VOL. II. RICHMOND, APRIL, 1836. NO. V.
T. W. WHITE, PROPRIETOR. FIVE DOLLARS PER ANNUM.
MSS. OF BENJ. FRANKLIN.1
1 It is with great pleasure that we are enabled, through the kindness of a friend in Philadelphia, to lay before our readers an Essay, never yet published, from the pen of Benjamin Franklin. It is copied from the original MS. of Franklin himself, and is not to be found in any edition of his works. The Letters which succeed the Essay are also copied from the original MS., but were first published in the Doctor's Weekly Pennsylvania Gazette, which was commenced in 1727. The Epistle from Anthony Afterwit appeared in No. 189—that from Celia Single in No. 191. Although these Letters are to be found in the file of the Gazette at the Franklin Library in Philadelphia, still they are not in either the 1809 or the 1835 edition of the writer's works. We therefore make no apology for publishing them in the Messenger.