On the record
I ask, my lords, whether the revengeful temper, attributed by poetic fiction only to the bloody African, is not surpassed by the coolness and apathy of the wily American?
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gutenberg.orgBenjamin Franklin: “I ask, my lords, whether the revengeful temper, attributed by poetic fiction only to the bloody African, is not…”
Editor's note · Context
Franklin critiques the perceived coldness and cunning of American behavior compared to poetic depictions of revenge.
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I wish old England were as happy in its government, but I do not see it.
With these sentiments he left England; but when, on his arrival in America, he found the war begun, and that there was no receding, no man entered more warmly into the interests of what he then considered as his country, in opposition to…
To strangers he was cold and reserved; but where he was intimate, no man indulged to more pleasantry and good humour.
But if I were in his place, and not otherwise instructed, I should be apt to say, Take your own time, gentlemen.
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