which the venerable writer himself would have prescribed, could he have anticipated the disorders which have ravaged the most polished and enlightened states since his removal from this scene of pride and weakness; where nations as well as individuals have their periods of infancy and decrepitude, of moral vigour and wild derangement.

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Shortly after Dr. Franklin's death, there were not wanting the usual train of literary speculators to exercise their industry in collecting his avowed productions, together with those which public rumour ascribed to his pen. These miscellanies were printed in various forms both in England and America, greatly to the advantage of the publishers; nor did the possessor of the originals avail himself of the general avidity and the celebrity of his ancestor, to deprive those persons of the profits which they continued to reap from repeated editions of papers that had cost them nothing. When, however, they had reason to apprehend, that the genuine Memoirs and other works of Franklin, as written and corrected by himself, would be brought forward in a manner suitable to their importance, and the dignified rank of the author in the political and literary world, invidious reports were sent abroad, and circulated with uncommon diligence, asserting that all the literary remains of Dr. Franklin had been purchased at an enormous rate by the British ministry, who (mirabile dictu!) it seems were more afraid of this arsenal paper than of the power of France, with all her numerous resources and auxiliaries. This convenient tale, absurd as it was, found reporters in Europe and in the United States, who bruited it about with so much art, as to make many who were unacquainted with the legatee of the manuscripts believe it to be true, and to lament feelingly, that such inestimable productions should be suppressed, and lost for ever, through the cupidity of the person to whom they were bequeathed. Provoking as the story was, the party whom it most affected, and whose interests it was designed to injure, felt too much of the conscia mens recti to do otherwise than to treat the ridiculous invention with contempt, from a persuasion that the refutation of an improbable falsehood is beneath the dignity of truth. He therefore endured the opprobrium without complaint, and even suffered it to be repeated without being goaded into an explanation; contentedly waiting for the time when he might best fulfil his duty and shame his calumniators. That period has at length arrived, and the world will now see whether an enlightened government could be weak enough to be frightened by the posthumous works of a philosopher; or whether a man of integrity, bred under Franklin, bearing his name, and intrusted with his confidence, could be bribed into an act of treachery to his memory."

So far the preface is intended as a defensive reply to the imputations first made in the edition in three volumes, issued by Johnson, in London, in 1806. How far it fulfils the present purpose must be left to the judgment of history. Criti cism is not the purpose of this introduction, else a very brief animadversion on the defence might at least show that the motives assigned for the suppression after the visit to London, are not such as would induce or justify a postponement of a publication previously proposed and prepared for at considerable expense; that the political opinions, theories, and discussions in the writings of Dr. Franklin were not in harmony, but in direct variance with the violences of the French revolution; and that they were adapted rather to repress than to afford any incen

tives in favour of violence or outrage, such as afflicted France in the convulsions which produced so many afflictions to the friends of liberty as well as to the adherents of despotism; that, on the contrary, the moderation and temperate reasoning of Franklin's political writings were rather to be feared by the advocates of legitimacy, than stimulatives to the pensioned apostles of discord and destruction, without reference to any argument founded on the personal circumstances of the legatee; the works, as they appear under his more authentic publication, afford very little matter in addition to what had been collected and published by booksellers in the fair pursuit of their business; nor did the first rumour of the suppression, in the edition of 1806, excite so much or such general attention as the circumstance would seem to call for, in the United States; where the hostility to the memory of Franklin's services, strange but true to tell, had found a body of animosity so ample as to produce a certain measure of exultation rather than of resentment or shame on the appearance of the rumour. In Europe the Edinburgh Review, in noticing the preface to the edition of 1806, did not overlook the alleged suppression; that article was copied into the Boston Monthly Anthology, No. 12, for December, 1806, from which a few short extracts will be pertinent to the present purpose.

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Nothing, we think, can show more clearly the singular want of literary enterprise or activity in the States of America, than that no one has been found in that flourishing republic to collect and publish the works of their only philosopher. It is not even creditable to the liberal curiosity of the English public, that there should be no complete edition of the works of Dr. Franklin till 1806; and we should have been altogether unable to account for the imperfect and unsatisfactory manner in which the task has been now performed, if it had not been for the prefatory advertisement, which removes all blame from the editor of that edition, to attach it to a higher quarter."

Here the preface is quoted, and animadverted upon by the reviewer, in which he observes that the whole of Franklin's works were not political and republican, and that a variety of remarks and speculations said to have been left by him might have been permitted to see the light, though his diplomatic operations had been interdicted; and the reviewer thus proceeds:

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"The emissary of government, however, probably took care of these things; he was resolved to leave no botches in his work; and to stifle the dreaded revelation, he thought the best way was to strangle all the innocents in the vicinage. "This self-taught American is the most rational, perhaps, of all philosophers. He never loses sight of common sense in any of his speculations; and when his philosophy does not comport entirely in its fair and vigorous application, it is always regulated and controlled by it in its application and results No individual, perhaps, ever possessed a juster understanding, or was so seldom obstructed in the use of it by indolence, enthusiasm, or authority.

"Regular education appears to be unfavourable to vigour and originality of understanding. We cannot help fancying that if Franklin had been bred in a college, he would have contented himself in expounding Pindar, and mixing argument with his port in the Common Room; and that if Boston had abounded with men of letters, he would never have ventured to come forth from his printing house, or been driven back to it, at any rate, by the sneers of the critics after the first publication of the Busy Body.

"There are not many among the thorough-bred scholars and philosophers of Europe who can lay claim to distinction in more than one or two departments of science and literature. The uneducated tradesman of America has left writings that call for our attention in natural philosophy-in politics-in political economy, and in general literature and morality. His examination before the House of Commons, in 1766, affords a striking proof of the extent and minuteness of his information, the clearness and force of his extempore composition, and the steadiness and self-possession which enabled him to display those qualities with so much effect upon such an occasion. His letters before the commencement of hostilities are full of grief and anxiety; but no sooner did matters come to extremities, than he appears to have assumed a certain keen and confident cheerfulness, not unmixed with a sprinkling of asperity, and more vindictiveness than became a philosopher.

"Nothing can be more perfectly and beautifully adapted to its object than most of the moral compositions of Dr. Franklin. The tone of familiarity, of good will, and harmless jocularity; the plain and pointed illustrations; the short sentences, made up of short words; and the strong sense, clear information, and obvious conviction of the author himself, make most of his moral exhortations perfect models of popular eloquence, and often the finest specimens of a style which has been too little cultivated in his native country.

"The most remarkable thing, however, in these, and indeed in the whole of his physical speculations, is the unparalleled simplicity and facility with which the reader is conducted from one stage of the inquiry to another. The author never appears for a moment to labour or to be at a loss. The most ingenious and profound explanations are suggested, as if they were the most natural and obvious way of accounting for the phenomena; and the author seems to value himself so little on his most important discoveries, that it is necessary to compare him with others before we can form a just notion of his merits. As he seems to be conscious of no exertion, he feels no partiality for any part of his speculations, and never seeks to raise the reader's ideas of their importance, by any arts of declamation or eloquence. Indeed, the habitual precision of his conceptions, and his invariable practice of referring to specific facts and observations, secured him, in a great measure, both from extravagant conjectures, in which too many naturalists have indulged, and from the zeal and enthusiasm which seems so naturally to be engendered in their defence. He was by no means averse to give scope to his imagination in suggesting a variety of explanations of obscure and unmanageable phenomena; but he never allowed himself to confound these vague and conjectural theories with the solid results of experience and observation. In his meteorological papers, and in his observations upon heat and light, there is a great deal of such bold and original suggestion; but the author evidently sets little value on them, and has no sooner disburdened his mind of the impressions from which they proceeded, than he seems to dismiss them entirely from his consideration, and turns to the legitimate philosophy of experiment with unabated diligence and humility. As an instance of this disposition, we may quote part of a letter to the Abbé Soulavie upon a new theory of the earth, which he proposes and dismisses, without concern or anxiety, in the course of a few sentences; though, if the idea had fallen on the brain of an European philosopher, it might have germinated

into a volume of eloquence, like Buffon's, or an infinite array of paragraphs and observations like those of Parkinson or Dr. Hutton."

Returning to the subject of the disputed suppression, there are other facts which may perhaps aid in the formation of a reasonable conclusion. Before the materials were prepared for an edition in Philadelphia, in 1815, the editor addressed many of Dr. Franklin's contemporaries, in general or special terms, soliciting any matter adapted to the purpose; among whom was Mr. Jefferson, who often spoke of a suppression in England; an intimation some years before from the late B. F. Bache, that he had made three several copies, of certain political transactions, which would make some noise whenever published. In consequence, a communication was made through a third person, in substance as follows:

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Being on my way to Congress, which then sat in New York, I could not but call on my venerable friend :-I found him confined to his bed; he thrust his hand from under the bedclothes-which struck me from its presenting the resemblance rather as an anatomical preparation, of mere bones and skin: he entered into conversation with the vivacity of health; and after we had touched every topic he had thought fit to suggest, I was about to take my leave. Stop,' said the doctor, I have something to give you; you shall see that I have not been idle, much as I have suffered.' He called one of his grandsons, William, whom he directed to go into the library, and from a shelf described where he would find three folio stitched books, bring him one of them. The book was brought, and he said, Take that, it was intended for you.' To avoid interrupting our conversation, I placed the book in my bosom, buttoning my coat over it; and our conversation continued some time being about to retire, he repeated, Take care of that book: it is for you and for posterity.'-I took my leave-it was the last time! Soon after, while I was yet in New York, my venerable friend died. An advertisement appeared in the public prints, calling upon all persons who possessed papers, books, or manuscripts of the deceased to return them to the legatee.

"Apprehending that the manuscript presented to me might be among the objects sought, I inconsiderately, and without taking a copy, sent it to Mr. T. Franklin, who on receiving from the gentleman by whom I sent it, said, Hah! this is the very thing I wanted.' Reflecting afterwards on the subject, the importance of the matter, and the expression, it was intended for you,' I have never ceased to regret that my eagerness to do justice to the wishes of my venerable friend, by returning the manuscript, had precipitated me to do what appears to have been his purpose to prevent by placing the manuscript in my hands."

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Such is the information derived from Mr. Jefferson, which he is known to have repeated to many others of his friends. Conversing with the late Benj. F. Bache, the doctor's grandson, on the subject of the memoirs published by Dr. Steuber, he casually said there were some transactions which were yet to appear, which would excite great attention when Temple should publish his grandfather's papers; he had himself made three copies of a very important writing, one of which he had been told was intended for himself; but, said he, "Temple tells me he possesses them all." Being asked if the subject was proper to be mentioned, he replied, "No! I expected to have had some concern in the publication myself, but he whose right it was to decide has disposed of them otherwise; he considered Temple so ill requited by the government for his laborious services abroad, that as a small com

pensation, he bestowed the whole on him-his wishes were always sacred with me-my lips are sealed."

Upon the receipt of Mr. Jefferson's statement, the editor of the Philadelphia edition, who had been previously in occasional correspondence with governor Franklin, then residing in London, communicated to him the preceding information, and enclosing a duplicate for Mr. T. Franklin, then in Paris. From the governor a most feeling and manly letter was received; but although at a subsequent period a correspondence on the contemporaneous publication at London and Philadelphia took place, no notice whatever was taken by Mr. T. Franklin of the communication, though made with the most friendly purpose.

"What the suppressed manuscript contained," says the editor of a London edition, "that should have excited the jealousy of the government, we are unable to affirm, but from the conspicuous part acted by the author in the American revolution, and the wars connected with it, it is by no means difficult to guess; and of this we are sure from his character, that no disposition of his writings could have been more contrary to his intentions or wishes."

These observations, indicating an acquaintance with the character and history of Franklin, are such as the circumstances warrant. Indeed, on comparing the facts here developed, and looking to the writings published, the matter offered by W. T. Franklin falls infinitely short of a vindication. The only article in the edition, given by him as complete, which is new or interesting, is the social intercourse and correspondence brought about between Mrs. Howe, the sister of Earl Howe, with the doctor; and in that, nothing is to be found sufficient to induce or require a suppression: it is very interesting indeed, and honourable to all the parties, but involving, in its publication, nothing implicating any one. The contents of the stitched book does not appear, nor is it accounted for in the ostensible vindication; it is suppressed; and unless some future Walpole, Dalrymple, or Doddington shall draw it forth from the British archives, it is not probable that it will ever appear.

In the same edition, published by Johnson, London, the editor notices what he considers as Franklin's probationary political essay, admired for its principles, its boldness, and its success; yet it was the fruit of much previous discipline in composition, and was followed by many others of more comprehensive application. The occasion of its production had been before noticed by Dr. Wm. Smith, in his eulogium pronounced before the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia in these words: "In 1744, a Spanish privateer, having entered the Delaware, ascended as far as Newcastle, to the great terror of the citizens of Philadelphia. On this occasion, Franklin wrote his first political pamphlet, called PLAIN TRUTH, exhorting his fellow-citizens to the bearing of arms; which laid the foundation of those military associations which have ever since followed for the defence of the country." The effect of this pamphlet was prodigious. A public meeting was held in the meeting-house, where Whitfield had preached, and Franklin being called upon for his plan, produced it; twelve hundred signatures were at once obtained, and the author was requested to take the appointment of colonel, which he modestly declined, recommending Mr. Lawrence as better qualified, and the recommendation was adopted.

But although on this occasion he declined military command, he accepted it a few years after. Just before the defeat at Fort du Quesne had reached Philadel