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The Complete Works in Philosophy, Politics and Morals of the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 3 [of 3] cover

The Complete Works in Philosophy, Politics and Morals of the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 3 [of 3]

Chapter 15: FOOTNOTE:
By Benjamin Franklin
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About This Book

The volume collects political essays, reports, and correspondence addressing colonial governance and defense, including proposals for intercolonial union, debates over taxation and representation, and a review of Pennsylvania's constitution. It presents papers tracing the causes and escalation of the colonial crisis, accounts of parliamentary encounters and conciliatory efforts, and commentary on military and diplomatic developments. Subsequent pieces describe settlement on the continent, relations with Indigenous peoples, and practical guidance for prospective migrants. A substantial section offers moral and economical maxims and practical advice for daily life, and the book closes with a federal convention speech and assorted letters, proposals, and short literary pieces.

FOOTNOTE:

[16] This is the title of an octavo volume, consisting of nearly five hundred pages closely printed. It was written, as mentioned in the preceding note, while Dr. Franklin was in England as agent for the province of Pensylvania, to further the ends of his mission, by removing the unfavourable impressions which had taken place to the prejudice of the Pensylvanians: and "it must be confessed," as a reviewer of the work observes, "they had in our author a most zealous and able advocate. His sentiments are manly, liberal, and spirited; his style close, nervous, and rhetorical. By a forcible display of the oppressions his clients have sustained, he inclines us to pity their condition; by an enumeration of their virtues he endeavours to remove the idea, which many have entertained, of their unimportance, and, abstracted from their consideration in a political light, they claim our regard by reason of their own personal merits." Interesting however as the controversy between the governors and the assembly of Pensylvania may have been at the time, it is too little so now to justify the insertion of so voluminous an account of it in the present collection, and we shall content ourselves therefore with extracting the dedication, preface, and contents. It is singular, that neither the editor of Dr. Franklin's works, whom we have designated by the letters B. V.; nor Dr. Stuber, the continuator of his life, should have mentioned this publication. The work is indeed anonymous, but it is so well known to have been Dr. Franklin's, that in the common library catalogue of the British Museum it is ranked under his name. Editor.