Franklin as a Rationalist

As I read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin I found an example of how Franklin was a rationalist. He was a Rationalist because he was explaining on how he had thought of the 13 virtues, and how no one but him had came up with them. He believe that those were his and that the 13 virtues didn't come from or God, or from a bible, or from someone else, but his own words. The text from the autobiography was, " I proposed to myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather more names, with fewer ideas annexed to each, than few names with more ideas." This practically says it all. He created the 13 virtues to make more sense in a matter of using fewer examples.