[Footnote 1: Madison, _Works of_, vol. iii., p. 496.]
No one of the great statesmen of this time was more interested in the
enlightenment of the Negro than Benjamin Franklin.[1] He was for a
long time associated with the friends of the colored people and turned
out from his press such fiery anti-slavery pamphlets as those of Lay
and Sandiford. Franklin also became one of the "Associates of Dr.
Bray." Always interested in the colored schools of Philadelphia,
the philosopher was, while in London, connected with the English
"gentlemen concerned with the pious design,"[2] serving as chairman of
the organization for the year 1760. He was a firm supporter of Anthony
Benezet,[3] and was made president of the Abolition Society of
Philadelphia which in 1774 founded a successful colored school.[4]
This school was so well planned and maintained that it continued about
a hundred years.
[Footnote 1: Smyth, _Works of Benjamin Franklin_, vol. v., p. 431.]
[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., vol. iv., p. 23.]
[Footnote 3: Smyth, _Works of Benjamin Franklin_, vol. v., p. 431.]
[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., vol. x., p. 127; and Wickersham, _History of
Education in Pennsylvania_, p.
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