Page:Works of the Late Doctor Benjamin Franklin (1793).djvu/5



volume that is here preſented to the Public, consists of two parts: the Life of Dr. Franklin; and a Collection of Miſcellaneous Eſſays, the work of that author.

It is already known to many, that Dr. Franklin amuſed himself, towards the cloſe of his life, with writing memoirs of his own hiſtory. Theſe memoirs were brought down to the year 1757. Together with ſome other manuſcripts they were left behind him at his death, and were conſidered as conſtituting a part of his poſthumous property. It is a little extraordinary that, under theſe circumſtances, intereſting as they are, from the celebrity of the character of which they treat, and from the critical ſituation of the preſent times, they ſhould ſo long have been with-held from the Public. A tranſlation of them appeared in France near two years ago, coming down to the year 1731. There can be no ſufficient reason, that what has thus been ſubmitted to the peruſal of Europe, ſhould not be made acceſſible to thoſe to whom Dr. Franklin's language is native. The hiſtory of his life, as far as page 149 of the present volume, is tranſlated from that publication.