AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN I. FRANKLIN, THE BOSTON SCHOOL BOY AND PRINTER'S LAD 1706-1723 COMMENT. In the story of a man's life we look first to see what sort of start he had. An inheritance of fair natural abil ity and favorable conditions in which to grow up, give a boy a fair chance; but if he lacks a good home, he may grow to manhood without the training or the habits he will need in later life. While there are exceptions, usually the boy who starts out with a heavy handicap never makes up for it, and the one who inherits fair ability and early decides to use every opportunity well, becomes the kind of man we most admire and trust. Therefore, the first questions about any man who has won more than usual reputation, esteem, or success, are: What manner of body, mind, and disposition came to him from his ancestors? What did his parents do for him while he was young that gave him a better start than other boys had? What special opportunities did the circumstances of the family or of the community in which he was born, afford him? How young did he begin to understand that he, himself, must take advantage of every aid that came in his way; that is, what did he do for himself, while he was still a boy, thinking little about the future, which in the end gave him a better chance in life? For Benjamin Franklin, these questions are answered in the first part of his Autobiography. He wrote it after he had become an old man, that from his own life he might show his grandchildren how a boy, born in a poor family, in a new country, who began to work for his living at ten years of age, still, by making the most of such opportunities as he had, and by adopting certain principles of conduct, became in the end prosperous, and honored, and great. A careful reading of what he has written will reveal Franklin's own opinion of the secrets of his advancement in the light of after years, and these determining factors in the boy's life should be kept in mind in reading, in later parts of the Autobiography, of the mistakes he made and of his rapid rise in fortune, position, and reputation. D. Franklin's Outline. My writing. Mrs. Dogood's letters. Differences arise between my Brother and me (his temper and mine); their cause in general. His Newspaper. The Prosecution he suffered. My Examination. Vote of Assembly. His manner of evading it. Whereby I became free. My attempt to get employ with other Printers. He prevents me. Our frequent pleadings before our Father. The final Breach. My Inducements to quit Boston. Manner of coming to a Resolution. Twyford, at the Bishop of St. Asaph's, 1771. DEAR SON1: I have ever had pleasure in obtaining any little anecdotes of my ancestors. You may remember the inquiries I made among the remains of my relations when you were with me in England, and the journey I undertook for that purpose. Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to know the circumstances of my life, many of which you are yet unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of a week's uninterrupted leisure in my present country retirement, I sit down to write them for you. To which I have besides some other inducements. Having emerged from the pov 1 William Franklin, afterwards royal governor of New Jersey. He was at this time, 1771, a man of middle age. |