Biographies  |  Benjamin Franklin  |  Autobiography, ....  |  Autobiography

Autobiography, .... — Autobiography (Part 37 of 76)

T

W

T

F

S

T

       

S

••

•

 

•

 

•

 

O

•

•

•

 

•

•

•

R

  

•

  

•

 

F

 

•

  

•

  

I

  

•

    

S

       

J

       

M

       

Cl.

       

T

       

Ch.

       

H

       

Another from Cicero.

O Vitœ Philosophia Dux! O Virtutum indagatrix, expultrixque vitiorum! Unus dies bene, & ex preceptis tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est anteponendus.

Another from the Proverbs of Solomon
speaking of Wisdom or Virtue;

Length of Days is in her right hand, and in her Left Hand Riches and Honors; Her Ways are Ways of Pleasantness, and all her Paths are Peace.

III, 16, 17.

And conceiving God to be the Fountain of Wisdom, I thought it right and necessary to solicit his Assistance for obtaining it; to this End I form’d the following little Prayer, which was prefix’d to my Tables of Examination; for daily Use.

O Powerful Goodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide! Increase in me that Wisdom which discovers my truest Interests; Strengthen my Resolutions to perform what that Wisdom dictates. Accept my kind Offices to thy other Children, as the only Return in my Power for thy continual Favors to me.

I us’d also sometimes a little Prayer which I took from Thomson’s Poems. viz

Father of Light and Life, thou Good supreme,
O teach me what is good, teach me thy self!
Save me from Folly, Vanity and Vice,
From every low Pursuit, and fill my Soul
With Knowledge, conscious Peace, & Virtue pure,
Sacred, substantial, neverfading Bliss!
‹ PreviousAutobiography · ContentsNext ›