'For These or Such Like Reason': John Holt's Attack on Benjamin Franklin.

Reprints a 1778 letter from John Holt, editor and publisher of the 'New York Journal,' to William Goddard, concerning the advisability of a published attack by Goddard on Benjamin Franklin. Holt explained why such an attack might be dangerous not only for Goddard but for the American Revolutionary cause. This provides a rare glimpse at the operation of the early American press, and Holt provides his own critical assessment of Franklin. Primary and secondary sources; 43 notes.