"What good shall I do today?" -- BF

(At left, Benjamin Franklin painted by Joseph Siffred Duplessis, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Ref. NPG.87.43)

Today is Benjamin Franklin's 300th birthday--his tercentenary. Franklin is the first man of genius which America produced who achieved international status: statesman, author, printer, diplomat, scientist, inventor, postmaster, and philanthropist. He was revered by his peers primarily as a scientist and statesman, vilified later by the Romantics as a money-grubbing utilitarian, and now rehabilitated for our own age as a true polymath.

At nHumanities, we honor him as a writer. In Philadephia, Franklin helped found the Junto, a club of like-minded individuals who read and debated issues with the aim of self-improvement. For the Junto, Franklin wrote this query, which still forms some of the best advice available on writing style:

How shall we judge of the goodness of a writing? Or what qualities should a writing have to be good and perfect in its kind?

Answer. To be good, it ought to have a tendency to benefit the reader, by improving his virtue or his knowledge. But, not regarding the intention of the author, the method should be just; that is, it should proceed regularly from things known to things unknown, distinctly and clearly without confusion. The words used should he the most expressive that the language affords, provided that they are the most generally understood. Nothing should be expressed in two words that can be as well expressed in one; that is, no synonymes should be used, or very rarely, but the whole should be as short as possible, consistent with clearness; the words should be so placed as to be agreeable to the ear in reading; summarily, it should be smooth, clear, and short, for the contrary qualities are displeasing.

But, taking the query otherwise, an ill man may write an ill thing well; that is, having an ill design, he may use the properest style and arguments (considering who are to be readers) to attain his ends. In this sense, that is best wrote, which is best adapted for obtaining the end of the writer.

--A query written by Franklin for the Junto

Another writer on these pages prefers a a different work by Franklin--one which reveals Franklin's humor and satire. In the "Old Mistresses Apologue," Franklin advises a young friend "that in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones." To support this advice, Franklin gives numerous sound reasons, ending with "8thly and Lastly They are so grateful!!"

In honor of Franklin's birthday, here are some useful links which will improve the reader's knowledge and virtue:

• Ben from Clusty.com, a search engine devoted to all things Franklin (including images and teaching resources)
  
• Benjamin Franklin, A Documentary History, from J. A. Leo Lemay
• Benjamin Franklin, resources and links from PBS to support its 3-part biography
• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, from the Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
  
  

Let's give Ben the last word. When he was 22, he composed this epitaph for himself--nothing seems more appropriate for a person to whom books and the written word were so important:

The body of
B. Franklin, Printer
(Like the Cover of an Old Book
Its Contents torn Out
And Stript of its Lettering and Gilding)
Lies Here, Food for Worms.
But the Work shall not be Lost;
For it will (as he Believ'd) Appear once More
In a New and More Elegant Edition
Revised and Corrected
By the Author.