Its about how to govern yourself

The
Seed
of the
Dream

Featuring
the Self Improvement Tool developed and used by
Benjamin Franklin
for the pursuit of lasting happiness.

SM

Proving the Promise

1
 SM

Proving the Promise

CalebLand Production Company

Copyright 1992, 2004 Kenneth L. Pepiton

Pine Valley, CA 91962
All rights reserved.

The ruled pages may be copied for personal use.

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Dedicated to my childrens children.

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History does not long entrust the care of freedom
to the weak or timid...

A people that values its privileges

above its principles
soon loses both.

These basic precepts are not lofty abstractions,

far removed from matters of daily living.
They are laws of spiritual strength
that generate and define our material strength.

Dwight Eisenhower,
1953 Inaugural Address

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 Contents
Preface ...................................................................................................... 9

Self Government .................................................................................... 11

Fit To Be Imitated.................................................................................. 17

Wisdoms Stream.................................................................................... 21

The Waymark......................................................................................... 29

The Great Project................................................................................... 37

Old Mans Vision ................................................................................... 45

Two Requirements ................................................................................. 55

Ultimate Destiny .................................................................................... 59

A Tool for Success .................................................................................. 63

Poor Richard says: .................................................................................. 84

Wisdom from Thomas Jefferson ............................................................ 89

Epilogue ................................................................................................. 91

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Not knowing everything about anything
is no excuse for not using what you do know.

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Know, Dear Reader,

that both treasure and truth

are where you find them.

All the worth

of any treasure or truth

is in the use of it.

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Wise men profit more from fools
than fools profit from wise men,
for wise men will try
to avoid the faults of fools,
but few fools ever try to emulate
the good example of wise men.

Cato_

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 Preface

Long ago, there lived a wise man in Philadelphia, a true

philosopher, a lover of knowledge, who knew that in his future
there could arise a generation who might be taught that all of
history is an accident.
He foresaw that such an innocent generation might be led to
believe that the United States of America was founded for no
reasons except greed and superstition. He knew such a generation
would search vainly for the secrets of success and happiness that
would seem to them, along with everything else, to be products
of time and chance. They would confuse their right to pursue
Happiness with their natural tendency to pursue pleasure and
mistake hedonisim for Liberty.
The old philosopher knew such a generation would need
signs, instructions, clues, and tools with which to discover how
to realize the American Dream.
He knew assuredly that the value of Liberty would plummet
when the generation who had paid its price had passed away.
He knew ignorance of spiritual truth would allow materialistic
imaginations to masquerade as the American Dream, while
stealing the very memory of the original idea. So, he crafted a
subtle plan to preserve the Dream and Hope of Liberty. He
created a seed, an idea seed.
He expected to store a book containing the secretly contrived
plan in the nations libraries, (invented, by him, for just such a
purpose), along with a tool that can plow hearts, hardened by
doubt and despair, into fertile fields of courage and hope. Roy-
alists grudges nearly prevented publishing of the manuscript,
mysteriously lost for half a century after the old philosophers
death; but, of course, the old philosopher had already sown the
Seed of the Dream...

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Stand ye in the ways, and see,
and ask for the old paths,
where is the good way,
and walk therein,
and ye shall find rest for your souls

Jeremiah of Anathoth, 600 B.C.

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 1. Self Government

Philadelphia, March, 1790

The old philosopher was dying. He had lived twice as long
as men were expected to live in those days. By his living, he
had changed the world.
With confidence and anticipation, he looked forward to what-
ever was beyond this life. He did not fear death; he regretted
it. He wished to somehow live long enough to see what would
become of the American experiment. He was curious to know
if free men would continue to put forth the effort required to
govern themselves and remain free.
Peacefully, nearly dreaming, his thoughts drifted back in
time, lingering at a summer day three years earlier. He smiled,
remembering how close to failure the experiment had come
that day, before it even began.
He recalled how the sultry heat had increased tension and
discomfort, making tempers grow short and patience wane.
The men who would be known as Americas founding fathers
held many opinions regarding the road our newborn nation
should travel. Disagreement on moral and financial questions
had created a rip in the fabric of the infant nation that would
not be mended at all if it were not mended quickly. There was
one common thread holding them together and that thread
was fraying fast... the dying man remembered every detail of
June 28, 1787...
So much of the future hinged on the events of that day

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 The respected co-author of the Declaration of Independence
rose painfully to deliver his last spoken message to the Con-
stitutional Convention. He directed his comments to George
Washington, speaking slowly and deliberately, matter-of-factly, as
a trusted advisor to a revered leader, using no rhetorical appeals
to emotions:
In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we
were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room
for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and
they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged
in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a
superintending Providence in our favor.... And have we
now forgotten this Powerful Friend? Or do we now
imagine we no longer need His assistance?
The speaker paused and looked around the room, meeting
eyes of honest and devout men who were nodding their heads
in acknowledgment.
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the
more convincing proofs I see of this truth: That God
governs in the affairs of man.
And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His
notice, is it probable that an empire can arise without His
aid?
We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred
writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor
in vain that build it.
I firmly believe this.
I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we
shall succeed in this political building no better than the
builders of Babel; we shall be divided by our little, partial
local interests; our projects will be confounded; and we
ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to
future ages.

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 And what is worse, mankind may hereafter, from this
unfortunate instance, despair ofestablishing government
by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war, or
conquest.
The room was silent except for the hushed swish of hand-held
fans as the oldest, and possibly best loved and most respected,
man in the room seemed to gather his thoughts before making
his formal motion to the convention.
The old philosopher knew how to use a fraying thread of
faith to sew a rip started by arrogance and doubt:
I therefore beg leave to move that, hence-forth, prayers
imploring the assistance of Heaven and its blessing on
our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning
before we proceed to business.

The dying man smiled as he remembered how the framers
of the constitution had responded. They had not passed his
resolution, but they had prayed. He enjoyed remembering how
quickly thereafter a compromise had been reached and the infant
nation finally had a constitution to stand on, to build on.
Prayer mends, he said softly, A stitch in time saves nine,
Tom.
His friend, Thomas Jefferson, stood beside his bed. Jefferson
did not think it odd that the old man would open his eyes and
speak a seemingly disconnected proverb without even saying
hello first.
The old philosopher was nearly twice Jeffersons age; the
younger man knew his friend and advisor would not live much
longer. Jefferson had come to say good-bye and to receive
any last bits of advice from the man who had offered subtle,
deeply meaningful, corrections to the document that declared
the reason and reasonableness for severing ties between the

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 Colonies and the English Monarchy. Jefferson recalled one
correction in particular.
Based on his understanding of John Lockes Treatise on
Government, Jefferson had written, We hold these truths to
Sacred and Undeniable, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights The
old philosopher, had scratched out Sacred and Undeniable, and
had replaced it with self-evident, humbly saying its was less
arguable and more powerful that way.
Both men knew that Locke had supported his own reasonings
by quoting Richard Hooker, a 16th Century preacher, regard-
ing the equality of men in Nature being evident in itself.
Now, the old man pointed to the table beside his bed and
bade his young grandson, who was in the room to help his frail
grandfather, to hand a stack of about twenty five large sheets
of paper, to Jefferson. The boy carefully handed the stack of
hand-written pages to Jefferson.
Im glad you came, Tom. You may find this of some inter-
est, said the old man, very softly, taking short, shallow breaths
between every phrase.
I believe that young men seldom understand how we are
prepared for the tasks we accomplish, Tom. Will tomorrows
children comprehend the price we paid for their hope of Liberty?
Will they comprehend the evidence of our responsibility that
is so clear to you and me?
These pages are a part of my personal history. They cover an
obscure part of my life and show, as well as I could recall, how
I found what happiness this life affords. Its a plan, a tool you
might say. I know for sure it works. I used it.
It is my hope that my lifes greatest unfinished task may yet
bear fruit. In these pages you will find the very seeds of my
dreams. I leave you to see they are planted.

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 Jefferson took the papers and thanked the old man, promising
to read them and return them quickly.
Keep it.
Not sure what the old man meant, Jefferson restated himself.
I shall keep it safe and return it quickly.
No, keep it.
The old philosopher closed his eyes and seemed to sleep.
Jefferson stood a while beside the bed. He did not expect
to see his friend alive again. He rolled the papers gently and
quietly left the room.
The old philosopher spoke without opening his eyes, his voice
barely audible
Its about self-government, Tom...
Its about how to govern yourself.
Its a plan I conceived a long time ago

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Everything has been thought of before,
the problem is to think of it again.

Goethe

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 2.
Twyford, England, 1771
Fit To Be Imitated

The old philosopher had some time, a quire of fine foolscap,

a dozen quills, a trusty pen knife that had trimmed many a
feather in the past fifty years and a wonderful story to tell of
how a poor, landless lad became a rich and honored gentleman.
He turned the tiny knife over in his hand and ran his thumb
lightly across the cutting edge...
If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, the old man
muttered, then must he put to more strength... He paused,
chuckled softly and said aloud in full voice, but wisdom is
profitable to direct.
The blade was razor sharp, worn thin by years of gentle
strokes along the miniature butcher's steel. Both tools always
went everywhere in the vest pocket across the belly from the
gold watch, ever ticking.
As iron sharpeneth iron..., muttering again as he deftly shaped
a point on each of all twelve quills. Do not put off until the
morrow what ye may do today. Proverbs flowed through his
mind, each attached to a pure idea. The old philosopher loved
pure ideas. He loved to follow a stream of thought to its source
and drink deeply there.
A dip of the quill, a tap on the blotter, he began to write:
Dear son:
I have ever had pleasure in obtaining
any little anecdotes of my ancestors.
You may remember the inquiries I made
among the remains of my relations
when you were with me in England,

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 That had been a journey of wonder and discovery. It was
1757, the philosopher and his handsome teenage son, journeying
from the harbor at Falmouth to London, had stopped to view
Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain.

Who built this, Father?
I dont know that, Billy, and I have no idea why they built it; but
I believe I know why I dont know.
These people left us no writings, so all their reasonings have blown
away on the winds of spoken words. What we have here are ashes of
ideas. We can see evidence that tells all our senses that some one had
a purpose in wrestling these stones, but, for all intents and purposes,
now, it was vanity.
Vanity and vexation of spirit, the father had said to the son.
Thats what is left if you can not leave writings behind, and even
then, often as not. Thats what is left of dreams and aspirations that
never get writ into real plans and purposes. They blow away.

That was so long ago. The writer paused and reflected on his
son. What can I leave him? This incessantly ticking watch? I
wonder if he remembers accompanying me to the auction where I
bought it? It has ticked every second... an apt adage popped into
his mind...
Do ye love life? Waste not time for thats the stuff lifes
made of thoughts of his son resumed...
Hell gain little wealth when Im gone. Most of the income Ive
learned with is subject now to whim of politics. Therell not be much
of an estate in worldly goods, God knows. And we seem, sadly, to be
drifting to opposite sides of the struggle which I have inadvertently
given my life to prepare for. He becomes more and more the loyalist;
I more and more the rebel.
Nay, I am no rebel, but free! I can leave him that, the key to free-
dom. I can show him the means Ive made use of to get the most out
of every tick of this watch!

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 Back to the page. Quills dry, another dip and tap.
Imagining it may be equally agreeable to you to know
the circumstances of my life, many of which you are yet
unacquainted with, and expecting the enjoyment of
a weeks uninterrupted leisure in my present country
retirement, I sit down to write them for you.
Dry quill, poised above the ink well, the old man lifted his
eyes to see out of the top half of his gold-rimmed spectacles.
The muses love the morning, he said, gazing far away into
the clear summer morning, seeing the sun two-hours-old glint
on gossamer strands left behind by meadow spiders sailing on
the wind.
The early morning does have gold in its mouth, doesnt it,
Richard? He spoke cheerily to the empty room. He spoke to
his alter-ego, Richard Saunders, Bonhomme Richard, Poor
Richard, who had spoken to the public all the gems of wisdom
the old printer had gleaned from the fields of historys finest
minds.
Nodding his head, the old man answered himself, with a
contented sigh, Yes, amen.
A peaceful glow seemed to settle on his face; his thoughts
drifted back to his son and his sons son. A dip of the quill, a
careful blot
I have besides some other inducements.
Having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which
I was born and bred, to a state of affluence and some
degree of reputation in the world, and having gone so
far through life with a considerable share of felicity, the
conducing means I made use of, which with the blessings
of God so well succeeded, my posterity may like to know,
as they may find some of them suitable to their own
situations, and therefore fit to be imitated.
He wrote on for some time, pausing and glancing every now
and then beneath the dust covers on memories long stored and
seldom recalled.

19
 He declared to his son that his life had been filled with so
much happiness that he would gladly live it again, even without
the opportunity to correct mistakes.
Since such a repetition is not to be expected, the next best
thing most like living ones life over again seems to be a
recollection of that life, and to make that recollection as
durable as possible by putting it down in writing.
Aware that his son might assume vanity were his motiva-
tion, the old philosopher confessed it readily, assured that
his denial of it would not be believed. He wrote that it is the
natural inclination of old men to speak of their past and their
past actions.
... vanity is often productive of good to the possessor, and
to others that are within his sphere of action it would
not be altogether absurd if a man were to thank God for
his vanity among the other comforts of life.
He paused and stared across the meadow and spoke with
a touch of homesickness Theres a fine, bright key, son, thanks
giving. Thats how we enter the Gate.
Theres no better activity to spend a tick of that old watch on
than counting your blessings.
Pen to paper, with a flourish...
I speak of thanking God, I desire with all humility to
acknowledge that I owe the mentioned happiness of my
past life to His kind providence, which led me to the
means I used and gave them success.
My belief of this induces me to hope, though I must not
presume, that the same goodness will still be exercised
toward me, in continuing that happiness, or enabling me
to bear a fatal reverse, which I may experience as others
have done; the complexion of my future fortune being
known only to Him in whose power it is to bless to us
even our afflictions.

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 3. Wisdoms Stream

A light tap on the already open door. Jonathan Shipley, the

recent political-appointee Bishop of St. Asaph, looked in. The
old philosophers room overlooking the meadow and the woods
beyond was in the Bishops home at Twyford.
Seeing the famed man already at the desk, Shipley begged
forgiveness for the interruption.
Not at all. I should rather enjoy company right now. Please,
come in, replied the guest. My thoughts have just run aground
on Solomon, the preacher, I could use a tug from your memory.
Do you recall where to find this verse:
Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for
the eyes to behold the sun: but if a man live many years
and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of
darkness; for they shall be many?
The two old men were alike in their love of sharply honed
phrases. They both relished Defoe and Jonathan Swift as well
as Solomon and David. They both had troves of proverbs and
poems which could set true course through lifes fiercest storms
or stir up an inspiration in lifes tropical doldrums that some-
times seem to stall all progress.
Shipley thought a moment , glancing at the ceiling while
rubbing his chin, then he said, That would be Ecclesiastes, by
far my favorite text lately. Strange that you would be ponder-
ing the very book I am studying. The passage you quote leads
on to say:
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and walk in the
ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but
know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee
into judgement.

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 Old men must fish in the same streams of thought, eh?
remarked the old philosopher. By my reckoning, Solomon
must have been eighty-odd, don't you think, when he wrote
about remembering his Creator in the days of his youth?
I must say I do love to hear the tales they tell about old
Solomon, especially when he was young.
Shipley responded with a slightly sarcastic tone.Do you refer
to the Holy Scriptures as tales, you old heretic?
Of course not, my friend, but the man was quite a traveler
before he became king, you know. And I know, a man does not
find the treasures of wisdom Solomon found, if he waits til he
is old and gouty to begin his quest.
Among the merchants who move this worlds bounty there
are many wonderful legends regarding Solomon which make
no pretense of detracting from or ascending to Holy Writ.
There are, even among the Mohametans and Ethiopians leg-
ends about how God prepared Solomon to receive the wisdom
he requested by teaching him lessons long before the time he
took the throne in Jerusalem. It is a true saying:
Great tasks require men of great preparation.
The old philosopher went on, Theres one fine tale the Jews
in Holland tell yet, according to the mate on Captain Kennedys
crew who regaled me with tales on my recent crossing.
It seems young Solomon sojourned deep in Araby, seeking
keys to wisdom. The young prince is said to have met what
the legend calls a djinn, but I reckon it was one of the mortal
magi, for in those times practically anyone who could cipher a
sum or start a fire was deemed a devil or an angel.
Whosoever it was that he met, according to the mates tell-
ing, was asked by Solomon, What are words? He was in that
region from whence all this babble we call language began,
you know.
The magus, thats one magi
I know, said Shipley, patiently.

22
 The magus said, They are wind that passes.
But how, asked the the boy who was to become the wisest
of men, can one capture the wind?
By one art only, replied the magus, by the art of writing.
The old philosopher finished his story with a flourish of his
quill in the air.
Your collection of tales and their telling never cease to
delight, said his host. My daughters say they cant wait for
dinner tonight; they expect more of your anecdotes. What
have you begun here? Have you resurrected Richard Saunders?
Perhaps a sequel to Father Abrahams Speech.
No, nothing commercial Im afraid. Im just capturing the
wind. Ive begun my personal history as a legacy to my son.
Ive much to say to him about how Ive come to be the man
I am.
You have much to say to the world about that.
Much the world has already heard.
Aye, but when your life has past, my friend, I fear the warmth
that has cheered so many hearts may well be lost. You should
leave behind a waymark for future pilgrims.
Whats written wont be unwrote.
True, but Poor Richard and Father Abraham have hardly
made the way clear for future wayfaring strangers. You should
finish your piece, but not for your son alone, for all the sons
o God.
Ive thought to do something of that sort, to leave a landmark
pointing toward lifes best, to provide soil where virtuous men
might grow to full fruition, tis my great and extensive project
that always gets set aside for a better time.
Alas, I have time now and no notes, but, for that matter, Im not
so sure I know all I thought I knewthen. I do recollect, though,
thinking that whoever attempted such a task honestly,

23
 could not fail of pleasing God and would most certainly
meet with great success. I still believe that. Any person who
determines to settle for nothing less on his sojourn than lifes
most noble pleasures, can never fail to find great joy along the
way.
The bishop assured him, I feel certain you hold in your
memory all a person might need to avoid the pitfalls and con-
quer the peaks that you have found on your own sojourn. Tell
me what you remember of your plan.
Briefly, I saw in my mind a kind of sect, I suppose, not exactly
of any religious sort, but not lacking any of the virtues common
in the heart of all of them. And this sect should be made up of
such persons who, first of all, love truth and virtue. I should have
called it The Society of the Free and Easy: free, as being, by the
general practice and habit of virtue, free from the dominion
of vice; and particularly by the practice of industry and frugal-
ity, free from debt which exposes a man to confinement and a
species of slavery to his creditors and employer.
The whole plan, continued the old philosopher, includes
the use of a device for self-government which I myself have
used, with the blessing of God, to arrive at what measure of
stature I have attained.
In my legacy, there should also be instruction in the art of
planning ones life, setting goals or targets. Those who write
of the art of poetry teach us that if we would write what may
be worth reading we ought always, before we begin, to form a
regular plan and design of our piece; otherwise we shall be in
danger of incongruity. I am apt to think life requires the equal
diligence. A person must plan his own life, if he would live
lifes best plan.
He tended to speak as long as he could on one breath and,
sometimes, spoke quite rapidly, especially when he became
excited.

24
 But he slowed as he recollected,Before the time of my first
voyage back to America, I never fixed a regular design or plan to
my life . My early years of self-reliance were a confused variety
of different scenes. I made a decision on that first homeward
voyage to make some resolutions, and form some scheme of
action, that from that time forward I might live, in all respects,
like a rational being. I decided:
1. It was necessary for me to be extremely frugal for some
time, till I had paid what I owed.
2. To endeavor to speak truth in every instance, to give
nobody expectations that were not likely to be answered,
but to aim at sincerity in every word and action: the most
amiable excellence in a rational being.
3. To apply my self industriously to whatever business I took
in hand, and not to divert my mind from my business by
any foolish project of growing suddenly rich; for industry
and patience are the surest means of plenty.
4. I resolved to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in
a matter of truth; but rather by some means excuse the
faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occa-
sions speak all the good I know of everybody.
I still hold the conclusion I came to then when I was but
a lad of twenty-something:
The foundation of all virtue and happiness is right think-
ing.
This is all to be part of what I plan to write, so if you wish
I shall rehearse my thoughts before you.
By all means, said the bishop. Might I call for tea?
Taxed tea, muttered the old philosopher.
Pardon?
Yes, tea. Thank you.

25
 Shipley merely leaned out into the hall and the maid, who
had been waiting with tea and cakes and some dried apples
(which the honored guest had brought with him, a pragmatic
gift from a loving wife far away in the colonies), rolled in a cart
and placed settings for two at the round table in the corner
opposite the desk where the old philosopher had been writing.
She walked over to the desk and capped the ink well as if it were
common for her to find dried up bottles of ink in this mans
room on former visits, so she meant to preserve that bottle for
its intended purpose.
Will you be needing me, mlord?
Not for a while, Anne, you may go.
Thank you, mlord, mlord, she nodded to each and left the
room, shutting the door behind her.
The old philosopher walked over and opened the door.
You people, he said in a slightly disgusted tone, have such
a caution against air. Such stopping of crevices, such wrapping
up in warm clothes, such shutting of doors and windows, even
in the midst of summer! We need air, God knows!
The evangelist of ventilation. Youll have us all converted
to daily tub-baths next.
The present unconverted state is precisely why we need air,
said the guest with a warmhearted laugh.
Whats a breeze between friends! Lets examine the catch
you netted in that old mans stream of wisdom this morning,
said the bishop while pouring the tea.
I netted this quite a long while ago, replied the guest. He
reached into his pocket and retrieved a little leather-bound
book of the sort that has a flap to protect the leaves.
I have carried this little book with me for nearly forty years.
Though I ceased the ritual use of it more than a decade ago, I
continue to peruse its pages now and then and I never forget

26
to thank my Creator who caused me to remember Him in the
days of my youth.
Though I hold little by revelation, in truth, I must say this
little book or the power it holds was, in a way, revealed to me.
I did not know how difficult my task was and, therefore, I had
no idea how powerful the tool to accomplish it must be. The
use of this little book has brought me all I dreamed of attain-
ing and more.
The old philosopher took a somewhat noisy sip of too-hot
tea and continued, relishing that drawing force which attentive
friends exert on burdened hearts.
In my study, I have concluded that the most acceptable
service to God is the doing of good to man. I want my son to
understand that I believed this before and beyond my youthful
sojourn through the unfruitful fields of the free thinkers, for
whom there is no wrong or right.
Which, by the way, was the route to Dungeon Despair for
my close friend, James Ralph. I know not to this day if he ever
found Pilgrims Key to loose those chains, but I have that Key
still and would gladly give it to any person who sets out in quest
of wisdom and truth and finds himself waylaid by confusion
and despair when the way becomes difficult.
A pause for a bite of apple. One a day, good Bishop, will
keep the doctor away, said the old sage, then he continued,
With Gods help this little book shall be a part of a project
of great good to all mankind and may even serve as Giant
Desponds head served those who followed Bunyans Pilgrim
and his good friend Faithful.
Ah, the waymark I mentioned is already set in your mind,
exulted the host.

27
 It seems so. I know the way to here, for sure, and beyond
here I am trusting God. Thus far, I have used this simple tool,
a moral steering device. It is easily usable by any who might
wish to better control that part of our lives which is in our
control. It steered me past many a shoal in my younger days.
And thats a fact.
A quizzical expression crossed the good bishops face, A
moral steering device for a young persons life... God knows
my daughters could use such a tool.
Quite certainly, any man or woman, who was at least
willing to begin, should be quite able to use this tool.
The old philosopher rose, stretched his arms and arched
his back. Might we take our conversation to the garden? A
little walk will take the stiffness from these old joints and keep
my mind from listening to complaints from muscles too long
neglected.
I would enjoy that, but are you certain I have not distracted
you from your task?
I am certain you have helped draw out the definition of my
task. Have you never read the proverb, Iron sharpeneth iron,
so a man sharpeneth the thinking of his friend?
Does it not read more exactly so a man sharpeneth the coun-
tenance of his friend.
The thinking, Im sure, is the same.

28
 4. The Waymark

There was a path winding through the Twyford garden to

a stile that allowed pedestrians to go over the stone wall that
kept the little foxes and hares out of Shipleys meticulously
manicured estate. The old philosopher stood with one foot on
the first step of the stile and gazed beyond the wall. He stretched
his arms above his bald head, interlaced his fingers and arched
his back, this time letting out a cheerful groan.
Pray, lets cross the meadow and walk in the shade of the
woods. The fresh air and the company should serve well to
prime the pump for this afternoons session at the desk.
I havent walked in those woods since I was a lad, replied
Shipley. This shall be delightful to recall my youth and to
imagine what destiny I might have found had I learned then
what I shall learn now.
Destiny, my friend, is destination not whimsical fate,
remarked the American as he tried to keep his balance. We
both have yet to see our final destination; however, I feel a sweet
confidence that we are certainly facing the right direction.
The two old men, neither of whom had thought to take a
cane, balanced each other as they stepped over the boundary of
mans orderly influence into the natural garden of the Twyford
meadow.
Walking with you, I share that confidence, said the bishop.
Now, you must explain your moral steering device to me.
One moment, first let use reach Terra Firma. Watch that
last step.
They were over the stile. The upstairs maid chuckled as she
cleared the tea cups and watched the old mens triumphant
gestures when they cleared the wall.

29
 The old philosophers mind quickly returned to his telling
as the two friends set off across the meadow, unmindful of the
startled pheasant they set to flight.
All right, where to begin? The beginning, I suppose.
I thought I knew, even in my youth, what was right or
wrong. I did not see why I might not always do the right and
avoid the wrong. I set my heart and mind to do just that, but
I soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than
I had imagined.
While my care was employed in guarding against one fault,
I was often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of
inattention; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason.
I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviction
that it was in our best interest to be completely virtuous was
not sufficient to prevent slipping. I realized that the contrary
habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and established,
before we can really depend on a steady, uniform rectitude of
conduct.
I was not after heavenly perfection or sainthood. Mortally
that is impossible. But that a man is not capable of being so
perfect here as he is capable of being here is nonsense. I mean,
I was certain there must be a way for a man to be as good as
a man can be, without resigning himself to live with faults he
despises.
I devised the method which comprises my little book, he
said, patting the little leather volume in his coat pocket, for
the purpose of establishing good habits and conquering bad
ones. Truly Providence played a role, for as I said, I had no idea
how difficult a task that is.
If a person faithfully applied himself to this exercise, there
is no reason to doubt that after a year the good habits will
have the advantage over the bad and that person will have the
advantage over all who seek to succeed by baser means.

30
 The old philosopher kept talking, forming his sentences
purposefully as though he were writing, relating ideas and
dreams to purposes and historical destinations, In the vari-
ous accountings of the moral virtues I have met with in my
reading, I find the sum of essential virtues or character traits
vary, as different writers include more or fewer ideas under the
same name. Temperance, for example, is by some confined to
eating and drinking, while by others it means the moderating
of every other pleasure, appetite, inclination, or passion, bodily
or mental, even to our avarice and ambition.
I proposed, for the sake of clearness, to use more names,
with fewer ideas attached to each, rather than a few names,
with more ideas. I included under thirteen names of virtues
all that at that time occurred to me as necessary or desirable,
and annexed to each a short precept, which fully expressed the
extent I gave to its meaning.
He took his little book out and opened it to the first of sev-
eral pages marked with red ink into columns and rows about
an half an inch apart.
See, the names are here above each page and the precept
right below the name.
1. Temperance.
Eat not to dullness: drink not to elevation.
2. Silence
Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid
trifling conversation.
This one has been more difficult now that I am famed than
before kings and royals knew my name.
The old philosopher delicately flipped a page.
3. Order.
Let all your things have their places; let each part of your
business have its time.

31
 Order I should stress is very important, especially when our
near infinite memory becomes so cluttered we can not find
one thought without dragging along ten more, all linked tan-
gently.
4. Resolution.
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail
what you resolve.
The bishop spoke up, Ecclesiastes again: When thou vowest
a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure
in fools.
Exactly, in a way, beamed the old philosopher, his face
reflecting the sheen that seemed to surround the two men as
the words poured freely from him while his friend listened with
rapt attention. God has no pleasure in fools.
Friend, said the bishop, you are not the first to enumerate
virtues and set their perfection in yourself as your lifes ambition.
But I see a subtlety in your device of carrying your book with
you that others have overlooked. Ah, heres a convenient log,
let us rest here while you finish telling me of your list.
Delightedly, said the old philosopher, who was quite out of
breath. In the telling, I find myself encouraged that, perhaps,
there was a purpose to it all which though I have never
counted revelation much credence perhaps there is a purpose
yet to be revealed.
Ive no doubt, my friend, no doubt at all. What is virtue
number five?
Number five is Frugality.
Make no expense but to do good to others or your-
self; that is, waste nothing.
There was a reason for the sequence of these I shall explain
momentarily. A smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, he
licked his thumb and turned the page.
After Frugality comes:

32
6. Industry.
Lose no time; be always employed in something useful;
cut off all unnecessary actions.
My father, among his instructions to me when I was a boy,
frequently repeated a proverb of Solomon: Seest thou a man
diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings, not before
mean men. Since then I have always considered industry, and
by that I mean working hard, as a means of obtaining wealth
and distinction, which encouraged me, though I did not think
that I should ever literally stand before kings, that, however,
has since happened on several occasions.
Next in my list of virtues is:
7. Sincerity
Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly; and, if
you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice.
Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits
that are your duty.
9. Moderation.
Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you
think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness.
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
11. Tranquility.
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or
unavoidable.
12. Chastity.
Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to
dullness, weakness, or injury of your own or anothers
peace or reputation.
13. Humility
Imitate Jesus and Socrates.
With Jesus I agree, remarked the bishop, when his friend
paused to breathe. Socrates, however, has a great incongruence
of character. I dare say he scorned your tenth precept of

33
 cleanliness alltogether. In fact, I am not so sure he was not just
a fictional device of Platos, akin to your own Father Abraham
or Bunyans Pilgrim. Perhaps there never was a man so good
as Socrates, except Jesus.
Perhaps so, but I am telling how I set my course not how I
shall instruct others to set their own. Perhaps including Socrates
will open doors for heathen to include Jesus.
Or close doors for Christians.
Truth is never closed to Christians, though they often choose
piously to ignore it. Dont you agree that all the wars ever fought
in the name of Christ have no Scriptural sanction? Yet men
have killed and will doubtless kill again in the name of him
who said, Love your enemies.
The bishop parried, Do you say there is no place nor time
to resort to arms?
I have a Quaker friend who can argue well for that point of
view, said the American. I, however, tend to agree with your
Mr. Burke, who has declared rightly that all Tyranny needs
for total triumph is for good men to do nothing. Sad but true,
there are certain causes even old men can see the worth of
dying for. Prudence and wisdom, on the other hand, forbid
following after fools in the name of Jesus. What god told the
Crusaders who conquered Jerusalem to burn the synagogue
with all its members?
The bishop nodded. I accept your point, although I still
refuse to emulate Socrates. Humility, or any virtue, is never
an end in itself; but a means to an end. Gods will is our true
Happiness, not our Humbleness.
Yes, said the philosopher, and likewise Happiness is not a
final destination, but a process. Experience, my own and that
of Israels children in the wilderness, teaches that Humility
steers us toward true Happiness.

34
 In the case of my little book, he continued, Humility was
truly an afterthought. My list contained at first only twelve
virtues; but another Quaker friend kindly informed me that I
was generally thought proud; and that my pride showed itself
frequently in conversation.
A broad grin came over the old philosophers face as he recalled
his practice of using Socratic techniques for winning many a
conversational victory which he nor his cause deserved. In
that point, imitation of Socrates added to my pride, Im afraid.
My Quaker friend was honest enough to point out that I was
not even content with just being in the right when discussing
any point, but was overbearing, and rather insolent, of which
he convinced me by mentioning several instances, which to
this day I do not enjoy remembering. So perhaps one should
selectively imitate Socrates.
My point precisely, said Shipley, clapping his hand on his
friends shoulder. But one may imitate all of Jesus.
But, laughed the old philosopher, I determined to cure
myself, if I could, of that pride along with all the rest of my
vices, so I added Humility to my list, giving an extensive mean-
ing to the word.
I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of
this virtue, but I had a good deal of success with regard to the
appearance of it.
I made it a rule to forbear all direct contradiction to the
sentiments of others, and all positive assertion of my own. I
sometimes slip with close friends whom I am sure can with-
stand my contradiction now and then, for the sake of mutual
growth and understanding.
I even forbid myself the use of every word or expression in
the language that implies a fixed opinion, such as certainly, or
undoubtedly, and I adopted, instead of them, phrases such as
I conceive, I apprehend, or I imagine a thing to be so or

35
 so; or it so appears to me at present. When someone asserted
something that I thought an error, I denied myself the pleasure
of contradicting him abruptly, and of showing immediately
some absurdity in his proposition; and in answering I began
by observing that in certain cases or circumstances his opinion
would be right, but in the present case there appeared, or seemed
to me, some difference, and so on.
I soon found distinct advantage of this change in my manner.
Conversations went on more pleasantly. The modest way I
proposed my opinions procured them better reception and less
contradiction; I had less mortification when I was found wrong,
and I more easily prevailed with others to give up their mistakes
and join with me when I happened to be in the right.
The attentive host nodded and raised one finger. This
reminds me again of Solomon: A soft answer turneth away
wrath. And also the statement our Lord made: Blessed are
the peace makers...
The old philosopher finished the quote, ...For they shall be
called the children of God. I truly hope so, for I found this last
habit required all the exercised virtue of the other twelve and
much violence to my natural inclination. But after a while, it
became easy. Perhaps forty years have passed since a dogmati-
cal expression escaped me. I think I owe to this habit, after
integrity, the fact that I had early in my life so much weight
with my fellow-citizens when I proposed new institutions, or
alterations of the old.
I am not agood public speaker, I hesitate in my choice of
words, hardly correct in language, and yet I generally have
carried my points due in great measure, I am sure, to my habit
of Humility rather than to my natural pride.
No doubt, agreed Bishop Shipley, rising slowly from the
log, but you should indeed be proud of having consolidated so
much wisdom into your device. Careful though, we know the
proverb says that pride comes before a fall, so let us humbly
attempt to retrace our steps and to scale yon stile and see about
a bit of refreshment.

36
 5. The Great Project
It was a bit beyond noon when the two old men sat down on
the bench beneath the grape arbor in the garden.
Beg pardon, mlord, said the maid, as she walked toward
them. She had a knowing smile on her face, having seen the
way they returned over the stile as compared to how they had
set out across the meadow. She offered a cool towel for each
to wipe his brow.
Cook sent me to ask if you would take noon meal here or
in the dining room?
The master of the house looked inquiringly at his guest who
answered, Tell him here, please Anne and if it wont be
too great a trouble I should like nothing better than a few
slices of that melon. Cook knows the one I mean, we broke fast
together as we watched the sunrise this morning.
Turning to his host, he asked, Have you ever seen the sunrise
from your kitchen window?
No, good sir, nor have I ever taken breakfast there with
Cook, the noble-born bishop replied, but I suppose that is
part of the charm of the colonies, you have such liberal opinions
regarding class.
The American responded, Class seems to be rich man's idea
more than a divine mandate. If we see all men as created equal,
not in strength or talent of course, but in value; I believe we
might see a world in which all men were considered noble. Yes,
I even contend, myself, that the colonies, if united, could prove
to be the greatest nursery of freedom and justice the world has
ever known.
Shipley laughed, And you will plant the seeds. Perhaps youve
missed your calling. We have pulpits here in England sprouting
that same line regarding all men being created equal.

37
 No pulpit would take all of me, I assure you. However, there
is much to be thought regarding Gods true purpose for man
and I will say that all I have seen indicates his purpose is kind-
ness, not wrath; equality, not iniquity.
However, stated the bishop, we cannot chose our parents.
Some of us do come into this world with inherited blessings and
inherited responsibilities which seem to have the Almightys
approbation.
There are arguments to the contrary, proclaimed the
American, that is, there are arguments which indicate Gods
plan was never for one man to rule another, but to serve one
another, to love one another. We have traditions which must
be tolerated, but which must not be attributed to the God of
the universe. Did not the apostle command followers of Christ
to owe nothing to each other unless it be in such a way that
they might still love one another? Erasmus said something to
this effect, Surely you do not believe that Christ meant Peter
really owed Caesar tribute just because He is said to have paid
Peters taxes.
Dont start on taxes, Im afraid you will veer from the course.
You have just begun to tell me of your great and extensive
project; finish the tale before you lose the thought.
I shant lose this thought, said the old philosopher. Actually,
the idea is fresher now than it was forty years ago. I naturally
tend to meander, but shall get to the sea, eventually. You are
right about one thing: taxes have shipwrecked many a good
plan. My hope is that my project might bear the fruit of any
seeds of wisdom I have scattered over the years.
We need persons now who have moral foundations they can
defend against the wild nature of mankind. We need persons
who can govern themselves in lifes daily tests and who can
see afar off the man or woman they hope to be, as the sculp-
tor sees the angel in the marble and continues chipping til it
is free. Yet now more than ever individualsseem to be content

38
with a speckled ax and in many cases are quite happy with a
dull one.
A puzzled look came over the bishops face and he asked,
Whatever do you mean, a speckled ax?
Oh, I am sorry! Pardon me, my mind has raced around
a familiar corner and left my telling in the dust. You know
everything reminds me of a tale or a parable. Let me explain
this mystery of the speckled ax.
As I pursued perfection, I found myself consistently fall-
ing far short of the mark, particularly regarding the virtue of
Order. I had in my younger days a wonderful memory and
seldom needed the discipline of always putting things in their
appointed places which is a large part of Order.
The older I grow the more aware of that virtue, or the want
of it, in my habits I become. My natural lack of Order has cost
me much in Tranquility.
In fact, I made so little improvement, and had such fre-
quent relapses into chaos, that I was almost ready to give up
the attempt, and content myself with a faulty character in that
respect. Then I heard of a man buying an ax from a blacksmith,
who, in fact, was my neighbor.
The buyer desired to have the whole surface of the ax shine
as bright as the edge. The smith consented to grind it bright
for him if he would turn the wheel. So the finicky customer
turned, while the smith pressed the broad face of the ax hard
and heavily on the stone, which made the turning of it very
fatiguing. The buyer came every now and then from the wheel
to see how the work went on, and after a while decided to take
his ax as it was, without further grinding.
No, said the smith, turn on, turn on; we shall have it all
bright by and by; as yet it is only speckled.
Yes, said the weary man, but I think I like the speckled ax
best.

39
 The arbor rocked with the bishops hearty laughter.
What I meant earlier was, continued the old philosopher,
this has been the case with many; who, having found obtaining
good habits and breaking bad habits practically impossible or
not worth the effort, have given up the struggle, and concluded
that a speckled ax is best. Those persons chose to live shack-
led with chains of bad habits and tyrants rather than govern
themselves with the free reins of good habits and good sense.
Worse still is the man too lazy to even whet the edge, who lets
his God-given talents grow dull and must in the long run put
forth more strength with less effect.
I see, said the bishop. And you think the world could use
a few sharp axes, eh? My wife has oft said she doubts I am the
sharpest tool in the shed. Perhaps when she hears your parable
I will become her darling, speckled ax.
Speckled perhaps, dull never. But I fear I have near stolen
your day and really I have wandered far from my own morn-
ing task of relating a few family stories and some of my own
obscure history to my son. Such, however, is my old, speckled
ax. If I fail to follow a plan the muses can take me on journeys
of minutes and hours that take all day. A chief good I hope to
come from my personal history is that my son and his sons sons
may recognize the marvelous power that fixedness of purpose
and conscious planning have to achieve definite objectives.
The maid appeared with a tray of melon, along with fresh
bread, glasses and a china pitcher full of new wine from the
grapes in the very arbor where the two scholars rested.
The bishop spoke up, Before I allow you to return to your
ink well, please, finish telling. How exactly did you employ
your little book, pray tell?
I used it every day to examine myself, to examine my behavior.
It was a means of measuring my progress. A very important
part of any journey or project is knowing how far

40
 you have come. It tends to encourage the soul, even if you
have no idea how far you may have yet to go, because you can
see that you are indeed progressing.
My intention was to acquire the habitude of all those vir-
tues. I judged it would be well not to distract my attention by
attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on one good habit at
a time; and, when I should be master of that, then to proceed
to another, and so on, until I should have gone through the
thirteen.
Because I reasoned acquiring certain good habits first might
make the acquisition of certain others easier, I arranged them
with that view.
I put Temperance first, because it tends to procure that
coolness and clearness of head, which is so necessary where
constant vigilance was to be kept up, and guard maintained
against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits, and the
force of perpetual temptations.
Temperance being acquired and established, Silence would
be more easy. My desire being to gain knowledge at the same
time that I improved in virtue, and considering that in conver-
sation it was obtained rather by the use of the ears than of the
tongue, and therefore wishing to break a habit I was getting
into of prattling, punning, and joking, which made me accept-
able to trifling company, I gave Silence the second place. This
and the next, Order, I expected would allow me more time for
attending to my project and my studies.
Resolution, once become habitual, would keep me firm in
my endeavors to obtain all the subsequent virtues; Frugality and
Industry freeing me from my remaining debt, and producing
affluence and independence, would make more easy the practice
of Sincerity and Justice, et cetera, et cetera.
Pythagoras advised in his Golden Verses that daily examina-
tion would be necessary to any quest of self-improvement, so I

41
 contrived my little book for conducting that examination.
I allotted a page for each of the virtues. I ruled each page with
red ink, so as to have seven columns, one for each day of the
week, marking each column with a letter for the day. I crossed
these columns with thirteen red lines, marking the beginning
of each line with the first letter of one of the virtues, on which
line, and in its proper column, I might mark, by a little black
spot, every fault I found upon examination to have been com-
mitted respecting that virtue upon that day.
I determined to give a weeks strict attention to each of the
virtues successively. Thus, in the first week, my great guard was
to avoid the least offence against Temperance, leaving the other
virtues to their ordinary chance, only marking every evening
the faults of the day.
Thus, if in the first week I could keep my first line, Temper-
ance, clear of spots, I supposed the habit of that virtue so much
strengthened, and its opposite weakened, that I might venture
extending my attention to include the next, and for the fol-
lowing week to keep both lines clear of spots. Proceeding thus
to the last, I could go through a course complete in thirteen
weeks, and four courses in a year.
And like him who, having a garden to weed, does not attempt
to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which would exceed his
reach and strength, but he works on one of the beds at a time,
and, having accomplished the first, proceeds to a second, so I
should have, I hoped, the encouraging pleasure of seeing on
my pages the progress I made in virtue, by clearing successively
my lines of their spots, til in the end, by a number of courses, I
should be happy in viewing a clean book, after thirteen weeks
daily examination.
Did you ever ask yourself if your efforts were worth the
while?, the bishop asked.
Yes. And something, that pretended to be reason, every now
and then suggested to me that such extreme detail as I exacted

42
of myself might be a kind of foppery in morals, which if anyone
ever discovered, would make me seem ridiculous.
This Tempter, as it were, suggested that, were I to succeed
in my efforts, my longed-for perfect character might cause me
to be envied and hated.
And, that seducing thought went on to say, a benevolent
man should allow a few faults in himself to keep his friends.
Without regard to this Tempter, and despite my best efforts,
I am quite sure that I have retained enough faults to prevent
driving away my frail mortal friends.
Honestly, I have not exercised myself in things too high for
me. My plan for moral perfection has not been abandoned,
but the dreams of the twenty year old are never the realities of
the fifty year old.
The actions of the twenty year old, in pursuit of his dreams,
those make the reality of the fifty year old. My little book has
made the efforts quite rewarding, it has put a dream to work,
for I have always had small, attainable tasks to do each day
which, looking back, have been the many strokes which felled
the oaks which I used to build the fortress of my life in which
I am so comfortable and happy as an old man.
Truly attempting to mend every flaw is impossible. Without
such means as I employed, to break the whole into fundamental
pieces, all such efforts would certainly not be worth the while.
But correcting one single area will make a better person and
good habits grow just as fast as bad. My little book is a furrowed
field for the orderly sowing of good habits. And a habit sown
brings a crop of character. And character sown brings forth a
crop of destiny.
And we know destiny, remarked the bishop.
Aye, my friend, we know destiny. We are steering in the right
direction and ultimately we shall arrive where we shall know
even as we are known. Thats a crop I long to harvest.

43

The noblest question
in the world is,
What good may I do in it?

44
 Passy, France, 1784
6. Old Mans Vision

The quiet time at Twyford had passed and the old philosophers
tapestry was only woven up to his telling of marrying the girl
about whom he had sung,
Not a Word of her Face, her Shape, or her Eyes,
Of Flames or of Darts shall you hear;
Tho Beauty I admire tis Virtue I prize,
That fades not in seventy years,
My dear Friends,
That fades not in seventy years.

Thirteen years had passed since the conversations with Bishop

Jonathan Shipley about the great project.
The rebellion that had threatened to separate father and son
in 1771 was over. The separation was complete. The son had
chosen to serve his king, the father to serve all mankind.
The printers apprentice, who had doubted in his youth that
he could take the proverb literally which said a diligent man
would stand before kings, had grown old and had stood before
five kings.
At the urging of all who had read the few pages penned at
Twyford, the old scholar took up his quill again. He may have
been somewhat homesick and even a little lonely; the old phi-
losopher had been a widower a long while and he had been
away from his wife, in service of his newly birthed nation, for
nearly ten years when she had died. He continued his personal
history, but his plan was not to leave a legacy for his son;

45
 this time he aimed to leave a legacy for his infant nation. He
embarked on the first leg of his great and extensive project;
which had hitherto been little more than a young mans dream,
but now became an old mans vision. He looked back to sign
posts that marked important junctions in his life. Without the
benefit of notes he told a self-edited version of his life's story,
picking carefully anecdotes he believed would help build the
kind of men who could complete his dream or at least defend
men's right to dream it.
He had begun to doubt many of the doctrines of the Chris-
tian sects of his day when he was only fifteen years old. He
had doubted the basic doctrines of revelation and had leaned
to the Deist interpretation of things, which was then popular
among liberal intellectuals in Europe and England.
Now he was old, pondering once again the fruit which that way
of thinking had brought to his life. He included in his history a
sort of confession regarding the zealous freethinking pamphlet
he had written on his first journey to London. It began with
a line from Dryden, Whatever is, is right, and it questioned
the very possibility of distinction between virtue and vice. He
had been young and passionate and had heartily agreed with
freethinker-deist concepts which deny moral absolutes, even
to the point of seeking converts to that way of thinking.
He told of perverting his friends, James Ralph and John Col-
lins, to that doctrine which declared that all is right, anything
goes. He noted that Collins and Ralph, after their conver-
sion, both wronged him greatly, causing him to examine the
conduct of other freethinkers toward himself and of his own
conduct toward friends and even toward his then future wife.
He wrote:
I began to suspect that this doctrine, tho it might be true, was
not very useful and I doubted whether some error had not
insinuated itself unperceived into my argument, so as to infect
all that followed, as is common in metaphysical reasonings.

46
 As the old philosopher sat alone in his room so far from
home, he searched his hearts memories to find and mark the
path he had traveled so that others could bypass some of his
disasters and struggles.
He was not yet nineteen when he wrote his freethinker pam-
phlet. He only printed one hundred, gave a few to friends, then
destroyed all but one (because it had manuscript notes written
by a friend of his at the time).
He laughed and shook his head. That Deist pamphlet had
survived and would no doubt remain after he was dead and
buried, but a pamphlet he had written in 1730, arguing the
necessity and validity of prayer, was lost and not a single copy
remained.
His thought that he should be remembered by some as the
Old Pagan brought a smile to his face and he recalled a letter
he had written to his mother reassuring her while defending
his own unorthodox faith:
I think vital religion has always suffered, when orthodoxy is
more regarded than virtue. And Scripture assures me, that at
the last day, we shall not be examined by what we thought, but
by what we did; and our recommendation will not be that we
said Lord, Lord, but that we did good to our fellow creatures.
The old man smiled even bigger, he was leaving behind good
seed that would bring forth good fruit long after his frail old
body had become food for worms. A glint of inspiration lit a
junction in his past. In his musing, he relived a pointed incident
that had spurred him along his path.
About ten years after his introduction to freethinking and
four or five years after he discovered it was not very useful, a
Presbyterian preacher had piqued his curiosity by announcing
that the Sunday sermon would be from Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what-
soever things are honest, just, pure, lovely, or of good

47
 report; if there be any virtue, or any praise, think on
these things.
That incident was a true waymark for his great project.
Looking back, he recognized that he could have chosen the
well-traveled path of hypocrisy, but he had chosen otherwise.
This was a slippery part of the path. The right way had to be
marked clearly, leaving no room for future confusion.
He cautiously mentioned that he had never despised ministers
as a whole, but he did remember having had a low opinion of
that particular preachers style. All the mans sermons had been
very dry, uninteresting and unedifying, since not a single moral
principal was inculcated or enforced....
However, the philosopher imagined back then that any sermon
on Philippians 4:8
could not miss of having some morality.
But that preacher had confined himself to only five dogmatic
points, declaring (as preachers sometimes do) that the apostle
meant five when he said whatsoever:
1. Keep the Sabbath.
2. Be diligent to read the Holy Scriptures.
3. Go to church regularly.
4. Partake of the Sacrament.
5. Pay due respect to Gods ministers.
As the old philosopher sat sorting his memories he noted:
Truly, those all may be good things, but they were not the kind of
good things I expected from that text. Whatsoever covers a far
broader spectrum of things. Especially when God says it.
He remembered hoping that preacher would connect the
exhortation for right thinking with the state of mind the apostle
spoke of in verse thirteen of the same chapter:
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

48
 The philosopher never went back to church regularly after
that incident and fifty years later he still remembered why, but
he also remembered the commandment: whatsoever things
are true, whatsoever things are honest, just, pure, lovely, or of
good report; if there be any virtue, or any praise, think on these
things.
As he wrote, the old philosopher picked up, as nearly as he
could remember, where he had left off at Twyford. He described
his little book just as he had to Jonathan Shipley. He even drew
one of the pages to clarify any obscurities.
Quill to page, he wrote, honestly, earnestly:
I entered upon the execution of this plan for self
examination, and continued it with occasional
intermissions for some time. I was surprised to find my self
so much fuller of faults than I had imagined but I had the
pleasure of seeing them diminish.
There was no like-minded friend to draw him into a conver-
sation so he was able to write for most of one day and part of
the next.
He marked honestly the path he had followed, in hope that
there might be some who would profit from his mistakes as
well as his successes. He told no tales of womanizing and folly
beyond his early years in London because there were none.(
He would have guffawed if any one had been able to tell him
what gossip regarding his time in France would still be told two
hundred years later. By 1784 his gout and gall stones made him
nearly unable to walk.)
He included much in his story that critics would term moral-
izing and historians would see from a rationalist perspective.
But, had there been an observer in the room, he would have
seen the old philosopher praying as he tried to explain his own
habitual reliance on prayer.

49
 Conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom,
I thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for
obtaining it; to this end I formed the following little prayer,
which was prefixed to my tables of examination in my little
book, for daily use:
O powerful Goodness! Bountiful Father! Merciful
Guide! Increase in me that wisdom
which discovers my truest interest.
Strengthen my resolutions to perform
what that wisdom dictates.
Accept my kind offices to thy other children
as the only return in my power
for thy continual favors to me.
Prayer was an important part of his plan. He made sure it
would not be overlooked or interpreted as nonessential. He
quoted another little prayer he sometimes used which he took
from Thompsons Poems

Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme!

Save me from folly, vanity, and vice,
from every low pursuit; and fill my soul
With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure;
Sacred, substantial, never fading bliss!
He wrote on, hour after hour. When one quill began to fray
and smear he took another from his pre-sharpened stack and
wrote. He was racing time to tell his tale before the last tick of
that old watch. He was determined not to leave behind ashes
of ideas to blow away in the passing winds.
He lamented that, regarding order, he had indeed settled for
a speckled ax and regretted that memories, somewhat dim, now
had to replace notes he had hoped to draw from which had
been destroyed or scattered in the war.

50
 Quill to paper, he sowed far into the future the rich lessons
of his long life:
On the whole, though I never arrived at the perfection I
had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of
it, yet I was, by the endeavor, a better and a happier man
than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted
it, as those who aim at perfect horsemanship by imitating
the steeple chase champions, though they never reach the
wished-for excellence, their balance is mended by the
endeavor, and, though not perfect, is tolerable as long as
they continue in the saddle over whatever obstacles they
chose to clear.
His purpose was clear in his mind. He wrote details that
emphasized his humanity and his concern with the problems
common to mortals in order to clarify his belief that greatness
among men required only tolerable abilities, good plans and
definite action, plus the grace of God. As a useful definite action
he recommended his little book:
My posterity should be informed that to this little artifice,
with the blessing of God, their ancestor owed the constant
felicity of his life.
He commented briefly on each of the virtues and the benefits
he had experienced.
To Temperance he ascribed his long continued health, and
what was still left to him of good constitution. At 78, he had
buried many friends who had thought less of temperance than
he.
He credited the early easiness of his circumstances and
acquisition of his fortune to Industry and Frugality. He also
attributed to Industry and Frugality all the knowledge that had
enabled him to be a useful citizen, and had obtained for him
some degree of reputation among the learned.

51
 To Sincerity and Justice, he said that he owed the confidence
his country had placed in him, and the honorable employs it
had conferred upon him.
To the joint influence of the whole mass of the virtues, even
in the imperfect state he was able to acquire them, he believed
that he owed all the evenness of temper, and cheerfulness in
conversation, which made his company still sought for even
in his old age, and which made is ideas agreeable even to his
much younger friends.
I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the
example and reap the benefit.
Perhaps anticipating comments from detractors of his dream
who were jealous of their own version of truth, the old philoso-
pher put forth a declaration regarding his nondenominational
stance and his Bible-based reasoning:
It will be remarked that, though my scheme was not
wholly without religion, there was in it no mark of any
of the distinguishing tenets of any particular sect. I had
purposely avoided them; for, being fully persuaded of the
utility and excellency of my method, and that it might be
serviceable to people in all religions, and intending some
time or other to publish it, I would not have anything in
it that should prejudice any one, of any sect, against it.
I planned to write a little comment on each virtue, in
which I would have shown the advantages of possessing
it, and the mischiefs attending its opposite vice; and
I should have called my little book THE ART OF
VIRTUE, because it would have shown the means
and manner of obtaining virtue, which would have
distinguished it from the mere exhortation to be good,
that does not instruct and indicate the means, but is like
the apostles man of verbal charity, who only without

52
 showing to the naked and hungry how or where they
might get clothes or food, exhorted them to be fed and
clothed.
The old philosopher paused to look up the exact scripture
reference and went back to add it so future readers would know
his source precisely James 2: 15,16. He also penned a note
in the margin:
Nothing so likely to make a mans fortune as virtue.

53

Great beauty, great strength, and
great riches are
really and truly
of no great use;
a right heart exceeds them all.

54
 7.
Philadelphia, March, 1790.
Two Requirements

The old philosopher was dying. He was at home, surrounded

by memories, tended to by loving grand children, visited often
by long time friends. He was concerned about his friends in
France and saddened by the bloody events there that had taken
the lives of men he admired. He particularly grieved when Jef-
ferson recounted the death of the chemist who first isolated
oxygen, Lavoisier, upon the machine named for its inventor,
another friend, Guillotin. The three had served together in 1784
on a royal committee which investigated the animal magnetism
theories of Mesmer. Jefferson later wrote that the Franklin
Committee, as it was known, had dealt the "death wound" to
the compound fraud and folly of Mesmerism.
Hearing the news from France saddened the old man, but
did not discourage him. He believed that he had invested his
life in mans last, great hope. The horrible fruit of the French
Revolution convinced him even more that reliance on the Cre-
ator who endowed men with rights was the better choice over
reliance on man's powers of reason to bring about justice. Now,
he counted the cost of his investment and dozed off, smiling.

The constitution he had urged the founding fathers to pray
for in the summer of 87 had been ratified by the states less
than three months after that seed which grew into the tradi-
tion of opening each session of Congress with prayer had been
planted. The old philosopher had been too ill to speak at the
ratification meeting, but he had James Wilson read a speech
for him. He said in it that he was not sure the constitution was
the best they could have written, but he was also not sure that
it was not the best:

55
 having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being
obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change my
opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right,
but found to be otherwise.
When asked what kind of government the constitutional con-
vention had come up with, the old philosopher had replied, A
republic, if you can keep it.

The prerequisite of a republic is a people who, individually,
can govern themselves. A republic, Jefferson would say, is the
only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war
with the rights of man.
The old philosopher knew he could not complete his great and
extensive project himself, so he had written a brief but detailed
description of the plan and its object, anticipating a reader who
might attempt the first requirements and go on to establish the
entire project.
The final object of the project was to be the formation of a
body of good and virtuous persons, The Society of the Free and
Easy. It was wise, he thought, that the society should be kept
secret until its numbers had become considerable to prevent men
of the baser sort from seeking membership.
Whoever attempts this aright, and is well qualified, can not
fail of pleasing God, and meeting with success.
The first requirement for membership in the secret society
was agreement with a plain statement of belief:
That there is one God, who made all things.
That he governs the world by his providence.
That he ought to be worshipped by adoration, prayer, and
thanksgiving.
But that the most acceptable service of God is doing good
to man.
That the soul is immortal.

56
 And that God will certainly reward virtue and punish
vice, either here or hereafter.
Nothing in that requirement disagrees with the two essential
requirements of the Judeo-Christian credo: Love the Lord, your
God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
mind. And love your neighbor as yourself . If you believe one,
you believe the other as well. Believing either alone gets little
accomplished. One must act.
The second requirement for membership was the use and
practice of the thirteen week examination and exercise in self
government which comprised the old philosophers little book.
He concluded the description of his long-planned project by
saying:
I have no longer strength or activity left sufficient for such an
enterprise; though I am still of the opinion that it is a practicable
scheme, and might be very useful, by forming a great number of
good citizens; and I am not discouraged by the seeming magni-
tude of the undertaking, as I have always had the thought that
one man of tolerable abilities may work great changes, and
accomplish great affairs among mankind if he first forms a good
plan and, cutting off all amusements or other employments that
would divert his attention, makes the execution of that same plan
his sole study and business.

The great project was the seed of a dream too big to mature
in one lifetime. The old philosopher regretted not seeing it
bear fruit, but he was confident that the fertile soil of free-
dom he had helped to till would nurture the dream long after
he was gone.
Those requirements and hopes were attached to the copy of
his personal history, written in his own flowing hand, that he
handed to Thomas Jefferson that day in March of 1790.

Thank you, Sir, I shall read it and return it quickly.

57
 Keep it.
Not sure what the old man meant, Jefferson restated himself.
I shall keep it safe and return it quickly.
No, keep it.
The old philosopher closed his eyes and appeared to be sleep-
ing. Jefferson stood a while beside the bed. He did not expect to
see his friend alive again. He rolled the papers gently and quietly
left the room, his thoughts on the dangers already beginning to
erode the foundations of his nation. As he shut the door and
walked down the hall he repeated softly a pledge he and the
old philosopher had made twice, once when they wrote it and
once when they signed the Declaration of Independence: We
mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our
sacred honor.
In his room, the old philosopher spoke without opening his
eyes, Its about self-government, Tom...
Its about how to govern yourself.

58
 8. Ultimate Destiny
For the earnest expectation of creation waits for the
manifestation of the sons of God.
Romans 8:19
The old philosopher died in April, 1790. His dream did not
die with him. The pain in his body had prevented his complet-
ing his autobiography, but he continued to correspond with
friends right up to the day of his death. Again and again, he
mentioned his disappointment at not being able to finish his
great project.
His intention of writing and publishing the book of com-
ments, which he had planned to call The Art of Virtue, was
never fulfilled unless one takes a hint early in the autobiography
to indicate that the personal history was always meant to be
more than meets the eye:
Men should be taught as though ye taught them not,
And things unknown proposd as things forgot;
To speak, tho sure, with seeming diffidence.
For want of modesty is want of sense.
Perhaps the great and extensive project was all along taking
shape by presenting itself to the readers mind as a thing which
had yet to be created, a dream in embryo.
In the old philosophers Art of Virtue his plan was to explain
and enforce this doctrine:
that vicious actions (sins) are not hurtful because
they are forbidden, but forbidden because they are
hurtful, the nature of man alone considered;
that it is, therefore, every ones interest to be virtuous
who wished to be happy even in this world.
Because there are always in the world a number of rich

59
 merchants, nobility, states, and princes, who have need of honest
persons for the management of their affairs, and such persons
being so rare, his purpose was to convince young persons that
no qualities were so likely to make a poor mans fortune as those of
probity and integrity.
Now, the purpose of this book is to put in the hands of persons
striving to be the best that they can be, the device which the
old philosopher used so well, his little book of thirteen virtues,
the moral steering device.
The pages that follow the next chapter are similar to those
the old philosopher used in his little book. They were designed
so that you may copy the pages and continue with the exercise
until you feel you have put on the good habits and thrown off
the bad.
The part of his autobiography the old philosopher did com-
plete, is widely available in public libraries, another of the many
legacies we all have from him. In that autobiography the reader
will find great detail regarding the thoughts of an old lover of
wisdom and much from the imaginary conversations that
made up this book.
We can draw from the old philosophers collected writings
much to indicate that he never became incongruous to his lifes
goal of serving God by doing good to his fellow man. No man
can be his judge. He died happy.
How we think about our Creator and our world and our fellow
man will determine how happy we can be. If we deny our
Creator and choose to believe that our world and we ourselves
are the products of a cosmic accident, then we will surely fail
to see lifes best plan.
As the old philosopher pointed out:
The foundation of all happiness is right thinking.
The best efforts of man, without Gods concurring aid, can
succeed no better than the efforts of Babylons builders. Deny-
ing Gods sovereign roll in our lives leads French and Russian

60
Revolutions and to the despair we read about in newspapers
everyday.
Jefferson wrote in an 1821 letter that he never really understood
that Franklin meant for him to keep the papers until, shortly
after Franklin's death, when he arranged to give the papers to
Franklin's son William, who, as he put the papers in his pocket,
expressed to Jefferson that he already had a copy.
"This last expression struck my attention forcibly," said Jef-
ferson, "and for the first time suggested to me the thought that
Dr. Franklin had meant it as a confidential deposit in my hands,
and that I had done wrong in parting from it. "
Some time ago, I thought, Our world could be quite differ-
ent if Jefferson had seen the simplicity of the old philosophers
sublime vision of the great and extensive project. Had he put his
own considerable talents into nurturing the seeds of the dream
there might have been all along a conspiracy of virtuous per-
sons manipulating governments and industries and schools and
churches and families to call earnestly upon God to establish
America, and then the whole world, as a place where all persons
could be free to pursue what the Bible calls the ultimate destiny
of mankind, to be conformed to the image of the son of God.
Our world is quite different than many of us believe. Perhaps
if we take a step beyond simple, childish assumptions about
life and history being an accident we may see the sublime plan
our Creator has in mind.

And we know all things work together for good

to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose. For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren.
Romans 8:28,29.
Dreams and hopes are spiritual things. It is true that not all
dreams and hopes are from God... but some are.

61

Stand ye in the ways, and see,
and ask for the old paths,
where is the good way,
and walk therein,
and ye shall find rest for your souls.
But they said, We will not walk therein.

Jeremiah

Reproof of instruction
is the way of Life

Solomon

62
 9. A Tool for Success
You want to succeed? Find a need, and fill it.
Our planet has become a village. As our world shrinks busi-
nesses and governments everywhere are waking up to the fact
that doing well requires doing good. Old ideas like waste
not, want not are invading the consumer based economy. Doing
the right thing is in Some corporations are even beginning
to think Honesty is the best Policy.
From Watts to Western Australia the search is on for per-
sons who have habits of honesty, dedication and perseverance.
History has proven that these are the habits which produce
wealth. Every where the search is on for old-fashioned good
people any size, shape, color or creed but GOOD!
The world is crying out for men and women who can dream
the American dream!
Theres the need. Fill it!
How?
Find the old way, where good is, and walk in it.
Every dream that ever became a reality was dreamed by some-
one who had a plan. Far more important than chance or luck
are faith and vision harnessed in a definite, measurable plan.
A definite, measurable, see-able, hope-able, believable plan,
thats the one tool you can not be without.
This book provides access to such a plan, a time-tested tool
for becoming as good as you can be by replacing bad habits
with good. The tool and the plan for its use really was developed
by Benjamin Franklin, the old philosopher who dreamed of a
world where all persons had equal access to all the wisdom of
the ages and the freedom to apply it.

63
 The Autobiography that contains the information about the
plan that is depicted in this book was discovered in France, by
John Bigelow, in the 1860s. That document may or may not
have contained the pages Jefferson said were missing from edi-
tions he had seen published before 1821. But we do know that
since the publication of Bigelow's edition of the Autobiography
every leading success teacher has alluded to the plan.
The old philosopher gleaned the seed of his plan from the likes
of Socrates, who, according to Plato, said that an unexamined life
is not worth living; and from Solomon, who said that wisdom
is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are
not to be compared to it.
Franklin planted the seeds of his dream in his own life. He
tended his garden well, weeding out ideas that sprouted early and
proved useless, fertilizing and replanting those which produced
a good crop. He became convinced of the worlds need for good
men; he planned to fill that need by leaving behind a supply of
the seeds he, himself, had proven.
His life bore good fruit, therefore the seed he planted must
have been good; bad seed cannot bring forth good fruit.
There is nothing more likely to make a mans fortune than
virtue... I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may
follow the example and reap the benefit.
follow the example and reap the benefit.
follow the example and reap the benefit.
Throughout his eighty-four years, Franklin lived a public life.
He believed a good example is the best sermon.
He changed the world by governing himself. Maybe you and
I can, too.
In the last days of his life, the gentle old man concluded that
it was his personal habits of virtue and his conscious efforts at
attaining moral perfection which had brought his life happi-
ness and had given him the opportunity to sow the seeds of the
American dream.

64
 Moral perfection is, indeed, a lofty goal. No matter how good
our aim, we will likely miss that mark. But if we do not try to
be the best that we can be, we accept our present position as our
ultimate destination. We overlook lifes greatest treasures.
Our world, our time, needs persons who know how to rec-
ognize lifes treasures and know how to preserve them against
the storm of confusion and lawlessness which is, and always
has been, beating back mankinds progress toward our ultimate
destination.
Believing anything without knowing why is a bad habit. If
we are slaves to bad habits and we do not try to change, we die
slaves. This book is for persons who know they want something
better in life than slavery and the drudgery of being governed
by someone else. Its premise is sublime:
He that walks with wise men shall be wise, but a
companion of fools shall be destroyed.
Solomon again, Proverbs 13:20
As I have mentioned, the old philosophers method has been
recommended by some of the greatest motivational teachers in
the past two centuries. But no teacher or self-help course can
develop productive habits for you. Your success in life depends on
your own ability to gather the best that life offers and habitually
put it to personal use in a way that neither harms nor hinders
anyone elses ability to do likewise. The old philosopher often
pointed out, you can not hope to be the best that you can be
without Gods help.
You have in your hand magic seeds, which can produce in
you the fruit of the dream that has been called for over two
hundred years, the American dream... if you plant them. This
book contains a tool for planting the magic seeds. It is not as
sharp as you can make it, but two centuries of experience have
shown that as you use this tool, it becomes sharper and sharper.
It is more effectual if you employ it just as the old philosopher
employed it, prayerfully.
Concentrate on one principle for an entire week. Each day of

65
 the week, all day long, as you observe your behavior violating
the good habit you are trying to establish, put a mark in your
book (compliment yourself on your honesty) and, if possible,
correct the error on the spot. After a week of concentrating on
one habit consider it established and go on to the next.
For the second and ensuing weeks, let the established good
habits take root, only examining yourself every evening for any
violations and marking your charts accordingly. But concentrate
on each weeks principle for the entire week, each day of the
week, all day long. Follow through the complete course, then
begin again. If you find yourself secure in one particular good
habit but weak in another area, you can use the blank page at
the end of the book to substitute a new virtue or attitude or skill
that you may wish to develop.
Dont be discouraged. By being your own judge, you are taking
that power exclusively and you need not be concerned about
being judged by others or judging others, for that matter.
The purpose of this course is personal progress, not personal
perfection. Put your heart into it. You can make the world a
better place by taking over the responsibility of governing your-
self. You may not do it perfectly, but you can do it better than
any other man or woman on Earth.
When you come to the 13th principle, remember Bishop
Shipleys advice: imitate Christ, take Socrates with a grain
of salt.
We do well to pay heed to the old philosophers subtle and not
so subtle hints regarding the benefits of Christian faith. In his
proposal for the development of the University of Pennsylvania
he said, though American youth are allowd not to lack Capacity;
yet the best Capacities require Cultivation, it being truly with them,
as with the best Ground, which unless well tilled and sowed with
profitable Seed, produces only ranker Weeds. To ensure profitable
seed and good fruit, he recommended, in that same proposal,
the Excellency of the Christian Religion above all others ancient
or modern.
There is time for one more crop. Plant the Seed.

66
The Old
Philosphers
Little Book

These pages may be copied for personal use.

The last page is for additional habits you may wish to develop.

67
 Here will I hold. If theres a power above us
(And that there is, all nature cries aloud
Through all her works),
He must delight in virtue;
And that which he delights in must be happy.
Cato

O vit Phiosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix expultrixque

vitiorum! Unus dies, bene et ex prceptis tuis actus, peccanti
immortalitati est antiponendus *.
Cicero

Of Wisdom
Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left
hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleas-
antness, and all her paths are peace.
Proverbs 3:17

*.Which translates roughly:

O Wisdom, Prince of Life! O virtue of those who inquire about the nature
of vices. The goodness of your precepts are too high for those who sin
against immortality.

My thanks to Don Francisco, an old seminary student working at the welfare

office on 47th Street, who did his best on the Latin Franklin quoted .

68
 The Little Book

O powerful Goodness! Bountiful Father! Merciful Guide!

Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest.
Strengthen my resolutions to perform what that wisdom dic-
tates. Accept my kind offices to thy other children as the only
return in my power for thy continual favours to me.

Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme!

O teach me what is good; teach me Thyself
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice,
from every low pursuit; and fill my soul
With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure;
Sacred, substantial, never fading bliss!

69
 TEMPERANCE.
EAT NOT TO DULLNESS;
DRINK NOT TO ELEVATION.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

70
 SILENCE
SPEAK NOT BUT WHAT MAY BENEFIT OTHERS OR
YOURSELF; AVOID TRIFLING CONVERSATION.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

71
 ORDER.
LET ALL THINGS HAVE THEIR PLACES; LET EACH PART
OF YOUR BUSINESS HAVE ITS TIME.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

72
 RESOLUTION.
RESOLVE TO PERFORM WHAT YOU OUGHT; PERFORM
WITHOUT FAIL WHAT YOU RESOLVE.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

73
 FRUGALITY.
MAKE NO EXPENSE BUT TO DO GOOD TO OTHERS OR
YOURSELF; i.e., WASTE NOTHING
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

74
 INDUSTRY.
LOSE NO TIME; BE ALWAYS EMPLOYD IN SOMETHING
USEFUL; CUT OFF ALL UNNECESSARY ACTIONS.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

75
 SINCERITY.
USE NO HURTFUL DECEIT; THINK INNOCENTLY AND
JUSTLY, AND, IF YOU SPEAK, SPEAK ACCORDINGLY.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

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 JUSTICE.
WRONG NONE BY DOING INJURIES, OR BY OMITTING THE
BENEFITS THAT ARE YOUR DUTY.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

77
 MODERATION.
AVOID EXTREMES; FORBEAR RESENTING INJURIES SO MUCH
AS YOU THINK THEY DESERVE.

Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

78
 CLEANLINESS.
TOLERATE NO UNCLEANLINESS IN BODY, CLOTHES,
OR HABITATION.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

79
 TRANQUILITY.
BE NOT DISTURBED AT TRIFLES, OR AT ACCIDENTS
COMMON OR UNAVOIDABLE.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

80
 CHASTITY.
RARELY USE VENERY BUT FOR HEALTH OR OFFSPRING, NEVER TO
DULLNESS, WEAKNESS, OR THE INJURY OF YOUR OWN OR ANOTHERS
PEACE OR REPUTATION.
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

81
 HUMILITY.
IMITATE JESUS AND SOCRATES.

Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

TEMPERANCE

SILENCE

ORDER

RESOLUTION

FRUGALITY

INDUSTRY

SINCERITY

JUSTICE

MODERATION

CLEANLINESS

TRANQUILITY

CHASTITY

HUMILITY

82
Sun. Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat.

83
 Poor Richard says:
Since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour.

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors,

and let every New Year find you a better man.

Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge.

When the well is dry, we know the worth of water.

Get what you can, and what you get, hold;

Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold.

For age and want, save while you may;

no morning sun lasts a whole day.

Wish not so much to live long as to live well.

One today is worth two tomorrows.

The used key is always bright.

Have you something to do tomorrow? Do it today!

If you would have your business done, go; if not, send.

Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in,

soon comes to the bottom.

At the working mans house,

hunger looks in, but dares not enter.

Learning is to the studious, and Riches to the careful; Power to

the bold, and Heaven to the virtuous.

84
What you would seem to be, be really.

A plowman on his legs is higher

than a gentleman on his knees.

Sell not virtue to purchase wealth,

nor liberty to purchase power.

Then plow deep while sluggards sleep,

and you shall have corn to sell and to keep.

Industry pays debts, while despair increaseth them.

Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.

Keep conscience clear, Then never fear.

The noblest question in the world is:

What good may I do in it?

Observe all men; thyself, most.

Wealth is not his that hath it, but his that enjoys it.

Where liberty dwells, there is my country.

The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.

If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as of getting.

A little neglect may breed mischief: for want of a nail the shoe
was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost;
and for want of a horse the rider was lost.

85
 Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy; and he
that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his
business at night; while laziness travels so slowly that poverty
soon overtakes him.

Great beauty, great strength, and great riches are really and
truly of no great use; a right heart exceeds all.

Let him that scatters thorns not go barefoot.

He that would catch fish must venture his bait.

He that cannot obey cannot command.

Write injuries in dust; benefits in marble.

Early to bed and early to rise makes a man

healthy, wealthy, and wise.

He that lives on hope will die fasting.

Keep thy shop, and thy shop will keep thee.

The use of money is all the advantage there is in having money.

If a man could have half his wishes,

he would double his troubles.

A man must have a good deal of vanity who believes, and a

good deal of boldness who affirms, that all the doctrines he holds
are true, and all he rejects are false.

Think of saving as well as getting.

The maintaining of one vice costs more than ten virtues.

86
The way to wealth, if you desire it ,
is as plain as the way to the market.
It depends chiefly on two words, industry and frugality; that is,
waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both.

If a man empties his purse into his head,

no one can take it from him.

If principle is good for anything it is worth living up to.

In my opinion, there never was a good war or a bad peace.

In this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes.

He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.

The doors to wisdom are never shut.

Necessity has no law.

A word to the wise is enough.

Fly pleasures, and theyll follow you.

Work as if you were to live a hundred years;

pray as if you were to die tomorrow.

Words may show a mans wit, but his actions his meaning.

Every man will own that an author, as such,

ought to be tried by the merit of his productions only.

Different Sects, like different clocks, may all be near the matter,
though they dont quite agree.

One can not always be a hero, but one can always be a man.

Vessels large may venture more,

but little boats should keep near shore.

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 Without industry and frugality nothing will do,
and with them everything

Caesar did not merit the triumphal car

more than he that conquers himself.

Content makes poor men rich;

discontent makes rich men poor.

A long life may not be good enough,

but a good life is long enough.

None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.

Great modesty; often hides great merit.

Industry need not wish.

Haste makes waste.

The cat in gloves catches no mice.

The wise and brave dares own that he was wrong.

If you know how to spend less than you get

you have the philosophers stone.

Modesty makes the most homely virgin amiable and charming.

He that gets all he can honestly, and saves all he gets (necessary
expenses excepted), will certainly become rich.

They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary

safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Nothing can contribute to true happiness that is

inconsistent with duty.

88

Wisdom from Thomas Jefferson
Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.

The God who gave us life, gave us liberty

at the same time.

History, by apprising men of the past, will enable them to judge

the future.

He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself

without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine,
receives light without darkening me.

The time to guard against corruption and tyranny is before they

shall have gotten hold of us. It is better to keep the wolf out of
the fold than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he
shall have entered.

Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect

that God is just.

A little rebellion now and then is a good thing. It is a medicine

necessary for the sound health of government.

89

And its every bit the truth,
said Johnny Appleseed...

A man must fight for the thing he loves,

To possess it,
To keep it
Be it
Apples,
Freedom or
Heaven itself,
said Johnny Appleseed.

From a sprout Edgar Lee Masters planted

in a poem called Johnny Appleseed.

90
 Epilogue

After some time and several revisions, my little book has

become, in its own tiny way, controversial. Thats good.
Readers have informed me that I made two of historys
humanist, arch-heretics into eighteenth century versions of
what is called the Radical Christian Right these days. I counter
by saying that I never intended to revise history; I intended to
provoke re-search of history. The atheistic humanists who claim
Franklin and Jefferson in their ranks should ponder some of
the ideas these men were willing to die for; the Christians who
judge them heretics and pagans should look closer to home for
opportunities to correct history.
The great volumes Franklin and Jefferson wrote regarding
democracy and republicanism and religion and education are
hardly touched in these few pages. You will have to read those
volumes, or a good piece of them, before you decide to disre-
gard this little books main character and let the current crop
of history manipulators convince your children that there was
no honor involved in the birth of our nation.
I know I dealt little with the personal faults of Franklin. I
know he had faults and failures, but he planted the seed of the
dream all the world calls America. As Toqueville said, America
is great because America is good; when America ceases to be
good it will cease to be great. The seed was good. It still is.
For teachers and professors to stand before students and
disavow the role of faith in the decisions of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence, is a violation of trust and the
uprooting of the finest crop of free men and women ever to
breath Earths air.
This book is not revisionist; it is visionist.

91
 I wrote this book to plant the good seed I found in an effort to
change tomorrow, not yesterday.
The personal values both Franklin and Jefferson held on their
death beds were not vastly different than values each held at
twenty, or even fifty. But experience taught both men that often
we know less about things pertaining to God than we say we
know; and, conversely, we often know more about things per-
taining to God than we say we know.
As the old philosopher told his mother and Jesus told the
Pharisees and I pointed out to my readers in this little book,
none of us will be judged, either here or hereafter, by what we
said we did but by what we did.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Matthew 7:20

Any person who believes that the faith of the Founding Fathers
is the result of Christian revisionism and that those men who
wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence were really
only selfish humanists out for their own self-indulgent ends
has never dreamed the dream nor seen the vision. I wrote the
book for those people.
Any Christians who have chosen to believe that the Founders
were all deist heretics whose ideas have no place in a Christian
nation should take the thirteen week course in self-examination.
They need the exercise. I wrote the book for those people.
And finally, in the future, any person who was a child in the
old days when this book was written and may by now have been
robbed of your American heritage, this book was written for you.
Take the time to read and take the time to see the world you
live in and refuse to say you know things that your teachers say
they know until you know. (Its okay to read that last sentence
again.) This does not mean you should assume your teachers

92
are liars, but if you profess to know things you do not know, you
could, and probably will, end up believing lies.
Look for the evidence of the unalienable rights that Jefferson
and Franklin and millions since have held to be self evident,
then look for the Creator who endowed you with them.
Dare to dream the American Dream.
It never was anything but an idea held by persons who know
all things are possible with God.

93
 Sources
These sources provided the heart of facts upon which this
book draws. Any quotes in this book are taken from these sources
but are inserted into the fictional narrative and, following a pattern
set by the Old Philosopher himself, changed so as to speak their
seeds of good sense more effectively to the hearers at hand.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

The Programmed Classics Series
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1923.

Benjamin Franklin: His Life As He Wrote It

Esmond Wright, editor
Harvard University Press,
Cambridge, Massachusets, 1990.

Benjamin Franklins Autobiographical Writings

Carl Van Doren, editor
The Viking Press, New York, 1945.

An American Treasury
Hugh Graham, compiler
Consolidated Book Publishers, Chicago, 1949.

By These Words
Paul M. Angle
Rand McNally & Company, 1954.

Miracle at Philadelphia
Catherine Drinker Bowen
Little, Brown; Boston, 1966.

The Holy Bible

King James Version, 1611.

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