ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the essay of Benjamin Franklin which was written as a joke meant to be circulated among a small circle of his friends. No original printed copy survives, but a few manuscript copies in Franklin's handwriting do. The essay gives us insight into not only an emerging American style of humor, but also the sexual terrain of mid-eighteenth century colonial society. He writes, “I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural Inclinations his friend mention; and if he did, he think he should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the proper Remedy. It is the most natural State of Man, and therefore the State in which you are most likely to find solid Happiness. Your Reasons against entring into it at present, appear to me not well-founded. If you get a prudent healthy Wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Oeconomy, will be a Fortune sufficient”.
