The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

The Wisdom of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was as revered and admired as George Washington was by his contemporaries. He was considered as one of the great and wise men of all history. As I am a Franklin-phile, in that I have read many books, magazines, and articles about Benjamin Franklin, I know much about his life and times. In reading about Benjamin Franklin, I have discovered many pearls of wisdom that I have tried to incorporate into my life. The following are some of the most important things that I have read about, and learned from, the life of Benjamin Franklin:

Franklin's Speech to the Constitutional Convention

Monday, September 17, 1787, was the last day of the Constitutional Convention. There was very much a concern that the Constitution would not be approved by the delegates, as there were many parts of the Constitution that many delegates disapproved of. Prior to the vote on the Constitution, Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Franklin requested to give short remarks in support of the Constitution. Too weak to actually give the remarks himself, he had fellow Pennsylvanian James Wilson deliver the remarks. “Franklin's Speech to the Constitutional Convention” is considered a masterpiece of conciliation. After this speech was given, the members present voted to unanimously approve the Constitution. They also kept silent about their doubts and objections and worked to have the Constitution endorsed by the people, and they then turned their future thoughts & endeavors to the means of having it well administered, as Franklin suggested. The following is the speech as reported in Madison's notes on the Convention for Monday, September 17, 1787.

“Mr. President

I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them: For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others. Most men indeed as well as most sects in Religion, think themselves in possession of all truth, and that wherever others differ from them it is so far error. Steele a Protestant in a Dedication tells the Pope, that the only difference between our Churches in their opinions of the certainty of their doctrines is, the Church of Rome is infallible and the Church of England is never in the wrong. But though many private persons think almost as highly of their own infallibility as of that of their sect, few express it so naturally as a certain french lady, who in a dispute with her sister, said "I don't know how it happens, Sister but I meet with no body but myself, that's always in the right — Il n'y a que moi qui a tou jours raison."

In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other. I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution. For when you assemble a number of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those men, all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish views. From such an assembly can a perfect production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this system approaching so near to perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our enemies, who are waiting with confidence to hear that our councils are confounded like those of the Builders of Babel; and that our States are on the point of separation, only to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting one anther's throats. Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors, I sacrifice to the public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If every one of us in returning to our Constituents were to report the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partizans in support of them, we might prevent its being generally received, and thereby lose all the salutary effects & great advantages resulting naturally in our favor among foreign Nations as well as among ourselves, from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the strength & efficiency of any Government in procuring and securing happiness to the people, depends, on opinion, on the general opinion of the goodness of the Government, as well as of the wisdom and integrity of its Governors. I hope therefore that for our own sakes as a part of the people, and for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending this Constitution (if approved by Congress & confirmed by the Conventions) wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future thoughts & endeavors to the means of having it well administered.

On the whole, Sir, I can not help expressing a wish that every member of the Convention who may still have objections to it, would with me, on this occasion doubt a little of his own infallibility, and to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument.

B. Franklin”

When this speech was concluded, the members who were present voted to unanimously approve the Constitution. They also kept silent about their doubts and objections and worked to have the Constitution endorsed by the people, and then turned their future thoughts & endeavors to the means of having it well administered as Franklin suggested.

After reading this speech for the first time as a young man, I realized that there were three pearls of wisdom within it. Three pearls of wisdom that I have endeavored to keep in mind throughout my life. They are in order of practice:

1. To doubt a little of my own infallibility.
2. To doubt my own judgment and to pay more respect to the judgment of others.
3. To be obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change my opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise.

We would all be better persons and have a better society if we kept these pearls of wisdom in mind throughout our lives.

Franklin's Letter to Ezra Stiles

Benjamin Franklin was not a very religious man, and he was notorious for not attending church services which was unusual for his times. Although he was not religious, he did believe in God, or as he often expressed it, as ‘providence’. He was also friendly with many religious leaders, most especially Ezra Stiles. Ezra Stiles was an American educator, academic, Congregationalist minister, theologian, and author. He is noted as the seventh president of Yale College (1778–1795) and one of the founders of Brown University. According to religious historian Timothy L. Hall, Stiles' tenure at Yale distinguishes him as "one of the first great American college presidents."

In his friendship with Ezra Stiles, they never discussed religion until the end of Franklin’s life when Stile’s wrote a letter to Franklin asking him about his religious beliefs. The response by Franklin is a treasure as follows:

“March 09, 1790 Philada March 9. 1790

Reverend and Dear Sir,

I received your kind Letter of Jany 28, and am glad you have at length received the Portraits of Govr Yale from his Family,and deposited it in the College Library. He was a great and good Man, and has the Merit of doing infinite Service to your Country by his Munificence to that Institution. The Honour you propose doing me by placing in the same Room with his, is much too great for my Deserts; but you always had a Partiality for me,and to that it must be ascribed. I am however too much obliged to Yale College, the first learned Society that took Notice of me, and adorned me with its Honours, to refuse a Request that comes from it thro' so esteemed a Friend. But I do not think any one of the Portraits you mention as in my Possession worthy of the Place and Company you propose to place it in. You have an excellent Artist lately arrived. If he will undertake to make one for you, I shall chearfully pay the Expence: But he must not long delay setting about it, or I may slip thro' his Fingers, for I am now in my 85th Year's and very infirm.

Here is my Creed: I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we can render to him, is doing Good to his other Children. I think the System of Morals [devised by Jesus] and his Religion as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw, or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting Changes, and I have with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his Divinity.

I send with this a very learned Work, (as it seems to me) on the antient Samaritan Coins, lately printed in Spain, and at least curious for the Beauty of the Impression. Please to accept it for your College Library. I have subscribed for the Encyclopedia now printing here, with the Intention of presenting it to the College; I shall probably depart before the Work is finished, but shall leave Directions for its Continuance to the End. With this you will receive some of the first Numbers.

You desire to know something of my Religion. It is the first time I have been questioned upon it: But I do not take your Curiosity amiss, and shall endeavour in a few Words to gratify it. Here is my Creed: I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we can render to him, is doing Good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its Conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental Principles of all sound Religion, and I regard them as you do, in whatever Sect I meet with them. As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw, or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting Changes, and I have with most of the present Dissenters in England, some Doubts as to his Divinity: tho' it is a Question I do not dogmatise upon,having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble. I see no harm however in its being believed, if that Belief has the good Consequence as probably it has, of making his Doctrines more respected and better observed,especially as I do not perceive that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the Believers, in his Government of the World, with any particular Marks of his Displeasure. I shall only add respecting myself, that having experienced the Goodness of that Being, in conducting me prosperously thro' a long Life, I have no doubt of its Continuance in the next, tho' without the smallest Conceit of meriting such Goodness. My Sentiments in this Head you will see in the Copy of an old Letter enclosed, which I wrote in answer to one from a zealous Religionist whom I had relieved in a paralitic Case by Electricity, and who being afraid I should grow proud upon it, sent me his serious, tho' rather impertinent, Cautions. I send you also the Copy of another Letter, which will shew something of my Disposition relating to Religion. With great and sincere Esteem and Affection, I am, Dear Sir, Your obliged old Friend and most obedient humble Servant

B Franklin”

This is an excellent letter on belief and faith, and an example of proper religious tolerance in society. 

Franklin’s Advice to Thomas Jefferson

On June 11, 1776, the second Continental Congress appointed a committee to write a declaration of independence. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman were elected to the committee. One of these five was a renowned writer. For nearly thirty years, only the Bible outsold Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac, and his articles made the Pennsylvania Gazette the most successful newspaper in the colonies. But Franklin declined to draft the declaration, supposedly due to poor health, so the committee asked the thirty-three year Thomas Jefferson to draft the document.

In less than three weeks, Jefferson presented the rest of the committee with this historic document. For the most part, the committee accepted the document as written; except that Franklin made some subtle, but important revisions. For example, Jefferson had written “We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable” which Franklin revised to “self-evident”. Some have suggested that Franklin was pushing the text toward the analytic empiricism of David Hume, but it’s more likely that the master editor was wordsmithing for a more graceful rhythm to the words.

On June 28th, the Committee of Five reported out the declaration to Congress. They proceeded to make thirty-nine revisions, almost exclusively to the list of grievances. Although Jefferson never uttered a word of complaint; he fumed at the constant meddling.

Jefferson reported that afterwards, Franklin told him that he had made it a rule to avoid being the draftsman of papers to be reviewed by a public body. You can almost hear the seventy year old patriarch chuckling as he gave this advice to the young Virginian. According to Jefferson, Franklin told him the following story.

“When I was a journeyman printer, one of my companions, an apprentice hatter, having served out his time, was about to open shop for himself. His first concern was to have a handsome signboard, with a proper inscription. He composed it in these words, ‘John Thompson, Hatter, makes and sells hats for ready money,’ with a figure of a hat subjoined. But thought he would submit it to his friends for their amendments. The first he showed it to thought the word ‘Hatter’ tautologous, because followed by the words ‘makes hats,’ which showed he was a hatter. It was struck out. The next observed that the word ‘makes’ might as well be omitted, because his customers would not care who made the hats. If good and to their mind, they would buy them, by whomsoever made. He struck it out. A third said he thought the words for ready money were useless, as it was not the custom of the place to sell on credit. Everyone who purchased expected to pay. They were parted with, and the inscription now stood, ‘John Thompson sells hats.’ ‘Sells hats!’ says the next friend. ‘Why, nobody will expect you to give them away. What then is the use of that word?’ It was stricken out, and ‘hats’ followed it, the rather as there was one painted on the board. So the inscription was reduced ultimately to ‘John Thompson,’ with the figure of a hat subjoined.”

Thankfully, Congress left the preamble alone. Altering the list of grievances did not dilute the earth-shaking ideas in the first two paragraphs.

The lesson I learned was that when you write for yourself, as I do in my Chirps and Article, you can write whatever you want. However, when you write for others your writing will be subject to criticisms and critique, and revisions by others. The same can be said whenever you speak to others, as you will open yourself to criticisms and critique, but only you can revise what you have said.

(Please note – The above was extracted from an article on the What Would The Founders Think? Website.)

Benjamin Franklin on the Slave-Trade

Benjamin Franklin used moral equivalence to satirize the pro-slavery arguments of antebellum America. The most famous of his satirization was a letter In the March 1790 issue of Federal Gazette entitled "On the Slave-Trade" as I have posted in my Documents, Letters and Speeches webpage as "Franklin's Excellent Use of Moral Equivalency on Slavery". 

In the March 1790 issue of Federal Gazette there was an article entitled "On the Slave-Trade". The author, a Mr. Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim had a background as an Algerian prince who owned quite a number of slaves himself. He wrote this article under the pretext of weighing in on the ongoing and polarizing slave debate taking place at the time in the U.S.

Mr. Ibrahim essentially postulated the same argument that the American slave owners were advocating, that slaves who had spent years in captivity would be "social burdens" should they be left free. Whilst this was the exact same point that the American slave owners were talking about Mr. Ibrahim was actually talking about his very own American slaves in Algiers.

The United States was at that time paying tribute to the North African Barbary States to prevent United States-flagged ships from being plundered and their crew taken as slaves by the Barbary pirates. These states used pirate ships to capture merchant ships and enslave their crews, or hold them hostage for ransom. The United States at that time didn't have a substantial blue-water navy which could efficiently escort these ships or fend off and engage the pirate ships operating in their sea lanes. So the U.S. had to pay tribute in order to protect American sailors from these pirates. However the Barbary states kept increasing the amount of bribe the U.S. would have to pay in order to ensure the safety of their sailors. In 1795 the U.S. paid some $1 million to free 115 sailors who had been held for a decade. $1 million in those days represented a sixth of the entire United States federal budget!

The United States public were wary of their fellow citizens being enslaved overseas, yet on the home front many Americans were at the same time making excuses to justify their enslavement of the black Africans, be it to tend crops or do exhausting and labor intensive work that the landowners wouldn't do. In his piece Mr. Ibrahim was essentially giving the same hollow reason for not freeing his American slaves.

While American slave owners were insisting that if they released their slaves they would not be able to function and make a living independently since they had spent years subservient to their owner. Ibrahim went further and pondered about his own white Christian American slaves. He asked what would happen if Algiers ceased their "Cruises against the Christians." Aghast at the idea he continues by asking "who...are to cultivate our Lands?"

He continues to add insult to injury by stating that rather than be freed and granted self-determination those slaves were better off in their subordination role, serving their Algerian masters. He then continues by insisting that there should be no talk about the emancipation of slaves, which he dubbed a "detestable Proposition."

Exposing the sheer hypocrisy of the pro-slavery arguments this piece of writing is more interesting when one learns that Prince Sidi Mehement Ibrahim was merely a character invented by founding father Benjamin Franklin. This Algerian princes polemic which railed against the anti-slavery political spectrum of the day shows the reader the shallow nature of the typical justifications conjured up by the American slave owners and how they were reminiscent of the shallow pretenses the Barbary States would employ in order to justify their enslavement of Americans.

Also, by pretending to be an Algerian prince and an owner of American sailors, whose fates worried many across the United States, Franklin was demonstrating how Americans could inherently see the cruel nature of enslaving people when their own citizens were enslaved overseas. He obviously hoped that by weighing in on the slave debate, at a time when Congress was debating the legality of slavery in the States in general, in such a manner he would help sway undecided Americans by giving them this clear demonstration of the fallacy of the pro-slavery argument.

The manner in which he done so was very clever. However, as you know, the slave debate persisted for about another 70 years and divided the country eventually culminating in the American Civil War. Franklin would die three weeks after writing that 1790essay. His attempt to sway the argument and get Americans sympathetic with the pro-slavery argument to look in the mirror had failed.

However, the article and the implications of its main argument and outlook is in a sense imperishable and timeless. It cautions one towards being quick to judge misdeeds they see others carrying out without taking a step back and making sure one isn't carrying out similar misdeeds in ones own domains or areas where one has influence. In that sense it serves as an exemplary moral guide toward show one should conduct oneself honestly and be able to look oneself in the mirror. Even, and especially, when one doesn't like what one sees.

(Please note – I did not write this section, but I have copied it from a webpage that no longer exists. If any of my readers can locate this article on another webpage, I would appreciate your notifying me of its location so that I may properly attribute this article.)

The Hutchinson Affair

During the 1760s, Britain imposed a series of taxes on its American colonies (1764 Sugar Act and Currency Act, 1765 Stamp Act and Quartering Act, 1767 Townshend Act) to pay for its increasing national debt and cost of military protection of its American colonies. The colonies protested against their implementation under the slogan “No Taxation without Representation”. Franklin was sent as an emissary from Pennsylvania on lengthy missions to London between 1757 and 1775 to advocate for the repeal of these acts as well as other concerns. His efforts to repeal these acts were eventually successful, and these acts were repealed but not without much animosity between England and Colonial America. By the time he returned to America in 1775, nearly ten years after arriving in England, Franklin was no longer a supporter of the British Empire in Colonial America but was instead supportive of independence from England. This gradual change of heart was based on his dealings with the Royal Court and Parliament but was precipitated by his experience in the “Hutchinson Affair”.

The Hutchinson Affair came about by Franklin secretly obtaining and publishing letters from Royal Governor Hutchinson of Massachusetts to English authorities. These letters were discreditable in their portraying the actions of colonial protesters and for the Governor’s recommendations for suppressing the protests. As a result of the publication of these letters, Franklin was called into the Cockpit of Parliament for a hearing. In front of the Privy Council, Franklin was accused by British Solicitor General Alexander Wedderburn of illegally obtaining the letters for the purpose of inciting rebellion in the colonies. He was also accused of being a thief and of dishonor. Franklin stood stoically during the entire ordeal and refused to respond to Wedderburn’s accusations or to reveal his source. He later argued that his action was not illegal as they were not private letters, as they were written by public officers regarding public affairs.

Upon leaving the Cockpit, which by British protocol he did shoulder to shoulder with Wedderburn, he whispered to Wedderburn that “I shall make your king a little man for this.” He later stated to friends that he entered the Cockpit as a British subject but left it as an American. Franklin left England shortly thereafter and returned to Philadelphia, dedicated to the cause of American Independence. After being involved in the drafting and passage of The Declaration of Independence, he was appointed Ambassador to the French Court, where he skillfully obtained French support for American Independence, which resulted in the Treaty of Paris and Independence for America. In these efforts, he had indeed made the King of England a little man.

The lesson to be learned from The Hutchinson Affair was that in the face of slanderous allegations and accusations, it is sometimes better to say nothing but to do good. Therefore, do not judge someone by slanderous allegations and accusations but only by the evidence of their own words and deeds, and that the silence of someone does not always mean assent.

From George Washington: To B. Franklin

As Benjamin Franklin was on his death bed, he received many letters from his friends and well-wishers. Franklin was as beloved to his countrymen as was George Washington was beloved. Perhaps the most touching and sincere letter came from his good friend, fellow revolutionary, and The President of the United States - George Washington.

“New York, 23 September, 1789.

Dear Sir,

The affectionate congratulations on the recovery of my health, and the warm expressions of personal friendship, which were contained in your letter of the 16th instant, claim my gratitude. And the consideration, that it was written when you were afflicted with a painful malady, greatly increases my obligation for it.

Would be to God, my dear Sir, that I could congratulate you upon the removal of that excruciating pain, under which you labor, and that your existence might close with as much ease to yourself, as its continuance has been beneficial to our country and useful to mankind; or,if the united wishes of a free people, joined with the earnest prayers of every friend to science and humanity, could relieve the body from pains or infirmities, that you could claim an exemption on this score. But this cannot be, and you have within yourself the only resource to which we can confidently apply for relief, a philosophic mind. If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be admired for talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have the pleasing consolation to know, that you have not lived in vain. And I flatter myself that it will not be ranked among the least grateful occurrences of your life to be assured, that, so long as I retain my memory, you will be recollected with respect, veneration, and affection by your sincere friend,

George Washington.”

After reading this letter, I dare anyone to think of George Washington as aloof or cold-hearted. George Washington had a public persona that was aloof and formal, but this persona was adopted for many and sensible reasons. In his private persona he was warm and friendly, and anyone who experienced this side of him enjoyed his company. He also sincerely believed, as he expressed to many people, that his success during the American Revolutionary War would not have been possible without the success of Benjamin Franklin in obtaining the support of the court of the King of France.

Pearls of Franklin’s Wisdom

I previously mentioned the pearls of wisdom of Benjamin Franklin that I have tried to incorporate into my life. They are:

"Doubt a little of your own infallibility."
  - Benjamin Franklin

"It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others."
  - Benjamin Franklin

"For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others."
  - Benjamin Franklin"

“A true Friend is the best Possession.”
 - Benjamin Franklin

“Haste makes Waste.”
 - Benjamin Franklin

"If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins."
 - Benjamin Franklin

“No gains without pains.”
 - Benjamin Franklin

“Search others for their virtues, thy self for thy vices.”
 - Benjamin Franklin

"Well done is better than well said."
 - Benjamin Franklin

“What you seem to be, be really.”
 - Benjamin Franklin

“When you’re good to others, you’re best to yourself.”
 - Benjamin Franklin