Franklin Assignment
1. To whom is Franklin writing? What is his purpose in writing to this person? Do you think he is successful?
Franklin believes his son might feel the same interest in family history that he himself feels. He therefore wants to give his son a more complete picture of his own life, e.g. “Dear Son: I have ever had pleasure in obtaining any little anecdotes of my ancestors. You may remember the inquiries I made among the remains of my relations when you were with me in England, and the journey I undertook for that purpose. Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to know the circumstances of my life, many of which you are yet unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week’s uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement, I sit down to write them for you” (pg. 16). I believe he is successful in his efforts.
2. What were Franklin’s goals in life as a young man? Why does he spend so much time improving his reading and writing skills?
Franklin confesses that he “had a strong inclination for the sea” as a boy (21), but when it came to a serious occupation he enjoyed printing (24). He also enjoyed reading, and this was coupled with his desire to learn (23-24). He once took up a few math and geometry books for private use, because he had generally failed at arithmetic in school (21, 27). He read a good portion of his father’s collection on polemic divinity, though he “often since regretted that, at a time when I had such a thirst for knowledge, more proper books had not fallen in my way, since it was now resolved I should not be a clergyman” (24). He and his friend John Collins liked to argue and debate with each other, which was part of what convinced him to improve his writing (25). While he was going about this, he found a few books that showed him a way to improve his argumentative skills. He explains it this way: “I was charmed with it, adopted it, dropped my abrupt contradiction and positive argumentation, and put on…the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest diffidence; never using, when I advanced anything that may possibly be disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that give the air of positiveness to an opinion; but rather say, I conceive or apprehend a thing to be so and so; it appears to me, or I should think it so or so, for such and such reasons; or I imagine it to be so; or if it is so, I am not mistaken…If you wish information and improvement from the knowledge of others, and yet at the same time express yourself as firmly fixed in your present opinions, modest, sensible men, who do not love disputation, will probably leave you undisturbed” (27-28).
3. Why does Franklin leave his brother?
He leaves his brother because there were difficulties between the two of them. He writes, “Though a brother, he considered himself as my master, and me as his apprentice, and, accordingly, expected the same services from me as he would from another, while I thought he demeaned me too much in some he required of me, who from a brother expected more indulgence. Our disputes were often brought before our father, and I fancy I was either generally in the right, or else a better pleader, because the judgment was generally in my favor. But my brother was passionate, and had often beaten me, which I took extremely amiss; and, thinking my apprenticeship very tedious, I was continually wishing for some opportunity to shorten it” (30).
4. What are Franklin’s views of money, thrift, industry, etc?
Franklin tried to do as much as he could as fast and efficiently as he could, and with as little expense as he could. His applications of frugality and industry were respectively, “Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e. waste nothing”, and, “Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions” (83). He said of this, “Reading was the only amusement I allowed myself. I spent no time in taverns, games, or frolics of any kind; and my industry in my business continued as indefatigable as it was necessary…My original habits of frugality continuing, and my father having, among his instructions to me when a boy, frequently repeated a proverb of Solomon, ‘Seest thou a man diligent in his calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men,’ I from thence considered industry as a means of obtaining wealth and distinction, which encouraged me, though I did not think that I should ever literally stand before kings, which, however, has since happened; for I have stood before five, and even had the honor of sitting down with one, the King of Denmark, to dinner.” (80)
5. How does the Bible influence Franklin? How does he use/quote the Bible in his text? What are Franklin’s views of God and religion?
Franklin sometimes quotes the Bible in support of virtue. He says that his book of virtues has a quote from Solomon’s Proverbs, “speaking of wisdom or virtue: ‘Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.’” (85) He clearly respects God, because he says in his opening remarks, “I desire with all humility to acknowledge that I owe the mentioned happiness of my past life to His kind providence, which led me to the means I used and gave them success. My belief of this induces me to hope, though I must not presume, that the same goodness will still be exercised toward me, in continuing that happiness, or enabling me to bear a fatal reverse, which I may experience as others have done; the complexion of my future fortune being known to Him only in whose power it is to bless to us even our afflictions” (17). He also respects the Bible, as evidenced by his remarks concerning Dr. Brown, who “was much of an unbeliever, and wickedly undertook…to travestie the Bible in doggrel verse…By this means he set many of the facts in a very ridiculous light, and might have hurt weak minds if his work had been published; but it never was” (33). He was unimpressed with Sunday church services because it was widely sectarian (80-81), among other reasons. He describes his attitude toward religion this way: “I never doubted…the existence of the Deity; that he made the world, and governed it by his Providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter. These I esteemed the essentials of every religion; and, being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I respected them all, though with different degrees of respect, as I found them more or less mixed with other articles, which…served principally to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another. This respect to all, with an opinion that the worst had some good effects, induced me to avoid all discourse that might tend to lessen the good opinion another might have of his own religion…
“Though I seldom attended any public worship, I had still an opinion of its propriety, and of its utility when rightly conducted, and I regularly paid my annual subscription for the support of the only Presbyterian minister or meeting we had in Philadelphia. He used to…admonish me to attend his administrations, and I was now and then prevailed upon to do so…Had he been in my opinion a good preacher, perhaps I might have continued,…but his discourses were chiefly either polemic arguments, or explications of the peculiar doctrines of our sect, and were all to me very dry, uninteresting, and unedifying, since not a single moral principle was inculated or enforced, their aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians than good citizens.” (80-81)
1. To whom is Franklin writing? What is his purpose in writing to this person? Do you think he is successful?
Franklin believes his son might feel the same interest in family history that he himself feels. He therefore wants to give his son a more complete picture of his own life, e.g. “Dear Son: I have ever had pleasure in obtaining any little anecdotes of my ancestors. You may remember the inquiries I made among the remains of my relations when you were with me in England, and the journey I undertook for that purpose. Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to know the circumstances of my life, many of which you are yet unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week’s uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement, I sit down to write them for you” (pg. 16). I believe he is successful in his efforts.
2. What were Franklin’s goals in life as a young man? Why does he spend so much time improving his reading and writing skills?
Franklin confesses that he “had a strong inclination for the sea” as a boy (21), but when it came to a serious occupation he enjoyed printing (24). He also enjoyed reading, and this was coupled with his desire to learn (23-24). He once took up a few math and geometry books for private use, because he had generally failed at arithmetic in school (21, 27). He read a good portion of his father’s collection on polemic divinity, though he “often since regretted that, at a time when I had such a thirst for knowledge, more proper books had not fallen in my way, since it was now resolved I should not be a clergyman” (24). He and his friend John Collins liked to argue and debate with each other, which was part of what convinced him to improve his writing (25). While he was going about this, he found a few books that showed him a way to improve his argumentative skills. He explains it this way: “I was charmed with it, adopted it, dropped my abrupt contradiction and positive argumentation, and put on…the habit of expressing myself in terms of modest diffidence; never using, when I advanced anything that may possibly be disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that give the air of positiveness to an opinion; but rather say, I conceive or apprehend a thing to be so and so; it appears to me, or I should think it so or so, for such and such reasons; or I imagine it to be so; or if it is so, I am not mistaken…If you wish information and improvement from the knowledge of others, and yet at the same time express yourself as firmly fixed in your present opinions, modest, sensible men, who do not love disputation, will probably leave you undisturbed” (27-28).
3. Why does Franklin leave his brother?
He leaves his brother because there were difficulties between the two of them. He writes, “Though a brother, he considered himself as my master, and me as his apprentice, and, accordingly, expected the same services from me as he would from another, while I thought he demeaned me too much in some he required of me, who from a brother expected more indulgence. Our disputes were often brought before our father, and I fancy I was either generally in the right, or else a better pleader, because the judgment was generally in my favor. But my brother was passionate, and had often beaten me, which I took extremely amiss; and, thinking my apprenticeship very tedious, I was continually wishing for some opportunity to shorten it” (30).
4. What are Franklin’s views of money, thrift, industry, etc?
Franklin tried to do as much as he could as fast and efficiently as he could, and with as little expense as he could. His applications of frugality and industry were respectively, “Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e. waste nothing”, and, “Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions” (83). He said of this, “Reading was the only amusement I allowed myself. I spent no time in taverns, games, or frolics of any kind; and my industry in my business continued as indefatigable as it was necessary…My original habits of frugality continuing, and my father having, among his instructions to me when a boy, frequently repeated a proverb of Solomon, ‘Seest thou a man diligent in his calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men,’ I from thence considered industry as a means of obtaining wealth and distinction, which encouraged me, though I did not think that I should ever literally stand before kings, which, however, has since happened; for I have stood before five, and even had the honor of sitting down with one, the King of Denmark, to dinner.” (80)
5. How does the Bible influence Franklin? How does he use/quote the Bible in his text? What are Franklin’s views of God and religion?
Franklin sometimes quotes the Bible in support of virtue. He says that his book of virtues has a quote from Solomon’s Proverbs, “speaking of wisdom or virtue: ‘Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.’” (85) He clearly respects God, because he says in his opening remarks, “I desire with all humility to acknowledge that I owe the mentioned happiness of my past life to His kind providence, which led me to the means I used and gave them success. My belief of this induces me to hope, though I must not presume, that the same goodness will still be exercised toward me, in continuing that happiness, or enabling me to bear a fatal reverse, which I may experience as others have done; the complexion of my future fortune being known to Him only in whose power it is to bless to us even our afflictions” (17). He also respects the Bible, as evidenced by his remarks concerning Dr. Brown, who “was much of an unbeliever, and wickedly undertook…to travestie the Bible in doggrel verse…By this means he set many of the facts in a very ridiculous light, and might have hurt weak minds if his work had been published; but it never was” (33). He was unimpressed with Sunday church services because it was widely sectarian (80-81), among other reasons. He describes his attitude toward religion this way: “I never doubted…the existence of the Deity; that he made the world, and governed it by his Providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter. These I esteemed the essentials of every religion; and, being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I respected them all, though with different degrees of respect, as I found them more or less mixed with other articles, which…served principally to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another. This respect to all, with an opinion that the worst had some good effects, induced me to avoid all discourse that might tend to lessen the good opinion another might have of his own religion…
“Though I seldom attended any public worship, I had still an opinion of its propriety, and of its utility when rightly conducted, and I regularly paid my annual subscription for the support of the only Presbyterian minister or meeting we had in Philadelphia. He used to…admonish me to attend his administrations, and I was now and then prevailed upon to do so…Had he been in my opinion a good preacher, perhaps I might have continued,…but his discourses were chiefly either polemic arguments, or explications of the peculiar doctrines of our sect, and were all to me very dry, uninteresting, and unedifying, since not a single moral principle was inculated or enforced, their aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians than good citizens.” (80-81)
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