I think he's about
16 years old at this point, and traveling from Boston to Philadelphia. One of
my favorite passages. Shows his humility and willingness to see his own
vanity. ~ DJH
I
believe I have omitted mentioning that, in my first voyage from Boston, being
becalm'd off Block Island, our people set about catching cod, and hauled up a
great many. Hitherto I had stuck to my resolution of not eating animal food,
and on this occasion consider'd, with my master Tryon, the taking every fish as
a kind of unprovoked murder, since none of them had, or ever could do us any
injury that might justify the slaughter. All this seemed very reasonable. But I
had formerly been a great lover of fish, and, when this came hot out of the
frying-pan, it smelt admirably well.
I
balanc'd some time between principle and inclination, till I recollected that,
when the fish were opened, I saw smaller fish taken out of their stomachs; then
thought I, "If you eat one another, I don't see why we mayn't eat
you."
So
I din'd upon cod very heartily, and continued to eat with other people,
returning only now and then occasionally to a vegetable diet. So convenient a
thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a
reason for everything one has a mind to do.
~~~
This is a
priceless glimpse of a dynamic Eighteenth Century preacher -- an eyewitness
account by one of the American "founding fathers." It paints a
picture, not only of the event, but of the writer's own soul. Humorous and
dramatic at the same time. I love Franklin's observations on the
advantages of being an itinerant preacher, toward the end of this passage.
In
1739 arrived among us from Ireland the Reverend Mr. Whitefield, who had made
himself remarkable there as an itinerant preacher. He was at first permitted to
preach in some of our churches; but the clergy, taking a dislike to him, soon
refus'd him their pulpits, and he was oblig'd to preach in the fields. The
multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were
enormous, and it was matter of speculation to me, who was one of the number, to
observe the extraordinary influence of his oratory on his hearers, and bow much
they admir'd and respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse of them, by
assuring them that they were naturally half beasts and half devils. It was
wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From
being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world
were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening
without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street.
And
it being found inconvenient to assemble in the open air, subject to its
inclemencies, the building of a house to meet in was no sooner propos'd, and
persons appointed to receive contributions, but sufficient sums were soon
receiv'd to procure the ground and erect the building, which was one hundred
feet long and seventy broad, about the size of Westminster Hall; and the work
was carried on with such spirit as to be finished in a much shorter time than
could have been expected. Both house and ground were vested in trustees,
expressly for the use of any preacher of any religious persuasion who might
desire to say something to the people at Philadelphia; the design in building
not being to accommodate any particular sect, but the inhabitants in general;
so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach
Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service.
Mr.
Whitefield, in leaving us, went preaching all the way thro' the colonies to
Georgia. The settlement of that province had lately been begun, but, instead of
being made with hardy, industrious husbandmen, accustomed to labor, the only
people fit for such an enterprise, it was with families of broken shop-keepers
and other insolvent debtors, many of indolent and idle habits, taken out of the
jails, who, being set down in the woods, unqualified for clearing land, and
unable to endure the hardships of a new settlement, perished in numbers,
leaving many helpless children unprovided for. The sight of their miserable
situation inspir'd the benevolent heart of Mr. Whitefield with the idea of
building an Orphan House there, in which they might be supported and educated.
Returning northward, he preach'd up this charity, and made large collections,
for his eloquence had a wonderful power over the hearts and purses of his hearers,
of which I myself was an instance.
I
did not disapprove of the design, but, as Georgia was then destitute of
materials and workmen, and it was proposed to send them from Philadelphia at a
great expense, I thought it would have been better to have built the house
here, and brought the children to it. This I advis'd; but he was resolute in
his first project, rejected my counsel, and I therefore refus'd to contribute.
I happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, in the course of which I
perceived he intended to finish with a collection, and I silently resolved he
should get nothing from me, I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three
or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to
soften, and concluded to give the coppers. Another stroke of his oratory made
me asham'd of that, and determin'd me to give the silver; and he finish'd so
admirably, that I empty'd my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold and
all. At this sermon there was also one of our club, who, being of my sentiments
respecting the building in Georgia, and suspecting a collection might be
intended, had, by precaution, emptied his pockets before he came from home.
Towards the conclusion of the discourse, however, he felt a strong desire to give,
and apply'd to a neighbour, who stood near him, to borrow some money for the
purpose. The application was unfortunately [made] to perhaps the only man in
the company who had the firmness not to be affected by the preacher. His answer
was, "At any other time, Friend Hopkinson, I would lend to thee freely;
but not now, for thee seems to be out of thy right senses."
Some
of Mr. Whitefield's enemies affected to suppose that he would apply these
collections to his own private emolument; but I who was intimately acquainted
with him (being employed in printing his Sermons and Journals, etc.), never had
the least suspicion of his integrity, but am to this day decidedly of opinion
that he was in all his conduct a perfectly honest man, and methinks my testimony
in his favour ought to have the more weight, as we had no religious connection.
He us'd, indeed, sometimes to pray for my conversion, but never had the
satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard. Ours was a mere civil
friendship, sincere on both sides, and lasted to his death.
The
following instance will show something of the terms on which we stood. Upon one
of his arrivals from England at Boston, he wrote to me that he should come soon
to Philadelphia, but knew not where he could lodge when there, as he understood
his old friend and host, Mr. Benezet, was removed to Germantown. My answer was,
"You know my house; if you can make shift with its scanty accommodations,
you will be most heartily welcome." He reply'd, that if I made that kind
offer for Christ's sake, I should not miss of a reward. And I returned,
"Don't let me be mistaken; it was not for Christ's sake, but for your
sake." One of our common acquaintance jocosely remark'd, that, knowing it
to be the custom of the saints, when they received any favour, to shift the
burden of the obligation from off their own shoulders, and place it in heaven,
I had contriv'd to fix it on earth.
The
last time I saw Mr. Whitefield was in London, when he consulted me about his
Orphan House concern, and his purpose of appropriating it to the establishment
of a college.
He
had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his words and sentences so
perfectly, that he might be heard and understood at a great distance,
especially as his auditories, however numerous, observ'd the most exact
silence. He preach'd one evening from the top of the Court-house steps, which
are in the middle of Market-street, and on the west side of Second-street,
which crosses it at right angles. Both streets were fill'd with his hearers to
a considerable distance. Being among the hindmost in Market-street, I had the
curiosity to learn how far he could be heard, by retiring backwards down the
street towards the river; and I found his voice distinct till I came near
Front-street, when some noise in that street obscur'd it. Imagining then a
semi-circle, of which my distance should be the radius, and that it were fill'd
with auditors, to each of whom I allow'd two square feet, I computed that he
might well be heard by more than thirty thousand. This reconcil'd me to the
newspaper accounts of his having preach'd to twenty-five thousand people in the
fields, and to the antient histories of generals haranguing whole armies, of
which I had sometimes doubted.
By
hearing him often, I came to distinguish easily between sermons newly compos'd,
and those which he had often preach'd in the course of his travels. His
delivery of the latter was so improv'd by frequent repetitions that every
accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice, was so perfectly well turn'd
and well plac'd, that, without being interested in the subject, one could not
help being pleas'd with the discourse; a pleasure of much the same kind with
that receiv'd from an excellent piece of musick. This is an advantage itinerant
preachers have over those who are stationary, as the latter can not well
improve their delivery of a sermon by so many rehearsals.
His
writing and printing from time to time gave great advantage to his enemies;
unguarded expressions, and even erroneous opinions, delivered in preaching,
might have been afterwards explain'd or qualifi'd by supposing others that
might have accompani'd them, or they might have been deny'd; but litera scripta
monet. Critics attack'd his writings violently, and with so much appearance of
reason as to diminish the number of his votaries and prevent their encrease; so
that I am of opinion if he had never written any thing, he would have left
behind him a much more numerous and important sect, and his reputation might in
that case have been still growing, even after his death, as there being nothing
of his writing on which to found a censure and give him a lower character, his
proselytes would be left at liberty to feign for him as great a variety of
excellence as their enthusiastic admiration might wish him to have possessed.
~~~
The autobiography
goes into detail regarding Franklin's pursuit of personal moral responsibility
(and his spotty success at it). He was not easily swayed by the religious winds
of his times, and was himself not a Christian of the sort that would be
considered (in his day or ours) "mainstream." The unfinished
autobiography does not include much that I can remember about his feelings
toward Christ, which of course is the central issue of Christianity. But
his feelings toward the church, and religious people are quite frank. In the
following excerpt, he's disappointed with the preaching from Philippians 4,
which he thought should surely have yielded a lesson on what was truly right,
but which the preacher insisted were matters of church practices.
I
had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian; and tho' some of the dogmas of
that persuasion, such as the eternal decrees of God, election, reprobation,
etc., appeared to me unintelligible, others doubtful, and I early absented
myself from the public assemblies of the sect, Sunday being my studying day, I
never was without some religious principles. I never doubted, for instance, the
existence of the Deity; that he made the world, and govern'd 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 crime will be punished, and virtue
rewarded, either here or hereafter. These I esteem'd the essentials of every
religion; and, being to be found in all the religions we had in our country, I
respected them all, tho' with different degrees of respect, as I found them
more or less mix'd with other articles, which, without any tendency to inspire,
promote, or confirm morality, serv'd principally to divide us, and make us
unfriendly to one another. This respect to all, with an opinion that the worst
had some good effects, induc'd me to avoid all discourse that might tend to
lessen the good opinion another might have of his own religion; and as our
province increas'd in people, and new places of worship were continually
wanted, and generally erected by voluntary contributions, my mite for such
purpose, whatever might be the sect, was never refused.
Tho'
I seldom attended any public worship, I had still an opinion of its propriety,
and of its utility when rightly conducted, and I regularly paid my annual
subscription for the support of the only Presbyterian minister or meeting we
had in Philadelphia. He us'd to visit me sometimes as a friend, and admonish me
to attend his administrations, and I was now and then prevail'd on to do so,
once for five Sundays successively. Had he been in my opinion a good preacher,
perhaps I might have continued, notwithstanding the occasion I had for the
Sunday's leisure in my course of study; but his discourses were chiefly either
polemic arguments, or explications of the peculiar doctrines of our sect, and
were all to me very dry, uninteresting, and unedifying, since not a single
moral principle was inculcated or enforc'd, their aim seeming to be rather to
make us Presbyterians than good citizens.
At
length he took for his text that verse of the fourth chapter of Philippians,
"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure,
lovely, or of good report, if there be any virtue, or any praise, think on
these things." And I imagin'd, in a sermon on such a text, we could not
miss of having some morality. But he confin'd himself to five points only, as
meant by the apostle, viz.: 1. Keeping holy the Sabbath day. 2. Being diligent
in reading the holy Scriptures. 3. Attending duly the publick worship. 4.
Partaking of the Sacrament. 5. Paying a due respect to God's ministers. These
might be all good things; but, as they were not the kind of good things that I
expected from that text, I despaired of ever meeting with them from any other,
was disgusted, and attended his preaching no more. I had some years before
compos'd a little Liturgy, or form of prayer, for my own private use (viz., in
1728), entitled, Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion. I return'd to the use
of this, and went no more to the public assemblies. My conduct might be
blameable, but I leave it, without attempting further to excuse it; my present
purpose being to relate facts, and not to make apologies for them.
Amazingly, this
great book never even covers the events of the last 33 years of his life! It
never gets to what many consider the greatest part of the author's life,
including the time of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitutional
Convention.
Ending,
as it does, with the year 1757, the autobiography leaves important facts
un-recorded. It has seemed advisable, therefore, to detail the chief events in
Franklin's life, from the beginning, in the following list:
|
1706 |
He
is born, in Boston, and baptized in the Old South Church. |
|
1714 |
At
the age of eight, enters the Grammar School. |
|
1716 |
Becomes
his father's assistant in the tallow-chandlery business. |
|
1718 |
Apprenticed
to his brother James, printer. |
|
1721 |
Writes
ballads and peddles them, in printed form, in the streets; contributes,
anonymously, to the "New England Courant," and temporarily edits
that paper; becomes a free-thinker, and a vegetarian. |
|
1723 |
Breaks
his indenture and removes to Philadelphia; obtaining employment in Keimer's
printing-office; abandons vegetarianism. |
|
1724 |
Is
persuaded by Governor Keith to establish himself independently, and goes to
London to buy type; works at his trade there, and publishes
"Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain." |
|
1726 |
Returns
to Philadelphia; after serving as clerk in a dry goods store, becomes manager
of Keimer's printing-house. |
|
1727 |
Founds
the Junto, or "Leathern Apron" Club. |
|
1728 |
With
Hugh Meredith, opens a printing-office. |
|
1729 |
Becomes
proprietor and editor of the "Pennsylvania Gazette"; prints,
anonymously, "Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency"; opens a
stationer's shop. |
|
1730 |
Marries
Rebecca Read. |
|
1731 |
Founds
the Philadelphia Library. |
|
1732 |
Publishes
the first number of "Poor Richard's Almanac" under the pseudonym of
"Richard Saunders." The Almanac, which continued for twenty-five
years to contain his witty, worldly-wise sayings, played a very large part in
bringing together and molding the American character which was at that time
made up of so many diverse and scattered types. |
|
1735 |
Begins
to study French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. |
|
1736 |
Chosen
clerk of the General Assembly; forms the Union Fire Company of Philadelphia. |
|
1737 |
Elected
to the Assembly; appointed Deputy Postmaster-General; plans a city police. |
|
1742 |
Invents
the open, or "Franklin," stove. |
|
1743 |
Proposes
a plan for an Academy, which is adopted 1749 and develops into the University
of Pennsylvania. |
|
1744 |
Establishes
the American Philosophical Society. |
|
1746 |
Publishes
a pamphlet, "Plain Truth," on the necessity for disciplined
defense, and forms a military company; begins electrical experiments. |
|
1748 |
Sells
out his printing business; is appointed on the Commission of the Peace,
chosen to the Common Council, and to the Assembly. |
|
1749 |
Appointed
a Commissioner to trade with the Indians. |
|
1751 |
Aids
in founding a hospital. |
|
1752 |
Experiments
with a kite and discovers that lightning is an electrical discharge. |
|
1753 |
Awarded
the Copley medal for this discovery, and elected a member of the Royal
Society; receives the degree of M.A. from Yale and Harvard. Appointed joint
Postmaster-General. |
|
1754 |
Appointed
one of the Commissioners from Pennsylvania to the Colonial Congress at
Albany; proposes a plan for the union of the colonies. |
|
1755 |
Pledges
his personal property in order that supplies may be raised for Braddock's
army; obtains a grant from the Assembly in aid of the Crown Point expedition;
carries through a bill establishing a voluntary militia; is appointed
Colonel, and takes the field. |
|
1757 |
Introduces
a bill in the Assembly for paving the streets of Philadelphia; publishes his famous
"Way to Wealth"; goes to England to plead the cause of the Assembly
against the Proprietaries; remains as agent for Pennsylvania; enjoys the
friendship of the scientific and literary men of the kingdom. |
|
|
HERE THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY BREAKS OFF |
|
1760 |
Secures
from the Privy Council, by a compromise, a decision obliging the Proprietary
estates to contribute to the public revenue. |
|
1762 |
Receives
the degree of LL.D. from Oxford and Edinburgh; returns to America. |
|
1763 |
Makes
a five months' tour of the northern colonies for the Purpose of inspecting
the post-offices. |
|
1764 |
Defeated
by the Penn faction for reelection to the Assembly; sent to England as agent
for Pennsylvania. |
|
1765 |
Endeavors
to prevent the passage of the Stamp Act. |
|
1766 |
Examined
before the House of Commons relative to the passage of the Stamp Act;
appointed agent of Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Georgia; visits Gottingen
University. |
|
1767 |
Travels
in France and is presented at court. |
|
1769 |
Procures
a telescope for Harvard College. |
|
1772 |
Elected
Associe Etranger of the French Academy. |
|
1774 |
Dismissed
from the office of Postmaster-General; influences Thomas Paine to emigrate to
America. |
|
1775 |
Returns
to America; chosen a delegate to the Second Continental Congress; placed on
the committee of secret correspondence; appointed one of the commissioners to
secure the cooperation of Canada. |
|
1776 |
Placed
on the committee to draft a Declaration of Independence; chosen president of
the Constitutional Committee of Pennsylvania; sent to France as agent of the
colonies. |
|
1778 |
Concludes
treaties of defensive alliance, and of amity and commerce; is received at
court. |
|
1779 |
Appointed
Minister Plenipotentiary to France. |
|
1780 |
Appoints
Paul Jones commander of the "Alliance." |
|
1782 |
Signs
the preliminary articles of peace. |
|
1783 |
Signs
the definite treaty of peace. |
|
1785 |
Returns
to America; is chosen President of Pennsylvania; reelected 1786. |
|
1787 |
Reelected
President; sent as delegate to the convention for framing a Federal
Constitution. |
|
1788 |
Retires
from public life. |
|
1790 |
April
17, dies. His grave is in the churchyard at Fifth and Arch streets,
Philadelphia. Editor. |
You
can read Franklin's Autobiograph in its entirety online at
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/B/bfranklin/frankxx.htm
or at
http://earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/index.html
Other Useful Links:
Research on Intelligent Design
Tasters of the Word (YouTube), videos recientes: "Astronomía y Nacimiento de Jesucristo: Once de Septiembre Año Tres A.C.", "Estudio sobre Sanidades" (en 20 episodios), "Jesus Christ, Son or God?" and "We've the Power to Heal":
Tasters of the Word (the blog, with: "Astronomy and the Birth of Jesus Christ"):