Ben Franklin Is a Smart Man

Part II of Ben Franklin's Autobiography is primarily focused around a point in Franklin's life where he felt the need for self-improvement. For instance, he speaks of thirteen virtues that he vowed to master in order to make himself a better person. One of the things that I find comical about Franklin's method is how he came about deciding to do it. He decided that going to church was not beneficial because the sermons were "dry, uninteresting, and unedifying...their aim seeming to be rather to make us Presbyterians than good citizens." His reasons for stopping going to church continue with his opinions about how a certain sermon should have gone: "They were not the kind of good things that I expected from that text, I despaired of ever meeting with them from any other, was disgusted, and attended his preaching no more." This reasoning in itself was proud and arrogant. Just as I was thinking in my mind that I could call Ben Franklin out on this little observation, he proves to actually be a very intelligent man.
Towards the end of his Part II, he tells of a Quaker friend who informed him of the arrogance and pride that I just spoke of, which was why he pledged to fix it. However, he does point out that "...mortify it [pride] as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility." And thus, because Franklin ends in such a way, I cannot call him out for his disgusting pride.

Another aspect of this section of his autobiography that I would like to take notice of his analogy of the speckled axe. He utilizes the story a man unwilling to turn a wheel to help shine his axe to illustrate how many people say they wish to cleanse their souls or fix bad habits, but once realizing the amount of work has to go into such tasks, they give up and conform their expectations with that of the easier route. In this sense, a "speckled axe" represents a soul or character that maintains its bad habits and faults. I think this is a good analogy and metaphor, but I also feel like it's not necessarily a bad thing that the man gave up and accepted a speckled axe. Many people lack the persistence to obtain perfection, but that's why perfect is such a rare thing. If everyone had the endurance to completely shine their axe, it wouldn't be such an amazing feat to be perfect. Human fault is one of the beauties of being human.

The History of the Dividing Line betwixt VA & NC, plus The Secret History of the Line

William Byrd is arrogant throughout The History...North Carolina as well as in The Secret History of the Line. His disdain for North Carolinians and Native Americans is blatant; he does not try to conceal his grievances with either group. An example of this is seen with Byrd's reference to those on John Heath's plantation as "indolent wretches". In addition, Byrd has no trouble in praising himself and his colleagues in his text. For example, he states that those same people on the plantation "looked upon us as a troop of knights-errant".
Although arrogant, Byrd's writing is also very informative. By referring to himself in the third person as "Steddy", the history is much more like a complete story from an outsider's perspective, rather than from Byrd's. Also, the events are in chronological order, giving the reader an extensive background of early America.

One of the most disturbing aspects of Byrd's writings is his attitude towards Native American women. Several times he uses the term dark angel to illustrate these women. The connotation behind 'angel' is positive and makes one think of beauty. However, Byrd does not believe these women are beautiful. In another section of his essay, he describes the women as "seldom handsome, yet they have an air of innocence and bashfulness that with a little less dirt would not fail to make them desirable." This 'dirt' is why Byrd uses 'dark' as an adjective for 'angel'. While the 'dark' means literally a dark skin tone, it could also be eluding to Byrd's thoughts on Indians being inferior, naive, and ungodly.

A Divine and Supernatural Light

Jonathan Edwards' A Divine and Supernatural Light, Immediately Imparted t the Soul by the Spirit of God, Shown to be Both Scriptural and Rational Doctrine is a sermon structured like a scientific theory. Edwards first explains his views on the Holy Spirit followed by evidenciary support for these views. This structure is made evident by Edwards' use of numbers and Roman numerals to separate each section of his essay. For instance, his 'Doctrine' is split up into 3 parts:

I. Show what this divine light is
II. How it is given immediately by God, and not obtained by natural means.
III. Show the truth of the doctrine. And then conclude with a brief improvement.

By using such notation, Edwards is almost presenting his ideas as if before a scientific committee that would require him to have sufficient evidence to support his theory.

At the very beginning of the essay, Edwards specifically discusses the Apostle Peter and how he is "blessed". Using Peter as an example, and through quoting scripture, Edwards conveys his devout faith, as well as his beliefs of the Holy Spirit. Edwards' use of Peter was appropriate because, as the story of the Passion illustrates, Peter is Jesus's right-hand man even when he is dying on the cross. Before Jesus dies, he turns to Peter and tells him to take care of his mother. In fact, it was at this point in time that the conversion from Judaism to Christianity was complete.