Benjamin Franklin : $b Representative selections, with introduction, bibliograpy, and notesFranklin, Benjamin
General
Benjamin Franklin : $b Representative selections, with introduction, bibliograpy, and notes
Franklin, Benjamin
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790
Then, too, Newtonian science buttressed the principle of natural rights.
Sir Isaac Newton demonstrated mathematically that the universe was
governed by a fagot of immutable, universal, and harmonious physical
laws. These were capable of being apprehended through reason. Now even
as reason discovered the matchless physical harmony, so could reason,
men argued, ferret out unvarying, universal principles of
social-political rights. These principles constituted natural rights,
natural to the extent that all men had the power, if not the capacity,
to discover and learn them through use of their native reason. Newton
demonstrated the validity of physical law: Locke sanctioned the
supremacy of reason. Since Franklin was himself motivated by Newtonian
rationalism and was a student of Locke, there is reason to believe that
he was vibrantly aware of the extent to which the
scientific-rationalistic ideology lent sanction to man's timeless quest
for the certitude of "natural rights," antecedent to all laws.
Franklin's mission to London in 1757 as Pennsylvania agent may be
understood through an examination of _An Historical Review of the
Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania_ (London, 1759).[i-282] If
not written by him, at least "the ideas are his." Convinced that the
proprietors "seem to have no regard to the Publick Welfare, so the
private Point may be gained--'Tis like Firing a House to have
Opportunity of stealing a Trencher,"[i-283] Franklin knew that a
brilliant attack had to be made were he to intimidate the proprietary
government into assuming its charter responsibilities and granting the
colonists what they considered to be inviolable rights. By 1758 his
"Patience with the Proprietors is almost tho' not quite spent."[i-284] A
few months later, impatient with unresponsive officials, he wrote to
Joseph Galloway: "God knows when we shall see it finish'd, and our
Constitution settled firmly on the Foundation of Equity and English
Liberty: But I am not discouraged; and only wish my Constituents may
have the Patience that I have, and that I find will be absolutely
necessary."[i-285] In 1759 Franklin still found the proprietors
"obscure, uncertain and evasive," and was acutely virulent in despising
Rev. William Smith, who was in London attacking him and the Quaker
Assembly's demands.[i-286] In the same letter to Galloway he uttered a
thought which he sought to develop during his second trip to London as
Assembly agent in 1764: "For my part, I must own, I am tired of
Proprietary Government, and heartily wish for that of the Crown."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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