Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

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I mention'd, but without effect, the great and unexpected expense I
had been put to by being detain'd so long at New York, as a reason for
my desiring to be presently paid; and on my observing that it was not
right I should be put to any further trouble or delay in obtaining the
money I had advanc'd, as I charged no commission for my service, "O,
Sir," says he, "you must not think of persuading us that you are no
gainer; we understand better those affairs, and know that every one
concerned in supplying the army finds means, in the doing it, to fill
his own pockets." I assur'd him that was not my case, and that I had
not pocketed a farthing; but he appear'd clearly not to believe me;
and, indeed, I have since learnt that immense fortunes are often made
in such employments. As to my balance, I am not paid it to
this day, of which more hereafter.

Our captain of the paquet had boasted much, before we sailed, of the
swiftness of his ship; unfortunately, when we came to sea, she proved
the dullest of ninety-six sail, to his no small mortification. After
many conjectures respecting the cause, when we were near another ship
almost as dull as ours, which, however, gain'd upon us, the captain
ordered all hands to come aft, and stand as near the ensign staff as
possible. We were, passengers included, about forty persons. While we
stood there, the ship mended her pace, and soon left her neighbour far
behind, which prov'd clearly what our captain suspected, that she was
loaded too much by the head. The casks of water, it seems, had been
all plac'd forward; these he therefore order'd to be mov'd further
aft, on which the ship recover'd her character, and proved the best
sailer in the fleet.

The captain said she had once gone at the rate of thirteen knots,
which is accounted thirteen miles per hour. We had on board, as a
passenger, Captain Kennedy, of the Navy, who contended that it was
impossible, and that no ship ever sailed so fast, and that there must
have been some error in the division of the log-line, or some mistake
in heaving the log.[115] A wager ensu'd between the two captains, to be
decided when there should be sufficient wind. Kennedy thereupon
examin'd rigorously the log-line, and, being satisfi'd with that, he
determin'd to throw the log himself. Accordingly some days after, when
the wind blew very fair and fresh, and the captain of the
paquet, Lutwidge, said he believ'd she then went at the rate of
thirteen knots, Kennedy made the experiment, and own'd his wager lost.

[115] A piece of wood shaped and weighted so as to keep it
stable when in the water. To this is attached a line
knotted at regular distances. By these devices it is
possible to tell the speed of a ship.

The above fact I give for the sake of the following observation. It
has been remark'd, as an imperfection in the art of ship-building,
that it can never be known, till she is tried, whether a new ship will
or will not be a good sailer; for that the model of a good-sailing
ship has been exactly follow'd in a new one, which has prov'd, on the
contrary, remarkably dull. I apprehend that this may partly be
occasion'd by the different opinions of seamen respecting the modes of
lading, rigging, and sailing of a ship; each has his system; and the
same vessel, laden by the judgment and orders of one captain, shall
sail better or worse than when by the orders of another. Besides, it
scarce ever happens that a ship is form'd, fitted for the sea, and
sail'd by the same person. One man builds the hull, another rigs her,
a third lades and sails her. No one of these has the advantage of
knowing all the ideas and experience of the others, and, therefore,
cannot draw just conclusions from a combination of the whole.

Even in the simple operation of sailing when at sea, I have often
observ'd different judgments in the officers who commanded the
successive watches, the wind being the same. One would have the sails
trimm'd sharper or flatter than another, so that they seem'd to have
no certain rule to govern by. Yet I think a set of experiments might
be instituted; first, to determine the most proper form of the hull
for swift sailing; next, the best dimensions and properest place for
the masts; then the form and quantity of sails, and their position, as
the wind may be; and, lastly, the disposition of the lading. This is
an age of experiments, and I think a set accurately made and combin'd
would be of great use. I am persuaded, therefore, that ere long some
ingenious philosopher will undertake it, to whom I wish success.

[Illustration: Sailing ship]

We were several times chas'd in our passage, but out-sail'd every
thing, and in thirty days had soundings. We had a good observation,
and the captain judg'd himself so near our port, Falmouth, that, if we
made a good run in the night, we might be off the mouth of that harbor
in the morning, and by running in the night might escape the notice of
the enemy's privateers, who often cruis'd near the entrance of the
channel. Accordingly, all the sail was set that we could possibly
make, and the wind being very fresh and fair, we went right before it,
and made great way. The captain, after his observation, shap'd his
course, as he thought, so as to pass wide of the Scilly Isles; but it
seems there is sometimes a strong indraught setting up St. George's
Channel, which deceives seamen and caused the loss of Sir Cloudesley
Shovel's squadron. This indraught was probably the cause of what
happened to us.

We had a watchman plac'd in the bow, to whom they often called, "_Look
well out before there_," and he as often answered, "_Ay, ay_"; but
perhaps had his eyes shut, and was half asleep at the time, they
sometimes answering, as is said, mechanically; for he did not see a
light just before us, which had been hid by the studding-sails from
the man at the helm, and from the rest of the watch, but by an
accidental yaw of the ship was discover'd, and occasion'd a great
alarm, we being very near it, the light appearing to me as big as a
cartwheel. It was midnight, and our captain fast asleep; but Captain
Kennedy, jumping upon deck, and seeing the danger, ordered the ship to
wear round, all sails standing; an operation dangerous to the masts,
but it carried us clear, and we escaped shipwreck, for we were running
right upon the rocks on which the lighthouse was erected. This
deliverance impressed me strongly with the utility of lighthouses, and
made me resolve to encourage the building more of them in America if I
should live to return there.

In the morning it was found by the soundings, etc., that we were near
our port, but a thick fog hid the land from our sight. About nine
o'clock the fog began to rise, and seem'd to be lifted up from the
water like the curtain at a play-house, discovering underneath, the
town of Falmouth, the vessels in its harbor, and the fields that
surrounded it. This was a most pleasing spectacle to those who had
been so long without any other prospects than the uniform view of a
vacant ocean, and it gave us the more pleasure as we were now free
from the anxieties which the state of war occasion'd.

I set out immediately, with my son, for London, and we only stopt a
little by the way to view Stonehenge[116] on Salisbury Plain, and Lord
Pembroke's house and gardens, with his very curious antiquities at
Wilton. We arrived in London the 27th of July, 1757.[117]

[116] A celebrated prehistoric ruin, probably of a temple
built by the early Britons, near Salisbury, England. It
consists of inner and outer circles of enormous stones,
some of which are connected by stone slabs.

[117] "Here terminates the _Autobiography_, as published
by Wm. Temple Franklin and his successors. What follows
was written in the last year of Dr. Franklin's life, and
was never before printed in English."--Mr. Bigelow's
note in his edition of 1868.

As soon as I was settled in a lodging Mr. Charles had provided for me,
I went to visit Dr. Fothergill, to whom I was strongly recommended,
and whose counsel respecting my proceedings I was advis'd to obtain.
He was against an immediate complaint to government, and thought the
proprietaries should first be personally appli'd to, who might
possibly be induc'd by the interposition and persuasion of some
private friends, to accommodate matters amicably. I then waited on my
old friend and correspondent, Mr. Peter Collinson, who told me that
John Hanbury, the great Virginia merchant, had requested to be
informed when I should arrive, that he might carry me to Lord
Granville's,[118] who was then President of the Council and wished to
see me as soon as possible. I agreed to go with him the next morning.
Accordingly Mr. Hanbury called for me and took me in his carriage to
that nobleman's, who receiv'd me with great civility; and after some
questions respecting the present state of affairs in America and
discourse thereupon, he said to me: "You Americans have wrong ideas of
the nature of your constitution; you contend that the king's
instructions to his governors are not laws, and think yourselves at
liberty to regard or disregard them at your own discretion. But those
instructions are not like the pocket instructions given to a minister
going abroad, for regulating his conduct in some trifling point of
ceremony. They are first drawn up by judges learned in the laws; they
are then considered, debated, and perhaps amended in Council, after
which they are signed by the king. They are then, so far as they
relate to you, the _law of the land_, for the king is the Legislator
of the Colonies,"[119] I told his lordship this was new doctrine to me.
I had always understood from our charters that our laws were to be
made by our Assemblies, to be presented indeed to the king for his
royal assent, but that being once given the king could not repeal or
alter them. And as the Assemblies could not make permanent laws
without his assent, so neither could he make a law for them without
theirs. He assur'd me I was totally mistaken. I did not think so,
however, and his lordship's conversation having a little alarm'd me as
to what might be the sentiments of the court concerning us, I wrote it
down as soon as I return'd to my lodgings. I recollected that about 20
years before, a clause in a bill brought into Parliament by the
ministry had propos'd to make the king's instructions laws in the
colonies, but the clause was thrown out by the Commons, for which we
adored them as our friends and friends of liberty, till by their
conduct towards us in 1765 it seem'd that they had refus'd that point
of sovereignty to the king only that they might reserve it for
themselves.

[118] George Granville or Grenville (1712-1770). As
English premier from 1763 to 1765, he introduced the
direct taxation of the American Colonies and has
sometimes been called the immediate cause of the
Revolution.

[119] This whole passage shows how hopelessly divergent
were the English and American views on the relations
between the mother country and her colonies. Grenville
here made clear that the Americans were to have no voice
in making or amending their laws. Parliament and the
king were to have absolute power over the colonies. No
wonder Franklin was alarmed by this new doctrine. With
his keen insight into human nature and his consequent
knowledge of American character, he foresaw the
inevitable result of such an attitude on the part of
England. This conversation with Grenville makes these
last pages of the _Autobiography_ one of its most
important parts.

After some days, Dr. Fothergill having spoken to the proprietaries,
they agreed to a meeting with me at Mr. T. Penn's house in Spring
Garden. The conversation at first consisted of mutual declarations of
disposition to reasonable accommodations, but I suppose each party had
its own ideas of what should be meant by _reasonable_. We then went
into consideration of our several points of complaint, which I
enumerated. The proprietaries justify'd their conduct as well as they
could, and I the Assembly's. We now appeared very wide, and so far
from each other in our opinions as to discourage all hope of
agreement. However, it was concluded that I should give them the heads
of our complaints in writing, and they promis'd then to consider them.
I did so soon after, but they put the paper into the hands of their
solicitor, Ferdinand John Paris, who managed for them all their law
business in their great suit with the neighbouring proprietary of
Maryland, Lord Baltimore, which had subsisted 70 years, and wrote for
them all their papers and messages in their dispute with the Assembly.
He was a proud, angry man, and as I had occasionally in the answers of
the Assembly treated his papers with some severity, they being really
weak in point of argument and haughty in expression, he had conceived a
mortal enmity to me, which discovering itself whenever we met, I
declin'd the proprietary's proposal that he and I should discuss the
heads of complaint between our two selves, and refus'd treating with
anyone but them. They then by his advice put the paper into the hands
of the Attorney and Solicitor-General for their opinion and counsel
upon it, where it lay unanswered a year wanting eight days, during
which time I made frequent demands of an answer from the
proprietaries, but without obtaining any other than that they had not
yet received the opinion of the Attorney and Solicitor-General. What
it was when they did receive it I never learnt, for they did not
communicate it to me, but sent a long message to the Assembly drawn
and signed by Paris, reciting my paper, complaining of its want of
formality, as a rudeness on my part, and giving a flimsy justification
of their conduct, adding that they should be willing to accommodate
matters if the Assembly would send out _some person of candour_ to
treat with them for that purpose, intimating thereby that I was not
such.

[Illustration: "We now appeared very wide, and so far from each other
in our opinions as to discourage all hope of agreement"]

The want of formality or rudeness was, probably, my not having
address'd the paper to them with their assum'd titles of True and
Absolute Proprietaries of the Province of Pennsylvania, which I
omitted as not thinking it necessary in a paper, the intention of
which was only to reduce to a certainty by writing, what in
conversation I had delivered _viva voce_.

But during this delay, the Assembly having prevailed with Gov'r Denny
to pass an act taxing the proprietary estate in common with the
estates of the people, which was the grand point in dispute, they
omitted answering the message.

When this act however came over, the proprietaries, counselled by
Paris, determined to oppose its receiving the royal assent.
Accordingly they petitioned the king in Council, and a hearing was
appointed in which two lawyers were employ'd by them against the act,
and two by me in support of it. They alledg'd that the act was
intended to load the proprietary estate in order to spare those of the
people, and that if it were suffer'd to continue in force, and the
proprietaries, who were in odium with the people, left to their mercy
in proportioning the taxes, they would inevitably be ruined. We
reply'd that the act had no such intention, and would have no such
effect. That the assessors were honest and discreet men under an oath
to assess fairly and equitably, and that any advantage each of them
might expect in lessening his own tax by augmenting that of the
proprietaries was too trifling to induce them to perjure themselves.
This is the purport of what I remember as urged by both sides, except
that we insisted strongly on the mischievous consequences that must
attend a repeal, for that the money, L100,000, being printed and given
to the king's use, expended in his service, and now spread among the
people, the repeal would strike it dead in their hands to the ruin of
many, and the total discouragement of future grants, and the
selfishness of the proprietors in soliciting such a general
catastrophe, merely from a groundless fear of their estate being taxed
too highly, was insisted on in the strongest terms. On this, Lord
Mansfield, one of the counsel, rose, and beckoning me took me into the
clerk's chamber, while the lawyers were pleading, and asked me if I
was really of opinion that no injury would be done the proprietary
estate in the execution of the act. I said certainly. "Then," says he,
"you can have little objection to enter into an engagement to assure
that point." I answer'd, "None at all." He then call'd in Paris, and
after some discourse, his lordship's proposition was accepted on both
sides; a paper to the purpose was drawn up by the Clerk of the
Council, which I sign'd with Mr. Charles, who was also an Agent of the
Province for their ordinary affairs, when Lord Mansfield returned to
the Council Chamber, where finally the law was allowed to pass. Some
changes were however recommended and we also engaged they should be
made by a subsequent law, but the Assembly did not think them
necessary; for one year's tax having been levied by the act before the
order of Council arrived, they appointed a committee to examine the
proceedings of the assessors, and on this committee they put several
particular friends of the proprietaries. After a full enquiry, they
unanimously sign'd a report that they found the tax had been assess'd
with perfect equity.

The Assembly looked into my entering into the first part of the
engagement, as an essential service to the Province, since it secured
the credit of the paper money then spread over all the country. They
gave me their thanks in form when I return'd. But the proprietaries
were enraged at Governor Denny for having pass'd the act, and turn'd
him out with threats of suing him for breach of instructions which he
had given bond to observe. He, however, having done it at the instance
of the General, and for His Majesty's service, and having some
powerful interest at court, despis'd the threats and they were never
put in execution.... [unfinished]

[Illustration: Medal with inscription: BENJ. FRANLIN NATUS BOSTON XVII,
JAN. MDCCVI.]

APPENDIX

ELECTRICAL KITE

To Peter Collinson

[Philadelphia], Oct. 19, 1752.

Sir,

As frequent mention is made in public papers from Europe of the
success of the _Philadelphia_ experiment for drawing the electric fire
from clouds by means of pointed rods of iron erected on high
buildings, &c., it may be agreeable to the curious to be informed,
that the same experiment has succeeded in _Philadelphia_, though made
in a different and more easy manner, which is as follows:

Make a small cross of two light strips of cedar, the arms so long as
to reach to the four corners of a large, thin silk handkerchief when
extended; tie the corners of the handkerchief to the extremities of
the cross, so you have the body of a kite; which being properly
accommodated with a tail, loop, and string, will rise in the air, like
those made of paper; but this being of silk, is fitter to bear the wet
and wind of a thunder-gust without tearing. To the top of the upright
stick of the cross is to be fixed a very sharp-pointed wire, rising a
foot or more above the wood. To the end of the twine, next the hand,
is to be tied a silk ribbon, and where the silk and twine join, a key
may be fastened. This kite is to be raised when a thunder-gust appears
to be coming on, and the person who holds the string must stand within
a door or window, or under some cover, so that the silk ribbon may not
be wet; and care must be taken that the twine does not touch the frame
of the door or window. As soon as any of the thunder clouds come over
the kite, the pointed wire will draw the electric fire from them, and
the kite, with all the twine will be electrified, and the loose
filaments of the twine will stand out every way and be attracted by an
approaching finger. And when the rain has wet the kite and twine, so
that it can conduct the electric fire freely, you will find it stream
out plentifully from the key on the approach of your knuckle. At this
key the phial may be charged; and from electric fire thus obtained,
spirits may be kindled, and all the electric experiments be performed,
which are usually done by the help of a rubbed glass globe or tube,
and thereby the sameness of the electric matter with that of lightning
completely demonstrated.

B. Franklin.

[Illustration: "You will find it stream out plentifully from the key
on the approach of your knuckle"]

[Illustration: Father _Abraham_ in his STUDY with the following text:

The Shade of Him who Counsel can bestow, Still pleas'd
to teach, and yet not proud to know; Unbias'd or by
Favour or by Spite; Nor dully prepossess'd, nor blindly
right; Tho learn'd, well-bred; and, tho well-bred,
sincere; Modestly bold, and humanely severe; Who to a
Friend his Faults can sweetly show. And gladly praise
the Merit of a Foe. Here, there he sits, his chearful
Aid to lend; A firm, unshaken, uncorrupted Friend,
Averse alike to flatter or offend.

_Printed by_ Benjamin Mecom, _at the_ New
Printing-Office, (_near the_ Town-House, _in_ Boston) _where_
BOOKS _are Sold, and_ PRINTING-WORK _done, Cheap_.

He's rarely _warm_ in Censure or in Praise:

_Good-Nature, Wit_, and _Judgment_ round him wait;
And thus he sits _inthron'd_ in _Classick-State_:

To Failings mild, but zealous for Desert;
The clearest Head, and the sincerest Heart.

Few Men deserve our _Passion_ either Ways.]

From "Father Abraham's Speech," 1760. Reproduced from
a copy at the New York Public Library.

THE WAY TO WEALTH

(From "Father Abraham's Speech," forming
the preface to Poor _Richard's Almanac_ for 1758.)

It would be thought a hard Government that should tax its People
one-tenth Part of their _Time_, to be employed in its Service. But
_Idleness_ taxes many of us much more, if we reckon all that is spent
in absolute _Sloth_, or doing of nothing, with that which is spent in
idle Employments or Amusements, that amount to nothing. _Sloth_, by
bringing on Diseases, absolutely shortens Life. _Sloth, like Rust,
consumes faster than Labor wears; while the used key is always bright,
as Poor Richard says. But dost thou love Life, then do not squander
Time, for that's the stuff Life is made of, as Poor Richard_ says. How
much more than is necessary do we spend in sleep, forgetting that _The
sleeping Fox catches no Poultry_, and that _There will be sleeping
enough in the Grave_, as _Poor Richard_ says.

_If Time be of all Things the most precious, wasting Time must be, as
Poor Richard_ says, _the_ _greatest Prodigality_; since, as he
elsewhere tells us, _Lost Time is never found again; and what we call
Time enough, always proves little enough_: Let us then up and be
doing, and doing to the Purpose; so by Diligence shall we do more with
less Perplexity. _Sloth makes all Things difficult, but Industry all
easy_, as _Poor Richard_ says; and _He that riseth late must trot all
Day, and shall scarce overtake his Business at Night; while Laziness
travels so slowly, that Poverty soon overtakes him_, as we read in
_Poor Richard_, who adds, _Drive thy Business, let not that drive
thee_; and _Early to Bed, and early to rise, makes a Man healthy,
wealthy, and wise._

_Industry need not wish, and he that lives upon Hope will die
fasting._

_There are no Gains without Pains._

_He that hath a Trade hath an Estate; and he that hath a Calling, hath
an Office of Profit and Honor_; but then the _Trade_ must be worked
at, and the _Calling_ well followed, or neither the _Estate_ nor the
_Office_ will enable us to pay our Taxes.

What though you have found no Treasure, nor has any rich Relation left
you a Legacy, _Diligence is the Mother of Good-luck_, as _Poor
Richard_ says, _and God gives all Things to Industry_.

_One To-day is worth two To-morrows_, and farther, _Have you somewhat
to do To-morrow, do it To-day_.

If you were a Servant, would you not be ashamed that a good Master
should catch you idle? Are you then your own Master, _be ashamed to
catch yourself idle_.

Stick to it steadily; and you will see great Effects, for _Constant
Dropping wears away Stones_, and by _Diligence and Patience the Mouse
ate in two the Cable_; and _Little Strokes fell great Oaks_.

Methinks I hear some of you say, _Must a Man afford himself no
Leisure_? I will tell thee, my friend, what _Poor Richard_ says,
_Employ thy Time well, if thou meanest to gain Leisure; and, since
thou art not sure of a Minute, throw not away an Hour_. Leisure, is
Time for doing something useful; this Leisure the diligent Man will
obtain, but the lazy Man never; so that, as _Poor Richard_ says, _A
Life of Leisure and a Life of Laziness are two things_.

_Keep thy Shop, and thy Shop will keep thee_; and again, _If you would
have your business done, go; if not, send._

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