Section 30

aid 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 interests at court, despis'd the threats and they were never put in execution.... [Unfinished].

CHIEF EVENTS IN FRANKLIN'S LIFE.

[Ending, as it does, with the year 1757, the autobiography leaves important facts unrecorded. It has seemed advisable, therefore, to detail the chief events in Franklin's life, from the beginning, in the following list:

1706 He is born, in Boston, and baptized in the Old South Church. 1714 At the age of eight, enters the Grammar School. 1716 Becomes his father's assistant in the tallow-chandlery business. 1718 Apprenticed to his brother James, printer. 1721 Writes ballads and peddles them, in printed form, in the streets; contributes, anonymously, to the 「New England Courant,「 and temporarily edits that paper; becomes a free-thinker, and a vegetarian. 1723 Breaks his indenture and removes to Philadelphia; obtains employment in Keimer's printing-office; abandons vegetarianism. 1724 Is persuaded by Governor Keith to establish himself independently, and goes to London to buy type; works at his trade there, and publishes 「Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain.「 1726 Returns to Philadelphia; after serving as clerk in a dry-goods store, becomes manager of Keimer's printing-house. 1727 Founds the Junto, or 「Leathern Apron「 Club. 1728 With Hugh Meredith, opens a printing-office. 1729 Becomes proprietor and editor of the 「Pennsylvania Gazette「; prints, anonymously, 「Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency「; opens a stationer's shop. 1730 Marries Deborah Read. 1731 Founds the Philadelphia Library. 1732 Publishes the first number of 「Poor Richard's Almanac「 under the pseudonym of 「Richard Saunders.「 The Almanac, which continued for twenty-five years to contain his witty, worldly-wise sayings, played a very large part in bringing together and molding the American character which was at that time made up of so many diverse and scattered types. 1733 Begins to study French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. 1736 Chosen clerk of the General Assembly; forms the Union Fire Company of Philadelphia. 1737 Elected to the Assembly; appointed Deputy Postmaster-General; plans a city police. 1742 Invents the open, or 「Franklin,「 stove. 1743 Proposes a plan for an Academy, which is adopted 1749 and develops into the University of Pennsylvania. 1744 Establishes the American Philosophical Society. 1746 Publishes a pamphlet, 「Plain Truth,「 on the necessity for disciplined defense, and forms a military company; begins electrical experiments. 1748 Sells out his printing business; is appointed on the Commission of the Peace, chosen to the Common Council, and to the Assembly. 1749 Appointed a Commissioner to trade with the Indians. 1751 Aids in founding a hospital. 1752 Experiments with a kite and discovers that lightning is an electrical discharge. 1753 Awarded the Copley medal for this discovery, and elected a member of the Royal Society; receives the degree of M.A. from Yale and Harvard. Appointed joint Postmaster-General. 1754 Appointed one of the Commissioners from Pennsylvania to the Colonial Congress at Albany; proposes a plan for the union of the colonies. 1756 Pledges his personal property in order that supplies may be raised for Braddock's army; obtains a grant from the Assembly in aid of the Crown Point expedition; carries through a bill establishing a voluntary militia; is appointed Colonel, and takes the field. 1757 Introduces a bill in the Assembly for paving the streets of Philadelphia; publishes his famous 「Way to Wealth「; goes to England to plead the cause of the Assembly against the Proprietaries; remains as agent for Pennsylvania; enjoys the friendship of the scientific and literary men of the kingdom. [HERE THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY BREAKS OFF] 1760 Secures from the Privy Council, by a compromise, a decision obliging the Proprietary estates to contribute to the public revenue. 1762 Receives the degree of LL.D. from Oxford and Edinburgh; returns to America. 1763 Makes a five months' tour of the northern colonies for the purpose of inspecting the post-offices. 1764 Defeated by the Penn faction for reelection to the Assembly; sent to England as agent for Pennsylvania. 1765 Endeavors to prevent the passage of the Stamp Act. 1766 Examined before the House of Commons relative to the passage of the Stamp Act; appointed agent of Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Georgia; visits Göttingen University. 1767 Travels in France and is presented at court. 1769 Procures a telescope for Harvard College. 1772 Elected Associé Etranger of the French Academy. 1774 Dismissed from the office of Postmaster-General; influences Thomas Paine to emigrate to America. 1775 Returns to America; chosen a delegate to the Second Continental Congress; placed on the committee of secret correspondence; appointed one of the commissioners to secure the cooperation of Canada. 1776 Placed on the committee to draft a Declaration of Independence; chosen president of the Constitutional Committee of Pennsylvania; sent to France as agent of the colonies. 1778 Concludes treaties of defensive alliance, and of amity and commerce; is received at court. 1779 Appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France. 1780 Appoints Paul Jones commander of the 「Alliance.「 1782 Signs the preliminary articles of peace. 1783 Signs the definite treaty of peace. 1785 Returns to America; is chosen President of Pennsylvania; reelected 1786. 1787 Reelected President; sent as delegate to the convention for framing a Federal Constitution. 1788 Retires from public life. 1790 April 17, dies. His grave is in the churchyard at Fifth and Arch streets, Philadelphia. Editor.]

On Franklin's Autobiography

And yet the surprising and delightful thing about this book (the Autobiography) is that, take it all in all, it has not the low tone of conceit, but is a staunch man's sober and unaffected assessment of himself and the circumstances of his career.

Woodrow Wilson

Such, for example, was Benjamin Franklin, whose charming autobiography, in addition to being an American classic, is a fine record of self-education.

Charles A. Beard & Mary Ritter Beard

For understanding the temper and ideals of America in the eighteenth century, no writings are of equal importance with those of John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, especially the Diary of the former (Works of John Adams, 10 vols. Boston, 1856) and the Autobiography of the latter, in his collected works and separately printed in many editions.

Carl Lotus Becker

No man has shed such copious good influence on America; none added so much new truth to the popular knowledge; none has so skillfully organized its ideas into institutions; none has so powerfully and wisely directed the nation's conduct, and advanced its welfare in so many respects. No man now has so strong a hold on the habits and manners of the people. Franklin comes home to the individual business of practical men in their daily life.

Theodore Parker

The Autobiography is also a uniquely American book. After a life like Franklin's had become possible and could be described matter-of-factly, the Declaration of Independence seems understandable and much less revolutionary.... There was in America a society which valued the things Franklin could do well: work hard, write effectively, plan improvements, conciliate differences, and conduct public affairs with popular needs and interests in view. His Autobiography records these achievements and values and habits which made them possible, and tells how a remarkable human being used his heritage and created a life on a new, revolutionary model.

Leonard W. Labaree, Ralph L. Ketcham, Helen C. Boatfield, and Helene H. Fineman

[T]hose who know Franklin only in his Autobiography, charming as that classic production is, have made but an imperfect acquaintance with the range, the vitality, the vigor of this admirable craftsman who chose a style 「smooth, clear, and short,「 and made it serve every purpose of his versatile and beneficent mind.

Bliss Perry

Transcriber's Notes

Introduction:

This version of the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was part of The Harvard Classics edition published by G. P. Putnam & Sons in 1909. The physical book also included the Journal of John Woolman and Fruits of Solitude by William Penn. This document only contains the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. A scanned version of the physical book owned by the Library of Congress is available through Hathitrust.

Scores of different editions of Franklin's Autobiography exist. Project Gutenberg has the Pine edition, published by Henry Holt and Company in 1916. Frank Woodworth Pine edited the Holt book and F. Boyd Smith illustrated the edition. Also available through PG is the Eclectic English Classics version published in 1910. All three editions of Franklin's Autobiography in the PG collection are based on the Bigelow edition. See the section About the Autobiography in the Introduction of the Pine edition for more background about the Bigelow edition.

1. Pine edition (1916)
2. Eclectic English Classics (1910)
3. Harvard Classics Edition (1909)

We have retained the original punctuation and spelling in the book, but there are a few exceptions. See the Detailed Notes Section of these notes for a list of changes. There are many misspelled words in this Autobiography, but we made three changes, which we believe were made by the editor or publisher. After the three changes that we made, those sentences match the same sentence from the other two transcriptions of the book in Project Gutenberg. The Detailed Notes Section also includes issues that have come up during transcription.

Production Notes Section:

This book contained no chapters and no table of contents.

The navigation tools on page 2 of this book were added by the transcriber, in the hope of providing a better reading experience. The four parts of this book correspond to the four parts of the Autobiography described in Wikipedia. Luckily, those four parts were the same breaks that Mr. Eliot added in The Harvard Classics Edition.

The quotations of On Franklin's Autobiography were added by the transcriber.

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