Benjamin Franklin

"An Edict by the King of Prussia"

First published September 5, 1773; excerpted from Benjamin Franklin's Writings, 1987 "

And whereas the Art and Mystery of making Hats hath arrived at great Perfection in Prussia, and the making of Hats by our remote Subjects ought to be as much as possible restrained."

Benjamin Franklin, from "An Edict by the King of Prussia"

The years leading up to the start of the Revolutionary War were full of tension and disagreement. But there were some humorous moments, too, thanks in large part to American politician Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790). Along with British citizens, Franklin contributed letters to London newspapers, expressing his views about the demands being made on the colonies. The following excerpt from Franklin's "An Edict by the King of Prussia" appeared in a London newspaper in 1773.

An edict is a formal announcement issued by an authority. In this case, the authority is the king of Prussia, Frederick II (1712–1786), also known as Frederick the Great. Prussia was a state in north central Germany (Prussia was dissolved in 1947 and divided among East and West Germany; Poland; and the former Soviet Union, now fifteen independent republics, the largest of which is Russia).

The "Edict by the King of Prussia" is a joke. Part of the humor comes from Franklin's comparison of the settlement of England in the fifth century by Germans with the settlement of America. In this "Edict," the King of Prussia makes the same

trade and tax demands on former German colonists in England that England was making on the American colonies in the 1760s and 1770s. Notice the echoes of the Stamp Act and the Town-shend Revenue Act in the excerpt. The paragraph about the making of hats pokes fun at Parliament laws that placed tight restrictions on what trade items could go in and out of the colonies.

Things to remember while reading an excerpt from "An Edict by the King of Prussia:"

• Between 1757 and 1774, Benjamin Franklin served at various times as an agent for the colonies of Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Agents were men who were appointed by the colonies to live in London, England, circulate among important people, and report back on what was happening in Parliament (Great Britain's lawmaking body). The agents made sure Parliament knew what the colonies' needs and wishes were as Parliament prepared to make laws that affected the colonies. During his years as an agent, Franklin lived almost all of the time in London. A charming and witty man, Franklin made friends in high places in government.
• Benjamin Franklin had a sense of humor he could not disguise even during serious moments. Beginning when he was a young man of fifteen, he contributed unsigned humorous articles to his brother's newspaper. (Franklin and his brother did not get along well and his brother would not have published the articles had he known Franklin wrote them.) Franklin's humorous writings were usually done in fun. But by the time he wrote the "Edict," Franklin's words were becoming more biting. He saw that tempers in the colonies were hot over British taxes, that violent protests against the British were a constant threat, and that Parliament seemed unaware of the dangers. Franklin was growing disenchanted with politicians in Parliament, whom he saw as corrupt. He was also disgusted with the rigid class system of England, in which wealth and privilege were concentrated in a few hands and most people lived in poverty. Franklin expressed his frustration with Parliament through satires like his "Edict." Satire makes fun of foolish or wicked people or ideas.

Excerpt from "An Edict by the King of Prussia"

The SUBJECT of the following Article of FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE being exceeding EXTRAORDINARY, is the Reason of its being separated from the usual Articles of Foreign News.

… FREDERICK, by the Grace of God, King of Prussia … to all present and to come, HEALTH. The Peace now enjoyed throughout our Dominions, having afforded us Leisure to apply ourselves to the Regulation of Commerce, the Improvement of our Finances, and at the same Time the easing our Domestic Subjects in their Taxes: For these Causes, and other good Considerations us thereunto moving, We hereby make known, that after having deliberated these Affairs in our Council, present our dear Brothers, and other great Officers of the state, Members of the same, WE, of our certain Knowledge, full Power and Authority Royal, have made and issued this present Edict,…

WHEREAS it is well known to all the World, that the first German Settlements made in the Island of Britain, were by Colonies of People, Subjects to our renowned Ducal Ancestors, and drawn from their Dominions …; and that the said Colonies have flourished under the Protection of our august House, for Ages past, have never been emancipated therefrom, and yet have hitherto yielded little Profit to the same. And whereas We Ourself have in the last War fought for and defended the said Colonies against the Power of France, and thereby enabled them to make Conquests from the said Power in America, for which we have not yet received adequate Compensation. And whereas it is just and expedient that a Revenue should be raised from the said Colonies in Britain towards our Indemnification; and that those who are Descendants of our antient Subjects, and thence still owe us due Obedience, should contribute to the replenishing of our Royal Coffers, as they must have done had their Ancestors remained in the territories now to us appertaining; WE do therefore hereby ordain and command, That from and after the Date of these Presents, there shall be levied and paid to our Officers of the Customs, on all Goods, Wares and merchandizes, and on all Grain and other Produce of the Earth exported from the said Island of Britain, and on all Goods of whatever Kind imported into the same, a Duty of Four and an Half per Centad Valorem, for the Use of us and our Successors.—And that the said Duty may more effectually be collected, Wedo hereby ordain, that all Ships or Vessels bound from Great Britain to any other Part of the Word, or from any other Part of the World to Great Britain, shall on their respective Voyages touch at our Port of KONINGSBERG, there to be unladen, searched, and charged with the said Duties.

… AND WHEREAS the Art and Mystery of making Hats hath arrived at great Perfection in Prussia, and the making of Hats by our remote Subjects ought to be as much as possible restrained. And foras-much as the Islanders before-mentioned, being in Possession of Wool, Beaver, and other Furs, have presumptuously conceived they had a Right to make some Advantage thereof, by manufacturing the same into Hats, to the Prejudice of our domestic Manufacture, WE do therefore hereby strictly command and ordain, that no Hats or Felts whatsoever, dyed or undyed, finished or unfinished, shall be loaden or put into or upon any Vessel, Cart, Carriage or Horse, to be transported or conveyed out of one Country in the said Island into another Country, or to any other Place whatsoever, by any Person or Persons whatsoever, on Pain of forfeiting the same, with a Penalty of Five Hundred Pounds Sterling per Month: We intending hereby that such Hat-makers, being so restrained both in the Production and Sale of their Commodity, may find no Advantage in continuing their Business.—But lest the said Islanders should suffer Inconveniency by the Want of Hats, We are farther graciously pleased to permit them to send their Beaver Furs to Prussia; and We also permit Hats made thereof to be exported from Prussia to Britain, the People thus favoured to pay all Costs and Charges of Manufacturing, Interest, Commission to Our Merchants, Insurance and Freight going and returning, as in the Case of Iron.

And lastly, Being willing farther to favour Our said Colonies in Britain, We do hereby also ordain and command, that all the Thieves, Highway and Street-Robbers, Housebreakers, Forgerers, Murderers, … and Villains of every Denomination, who have forfeited their Lives to the Law in Prussia, but whom We, in Our great Clemency, do not think fit here to hang, shall be emptied out of our Gaols into the said Island of Great Britain for the BETTER PEOPLING of that Country.

We flatter Ourselves that these Our Royal Regulations and Commands will be thought just and reasonable by Our much-favoured Colonists in England, the said Regulations being copies from their own Statutes … and from other equitable Laws made by their Parliaments, or from Instructions given by their Princes, or from Resolutions of both Houses entered into for the GOOD Government of their own Colonies in Ireland and America.

And all Persons in the said Island are hereby cautioned not to oppose in any wise the execution of this Our Edict, or any Part thereof, such Opposition being HIGH TREASON, of which all who are suspected shall be transported in Fetters from Britain to Prussia, there to be tried and executed according to the Prussian Law. (Franklin, Writ ings, pp. 698–702)

What happened next …

In a letter to his son, William Franklin, dated October 6, 1773, Franklin described how his joke fooled many intelli gent people. He told of how he happened to be visiting the home of a friend, Lord Le Despencer, who was prominent in British society. A man in the next room "came running into us, out of breath, with the paper in his hand," Franklin wrote. "'Here!' says he, 'here's news for ye! Here's the king of Prussia, claiming a right to this kingdom!' All stared, and I as much as any body; and he went on to read it. Another man present looked at me and said: 'I'll be hanged if this is not some of your American jokes upon us.' The reading went on, and ended with abundance of laughing, and a general verdict that it [the newspaper article] was a fair hit."

In the same letter to his son, Franklin reported that he sent his clerk to the printer's office the day after his article was published to pick up some copies for his friends and family. All but two copies were sold out, and the rumor was, wrote Franklin, that the article was "spoken of in the highest terms as the keenest and severest piece that has appeared here [in] a long time." It was feared that the article "would do mischief by giving [London] a bad impression of the measures of govern ment" against the colonies. While the public was amused by Franklin's satire, he made no new friends in Parliament with it. The "Hutchinson letters affair" (see chapter 3) followed soon after the publication of the "Edict," and Franklin would find himself embroiled in a scandal and treated with contempt by Parliament.

Did you know …

• Six days after Benjamin Franklin published the "Edict," he published another piece he liked even better, although the public preferred his "Edict." The other piece was called Rules by Which a Great Empire May Be Reduced to a Small One. In it, Franklin addressed himself to all government men who were in charge of running nations within the British Empire. He listed all the steps the British government had taken to alienate the colonies. The satire came when he wrote as if the government had adopted a conscious policy of alienating America.
• One of Franklin's first and most successful written hoaxes occurred in 1730. He was twenty-four years old and had just become sole owner of his own newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette. Now he could publish anything he wanted. He once told an acquaintance that whenever he was short of news, he would make up and publish something that amused him. His 1730 story reported a witch trial that historians believe never took place. Nevertheless, Franklin reported: "Saturday last at Mount-Holly … near 300 People were gathered together to see an Experiment or two tried on some Persons accused of Witchcraft. It seems the Accused had been charged with making their Neighbours Sheep dance in an uncommon Manner, and with causing Hogs to speak … to the great Terror and Amazement of the King's good and peaceable Subjects in this Province…. "
• Perhaps Franklin's most famous book was Poor Richard's Almanack, first published in 1732. Almanacs are books containing lists, charts, and tables of useful information, but Franklin livened his up with humorous but useful advice. Poor Richard's is the source of such still-popular sayings as: "Eat to live, and not live to eat"; "He that lies down with Dogs, shall rise up with fleas"; "Little strokes fell big oaks"; and "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
• One of Franklin's closest friends in England was William Strahan, a self-made man like Franklin himself. Strahan became a member of Parliament in 1775, and in that position he supported the efforts of some members of Parliament to put down the American rebellion. Franklin was angry at Strahan for this and composed a letter to him on July 5, 1775, just before Franklin returned to America: "Mr. Strahan, You are a Member of Parliament, and one of that Majority which has doomed my Country to Destruction. You have begun to burn our Towns, and murder our People. Look upon your Hands! They are stained with the Blood of your Relations! You and I were long Friends: You are now my Enemy." However, Franklin decided the letter was too strong and might destroy an important friendship; it was never sent but was preserved among Franklin's papers.

Where to Learn More

Adler, David A. Benjamin Franklin—Printer, Inventor, Statesman. New York: Holiday House, 1992.

Clark, Ronald W. Benjamin Franklin: A Biography. New York: Random House, 1983.

Davidson, Margaret. The Story of Benjamin Franklin: Amazing American. Milwaukee: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 1997.

Foster, Leila Merrell. Benjamin Franklin, Founding Father and Inventor. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1997.

Franklin, Benjamin. Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. Edited by J. A. Leo Lemay and P. M. Zall. New York: Norton, 1986.

Franklin, Benjamin. Writings. New York: Library of America, 1987.

"Franklin, Benjamin" in World of Invention. Edited by Bridget Travers. Detroit: Gale Research, 1994.

Kent, Deborah. Benjamin Franklin. New York: Scholastic, 1993.

Benjamin Franklin, Man of Many Talents

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, one of seventeen children. His father, Josiah, was a devout Puritan candle maker and mechanic and his mother, Abiah, was a highly moral person, a "virtuous Woman," Franklin would later write. Because his family was poor, Franklin received very little formal education and went to work at a young age, first for his father, then for his brother James, a printer of a Boston newspaper. Franklin educated himself by reading every word that came into the print shop and before long he was writing pieces that made fun of upper-class Bostonians. In 1723, when his brother was arrested and imprisoned for these writings, Franklin ran away to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

By the age of forty-two, Franklin had become such a successful writer and printer that he was able to retire from business and turn his attention to his many other interests. He entertained himself by pushing for improvements in the city of Philadelphia (establishing a library, a fire company, a college, an insurance company, and a hospital, among other things). He became involved in politics and dabbled in science. His first major invention was the Pennsylvania stove, later renamed the Franklin stove. The Franklin stove improved on an already existing design by adding a flue around which room air could circulate. The flue acted like a radiator, increasing heating efficiency. Franklin said it made a room twice as warm but used only a quarter of the wood. It was for his work with electricity that Franklin became world-famous. In one experiment, Franklin flew a kite in a lightning storm and was able to draw an electric charge out of the sky and store the charge in a Leyden jar, a type of electrical condenser. He also invented the lightning rod to conduct an electric charge safely into the ground, thereby protecting buildings from lightning strikes and fire.

Franklin was nearly seventy years old when the American Revolution began. Loyal at first to Great Britain, whose culture he greatly admired, he soon became a fierce patriot. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and contributed to the war effort in many ways, despite his age. He served as an ambassador to France, trying to enlist that country's help in the war. After the war, he helped draft the U.S. Constitution, although he was by then so ill that he could barely speak. He died peacefully on April 17, 1790, shortly after witnessing the inauguration as America's first president of his longtime friend, George Washington (1732–1799).