The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin · Chapter
Early Friends in Philadelphia explained
Franklin describes his early friendships and intellectual pursuits in Philadelphia, including his relationship with Keimer, his courtship of Deborah Read, and his literary circle with Osborne, Watson, and Ralph.
What happens
Franklin describes his early friendships and intellectual pursuits in Philadelphia, including his relationship with Keimer, his courtship of Deborah Read, and his literary circle with Osborne, Watson, and Ralph. The chapter highlights a literary deception where Ralph's poem is passed off as Franklin's to test Osborne's criticism.
Themes in this chapter
Education and Self-Learning
Franklin and his friends engage in self-directed literary study, writing, and criticism during Sunday walks.
Practical Wisdom and Common Sense
Franklin uses Socratic method to outwit Keimer and advises Ralph against pursuing poetry as a career.
The Value of Networking and Reputation
Franklin builds a circle of literate friends who share and critique each other's work, enhancing his own reputation.
Characters to notice
- Samuel Keimer
Franklin's employer and roommate; they engage in Socratic disputations and a three-month vegetarian experiment.
- Deborah Read
Franklin courts her but is advised by her mother to delay marriage until after his return from a voyage.
- James Ralph
A friend and aspiring poet; he and Franklin deceive Osborne with a poem.
- Charles Osborne
A clerk and friend who criticizes Ralph's poetry; he is deceived by the poem trick.
- Joseph Watson
A pious and sensible friend who participates in the Sunday walks and literary discussions.
- Charles Brockden
An eminent scrivener for whom Osborne and Watson work as clerks.
Key passages
“I used to work him so with my Socratic method, and had trepanned him so often by questions apparently so distant from any point we had in hand, and yet by degrees led to the point, and brought him into difficulties and contradictions, that at last he grew ridiculously cautious, and would hardly answer me the most common question, without asking first, 'What do you intend to infer from that?'”
Franklin employed a Socratic questioning technique that gradually trapped Keimer in contradictions, making Keimer so wary that he hesitated to answer even simple questions without suspecting a hidden agenda.
Illustrates Franklin's use of rhetorical skill to dominate intellectual exchanges.
“I had made some courtship during this time to Miss Read. I had a great respect and affection for her, and had some reason to believe she had the same for me; but, as I was about to take a long voyage, and we were both very young, only a little above eighteen, it was thought most prudent by her mother to prevent our going too far at present, as a marriage, if it was to take place, would be more convenient after my return, when I should be, as I expected, set up in my business.”
Franklin courted Deborah Read, but her mother advised delaying marriage until after his planned voyage, when he would be more established in his trade.
Highlights the practical considerations that influenced personal relationships in Franklin's early life.
“This transaction fixed Ralph in his resolution of becoming a poet. I did all I could to dissuade him from it, but he continued scribbling verses till Pope cured him.”
The deception convinced Ralph to pursue poetry, despite Franklin's attempts to discourage him, until Alexander Pope's criticism finally dissuaded him.
Shows the influence of literary figures and the perils of youthful ambition.
