Franklin is a born moralist.

The first letter he writes to his sister is a sermon on the virtues of a good housekeeper. The penitent is fifteen and the preacher twenty. From this moment to his death Franklin did not change. He is always the man who reasons out his conduct—the sage who, following the ingenious definition of Mr. Bancroft, never said a word too soon nor a word too late. He never said a word too much, nor failed to say the decisive word at the proper moment. In his letters how many moral lessons, given with as much gayety as power! It is not an author one reads; he is a friend to whom one listens. There is Franklin, with his venerable face, his hair floating back, and his eye always shrewd and quick, presenting altogether one of the most amiable figures of the last century. How many prejudices he playfully dissipated! how he rallied the selfishness of individuals and the artifices of governments, which are but another form of selfishness! Do not ask of him anything sublime, nor expect from him those bursts which raise you above the passing world. Franklin never quits the earth; it is not genius in him; it is good sense expressed in its highest power. Do not seek in him a poet, nor even an orator, but a master of practical life-a man to whom the world belongs. Neither imagine you have to do with a vulgar, worldly wisdom. This amiable mocker, who laughs at everything, is not the less kind-hearted, a devoted patriot, and one of the sincerest friends of humanity. His laugh is not that of Voltaire; there is no bitterness in it; it is the benevolent smile of an old man whom life has taught to be indulgent. In noting without vanity what he terms his errata of conduct, Franklin teaches us that no one has a right to judge another severely, and that in the

most correct life there is always many a page to correct. It is thus that he humbles himself to us to encourage us. He is a companion who takes us by the hand, and, talking with us familiarly, little by little, makes us blush at our weaknesses, and communicates to us something of his warmth and goodness. Such are the effects wrought by perusing the Memoirs, and still more by the correspondence-most strengthening reading for all ages and conditions. No one ever started from a lower point than the poor apprentice of Boston. No one ever raised himself higher by his own unaided forces than the inventor of the lightning-rod. No one has rendered greater service to his country than the diplomatist who signed the treaty of 1783, and assured the independence of the United States. Better than the biographies of Plutarch, this life, so long and so well filled, is a source of perpetual instruction to all men. Every one can there find counsel and example. Franklin has never played

a part-neither with others nor with himself. He says what he thinks; he does what he says. He knows but one road which leads from destitution to fortune. He knows of but one mode to arrive at happiness, or, at least, to contentment; it is by labor, economy, and probity. Such is the receipt he gives to his readers; but this receipt he commenced by trying himself. We can believe in a secret with which he himself succeeded. In our democratic society, where every one seeks to better his condition-a very legitimate purpose-nothing is worth. so much as the example and the lessons of a man who, without influence and without fortune, became master after having been a laborer-gave himself the education which he lacked, and, by force of toil, privations and

courage, raised himself to the first rank in his country, and conquered the admiration and respect of the human race. To have the talent of Franklin, or to be favored as he was by events, is not given to all; but every one may have the honor of following such a model, even without the hope of reaching it."

In submitting these memoirs to the world I am encouraged by the reflection that there never was a time in the history of our country when the lessons of humility, economy, industry, toleration, charity, and patriotism, which are made so captivating in its pages, could be studied with more profit by the rising generation of Americans than now. They have burdens to bear unknown to their ancestors, and problems of government to solve unknown to history. All the qualities, moral and intellectual, that are requisite for a successful encounter with these portentous responsibilities were singularly united in the character of Franklin, and nothing in our literature is so well calculated to reproduce them as his own deliberate record of the manner in which he laid the foundation at once of his own and of his country's greatness.

All the notes to the autobiography proper, not credited to other sources, are from the manuscript, and, of course, in Franklin's handwriting.

All the notes signed “Ed.” are by the Editor.

Those signed "W. T. F." are by William Temple Franklin.

Those signed "S." or "Sparks," are from Dr. Sparks' precious Collection of the Writings of Franklin.

Those signed B. V." are by Benjamin Vaughan.

I have rigorously followed the orthography of the MS.; not that I attach much importance to this comparatively mechanical feature of the work, but because I thought it would be more satisfactory to most of my readers to know how Franklin wrote his autobiography than to know how it would have been written by Webster or Worcester. JOHN BIGELOW.

THE SQUIRRELS, February 22, 1874

PART I.

[Copie d'un Projêt tres Curieux de Benjamin Franklin—1er Esquisse de ses Mémoires. Les additions à l'encre rouge sont de la main de Franklin.]*

My writing. Mrs. Dogood's letters. Differences arise between my Brother and me (his temper and mine); their cause in general. His Newspaper. The Prosecution he suffered. My Examination. Vote of Assembly. His manner of evading it. Whereby I became free. My attempt to get employ with other Printers. He prevents me. Our frequent pleadings before our Father. The final Breach. My Inducements to quit Boston. Manner of coming to a Resolution. My leaving him and going to New York (return to eating flesh); thence to Pennsylvania. The journey, and its events on the Bay, at Amboy. The road. Meet with Dr. Brown. His character. His great work. At Burlington. The Good Woman. On the River. My Arrival at Philadelphia. First Meal and first Sleep. Money left. Employment. Lodging. First acquaintance with my afterward Wife. With J. Ralph. With Keimer. Their characters. Osborne. Watson. The Governor takes notice of me. The Occasion and Manner. His character. Offers to set me up. My return to Boston. Voyage and accidents. Reception. My Father dislikes the proposal. I return to New York and Philadelphia. Governor Burnet. J. Collins. The Money for Vernon. The Governor's Deceit. Collins not finding employment goes to Barbados much in my

This memorandum, probably in the handwriting of M. le Veillard, immediately precedes the Outline in the MS.