Upon his first arrival in Philadelphia as a runaway apprentice, with one
piece of money in his pocket, occurs the one gleam of romance in
Franklin's seemingly Socratic life. He says he walked in Market Street
with a baker's loaf under each arm, with all his shirts and stockings
bulging in his pockets, and eating a third piece of bread as he walked,
and this on a Sunday morning. Under these circumstances he met his
future wife, and he seems to have remembered her when next he met her,
and to have been unusually prepossessed with her, because on the first
occasion she had laughed at him going by. He was one of those whose
sense of humor bears them through many difficulties, and who are even
attracted by that sense in others. He was, at this period, absurd
without question. Having eaten all the bread he could, and bestowed the
remainder upon another voyager, he drank out of the Delaware and went to
church; that is, he sat down upon a bench in a Quaker meeting-house and
went to sleep, and was admonished thence by one of the brethren at the
end of the service.
Franklin had, in the time of his youth, the usual experiences in
business. He made a journey to London upon promises of great advancement
in business, and was entirely disappointed, and worked at his trade in
London. Afterwards, during the return voyage to America, he kept a
journal, and wrote those celebrated maxims for his own guidance that are
so often quoted. The first of these is the gem of the collection: "I
resolve to be extremely frugal for some time, until I pay what I owe." A
second resolve is scarcely less deserving of imitation, for it declares
it to be his intention "to speak all the good I know of everybody." It
must be observed that Franklin was afterwards the great maximist of his
age, and that his life was devoted to the acquisition of worldly wisdom.
In his body of philosophy there is included no word of confidence in the
condemnation of offenses by the act or virtue of another, no promise of,
or reference to, the rewards of futurity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account