h, by his fellow creatures, will be named evil, yet he can not act
what will be in itself displeasing to God.

"We will sum up the argument thus, When the Creator first designed the
universe, either it was his will that all should exist and be in the
manner they are at this time, or it was his will that they should be
otherwise. To say it was His will things should be otherwise, is to
say that somewhat hath contradicted His will; which is impossible.
Therefore we must allow that all things exist now in a manner
agreeable to His will; and, in consequence of that, all are equally
good and therefore equally esteemed by Him. No condition of life or
being is better or preferable to another."

This whole treatise may be found in the appendix to the first volume
of Parton's Life of Franklin.]

The deists of London, who had united in a club of merry
free-thinkers, holding their meetings at an ale-house, sought out
Franklin and drew him into their convivial gatherings. These men had
no common principle of belief; they were united only in the negative
principle of unbelief in the Christian religion. Ralph had formed a
connection with a young milliner, by whom, through his many
fascinations, he was mainly supported.

Franklin, with his increasing expenditures, was now disposed to
shake off Ralph, as he needed all his money for his own convivial
enjoyments. Ralph went into the country and opened a school, where he
utterly failed. The unhappy milliner, ruined in character, and with a
little child, wrote to Franklin imploring aid. Her letters touched his
kindly heart. He could never see sorrow without wishing to relieve it.
He furnished her with money, in small sums, to the amount of one
hundred and thirty dollars; and worst of all, we regret to say that he
commenced treating her with such familiarity, that she, still faithful
to Ralph, repulsed him indignantly.[8]

[Footnote 8: Franklin writes in his autobiography, "I grew fond of her
company, and being at that time under no religious restraint, and
taking advantage of my importance to her, I attempted to take some
liberties with her, another _erratum_, which she repulsed with a
proper degree of resentment. She wrote to Ralph and acquainted him
with my conduct. This occasioned a breach between us; and when he
returned to London, he let me know he considered all the obligations
he had been under to me as annulled."--Works of Franklin, Vol. i, p.
59.]

Franklin does not concea