G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press
1917
Copyright, 1917
BY
W. CABELL BRUCE
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
PAGE
Introduction 1
CHAPTER
I.—Franklin's Moral Standing and System 12
II.—Franklin's Religious Beliefs 51
III.—Franklin, the Philanthropist and Citizen 102
IV.—Franklin's Family Relations 198
V.—Franklin's American Friends 310
VI.—Franklin's British Friends 372
VII.—Franklin's French Friends 473
INDEX
In reading the life of Benjamin Franklin, the mostlasting impressions left upon the mind are those ofversatility and abundance. His varied genius lentitself without effort to the minutest details of such commonplacethings as the heating and ventilation of rooms,the correction of smoky chimneys and naval architectureand economy. His severely practical turn of mind wasdisclosed even in the devices with which he is picturedin his old age as relieving the irksomeness of physicaleffort—the rolling press with which he copied his letters,the fan which he worked with his foot in warm weatheras he sat reading, the artificial hand with which he reachedthe books on the upper shelves of his library. But,sober as Franklin's genius on this side was, it proveditself equal to some of the most exacting demands ofphysical science; and above all to the sublime task, whichcreated such a world-wide stir, of reducing the wild andmysterious lightning of the heavens to captivity, andbringing it down in fluttering helplessness to the earth.It was a rare mind indeed which could give happy expressionto homely maxims of plodding thrift, and yet entertain[Pg 2]noble visions of universal philanthropy. The stretchbetween Franklin's weighty observations on Population,for instance, and the bright, graceful bagatelles, withwhich his pen occasionally trifled, was not a short one;but it was compassed by his intellect without the slightestevidence of halting facility. It is no exaggeration tosay that this intellect was an organ lacking in no elementof power except that which can be supplied by a profoundspiritual insight and a kindling imagination alone. TheMany-Sided Franklin, the title of the essay by PaulLeicester Ford, is a felicitous touch of description. Thelife, the mind, the character of the man were all ma