Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin · Benjamin Franklin
"DEAR OLD FRIEND,
"'He ne'er cared a pin What they said or may say of the mortal within.' "It is so natural to wish to be well spoken of, whether alive or dead, that I imagine he could not be quite exempt from that desire; and that at least he wished to be thought a wit, or he would not have given himself the trouble of writing so good an epitaph to leave behind him. Was it not as worthy of his care that the world should say he was an honest and a good man? I like better the concluding sentiment in the old song, called the _Old Man's Wish_, wherein, after wishing for a warm house in a country town, an easy horse, some good authors, ingenious and cheerful companions, a pudding on Sundays, with stout ale and a bottle of Burgundy, &c., &c., in separate stanzas, each ending with this burden, "'May I govern my passons with absolute sway, Grow wiser and better as my strength wears away, Without gout or stone, by a gentle decay.' He adds, "'With a courage undaunted may I face my last day, And when I am gone may the better sort say, In the morning when sober, in the evening when mellow. He's gone, and has not left behind him his fellow. For he governed his passions,' &c.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.