,
Cherubimical,
Cherry Merry,
Wamble Crop’d,
Crack’d,
Concern’d,
Half Way to Concord,
Has taken a Chirriping-Glass,
Got Corns in his Head,
A Cup too much,
Coguy,
Copey,
He’s heat his Copper,
He’s Crocus,
Catch’d,
He cuts his Capers,
He’s been in the Cellar,
He’s in his Cups,
Non Compos,
Cock’d,
Curv’d,
Cut,
Chipper,
Chickery,
Loaded his Cart,
He’s been too free with the Creature,
Sir Richard has taken off his Considering Cap,
He’s Chap-fallen.
D
He’s Disguiz’d,
He’s got a Dish,
Kill’d his Dog,
Took his Drops,
It is a Dark Day with him,
He’s a Dead Man,

Has Dipp’d his Bill,
He’s Dagg’d,
He’s seen the Devil.
E
He’s Prince Eugene,
Enter’d,
Wet both Eyes,
Cock Ey’d,
Got the Pole Evil,
Got a brass Eye,
Made an Example,
He’s Eat a Toad and half for Breakfast,
In his Element.
F
He’s Fishey,
Fox’d,
Fuddled,
Sore Footed,
Frozen,
Well in for ’t,
Owes no Man a Farthing,
Fears no Man,
Crump Footed,
Been to France,
Flush’d,
Froze his Mouth,
Fetter’d,
Been to a Funeral,
His Flag is out,
Fuzl’d,
Spoke with his Friend,
Been at an Indian Feast.
G
He’s Glad,
   Groatable,
Gold-headed,
Glaiz’d,
Generous,
Booz’d the Gage,
As Dizzy as a Goose,
Been before George,
Got the Gout,
Had a Kick in the Guts,
Been with Sir John Goa,
Been at Geneva,
Globular,
Got the Glanders.
H
Half and Half,
Hardy,
Top Heavy,
Got by the Head,
Hiddey,
Got on his little Hat,
Hammerish,
Loose in the Hilts,
Knows not the way Home,
Got the Hornson,
Haunted with Evil Spirits,
Has Taken Hippocrates grand Elixir.
I
He’s Intoxicated,
Jolly,
Jagg’d,
Jambled,
Going to Jerusalem,
Jocular,
Been to Jerico,
Juicy.

K
He’s a King,
Clips the King’s English,
Seen the French King,
The King is his Cousin,
Got Kib’d Heels,
Knapt,
Het his Kettle.
L
He’s in Liquor,
Lordly,
He makes Indentures with his Leggs,
Well to Live,
Light,
Lappy,
Limber.
M
He sees two Moons,
Merry,
Middling,
Moon-Ey’d,
Muddled,
Seen a Flock of Moons,
Maudlin,
Mountous,
Muddy,
Rais’d his Monuments,
Mellow.
N
He’s eat the Cocoa Nut,
   Nimptopsical,
Got the Night Mare.
O
He’s Oil’d,
Eat Opium,
Smelt of an Onion,
Oxycrocium,
Overset.
P
He drank till he gave up his Half-Penny,
Pidgeon Ey’d,
Pungey,
Priddy,
As good conditioned as a Puppy,
Has Scalt his Head Pan,
Been among the Philistines,
In his Prosperity,
He’s been among the Philippians,
He’s contending with Pharaoh,
Wasted his Paunch,
He’s Polite,
Eat a Pudding Bagg.
Q
He’s Quarrelsome.
R
He’s Rocky,
Raddled,
Rich,
Religious,
Lost his Rudder,
Ragged,
Rais’d,

Been too free with Sir Richard,
Like a Rat in Trouble.
S
He’s Stitch’d,
Seafaring,
In the Sudds,
Strong,
Been in the Sun,
As Drunk as David’s Sow
Swampt,
His Skin is full,
He’s Steady,
He’s Stiff,
He’s burnt his Shoulder,
He’s got his Top Gallant Sails out,
Seen the yellow Star,
As Stiff as a Ring-bolt,
Half Seas over,
His Shoe pinches him,
Staggerish,
It is Star-light with him,
He carries too much Sail,
Stew’d,
Stubb’d,
Soak’d,
Soft,
Been too free with Sir John Strawberry,
He’s right before the Wind with all his Studding Sails out,
Has Sold his Senses.
T
He’s Top’d,
Tongue-ty’d,
Tann’d,
Tipium Grove,
Double Tongu’d,
Topsy Turvey,
Tipsey,
Has Swallow’d a Tavern Token,
He’s Thaw’d,
He’s in a Trance,
He’s Trammel’d.
V
He makes Virginia Fence, Valiant,
Got the Indian Vapours.
W
The Malt is above the Water,
He’s Wise,
He’s Wet,
He’s been to the Salt Water,
He’s Water-soaken,
He’s very Weary,
   Out of the Way.
The Phrases in this Dictionary are not (like most of our Terms of Art) borrow’d from Foreign Languages, neither are they collected from the Writings of the Learned in our own, but gather’d wholly from the modern Tavern-Conversation of Tiplers. I do not doubt but that there are many more in use; and I was even tempted to add a new one my self under the Letter B, to wit, Brutify’d: But upon Consideration, I fear’d being guilty of Injustice to the Brute Creation, if I represented Drunkenness as a beastly Vice, since, ’tis well-known, that the Brutes are in general a very sober sort of People.


Title: Philadelphia Post Office Record Books, 1737–53
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

“In 1737,” Franklin wrote in his autobiography, “Col. Spotswood, late Governor of Virginia, and then Post-master, General, being dissatisfied with the Conduct of his Deputy at Philadelphia, respecting some Negligence in rendering, and Inexactitude of his Accounts, took from him the Commission and offered it to me. I accepted it readily, and found it of great Advantage.” Franklin’s commission has not been found and the exact date of his appointment has not been determined. The earliest entries in his surviving record books are dated October 5, 1737, and the Gazette of October 6 advertises goods “to be sold by B. Franklin at the Post-Office in Market Street”, so it may be assumed that he began his new duties early in October 1737. He held the office until he was commissioned (with William Hunter) joint deputy postmaster general for North America in 1753. The last date entered in his surviving Philadelphia post office records is June 19, 1753.
Among the Franklin Papers in the American Philosophical Society are seven record books which Franklin kept for the business of the local Philadelphia post office. None of them shows his accountings with Spotswood or later deputy postmasters general; all concern his local operations. Since postage was rarely prepaid in the eighteenth century, the addressee was almost always liable for the charge. Small change was scarce and the postmaster had to extend credit to the many individuals and business firms in his area for whom letters arrived in his office. Most of Franklin’s books are therefore the records of the letters received and the charges entered against their addressees. The thousands of entries are individually of no historical importance and are not reproduced here; rather, each book is described in sufficient detail to make clear its nature and to suggest the light it may shed on Franklin’s operations as postmaster at Philadelphia.
1. Post Office Ledger, No. 1, October 5, 1737–September 29, 1742. A thin volume of 92 unnumbered pages with thumb index, inscribed on the marbled cover “Post-Office Leidger No. 1.” More than 350 names are listed by their initial letters with dated entries after each name showing charges for letters received and notations of payment. While many individuals received only one letter each during these five years, others ran up substantial debts; the largest accumulated charge stands against the name of the merchant Peter Baynton for a total of £36 15s. 11d. which, like some others, was “Carry’d to New Ledger.”
2. Post Office Ledger, No. 2, September 29, 1742–June 19, 1753. A stout volume of 324 unnumbered pages with board covers and index tabs, inscribed on the first page “Philadelphia Sepr 29.1742 Sept B. Franklin,” above which is the notation “There is a Post Office Leidger preceding this, being a thin 8vo Book in Marble Cover.” This book carries on the record begun in No. 1 above. In a few instances, charges dated before September 29, 1742, are transferred individually; more often the accumulated debit total is brought over from the first ledger. The last charges entered are dated June 19, 1753. In most of the accounts which stretch over a considerable period subtotals of charges are entered from time to time, especially in 1743 and 1748 (see Nos. 3 and 4 below). Some accounts are marked “Paid,” others are struck through, presumably to indicate the same thing; but the great majority are noted at the bottom as “Carried to Leger E. fo.—,” or more briefly “L.E.,” followed by a folio number. These entries are explained by a memorandum at the back of the book, probably in William Temple Franklin’s hand: “Every Account is transfer’d to Leger E. Philadelphia: May 11th 1786.”
The extent to which postal business in eighteenth-century America operated on credit is indicated by the totals of these transfers. After sixteen years as postmaster of Philadelphia Franklin had nearly 700 outstanding and unpaid accounts for letters received entered in this ledger, totaling more than £800. Most of these debts were for small sums: thirteen men owed less than a shilling apiece, and two-thirds of all the accounts were for under 10 shillings. On the other hand, some individuals and firms allowed their postal debts to accumulate for very long periods and to reach surprisingly large totals. The longest and largest account was that of the merchant Israel Pemberton, which ran with no credit entries from November 8, 1739, to June 14, 1753, when it amounted to £80 15s. 6d. The columns of dates and figures are struck through, so one can assume that Pemberton eventually paid what he owed. The largest uncollected account transferred to Ledger E was that of William Vanderspiegle, another merchant, who ran up a debt of £56 16s. 1d. between 1741 and 1753; it was still unpaid in 1786. Altogether, 119 men owed more than £1 apiece, 19 of them more than £10.
Franklin, of course, was under obligation to transmit to the general postal authorities the money due for mail received in the Philadelphia office. In the absence of his accounts with the deputy postmaster general or the comptroller, we can merely assume that in his periodic accounting he entered the total due as a debit against himself, paid in whatever balance was owing, and hoped to reimburse himself from future collections. That he regarded the outstanding debts for letters received and delivered as money owing to himself personally is indicated by the fact that he transferred these accounts in 1786 to Ledger E, in which he also entered all other small debts accumulated during his personal business career and still unpaid. As an efficient businessman Franklin certainly tried to collect these postal debts, sometimes individually and as opportunity offered, again systematically and in organized fashion, as the next two record books show.
3. Post Office Accounts, November 1743. A small volume of 56 unnumbered pages with marbled paper covers inscribed on the first page “Post Office Accounts drawn out Nov. 1743.” There follows a list of 372 names, arranged by initial letters, opposite each of which is placed the sum due for letters received as shown at this time in the ledger described as No. 2 above. A slip of paper is attached to the inside back cover, on which Franklin wrote: “This Bundle contains two Books [i.e., this No. 3, and No. 4 described below], One with the Foot of the Post-Office Accounts as they stood when L. Evans posted them: The other as they stood when Jos. Kent posted them; Also a Number of Accounts drawn out, but not yet deliver’d.” Against nearly half of the names on this list are penciled notations of “dd Acct” (i.e., “delivered Account”), “Paid,” or both, or occasionally something else such as “dd Acct to his Boy,” “mischarged,” or “denyes the Acct.” The totals due, entered at the bottom of each page, amount to £417 2s. 8d. for the entire record, of which Franklin succeeded in collecting £42 9s. 3d. at this time.
4. Post Office Accounts, May 18, 1748. A volume of 68 unnumbered pages similar to No. 3, and clearly the second book referred to in the memorandum attached to No. 3. The first page is inscribed simply “Post Office Accounts,” but the date is shown by the first entry: “Mr. Wm. Allens Account to May 18 48 £65. 11. 10.” This book contains 656 names, with the amounts owed by each corresponding to the subtotals entered in May 1748 in the ledger described above as No. 2. The total of outstanding charges was £964 14s. 9d. As there are no penciled notations next to the names as in No. 3 above, it is impossible to determine how much Franklin collected at this time, although a few items are noted in ink as paid—one dated as late as April 16, 1764. A spot check of some of the entries with the corresponding ones in Ledger No. 2 suggests that very few of Franklin’s postal debtors paid up what they owed him in this effort of 1748.
5. List of Letters in the Post Office (c. 1741). A narrow volume of 52 unnumbered pages with thumb index, inscribed on the last page “A List of Letters in the Post-Office,” but without date. There are 680 names. No weights of letters or amounts of money due are entered with these names, but many of them are followed by “Philadel.,” “City,” “P.,” or “B.C.,” “C.C.,” “L.C.,” or “P.C.,” which stand for Bucks, Chester, Lancaster, or Philadelphia County respectively. A few note individual towns in Pennsylvania or nearby provinces, and others more distant places, such as “N. England,” “N. Jersey,” “Virginia,” or “S. Carolina,” and one is even marked “Ireland.” The names correspond in part, but only in part, with a list of some 775 individuals printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette, January 15, 1741, as the addressees of letters “which have been brought into the Post Office at Philadelphia, and remain unredeem’d.” Franklin warned that if they were not redeemed before March 25 following they would be “sent away as dead Letters to the General Post-Office.”
6. List of Letters, April 18, 1744. A small narrow booklet of 32 unnumbered pages dated at the top of the first page “1744. 18 April,” with 275 alphabetically arranged names, with corresponding figures indicating the weights in pennyweight and grains of one or more letters. Some entries also carry check marks. This list is presumably one of persons for whom letters had been received; it may have been prepared for a purpose similar to that of No. 5 above, but no comparable list of names was published in the Gazette. Some amounts, but not all, match entries in Ledger No. 2.
7. Post Office Book, May 25, 1748. A tall narrow volume of 372 pages, of which only the first 15 were originally numbered, inscribed on the first page “Post-Office Book, 1748, May 25.” Except for the last few pages, it constitutes a record of the mails received in, or dispatched from, Philadelphia between May 25, 1748, and July 23, 1752. The kind of information this book contains can be shown by summarizing the entries for the week commencing June 21, 1749. On that day the post rider arrived in Philadelphia from the north bringing twenty-five letters from Boston, four from Rhode Island, thirty from New York, and one “Way Letter” picked up along the route. The names of the addressees are listed, with the weight of each letter in pennyweight and grains given in one column, and this weight translated into the postal charge in shillings and pence in another column. Four of the letters were recorded as “free,” and two as prepaid; the total charges for the others add up to £6 5s. 6d. (Postage rates in the colonies were high.) On June 22 the post rider from the south arrived with ten letters from Williamsburg, twelve from Annapolis, and one from Boyd’s Hole on the Potomac. With one letter from Annapolis prepaid, the total charge to be collected from the addressees was £2 6s. 5d. On the same day Franklin sent the northern rider off on his return trip, with letters for Boston, New York, Rhode Island, Perth Amboy, and Trenton in his saddlebags. Franklin’s record of mail dispatched is shorter than that of mail received because he did not list individual addressees or the charges to be collected. Instead he entered for each destination the number of single-sheet, double-sheet, and triple-sheet letters, and the number of packets to be charged at the ounce rate. Then he added the total weight of mail for that town. Thus the mail for Boston on this day consisted of thirty single-sheet letters, nine double, and one triple, but no packets, for a total of 360 dwt. 16 grs. The mail for New York was made up of twenty-four single-sheet letters, nine double, no triple, and one packet, totaling 151 dwt. 8 grs., of which 6 dwt. had been paid for in advance. On June 27 the southern rider set off with nine letters for Annapolis and five for Williamsburg, recorded in the same way.

The northern post arrived and departed on a weekly schedule from April through November and on a biweekly schedule during the season of bad weather. The rider was commendably regular; except during the change-over periods between seasons he was a day late in reaching Philadelphia only eight times in more than four years. The southern post, which carried much less mail, operated at longer intervals and was much more irregular. At first the plan seems to have been that mail would reach Philadelphia once in about two weeks during the warmer months, but the rider by no means succeeded in meeting such a schedule. In 1750 he slowed down to an erratic monthly arrival in the summer, but managed to get back to a biweekly schedule with considerable success in 1751. In winter he put in an appearance in Philadelphia at intervals which varied from four weeks to as much as seven, and he sometimes brought very little mail when he did arrive. Philadelphia’s most important postal business during these years was clearly with the northern colonies.
Following the last regular entry in this volume and preceding some miscellaneous jottings and notes on the last few pages, appears a table listing by dates all mails received in Philadelphia from January 3, 1750, through June 19, 1753 (the last entry being about eleven months after the final entry in the main part of the book, and corresponding to the date of the latest entries in No. 2 above). In ruled columns there is recorded for each date the weight of mail received in Philadelphia that day, under the several headings of “Unpaid Letters,” “Paid Letters,” and “Forwarded Letters.” There are no daily totals, but there are totals for each category of mail for two entire years and again for the whole period. The last series shows that for the approximately three and a half years covered by the table the unpaid letters constituted 97.4 per cent by weight of all those received in Philadelphia, paid letters 1.8 per cent, and forwarded letters 0.8 per cent.
These seven bound volumes, which vary greatly in size and in detail, together with a few loose papers and fragmentary lists of little or no value, constitute the surviving records of Franklin’s service as postmaster of Philadelphia from 1737 to 1753. Inadequate as they are for a complete reconstruction of his operations, they do shed some light on the conduct of an important colonial post office in the middle of the eighteenth century, and indicate some of the problems Franklin faced during his tenure of the Philadelphia postmastership.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to James Logan, 1737
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Logan, James

[1737?]
Having read the Chapter on Moral Good or Virtue, with all the Attention I am Capable of, amidst the many little Cares that Continually infest me, I shall, as the Author Condescends to desire, give my Opinion of it, and that with all Sincerity and Freedom, neither apprehending the Imputation of Flattery on the one hand, nor that of Ill Manners on the other.
I think the Design excellent—and the Management of it in the Main, good; a short Summary of the Chapter plac’d at the Beginning, and little Summaries of each Paragraph in the Margin being only necessary, and what will in my Opinion sufficiently remove any Disgust that the Authors dilate Manner of Writing may give to some Readers; And the whole is so curious and entertaining, that I know not where any thing can be spared.
It seems to me that the Author is a little too severe upon Hobbes, whose Notion, I imagine, is somewhat nearer the Truth than that which makes the State of Nature a State of Love: But the Truth perhaps lies between both Extreams.
I think what is said upon Musick, might be enlarg’d to Advantage by showing that what principally makes a Tune agreeable, is the Conformity between its Air or Genius, and some Motion, Passion or Affection of the Mind, which the Tune imitates.
I should have been glad to have seen the Virtues enumerated, distinguish’d, and the proper Ideas affix’d to each Name; which I have not yet seen, scarce two Authors agreeing therein, some annexing more, others fewer and different Ideas to the Same Name. But I think there is some Incorrectness of Sentiment in what the Author has said of Temperance concerning which I have not time to explain myself in writing. [caetera desunt].


Title: Extracts from the Gazette, 1737
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

	Thursday Evening last [should be Wednesday, Dec. 29], the Weather being very cold and clear, we had a fair and surprizing Appearance of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Twilight. It was more red and luminous than that which we saw here about Six Years ago: Insomuch that People in the Southern Parts of the Town, imagin’d there was some House on Fire near the North End; and some ran to assist in extinguishing it. The following Account of this kind of Meteor taken from the Philosophical Transactions, perhaps may not be disagreeable to our Readers. [January 6]

	  On Thursday last Died here, after a lingring Illness, in the 51st Year of his Age, and on Saturday last was decently Interr’d, the Honourable Charles Read, Esq; of this Place. He was heretofore several Times elected Mayor, and Sheriff of this City, and one of the Representatives for the County; and ’till his Decease he held the Office of Judge of the Vice-Admiralty, one of the Council, one of the Commissioners of the Loan-Office, and several other Posts of Honour and Profit, in this Province, and Collector of the Port of Burlington in New-Jersey; always Discharging his respective Trusts with Applause, and has left behind him an excellent Character. [January 13]

	  Just Published, The Articles of Agreement made and concluded upon May 10. 1732, between the Right Honourable the Lord Proprietary of Maryland, and the Honourable the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania.... To which is prefixed a Map.... Printed and sold by B. Franklin, price 6d. [February 3]

	  There are several private Letters in Town from London, that mention the Appointment of Col. Thomas (a Gentleman of Antigua) to the Government of this Province. [May 19]

	  We hear from Burlington County, that on the 11th Inst. died there of a Stoppage in his Urine, Dr. John Browne, a Gentleman of singular Skill in the Profession of Surgery, which he practiced in those Parts many Years with great Success, and was well esteemed by all that knew him. [May 19]

	  The same Day [Monday last] arrived Capt. Farra, who has long been given over for lost. In his Voyage from Jamaica hither, he was cast away in Palachee Bay within Cape Florida, among the Cannibal Indians, who were extreamly kind and assisted in saving the Cargo, Rigging, &c. And News of the Wreck coming to Augustine, the Spaniards sent Periagua’s and other small Vessels round to take in what was sav’d, and bring it to that Port; where Capt. Farra hir’d a Rhode-Island Sloop to bring it hither. Had this English Vessel been forc’d ashore on the civil, polite, hospitable, christian, protestant Coast of Great-Britain, Query, Might they have expected kinder Treatment from their own Countrymen? [June 2]

	  We hear that on Monday Night last, some People pretending to be Free-Masons, got together in a Cellar with a young Man who was desirous of being made one, and in the Ceremony, ’tis said, they threw some burning Spirits upon him either accidentally or to terrify him, which burnt him so that he was oblig’d to take his Bed, and died this Morning. The Coroners inquest are now sitting on the Body. [June 16]

	  The Coroners Inquest on the Body of the young Man, mentioned in our last, found that his Death was occasioned by the burning Spirits thrown on him, but that, as far as it appeared to them by the Evidence they had, the Throwing those Spirits on him was accidental. ’Tis said however that since the Inquest, farther Evidence has been given to the Magistrates, that it was a voluntary Action. [June 23]

	  [Advertisement] Taken out of a Pew in the Church some Months since, a Common Prayer Book, bound in Red, gilt, and letter’d DF on each Corner. The Person who took it, is desir’d to open it and read the Eighth Commandment, and afterwards return it into the same Pew again; upon which no further Notice will be taken. [June 30]

	  Monday last, Sampson the Negro Man mentioned in our last, had his Tryal for burning the House near the President’s Country Seat. He made a long, artful and pathetick Defence, which wanted nothing to make it effectual but good English and Truth. The Evidence was too clear against him. He was found guilty and received Sentence of Death. [September 1]

	  [Advertisement] Cyphering Slates and Pencils, Aleppo Ink and Holman’s Ink-Powder, Linseed Oil, and Lampblack, sold by the Printer hereof. [September 8]

	  Just Published, A Treaty of Friendship held with the Chiefs of the Six Nations, at Philadelphia, in September and October, 1736. Printed and Sold by B. Franklin, price 8d. [September 22]

	  Just Published, Every Man his own Doctor, or, the Poor Planter’s Physician. Prescribing Plain and Easy Means for Persons to cure themselves of all, or most of the Distempers, incident to this Climate, and with very little Charge, the Medicines being chiefly of the Growth and Production of this Country. With a Postscript containing a new discover’d Method of curing the Pleurisy. Printed and Sold by the Printer hereof. Price One Shilling. [October 27]

	  Last Week Schich Sidi, the Eastern Prince arrived here, with his Attendants, and is treated with great Respect. ’Tis said he is recommended by His Majesty to the Charity of all good Christians. [November 3]

	  Notice is hereby given, that the Post-Office of Philadelphia, is now kept at B. Franklin’s in Market-Street. And that Henry Pratt is appointed Riding Post-Master for all the Stages between Philadelphia and Newpost in Virginia, who sets out about the Beginning of each Month, and returns in 24 Days, by whom Gentlemen, Merchants and others, may have their Letters, &c. carefully convey’d, and Business faithfully transacted, he having given good Security for the same to the Hon. Col. Spotswood, Post-Master General of all his Majesty’s Dominions in America. [November 3]

	  Just Published, Poor Richard’s Almanacks, For the Year 1738. Printed and Sold by the Printer hereof. [November 3]

	  Yesterday during the Fair, the House in which the eastern Prince lodges, took Fire, and alarm’d the Neighbourhood, but was soon extinguished. It was occasioned by a Fire left in the Chamber above that of the Prince, part of which Fire falling on the Floor had spread over a great Part of the Room, and occasion’d a great Heat in the Room below, by which Means it was discover’d. [November 17]

[Advertisement] A HONORARY Reward is proposed to any Cabalist, who shall demonstrate that the Letter Z contains more occult virtues than the Letter X.
A PECUNIARY Gratification is offered to any of the learned or unlearned, who shall Mathematically prove, that a Man’s having a Property in a Tract of Land, more or less, is thereby entitled to any Advantage, in point of understanding, over another Fellow, who has no other Estate, than “The Air——to breath in, THE Earth——to walk upon, and ALL THE Rivers OF THE World——to drink of.” [December 8]

	  [Advertisement] To be Sold by the Printer hereof, A Brief Narrative of the Case and Tryal of John Peter Zenger, Printer of the New- York Weekly-Journal. Price 2s. 6d. [December 8]

	  The Earthquake which surpriz’d us here on Wednesday Night the 7th Inst. was not felt at Annapolis in Maryland, but the Accounts we have from New-Castle on Delaware, represent the Shake to be nearly as violent there as here. We have not as yet heard of it from any Place farther to the Southward than New-Castle. But it was felt at Conestogoe near 100 Miles Westward of this City, where some Clouds at the same time were seen to waver, dance, disappear and appear again in an uncommon and surprizing manner. And all the Accounts we have hitherto received from the Northward, make us suspect that the most violent Shock was in that Quarter. Three or four Evenings successively after the Earthquake an unusual Redness appeared in the Western Sky and southwards, continuing about an hour after Sunset, gradually declining. It reach’d near 45 Degrees above the Horizon. [December 15]

	  Thursday last the Eastern Prince left this City, on board Capt. Loftus, bound for Barbadoes. [December 15]

	  We hear from Derby, that on Saturday Night last, a Woman there, was delivered of three Daughters, and all likely to live. [December 15]

	  [Advertisement] The Person who borrow’d B. Franklin’s Book of Laws of this Province, is desired to return it he having forgot to whom he lent it. [December 15]

Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin, Post-Master, at the New Printing-Office near the Market. Price 10s. a Year. Where Advertisements are taken in, and Book-Binding is done reasonably, in the best Manner.


Title: A Defense of Conduct, 15 February 1738
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To:

Dr. Evan Jones, “chymist” at the Golden Paracelsus’ Head in Philadelphia, had a simple-minded apprentice Daniel Rees, who thought he wanted to be a Mason. With several cronies, one a renegade Mason, Jones, thinking to have some agreeable sport, set up a burlesque initiation ceremony, complete with scandalous oath of allegiance to Satan. One John Tackerbury was responsible for the ceremony; John Remington, a lawyer, wrote the oath. In the garden of Jones’s house young Rees was “initiated” with meaningless, ludicrous, and obscene signs and ceremonies, pledging his loyalty to the Prince of Darkness, and drinking from a “sacramental” cup, which contained a strong purgative; “after which one of the Company indecently discovered his Posteriors, to which the Lad ... was led to kiss, as a Book to swear upon.” Jones and Remington enjoyed repeating their account of the affair. Franklin heard it, laughed heartily, and asked for a copy of the oath, which he showed and read to various friends in the ensuing days.
The “initiation” had been such fun that Jones invited a number of people to watch Rees receive another “degree” in Freemasonry on the evening of June 13, in the cellar of his (Jones’s) house. One Sullivan, dressed in a cow’s hide with horns, impersonated the devil. Through the bluish flames of a bowl of brandy, which the doctor lighted, the faces of those officiating appeared ghastly and hideous. Young Rees seems to have regarded the performance too stolidly for the amusement of his audience. Jones, to make things livelier and more frightening, raised the flaming bowl and, grimacing through the haze, approached the boy. Suddenly he threw, or accidentally spilled, the burning spirits, and Daniel Rees died of his burns two days later (see above, p. 187).

The news spread rapidly. The Masons immediately disavowed any connection with it or the participants. Franklin reported what he knew to the authorities. A coroner’s inquest found it only an unfortunate accident, but the grand jury, receiving evidence that Jones had thrown the spirits willfully, indicted him, Remington, and Tackerbury for murder. Andrew Bradford used the opportunity to attack the Masons: on August 4 the American Weekly Mercury printed an unfriendly article from a London journal.
At the trial in January 1738 Franklin appeared as a witness for the prosecution. Jones and Remington were found guilty of manslaughter; the first was burned in the hand and released; the latter was granted a limited pardon; while Tackerbury was acquitted. In a report of the attorney general’s pleading, a writer in the Pennsylvania Gazette, February 7, declared that the act that killed Rees was murder and should have been punished as such. To these strictures “C.D.” replied in the Mercury, February 14, reviewing the testimony at the trial and particularly calling attention to Franklin’s conduct. Franklin, he said, had read the blasphemous oath several days before the fatal June 13 and “was pleased to express his Approbation thereof by a most hearty Laughter, and in friendship desired to have the further perusal of it; which in several Companies he diverted himself with the Reading of, and being informed how D.R. had been initiated in the Garden, he candidly saluted him by the name of Brother, and to encourage him in it gave him a Sign, as they term it, and congratulated him on being admitted into the Brotherhood, and desired to have Notice to be present at the Diversion of Snap-Dragon.” To these charges Franklin replied in his own defense in the Gazette, February 15.

Some very false and scandalous Aspersions being thrown on me in the Mercury of Yesterday, with regard to Dr. Jones’s Affair, I find my self obliged to set that Matter in a true Light.
Sometime in June last, Mr. Danby, Mr. Alrihs, and my self were appointed by the Court of Common-Pleas, as Auditors to settle an Affair, between Dr. Jones and Armstrong Smith, then depending in said Court. We met accordingly at a Tavern in Market-Street on the Saturday Morning before the Tragedy was acted in the Doctor’s Cellar. Dr. Jones appeared, and R-------n as his Attorney, but Smith could not readily be found. While we waited for Smith, in order to hear both Parties together; the Doctor and R-----n began to entertain us with an Account of some Diversion they had lately had with the Dr’s. Apprentice, who being desirous of being made a Free-Mason, they had persuaded him they could make him one, and accordingly had taught him several ridiculous Signs, Words and Ceremonies, of which he was very fond. Tis true I laugh’d (and perhaps heartily, as my Manner is) at the Beginning of their Relation, but when they came to those Circumstances of their giving him a violent Purge, leading him to kiss T’s Posteriors, and administring to him the diabolical Oath which R------n read to us, I grew indeed serious, as I suppose the most merry Man (not enclin’d to Mischief) would on such an Occasion. Nor did any one of the Company, except the Doctor and R------n themselves, seem in the least pleas’d with the Affair, but the contrary. Mr. Danby in particular said, That if they had done such Things in England they would be prosecuted. Mr. Alrichs, That he did not believe they could stand by it. And my self, That when the Young Man came to know how he had been impos’d on, he would never forgive them. But the Doctor and R-------n went on to tell us, that they design’d to have yet some further Diversion, on pretence of raising him to a higher Degree in Masonry. Re------n said it was intended to introduce him blindfold and stripp’d into a Room where the Company being each provided with a Rod or Switch should chastize him smartly; which the Doctor oppos’d, and said He had a better Invention; they would have a Game at Snap-Dragon in a Dark Cellar, where some Figures should be dress’d up, that by the pale Light of Burning Brandy would appear horrible and frighten him d-----bly. Soon after which Discourse the young Man himself coming in to speak with his Master, the Doctor pointed at me, and said to him, Daniel, that Gentleman is a Free-Mason; make a Sign to him. Which whether he did or not, I cannot tell; for I was so far from encouraging him in the Delusion, or taking him by the Hand, or calling him Brother, and welcoming him into the Fraternity, as is said, that I turned my Head to avoid seeing him make his pretended Sign, and look’d out of the Window into the Garden: And all those Circumstances, with that of my desiring to have Notice that I might be present at the Snap-Dragon, are absolutely false and groundless. I was acquainted with, and had a Respect for the young Lad’s Father, and thought it a Pity his Son should be so impos’d upon, and therefore follow’d the Lad down Stairs to the Door when he went out, with a Design to call him back and give him a Hint of the Imposition; but he was gone out of sight and I never saw him afterwards; for the Monday Night following, the Affair in the Cellar was transacted which prov’d his Death. As to the Paper or Oath, I did desire R------n when he had read it to let me see it; and finding it a Piece of a very extraordinary Nature, I told him I was desirous to shew it to some of my Acquaintance, and so put it in my Pocket. I communicated it to one, who mention’d it to others, and so many People flock’d to my House for a Sight of it, that it grew troublesome, and therefore when the Mayor sent for it, I was glad of the Opportunity to be discharg’d from it. Nor do I yet conceive that it was my Duty to conceal or destroy it. And being subpena’d on the Tryal as a Witness for the King, I appear’d and gave my Evidence fully, freely and impartially, as I think it becomes an honest Man to do. And I may call every one to whom I read that Paper, to witness, that I always accompanied it with Expressions of Detestation. This being the true State of the Case, I think I may reasonably hope, that I am so well known in this City, where I have liv’d near 14 Years, as that the false and malicious Insinuations contain’d in the Mercury, will not do the Injury to my Reputation that seems intended.
B. Franklin
⁂P.S. I suppose A.B. will answer for himself.

We whose Names are hereunto subscribed, do certify, That we were present at the Time and Place above-mentioned, when Dr. Jones and J---n R-------n related their Proceedings with Daniel R--s; and we do very well remember, that they were not countenanc’d or encourag’d by any Person present, but the contrary. And that Benjamin Franklin in particular did speak against it, and did neither approve of what had been already done (as related by the Doctor and R---------n) nor desire to be present at what was propos’d to be farther done with the said Daniel R--s, as is falsly insinuated in Mr. Bradford’s last Mercury. And this we declare sincerely and freely, without any other Motive than the Desire of doing Justice to the Reputation of the said Benjamin Franklin. Witness our Hands, this 15th Day of February, 1737, 8.
John Danby,Harmanus Alrihs

The above-named John Danby being sworn upon the Holy Evangelists, and Harmanus Alrihs being duly affirmed, on their respective Qualifications did declare, that the Contents of the above Certificate were true.
Sworn and affirm’d Before me, this 15th of February, 1737, 8.
William Allen


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Josiah and Abiah Franklin, 13 April 1738
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Franklin, Josiah,Franklin, Abiah

Honour’d Father and Mother
April 13. 1738
I have your Favour of the 21st of March in which you both seem concern’d lest I have imbib’d some erroneous Opinions. Doubtless I have my Share, and when the natural Weakness and Imperfection of Human Understanding is considered, with the unavoidable Influences of Education, Custom, Books and Company, upon our Ways of thinking, I imagine a Man must have a good deal of Vanity who believes, and a good deal of Boldness who affirms, that all the Doctrines he holds, are true; and all he rejects, are false. And perhaps the same may be justly said of every Sect, Church and Society of men when they assume to themselves that Infallibility which they deny to the Popes and Councils. I think Opinions should be judg’d of by their Influences and Effects; and if a Man holds none that tend to make him less Virtuous or more vicious, it may be concluded he holds none that are dangerous; which I hope is the Case with me. I am sorry you should have any Uneasiness on my Account, and if it were a thing possible for one to alter his Opinions in order to please others, I know none whom I ought more willingly to oblige in that respect than your selves: But since it is no more in a Man’s Power to think than to look like another, methinks all that should be expected from me is to keep my Mind open to Conviction, to hear patiently and examine attentively whatever is offered me for that end; and if after all I continue in the same Errors, I believe your usual Charity will induce you rather to pity and excuse than blame me. In the mean time your Care and Concern for me is what I am very thankful for.

As to the Freemasons, unless she will believe me when I assure her that they are in general a very harmless sort of People; and have no principles or Practices that are inconsistent with Religion or good Manners, I know no Way of giving my Mother a better Opinion of them than she seems to have at present, (since it is not allow’d that Women should be admitted into that secret Society). She has, I must confess, on that Account, some reason to be displeas’d with it; but for any thing else, I must entreat her to suspend her Judgment till she is better inform’d, and in the mean time exercise her Charity.
My Mother grieves that one of her Sons is an Arian, another an Arminian. What an Arminian or an Arian is, I cannot say that I very well know; the Truth is, I make such Distinctions very little my Study; I think vital Religion has always suffer’d, when Orthodoxy is more regarded than Virtue. And the Scripture assures me, that at the last Day, we shall not be examin’d what we thought, but what we did; and our Recommendation will not be that we said Lord, Lord, but that we did good to our Fellow Creatures. See Matth. 26.
We have had great Rains here lately, which with the Thawing of Snow in the Mountains back of our Country has made vast Floods in our Rivers, and by carrying away Bridges, Boats, &c. made travelling almost impracticable for a Week past, so that our Post has entirely mist making one Trip.
I know nothing of Dr. Crook, nor can I learn that any such Person has ever been here.
I hope my Sister Janey’s Child is by this time recovered. I am Your dutiful Son
B F


Title: Agreement of Directors of Library Company, 22 May 1738
From: Directors of Library Company
To:

[May 22, 1738]
We the Subscribers, Directors of the Library Company for the current Year, do agree to attend all our appointed Meetings, at ½ an Hour past Eight in the Evening until the first Meeting in August inclusive, And from that Time ’till November at Eight in the Evening And from that Time ’till May ensuing at Seven in the Evening, And that for every Failure we will each of us pay to the rest One Shilling. Witness our Hands hereto the Twenty second Day of May 1738.

B Franklin
Wm. Coleman

T. Cadwalader
Hugh Roberts

Thos. Hopkinson 1738
Will: Allen

Alex: Graydon
Richard Peters

  May 22nd. Absent PS. WPl.
  June 12th. Absent WA. RP. TC.
  July 10th. Absent TC. AG. HR. WA. WP.
  Augst. 14. Absent WA. RP. HR. and PS.
  Septr. 11. Absent WA. RP. HR. AG. WP. WC. and tardy BF.
  Octobr. 9. Absent WA. WC. WP. HR.
  Novr. 13. Absent WA. HR. RP. AG. PS. and WC. the last being gone for England.

  Decr. 11. Absent WA. and RP.
  Janry. 8. Absent WA. WP. AG. and TH.
  Febry. 12. Absent WA. WP. AG. and PS.
  March 12. Absent WA. RP. BF. HR, and tardy SR.
  1739
  April 9. Absent WA. RP. HR. and AG.
  May 7th. Absent WA. RP.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to Josiah Franklin, [May 1738?]
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Franklin, Josiah

Honoured Father
[May? 1738]
I received your kind Letter of the 4th of May in answer to mine of April 13. I wrote that of mine with a Design to remove or lessen the Uneasiness you and my Mother appear’d to be under on Account of my Principles; and it gave me great Pleasure when she declar’d in her next to me that she approv’d of my Letter and was now satisfy’d with me.


Title: From Benjamin Franklin to John Ladd, 12 June 1738
From: Franklin, Benjamin
To: Ladd, John

Sir
June 12, 1738
I send you the Ladies Library and the other two Vols. of Don Quixote.
The Homers I have are done by Pope. The Iliads are in 6 Vols. 12mo price 45s. The Odysseys 5 Vols. 12mo price 37s. 6d. I will not part with them till I hear from you. I am Sir Your most humble Servant
B. Franklin


Title: Directors of Library Company to John Penn, 8 August 1738
From: Directors of Library Company
To: Penn, John

   MS Minute Book: Library Company of Philadelphia

Honourable Sir,
Philadelphia August 8th. 1738.
The Library Company of Philadelphia beg leave to return their most hearty Thanks for your noble Benefaction of an Air Pump with its costly and curious Apparatus.
Useful and necessary as that excellent Invention must be to a Society whose View is the Improvement of Knowledge, we might have been long without this Advantage if your judicious Generosity had not come in to our Assistance.
It gives us great Pleasure that the Proprietary Family so many other Ways endeared to us, are so early and in so iminent a Manner the particular Benefactors of our Society; the honorable your Brother having not long since bestowed on us a valuable and well-situated Lot of Ground for the Conveniency of a Library Room and Garden.
Permit us to accompany our thankful Acknowlegements of these Favours, with our sincere Assurances of doing all that lies in our Power to merit the Continuance of your Regards.

William Allen,
Thos. Hopkinson,

Alexr. Graydon,
Wm. Plumstead,

Thos. Cadwalader,
Wm. Coleman,

B. Franklin,
Hugh Roberts,

Richard Peters,
Philip Syng Jnr.


Title: To Benjamin Franklin from Joseph Morgan, 11 October 1738
From: Morgan, Joseph
To: Franklin, Benjamin

Mr. Franklin
Octobr 11. [1738]
Please to fasten this to the Manuscript of Philosophy.
And if it be gone, be so kind as to inclose it to the Royal Society by another Ship. You will oblige Your Friend and Servant
Joseph Morgan
  Addressed: Mr Benjamin Franklin  Post Master in  Philadelphia  A Second