may now be seen in the Philadelphia Library-were not adapted for ease of reading in traveling, and Franklin conceived of founding a permanent library. With his usual sagacity he made it of common interest. A subscription was undertaken by which each subscriber should contribute 2 pounds sterling for the first purchase of books and 10 shillings a year for the increase of the library. He had some difficulty in securing a sufficient subscription. Hiding himself under the phrase of "a number of friends," and following the ruling principle of "humble diffidence" of which he was so fond, he was at last able to see the affair going on smoothly, and in five months fifty names were obtained. A list of books was made out and an order to the value of 45 pounds was sent to London.

The books arrived in Philadelphia in October, 1732, and were placed in a room in the house of Mr. Grace which was set apart for the use of the Junto; a librarian was appointed, and the books were given out once a week. Franklin served as librarian for a time. The undertaking was a success and we are told of donations to it of books, money, and curiosities. It grew rapidly; the company obtained a charter, and increased its membership to a hundred, and, as Franklin says:

This was the mother of all the North American subscription libraries, now so numerous. It is become a great thing in itself, and continually goes on increasing; these libraries have improved the general conversation of the Americans, made the common tradesmen and farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps have contributed in some degree to the stand so generally made throughout the colonies in defense of their privileges.1

When Franklin describes the library as "a great thing in itself," he is emphasizing the cardinal doctrine of his educational system, the use of the right book. His scheme of education embodies methodical instruction in a few selected books which embody the best thoughts of the best minds, which should be conveyed to youth in the best manner; that is, in a natural manner. It is impossible to estimate the influence of Franklin's idea on America. If we measure it by the influence of libraries in our country, we might safely affirm that Americans are more indebted to Benjamin Franklin for their education than to any other man that ever lived. The large possibilities of Franklin's principles of education are to be valued by their adaptability to the ever-growing wants of the people. It should not be forgotten that the principle of the circulating library and the first principle of Frauklin's scheme of education grew up in his mind from his own experience in self-education; in the reading of books when a child, in learning to write English correctly in the organization of the Junto, in its debates on morals, politics, and natural philosophy, and in the necessary equipment for its debates-a library.

Franklin's practical mind seems to have viewed morality as it viewed politics and natural philosophy, that by thinking, by experiment, by observation, and by practice, a man might arrive at moral perfection.

It would be a gross neglect of Franklin's philosophy of education were we to omit some account of his "Art of Virtue." We must not forget that Franklin was born in New England; that his father and mother were members of the Old South church, and that he himself was baptized there; that his earliest impressions were religious impressions; that his New England home was the home of an earnest and somewhat polemic Calvinism, with its rigid simplicity. The insistence of his parents upon a wholesome industry and practical morality, and a stern recognition of the "chief end of man," made an impression upon Franklin's character that never was effaced. He says:

I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian; but, though some of the dogmas of that persuasion, such as the eternal decrees of God, election, reprobation, etc., appeared to me unintelligible, and I early absented myself from the assemblies of the sect (Sunday being my studying day), I never was without some religious principles. I never doubted, for instance, the existence of a Deity, that He made the world, and governed it by His providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crimes will be punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter. These I esteemed the essentials of every religion, and being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I respected them all, though with different degrees of respect, as I found them more or less mixed with other articles, which, without any tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm morality, served principally to divide us, and make us unfriendly to one another. He therefore seldom attended public worship, though he had “an opinion of its propriety, and of its utility when rightly conducted," and he regularly paid his annual subscription for the support of the only Presbyterian meeting in Philadelphia. Viewing religion as "proper and useful," he conceived of it, as he conceived of politics and natural philosophy, that it should be the subject of investigation, improvement, and adaptation to the wants of man. He could not think of religion as being incapable of improvement, and as he identified religion and morality, he says:

It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection; I wished to live without committing any fault at any time, and to conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I do not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found that I had un dertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined; while my attention was taken up and care employed in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded at length that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous was not sufficient to prevent our slipping, and that the contrary habits must be broken and good ones acquired and established before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of mind. In other words, Franklin proposed to educate himself in morality as he had educated himself in English composition and in arithmetic. He

'See the clause on a belief in a future state of rewards and punishments in the Constitution of the State of Pennsylvania of 1776, and of 1790, which Franklin was concerned in making. It is in the present State Constitution of 1873. Art. 1, § 4. The Constitution of 1776 and of 1790 are in "The Proceedings Relative to Calling the Conventions of 1776 and 1790," etc. Harrisburg, 1825, p. 54, p. 129, et seq., p. 296.

therefore contrived a method of self-education in morals.

He drew up

a catalogue of the virtues, and, for sake of clearness, used "rather more names, with fewer ideas annexed to each, than a few names with more ideas." These virtues were thirteen in number: Temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, humility. The moral world to him was a region for experiment, and he was the moral world. He proceeded to experiment with himself as he would experiment in electricity. Perhaps the originality and practical tendency of his mind was never better displayed than in his scheme for perfection in the "art of virtue." He says:

I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues. I ruled each page with red ink so as to have seven columns, one for each day of the week, marking each column with a letter for the day. I crossed these columns with thirteen red lines, marking the beginning of each line with the first letter of one of the virtues, on which line, and in its proper column, I might mark by a little black spot every fault I found upon examination to have been committed respecting virtue upon that day.