I at present, think, that whoever attempts this
aright, and is well qualified, cannot fail of pleasing God,
and of meeting with success."

Influenced by these exalted motives, he concentrated all the energies
of his well informed mind to the organization of a new religion. To
this church he gave the name of "The Society of the Free and Easy."
The members were to be Free from vice, and consequently, Easy in mind.
The first article of his creed was that he would have no creed. And
yet this religion, which drew an antagonistic distinction between
faith and works, denouncing all faith at the same time announced that
its fundamental and absolutely essential faith was that piety
consisted in cherishing the ordinarily recognized virtues. These were
Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry,
Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquillity, Charity and
Humility.

His ritual consisted in devoting one week to the cultivation of each
of these virtues. He had no Sabbath, no preached Gospel, no
Sacraments. But his creed, with its corresponding practice, certainly
exerted a very powerful influence, and in many respects beneficial,
upon his own mind.

With his list of virtues before him, this remarkable young man
commenced the effort vigorously to attain perfection. The Christian
reader will not be at all surprised to read from Franklin's pen the
following account of the result:

"I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than
I had imagined. But I had the satisfaction of seeing them
diminish. After a while I went through one course only in a
year, and afterwards only one in several years; till at
length I omitted them entirely, being employed in voyages and
business abroad, with a multiplicity of affairs that
interfered."

Franklin was a very proud man. He could not but be conscious of his
great superiority over most of those with whom he associated. He avows
that the virtue of humility he never could attain. The semblance of
that virtue he could easily assume, but he says that the pride of his
heart was such that had he attained it, he would have been proud of
his humility. He adopted the following as the ordinary routine of
life.

He rose at five, very carefully performed his ablutions, and then
offered a brief prayer to a being whom he called "Powerful Goodness."
Why he should have preferred that address to the more simple one of
"Our