Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress
As supplementary advice in case the recipient rejects all previous arguments, Franklin lists eight reasons why an older mistress is preferable to a young one.[2] Whether serious or humorous, the letter is frankly sexual: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one.And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement.As John Semonche observes in Censoring Sex: A Historical Journey Through American Media, the autobiography was widely read during the 19th century because of its moral lessons, but the passage about the failed seduction was variously altered or deleted entirely.[4][8] Amy Beth Werbel opines bluntly: At a time when America was scant one hundred years old, Benjamin Franklin was an important part of its founding mythology.A Jerome Frank appellate opinion of 1957 named "Advice to a Young Man on Choosing a Mistress" along with "The Speech of Polly Baker" as two examples that would have convicted one of the nation's leading founding fathers on federal obscenity charges if they had been written and mailed under subsequent law.This was the age when Benjamin Franklin wrote his "Advice to a Young Man on Choosing a Mistress" and "A Letter to the Royal Academy at Brussels".
Benjamin FranklinUnited Statesobscenity lawsCadwallader ColdenFart ProudlyAutobiographyVermontNew MexicoComstock ActWilliam FranklinoriginalistJerome FrankThe Speech of Polly BakerUnited States Supreme CourtUnited States v. 12 200-ft. Reels of FilmWilliam O. DouglasFirst AmendmentA Letter to the Royal Academy at BrusselsAnthony ComstocksThomas BowdlersVictorianCensorship in the United StatesThe New York TimesPresident of Pennsylvania (1785–1788)Ambassador to France (1779–1785)Second Continental Congress (1775–1776)Join, or Die. (1754 political cartoon)Albany Plan of UnionAlbany CongressHutchinson letters affairCommittee of Secret CorrespondenceCommittee of Five"...to be self-evident"Declaration of IndependenceModel TreatyFranco-American allianceTreaty of Amity and CommerceTreaty of AllianceStaten Island Peace Conference1776 Pennsylvania ConstitutionLibertas AmericanaTreaty of Paris, 1783Delegate, 1787 Constitutional ConventionPostmaster GeneralFounding FathersFranklin's electrostatic machineBifocalsFranklin stoveLightning rodKite experimentPay it forwardAssociators111th Infantry RegimentJunto clubAmerican Philosophical SocietyLibrary Company of PhiladelphiaPennsylvania HospitalAcademy and College of PhiladelphiaUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia ContributionshipUnion Fire CompanyEarly American currencyContinental Currency dollar coinFugio centStreet lightingPresident, Pennsylvania Abolition SocietyMaster, Les Neuf SœursGravesiteThe Papers of Benjamin FranklinFounders OnlineSilence Dogood letters (1722)A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain (1725)The Busy-Body columns (1729)The Pennsylvania Gazette (1729–1790)Early American publishers and printersPoor Richard's Almanack (1732–1758)The Drinker's Dictionary (1737)"The Speech of Polly Baker" (1747)Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc. (1751)Experiments and Observations on Electricity (1751)The Way to Wealth (1758)Pennsylvania Chronicle (1767)A Letter to a Royal Academy (1781)"The Morals of Chess" (1786)The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1771–1790, pub. 1791)Bagatelles and Satires (pub. 1845)Franklin's phonetic alphabetBibliographyFranklin CourtBenjamin Franklin HouseBenjamin Franklin Institute of TechnologyBenjamin Franklin ParkwayBenjamin Franklin National MemorialFranklin InstituteawardsBenjamin Franklin MedalRoyal Society of Arts medalDepicted in The Apotheosis of WashingtonMemorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of IndependenceTreaty of ParisBenjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the SkyRevolutionary War DoorBoston statueChicago statueColumbus, Ohio, statueUniversity of Pennsylvania statuePortland, Oregon, statueSan Francisco statueStanford University statueWashington D.C. statueRefunding CertificateFranklin half dollarOne-hundred-dollar billFranklin silver dollarWashington–Franklin stampsCities, counties, schools named for FranklinBenjamin Franklin CollegeFranklin FieldMount FranklinState of FranklinSons of Ben (Philadelphia Union)Ships named USS FranklinBen Franklin effectIn popular cultureBen and Me (1953 short)Ben Franklin in Paris (1964 musical play)