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OF THE

LIFE AND WRITINGS

OF

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, LL.D.

F.R.S. &c.

MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY

FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AT THE COURT OF FRANCE,

AND FOR THE TREATY OF PEACE AND INDEPENDENCE WITH GREAT BRITAIN,

&c. &c.

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF TO A LATE PERIOD,

AND CONTINUED TO THE TIME OF HIS DEATH,

BY HIS GRANDSON,

WILLIAM TEMPLE FRANKLIN.

NOW FIRST PUBLISHED FROM THE ORIGINAL MSS.

COMPRISINg the

Private Correspondence and Public Negotiations of Dr. Franklin,

AND A SELECTION FROM HIS

POLITICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR HENRY COLBURN,

BRITISH AND FOREIGN PUBLIC LIBRARY, CONDUIT STREET.

1818.

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PREFACE

TO THE SELECT WRITINGS.

WITH this Volume the Editor conceives that he has completely redeemed his pledge to the Public, and faithfully discharged his trust as the conservator of Dr. Franklin's literary remains.

It is a common complaint that the reputation of men of eminence in the world of letters suffers by their posthumous works; nothing. however of that kind is to be apprehended in regard to the present collection, for many of the fugitive Essays here assembled, and the original Pieces now for the first time brought to public view, are directly referred to in the preceding MEMOIRS and CORRESPONDENCE as elucidatory of particular transactions, or documents of authority for the confirmation of the truth of what is there asserted.

But independently of a consideration which is sufficient to free this supplementary Volume from the charge of being supererogatory, the several tractates which make up its contents have all a paramount claim to preservation in their present form, on account of their intrinsic merits and relative importance, as connected with the personal history, character, and pursuits, of a man who never adopted any theory but with a view to practical experience, and who, in the true spirit of philosophy, applied all his speculations to objects of general utility.

It would, therefore, have been an act of culpable negligence, to have left even the lightest productions of such a mind to float down the

stream of time, subject to all its fluctuations, and liable to be lost or perverted amidst the perpetual changes which take place in human

concerns.

Under the sense of this obligation has the present selection been made, as well to fulfil the promise given in the general title, as to supply that minute account of the Life and Writings of the Author, which has hitherto been so anxiously looked for.

For the sake of uniformity and perspicuity, the papers have been distributed into a systematic arrangement according to their respective subjects, or the connexion which they bear to each other. Those which relate immediately to the public character of Dr. Franklin are brought together in the First Part, which may therefore be considered as exhibiting the rise and progress of the American Republic, from its incipient state of colonial industry and dependence, to the vigor of an internal polity, and the power of a consolidated empire. Here the philosopher, the historian, and the statesman, will find materials for the exercise of profound observation, upon the minute causes, and apparently fortuitous events, which combine in the germination of small but active communities, till they have attained the rank and influence of mighty nations.

Under the Second Part are disposed a number of Essays of a more variegated description, connected with general policy, economy, and commerce, subjects in the discussion of which the felicitous genius of this great man shone with such distinguished lustre, as to render his practical remarks, inquiries, and even casual hints on local topics, valuable for the direct tendency which they had, in common with his more elaborate writings, to promote the welfare of society.

The Third Part is entirely miscellaneous, being composed of papers on

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