Autobiography of John Adams

[Spoo]

This semester I'm enrolled in an American Literature course at my university. The main text that we use is an anthology, which has a lot of material from the 18th century and whatnot. Our latest reading assignment involved John Adams with excerpts from his autobiography. In that passage, I was rather amused to find a small paragraph relating to Benjamin Franklin himself. Apparently, they shared a bed at some point.

I found the exchange between the two of them hilarious, especially this little tidbit. Also, I've copied directly from the text, so there will be random capitalizations/old school writing styles:

The Window was open, and I, who was an invalid and afraid of the Air in the night, shut it close. Oh! says Franklin dont shut the Window. We shall be suffocated. I answered I was afraid of the Evening Air, Dr. Franklin replied, the Air within this Chamber will soon be, and indeed is now worse than that without Doors: come! open the Window and come to bed, and I will convince you: I believe you are not acquainted with my Theory of Colds. Opening the Window and leaping into Bed, I said I had read his Letters to Dr. Cooper in which he had advanced, that Nobody ever got cold by going into a cold Church, or any other cold Air: but the Theory was so little consistent with my experience, that I thought it a Paradox: However I had so much curiosity to hear his reasons, that I would run the risque of a cold. The Doctor then began an harangue, upon Air and cold and Respiration and Perspiration, with which I was so much amused that I soon fell asleep, and left him and his Philosophy together: but I believe they were equally sound and insensible, within a few minutes after me, for the last Words I heard were pronounced as if he was more than half asleep.

Thought that was interesting!

[klaus_schnell]

I thought about reading that but I think I ended up reading Paul McCartneys bio instead

[count tiszula]

Excellent find! Pity this scene didn't find its way into that endless televised version of Adams's life where all the actors have to talk in silly authentic accents.

Or perhaps it did but I had glazed over and missed it....