A COMPARISOI OF THE COIHIOH SENSE IDEALS OP

DR. SAMUEL JOIDISOB AJID DR. BEl.JAJIUl FRABKLII

A Thesis Presented tor the

Degree of Master of Arts

BY

Damaris Blosser,.. A. B• ----

THE OHIO STATE UBIVERSI'l'Y

1947

Approved bf: TABLe OF CONTENTS

Introduction

PART OIIE--JOHMSOH AliD FRAIKLIB CONTRASTED Chapter 1. !!!!. Ethics .!IS R&lig1on RI. Johnson .!!!!!. Franklin

Chapter 11. !!:!!, Political Op1niona .2! Johnson~ Franklin PAR'!' TWO--THE COJIJION SENSE OF JOHNSON AID FBAllKLII

Chapter lll. Johnson ~ Franklin 2!! 14ucation Chapter lV. Johnson ,!!!!! Franklin 2!! !h!, Pursuit .2! Happ1neaa l. Oetting on in the World

2. Marriage and Women 3. Social Lite 4. Health Conclua1ona Source a Introduot ion

Two of the moat fascinating personalities in the eighteenth century were Dr. Samuel Johnson, the English man of lettera, and Dr. Benjamin Franklin, the American philosopher and ac1entiat. Johneon, the •true-born Englishman", the unrivalled talker, the writer and lexicographer, come• to life in the pagea of hie incoq:>arable biographer, Boswell, and hia supreme capacity for human relat1oneh1p atill makee friend.a for him more than a century after hie death. Franklin, the genial American, the etateaman, the inventor, the writer, and toun:ler or the American auccees pattern, etlll spE':aka Sood aenae to hia readers from the pagee ot hie Autobiograpez, hie •Poor Richard'• Almanack", and other writing•.

These men were tamoua in their own day for their sound common aenae, for their simplicity ot· manner, and their capacity for

fr1endeh1p. Johnson was the advocate of Engliah Toryiam an1 Franklin the philosopher of the American Revolution, and although they presented direct oontraet in the concepta of polit1ca and a1ao of religion, they agreed or eupplemented. each other in the great realm of common aenae and how to live in the world. Johnson and Franklin were contemporaries. Although Franklin

lived many 78'r• in London duri~ Johnaon's ree1denoe there, th97 2 never met. They had at least one famous acquaintance 1n ccmaon-- James Boswe·ll, that 1rrepress1ble celebrity hunter and recorder, who· missed the prize opportunity to bring Franklin and Johnson together. Boswell met Franklin in London in May, 1768, and found him Jolly and congenial.

By failing to bring Johnson and Franklin together, the man who made Johnson his life-time hero m1esed hearing two ot the great men of his ti~e exchange views, talk and argue. Boswell probably never gues11ed what hi• failure coat Franklin and Johnson admirers. Perhaps Boswell, knowing Johnson's strong d1el1ke of Americana, feared to introduce Franklin to the staunch Tory and hie}l. churchman, but Boswell did not hellltate to introduce Johnson to ardent Whigs such as the rascally John Wilkes. This theeie alms to bring Franklin and Johnson together on paper and to show in their own worda how they clashed ard how they agreed, and to show in some measure what these men believed and what they lived by. The lives of Franklin and Johnaon were parallel in certain superficial ways. Franklin waa born in Boston in 1706, and Johnson in Lichfield, ~land, in 1709. Both were born into lower middle-class families. Franklin waa the eon of' a tallow-chandler, ani Johnson wae the eon of a bookseller. Both were largely sell-educated., and both rece1 ved honorary degrees from Oxford un1vere1ty. Johnson spent about 14 months at Pembroke college, Oxford., while Franklin had no college education.

Both men were aelJ"-made. Both started their careera in journalisa. Franklin was a contributor to the Boston Courant, owned by his brother, Jamee, and Johnson wae a writer tor Cave's Gentleman• a Magazine. Both men roae f'rom bumble aoo1al orig1na and. poverty to social eminence and fimncial security.

The parallel •Y be carried yet rurthe r. Johnaon and Franklin would have found. no co-on ground in formal religion or in politica, but both Johnson ant Franklin insisted on the righta and dignity of the individual man. Both men held that man•s first duty is to serve society, and. then look to the aalvation of his own soul. J:Soth men neld liberal and progressive viewa regarding the democratization of education ani the need of' making education ani newa accessible to all the people. Both men entertained modern 1deaa concerning the education of women, the partnership of marriage, am the promotion of a sound, middle- claaa morality. Both men were rugged individualiata and. argued tor the advantages of thrift, induat17, and the rights of property accumulated by thr1f't and induet17. Both men lived to benefit and improve the world. Am l:x>th men were em1nentl7 aocial with a genius tor f'riendl!lhip. Finally, both men em.bodied common sense. "Clear 7our mind of' cant,w cried Dr. Johnson, and •good senae 1• a thing all need•, 4 commented Franklin's "Poor Richard." Common sense waa the eolMnon meeting ground of the great .Englishman and the great American. 5

Chapter 1

fh!. Religion ~ Ethics RI., Johnson ~ franklin

8 All Christians, whether Papists or Protestants, agree in the eaaential articlea,n Dr. Samuel Johnson once remarked to .lames Boswell.1 Johnson however disagreed violently with many Christiana in matters of doctrine. The Great Bear of Kngliah lettera represented. the Church of England, while his .t'amoua .American contemporary, Dr. Benjamin Prankl1n, represented. the more mod.em, deistic religion. 'fhey presented as Yi Tid a contrast in their religious beliefs as they did in their personalities. Franklin wa.s buoyant of temperament, phy1icall7 aound, well­ adjusted emot1onally, and a perfect example of the •health7 mind" which the psychologist, William Jamea, described in The yar1et1ea

S?I. Beligioue Experience• Johnllon, on the other hand, waa aomber, beset b7 physical ills and deformities, and tortured b)' the religious melancholy which James aaaociated. withthe "sick aoui.•2 Jamee d1acuaaed Tolsto7 aa one example ot the aiok aoul. He wrote: Religious melancboly ••• preaenta two characters. 11.rat it ia a well-marked caee ot anhedonia, of passive loea of appetite for all life's valuea; and second, lt ahowa how the altered and estranged aapect which tbe world aasuaed 1n consequence of this et1mulated Tolato7•a intellect to a gnawing, carking questioning and er.fort ror ph1loaoph1c relief .3 l J ..es Boswell, The Lite of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., ed. George Birlrbeok Bill, T6"vor.-; i":Y., Bigelow, Brown & Co., Undated) 1, p. 469. 2 William James, Tl'» Varietiee of Relifious EJtperience, (B.Y~, Longmana, Greene& Co., 19~5)p. '78- 5. 3.Ibid., p. 149. 6

In Johnaon•s caae, religious melancholy did not reault in a loss of appetite for all life'• valuea; instead be aougbt relief in the world of men, in fellowship, good talk, in reading and in religion, finding pleasure tb.e keener for ita rarity. Johnson clung to life tenaoioual7, and retained a tundamental robuatnesa of mind wb1ob enabled hi• to conquer m&IQ' of the alck fancies which threatened his san1t7. Joseph Wood Krutch described Johnson aa "a pessimist with an enormous seat for living.•4 If ever a man had reaaon to be a peaeimiat, it waa Johnson. Be waa the eon or a respectable but unaucoeastul tradesman. Aa a boy Johnson waa eet apart from h1a fellows by h1 a ungainly, overgrown f igtire, ecrof'ula and odd, jerky movements which auggeated st. Vitua dance. Bia eyesight was so weak he could not Join other boye in their gamea, and hia chief &111Uaement in winter waa being drawn about on the 1oe 'bJ' another lad. Bia unu.aual mental brilliance in school aet h1m apart from other boye aa a prodigy. When Johnaon attended Pembroke oollege at OX1'ord university, he waa eo poor that his toee atuak out of his ahoea. finally forced. hi• to quit Oxford after about 14 montha residence. Johnson's father left h1a aon nothing but debte. At 28, Johnaon, after failing as a aehoolmaeter, and with the responsibility of a wife to support, went to London with hie traged7, Irene, in his pocket. H• hoped for a literary oareer, but for a&1Q' yeara he 4 Joseph Wood Krutch, Samuel Johnson (R.Y.,Benry Holt,1944),p.l. 7 could earn a 11v1ng onl7 aa a journalist, a Grub street hack. During his earl7 7ears in London, Johnson described h1maelt' as ao poor that he more than once walked the atreeta all night beca~se he had no mone7 for a lodging. He wrote Raaaelaa in about a week, ruah1ng to finish it to pa7 for his mother• a doctor bills, and she died berore the book ••• nnished. Little wonder that he wrote in Raaselaa that "Human life la everywhere a state, in which much is to be endured, and little to be enjo7ed."5 In addition to the physical deformities, the ugly face and body, the weak sight and detective hearing with which nature had burdened Johnson, he waa tormented by an inherent melanchol7 which he believed he had inherited t'rom his father. While at Oxford, Johnson became ao mentally depressed he thought he waa going mad,. and consulted a phy"s1o1an for relief'. Sir John Hawkin.a, Johnson's rr1end. and biographer, wrote this statement on the subject: Bis own conjecture waa, that he derived it from hia rather ••• Under this perauaaion, he at the age of about 20, drew up a state or his case for the opinion of an eminent ph7sician in Staftord.ah1re, and from him received an answer, "That trom the symptoms therin described, he could think of nothing better of h1a dlaorder, than that it had a tendency to insanity; and without great care might possibly term1natg in the deprivation ot' his natural faculties."

5 S&muel Johnson, Raaaelaa, (Oxford, Clarendon Presa,1898),p.20. 6 Hugh K.1ngmn111, ed., Johnaon Without Boswell, (K.Y., Al.l'red A. Knopf, 1941)~ p. 33. 8

Johnson, like a good Chriatlan, turned to the solace of religion. Krutoh, one of Johnson• a latest biographera, suggea~ed that even religion might not have 71elded. all tbe solace which Johnson required. Jtru.tch aaid that the anti- romantic quality of Jobnaon' s mind made him something ot a skeptic, which, coupled with hie early religious conditioning, resulted in conflict aa Johnson clung tenaciously to religion and prayer. Krutch commented that Johnson was "too BUch a believer not to rear divine puniahment and too invincibly a skeptic to count hi• faith sufficient to save him.•7 Certain17, Johnaon•a early conditioning marked him for a believer. He waa born in the cathedral town of L1oh1'ield.

Boswell described Johnson1 a father, Michael Johnaon, aa a zealous high churchman and r07aliat. Johnson'• mother waa extremely pious and early taught her aon to fear God'• wrath and hell-fire. ln hia 8 Annala" Johnaon related how hia mother introduced him to religious experience. I remember, that being in bed with -r mother one morning, I waa told by her of the two places to which the inhabitants of thia world were received after death; one a .t'1ne place filled. with happineaa. called Heaven; the other a aad place called. Hell ••• when I was riaen, my mother'tiade me repeat what she bad told me to Thomae Jackson. When I told thia afterwards to my mother, she aeemed to wonder that ahe should begin such talk ao late as that the f1rst tirr.e could be remembered.a

7 Krutch. op. c1t., p. 2. 8 George Birkbeck Hill, ed., Johnsonian M1acellanj.ea, (OXtord., Clarendon Presa, 1878), p. 135. 9

The effect of thia early rel1g1oua conditioning may be evaluated in terms of morbidness by setting beside it the word.a of James regarding the healtl'q-m1ndedneaa of religion. Jamee wrote:

The advance o.f 11beral1am, ao-oalled, in Christianit7, during the past n.rt7 years, ma7 be fairly called a victory of healthy-mindedness within the church over the morbldneaa with 'llbioh the old ~ell-f!.re theolog waa more harmoniously related.

Oxford university waa the seat of high ~urch learning in Johnaon•a era. He related that it was while at college that he became seriously concerned. with religion. It waa alm at

the same time that he became concerned. about hie melanchol7. Johnson attributed h1a newly aroused intereat in religion to a reading of Law' a Serioua Call l2_ A Boly £1.fe. He admitted he

took up the book e.xpecti ng it to be dull and "perhape to laugh at it. But I found Law quite an overmatch for me, and th.1a

was the f 1rat occaa1on of ., thinking in earneat of r•l1g1on, a1'ter I became capable or rational inquiry.•lO

Throughout his ¥t:e Johnson waa tormented by two fears-- madness and death. It •011ld aeem from his physician's df.agnoais

that madness was certainly somethi~ for Johnson to fear. Bia .fear of death, however, verges on the neurotio. Perhaps it waa rooted in his mothC''a early teaching concerning the •aad place• called Hell.

9 James, op. cit •• p. 91. 10 Boswell, op. cit., p. ?9-80. 10

The chier cauae of Johnson's terror of death may have be81'1 rooted in the skepticiam suggeated by Xrutch. It 1a almost heresy to suggest that Johnson, the upholder of orthodoxy and the established church, should have had the shadow of a doubt concerning any article or hla faith. Yet, there 1s one significant statement or Johnson• s recorded by Boswell whidl revealed a note of skepticism. Johnson said: Every man who attacks my belief, d1min1ehea in some degree _,. confidence in it, and therefore makes me uneasy and I am artgr7 with him who mak e• me uneaa7.ll Here is the secret behind Johnson's rrequent outburats against those who chose another religioua sect in.tead. of the established. church in which they were reared. Johnaon condemned thoae who aough t to ohange their religion to ao:metbing more in keeping with their personal aonvictiona. Boswell related two examples ot Johnaon's intolerance on the subject of changing one's religion.

A ph7sician being mentioned who had loat b1s practice, because his whimsically changing hia religion had made people d.1atruet1'ul of him, I maintained that th1a waa unreasonable, as religion ia unconnected with medical skill. JOHBSOR. ns1r, it is not unreasonable; for when people see a man a~surd in what they understand, they may conclude the same of him in what they do not understand. If a physician were to take to eating of horse-flesh, nobody would employ him: though one may eat horae-1'leah and be a very akillf'ul physician. If a man were educated in an absurd religion, his contiming to pro.teas it would not hurt him, though his changing 1 t 1110uld. ttl2 ll Boswell, op. cit., 3, p. 12. 12 Boswell, op. oit., 2, p. 486. 11

Th:!s argument of Johnson's seems absurd, yet Johnson explained his conviction more reasonably during a discussion with firs. Knowles concerning Quakerism. Johnson held that a man is likely to err when he chooses a religion and a moral wa7 of life for himaelr. Mrs. Knowles mentioned, aa a proselyte to Quakerism, ¥iaa----, a young lady well known to Dr. Johnson, for whom he had shown much affection; while she ever had, and still retained, a great reapeot ror him. Mrs. Knowles at the same ti~e took an opportunity of letting him know 'that the amiable young creature waa sorry at finding that he was offended at her leaving the Church of ~land and embracing a simpler faith'; and, in the gentlest and moat perauasive manner, solicited hia kind indulgence for what waa aincerel7 a matter or conscience. JOHRSOW. (1'rown1ng Yery angrily) 'Madam, she ia an odious wench. She oould not have any proper co nYlotion that it na her duty to change her religion, which is the moat important of all aubJecta, and should be studied w1 th all care, and with all the helps we can get. She knew no more of the Church which she lert, and that whioh she embraced, than she did of the ~ference between the Copernican and Ptolemaick aystema.• MRS. DOILES. 'She had the Hew Testament before her. t JOHISOH. •Madam, she could not underatan:l the New Testament, the moat d1t'f1cult book 1n the world, tor which the study or a life la required.• MRS. XWOWLES. 'It is clear as to ea•entiala.• JOHJISOB. 'But not aa to controveraial points. The heathens were easily converted, because they had nothing to give up; but we ought not, without veey strong convictions indeed, to desert the religion in which we have been educated. That ia the religion g1 ven you, the religion in which it may be said Providence haa placed you. It' :JOU live conacientioualy in that religion, you may be safe. But error ia dangeroua indeed, if you err when you ab.ooae a religion for 7ouraelt.• MRS. DOBLES. 'Muat we then go bf implicit taithT' JOIDISCll. "llh'y, Madam, the greatest part or our knowledge ia implicit raith; and. aa to religion, 12

have we heard all that a disciple of Confucius, all that a Mahometan, can aay for himael:r?•l3

Johnson did not attempt to rationalize all the doctrinea of the church. He took them aa they stood. He believed that

God had ordained them, and there was an em to it. Thia is not entirely unreasonable. J ohnaon waa by nature a conservative in religion, in politics, and in general attitude toward life. He could aee defects enough in the world, but be was opposed to fanatics who wiahed to turn the church and state upsidedown to remedy them. He had no wiah to be hurried into evils he knew not of. Some doubts might stir in his subconac1oua, but he kept them in a separate compartment of his mind. Johnson liked always to identi.fJ' himself with the establiahed viewpoint in religion and in politics. He knew that nature bad short-changed him, that he waa something or a freak. Hogarth upon ti rat meeting him had taken him :ror an "inspired idiot." Johaaon•a eapousal of :.he aide of authority in religion and politics waa juat aa much a part ot' his desire to be treated as equal or even superior to other men.

The established ~eligion of Johnson's era relied upon hell-fire aa one of its chief weapons, and the iron bad sunk deep into

Johnson's soul. H1 s melancholy temperament decreed that he think much upon death so that he disliked. even the mention of b1a birthdays which brought him nearer to death, the ki~ of terrora.

13 Boswell, op. cit., 3, p. 334. 13

He waa convinced, aa he once told Boswell, that 8 The better a man la, the more a.fra1d he ia of death, having a clearer view of infinite purity. nl' Johnaon•a sick sou1 groaned and writhed. over his a1na, real Although the amount or literary and Journaliat1o work which he produced may be called enormous by modern ate.ndards, he tormented himself by hi• conception of hia 1dleneas. God who had given him great talents would surely pun1ah him for his negleot of them. Johnson's Pra1era ,!!!Si Med.1.tationa present a aoul abasing himself before h1a Creator. In 1771, he wrote: When I aurYey my past life, I diacover nothing but a barren waste or t1me, with some disorders of bo~, and d1aturbancea of mind, very near to madneaa, wh1oh I hope He that made me will au.f'fer to extemate many faults, and excuae many def1c1enciea.15 Bothing which Boawell reported of Johnson's religioua conv1ct1ona expressed his fear of death better than the following.

Boswell remarked to ~ohnaon, •The world ia a mere show, ani it ia unreasonable for a man to wish to continue in the ahowroom, after he has seen it • " JOHKSOI. Yea, Sir, 1r be ia aure he 1a to be well, after be goea out of it. But if he 1 a to grow blind after be goea out of the show-room, and never to aee any thing again; or if he doea not know wb.1.ther he ia to go next, a man will not go chedf'ull7 out of a show-room. lo wise man will be contented to die, 11' he thinks be 1a to fall into annihilation: tor however unhappy any man•a existence may be, he yet would rather have 1~ nhan not exist at all. Jlo, there 1• no rational

14 Boswell, op. cit., ~, p. 174. 15 Ibid., 3, p. 112-113. 14

principle by wh1eh a man can die contented, but a truat in the !Srey or GOD, through the merits ot Jeaua Ohr1at. When Boswell GUest1oned Johnaon about the pun1ehmentmete4 out 1n the next world, .Johnson answered: S1r, you are to consider the intention of punish­ ment in a future state. we have no reaaon to be sure that we shall then be no lo~er liable to orten:i against God. we do not know that even the angels are cu1te in a state or aecur1ty; nay, we know that sane or them have fallen. It may, therefore, perhaps be neceaaary • '·n order to preserve both inen and angel• 1n a state or rect1tw1e, that they should have continually before them the punishment ot those who have deviated from 1t; but we 1nay hope that by some '7 other mean• a fall frotn rectitude ma7 be •·revented.. 1 Johnson, unmoved bJ' reporta that DaYid Hwae, an eighteenth century atheist, had gone to h1a death an atheist still, commented with character1at1c bluntness: wlt waa not to be expected that the prospect of death would alter h1a (Hume'•) way of thinking, \l.Dleaa GOD should send an angel to eet him right."18 Aa a moralist, .Johnson held that martyrdom 1a the teat ot a man's faith. Boswell reported: Talking on the eu.bject at toleration, one da7 when some f'r1.enda were with him in bis atw17, he lllade b1a usual remark, that the State has a right to regulate the rel1g1on or the people, who are the children or the State. A olergyman who readily acquiesced 1n th1a, Johnaon, who loved diacuaaion, obeerved, 'But, Sir, you muat go round to other Statea than our own. You do mt know what a Brud.n baa to aay ror bimaelt'. In alx>rt, Sir, I have got no t'urtber than thia: EYeJ!7

16 James Boawell, Tour to the Hebr1dea, (Oxrord. On1vera1ty Preas, London, I9!0);-p:l&5. l~ Boswell, Life, 3, p. 227. 18 Ibid., Z, p. 1V3. lo

man haa a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man ha• a ri gbt to knock him down tor it. ~artyrdom is the test.•19 . Something of Johnson's conflict between belief and logic was evi~ent in his attitude toward ghoata. Talking of ghosts. he said• 'It is wonderful that tive thousand years have norelapaed aince the creation of the world, and still it is undecided whether or not there baa ever been an instance of the spirit of any person appearing after death. All argument is againat it; but all belief is for 1t.•20 It was typical of Johnson's sick mind and soul that he did not feel joy in his religion de~pite his willingness to believe. "There are many good men," he said, "whose great fear or GOD predominates over their love.•21 Aa a moralist, Johnson laid down strict conduct fer everyone, eapec1ally for the clergy who had in their hand.a the care of others• souls. Be remarked: "I do not envy a clergyman's li1'e aa an eaa7 22 lire, nor do I envy the clergyman who makea it an eaay life.• He had no regard for the "sporting paraona" who aesumed the lax jollity of men of the world• In a century notorious for license, Johnaon•s concepts of morality were as rigid as his religious eonv1ct1ona. His ethical beliera were baaed upon the Ten Commandments ani the doctrinea ot the church,, and expressed in term.a of his own worldly o'baerYat1ona and experience.

19 Boswell, op. cit., 4, p. 14. 20 Boswell, op cit., 3, p. 261. 21 Ibid., 3, p. 386. 22 Ibid., 3, p. 345. 16

Be shrelldly remarked in Raaselaa: •Whether perfect happineaa would be procured by perfect goodness, th1a world will never afford ancpportunity of deciding.•23 In general, Johnson held that "Integrity without knowledge is weak and uaeleas, and knowledge without integrity is dengeroua and dread:fu.l."24 Althcugh Johnson believed that "It is better to live rich than to die rich,"25 he had the worldly insight to krx>w that the pure in heart do not often inherit th1s world, althoueJ:i tbe7 may see God. He wrote in Rasselaa: It baa been the boast of some swelling moral1ata that every man'• fortune was in h1a own power, that prudence supplied the place of other d1v1n1tiea, and that bappineaa ia the unfailing consequence of virtue. But Sllrely the quiver of Ollnipotence la stored •1th arrows against which the abield of human virtue, however adamant1ne it baa been its boast, is held up in vain; we do not always suffer by ~Hr crimes; we are not always protected by our innocence. Only a man who had been buffetted by the world could bave written theae worda. Johnson's ethics were not the namby-pamby mouthinga of the conventional teacher of morality. Hie CODIDOD sense pierced the flimay veil with which men try to cloak the motives of their actions. He aa1d:

23 Johnson, Raaaelaa, p. 101. 24 Ibid., p. 135. 25 Boswell, op. cit., 3, p. 345. 26 Johnson, Raaaelaa, p. 187 17

The morality of an action depends on the motive from which we act. If I fling half a crown to a beggar 1rlth intention to break h1s head, and he picks it up and buys victuals with it, the physical effect is good; but with respect to me, the action is very wrong. ~o, religious exerc1 sea, 1f not performed w1th an intention to please GOD, avail us nothing. 2'7 Johnson believed that "Ethics, or morality is one of the studies which ought to b• gin with the first glimpse of reason and end only with life itself ."28 However, he never promised worldly con:pensation to the virtuous. He warned that "All that v1rtue can afford is quietness of conscience and a steady prospect of a happier state; tbia may enable us to endure calmnity with patience; but remember that patience must always presuppose pain.•29 Unlike some maiern psychologists who attempt to rationalize virtue and vice, ~ohnson was impatient with those who confused them. When boswell told hi~ of a nan who maintained there waa no distinction between virtue and vice, Johnson excla1rned:

~, Sir, if the fellow does not think as he apeaka. he 1s lying; and I can ••• not what honor he can propose to himself fr~m having the character of a lyar. But if he doea really think that there is no distinction between virtue ard vice, why, Si!6 when he leaves our houses, let us count our spoons. Inherent in Johnson's ethics waa a love of order. He did not offer one st811dard of morality for men and another for women. Althou@h he lived in a lax age, ard admitted to David Garrick that

27 Boswell, op. cit., 1, p. 460. 28 Johnson, Worka, (Pafraeta Book Co., Troy, H.Y.,1903), 5,p.243. 29 Johnson, Rasaela9, p. 101. 30 Boswell, op. cit., 1, p. 500. 18 pretty actresses excited h1a amorous senaibilitiea, he laid down chastty aa a rule for men aa well aa women.

So strict was Johnson in hia regard ror virtue that in his Preface !g_ Shakespeare he criticised Shakespeare for letting vice go unreproved: He sacrifices virtue to convenience, and is eo much more careful to please than to inetruct, that he seems to write •'tbout any moral ayste~. From hie wr1t1r.g, indeed, a system of morality may be selected; for he that think• reasonably m~rnt think morally; but his precepts and aiioms drop caaually from him; he makes no just d.1str1.bution of good and ev11, nor ls always care.rul to show in the virtuous a diEapprobation of the wicked; he carries his persona indifferently through right and wro~, and, at the close, d1 smis~es them wi tho,1t further care, and leavea their examples to operate by chance.31 Johnson, however, overlooked two things in this er1t1ciam. One is the artistjc defense that the function of an artist ia to depict life as it is and not to moralize. The other ractor is that Johnson was not consistent in his criticism of Shakespeare for carrying his persona indifferently through right or wrong. Johnson in his own fr1end8hips did not always behave as a moraliat. His great friends, Boswell and Topham Beauclerk, were in.famous rakes. However, Johnson might have replied by quoting his own advice to Raaaelaa: "Be not too hasty to trust or to admire the teacher· a or morality; they diacourae like angela, but they live 11ke men.•32

31 Samuel Johnson, Works, l~, p.l. 32 Johnson, op. cit., p. 83. 19

Johnson held "It i a our f1 rst duty to serve society, and arter we have done that, we way attend wholly to the salvation of our own soula.33

The Rel1g1on 01.' F1rankl1n

Benjamjn Franklin was the epitome of "the healt~y soul.• He was a Deist whose ethical concepts were gu1dea for evwyday living. Franklin championed a religion of good wor¥s as opposed to one of faith alone. Be believed 1n virtue as a way of lH e because 1 t of fared the smoothest way of getting on 1n the world. Franklin waa a rationalistic, and like Johnson, he had a love of order. R•lig1on ard morality are pillars of society, and Franklin believed in atrengthen1ne; the pillare.

Unlike Johnson who had been born into an orthodox Church of

England fam~ ly, Franklin sprang from a :family of Dissenters. Bia Autobiograpbt recorded how early his ancestors dissented from the established faith: Thie obscure family of ours was es.rly 1n the Refor­ mation, and the continued Protestants through the reign of Queen Mary, when they were somet1mea 1n trouble on account of their zeal against popery. They got an English Bible~ and to conceal and secure it, it waa faatened open with tapes under and within the cover of a joint-stool. When my great-great-grandfather read 1 t to his family, he turned the Joint-atool upon his knees, turning over the leaves then under the tapea. One of the children atood at the door to give notice it he saw the apparitor com1ng, who waa an officer ot the spirituel court. In that case the stool waa turned down again upon ita feet, when the Bible remained

33 Boswell~ op. cit., 2, p. 11. concealed under it aa before ••• The familJ continued all of the Churoh of England till about the end of Charles the Second'• reign, when some of the m1n1stera that had been outed for non-conrorm1ty holding conventicles in 1forthhamptoneh1re, BenJamin and Joaiah adhered to them, and so continued all their livea ••• 34 Franklin's father, the Josiah of the •-ove reference, came to New Bnglard to anJoy religious freedom. Pranklin waa reared a Presbyterian and attended the Epiacopal church aa an adult, but was never a atrtct sectarian. Franklin waa not willing to cleave to one faith merely because he waa reared in it. When onl7 15 he wae turned to Deism bJ reading the arguments again£>.t it. However, aa early as 1728 be drew up a ayatem of eth1ce to live bJ" which be called Articles .!?! Belief .!!!! Acta of Religion. Hia conversion ma1 have stemmed from a aer1oua illneaa which he underwent 1n 1?27. Franklin had gone to London, England, when at1ll in h1a early twent1ea to perfect himaelt in h1a printer'• trade. He waa accompanied by Jamea Ralph, a poet and a Beiat. Ralph1 a immorality and careless living brought brought him into atra1tened c1rcumatanoea, and Franklin, ever eager to riae in the world, waa impressed enough bJ tbe example to turn to more conventional concepts of religion and morality. Bernard Fay has presented a keen analysis of Franklin' e attitude toward God am religion:

34 Kathan G. Goodman, ed., A Benjamin Franklin Reader, (B.Y •• Thomas Y. Crowell, 1945).,, p. 50 • 21 If Franklin never denied his God,, he apoke but little of him,, thua imitating hie deiatical maatera and following a Protestant tendency. He kept his personal relationship with God to himself, and this mystical element did not enter hia social life. ~he Godhead waa too high to have •117 need or -ii; prayer• ahould be made in case or necessity,, but the only real way of honoring God waa bJ' being uaei\1.1 to other men. The two pole a of · th1 a new di ao1 ple or Frankl.in• a were an inner, mystical, diaoreet and astronomical Goel., and an outnrd. aooial code or well-Aolng and adaptabillty.~D

Franklin waa a acienti at. To him,, ae to many a modern

acienti11t, soience aeemed to re"t'eal an order in thinga and a directing hand which led him to retain a pioua faith in the existence of a deity. He regarded God aa a kindly father, pleaeed with the pleasure of His children. He sincerely believed that a life d•Toted to the advancement of aooiety•a welfare waa the moat pleasing to God, and even that God would be pleaaed by it alone.

He ref'uaed to close h1a mind to the •orthineaa of aecta other than hi. a own. He did not believe with Johnson that a man erred when he ah.ose a religion for himself. In a letter to hia father, dattid A.Pl" i l 13,, l '1:58 , Franklin wrote: I imagine a man must ha•• a good deal of' vanitJ who believea, and a good deal or boldne•s who aft1raa., that all doctl"lnea he holda are trt.le, and all he rejects are talae. And perhaps the aame may be aald justly ot every sect, cmrch and aociety or men, when they aaauae to themeelvea that infallibility which they deny to the Pope and counc1le ••• I think v1 tal religion haa always suffered when orthodoxy 1a mo~garded than •1rtue; and the aorlpturea aaaure me that at the laat day we ahall not be examined what we thought, but what we did;

S5 Bernard Fa'J,, Franklin,, l!!!. Apostle of M¢ern Timea., (Boston,, Little,, Brown, & Co., 1930), p. 116. 22

and our reccamendation w1 ll not be that we aa1d,, •Lordi Lordi• but that we d1d good to our .tallow creatures. See Matt. JXY36 Franklin believed that every aeot ahould have a chance to be heard. He upheld liberty or conac1ence ard religious freedom aa it 1a 1till understood in .America. When George Whitefield, the Methodiat evangelist, came to Philadelphia,, the local oler87 refused him the use or their pulpita. Fn.nklin pioneered in the movement which resulted in lnying ground. and building a bouae •expreaaly for the uae of any preacher o.f any religious peraua•ion who migbt dea1re to aay something to the people of philed.elphia; the deaign in bl1ld.1ng not being to accomodate any particular aect, but the 1nhab1tanta in general; ao that even it the Kutt1 of Constantinople were to aend a m1aa-

1onary to preach Mobammed..lniam to ua, he would .find a pulpit at hi• service. •37

Pranklin doubted the divinity of Chriat, but he believed. that his teachinga contained. the highest morality the world baa ever known. When an old man, he aet forth his religious belie.ta in a now-famous letter to Bara Stiles, dated March 9, 1790.

You desire to know something of my religion ••• Here ia 11f7 creed. I believe in one God, creator of the universe. That he governs 1t b7 his providence. That h• ought to be worahipped. That the moat accept­ able service we render to him 1• doing good to his

36 Goodman, op. cit • ., p. 232. 37 Carl Van Doren, BenJaa1n Franklin, (B.Y., Garden City Publ1ab1ng Co., 1941)., p. 137-138. 23

other children. That the aoul of man ia 1aaortal, and w111 be tr«mted with justice in another life respecting its con1uct in this. Theae I take to be the fundamente.l principles of all sound religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet •1th. As to Jeaua of Nazareth, my opinion or whom you particularly desire, I think the ayatem of moral• and his religion, as he l!Ct them to ua, the best the world ever aaw or la likely to aee; but I apprehend it baa rece1Yed various corrupting changes, and I have, with moat or the present dissenters in England, aome doubts aa to hia divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to bua7 m;yselr with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with leaa trouble. I aee no harm, however, in its being melieved, if that belief baa the good consequence, aa it probably has, of making his doctrines more reapected and better observed; eapecially aa I do not perceive that the Supreme Being takea it am.iaa, bJ' distinguishing the unbelievers in his governaent_o.r the world with an peculiar mark or his diapleasure.38 In hi• Autobiography, Franklin aet down his reaction toward formal religion. He said: I had been rel1g1oualy educattd aa a Preabyterian; and tho' some or the dogmaa of that perauaaion,auch aa ~ eternal decreea al_ God, election, reprobation, etc., appeared to me unintelligible, others doubtful, i'ncr I early absented myaelf tram the public aaaembliea of the aect, ::Sunday being 1lf:T atudying day, I never -• w1 thout some religious pr1nc1plea. I never doubted, ror instance, the existence or the Deity; that he made the world, and govern'd 1t by his Providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our aoula are inEortal; and that a.11 crime will be punished, and virtue rewarded,either here or herea.rter. 'l'heae I eateem'd the eaaentiala of every religion; and, being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I respect them all, tho' with difrerent degreea or respect, as I found them more or leas mixed with other artlclea, which, without any teD1ency to inspire, promote, or oon1'1rm morality, aerv 1 d principally to divide ua, ard.

:58 Goodman, op. cl t., p. 244. .. 24

make ua unt'r1endly to one another••• Tho' I ael4om attend &117 public worship, I bad still an opinion of it• propriety, and of it• utility when rightly conducted, and I regularly paid my annual subscription tor the aupport or the only Preabfterian minister or meeting we had 1n Philadelphia. Be uaed to v1e1t me somet1irea aa a rr1end, and admonish me to attend hia miniatrationa, and I waa now and then preva11 'd on to do ao, once for five Sumaya succeeai vely. Had he been in •7 opinion a good preacher, perhapa I mi(!ht have continued., notw.1thatanding the occaaion I had tor the Surday' a le 1 aure in my cou rae or • tudy; but bi• dlacoureea were chiefly either polemic arguments, or expl1cat1ona of the peculiar doctrines or our aect, and were all to me very drJ, uninteresting, and unedifJ'ing, aince not a e1ng~f-•or&l principle wa inculcated or entoro•d, tbe1ftWeem1ng to be rather to •k• ue PNebJ'teriana than good c1 tisena. At length he took for hia text that verae of the fourth chapter ot fh1lipp1ana, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever thlnga are true, honest, juat, pure, lovely, or ot good report, if there be any virtue, or any pra1ae, think on these things.• And I 1magin•d, in a aermon on auch a text, we could not Id.as having some morality. But he con.tined himself' to five points onl7, aa meant bJ' the apoetle, viz.: l. Keeping holy the Sabbath dq. 2. Being diligent in reading the holy Scriptu,ree. f. Attending duly the publick worship. 4. Partaking of the Sacrament. 5. paping a due respect to God's minister•. These might be all g~h1nga; but, aa they were not the kind of good tbinga that I expected from the text, I diepa1red of ever meeting with them f'rom an7 other, was d1.sgusted, and atterded. hla preaching no more. I had some years bef'ore conpoaed a little LiturgJ", or form of prayer, for my private uee (viz., in 1728). entitled, Articles of Belief ard Acts or Religion. I return'd to the u1e of' th1e, am went no more to the public aasembliea.3W Franklin aomet1 mes has been termed. aa a Deist, and even aa an atheist. He admitted that he was turned to Deism while et1ll in his teens, by reading the arguments against 1t, but he had forsaken De1am by the time he wrote the above paasage. Atheist

39 Prankl1n, Autobiograpb.;r, (Boughton Mifflin, R.Y., 1923), p. 131-134. he never na. Like many modern Americana, Franlrlln disliked tomal1 zed re11g1on which orrered nothing in the wa7 or iroral

teaching for a better lite or spiritual solace. H1a mind waa

too liberal to find spiritual ccnsolat1on in aermona 'lhich were 9 dry, un1ntereat1ng and unedit71ng." He preferred to tcrm11late his own ooncepta or moral perfection. Franklin sought another approach to religion. a aubatitute for the dry sermona he heard 1n church. He joined the order or nee and Accepted •aaona. In ledge att'a1ra, he became one ot the !!lost outstanding membera the order ever had. Bernard P&J" presented a summary or eighteenth century •aac>D.rJ': Maaon17 bad ita own biato17, aeaaoned to taate. ita own dotpDaa an1 moral pr1no1plea, whlch oloael7 resembled. thoae or Cbrlatianity and. were uauall7 derived trom them, but which were au1'fic1ently different to be oriented towarda man and earth, 1natead of' God and eternity. ln general, Masonry waa a human, ut111tar1an and rational~atic •Pr·lication or Chrl atian ideaa ard diao1pl1ne. Thi• was what Franklin desired., utilitarian ard rationaliat1o

applic~t1on of Chriat1an1ty1 Thie waa what appealed to h1a

lo~1cal mind, to his Yankee dea1re tor aelt-betterment and the

welfare of human kind. The )!aeons preached liberty an1 e 1:;ualitJ' • political pr1nc1plea dear to Franklin's heart. Franklin waa

f1 rat and last a •aeon. This ie the opinion of Fa~, the biographer who aet out to etudy Franklin 1n tenna or hia vaeonic career, and who stated flatly that •Franklin's euoo••••• and

40 Pay, op. c1t •• p. 178. aetbacka, his principles and opinions cannot be .followed or understood, unless his Masonic career, with all its 1mpllcat1ona, is care.fully studied.·~ Franklin round in Masonry moral principles ar.rl political doctrines which were agreeable to him, just as Dr. Johnson round in the Church of England moral and political doctrines moat pleasing. Although Franklin we.a not a willing church-goer, he put himself on record as an advocate of ctmrch-going for others. In a letter, he tried hia daughter, Sall7, to "Go constantly to church, whoever preaches," and aaked her not to leave "our church. 11 42 Franklin urged Philadelphiana to erect more churches, and when in 1'82 he wrote an easa7 on the advantages which Buropeana may .find upon ellligrating to America, he mentioned as one, the fact that here "serious religion, under its various denominations, is not only tolerated, but respected and practised. Atheism ia unknown there; 1n!'idel1ty rare and secret ••• w43 Franklin, again and again, advocated a creed of good worka to replace the empty rorma of "sermon-reading or hearing, performing church ceremonies, or mak1r:g long prayers, tilled with natteriea and conplir- cnta, deapiaed even by wise men, and.

41 Fay, op. cit., p. 1. 42 Goodman, op. cit., p. 237. 43 Ibid, p. 352-353. '

much less capable of pleasing the Deity." He ell'lphasi zed in a letter tn Joseph Huey, written from Philadelphia, ~une 6,

176~1, tmt the "Great Maater ••• pre.terred doers of' the words, to the mere hearers; the son that seem1rj.y re~Jsed to obey his father, and yet perforned h1s commands, to him that pro.teased his readineaa, but neglected the work; the heretical bl t cl'aritable 8amar1 tan, to the uncharitable though orthodox priest and aant1f1ed Levite ••• •"4 Franklin said, "By heaven we understand a state of bapp1neas, 1nf'in1te in degree, an:1 eternal 1n duration,n45 and he was donvinced that as a doer or good works he would be welcome there. Franklin expressed beliet' in the immortality of the soul in a letter to George Whatley written rrom ~asay, France, on Ma7 23, 1785, in which Franklin aa1d "Thus nnd1ng myself to exist in the world, I beJieve I shall, in some shape or other, alwaya exiat ••• n44 Despite grace.t\J.l expressions of belie• in other worldlineaa, a man like Franklin naturally placed more emphasis upon the advantages of getting on in this world. He was extremely friendly toward White.field, the Methodist evangelist, whoae aermori(a he publicized in his newspaper, the Fennsxlvania gazette. Once when Franklin offered White!'leld his hospitality, Whitefield asked him if he made the orrer •ror Christ's sake." Franklin--- answered, "Don't let it be. mistaken; it waa not for Chriat•a aake but ror your sake.•4' 44 Goodman, op cit., p. 235-36. 45 Ibid., p. 235. 46 Ibid., p. 244. 4' Fay, op. cit., p. 195. ..

rr there waa any mystical element in Franklin' a nature he 1'ound food for it in Freemasonry. He waa elected Worahiptu.l

Master of the ~hiladelph1a Masona in 1736. In the eighteenth century, Freemasonry waa opposed to the kings and the clergJ, and Franklin, who was a Whig all his life, also opposed k1nga and clergy in their secular power over the people. Franklin was never a moralist in the sense or Dr. Johnson, but he was just as great a lover of crde•. To Franklin morality meant order. prosperity, the advancement of human welfare, Bild progress. A workman who married young an1 reared a large health7 family, who performed. an honest day's work for a day'a pay, and who did not rob hie employer or get drunk am beat hia wite waa obviously a more prosperous, more thrit"t7, and more orderly citizen than one who was a diunken, shiftless, thieving fellow. In eighteenth century America, the almanac waa aa well­ thumbed aa the Bible, and Franklin's l.22£ Richard's Almanaok was a beat-seller. Pranklin n lled. Poor Richard with tlme­ teated proverbs of morality which he admitted were drawn rran

•the wisdom of many ages and nations. n Franklin borrowed ethical concepts and moral aphorisms from the writings or Bacon, La Rochefoucauld, Swift, Pope,and many more, and re-stated them in homely,Yankee phrases. In this manner, he satisfied the publie taste for morality am enlarged his printing buaineas. but more than that, Franklin urged his countrymen to lead orderl7, 29 moral 11vea to advance themaelvea and their country on the road to progreaa.

Although F1 ankl1n'' a outlook was always secular, e.nd reated. on h1a belief that if one did well on earth, heaven would talm care of itself, he wae willing to aeek divine aid. In h1a

Articles 9.! Belief ~ ~ Sl.f_ Relision, Franklin petitioned God to keep h1n1 from "censure, calwnny, and distraction; t'rom avarice and ambition, jealousy ard intemperance, t'alaehood, luxur.r ard lasc1viousneaa•; to aid him to be "honest and open-hearted, gentle, merciful, and good, cheerful in spirit, rejoicing in the

good ot others. •48 When a youth he drew up a liat of 13 v1rtuea which seemed to him desirable, including temperance, silence, order, resolution, t'rugality, industry, sincere outlook, justice, moderation, clean-

liness, tranquillity, ohalll:lty, and hwn1lity. Methodical, Franklin deviaed a method to facilitate his practice of these values: I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtuea ••• I determined to give a week•a atr1ct attention to each ot the virtues aucceasivel7. Thus, in the first week, my great guard waa to avoid every the least offense against Temperanoe, leaving the other virtue, a to the1 r ord.1 na.117 chance, only marking every evening the faults of the day ••• Froceed.­ ing thus to the laat, I could go through a course complete in thirteen weeks, and four courses a year. And like him who, having a garden to weed, doea not attempt to eradicate all the bad habits at once, but works on one of the beds at a tir:•, and, having accmr.pliahed the first, proceed.a to a second, so I ahould have, I hoped, the encouraging pleasure of seeing on my pages the progress I made in virtue ••• till 1 n the end., by a m.imblo ot courses, I should be happJ' in v1 ew1ng a clean book.

48 Goodman, op. cl t., p. 222. 49 Van Doren, op. cit., p. 89. Whether he ever achieved a clean book, the selt-improv1ng philosopher did not say. 'l'his ideal of Franklin's wa~ typical of the eighteenth century belief 1.n progress and in the eventual perfectabi11ty of man. It was the American cult of getting on in the world. It is well-night impossible to draw any parallels between the religious beliefs of Fr~nkl1n and Johnson. Franklin's mind and temperament were •holly secular, whereas Johnson gave his mind to religion and to aelf-examJnat1on. Franklin spoke blithely or the m•,rcy of' God, but Johnsnn was not sure that even the angela were 1n a state of perfect security. Franklin made no pretense of aceepting any religious doctrine or preachment of God's ministers which was not palatable to Franklin's rationalistic mind. Johnson struggled to be credul11Us and orthodox, to align his rebellious reason w1 th his melancholy temperament whlch needed so much spiritual solace. Franklin sniped at the established churches an1 the 1ntrenched. clergy. Johneon defen1ed the Church of England above all othera.

.. •

31

Chapter 11

:lh!, Poli ti cal OFinions of tiohnaoa !.!Jl Prenklln

The political opinions of Johnson and Franklin contrasted as saliently as did the! r oo ncepts of religion. From the vantagepoint of history, it is safe and eaey to condemn the ultra-conservative politics of Johnson; history revealed Johnsen was wrong and Franklin right. Even loyal Johnsoniana apologized for the good doctor's opinions on liberty and subordination and his King George 111 attitude toward America. However, there is something to be aaid on Johnson's behalf. He was a child of the eighteenth century when England had a class system. His mind and temperament desired order in all things, and he knew that change and revolution bring chaos. Johnsen despised Americans and wrote bitterly upon the American Re-olution, but he may be excused in part on the ground of 1gnoranoe of the American colonies.

~oreover, he hated the insti t-J.t1on of slavery. Part of hla prejudice aga1n~t Americana waa based on the fact that they were alave-owners. "How is it," he once remarked, "that we hear the loudest yelp~ for liberty among the drivers cf negroesY"50 Ono• at a dinner, Johnson toasted: "Here' a to the next insurrection of negroes 1n the West Ind1es.•61

In his ignorance of Americana ~ohnaon called them "rasoala, robbers, pirates," and concluded, RI am able to love all mankind except an American.•52

62. Ibid., 3, p.329. 32

Johnson may have cons]dered Americana ua race 01 oonvicta" who ~ought to be thank.ful for an7th1ng we allow them short of hanginp:"53 because Engl.ind had deported soMe criwinals to the colonies, and Georgia was settled mainly by the formt-ir inmatea of English debtor prisons. Johnson was unable to understand why anyone short o:f convicta should emigrate to America. •.ro a man of mere animal life, you can urge no argument aga1nat go1~ to America tut that 1t will be sometime bet'ore he "111 get the earth to produce. But a Nln 01' any intellectual enjoyment will not easily p,o and in11r.erae himself and his posterity !'or ages to ooJne in barbarism.54 Many Engl1ahmen had emigrated to obtain rel1giou1 freedom, and Joh118on,, a staunch champ1.on of the Church of England., waa well aware that thCllaanda of Americana were dissenters.

Furthermore, Johnson hated Rouaaeau' a creed of the social contract 1n government. "I think him one of the worst of men," Johnson remarked of Rousseau.05 Johnaon•e opp081t1on to the new theory of the 8oc1al contrRet echoed the speeches of many of the most astute Br1t1 sh thinkers of his time. With his ignorance of American colonists ~ohnson could not be expected tc understand how strong a t'oothold the social contract idea~ad in the colon1ea.

53 Boswell. Life, 2, p. 357. 54 Boswell, TOUr t)o the Hebrides, p. 208. 55 Boswell, L1te.2,P. 13. 33

In Europe the aocial contract might be a more or less metaphysical theory. In America, it, or someth1 rig like 1 t, waa ordi nar117 practice. Aasociationa of men everywhere, from the first aettlement, bad regularly come together to do what waa beyond the strength or capacity of Ag

Wher1 George the Third came to the throne an:l Jacobit1am died, 1 t ws.a obviously the moment for the revival or a atrong Tory party in farliament. But To171am waa revived not aa a real Parliamentaey part7 but aa a court party. The king's frienda in the Com..>na under Bute and Borla, took the 1r orders, not from the Parliamentar,. chiefs of the Tory party, but .from 1:1ng George the Third himself ••• But the Tory1sm of the period 1?14 to 1V60, though 1ta political activities remain somewhat obscure to ua through the deticienc:1.cs of history, 1a know to ua all as a personal creed through the mer1ta or literature. Squire Weatern represents to us the more old- f ash1 oned r•1ral squirearchy, and Dr. J obnao n, the Church, the two pillars of the Tory temple which stood firm um.er water during the forty years wrum the Whig deluge covered the earth, to reappear atrong a-'ver when the wavea aubaided. Johnson, a man or the people from a cathedral town, 1a the typical High Churchman aa H1gh­ churchmanab.1p -• understood in that day. Bia religion, which underlay all he did, was by him identified. with his ideal s7atem of politics ••• Fielding's imaginary squire and Boswell's very real doctor have in comnon a traditional view of

56 Van Doren, op. cit., p. 213. 34

politics; a strong dislike of Dissenters and or the Whig lords; an att.achment ot the Anglican traditiona of the earlier kings of the House of Stuart• rendered inoperative in the preeent by the fear felt by all true Tories o.f again puttir.g a Roman Catholic prince on the throne. and by their innate respect for law and order, even when administered by their political r1 vale. Politicall> Tory1am was rather a futile creed under the first two Georges. Its adherents were in an impasse from which they were delivered by the accession to the throne of' a particularly etrong Protestant w1th their own g9ry sympathies in the person of George the Third. Trevelyan has stated the reasons for Johnson's ToryiBJD and espousal of the case of King George against the American colon1ats.

Johnson's political pamphlet. Taxation~ Tyranny which appeared in 17'15 is a piece of writing concerning which his a&ll rera, both Br! ti sh and American, are likely !. o feel that the leaa said thti:>etter. Even the edm1r1ng Boswell expressed sympathy with the American cause, ard thought that Johnson should not put bia opinions concerning American politics into writing. Johnson in Taxation J!2. hramy held "that the supreme power ot every cannunity has the right of requiring from all it• subjects. such contributions as are necessary to the publick safety or publick proaperity ••• was considered, by all mankind., aa comprising the primary ani essential condition of all political society, till 1t became disputed by those zealots of anarch\f. who have denied. to the parliament of Britain the right of taxing the American colonies.•58

5? George M. Trevelyan, "The Two-Party System in English Political Histor.r." Romanea Lecturea,1921-30.(oxford Clarendon Preas,1930). p. 14-15. 58 Johnson. Works. 14. p. 94. 35

Th1s we.a doubtlessly true, but the Amer1can colonists were not ob;ecting to taxation as a principle but taxation without repreaentation. Johnson went further, an1 denied the coloniata the right of repreeentation on the groun:l that Engl1ahmen bad lost their legal right 01: representation by em:lg~ati ng to the New World. Johnson argued: That they who form a settlement by a lawful charter, having committed no cri~e, forfeit no privileges, will be readily confessed; mt what they do not .tbrf'eit by any judicial sentence, they may lose by natural effects. Aa man can be but in one place, at 011Se, he cannot have the advantages of multiplied residence ••• He that goes voluntarily to America, cannot complain of losing whlit he leaves in .&irope. He, p erhapa, had a right to vote for a knight or burgess; by crossing the Atlant1ck, he has not nullified his right; tut he had made its exertion no longer possible. By his own choice he has le.ft a country, where he hed a vote, and little property, f'or fteother, where he has great property, but ~ote. '!'his was a ound enough legal reasoning certainly, but .Johnson, despite his eagerneas to apealc and write on political subjects, wae no political scientist. All that Johnson could see waa that colonists, Sew England tradesmen and southern plantera, were getting property and wealth in the colonies. He did not under- stand that the colonies were a commercial advantage to England and a political advantage as an outpost of the British Empire. Johnson was not an imperialist; rererences to the British Bllpire aa auch were almost nil in his writings and conversation. Johnson bad as little political knowledge to speak and write on colonial affair•

59 Johnson, Worka, 14, p. 114-115. as the average American citizen who toda7 daahea ott a letter to hls favorite newspaper on some public question about which he knowa little but feel• atrongl.7. all Johnaon realized on the subject of the Colonial troubles waa that these Americana, these slave-holders, Diaaentera and Whigs, dared to threaten the British Parliament, the King's diYine right, ani the Parliament's right to tax. The American colonists admitted that they were subject• of l.ing George, but denied that they were subject to the English Parliament which did not represent them. Johnson found th1a colonial claim to suppose •dominion without authority, and subjects without subordination. •60 Part of the colonial argument hinged on the interpretation of colonial charters. The colonists held that the coloniea were planted at the expense of private adventurers who were g1Yen charters by the king, and there fore, the charte:·s were not liable to revocation by the Parliament, and that the Parliament had no legal r1 ght to tax co loniea chartered by the king alone. Johnson, on the other hani, held that the charters were liable to revocation, and that the colonies owed their existence to the charters. To their charters the colonies owe, like other corporations, their political existence. The soler.mit1es 01' le~ alat1on, the administration of Justice, the security of property, are all bestowed. upon them by ro7al grant ••• A charter is a grant or

60 ~ohnson, Wor~s, op. cit., p. 102. '37

certain powers or privileges, given to a part of the community for the advantage of the whole, and 1a, therefore' ~la ble. by 1 ta nature' t 0 change or to revocation. l Johnaon'a opinion that the colonies were subject to English taxation was open to rebuttal. He said z Our colonies, however d1atant, have been, hitherto, treated aa constituent part of the British Empire. The inhabitants incorporated by English charters are entitled to all the rights of .Er.611ahmen. They are governed by English lawa, entitled to .Bngl1ah dignitiea, regulated by English counsels, and protected by Jgigliah arms; and it seems to follow, by consequence not eaaily avoided, that they are subject to Egf11sh government, and chargeable by English taxation. This was reasonable enough, but Johnson nullified the force of his argument by insisting that there wa.a no difference between those taxed with their conaent and those taxed without their consent. In Johnson's opinion, the oolon1sts, having left

England, no longer had the rights assured JSngllshmen by the Magna Carta. The colonists are the desceidanta of men, who either had no vote in elections, or who voluntarily resigned them for eometh1ng, in their opinion, of more eat1:mat1on; they have, therefore, exactly what their anceatora left them, not a vote in making laws, or in oonatitut1ng legislators, but in the happ1nea1 of being protected. bJ' law, snd the duty of obeying it.63

61 Johnson, Worka, op. cit., p. 108. 62 Ibid., p. 109. 63 Ib1d.,p. 116 The colonists' claim for repreaentation in the Br1tiah

Parliament was refuted by Johnson, who asked: "What, at laat, is the difference between him that is taxed, by compulsion, without representation, and hirr that is represented, by compulsion, in order to be taxed.?"64 Johnson, here, admitted that he saw no difference between taxation without representation an:i taxation with consent, but his admission involved even more. It was an adm1ss1 on 01· gross ignorance of and gross ind1 fference to the rights of a people. His own so lut1on to the American problem was to suggest that

"Planters, ae they grow rich, may l:lly estates in England, and without, any innovation, effectually represent their native colonies."66

Johnson's suggestion, then, ~9J.ed down to this: the rich might have representation, and it should be accomplished "without any innovation." Johnson, essentially, was unfitted. to speak or to write on the subject of political liberty. In his mind, politics was so

intermingled w1 th religion ani the established church that he was unable to separate them. :\a Trevelyan said, Johnson •a• a Toey

because he was a hifjl churchman. Although he denied he waa a Jacobite, Johnson upheld the principle of Jacobitiam chiefly on

64 Johnson, op. cit., p. 12~-124. 65 Ibid., p. 124. religioua grourna. Be declared: A Jacobite, Sir, believes in the divine right of Kings. He that believes in the divine right of Kings, believes in a Divinity. A Jacobite believea in the divine right of Bishopa. He that believes in the divine right of Bishop• believes in the divine authority of the Christian religion. Theretbre, Sir, a Jacob1tae ia neither an Atheist nor a Deist. That ccinnot be said of a Whig; for Whiggiam ia a negation of all principle.66 Fundamentally, _Johnson found political activity distaatetul, and he argued that he "would not give half a guinea to live under one form of government rather than another.•67 He held that the abuse of power is nothing to a private man, and that f!PVernment left a man's private life alone. Of eourae, Johnson had no glimmer of how government regimen- tation would bring faac1am bf the twentieth century, 'but he bad traveled in France aid should have noted there the terrible effects of absolute government upon the people. As the greatest conversationalist of his time, Johnson often argued paradoxically to atartle and confound his audience. As a

conservative, he was feartul that the looae, drawing room talk about un,.versal liberty' would uniermtne eventually the cnurcb and state. When a great lady talked about equality, Johnson suggested that her foot•n be permitted to dine at the family table. When Johnson related the story and described her proteata, he added shrewdly: "Sir, your levellers wish to level down aa tar

66 Boswell, op. cit., l, p. 498-499. 67 Boswell, op. cit., 2, p. 170. 40 aa themselves; but the7 cannot bear levelling up to themaelve•.•68 Johnson was as famed for his opinions on subonli nation as for his charnp1onah1r) of the established church. Boswell said subordination was the doctor's favorite aubject. He held •that no two people can be halt" an hour together, rut one shal 1 acquire

superiority ov~ thf'I other. n69 Johnson hated competition, and part or his opposition to the doctrine of equality was that a competitive society was an unbappJ

one. The peace a.rd. happiness of society waa his chief co noern, and while agreeing with Boswell that the condition ot· London'• beggars was terrible, he added: "It is better that some ahould be unhappy, that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality.•70 Eighteenth century progressives might argue that intr1na1c

merit ought to rnake the only distinction amongst mankind, but Johnson asked: "How shall we determine the proportion of intrin- sick mer1t? Eut, Sir, as subordination is very necessary for n society, and contentions for superiority very dangerous, ma~1nd,

that 1 a t':> say all civ111 zed nations, ··.ave settled upon a plain

invariable prin~!ple. A man 1 s born to hereditary rank; or hi• being appointed to certain orr1ces, gives him a certain rank.

Subordination ter.ds greatly to hmr,an happiness. were we all upon an equality, we should have no more enjoyment than mere animal pleneu re. " 7 1

69 Boswell. op. cit •• 1. p. 618. 70 Ibid., 3, p. 30. ~l Ibid., 2, p. 13. 41

As long as men kept their thoughts to themaelvea, Johnson cared little if they thought against the state. He expressed it thus: This is the gradation of thinking, preaching and acting: if a man think• erroneoualy, he may keep hia thoughts to himself, and nobody will trouble him; ir he preaches erroneous doctrine, society may expel him; if he acts in conaecuence of it, the law takea place, ani he is hanged. 72 Johnson held that "the vulgar are the children of the

State. It anyone atten;>ts to teach them doctrines contrary to what the etate approves, the magistrate reay aixl ought to restrain him. n'73 Be expanded this opinion in a d.1aouasion with a gentleman named Mayo. Johnson maintained: Evel'1 society has a right to preserve publiok peace and order, and therefore has a good right to prohibit the propagation or opinions which have a· 'da115eroua tendency. To say the Magistrate has this right, ia using an inadequate woiild: It ia society for which the magistrate 1s agent. He may be morally or theologically wrong in restraining the propagation of opinions which he thinks are dangerous, but he ia politically right. MAYO. 'I am or the opinion, Sir, that every man is entitled to liberty of conscience in religion; and the magistrate cannot restrain that right.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, I agree with you. Every man ma a right to liberty of conscience, ard. with that the magiatrate cannot interfere. People confourxi liberty of thinking with liberty 01' talking; nay,, with liberty of preaching. ~"'Yery 1r.an haa a physical right to think as he pleaaea; for it cannot be discovered how he thinks. He has not a moral right, far he ought to 1nfonn h1meelt', a.rd think justly. But,, Sir, no member of a society has a right to teach any doctrine contrary to what the society bolds tO bi

72 Boswell., 2, p. 252. 73 Ibid., 4, p. 216. 42

true. ~he mag1etrat6, I say, may be wrong 1n what he thinks: but while he thinks h1meelt right, he may and cught to enforce what he thinka.74

.~ohnson was not far wrong in th1A reasoning: al 1 countriea today, includlng the united States, have laws against the propagation of subversive ideas, such as communism in a democre.c7. Nothing would be more unjust than to assume that Johnson was a social snob or that he espoused too strongly the cause of aristocracy. He granted to rank the honor arn rights ard deference which he though was its due, but he granted it nothing more. No literary bootlicker could have drafted Johnson'• sarcastic, ironic letter to Lord Chesterfield. Nothing waa more typical of Johna on than hia roinark concerning feudal lorda c I agree w1 th Mr. Boawell that t.i:1ere must be a hip satia.fa.etion in being a feudal lord; but we are to consider t.hat we ought not to wish to have a number of men unhappy for the aatlaf'aeti on of one. 75 Johnson, after all, was a free-born Englishman, and l1ke one. he cl~ to the belief that power cannot long be abused because the people would not s•ar:d for it. He explained t.hue: When I say all governments are alike, I consider that in no sovernment power can be abuaed long. Mankind will not bear it. If a sovereign oppDSesea hls people to a degree, they will rise and cut of~ his head. There ls a remedy in lmn1an nature agal nat tyranny, t~t •ill keep ua eafe under every form or · tJ>Vernment. 6

74 Boswell, i. p. 498-499. 75 Ibid., 2, p. 178. 76 Ibid., 2, p. 170. Johnsor. should have said ther~ ls a r·emedy in British

and American nature: Germans and Russians seem to laok it. Again Johnson argued against concentrated power or government:

The mo1·e contracted that pows- is, the more easily it is destroyed. A country govenied. by a despot is like an inverted cone. Government there cannot be ao firm, as when it resta upon a broad basis gradually contracted, as the goverrnnent of Great Britain which is foun:ied on the parliament, then is in the privy council, then in the king.?7 Although Johnson abused Americans for resisting British authority, he sympathized with the Irish whom he thought tbe

government waa reducing to beggary. He waa alao Jealous or the conat1tut1onal rights of .Englishmen. Boswell pointed

out the. t Johnson• a Observations on !,h! Present State 91. Af!'aira

glow with as an animated a spirit 0£ constitutio~..al liberty aa

can be found anywhere. Thus he began: The time is now come, in which every .Engl1ahman expects to be informed of the national afta1rs; and in which he has a right to have that expectation gratified. For, whatever may be urged by ministers, or those whom vanity or interest make the followera of ministers, concarni~ the presumption of prying with pro£ane eyes into the recesses of policy, it 1a evident that this reverence can be claimed only by counsels yet unexecuted, and projt;cts suspended in deliberation. But when a design ho.a en:\ed 1n mis­ carriage or success, when every eye and every ear ls w1.tness to general discontent, or general •tia• fact1on, it is then a proper time to disentangle contueion and illustrate obscurity; to show by what cauaea every event was produced, and in what effects

77 Boswell, op. cit., 3, p. 326. 44

it is likely to terminate; to lay down with distinct particularity what rumour always hud:il.es in general exclarr£tion, or perplexes by indigeated narratives, to show whence happiness or calrur.ity is derived, ani whence may be expected; and honestly to lay before the people what inquiry can gather or the paatA and conjecture can estimate of the future.71;j

Here, Johnson pleaded that ministers have the necessity to explain their actions to the people. For all his brave talk ot· subordination, for all hia contempt for colonials, be would Jlt'Jt let m~.n1 sters and statesmen hoodwink the people.

2 l!!!, Politica £!.. Franklin

The homeepan, American philosopher, Benj&11'lin Franklin, was one of the last American pati\Q..!ta to be a British imperialist. By nature, he was a diplomat, the father of American diplomacy. tte had an honorable career aa a publ1o servant in Philadelphia and PennajlYania before he went to London in July, 1757, aa colonial agent for Pennsylvania to preaent the case of the colonial assembly against the Penn .family, hereditary proprietors. At home, Franklin t.d been a auccess!Ul newspaper publiaber; he had been a justice or the peace, and for 10 years clerk ot the Pennsylvania aasembl7. Hia journa~iat1c traini~ enabled hirr. to preaent the caae against the Penna ably in the London press, and hia ease in maki~ usef'ul f'riends helped him win the

British government to the Pennsylvania point of rlew, whioh ~8 Boswell, op. cit., 1, p. S59-360. 45 resulted in the taxation of the Penns for their American holdings. Franklin remained in London aa a representative of Georgia, New Jersey, and »assachusetts as well as his own cc 1011J. His attack upon the feudal power of the fenr;s made hirn a hero 11t home. Throughout this period., Franklin wrote and spoke as a eood imperialist. He declared the. t he believed the .future gr.Aeur /\ and eta bi li ty of the empire lay 1n America, an:i he wrote pre a a propaganda to urge the union of the oolonics with the mother country. He advocated American representation in Parliament. Although he sought imperial unity, Franklin 1na1sted that the colonists should not be deprived or their .1\lndamental rights. In a series of lettere on colonial affairs written to William Shirley, governor of Massachusetts, Franklin suggested a plan to strengthen the empire through colonial confederation. In these 1etterE<, written 1n l"T54, but published in the London Chronicle, Feb. 6 and 8, 1766, appear the ehiet arguments that were used later in the struggle of' the colonies against llngland.

Franklin sk1llfu.lly set,f'ortb the colonists r chief complaint "That it is an unioubted right of Englishmen, not be taxed but by their own consent given thn>u@tl their repreaentat1vea,• and. "That the colonies have no representatives in Farl1ament.•78 After the infamous Stamp Act waa paaaed. Franklin remained in Lor.don to pull lfirea for i ta repeal. In 1786 he appeared.

78 Goodman, op. cit., p. 670. 46 bef--,re the House of Comnons for a three-hour examination during which ho masterfully set forth the American cause. He told the Commons: They (the colonists) understand they are entitled to all the privileges and liberties of &lgliahmm; they find in the great charters, gnd the petition and declaration of r1ghta, that one of the privilegea of English subjects is that they ere not to be taxed but by their common consent; they have therefore relied upon 1t, from the first settlement of the province, tnat the parliament would never, nor could, by eolor of that clause in the charter, assume a right or taxing them, till it had qual1t1ed. 1tselt to exercise auoh right, by admitting representatives from the people taxed, 1'ho rught to make a part of that co~on consent. 79 In i'axatlon No brannx, Johnson argueqthat colonial charter• were subject to revocation. Franklin refuted this argument in a letter to his friend, Lord Kamea, the Scottish sympathizer With the colonists: It is a connon but mistaken notion here that the colonies were planted at the expense of Parliament. and that therefore the Parliament has a r1 ght to tax them, etc. The truth is they were planted at the expense of private adventurera, who went over there to settle, with leave o:I.' the king,, g1 ven by charter. On reee1v1ng this leave, and those charters, the adven­ turers voluntarily engaged to remain the king's aubJeota, though in a foreign country; a country whioh had not been conquered by eith~r king or Farliament, but waa possessed by a tree people. When our plante1·s arrived, they purchased the lands ot the natives, without putting the king or Parliament to any expense. Parliament had no hard in their settlement, lfti.B never so much aa consulted about their constitution, and took no kirn or notice of them till many years a.fter they were eatabliehed ••• Thua all the coloniea acknowledge the king •• their sovereign; hie

79 Goodman. op. cit •• p. 599. 4'1

governors th.ere represent his p1c:rson. Lan are made by their assemblies or little parliaments, with the governor's aeaent, subject still to the king' a pleasure to confirm or annul then ••• The aovere1gnty of the king 1s there£ore easily ur.derstood. But nothing ia more common here than to talk of the sovereignty or Parliament, an:l the sovcr-e,gnty of this 1U\t1on ovor the colonies; a kind o~ sovereignly the Idea of which ia not so clear. 0

Al though he fprmul atE-J the case of the colonists so clearly, and concisely, Franklin as late as 1~?4 sought a way to reeone11e the colonists' v1 ewpolr1t wlth that of the king's ministers. He had served the king as deputy postmaster general of the colonies. Pe of.fered even to re1r.;burse the British government !'rom his own func!s for the tea destroyed at Boston harbor. Hie 1mperial1am died hard.

Franklin to0k no public notice of ~ohnaon 1 a traet on taxation until about 1?89 when he wrote "The Retort Courteoua," a sardonic reply to the English creditors who complained th&.t American merchants had not pa1d. the debts contracted by them before the

Revo lu ti on. In his essay, Franklin wrote: An essay arrives from Englard, advlsed by one of their most celebrated moralists, Dr. Johnson, in his ~Taxation No 'l'yranny,• to excite these slaves to r1ae, cut the throats of their purchasers, and resort to the Brit1ah army, where they should be rewarded with freed.om. Thia was done• and the planters were thus deprived of near thirty thousand of their worki~ people. Yet the demand for those sold ard unpaid still exists; ani the cry continues againat the Virgin1an1 and Carolinians, '•t they do not pay their debtat81 --- _. ------80 Good.man, op. c1t., p. 605-606. 81 John Bigelow, ed., Th• Complete Worka ,gf. Benjamin Franklin, (O.P.Putnam's Sons, l.Y.,1888), 10, p.128. 48

Franklin quitted London for Philadelph!.a aa war 'became

1ir.m1nent between England and the colonies. He waa to serve in the Continental Congress, ard finally to go to France to seek and win French aid am arma for the American cauae. During his yeare in England, his ability and social charm won him aan7 friends among all claasea. One of these was William Strahan, king's pr1n~er and frien1 of Dr. Johnson, who waa also Franklin'•

LonX>n publieher. On July 5, 1'1'15, Franklin wrote his long- ti~e fr1erv1 a brief word of farewell: You are a member of parliament, Hnd one of that majority which has doomed my country to distruotion.--­ You have begun to burn our towns, and murder our people. ---Look upon your hands! They are stained with the blood of your relat1one1---You and I were lo~ f'rienda: ----You are now my enemy,---and I am youra.82

82 Goodman, op. cit., p. 640. 49

Part ll -The Common Sense -or Johnaon ------and Franklin Chapter 111 Johnson and Franklin on Education

wA boy at school is the happiest of human beinga.• Pew schoolboys would agree with this eheer.ful remark or Dr. Johnaon'•• but if the educational theories of Johnaon and Franklin were

practised, it might have some Justification. The opinions of both Johnson and Franklin concerning education are still wonderfully fresh and at11r&1lating. Franklin's concepta

were stated fol'!l'.lally ~or publication. Johnson'• 1deaa on education were scattered delightfully through hia converaationa with Boswell and Mra. Thrale whom he advised on the education or their children. Franklin is remembered as the founder of the University of Pennsylvania. Johnson's opinions never found a

un1 vcrs1 ty home, but all teachers am parents might f'ind enlighten­

ment by reading once a ~ear what he had to say. Johnson was childless, tut his love of children and the loYe ch1 ldren had for hizr adds human 1ntereat to the Johnson legend.

The son of parents who were tr.iddle-aged when he waa born­ Johnson described himselr as an old man's plaything. He waa a prodigy, and his proud parents evidently- never m1aaed an opportunity- 50

to display his aiper1or childish intelligence. Thia memor.y was so indelible that in adult life ~ohnson was annoyed and bored by eighteenth century "quiz kids." Heater Lynch F'iozzi, perhaps better known as Mrs. Thrale,

Johnson's perennial hostess, related Johnson's d1sg~st with parents who delighted in encouraging their young children to recite or sing for company: I have known Mr. ;;ohnson gtve a good deal of pain, by ret\J.e1ng to hear the veraea the children could recite, or the songs they could sing; partioularl7 one 1'riend who told him that his two sons should repeat Gray's Elegy to him alternatel~, that he might judge the hapi.,ieat cadence. "Bo, pray Sir, (said he}, "lat the dears both speak it at once; more noise will be t~5 meana made, and the noise will be sooner over.ff

A hater 01· "by-roads 1r1 education,," Johnson ob,iected to forced precocity aa uaeleas effort. "Suppose they have more knowledge at five or six years old than other children!• he asked. ttit w111 be 1 os t before 1 t 1 s wanted, am the waste of so much ti:re and labour of the teacher can never be repaid.

Too much is expected from precocity,, and too 11 t tle performed.. •84 Even in Johnson' a day there were those who came forth with new teaching techniques. SoT!le of these 1.deaa must have agitated Boswell £or he asked Johnson what he thought children should be taught fi rat. ~ohnson'e reply was a olaesio:

8~ Hestsr Lynch Pioss.i, Anecdotee ,g£_ Samu.el .Johnaon, (Cam.bridge Un:!.versi.ty Press, 1932), p .11. 84 Boswell, op. cit., 1, p. 468. 51

Sir, it ls no matter what you ter.:.eh them f1 rst. any more than what leg you. shall put into your bre€chea first. Sir, you ~ay starrl disputing which is best to put in firet, but in the mean­ tin.e your breech is bare. Sir, while you are considering whieh of two thinga you should teach your child first, another boy has learnt them bo)h.85 Self-confident, Johnson pooh-poohed the idea that there was any mystery about success in any profeeaion or trade. H• was convinced that awhatever la a profession, and ma1ntaina numbers, must be within the reach or cOJ1111on abilitiee and some de~ee or induatr,y.~ Parsllel with Johnaon's contempt for precocity was h1a conviction that "people are not born with a particular gen1u• 1'or partlcular eqiloyments or studies." Johnson held t.b.at genius was 11 good sense applied with diligence, n a remark augg~stive of Thoma.a Edison' a det1n1t1on of genius ae 99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration. 86 Johnson did not believe in specialization in knowlsdge, holding that "the man o~ general knowledge oan often benent, ard always pleaee.n87 Although a lexicographer and a distinguished man of letters, Johnson's degrees were honorary, not earned. He cherished a sentimental attachment for Oxford, but relied heavily upon coamon sense and ha.rel work a:! a success formula, and deemed the knowledge

86 Boswell, op.cit., 1, p. 523. 86 Ibid., 2, p. 500. 8'7 Pioszi, op. cit., p. 12. 52

acquired "running about the world'' quite as valuable as reading.

He warned aga.in~,t the "ref1 n1.ng" of educ i:~t ion because "life will not bear refinement; you must do as other people do."88

A one-ttme aehool-rr~ster, ~ohnson opposed brutality in the class-room. However, he thought a little punishment was better than setting children against each other by scholastic competition since he felt the bad effects of the latter were more lasting. He mnphas1zed to Mrs. Thrale that children remember pain with resentment. He would not, however, leave unchecked faults which would mar adult lire. "Ahl Sir," he told Boswell, "A boy's being flogged is net so severe as a man's having the hiss of the world against him. n89 His common sense as a teacher showed itself when he warned

school master• of the ab,urd1 ty of assigning long tasks to n.11 up students• t111e during holidays, and he rejoiced when one master prom1 sed to require no more ho11day assignments. John8on understood child psychology well, arrl urged Mrs.

Thrale to g1 ve her children positive nn t general rul'es for

th~lr behavior. "My ~other," he remarked, "was always telling me that I did not behave myself f!I'Op~:rly; that I should endeavor

to lee.rn behavior, and suc~:1 cant: but wh.er, I replied that ehe

ought to tell me whEt tc. do, Hnd. what to avoid, her admonition• were commonly, that time at least, at an e111.•90 Johnson's belier in the effect1 veness of pos1 tive rules and examples extended even to preaching. Be had no love for the Methodists. who were a new sect in his day, but underetood. 88 Boswell. op. cit., 3, p.192. 90 P1ozz1, op. cit., p.14. 89 Ibid •• 1. p. 622. 53

why such preAehers as Wesley and ~1litefield drew large crowd.a. He told Boswell the success of Methodist preachers "was owing to their exprees1ng themselves 1n a plain ard familiar manner•••

To insist against drunkenness as a crime, becau~e it debases reason, the noblest faculty of man, would be of no se?'ITice to the common people; but to tell them they may die in a fit ot drunkennees ••• cannot fail to make a deep 1mpression.h91 He would not tolerate the complaints of' indulgent parents that they could not make their children obey. "Such people#"

said he, "multiply prohibi tiona till obedience becanes tmpoe si~e, and authority appears absurd. "92 Although he believed in parental d1aoipl1ne during childhood, he d1 spised grown so na and daughters who tie themselves to the maternal apron-string for life.

He expressed contempt for a son who aaks his parents• consent to be married, am "con1'es?Sea h1a 1nab111ty to decide in a JR&nner which concerns no man•s happiness but his o1Sl.•g3 Working girls, too, were entitled to independence in Johnaon•e opinion, and he onee rebuked Mrs. Thrale for reprimanding a maid for sitting down in her mother' a presence without permission. "Why, ehe gets her living, does she not (•aid he), without her mother's help? Let the •ench alone. n94 Johnson believed in education and its good effects. He told

91 Boswell, op. cit., 1, p.531-532. {)2 l'iozzi, op. c1 t., p. 19·00. 93 Ibid., p. 20. 94 Ibid • , p • 20 54

~ra. Thrale that if he had had children he would have "w1111ngl7 lived on brc.ad and water to obtain instruction for them. n9& Although he once commented caustically that "mankind has a great aversion to intellectual labour,a96 he held that "a desire for knowledge is the natural teel1I'@: ot' mankind. ,,97 In politics and religion, Johnson was reactionary, tut concerning education, he was progre2sive. He was imbued with the eighteenth century idea that education brings p1~gress. He insisted that all claesea should be literate, ard that educational advantages would be withheld from no one. He said:

The privileges of education may eornetimes by improperly bestowed, but 1 shall always fear to withhold them, lest I should be yielding to the suggestions of pride, while I pers"1.ade myBBl! that I am fo llow1ng the maxima of policy.

With sturdy common sense, ~ohnaon defended the democratization of literature----the printing of many books ard newgpapers becauae they diffused knowledge. Boswel 1 repor·ted a dianussion ot Johnaon's on this: A gentleman maintained that the art of printing tad hurt learning, by disseminating idle writings. JOHHSQR. Sir, if 1 t bad not been for ti')e art 01· printing, we should now have no learning at all; for books lC>Uld have perished faster than they could have been trans­ cribed. The &Die gentleman main!:.ained, that a general diffusion 01' knowledge 6U."long a people was a disadvantage, for 1 t made the vulgar rlae above their humble sphere. JOHNSON. sir, whllc. knowledge is a distinction, t'."iose who are possessed of 1t will naturally rise ubove those who are not. Merely to r6ad and write waa a d1atinct1on at first; but we see when

95 Piozzi, op. cit., p. 17. 96 Boswell, op. cit., 1, p.460. 97 Ib1d., l, p.530. 98 Ibid., 2, p.216-217. - 55

reading and wr1 ting become general, the con.ir.1.on people keep the1.r stations. And so, were higlier ut ~,aioments to become general the effect would be the sa~e.99 ;:;onie Americana might disagree with Johnson's s"tatement that

educ~ted persona would "keep their atat1ona." Johnson, however,

was right fundamentally, beoause England u~ to the Second World War

was a claes-conscious oountry. 1!."'Ven the England. of John Galaworth7' a

day was not as liberal ooncernir~ class d1at1nc~1ona as the United

States. Social position in ~ngland was not based less upon education, than on heriditary rank and,the class into which one •ae born.

Johnson was a man of letters. · Re entered. his career at a period when the age or patronage from the great was passing, while

that of patronage fI~m the publ1e •as Just beginning. As a 11terarJ man, he naturally was eager to increase the public demard for booka and reading, not for selfish reasons but to benefit the public aa

well a~hoee who earned thelr liv:lng by writjng. He d.ef'ended the generation of new "Nrttere against the old: m We must read what the world ·reads at the moent. It has been maintained that this superfoetat~n, this teeming of the press in modern times 1a prejudicial to good literature, bec11use it obliges us to read so much of what is of inrer1our value, in order to be 1n the fashion; :>o thl'it better works are neglected for want of tin:e, because a r.an will have >nore gr11.t1f1cati0n o1' his vanity in conversation, from having read modern books, than rrom having read the best works of antiquity. But it must be cons1 dered, that we now have more knowledge generally d1ffusedf all our ladies read now, which 1a a great extension. 00 99 Boswell, op. cit., 3, p.42-43. 100 Ibid., 3, p.378. Here Johnson commented on a controversy which ia atill alive: whether to read olaaaie or modern authors, whether to teach only classic literature in school• and colleges or to introduce oouraes in •modern• literature. Robert II. Butchim and other twentieth century educators who advocate the reading of the "hundred beat books" might disagree with Jobnaon•a verdict. but thousands of preaent-day readera and educators are on hie aide. Johnson alao championed newapapera. Be began his London career aa a journaliatlc writer for Biward Cave•a Gentleman•a Magazine. When Parliament barred preaa repreaentativea from !ta aeasiona, Johnson, with journalistic enterr;riae, arranged to obtain reports of the aeaaiona from one or two friendly members. He made thla classic defense of newspape1a when an aristocratic gentleman praised ancient times at the expense of modern: Sir, the mass of every people must be barbarous where there ls no printing, and consequently knowl­ edge 1a not generRlly diffused. Knowledge ia diffused among our people by the newapapera.101 Although Johnson once aa1d that he did not "read books throurh", be was a voracious reader. He had a common aenae attitude toward reading. "A man oui}lt to read just aa inclination leads him,• he asaerted, "for what he reada aa a 102 task will do him little good.• He never believed 1n making 5'7

reading difficult. •Book•~" •aid he, "that you ma7 car17 to the fire, and hold readily in the hand, are the moat useful after all.• 103 Johnaon noticed that man7 read little, and wae 1ncl1ned·to blame the attle or some writers. •The book• that we do read with pleaeure are light compoa1t1one, which contain a quick aucceasion of events,• he aaid. 104 Be twitted •re. Thrale for bu71ng booka which ahe thought her children should read instead of what the7 would like to read. "Bab1ee do not want to hear about babies," he told ber. "They like to be told of g1anta alVl caatlee, and of somewhat which can etretch and at1ailate their little minds.• lOti Johnson believed that the beat wa7 to teach children to enjoy good reading was to let them alone with good booka. Be said: I would put a child in a 11bral'J' • (where no unfit books are) and let him read at hie choice. A child should not be d1ecouraged from reading an7th1ng that he takes a liking to, from a notion it is above his reach. If that be the caee, the child will soon find it out and dea1et; 1r not, he, of course, gains the 1natruct1on; which 1a ao much the more 11kel7 to come, from the 1ncl1nat1on with which he takes up his atud7.l06 Thia was the wiaeat advice which Johnson ever offered on education. Be knew of what he spoke. Aa a lad he had the run of his father's bookshop, and read Shakespeare so earl7 l03 BOaweII. op. cit •• 1, p.416. 104 Ibid., 4, p.252 105 P1ozz1, op. cit., pl4 106 Boswell, op. cit •• 4, p.24-26. 68 that the speech of Ham.l.et frightened him when alone. When on a boyish search for apples which he thought were hidtlen. on a shelf, he discovered a folio of Petrarch and sat do-.a to read it, applea forgotten. For his era, Johnson entertained advanced 1deae concerning the education of women. He told Boswell •tbat a woman would not be the worse wi.f'e tor be1 ng learned, •10'7 and aaid of hie own parents, "Had rn:y mother been more literate, they bad been better companions. •108 Johnson encouraged Panny Burney in her novel-writing, and was kind to Hannah Kore, a minor poet. Be frequently went to the drawing rooma of ladies such aa Mrs. ~hrale and Mrs. Maoaul•J who gave parties which today would be termed literary teaa.

Johnson admired pretty women, and if they had intelligence and learning enough to enjoy hia conversation, he liked them all the better. Johnson counseled writers who wished to acquire a good atyle to "give nights and daye to the study of Addison. al09 H• credited his own accuracy arrl flow of language to hia studied practice o~ expressing hirnself in the moat forcible language he could use.

Johneon'a final thought on education may be aUD1J,.arized ln the words of the ph1loaoph1c Imlao 1n Raeaelaa: "They are more powertu.l, Sir, belauae they are •1aer; knowledge will alway• predominate over ignorance, aa man gcwerna other animala.•110 !8Z fi!I~ 1 1A. 0~o~~ii~'•fa~~i~~idea, 1, p.232. l~8 ~~~=~~. 0ia.:!1&8,Pp. 814. 59

2. ------.-...... Franklin --on ...... Education.;;:;.;::;.- As an influential citizen in the B•• World, Franklin promoted the founding ot the Philadelphia library, an aoademJ' for Pennsylvania, and eatabliahed aasoc1ation• of intellectua1l7 awake men for the exchange of ideaa on every subject. Franklin's formal education waa meager. Despite the honora17 doctor's degree from Oxford and his recognition aa a physicist bJ Bngliah and French scientific oirolea, he waa largely aelf-educated. In his early youth in Boston, he read tour books which he later credited with forming his intellectual outlook: Addison's Spectator, Bu.n,-an•a Pilgrim•s Progress, Deto•'• Essay a Projects, and. od.dl7 enough, Cotton 11.ather•a Eaaaza !2.122. !!.22!!· Franklin im1tated theae litera17 modela, especially Addison, and this atud7, coupled with the training in journalistic controversy begun on his brother James' newapaper, helped mold

Franklin• s lucid, compelling atyle whioh nade h11t one of the f1rat ornaments of American literature. Aa a Philadelphia printer, newspaper publiaher, and bookseller, Franklin did as much as anyone in America to spread the benetita

of reading among the working people. Aa a young bua1neasman, he founded the Junto, an organization of ambitious young merchant•, mechanic• and tradesmen who met to exchange ideaa to improve them­ . selve• mentally and to promote achemea of public welfare whioh would enable them to take part in civic leadership. A• early as 1'730, Franklin had persuaded the members of the Junto to pool 60

their books so that all members might ahare them. At Franklin'• auggest1on, on July 1, 1731, the Junto organized a subscription libral"J' for themselves and Philadelphia citizens who each paid«>

ahillinga to buy a stock or books, anl then aaaeased themaelvea 10 shilling• yearly to 1ncreaae the collection. This waa not the .n.rat public librar,.- in America, but ita

aucces~ encouraged the apread of a1milar libraries in other coloniea. The growth of librariea and the mushrooming of newspapers gave American colon1ala or all clasaea, even the mech­ anic• and £armers, a chance to acquire the background 1n politica which led them to break with the mother countl"J and to the American Revolution. Americana were beccaing a literate people, aelt- consc1 oua about their political rights. •o promote the preaa, Franklin entered into partnerships with younger men with the object of establishing newapapera and printing shops in other co lon1ea. In 1731 he sent Thomas Wh1 tema rah to Charleston, s. C. , where the fo llovd ng year he founded the §outh Carolina Gazette. In 1746 Franklin helped launch the .IJur.xm:k Gaz•tt•, and in 1748, Franklin eatabliahed a preaa in Antigua. However, Franklin realized that libraries and newspapers were not enough. In 1749 he decided Pennaylvania should have a college, and to persuade other citizens, he drew up Propoaala Relating.!2_

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!!!!, Education 2.! Youth ,!!! Fenns1lvania. He p ropoaed "that

so~e persona of leisure and public spirit apply tor a charter, by which they ma7 be incorporated, with power to erect an acadftl.7 for the education of youth ••• " These citizens should not only sponsor an acadelllJ', but regard the etudente •ae in eome sort their children, treat them with familiarity and afteotion, and, when they have behaved well, ard e;one thl'Ollgh their studies, and are to enter the world, zealously unite, and make all the intereat that can be made to eatablieh them, whether in m eineee, off'icea, marriages, or any other thing tor their advantage."111 For hie academy, Franklin borrowed. the educational 1.deala of J.ilton and Locke. He advocated a plain, frugal diet for boarding students, and recmunend.ed that all atudente awim, leap, run and wrestle to keep in health.

He recommended that the aoademy be housed in a building adJaaent to Philadelphia, be near the river, an<)have a garden, orchard, and a few fields. Franklin recommended "that the rector be a man of good urderstanding, good morals, diligent and patient, learned in the languages and sciences, and a correct pure apeaker an:l writer of the English tongue.•112 The homespun philosopher also laid down suggeationa for atudieaa

111 Goodman, op. cit., p. 323-324. 118 Ibid., p. 326. 62

As to their studiea, it would be well if they could be taught everythi~ that ia uaetul, and eveeything that 1s ornamental. But art 111 long, and their t 1m.e ia short. It 1a therefore proposed t.b.at t.b.ey learn those things that are 11ke17 to be moat useful and =;.:~:::n;~!'w~:::r:b:;.1~e~~t!~d!::i!!veral

Franklin reoonmend.ed that the atudenta be taught "to write a fair hand," to draw, and to learn "arithmetic, acoounta and some of the first principlea of geometry end astronom7. The English lanf!'Uage might be taught bf grammar; in which some ot our beat writers aa Tillotaon, Add1aon, ~ope, Algernoon Sidney, Cato•a Lettera, ect., ahould be claasica: the styles principally to be cultivated, :.efng the clear and the coneiae. Reading should alao be taught, and pronouncing, properly, distinctly, emphatically •••• :r:o form their style they should be put on writing letters to each other, making abatracta or what the7 read; or writing the aa:me things in their own worda; telling or writing atoriea lately read, in their own expreaaiona •••• To form their pronunciation, the7 auat be put on making declamations, repeating apeechea, delivering orations, ect.; the tutor aaaiating at the rehehraala, teaching, adviaing, correcting their accent.114 Franklin desired the students to be taught ancient h1atory, geography, ancient cuatoma, and also morality. Be wi ahed them to learn "the excellency ot the Christian religion above all 115 other• ancient an1 modern.• Like moat eighteenth oentur7 progreaaivea, .Franklin advocated the study of hiatol'J, especially modern history which would give atuaenta aome concept of politics, the advantage• of liberty, and the benefits ar'sing from good lawa am juatlce. Verner Winslow Crane pointed out that Franklin•a emphasis on modern

!13 lJOodiiin, op. cit., p. ~26 114 Ibid., p. 326 115 Ibid., p. 326 63 h1etor.y would give impetua to a new generation which would aeek in history arguments to support American claims to 116 political rights.

Franklin w1 shed the atudents to learn something of mod.em political orato?'J', i's uae by pen and press. and the rules or logic. i'his would be re.t'lected in a new generation of Americans who would be convincing omtors and insinuating press propagandists .tor American liberties. Barl7 Colonial universities had been founded to train ministers, lawyers, and teacher•. Franklin wished his college to train young men also for agriculture, bu•ineaa, and even mechanics.. Be advocated the study of the hiatory of commerce and manufactures, the instruction or mechanics, and the principles of agriculture--gardening, planting, grafting and inoculating. He hopej the students would take field trips to !arm.a to obaerv• farming methods. He urged the teaching of languages: All intended for divinity should be [email protected] the Latin and Greek; !or physic, the Latin, Greek, and French; for law, the Latin and French; merchants,, the French, German, and Spanish. And though all should not be compelled to learn Latin, Greek, or the modern foreign languages; yet none that have an ardent dea1re to learn them should be re.fused; the English, arithmetic and other studies absoluje1y necessary, being a:, the aa:m.e time not neglected. J.7 Next to the founding of the University of Pennsylvania,

Franklin will be remembered by educators for founding the

116 Verner Winslow Crane, Benjamin Franklin, ~lishman and AmeT1can,(Balt1more, Will1P.ms & Wilkins, 19~6~. 27 •. ~ 11' OOodman, op. cit., p. ~27 64

American Philosophical Society. Franklin' a interest arid research in electricity and science convinced him that there should be an organization or the beat-educated men in the Colonies for the exchange ot ideas. In May, 1743, he proposed. that a society of theee men be organized, suggesting that tb.oae livinr in Philadelphia meet monthly -::o exchange views, and thoae outside the city correspond regularly. Franklin prQPOaed.s That the subjects of the correspondents be: all new-discovered plants, herbs, roots, their virtues, uses, ect.; methods of propagating them, ani making such as are useful, but particular to some pl&.nt•tiona more general; imp1ovementa of vegetable juices, as c1d, rs, wines, ect.; new methods ot cu.ring or prevent­ ing diseases; all new-discovered tosaila in different countries, aa mines, minerals, ani quarries; new and useful improvements in any branch of mathematics; new diacoveriea in chem1.stry, such as in:provements in distillations, b1ew1ng, and aasa71ng ores; new mechanical inventiona for saving labour, as mills and carriages, and tor raising and conveying water, draining of meadowa, eet.; all new arta, trades, am manu­ factures, that may be proposed or thought of; surveya, maps, ruid charts of particular parta of the aeaooaata or inland countries; course and juncture of riYera and great roads, situation of lakes and mountains, nature of the soil and productions; new methods or improving the breed of uaetu.l animRl.a; introducing other aorta trom foreign countries; new 1mproveaenta in planting. gardening, and clearing le.ndj and all philosophical experiments that let light into the nature of things, terr:! to increase the power or man over matter, ayt nniltipl7 the conveniences or pleasures of life. 8 Franklin's concept of progress and knowledge was largel7 utilitarian end suited to the development of life in a new country. He had the innate American desire to adapt theoretical knowledge to practical use•• and he was eager •to 1ncreaae the power of' man over matter." Aa a aoientiat an:l inventor 111 Ooodmm, op. cit. ,p. 320-321 66 he was the foreru.nn~r of later scientists and inventors such as Fulton, Morae, Bdieon, Ford and Wright who were to make

Americans the richest and moat mechanised people on earth.

The progressive, common sense concepts of Johnson and Franklin remain aa useful today aa when they first expounded them. Franklin did much more to adYanc• education than Johnson, largely because Franklin was an influential &.Id enterprising cl tlzen in an aggreea "ve new countl"J'. .lohnaon could offer his educational concepts to a circle of friends, b.lt Franklin couit give his to a young nation eager to listen, to learn and to profit.

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Chapter lV Johnson and Franklin .!!!! !!!.!. Pursuit !,!, HaPFiness

What famoua men have said about the attainment or happineaa is perennially interesting. Happiness ia a word which oonnotea man7 intangible a, yet men have associated it largely w1 th getting on in the world ani money, marriage, aocial life, and health. .lob.neon and Franklin had eomething wise or w1 ttr to aa7 about all of theae. Like all man. both valued happiness; like wia6 men, they realized perfect happiness is unobtainable here; like sensible men, the7 laid down a few rules for obt ,J. ning that happj.ness which men ma7 enjo7.

1. Oetting .2!!. !!!. ~World "Few things are impossible to diligence and ak111,w Johnaon wrote in Haase!.!!.• ant the thought paralleled similar assertions of Franklin'• "Poor Richard.n 119

Like Franklin, Johnson was sel.f~made, but started life with greater handicaps. Johnson waa handicapped by a mood7 temperament, a tormented mind, an unsightl7 ph7eique, a humble social position, and a total lack of money. He invaded London at EB with onl7 a few ahillings and an unpublished pla7 in his pocket, and by his own skill ani industry became a ak.111• ful journalist. a aueceaaful writer and critic, snd a leading

119 Johnson, Baaselaa , p. 71 67 lexicographer. He managed to support himself, a wife, a mother, and a houseful of unfortunates, an:i left a small estate. Hie only form or patronage was a pension of three hundred pounds a year granted by George the Third after publication of the Jobnaon dictionary.

a rugged individualist, ~ohnson despised complaints that the world waa unjust. "I nev~r knew a man of merit neglected: it was generally by his own fault that he ta11ed of auccess," Johnson informed boawell. "A mra.n may hide his head in a hole; he may go into the oountI'J', ard publiah a book now and then, which nobody reads, and complain he ia neglectel. There is no reason why any person should exert himself for a man who has written a good book: he has 120 not written it for any individual.w

Johnson was unmoved by the failure of his tragedy, Irene. Theatre-goers did not like it, and he bowed to the public's opinion. He ch1decl &oldsmith for weeping over the failure of hia co~edy, ~he Oood-latured ~· "Leave off foppish lamentations," was a characteristic Johnson comlflent when his friends complained of life's disappointments.

Johnson did more th•n l:llly one of his generation to break down literary patronage, and to urge literary m8D 120 BOswell. op. cit •• 4, p. 190 68 to stand or fall by the public's opinion of their worth. Be was generous in giving literary assistance to other writers. but he once said he "hated to give away literary performances. or even to sell them cheaply: the next generation shall not accuse me of beating dolm. the price of literature."121 Johnson knew the value ot money• although he valued it cb iefly for what it would buy and how much good a man could do with it. Be said: ••oney will purchase occupation; it will purchas• all the conveniences or life; it will purchase 122 variety of company; it will purchase A.11 sorta of entertainment.• yet he held that •getting moaey is not all a man•s business; to cultivate kindnese is a valua:Jl8 part or the business ot 123 life.•

A realist concerning his occupation. ~ohnson held: "Bo 12• man but a blockhead ever wrote. except for money." The great morRliat we.a too hard-headed to take stock in philosophic remarks that 'ffealth is evil in itself. rs a Tory. he upheld the right of property. which he deemed to be fixed. but he esteemed money-getti~ as an innocent diversion. He had no illusions about the happiness of the pooe. He said: When I was running about this town a very poor fellow. I was a great arguer for the advantages ot poverty; but I was• at the same time, very aorrJ to be po~. Sir. all the arguments which are 121 Piozai, op. cit •• p. 36 122 Boswell, op. cit., 3. p. 204: 12~ Ibid., 3, p.208 124 Ibid., 3. p. 22 69 brought to represent poverty as an evil, shew it to be a great evil. You 1118J never find people labouring to convince JOU that JOU may live V8rf happily upon a plenti:f'ul fortune .---So you hear people talking how miaerable a X!ng nuat be; an:l yet they all wish to be 1n his place.125 Johnson never railed against the fixed principles or society. "In civilized society,• he aaid. "we all depelld upon each other, and our happiness is very much owing to the good opinion of mankind •••• A man with a good coet on his back meeti with a better reception than he who has R bad one."126 Johnson urged those who must choose a career not to deliberate too long, si nee after all many i:i. man embarks upon a life work mainly by chance. Re advised young Boswell • that "If, therefore, the profession you have chosen hns some unexpected inconven1enc1es, console yourself that no 127 profession 1s without them." Franklin Millions of young Ameriaa.ns ha.ve regarded FrRnklin as a pattern for self-made success. He laid down the success pattern in "The Way to Wealth", "Poor Richard's Almanack", and "AdYice to a Young Tradesman.• Be believed that the best and natural economic state was one which allowed the individual freedom to pursue his own gain, always providing

125 Boswell. op. cit., 1, p.509-511 126 Ibid., 1, P• 509 12? Ibid., 2. p. 25 70 be did not mn counter to the general ••l1'are 1n doing ao. The maxima which Prankl1n le.rt tor a success pattern mq

sound complncent, bu.t be aa a young man practi aed llhat he glib- •The art of getting r1cbee cona1ata Yery much in thr1ttu was no copy book mnxim to him. but a prowe11 128 method of getting ahead 1n business. ":loth1ng 1n the h1ator,- ot Philadelphia geve Franklin a r1p)lt to expect 129 that the printer• s trade would there be a way to wealth. •

Yet Fr~nkl1n made it one. •ore than a printer, he brought to h1s f1 rat bua1. ness a pcnrer.tul am mnb1 t1ous mind. He

waa the beat writer in Mlerlca. Be cultivated friends among all classes. Be started his printing businesa on a shoestrlng and. in debt. but was out of debt in four yeHra.

He left a ajmple explanation a:s to why he au.cceeded

1n business: In order to secure my ared1 t and character •••• I took care to be in re&.lit7 1nduatr1oua and frugsl and to avoid all appearances to the contrarr. I dressed plainly; I waa aeen at no places of 1 :tle diversion. I never went a-fishing or shooting; a book. indeed, sc:ae­ timea debauched me from my work. but tba.t waa aeldom, mus, and gave no aoand.&l J &Di• to show that I •• not above 111' buelneaa. l sometimes broug):lt hoae the pap er I pu.rcb.aaed at the stores tbrousi the streets on a wheelbarro w.130 Thia was not a foraula tor makln@ a: million. but one for young men juat atart.1ng in buaineaa who wished to I2S GOOdiin • op. c1 t. • p. 280 129 Ven Dortn, op. c1t., p. 94 130 Ibid •• p. 101 71 get Rhead. Franklin was not a prototype for the money­ grubbing American. Be retired from busineea in his .fort1ea. and devoted himself to public weltare, civic an:l mlonial ofr1ees. and public work suoh as founding a hospital and an ucadeDlJ', serYing h1a coloD1' aa agent in London, and working on his ac1entif1c experiments. He nev<.r evaded the cl ,1aa or society and cammun1ty, and he crowded aeYeral oareera into one.

Debt was hatef'ul to Franklin. In h1a 11 &dv1ce to o. Young

Tradesman," he cautioned: azn short the way t.o wealth, u· you desire it, is as plain aa the way to m~rket. It depenla chiefly on two .:>rda: industry and frugality; that ia, waste 131 neither !!!.!!. nor mong • but make the beat use oi' both. " In the day a of h1a glory• Franklin remembered his humble Be began his will. "I, Benjamin Franklin, printer ••• • In a letter to a young frien1, John Alleyne, written in 1768, Franklin of 1ered. his most attractive auoceas formula: Be studious in your p1'0!'essior,, and you will be learned. Be industrious ard frugal, and you will be rich. Be sobt-;r and temperate, arxl you will be healthy. Be in general Virtuous, and you will be happy. At least, you will, by such conduct. staid the beat chance tor au.oh oonaequencea.132

2. Marr1 age ~ Women With his love of taverns an1 clubs, late hours and convivial society, Johnson might seem to have been the I31 GoOdiiliin. op. cit., p. 259 1~2 Ibid., P• 727 72 confirmed bachelor. Johnson wss ~ widower during the latter years of his life when his fame as a lexicographer, writer and talker made him a social lion. Nei 1h 0 r Boswell nor llrs. Thrale, his cb.1ef,Ycontemporery biographers, ever aaw ;; ~· Mrs. Johnson wh6 died' Just as Johnson was emerging from poverty and obscurity into the best-ehro~tled years of his .life. Johnson's aw.rriage alwEiys hAs been something of a stumbling block to biographers. ~ t about 25 he marrl ed Mrs. Elizabeth Porter, a plump and painted widow of 46 with three grown children, and almost no money. Some Johnson students argued that this marr·iage could not h1we been e1 ther happy or convenient. Joseph Wood Krutch, however, weighing whalt evidence the world has concerning Johnson ~nd his "Tetty" concluded that the marriage was probably satisfactory enough. considering the persons involved. At no time during his life could Johnson ha.ve been rated very highly on the marriage market, •md in his youth his stock must have been extremely low. Bis personal appearance was grotes ue .uld his odd, uncouth mannerisms reminded some persons of an idiot. At 25 he was miser~bly poor, and had not even made a start on his life work. The young Johnson who came a-courting llrs. Porter, or perhaps, as his spiteful townswomen, Anna Seward, suggested, ber 73 daughter, Lucy, must have cut a ridiculous figure. It Johnson's later friends wondered. why Johnson married Mrs. Porter, the friends of Mrs. forter must have been even more puzzled as to ·~ she married. him. Like most young men. Johnson had strong physical desires, but unlike the majority, he was also a moralist. He knew the sex :!.mpulse was not evil in i teelf • but unorthodox express1ona of 1t were. Johnson was Christian. orthodox, and moral.

Such a man solved the aex problem by a&rriage, and Johnsen evidently married the first woman he found who would have him.

It ml!ly even have been R. love match on both sides as Johnson aaid. The fact that Jira. Porter at 46 painted her face he~vily and wore fantastic fashlona as David G&rriok said she d1d, 8llggesta that she was still interested in her appearance and suitors, and doubtless her vanity was tickled when a 25-year-old one came calling. She married the penniless young Johnson only 10 months a.rter the death of Kr. Porter, ao she evidently fCAlnd marriage agreeable, and she certainly could not have been accused of mercenary motivee. Pew women or 46 are willing to admit that love am happine as are finished for them. and it mu.st have given her considerable setisraotlon to show her teen-age daughter and Lichf'ield tb.E. t she could find another husbund. Mrs. Porter may have looked old a.Di painted to d1acem1ng eyes, but Johnson's eyes were hardly discerning. Although in later years, Mrs. Thrale asserted Johnson had excellent taste regarding WJmen's dress, evel"J'thing known about him indicated that Johnson's eyesight was extremely bad. If' his sight as a child was so poor that ~ teacher followed him home to see that he found hie way, hia sight at 26 would have been sufficiently weak that he could aee Mrs. Porter as a "dear pretty creature.• Furthermore, young men, eapec1ally intellectual, poor, and ugly young men who do not attract girls thei'r own age, are notoriously easy prey to SJ1Dpathetic older women. Like most women of her class, Mrs. Porter could not have had much education, but some of her remarks which Johnson repeated to friends indicate that she must have had a keen wit somewhat like his own. She was capable or judging his worth, for after she got over her first shock at Johnson's appear~noe, she ~ ld her daughter: '''l'hia is the mm t sensible man that I 133 ever saw in my llfe." Evidently she interested herself 1n Johnson's work arter they were married, because she said or

~ R,;mbler: "I thought very well of you before; but I did 134 not imagine you could have written any thing equal to this.• Even Johnson'e own description to his mother or Tett7•a l33 BosweI1, op. cit., 1, p. 110 1~4 Ibid., 1, p. 243 75

re~ction to his proposal showed that she had a sense of humour. When Johnson's mother protested the rashness of the pDoposed mRrriage, Johnson was reported to have replied: "•other, I have not deoe1ved Mrs. Porter; I have told her the worst of me; that I am of mean extraction; that I have

no money; ani that I have had an uncle hanged. She replied•, that she value.J no one more or less for his descent; that ab.• had no more money than myself; ani that, though she had not 136 had a relation hanged• she had fifty who deserved hanging•" Clearly, Tetty was no fool. After the marriage, times were difficult. Johnson's venture e.s master of an aoedemy failed in a few yeara, and when he went to London to seek hia fortune, he left his wife behin:l. Johnson, in later life, disliked relating the "anecdotes of beggary" of hie early ye:trs in London, but evidently there were times when he was unable to provide a home there for hia wife. Be was unable to earn enough to sto. out of debt, and in their financial.

distress "dear Tetty" was farced even to sell Johnson's

silver cup an:l spc,on which hie mother had bought ib r him cum

he was a small child. Tetty shared hie \C rat years, arxl part of his morbidness about her after her death may have resulted because he could not repay her for the sorrows or their adversity. He may have been thinking or the unfortunate -r35 Kingsm111, op. o1t.,p. 36-37

...... 76

Mrs. Johnson when he spoke of the futility of success with no one to shRre it. Nothing emphasized Johnson's rugged common sense as much as h1s comments on marriage. Be was aware always that fe~lure in marriage resulted from the defects of the per~ons involYed. In the lo. 45 issue of his Rambler. he noted how oftea people blame their mates for that which they have only to blrune themselves;

I believe ••• ~hat marriage is not oomr: only unhappy• otherwise than as life is unhap~y; ani that most or those who complain of connubiPl miseries, have aa much aat1sfsetion as their nature would have admitted, or their conduct procured, in any other condition •••• We are always willing to fancy our• selves within a little or happiness. and when, with repeated efforts. we cannot reach ~t, persuJade ourselves that it is intercepted by an ill-paired mste. since, if we could find any other obstacle, it would be our own fault that 1t wns not removed. 136

While admitting that marrl~ge was often unh9ppy, Johnson never failed to point out that there was no substitute ror it. In Raaselas he said: "Marriage h8s many p~ins, but 13'7 celibacy has no pleasures," and ooncluded: "Marri&ge is evidently the dictate of na tu r·e; men ani women are made to 138 be companions of each other." He wrote his frierd, Joseph Baretti, on Dec. 21, 1762, "I do not, however, pretend to have discovered that life hae anyth1ng more to be desired than a prudent and virtuous 136 w. Hale White, Selections from Dr. Johnson's Rambler, (Oxford, Clarenaon Presa, llRJ'T)--p". 27. 1Z7 Johnson, R&aselaa, p. 9P 138 Ibid., P• 118 77 139 marriage." When Boewell was about to marry, Jobnaon wrote: Bow that you are golng to marl"J'• do not expect troa lite more than life will afford. You ma7 often find yourself out of humour, and you msy otten think your wife not studious enough to please you; and yet baTe reason to consider youraelt as upon the whole very happily married.140 As a realist, Jobneon expected no more trom marriage than could be counted upon considering the imperfection• ot human beings. Be held that •a man baa a very bad chance for happiness •••unless he marries a woman of very strong 141 and fixed principles or religion.• On the other hand, h• could not understand whJ' aoae wo•n haTe so little regard tor the moral character or the men whom they marry. Be concluded thia •• beoauae •women have a perpetual enVJ' ot our v1cea.•142

~ohnson praised the women ot his d&J' as more virtuoua because theJ' were better educated, but he liked a little feminine beauty mixed with this intelligence and virtue. "A prett,. woman,• he said, 9 it she haa a mind to be wicked, 11143 can find a readier we.y than ~nother; and that ia a11.

•rs. Thrale once anno,.ed Jo~1naon by asserting that lovers' quarrels cleared the air. 139 BOawell, op. cit., 1, p. 442 140 Ibid., 2, p. 87 141 Ibid., 1, p. 442 142 Ibid., 4, p. 152 143 Ibid., 4, p. 336 '78 t1b7, what a pernicious maxim la th1a (cries Johneon), all quarrels ought to be avoided atudioual77"Partioularl7 conjugal ones, as no one can poaalbl7 tell •here the7 may end; bealdea that lasting dislike 1• otten the consequence of ocoaslonal disgust. and that the cup of life la bitter enough, •1t~\•queez1ng in the hateful rind of resentment. Krs. Thrale, who had trouble enough w1 th her huabmd, noted that Jobneon uauall7 aided w1 th the husband whc disputes aroae between their married friend.a because he thought "women give great ottenae by a contemptuous spirit 146 on non-compliance on petty oooaaiona.• These provocations, he telt, drove men to mletreaaea. Aa a moralist, however, Jobnaon upheld the single standard tor both sexea, and apoke several times on the value ot chastity to the debauched Boawell. On one occasion, Boawell asked: So, then, Sir, you would allow ot no irregular lnteroourae between the aexeaT JOBISOI. To be aure I would not, 81r. I would punish it aich more then it la done, and ao restrain it. In all countrie a there baa been torn1oat1on, aa in all countries there haa been thett; but there aa;y be more or leaa ot the one, aa well aa ot the other, 1n proportion to the toroe ot tb. e law. All men will natwrally co.. it fornication, aa all aen will naturally ateal. And, Sir, it la ver, absurd to argue, aa baa been otten done, that proatitutea are necea•ary to prevent the violent etteota ot appetite tro• violating the decent order of life; nay, should be permitted, in order to preaerYe the chaat1ty ot our wlvea and daughters. Depend upon it, Sir,severe lawa, steadily enforced, would be auftlcleyl against those evils, and would promote marriage. 6 144 P1osz1, op. cit., p.95 146 Ib1d., p. 98 146 Boswell, op. cit., 1, p. 46 79

Johnson held tbet the young girl who has had A. chance to eee something of the world was leas likely to stray tblm one who was too sheltered. Be advised Mrs. 'l'hrale that

•ao11tude 1e the sureat nurse or all pru~t passions, and a girl in the hu.rl"J' ot prepar~tion, or tumult of gaie't7, has neither inclination or leisure to let tender exprees- 14:., ions soften or aink into ~•r heart.•

'l'he moralist conceded that men usually require more perfection trom women than trom themselves, but declared it was doing them honour becauae •women have not the same temptation• that we bave: the7 :ma7 live alway• in virtuous 148 company; men muat mix in the world 11ldiscrim1natel7. • It would be interesting to know what Johnaon would have aaid about working wo ..n in the twentieth centur,. lllho like men must aix in the world incli11cr1ainatel7. One• when Jobnaon •• in the mooi to philosophize rather than to entertain, he wrote to a Dr. Lawrence whose wite had died: Be that outl1vea a w1te whom he baa lone; loved, sees himaelt disjointed trom the only mind that .bas the • ._ hopes, nnd tears, and interest; troa the only CCJDpanion with whom he baa ah~red aicb good or evil; and w1 th wboJI he could aet h1a mini at libefl~· to retrace the paat or anticipate the future. Perhape when Johnson wrote thie letter on Jan. 20, 1'780, he waa remembering the ill-starred Tetty ot h1a youth. 147 Ploss!, op. cit. ,p. '71. 148 Boswell, op. cit., 3, p.326 149 Ibid., 3, p. 4'76 80

Pranklin If Johnson'• friends had reservations about hia marriage,, FrRllkl1n's friends should have wondered concerning his. At 24,, Prank1in wedded Deborah Read. She waa a tradesman's daughter,, an:l bad one unfortunate marriage behind her. .According to Ji'ranklin,, Deborah,, grown tired or Benjamin's dilatory suit,, had been ... rried to a potter,, while Franklin waa perfecting his printer's trade in London. The potter deserted Deborah,, and went to the West Indies,, from where word trickled back that he took another ·m.re. When Franklin returned to Philadelphia,, he renewed hia courtship of the deserted Deborah,, and th8J' made a CODmlon-law marriage on Sept. 1,, 1730. Deborah bore Prankl1n a son,, Francia Folger,, who died in childhood,, and a daughter,, Sarah. Deborah waa a loyal" tbrif'ty wife and helped her buaband in his print shop aa well aa managing a house am family. To the em of' hb life Franklin esteemed her,, and probably bore her oonaiderable affection,, since h1a letters were always taider and domestic. Be addressed her aa "•7 dear Child,,• and concluded,, "I am,, my dear Debby,, your a.tfect1onah husband." •rs. Franklin referred. to her buaben1 always aa "Pappy•,, a source of amusement to hia well-bred frierxls o.t later years. Her lack of education was revealed. in her phonetic spelling

:: 81 when she signed heraelt •1 am your ateckahonet wU'e. • Contapor­

a~ies apoke of her turbulent temper and the invectives 11b.ich

she hurled. e.t William, Franklin' a illegitimate son, who waa brought up 1n the family. Her pet name, "Pappy" waa ao universally known that it was a favorite joke of Franklin's

political antagonists. Although Franklin urged his wi:fe to

accompany him on h~.a trips to London as colonial a.gent, or t.o join him there, she always re.fused to leave her home in Fhiladelphia. Thia was probably just aa well since the good

housewite would have been con~picuously out of place among Franklin's t'1ne London trienda erd aoqunintPnces. Debby was not fashioned to shine in society, an1 abe may have had the good sense to realize it. Pranklin hndamentally waa a man or simple tMatea. am h1a plain-looking, plain-speaking, thrifty, hard-working wife _,. have suited him very well, although he had nlways an eye

for a pretty tece. Bia admiration tor the pretty •ew England girl, Catherine Rny, was no doubt paternal, and his gallantries ot his old age 8*ong the ladies at the Preoch court were doubtlesa harmless.

In 1~46, Franklin wrote a aerie• of "Reflectiona on Courtship and Marriage• which took the form of a debate

among bachelors who sought to evade mRrriage, w bile a wiae counsellor proposed a plan for conjugal telic1 ty. Aa counsellor, Franklin pointed out t.o the young bachelors that 82

the faults for which they blamed women were encouraged by men. Be said of women: "Do we not blow up their Yanity end Conceit •••• and gloss over their ailly airs and Follies with false Applause, and Epithets or Approbat1on.nl60 Franklin lashed out at those who marry for money or similar security calling the wives of such union• •harlota" 151 and the huaban1a "atalliona." Unhappy marriages, he believed, resulted from "aeer mercenary views in one or both of the 162 Parties; or by the heaaatrong aotivea or ill conducted Paaaion.•

Like Johnson, Pranklin opposed tle arrangement of' marriagee by pRrenta, holding "Bo parental Authority, thus to make

ourselves unhappy by marrying, ia any way binding on Children.• 16~ In the manner of his own "Poor Richard", Franklin adYiaed

young couples to decide before marrying how much or a .fortune they needed for happiness, and not to deceive each other on this factor. Be believed. happiness in marriage •most certainly !!!.!!, aria• f"rom an untei!J!ed Bateem and sincere Friend.ship for each other.•15' Be urged young persona to be honest with

each other during CD urtabip to avoid diseppo1ntment after the wedding:

Let ua ••• appear in o~ ••tive Charaotera, undia911aed, and unatfcteted. If under tboae we gain Bateea and Priendahip, our proapecta or :maintaining them, are as secure, ss our own Mind.a and Dispositions may be laating.---Let ua be 150 GOodiiii, op. cit., p. 690 151 Ibid., p. 692 151 Ibid., P• 692 153 Ibid., p. 705 154 Ib1d., p. 692 83

outwardly, what we really are within, ~nd appear In auch oha11giera aa •• ateacU'aatly design to continue. Although he had an illegitimate son, and later an illegitimate gr~ndson, Pr8nkl1n recommended marriage, and in his defeaae of Polly Baker, the unmBrried mother, urged that bachelors marry and rear legiti~ate families. He advocated early marriages ani large families as eocially and economically desirable for a new countl'J' like .America.

He adY1sed wives to be extremely neat, clean and attractive as they were in the days of their courtship, and to pay as Dllch attention to their Appearance at the breakfast table as when they go abroad. He also advised them to be good cook• an::l neat houaekeepera. and never to live beyond e. huaband •a 1nco•. He concluded his reflections with three common aenae principlea: FIRST. That unhappy Matches are often occaaion'd by aeer mercenary Viewa, in one or both of the Parties: or by the headstrong Motives of Ill Conducted Passion. SECOBD. That by a prudent an1 judicious Proceeding in our Addreaaea to a young Lady of a good natural Temper, we may lay a very good Foundation tor making her an agreeable Companion, a ateady Friend, and a good Wife. ARD THIBDLY. That after Marriage. b.J continuing in the Road of Prudence and Judgment, we may make the lfupt1Rl State as happ! as we can promise ouraelvea from an other. 56

In a letter to a newly-merried friend, John All91ne, Franklin wrote wisely: 155 Ooodiiian, op. cit., p. 698 156 Ibid., p. 720 84 Treat your wife always with respect; it will procure respect for y.Du. not troa her only but trom all that obaerYe it. Bever use e. alighting expression to her. even in Jest. tor slights in jest• after trec;ue~~'lbandy1nga • are apt to end. in angry earnest.

Like Johnson. Fr~nklin wRrned against •squeezing the rind of reaentment.•

3. Social gf.!. Both Johnson and FrRnklin were so eminently aooial hD1 socially sought atter. at least during the areater part of their lives. that 1t would require a large folio to ade4uatel7 present the social element 1n their lives. Johnson loved people. With his melancholy temperament. his tendeno7 to brood upon religion. death and the state of hie soul, he reruired compen1onsb1p to divert and stimulate his mind. He believed in JPr1endah1p. in keeping friend.ships in constant repair, and 1n add1~ new acquaintances as he advanced through lite. Be tolerated. nay sought and enjo7ed. the tr1endah1p ot such rakes sa Boawell Pni Topham Beauolerk because he needed their youth. gaiety. and admiration to take h1m out of his melAnchol7. Be real 1 &ed h1 a need .n>r extroversion. and in seeking out the aey snd the 7oung be aouP,t to identify h1mael.t" with youth and gaiety. Pr1endsh1p tor b1a had a peculiar meaning; a friend wse one w1 th whom he could exchange intimate thoughts. Be as.id ot Oliver Goldamith: 157 oooaman. op. cit •• p. '127 85 •se waa not a aocis.l man. Be neYer exchanged. mind with 158 you." Johnson knew everyone worth knowing in his London. At the famous Club he oonaorted. with Reynalda, Oarrick,

Ooldsmi th, Burke and other notables whose names dazzle the pagea of h1ato1'7. Johnaon met King George the Third with the same social poise w1 th which be dined with a trades- woman. Johnson as a widower filled hie house with blind Ilise

Will18llls, ignorant but kindly Dr. LeYett, and aiv other unt'ortunatea which he might bring home because there W&a no retuge for them. elsewhere. The kindest of men to the down&rodden, be left hia estate to bia faith.t\11 legro aenant, Francia Barber. There ia no part ot the .lobnaon legend more attractive than the picture of the big man putting pennies in the henda ot slum children aa tJley slept

1n doorways, and going out himself to buy oysters for the c~;t, Hodge. He loved clubs, coffee houaea, and the conviviality ot taYerna. •A tavern chair ia the throne of fel1cit1," he told Boawe11.159 Be was a great diner-out and enjoyed the pleasures of the table ao much he was d1aappo1nted 1.f the dinner was not up to his expectations. 158 Boswell, op. cit., 3, p. 43 159 Ibid., l,p. 517 86 Johnson loved London. He found ncharing Cross the full-tide of human existence: and said: "When a man ia tired of London. he ls tired of life; for there ls in London all that life can afford.•160 Bia clubs. taverna, friendships with all classes and all types of men and 10 men won hours ~ freedom for his sick soul. Be believed in social pastimes such as cards aD1 dancing, al though he did not indulge in either. Be thought harm.less amusements kept people from vice. When he gave a half-pence to a beggar, he did not mind if the beggar spent it for gin or tobacco. •And w~ should they be denied such sweeteners of their existence?" he aaked Mrs. Thrale. •it 1a aurely very savage to refuae them every possible avenue to pleasure. reekened too coarse for our own acceptance. Life is a bitter pill which noae of ua can bear to swallow without gilding; yet for the poor we delight in stripping it still barer, and are not ashamed to shew even visible displeasure. if ever the bitter t~ste is taken from their 161 mouths.• Thua spoke Johnson at his best And moat aoo1al. Pranklin Franklin. the genial extrovert. delighted as much in talk and fellowship as Johnson. He founded the Junto for stimilatlng talk and society and kept it alive tor 30 years. I60 Boswell, op. cit., 3• p. 202 161 Piosz1. op. cit., p. 616-51? 87

He helped the best minds in America to communicate with each other through the American Philosophical Society. He found in Freemasonry the brotherhood which for him supplanted religion.

He believed man's duty was to society, and even as a struggling Philadelphia tradesman busied himself with civic life, and improving the fire and police systems.

In England and in France hia sln:ple charm o:f manner, h1a ingratiating speech, and ability to be at home everywhere won friend.a for himself and understandins for his country. In all modesty he could write his sister, Jane Mecom, from Passy, Prance,_ on Oct. 25, 1779:

Perhaps few strangers in ~ranee have had the good fortune to be eo universally popular ••• Thla popularity hae occasioned so many paintings, busts, medals,and pr1nta to be •de of me, and di atr1buted throushout the Kingdom, that my r1ce ls now almost ae well known aa that of the Moon. 16 Wot only because of his agile and brilliant mind, but also because of his amiable nature, ~ranklin wae a born diplomat. Be waa ae popular at home aa in the countries to which he was accredited. Mor did Franklin keep his charm only for the outer world. He waa a devoted, even indulgent father and gran1-father. B• cherished members of his family c1 rcle, and his favorite sister, Mra. Mecom, was among hie regular correspondents. He waa a dutiful son as long ae his parents lived. His letters am preaente .from.

162 Goodman, op. cit., p.655. 88 abroad to his wife and daughter at showed how often they were in his thoughts. His Philadelphia rea1dence Wk8 alwaya a place of hospitality, and even strangers came to see his invention•. When he travelled as deputy postmaater general abeut the Colon1ea he found a welcome and hospitality everywhere until he said he almost forgot that he had a home elsewhere. His increaa1nF wealth, governmental position, and sc1ent1f1c honora brought him fame and respect, but his simple, kindl.7 manner and speech bro\lf'ht hi~ ad.m1ration and love from fhiladelph1a townsmen and men of the court alike.

4. Health

Johnson died st 75• During his life-time he was afflicted with scofula, St. Vitus dance and melancholia. H18 hearing waa ao defective thatme oared little for music and the t"leater, and hi.a eyesight waa ao imperfect that he temporarily lost the sight of one eye. Boswell ae.1d Johnson was a hypochondiac, yet Jobnaon had almost nothing to eay on the subject of health. He mi~ht have been somet1mea irritable of temper because of his physical sufferings, and he was obsessed by the fear of losing hie mind, but he never co~lained to the world. Although he spoke often ot the evils of alcohol, he objected to exeeaeive drinking on the moral ground that drinking clouded reason. He never mentioned an7 effect which it had upon health. 89

Franklin, in contrast, waa extremely intereated in health

and in medicine. He preached inoeculation against smallpox and wrote to hie sister concerning a cancer cure. He recamnended

electrical treatment for paralyaia, and even wrote an eaaay on

healthful sleep am the art of proeurlng plee.aant dreame. B•

drew up, when young, 11 rules far health and long life, all ot which repeated his principle that "Excess in all other th1nga

whatever, as well aa in meat an:l drink, is to be avoided."l~

In his youth he dieted and abstained from drjnklng, bu.t mainly for reasons of economy, since in later years he waa known

to enjoy the pleasurea of the table and the bottle so much that

he was plagued by gout. He recommended exerci ae, and oddly enough for the eighteenth century, frequent bathing and freab air in houses. Franklin waa inclined to seize upon health fads, ani to practice and advooate them, thereby foreshadowing the modern American's desire tor physical fitness. One of Franklin's health measures was the cold air bath ot which he wrote a frierd in 1?68: I rise almost every morning, and sit in my chaaber without any clothes whatever, half an hour or an hour ••• either reading or writing. This practice ia agreeable; and, if 1 return to bed afterward ••• ! make a 11Upplement to my night's reat ••• 164 Johnson knew nothing of this habit of Franklin•s, but when Boswell told him that Lord Monbo4do took cold air baths for hia health, ~ohnaon remarked: wl auppoae, Sir, there ia no more in it

163 Goodman, op. cit., p. 640. 90 than this, he awakes at four, ani cannot sleep until he ch1lla himself, and :n:akes the warmth of the bed a grateful sensat1ont•l66

165 ao ..e11, op. cit., 3, p. 191.

l 91

Conclusion

Thia theaia haa presented some or the opinions or Dr. Johnson an:l Dr. Franklin on a variety of subjects, to show on what the two men d1 f'fered and how they agreed, and the strong undercurrent of common sense which ran through what they wrote and. said. These two men were unique. 7hey were eminent 1n their own time, and they will liTe a.a long aa Bngl1ah is written and epoken. Aside from their different contributions to their respective cruntriee and to the world in general, they will live also because they were representative in some way of their particular nationa.litiea. Franklin waa a prototne of shrew Yankee know-how and ingenuity. He had the American's desire to improve lire am make happier, easier ard more oonvenient liY1ng. His 1nventiona and contributions to acienoe were primarily utilitarian. He alao had the Yankee or American dr1 ve 1· or worldly succeae, to earn money, to riae in the world, to obtain self-education. Moreover. Franklin had the inherent .uieriean desire to improve the world. to benefit mankind, and to leave the world so?'l'lewhat better than he had found it. tthat waa wh7 .lTanklin became the forerunner of' the auooeas pattern in America. 92

Johnson was just as typically British; just as much a true-born ana. representa~1ve Engliahman. He had the Englishman'• reverence for kings, rank,and property. He loved a lord. Johnson had the Englishman's reverence1br established religion. He had the Englishman's belier in the soundness ot family e.nd famil1 name. He had the Englishman's love of tavern life and oQi.ondon. He had the Englishman's love of children and animals. He had a touch of the Englishman'• insularity, and the old-fashioned Englishman's contempt for colonial•. He had the Englishman's respect for established custom• and manners. And he had the Englishman's respect and love for literature which baa helped make English literature the moat prolific and the greateat 1n the world. That ia Johnson's contribution to his world. These men still live because they represented some of t.he beat characteristics or their respective national1tiea.

H 93 Soure••

Bigelow, John, ed. The Com~lete Worka or Benjamin Franklin. (l.Y., o.P.Putnam•s Sona, lgR8) l~ voi. Boswell, Jamee. Tour to the Hebrides. (London, Oxford University Presa-;-1930) Boswell, James. The Life of S&Dlel Jobnaon,LL.D., George Birkbeek Hill,"'ed.\H:Y., Bigelow, :Srown&co., undated) 6 vol.

Crane, Verner Winslow. Benjamin Franklin, ~iabm.an alll. AmP.r!can. (Baltimore, flil!ams & 111 na (!o., l~} Fay, Bernard. Franklin, The Apostle of •odern Times. (Boston, Lit£1e, Brown & Co., 19~) Franklin, Benjamin. Autobiograpb,y. (V.Y., Boughton M1Cfl1n, 192~) Goodman, llathan, ed. A Benjamin Franklin Reader. (l.Y., 'thOll'las Y. Orowel'I Co., 1946) Hill, George Birkbeck, ed. Johnaon1an Miscellanies. (Oxford, Clarendon Preas, 1878) 2 vol. Jamee, William. The Varieties or Reliffioua Experience. ( R. Y., Longman a, Greene &co. , 35) Johnson, Samuel. Raaselae. (Oxford, Clarendon Preas, 1898) Johnson, Samuel. Worka. (Troy, W.Y., Pa!'raets Book Co., l90a) 16 vol. K1ngamill, Hugh, ed. Johnson Without Boawell.(W.Y., Alfred ltnopf, 1941) Krutch, Joseph Wood. Samuel Johnson. (B.Y., Henr.r Hol&, 1944) f1ozzi, Beater Lynch. Anecdotes or famuel Johnaon. (Cambridge Universltj Preas; · 9!2) Trevel7an, George Macaulay. •The Two-Farty System in English Political History: Romane• Lectures, 1921-30(0x!"ord, Clarendon Preas, 1930) Van Doren, Carl. Benjamin Prankl1n. (B .Y., Garden C1ty Fublishing Co., 1941) White, w. Bale, ed. Selections from Dr. John8on'a Rambler. (Oxford, Clareiidon Preaa;-D33T