The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
By Hiral M.
Part Two opens with two letters that were written to Franklin from two of his friends. The first letter is from a Mr. Abel James, and Mr. Abel James comments and talks about Part One of the Autobiography that Franklin wrote. He also comments on the outline of the rest of the autobiography. Franklin had sent him both parts and asked for Mr. Abel James’ opinion. He wrote the letter in 1782, and it basically encourages Franklin to complete his work and story. He said in the letter, “What will the world say if kind, humane and benevolent Ben. Franklin should leave his friends and the world deprived of so pleasing and profitable a work—a work which would be useful and entertaining not only to a few but to millions.” He said that Franklin’s autobiography would help inspire the early American youth into business and frugality.

The second letter is written in January 1783 from Benjamin Vaughn. After seeing the outline and parts of the book as a whole, Vaughn encouraged Franklin to continue with the book because, if and when the book would be published, it may be of great use to others who are looking for a model by which they can better their lives. Vaughn argued that the Autobiography would prove to the English that the Americans are great people with virtue and industry, and America is a country, which has great economic mobility. After receiving these two letters, Benjamin Franklin started writing again.
Franklin starts writing from France immediately after the Revolution ended, and he revisited some of his old accomplishments just to refresh his memory. He didn’t have the papers of part one with him so he didn’t know where he left off she he started off with the library. He states that the library, which he started in 1730, was a big success and worked out very well. He noticed that there were no bookstores in Philadelphia, so he wanted to do something to get books for people who loved reading. He got together with his Junto group and they brought some books into one room and would share them. However, there were not enough. So they decided to do something more. He had bought books from England and started a library. Since most of the readers who lived nearby were poor, Franklin only got 50 people to subscribe to his library. He writes that his library helped "reading become fashionable...[and] people become better acquainted with books."
As the library is starting, Franklin himself is just starting a new family with Miss Read, his new wife. He takes the library as an advantage and uses it for his own mental development. During all the library deal, he manages to support his family based on "industry and frugality." He saves money wherever possible, because they still didn’t have sufficient money. He remains a firm Deist, but he mentioned in the book that he respects all religions and dislikes religious strife. He does not ever attend "public worship," and he finds fault in some Christian theological interpretations of morality and believes that they try harder to convert people instead of making them better people.
This made Benjamin Franklin think more about his own morals and virtues. He became obsessed with self-betterment. Franklin consents "to the bold and arduous project of arriving at Moral Perfection." He created a list of 13 virtues that are, in order: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility. He wanted to find the most sufficient way to attain the 13 virtues, so he starts off by creating a weekly plan by which he will develop one virtue per week. And eventually he thought he would perfect them all sooner or later. He centers around mainly on one virtue per week, keeping record of his successes and failures. He writes all this in a small book he keeps with him at all times. Franklin finds many faults at first and notices how he keeps making mistakes, but over time he manages to correct most of them. He writes that Order is the most complicated for him to attain, partly because Franklin's good memory makes Order not as necessary. However, Franklin is satisfied with his inability to perfect all his virtues, deciding, "a speckled axe is best....A benevolent man should allow a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in countenance." Franklin writes that although he never became perfect, he did become happier. He writes about his hope that all his descendants who read his Autobiography will derive the same enjoyment and benefits from acquiring these virtues. And that no matter what religion people are, they can also obtain these virtues.
Franklin adds that the list of virtues is likely to appeal to people of all religions. They are not geared specifically at any one particular faith. Franklin believes that their utilitarian benefits are more important than their moral benefits. He also stated that Humility was added in the end because his friends started complaining that he was being too arrogant all the time. To make himself seem more humble, he used such phrases as "I conceive" or "I apprehend" rather than "certainly, undoubtedly". Franklin writes that he afterwards started enjoying conversations more. However, he found his pride impossible to defeat. In fact, he sardonically mentions that he became so humble so as to be proud of his own humility.