by H. W. Brands
127 “to receive”: PR, 1734.
127 “If falsehood”: American Almanack, 1735.
128–31 “Whatever may be … April shower”: PR, various issues 1733–42.
6. CITIZEN: 1735–40
133 A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper-Currency, Apr. 3, 1729.
135 “old and lame”: “A.A.” to BF, Feb. 4, 1735.
137 “We will all”: articles of Union Fire Company, PBF, 2:150–53.
137 “I question”: ABF, 175.
138 “Though the salary”: ibid., 172.
138 “I saw”: John Pollock, George Whitefield and the Great Awakening (Garden City, N.Y., 1972), 4.
138 “the awe”: Josiah Smith in The Great Awakening, ed. Alan Heimert and Perry Miller (Indianapolis, 1967), 67–68.
139 “See!”: Stuart C. Henry, George Whitefield: Wayfaring Witness (New York, 1957), 54.
139 “graceful and well-proportioned”: ibid., 27–28.
139–40 “The remembrance … redemption”: George Whitefield’s Journals, ed. William V. Davis (Gainesville, Fla., 1969), 29–48.
140 “the new birth”: L. Tyerman, The Life of the Rev. George Whitefield (London, 1876), 32.
140 “I shall displease some”: ibid., 49–50.
141 “I preached”: Henry, George Whitefield, 29.
141 “Mr. Whitefield’s auditors”: ibid., 38.
141 “mad trick”: ibid., 49.
141 “Blessed be God”: Whitefield’s Journals, 209.
142 “His discourses”: ABF, 147.
142 “new-light man”: Merton A. Christensen, “Franklin on the Hemphill Trial: Deism Versus Presbyterian Orthodoxy,” WMQ 10 (1953), 426.
143 “most excellent discourses”: ABF, 167.
143 “free-thinkers”: Christensen, “Franklin on the Hemphill Trial,” 427.
143 “What is Christ’s”: PG, Apr. 10, 1735, PBF.
144 “I rather approved”: ABF, 168.
144 “malice and envy”: Some Observations on the Proceedings against the Rev. Mr. Hemphill, PBF, 2:39, 48.
144–45 “the dominion … impiety”: A Defense of Mr. Hemphill’s Observations, PBF, 2:90ff. [Note the title even though the observations in question were Franklin’s, not Hemphill’s.]
145 “like a boatswain”: Perry Miller, Jonathan Edwards (Cleveland, 1959), 166.
146 “never to do”: ibid., 138.
146 “The God”: ibid., 145–46.
147 “The multitudes”: ABF, 175.
148 “The alteration”: PG, June 12, 1740, PBF.
148–50 “I had the curiosity … his death”: ABF, 176–79.
150 “’tis true”: “A Defense of Conduct,” PG, Feb. 15, 1737/8, PBF.
151 “The coroner’s inquest”: PG, June 16, 1737, PBF.
151–52 “very false … him afterwards”: PG, Feb. 15, 1737/8, PBF.
153 “They are in general”: to Josiah and Abiah Franklin, Apr. 13, 1738.
154 “I long regretted”: ABF, 170.
155 “brings often afresh”: to Jane Franklin Mecom, Jan. 13, 1772.
156 “Thus it was”: ABF, 170.
7. ARC OF EMPIRE: 1741–48
157 “We have had”: to Josiah and Abiah Franklin, Sept. 6, 1744.
158 “half Indianized French”: Howard H. Peckham, The Colonial Wars 1689–1762 (Chicago, 1964), 30.
159 “I commended my soul”: ibid., 88.
160 “Nil desperandum”: G. A. Rawlyk, Yankees at Louisbourg (Orono, Maine, 1967), 45.
161 “The enterprise … very uncertain”: Joseph Kelley, Pennsylvania: The Colonial Years, 238–39.
161 “When I compare”: notes on Assembly debates, Feb. 26–28, 1745, PBF.
162 “Our people”: to John Franklin, probably May 1745.
163 “the most mischievous”: American Weekly Mercury, Nov. 20, 1740.
164 “Teague’s Advertisement”: PG, Feb. 26, 1741, PBF.
164 “If you would keep”: PR, 1741.
165 “From the short”: to Strahan, July 4, 1744.
165 “Trust to his generosity”: Strahan to Hall, Mar. 9 and June 22, 1745, PBF, 2:409n.
166 “In these northern”: An Account of the New Invented Pennsylvania Fire-Places, PBF, 2:419ff.
167 “the new-invented Philadelphia Fire Places”: Boston Evening Post, Sept. 8, 1746.
167 “That as we enjoy”: ABF 192.
167 “Another sun”: Account, PBF, 2:446.
168 A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge, May 14, 1743, PBF.
169 “I long very much”: from Colden, Oct. 1743.
170 “I cannot”: to Colden, Nov. 4, 1743.
170 “I long to know”: from Colden, Dec. 1744.
170 “The members”: to Colden, Aug. 15, 1745.
171 “You shall know”: ibid.
171 “I intend”: to Colden, Nov. 28, 1745.
171 “Suppose two globes”: to unknown recipient, copied to Colden, Oct. 16, 1746.
172 “I have not time”: to Colden, Feb. 1746.
172 “My dear Friend”: to unknown, June 25, 1745.
174 “The Antediluvians”: PBF, 3:52.
175 “Of their Chloes”: “I Sing My Plain Country Joan,” PBF, 2:353–54.
176 “Sally was inoculated”: memorandum, Apr. 18, 1746.
176 “Your granddaughter”: to Abiah Franklin, Oct. 16, 1747.
176 “Sally grows”: to Abiah Franklin, Apr. 12, 1750.
176 “I am glad”: to Strahan, June 2, 1750.
176 “By an entire dependence”: Boston Weekly News-Letter, Jan. 17, 1745.
177 “Dear Sister”: to Edward and Jane Mecom [1744–45], PBF, 2:448.
178 “To prevent … our cannon”: Rawlyk, Yankees at Louisbourg, 106–8.
178 “Wednesday last”: PG, July 18, 1745, PBF.
179 “If they had a pick ax … New England’s name”: Rawlyk, Yankees at Louisbourg, 153–54.
181 “No one imagined”: to Jane Mecom, June [?] 1748.
181 Plain Truth: PBF, 3:180–204.
183 “The house was pretty full”: ABF, 183.
183 “Where a Government”: PG, Dec. 3, 1747, PBF.
184 “A parcel”: PG, Mar. 8, 1748, PBF.
185 “Thy project of a lottery”: from Logan, Dec. 3, 1747.
185 “The Quakers”: ABF, 189–90.
185 “the late lotteries”: PG, Jan. 19, 1748, PBF.
186 “But at a dinner”: ABF, 184.
186 “Unless we humble”: Proclamation for a General Fast, Dec. 7, 1747.
186 “He it was”: Logan to Penn, Nov. 24, 1749, PBF, 3:185n.
8. ELECTRICITY AND FAME: 1748–51
187 “This Association”: Penn letters quoted in PBF, 3:186n.
188 “Had he not”: Isaiah Thomas, The History of Printing in America (1810; rpt. Albany, 1874), 1:246.
189 “occasional buying”: articles of agreement with David Hall, Jan. 1, 1748.
189 “Mr. Hall”: to Strahan, Feb. 4, 1751.
189–90 “I am settling … business”: to Colden, Sept. 29, 1748.
191 “Dr. Spence”: ABF, 240–41.
191–92 “I was never”: to Collinson, Mar. 28, 1747.
192 “We say B”: to Collinson, May 25, 1747.
192 “I have observed”: to Collinson, Aug. 14, 1747.
193 “I have imparted”: from Collinson, Apr. 12, 1748.
193 “I am pleased”: to Collinson, Oct. 18, 1748.
193–94 “what we called … battery”: to Collinson, Apr. 29, 1749.
194 “The most interested”: Joseph Priestley, The History and Present State of Electricity, with Original Experiments (London, 1767), 153.
194 “new and very curious … electrical strokes”: report by William Watson to the Royal Society, Jan. 11, 1750, PBF.
195 “free from … native soil”: PG, Aug. 24, 1749.
195–96 “The best … and frugally”: Proposals Relating to the Education of the Youth in Pennsylvania, PBF, 3:397ff.
19
6 “Our Academy”: to Jared Eliot, Sept. 12, 1751.
197 “Billy is so fond”: to John Franklin, Apr. 2, 1747.
197 “My son”: to Colden, June 5, 1747.
197 “It was intended”: to Strahan, Oct. 19, 1748.
198–99 “Please to acquaint … I know not”: to Collinson, Feb. 4, 1750.
199 “earthquake of the air”: Benjamin Franklin’s Experiments, ed. I. Bernard Cohen (Cambridge, Mass, 1941), 105.
199 “The flame”: ibid., 106.
200 “It has been fatal”: to Mitchell, Apr. 29, 1749.
200 “Your very curious”: from Collinson, Feb. 5, 1750.
200 “The doctrine”: to Collinson, Mar. 2, 1750.
200–1 “To determine”: enclosure in letter to Collinson, July 29, 1750.
202 “Silk is fitter”: PG, Oct. 19, 1752, PBF.
202 “At length”: Priestley, History and Present State of Electricity, 180–81. 203–4 “Abstracted … my memory”: The Speech of Miss Polly Baker, PBF, 3:123–25.
205 “Though some others”: speech by Earl of Macclesfield, Nov. 30, 1753, PBF.
205 “a very able”: William Watson on BF’s “Opinions and Conjectures,” June 6, 1751, PBF.
205 “Every circumstance”: Priestley, History and Present State of Electricity, 179–80.
205 “universally admired … esteem of our nation”: Guillaume Mazéas to Stephen Hales, May 20, 1752, PBF, 4:315–17.
206 “The Tatler”: to Eliot, Apr. 12, 1753.
9. A TASTE OF POLITICS: 1751–54
208 “not wishing … any magician”: to Collinson, 1752?, PBF, 4:393–96.
208–9 “More knowledge … unsolicited”: ABF, 197.
211 “We are made”: Joseph Kelley, Pennsylvania, 169.
211 “rabble butchers”: ibid., 170.
213 “from that period”: Report on the State of the Currency, Aug. 19, 1752.
213 “very unseasonable”: PBF, 4:496.
213–14 “The Constable”: ABF, 173.
214 “Up Front-street … necessity”: Order of the Mayor and Aldermen, July 7, 1752, PBF.
215 “Last Thursday … murder the rest”: PG, Apr. 11, 1751, PBF.
216 “felons-convict … convict does not”: PG, May 9, 1751, PBF.
216–17 “It is almost”: Joseph J. Kelley Jr., Life and Times in Colonial Philadelphia (Harrisburg, Pa., 1973), 138.
217 “penitentiary … Spirit’s keenness”: Paul A. W. Wallace, Conrad Weiser (Philadelphia, 1945), 51–52.
218–19 “As few … precarious”: to Collinson, May 9, 1753.
219 “The German women”: to Collinson, undated 1753.
220–221 “offspring … reclaiming them”: to Collinson, May 9, 1753.
222 “as far as a man”: Harry Emerson Wildes, The Delaware (New York, 1940), 102.
223 “No sit down … it was done”: William Mason Cornell, The History of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1876), 105–6.
224 “good things”: Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America, Lemay, 969ff.
225–26 “Brethren … their backs”: Report on the Treaty of Carlisle, Nov. 1, 1753, PBF.
227 “They were near”: ABF, 198–99.
227 “to an inconceivable”: Report, Nov. 1, 1753, PBF.
10. JOIN OR DIE: 1754–55
230 “little known”: Howard Peckham, The Colonial Wars, 125.
230 “He is more English”: William A. Hunter, Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier, 1753–1758 (Harrisburg, Pa., 1960), 141.
232 “assassinated”: Articles of Capitulation, July 3, 1754, Papers of Washington.
232 “I fortunately escaped”: George Washington to John Augustine Washington, May 31, 1754, ibid.
232 “He would not say”: ibid., 1:119.
232–33 “It would be … by Parliament”: to James Parker, Mar. 20, 1751.
234 “Friday last”: PG, May 9, 1754, PBF.
235 “to be sent home”: to James Alexander and Cadwallader Colden, June 8, 1754.
236–37 “a quietist … sort of government”: Bernard Bailyn, The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson (Cambridge, Mass., 1974), 10–17.
236 “There has never”: Representation of the Present State of the Colonies, July 9, 1754, PBF.
237–38 “When one”: to Colden, July 14, 1754.
238 “President General”: Plan of Proposed Union, July 10, 1754.
238 “We had a great deal”: to Colden, July 14, 1754.
238 “How they will relish it”: ibid.
239 “Excluding the people”: to Shirley, Dec. 4, 1754.
239–40 “Such an Union … of the whole”: to Shirley, Dec. 22, 1754.
240 “I am very weeke”: from Abiah Franklin, Oct. 14, 1751.
240–41 “I received yours”: to Jane Mecom, May 21, 1752.
241 “I am confident”: to Mecom, undated, PBF, 2:448.
241–42 “I am frequently … I love him”: to Mecom, undated, PBF, 3:301–4.
242 “That island”: to Mecom, Sept. 14, 1752.
242 “I fear”: to Mecom, Nov. 30, 1752.
243 “William is now”: to Abiah Franklin, Apr. 12, 1750.
243 “I have often seen”: Daniel Fisher diary, July 28, 1755, PMHB 17 (1893), 276.
243–44 “is thought”: to Collinson, May 21, 1751.
245 “I wish”: from Collinson, Sept. 27, 1752.
245–46 “Land being thus”: Observations concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, &c.: PBF, 4:227–34.
247 “Braddock is very Iroquois”: Joseph Kelley, Pennsylvania, 322.
248 “The General told me”: ibid.
248 “After taking”: ABF, 223–24.
248 “These Americans”: J. Bennett Nolan, General Benjamin Franklin: The Military Career of a Philosopher (Philadelphia, 1936), 10.
249 “the service”: advertisement, Apr. 26, 1755.
249 “I cannot but honour”: PBF, 6:22.
249 “parcel of traitors”: Kelley, Pennsylvania, 323.
250 “What the devil”: ABF, 228.
250 “I cannot describe”: Kelley, Pennsylvania, 327.
251 “with about a dozen”: ibid., 327–28.
11. THE PEOPLE’S COLONEL: 1755–57
253 “I have succeeded”: Paul Wallace, Conrad Weiser, 385, 395.
253 “All burned”: ibid., 410.
254 “most of the Indians”: ibid., 403.
254 “Almost all”: Joseph Kelley, Pennsylvania, 339.
255 “The Quakers”: to Collinson, Aug. 27, 1755.
255 “My dear friend”: ABF, 212.
256 “perfectly equitable”: Reply to the Governor, Aug. 5, 1755.
256 “How odious”: Reply, Aug. 8, 1755.
255–57 “Vassals must follow”: Reply, Aug. 19, 1775.
257 “We are not so absurd”: Reply, Sept. 29, 1755.
257 “Our answers … his own face”: ABF, 213–14.
258 “the rashest … in flames”: to Collinson, Aug. 27, 1755.
259 “Your kind letter … of happiness”: to Catharine Ray, Mar. 4, 1755.
259–60 “Absence rather”: from Ray, June 28, 1755.
260 “You may write”: to Ray, [Mar.–Apr. 1755], PBF, 5:535–37.
260 “I must confess … rather than come”: to Ray, Sept. 11, 1755.
261 “free gift”: PBF, 6:130n.
261 “The Assembly”: Wallace, Conrad Weiser, 411.
262 “back People … all their lies”: Morris to Penn, Nov. 28, 1755, PBF.
262 “Since Mr. Franklin”: Nolan, General Benjamin Franklin, 9. 262–63 “If we cannot”: to Partridge, Nov. 27, 1755.
263 “We meet”: to William Parsons, Dec. 5, 1755.
263 “I am no coward”: PG, Dec. 18, 1755, PBF.
264 “I was surprised”: ABF, 231–32.
264 “The people here”: Nolan, General Benjamin Franklin, 34.
264 “the quintessence”: ibid., 36.
264 “You are immediately”: Commissioners to Parsons, Dec. 29, 1755.
265 “Hills like Alps … can invent”: Thomas Lloyd to unknown, Jan. 30, 1756, PBF, 6:380–82.
266 “It is perhaps”: ABF, 235.
267 “To prevent this”: to Collinson, Nov. 5, 1756.
268 “So grand an appearance”: PG, Mar. 25, 1756.
268 “which shook down”: ABF, 238.
268 “Twenty officers … or malice”: to Collinson, Nov. 5, 1756.
268 “abomination”: Peters to Penn, Feb. 18, 1756, HSP.
268–69 “The city”: Peters to Penn, Apr. 25, 1756, HSP.
270 “I much wonder”: Penn to Peters, May 8, 1756, HSP.
270 “To be convinced”: Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser, Mar. 11, 1756.
270 “I have had”: to Strahan, July 27, 1756.
270 “The militia”: William Hanna, Benjamin Franklin and Pennsylvania Politics, 112.
271 “I had not so good”: ABF, 240.
271 “The people”: to Collinson, Nov. 5, 1756.
12. A LARGER STAGE: 1757–58
272 “Look out sharp”: to Strahan, Jan. 31, 1757.
273 “Mr. Franklin’s”: Penn to Peters, May 14, 1757, HSP.
275 “Lady Darlington”: J. H. Plumb, The First Four Georges (Boston, 1975), 36.
275 “Cette diablesse”: ibid., 37.
276 “Robin of Bagshot …choleric blockhead”: Paul Langford, A Polite and Commercial People: England 1727–1783 (Oxford, UK, 1989), 14, 23.
277 “A plain clean … says Poor Dick”: PR, 1758.
278 “Snuff-coloured”: D. H. Lawrence, Studies in Classic American Literature (1923; rpt. New York, 1964), 13–14.
278 “Were I a Roman Catholic”: to DF, July 17, 1757.
279 “I had for many years”: Strahan to DF, Dec. 13, 1757.
280–81 “You Americans … of agreement”: ABF, 261–62.
281 “Heads of Complaint,” Aug. 20, 1757. 282–83 “great pain”: to DF, Nov. 22, 1757.
283 “first rate”: Thomas Hutchinson, The History of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts-Bay, edited by Lawrence Shaw Mayo (Cambridge, Mass., 1936), 2:292.
283 “Mr. Franklin”: Morris to Paris, July 4, 1757, PBF, 7:247n.
284 “He was a proud”: ABF, 263.
284 “For although”: WF to Elizabeth Graeme, Dec. 9, 1757.
284–85 “the privileges”: WF to The Citizen, Sept. 16, 1757, PBF.
