JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL, _Norman Foerster, University of Iowa, and Harry H. Clark, University of Wisconsin_ HERMAN MELVILLE, _Willard Thorp, Princeton University_ JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY THOMAS PAINE, _Harry H. Clark, University of Wisconsin_ FRANCIS PARKMAN, _Wilbur L. Schramm, University of Iowa_ *EDGAR ALLAN POE, _Margaret Alterton, University of Iowa, and Hardin Craig, Stanford University_ WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT, _Claude Jones, Johns Hopkins University_ *SOUTHERN POETS, _Edd Winfield Parks, University of Georgia_ SOUTHERN PROSE, _Gregory Paine, University of North Carolina_ *HENRY DAVID THOREAU, _Bartholow Crawford, University of Iowa_ *MARK TWAIN, _Fred Lewis Pattee, Rollins College_ *WALT WHITMAN, _Floyd Stovall, University of Texas_ JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER [Illustration: _Pen drawing by Kerr Eby, after an engraving by Mason Chamberlin_ BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ÆT. 56] Benjamin Franklin REPRESENTATIVE SELECTIONS, WITH INTRODUCTION, BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND NOTES BY FRANK LUTHER MOTT _Director, School of Journalism University of Iowa_ AND CHESTER E. JORGENSON _Instructor in English University of Iowa_ [Illustration] AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY _New York_ · _Cincinnati_ · _Chicago_ _Boston_ · _Atlanta_ COPYRIGHT, 1936, BY AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY _All rights reserved_ MOTT AND JORGENSON'S FRANKLIN W.P.I. MADE IN U.S.A. _PREFACE_