Advice to a Young Man on the Choice of a Mistress and Fart Proudly

Book excerpt: Included in this edition are two of Benjamin Franklin's humorous essays. "Advice to a Friend on Choosing a Mistress" is a letter by Benjamin Franklin dated June 25, 1745 in which Franklin counsels a young man about channeling sexual urges. Due to its licentious nature the letter was not published in collections of Franklin's papers in the United States during the 19th century. Federal court decisions from the mid- to late- 20th century cited the document as a reason for overturning obscenity laws. "Fart Proudly" (also called "A Letter to a Royal Academy", and "To the Royal Academy of Farting") is the popular name of a "notorious essay" about flatulence written by Benjamin Franklin c. 1781 while he was living abroad as United States Ambassador to France.