Franklin's proverbs have become household words. Every one has heard from childhood,
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
"God helps them that help themselves."
"Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee."
"Three removes are as bad as a fire."
Required Reading. — "Father Abraham's Speech." See also Riverside Literature Series, No. 24. For fac-simile of a page of Poor Richard's Almanac, see Fiske's History of the United States, p. 186.
The Autobiography.
"The best Autobiography in the language."
Franklin is his own Boswell." — Lawrence.
This work, written in the seventy-ninth year of his age, is Franklin's chief contribution to literature. It tells the story of his life up to the year 1757. After reading it one has á perfect picture of its author. It has become the world's model for an autobiography. Nowhere in literature can we find a more complete opening of an author's heart to the public. Its popularity has been wonderful, fifty editions having been disposed of in this country alone.
The history of the manuscript of the work has been an interesting one. The grandson of Franklin, who was a Tory pensioner, caused the work to be suppressed. It was printed, however, in French in 1791, but not till 1817 was it published in the original English. In John Bigelow's edition of the book the original spelling is retained, and the story is told exactly as Franklin wrote it.
