The Compleated Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1757-1790)

by Benjamin Franklin

  35 In the eighteenth century, “natural philosophy” referred to the physical sciences.

  36 However, despite this letter of resignation, Franklin remained an active silent partner in the Ohio land grant scheme. Soon after his return to America, he was one of four principals who signed a power of attorney for the company. Ultimately, the Ohio land petition was never obtained. See PBF 21:32.

  37 Franklin used dozens of pennames in writing essays in newspapers in America and Europe, which sometimes makes it difficult to determine his authorship.

  38 Wilkes was a “notorious rake” involved in a variety of scandals as a member of the notorious Hell-Fire Club, yet was an early advocate of English rights and opposed the war against the American colonies. He published a “seditious libel” against the King and Parliament in No. 45 of the North Britain, for which he was eventually imprisoned. Nevertheless, in 1774 he was elected Lord Mayor of London.

  39 A public spectacle with dancing and music, often in masquerade, which was popular at the time. See PBF 15:225n.

  40 President of the Royal Society.

  41 Letters from a Farmer were written by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania between 1767 and 1768. He warned the British of the economic folly and unconstitutionality of new British revenue laws that ignored the rights of Englishmen living in the American Colonies.

  42 Franklin was agent to Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Georgia.

  43 Franklin has particular reference to the Townsend Acts of 1767, named after the new chancellor of the exchequer, Charles Townsend, which imposed heavy duties on American imports (following Franklin’s opinion that Americans would not oppose “external taxes”). Franklin misjudged America’s reaction to the Townsend Acts, and Boston’s refusal to submit to the Townsend duties, highlighted by the Boston Tea Party of December 1773. The uproar in New England caused Britain to send troops to Boston.

  44 Boulton manufactured the revolutionary steam engines of partner James Watt (1736-1819). “I sell here, Sir, what all the world desires to have—Power,” he told James Boswell in 1776. See James Boswell, Life of Johnson (Oxford University Press, 1998), 704.

  45 The frontispiece was based on the Martinet engraving of the original painting in 1762 by Mason Chamberlain.

  46 A hoax purporting to be a declaration issued by King Frederick II, wherein the Germans imposed a 4.5% duties on all English trade to pay for a war between Prussia and France; sent felons in German jails to England; etc., ending that all these measures were “copied” from the rules imposed by the British on the American colonies.

  47 The Hutchison letters refer to correspondence between Thomas Hutchinson, lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, and Andrew Oliver, Hutchinson’s brother-in-law, and a British undersecretary, Thomas Whately in 1773. In these letters, Hutchinson urged strict measures against the Americans, including the abridgment of English liberties. Franklin’s disclosure of these private letters to American patriots created an uproar, resulting in Franklin’s dismissal as Postmaster General and his return to America as an advocate of independence.

  48 Actually, the tea was thrown into Massachusetts Bay.

  49 Franklin never disclosed who gave him the Hutchinson letters; historians do not know his source.

  50 The Privy Council of Plantation Affairs met in a room known as the Cockpit, famous for cockfights held there during the time of Henry VIII.

  51 The remainder of this chapter is drawn from a condensed version of Franklin’s “Journal of Negotiations in London,” which he wrote while on board the Pennsylvania Packet Capt. Osborne, bound to Philadelphia, March 22, 1775.

  52 Commonly referred to as the Intolerable Acts in the colonies.

  53 Caroline Howe (c1721-1814), sister of Lord Richard Howe, was married to John Howe. Franklin and John Adams met with General Richard Howe in July 1776, in an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the two nations.

  54 Lord Richard Howe had recently been named commander in chief of the British Navy in the American colonies and would soon travel to New York for that purpose.

  55 Hints for Conversation, a paper written by Franklin outlining seventeen specific points regarding the various differences between Britain and the colonies. See PBF 21:366-68 (December 4-6, 1774).

  56 Sandwich was also a member of the Hell-Fire Club, a secret society that held black masses and orgies (Franklin was an occasional guest). The sandwich is named after him, as are the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands.

  57 Lord North’s motion ultimately did not satisfy either nation. As Franklin reports in the next few pages, the Americans objected, among other things, to Britain’s right to tax the colonies.

  58 Probably the Wedgwood cameo of himself, made in 1775.

  59 The Boston Port Bill, passed in March 1774, closed the port of Boston and prohibited the landing or discharging of goods, wares, and merchandise.

  60 Franklin was the first to publish a “join or die” political cartoon, on May 9, 1754, in The Pennsylvania Gazette. At the time there were eight colonies. See PBF 5:272, 275.

  61 Large boat.

  62 Franklin published a chart of the gulf stream in America and Europe to help sea captains reduce the time crossing the Atlantic Ocean by a week or more. See PBF 15:246 and BF to Julien-David LeRoy, February 1784.

  63 The battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the beginning of war with Great Britain.

  64 Taxation no Tyranny: An Answer to the Resolutions and Address of the American Congress was an anonymous pamphlet written in 1775 by the celebrated Dr. Samuel Johnson.

  65 Franklin’s proposed articles formed the basis of the Articles of Confederation that were adopted by Congress on November 15, 1777, when Franklin was in France. The Articles took effect on March 1, 1781 after all 13 states approved the document, and served as the law of the land until May 1788, when the U.S. Constitution became law. Franklin’s most controversial proposal was Article IX, which established an executive council of 12 persons to run the country. See PBF 22:120-25.

  66 A defensive structure used to obstruct cavalry, consisting of a movable obstacle composed of barbed wire or spikes attached to a wooden frame.

  67 Franklin and Washington were friends and corresponded frequently on war issues.

  68 John Thomas was promoted to Major General in March 1776, but died of smallpox in late May. See PBF 22:415n.

  69 The great seal was a collaborative project, but when finalized and adopted on June 20, 1782, Franklin’s design was rejected in favor of the American bald eagle as the chief symbol of the United States. However, both Franklin and Jefferson did propose one of the Latin phrases, “E Pluribus Unum” (out of many, one).

  70 Smallpox.

  71 From July 15 to September 28, 1776, Franklin was president of the Pennsylvania province and the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention. Although he played only a minor role in drafting it, the Pennsylvania constitution was signed by Franklin, who defended its controversial unicameral assembly. He carried a copy of the Pennsylvania constitution to France. See PBF 22:512-15.

  72 At the time Arthur Lee was a confidential American correspondent in London.

  73 Probably psoriasis. See PBF 22:442n, 25:77.

  74 Franklin was instructed to keep his mission (to obtain military and financial aid from France) a secret until he met with the French court.

  75 Although Franklin had not yet met with the French court to seek aid, recall that commissioner Silas Deane had successfully obtained some assistance.

  76 This is a reference to Washington’s crossing the Delaware with his men on Christmas Day 1776, and achieving their first major victory against the Hessian troops at Trenton on December 26, 1776.

  77 Franklin had made this observation as early as 1751 in his important political tract, “Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind.” In this tract, he was even more optimistic: “Our people must at least be doubled every 20 years.... What an accession of power to the British Empire by sea as well as by land! What increase of trad
e and navigation!” See PBF 4:225-34.

  78 Livre was the French currency—officially livre tournoise (Tournoise pound), named after Tours, where it was minted. The British adopted a similar system with the British pound sterling, which was worth approximately 24 times the value of a French livre. The livre was abolished during the French Revolution and was replaced by the franc.

  79 A light flintlock musket used by infantrymen.

  80 A large cask measuring 54 gallons.

  81 James Thomson, “Summer,” The Seasons (Oxford, 1981), 72, lines 269-70. PBF 28:588n.

  82 The first American embassy was located at the Hotel de Valentinois at Passy, a few miles outside Paris, which also served as Franklin’s residence. The beginning of the next chapter discusses his residence at Passy.

  83 At Valley Forge. See PBF 25:504.

  84 Mason Chamberlin’s 1762 painting shows Franklin with quill in hand and lightning flashing in the background. An engraving of the Chamberlin painting was made by Francois Martinet in 1773, which made Franklin look French.

  85 The famed epigram of Franklin was composed by finance minister Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot. See Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003), 145.

  86 Thomas Jefferson observed that “in the company of women.... he [Franklin] loses all power over himself and becomes almost frenzied.” See Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings, ed. by Kenneth Silverman (New York: Penguin Books, 1986), 206.

  87 This refers to the famous bathtub scene. Franklin and his neighborhood friend Louis Le Veillard had become so engrossed in a game of chess that they forgot the time and stayed late while Madame Brillon was in the tub, soaking under her wooden plank. See Claude-Anne Lopez, Mon Cher Papa: Franklin and the Ladies of Paris (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990), 59.

  88 Following her late husband’s custom of inviting distinguished French scientists and philosophers to their estate every Tuesday for dinner and discussions into the night, Madame Helvétius hosted what was informally called “l’Academie d’Auteuil” and included such guests as the French finance minister Turgot, the philosopher Diderot, the economist Condorcet, and the chemist Lavoisier. Turgot was especially close to Madame Helvétius, and proposed to her twice (and twice rejected). See Claude-Anne Lopez, Mon Cher Papa (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990), 244-50.

  89 Franklin adds this footnote: Messieurs Voltaire, Hume, Turgot, Marmontel, Le Roy, Abbes Morellet, De la Roche, etc., etc.

  90 Pierre-Georges Cabanis, a young medical student staying at Madame Helvétius’s house.

  91 From Elysium, which in Greek mythology means paradise, the abode of the blessed.

  92 That is, Deborah Franklin, Ben Franklin’s wife, who had passed away in 1775.

  93 A painful form of arthritis, usually caused by eating rich foods. Gout was known as the disease of kings.

  94 The gold louis coin was equivalent to approximately one British pound sterling, or 24 livres.

  95 Portrait of Franklin by Benjamin Wilson, now located in the White House.

  96 This concealment was not of Deane’s or Franklin’s choosing, but was requested by the French court. Gérard told members of Congress a year later that Vergennes feared Lee and those around him, and wished to keep the sailing a secret from him. See PBF 26:222n.

  97 Articles eleven and twelve of the Treaty of Commerce with France called for the abolition of the duties on molasses imported from the West Indies.

  98 Lord Kames wrote that women “have less patriotism than men” in Sketches of the History of Man (2nd ed., 4 vols., Edinburgh, 1778), II, 4-5. And Adam Smith wrote, “A merchant, it has been said very properly, is not necessarily the citizen of any particular country” in The Wealth of Nations (2 vol., London, 1776), I, 509 (Book III, chapter 4).

  99 It turned out that the Franklin’s granting of a passport to Captain James Cook was unnecessary, as the famed discoverer had been killed by Sandwich Islanders on February 14, 1779. The news of Cook’s death did not reach Europe until January 1780. PBF 29:86.

  100 Laurens was captured in 1780 by the British on his way to negotiate a treaty with the Netherlands and was confined to prison. In July 1781, Congress commissioned Franklin to exchange him for General Burgoyne, and secured his release on bail in late 1781. Laurens came to Paris and served as one of the peace negotiators.

  101 Arthur Lee, Observations on Certain Commercial Transactions in France, Laid before Congress (Philadelphia, 1780).

  102 Claude-Anne Lopez and Eugenia W. Herbert write, “Franklin was a total failure when it came to matchmaking. Sally did not marry young Strahan. William did not marry his father’s choice for him, Polly Stevenson. One generation later, grandson Temple did not marry Cunegonde Brillon, the daughter of Franklin’s closest friends in Paris. Neither did Benny Bache, his other grandson, marry Elizabeth Hewson, daughter of the same Polly Stevenson.” See The Private Franklin: The Man and His Family (New York: W. W. Norton, 1975), 83.

  103 Here Franklin demonstrates the influence of Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations (1776), an advocate of free trade.

  104 Watchmaker, courtier, dramatist, and international adventurer—one of the more colorful Frenchmen during the second half of the 18th century.

  105 Congress did so in August, 1781, appointing former New York delegate Robert R. Livingston to the post.

  106 In 1780, Admiral Rodney labeled American prisoners as unprincipled pirates and assigned them to the hospital ship Jersey, on which thousands died. See PBF 37:228n.

  107 Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

  108 June 8, 1781, for a production of Gluck’s Orpheus. See Stacy Schiff, A Great Improvisation (New York: Henry Holt, 2005), 279.

  109 The Battle at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, was the last great battle and marked the turning point in the American Revolutionary War, forcing the British to engage in peace negotiations. But it would be another 15 months before a treaty was signed and the war officially ended in 1783. As this chapter indicates, Franklin continued to seek aid from the French, exchange prisoners with the British, and work with the British to terminate the war.

  110 “The great irony of the date [of the victory at Yorktown] was not lost on the allies. Exactly four years before—on October 17, 1777—at Saratoga, New York, Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne had also surrendered an entire British army.” William H. Hallahan, The Day the Revolution Ended (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2004), 193.

  111 See Franklin’s essay, “The Morals of Chess,” PBF 29:750, written before June 28, 1779.

  112 Lafayette was with Gen. Washington at the battle of Yorktown and returned home in triumph.

  113 Deane’s private letters, written in late 1781, were written to friends in America urging the U.S. to quit the war and negotiate an immediate peace with Great Britain. His letters were viewed as highly partisan toward the British. Deane denied the charges (see PBF 36:u554), including rumors of embezzlement, and was finally vindicated after his death, in 1842, when Congress reimbursed his heirs.

  114 Peter the Great (1672-1725), the Russian czar, visited London in 1697-98.

  115 Canada and Nova Scotia were not included in the final agreement, and remained members of the British commonwealth.

  116 The Club of Honest Whigs. PBF 37:445n.

  117 Here Franklin has reference to King George III.

  118 This refers to the birth in late 1781 of a son to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette.

  119 Deuteronomy 24:4

  120 Thomas Townshend, whose cousin Charles Townshend authored the Townshend Acts of 1765, which imposed the notorious import duties on the American colonies.

  121 See “Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind,” published in 1751. PBF 4:225-34.

  122 In 1745, Franklin wrote a notorious essay, “Old Mistresses Apologue,” better known as “Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress,” in which Franklin recommends that if a young man insists on having a mistress, he should �
��prefer old women to young ones.” No nineteenth century editor dared to publish the essay. However, the first part of the essay is usually ignored; its views are similar to the ones Franklin makes above: “Marriage is the most natural state of man, and therefore the state in which one is most likely to find solid happiness. It is the man and woman united that make the compleat human being. Separate, she wants his force of body and strength of reason; he, her softness, sensibility and acute discernment. Together they are more likely to succeed in the world. A single man has not nearly the value he would have in that state of union. He is an incomplete animal. He resembles the odd half of a pair of scissors. If you get a prudent healthy wife, your industry in your profession, with her good economy, will be a fortune sufficient.” See PBF 3:27-31, “Old Mistresses Apologue,” June 25, 1745.