Often I sat up in my I was careful to return soon and clean. room reading the greatest part of the night, when the book was borrowed in the evening and to be returned early in the morning, lest it should be missed or wanted. 150 8. And after some time an ingenious tradesman, Mr. Matthew Adams, who had a pretty collection of books, and who frequented our printing-house, took notice of me, invited me to his library, and very kindly lent me such books as I chose to read. I now took a fancy to poetry, and made some little pieces. My brother, 155 thinking it might turn to account, encouraged me, and put me on composing occasional ballads. One was called The Lighthouse Tragedy, and contained an account of the drowning of Captain Worthilake, with his two daughters; the other was a sailor's song, on the taking of Teach (or Blackbeard), the pirate. They 160 were wretched stuff, in the Grub Street ballad style; and when they were printed he sent me about the town to sell them. The first sold wonderfully, the event being recent, having made a great noise. This flattered my vanity; but my father discouraged me by ridiculing my performances, and telling me verse-makers 165 were generally beggars. So I escaped being a poet, most probably a very bad one; but as prose-writing has been of great use to me in the course of my life, and was a principal means of my advancement, I shall tell you how, in such a situation, I acquired what little ability I have in that way. . . . 9. About this time I met with an odd volume of the Spectator. 161. Grub Street. A street in London (now called Milton Street), rary poems, whence any mean production is called grubstreet."-DR. JOHNSON. century] by writers of small his- 171. The Spectator. See page 129 of tories, dictionaries, and tempo this book. 170 LITERARY ANALYSIS.-152. pretty collection. ty" here? What is the force of "pret 156, 157. put me on composing. Modernize this expression. 163, 164. made a great noise. What is the figure of speech? (See Def. 20.) 171-208. Write out an abstract from memory of the method taken by Franklin to cultivate his powers of expression, enlarge his vocabulary, etc. (Paragraph 9.) 190 It was the third. I had never before seen any of them. I bought it, read it over and over, and was much delighted with it. I thought the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to imitate it. With this view I took some of the papers, and, 175 making short hints of the sentiment in each sentence, laid them by a few days, and then, without looking at the book, tried to complete the papers again by expressing each hinted sentiment at length, and as fully as it had been expressed before, in any suitable words that should come to hand. Then I com- 180 pared my Spectator with the original, discovered some of my faults, and corrected them. But I found I wanted a stock of words, or a readiness in recollecting and using them, which I thought I should have acquired before that time if I had gone on making verses; since the continual occasion for words of 185 the same import, but of different length, to suit the measure, or of different sound for the rhyme, would have laid me under a constant necessity of searching for variety, and also have tended to fix that variety in my mind, and make me master of it. Therefore I took some of the tales and turned them into verse, and, after a time, when I had pretty well forgotten the prose, turned them back again. I also sometimes jumbled my collections of hints into confusion, and after some weeks endeavored to reduce them into the best order, before I began to form the full sentences and complete the paper. This was to 195 teach me method in the arrangement of thoughts. By comparing my work afterwards with the original, I discovered many faults and amended them; but I sometimes had the pleasure of fancying that, in certain particulars of small import, I had been lucky enough to improve the method or the language; and this 200 encouraged me to think I might possibly in time come to be a tolerable English writer, of which I was extremely ambitious. My time for these exercises and for reading was at night, after work, or before it began in the morning, or on Sundays, when I contrived to be in the printing-house alone, evading as much as 205 I could the common attendance on public worship which my father used to exact of me when I was under his care, and which indeed I still thought a duty, though I could not, as it seemed to me, afford time to practise it. 10. While I was intent on improving my language, I met with 210 an English grammar (I think it was Greenwood's), at the end of which there was two little sketches of the arts of rhetoric and logic, the latter finishing with a dispute in the Socratic method; and, soon after, I procured Xenophon's Memorable Things of Socrates, wherein are many instances of the same method. 1215 found this method safest for myself and very embarrassing to those against whom I used it; therefore I took a delight in it, practised it continually, and grew very artful and expert in drawing people, even of superior knowledge, into concessions, the consequences of which they did not foresee, entangling them in 220 difficulties out of which they could not extricate themselves, and so obtaining victories that neither myself nor my cause always deserved.... II. I continued this method some few years, but gradually left it, retaining only the habit of expressing myself in terms of mod- 225 est diffidence; never using, when I advanced anything that may possibly be disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any others that give the air of positiveness to an opinion; but rather say, I conceive or apprehend a thing to be so and so; it appears 211. Greenwood's. There was an Eng lish grammar by James Green- 213. Socratic method, the mode of argu- 214. suming the character of an ig. norant learner till he involved his opponent in contradictory answers. Xenophon, born about B.C. 444, was a distinguished soldier and in youth was a pupil of Socrates, whose sayings he recorded in the work usually called the Memorabilia. 212. there was two little sketches. Indicate the LITERARY ANALYSIS. grammatical fault. 215-223. Substitute synonymous terms for the italicized words in the following: I found this method safest for myself and very embarrassing to those against whom I used it; therefore I took a delight in it, practised it continually, and grew very artful and expert in drawing people, even of superior knowledge, into concessions, the consequences of which they did not foresee, entangling them in difficulties out of which they could not extricate themselves, and so obtaining victories that neither myself nor my cause always deserved."-It may be observed that, perhaps influenced by his subject, Franklin in this sentence employs, a for him unusual number of what may be called bookish words. to me, or, I should think it so or so, for such and such reasons; or, 230 I imagine it to be so; or, it is so, if I am not mistaken. This habit, I believe, has been of great advantage to me when I have had occasion to inculcate my opinions, and persuade men into measures that I have been from time to time engaged in promoting; and, as the chief ends of conversation are to inform or to be informed, 235 to please or to persuade, I wish well-meaning, sensible men would not lessen their power of doing good by a positive, assuming manner, that seldom fails to disgust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat every one of those purposes for which speech was given us to wit, giving or receiving information or pleasure. For 240 if you would inform, a positive and dogmatical manner in advancing your sentiments may provoke contradiction, and prevent a candid attention. If you wish information and improvement from the knowledge of others, and yet at the same time express yourself as firmly fixed in your present opinions, modest, sensi- 245 ble men, who do not love disputation, will probably leave you undisturbed in possession of your error. And by such a manner, you can seldom hope to recommend yourself in pleasing your hearers, or to persuade those whose concurrence you desire. Pope says, judiciously : 250 "Men must be taught as if you taught them not, further recommending to us "To speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence." And he might have coupled with this line that which he has 255 coupled with another, I think, less properly, "For want of modesty is want of sense." If you ask, why less properly? I must repeat the lines "Immodest words admit of no defence, For want of modesty is want of sense." Now, is not "want of sense " (where a man is so unfortunate as 260 251, 252. Men . . . forgot. The lines are from Pope's Essay on Criti- 254. To speak... diffidence. This line is from the poem named in the 259, 260. Immodest.. . sense. From to want it) some apology for his "want of modesty?" And would not the lines stand more justly thus ? "Immodest words admit but this defence, That want of modesty is want of sense." This, however, I submit to better judgments. 265 12. My brother had, in 1720 or 1721, begun to print a newspaper. It was the second that appeared in America, and was called the New England Courant. The only one before it was the Boston News-Letter. I remember his being dissuaded by 270 some of his friends from the undertaking, as not likely to succeed, one newspaper being, in their judgment, enough for America. At this time there are not less than five-and-twenty. He went on, however, with the undertaking, and after having worked in composing the types and printing off the sheets, I was em- 275 ployed to carry the papers through the streets to the customers. 13. He had some ingenious men among his friends, who amused themselves by writing little pieces for this paper, which gained it credit and made it more in demand, and these gentlemen often visited us. Hearing their conversations, and their ac- 280 counts of the approbation their papers were received with, I was excited to try my hand among them; but, being still a boy, and suspecting that my brother would object to printing anything of mine in his paper if he knew it to be mine, I contrived to disguise my hand, and, writing an anonymous* paper, I put it in at 285 night under the door of the printing-house. It was found in the morning, and communicated to his writing friends when they 273. At this time. . . five-and-twenty. Franklin was writing in 1785. At this time probably as many thousands. LITERARY ANALYSIS.-264, 265. What do you think of Franklin's improve. ment on Pope? 266. Point out the characteristic manner in which Franklin, in this line, exemplifies the precept as to "modest diffidence," laid down by him at the beginning of the paragraph. 277-280. He had. ... us. Rewrite this sentence in such a way as to bring the relative pronouns "who" and "which" nearer their antecedents. 285. anonymous. Give the derivation of this word. |