Introduction

Introduction EW, if any, documents of modern times have been subjected to such gross and persistent misrepresentation as has fallen to the lot of Benjamin FFranklin's autobiography. This has been due primarily to the different times of its composition and to the unparalleled confusion attending its publication. Franklin wrote his "memoirs," as he always referred to them, at four distinct periods. There was an interval of thirteen years between the first and second parts, then a lapse of four years more before the third part was begun; the last part was added just before he died. After his death, the publication of the autobiography was eagerly awaited, as its existence was widely known, but for nearly thirty years the reading public had to content itself with French translations of the first and second parts, which were again translated from the French into other languages, and even retranslated into English. When the authorized English publication finally appeared in 1818, it was not taken from the original manuscript, but from a copy, as was the preceding French version of the first part. The copy, furthermore, did not include the fourth and last part, which also first reached the public in a French translation in 1828. It seems incredible that three of the four parts of this great American classic should have been published first in French translations; yet such is the case, and the complete autobiography was not printed in English from the original manuscript until 1868, nearly eighty years after Franklin's death. Under such conditions, misunderstandings were inevitable and misstate- ments resulted which have grown in number and importance by the simple process of accretion in the course of endless repetition, for the autobiography is one of the most widely read books in the English language and its popularity has led to its publication in literally hundreds of editions. The whole subject was so bewildering that, whenever this study was interrupted for even a few weeks, as has happened many times, it was necessary to spend hours and some- times days in tracing the pattern out again among the tangled threads. As often happens with complicated problems, when the explanation finally was found it seemed so simple that one wonders whether it can be correct, and if so why it was not discovered long ago. C xiii 3 xiv INTRODUCTION The Huntington Library possesses the original manuscript. All four parts were written on folio leaves of approximately uniform size. Many years later these were mounted on guards and bound in boards, with a red leather back. The binding is evidently of French workmanship—an inference that is con- firmed by the spelling of "Francklin" in the title on the back of the cover. The mere transcription of the text is not an easy task, because of numerous correc- tions and interlineations, but that difficulty is insignificant in comparison with the uncertainty as to what Franklin wished the final wording to be. Anyone may read the autobiography and enjoy it, but a knowledge of the circumstances surrounding each stage of its composition is essential to appre- ciate the different and distinct qualities of the several parts. If one wishes, also, to understand how there can be any doubt of Franklin's intention as to the wording of the text, it is necessary to comprehend the incredible confusion attending its publication. The history of the autobiography and its publication has nowhere been told with anything approaching accuracy and completeness, and there seems to be no alternative to retelling the whole story, even though this procedure necessitates the repetition of many facts well known. The account which follows would not have been possible without the expert assistance of various members of the Huntington Library staff, and the cordial cooperation of everyone to whom appeal has been made for information or advice. Benjamin Franklin in 1771, at the age of sixty-five, was in England. It was the seventh year of his second mission as the agent of Pennsylvania. He had risen by his own efforts from "poverty and obscurity" to be a person of conse- quence in England and in Europe as well as in America. His industry, his shrewdness, and his thrift—for the practice of which virtue he gave due credit to "Debby," his wife—had brought him a sufficient competence to permit him at the age of forty-two, by taking a partner, to retire from active participation in the printing shop which was the foundation of his fortune. He had achieved an enviable reputation in Philadelphia, not alone for his commercial success, but even more for his public-spirited citizenship. He was noted for the many projects he originated or sponsored for the benefit of the com- munity. Indeed, the list of his activities and interests reads like a catalogue of civic virtues or a manual of civic duties. It might be observed, also, that Frank- lin's reputation was not diminished by his deliberate policy of publicity. At the time of his retirement, he had been clerk of the Assembly for a dozen years, and remained in that capacity for three years longer, when he was elected INTRODUCTION xv a member of the Assembly for Philadelphia and continued to be reelected for many years, although he was in England most of the time. From Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, he stepped onto the larger stage of intercolonial and of imperial politics. He was one of the four commissioners from Pennsylvania in 1754 to the Albany Congress, where he presented a plan of union which became famous as the forerunner of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. In the unfortunate Braddock campaign, from which much was expected, it was Franklin who induced the Pennsylvania farmers to come forward and supply the means of transportation when the commanding general was unable to obtain the necessary facilities in Virginia. After Braddock's defeat, Franklin was an aggressive leader in the prepara- tions for defense of the frontiers against the Indians and the French. Such measures are expensive. The Pennsylvania Assembly was willing to do its part, and voted liberal sums, but proposed taxing all estates, real and personal, "those of the proprietors not excepted." The Governor insisted that the clause should read, the estates "of the proprietors only excepted." It was the old, old quarrel between the representatives of the people and imposed authority. In 1757, when the dispute between the Assembly and the Governor became acute, Franklin was chosen by his Pennsylvania associates to present their case in London. Franklin had retired from active business for the purpose of devoting him- self to scientific study, but, when the extent and variety of the demands upon him for public service are realized, it is evident little time was left for his fa- vorite pursuits. In spite of the interruptions, however, and in addition to many useful and interesting inventions, Franklin had been able to carry on the experi- ments in electricity that have made his name respected in the scientific world even to the present day. In 1753 the Royal Society of London awarded him the Copley medal and Harvard and Yale conferred upon him the honorary degree of M.A. William and Mary followed with the same degree in 1756. On the eve of his departure for England he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and was exempted from the usual initiation fee and annual dues. In 1759 he was made a Doctor of Laws by the University of St. Andrews, and in 1762 came his greatest academic distinction, in the form of the honorary degree of D.C.L. from Oxford. Franklin could not have felt otherwise than pleased with the honors and attention showered upon him, but he evidently took a greater and deeper satis- xvi INTRODUCTION faction in the acquaintances he made and the associations he enjoyed. He had a capacity, amounting to genius, for making friends, and that quality was dis- played to the greatest advantage at this period of his career. Those were happy years for him. He remarked to one of his friends that he had spent in Scotland "six weeks of the densest happiness I have ever met with in any part of my life." He even thought of making England his permanent home. He returned to America, however, in 1762, and, though "Debby" was not favorably disposed toward moving to England, apparently Franklin him- self was not averse to being sent again to London before two years had passed-— that is, at the end of 1764. In the years that followed, Franklin renewed old acquaintances and steadily enlarged the circle of his friends. With his predilection for science, he perhaps saw more of the group centering in the Royal Society than others, but the "many-sided Franklin" was on intimate terms with persons of all ranks and of every calling. Among them was Richard Price, a nonconformist clergyman, editor, and writer, Franklin's junior by some twenty years, who was later in- vited by Congress to make his home in America. He is selected for particular mention, however, not on account of his ability and political sympathies, but because of his later connection with the autobiography. Another was the Earl of Shelburne, a patron of literature and the arts, who held in high regard and frequently entertained the particular group with which Franklin associated. The third to be named is Benjamin Vaughan, who was a young man in his teens when Franklin went to England on his second mission. His father, on coming from Jamaica in 1756, had joined Dr.

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