Benjamin Franklin, Boston Period
(1722-26, goes also to Philadelphia, and around New England, then London, then back to Phila.)
Adam Kissel - Reading Notes
Silence Dogood: series "To the Author of the New-England Courant" 1722
#1, pp 5-6. Purpose = entertainment. Her story is engaging: dad swept overboard; she's an orphan (Lemay 1519: allusion to ludicrous death of John Avery in Magnalia 3:2:1). Common judgement = classed; one must know the class in order to judge the work. Style of juxtaposed contrasts: first/last day; parent [happy]/widow [sad]. Literature is about 'informing the understanding' and 'educating the mind to "frame great and noble Ideas."' Books are "the best of company." Joke: women need something to be worried about. Critics: offense is not intended, while some imagine offense unfairly--these are to be ignored.
Allusions (Lemay 1519): Cotton Mather, Silentarius and Bonifacius or Essays to Do Good
#2, pp. 7-8. My life is not as a whole attractive or instructive by example, and thus not entertaining--so I will keep to the specially interesting events. Allusion to Genesis 2:18--"It is not fitting for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him" [JPS 1985]. Joke: men woo awkwardly. People judge the marriage based not on reason but on feelings. Good men are hard to find. Joke: writing in the "learned Languages" is in fashion with the ignorant simply because it is difficult; it's also fun ("ornamental"). One best knows one's own character, or should. Allusion: "wrap my Talent in a Napkin" = Luke 19:20--"I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth" (parable of the talents: moral = he who has will get more, he who has nothing will lose what he has, Lk. 19:26) [cf. Mt. 25:25, talent is hidden in the ground] [same allusion in "Reply to a Piece of Advice" 1734/5 p. 249]. Shift to morality.
#3, pp. 9-10. Goal has been to improve her mind and gain understanding. Now she is moving from entertainment to usefulness in her writings. Critics: have varied tastes -- so future essays will be varied. Will include moral judgment, and invites response. Recognizes convention: must end in haste, more to come later. (Similar to #1.)
#4, pp. 10-13. College = Harvard, where is found the opposite of the self-made man. Vanity in education: many at Harvard do not take learning seriously (seems true, cf. Henry Adams's account of Harvard in 19th century.) Dream conceit: Temple of Learning, to which every parent aspires to send a child, whether the child is able or not (dig on Harvard); then, only the rich are admitted to the Temple; "Learning" is dressed in black and is awful--Learning is what produces papers such as this, the New-England Courant; English is known while Heb/Gk/L are only pretended to pedantically, even though it is just idleness and ignorance that keep the learned from truly learning those languages; meanwhile diligence and good spirits, combined with attention from one's betters, do permit ascension into true learning--but not if the betters do too much helping (social promotion!); afterward, the degreed join a variety of pursuits, but most move on to The Temple of Theology, even though it's difficult, for the money--and since they are mostly ignorant, they must plagiarize; furthermore, they become "proud and self-conceited." The minister agrees: Harvard really is so.
#5, pp. 14-17. Men have more vice than women do. Women's idleness may or may not exist, but if it does, it is men who permit it to persist. Defoe (Lemay's note) finds that women's ignorance comes b/c men do not allow women to be educated. Men chivalrously persuade the women that they are beautiful, etc., which makes them haughty. NB is somewhat intriguing: moving directly into morality--intention is to describe vices.
#6, pp. 17-19. Seneca quote: like the wheel of fortune [cf. my paper on F's ancestors]. Pride. Pride of clothing/fashion leads to haughtiness, which ruins the state. Fashion is for those who cannot otherwise distinguish themselves--and then they all become imitators anyway. E.g., the hoop skirt: the size of the skirt is likened to a puffed-up pride. Quotes Pr. 16:18: pride precedes a fall, naturally and as punishment too. Experience can show us the truth of a maxim. The poor, in pride, pretend to riches. Providence -- again, not an enlightenment term.
#7 see Good Society/Arts. [not assigned]
#8 [not assigned] quotes the London Journal on freedom of speech.
#9, pp. 26-29. Hypocrite is worse than "the openly profane," because he gains followers to spread the falsity. Quotes LJ on hypocrites. Gullible clergy: easy to become hypocritical. Education as "undeceiving the deceived." The practical!
#10-#14, not assigned/not read.
Hugo Grim on Silence Dogood: (not assigned) Grim misses her--she has hid her talent in a napkin (see #2).
On Titles of Honour, pp. 49-50, 1722/3: The catalogue: Biblical names, "naked," need no special titles; neither do we. Benjamin Franklin seems to chide the ornery nature of the argument. The quoted writer, William Penn [Lemay 1522], challenges society's practices on the basis of not needing titles to be civil, not showing honor with the tip of the hat--but I think Benjamin Franklin's point is that being civil itself is of more importance than paying attention to these things.
Timothy Wagstaff, pp. 52-55, 1723: Makes fun of the concept that "a certain Joco-Serious Dialogue ... inevitably tends to the Subversion of your Religion" -- in response to same charge leveled against the Courant, that something which offends good people, offends God. 'Critics: inveigh against Courant that it is inconsistent, being both serious and comical' -- a baseless criticism. Quotes Blount: religion includes rather than excludes the pleasures of life.
"Dissertation on Liberty & Necessity, Pleasure and Pain": overwrought argument that Benjamin Franklin never ought to have published, upon his own admission. [not assigned] Autobiog. 1346 = this was written as a response to Wollaston's "Religion of Nature"
"Plan of Conduct," p. 72, 1726, written aboard ship on the way back to Philadelphia [see p. 1353]: Benjamin Franklin resolves, in rationality, to be frugal until he is out of debt; to be truthful and dependable regarding the future; to be hard-working and patient; and to diplomatically only speak of people's good (and then often to do so). In 1771 (p. 1353) he says that he has managed to keep these resolutions. RL: high degree of self-consciousness--constructing himself (even as he constructs his vision of the model American--they are the same [AK]).