Volume I Part 1 (1/2)

Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin; Written by Himself

Vol 1

by Benjamin Franklin

PART I

_To William Franklin, Esq, Governor of New-Jersey_

Twyford, at the Bishop of St Asaph's,[1] 1771

DEAR SON,--I have ever had a pleasure in obtaining any little anecdotes ofthe reland, and the journey I undertook for that purpose Ireeable to you to learn the circumstances of _my_ life,the enjoyment of a feeeks'

uninterrupted leisure, I sit down to write them Besides, there are so From the poverty and obscurity in which I was born, and in which I passed my earliest years, I have raised ree of celebrity in the world As constant good fortune has accompanied me even to an advanced period of life,the means which I employed, and which, thanks to Providence, so well succeeded with me They may also deem them fit to be imitated, should any of theood fortune, when I reflect on it, which is frequently the case, has induced me sometimes to say, that if it were left to o over the sa only the advantage authors have, of correcting in a second edition the faults of the first So would I also wish to change so, if this condition was denied, I should still accept the offer of reco the same life But as this repetition is not to be expected, that which reseain, seems to be to recall all the circumstances of it; and, to render this re In thus e myself I shall yield to the inclination so natural to oldof thee it without being tiresoht conceive theed to listen to me, since they will be always free to read me or not And lastly (I may as well confess it, as the denial of it would be believed by nobody), I shall perhaps not a little gratify my own _vanity_ Indeed, I never heard or saw the introductory words ”_Without vanity_ Iimmediately followed Most people dislike vanity in others, whatever share they have of it theive it fair quarter, wherever I ood to the possessor, and to others who are within his sphere of action: and therefore, in ether absurd if athe other co God, I desire with all hue that I attribute the mentioned happiness of my past life to his divine providence, which led ave the success My belief of this induces oodness will still be exercised towardsme to bear a fatal reverse, which I may experience as others have done; the co known to him only, in whose power it is to bless us, even in our afflictions

Some notes, one offamily anecdotes) once put into my hands, furnished me with several particulars relative to our ancestors Froe, Ecton, in Northamptonshi+re, on a freehold of about thirty acres, for at least three hundred years, and how er could not be ascertained[2]

This small estate would not have sufficed for their maintenance without the business of a smith, which had continued in the fa always brought up to that eard to their eldest sons When I searched the registers at _Ecton_, I found an account of their isters kept did not commence previous thereto I however learned froest son for five generations back My grandfather Thomas, as born 1598, lived at Ecton till he was too old to continue his business, when he retired to Banbury in Oxfordshi+re, to the house of his son John, hom my father served an apprenticeshi+p There ravestone in 1758 His eldest son Thomas lived in the house at Ecton, and left it with the land to his only daughter, ith her husband, one Fisher, of Wellingborough, sold it to Mr Isted, now lord of the rew up: viz, Tho at a distance froive you what account I can of them from memory: and ifthem many more particulars[3]

Thomas,ingenious, and encouraged in learning (as all my brothers were) by an Esquire Palmer, then the principal inhabitant of that parish, he qualified himself for the bar, and became a considerable man in the county; was chief mover of all public-spirited enterprises for the county or town of Northae, of which many instances were related of him: and he was much taken notice of, and patronised by Lord Halifax He died in 1702, the 6th of January; four years to a day before I was born The recital which some elderly persons made to us of his character, I re extraordinary, from its similarity hat you knew of me ”Had he died,” said you, ”four years later, on the saration” John, my next uncle, was bred a dyer, I believe of wool Benja an apprenticeshi+p in London He was an ingenious man I remember, when I was a boy, he came to my father's in Boston, and resided in the house with us for several years There was always a particular affection between reat age He left behind him two quarto voluitive pieces addressed to his friends He had invented a shorthand of his ohich he taught otten it He was very pious, and an assiduous attendant at the ser according to his method, and had thus collected several voluood deal of a politician; too much so, perhaps, for his station There fell lately into my hands in London, a collection heto public affairs, fro, as appears by their nuht volumes in folio, and twenty in quarto and in octavo A dealer in old books had ht books of hiht them to me It would appear that my uncle must have left theo I found several of his notes in thein Boston

Our huion Our forefathers continued Protestants through the reign of Mary, when they were soainst popery They had an English Bible, and to conceal it, and place it in safety, it was fastened open with tapes under and within the cover of a joint-stool When randfather wished to read it to his family, he placed the joint-stool on his knees, and then turned over the leaves under the tapes One of the children stood at the door to give notice if he saw the apparitor co, as an officer of the spiritual court

In that case the stool was turned down again upon its feet, when the Bible remained concealed under it as before This anecdote I had from uncle Benjaland till about the end of Charles the Second's reign, when some of theconventicles in Northamptonshi+re, my uncle Benjamin and father Josiah adhered to them, and so continued all their lives: the rest of the family remained with the Episcopal church

My father , and carried his ith three children to New-England, about 1682 The conventicles being at that tis, soo to that country, and he was prevailed with to accompany them thither, where they expected to enjoy the exercise of their religion with freedom By the same wife my father had four children more born there, and by a second wife ten others, in all seventeen; of which I reether at his table, who all grew up to years of est son, and the youngest of all except two daughters I was born in Boston, in New-England My hter of Peter Folger, one of the first settlers of New-England, of whom honourable mention is made by Cotton Mather, in his ecclesiastical history of the country, entitled _Magnalia Christi Alishhtly I was informed he wrote several small occasional works, but only one of them was printed, which I remember to have seen several years since It ritten in 1675 It was in fa to the taste of the tiovernment there It asserts the liberty of conscience, in behalf of the Anabaptists, the Quakers, and other sectarians that had been persecuted He attributes to this persecution the Indian wars, and other cala thements of God, to punish so heinous an offence, so contrary to charity This piece appeared tosiotten the preceding ones of the stanza; the purpose of theood-will, and, therefore, he would be known to be the author

”Because to be a libeller (said he) I hate it with my heart; From Sherburne[4] tohere noell, My name I do put here; Without offence your real friend, It is Peter Folgier”

My elder brothers were all put apprentices to different trades I was put to the grae; my father intended to devote me, as the tithe of his sons, to the service of the church My early readiness in learning to read (which must have been very early, and I do not remember when I could not read), and the opinion of all ood scholar, encouraged him in this purpose of his My uncle Benjaive me his shorthand volumes of sermons to set up with, if I would learn shorthand

I continued, however, at the grah in that tiradually from the middle of the class of that year to be at the head of the same class, and was removed into the next class, whence I was to be placed in the third at the end of the year But my father, burdened with a numerous family, was unable, without inconvenience, to support the expense of a college education; considering, moreover, as he said to one of his friends in eave up his first intentions, took ra and arithe Broell He was a skilfultheood hand pretty soon, but failed entirely in arithmetic At ten years old I was taken to help my father in his business of a tallow-chandler and soap-boiler, a business to which he was not bred, but had assuland, because he found that his dying trade, being in little request, would notthe wick for the candles, filling theof errands, &c

I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination to go to sea, butnear the water, I was e boats; and when eovern, especially in any case of difficulty; and upon other occasions I was generally the leader a the boys, and sometimes led them into scrapes, of which I willpublic spirit, though not then justly conducted

There was a salt-e of which, at high water, we used to stand to fish for mire My proposal was to build a wharf there for us to stand upon, and I showed e heap of stones, which were intended for a new house near the ly, in the evening, when the workone home, I asseently like so many eht the the work the stones which formed our wharf; inquiry was made after the authors of this transfer; ere discovered, coh I demonstrated the utility of our work, mine convinced me that _that which was not truly honest could not be truly useful_

I suppose you may like to knohat kind of a man my father was He had an excellent constitution, was of a : he could draw prettily, was a little skilled in reeable, so that when he played on his violin and sung withal, as he was accustomed to do after the business of the day was over, it was extree of mechanics, and, on occasion, was very handy with other tradesreat excellence was his sound understanding and solid judgment in prudential matters, both in private and public affairs It is true, he was never employed in the latter, the numerous family he had to educate and the strictness of his circu hi frequently visited by leading men, who consulted him for his opinion in public affairs, and those of the church he belonged to, and who showed great respect for his judgment and advice: he was also much consulted by private persons about their affairs when any difficulty occurred, and frequently chosen an arbitrator between contending parties At his table he liked to have, as often as he could, sohbour to converse with, and always took care to start soht tend to improve the minds of his children By this ood, just, and prudent in the conduct of life; and little or no notice was ever taken of what related to the victuals on the table, whether it ell or ill dressed, in or out of season, of good or bad flavour, preferable or inferior to this or that other thing of the kind, so that I was brought up in such a perfect inattention to those matters as to be quite indifferent as to what kind of food was set before me Indeed, I am so unobservant of it, that to this day I can scarce tell a few hours after dinner of what dishes it consisted This has been a great convenience to , where my companions have been soratification of their more delicate, because better instructed, tastes and appetites

My mother had likewise an excellent constitution: she suckled all her ten children I never knew either my father or mother to have any sickness but that of which they died, he at 89, and she at 85 years of age They lie buried together at Boston, where I sorave with this inscription:

JOSIAH FRANKLIN, and ABIAH, his wife, lie here interred

They lived lovingly together in wedlock fifty-five years