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"Ben Franklin"
Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography: Page 88
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different names, as the Vine, the Union, the Band, etc. They were useful to
themselves, and afforded us a good deal of amusement, information, and
instruction, besides answering, in some considerable degree, our views of
influencing the public opinion on particular occasions, of which I shall give
some instances in course of time as they happened.
My first promotion was my being chosen, in 1736, clerk of the General Assembly.
The choice was made that year without opposition; but the year following, when I
was again propos'd (the choice, like that of the members, being annual), a new
member made a long speech against me, in order to favour some other candidate. I
was, however, chosen, which was the more agreeable to me, as, besides the pay
for the immediate service as clerk, the place gave me a better opportunity of
keeping up an interest among the members, which secur'd to me the business of
printing the votes, laws, paper money, and other occasional jobbs for the
public, that, on the whole, were very profitable.
I therefore did not like the opposition of this new member, who was a gentleman
of fortune and education, with talents that were likely to give him, in time,
great influence in the House, which, indeed, afterwards happened. I did not,
however, aim at gaining his favour by paying any servile respect to him, but,
after some time, took this other method. Having heard that he had in his library
a certain very scarce and curious book, I wrote a note to him, expressing my
desire of perusing that book, and requesting he would do me the favour of
lending it to me for a few days. He sent it immediately, and I return'd it in
about a week with another note, expressing strongly my sense of the favour. When
we next met in the House, he spoke to me (which he had never done before), and
with great civility; and he ever after manifested a readiness to serve me on all
occasions, so that we became great friends, and our friendship continued to his
death. This is another instance of the truth of an old maxim I had learned,
which says, "He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you
another, than he whom you yourself have obliged." And it shows how much more
profitable it is prudently to remove, than to resent, return, and continue
inimical proceedings.
In 1737, Colonel Spotswood, late governor of Virginia, and then
postmaster-general, being dissatisfied with the conduct of his deputy at
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