Note 2 — I
Reading edition
Franklin points out how much this resource of the early Americans contributed to their spirit of independence by saying:
"I can retire cheerfully with my little family into the boundless woods of America, which are sure to afford freedom and subsistence to any man who can bait a hook or pull a trigger."
(See "The Century Magazine," "Franklin as a Diplomatist," October, 1899, p. 888.)