[11] Another hoax was Franklin's parable against religious persecution thrown into Scriptural form and quoted by him as the fifty-first chapter of Genesis. In a paper on a "Proposed New Version of the Bible" he paraphrased a few verses of the first chapter of Job, making them a satiric attack on royal government; but the version may well rank with these hoaxes, and even modern writers have been taken in by it, regarding it as a serious proposal for a "modernized" version and decrying it as poor taste. Matthew Arnold, for example, declared this an instance in which Franklin was lacking in his "imperturbable common sense"; and J. B. McMaster, though devoting several pages to its discussion, very ingenuously declares it "beneath criticism." [12] Malthus quoted Franklin in his first edition, but it was not until the second that he introduced the theory of the "preventive check." Franklin noted the phenomenon with disapproval in his advocacy of increased population; Malthus with approval in his search for means to decrease population. [13] The title of philosopher as used in Franklin's lifetime referred neither in England nor in France to him as author of moral maxims, but to him as a scientist--a "natural philosopher." FRANKLIN, SIR JOHN (1786-1847), English rear-admiral and explorer, was born at Spilsby, Lincolnshire, on the 16th of April 1786. His family was descended from a line of free-holders or "franklins" from whom some centuries earlier they had derived their surname; but the small family estate was sold by his father, who went into business. John, who was the fifth and youngest son and ninth child, was destined for the church. At the age of ten he was sent to school at St Ives, and soon afterwards was transferred to Louth grammar school, which he attended for two years. About this time his imagination was deeply impressed by a holiday walk of 12 m. which he made with a companion to look at the sea, and he determined to be a sailor. In the hope of dispelling this fancy his father sent him on a trial voyage to Lisbon in a merchantman; but it being found on his return that his wishes were unchanged he was entered as a midshipman on board the "Polyphemus," and shortly afterwards took part in her in the hard-fought battle of Copenhagen (2nd of April 1801). Two months later he joined the "Investigator," a discovery-ship commanded by his cousin Captain Matthew Flinders, and under the training of that able scientific officer was employed in the exploration and mapping of the coasts of Australia, where he acquired a correctness of astronomical observation and a skill in surveying which proved of eminent utility in his future career. He was on board the "Porpoise" when that ship and the "Cato" were wrecked (18th of August 1803) on a coral reef off the coast of Australia, and after this misfortune proceeded to China. Thence he obtained a passage to England in the "Earl