THE

XII

SOCIAL LIFE

HE busy man," quoth Poor Richard, "has few idle Visitors; to the boiling Pot the Flies come not." But this was only one of his many aphorisms which he himself disproved, for, however manifold his Occupations, there never seems to have been the time when he had not friends, and the time to see them. With his first arrival in Philadelphia, he relates that "I began now to have some acquaintance among the young people of the town, that were lovers of reading, with whom I spent my evenings very pleasantly." So in London, during his short sojourn there, he went to the taverns, and made friends of the "ingenious" fre

quenters. In his voyage back to Philadelphia, too, an incident served to show his social inclinations.

A pas

senger was detected marking a pack of cards, was tried for it by his fellow-voyagers, and being convicted, he was condemned to pay a fine, and upon his refusal was excommunicated" by the "mess," every "one refusing to play, eat, drink or converse with him." The embryo philosopher of twenty thereupon noted in his journal that:

"Man is a sociable being, and it is, for aught I know, one of the worst of punishments to be excluded from society. I have read abundance of fine things on the subject of solitude, and I know 't is a common boast in the mouths of those that affect to be thought wise, that they are never less alone than when alone. I acknowledge solitude an agreeable refreshment to a busy mind; but, were these thinking people obliged to be always alone, I am apt to think they would quickly find their very being insupportable to them."

Once established in Philadelphia, as already told, he founded the social club of the Junto. For this little society Franklin ever retained the warmest feelings. Many years after its beginning, he wrote from England to a fellow-member:

"I wish you would continue to meet the Junto, notwithstanding that some effects of our public political misunderstandings may sometimes appear there. It is now perhaps one of the oldest clubs, as I think it was formerly one of the best, in the King's dominions. It wants but about two years of forty since it was established."

Still later, when in France, he said:

"You tell me you sometimes visit the ancient Junto. I wish you would do it oftener. I know they all love and

respect you, and regret your absenting yourself so much. People are apt to grow strange, and not understand one another so well, when they meet but seldom. Since we have held that Club till we are grown gray together, let us hold it out to the end. For my own part, I find I love company, chat, a laugh, a glass, and even a song, as well as ever, and at the same time relish better than I used to do the grave observations and wise sentences of old men's conversation; so that I am sure the Junto will be still as agreeable to me as it ever has been. I therefore hope it will not be discontinued as long as we are able to crawl together."

In its most active period, Franklin states in his autobiography:

"Our club, the Junto, was found so useful, and afforded such satisfaction to the members, that several were desirous of introducing their friends, which could not well be done without exceeding what we had settled as a convenient number, viz., twelve. We had from the beginning made it a rule to keep our institution a secret, which was pretty well observ'd; the intention was to avoid applications of improper persons for admittance, some of whom, perhaps, we might find it difficult to refuse. I was one of those who were against any addition to our number, but, instead of it, made in writing a proposal, that every member separately should endeavor to form a subordinate club, with the same rules respecting queries, etc., and without informing them of the connection with the Junto. The advantages proposed were, the improvement of so many more young citizens by the use of our institutions; our better acquaintance with the general sentiments of the inhabitants on any occasion, as the Junto member might propose what queries we should desire, and was to report to the Junto what pass'd in his separate club; the promotion of our particular interests in business by more extensive recommendation, and the increase of our influence in public affairs, and our power of doing good by spreading thro' the several clubs the sentiments of the Junto.

"The project was approv'd, and every member undertook to form his club, but they did not all succeed. Five or six only

From the miniature given by Dr. Franklin to his dear friend, Bishop Jonathan
Shipley, on parting, on his return from England to America.

In the collection of Augustus J. C. Hare.

were compleated, which were called by different names, as the Vine, the Union, the Band, etc. They were useful to themselves, and afforded us a good deal of amusement, information, and instruction, beside answering, in some considerable degree, our views of influencing the public opinion on particular occasions, of which I shall give some instances in course of time as they happened."

years is shown by his being one of the organizers of the first masonic society in America, in 1730. In 1732 he was appointed a warden, and in 1734 he was elected grand master, on which occasion "a very elegant Entertainment was provided, and the Proprietor, the Governor, and several other Persons of Distinction honour'd the Society with their Presence."

How, by his exhibitions of electrical phenomena, Franklin's "house was continually full for some time, with people who came to see these new wonders," has already been mentioned, and there were other social incidents, one of which he described as follows:

"It is proposed to put an end to [our experiments] for this season, somewhat humorously, in a party of pleasure on the banks of the Skuylkill. Spirits, at the same time, are to be fired by a spark sent from side to side through the river, without any other conductor than the water; an experiment which we some time since performed to the amazement of many. A turkey is to be killed for our dinner by electrical shock, and roasted by the electrical jack, before a fire kindled by the electrified bottle; when the healths of all the famous electricians in England, Holland, France, and Germany are to be drank in electrified bumpers, under the discharge of guns from the electrical battery."

His share in the Association, the hospital, the academy, and many other public-spirited affairs brought him into relation with all the prominent folk, and he was socially received by the best. As already told, from these invitations his wife was omitted, and as Franklin for some years dwelt over his shop, and later removed "to a more quiet part of the town," at the corner of Sassafras and Second streets, where he lived "as to the Appearance" "in modest circumstances,"