名人家书:本杰明富兰克林致 姐姐（简梅科姆太太）(1)

　　london，september16，1758

　　dear sister，

　　i received your favour of june 17.i wonderyou have had no letter from me since my being inengland.i have written you at least two， and ithink a third before this，and what was next towaiting on you in person，sent you my picture.injune last i sent benny a trunk of books，and wroteto him；i hope they have come to hand，and thathe meets with encouragement in his business.icongratulate you on the conquest of cape breton，and hope as your people took it by praying，thefirst time，you will now pray that it may never begiven up again，which you then forgot.billy iswell，but in the country.i left him at tunbridgewells，where we spent a fortnight，and he is nowgone with some company to see portsmouth.wehave been together over a great part of englandthis summer and among other places，visited thetown our father was born in，and found somerelations in that part of the country still living.

　　our cousin jane franklin，daughter of ouruncle john，died about a year ago.we saw herhusband，robert page，who gave us some oldletters to his wife，from uncle benjamin.in one ofthem，dated boston，july 4，1723，he writes thatyour uncle josiah has a daughter jane，abouttwelve years old，a good-humoured child.so keepup to your character，and don't be angry whenyou have no letters.in a little book he sent her，called“none but christ，”he wrote an acrostick on her name，which for namesake's sake，as wellas the good advice it contains，i transcribe andsend you.

　　“illuminated from on high，

　　and shining brightly in your sphere.

　　ne'er faint，but keep a steady eye，

　　expecting endless pleasures there.“

　　“flee vice as you'd a serpent flee；

　　raise faith and hope three stories higher，

　　and let christ's endless love to thee

　　ne'er cease to make thy love aspire.

　　kindness of heart by words express，

　　let your obedience be sincere，

　　in prayer and praise you god address，

　　nor cease，till he can cease to hear.“

　　after professing truly that i had a great esteem and veneration for the pious author，permitme a little to play the commentator and critic onthese lines.the meaning of three stories higherseems somewhat obscure.you are to understand，then，that faith，hope，and charity have been called the three steps of jacob's ladder，reachingfrom earth to heaven；our author calls them stories，likening religion to a building， and theseare the three stories of the christian edifice.thusimprovement in religion is called building up andedification.faith is then the ground floor，hope isup one pair of stairs.my dear beloved jenny，don't delight so much to dwell in those lowerrooms，but get as fast as you can into the garret，for in truth the best room in the house is charity.for my part，i wish the house was turned upsidedown；'tis so difficult（when one is fat）to go upstairs；and not only so，but i imagine hope andfaith may be more firmly built upon charity，thancharity upon faith and hope.however that my be，i think it the better reading to say——

　　“raise faith and hope one story higher.”

　　correct it boldly，and i'll support the alteration；for，when you are up two stories already，ifyou raise your building three stories higher youwill make five in all，which is two more than thereshould be，you expose your upper rooms more tothe winds and storms；and，besides，i am afraidthe foundation will hardly bear them， unlessindeed you build with such light stuff as straw andstubble，and that，you know，won't stand fire.again，where the author says，

　　“kindness of heart by words express，”

　　strike out words，and put in deeds.the world istoo full of compliments already.they are the rankgrowth of every soil，and choke the good plants ofbenevolence，and beneficence；nor do i pretend tobe the first in this comparison of words and actionsto plants；you may remember an ancient poet，whose works we have all studied and copied atschool long ago.

　　“a man of words and not of deeds

　　is like a garden full of weeds.“

　　it is a pity that good works，among some sorts ofpeople，are so little valued，and good wordsadmired in their stead：i mean seemingly piousdiscourses，instead of humane benevolent actions.those they almost put out of countenance，by calling morality rotten morality，righteousnessragged righteousness，and even filthy rags——andwhen you mention virtue，pucker up their noses asif they smelt a stink；at the same time that theyeagerly snuff up an empty canting harangue，as ifit was a pose of the choicest flowers：so they haveinverted the good old verse，and say now

　　“a man of deeds and not of words

　　is like a garden full of——“

　　i have forgot the rhyme，but remember'tissomething the very reverse of perfume.so muchby way of commentary.

　　my wife will let you see my letter，containingan account of our travels，which i would have youread to sister dowse，and give my love to her.ihave no thoughts of returning till next year，andthen may possibly have the pleasure of seeing youand yours；taking boston in my way home.my

　　love to brother and all your children，concludes atthis time from，dear jenny，your affectionatebrother.

　　b.franklin