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ties of doing good, and that, in every sphere of action through a long course of years, his single aim was to promote the happiness of his fellow men by enlarging their knowledge, improving their condition, teaching them practical lessons of wisdom and prudence, and inculcating the principles of rectitude and the habits of a virtuous life.

In the preceding narrative it has been the author's design to touch briefly upon all the principal events in the life of Franklin, from the time his own narrative breaks off, according to the method adopted by him in his memoirs of himself, and not to write an essay on his genius and character, nor an historical account of his discoveries as a philosopher and his achievements as a statesman and moralist. Such an attempt would have required much more space than has been allotted to this performance; and in the present case it is the less to be desired, as this biographical sketch is connected with his writings, in which, particularly in his moral essays and correspondence, will be found a better representation of his character and of what he accomplished, than the reader could hope to derive from any other source.

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APPENDIX.

VOL. I.

68

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APPENDIX.

No. I. p. 4.

REMARKS ON THE ORIGIN AND GENEALOGY OF THE FRANKLIN FAMILY.

THE origin of the name of Franklin, in England, may perhaps be traced to a different source from the one supposed by Dr. Franklin. The name Francquelin or Franquelin, is found in France; and, while he resided there, he received letters from several persons bearing that name, who claimed relationship, as having the same ancestry. It was said, that the name could be traced back at least to the fifteenth century in Picardy, and that the records of the town of Abbeville contained the names of John and Thomas Franquelin, woollen-drapers, who were inhabitants of that town in the year 1521. From this part of France, the emigrations to England at that time and previously were frequent, and it was inferred, that one or more families of the name of Franquelin were among the number, and that in England the orthography of the name was changed, according to a common usage. In the absence of direct proof on the subject, this conjecture is perhaps worthy of some consideration.

Dr. Franklin seems to have taken much pains to search out the history of his immediate ancestors. He traced them back four generations to Thomas Francklyne of Ecton, in Northamptonshire. His grandfather had nine children, of whom his father, JOSIAH, was the youngest. Josiah Franklin emigrated to Boston, New England, in the year 1684, or in the early part of 1685.

By the Record of Births in Boston, it appears, that there was a family by the name of Franklin among the early settlers. In 1638 the birth of Elizabeth, daughter of William Franklin, is recorded. There were other children, one of whom was Benjamin, who also had a son of the same name. The descendants of this family were

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