Page:Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin (1793).djvu/107

97 to improvements and diſcoveries in the arts, agriculture, and philoſophy.

The beneficial influence of this inſtitution was ſoon evident. The cheapneſs of terms rendered it acceſſible to every one. Its advantages were not confined to the opulent. The citizens in the middle and lower walks of life were equally partakers of them. Hence a degree of information was extended amongſt all claſſes of people, which is very unuſual in other places. The example was ſoon followed. Libraries were eſtabliſhed in various places, and they are now become very numerous in the United States, and particularly in Pennſylvania. It is to be hoped that they will be ſtill more widely extended, and that information will be every where increaſed. This will be the beſt ſecurity for maintaining our liberties. A nation of well-informed men, who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them, cannot be enſlaved. It is in the regions of ignorance that tyranny reigns. It flies before the light of ſcience. Let the citizens of America, then, encourage inſtitutions calculated to diffuſe knowledge amongſt the people; and amongſt theſe, public libraries are not the leaſt important.

In 1732, Franklin began to publiſh Poor Richard's Almanack. This was remarkable for the numerous and valuable conciſe maxims which it contained, all tending to exhort to induſtry and frugality. It was continued for many years. In the almanack for the laſt year, all the maxims were collected in an addreſs to the reader, entitled, The Way to Wealth. This has been tranſlated into various languages, and inſerted in different publications. It has alſo been printed on a large ſheet, and may be ſeen framed in many houſes in this city. This addreſs contains,