Sir,
There is no Vice so ungrateful to the World as the Growth of Pride in the Breast of a private Man, and as little Difficult to be cured before it gains Strength, as impossible to be repaired when it has once taken deep Root in the Heart. For it will not only destroy that Modesty and Humility which become the Christian Character, but will hinder all Improvements of the Mind, and render him who is possessed of it insensible of his own Weakness, and unwilling to receive Advice from others.
If a Man should labour to persuade himself that Power and Authority give him a Superiority over others in Point of Merit, he would be as much mistaken as if he fancied that Riches or Beauty had any inherent Worth in themselves. For these outward Advantages are no more than Qualifications which render a Man the more useful, according to the Use he makes of them; and whoever thinks otherwise, must have a higher Opinion of himself than Reason will justify.
I have often thought that the chief End of Government is to make Men better, and not to flatter their own Follies. If those who are entrusted with the Care of public Affairs would but remember this, they would find it more for their Honour to be just than severe, and to gain the Regard of others by their Virtue rather than their Power.
It is with great Concern that I observe some of those who are in Places of Authority among us too much inclined to Value themselves upon the Distinction; and I am afraid some of them are more solicitous to maintain the Awe of their Office than to deserve the Respect of those who obey them. But I hope these Reflections will not be thought impertinent, since they proceed from an earnest Desire of seeing those who have the Government in their Hands, sensible of the true Nature of the Authority they exercise.
I am, Sir,
Your humble Servant,
Silence Dogood
Notes on the Text
- The letter was published anonymously under the Silence Dogood pseudonym.
- Authorship was later revealed to be Benjamin Franklin.
- Spelling, capitalization, and punctuation reflect early eighteenth-century printing conventions.
- Minor variations appear across surviving historical printings; this transcription preserves traditional wording.