Old Mistresses Apologue
The most intriguing part about the initial context of this piece is that there was no initial publishing context. The piece of writing was not initially released or published in any newspaper, as it was a private letter. Moreover, the piece was suppressed, as it did not reflect well on the idealized version of who Benjamin Franklin was, as one of the founding fathers of our country and it’s ideals –ideals, which did not include promiscuity [i]. The letter is presumed to be a response to another letter, rumored to be from Cadwallader Colden, a scientist and statesman of Franklin’s era, although it may have also been written simply as Franklin embodying a persona.
Other writings by Franklin indicate a rich history of embodying personas. For example, in “The Speech of Miss Polly Baker” Franklin writes from the perspective of an unwed mother to make a point about the double standard between women and men in the eyes of the law.[ii] Furthermore, in “Printers Errors” Franklin pretends to be a printing critic to show the absurdity of criticizing every typo, as it rarely results in the improbable meaning changes Franklin depicts. In light of these texts as well as a variety of other satirical works such as “Anthony Afterwit” and “Celia Single” it is easy to imagine “Old Mistresses Apologue” as another example of this strain of Franklin’s work.[iii]
The basic content of the letter, which covers roughly three handwritten pages, is an argument, if one does not decide to marry, on taking older mistresses. The letter is dated June 25, 1745 [iv]. Easy to overlook but noteworthy is that initially, Franklin argues for marriage – the security and comfort a partnership provides. He advocates the institution and encourages the recipient to enter into one. “It is the most natural State of Man, and therefore the State in which you are most likely to find solid Happiness.” Even after the bulk of the letter, he returns to the marriage sentiment stating “But still I advise you to marry directly”. This could indicate that Franklin understands the outlandish nature of the majority of the letter, and bookends the piece with his true opinion, which aligns with the majority of society at the time.
But the true content of the letter is contained in the outline of eight basic reasons as to why older mistresses are advantageous including their wisdom, discretion, and lessened guilt in the heart of the men. Some scholarship suggests that Franklin may have been poking fun at his own mistakes, at his choices to solicit younger women, which left him with illegitimate children and public disgrace (1).
In reading the actual physical object, I was at once struck by how lovely a handwritten letter in old script is, but chiefly by the words and phrases Franklin chose to underline. He underlines miserable in the phrase “the having made a young girl miserable may give you bitter reflections”. He emphasizes the word miserable, which indicates he does not wish his companion to impart anguish on a young woman, and emphasizes the guilt that may entail. His next underline is of the word happy, “the making of an old woman happy”. Here he emphasizes not only will you not make someone miserable, you will provide pleasure to an older woman. Certainly by underlining the two words he is encouraging his reader to contrast the two scenarios. His final underline comes at the end of his final point, which emphasizes the humor and perhaps truth in his statement, which also contains his only use of the exclamation point, and two at that -- “They are so grateful!!”
Another intriguing piece of the object itself is the how it has been labeled, or titled. The letter is now referred to as “Advice on the Choice of a Young Mistress”, a title given by one of the owner’s of the work in the letter’s lengthy private history (more on that later). Franklin referred to his piece as “Old Mistresses Apologue”. For those of us unfamiliar with the English of old, the term Apologue is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “An allegorical story intended to convey a useful lesson; a moral fable. (Applied more especially to a story in which the actors or speakers are taken from the brute creation or from inanimate nature.)” [v], with this understanding of the word one could imply a less literal interpretation of Franklin’s words, more as a means to teach a lesson than a dive into his personal history. However, by referring to his own letter as a story without explicitly giving a narrative implies that this piece has been contrived out of Franklin’s own history and experiences with women, specifically mistresses, both young and old.
I found a very helpful chapter on the letter’s publication history in a book entitled Benjamin Franklin and Women. The history is extensive, and too long to completely recount here, but I will proceed with the juiciest bits. Benjamin Franklin’s grandson, who also was his secretary, felt very strongly after his grandfather’s death that Franklin’s most controversial material should be suppressed, and remain private as it is “indecent” (in spite of the fact the his grandson also was notorious in his pursuit of women). The existence of the letter was unknown until 1850, when a bookseller purchased Franklin’s grandsons entire collection of Franklin’s letters (his grandson had previously released the majority of the letters but omitted the most vulgar). However, the bookseller did not ever reveal anything about the letter or it’s nature to anyone for over thirty years --- until he decided to sell the collection in 1882. He created huge buzz about the letter by releasing bits about the scandalous content, intriguing to the public in light of their knowledge that Franklin was a womanizer. The bookseller sold two copies of the letter to the government, and kept the most valuable copy, signed by Franklin, for himself. The government was astonished by the letter (and another satiric piece which discussed a scientific explanation of how to lessen the smell of farts) and kept it under wraps, not available for copying, and only accessible to a few people. The most valuable signed copy was sold to a Philadelphia collector in 1926 who eventually exhibited it publicly in 1938. The letter was first released close to verbatim in a biography in 1926. Although many historians had alluded to it, no predecessors had included it in full. The first relatively widespread release of the letter in book form did not occur until a release (of less than 2,000 copies) in 1939 of Dr. Benj. Franklin and the Ladies: Being Various Letters, Essays, Bagatelles, & Satires to & About the Fair Sex, a collection of essay about Franklin’s writing on women. In short, the letter has had an incredibly intriguing life -- its publication was a source of debate and contention for over two centuries. (1)
In the 1950’s the letter was revisited in the context of censorship laws, particularly concerning obscenity. It was even cited in a Supreme Court Case! The case, United States Vs. 12 200ft Reels of Super 8mm Film, involved a man whose sexually explicit material was seized after he imported it. This occurred despite the fact that he only wished to have it for private use, a justification, which was already established in precedent. The case utilized the older mistress letter as an example that the founding fathers were not obsessed with purity, and in fact under the current laws Benjamin Franklin himself would have been in violation of federal obscenity laws. Justice Douglas states -“The First Amendment was the product of a robust, not a prudish, age…This was the age when Benjamin Franklin wrote his 'Advice to a Young Man on Choosing a Mistress' Thus, the current laws as held by the court before the Supreme Court violate the original vision of law in the United States held by our founding fathers”. [vi] Is intriguing to imagine that a text that remained unpublished in it’s own age would be held up as an example of the kind of material that was created then.
The medium of the private letter deeply affects how this piece of writing can be viewed. I imagine it’s safe to say all people utter things privately that they may not want aired out publicly. The letter reads as a drawn out joke between close friends, certainly persuasive but not actually to persuade, as outlined by the bookends, which Franklin adds about the benefits of marriage. I liken it to a raunchy Facebook post or a lewd text message between friends. In this way, it is not surprising that many historians have attempted to hush up or glaze over this piece when considering Franklin as a whole. Benjamin Franklin, one man, made numerous invaluable additions to the formation of our country, as an avid inventor, a talented newspaperman, a scientist, and so much more. In this light, should our perception of him be altered or blemished by consideration of the nature of his personal life? Furthermore, if this piece was truly intended to be satire, reading it literally is to misinterpret its intention.
Personally, exploring the journey of his letter, I wonder as to how Franklin would have felt about the publication and controversy surrounding it. Extrapolating from my own perception of his work, perhaps Franklin would have not necessarily been proud of his licentious behavior. However, I do not imagine he would want himself represented as an inanimate figurehead, but rather a person grounded in the corporeal and actual life of his times, a reality which is certainly created by the letter.
Here is a link to a physical copy of the letter, but be forewarned, this website is very cool and you may find yourself burning the midnight oil reading old correspondence.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/02/older-mistresses-are-so-grateful.html
The entirety of Benjamin Franklin and Women is available online through the Vanderbilt library (when I post the link, it gives an error message but typing the title in the library’s search window immediately yields it). It’s a really intriguing and comprehensive exploration of Franklin’s relationships and writings on women and I recommend checking it out.
[i] Tise, Larry E. Benjamin Franklin and Women. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State UP, 2000. Print.
[ii] Franklin, Benjamin. "The Speech of Miss Polly Baker." The Maryland Gazette 11 Aug. 1747. Print.
[iii] Franklin, Benjamin. "Printer's Errors." The Pennsylvania Gazette 11 Mar. 1729/30. Print
[iv] Franklin, Benjamin. "Older Mistresses Are so Grateful!!" Letters of Note. Web. 09 Dec. 2011.
[v] "Apologue." Oxford English Dictionary Online. Web. 09 Dec. 2011.
[vi] "UNITED STATES, Appellant, v. 12 200-FT. REELS OF SUPER 8MM. FILM Et Al." LII | LII / Legal Information Institute. Web. 09 Dec. 2011.
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