Benjamin Franklin On An Early Marriage

From an Original Letter to John Alleyne, Esquire, As it Appears in the Pennsylvania Packet, October 30, 1789

Long before Dear Abby and Ann Landers, Benjamin Franklin was offering advice to the lovelorn.

Here we present a letter by Franklin to John Alleyne as it appears in the October 30, 1789 issue of the Pennsylvania Packet. Franklin was 83 years old at the time.

While society and its customs have changed over the past 200 years, some truths remain constant, as is evident in the Good Doctor's prescription for an Early Marriage.