John Adams once said that Benjamin Franklin was “far above Sir Isaac Newton, Frederick the Great or Voltaire in fame.” He stated that Franklin was “more believed and esteemed than any or all of them.” Indeed Franklin was one of the greatest men of the eighteenth century. His inquiring mind, limitless curiosity, his scientific achievements coupled with his interest in philosophy, his statesmanship and his literary talents have made him a fascinating person.

In the history of American literature Franklin occupies a high place. He attempted more than one literary species and has left his stamp on each one. The most important work of Franklin and his most famous one is his autobiography. Written in a simple and direct style it is the first ‘rags to riches’ success story in American literature. This book has been responsible for making the autobiography accepted as a literary species and it has legitimately become an American classic. As Franklin avowedly wrote his autobiography for his son, these have entered into it a deep personal touch and an air of intimacy. This book in spite of its obvious merits has exposed Franklin to the charges of excessive materialism that ignores the higher values. It is said that the Poet William Blake wrote on his history of Bacon’s Essays. “Good advice from Satan’s Kingdom.” A feeling slightly akin to this has coloured the criticism of many who declare Benjamin Franklin too wordily-wise to their taste. The fact is that Franklin was pragmatic and full of common sense even when he was a philosopher and a scientist. An enigmatic mixture of the idealist and the realist, he came closer to being the typical American than any other figure of his time.

‘Poor Richard’s Almanac has been a work to which was accorded great popularity and acclaim. The work has been translated into several languages. The great popularity of the work may be traced to the age-old love for proverbs and also to the dominance of the bourgeois philosophy of life during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Though the maxims are not always original, Franklin showed great originality in presenting them through the mouth of one character against a suitable background. Even to old and familiar saying he has given smoothness and charm and the flavour of a quaint humor. For instance “The cat in gloves catches no mice” sounds much better than the old Scottish proverb “ A gloved cat was never a good mouser”. Such simple charm and some strikingly picturesque passages have made the Almanac a much loved book.

More interesting than the ‘Autobiography’ and ‘poor Richard’s Almanac’ are the little pieces that Franklin penned like ‘The whistle’, ‘The Ephemera’ and ‘The Dialogue between Franklin and the Gout.’ In these small pieces we have the beginning of two important literary forms- the personal essay as well as the short story. Here Franklin shows a readiness to talk about himself and to reveal to the reader his own mistakes and foibles. This trait has entered him to his readers almost in the way Charles Lamb’s Essays have endeared him to numberless readers. ‘The Whistle’ is a delightful essay based on one of Franklin’s experiences in his childhood. The fact that as a boy he gave too short I conceive that great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by their giving too much for their whistle.” ‘The Ephemera’ also written as a letter to his friend Madame Brillon has a deeply serious theme clothed in an intimate and light form. Franklin explains how his ability to understand all “the inferior animal tongues” enabled him to follow the conversation of the insects ephemerae which he claims set him ‘thinking’ on the transience of life. The insect philosophy seems to be an original and interesting mouth-piece for Franklin’s views on life and its evanescent nature. The essay is remarkable for its stubbed humor and its delicately expressed pathos.

The great mind of Franklin could assess the political trend of his time fully. He understood the flaw in the British government and he could sympathize with the Revolutionaries. His diagnosis of the situation and his instinctive grasp of the issues involved were accurate. ‘Rules by which a Great Empire may be Reduced’ is a classic. With heavy Sarcasm and pungent criticism, Franklin tries here to bring home to the British Government the thousand ways in which it forfeited the trust and loyalty of the people of America. The thorough grasp of the rules on which an empire should be based, and the prophetic vision that Franklin displays in this work bring to our mind the eloquent plea that Burke made to a deaf parliament in favour of reconciliation with American colonies. Many sentences in this piece are reminiscent of Burke’s famous words “Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom and a big empire and a little mind go ill together.” In ‘Edict of the King of Prussia’ Benjamin Franklin continues his frank criticism of the British. This work along with the ‘Rules’ reveals the author as one who can wield the Swiftian weapon of irony with deadly effect and a disarming look of innocence.

In the course of his writings, Franklin has said much about style and purpose of writing that is important as specimens of early American literary criticism. In his Preface to the Pennsylvania Gazette, Franklin observed that “a good writer should proceed regularly from things known that “a good writer should proceed regularly from things known to things unknown distinctly and clearly without confusion. The words should be the most expressive that the language affords, provided that they are the most generally understood. Nothing should be expressed in two words that can be as well expressed in one….. The words should be placed as to the agreeable to the ear in reading; summarily it should be smooth, clear and short, for the contrary qualities are displeasing.” This reveals Franklin as a conscientious and scrupulous artist who always aims at clarity and directness, economy of expression. It is remarkable that along with these qualities he insists on the musical quality of words. In his own writings Franklin avoided the extravagant splendour of Renaissance prose. Perhaps it was his reading of Bunyan and Swift and Defoe that made it possible for him to achieve the remarkable directness and simplicity of his prose. From the terse irony of his political writings to the ease and charm of his bagatelles, Franklin’s prose is always highly polished, graceful and durable. His style his infinite range; it was effective in the letters, the autobiography, the scientific reports, the sophisticated bagatelle, and the ease. No wonder Franklin earned international reputation and became the most beloved and the most widely-read of all early American writers. Franklin himself claimed “prose writing was a principal means of my advancement.” Cowper called Benjamin Franklin “one of the most important in the literary world.” The Philosopher Hume echoed the sentiment of the intellectual world when he wrote to Franklin, “You are the first philosopher, and indeed the first great man of letters for whom we are beholden to her.” (American). The praise is great but well merited.