PREFACE

THE Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin requires little annotation or explanation. It tells in a clear and modest manner the story of the rise of a great man from obscurity to splendour. It contains lessons of wisdom and encouragement, and it should be an inspiration to every youthful reader.

One of the greatest captains of industry of recent years in England, when a poor boy in Cornwall, pursuing a laborious and apparently hopeless life, happened upon an early edition of the Autobiography. He read it and took courage. What had been done by a patient and fearless lad in America in the eighteenth century could surely be accomplished again in England in the nineteenth century. Following Franklin's example of industry and frugality, and daily drawing fresh courage and hope from the Autobiography, he rose to the highest levels of English life and established one of the world's greatest industries.

I have tried to be sparing and brief in annotation, and I have drawn several of the notes to this little volume from my larger edition. If the student will

come to appreciate the charm and the vigour of the simple, homely style, and to understand the secrets of success that abide in Franklin's frugal and industrious life and zeal for the public welfare, all further comment and analysis of the work will be superfluous and impertinent.

ALBERT H. SMYTH.

The manuscript of this preface was in our hands at the time of Dr. Smyth's unexpected and lamented death, May 4, 1907. This book, then, is his last piece of completed work; and, while it adds greatly to the value of this series, it reminds us also of the large loss that the cause of American education has suffered in the passing away of such an accomplished scholar, wise teacher, and open-minded man.

H. v. D.

INTRODUCTION

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN was the first American man of letters. Before him, with the exception of Cotton Mather's Magnalia, and perhaps the Familiar Letters of Mrs. John Adams, scarcely anything worthy of the name of literature existed in America. Franklin wrote much and wrote well. He lived with the pen in his hand. Some of his writings, notably the Autobiography, The Way to Wealth, and The Edict of the King of Prussia, are among the permanent monuments of our literature. Critics have always praised the clearness, power, and simplicity of his style. Sydney Smith merrily threatened to disinherit his daughter if she did not admire everything written by Franklin.

His works and correspondence treat of every subject, familiar and unfamiliar in the eighteenth century. He wrote upon philosophy, politics, and economics; and he published many satires, and brief essays which he called "bagatelles."

His contemporaries were impressed by his great wisdom and great simplicity. Francis Jeffrey said of his philosophical writings that they suggested the most ingenious and profound explanations as if they were the most natural and obvious way of accounting for the phenomena.