never received much education. Early in life he became a shopkeeper's clerk
and then a tailor. This lack of early training and broad experience affects
his writings, which are not remarkable for ease of expression or for
imaginative reach; but their moral beauty and intensity more than
counterbalance such deficiencies.

A part of his time he spent traveling as an itinerant preacher. He tried to
get Quakers to give up their slaves, and he refused to write wills that
bequeathed slaves. He pleaded for compassion for overworked oxen and
horses. He journeyed among the Indians, and endeavored to improve their
condition. It cut him to the quick to see traders try to intoxicate them so
as to get their skins and furs for almost nothing. He took passage for
England in the steerage, and learned the troubles of the sailors. From this
voyage he never returned, but died in York in 1772.

In the year of his death, he made in his _Journal_ the following entry,
which is typical of his gentle, loving spirit:

"So great is the hurry in the spirit of this world, that in aiming to do
business quickly and to gain wealth, the creation at this day doth loudly
groan."

When a former president of Harvard issued a list of books for actual
reading, he put Franklin's _Autobiography_ first and John Woolman's
_Journal_ second. Franklin looked steadily at this world, Woolman at the
next. Each record is supplementary to the other.


EARLY AMERICAN FICTION