PREFATORY NOTE EVERYTHING of literary interest or historic value written by Franklin between 1722 and 1750 is included in this volume. I have omitted a few essays which have appeared in previous editions; some because they were not written by Franklin, and others because they are quite worthless. Thus the two papers "On Government" (Bigelow, I: 425) were written by George Webbe, who acknowledged the authorship in the columns of The Pennsylvania Gazette. The essays on "Public Men," "Self Denial," "The Usefulness of Mathematics," "True Happiness," "On Discoveries," "The Waste of Life," "The Causes of Earthquakes," "The Drinker's Dictionary," "A Case of Casuistry," have been ascribed to Franklin on insufficient evidence, and are at any rate dull and trivial. Their place has been taken in this volume by certain highly characteristic contributions made by Franklin to The Pennsylvania Gazette-"A Witch Trial at Mount Holly," "An Apology for Printers," "How to protect Towns from Fire," "Shavers and Trimmers," and "A Meditation on a Quart Mugg." I have reprinted "The Dialogues on Virtue and Pleasure" because Franklin refers to them with satisfaction in his Autobiography. I have omitted his letter to Cadwallader Colden containing his conjecture as to the cause why ships in crossing the Atlantic have longer V Ne!! Passages in sailing westward than in sailing eastward, because Franklin desired that the letter should not be reprinted. He discovered that his theory, which related to the diurnal motion of the earth, was quite untenable, and he so informed Jonathan Williams in a letter dated January 19, 1786. The Prefaces to "Poor Richard's Almanac" are here for the first time reprinted in any collection of Franklin's works. All are included in this volume except those that relate to the making of wine, the appearance of the planets, and Middleton's account of life in the region of Hudson's Bay. I have omitted the "Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity" (1726). The work has no value, and it would be an injury and an offence to the memory of Franklin to republish it. "My printing this pamphlet," he declared, "was another erratum." Writing to his friend Vaughan he said, "There were only a hundred copies printed of which I gave a few to friends, and afterwards disliking the piece, as conceiving it might have an ill tendency, I burnt the rest except one copy." The "Dogood Papers" are now for the first time reprinted since the youthful author consigned them to The New England Courant. A. H. S. 4. Editorial Preface to The New England Courant. February 8. Rules for a Club established for Mutual Improvement. 1728 9. Articles of Belief and Acts of Religion. 1728 10. The Busy-body. February 4-March 27, 1729 1. A Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper 12. Preface to The Pennsylvania Gazette. October 2, 1729 13. Dialogues concerning Virtue and Pleasure. June 23, and 214. A Witch Trial at Mount Holly. October 22, 1730 [October, 1732]. 133 155 157 170 172 180 182 186 19. Letter from Alice Addertongue. September 12, 1732 20. Preface to Poor Richard, 1733. 21. A Meditation on a Quart Mugg. 22. Preface to Poor Richard, 1734. 23. Preface to Poor Richard, 1735. 224. Protection of Towns from Fire. 25. Preface to Poor Richard, 1736. 26. Preface to Poor Richard, 1737. 27. Hints for those that would be Rich. 28. Preface to Poor Richard, 1738. [October, 1737]. 29. To Josiah Franklin. April 13, 1738 . 32. Preface to Poor Richard, 1740. 33. Preface to Poor Richard, 1742. 34. Rules of Health and Long Life. 35. A Proposal for promoting Useful Knowledge among the British Plantations in America. May 14, 1743 36. Shavers and Trimmers. June 23, and June 30, 1743 46. To William Strahan. July 31, 1744 47. To Josiah and Abiah Franklin. September 6, 1744 48. To John Franklin. March 10, 1745 51. To Cadwallader Colden. November 28, 1745 52. Preface to Poor Richard, 1746. [November, 1745] 53. To William Strahan. December 11, 1745 54. To William Strahan. December 22, 1745 69. Preface to Poor Richard Improved, 1748. [October, 1747] 70. Plain Truth: or, Serious Considerations on the Present State of the City of Philadelphia and Province of Pennsylvania. By a Tradesman of Philadelphia. November 14, 1747 71. To Cadwallader Colden. November 27, 1747 72. To William Strahan. November 28, 1747 . 73. To James Logan. December 4, 1747. 83. Advice to a Young Tradesman. 84. To William Strahan. April 29, 1749 . 85. To William Strahan. July 3, 1749 86. To George Whitefield. July 6, 1749 . 96. To Peter Collinson. July 29, 1750 97. Opinions and Conjectures, concerning the Properties and Effects of the Electrical Matter. 98. Additional Experiments. 1750 |