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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Printer Boy., by William M. Thayer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Printer Boy.
+       Or How Benjamin Franklin Made His Mark. An Example for Youth.
+
+Author: William M. Thayer
+
+Release Date: August 13, 2008 [EBook #26295]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRINTER BOY. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Richard J. Shiffer and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text
+as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings
+and other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an
+obvious error is noted at the end of this ebook.]
+
+
+
+
+    The
+
+    PRINTER BOY.
+
+    OR
+
+    HOW
+
+    BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
+    MADE HIS MARK.
+
+    AN EXAMPLE FOR YOUTH.
+
+    BY
+
+    WILLIAM. M. THAYER
+
+    AUTHOR OF "THE BOBBIN BOY", "TALES FROM THE BIBLE", ETC.
+
+    [Illustration: Medallion of Benjamin Franklin.]
+
+    ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+    JULIAN PORTCH
+
+    ENGRAVED BY
+    BALE & HOLMAN.
+
+    LONDON
+    JAMES HOGG & SONS
+
+
+[Illustration: "How much did you give for your whistle!"--See page 4.]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+This book is designed to illustrate the familiar maxim, that "THE BOY
+IS FATHER TO THE MAN." The early life of Franklin is sketched from his
+childhood to the time he was established in business, thus showing
+what he was in boyhood and youth; and the achievements of his manhood
+are summed up in a closing chapter, to substantiate the truth of the
+above proverb.
+
+The author believes that the lives of distinguished men may be
+incorporated into a story, uniting narrative and dialogue so as to be
+more attractive to the young. John Bunyan was the first to adopt this
+style, and his inimitable Pilgrim's Progress charms the young reader,
+not only by its graphic imagery, but also by its alternation of
+narrative and dialogue. Since his day, others have adopted a similar
+style, particularly in works of fiction, with success. Why may not
+truth appear in such a dress as successfully as fiction? Why may not
+_actual_ lives be presented in this manner as vividly as _imaginary_
+ones? The young mind will seize upon a truth or fact that is conveyed
+in a story, when it will remain wholly indifferent to it as it appears
+in a simple statement. So the life of an eminent man may engage the
+attention of this class, if he is made to speak and act for himself,
+when they would not be interested in it, if it were presented to them
+in a plain summary of facts.
+
+In this volume, the actual, early life of Franklin is wrought into a
+story. The imagination has done no more than weave the facts of his
+boyhood and youth into a "tale of real life." It makes Benjamin and
+his associates speak and do what biographers say they spoke and did.
+It simply paints the scenes and acts of which other writers have
+_told_.
+
+A conspicuous place is given in the work to the maxims of Franklin,
+for the purpose of conveying important lessons in regard to the
+formation of character, and thus stimulating the young in the path of
+well-doing. Whole volumes of meaning are condensed into many of his
+wise and pithy sayings.
+
+                                                  W. M. T.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+  THE WHISTLE.
+
+  The Holiday--The Coppers in Benjamin Franklin's Pocket--Inquiry--
+  Bounding Out--The Toy-Shop Then and Now--The Boy and his
+  Whistle--Resolved to Purchase--The Bargain--Going Home--Making
+  Music--Discussion about the Price--A Pocketful of Good Things--
+  Benjamin crying over his Whistle--A Benefit--What Franklin said
+  of it Sixty Years after--Boys do not Learn from the Past--Other
+  Ways of paying too dear for a Whistle--Deceit and Falsehood--
+  Tippling--Worldly Pleasure                            1-8
+
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  AT SCHOOL.
+
+  Talk about School--Brothers at Trades--Benjamin for the Church--
+  Early learned to Read--Long Process of Preparation for the
+  Ministry--"Uncle Benjamin's" Remarks and Offer--Who is "Uncle
+  Benjamin"--A Hundred Years Ago--When Benjamin was Born--Baptized on
+  Same Day he was Born--The Record--Description of his Birthplace--
+  Early Love of Books--His Father's Violin--Poor but Industrious--
+  Seventeen Children--Decision to Enter School--Where it was, and by
+  Whom kept--His Rapid Progress--Mr. Franklin's Trust in Providence--
+  At the Head of his Class--The Boy Father to the Man--Daniel
+  Webster--David Rittenhouse and George Stephenson--Hopes of
+  Benjamin                                                     9-18
+
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  A CHANGE.
+
+  Conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Franklin--Decision to Remove
+  Benjamin from School--Trials of Ministers--Bread before
+  Learning--Subject opened to Benjamin--His Feelings--Character of
+  Schools then--Mr. Brownwell's Writing-school--Benjamin's
+  Obedience--His Father Strict--Keeping the Sabbath--Lore and Respect
+  for his Father--Rebuking the Inquisitive Landlord--Erecting Marble
+  Stone to the Memory of his Parents--The Stone replaced by Citizens
+  of Boston--Obedience of the Peel Boys--Harry Garland--Stephenson's
+  Noble Act to his Parents--The Eight Brothers at Inauguration of the
+  Franklin Statue--Progress in Penmanship--Beloved by Teacher    19-28
+
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  MAKING CANDLES.
+
+  Put to Candle-making at Ten Years of Age--His Father a Tallow-
+  chandler--Benjamin opposed to it--Importance of Industry--His
+  Father's Hive without Drones--Benjamin's Maxims about Industry in
+  Later Life--"The used key always bright."--"Diligence the Mother of
+  Good Luck"--Bad Luck--Bible View--No Schooling after Ten Years of
+  Age--Cutting Candle-wicks--Where was the Shop--Benjamin desires to
+  go to Sea--His Mother's Veto--An Older Brother went to Sea--Talk
+  with his Father--His Father's Veto--Promise of another Pursuit--
+  Respect for a Paternal "No"--His Sports on the Water--No Prospect
+  of Fame--Giotti Marking in the Sand--Webster's Pocket-handkerchief--
+  Roger Sherman at his Bench--Boys not excused from School by these
+  Examples--Benefit of a Little Knowledge--Saved Benjamin Russell
+  in Thunder-storm--How Stephenson felt for his Son              29-43
+
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  THE ROGUE'S WHARF.
+
+  "All Abroad"--The Quagmire--Proposal to build a Wharf--The Heap of
+  Stones--Plan to steal them--Time set in the Evening--The Plan
+  executed--The Wharf done--Keeping the Secret--Benjamin's Father
+  finds him out--Benjamin in a tight place--Promises to do better--How
+  the Boys were found out--Benjamin's Reading Habits--What Books
+  liked--Mather's "Essays to Do Good"--Letter to Mather's Son--Boys
+  should be at Home in Evenings--Advantage of Reading--Letter to a
+  Girl on the Subject                                            44-54
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  TABLE TALK.
+
+  Interview with a Friend--His Ancestors--Their Hardships--Denied
+  Liberty of Conscience--The Bible under the Stool--Leaving the Church
+  of England--Emigration for Religious Freedom--Conversation on Useful
+  Themes at Table--No Complaints allowed about Food--Guests introduced
+  and sensible Remarks made--Effect on Benjamin--The Washburne
+  Family--Benefit of Good Conversation--His Father's Remarks about
+  Food--Benjamin Temperate in Eating and Drinking--"The Water-
+  American"--No Temperance Societies then--Table Talk now--A
+  Table Scene                                                    55-63
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  CHOOSING A TRADE.
+
+  Still Opposed to Candle-making--A Dirty, Simple Business--Wants to
+  do something that requires Ingenuity--His Father and Mother
+  conferring together--"A rolling stone gathers no moss"--Afraid he
+  will go to Sea--Benjamin's Views and Maxims--Opportunity to choose a
+  Trade--Going to see different Trades--Devotes a Day to it--Joiners',
+  Turners', and Bricklayers' Work--Cutlery Shop, his Cousin's--Which
+  Trade he chose--His Father's Decision--Arrangement to learn to make
+  Cutlery--Wise to Consult Taste and Tact of Benjamin--Handel the
+  Musician--Sir Joshua Reynolds--Father of John Smeaton--Opposing a
+  Child's Bent of Mind                                           64-75
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  THE PRINTER-BOY.
+
+  Taken Away from Cousin Samuel--His Brother's Return from  England--
+  Setting Up the Printing Business--Proposal to Benjamin--A Long
+  Apprenticeship--Benjamin disposed to turn Printer-boy--His Brother's
+  Offer to Teach Him the Art of Printing--Borrowing Books to read,
+  and sitting up at Night--Mr. Adams's Library and his Kindness--
+  Going to it for Books--Scarcity of Books--Compared with now--Two
+  and a half Books made in a Minute--No Libraries then--Their
+  enormous Size now--Habit of Reading made him punctual--Example of
+  Lord Brougham                                                  76-84
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+
+  FIRST LITERARY ENTERPRISE.
+
+  A Piece of Poetry--Pronounced Good--Proposition to Print his
+  Articles--"The Lighthouse Tragedy"--A Sailor's Song--Printing
+  them--Selling them in the Streets--A Successful Enterprise--His
+  Father opposes--Condemns Poetry in general and Benjamin's in
+  particular--A severe Rebuke--Crestfallen--Conference with James--
+  His Father's Censure a Benefit--Practice of writing Composition
+  excellent--How it Benefited Benjamin, even Pecuniarily--The Farmer's
+  Son and Minister                                               85-92
+
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+
+  THE DISPUTE.
+
+  Dispute with John Collins--A Bookish Fellow--The Education of
+  Girls--The Controversial Correspondence--His Father finds the
+  Letters--His Criticisms--Collins _versus_ Benjamin--Bought a Copy of
+  the Spectator and studied it laboriously--Sorry that he did not
+  continue to write Poetry--His Father's Counsel--His Economy of
+  Time--A Book always by his side--His Maxims on this Subject--
+  Violating the Sabbath to gain Time for Study--Useful Conversation
+  and Talking Nonsense--Hundreds ruined by a similar cause--Walter
+  Scott hiding Novels from his Father--Pope going to the Theatre--
+  Exceptions to the General Rule                                93-103
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+
+  PLAIN FARE.
+
+  Proposition to board Himself--Became a Vegetarian by Reading Tryon's
+  Book--Why he did it--How much Money he saved by doing it--Spent it
+  for Books--How much Time saved also--Cocker's Arithmetic--Other
+  Books read at odd moments--His Plan to save Time--His Maxims on
+  saving Time--Aim to be Useful--The English Grammar--Shaftesbury's
+  Works--Benjamin a Doubter--Makes known his Doubts to Collins--Danger
+  of Reading Attacks upon the Gospel                           104-113
+
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+
+  THE NEWSPAPER.
+
+  Starting the Third Newspaper in America--Opposition to it--Number of
+  Newspapers now--Forty Million Sheets from Eight Presses--Seventy-one
+  Miles a day of Newspapers from One Office--Almost enough to reach
+  around the Earth in a Year--Weigh these Papers--Four Million Pounds
+  in a Year--Two Thousand Two-Horse Loads--The New England Courant
+  started--Printer, News-carrier, and Collector--The Club--Incited to
+  write an Article--Tucks it under Printing-office Door--Hears it
+  favourably commented on--Writes other Articles--This an Incident
+  that decides his Career--Canning at Eton and the
+  "Microcosm"--Similar Paper in Seminaries now                 114-122
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG.
+
+  Eager to Own the Pieces--Discloses the Authorship to James--
+  Interview with the Club--Surprise that Benjamin wrote them--
+  Treated with Attention by the Club--Oppressed by James--Trouble
+  with him--Benjamin resolves to leave him--The Printing-office
+  furnishes many Scholars--A New England Divine--Benjamin directed
+  in the Path to which his Native Endowments pointed--So of Lord
+  Nelson--Anecdote of him--Buxton, Wilberforce, and Others--Example
+  of the Author of the "Optic Library"                         123-129
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  THE ARREST.
+
+  Action of General Court to Arrest James Franklin for Libel--The
+  Legislative Order--James imprisoned four weeks, and Benjamin
+  arrested, but discharged--The immediate Cause of the Arrest--Meeting
+  of the Club--Decision to publish the Paper in Benjamin's Name--
+  Shrewd Evasion--Youngest Conductor of a Paper who ever lived--His
+  Thrusts at the Government--Benjamin born in troublous Times--
+  Attacks and Massacres by the Savages--Prepared thereby to act
+  in achieving Independence--Bears in Boston                   130-136
+
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+
+  THE RUNAWAY.
+
+  A Quarrel--Asserting his Freedom--Statement of the Case--Appeal to
+  his Father--His Father's Decision--Leaves his Brother--Fails to get
+  Work--Charged with being an Infidel--Plans to run away--Conference
+  with Collins--His Plan to get away--Collins's Talk with the Captain
+  of a New York Sloop, and his Base Lie--Benjamin Boards the
+  Sloop--Arrival in New York--His lonely Condition--Guilt of a
+  Runaway--Quarrel between Brothers painful--Case of William
+  Hutton--Lines of Dr. Watts                                   137-147
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVI.
+
+  ANOTHER TRIP AND ITS TRIALS.
+
+  Calls on Printer Bradford in New York--No Work--Recommended to go to
+  Philadelphia--Arranges for the Trip--Starts for Philadelphia--The
+  Drunken Dutchman--His wet Volume and Bottle--Struck by a Squall--A
+  sad Night off Long Island--Benjamin's Feelings--The next morning--
+  Storm subsides--Next night on shore--Advantage of a little Reading--
+  Boys lose nothing by spending leisure Hours in Reading--The Young
+  Man in Maine--Discipline of the Mind--Case of Gibbon--What
+  Boys say--Sir Walter Scott in Boyhood, and his warning Words--
+  Benjamin leaving Amboy--Fifty Miles on Foot--Suspected of
+  being a Runaway--Reaches the Quack Doctor's Tavern--Arrival at
+  Burlington--The Gingerbread Woman--The Boat gone--Going back to the
+  Gingerbread Woman--His Walk--The unexpected Boat and his Passage--In
+  Cooper's Creek at Midnight--Reached Philadelphia on Sunday
+  Morning--The Shilling--The Boy and his Loaf--Going up Market Street
+  with a Baker's Loaf under each Arm--Miss Read--Asleep in a Quaker
+  Church--Suspected again of being a Runaway--First Night in
+  Philadelphia                                                 148-166
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVII.
+
+  GETTING WORK.
+
+  Call upon Andrew Bradford--His Surprise--Disappointment--Directed to
+  Keimer--The Interview--Advantage of Thoroughness--Benjamin did
+  things well--Bradford's Talk with Keimer--Keimer ensnared--Benjamin
+  makes a Disclosure--Keimer astonished--Repairing a Printing-press--
+  At work for Keimer--Goes to Board at Mr. Read's--His Power of
+  Observation--Stephenson like him--William Hutton again and
+  his Dulcimer--Perseverance--Not proud--How many Boys would have
+  done--Maxims                                                 167-175
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+  NEWS FROM HOME, AND RETURN.
+
+  The Unexpected Letter--Benjamin's Reply--Governor Keith calls to see
+  him--Surprise of Keimer--Invites him to the Tavern--Advises him to
+  set up Business for Himself--Benjamin's Objections overruled--Decides
+  to return to Boston to ask his Father's Assistance--How the Governor
+  learned of Benjamin--His Return to Boston--Joy at Home--His
+  gentlemanly appearance--Goes to his Brother's Printing-office--
+  Cold Reception--Interview with the Workmen--Exhibition of his Silver
+  Coin--His Watch--The Dollar "Treat"--James incensed--Interview with
+  his Mother--Stating Business to his Father, and giving him the
+  Governor's Letter--His Father's Talk with Captain Homes--His
+  Father's Denial--Collins returns with him                    176-178
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIX.
+
+  BACK AGAIN.
+
+  Sails for New York--Stops at Newport and visits his Brother--The New
+  Passengers--The Old Quaker Lady's Attention--A Narrow Escape--Arrival
+  in New York--Collins there first and intoxicated--Makes a Confession
+  to Benjamin--Owns that he gambles--Loses all his Money--Message from
+  Governor Burnet--Benjamin goes to see him--Trip to Philadelphia--
+  Collects Vernon's Debt--Takes Collins to board with him--Throws
+  Collins into the River Delaware--The Fate of Collins--Interview
+  with Governor Keith--The Governor promises to set him up in
+  Business.                                                    188-195
+
+
+  CHAPTER XX.
+
+  A LITERARY GAME.
+
+  The Three Associates--Their Characters--Discussion about Poets and
+  Poetry--A Proposition to Paraphrase the Eighteenth Psalm--Osborne's
+  Prejudice, and how to prove him--Benjamin reads Ralph's Piece as his
+  own--The Success of the Ruse--Subsequent Interview of Benjamin and
+  Ralph--Their Delight over the Result--The Exposure of Osborne at the
+  next Meeting--His Mortification--Fate of Watson and Osborne--
+  Advantage of such Literary Clubs                             196-203
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXI.
+
+  GOING TO ENGLAND.
+
+  Interview with Governor Keith--Arrangements to go to England in the
+  Annis--Only one vessel a year to sail--Still works for Keimer--The
+  latter a singular Man--Experiment of a Vegetable Diet--Keimer's
+  Abhorrence of it--Eats the whole of a Pig at last--How Benjamin came
+  to relinquish a Vegetable Diet--Courting Miss Read--Her Mother
+  objects to Engagement--Ralph resolves to go with him--Four or Five
+  Printing-offices then, and Two or Three Thousand now--The Governor's
+  Letters--Set Sail--Arrival in London--Discovers that his Letters are
+  Worthless--The Governor a Deceiver--Tells his Story to Denham--Goes
+  to Work in a Printing-office--An Advantage of written Composition--
+  His "Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain"--Won
+  him Fame--Bargain with a Bookseller--Beer-drinking in the Office--
+  Benjamin's Opposition to it--He wrought a Reform--His Firmness and
+  Independence--Swimming--Drawn a Mile by his Kite on the Water--
+  Advised to open a Swimming-School--Decides on Returning to
+  America--A Scene forty years after                           204-219
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXII.
+
+  FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.
+
+  Arrival in Philadelphia--Calls on Keimer--Meets Governor Keith in
+  the Street--Interview with Miss Read--His want of Fidelity--Denham
+  opened a Store, and Benjamin was his Clerk--The Sickness of
+  both--Denham dies--Benjamin thrown out of Business--Returns to his
+  Trade, and works for Keimer--Legacy from Denham--His Fidelity always
+  pleased his Employers--Many Youth do not care for the Employer's
+  Success--Fidelity one Secret of Benjamin's Success--The Oxford
+  Student--Dangers of Theatrical Amusements and Bad Company--Trouble
+  with Keimer--Refuses to work for him--Arrangements to go into
+  Business with Meredith                                       220-229
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+  SETTING UP BUSINESS.
+
+  The Inventory--Keimer's Message--At Burlington--Friends made
+  there--Interview with the Surveyor-general--Opening his Office--
+  Samuel Mickle--His Croaking--The Result--Poetical Notice in  the
+  Printing-office--His Resolution in the Outset--His Industry--
+  Prophecies about Failure--The Every-Night Club--The Lounger
+  rebuked--Franklin never above his Business--Case of Judge
+  Marshall--Economy--How he began to Keep House--Maxims--
+  Integrity--The Slanderer turned away--Socrates and  Archelaus--
+  Business prosperous--Hopes and Fears--Coleman and Grace, and
+  their Offer--Talk with Meredith, and the Latter leaves       230-243
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+  THE JUNTO.
+
+  A Literary Club--What Franklin said of it--A New Proposition for a
+  Library--Scarcity of Books--Franklin the Father of Circulating
+  Libraries--Size of the First Library now--Questions asked by the
+  "Junto"--Their Practical Character--Questions Discussed--Members
+  limited to Twelve--No Improvement on the "Junto"--Franklin's Hand
+  seen in it--All but one or two Members became Respectable, and most
+  of them distinguished Men--Studying French, Italian, and Spanish--
+  Playing Chess--Studying Latin--The "Junto" Copied in England--
+  Canning--Franklin begins to think more of Religion--Doubting his
+  Doubts--A Minister calls upon him--Goes to Meeting--The Fatal
+  Sermon--Power of Conscience--Prays, and his Form of Prayer--
+  His Book of Goodness--Rules of Conduct, and what they
+  show                                                         244-253
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXV.
+
+  CONCLUSION.
+
+  The Printer Boy and Man--His Brother reconciled to him--Rears his
+  Nephew--Holds important Offices--Refuses Patent of a Stove--Gift to
+  English Clergyman--Improves Street Lamps--Forms Fire-Company--
+  Organizes Militia--A Schedule of the Offices he filled and the
+  Honours he Won--Honoured in France, and all Europe--Societies
+  and Towns named after him--A Library Presented to the Town of
+  Franklin, Mass.--His Remark about more Sense than  Sound--
+  Washington's Praise of him--Action of Congress--Demonstrations
+  of Respect in France--A Benjamin truly, and not a Ben-Oni--
+  Regretting his early disregard of Religion--His Benevolence--
+  Emptied his Pockets for Whitefield--His Humanity, and Words of
+  a Biographer--His Reverence for God in High Places--Proposed the
+  First Fast--Advocates Prayers in the National Convention--The
+  Young Man at his Death-bed--His Last Words for the Bible     254-264
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+  "HOW MUCH DID YOU GIVE FOR YOUR WHISTLE?"             _Frontispiece_
+
+  MEDALLION OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN                      _Vignette Title_
+
+  THE ROGUE'S WHARF                                          _Page_ 44
+
+  THE MYSTERIOUS CONTRIBUTOR                                       123
+
+  FRANKLIN SAVING THE DUTCHMAN                                     149
+
+  MISS READ'S FIRST GLIMPSE OF HER FUTURE HUSBAND                  162
+
+  ANECDOTE OF DR. MATHER AND FRANKLIN--HUMILITY "BEATEN IN!"       186
+
+  "SAWDUST PUDDING"--ANECDOTE OF FRANKLIN'S INDEPENDENCE           242
+
+
+
+
+THE PRINTER-BOY.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE WHISTLE.
+
+
+It was a bright, welcome holiday to little Benjamin Franklin, when his
+kind parents put some coppers into his pocket, to spend as he saw fit.
+Possibly it was the first time he was ever permitted to go out alone
+into the streets of Boston with money to spend for his own pleasure;
+for he was now but seven years old.
+
+"Can I have more coppers when these are gone?" he inquired.
+
+"No," replied his mother, "you have quite as many now as will be for
+your welfare, I think. You must be a good boy, and keep out of
+mischief."
+
+"What are you going to buy?" asked an older brother; and without
+waiting for a reply, he answered the question himself, by saying,
+"Candy, of course."
+
+"Lay out your money wisely," added his mother; "I shall want to see
+how much wisdom you display in your purchases. Remember 'all is not
+gold that glitters.'"
+
+His mother had scarcely ceased speaking, when Benjamin bounded out of
+the house, eager to enjoy the anticipated pleasures of the day. Like
+other boys, on such occasions, his head was filled with bewitching
+fancies, and he evidently expected such a day of joy as he never had
+before. First in his thoughts stood the toy-shop, into the windows of
+which he had often looked wistfully, although it was a small affair
+compared with the Boston toy-shops of the present day. Every article
+in it could have been examined in one or two hours, while now it would
+take as many days to view all the articles in one of these
+curiosity-shops. It is almost wonderful, and even fabulous, this
+multiplication of playthings for the children. There seems to be no
+end to them, and many a girl and boy have been put to their "wits'
+end" to know what to choose out of the thousands of articles arranged
+on the shelves.
+
+Benjamin had not proceeded far before he met a boy blowing away upon,
+a new-bought whistle, as if its music were sweeter than the voice of
+lark or nightingale. He could scarcely help envying him the happiness
+of owning so valuable a treasure. He stopped and looked at him with an
+expression of delight, and they exchanged glances that showed a
+genuine sympathy springing up between them. At once he resolved to
+possess a similar musical instrument, as I suppose it may be called;
+and away he hastened to the toy-shop, knowing that it must have been
+purchased there.
+
+"Any whistles?" he inquired.
+
+"Plenty of them," answered the proprietor, with a smile, as he brought
+forth a number, to the amazement of his little customer.
+
+"I will give you all the money I have for one," said Benjamin, without
+waiting to inquire the price, so enthusiastic was he to become the
+possessor of such a prize.
+
+"Ah! all you have?" responded the merchant. "Perhaps you have not so
+much as I ask for them. You see these are very nice whistles."
+
+"I know it," added Benjamin, "and I will give you all the money I have
+for one," still more afraid that he should not be able to obtain one.
+
+"How much money have you?"
+
+Benjamin told him honestly just how much he had, and the merchant
+agreed to give him a whistle in exchange for it.
+
+Never was a child more delighted than he, when the bargain was made.
+He tried every whistle, that he might select the one having the most
+music in it; and when his choice was settled, he turned his steps
+towards home. He thought no more of other sights and scenes, and cared
+not for sweetmeats and knick-knacks, now that he owned this wonderful
+thing. He reached home and hurried into the house, blowing his
+whistle lustily as he went, as if he expected to astonish the whole
+race of Franklins by the shrillness, if not by the sweetness, of his
+music.
+
+"What have you there, Benjamin?" inquired his mother.
+
+"A whistle," he answered, hardly stopping his blowing long enough to
+give a reverent reply.
+
+"You got back quick, it seems to me," she continued. "Have you seen
+all that is to be seen?"
+
+"All I want to see," he answered; which was very true. He was so
+completely carried away with his whistle that he had lost all his
+interest in everything else belonging to the holiday. His cup of
+delight was running over now that he could march about the house with
+musical sounds of his own making.
+
+"How much did you give for your whistle?" asked one of his cousins,
+who was present.
+
+"All the money I had," he replied.
+
+"What!" exclaimed his brother, "did you give all your money for that
+little concern?"
+
+"Yes, every cent of it."
+
+"You are not half so bright as I thought you were," continued his
+brother. "It is four times as much as the whistle is worth."
+
+"You should have asked the price of it, in the first place," said his
+mother. "Some men will take all the money they can get for an
+article. Perhaps he did not ask so much as you gave for it."
+
+"If you had given a reasonable price for it," said his brother, "you
+might have had enough left to have bought a pocketful of good things."
+
+"Yes," added his cousin, "peppermints, candy, cakes, and more perhaps;
+but it is the first time he ever went a shopping on a holiday."
+
+"I must confess you are a smart fellow, Ben" (as he was familiarly
+called by the boys), "to be taken in like that," continued his
+brother, rather deridingly. "All your money for that worthless thing,
+that is enough to make us crazy! You ought to have known better.
+Suppose you had had twice as much money, you would have given it all
+for the whistle, I suppose, if this is the way you trade."
+
+"Perhaps he would have bought two or three of them in that case," said
+his cousin, at the same time looking very much as if he intended to
+make sport of the young whistler.
+
+By this time Benjamin, who had said nothing in reply to their taunts
+and reproofs, was running over with feeling, and he could hold in no
+longer. He burst into tears, and made even more noise by crying than
+he had done with his whistle. Both their ridicule and the thought of
+having paid so much more than he ought for the article, overcame him,
+and he found relief in tears. His mother came to the rescue, by
+saying--
+
+"Never mind, Benjamin, you will understand better next time. We must
+all live and learn. Perhaps you did about as well as most boys of your
+age would."
+
+"I think so, too," said his cousin; "but we wanted to have a little
+sport, seeing it is a holiday. So wipe up, 'Ben,' and we will have a
+good time yet."
+
+On the whole, it was really a benefit that Benjamin paid too much for
+his whistle. For he learned a lesson thereby which he never forgot. It
+destroyed his happiness on that holiday, but it saved him from much
+unhappiness in years to come. More than sixty years afterwards, when
+he was in France, he wrote to a friend, rehearsing this incident of
+his childhood, and said--
+
+"This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing
+on my mind; so that often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary
+thing, I said to myself, _Don't give too much for the whistle_; and I
+saved my money.
+
+"As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I
+thought I met with many, very many who _gave too much for the
+whistle_.
+
+"When I saw one too ambitious of court favour, sacrificing his time in
+attendance on levées, his repose, his liberty, his virtue, and,
+perhaps, his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, _This man
+gives too much for his whistle_.
+
+"When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself
+in political bustles, neglecting his own affairs, and ruining them by
+that neglect, _He pays, indeed_, said I, _too much for his whistle_.
+
+"If I see one fond of appearance, or fine clothes, fine houses, fine
+furniture, fine equipages, all above his fortune, for which he
+contracts debts, and ends his career in a prison, _Alas!_ say I, _he
+has paid dear, very dear for his whistle_.
+
+"When I see a beautiful, sweet-tempered girl married to an ill-natured
+brute of a husband, _What a pity_, say I, _that she should pay so much
+for a whistle!_
+
+"In short, I conceive that great part of the miseries of mankind are
+brought upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value
+of things, and by their _giving too much for their whistle_."
+
+Thus Benjamin made a good use of one of the foolish acts of his
+boyhood, which tells well for both his head and heart. Many boys are
+far less wise, and do the same foolish thing over and over again. They
+never learn wisdom from the past. Poor, simple, pitiable class of
+boys!
+
+Let the reader prove himself another Benjamin Franklin in this
+respect. Remember that there is more than one way _to pay too dear for
+a whistle_, and he is wisest who tries to discover them all.
+
+When a boy equivocates, or deceives, to conceal some act of
+disobedience from his parents or teachers, and thereby lays the
+foundations for habitual untruthfulness, he pays too dear for the
+whistle; and he will learn the truth of it when he becomes older, and
+cannot command the confidence of his friends and neighbours, but is
+branded by them as an unreliable, dishonest man.
+
+In like manner, the boy who thinks it is manly to smoke, and fill the
+wine-cup, will find that he has a very expensive whistle, when he
+becomes "hail fellow well met" among a miserable class of young men,
+and is despised and discarded by the virtuous and good.
+
+So, in general, the young person who is fascinated by worldly
+pleasure, and supposes that wealth and honour are real apples of gold
+to the possessor, thinking less of goodness and a life of piety than
+he does of mere show and worldliness, will find that he has been
+playing with a costly whistle, when age and his last sickness comes,
+and death confronts him with its stern realities.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+AT SCHOOL.
+
+
+"Well, Benjamin," said his father, laying down his violin, upon which
+he was wont to play in the evening, for his own and children's
+amusement, "how should you like to go to school and qualify yourself
+to be a minister? You are as fond of your books as James is of
+printing, or John of making candles!"
+
+"I should like to go to school well enough," replied Benjamin, after
+some hesitation; "but I don't know about the rest of it."
+
+"You are old enough now," continued his father, "to think about a
+trade or profession. Your elder brothers have their trades, and,
+perhaps, you ought to give your service to the Church. You like to
+study, do you not?"
+
+"Yes, sir; the best of anything I do." A very correct answer, since he
+began to read so young, that he could not remember the time when he
+could not read his Bible.
+
+"It will cost a good deal to keep you at school and educate you, and
+perhaps I shall not be able to do it with so large a family to
+support. I have to be very industrious now to make my ends meet. But
+if you are diligent to improve your time, and lend a helping hand at
+home, out of school hours, I may be able to do it."
+
+"When shall I begin, if you decide to let me go?"
+
+"Immediately. It is a long process to become qualified for the
+ministry, and the sooner you begin the better."
+
+"Uncle Benjamin," as he was called in the family, a brother of our
+little hero's father, sat listening to the conversation, and, at this
+point, remarked, "Yes, Benjamin, it is the best thing you can do. I am
+sure you can make very rapid progress at school; and there ought to be
+one preacher in the family, I think."
+
+"So many people have told me," added his father. "Dr. Willard (his
+pastor) said as much to me not long ago, and I am fully persuaded to
+make the trial."
+
+"It won't be a severe trial, either," said Uncle Benjamin. "The thing
+can be accomplished more easily than at first appears. I tell you what
+it is, Benjamin," addressing himself to the boy, "when you are
+qualified for the office, I will give you my large volume of
+short-hand sermons, and the reading of these will improve your manner
+of sermonizing."
+
+This uncle had recently come over from England, and was boarding in
+the family. He was a very intelligent man, quite a literary character
+for the times, and had been accustomed to take down the sermons to
+which he listened, in short-hand, until he had preserved a large
+manuscript volume of them, which he valued highly. It was this volume
+which he promised to bequeath to his nephew when he should become
+qualified to enter the ministry.
+
+This interview occurred almost one hundred and fifty years ago,
+between Benjamin Franklin, who paid too much for the whistle, and his
+father, whose Christian name was Josiah. The lad was eight years old
+at the time, a bright, active, intelligent boy, who was more fond of
+reading than any other child in the family. He was born in Boston, on
+Sunday, January 6 (Old Style, corresponding to January 17, New Style),
+1706, and on the same day was carried into the Old South Church, and
+there baptized. Both his father and mother were members of that
+church.
+
+If you ask how it is known that he was born and baptized on the same
+day, we answer, that on the "Old Boston Town Records of Births," under
+the heading, "Boston Births, entered 1708," is the following:--
+
+     "Benjamin, son of Josiah Franklin, and Abiah, his wife, Born 6
+     Jan. 1706."
+
+By some oversight or negligence the birth was not recorded until two
+years after Benjamin was born; yet it shows that he was born on Jan.
+6, 1706.
+
+Then we turn to the records of the Old South Church, and find among
+the baptism of infants the following:--
+
+     "1706, Jan. 6, Benjamin, son of Josiah and Abiah Franklin."
+
+Putting these two records together, they establish beyond doubt the
+fact that Benjamin Franklin was born and baptized on the same day. It
+has generally been said that we do not know by whom he was baptized,
+although the rite must have been performed either by Dr. Samuel
+Willard, or Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, who were then pastors of the Old
+South Church. But the fact that the record is made in the handwriting
+of Dr. Willard would indicate that he baptized him. He was born in
+Milk Street, opposite the church, so that he had only to be carried
+across the street to receive the ordinance of baptism.
+
+A picture of the old house in which he was born has been preserved,
+and it stood on the spot where now rises a lofty granite warehouse,
+bearing, in raised letters beneath the cornice, the inscription,
+"BIRTHPLACE OF FRANKLIN." The house measured twenty feet in width, and
+was about thirty feet long. It was three stories high in appearance,
+the third being the attic. On the lower floor of the main house there
+was only one room, which was about twenty feet square, and served the
+family for the triple purpose of parlour, sitting-room, and
+dining-hall. It contained an old-fashioned fireplace, so large that
+an ox might have been roasted before it. The second and third stories
+originally contained but one chamber each, of ample dimensions, and
+furnished in the plainest manner. The attic was an unplastered room,
+where probably some of the elder children lodged. This house stood
+about a hundred years after the Franklins left it, and was finally
+destroyed by fire, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 1810.
+
+He was named after the aforesaid uncle, and this circumstance alone
+was well suited to beget a mutual interest and attachment between
+them. His love of books early attracted the attention of his parents
+and others, and they regarded him as a precocious child. On this
+account the remark was often volunteered, "that he ought to be sent to
+college."
+
+We have said that Mr. Franklin was playing upon his violin on the
+evening of the aforesaid interview. He was very fond of music, was a
+good singer, and performed well upon the violin. He was wont to gather
+his family around him during the leisure hours of evening, and sing
+and play. Many cheerful and happy seasons were passed in this way at
+the fireside, the influence of which was excellent upon his children.
+
+That it would be doubtful whether he could meet the expense of sending
+Benjamin to college, must appear to the reader, when he learns that
+he was a labouring man, and had a family of seventeen children,
+thirteen of whom sat around his table together at one time. Fourteen
+were older than Benjamin, and two were younger. To support so large a
+family must have taxed the energies of the father to the utmost, even
+though no one of them was destined for a learned profession.
+
+It was arranged that Benjamin should immediately enter school, and
+enjoy the best literary advantages which the poverty of his father
+could provide. He acceded to the plan with hearty good-will, and
+commenced his studies with a zeal and enthusiasm such as few scholars
+exhibit.
+
+The school was taught by Mr. Nathaniel Williams, successor of the
+famous Boston teacher, Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, who was instructor
+thirty-five years, and who discontinued teaching, as Cotton Mather
+said, "only when mortality took him off." The homely old wooden
+school-house, one story and a half high, stood near by the spot on
+which the bronze statue of Franklin is now seen, and there was the
+"school-house green," where "Ben" and his companions sported together.
+It was probably the only free grammar-school which Boston afforded at
+that time; for it was only a little village compared with its present
+size. It then contained only about ten thousand inhabitants, and now
+it has more than fifteen times that number. There were no stately
+public buildings at that time, like the State-house, Court-house,
+Custom-house, Athenæum, Public Library, etc. Such splendid granite
+blocks of stores as we now behold on almost every business street,
+were then unknown; and no shops could be found, as now, filled with
+the fabrics of every land. There were no costly houses of worship, the
+"Old South Meeting-house," then about half its present size, being the
+oldest one in existence at the time.
+
+When Benjamin was born, the streets of Boston were not named. This was
+not done until the year after, when there were but one hundred and ten
+of them in number. Now there are a thousand streets, courts, and
+places. Thus it will be seen that the Boston of that day resembled the
+present Boston little more than Benjamin Franklin blowing his whistle
+resembled Benjamin Franklin the great statesman and philosopher.
+
+"I have seen the teacher to-day," said Mr. Franklin to his wife, two
+or three months after his son entered school, "and he says that he is
+making rapid progress, and will soon stand first in his class,
+although others have enjoyed much better advantages."
+
+"I am glad to hear it," answered Mrs. Franklin, with a satisfied air,
+such as mothers are likely to betray when they know that their
+children are doing well; "I think he will make a good scholar if he
+can have the opportunity, though I scarcely see how you will be able
+to educate him."
+
+"I can hardly see how myself," said her husband; "yet I trust that God
+will provide a way. At any rate, I hope for the best."
+
+"It will be more and more expensive every year to support him," added
+Mrs. Franklin, "since his clothes will cost more as he advances in
+years. The least expense in educating him we are having now."
+
+"That is very true, and I have looked at the matter in this light, all
+the while not being able to see my way quite clear, yet trusting to
+Providence for a happy issue."
+
+"It is well to trust in Providence if it is not done blindly, for
+Providence sometimes does wonders for those who trust. It is quite
+certain that He who parted the waters of the Red Sea for the children
+of Israel to pass, and fed them with manna from the skies, can provide
+a way for our Benjamin to be educated. But it looks to me as if some
+of his bread would have to drop down from heaven."
+
+"Well, if it comes, that is enough," responded Mr. Franklin, rather
+drily. "If God does anything for him, he will do it in his own time
+and way. I shall be satisfied to see him qualified for usefulness in
+the service of the Church."
+
+Within a few months after Benjamin entered school, he had advanced
+from the middle to the head of his class. He was so apt to learn, and
+gave so close attention to his lessons, that his teacher spoke of him
+as a boy of uncommon promise. He did not stand at the head of his
+class long, however, before he was transferred to a higher one. He so
+far outstripped his companions that the teacher was obliged to advance
+him thus, otherwise his mental progress would have been injuriously
+retarded. His parents were highly gratified with his diligent
+improvement of time and opportunities, and other relatives and friends
+began to prophesy his future eminence.
+
+It is generally the case that such early attention to studies, in
+connection with the advancement that follows, awakens high hopes of
+the young in the hearts of all observers. Such things foreshadow the
+future character, so that people think they can tell what the man will
+be from what the boy is. So it was with young Benjamin Franklin. So it
+was with Daniel Webster,--his mother inferred from his close attention
+to reading, and his remarkable progress in learning, that he would
+become a distinguished man, and so expressed herself to others. She
+lived to see him rise in his profession, until he became a member of
+Congress, though she died before he reached the zenith of his renown.
+The same was true of David Rittenhouse, the famous mathematician. When
+he was but eight years old he constructed various articles, such as a
+miniature water-wheel, and at seventeen years of age he made a clock.
+His younger brother relates that he was accustomed to stop when he was
+ploughing in the field, and solve problems on the fence, and sometimes
+cover the plough-handles over with figures. The highest expectations
+of his friends were more than realized in his after life. The peculiar
+genius which he exhibited in his boyhood gave him fame at last. Again,
+George Stephenson, the great engineer, the son of a very poor man, who
+fired the engine at the Wylam Colliery, began his life labour when a
+mere boy. Besides watching the cows, and barring the gates at night
+after the coal waggons had passed, at twopence a day, he amused
+himself during his leisure moments in making clay engines, in
+imitation of that which his father tended. Although he lived in such
+humble circumstances that he was almost entirely unnoticed, yet it
+would have been apparent to any observer, that his intense interest
+in, and taste for, such mechanical work, evinced what the future man
+would be.
+
+It was quite natural, then, for the parents and friends of Benjamin
+Franklin to be encouraged by his love of books, and diligent
+attention, especially when so much intellectual brightness was also
+manifest. The sequel will prove whether their hopes were wisely
+cherished.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A CHANGE.
+
+
+Benjamin had not been in school quite a year, when his father saw
+plainly that he would not be able to defray the expense of educating
+him.
+
+"I might keep him along for the present," said he to his wife, "but I
+am satisfied that I cannot carry him through. My family expenses are
+now very great, and they will be still larger. It will make
+considerable difference in my expenses whether Benjamin is kept at
+school, or assists me by the labour of his hands."
+
+"I am not surprised at all at your conclusion," replied Mrs. Franklin.
+"It is no more than I have expected, as I have before intimated.
+Parents must be better off than we are to be able to send a son to
+college."
+
+"If they have as many children to support, you might add," said Mr.
+Franklin. "I could easily accomplish it with no larger family on my
+hands than some of my neighbours have."
+
+"Do you intend to take Benjamin away from school at once?"
+
+"Yes! I have very reluctantly come to the conclusion that I must. It
+is contrary to all my desires, but necessity compels me to do it."
+
+"I am sorry for Benjamin," continued Mrs. Franklin, "for he has become
+much interested in his school, and it will be a great disappointment
+to him."
+
+"I thought of that much before coming to my present decision; but
+there is no alternative. Providence seems to indicate, now, the course
+I should take, and I am the more willing to follow, because the times
+do not hold out so much encouragement to those who would enter the
+service of the Church. There are many trials and hardships to be met
+in the work, and at the present day, they seem to be peculiar."
+
+"There are trials almost anywhere in these times," said Mrs. Franklin,
+"and I suppose we ought to bear them with fortitude. So far as that is
+concerned, I think Benjamin will not escape them, let him follow what
+business he may."
+
+"True, very true, and I trust that I desire to place him where God
+would have me; but he has certainly hedged up his way to the
+ministry."
+
+This subject was very thoroughly considered before it was opened to
+Benjamin. His father was too anxious to educate him to change his
+purpose without much patient thought and circumspection. Nothing but
+absolute necessity induced him to come to this decision. The hard hand
+of poverty was laid upon him, and he must have "bread before learning"
+for his children.
+
+One evening, as the school term was drawing to a close, Mr. Franklin
+said to Benjamin--
+
+"I think I shall be under the necessity of taking you away from school
+at the close of the term. The times are so hard, that I find, with my
+best exertions, I can do little more than supply you with food and
+clothes."
+
+"And not go to school any more?" anxiously inquired Benjamin.
+
+"Perhaps not. Such appears to be your prospect now, though I cannot
+say that God may not open a way hereafter; I hope he will. You are but
+nine years old, and there is time yet for a way to be provided."
+
+"Why can I not attend school till I am old enough to help you?"
+
+"You are old enough to help me now. I could find a plenty for you to
+do every day, so that you could make yourself very useful."
+
+In those days boys were put to work much earlier than they are now.
+They had very small opportunities for acquiring knowledge, and the
+boys who did not go to school after they were ten years old were more
+in number than those who did. Besides, the schools were very poor in
+comparison with those of the present age. They offered very limited
+advantages to the young. It was not unusual, therefore, for lads as
+young as Benjamin to be made to work.
+
+"But I do not intend to set you to work immediately," continued Mr.
+Franklin. "You ought to give some attention to penmanship and
+arithmetic, and I shall send you to Mr. Brownwell's writing-school for
+a season."
+
+"I shall like that, for I want to know how to write well. Some of the
+boys no older than I am have been to his school some time."
+
+"It is equally important that you learn to cipher, and Mr. Brownwell
+is an excellent teacher of arithmetic. It will not take you many
+months to become a good penman under his tuition, and to acquire
+considerable knowledge of numbers."
+
+"I care more about writing than I do about arithmetic," said Benjamin.
+"I don't think I shall like arithmetic very well."
+
+"Boys have to study some things they don't like," responded his
+father. "It is the only way they can qualify themselves for
+usefulness. You would not make much of an appearance in the world
+without some acquaintance with numbers."
+
+"I know that," said Benjamin; "and I shall try to master it, even if I
+do not like it. I am willing to do what you think is best."
+
+"I hope you will always be as willing to yield to my judgment. It is a
+good sign for a boy to accept cheerfully the plans of his father, who
+has had more experience."
+
+Benjamin was generally very prompt to obey his parents, even when he
+did not exactly see the necessity of their commands. He understood
+full well that obedience was a law of the household, which could not
+be violated with impunity; therefore he wisely obeyed. His father was
+a religious man, puritanical and even severe in his views and habits;
+a walk was never allowed on Sunday, and "going to meeting" was one of
+the inexorable rules of the family.
+
+Benjamin was reared under such family regulations. He was expected to
+regard them with becoming filial respect. Nor did he grow restless and
+impatient under them, nor cherish less affection for his father in
+consequence. We have no reason to believe that he sought to evade
+them; and there is no doubt that the influence of such discipline was
+good in forming his character. He certainly loved and respected his
+father as long as he lived. Many years thereafter, when his father was
+old and infirm, he was wont to perform frequent journeys from
+Philadelphia to Boston, to visit him. It was on one of these journeys
+that he rebuked the inquisitiveness of a landlord, by requesting him,
+as soon as he entered his tavern, to assemble all the members of his
+family together, as he had something important to communicate. The
+landlord proceeded to gratify him, and as soon as they were brought
+together in one room, he said, "My name is Benjamin Franklin; I am a
+printer by trade; I live, when at home, in Philadelphia; in Boston I
+have a father, a good old man, who taught me, when I was a boy, to
+read my book, and say my prayers; I have ever since thought it was my
+duty to visit and pay my respects to such a father, and I am on that
+errand to Boston now. This is all I can recollect at present of myself
+that I think worth telling you. But if you can think of anything else
+that you wish to know about me, I beg you to out with it at once, that
+I may answer, and so give you an opportunity to get me something to
+eat, for I long to be on my journey that I may return as soon as
+possible to my family and business, where I most of all delight to
+be." This was a keen rebuke to a landlord who was disposed to be
+inquisitive, and interrogate his guests in an ungentlemanly way. But
+we have cited the incident to show that the filial love and respect
+which Benjamin had for his parents continued as long as they lived.
+The last act of affection and reverence that he could possibly perform
+to them was cheerfully made. It was the erection of a marble stone
+over their remains in Boston, bearing the following inscription:--
+
+                     "JOSIAH FRANKLIN
+                            And
+                       ABIAH his wife
+                     Lie here interred.
+          They lived lovingly together in wedlock
+                     Fifty-five years;
+     And without an estate, or any gainful employment,
+          By constant labour, and honest industry
+                   (With God's blessing)
+           Maintained a large family comfortably;
+  And brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren
+                         Reputably.
+                From this instance, reader,
+         Be encouraged to diligence in thy calling,
+                And distrust not Providence.
+              He was a pious and prudent man,
+             She a discreet and virtuous woman.
+                    Their youngest son,
+             In filial regard to their memory,
+                     Places this stone.
+            J. F. born 1645; died 1744. Æt. 89.
+            A. F. born 1667; died 1752. Æt. 85."
+
+This stone had become so dilapidated in 1827, that the citizens of
+Boston supplied its place with a granite obelisk, on which the
+foregoing inscription may still be read.
+
+It is good for boys, who are very likely to want their own way, to be
+obliged to obey exact rules in the family. It is a restraint upon
+their evil tendencies that tells well upon their riper years. It was
+to such an influence that Sir Robert Peel felt much indebted for his
+success in life. As an illustration of the obedience he was obliged to
+practise, in common with his brothers, he relates, that, in his
+youth, a comrade called one day to solicit their company upon some
+excursion. He was a young man of handsome address, intelligent, smart,
+and promising, though quite accustomed to enjoy much pastime. He was a
+fashionable young man for the times, wearing "dark brown hair, tied
+behind with blue ribbon; clear, mirthful eyes; boots which reached
+above his knees; a broad-skirted, scarlet coat, with gold lace on the
+cuffs, the collar, and the skirts; and a long waistcoat of blue silk.
+His breeches were buckskin; his hat was three-cornered, set jauntily
+higher on the right than on the left side." His name was Harry
+Garland. To his request that William, Edmund, and Robert might go with
+him, their father replied, "No, they cannot go out." Although the boys
+earnestly desired to go, they dared say nothing against their father's
+emphatic "No." He had work for them to do, and he never allowed
+pleasure to usurp the time for labour. The result is recorded on the
+page of English history. The three brothers of the Peel family became
+renowned in their country's brilliant progress. Harry Garland, the
+idle, foppish youth, became a ruined spendthrift. In this way the
+language of inspiration is verified. "Honour thy father and mother
+(which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well
+with thee." The providence of God appears to make it well with the
+children who obey the commandment. Not the least of their reward is
+the respect and confidence of mankind which their obedience secures.
+Men universally admire to witness deeds that are prompted by true
+filial love. Such an act as that of the great engineer, George
+Stephenson, who took the first thirty pounds he possessed, saved from
+a year's wages, and paid off his blind old father's debts, and then
+removed both father and mother to a comfortable tenement at
+Killingworth, where he supported them by the labour of his hands,
+awakens our admiration, and leads us to expect that the Divine
+blessing will rest upon the author.
+
+When the statue of Franklin was inaugurated, in 1856, a barouche
+appeared in the procession that carried eight brothers, all of whom
+received Franklin medals at the Mayhew School in their boyhood, sons
+of the late Mr. John Hall. They were all known to fame for their worth
+of character and wide influence. As the barouche in which they rode
+came into State Street, from Merchants' Row, these brothers all rose
+up in the carriage, uncovered their heads, and thus remained while
+passing a window at which their excellent and revered mother sat,--an
+act of filial regard so impressive and beautiful as to fill the hearts
+of beholders with profound respect for the affectionate sons.
+
+Benjamin was taken away from school, agreeably to his father's
+decision, and sent to Mr. Brownwell, to perfect himself in arithmetic
+and penmanship. Less than a year he had attended the grammar-school,
+with little or no prospect of returning to his studies. But the
+disappointment was somewhat alleviated by the advantages offered at
+Mr. Brownwell's writing class. Here he made rapid progress in
+penmanship, though he failed in mastering the science of number. He
+had more taste, and perhaps tact, for penmanship than he had for
+arithmetical rules and problems, and this may account for the
+difference of his improvement in the two branches.
+
+We should have remarked that Benjamin endeared himself to his teacher
+while he was a member of the public school, and it was with regret
+that the latter parted with his studious pupil. His close attention to
+his duties, and his habitual good deportment, in connection with his
+progress, made him such a scholar as teachers love.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MAKING CANDLES.
+
+
+When Benjamin was ten years old he had acquired all the education his
+father thought he could afford to give him. He could write a very good
+hand, and read fluently, though his knowledge of arithmetic was very
+limited indeed.
+
+"Are you about ready, Benjamin, to come into the shop and help me?"
+inquired his father, at the dinner table.
+
+"Am I not going to Mr. Brownwell's school any longer?" he asked,
+instead of replying to his father's question,--a Yankee-like way of
+doing things, truly.
+
+"I think the close of this term will complete the education I am able
+to give you," replied his father. "You will fare, then, better than
+your brothers, in respect to schooling."
+
+"I had rather not go into the shop," said Benjamin. "I think I shall
+not like to make candles, and I really wish you would engage in some
+other business."
+
+"And starve, too," said his father. "In such times as these we must be
+willing to do what will insure us a livelihood. I know of no other
+business that would give me a living at present, certainly none that I
+am qualified to pursue."
+
+Mr. Franklin was a dyer by trade, in England, and designed to continue
+it when he removed to America, about the year 1685. But he found, on
+arriving at Boston, that it would be quite impossible for him to
+support his family at this trade. The country was new, and the habits
+of the people were different from those of the English, so that the
+dyeing business could receive but little patronage. The next pursuit
+that presented itself, with fair promises of success, was that of
+"tallow-chandler and soap-boiler;" not so cleanly and popular a
+business as some, but yet necessary to be done, and very useful in its
+place; and this was enough for such a man as Mr. Franklin to know. He
+cared very little whether the trade was popular, so long as it was
+indispensable and useful. To him no business was dishonourable, if the
+wants of society absolutely demanded it.
+
+"Well, I should rather make soap and candles than starve," said
+Benjamin; "but nothing else could make me willing to follow the
+business."
+
+"One other thing ought to make you willing to do such work," added his
+father. "You had better do this than do nothing, for idleness is the
+parent of vice. Boys like you should be industrious, even if they do
+not earn their bread. It is better for them to work for nothing than
+not to work at all."
+
+"I think they may save their strength till they can earn something,"
+said Benjamin. "People must like to work better than I do, to work for
+nothing."
+
+"You do not understand me," continued Mr. Franklin. "I mean to say, it
+is so important for the young to form industrious habits, that they
+had better work for nothing than to be idle. If they are idle when
+they are young, they will be so when they become men, and idleness
+will finally be their ruin. 'The devil tempts all other men, but idle
+men tempt the devil,' is an old and truthful proverb, and I hope you
+will never consent to verify it."
+
+Mr. Franklin had been a close observer all his life, and he had
+noticed that industry was characteristic of those who accomplished
+anything commendable. Consequently he insisted that his children
+should have employment. He allowed no drones in his family hive. All
+had something to do as soon as they were old enough to toil. Under
+such influences Benjamin was reared, and he grew up to be as much in
+love with industry as his father was. Some of his best counsels, and
+most interesting sayings, when he became a man, related to this
+subject. The following are among the maxims which he uttered in his
+riper years:--
+
+     "Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears; while the
+     used key is always bright."
+
+     "But dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is
+     the stuff life is made of."
+
+     "If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be
+     the greatest prodigality."
+
+     "Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy; and he
+     that ariseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake
+     his business at night; while laziness travels so slowly, that
+     poverty soon overtakes him."
+
+     "At the working man's house hunger looks in, but dares not
+     enter."
+
+     "Diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things
+     to industry."
+
+     "One to-day is worth two to-morrows."
+
+     "Drive thy business, let not thy business drive thee."
+
+     "God helps them that help themselves."
+
+These are very beautiful and expressive sentences, and they show that
+Benjamin Franklin thought as much of industry in his manhood as his
+father did a quarter of a century before. Take the first, in which he
+compares slothfulness to rust, which will consume iron tools or
+machinery faster than their constant use will. As the use of a hoe or
+a spade keeps it polished, so the habitual exercise of the powers of
+human nature preserves them in a good condition. A key that is cast
+aside soon rusts, and is spoiled, but "the used key is always
+bright." It is more fit for use because it has been used.
+
+How true it is that "hunger dare not enter the working-man's house!"
+By the sweat of his brow he earns his daily bread, and his children do
+not cry with hunger. It is the lazy man's table that has no bread. His
+children rise up hungry, and go to bed supperless. God himself hath
+said, "If any would not work, neither should he eat."
+
+"Diligence is the mother of good luck." Another gem of wisdom that
+commands our acquiescence. How common for the indolent to complain of
+"bad luck!" Their families need the necessaries of life, as both a
+scanty table and rent apparel bear witness, and they cast the blame
+upon "ill luck," "misfortune," "unavoidable circumstances," or
+something of the kind. Many men whose faces are reddened and blotched
+by intemperance, begotten in the barroom where they have worse than
+idled away days and weeks of precious time, are often heard to lament
+over their "bad luck," as if their laziness and intemperance were not
+the direct cause of their misery. But it is not often that the
+diligent experience "bad luck." They receive a reward for their
+labours, and thrift and honour attend their steps, according as it is
+written in the Bible: "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and _hath_
+nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. Seest thou a
+man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall
+not stand before mean men."
+
+But we need not enlarge upon these sayings of Franklin. They are all
+charged with wisdom, and might be expanded into volumes. The more we
+study them, the more beauty we perceive.
+
+It was settled that Benjamin should assist his father in the
+manufacture of candles, notwithstanding his disinclination to engage
+in the business. His prospects of more schooling were thus cut off at
+ten years of age, and now he was obliged to turn his attention to hard
+work. It was rather an unpromising future to a little boy. No more
+schooling after ten years of age! What small opportunities in
+comparison with those enjoyed by nearly every boy at the present day!
+Now they are just beginning to learn at this early age. From ten they
+can look forward to six or eight years of golden opportunities in the
+school-room. Does the young reader appreciate the privileges which he
+enjoys?
+
+"To-morrow for the work-shop, Benjamin!" exclaimed Mr. Franklin, with
+a tone of pleasantry, on the evening before he was initiated into the
+mysteries of making candles. "I am full of business, and need another
+hand very much at present."
+
+"You can't expect much help from me," said Benjamin, "till I learn how
+to do the work. So I am thinking you will continue to be hurried for
+a while, unless you have another hand besides me."
+
+"You can do what I shall set you about just as well as a boy, or even
+a man, who had worked at the business for a year."
+
+"I wonder what that can be, that is so easy!" added Benjamin, with
+some surprise.
+
+"You can cut the wicks, fill the moulds for cast-candles, keep the
+shop in order, run hither and thither upon errands, and do other
+things that will save my time, and thus assist me just as much as a
+man could in doing the same things."
+
+"I am sure," said Mrs. Franklin, who had been listening to the
+conversation attentively, "that is inducement enough for any boy, but
+a lazy one, to work. You can make yourself about as useful to your
+father as a man whom he would have to pay high wages."
+
+"You will aid me just as much in going errands," said his father, "as
+in doing anything else. I have a good deal of such running to do, and
+if you do it, I can be employed in the more important part of my
+business, which no one else can attend to. Besides, your nimble feet
+can get over the ground much quicker than my older and clumsier ones,
+so that you can really perform this part of the business better than I
+can myself."
+
+Benjamin made no reply to these last remarks, although he was more
+favourably impressed, after hearing them, with the tallow-chandler's
+calling. On the following day he entered upon his new vocation, and,
+if "variety is the spice of life," then his first day in the shop had
+a plenty of spice. The shop was situated at the corner of Hanover and
+Union Streets, having the sign of a large blue ball, bearing the
+inscription:
+
+          1698 JOSIAS
+              FRANKLIN 1698.
+
+He cut wicks, filled moulds, performed errands, and played the part of
+general waiter, in which there was much variety. And this was his work
+for successive weeks, very little of his time running to waste. Do you
+ask how he likes it? The following conversation with his mother will
+answer.
+
+"I don't like it at all, mother,--no better than I thought I should,"
+he said. "I wish I could do something else."
+
+"What else is there for you to do, Benjamin?" replied his mother.
+"What would you like to do?"
+
+"I would like to go to sea."
+
+"Go to see what?" she inquired, as if she did not understand him at
+first.
+
+"Go on a voyage to Europe, or the East Indies."
+
+"What!" exclaimed his mother, exhibiting surprise, for she had not
+dreamed that her son had any inclination to go to sea. "Want to be a
+sailor? What put that into your head?"
+
+"I have always thought I should like to go to sea," he answered; "and
+I am so tired of making candles that I want to go now more than ever."
+
+"I am astonished, Benjamin. You might know that I should never give my
+consent to that. I should almost as lief bury you. And how can you
+want to leave your good home, and all your friends, to live in a ship,
+exposed to storms and death all the time?"
+
+"It is not because I do not love my home and friends, but I have a
+desire to sail on a voyage to some other country. I like the water,
+and nothing would suit me so well as to be a cabin-boy."
+
+"There, Benjamin, you must never say another word about it," continued
+his mother; "and you must not think any more about going; for I shall
+never give my consent, and I know _your father never will_. It was
+almost too much for me when your brother broke away from us, and went
+to sea. I could not pass through another such trial. So you must not
+persist in your wish, if you would not send me down to the grave." And
+here his mother alluded to one of the most bitter experiences of her
+life, when a son older than Benjamin became restless at home, and
+would not be persuaded from his purpose of going to sea. It caused
+her many unhappy hours.
+
+Benjamin had said nothing about this matter to his father, and this
+prompt veto of his mother put a damper on his hopes, so that he
+continued to work at the shop, with all his dislike for the business.
+His parents talked over the matter, and his father was led thereby to
+watch him more carefully, that he might nip the first buddings of
+desire for the sea. At length, however, Benjamin ventured to make
+known his wishes to his father.
+
+"I have thought," said he, "that I should like to go to sea, if you
+are willing;" and there he stopped, evidently expecting to be refused.
+
+"What has happened to lead you to desire this?" inquired his father.
+
+"Not anything," he answered. "I always thought I should like
+it,--though I have had a stronger desire lately."
+
+"I see how it is," continued his father. "You have been to the water
+with the boys frequently of late, and I have noticed that you loved to
+be in a boat better than to make candles. I am afraid that your sports
+on the water are making you dissatisfied with your home, and that here
+is the secret of your wanting to go to sea."
+
+"No, father; I think as much of my home as I ever did, and I like a
+boat no better now than I did the first time I got into one."
+
+"Perhaps it is so; but boys don't always know when they are losing
+their attachment to home. You need not say another syllable, however,
+about going to sea, for I shall never consent to it. You may as well
+relinquish at once all thought of going, since I strictly forbid your
+laying any such plans. If you do not wish to be a tallow-chandler, you
+may try some other business. I shall not insist upon your working with
+me, though I shall insist upon your following some calling."
+
+"I shall not want to go to sea against your wishes," said Benjamin. "I
+only thought I would go if you and mother were perfectly willing. I
+can work at this dirty trade, too, if you think it is best, though I
+can never like it."
+
+"I am glad to see that you have so much regard for your parents'
+wishes," said his father. "If your brother had been as considerate, he
+never would have become a sailor. Children should always remember that
+their parents know best, as they have had more experience and time to
+observe. I say again, if you will abandon all thoughts of a seafaring
+life, I will try to find you a situation to learn some trade you may
+choose for yourself."
+
+Benjamin was not disposed to enter upon a sailor's life contrary to
+his parents' counsels, and he submitted to his father's decision with
+as much cheerfulness and good feeling as could be expected in the
+circumstances. He knew that it was little use to tease his father when
+he said "no" to a project. His emphatic "no" usually put an end to all
+controversy.
+
+There is little doubt that Benjamin had been somewhat influenced by
+his frolics in and on the water. For some time, as opportunity
+offered, he had been down to the water both to bathe and take
+boat-rides. He had become an expert swimmer in a very short time, and
+not one of the boys so readily learned to manage a boat. He exhibited
+so much tact in these water feats, that he was usually regarded as a
+leader by the boys, and all matters of importance were referred to his
+judgment. It was not strange that he should be more in love with an
+ocean life after such pastimes with his comrades. Whether he admitted
+it or not, it is probable that his desire to go to sea was greatly
+increased by these pleasant times in and on the water.
+
+It was certainly a poor prospect that was before the young
+tallow-chandler. It was not a trade to call into exercise the higher
+and nobler faculties of the mind and heart. On that account, no one
+could expect that Benjamin would rise to much distinction in the
+world; and this will serve to awaken the reader's surprise as he
+becomes acquainted with the sequel. A little fellow, ten or twelve
+years of age, cutting the wicks of candles, and filling the moulds,
+does not promise to become a great statesman and philosopher. Yet
+with no more promise than this some of the most distinguished men
+commenced their career. Behold Giotti, as he tends his father's flock,
+tracing the first sketches of the divine art in the sand with a clumsy
+stick,--a deed so unimportant that it foreshadowed to no one his
+future eminence. See Daniel Webster, the great expounder of the
+American Constitution, sitting, in his boyhood, upon a log in his
+father's mill, and studying portions of that Constitution which were
+printed upon a new pocket-handkerchief; a trivial incident at the
+time, but now bearing an important relation to that period of his life
+when his fame extended to every land. Recall the early life of Roger
+Sherman, bound as an apprentice to a shoemaker in consequence of his
+father's poverty, with little education and no ancestral fame to
+assist him,--how exceeding small the promise that his name would yet
+be prominent in his country's history! In like manner, the little
+candle-making lad of Boston, in 1717, scarcely appears to be related
+to the philosopher and statesman of the same name, in 1775. But the
+hand of God is in the lives of men as really as in the history of
+nations.
+
+The reader should not make use of the fact that Franklin, and other
+eminent men, enjoyed small opportunities to acquire knowledge, as a
+plea that he himself need not be kept in school for a series of
+years. It is true that a little mental improvement may work wonders
+for a person in some circumstances, and it should lead us to inquire,
+if a little will accomplish so much, what will greater advantages do
+for him? A very little knowledge of electricity once saved the life of
+Benjamin Russell in his youth. He was an eminent citizen of Boston,
+born in the year 1761, and in his younger years he had learned from
+the writings of Franklin, who had become a philosopher, that it was
+dangerous to take shelter, during a thunder-shower, under a tree, or
+in a building not protected with lightning-rods. One day, in company
+with several associates, he was overtaken by a tempest, and some of
+the number proposed that they should take shelter under a large tree
+near by, while others advised to enter a neighbouring barn. But young
+Russell opposed both plans, and counselled going under a large
+projecting rock as the safest place. The result showed that a little
+knowledge of electricity was of great service to him; for both the
+barn and the tree were struck by lightning. But neither Benjamin
+Russell, nor any one else, from that day to this, would think of
+saying that there is no need of knowing much about electricity, since
+a little knowledge of it will do so much good. They might say it as
+reasonably, however, as a youth can say that there is no need of much
+schooling, since Benjamin Franklin, and others, became honoured and
+useful though they did not go to school after ten or twelve years of
+age. The deep regret of all this class of influential men ever has
+been, that their early advantages were so limited. George Stephenson,
+who did not learn to read until he was eighteen years old, felt so
+keenly on this point, that, when his own son became old enough to
+attend school, he sat up nights and mended the shoes and clocks of his
+neighbours, after having completed his day's labour, to obtain the
+means of educating him.
+
+
+[Illustration: The Rogue's Wharf.--See page 44.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE ROGUE'S WHARF.
+
+
+"All aboard!" exclaimed Benjamin, and so saying he bounded into the
+boat that lay at the water's edge. "Now for a ride: only hurry up, and
+make the oars fly;" and several boys leaped in after him from the
+shaking, trampled quagmire on which they stood.
+
+"We shall be heels over head in mud yet," said one of the number,
+"unless we try to improve the marsh. There is certainly danger that we
+shall go through that shaky place, and I scarcely know when we shall
+stop, if we begin to go down."
+
+"Let us build a wharf," said Benjamin, "and that will get rid of the
+quagmire. It won't be a long job, if all take hold."
+
+"Where will you get your lumber?" inquired John.
+
+"Nowhere. We don't want any lumber, for stones are better," answered
+Benjamin.
+
+"It is worse yet to bring stones so far, and enough of them," added
+John. "You must like to lift better than I do, to strain yourself in
+tugging stones here."
+
+"Look there," continued Benjamin, pointing to a heap of stones only a
+few rods distant. "There are stones enough for our purpose, and one or
+two hours is all the time we want to build a wharf with them."
+
+"But those stones belong to the man who is preparing to build a house
+there," said Fred. "The workmen are busy there now."
+
+"That may all be," said Benjamin, "but they can afford to lend them to
+us awhile. They will be just as good for their use after we have done
+with them."
+
+"Then you expect they will lend them to you, I perceive; but you'll be
+mistaken," answered Fred.
+
+"My mode of borrowing them is this,--we will go this evening, after
+the workmen have gone home, and tug them over here, and make the wharf
+long before bedtime;" and Benjamin looked queerly as he said it.
+
+"And get ourselves into trouble thereby," replied another boy. "I will
+agree to do it if you will bear all the blame of stealing them."
+
+"Stealing!" exclaimed Benjamin. "It is not stealing to take such
+worthless things as stones. A man couldn't sell an acre of them for a
+copper."
+
+"Well, anyhow, the men who have had the labour of drawing them there
+won't thank you for taking them."
+
+"I don't ask them to thank me. I don't think the act deserves any
+thanks," and a roguish twinkle of the eye showed that he knew he was
+doing wrong. And he added, "I reckon it will be a joke on the workmen
+to-morrow morning to find their pile of stones missing."
+
+"Let us do it," said John, who was taken with the idea of playing off
+a joke. "I will do my part to carry the thing through."
+
+"And I will do mine," said another; and by this time all were willing
+to follow the example of Benjamin, their leader. Perhaps all were
+afraid to say "No," according to the dictates of conscience, now that
+the enterprise was indorsed by one or two of their number. Boys are
+too often disposed to go "with the multitude to do evil." They are
+often too cowardly to do what they know is right.
+
+The salt marsh, bounding a part of the millpond where their boat lay,
+was trampled into a complete quagmire. The boys were accustomed to
+fish there at high water, and so many feet, so often treading on the
+spot, reduced it to a very soft condition. It was over this miry marsh
+that they proposed to build a wharf.
+
+The evening was soon there, and the boys came together on their
+rogue's errand. They surveyed the pile of stones, and found it ample
+for their purpose, though it looked like a formidable piece of work to
+move them.
+
+"Some of them are bigger than two of us can lift," said Fred.
+
+"Then three of us can hitch to and carry them," said Benjamin. "They
+must all be worked into a wharf this evening. Let us begin,--there is
+no time to lose."
+
+"The largest must go first," said John. "They are capital ones for the
+foundation. Come, two or three must take hold of this," at the same
+time laying hold of one of the largest.
+
+So they went to work with decided perseverance (the only commendable
+thing about the transaction), sometimes three or four of them working
+away at one stone, lifting and rolling it along. Benjamin was never
+half so zealous in cutting candle-wicks as he was in perpetrating this
+censurable act. He was second to no one of the number in cheerful
+active service on this occasion.
+
+The evening was not spent when the last stone was carried away, and
+the wharf was finished,--a work of art that answered their purpose
+very well, though it was not quite so imposing as Commercial Wharf is
+now, and was not calculated to receive the cargo of a very large
+Liverpool packet.
+
+"What a capital place it makes for fishing!" exclaimed Fred. "It is
+worth all it cost for that."
+
+"Perhaps it will cost more than you think for before we get through
+with it," said John. "We can tell better about that when the workmen
+find their stones among the missing."
+
+"I should like to hear what they will say," responded Benjamin, "when
+they discover what we have done, though I hardly think they will pay
+us much of a compliment. But I must hurry home, or I shall have
+trouble there. Come on, boys, let us go."
+
+At this they hastened to their homes, not designing to make known the
+labours of the evening, if they could possibly avoid interrogation.
+They knew that their parents would disapprove of the deed, and that no
+excuse could shield them from merited censure. It was not strange,
+then, that they were both afraid and ashamed to tell of what they had
+done. But we will let twenty-four hours pass. On the following
+evening, when Mr. Franklin took his seat at his fireside, Benjamin had
+taken his book and was reading.
+
+"Benjamin," said his father, "where was you last evening?"
+
+Benjamin knew by his father's anxious look that there was trouble. He
+imagined that he had heard of their enterprise on the previous
+evening. After some hesitation, he answered, "I was down to the
+water."
+
+"What was you doing there?"
+
+"We were fixing up a place for the boat."
+
+"See that you tell the truth, Benjamin, and withhold nothing. I wish
+to know what you did there."
+
+"We built a wharf."
+
+"What had you to build it with?"
+
+"We built it of stones."
+
+"And where did you get your stones?"
+
+"There was a pile of them close by."
+
+"Did they belong to you?"
+
+"I suppose not."
+
+"Did you not know that they belonged to the man who is building the
+house?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Then you deliberately resolved to steal them, did you?"
+
+"It isn't stealing to take stones."
+
+"Why, then, did you take them in the evening, after the workmen had
+gone home? Why did you not go after them when the workmen were all
+there?"
+
+Benjamin saw that he was fairly caught, and that, bright as he was, he
+could not get out of so bad a scrape unblamed. So he hung his head,
+and did not answer his father's last question.
+
+"I see plainly how it is," continued his father; "it is the
+consequence of going out in the evening with the boys, which I must
+hereafter forbid. I have been willing that you should go out
+occasionally, because I have thought it might be better for you than
+so much reading. But you have now betrayed my confidence, and I am
+satisfied more than ever that boys should be at home in the evening,
+trying to improve their minds. You have been guilty of an act that is,
+quite flagrant, although it may have been done thoughtlessly. You
+should have known better, after having received so much good
+instruction as you have had at home."
+
+"I did know better," frankly confessed Benjamin.
+
+"And that makes your guilt so much the greater," added his father. "Do
+you think you will learn a lesson from this, and never do the like
+again?"
+
+"I will promise that I never will."
+
+Thus frankly did Benjamin confess his wrong, and ever after look upon
+that act with regret. In mature age he referred to it, and called it
+one of the first evil acts of his life. It was the second time he
+_paid too dear for his whistle_.
+
+If seems that the workmen missed their stones, when they first reached
+the spot in the morning, and they soon discovered them nicely laid
+into a wharf. The proprietor was indignant, and exerted himself to
+learn who were the authors of the deed, and in the course of the day
+he gained the information, and went directly, and very properly, to
+their parents, to enter complaint. Thus all the boys were exposed, and
+received just rebuke for their misdemeanor. Benjamin was convinced, as
+he said of it many years afterwards, "that that which is not honest,
+could not be truly useful."
+
+We have referred to Benjamin's habit of reading. It had been his
+custom to spend his evenings, and other leisure moments, in reading.
+He was much pleased with voyages, and such writings as John Bunyan's.
+The first books he possessed were the works of Bunyan, in separate
+little volumes. After becoming familiar with them, he sold them in
+order to obtain the means to buy "Burton's Historical Collections,"
+which were small, cheap books, forty volumes in all. His father, also,
+possessed a good number of books for those times, when books were
+rare, and these he read through, although most of them were really
+beyond his years, being controversial writings upon theology. His love
+of reading was so great, that he even read works of this character
+with a degree of interest. In the library, however, were three or four
+books of somewhat different character. There was "Plutarch's Lives,"
+in which he was deeply interested; also Defoe's "Essay on Projects."
+But to no one book was he more indebted than to Dr. Mather's "Essay
+to do Good." From this he derived hints and sentiments which had a
+beneficial influence upon his after life. He said, forty or fifty
+years afterwards, "It gave me a turn of thinking that had an influence
+on some of the principal future events of my life." And he wrote to a
+son of Cotton Mather, "I have always set a greater value on the
+character of a doer of good, than on any other kind of reputation; and
+if I have been, as you seem to think, a useful citizen, the public
+owes the advantage of it to that book." Some of the sentiments of the
+book which particularly impressed him were as follows: "It is possible
+that the wisdom of a poor man may start a proposal that may save a
+city, save a nation." "A mean (humble) mechanic,--who can tell what an
+engine of good he may be, if humbly and wisely applied unto it?" "The
+remembrance of having been the man that first moved a good law, were
+better than a statue erected for one's memory." These, and similar
+thoughts, stimulated his mind to action, and really caused him to
+attempt what otherwise would have been impossible.
+
+If Benjamin had been engaged as usual, in reading, on that unfortunate
+evening, he would have escaped the guilt of an act that turned out to
+be a serious matter rather than a joke. The habit of spending leisure
+hours in poring over books, has saved many boys from vice and ruin.
+Many more might have been saved, if they had been so fond of books as
+to stay at home evenings to read. It is an excellent habit to form,
+and tends to preserve the character unsullied, while it stores the
+mind with useful knowledge.
+
+We shall see, as we advance, that Benjamin became very systematic and
+economical in the use of his time, that he might command every moment
+possible to read. The benefit he derived from the exercise when he was
+young caused him to address the following letter, many years
+thereafter, to a bright, intelligent girl of his acquaintance. The
+letter, being devoted to "_Advice on Reading_," is a valuable one to
+young persons now.
+
+     "I send my good girl the books I mentioned to her last night. I
+     beg of her to accept of them as a small mark of my esteem and
+     friendship. They are written in the familiar, easy manner for
+     which the French are so remarkable, and afford a good deal of
+     philosophic and practical knowledge, unembarrassed with the dry
+     mathematics used by more exact reasoners, but which is apt to
+     discourage young beginners.
+
+     "I would advise you to read with a pen in your hand, and enter in
+     a little book short hints of what you find that is curious, or
+     that may be useful; for this will be the best method of
+     imprinting such particulars on your memory, where they will be
+     ready either for practice on some future occasion, if they are
+     matters of utility, or, at least, to adorn and improve your
+     conversation, if they are rather points of curiosity; and, as
+     many of the terms of science are such as you cannot have met with
+     in your common reading, and may therefore be unacquainted with, I
+     think it would be well for you to have a good dictionary at hand,
+     to consult immediately when you meet with a word you do not
+     comprehend the precise meaning of.
+
+     "This may, at first, seem troublesome and interrupting; but it is
+     a trouble that will daily diminish, as you will daily find less
+     and less occasion for your dictionary, as you become more
+     acquainted with the terms; and, in the meantime, you will read
+     with more satisfaction, because with more understanding. When any
+     point occurs in which you would be glad to have further
+     information than your book affords you, I beg that you would not
+     in the least apprehend that I should think it a trouble to
+     receive and answer your questions. It will be a pleasure and no
+     trouble. For though I may not be able, out of my own little stock
+     of knowledge, to afford you what you require, I can easily direct
+     you to the books where it may most readily be found. Adieu, and
+     believe me ever, my dear friend,
+
+                                                  "B. FRANKLIN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+TABLE TALK.
+
+
+"Yes," replied Mr. Franklin, to the inquiry of a friend who was dining
+with him; "my ancestors were inured to hardships, and I myself am not
+altogether a stranger to them. I had but little opportunity of going
+to school, and have always had to work hard for a livelihood."
+
+"So much the better for you now," replied his friend; "for in this new
+country, and these hard times, you cannot find the support of a large
+family an easy matter."
+
+"That is true; but I have never regretted coming to this country. The
+liberty of worshipping God according to the dictates of conscience, is
+one of the richest blessings, and more than compensates for the trial
+of leaving my native land."
+
+"Then you experienced the rigours of intolerance there, in some
+measure, did you?"
+
+"Oh yes; my forefathers adhered to the Protestant faith through the
+reign of Mary, and were often in great danger from the bitter hatred
+of the Papists. I sometimes wonder that they did not forfeit their
+lives in those days of persecution."
+
+"I can relate to you one interesting fact," interrupted Uncle
+Benjamin, addressing himself to the guest. "Our ancestors possessed an
+English Bible, which they valued highly, of course; but there was
+danger of losing it, through the craftiness and hostility of the Papal
+powers. They held the Protestant Bible in absolute contempt. So, to
+conceal their Bible, at the same time they could enjoy the reading of
+it, they 'fastened it open with tapes under and within the cover of a
+joint-stool.' When our great-grandfather desired to read it to his
+family, according to his daily custom, 'he placed the joint-stool on
+his knees, and then turned over the leaves under the tapes.' While he
+was reading, one of the children was stationed at the door to give the
+alarm if he should see 'the apparitor coming, who was an officer of
+the spiritual court.' If the officer was seen approaching, the stool
+was immediately set down upon its feet, and the Bible in this way was
+concealed from view. For a considerable time they were obliged to read
+the Scriptures in this secret manner."
+
+"But your father was not thus persecuted, was he?" inquired the
+friend.
+
+"He was not persecuted to such a degree," answered Uncle Benjamin,
+"though he had some experience of this kind; and even brother Josias
+and myself did not escape. Our father's family continued in the Church
+of England till about the end of Charles the Second's reign, when
+Josias and I joined the Nonconformists, and subjected ourselves to
+much contempt."
+
+"And that is the reason I am in this country now," said Mr. Franklin.
+"We enjoyed few privileges, and frequently our religious meetings were
+disturbed, as they were forbidden by law. On this account some of my
+acquaintances resolved to remove to this country, and I decided to
+join them."
+
+"How long ago was that?"
+
+"It was about 1685, so that you will perceive I am one of the old
+settlers of America. I have been here long enough to witness many
+changes, and have no desire to return to my native country. My
+children can scarcely appreciate how much they enjoy, in comparison
+with the experience of their ancestors."
+
+Benjamin had often heard the last remark, as a reminder of his
+obligations to be good and useful. Indeed, this whole tale of
+persecution he had listened to over and over, and had heard his Uncle
+Benjamin tell the story of the Bible and stool a number of times. He
+had come to the conclusion that he was faring better than his father
+did, although he did not think his own lot remarkably flattering.
+
+This conversation at the dinner-table was a specimen of what
+frequently occurred there in the way of remark. Mr. Franklin was
+gratified to have some intelligent friend at his table with him, that
+they might converse upon some useful topics, for the benefit of his
+children. When he had no guest at his table, he would call the
+attention of his children to some subject calculated to improve their
+minds, thinking, at the same time, that it would serve to draw off
+their attention from their humble fare. Children are apt to find fault
+with the food set before them, and perhaps the reader himself has more
+than once fretted over an unpalatable dish, and murmured for something
+else. Sometimes they beg for an article of food that is not on the
+table, declining to eat what is furnished for the family. It was not
+so at Mr. Franklin's table. He did not allow one of his children to
+complain of the food, however simple it might be; and his principal
+method of calling off their attention from the quality of their
+victuals was, as we have said, to converse upon some sensible theme.
+Their attention being directed to other things, they were seldom
+troubled about their food, and became almost indifferent to what was
+placed on the table. Benjamin said, in his manhood, on referring to
+this subject: "I am so unobservant of it, that to this day I can
+scarcely tell, a few hours after dinner, of what dishes it consisted.
+This has been a great convenience to me in travelling, where my
+companions have been sometimes very unhappy for the want of a
+suitable gratification of their more delicate, because better
+instructed tastes and appetites."
+
+The guests of Mr. Franklin being usually intelligent, their
+conversation was instructive to the children, who acquired thereby
+many valuable items of information. The condition and prospects of the
+country, the oppressive measures of the English government, and the
+means of future prosperity, were among the topics which they heard
+discussed. Although it seems like a small, unimportant influence to
+bring to bear upon tender childhood, yet it left its mark upon their
+characters. They had more interest in the public questions of the day,
+and more general intelligence in consequence.
+
+It is related of the Washburne family, of which four or five brothers
+occupy posts of political distinction in the United States, that in
+their early life their father's house was open to ministers, and was
+sometimes called "the minister's hotel." Mr. Washburne was a great
+friend of this class, and enjoyed their society much. At all times
+nearly, some one of the ministerial fraternity would be stopping
+there. His sons were thus brought into their society, and they
+listened to long discussions upon subjects of a scientific, political,
+and religious character, though public measures received a large share
+of attention. The boys acquired some valuable information by
+listening to their remarks, and this created a desire to read and
+learn more; and so they were started off in a career that bids fair to
+reflect honour both upon themselves and their country. Their early
+advantages were few, but the conversation of educated men, upon
+important subjects, laid the foundation of their eminence in public
+life.
+
+"You must give heed to little things," Mr. Franklin would frequently
+say to his sons, when they appeared to think that he was too
+particular about some things, such as behaviour at the table,
+"although nothing can really be considered small that is important. It
+is of far more consequence how you behave, than what you wear."
+
+Sometimes, if the meal was unusually plain (and it was never
+extravagant), he would say, "Many people are too particular about
+their victuals. They destroy their health by eating too much and too
+rich food. Plain, simple, wholesome fare is all that nature requires,
+and young persons who are brought up in this way will be best off in
+the end."
+
+Such kind of remarks frequently greeted the ears of young Benjamin; so
+that, as we have already seen, he grew up without caring much about
+the kind of food which he ate. Perhaps here is to be found the origin
+of those rigidly temperate principles in both eating and drinking, for
+which he was distinguished all through his life. In his manhood, he
+wrote and talked upon the subject, and reduced his principles to
+practice. When he worked as a printer in England, his fellow-labourers
+were hard drinkers of strong beer, really believing that it was
+necessary to make them competent to endure fatigue. They were
+astonished to see a youth like Benjamin able to excel the smartest of
+them in the printing-office, while he drank only cold water, and they
+sneeringly called him "the Water-American."
+
+The temperate habits which Benjamin formed in his youth were the more
+remarkable, because there were no temperance societies at that time,
+and it was generally supposed to be necessary to use intoxicating
+drinks. The evils of intemperance were not viewed with so much
+abhorrence as they are now, and the project of removing them from
+society was not entertained for a moment. Reformatory movements, in
+this respect, did not commence until nearly one hundred years after
+the time referred to. Yet Benjamin was fully persuaded in his youth
+that he ought to be temperate in all things. Probably there was not
+one of his associates who believed as he did on the subject. But he
+began early to think for himself, and this, with the excellent
+discipline of his wise and sagacious father, caused him to live in
+advance of those around him. It is not probable that he adopted the
+principle of total abstinence, and abstained entirely from the use of
+intoxicating drinks; but he was not in the habit of using it as a
+daily, indispensable beverage.
+
+That the practice of Benjamin's father, to allow no finding fault with
+the food at the table, and to lead the way in profitable conversation,
+was a good one, we think no one can deny. It was very different,
+however, from much of the table-talk that is heard in families.
+Conversation is frequently brisk and lively, but it often runs in this
+way:--
+
+"I don't want any of that, I don't like it," exclaimed Henry. "I
+should think you might have a better dinner than this."
+
+"What would you have if you could get it,--roast chicken and plum
+pudding?" inquires his mother, laughing, instead of reproving him for
+his error.
+
+"I would have something I can eat. You know I don't like that, and
+never did."
+
+"Well, it does boys good, sometimes, to eat what they don't like,
+especially such particular ones as you are," says his father.
+
+"I shan't eat what I don't like, at any rate," continues Henry, "I
+shall go hungry first."
+
+"There, now," added his father, "let me hear no more complaint about
+your food. You are scarcely ever suited with your victuals."
+
+"May I have some ----?" calling for some article not on the table.
+
+"If you will hold your tongue, and get it yourself, you can have it."
+
+"And let me have some, too!" shouts James, a younger brother; "I don't
+like this, neither. May I have some, father?"
+
+"And I too," said Jane, setting up her plea. "I must have some if they
+do."
+
+In this way the table-talk proceeds, until fretting, scolding, crying,
+make up the sum total of the conversation, and family joys are
+embittered for the remainder of the day. Finding fault with food is
+the occasion of all the unhappiness.
+
+Let the reader ask himself how much he has contributed to make
+conversation at the table proper and instructive. Has he thought more
+of the quality of his food than of anything else at the family board?
+If the review of the past reveals an error in this respect, let him
+learn a valuable lesson from this part of Benjamin Franklin's life.
+Though it may seem to be an unimportant matter, accept the testimony
+of Benjamin himself, and believe that it leaves its impress upon the
+future character.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+CHOOSING A TRADE.
+
+
+"You will have to be a tallow-chandler, after all, when your brother
+gets married and goes away," said one of Benjamin's associates to him.
+He had heard that an older son of Mr. Franklin, who worked at the
+business with his father, was about to be married, and would remove to
+Rhode Island, and set up business for himself.
+
+"Not I," replied Benjamin. "I shall work at it no longer than I am
+obliged to do."
+
+"That may be, and you be obliged to work at it all your life. It will
+be, as your father says, till you are twenty-one years old."
+
+"I know that; but my father does not desire to have me work in his
+shop against my wishes--only till I can find some other suitable
+employment. I would rather go to sea than anything."
+
+"Are your parents not willing that you should go to sea?"
+
+"No; they won't hear a word about it. I have talked with them till it
+is of no use. They seem to think that I should be shipwrecked, or
+that something else would happen, to prevent my return."
+
+"Then, if you can't go to sea, and you won't be a tallow-chandler,
+what can you do?"
+
+"I hardly know myself; but almost anything is preferable to this
+greasy business. If people had no more light than the candles I should
+make, unless I was obliged, they would have a pretty dark time of it."
+
+"I don't think it is a very disagreeable business," continued his
+companion. "It is quite easy work, certainly,--much more to my liking
+than sawing wood, and some other things I could name."
+
+"It may be easy," replied Benjamin; "but it is dirty and simple. It
+requires no ingenuity to do all that I do. Almost any simpleton could
+cut wicks and fill candle-moulds. A fellow who can't do it couldn't
+tell which side his bread is buttered. _I_ prefer to do something that
+requires thought and ingenuity."
+
+"There is something in that; but I guess it will take all your
+ingenuity to work yourself out of the tallow-chandler's business,"
+responded his friend, rather dryly.
+
+This conversation occurred one day in the shop, when Mr. Franklin was
+out. But just at this point he returned, and soon after the young
+visitor left. Benjamin was not acquainted with all his father's plans,
+and he had actually proceeded further than he was aware of towards
+introducing him into another calling, as the following conversation
+with Mrs. F., on the previous evening, will show--
+
+"I have resolved to find some other employment for Benjamin at once,"
+said he; "as John is to be married so soon, he will be able to render
+me but little more assistance, and I must have some one to take his
+place."
+
+"Are you satisfied," inquired Mrs. Franklin, "that Benjamin cannot be
+prevailed upon to take the place of John in your shop?"
+
+"Oh, yes! he is so dissatisfied with the business, that I fear he will
+yet go to sea, unless his attention is soon turned to some other
+pursuit. Then, if he has a taste for any other honourable pursuit, I
+am willing that he should follow it. He would not accomplish much at
+candle-making with his present feelings."
+
+"Have you anything in view for him to do?" asked Mrs. F.
+
+"Not positively. I want to learn, if I can, whether he has taste and
+tact for any particular business. If he has, he will accomplish more
+in that. I don't believe in compelling a boy to follow a pursuit for
+which he has no relish, unless it is where nothing else offers."
+
+"I think it is very necessary for boys to have a definite trade," said
+Mrs. F.; "they are more likely to succeed than those who are changing
+often from one thing to another. 'A rolling stone gathers no moss,' is
+an old saying."
+
+"That is the principal reason for my plan to introduce him into some
+other business soon. No one feels the importance of this more than I
+do, and I have pretty thoroughly imbued the mind of Benjamin with the
+same views. I think he has a desire to follow a definite calling,
+though now his taste seems to draw him towards a seafaring life."
+
+Benjamin could have appreciated this last remark, if it had been
+uttered in his hearing. For he had listened to so much counsel upon
+this point, that he had no desire to run from one thing to another.
+And he continued to cherish this feeling. When he became a man, he
+wrote the following maxims, among the many of which he was the
+author:--
+
+     "He that hath a trade hath an estate."
+
+     "He that hath a calling hath an office of honour."
+
+Here he taught the same lesson that he received from the lips of his
+father and mother when he was young. A trade is the assurance of a
+livelihood, however hard the times may be. As a general rule, they who
+follow trades secure a living, when they who have none come to want
+and suffer.
+
+But to return. Mr. Franklin rather surprised Benjamin by saying, after
+his associate left the shop, "I have decided on finding some other
+business for you immediately, if possible. I hope to find some opening
+for your learning an agreeable trade."
+
+"Where shall you go to find one?" inquired Benjamin, scarcely
+expecting to have his wishes gratified so early. "Have you any
+particular trade in view?"
+
+"No; I want to consult your tastes about the matter first; and I
+propose to go to-morrow with you, to see what we can find."
+
+"And I go with you, did you say?"
+
+"Yes; I wish to have you witness some things to which I shall call
+your attention, and decide for yourself what calling to follow."
+
+"Where will you go?" inquired Benjamin, deeply interested in the plan,
+as well he might be.
+
+"I shall not go out of town. Boston furnishes good examples of the
+different trades, and we shall not be under the necessity of extending
+our researches beyond its limits. So to-morrow I think we will start."
+
+Benjamin was delighted with the prospect of being delivered soon from
+the tallow-chandler's shop, and he anticipated the morrow with
+considerable impatience. He rejoiced when the light of the next
+morning came in at his chamber window, and brighter and earlier he was
+up to await his father's bidding. Suitable preparations were made, and
+directly after breakfast they set forth upon their important errand.
+The first shop they visited was that of a joiner, where he saw the
+plane and hammer used to advantage. He had witnessed such labour
+before, and also seen other employments to which his father called his
+attention on that day; but he never observed these different trades
+with the object which now brought him to the shops. Having spent some
+time at the joiner's bench, he next went to a turner's place of
+business, where he saw different articles turned to order, in so rapid
+a manner as to surprise him. He was more interested in the
+turning-lathe, and its rapid movement, than he was in the use of
+joiner's tools. Passing through a prominent street, after leaving the
+turner's, they came to an unfinished structure, on which bricklayers
+were employed. Here another trade was on exhibition, and Benjamin's
+attention was called to it, and the various kind of labour which this
+class of toilers were obliged to perform were explained to him. In
+this way they visited other work-shops, until they had seen the
+practical operations of the different trades, and Benjamin understood
+what kind of toil each required. One of the last shops they visited
+was that of Samuel Franklin, a son of Uncle Benjamin, and, of course,
+a cousin of Benjamin. He learned the trade of cutler in London, and
+had just come over and established himself in Boston. The business of
+a cutler is to make knives and other cutting instruments, in some
+respects a very interesting and attractive trade. Benjamin was
+evidently more pleased with this kind of business than any he had seen
+on that day. Whether it grew out of boyish love for jack-knives, or
+was the consequence of closely observing the ingenious modes of
+manufacturing cutlery, we need not say. It is enough to know that he
+was partially captivated by the trade, and before they reached home
+his father was well satisfied which trade he would select, though he
+had not questioned him at all on this point.
+
+"What trade have you decided to follow, Benjamin?" inquired his
+mother, as they sat at the tea-table; and she let fall a most loving
+smile upon her boy.
+
+"I think any of them are better than making candles," he replied,
+"although I like Samuel's trade the best of all."
+
+"That is just what I expected," said his father, laughingly. "I saw
+that you fell in love with his work, and I think myself that it is a
+very pleasant and promising business."
+
+"So you will decide to take that trade, will you?" said his mother.
+
+"In preference to all the trades I have seen yet," said Benjamin.
+
+"He is after a pocket knife," interrupted John, who sat at the table,
+speaking in a vein of pleasantry. "I see clearly what has taken _his_
+eye."
+
+"I suppose John will never care more about a knife, now he is going
+to have a wife," added Mr. Franklin, addressing his remark to
+Benjamin, in order to help him out of the predicament into which
+John's remark had placed him. "But did you not like the brazier's
+business?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I liked it very well, but not so well as I do the cutler's
+trade. If I can have my choice I shall choose that, and will begin
+to-morrow, if you are willing."
+
+"I shall make no objection, if that is your decision," replied his
+father. "I want you should weigh the matter carefully, however, and
+not be hasty in choosing."
+
+"It remains to be seen whether Samuel will take him as an apprentice,"
+said Mrs. Franklin. "Perhaps he may not want one. He has just
+commenced, and cannot be doing much business yet."
+
+"Father can easily learn that," said Benjamin. "He can see cousin
+Samuel to-morrow, and decide the matter at once."
+
+"I will see him to-morrow," said his father, "and arrange for you to
+go into his shop if possible."
+
+On the following day, Mr. Franklin called upon Samuel, his nephew, and
+made known the wishes of Benjamin. Although it was a new and
+unexpected subject, yet he received it favourably, and finally decided
+that Benjamin might come immediately, and try his hand at this new
+business. He thought it was best for both parties that no definite
+agreement or bargain should be made until Benjamin had tried the work,
+to which his father assented.
+
+Accordingly, Benjamin entered upon his new trade immediately, and was
+much pleased with it. It was so different from the work of
+candle-making, and required so much more thought and ingenuity, that
+he was prepared to pronounce it "first rate." It was with a light and
+cheerful heart that he went to each day's task.
+
+Mr. Franklin acted wisely in consulting the inclination of his son
+about a trade. A boy may have more qualifications for one pursuit than
+another; and this will generally be made manifest in the bent of his
+mind. He will exhibit a degree of tact for one calling, while he may
+be a blunderer at almost anything else. This characteristic is more
+remarkable with some boys than with others, and a disregard of it
+often entails unhappiness upon a whole family. When Handel, the
+distinguished musician, was a child, his father strictly forbade his
+listening to a note of music, or indulging his talent for the art.
+Although he exhibited remarkable musical abilities, his father paid no
+regard to the fact, but was determined to rear him to the profession
+of law. He ordered all musical instruments to be carried out of the
+house, and made it as difficult as possible for his son to gratify his
+taste for sweet sounds. But through the assistance of a servant, the
+boy obtained an instrument, which he kept in the garret; and there,
+when opportunity offered, with the strings of his "clavichord" so
+covered with pieces of cloth as to deaden the sound, he practised
+music until he became a proficient in harmony. It was not, however,
+until his father took him on a visit to see an elder brother, who was
+in the family of the Prince of Saxe-Weisenfels, that he became
+acquainted with the progress he had made in his loved art. While there
+he happened to go into the royal chapel just as the service was
+closing, when he glided up to the organ, unperceived, and commenced
+playing. The Prince was on the point of retiring; but he stopped, and
+inquired who was playing. He was told that it was young Handel, only
+seven years old; whereupon the Prince ordered the boy and his father
+to be summoned into his presence. The result of the interview was,
+that the Prince arranged for Handel to be placed for tuition under the
+organist of Halle Cathedral, where he soon became renowned. Posterity
+has not failed to condemn the unwise discipline of his father, in
+disregarding his inclination for a given pursuit.
+
+When Sir Joshua Reynolds was a boy, he was inclined to embrace every
+opportunity to gratify his taste for drawing. His father had no
+sympathy with him in thus spending his time, and he sought to repress
+his aspirations of this kind. One day he discovered that Joshua had
+disfigured his exercise-book with a number of well-executed drawings;
+but, instead of encouraging his talents in this line, he sharply
+rebuked him, and wrote underneath the sketches, "_Done by Joshua out
+of pure idleness._" His father was anxious that he should become a
+physician, and therefore he looked with no favour upon his propensity
+for drawing. But for the irrepressible power of genius, his unwise
+father would have deprived the world of one of its most gifted
+painters.
+
+The father of John Smeaton pursued a like censurable course in the
+discipline of his son. He frowned upon those early developments of
+genius that foreshadowed the renowned engineer that he became. When
+only four or five years of age, he was often seen dividing circles and
+squares. He rejected the toys that other children used, preferring
+tools with which he could construct machines. When only six or seven
+years of age, he was discovered on the roof of the barn, much to the
+consternation of his father and mother, fixing up a windmill of his
+own construction. Soon afterwards having seen some men repairing a
+pump, he procured from them a piece of bored pipe, he made one of his
+own, with which he could raise water. At fourteen years of age he made
+an engine to turn rose-work, and many were his presents of boxes of
+wood and ivory turned by himself. He made all his tools for working
+wood, ivory, and metals. He also invented a lathe for cutting a
+perpetual screw in brass. And yet his father was determined to make a
+lawyer of him, and thus spoil the mechanic. He actually disregarded
+all these proofs of mechanical genius, and sent him to London to be
+educated for the bar; and it was not until his father began to see the
+impossibility of making a good attorney of him, that he consented to
+let him follow the profession which the bent of his genius plainly
+marked out.
+
+The father of Benjamin Franklin acted more wisely in the first place,
+and resolved to educate him in that pursuit for which nature had best
+qualified him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE PRINTER-BOY.
+
+
+After Benjamin had worked at cutlery a suitable time, his father went
+to close the bargain, and make out the papers for his apprenticeship.
+But, to his surprise, his nephew demanded such conditions that Mr.
+Franklin could not think of accepting his proposition; and the result
+was, that he took Benjamin away, much to his disappointment. The boy
+submitted to his father's decision, however, with true filial
+obedience, evidently believing that he had good reasons for taking
+such a stand. Now he was neither a tallow-chandler nor a cutler,
+though not destined to be long without employment.
+
+Just before this juncture, as if Providence ordered events on
+Benjamin's account, his brother James returned from England, where he
+learned the printer's trade. He brought with him a good press, and
+type, in order to establish himself in Boston.
+
+"How would you like to learn the printer's trade with your brother
+James?" inquired Mr. Franklin of Benjamin. "I have been thinking that
+it was a good thing you did not continue the cutlery business, because
+you have superior qualifications for this."
+
+"What qualifications have I for this that I have not for the cutler's
+trade?" asked Benjamin.
+
+"You are a good reader, and have an intellectual turn, being fond of
+books, and such things belonging to mental improvement as the trade of
+printer offers."
+
+"I think I should like the business very well," added Benjamin.
+"Perhaps I should have a better opportunity to read than I should with
+cousin Samuel."
+
+"Of course you would. For the very matter you may be required to put
+into type may be as interesting and profitable as anything you could
+find in a book. All that you read in books went through the printer's
+hand first."
+
+"I had not thought of that before. I think I should like the business
+better than almost anything I know of. How long will it take to learn
+the trade?"
+
+"It will take some time," answered Mr. Franklin. "You are now twelve
+years of age, and you can certainly acquire the best knowledge of the
+business by the time you are twenty-one years old."
+
+"That is a long time," said Benjamin; "but I shall do what you think
+best."
+
+"I want _you_ should think it is best, too," said his father. "If you
+have no inclination to be a printer, I do not wish to have you
+undertake it. I have no confidence that you will succeed in any
+business for which you have no taste."
+
+"Well, I think better of this business now than I do of any other,"
+replied Benjamin, "and I should like to try it."
+
+"I will speak with James about it," said his father, "and see what
+arrangements can be made. The prospects of the business are not very
+flattering at present, but I think the day is coming when it will
+thrive."
+
+Mr. Franklin lost no time in consulting James, who favoured the plan
+without any reserve. He proposed to take Benjamin as an apprentice, to
+serve until he was twenty-one years of age, having only his board and
+clothes until the last year, when he would receive journeyman's wages.
+This was a good opportunity on the whole, for printing was in its
+infancy in America at that time. It is probable that not more than six
+or eight persons had been in the business in Boston before James
+Franklin commenced, in the year 1717. The demand for printing must
+have been very small indeed.
+
+When Mr. Franklin first made known to Benjamin the conditions on which
+James would receive him into the printing-office, and that he would be
+expected to sign the indenture, and leave his father's roof for such a
+boarding-place as his brother might provide, he hesitated about
+taking the step. He stated his objections frankly and fully to his
+father, who removed them without much difficulty, so that the writings
+were drawn up, and Benjamin placed his signature to them and was
+henceforth a "Boston printer's boy."
+
+He had not laboured long at the business before he was quite
+fascinated with it. He liked it better even than he expected. He
+exhibited, too, a good degree of tact for it, and his progress in
+learning the art was rapid. His brother was highly gratified with his
+close attention to his business, and commended him for the use he made
+of his leisure moments in reading. He was introduced now to another
+class of acquaintances, so that his opportunities for getting books to
+read were more favourable. The printing-office was frequented by
+booksellers' apprentices, whose employers necessarily wanted jobs of
+printing done. Through them Benjamin was made acquainted with the
+limited stock of books the market afforded.
+
+"I will lend you that book to-night," said one of these apprentices to
+him, "if you will return it clean in the morning," alluding to a
+certain volume which Benjamin was looking over in the book-store.
+
+"I should be glad to read it," answered Benjamin; "I think I can read
+it through before I go to bed, and so return it in the morning when I
+go to the office."
+
+"You won't have much time left for sleep, if you read that book
+through before you go to bed," said the apprentice.
+
+"Perhaps not; but I can afford to make a short night's rest of it, if
+I can have the reading of this book. I shall not mind that, and I can
+return it without a blemish."
+
+"The book is for sale," continued the apprentice, "and we might have a
+call for it to-morrow, or I would let you keep it longer. If you do
+not read it all to-night, and we do not sell it to-morrow, you can
+take it home with you again to-morrow night. I frequently read a
+volume through, a little at a time, before we have a chance to sell
+it."
+
+"You may be sure of having this in the morning, safe and sound," said
+Benjamin, as he left the store, thanking his friend for the kind
+favour.
+
+He went home, and sat up most of the night to read the book, being
+more deeply interested in its contents than he was in pleasant dreams.
+A short nap, after the volume was finished, was all that time could
+afford him; and the bookseller got his book, and the printing-office
+its apprentice, in good season.
+
+This was but a single instance of the favours he received in this way
+from his new acquaintances in the book business. Many nights he stole
+from sleep, that he might read volumes which he must return in the
+morning. In this way his mind was much improved, so that he began to
+be noticed in the office as a boy of great promise. One day Mr.
+Matthew Adams, a merchant of rank and influence, who had been
+attracted by Benjamin's appearance, said to him: "Do you find time to
+read any, with all the work you have to perform?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Benjamin; "I read in the evenings, and
+occasionally find a little time during the day."
+
+"It is an excellent plan for boys to improve their minds," said Mr.
+Adams; "you will never regret spending your time in this way. I should
+be glad to show you my library, and to lend you any books you may be
+interested to read."
+
+"That is what I should like," said Benjamin, evidently delighted with
+this unexpected offer; "I find it difficult to get all the books I
+want."
+
+"It would afford me great pleasure to assist you what little I can in
+this respect," repeated Mr. Adams. "Boys who are not privileged to go
+to school need such help, and I am glad to see that you are disposed
+to accept of it."
+
+Benjamin thanked him for his kindness, and assured him that he should
+embrace the first opportunity to call at his house. He redeemed his
+promise at his earliest convenience, and Mr. Adams received him with
+genuine cordiality. He showed him his library, and allowed him to
+select any book he preferred to carry home, and invited him to come as
+often as he pleased for others. This was a brimful cup of kindness to
+Benjamin, and the reader may be sure that he thought highly of Mr.
+Adams. Nor was he backward in availing himself of the privilege
+offered, but went often to gratify his thirst for knowledge.
+
+The reader can scarcely appreciate the value of this privilege to
+Benjamin, unless he understands that books were far from being
+abundant then. The bookstores, instead of being furnished with
+thousands of volumes to suit every taste in the reading world, offered
+only a meagre collection of volumes, such as would hardly be noticed
+at the present time. There were no large publishing houses,
+manufacturing many books in a year, and scattering them over the land,
+as is the case to-day. Neither were there any libraries at that time.
+The idea of a collection of books to lend for the public good had not
+entered the minds of men,--a striking contrast with this feature of
+society now, when a city like Boston opens its splendid Public Library
+of seventy-five thousand volumes, free to all her citizens, and
+smaller towns and villages throughout the land furnish reading matter
+for old and young in similar proportion; whilst private libraries of
+five, ten, twenty, and thirty thousand volumes are not unusual. Now,
+the trouble with boys is not how they can possibly get books to read,
+but what they shall select from the vast number that load the shelves
+of libraries and bookstores.
+
+The habit of reading which Benjamin had thus early formed served to
+make him punctual. In order to command the more time, he was promptly
+at his work, and efficiently discharged every duty. He was seldom, if
+ever, caught in tardiness. It was this well-formed habit of
+punctuality that made him so reliable in the printing-office. His
+brother knew that he would be there at such a time, and that he would
+remain just so many hours. This fact won his confidence, as it does
+the confidence of every one. There is no quality that does more to
+gain a good name for an individual, and inspire the confidence of his
+fellow-men, than this one of punctuality. It is so generally found in
+company with other excellent traits of character, that it seems to be
+taken for granted, usually, that the punctual person is worthy in
+other respects. This quality contributed to the renown and influence
+of Lord Brougham, of whom it is said, that, when he was in the zenith
+of his glory, presiding in the House of Lords and the Court
+of Chancery, he found time to manage eight or ten public
+associations,--one of which was the Society for the Diffusion of
+Useful Knowledge,--and he was a pattern of punctuality in every place,
+being always in the chair when the hour for meeting arrived.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+FIRST LITERARY ENTERPRISE.
+
+
+"What have you there?" inquired James, one day, looking over
+Benjamin's shoulder at some composition which he held in his hand.
+"Ay! poetry, is it? Then you are a poet, are you? Let me read it."
+
+Benjamin rather hesitated to exhibit the first attempts of his muse to
+fly, but James was determined to read it, and so he gave it up to him,
+saying, "I was only seeing what I could do."
+
+The fact was, Benjamin had been reading poetry, and, having a little
+of its spirit in his own nature, he was tempted to try his ability at
+writing some.
+
+"That is really good," said James, after he had read it; "not quite
+equal to Virgil or Homer, but very good for a printer-boy to write.
+Have you any other pieces?"
+
+"Two or three more," answered Benjamin, somewhat encouraged by his
+brother's commendation; "but they are not worth reading."
+
+"Produce them," said James, "and I will tell you what they are worth."
+Whereupon Benjamin took two or three more from his pockets, which
+James read with evident satisfaction.
+
+"I tell you what it is, Benjamin," said James after having read them
+all, "you can write something worth printing if you try; and if you
+will undertake it, you may print and sell a sheet in the streets. I
+have no doubt that it would sell well."
+
+"I will see what I can do," replied Benjamin, "though I suspect my
+poetry won't read very well in print."
+
+Benjamin was not long in producing two street ballads, better,
+perhaps, than anything he had written before, but still susceptible of
+very great improvement. One was entitled "The Lighthouse Tragedy," and
+was founded on the shipwreck of Captain Worthilake and his two
+daughters. The other was a sailor's song, on the capture of the famous
+"Teach," or "Bluebeard," the pirate. James read them with approbation.
+
+"Now," said he, "you shall put them into type, and sell them about the
+town, if you are willing. I have no doubt that a good number of them
+may be disposed of."
+
+"How many copies of them would you print?" inquired Benjamin.
+
+"We can print a few to begin with, and let the type remain standing
+until we see how they go. Then we shall run no risk."
+
+"Shall I do it immediately?"
+
+"As soon as you can," answered James. "The quicker the better."
+
+Benjamin was not long in printing the two ballads, and having them
+ready for sale. Under the direction of his brother, he went forth, in
+due time, to offer them about the town. Whether he cried them about
+the streets, as the newsboys do the daily papers now, we have no means
+of knowing. But he met with very good success, particularly in the
+sale of the first, "The Lighthouse Tragedy." That commemorated an
+event of recent occurrence, and which excited much public feeling and
+sympathy at the time, so that people were quite prepared to purchase.
+It sold even beyond his expectations, and his success inflated his
+vanity somewhat. It caused him to believe, almost, that he was a
+genuine poet, and that distinction and a fortune were before him. If
+he had not been confronted by his father on the subject, it is
+possible that the speculation might have proved a serious injury to
+him. But his father learned of his enterprise, and called him to an
+account. Perhaps he stepped into his shop, as he was selling them
+about town, and gave him a copy. At any rate, his father learned the
+fact, and the following interview will show what he thought of it.
+
+"I am ashamed to see you engaged in such a business, Benjamin," said
+he.
+
+"Why so, father?"
+
+"Because it is not an honourable business. You are not a poet, and
+can write nothing worthy of being printed."
+
+"James approved of the pieces," said Benjamin, "and proposed that I
+should print and sell them."
+
+"James is not a judge of poetry," replied his father. "It is wretched
+stuff, and I am ashamed that you are known as the author. Look here,
+let me show you wherein it is defective;" and here Mr. Franklin began
+to read it over aloud, and to criticise it. He was a man of sound
+sense, and competent to expose the faults of such a composition. He
+proceeded with his criticisms, without sparing the young author's
+feelings at all, until Benjamin himself began to be sorry that he had
+undertaken the enterprise.
+
+"There, I want you should promise me," said his father, "that you will
+never deal in such wares again, and that you will stick to your
+business of setting up type."
+
+"Perhaps I may improve by practice," said Benjamin, "so that I may yet
+be able to write something worthy of being read. You couldn't expect
+me to write very well at first."
+
+"But you are not a poet," continued Mr. Franklin. "It is not in you,
+and, even if it was, I should not advise you to write it; for poets
+are generally beggars,--poor, shiftless members of society."
+
+"That is news to me," responded Benjamin. "How does it happen, then,
+that some of their works are so popular?"
+
+"Because a true poet can write something worthy of being read, while a
+mere verse-maker, like yourself, writes only doggerel, that is not
+worth the paper on which it is printed. Now I advise you to let
+verse-making alone, and attend closely to your business, both for your
+own sake and your brother's."
+
+Mr. Franklin was rather severe upon Benjamin, although what he said of
+his verses was true. Still, it was a commendable effort in the boy to
+try to improve his mind. Some of the best poets who have lived wrote
+mere doggerel when they began. Many of our best prose-writers, too,
+were exceedingly faulty writers at first. It is a noble effort of a
+boy to try to put his thoughts into writing. If he does not succeed in
+the first instance, by patience, energy, and perseverance he may
+triumph at last. Benjamin might not have acted wisely in selling his
+verses about town, but his brother, so much older and more experienced
+than himself, should bear the censure of that, since it was done by
+his direction.
+
+The decided opposition that Mr. Franklin showed to verse-making put a
+damper upon Benjamin's poetical aspirations. The air-castle that his
+youthful imagination had built, in consequence of the rapid sale of
+his literary wares, tumbled to ruin at once. He went back to the
+office and his work quite crest-fallen.
+
+"What has happened now?" inquired James, noticing that Benjamin looked
+somewhat less smiling.
+
+"Father doesn't think much of my printing and selling verses of my
+own," replied Benjamin. "He has been giving me a real lecture, so that
+I am almost ashamed of myself."
+
+"How is that," said James, "does he dislike your pieces?"
+
+"Yes; and he will not allow that they have any merit. He read them
+over in his way, and counted faults enough to show that there is very
+little poetry in me. A beggar and a poet mean about the same thing to
+him."
+
+"He ought to remember that you are young," answered James, "and may
+improve wonderfully in future. You can't expect to write either prose
+or poetry well without beginning and trying."
+
+"All the trying in the world can do nothing for me, I should judge
+from father's talk," added Benjamin, rather seriously.
+
+Perhaps it was a good thing for Benjamin to meet with this obstacle in
+his path to success. According to his own confession, his vanity was
+inflated by the sale of his ballads, and he might have been puffed up
+to his future injury, had not his father thus unceremoniously taken
+the wind out of his sails. There was little danger now, however.
+After such a severe handling, he was not likely to overrate his
+poetical talents. It had the effect also to turn his attention to
+prose writing, which is more substantial and remunerative than poetry,
+and in this he became distinguished, as we shall see hereafter.
+
+The practice of writing down one's thoughts, called in our schools
+"composition," is excellent, and ought not to be so generally
+neglected by the young as it is. It proved a valuable exercise to
+Benjamin, even before he became renowned in the service of his
+country. In several instances, while he was yet a youth, it enabled
+him to secure business, when otherwise he might have been in extreme
+want. It gave him the ability to conduct his brother's paper, when
+only sixteen years of age, at a time when the government of the
+Province incarcerated James, so that the paper would have been crushed
+but for the ability of Benjamin. When he first commenced business in
+Philadelphia, also, it enabled him to produce articles for the
+"Pennsylvania Gazette," which attracted general notice, and opened the
+way for his becoming both proprietor and editor of the same. And a
+little later he was able to write a pamphlet on the "_Nature and
+Necessity of a Paper Currency_," proposing a measure that was carried
+through the legislature, because the opponents of it had no writer in
+their ranks competent to answer it. These are only a few examples of
+the many advantages he derived from early training himself to write,
+even before he had passed the dew of his youth. In age he referred to
+this practice of his boyhood with much pleasure, and regarded it as
+one of the fortunate exercises that contributed to his eminent
+success.
+
+Many such facts as the following might be cited upon this subject. A
+farmer's son began, at fourteen years of age, to write something every
+day, after his work was done, in a blank-book which he kept for the
+purpose. He persevered in the practice for several years, and acquired
+a facility in composition before he thought of having a liberal
+education. The consequence was, that his friends became earnest to
+have him educated, and he was sent to college, where he ranked high as
+a writer; and he is now about entering the ministry, under very
+flattering circumstances. Few young men have more ease and power of
+writing at the commencement of their ministerial work; and it all
+results from his early self-discipline in the exercise of
+composition.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE DISPUTE.
+
+
+Benjamin was intimate, at this time, with a youth by the name of John
+Collins. He was intelligent, sprightly, and fond of books, so that he
+was a very agreeable companion. They differed somewhat in their
+opinions upon various subjects, and frequently found themselves
+engaged in earnest disputation. When other boys were accustomed to
+spend their time in foolish talking and jesting, Benjamin and John
+were warmly discussing some question of importance, well suited to
+improve the mind. One day their conversation related to the education
+of the sexes.
+
+"It would be a waste of money," said John, "to attempt to educate
+girls as thoroughly as boys are educated; for the female sex are
+inferior to the male in intellectual endowment."
+
+"Pshaw!" exclaimed Benjamin; "you know better than that. The girls are
+not so simple as you think they are. I believe that women are not a
+whit inferior to men in their mental qualities."
+
+"I should like to know where you discover the evidence of it?" replied
+John. "There is no proof of it in the works they have written."
+
+"That may be true, and still they stand upon an equality in respect to
+intellect. For not half so much is done to educate them as there is to
+educate the male sex. How can you tell whether they are mentally
+inferior or not, until they are permitted to enjoy equal advantages?"
+
+"As we tell many other things," answered John. "Women do not need so
+high mental endowments as men, since they are not required to lead off
+in the different branches of business, or to prosecute the sciences. I
+can see no wisdom in bestowing talents upon them which they never use,
+and it is often said that 'nothing is made in vain.'"
+
+"Well, I must go," said Benjamin, "but I think you have a weak cause
+to defend. If I had the time I could make out a case."
+
+"A poor one, I guess," quickly added John. "We will see, the next time
+we meet, who can make out a case."
+
+"It will be some time before we meet again," responded Benjamin, "and
+our ardour will be cooled before that time, I am thinking. But it will
+do us no harm to discuss the subject."
+
+"If we keep our temper," said John, tacking his sentence to the last
+word of Benjamin's reply. And so saying, they parted.
+
+After Benjamin had revolved the subject still more in his mind, he
+became anxious to commit his argument to writing. Accordingly, with
+pen and paper in hand, he sat down to frame the best argument he could
+in favour of educating the female sex. He wrote it in the form of a
+letter, addressed to his friend Collins, and, after having completed,
+he copied it in a fair hand, and sent it to him. This brought back a
+long reply, which made it necessary for Benjamin to pen an answer. In
+this way the correspondence continued, until several letters had
+passed between them, and each one had gained the victory in his own
+estimation.
+
+One day Benjamin's father met with these letters accidentally, and he
+read them over, and was somewhat impressed with their character.
+
+"What are these, Benjamin," he inquired, at the same time holding up
+the letters.
+
+Benjamin smiled, and rather hesitated to reply.
+
+"So it seems you have been engaged in a controversy with John,"
+continued Mr. Franklin. "You have both done very well, though I think
+there is some chance of improvement yet."
+
+"Have you read them all?" inquired Benjamin.
+
+"I have, and must say that, in some respects, John has the advantage
+of you."
+
+"In what has he the advantage?" asked Benjamin, with some anxiety.
+
+"Well, John writes in a more finished style than you do," answered Mr.
+Franklin. "His expressions are more elegant, and there is more method
+and perspicuity in his composition."
+
+"I rather think you are prejudiced," said Benjamin, with a smile.
+
+"_I_ rather think not," answered his father. "You have the advantage
+of John in correct spelling, and in pointing your sentences, which is
+the consequence of working in the printing-office. But I can convince
+you that less method and clearness characterize your letters than
+his."
+
+"I am ready to be convinced," added Benjamin. "I hardly expect I have
+attained perfection in writing yet."
+
+His father then proceeded to read from the letters of each, with the
+design of showing that John's writing was more perspicuous, and that
+there was more method in his argument. Nor was it a very difficult
+task.
+
+"I am convinced," said Benjamin, before his father had read all he
+intended to read. "I can make improvement in those points without much
+trouble. There is certainly a good chance for it."
+
+"That is what I want you should see," rejoined his father, "I am
+really pleased with your letters, for they show me that you have
+talents to improve. My only object in calling your attention to these
+defects is to aid you in cultivating your mental powers."
+
+This kind, paternal criticism was a very happy thing for Benjamin. It
+had the effect to make him more careful in his compositions, and to
+beget within him both a desire and resolve to improve. Not long after,
+he met with an old volume of the Spectator, in a bookstore; and
+knowing that it would be a good model by which to form the style, he
+determined to purchase it. He bought it at a low price, and began to
+study it with reference to improving the style of his composition. The
+method which he adopted to discipline himself, by the aid of this
+work, is proof of his patience, perseverance, and desire to excel. In
+the first place, he read it over and over, until he became very well
+acquainted with its contents. Then he took some of the papers it
+contained, and made short hints of the sentiments of each sentence,
+and laid them by for a few days; and then, without referring to the
+book, he proceeded to put those thoughts into sentences, and thus went
+through each paper,--a long and laborious work. When he had completed
+a paper in this way, he carefully compared his Spectator with the
+original, and was able thereby to discover and correct many errors in
+his style. He found that he was very deficient in the command of
+language.
+
+"If you had not discouraged me in writing poetry," said he to his
+father, "I should have found it of much service now."
+
+"How so?" inquired Mr. Franklin.
+
+"If I had continued to write poetry, I should have been obliged to
+select words that would rhyme, and this would have made me familiar
+with a larger number of words, and the choicest ones too. I am greatly
+troubled now to find words to express my thoughts."
+
+"I should have had no objections to your writing poetry with such an
+object in view; but to print and sell it about town was carrying the
+thing a little too far," replied Mr. Franklin. "It is not too late to
+begin now. I rather think you have discovered an important defect in
+your writing. John evidently has a better command of language than you
+have, hence his style is more polished. But you are at work, now, in
+the right way to improve. Perseverance will accomplish the thing."
+
+"I am going to do this," said Benjamin; "I shall take some of the
+tales in the book and put them into verse, and then, after a while,
+change them back again."
+
+"That will be a good exercise," answered his father, much pleased with
+his son's desire to improve. "If your patience holds out, you will be
+amply rewarded, in the end, for all your labour."
+
+This last purpose, Benjamin executed with much zeal, and thus divided
+his time between putting tales into poetry, and then turning them into
+prose. He also jumbled his collection of hints into confusion, and so
+let them lie for some weeks, when he would again reduce them to order,
+and write out the sentences to the end of the subject.
+
+For a printer-boy to accomplish so much, when he must work through the
+day in the office, seemed hardly possible. But, at this period,
+Benjamin allowed no moments to run to waste. He always kept a book by
+him in the office, and every spare moment was employed over its pages.
+In the morning, before he went to work, he found some time for reading
+and study. He was an early riser, not, perhaps, because he had no
+inclination to lie in bed, but because he had more to improve his
+mind. He gained time enough in the morning, by this early rising, to
+acquire more knowledge than some youths and young men do by constantly
+going to school. In the evening, he found still more time for mental
+improvement, extending his studies often far into the night. It was
+his opinion that people generally consume more time than is necessary
+in sleep, and one of his maxims, penned in early manhood, was founded
+on that opinion. The maxim is, "The sleeping fox catches no poultry."
+
+It is not strange that a boy who subjected himself to such close
+discipline for a series of years should write some of the best maxims
+upon this subject when he became a man. Take the following, in
+addition to those cited in a former chapter:--
+
+"There are no gains without pains; then help hands, for I have no
+lands."
+
+"Industry pays debts, while despair increaseth them."
+
+"Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day."
+
+"Leisure is time for doing something useful."
+
+"A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things."
+
+"Fly pleasures, and they will follow you. The diligent spinner has a
+large shift, and, now I have a sheep and a cow, every one bids me
+good-morrow."
+
+"Be ashamed to catch yourself idle."
+
+"Handle your tools without mittens; remember that the cat in gloves
+catches no mice."
+
+"There is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak-handed: but stick
+to it steadily, and you will see great effects, for constant dropping
+wears away stones; and by diligence and patience the mouse ate in two
+the cable; and little strokes fell great oaks."
+
+    "Early to bed, and early to rise
+    Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
+
+Here is the genuine gold of thought,--whole volumes of counsel worked
+down into single flashing lines of truth,--just such utterances as we
+might expect from the lips of one who was early taught to walk in the
+ways of wisdom. All along in the future of Benjamin's life, we shall
+see these maxims illustrated, proving that they are living and bright
+realities.
+
+In order to prosecute his purposes, Benjamin took a step, at this
+period, for which he censured himself long after. Being away from his
+father's house, in a boarding-place provided by his brother, he
+violated the Sabbath day by devoting its sacred hours to mental
+improvement. At home, his parents had ever required that he should
+attend public worship; but now he neglected the house of God, that he
+might command the more time for study. It was a grave breach of a
+divine commandment, and a disregard of parental authority, which he
+afterwards deeply regretted. At the time, he was obliged to hold long
+parleys with conscience, which told him that he ought still to visit
+the sanctuary, and devote Sabbath hours to sacred duties. Yet his
+great thirst for knowledge overcame his regard for holy time.
+
+It must appear quite evident to the reader by this time, that Benjamin
+derived much benefit from his conversation with John Collins upon a
+useful topic. A large majority of boys, of their age, spend their
+leisure moments in vain and useless talking. They think not of
+self-improvement, and scarcely desire to be benefited in this way.
+The most unmeaning and thoughtless words escape from their lips, and a
+sound, sensible, valuable conversation they seldom, if ever, attempt.
+What an excellent example is that of young Franklin and Collins,
+discussing a question of importance, instead of wasting their breath
+in meaningless chatter! It stimulated the former to consult the best
+models of style in composition, and was the real occasion of his
+adopting a most critical and thorough plan of self-culture. All this
+the consequence of conversing properly, instead of spending leisure
+moments in boyish antics, or uttering nonsense!
+
+The reader need not infer that violation of the Sabbath, and disregard
+of parental counsels, are less heinous sins than some would grant,
+since Benjamin was guilty of both, and yet he did not go to ruin. For
+ten boys who do the same things that he did are ruined thereby, where
+one is saved. The father of Walter Scott forbade his reading
+fictitious works, yet he concealed them in a sly place, and read them
+when his father's eye was not upon him; and they served to stimulate
+his mind to pursue a most brilliant literary career. In like manner,
+Pope, the distinguished poet, strolled into the theatre in his
+boyhood, when he was away from his parents at school, and there the
+first aspiration of his soul for that sphere of mental effort in which
+he became distinguished, was begotten. But these examples cannot be
+cited in favour of novel-reading and theatre-going; for they are
+exceptions to a general rule. The great mass of the youth who allow
+themselves to be fascinated by the novel and theatre make shipwreck of
+their hopes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+PLAIN FARE.
+
+
+"How much will you allow me a week if I will board myself?" inquired
+Benjamin of James. "It costs you now more than you need to pay." James
+was still boarding Benjamin in a family near by, being himself yet
+unmarried.
+
+"Then you think I am paying more a week for your board than it is
+worth?" replied his brother.
+
+"No more than you will be obliged to pay in any other family, but more
+than I shall ask you," answered Benjamin.
+
+"Then you think of opening a boarding-house for the special
+accommodation of Benjamin Franklin?" which was treating his request
+rather lightly.
+
+"I propose to board myself," said Benjamin. "I do not eat meat of any
+kind, as you know, so that I can do it very easily, and I will agree
+to do it, if you will pay me half the money weekly which you pay for
+my board."
+
+"Agreed," replied James. "The bargain is made. When will you begin?"
+
+"To-morrow," was Benjamin's laconic reply.
+
+Benjamin had been reading a work on "vegetable diet," by one Tryon,
+and it was this which induced him to discard meat as an article of
+food. Mr. Tryon, in his work, gave directions for cooking vegetables,
+and such dishes as a vegetarian might use, so that the matter of
+boarding was made quite simple. Benjamin really thought that this mode
+of living was best for health and strength, though his chief object in
+proposing to board himself was to obtain money to purchase books. He
+had been trying a vegetable diet for some time in the family where he
+and his brother had boarded, and had often been both ridiculed and
+censured for his oddity. Perhaps he wanted to get away where he could
+eat as he pleased, with no one to say, "Why do ye so?" But most of all
+he wanted to command more money, that he might gratify his thirst for
+knowledge.
+
+James was very willing to accept the proposition, as it would bring a
+little more money into his pocket. He was an avaricious and penurious
+young man, who thought mainly of making money in his business, and it
+was of little consequence to him whether he made it out of his brother
+or some one else.
+
+"How much do you make by boarding yourself, Ben?" inquired James, some
+weeks after the experiment was commenced.
+
+"I save just half of the money you pay me," answered Benjamin, "so
+that it costs me just one quarter as much as you paid for my board."
+
+"You understand economy, I must confess," said his brother. "However,
+I have no fault to find if you are satisfied."
+
+"The money I save is not the best part of it," continued Benjamin. "I
+save about a half-hour every noon for reading. After I have eaten my
+meal, I usually read as long as that before you return from dinner."
+
+"Not a very sumptuous meal I reckon," said James dryly;
+"sawdust-pudding, perhaps, with cold-water sauce!"
+
+"Nothing so difficult to procure as that," responded Benjamin. "A
+biscuit or a slice of bread, with a tart or a few raisins, and a glass
+of water, make a good dinner for me; and then my head is all the
+lighter for study."
+
+"I should think you might have a light head with such living," added
+James, "and your body will be as light before many weeks I prophesy."
+
+"I will risk it. I am on a study now that requires a clear head, and I
+am determined to master it."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"It is Cocker's Arithmetic."
+
+"Begin to wish you knew something about arithmetic by this time,"
+added James sarcastically. "Making up for misspent time, I see!" Here
+was a fling at Benjamin's dislike of arithmetic when he was sent to
+school. We have seen that he accomplished nothing in figures, either
+at the public school or when he was under Mr. Brownwell's tuition.
+Liking some other studies better, he neglected this, and now, as is
+generally the case, he regretted his error, and applied himself to
+acquire that which he might have acquired before. It was a difficult
+task for him, but his patience and perseverance, together with his
+economy of time, and temperance in eating and drinking, enabled him to
+accomplish his object. Then he read a work on Navigation, and made
+himself particularly familiar with the geometry which it contained.
+"Locke on the Understanding," and "The Art of Thinking," were two
+other works that he read closely while he was living on a vegetable
+diet. All these works were difficult to be mastered by a boy not yet
+fourteen years of age. Yet he was not discouraged by this fact; it
+rather seemed to arouse him to greater efforts.
+
+"You calculate time as closely as a miser does his money, Ben," said
+James.
+
+"As little as I have for myself requires that I should calculate
+closely," was his reply. "Time is money to you, or else you would
+allow me a little more to myself; and it is more than money to me."
+
+"How so?" inquired James.
+
+"It enables me to acquire knowledge, which I cannot buy with money.
+Unless I was saving of my time, I should not be able to read or study
+at all, having to work so constantly."
+
+Perhaps, at this time, Benjamin laid the foundation for that economy
+which distinguished him in later life, and about which he often wrote.
+Among his wise sayings touching this subject are the following:--
+
+"If you would be wealthy, think of saving, as well as of getting."
+
+"What maintains one vice would bring up two children."
+
+"Many a little makes a mickle."
+
+"A small leak will sink a ship."
+
+"At a great pennyworth pause awhile."
+
+"Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire."
+
+"Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes
+to the bottom."
+
+    "For age and want save while you may,--
+    No morning sun lasts a whole day."
+
+"It is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel."
+
+"A penny saved is a penny earned."
+
+    "A penny saved is twopence clear;
+    A pin a day is a groat a year."
+
+"He that wastes idly a groat's worth of his time per day, one day with
+another, wastes the privilege of using one hundred pounds each day."
+
+To a young tradesman he wrote, in the year 1748:--
+
+     "Remember that time is money. He that can earn ten shilling a day
+     by his labour, and goes abroad or sits idle one half that day,
+     though he spend but sixpence during his diversion or idleness,
+     ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent,
+     or rather thrown away, five shillings besides....
+
+     "In short, the way to wealth, if you desire it, is as plain as
+     the way to market. It depends chiefly on two words, _industry_
+     and _frugality_; that is, waste neither _time_ nor _money_, but
+     make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality nothing
+     will do, and with them everything. He that gets all he can
+     honestly, and saves all he gets (necessary expenses excepted),
+     will certainly become _rich_,--if that Being who governs the
+     world, to whom all should look for a blessing on their honest
+     endeavours, doth not, in his wise providence, otherwise
+     determine."
+
+In these excellent sayings, time and money are spoken of together,
+because time is money; and Franklin was never more economical of one
+than of the other. All that he says of frugality in respect to
+property applies equally to time, and _vice versâ_. In his boyhood,
+when he adopted a vegetable diet, he had no money to save, so that the
+most of his economy related to time. It being to him as valuable as
+gold, he was prompted to husband it as well. To some observers he
+might have appeared to be penurious, but those who knew him saw that
+he reduced another of his own maxims to practice: "We must save, that
+we may share." He never sought to save time or money that he might
+hoard the more of worldly goods to enjoy in a selfish way. He was ever
+generous and liberal, as we shall see hereafter. The superficial
+observer might suppose that a niggardly spirit prompted him to board
+himself,--that he adopted a vegetable diet for the sake of mere lucre.
+But nothing could be wider from the truth than such a view. We cannot
+discover the least desire to _hoard_ the money he saved. He laid it
+out in books, and such things as aided him in self-improvement. He
+believed in temperate eating, as we have already said, and the
+following maxims of his show the same thing:--
+
+     "Who dainties love, shall beggars prove."
+
+     "Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them."
+
+     "Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy
+     necessaries."
+
+He saw that he could never possess the books he needed, or command the
+time, if his appetite for luxuries was gratified. In his
+circumstances, the most marked self-denial was necessary, to gain his
+object. At the same time, he believed it would make him more healthy
+to be abstemious. There was not an iota of stinginess in his habitual
+economy.
+
+Economy of time or money is praiseworthy only when it is done to
+command the means of being useful,--which was true of Franklin. When
+it is practised to gratify a sordid love of money, it is ignoble and
+sinful.
+
+About this time, Benjamin and John Collins had another
+interview,--differing somewhat from the one already described, as the
+following dialogue will show:--
+
+"What book is this, Ben?" inquired John, taking up one from the table.
+
+"It is an old English Grammar which I came across the other day,"
+answered Benjamin. "It has two chapters, near the close, on Rhetoric
+and Logic, that are valuable."
+
+"Valuable to you, perhaps, but not to me," said John. "What shall I
+ever want of Rhetoric or Logic?"
+
+"Everybody ought to know something about them," answered Benjamin.
+"They have already helped me, in connection with the works of
+Shaftesbury, to understand some things about religion better. I have
+believed some doctrines just because my parents taught me so."
+
+"Then you do not believe all that you have been taught about religion,
+if I understand you?"
+
+"No, I am free to say that I do not. There is neither reason nor
+wisdom in portions of the creed of the Church."
+
+"Why, Ben, you surprise me. You are getting to be quite infidel for a
+boy. It won't do for you to read Logic and Shaftesbury any more, if
+you are so easily upset by them."
+
+"Made to understand better by them what is right and what is wrong,"
+answered Benjamin. "The fact is, very few persons think for
+themselves. They are religious because they are so instructed. They
+embrace the religion of their parents without asking themselves what
+is true or false."
+
+"There is not much danger that you will do that," said John. "Present
+appearances rather indicate that the religious opinions of your father
+will be blown sky-high,"--though John did not mean quite so much as
+his language denotes.
+
+"You do not understand me. I respect my parents and their religious
+opinions, though I doubt some of the doctrines they have taught, and
+which I never carefully examined until recently."
+
+"I must go," said John; "at another time, I will hear more;"--and he
+hurried away to his business, which was waiting for him.
+
+Benjamin had read carefully the works of Collins and Shaftesbury,
+which were well suited to unsettle his religious belief. At the time
+of this interview, he was really a doubter, though not avowedly
+opposed to religion. The fact shows the necessity of using care in
+selecting books to be read, and the danger of tampering with those
+that speak lightly of the Gospel. Even a mind as strong as that of
+Benjamin was warped by the sophistries of such a book, and it was some
+years before he recovered wholly from the sad effects of such reading.
+His early religious culture, however, and his disposition and ability
+to perceive the truth, finally saved him from the abyss of infidelity,
+as will appear more evident in the pages that follow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE NEWSPAPER.
+
+
+On the seventeenth day of January, 1721, James Franklin began to issue
+a newspaper, called "THE NEW ENGLAND COURANT." It was the third one at
+the time in the whole country. The first paper--"THE BOSTON
+NEWSLETTER"--was established in 1704, two years before the birth of
+Benjamin. It was only a half-sheet of paper, about the size of an
+eight by twelve inch pane of glass, "in two pages folio, with two
+columns on each page." Consequently, it could not have contained more
+printed matter than is now compressed into half a page of one of the
+Boston dailies. Yet it was considered a very important undertaking for
+the times.
+
+When James Franklin proposed to start the third paper in America, some
+of his friends thought it was a wild project, and endeavoured to
+dissuade him from it. They saw nothing but ruin before him, and used
+every persuasion to lead him to abandon the enterprise. They thought
+that two newspapers, such as would now excite a smile by their
+inferior size, were quite enough for the country. Take this fact, in
+connection with the present abundance of papers, and the contrast
+presents a striking view of the progress of America since that day. At
+that time there was not a daily paper in the land. Now there are eight
+in the city of Boston alone, having an aggregate daily circulation of
+about _one hundred and twenty-five thousand_, which would amount to
+nearly FORTY MILLION sheets in a year,--more than enough to furnish
+every man, woman, and child in the country with one sheet each. All
+this from the daily press of Boston, where, one hundred and forty
+years ago, it was thought that a third weekly newspaper, scarcely
+large enough to wrap a baker's loaf in, could not be supported! Bind
+them into volumes, containing one hundred sheets each, and we have an
+enormous library of daily newspapers, numbering _four hundred thousand
+volumes_, the annual production of the Boston daily press in 1860! And
+this only the aggregate of eight different papers, while Boston alone
+now has _one hundred and forty_ papers and periodicals of all sorts,
+and the State of Massachusetts nearly _three hundred_! How marvellous
+the change since Franklin was a poor printer-boy!
+
+But look at these eight daily papers of Boston again. Suppose they
+measure a yard each in width, upon an average, when opened;--here we
+have one hundred and twenty-five thousand yards of newspapers
+emanating daily from only eight presses of Franklin's native city;
+which is equal to _seventy-one miles_ per day, and _four hundred and
+twenty-six_ miles per week, and _twenty-two thousand one hundred and
+fifty-two_ miles in a year! This is truly surprising. Almost paper
+enough from the eight daily presses of Boston alone, every year, to
+reach around the earth!
+
+Or, suppose we weigh these papers. If ten of them weigh a single
+pound, then each day's issue weighs _twelve thousand five hundred
+pounds_, each week's issue amounts to _seventy-five thousand pounds_,
+which swells the annual aggregate to about _four million pounds_. Load
+this yearly production upon waggons, one ton on each, and we have _two
+thousand and two horse loads of newspapers_ from these eight presses
+in a year! Again, we say, how marvellous the change!
+
+If eight daily papers of Boston throw off this vast amount of
+reading-matter in a year, what immense quantities are supplied by all
+the presses in the land! Could the actual statistics be laid before us
+in round numbers, doubtless the most credulous even would be amazed at
+the result.
+
+But to return. James decided to issue his paper, notwithstanding the
+advice of some of his friends to the contrary, and he thus opened the
+subject to Benjamin:--
+
+"I have resolved to issue a paper, and it will require our united
+exertions to make it go. No doubt I shall meet with opposition, and
+perhaps shall fail in the attempt, but I have determined to fail
+_trying_."
+
+"What particular service can I render?" inquired Benjamin.
+
+"Aside from your usual work of type-setting, you are qualified to look
+after the composition and spelling of the articles in each number, and
+a part of your work shall be to deliver the paper to subscribers from
+week to week."
+
+"And be collector, too, I suppose," added Benjamin, rather fancying
+the idea of issuing a paper from the office.
+
+"As you like about that," answered his brother, "though it may be
+convenient, often, to have you render such a service."
+
+"I suppose you don't mean to make me editor also?" he added, rather
+jestingly; probably not dreaming that he should ever conduct the
+publication.
+
+"I think not at present," was his brother's reply. "Printer,
+news-carrier, and collector, will be as much honour as you can
+withstand at once;" and he had as little idea of the part Benjamin
+would play in the work as the boy had himself.
+
+Accordingly the paper was issued at the appointed time, creating quite
+a stir in the community, and provoking remarks _pro_ and _con_
+concerning its appearance, character, and prospects. Agreeably to the
+arrangement, Benjamin delivered the numbers to subscribers, and
+perhaps he sold the paper about the streets, thus acting as one of the
+first newsboys on this western continent.
+
+Among the friends of James Franklin, and the patrons of his paper,
+were several men who possessed considerable talent for writing, and
+they were accustomed to assemble at the printing-office, and discuss
+questions connected with the circulation of the paper. Benjamin's ears
+were usually open to their conversation,--and he heard the merits of
+different articles set forth, and learned that certain ones were quite
+popular, and elicited favourable remarks from readers generally. This
+excited his ambition, and he earnestly desired to try his own ability
+in writing for the paper. He feared, however, that his composition
+would not be regarded favourably, if it were known who was the author;
+so he hit upon this expedient. He resolved to write an anonymous
+article, in his very best style, and get it into his brother's hand so
+as not to awaken his suspicion. Accordingly, the article was prepared,
+and at night it was tucked under the printing-office door, where James
+found it in the morning. As usual, several of his writers came in
+about their usual time, and Benjamin had the happiness of hearing the
+following discussion:--
+
+"Here is a good article, that I found under the door this morning,"
+said James, at the same time holding it up.
+
+"Who is the author of it?" inquired one.
+
+"It is anonymous," replied James, "and I have not the least idea who
+wrote it."
+
+"What is the subject?" asked another; and the subject was announced.
+
+"Let us hear it read," proposed a third. "You read it aloud to us,
+James." So James proceeded to read the article aloud, while all
+listened with deep interest. All the while Benjamin was busily
+employed at his work, though his ears were never more willing to hear.
+You may be sure that he felt rather queerly while his composition was
+undergoing this test, and a close observer might have observed a sly,
+comical twinkle of his eye. The reading went on without one of the
+company dreaming that the author stood at their elbow.
+
+"Capital!" exclaimed one, as the last line was read. "Who can the
+author be?"
+
+"As a general thing," said James, "I shall not insert articles from
+persons unknown to me, but this is so good that I shall publish it."
+
+"By all means," said one of the company. "We shall soon find out the
+author; it is a difficult matter to keep such things secret for a long
+time."
+
+"The author is evidently a person of ability," added another; "every
+sentence in that article is charged with thought. I should judge that
+he wanted only culture to make him a writer of the first class."
+
+"Publishing the article will be as likely as anything to bring out the
+author," said James.
+
+It was decided to print the article, all having approved of the same,
+much to the satisfaction of Benjamin, who awaited the decision with
+some anxiety. Now he scarcely knew how to act in regard to the piece,
+whether to father it at once, or still conceal its parentage. On the
+whole, however, he decided to withhold its authorship for the present,
+and try his hand again in the same way. Much encouraged by the success
+of his first effort, Benjamin was prepared to produce even a better
+article on the second trial, which was discussed and approved in the
+same way as the first. Thus he wrote, and put under the door at night,
+a number of articles, all of which were pronounced good by James and
+his friends. It was a time of much interest and excitement to
+Benjamin, since he was the "unknown character" so much extolled by the
+patrons of the "Courant." To hear his own articles remarked upon and
+praised, when no one dreamed that a boy like himself could be the
+author, was well suited to stir up his feelings, if not to inflate his
+vanity. Many persons in like circumstances would be allured into
+indiscretions and improprieties. But Benjamin wisely kept his own
+secrets, while he industriously continued to set up types, fearing
+that disclosure at the present time might knock all his plans into
+"pie."
+
+There is no doubt that this was one of the incidents of Benjamin's
+boyhood that decided his future eminent career. It was a good thing to
+bring out his talents as a writer thus early, and it evidently
+fostered his love of an exercise that was of the first importance in
+the improvement of his mind. From the time that he wrote the first
+article which he put under the door of the printing-office, he did not
+cease to write more or less for the public eye. He had written before,
+as we have seen, but his father had rather put a damper on his
+composing for the public to read, and, besides, the newspaper was a
+channel of communicating with readers altogether new to him. It was
+well suited to awaken deep interest in his heart, and to incite him to
+put forth his noblest efforts.
+
+The great English statesman, CANNING, was sent to school at Eton, at
+twelve years of age, where he originated a mimic House of Commons
+among his schoolmates. Here they established a boy periodical, called
+the "Microcosm." It was a weekly publication, and issued from Windsor.
+It was conducted "after the plan of the 'Spectator,' the design being
+to treat the characteristics of the boys at Eton as Addison and his
+friends had done those of general society." In this paper several
+members of the school figured with credit to themselves, though no one
+was more earnest to sustain it than young Canning. It became one of
+the prominent influences that decided his future course, bringing out
+his talents, and stimulating his mind to labour in this honourable
+way. It also exerted a decided influence upon the character of another
+boy, named Frere, who afterwards shone as a writer in the pages of the
+"Anti-Jacobin."
+
+At the present day, in many seminaries and village lyceums, several
+literary enterprises are sustained, to the no small advantage of the
+young who become personally interested in it. Every youth who desires
+to cultivate his mental faculties ought to hail such enterprises with
+joy, and pledge his noblest efforts to sustain them. It may be that it
+is discouragingly difficult for him to write at first; but let him
+persevere, with patience and firm resolve, and he will prove to
+himself that "practice makes perfect." There is no better exercise for
+his mind than this, and none better adapted to inspire him with a
+dauntless resolve to acquire knowledge.
+
+
+[Illustration: The Mysterious Contributor.--See page 123.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG.
+
+
+Benjamin was so highly gratified with the favourable remarks he heard
+about his articles, and especially that different persons, in guessing
+who the author might be, usually guessed some writer of distinction,
+that he could keep the secret no longer. He was eager to make the fact
+known, that the much talked of essays emanated from his own pen; and
+soon "the cat was let out of the bag."
+
+Having a good opportunity, in reply to some remark of James about "the
+last article found under the door," he said, "I know who the author
+is."
+
+"You know?" exclaimed James with surprise. "Why have you not disclosed
+it before?"
+
+"Because I thought it was not wise. It is not best to tell all we know
+always."
+
+"But you have heard us discuss this matter over and over, and take
+measures to discover the author, and yet you have never intimated that
+you knew anything about it."
+
+"Well, the author did not wish to be known, until the right time
+came, and that is a good reason for keeping the matter secret, I
+think."
+
+"Will you tell me who the author is now?" asked James, impatient to
+obtain the long-sought information.
+
+"Perhaps I will, if you are very anxious to know."
+
+"You know that I am. Who is it?"
+
+"It is Benjamin Franklin."
+
+"What!" exclaimed James, astonished almost beyond measure by the
+disclosure; "do you mean to say that you wrote those articles?"
+
+"Certainly I do."
+
+"But it is not your handwriting."
+
+"I disguised my hand in order to conceal the authorship."
+
+"What could possibly be your object in doing so?"
+
+"That the articles might be fairly examined. If I had proposed to
+write an article for your paper, you would have said that I, a
+printer-boy, could write nothing worthy of print."
+
+Here the conversation dropped, and James appeared to be abstracted in
+thought. He said but little about the matter to Benjamin, neither
+commending nor censuring, until his literary friends came in again.
+
+"I have discovered the author of those articles," said James.
+
+"You have? who can it be?" one asked.
+
+"No one that you have dreamed of," answered James.
+
+"Do tell us who it is, and put an end to our anxiety," said one of the
+number, who could hardly wait for the desired information.
+
+"There he is," replied James, pointing to Benjamin, who was setting up
+types a little more briskly than usual. The whole company were amazed.
+
+"Can it be?" cried out one; "you are joking."
+
+Now Benjamin had to speak for himself; for they all turned to him with
+their inquiries, as if they thought there must be some mistake or
+deception about the matter. But he found little difficulty in
+convincing them that he was the real author of the pieces; whereupon
+they commended him in a manner that was rather perilous to one who had
+the smallest share of pride in his heart.
+
+From that time Benjamin was a favourite with the literary visitors at
+the office. They showed him much more attention than they did James,
+and said so much in his praise, as a youth of unusual promise, that
+James became jealous and irritable. He was naturally passionate and
+tyrannical, and this sudden and unexpected exaltation of Benjamin
+developed his overbearing spirit. He began to find fault seriously and
+unreasonably with him, and a disposition to oppress him was soon
+apparent. He went so far as to beat him severely with a rod, on
+several occasions, reconciling the matter with his conscience by
+saying that he was master, and Benjamin was his apprentice. His whole
+conduct towards his younger brother was unjust and cruel, and the
+latter became restive and discontented under it. He made known his
+grievances to his father, who censured James for his conduct, and took
+the part of Benjamin. But the best efforts of his father to reconcile
+matters proved abortive, because James's manifest opposition was so
+aroused against his brother, on account of his sudden rise to
+comparative distinction. Other causes might have operated to awaken
+James's hostility, but this was evidently a prominent one.
+
+Benjamin was so dissatisfied with his treatment that he resolved to
+leave his brother as soon as possible. He was indentured to him, as we
+have seen, so that it was difficult for him to get away. Being bound
+to him until he became twenty-one years of age, the law held him
+firmly there, notwithstanding the injustice he experienced. Still, for
+the present, he laboured on in the office, and the paper continued to
+be issued.
+
+We are reminded that the printing-office has furnished many eminent
+scholars to the world. Young men have there come in contact with
+printed matter that has aroused their intellects to action, and caused
+them to press onward, with new resolves, in paths of usefulness and
+renown.
+
+In the case of Benjamin, the circumstance of his connection with the
+office just at the time a new paper was established called out a
+certain kind of talent he possessed, and thus helped to make him what
+he became. Success depends in a great measure in early directing the
+young in the path to which their natural endowments point. Thus Lord
+Nelson, who distinguished himself in the service of his country, was
+early placed in just those circumstances that appealed to his
+fortitude and other heroic attributes. That he possessed by nature
+remarkable courage and determination, in connection with other
+qualities that usually accompany these, is evident from an incident of
+his childhood. One day he strayed from home with a cow-boy in search
+of birds' nests, and being missed at dinner-time, and inquiries made
+for him, the startling suspicion was awakened that he had been carried
+off by gipsies. The alarm of his parents was great, and a careful
+search was instituted, when he was found sitting on the banks of a
+stream which he could not cross, unconcerned and happy.
+
+"I wonder, child," said his grandmother, when he was brought back in
+safety to the family, "that hunger and fear did not drive you home."
+
+"Fear!" exclaimed the heroic lad, "I never saw fear,--what is it?"
+
+He was taken by his uncle into the naval service while he was yet a
+boy, where the scenes of every day were suited to develop and
+strengthen the heroic qualities of his nature. He became known to the
+world, not merely for his victories at Trafalgar and on the Nile, but
+for other essential service rendered to his native land.
+
+The same was true of Buxton, Wilberforce, Pascal, Handel, Canova, Dr.
+Chalmers, and many others. Providence opened before them the path to
+which their native qualities directed.
+
+We have spoken of the advantage of occasionally writing compositions,
+as Benjamin was wont to write, and another fact illustrating this
+point has just come to our notice. It is an incident belonging to the
+history of the Boston Young Men's Temperance Society. In addition to
+its being a temperance organization, it was sustained for mutual
+mental improvement. With other exercises, the members read lectures of
+their own preparing at the meetings,--a very important and valuable
+arrangement. One evening a member delivered a lecture upon the
+character and objects of the society, which was listened to by a young
+man who dropped into the hall for the first time. He was so well
+pleased with the design of the association, as set forth in the
+lecture, that he joined it at the close of the exercises. He began at
+once to fulfil the requirements of the society in writing
+compositions, and they were so well written that the author of the
+aforesaid lecture said to him one evening--
+
+"Why do you not write something for the press? If I possessed your
+ability I should do it."
+
+The young man received the compliment with becoming modesty,
+expressing some lack of confidence in his abilities; but it set him to
+thinking. The result was that he prepared a short article for a Boston
+paper, which was accepted; and the way was thereby opened to his
+becoming a constant contributor to its columns. The end is not yet,
+though he is now the author of the popular "Optic Library." Thus so
+small a matter as writing a brief article for a newspaper may herald a
+career of literary fame.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE ARREST.
+
+
+"Have you heard what they are doing in the Assembly?" asked Benjamin
+one afternoon, as he entered the office under considerable excitement,
+addressing his inquiry to James.
+
+"Doing?" answered James; "doing their business, I suppose;"--a reply
+that did not indicate precisely his knowledge of the legislative
+doings, since he had heard of the business before them, and was
+somewhat troubled by it.
+
+"They are certainly going to arrest you for libel, and I heard a
+gentleman say, in the street, that they would show you no favour;" and
+Benjamin made this revelation with considerable warmth of feeling. The
+idea of his brother's arrest and imprisonment excited him in no small
+degree.
+
+On the same day the following order was passed in the General Court:--
+
+
+                                           "IN COUNCIL, Jan. 14, 1722.
+
+     "Whereas the paper, called the New England Courant, of this day's
+     date, contains many passages in which the Holy Scriptures are
+     perverted, and the Civil Government, Ministers, and People of
+     this Province highly reflected on,
+
+     _Ordered_, That William Tailer, Samuel Sewell, and Penn Townsend,
+     Esqrs., with such as the Honourable House of Representatives
+     shall join, be a committee to consider and report what is proper
+     for the Court to do thereon."
+
+The House of Representatives concurred, and the committee reported:--
+
+     "That James Franklin, the printer and publisher thereof (the
+     Courant), be strictly forbidden by this Court to print or publish
+     the New England Courant, or any other pamphlet or paper of the
+     like nature, except it be first supervised by the Secretary of
+     this Province; and the Justices of his Majesty's Sessions of the
+     Peace for the County of Suffolk, at their next adjournment, be
+     directed to take sufficient bonds of the said Franklin for twelve
+     months' time."
+
+The result was, that James was arrested and confined four weeks in the
+"stone gaol," from which he was released by his voluntary pledge to
+regard the honour of the Court. Benjamin was arrested, also; but was
+discharged on the ground that he acted as an apprentice, and was
+obliged to do the bidding of his master.
+
+It appears that there was considerable dissatisfaction in the Province
+with the British government, under which the people lived. The
+Courant espoused the cause of the dissatisfied party, and, perhaps
+unwisely, attacked the government and its officers, together with the
+ministers of the Gospel, whose sympathies seemed to be with the
+dominant party. It was a time of considerable excitement, so that a
+little firebrand thrown into the community was sure to make a great
+fire. But the immediate cause of his arrest was the appearance of the
+following article in his paper, which was a slur upon the government
+for tardiness in fitting out a ship to cruise after a pirate seen off
+Block Island. The article purported to be written by a correspondent
+in Newport, R. I., and read thus:--
+
+     "We are advised from Boston, that the government of the
+     Massachusetts are fitting out a ship to go after the pirates, to
+     be commanded by Captain Peter Papillon, and _'tis thought he will
+     sail some time this month, wind and weather permitting_."
+
+This well-pointed censure, in connection with the many flings and
+attacks that had preceded it, aroused the General Court to act in
+their defence without delay.
+
+The club under whose auspices the Courant was conducted, assembled at
+the office as soon as they knew the decision of the Court, to consider
+what should be done.
+
+"It is certain," said one, "that you cannot continue to issue the
+paper against the action of the Court."
+
+"Not in his own name," suggested another. "It may still be published
+in the name of another person, and thus the legislative order will be
+evaded."
+
+"How will it do to issue it in Benjamin's name?" inquired James.
+
+"That cannot be done, for he is only an apprentice, as could be very
+readily proved," was the reply.
+
+"I can easily meet that difficulty," answered James, who was usually
+ready for a shrewd evasion in such a case.
+
+"Pray, tell us how," asked one of the number, who was disposed to
+think that the days of the Courant were numbered. "By changing the
+name?"
+
+"No, I would not change the name. I will return his indenture, with
+his discharge upon the back of it, and he can show it in case of
+necessity. We can understand the matter between us, while he will be
+his own man whenever any trouble may arise about his apprenticeship."
+
+All agreed that this plan would work well, and it was accordingly
+adopted.
+
+"Benjamin Franklin, publisher and proprietor," said one of the club,
+rising from his seat and patting Benjamin on the shoulder. "What do
+you think of that, my son? Rather a young fellow to undertake such an
+enterprise, but a match, I guess, for the General Court of the
+Province."
+
+Benjamin was quite unprepared to reply to the merriment of the club on
+the occasion over his unexpected introduction to an office of which he
+did not dream in the morning. He was now to appear before the public
+in quite another relation than that of apprentice,--probably the
+youngest conductor of a newspaper who ever lived, for he was only
+sixteen years of age.
+
+Henceforth the paper appeared in the name of Benjamin Franklin,
+occasioning, by all the circumstances, no little excitement in the
+town.
+
+James was conveyed to prison, and during his confinement, Benjamin had
+the whole management of the paper, in which he took occasion to speak
+very plainly and boldly against the government. Notwithstanding the
+difficulty that existed between him and his brother, his heart was
+stirred with resentment against the Court for sending him to jail, and
+he espoused his cause with as much sympathy and good-will, apparently,
+as he could have done if no difference had disturbed their
+intercourse. This was honourable in Benjamin, and showed that he
+possessed a true brother's heart. For three years the paper was
+published in his name, although he did not remain with James so long.
+
+We have referred to the time of Benjamin's boyhood as a period of
+public excitement and disturbance. Great alarm was frequently
+occasioned, for some time before and some time after his birth, by the
+depredations of the Indians. The French were hostile to Great Britain;
+so they sought to stir up, and ally themselves with, the savages, in
+making inroads upon the Colonies. The consequence was, "wars and
+rumours of wars," with actual massacres and bloodshed. Benjamin's
+ears, in his early life, were often saluted with the harrowing tales
+of slaughter and conflagration, an experience that may have qualified
+him, in a measure, to act the prominent part he did in achieving the
+independence of his country, half a century thereafter. Rev. Dr.
+Willard, who baptized him, was driven from the town of Groton by the
+Indians in 1675. Later still, only three years before the birth of
+Benjamin, the town of Deerfield was attacked and burned by these
+savage tribes, instigated and led on by the French,--and "upwards of
+forty persons were slain, and more than a hundred were made
+prisoners." "When the sun was an hour high, the work was finished, and
+the enemy took their departure, leaving the snow reddened with blood,
+and the deserted village enveloped in flames." Only two or three years
+after his birth, the famous attack upon Haverhill was made, when the
+Indians massacred men, women, and children indiscriminately, a few
+only escaping their terrible vengeance. The stories of such dreadful
+cruelties and sufferings were fresh in Benjamin's boyhood, and their
+effect upon the youthful mind was heightened by the frequent reports
+of outbreaks and anticipated Indian attacks from different quarters.
+Thus born and reared in troublous times, our hero was prepared to work
+out his destiny in the most perilous period of American history.
+
+A single item published in the Courant about this time, will show the
+young reader that Boston and its environs of that early day did not
+much resemble the same city now. The item is the following:--
+
+     "It is thought that not less than twenty bears have been killed
+     in about a week's time within two miles of Boston. Two have been
+     killed below the Castle, as they were swimming from one island to
+     another, and one attempted to board a boat out in the bay, but
+     the men defended themselves so well with the boat-hook and oars,
+     that they put out her eyes, and then killed her. On Tuesday last
+     two were killed at Dorchester, one of which weighed sixty pounds
+     a quarter. We hear from Providence that the bears appear to be
+     very thick in those parts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE RUNAWAY.
+
+
+Not long after James was released from prison, a fresh difficulty
+arose between Benjamin and himself. In the quarrel they seemed to
+forget that they were brothers, who ought to be united by strong ties
+of affection. James continued to be passionate and domineering,
+treating his brother with harshness, sometimes even beating him,
+notwithstanding he was the nominal publisher and editor of a paper.
+Benjamin thought he was too old to be treated thus--whipped like a
+little boy--and the result was that he asserted his freedom.
+
+"I am my own man from this time," he cried, holding up his indenture
+which his brother returned to him, as we saw in a former chapter, in
+order to evade the officers of justice. "These papers make me free,
+and I shall take advantage of them to leave you," and he fairly shook
+them in James's face.
+
+"You know that I never gave them up because I relinquished the bargain
+we had made," said James. "If you use them to assert your freedom,
+you will be guilty of a base act."
+
+"I _shall_ so use the papers," replied Benjamin defiantly. "I have
+borne such treatment long enough, and I shall submit no longer."
+
+"We shall see about that," continued James. "Father will have a word
+to say about it, you will find."
+
+"Yes, and he will probably say that you have abused me, and that you
+ought to control your temper and treat me better," responded Benjamin.
+"He always has decided in my favour, and I have no fears about his
+decision now."
+
+It was not fair in Benjamin to take this advantage of his brother, and
+he knew it, but his resentment triumphed over his regard for right at
+the time. James returned his indenture only that he might be able to
+publish the paper unmolested. It was a deceitful arrangement in the
+first place, and Benjamin's use of the papers to assert his liberty
+was no more unfair and sinful than was James's device to make him the
+proprietor of the paper, and thus evade the law. James was paid in his
+own coin. He laid a plan to cheat the government, and he got cheated
+himself. He was snared in the work of his own hands. This, however,
+did not justify Benjamin in his course, as he afterwards saw, and
+frankly confessed.
+
+Benjamin persisted in asserting his freedom, and James appealed to his
+father. After the latter had examined the affair, all the while
+knowing that James was passionate and overbearing, he decided against
+Benjamin. The advantage which the latter took of James to gain his
+freedom probably influenced Mr. Franklin to decide in favour of the
+former. This was unexpected by Benjamin, and was not received with a
+very good grace. It did not change his determination, however, and he
+was still resolved to be free. He refused to labour any more for his
+brother, and went forth to look for employment elsewhere. There were a
+number of other printers in the town, to whom he applied for work; but
+he found, to his surprise, that his brother had anticipated him, and
+been round to persuade them not to hire him.
+
+"He has violated a solemn contract," said he to one, "and he will
+violate any contract he will make with you. Besides, if you refuse to
+hire him, he will be obliged to return and labour for me."
+
+The printers all sympathized with James, and accordingly refused to
+give Benjamin work. He found himself in a very unpleasant situation on
+that account, without the means of earning his bread, and, in one
+sense, without a home, since he had disregarded his father's counsel
+in not returning to his brother. He learned, also, that some good
+people considered him no better than an infidel.
+
+"Nothing less than the loosest sceptic," said one good man. "He hates
+the truth with all his heart, as much that he writes plainly shows.
+His influence in the community is very bad, and it is growing worse
+and worse."
+
+Good people thus misjudged Benjamin. Some went so far as to call him
+an "atheist." His attacks upon the clergy and government, in his
+paper, created so much excitement, that he was understood to mean
+worse than he did.
+
+All these things served to wean Benjamin from Boston, and he decided
+on seeking his fortune elsewhere. He embraced the first opportunity to
+confer with his old friend, John Collins, on the subject.
+
+"John, I am going to New York," he said.
+
+"To New York?" exclaimed John. "What has started you off there?"
+
+"Enough to start anybody. I have been banged about long enough, and
+now can get no work at all; so I must go or starve."
+
+"How so?" inquired John, "I don't understand you?"
+
+"The case is just this," said Benjamin. "James has treated me very
+harshly for a long time, and I have submitted. But I had a good
+opportunity to make myself free, and I have improved it. When James
+was put into prison for libel, he returned me my indenture with a
+discharge written on the back, to show in case the government
+interfered with my publishing the paper. He did not mean, of course,
+that I should be released from my obligations to him; but he has
+treated me so unmercifully lately that I have taken advantage of the
+paper, and broken my engagement with him."
+
+"You have got round him this time, certainly," said John. "How does he
+feel about it?"
+
+"He has appealed to father, and father has decided against me, and
+advised me to go back; but I am not at all disposed to do it."
+
+"I would work in some other printing-office," added John, "before I
+would go to New York."
+
+"But I can get work nowhere else. I have been to every office, and
+they all refuse to employ me, because my brother went to them before
+me, and told his story, and made them promise not to hire me."
+
+"I suppose he thought by so doing to compel you to come back to him,"
+suggested John.
+
+"I suppose so; but he will find himself mistaken. I shall go to New
+York as soon as I can get away."
+
+"What does your father say about your going off so far?"
+
+"I have said nothing to him about it, and do not intend to do so. He
+would stop my going at once if he knew it."
+
+"How can you get away without letting him know it?"
+
+"That remains to be seen," answered Benjamin. "I shall want some of
+your help about it, I guess."
+
+"I am at your service," said John, "though it seems very little that I
+can do to hasten your flight;" but he had hardly uttered the last
+sentence before a new thought flashed upon his mind, and he added with
+great earnestness, "Yes, I can, too; I have seen the captain of that
+New York sloop in the harbour, and I can make a bargain with him to
+take you there."
+
+"But he will want to know who I am, and will refuse to take me when he
+finds that I am a runaway."
+
+"I can manage that, if you will leave it to me," answered John. "I
+will pledge you that he will never know that your name is Franklin."
+
+"I agree, then, to commit myself to your care. See that you manage the
+affair well, for to New York I must go."
+
+They parted; and John hurried away to see the aforesaid captain.
+
+"Can you take a friend of mine to New York?" he asked.
+
+"That depends on circumstances," answered the captain. "Who is your
+friend?"--a very natural inquiry,--precisely such a one as Benjamin
+thought would be made.
+
+"He is a young man about my age, a printer, and he is going to New
+York to get work," replied John.
+
+"Why don't he get work in Boston?" inquired the captain.
+
+John saw that there was no evading the captain's questions, and so he
+suddenly resolved to fabricate a story, in other words, to tell a base
+lie.
+
+"Well," said John, "if I must tell you the whole story, the case is
+this. He is a young fellow who has been flirting with a girl, who
+wants to marry him, and now her parents are determined that he shall
+marry her, and he is determined that he will not, and he proposes to
+remove secretly to New York. He would have come to see you himself,
+but it is not safe for him to appear out so publicly, and therefore he
+sent me to do the business."
+
+A youth who can fabricate a falsehood so unblushingly as John did this
+is a candidate for ruin. The reader will not be surprised to learn,
+before the whole story is told, that he became a miserable, wicked
+man. This single lie proved that he was destitute of moral principle,
+and would do almost anything to carry his project.
+
+For some unaccountable reason, the captain was taken with this device,
+and consented to carry Benjamin to New York. He arranged to receive
+him clandestinely, and to have him on his way before any suspicion of
+his plans was awakened.
+
+John hastened to inform Benjamin of the success of his enterprise, and
+to congratulate him upon his fair prospect of getting away.
+
+"Money is the next thing," said Benjamin. "I can't go without money. I
+must sell my books for something, though I dislike to part with them."
+
+"They will sell quick enough," said John, "and will bring you a very
+pretty sum to start with."
+
+Benjamin lost no time in disposing of his little library for what it
+would bring, and he managed to get his clothes together without
+exciting suspicion; and, with the assistance of John, he boarded the
+sloop privately just before she sailed.
+
+"Good luck to you, Ben," said John, as they shook hands.
+
+"Good bye," answered Benjamin with a heavy heart, just beginning to
+feel that he was going away from home. "See that you tell no tales out
+of school."
+
+Thus they parted; and the sloop sailed for New York, where she arrived
+in three days. Benjamin did not know a person in that city, nor had he
+a single letter of recommendation to any one, and the money in his
+pocket was but a trifle. It was in October, 1723, that he arrived in
+New York. Think of a lad seventeen years of age running away from
+home, entering a large city without a solitary acquaintance, and
+possessing scarcely money enough to pay for a week's board! He must
+have carried some sad, lonely feelings in his heart along those
+strange streets, and possibly his conscience sorely upbraided him for
+his course.
+
+Benjamin behaved very unwisely and wickedly in this affair. Although
+his brother was severely harsh in his treatment of him, it was not
+sufficient reason for his running away from home, and he was
+thoroughly convinced of this at an early day. Such an act is one of
+the most flagrant sins that a youth can commit, although circumstances
+may render it less guilty in some cases than in others. In the case of
+Benjamin, the unkind treatment which he received at the hand of his
+brother mitigated his sin, though it by no means excused it.
+
+There is not a more unpleasant occurrence in the whole life of
+Benjamin Franklin than this quarrel with his brother. We charge the
+difficulty mainly upon James, of course; but this does not blot out
+the unpleasantness of the affair. A quarrel between brothers is always
+painful in the extreme, and is discreditable to all parties concerned.
+Dr. Watts has very beautifully written, for the admonition of little
+children, what older ones may well ponder:--
+
+    "Whatever brawls disturb the street,
+      There should be peace at home:
+    Where sisters dwell and brothers meet,
+      Quarrels should never come.
+
+    "Birds in their little nests agree;
+      And 'tis a shameful sight,
+    When children of one family
+      Fall out, and chide, and fight.
+
+    "Hard names, at first, and threat'ning words,
+      That are but noisy breath,
+    May grow to clubs and naked swords,
+      To murder and to death."
+
+At this crisis of Benjamin's life, it seemed as if he was on the
+highway to ruin. There is scarcely one similar case in ten, where the
+runaway escapes the vortex of degradation. Benjamin would not have
+been an exception, but for his early religious culture and the grace
+of God.
+
+The case of William Hutton, who was the son of very poor parents, is
+not altogether unlike that of Benjamin Franklin. He was bound to his
+uncle for a series of years, but was treated by him so harshly that he
+ran away, at seventeen years of age. The record is, that "on the 12th
+day of July, 1741, the ill-treatment he received from his uncle, in
+the shape of a brutal flogging, with a birch-broom handle of white
+hazel, which almost killed him, caused him to run away." A dark
+prospect was before him, since "he had only twopence in his pocket, a
+spacious world before him, and no plan of operation." Yet he
+afterwards became an author of some celebrity, and a most exemplary
+and esteemed man. He lived to the age of ninety, his last days being
+gladdened by the reflection of having lived a useful life, and the
+consciousness of sharing the confidence of his fellow-men.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+ANOTHER TRIP AND ITS TRIALS.
+
+
+On arriving at New York, Benjamin applied to a well known printer, Mr.
+William Bradford, for work.
+
+"Where are you from?" he inquired.
+
+"From Boston," was Benjamin's reply.
+
+"Used to the printing business?"
+
+"Yes, that is my trade. I have worked at it several years."
+
+"I am sorry I cannot employ you. Just now my business is small, and I
+have all the help I need."
+
+"What do you think of the prospect of getting work at some other
+office in the town?" inquired Benjamin.
+
+"Not very flattering, I am sorry to say. Dull times, my son, very dull
+indeed. But I can tell you where you can find employment, I think. My
+son carries on the printing business in Philadelphia, and one of his
+men died the other day. I think he would be glad to employ you."
+
+"How far is it to Philadelphia?"
+
+"It is a hundred miles," replied Mr. Bradford, "a much shorter
+distance than you have already travelled."
+
+[Illustration: Franklin saving the Dutchman.--See page 149.]
+
+Benjamin looked somewhat disappointed when he found that Philadelphia
+was a hundred miles farther; still, he was after work, and he was
+determined to find it; so he made inquiries about the mode of
+conveyance, and left Mr. Bradford, thanking him for his kindness.
+Immediately he engaged a passage in a boat to Amboy, and made
+arrangements for his chest to be carried round by sea. He was less
+disheartened, probably, on account of the assurance of Mr. Bradford
+that his son would employ him. If he could procure work by travelling
+a hundred miles more, he would cheerfully do it, although a journey of
+a hundred miles then was about equal to one thousand now.
+
+At the appointed time Benjamin went aboard, and the boat started. She
+had not proceeded far when a squall struck her, tore her rotten sails
+to pieces, and drove her upon Long Island. Before this, however, a
+drunken Dutchman, who was also a passenger, fell overboard, and would
+have lost his life but for the timely assistance of our printer-boy.
+Springing to the side of the boat, Benjamin reached over and seized
+him by the hair of his head as he rose, and drew him on board.
+
+"He may thank you for saving his life," exclaimed one of the boatmen.
+
+"He is too drunk for that," answered Benjamin. "It will sober him a
+little, however, I think. Halloo, here, you Dutchman!" (turning to the
+drunken man) "how do you like diving?"
+
+The Dutchman mumbled over something, and pulling a book out of his
+pocket, asked Benjamin to dry it for him, which he promised to do.
+Soon the poor, miserable fellow was fast asleep, in spite of the wet
+and danger, and Benjamin examined the drenched volume, which proved to
+be Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in Dutch, a favourite book of his a
+few years before. It was a very good companion for even a drunken
+Dutchman to have; but Benjamin could not but think that its contents
+were not so familiar to the unfortunate possessor as the bottle.
+
+On approaching Long Island they found that there was no place to land,
+and the beach was very stony; so "they dropped anchor, and swung out
+their cable towards the shore." Some men came down to the shore and
+hallooed to them, and they returned the shout. Seeing some small boats
+lying along the shore, they cried out as loudly as possible, "A boat!
+a boat!" and made signs to them to come to their assistance; but the
+wind was so boisterous that neither party could understand the other.
+
+After several fruitless attempts on both sides to be heard, and night
+coming on, the men on the shore went home, and left Benjamin and the
+boatmen to their perils.
+
+"There is only one thing to be done," said the captain, "when we get
+into such a predicament."
+
+"What is that?" asked Benjamin.
+
+"To do nothing but wait patiently till the wind abates," answered the
+captain, rather coolly.
+
+"Then let us turn in with the Dutchman to sleep," said one of the
+boatmen. "It isn't best for him to have all the good things."
+
+All agreed to this, and soon they were crowded into the hatches,
+Benjamin among the number. But the spray broke over the head of the
+boat so much that the water leaked through upon them, until they were
+about as wet as the Dutchman. This was hard fare for Benjamin, who had
+been accustomed to a comfortable bed and regular sleep. It was
+impossible for him to rest in such a plight, and he had all the more
+time _to think_. He thought of home, and the friends he had left
+behind, of the comfortable quarters he had exchanged for his present
+wet and perilous berth, and he began to feel that he had _paid too
+dear for his whistle_. Runaways usually feel thus sooner or later,
+since few of them ever realize their anticipations.
+
+The cold, dreary night wore away slowly, and the wind continued to
+howl, and the breakers to dash and roar, until after the dawn of the
+following morning. Benjamin was never more rejoiced to see daylight
+appear than he was after that dismal and perilous night. It was the
+more pleasant to him because the wind began to abate, and there was a
+fairer prospect of reaching their place of destination. As soon as the
+tumult of the wind and waves had subsided, they weighed anchor, and
+steered for Amboy, where they arrived just before night, "having been
+thirty hours on the water without victuals, or any drink but a bottle
+of filthy rum."
+
+In the evening Benjamin found himself feverish, having taken a severe
+cold by the exposure of the previous night. With a hot head and a
+heavy heart he retired to rest, first, however, drinking largely of
+cold water, because he had somewhere read that cold water was good for
+fever. This was one of the advantages he derived from his early habit
+of reading. But for his taste for reading, which led him to spend his
+leisure moments in poring over books, he might never have known this
+important fact, which perhaps saved him a fit of sickness. Availing
+himself of this knowledge, he drank freely of water before he retired,
+and the consequence was, that he sweat most of the night, and arose
+the next morning comparatively well. So much advantage from loving
+books!
+
+Boys never have occasion to deplore the habit of reading, provided
+their books are well chosen. They usually find that they are thrice
+paid for all the time spent in this way. Sooner or later they begin to
+reap the benefits of so wise a course. A few years since, a young man
+was travelling in the State of Maine, procuring subscribers to a
+newspaper. On passing a certain farm, he observed some bricks of a
+peculiar colour, and he traced them to their clay-bed, and satisfied
+himself that the material could be applied to a more valuable purpose
+than that of making bricks. He at once purchased the farm for three
+hundred pounds, and, on his return to Boston, sold one half of it for
+eight hundred pounds. The secret of his success lay in a bit of
+knowledge he acquired at school. He had given some attention to
+geology and chemistry, and the little knowledge he had gleaned
+therefrom enabled him to discover the nature of the clay on the farm.
+Thus, even a little knowledge gleaned from a book in a single leisure
+half-hour, will sometimes prove the key to a valuable treasure; much
+more valuable than the farm which the young man purchased. For this
+pecuniary benefit is, after all, the least important advantage derived
+from reading. The discipline of the mind and heart, and the refined
+and elevated pleasure which it secures, are far more desirable than
+any pecuniary good it bestows. A little reading, also, sometimes gives
+an impulse to the mind in the direction of learning and renown. It was
+the reading of Echard's Roman History, which Gibbon met with while on
+a visit to Wiltshire, that opened before him the historic path to
+distinction.
+
+Let the reader consider these things. Never say, as hundred's of boys
+do, "I hate books, and wish that I was not obliged to go to school.
+There is no use in reading and studying so much; we shall get along
+just as well without it." This class of boys usually will have to
+regret, under mortifying circumstances, in later life, that they
+wasted their early opportunities to acquire knowledge. Sir Walter
+Scott, in his boyhood, joined in the tirade of idlers against books;
+but in manhood he said: "If it should ever fall to the lot of youth to
+peruse these pages, let such readers remember that it is with the
+deepest regret that I recollect, in my manhood, the opportunities of
+learning which I neglected in my youth; that through every part of my
+literary career I have felt pinched and hampered by my own ignorance;
+and I would at this moment give half the reputation I have had the
+good fortune to acquire, if by so doing I could rest the remaining
+part upon a sound foundation of learning and science."
+
+But we have lost sight of Benjamin. We left him at the tavern in
+Amboy, after having passed the night in a cold-water sweat, ready for
+another start on his journey. Burlington was fifty miles from Amboy,
+and there was no public conveyance, so that he was obliged to go on
+foot, expecting to find a boat there bound for Philadelphia. It was
+raining hard, and yet he started upon the journey, and trudged on
+through the storm and the mud, eager to see Burlington. He was
+thoroughly drenched before he had travelled five miles, and, in this
+condition, he walked on rapidly till noon, when he came to a "poor
+inn," and stopped. Being wet and tired, he resolved to remain there
+until the next day. The innkeeper's suspicions were awakened by
+Benjamin's appearance, and he questioned him rather closely.
+
+"Where are you from, my lad?"
+
+"From Boston, sir."
+
+"Hey! and away off here so far? quite a youngster for such a trip.
+What's your name?"
+
+"My name is Benjamin Franklin, and I am going to Philadelphia after
+work."
+
+"No work in Boston I 'spose, hey? How long since you left home?"
+
+"About a week. I did not expect to go farther than New York when I
+started, but I could get no work there."
+
+"No work, hey? what sort of work are you after that you find it so
+scarce?"
+
+"I am a printer by trade, and I hope to get into a printing-office in
+Philadelphia."
+
+"Wall, you are a pretty young one to go so far; I would hardly be
+willing that a son of mine should make such a trip alone, printer or
+no printer."
+
+Benjamin saw that he was suspected of being a runaway, and he felt
+very uncomfortable. He managed, however, to answer all questions
+without satisfying the curiosity of the family. He ate and slept
+there, and on the following morning proceeded on his journey, and by
+night was within eight or ten miles of Burlington. Here he stopped at
+an inn kept by one Dr. Brown, "an ambulating quack doctor." He was a
+very social and observing man, and soon discovered that Benjamin was a
+youth of unusual intelligence for one of his age. He conversed with
+him freely about Boston and other places, and gave a particular
+account of some foreign countries which he had visited. In this way he
+made Benjamin's brief stay with him very pleasant, and they became
+friends for life, meeting many times thereafter on friendly terms.
+
+The next morning he reluctantly bade the doctor good bye, and
+proceeded to Burlington, where he expected to find a boat. In the
+suburbs of the town he bought some gingerbread of an old woman who
+kept a shop, and walked on, eating it as he went. To his great
+disappointment, on reaching the wharf, he found the boat had gone, and
+there would not be another until Tuesday. It was now Saturday, and his
+money would not hold out if he should get boarded at a public-house
+till then. What should he do? After some reflection, he determined to
+go back to the old lady of whom he bought his gingerbread, as he liked
+her appearance very well, and ask her advice. So back he went.
+
+"Ah! back again?" said she, as he entered her shop. "Want more
+gingerbread I 'spose?"
+
+"No," answered Benjamin. "I was going to take the boat to
+Philadelphia, but it has gone, and there is not another to go until
+Tuesday."
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed the kind-hearted woman; "if that ain't too bad.
+What kin ye du?"
+
+"That is what I want to ask you. Is there any other conveyance to
+Philadelphia?"
+
+"No, and all ye has to du is to make the best on't."
+
+"And what is that? That is just what I want to know,--the best thing
+for me to do in such a case."
+
+"What ye goin' to Philadelphy for?" inquired the old lady.
+
+"I am going after work. I am a printer, and want to find work in a
+printing-office."
+
+"A printer," exclaimed the woman, who had probably never seen one
+before. "Dear me, yer fortin is made to set up business in this ere
+town. There is nothing of the like here."
+
+"I have nothing to set up the business with here," replied Benjamin.
+"I would as lief work here as in Philadelphia, if the way was open."
+
+The woman did not know what was necessary in setting up a printing
+establishment. That types and a press were indispensable articles in
+such business she did not dream. She thought, doubtless, that he
+carried all necessary fixtures with him in his pockets.
+
+"Well, then, I'll lodge ye till Tuesday for ----" (naming the sum).
+
+"I will stay with you, then, and make the best of it," he replied.
+
+He found himself in very good quarters, and his host proved herself to
+be very kind and hospitable. He took dinner with her, and remained
+about the shop until towards night, when he walked forth to view the
+place. In his walk he came round to the river, and as he approached
+it, he discovered a boat with several people in it, and he hailed
+them.
+
+"Whither bound?"
+
+"To Philadelphia."
+
+"Can you take me in? I was too late for the boat to-day."
+
+"As well as not," a voice replied; and the boat was turned to receive
+its additional passenger. There was no wind, so that they were obliged
+to depend on rowing for progress. Benjamin now found a rare
+opportunity to exercise the skill at rowing which he cultivated in
+Boston. He was so elated with the prospect of proceeding on his way to
+Philadelphia, that he thought neither of the fatigue of rowing, nor of
+the wonder of the old lady in the shop at the unexpected disappearance
+of her boarder. He did not mean to treat her disrespectfully, for he
+considered her a very clever woman, but the boat could not wait for
+him to return and pay her his compliments. Whether she ever learned
+what became of him, or that he grew up to be Dr. Franklin, the great
+philosopher, we have no means of knowing. Doubtless she concluded that
+she had not entertained an "angel unawares," but had rather aided an
+undeserving fellow in pursuing a vicious course,--which was not true.
+
+The boat went on. Benjamin rowed with strong resolution, taking his
+turn with others, until midnight, when one of the company said: "We
+must have passed the city. It can't be that we have been so long
+getting to it."
+
+"That is impossible," said another. "We must have seen it, if we had
+passed it."
+
+"Well, I shall row no more," added the first speaker. "I know that
+Philadelphia is not so far off as this."
+
+"Let us put for the shore," said a third person, "and find out where
+we are, if possible."
+
+"Agreed," replied several voices; and so saying they rowed toward the
+shore, and entered a small creek, where they landed near an old fence,
+the rails of which furnished them with fuel for a fire. They were very
+chilly, it being a frosty night of October, and they found the fire
+very grateful. They remained there till daylight, when one of the
+company knew that the place was "Cooper's Creek," a few miles above
+the "City of Brotherly Love." Immediately they made preparations to
+continue their journey, which had not been altogether unpleasant, and
+they were soon in full view of the city, where they arrived between
+eight and nine o'clock on Sunday morning. They landed at Market Street
+Wharf. Taking out his money, which consisted of one unbroken dollar,
+and a shilling in copper coin, he offered the latter to the boatmen
+for his passage.
+
+"Not a cent, my good fellow," said one of them, "you worked your
+passage, and did it well, too."
+
+"But you _must_ take it," responded Benjamin. "You are quite welcome
+to all the rowing I have done. I am glad enough to get here by rowing
+and paying my passage too. But for your coming along to take me in, I
+should have been obliged to stay in Burlington until next Tuesday;"
+and he fairly forced the shilling into their hands. This manifested a
+spirit of generosity, for which Benjamin was always distinguished. He
+was no mean, niggardly fellow, not he. Although he was in a stranger
+city, and had but a single dollar left on which to live until he could
+earn something by daily toil, yet he cheerfully gave the change for
+his passage. He felt grateful to them for taking him in, and he gave
+expression to his gratitude in this generous way. It was noble, too,
+in the boatman to refuse to take the shilling. It was only on his
+insisting upon their receiving it, that they consented to take it. A
+kind-hearted, generous set of fellows were in that boat, and Benjamin
+was not inferior to one of them in that respect. Bidding them good
+morning, he walked up Market Street, where he met a boy eating some
+bread.
+
+"Where did you get your bread, boy?" he inquired.
+
+"Over to the baker's, there," he replied, pointing to a shop that was
+near by.
+
+Benjamin was very tired and hungry, having eaten nothing since he
+dined with the old shopwoman in Burlington, on the day before; and,
+for this reason, the boy's bread was very tempting. Besides, he had
+made many a meal of dry bread when he boarded himself in Boston; and
+now it was not hard at all for him to breakfast on unbuttered bread,
+minus both tea and coffee. He hastened to the bakery, and found it
+open.
+
+"Have you biscuit?" he inquired, meaning such as he was accustomed to
+eat in Boston.
+
+"We make nothing of the kind," answered the proprietor.
+
+"You may give me a three-penny loaf, then."
+
+"We have none."
+
+Benjamin began to think that he should have to go hungry still, since
+he did not know the names or prices of the kinds of bread made in
+Philadelphia. But in a moment he recovered himself, and said: "Then
+give me three-pennyworth of any sort."
+
+[Illustration: Miss Read's first Glimpse of her future Husband.--See
+page 162.]
+
+To his surprise the baker gave him three great puffy rolls, enough to
+satisfy half a dozen hungry persons. He looked at it, scarcely knowing
+at first what he could do with so much, but, as "necessity is the
+mother of invention," he soon discovered a way of disposing of it. He
+put a roll under each arm, and taking a third in his hand he proceeded
+to eat it, as he continued his way up Market Street.
+
+Let the reader stop here, and take a view of Benjamin Franklin, the
+runaway youth, as he made his first appearance in the city of
+Philadelphia. See him trudging up Market Street with his worn, dirty
+clothes (his best suit having been sent round by sea), his pockets
+stuffed out with shirts and stockings, and a "puffy roll" under each
+arm, and a third in his hand of which he is eating! A comical
+appearance certainly! It is not very probable that this runaway
+Benjamin will ever become "Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of
+France," or surprise the world by his philosophical discoveries! There
+is much more probability that he will live in some obscure
+printing-office, and die, "unknown, unhonoured, and unsung." Who
+wonders that a young lady, Miss Read, who was standing in the door of
+her father's residence as Benjamin passed, thought he made a very
+awkward and ridiculous appearance? She little thought she was taking a
+bird's-eye view of her future husband, as the youth with the rolls of
+bread under his arm proved to be. But just then he cared more for
+bread than he did for her; some years after, the case was reversed,
+and he cared more for her than he did for bread.
+
+Turning down Chestnut Street he continued to walk until he came round
+to the wharf where he landed. Being thirsty, he went to the boat for
+water, where he found the woman and child who came down the river with
+them on the previous night, waiting to go further.
+
+"Are you hungry?" he inquired of the child, who looked wistfully at
+his bread.
+
+"We are both very hungry," answered the woman, speaking for herself
+and child.
+
+"I have satisfied my hunger," said Benjamin, "and you may have the
+rest of my bread if you would like it," at the same time passing both
+rolls to her.
+
+"You are very kind indeed," responded the woman. "I thank you much for
+it;"--all of which was as good pay for the bread as Benjamin wanted.
+This was another instance of the generosity for which he was
+distinguished throughout his whole life. An American statesman said of
+him, in a eulogy delivered in Boston: "No form of personal suffering
+or social evil escaped his attention, or appealed in vain for such
+relief or remedy as his prudence could suggest, or his purse supply.
+From that day of his early youth, when, a wanderer from his home and
+friends in a strange place, he was seen sharing his rolls with a poor
+woman and child, to the last act of his public life, when he signed
+that well known memorial to Congress, a spirit of earnest and
+practical benevolence runs like a golden thread along his whole
+career."
+
+He then walked up the street again, and found well-dressed people
+going to church. Joining in the current, notwithstanding his
+appearance, he went with them into the large Quaker meeting-house that
+stood near the market. He took his seat, and waited for the services
+to begin, either not knowing what Quakers did at meeting, or else
+being ignorant that he was among this sect. As nothing was said, and
+he was weary and exhausted with the labours and watchings of the
+previous night, he became drowsy, and soon dropped into a sweet sleep.
+His nap might have proved a very unfortunate event for him, but for
+the kindness of a wide-awake Quaker. For he did not wake up when the
+meeting closed, and the congregation might have dispersed, and the
+sexton locked him in, without disturbing his slumbers. But the
+kind-hearted Quaker moved his spirit by giving him a gentle rap on the
+shoulder. He started up, somewhat surprised that the service was over,
+and passed out with the crowd. Soon after, meeting a fine-looking
+young Quaker, who carried his heart in his face, Benjamin inquired,
+"Can you tell me where a stranger can get a night's lodging?"
+
+"Here," answered the Quaker, "is a house where they receive strangers"
+(pointing to the sign of the Three Mariners near which they stood),
+"but it is not a reputable one; if thee will walk with me I will show
+thee a better one."
+
+"I will be obliged to you for doing so," answered Benjamin. "I was
+never in Philadelphia before, and am not acquainted with one person
+here."
+
+The Quaker conducted him to Water Street, and showed him the Crooked
+Billet,--a house where he might be accommodated. Benjamin thanked him
+for his kindness, entered the house, and called for dinner and a room.
+While sitting at the dinner-table, his host asked, "Where are you
+from?"
+
+"I am from Boston?"
+
+"Boston!" exclaimed the host, with some surprise. "How long since you
+left home?"
+
+This question being answered, he continued, "Have you friends in
+Philadelphia?"
+
+"None at all. I do not know a single person here."
+
+"What did you come here for?"
+
+"I came to get work in a printing-office. I am a printer by trade."
+
+"How old are you?"
+
+"I am seventeen years old, sir," replied Benjamin, just beginning to
+perceive that the man suspected him of being a runaway.
+
+"And came all the way from Boston alone?"
+
+"Yes, sir!"
+
+Benjamin closed the conversation as soon as he could conveniently,
+after perceiving that his appearance had excited suspicions, and went
+to his room, where he lay down and slept till six o'clock in the
+evening, when he was called to supper. He went to bed again very
+early, and was soon locked in the embrace of "nature's sweet restorer,
+balmy sleep."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+GETTING WORK.
+
+
+After a good night's sleep, Benjamin arose and dressed himself as
+neatly as he could with his old clothes, and repaired to Andrew
+Bradford's printing-office.
+
+"Ah! then you have arrived," said an old gentleman, rising to salute
+him as he entered. "I reached here first."
+
+"Oh, it is Mr. Bradford!" exclaimed Benjamin, surprised at meeting the
+old printer whom he saw in New York, and who directed him to his son,
+Andrew Bradford, of Philadelphia. "I did not expect to meet you here."
+
+"I suppose not. I started off unexpectedly, and came all the way on
+horseback. But I am glad that you have reached here safely. This is a
+young man from Boston" (addressing his son and introducing Benjamin),
+"after work in a printing-office, and I directed him to you. Franklin
+is your name, I believe."
+
+"Yes, sir! Benjamin Franklin."
+
+Mr. Bradford received him very cordially, and being about to eat
+breakfast, he said: "Come, it is my breakfast hour, and you shall be
+welcome to the table. We can talk this matter over at the table;"--and
+Benjamin accepted the invitation.
+
+"I told this young man," said the old printer from New York, "that one
+of your men died a short time since, and you would want a printer to
+take his place."
+
+"That is true," replied Mr. Andrew Bradford. "I did want another hand
+to take his place, but I hired one only a few days since. I am sorry
+to disappoint this youth who has come so far for work."
+
+"Is there another printing-office here?" asked Benjamin.
+
+"Yes; a man by the name of Keimer has just commenced the business, and
+I think he would be glad to employ you."
+
+"I must get work somewhere," added Benjamin, "for I have spent nearly
+all my money in getting here."
+
+"If he will not employ you," added Mr. Bradford, kindly, "you may
+lodge at my house, and I will give you a little work from time to time
+until business is better."
+
+"That will be a great favour to me," answered Benjamin, "for which I
+shall be very thankful;" and he really felt more grateful to Mr.
+Bradford for the offer than his words indicated.
+
+"I will go with you to see Mr. Keimer," said old Mr. Bradford from
+New York. "Perhaps I can be of some service to you in securing a
+place."
+
+Benjamin began to think he had fallen into very obliging hands; so he
+followed their advice, and went with his aged friend to see the
+newly-established printer. On arriving at the office, they met Mr.
+Keimer, and old Mr. Bradford introduced their business by saying:
+"Neighbour, I have brought to see you a young man of your business;
+perhaps you may want such a one."
+
+"That depends on his qualifications," answered Mr. Keimer. "How long
+have you worked at the business?" he inquired, turning to Benjamin.
+
+"Several years, sir."
+
+"Do you understand all parts of it so that you can go on with it?"
+
+"I think I do; you can try me and satisfy yourself."
+
+"Take this composing-stick and let me see whether you are competent or
+not," said Keimer.
+
+Benjamin proceeded to exhibit his skill at the work, and very soon
+satisfied Keimer that he had told the truth.
+
+"Very well done," said Keimer. "I will employ you as soon as I have
+sufficient work to warrant such a step. At present I have nothing for
+you to do."
+
+Here Benjamin saw the advantage of having attended to his business
+closely, so as to learn thoroughly the work he was to do. Some boys
+perform their work in just a passable way, not caring particularly
+whether it is well done, if they can only "pass muster." But not so
+with Benjamin. He sought to understand the business to which he
+attended, and to do as well as possible the work he undertook. The
+consequence was that he was a thorough workman, and in five minutes he
+was able to satisfy Keimer of the fact. This was greatly in his
+favour; and such a young man is never long out of business.
+
+Turning to Bradford, Keimer said, supposing him to be a Philadelphian
+who wished him well in his new enterprise: "What do you think of my
+prospects here, sir? Do you think I shall succeed in my business?"
+
+"That will depend upon your own exertions and business talents," was
+Bradford's reply.
+
+"I shall do all in my power to draw the business of the town," added
+Keimer; "and I think I can do it."
+
+"But how can you expect to get all the business when there is another
+printer here, who has been established some time?"
+
+Keimer answered this last inquiry by disclosing his plans, as Bradford
+quietly drew him out on every point, until he learned how he was
+calculating to command all the business, and run his son out. Nor did
+Keimer dream that he was conversing with the father of the other
+printer whom he designed to deprive of his livelihood. All the while
+Benjamin stood and listened to their conversation, perceiving that Mr.
+Bradford was shrewdly learning Keimer's plans for his son's benefit.
+
+"Did you not know that man?" inquired Benjamin, after Bradford left,
+leaving him in the office.
+
+"No; but I thought that he was one of the town's people who wished me
+well in my business, and therefore came in to introduce you."
+
+"It is not so," replied Benjamin. "That was the father of Andrew
+Bradford, your neighbour, the printer. He carries on printing in New
+York."
+
+"It can't be!" exclaimed Keimer, astonished at this bit of news, and
+startled at the thought of having made known his plans to a
+competitor.
+
+"It _can_ be," replied Benjamin. "He is certainly Bradford, the New
+York printer, and father of Andrew Bradford, the printer of this
+town."
+
+"How happened it that he should come here with you?"
+
+"I can tell you in few words," said Benjamin; and he went on and told
+him of his going to New York, and how he happened to come to
+Philadelphia, and meet Mr. Bradford there, and finally how he found
+his way to Keimer's office.
+
+"It will learn me a good lesson," said Keimer. "When I divulge secrets
+to another man whom I don't know, I shall not be in my right mind."
+
+Benjamin spent a short time in looking over Keimer's office, and found
+that his press was old and damaged, and his fount of English types
+nearly worn out. Possessing much more ingenuity than Keimer, and
+understanding a printing-press much better, he went to work, and in a
+short time put it into decent order for service. Keimer was composing
+an Elegy on Aquila Rose, an excellent young man who worked for
+Bradford, and who had recently died; and he agreed to send for
+Benjamin to print it off when it was ready. With this arrangement,
+Benjamin returned to Mr. Bradford to eat and lodge. A few days after
+he received a message from Keimer that the Elegy was ready to be
+printed. From that time Keimer provided him with work.
+
+"You must have another boarding-place," said Keimer to him one day.
+Benjamin was still boarding at Bradford's, and this was not agreeable
+to Keimer.
+
+"Just as you please," answered Benjamin; "I am satisfied to board
+there or go elsewhere."
+
+"I can get you boarded with an acquaintance of mine, I think, where
+you will find it very pleasant. I am confident that you will like it
+better there than at Mr. Bradford's."
+
+"I will go there, if you think it is best," added Benjamin. "My chest
+has arrived, and I can look a little more respectable now than I could
+before."
+
+The result was, that he went to board at Mr. Read's, the father of the
+young lady who stood in the door when he passed on the aforesaid
+Sunday morning with a roll of bread under each arm. His appearance was
+much improved by this time, so that even Miss Read saw that he was an
+intelligent promising young man.
+
+We learn one or two things about Benjamin from the foregoing, which
+the reader may ponder with benefit to himself. In the first place, he
+must have been very observing. He understood the construction of a
+printing-press so well, that he could put an old one into running
+order, youth as he was, when its proprietor was unable to do it. This
+is more remarkable, because he was not obliged to study the mechanism
+of a printing-press in order to work it. Doubtless many a person
+operates this and other machines without giving any particular
+attention to their structure. But a class of minds are never satisfied
+until they understand whatever commands their attention. They are
+inquisitive to learn the philosophy of things. It was so with
+Benjamin, and this characteristic proved a valuable element of his
+success. It was the secret of his inventions and discoveries
+thereafter. It was so with Stephenson, of whom we have spoken before.
+As soon as he was appointed plugman of an engine, at seventeen years
+of age, he began to study its construction. In his leisure hours, he
+took it to pieces and put it together again several times, in order to
+understand it. So of William Hutton, whose name is mentioned in
+another place. Encouraged by a couplet which he read in Dyce's
+Spelling-book--
+
+    "Despair of nothing that you would attain,
+    Unwearied diligence your end will gain,"
+
+he sought to master everything that he undertook. One day he borrowed
+a dulcimer, and made one by it. With no other tools than the
+hammer-key, and pliers of the stocking-frame for hammer and pincers,
+his pocket-knife, and a one-pronged fork that served as spring, awl,
+and gimlet, he made a capital dulcimer, which he sold for sixteen
+shillings. Here were both observation and perseverance, though not
+more finely developed than they were in the character of young
+Benjamin Franklin.
+
+Another important truth is learned from the foregoing, namely, that
+Benjamin was not proud. A sight of him passing up Market Street, with
+three large rolls of bread, is proof of this; or his appearance in the
+street and Quaker church in his everyday garb, because his best suit
+was "coming round by sea," is equally significant. How many boys of
+his age would have stayed away from church until the "best clothes"
+arrived! How many would seek for some concealment of their poverty, if
+possible, in similar circumstances! But these were small matters to
+Benjamin, in comparison with finding employment and earning a
+livelihood. He had a destiny to work out, and in working that he must
+do as he could, and not always as he would. He cared not for the
+laughs and jeers of those who could dress better and live more
+sumptuously than himself, since it was absolutely necessary for him to
+dress as he did, in order to "make his ends meet." He might have
+followed the example of some young men, and run into debt, in order to
+"cut a dash;" but he believed then, as he wrote afterwards, that
+"lying rides on debt's back," and that it is "better to go to bed
+supperless than to rise in debt;" or, as he expressed himself in other
+maxims, "Those have a short Lent who owe money to be paid at Easter,"
+and "It is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+NEWS FROM HOME, AND RETURN.
+
+
+Hitherto Benjamin had lived contentedly in Philadelphia, striving to
+forget Boston and old familiar scenes as much as possible. No one at
+home knew of his whereabouts, except his old friend Collins, who kept
+the secret well. One day, however, a letter came to his address,
+and the superscription looked so familiar that Benjamin's hand
+fairly trembled as he broke the seal. It proved to be from his
+brother-in-law, Robert Homes, "master of a sloop that traded between
+Boston and Delaware." He came to Newcastle, it seems, about forty
+miles from Philadelphia, and, hearing of Benjamin's place of
+residence, he sat down and wrote him a letter, telling him of the deep
+sorrow into which his departure had plunged his parents, who still
+were wholly ignorant of his fate, and exhorting him to return home to
+his friends, who would welcome him kindly. The letter was a strong
+appeal to his feelings.
+
+Benjamin sat down and replied to the letter, stating his reasons in
+full for leaving Boston, giving an account of his present
+circumstances and prospects, and closing by expressing kind feelings
+for all the loved ones at home, but declining to return.
+
+Not many days after Benjamin wrote and sent his letter, an unusual
+scene transpired at the office. He was at work near the window, when,
+on looking out, he saw Governor Keith approaching.
+
+"The Governor is coming in," said he to Keimer.
+
+Keimer looked out of the window, and saw that it was so, whereupon he
+hurried down to the door, not a little excited by the thought of
+waiting upon the Governor, supposing, of course, that he was coming in
+to see him.
+
+"Does Benjamin Franklin work for you?" inquired the Governor.
+
+"He does," answered Keimer, both astonished and perplexed by the
+inquiry. What he could want of him he could not imagine.
+
+"Can I see him?" asked the Governor.
+
+"Certainly; walk in." The Governor and Colonel French, who was with
+him, were ushered into the presence of Benjamin.
+
+"I am happy to make the acquaintance of a young man of your
+abilities," he said to him. "I regret that you did not report yourself
+to me long ago."
+
+Benjamin was too much astonished at the unexpected interview to be
+able to reply; and the Governor went on to say, that "he called to
+invite him to an interview at the tavern." Benjamin was more perplexed
+than ever, and Keimer stared with amazement. But after some
+hesitation, arising from sudden surprise, Benjamin consented to go
+with the Governor, and was soon seated with him and Colonel French in
+a room of the tavern at the corner of Third Street.
+
+"I called to see you," said the Governor, "respecting the printing
+business in this town. I understand that you are well acquainted with
+it in all its branches, and, from my knowledge of your abilities, I
+think you would succeed admirably in setting up the business for
+yourself. Our printers here are ignorant and inefficient, and we must
+have more competent men to do the government work."
+
+How the Governor knew so much about his qualifications for the
+business, Benjamin could not divine. He replied, however, "I have
+nothing to commence business with, and it will require some capital.
+My father might assist me if he were disposed; but I have no reason to
+think that he would."
+
+"I will write to him upon the subject," said the Governor, "and
+perhaps he may be persuaded. I can show him the advantages of such an
+enterprise to yourself and the public, so that he cannot doubt the
+practicability of the thing."
+
+"There are two printers here already," continued Benjamin; "and a
+third one would hardly be supported."
+
+"A third one, who understands the business as you do," responded the
+Governor, "would command the chief business of the town in a short
+time. I will pledge you all the public printing of the government."
+
+"And I will pledge the same for the government of Delaware," said
+Colonel French of Newcastle.
+
+"There can be no doubt on this point," continued Governor Keith. "You
+had better decide to return to Boston by the first vessel, and take a
+letter from me to your father."
+
+"I will so decide at once, if such is your judgment in the matter,"
+replied Benjamin.
+
+"Then it is understood," added his Excellency, "that you will repair
+to Boston in the first vessel that sails. In the mean time, you must
+continue to work for Mr. Keimer, keeping the object of this interview
+a profound secret."
+
+Having made this arrangement, they separated, and Benjamin returned to
+the printing-office, scarcely knowing how he should evade the
+anticipated inquisitiveness of Keimer respecting the interview; but he
+succeeded in keeping the secret. His mind, however, laboured much upon
+the question, how Governor Keith should know anything about him, a
+poor obscure printer-boy. It was not until he returned to Boston that
+this mystery was solved. Then he learned that Keith was present at
+Newcastle when his brother-in-law received his (Benjamin's) letter,
+and Captain Homes read it aloud to him.
+
+"How old is he?" asked the Governor.
+
+"Seventeen," replied Captain Homes.
+
+"Only seventeen! I am surprised that a youth of that age should write
+so well. He must be an uncommon boy."
+
+Captain Homes assured him that he was a very competent youth, and
+possessed abilities that qualified him for almost any place. Here was
+the secret of Keith's interest in the printer-boy, but of which the
+latter knew nothing until he met his brother-in-law in Boston.
+
+Before an opportunity offered for Benjamin to go to Boston, Governor
+Keith frequently sent for him to dine with him, on which occasions he
+conversed with him in a very friendly and familiar way. It was quite
+unusual for a boy of seventeen years to become the frequent guest of a
+Governor, and no wonder he was almost bewildered by the unexpected
+attention. Some would have become vain and proud in consequence of
+such attentions; but Benjamin bore the honours meekly.
+
+About the last of April, 1724, a small vessel offered for Boston.
+Benjamin made arrangements to go, took leave of Keimer as if going to
+visit his friends, and, with Keith's letter to his father, sailed. The
+vessel had a boisterous time at sea, but after a fortnight's voyage
+she entered Boston harbour. Benjamin had been absent seven months, and
+his parents had not heard a word from him. His brother-in-law had not
+returned from Newcastle, nor written to them about his knowledge of
+Benjamin. The reader may well imagine, then, that he took them all by
+surprise. His poor mother had laid his absence to heart so much, that
+it had worn upon her, and his return was to her almost like life from
+the dead. She was overjoyed, and no language could express her delight
+as she looked into the face of her long-lost Benjamin. His father was
+not less rejoiced, although he had a different way of showing it.
+Indeed, all the family, except his brother James, gave him a most
+cordial and affectionate welcome. He did not return ragged and
+penniless, as runaways generally do, but he was clad in a new and
+handsome suit, carried a watch in his pocket, and had about five
+pounds sterling in silver in his purse. He never looked half so
+genteel and neat in his life, and certainly never commanded so much
+money at one time before.
+
+Before his brother James heard of his arrival, Benjamin hastened to
+the printing-office, and startled him by suddenly standing before him.
+James stopped his work, saluted him in rather a reserved manner, and,
+after surveying him from head to foot, turned to his work again. It
+was rather a cold reception on the whole, but not altogether
+unexpected to Benjamin. A brother who had driven him away by his harsh
+treatment could hardly be expected to welcome him back with a very
+warm heart.
+
+The journeymen were delighted to see him, and they were very
+inquisitive.
+
+"Where have you been, Ben?" asked one.
+
+"To Philadelphia," he answered.
+
+"What kind of a place is it?"
+
+"It is one of the finest places I ever saw. I like it better than
+Boston."
+
+"Going back?" inquired a second person.
+
+"Yes; and very soon, too," he replied. "That is the place for the
+printing business."
+
+"What kind of money do you have there?" inquired Another. There was no
+established currency in the country at that time, and his interrogator
+wanted to know what they used in Philadelphia.
+
+Instead of replying directly, Benjamin drew the silver from his
+pocket, and spread it out before them. It was quite a curiosity to
+them, as they used only paper money in Boston; and, besides, it caused
+them to think that their old associate had fallen upon lucky days.
+
+"You made a lucky hit, Ben, this time," said one.
+
+"Heavy stuff to carry about," suggested a second. "A man would want a
+wheelbarrow if he had much of it."
+
+"Perhaps you would accept of the wheelbarrow and silver together,
+rather than have neither," responded Benjamin.
+
+By this time Benjamin's watch was discovered, and there was a general
+desire to see it; so he laid it down before them, while his brother
+appeared "grum and sullen."
+
+"That is a convenient companion," said Benjamin, as he laid it down.
+
+"And you can afford to have such things," added one of the number,
+"because you save your money, and don't spend it for pleasure, drink,
+and luxuries."
+
+"Ben has fared so well," said one, "that it belongs to him to treat
+the company." As we have said before, the use of intoxicating drinks
+was general at that time, and when old friends met, it was common to
+signalize the occasion by the use of such beverage. Had Benjamin lived
+at this day, with his temperate habits, he would have refused to
+pander to their appetite for strong drink, and suggested some other
+kind of treat. But, living as he did when there were no temperance
+societies, and no alarm at the growing evils of intoxication, he
+accepted the proposal in his accustomed generous way.
+
+"There is a dollar," said he, throwing out a dollar in silver, "take
+that, and drink what you please for old acquaintance sake." Then,
+pocketing his watch and money, he took his leave.
+
+His brother was greatly incensed at this visit, and regarded it in the
+light of an insult. His mother endeavoured to bring him to terms of
+reconciliation with Benjamin, but in vain.
+
+"You are brothers," said she, "and you ought to behave towards each
+other as brothers. It is very painful to me to think of your hostility
+to Benjamin, and I do hope that you will forget the past, and be true
+to each other in future."
+
+"Never," replied James. "He insulted me so directly before my workmen
+the other day, that I shall not forget nor forgive it."
+
+James was mistaken in his view of Benjamin's intention. The latter did
+not mean to insult him at the office. He would have been glad of a
+cordial welcome from James, and his feelings were such that he would
+have rejoicingly blotted out the recollection of his former
+ill-treatment, had James met him as a brother.
+
+Benjamin took the first opportunity to make known to his father the
+object and circumstances of his visit home, and to hand him the
+Governor's letter, which he received with manifest surprise, though he
+evidently doubted whether it was genuine. For several days he entered
+into no conversation about the matter, as he did not exactly know what
+to make of it. Just then Captain Homes returned, and Mr. Franklin
+showed him the letter of Governor Keith, and inquired if he knew the
+man.
+
+"I have met him," replied Captain Homes, "and was pleased with his
+appearance. I think it would be well for Benjamin to follow his
+advice."
+
+"He cannot be a man of much discretion," continued Mr. Franklin, "to
+think of setting up a boy in business who lacks three years of
+arriving at his majority. The project does not strike me favourably at
+all."
+
+"He was much taken with Benjamin's abilities," added Captain Homes,
+"by a letter which I received from him at Newcastle, and which I read
+to him, as he was present when I received it."
+
+"His letters may be well enough, for aught I know; but a youth of his
+age, though his abilities be good, has not sufficient judgment to
+conduct business for himself. I shall not give my consent to such a
+wild scheme."
+
+Mr. Franklin replied to Governor Keith's letter, and thanked him
+kindly for the patronage he offered his son, but declining to set up a
+youth in a business of so much importance.
+
+[Illustration: Anecdote of Dr. Mather and Franklin--Humility "beaten
+in!"--See page 186.]
+
+"I am rejoiced," said he to Benjamin, just before the latter started
+to go back, "that you have conducted yourself so well as to secure the
+esteem of Sir William Keith. Your appearance, too, shows that you have
+been industrious and economical, all of which pleases me very much. I
+should advise you to go back, and think no more of going into business
+for yourself until you are of age. By industry, economy, and
+perseverance you will be able to command the means of establishing
+business then. As yet you are too young. I should be glad to have you
+remain here with your brother, if he could be reconciled to you; but
+as it is, you shall have my approbation and blessing in returning to
+Philadelphia."
+
+It was during this visit to Boston that he called upon the celebrated
+Dr. Increase Mather, to whose preaching he had been accustomed to
+listen. The Doctor received him kindly, and introduced him into his
+library, where they chatted in a familiar way for some time. When
+Benjamin rose to go out, "Come this way," said the Doctor, "I will
+show you a nearer passage out,"--pointing him to a narrow passage,
+with a beam crossing it over head. They were still talking, the Doctor
+following behind, and Benjamin partly turned around toward him.
+
+"_Stoop! stoop!_" shouted the Doctor.
+
+Benjamin did not understand what he meant, until his head struck
+against the beam with considerable force.
+
+"There," said the Doctor, laughing, "you are young, and have the world
+before you; stoop as you go through it, and you may miss many hard
+thumps."
+
+Nearly seventy years after, the recipient of this counsel wrote:--
+
+"This advice, thus beaten into my head, has frequently been of use to
+me; and I often think of it, when I see pride mortified, and
+misfortunes brought upon people by their carrying their heads too
+high."
+
+Benjamin's old companion, Collins, was delighted with his account of
+Philadelphia, and resolved to accompany him thither on his return. He
+was a clerk in the post-office; but he gave up his situation for the
+more alluring prospects of a residence in Pennsylvania. He started two
+or three days before Benjamin, as he wanted to stop and make a visit
+in Rhode Island, having previously gathered up his books, "which were
+a pretty collection in mathematics and philosophy," and packed them to
+go, with Benjamin's baggage, around by sea to New York, where they
+would meet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+BACK AGAIN.
+
+
+On his return, Benjamin sailed in a sloop to New York, where he had
+arranged to meet Collins. They put in at Newport on business, where he
+had a good opportunity to visit his brother John, who had been married
+and settled there some years. He received a very hearty and
+affectionate welcome from his brother, who was always kind and true to
+him. His stay was short, as he must go when the sloop did, but he made
+the most of it, and enjoyed himself much during the short time. Just
+before he left Newport, a friend of his brother, a Mr. Vernon,
+requested him to collect a debt for him in Pennsylvania, of about
+thirty-five pounds currency, and use the money as he pleased until he
+should call for it. Accordingly, he gave Benjamin an order to receive
+it.
+
+At Newport they took in a number of passengers, among whom was a
+Quaker lady and her servants, and two young women. Benjamin was very
+attentive in assisting the Quaker lady about her baggage, for which
+she was very thankful. He soon became acquainted with the two young
+women, and they laughed and chatted together. They were handsomely
+attired, appeared intelligent, and were extremely sociable. The
+motherly Quaker lady saw that there was a growing familiarity between
+them, and she called Benjamin aside, feeling for him somewhat as she
+would for a son, and said: "Young man, I am concerned for thee, as
+thou hast no friend with thee, and seems not to know much of the
+world, or of the snares youth is exposed to; depend upon it, these are
+very bad women; I can see it by all their actions; and if thou art not
+upon thy guard, they will draw thee into some danger; they are
+strangers to thee, and I advise thee, in a friendly concern for thy
+welfare, to have no acquaintance with them."
+
+"Indeed," said Benjamin, with much surprise, "I see nothing out of the
+way in them. They are intelligent and social; and I am rather
+surprised at your suspicions."
+
+"But I have heard them say enough to convince me that my suspicions
+are well founded," replied the old lady; and she repeated to him some
+of their conversation which she had overheard.
+
+"You are right, then," quickly answered Benjamin, after listening to
+her. "I am much obliged to you for your advice, and I will heed it."
+
+Just before they arrived at New York, the young women invited him to
+call at their residence, naming the street and number, but he did not
+accept their invitation. The next day the captain missed a silver
+spoon and other things from the cabin, and suspecting the two girls,
+had their residence searched, where the missing articles were found,
+in consequence of which the artful thieves were punished. Benjamin
+always felt thankful to the old lady for her timely warning, and
+considered that following her advice probably saved him from trouble
+and ruin.
+
+Collins had been in New York several days when Benjamin arrived. The
+latter was astounded to find him intoxicated when they met.
+
+"Can it be," he exclaimed to Collins, "that you are intemperate?"
+
+"I intemperate!" retorted Collins, disposed to resent the accusation.
+"Do you call me drunk?"
+
+"No, you are not exactly drunk; but then you are disguised with
+liquor, and I am utterly astonished. Once you was as temperate and
+industrious as any young man in Boston, and far more respected than
+most of them. How did it happen that you formed this evil habit?"
+
+Collins saw that he could not deceive Benjamin; so he made a clean
+breast of the matter, and confessed to have formed intemperate habits
+soon after Benjamin first left Boston. He said that his appetite for
+brandy was strong, and that he had been intoxicated every day since
+his arrival in New York.
+
+"I have lost all my money," he said, "and have nothing to pay my
+bills."
+
+"Lost your money!" exclaimed Benjamin. "How did you lose that?"
+
+"I lost it by gaming," he replied.
+
+"What! a gambler, too?"
+
+"Yes, if you will have it so," answered Collins, somewhat coolly; "and
+you must lend me money to pay my bills."
+
+"If I had known this," continued Benjamin, "I would not have persuaded
+you to leave Boston. And here let me tell you, that it is impossible
+for you to find a situation unless you reform."
+
+"Perhaps so," answered Collins; "but that is not the question now that
+interests me. I want to know whether you will lend me money to pay my
+bills here and go on my journey?"
+
+"I must, for aught I see," replied Benjamin. "I should not leave you
+here without money and friends, of course, for that would be cruel.
+But you must try to reform."
+
+Collins was a very clever young man, as we have seen, possessing
+marked mathematical talents, and he might have become one of the first
+scholars of his day, had he enjoyed the advantages of a course of
+study. Some of the clergymen of Boston showed him much attention on
+account of his abilities and love of books. But strong drink blasted
+his hopes.
+
+In New York, Benjamin received a message from Governor Burnet,
+inviting him to call at his house. This was quite as unexpected as the
+visit of Governor Keith, and he began to think that governors had a
+passionate regard for him. He found, however, that the Governor had
+learned from the captain of the sloop, that he had a young man on
+board who brought with him a large number of books from Boston. This
+interested the Governor, and was the occasion of his sending the
+aforesaid invitation to Benjamin.
+
+He accepted the invitation, and would have taken Collins with him if
+the latter had been sober. Governor Burnet received him with much
+cordiality, showed him his large library, and conversed freely about
+books and authors for some time. It was an agreeable interview to
+Benjamin, the more so because it was the second time that a Governor
+had sought him out, and showed him attention.
+
+They proceeded to Philadelphia. On the way Benjamin collected Vernon's
+debt, which proved fortunate, since otherwise his money would not have
+carried him through, from having had the bills of two to pay. A good
+trip brought them safely to their place of destination, and Collins
+boarded with Benjamin, at the latter's expense, waiting for an opening
+in some counting-room.
+
+The reader may be curious to learn the fate of Collins, and we will
+briefly record it here. He tried to secure a situation, but his
+dram-drinking habits frustrated his exertions. Every few days he went
+to Benjamin for money, knowing that he had that of Vernon, always
+promising to pay as soon as he found business. Benjamin, in the
+kindness of his heart, lent him little by little, until he was
+troubled to know what he should do if Vernon should call for the
+money. Sometimes he lectured Collins severely for his habits, until
+their friendship was essentially modified. One day they were in a boat
+with other young men, on the Delaware, when Collins refused to row.
+
+"We shall not row you," said Benjamin.
+
+"You _will_ row me, or stay all night on the water, just as you
+please," retorted Collins.
+
+"We can stay as long as you can," continued Benjamin. "I shall not row
+you."
+
+"Come, Ben, let us row," said one of the young men. "If he don't want
+to row let him sit still."
+
+"Row him, if you wish to," replied Benjamin, "I shall not."
+
+"Yes, you will," shouted Collins, starting from his seat. "I will be
+rowed home, and you shall help do it, or I will throw you overboard;"
+and he hurried to execute his threat. But, as he came up and struck at
+him, Benjamin clapped his head under his thighs, and rising, threw
+him head over heels into the river. He knew that Collins was a good
+swimmer, so that he had no fears about his drowning.
+
+"Will you row now?" he inquired, as Collins swam towards the boat.
+
+"Not a stroke," he answered, angrily; whereupon they sent the boat
+forward out of his reach, with one or two strokes of the oar. Again
+and again they allowed him to approach the boat, when they repeated
+the question: "Will you promise to row?" and as often received an
+emphatic "No" for a reply. At length, perceiving that he was quite
+exhausted, they drew him in without extorting from him a promise to
+row.
+
+This scene closed the intimate relations of Benjamin and Collins. They
+scarcely spoke together civilly afterward. Collins sailed for
+Barbadoes within a few weeks after, and he was never heard from again.
+He probably died there, a miserable sot, and Benjamin lost all the
+money he lent him. In later life, Benjamin Franklin referred to this
+event, and spoke of himself as having received retribution for his
+influence over Collins. For, when they were so intimate in Boston,
+Benjamin corrupted his religious opinions by advocating doubts about
+the reality of religion, until Collins became a thorough sceptic.
+Until that time he was industrious, temperate, and honest. But having
+lost his respect for religion, he was left without restraint, and went
+rapidly to ruin. Benjamin was the greatest sufferer by his fall, and
+thus was rebuked for influencing him to treat religion with contempt.
+
+Benjamin immediately sought an interview with Governor Keith, and told
+him the result of his visit home, and gave his father's reasons for
+declining to assist him.
+
+"But since he will not set you up," said the Governor, "I will do it
+myself. Give me an inventory of the things necessary to be had from
+England, and I will send for them. You shall repay me when you are
+able; I am resolved to have a good printer here, and I am sure you
+must succeed."
+
+This was said with such apparent cordiality that Benjamin did not
+doubt that he meant just what he affirmed, so he yielded to his
+suggestion to make out an inventory of necessary articles. In the
+meantime he went to work for Keimer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+A LITERARY GAME.
+
+
+At this point it is necessary to speak of Benjamin's associates. He
+was not long in finding new acquaintances in Philadelphia. His
+industry and general good habits won the respect and confidence of all
+who came in contact with him. Among those who particularly pleased him
+were three young men, Charles Osborne, Joseph Watson, and James Ralph,
+all lovers of reading. Their literary tendencies no doubt attracted
+Benjamin, and caused him to value their companionship more highly. The
+first two were clerks of Charles Brockden, an eminent conveyancer of
+the town, and the other was a merchant's clerk. Watson was a pious
+young man of sterling integrity, while the others were more lax in
+their religious opinions and principles. All were sensible young men,
+much above the average of this class in intellectual endowments.
+Osborne and Ralph were imaginative and poetical, and frequently tried
+their talents at verse-making.
+
+Much of their leisure time was spent together, reading to each other,
+and discussing what they read. Even their Sundays were often wickedly
+devoted to such intellectual pastime on the banks of the Schuylkill,
+whither they strolled, instead of visiting the house of God--all
+except Watson, who had too much religious principle thus to desecrate
+the Sabbath.
+
+"You overrate your talent for poetry," said Osborne to Ralph, at one
+of their interviews. "You will never make a poet, if you live to be as
+old as Methuselah."
+
+"Much obliged for your compliment," answered Ralph; "but it does not
+alter my own opinion. All poets have their faults when they begin. It
+is practice that makes perfect."
+
+"It will take something more than practice to make a poet of you,"
+continued Osborne. "That piece which you have just read has no poetry
+about it. Besides, if you should become a poet, it will not bring you
+a fortune, as you seem to think."
+
+"Perhaps not; but I am confident that a poet may easily win both
+popularity and a livelihood. At any rate, I am determined to try it,
+in spite of your decidedly poor opinion of my abilities."
+
+"Well, I advise you to stick to the business to which you were bred,"
+added Osborne, "if you would keep out of the poor-house. A good clerk
+is better than a bad poet"--and he cast a particularly roguish glance
+at Ralph as he said it.
+
+"You need not set yourself up for a critic," said Benjamin to
+Osborne, after hearing these remarks. "I think more of Ralph as a poet
+than I do of you as a critic. You are not willing to grant that his
+productions have any merit at all; but I think they have. Moreover, it
+is a good practice for him to write poetry, to improve himself in the
+use of language."
+
+"Fiddlestick!" retorted Osborne; "it is wasting his time, that might
+be profitably employed in reading."
+
+"Not half so much as your empty criticisms are wasting your breath,"
+said Benjamin, with a smile. "But, look here, I will tell you what we
+better do. At our next meeting each one of us shall bring a piece of
+poetry, of our own making, and we will compare notes, and criticise
+each other."
+
+"I will agree to that," replied Ralph.
+
+"And so will I," added Osborne, "provided you will decide upon the
+subject now, so that all shall have fair play."
+
+"We will do that, of course," answered Benjamin. "Have you a subject
+to suggest?"
+
+"None, unless it is a paraphrase of the eighteenth Psalm, which
+describes the descent of the Deity."
+
+"A capital subject," said Benjamin; "what do you say to taking that,
+Ralph?"
+
+"I am satisfied with it," replied Ralph; "and more, too,--I rather
+like it."
+
+Thus it was agreed that each one should write a poetical paraphrase of
+the eighteenth Psalm for their next meeting, and with this
+understanding they separated.
+
+Just before the time of their next meeting, Ralph called upon Benjamin
+with his piece, and asked him to examine it.
+
+"I have been so busy," said Benjamin, "that I have not been able to
+write anything, and I shall be obliged to appear unprepared. But I
+should like to read yours;" and he proceeded to examine it.
+
+"That is excellent," said he, after reading it. "You have not written
+anything that is equal to this."
+
+"But," said Ralph, "Osborne never will allow the least merit in
+anything of mine, but makes a thousand criticisms, out of mere envy.
+He will do so with that piece, I have no doubt."
+
+"If he does, it will prove that he is prejudiced against you, or is no
+judge of poetry," replied Benjamin.
+
+"I have a plan to test him," continued Ralph. "He is not so jealous of
+you; I wish, therefore, you would take this piece and produce it as
+yours. I will make some excuse and have nothing. We shall then hear
+what he will say to it."
+
+"I will do it," answered Benjamin, who was well convinced that Osborne
+was prejudiced against Ralph; "but I must transcribe it, so that it
+will appear in my own handwriting."
+
+"Certainly; and be careful that you don't let the secret out."
+
+They met at the appointed time. Watson was the first to read his
+performance. Osborne came next, and his piece was much better than
+Watson's. Ralph noticed two or three blemishes, but pointed out many
+beauties in it.
+
+"I have nothing to read," said Ralph, whose turn came next in order.
+"I will try to do my part next time."
+
+"Poets ought to be ready at any time," remarked Osborne jestingly.
+"Well, then, Ben, let us have yours."
+
+"I rather think I must be excused," answered Benjamin, feigning an
+unwillingness to read.
+
+"No excuse for you," said Osborne. "You have it written, for I saw it
+in your hand."
+
+"That is true," replied Benjamin; "but after such fine productions as
+we have heard, there is little encouragement for me to read this. I
+think I must correct it and dress it up a little before I read it."
+
+"Not a word of it," said Ralph. "There is no excuse for any one who is
+prepared."
+
+So, after much urging, Benjamin proceeded to read the verses, with
+seeming diffidence, all listening with rapt attention.
+
+"You must read that again," said Osborne, when the first reading was
+finished; which Benjamin consented to do.
+
+"You surprise me, Ben," said Osborne, after the piece was read the
+second time. "You are a genuine poet. I had no idea that you could
+write like that."
+
+"Nor I," added Watson. "It is better than half the poetry that is
+printed. If we had not given out the subject, I should have charged
+you with stealing it."
+
+"What do _you_ say, Ralph?" inquired Osborne. "You are a poet, and
+ought to be a judge of such matters."
+
+"I don't think it is entirely faultless," responded Ralph. "You have
+commended it full as highly as it will bear, in my estimation."
+
+"Well done!" exclaimed Osborne. "Your opinion of that piece proves
+that you are destitute of poetical taste, as I have told you before."
+
+Ralph and Benjamin saw that Osborne was fairly caught, and they hardly
+dared to exchange glances, lest they should betray themselves. They
+succeeded, however, in controlling themselves, and allowed Osborne to
+express himself most emphatically.
+
+Ralph walked home with Osborne, and their conversation was upon
+Benjamin's poetry.
+
+"Who would have imagined," said Osborne, "that Franklin was capable of
+such a performance,--such painting, such force, such fire! In common
+conversation he seems to have no choice of words; he hesitates and
+blunders; and yet, how he writes!"
+
+"Possibly he may not have written it," suggested Ralph.
+
+"That is the 'unkindest cut of all,'" retorted Osborne, "to charge him
+of plagiarism. Franklin would not descend to so mean a thing."
+
+They parted for that night; but Ralph embraced the first opportunity
+to call on Benjamin, and have a sort of rejoicing over the success of
+their enterprise. They laughed to their hearts' content, and discussed
+the point of revealing the secret. They agreed that the real author of
+the article should be known at their next meeting.
+
+Accordingly, the affair was so managed as to bring the facts of the
+case before their companions at their next gathering. Osborne was
+utterly confounded when the revelation was made, and knew not what to
+say for himself. Watson shook his whole frame with convulsive laughter
+at poor Osborne's expense, and Benjamin joined him with a keen relish.
+Never was a fellow in more mortifying predicament than this would-be
+critic, since it was now so manifest that he had been influenced by
+blind prejudice in his criticisms upon Ralph's poetry. It was certain
+now that he had given it his most emphatic indorsement. While Osborne
+was brought to confusion and suffered deservedly, the trick played
+upon him is not one which can be approved by right-thinking persons.
+Deceit is never commendable.
+
+A few years after, Watson died in Benjamin's arms, much lamented by
+all his companions, who regarded him as "the best of their set."
+Osborne removed to the West Indies, where he became an eminent lawyer,
+but was early cut off by death. Of the others we shall have occasion
+to speak hereafter.
+
+It is quite evident that this literary way of spending their leisure
+time was of great advantage to this group of youths. Doubtless it led
+to the cultivation of that taste which most of them who lived
+exhibited for literature and science in after life. It is certainly an
+example of the wise use of spare moments which the young may safely
+imitate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+GOING TO ENGLAND.
+
+
+At the earliest opportunity, Benjamin presented the Governor with an
+inventory of the articles necessary in setting up the printing
+business.
+
+"And what will be the probable expense of all these?" inquired the
+Governor.
+
+"About one hundred pounds sterling, as nearly as I can estimate," he
+replied.
+
+"But would it not prove an advantage for you to be there yourself, to
+select the types, and see that everything is good?"
+
+"I suppose it would, though such a thing as going to England is
+scarcely possible with me."
+
+"That remains to be seen," continued Governor Keith. "Another
+advantage of your being there is, that you could form acquaintances,
+and establish correspondence in the bookselling and stationery line."
+
+"That would certainly be an advantage," replied Benjamin.
+
+"Then get yourself ready to go in the Annis," said the Governor. The
+Annis was the annual ship that sailed between Philadelphia and
+London, and the only one, at that time, which performed this voyage.
+Instead of there being scores of vessels sailing between these two
+ports, as now, there was only this solitary one, going and returning
+once a year.
+
+"It is not necessary to prepare immediately," answered Benjamin,
+"since it is several months before the Annis will sail."
+
+"True; I only meant that you should be in readiness when the ship
+sails. It will be necessary for you still to keep the matter secret
+while you continue to work for Keimer."
+
+Keimer, for whom Benjamin worked, was a singular man in some respects,
+and liked to draw him into discussions upon religious subjects. At one
+time he thought seriously of originating a new sect, and proposed to
+Benjamin to join him, as his masterly powers of argumentation would
+confound opponents. He wore his beard long, because it is somewhere
+said in the Mosaic Law, "_Thou shalt not mar the corners of thy
+beard._" Also, he kept the seventh, instead of the first day of the
+week, as a Sabbath. Benjamin opposed him on these points, and their
+discussions were frequent and warm. Keimer often exhorted him to
+embrace his own peculiar views on these subjects. Finally, Benjamin
+replied, "I will do it, provided you will join me in not eating animal
+food, and I will adhere to them as long as you will stick to a
+vegetable diet."
+
+Benjamin was here aiming at some diversion, since Keimer was a great
+eater, and thought much of a savoury dish. Benjamin wanted to starve
+him a little, as he thought some of his preaching and practice did not
+correspond.
+
+"I should die," said Keimer, "if I adopt such a diet; my constitution
+will not bear it."
+
+"Nonsense!" answered Benjamin. "You will be better than you are now.
+So much animal food is bad for any one."
+
+"What is there left to eat when meat is taken away?" inquired Keimer.
+"Little or nothing, I should think."
+
+"I will pledge myself to furnish recipes for forty palatable dishes,"
+answered Benjamin, "and not one of them shall smell of the flesh-pots
+of Egypt."
+
+"Who will prepare them? I am sure no woman in this town can do it."
+
+"Each dish is so simple that any woman can easily prepare it," added
+Benjamin.
+
+Keimer finally accepted the proposition. He was to become a
+vegetarian, and Benjamin was to embrace formally the long-beard
+doctrine, and observe the seventh day for a Sabbath. A woman was
+engaged to prepare their food and bring it to them, and Benjamin
+furnished her with a list of forty dishes, "in which there entered
+neither fish, flesh, nor fowl." For about three months Keimer adhered
+to this way of living, though it was very trying to him all the
+while. Benjamin was often diverted to see his manifest longings for
+fowl and flesh, and expected that he would soon let him off from
+keeping the seventh day and advocating long beards. At the end of
+three months, Keimer declared that he could hold out no longer, and
+the agreement was broken. It was a happy day for him; and to show his
+gladness, he ordered a roast pig, and invited Benjamin and two ladies
+to dine with him. But the pig being set upon the table before his
+guests arrived, the temptation was so great that he could not resist,
+and he devoured the whole of it before they came, thus proving that he
+was a greater pig than the one he swallowed.
+
+It should be remarked here, that for some time Benjamin had not
+followed the vegetable diet which he adopted in Boston. The
+circumstances and reason of his leaving are thus given by himself:--
+
+     "In my first voyage from Boston to Philadelphia, being becalmed
+     off Block Island, our crew employed themselves in catching cod,
+     and hauled up a great number. Till then, I had stuck to my
+     resolution to eat nothing that had had life; and on this occasion
+     I considered, according to my master Tryon, the taking every fish
+     as a kind of unprovoked murder, since none of them had nor could
+     do us any injury that might justify this massacre. All this
+     seemed very reasonable. But I had been formerly a great lover of
+     fish, and when it came out of the frying-pan, it smelt admirably
+     well. I balanced some time between principle and inclination,
+     till recollecting that, when the fish were opened, I saw smaller
+     fish taken out of their stomachs; then, thought I, 'If you eat
+     one another, I don't see why we may not eat you.' So I dined upon
+     cod very heartily, and have since continued to eat as other
+     people; returning only now and then to a vegetable diet. So
+     convenient a thing it is to be a _reasonable creature_, since it
+     enables one to find or make a _reason_ for everything one has a
+     mind to do."
+
+The time was now approaching for the Annis to sail, and Benjamin began
+to realize the trial of leaving his friends. A new tie now bound him
+to Philadelphia. A mutual affection existed between Miss Read and
+himself, and it had ripened into sincere and ardent love. He desired a
+formal engagement with her before his departure, but her mother
+interposed.
+
+"Both of you are too young," said she,--"only eighteen! You cannot
+tell what changes may occur before you are old enough to be married."
+
+"But that need not have anything to do with an engagement," said
+Benjamin. "We only pledge ourselves to marry each other at some future
+time."
+
+"And why do you deem such a pledge necessary?" asked the good mother.
+
+"Simply because 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,'"
+replied Benjamin, with his face all wreathed with smiles.
+
+"But I have not quite satisfied myself that it is best to give up my
+daughter to a printer," added Mrs. Read.
+
+"How so?" asked Benjamin, with some anxiety.
+
+"Because," she replied, "there are already several printing-offices in
+the country, and I doubt whether another can be supported."
+
+"If I cannot support her by the printing business," answered Benjamin,
+"then I will do it some other way."
+
+"I have no doubt of your good intentions; but you may not realize the
+fulfilment of all your hopes. I think you had better leave the matter
+as it is until you return from England, and see how you are
+prospered."
+
+The old lady won the day, and the young couple agreed to proceed no
+further at present.
+
+The above reference to the fact that only four or five
+printing-offices existed in America at that time, may serve to exhibit
+its rapid growth. For in 1840, there were _one thousand five hundred
+and fifty-seven_ of them, and now probably there are twice that
+number.
+
+"I am going to England with you, Benjamin," said Ralph one day, as
+they met. "Don't you believe it?"
+
+"It is almost too good news to believe," replied Benjamin. "But I
+should be glad of your company, I assure you."
+
+"It is true," continued Ralph. "I was not jesting when I told you, the
+other day, that I meant to go if I could."
+
+"Then you are really in earnest? You mean to go?"
+
+"To be sure I do. I have fully decided to go."
+
+Benjamin did not ask him what he was going for; but, from some remarks
+he heard him make previously, he inferred that he was going out to
+establish a correspondence, and obtain goods to sell on commission.
+Nor did he learn to the contrary until after they arrived in London,
+when Ralph informed him that he did not intend to return,--that he had
+experienced some trouble with his wife's relations, and he was going
+away to escape from it, leaving his wife and child to be cared for by
+her friends.
+
+As the time of their departure drew near, Benjamin called upon the
+Governor for letters of introduction and credit, which he had
+promised, but they were not ready. He called again, and they were
+still unwritten. At last, just as he was leaving, he called at his
+door, and his secretary, Dr. Baird, came out, and said: "The Governor
+is engaged upon important business now, but he will be at Newcastle
+before the Annis reaches there, and will deliver the letters to you
+there."
+
+As soon as they reached Newcastle, Benjamin went to the Governor's
+lodgings for the letters, but was told by his secretary that he was
+engaged, and should be under the necessity of sending the letters to
+him on board the ship, before she weighed anchor. Benjamin was
+somewhat puzzled by this unexpected turn of affairs, but still he did
+not dream of deception or dishonesty. He returned to the vessel, and
+awaited her departure. Soon after her canvas was flung to the breeze,
+he went to the captain and inquired for the letters.
+
+"I understand," said he, "that Colonel French brought letters on board
+from the Governor. I suppose some of them are directed to my care."
+
+"Yes," replied the captain, "Colonel French brought a parcel of
+letters on board, and they were all put into the bag with others, so
+that I cannot tell whether any of them are for you or not. But you
+shall have an opportunity, before we reach England, of looking them
+over for yourself."
+
+"I thank you," answered Benjamin; "that will be all that is
+necessary;" and he yielded himself up to enjoyment for the remainder
+of the voyage, without the least suspicion of disappointment and
+trouble.
+
+When they entered the English Channel, the captain, true to his
+promise, allowed Benjamin to examine the bag of letters. He found
+several on which his name was written, as under his care, and some
+others he judged, from the handwriting, came from the Governor. One of
+them was addressed to Baskett, the King's printer, and another to a
+stationer, and these two, Benjamin was confident, were for him to
+take. In all he took seven or eight from the bag.
+
+They arrived in London on the 24th of December, 1724, when Benjamin
+lacked about a month of being nineteen years old. Soon after he
+landed, he called upon the stationer to whom one of the letters was
+directed: "A letter, sir, from Governor Keith, of Pennsylvania,
+America!"
+
+"I don't know such a person," replied the stationer, at the same time
+receiving the letter.
+
+"O, this is from Riddlesden!" said he, on opening it. "I have lately
+found him to be a complete rascal, and I will have nothing to do with
+him, nor receive any letters from him;" and he handed back the letter
+to Benjamin, turned upon his heel, and left to wait upon a customer.
+
+Benjamin was astonished and mortified. He had not the least suspicion
+that he was bearing any other than the Governor's letter, and he was
+almost bewildered for a moment. The thought flashed into his mind that
+the Governor had deceived him. In a few moments his thoughts brought
+together the acts of the Governor in the matter, and now he could see
+clearly evidence of insincerity and duplicity. He immediately sought
+out Mr. Denham, a merchant, who came over in the Annis with him, and
+gave him a history of the affair.
+
+"Governor Keith is a notorious deceiver," said Mr. Denham. "I do not
+think he wrote a single letter for you, nor intended to do it. He has
+been deceiving you from beginning to end."
+
+"He pretended to have many acquaintances here," added Benjamin, "to
+whom he promised to give me letters of credit, and I supposed that
+they would render me valuable assistance."
+
+"Letters of credit!" exclaimed Denham. "It is a ludicrous idea. How
+could he write letters of credit, when he has no credit of his own to
+give? No one who knows him has the least confidence in his character.
+There is no dependence to be placed upon him in anything. He is
+entirely irresponsible."
+
+"What, then, shall I do?" asked Benjamin with evident concern. "Here I
+am among strangers without the means of returning, and what shall I
+do?"
+
+"I advise you to get employment in a printing-office here for the
+present. Among the printers here you will improve yourself, and, when
+you return to America, you will set up to greater advantage."
+
+There was no alternative left for Benjamin but to find work where he
+could, and make the best of it. Again he had "paid too dear for the
+whistle," and must suffer for it. He took lodgings with Ralph in
+Little Britain, at three shillings and sixpence a week, and very soon
+obtained work at Palmer's famous printing-house in Bartholomew Close,
+where he laboured nearly a year. Ralph was not so successful in
+getting a situation. He made application here and there, but in vain;
+and, after several weeks of fruitless attempts at securing a place, he
+decided to leave London, and teach a country school. Previously,
+however, in company with Benjamin, he spent much time at plays and
+public amusements. This was rather strange, since neither of them had
+been wont to waste their time and money in this way; and years after,
+Benjamin spoke of it as a great error of his life, which he deeply
+regretted. But Ralph's departure put an end to this objectionable
+pleasure-seeking, and Benjamin returned to his studious habits when
+out of the office.
+
+At this time, the ability to compose which he had carefully nurtured
+proved of great assistance to him. He was employed in the printing of
+Wollaston's "Religion of Nature," when he took exceptions to some of
+his reasoning, and wrote a dissertation thereon, and printed it, with
+the title, "A DISSERTATION ON LIBERTY AND NECESSITY, PLEASURE AND
+PAIN." This pamphlet fell into the hands of one Lyons, a surgeon,
+author of a book entitled "The Infallibility of Human Judgment," and
+he was so much pleased with it, that he sought out the author, and
+showed him marked attention. He introduced him to Dr. Mandeville,
+author of the "Fable of the Bees," and to Dr. Pemberton, who promised
+to take him to see Sir Isaac Newton. Sir Hans Sloane invited him to
+his house in Bloomsbury Square, and showed him all his curiosities. In
+this way, the small pamphlet which he wrote introduced him to
+distinguished men, which was of much advantage to him.
+
+While he lodged in Little Britain, he made the acquaintance of a
+bookseller, by the name of Wilcox, who had a very large collection of
+secondhand books. Benjamin wanted to gain access to them, but he could
+not command the means to purchase; so he hit upon this plan: he
+proposed to Wilcox to pay him a certain sum per book for as many as he
+might choose to take out, read, and return, and Wilcox accepted his
+offer. In this transaction was involved the principle of the modern
+circulating library. It was the first instance of lending books on
+record, and for that reason becomes an interesting fact. It was
+another of the influences that served to send him forward in a career
+of honour and fame.
+
+When he first entered the printing-house in London, he did press-work.
+There were fifty workmen in the establishment, and all of them but
+Benjamin were great beer-drinkers; yet he could lift more, and endure
+more fatigue, than any of them. His companion at the press was a
+notorious drinker, and consumed daily "a pint of beer before
+breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his food, a pint between breakfast
+and dinner, a pint at dinner, a pint in the afternoon about six
+o'clock, and another when he had done his day's work,"--in all six
+pints per day. They had an alehouse boy always in attendance upon the
+workmen.
+
+"A detestable habit," said Benjamin to his fellow-pressman, "and a
+very expensive one, too."
+
+"I couldn't endure the wear and tear of this hard work without it,"
+replied the toper.
+
+"You could accomplish more work, and perform it better, by drinking
+nothing but cold water," rejoined Benjamin. "There is nothing like it
+to make one strong and healthy."
+
+"Fudge! It may do for a Water-American like you, but Englishmen would
+become as weak as babes without it."
+
+"That is false," said Benjamin. "With all your drinking _strong_ beer
+in this establishment, you are the weakest set of workmen I ever saw.
+I have seen _you_ tug away to carry a single form of type up and down
+stairs, when I always carry two. Your beer may be _strong_, but it
+makes you _weak_."
+
+"You Americans are odd fellows, I confess," added the beer-swigger;
+"and you stick to your opinions like a tick."
+
+"But look here, my good fellow," continued Benjamin. "Do you not see
+that the bodily strength afforded by beer can be only in proportion to
+the grain or flour of the barley dissolved in the water of which it is
+made? There must be more flour in a pennyworth of bread than there is
+in a whole quart of beer; therefore, if you eat that with a pint of
+water, it will give you more strength than two or three pints of beer.
+Is it not so?"
+
+The man was obliged to acknowledge that it appeared to be so.
+
+Benjamin continued: "You see that I am supplied with a large porringer
+of hot water-gruel, sprinkled with pepper, crumbled with bread, and a
+bit of butter in it, for just the price of a pint of beer,
+three-halfpence. Now, honestly, is not this much better for me, and
+for you, than the same amount of beer?"
+
+Thus Benjamin thorned his companions with arguments against the
+prevailing habit of beer-drinking. Gradually he acquired an influence
+over many of them, by precept and example, and finally they abandoned
+their old habit, and followed his better way of living. He wrought a
+thorough reformation in the printing-office; and the fact shows what
+one young man can do in a good cause, if he will but set his face
+resolutely in that direction. Benjamin possessed the firmness,
+independence, and moral courage to carry out his principles,--just
+the thing which many a youth of his age lack, and consequently make
+shipwreck of their hopes.
+
+The only amusement which Benjamin seems to have enjoyed as much as he
+did literary recreation, was swimming. From his boyhood he delighted
+to be in the water, performing wonderful feats, and trying his skill
+in various ways. At one time he let up his kite, and, taking the
+string in his hand, lay upon his back on the top of the water, when
+the kite drew him a mile in a very agreeable manner. At another time
+he lay floating upon his back and slept for an hour by the watch. The
+skill which he had thus acquired in the art of swimming won him a
+reputation in England. On several occasions he exhibited his
+remarkable attainments of this kind, and the result was that he was
+applied to by Sir William Wyndham to teach his two sons to swim. Some
+advised him to open a swimming-school, and make it his profession; but
+he very wisely concluded to leave the water to the fish, and confine
+himself to the land.
+
+Benjamin had been in London nearly eighteen months, when Mr. Denham,
+the merchant of whom we have spoken, proposed to him to return to
+Philadelphia, and act in the capacity of bookkeeper for him, and
+offered him fifty pounds a year, with the promise to promote him, and
+finally establish him in business. Benjamin had a high respect for
+Mr. Denham, and the new field of labour appeared to him inviting, so
+that he accepted the proposition with little hesitation, and made
+preparations to leave England, quitting for ever, as he thought, the
+art of printing, which he had thoroughly learned.
+
+Forty years after Benjamin worked in Palmer's printing-office, he
+visited England in the service of his country, widely known as a
+sagacious statesman and profound philosopher. He took occasion to
+visit the old office where he once laboured with the beer-drinkers,
+and, stepping up to the press on which he worked month after month, he
+said: "Come, my friends, we will drink together. It is now forty years
+since I worked, like you, at this press, as a journeyman printer."
+With these words, he sent out for a gallon of porter, and they drank
+together according to the custom of the times. That press, on which he
+worked in London, is now in the Patent-office at Washington.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.
+
+
+On the 23rd day of July, 1726, Benjamin sailed for Philadelphia, in
+company with Mr. Denham. After a successful and rather pleasant voyage
+of nearly three months, they reached Philadelphia, much to the
+satisfaction of Benjamin, who always enjoyed his stay there. He was
+now twenty years of age.
+
+"Ah! is it you, Benjamin? I am glad to see you back again," said
+Keimer, as his old journeyman made his appearance; and he shook his
+hand as if his heart was in it. "I began to think you had forsaken
+us."
+
+"Not yet," replied Benjamin. "I think too much of Philadelphia to
+forsake it yet."
+
+"Want work at your old business, I suppose?" added Keimer. "I have a
+plenty of it. You see I have improved things since you were here; my
+shop is well supplied with stationery, plenty of new types, and a good
+business!"
+
+"I see that you have made considerable advance," replied Benjamin. "I
+am glad that you prosper."
+
+"And I shall be glad to employ you, as none of my men are complete
+masters of the business."
+
+"But I have relinquished my old trade," answered Benjamin. "I----"
+
+"Given up the printing business!" interrupted Keimer. "Why is that?"
+
+"I have made arrangements with Mr. Denham to keep his books, and serve
+him generally in the capacity of clerk."
+
+"I am sorry for that, and I think you will be eventually. It is a very
+uncertain business."
+
+"Well, I have undertaken it for better or worse," said Benjamin, as he
+rose to leave the shop.
+
+As he was going down the street, who should he meet but Governor
+Keith, who had been removed from his office, and was now only a common
+citizen. The ex-Governor appeared both surprised and ashamed at seeing
+him, and passed by him without speaking.
+
+Benjamin was quite ashamed to meet Miss Read, since he had not been
+true to his promise. Though he had been absent eighteen months, he had
+written her but a single letter, and that was penned soon after his
+arrival in London, to inform her that he should not return at present.
+His long absence and silence convinced her that he had ceased to
+regard her with affection; in consequence of which, at the earnest
+persuasion of her parents, she married a potter by the name of
+Rogers. He turned out to be a miserable fellow, and she lived with him
+only a short time. He incurred heavy debts; ran away to the West
+Indies to escape from his creditors, and there died.
+
+Miss Read (she refused to bear the name of Rogers) was disconsolate
+and sad, and Benjamin pitied her sincerely, inasmuch as he considered
+himself to blame in the matter. He was not disposed to shield himself
+from the censure of the family, had they been disposed to administer
+any; but the old lady took all the blame upon herself, because she
+prevented an engagement, and persuaded her daughter to marry Rogers.
+
+These circumstances rendered his meeting with Miss Read less
+unpleasant, so far as his own want of fidelity was concerned. His
+intimacy with the family was renewed, and they frequently invited him
+there to tea, and often sought his advice on business of importance.
+
+Mr. Denham opened a store in Water Street, and Benjamin entered upon
+his new business with high hopes. He made rapid progress in acquiring
+knowledge of traffic, and soon became expert in keeping accounts and
+selling goods. But in February, 1727, when Benjamin was twenty-one
+years of age, both he and his employer were prostrated by sickness.
+Benjamin's disease was pleurisy, and his life was despaired of, though
+he unexpectedly recovered. Mr. Denham lingered along for some time,
+and died. His decease was the occasion of closing the store and
+throwing Benjamin out of business. It was a sad disappointment, but
+not wholly unlike the previous checkered experience of his life. He
+had become used to "ups and downs."
+
+As a token of his confidence and esteem, Mr. Denham left a small
+legacy to Benjamin,--a fact that speaks well for the young man's
+faithfulness. And here it should be said, that, whatever faults the
+hero of our story had, he always served his employers with such
+ability and fidelity as won their approbation and confidence. Unlike
+many youth, who care not for their employers' interests if they but
+receive their wages and keep their places, he ever did the best he
+could for those who employed him. He proved himself trustworthy and
+efficient; and here is found one secret of his success.
+
+In his disappointment, Benjamin sought the advice of his
+brother-in-law, Captain Homes, who happened to be in Philadelphia at
+the time.
+
+"I advise you to return to your old business," said he. "I suppose you
+can readily get work here, can you not?"
+
+"All I want," Benjamin answered. "Keimer was very anxious to employ me
+when I returned from England, and I dare say that he would hire me
+now."
+
+"Then I would close a bargain with him at once, were I in your place.
+I think you will succeed better at your trade than in any other
+business, and perhaps the way will soon be prepared for you to open a
+printing-office of your own."
+
+This advice was followed without delay, and Keimer was eager to employ
+him. At the outset, he offered him extra wages to take the entire
+management of his printing-office, so that he (Keimer) might attend
+more closely to his stationer's shop. The offer was accepted, and
+Benjamin commenced his duties immediately. He soon found, however,
+that Keimer's design in offering him so large wages was, that the
+hands he already employed might be improved under his experience, when
+it would not be necessary for him to hire so competent a person. The
+facts show us that good workmen can command employment and high wages,
+when poor ones are obliged to beg their bread.
+
+Among Keimer's workmen was an Oxford student, whose time he had bought
+for four years. He was about eighteen years of age, smart and
+intelligent. Benjamin very naturally became interested in him, as it
+was quite unusual to find an Oxford scholar acting in the capacity of
+a bought servant; and he received from him the following brief account
+of his life. He "was born in Gloucester, educated at a grammar-school,
+and had been distinguished among the scholars for some apparent
+superiority in performing his part when they exhibited plays;
+belonged to the Wits' Club there, and had written some pieces in prose
+and verse, which were printed in the Gloucester newspapers. Thence was
+sent to Oxford, where he continued about a year, but not well
+satisfied; wishing, of all things, to see London, and become a player.
+At length, receiving his quarterly allowance of fifteen guineas,
+instead of discharging his debts, he went out of town, hid his gown in
+a furze-bush, and walked to London; where, having no friend to advise
+him, he fell into bad company, soon spent his guineas, found no means
+of being introduced among the players, grew necessitous, pawned his
+clothes, and wanted bread. Walking the street, very hungry, not
+knowing what to do with himself, a crimp's bill was put into his hand,
+offering immediate entertainment and encouragement to such as would
+bind themselves to work in America. He went directly, signed the
+indentures, was put into the ship, and came over; never writing a line
+to his friends, to acquaint them what was become of him."
+
+Such a case has several important lessons for the young. In the first
+place, it shows the danger that attends theatrical performances. Youth
+often wonder that good people object to them; but here they may see
+one reason of their opposition. It was at the school in Oxford that he
+imbibed a love for the stage. There he participated in dramatic
+plays, which caused him to run away, and seek a residence in London,
+where he was ruined. There are hundreds of similar examples, and these
+cause good people to condemn theatrical amusements. It is said that
+when Lord Jeffrey was a youth, at the college in Glasgow, he was
+instrumental in originating a dramatic performance. The play was
+selected, and a room of the college designated as a fitting theatre,
+when the authorities interfered, and forbade them to perform the play.
+Their interference aroused the ire of Jeffrey, who, in his "Notes on
+Lectures," denounced their conduct as "the meanest, most illiberal,
+and despicable." Many youth cherish similar feelings towards those who
+condemn such performances; and, if one of the number shall read these
+pages, we would point him to the sad end of the Oxford student.
+
+This case also illustrates the sad consequences of keeping bad
+company, as well as the perils of the city. He associated with the
+vicious in London, and became really a vagabond in consequence.
+
+As the workmen improved under Benjamin's supervision, Keimer evidently
+began to think of discharging him, or cutting down his wages. On
+paying his second quarter's wages, he told him that he could not
+continue to pay him so much. He became less civil, frequently found
+fault, and plainly tried to make Benjamin's stay uncomfortable so that
+he would leave. At length a rare opportunity offered for him to make
+trouble. An unusual noise in the street one day caused Benjamin to put
+his head out of the window to see what was the matter. Keimer happened
+to be in the street, and seeing him, he cried out, "Put your head in,
+and attend to your business;" and added some reproachful words which
+all in the street heard. Then, hastening up into the office, he
+continued his insulting language.
+
+"Men who work for me must give better heed to their business," said
+he. "If they care more for a noise in the street than for their work,
+it is time they left."
+
+"I am ready to leave any time you please," retorted Benjamin, who was
+considerably nettled by such treatment. "I am not dependent on you for
+a living, and I shall not be treated in this way long, I assure you."
+
+"That, indeed!" exclaimed Keimer. "You would not stay another hour if
+it were not for our agreement, in accordance with which I now warn you
+that, at the end of a quarter's time, I shall hire you no more."
+
+"You need not regret that you cannot send me away to-day," answered
+Benjamin. "I shall work no longer for a man who will treat me thus;"
+and, taking his hat, he left. As he passed down, he requested
+Meredith, one of the hands, to bring some things which he left behind
+to his lodgings.
+
+In the evening Meredith went to see Benjamin, carrying the articles
+referred to.
+
+"What shall you do now?" Meredith inquired.
+
+"I shall return to Boston forthwith."
+
+"I wouldn't do that. You can do much better here than you can there."
+
+"What can I do here now?"
+
+"Set up business for yourself."
+
+"I have no money to do it with."
+
+"My father has," said Meredith; "and I will go into company with you
+if he will furnish the means. I am not acquainted with the business,
+and you are; so I will furnish the capital, and you shall manage the
+concern, and we will share the profits equally."
+
+"Your father will never do it," suggested Benjamin.
+
+"I am confident that he will," replied Meredith. "He has a high
+opinion of you, and he wants a good opportunity to set me up. I will
+ask him, at any rate."
+
+"I would like such an enterprise myself," added Benjamin; "but can we
+succeed against Keimer? He will now do all he can to crush me."
+
+"He will be crushed himself before long," answered Meredith. "I happen
+to know that he is in debt for all the property in his hands. He keeps
+his shop miserably, too; often sells without profit in order to raise
+money; and trusts people without keeping accounts. He will fail as
+surely as he keeps on in this way."
+
+"I will agree to your plan if you can make it work," said Benjamin.
+"See your father immediately, and let me know the result."
+
+Accordingly, Meredith saw his father, and he was ready to furnish the
+necessary capital, because of his high regard for Benjamin.
+
+"I am the more ready to do this," said he to Benjamin, afterwards,
+"because of your good influence over my son. You have prevailed upon
+him to leave off drinking to excess, and I hope he will be persuaded,
+by your more intimate connection in business, to reform entirely."
+
+It was settled that they should set up business as soon as they could
+procure the necessary articles from England.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+SETTING UP BUSINESS.
+
+
+Agreeably to the arrangement with Meredith, Benjamin made out an
+inventory of articles, which were immediately ordered from England. In
+the mean time he expected to find work at Bradford's printing-office,
+but was disappointed. It was only a few days, however, before he
+received a very civil message from Keimer, in which he said, "that old
+friends should not part for a few words, the effect of sudden
+passion," and urged him to return. The fact was, he had a prospect of
+being employed to print some paper-money in New Jersey, which would
+require cuts and various types that Benjamin only could supply, and,
+therefore, he wanted to re-engage him. Benjamin was not quite inclined
+to accept the proposition at first, but Meredith urged him to do it,
+on the ground that he himself would become better acquainted with the
+business in consequence; he, therefore, agreed to return.
+
+It was several months before the new types arrived from London, and
+Benjamin continued in Keimer's service. Most of the time he spent
+with his employer at Burlington, executing the paper-money, and there
+made many friends, among whom was Judge Allen, the Secretary of the
+Province, several members of the Assembly, and the Surveyor-General,
+all of whom were of service to him when he set up business for
+himself. They were much pleased with Benjamin's intelligence and
+fidelity, so that they frequently invited him to their houses, while
+the ignorance and rudeness of Keimer so disgusted them, that they took
+little notice of him.
+
+"You are completely master of your business," said the
+Surveyor-General to him; "and success is before you."
+
+"I have improved my opportunities," modestly replied Benjamin, "to
+become as well acquainted with my business as I could. This half way
+of doing things I do not like."
+
+"I commenced business in a very humble way," continued the
+Surveyor-General, "without expecting to ever possess such an estate as
+I do now."
+
+"What was your business?"
+
+"I wheeled clay for the brick-makers, and had not the opportunity of
+going to school at all in my boyhood. I did not learn to write until I
+became of age. I acquired my knowledge of surveying when I carried a
+chain for surveyors, who were pleased with my desire to learn the
+business, and assisted me. By constant industry and close
+application, with a good deal of perseverance, I have succeeded in
+reaching the place where you now see me."
+
+"That is all the way any one can work his way up to an honourable
+position," said Benjamin.
+
+"True, very true, and I am glad to see that you understand it. I am
+confident that you will beat this man Keimer at the business, and make
+a fortune in it at Philadelphia, if you go on as you have begun."
+
+This example of industry and perseverance was encouraging to Benjamin
+in his circumstances. It was exactly suited to confirm him in his very
+proper views of industry and fidelity.
+
+Meredith and Benjamin settled with Keimer and left him just before
+their types arrived, without letting him into the secret of their
+plans. The first intimation he had of their intentions was the opening
+of their printing-office near the market.
+
+Many people were taken by surprise, and most of them predicted a
+failure, since there were two printers established there already. Not
+long after they commenced, an elderly man, whose name was Samuel
+Mickle, happened to be passing just as Benjamin came out of his
+office.
+
+"Are you the young man," said Mickle, "who has lately opened a new
+printing-house?"
+
+"I am, sir."
+
+"I am sorry for you," said he, "for it is an expensive undertaking,
+and you are throwing away your money."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"Because Philadelphia is degenerating, and half the people are now
+bankrupt, or nearly so, and how can they support so many printers?"
+
+"But the appearance of Philadelphia," replied Benjamin, "indicates
+thrift. See how many buildings are going up, and how rents are rising
+every month. This does not look like going backward."
+
+"These are among the very things that will ruin us," responded Mickle.
+"They are not evidence of prosperity, but of extravagance, that will
+bring disaster sooner or later."
+
+In this strain, Mickle, who was one of those eccentric and unhappy men
+who always look upon the dark side of things, went on, until Benjamin
+really began to feel dismayed. But on the whole, he believed that the
+evidence of his own senses was to the contrary, and so he soon forgot
+the interview. Mickle continued to live there some years, refusing to
+buy a house because the town was going to ruin, and at last he
+purchased one for five times what he could have had it for at the time
+he talked to Benjamin.
+
+In their printing-office, Franklin suspended the following lines,
+which he composed:--
+
+    "All ye who come this curious art to see,
+    To handle anything must careful be;
+    Lest by a slight touch, ere you are aware,
+    You may do mischief which you can't repair,
+    Lo! this advice we give to every stranger!
+    Look on and welcome, but to touch there's danger."
+
+This singular notice attracted some attention, and elicited remarks
+from different visitors.
+
+In order to win the confidence of the public, and secure their
+patronage, Benjamin resolved at the outset to exhibit to all beholders
+several qualities which guarantee success; namely, industry, economy,
+integrity, and close application to his business. All of them had
+become habits with him, and hence it was easy for him to conduct in
+this manner.
+
+In respect to industry, he laboured incessantly. Even some of his
+hours that ought to have been devoted to sleep were spent in his
+office at hard work.
+
+Mention being made of the new printing-house at the "Merchants'
+Every-night Club," "It will prove a failure," said one.
+
+"Of course it will," added another. "Two such young fellows cannot get
+business enough to support them, with two established printers here."
+
+This was the general opinion. But Dr. Baird, who was present, said:
+"It will prove a success, for the industry of that Franklin is
+superior to anything I ever saw of the kind. I see him still at work
+when I go home from club, and he is at work again before his
+neighbours are out of bed."
+
+This remark was appreciated by the members, and soon after one of them
+offered to supply the young printers with stationery, if they desired
+to open a shop.
+
+It was his experience, doubtless, that caused him, years afterwards,
+to give the following advice to a "young tradesman:"--
+
+     "The most trifling actions that affect a man's credit are to be
+     regarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or
+     nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months
+     longer; but if he sees you at a billiard-table, or hears your
+     voice at a tavern, when you should be at work, he sends for his
+     money the next day; demands it, before he can receive it, in a
+     lump."
+
+He also wrote: "He that idly loses five shillings' worth of time loses
+five shillings, and might as prudently throw five shillings into the
+sea."
+
+One fine morning, after Meredith and Franklin opened a stationer's
+shop and bookstore, a lounger stepped in, and, after looking over the
+articles, inquired of the boy in attendance the price of a certain
+book.
+
+"One dollar," was the answer.
+
+"One dollar," said the lounger, "can't you take less than that?"
+
+"No indeed; one dollar is the price."
+
+After waiting some time he asked: "Is Mr. Franklin at home?"
+
+"Yes, he is in the printing-office."
+
+"I want to see him," said the lounger.
+
+The shop-boy soon informed Franklin (as we will henceforth call him)
+that a gentleman was waiting to see him in the shop.
+
+"Mr. Franklin, what is the lowest you can take for this book?" he
+asked, as Franklin came in. At the same time he held up the book at
+which he had been looking.
+
+"One dollar and a quarter," was the reply.
+
+"One dollar and a quarter! Why, your young man asked but a dollar."
+
+"True," said Franklin, "and I could have better afforded to take a
+dollar then, than to have been taken out of the office."
+
+The lounger looked surprised, and rather concluded that Franklin was
+jesting, he said, "Come, now, tell me the lowest you can take for it."
+
+"One dollar and a half."
+
+"A dollar and a half? Why, you offered it yourself for one dollar and
+a quarter?"
+
+"Yes," answered Franklin, "and I had better have taken that price
+then, than a dollar and a half now."
+
+The lounger paid the price, and went out of the shop, feeling the
+severity of the rebuke. Such was the value he attached to his time.
+
+Franklin always ascribed his industrious habits to the frequent
+counsels of his father on the subject, which were generally closed by
+repeating the text of Scripture, "Seest thou a man diligent in his
+calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean
+men,"--a prophecy that was singularly fulfilled in his own case, as we
+shall see hereafter, for he had the honour of standing before _five_
+kings, and even dined with the King of Denmark.
+
+His economy was equal to his industry. He arrayed himself in the
+plainest manner, although he aimed to look neat and tidy. His board
+was simple and cheap, and everything about his business was graduated
+on the most economical principles. In order to save expense, and at
+the same time show the public that he was not proud, and above his
+business, he wheeled home the paper which he bought. This single act
+had its influence in gaining the public confidence. For when a young
+man gets above his business, he is quite sure to have a fall. Since
+Franklin's day, in the city of Richmond, a young man went to the
+market to purchase a turkey. He looked around for some one to carry it
+home for him, being too proud to do it himself, and finding no one, he
+began to fret and swear, much to the annoyance of bystanders. A
+gentleman stepped up to him and said, "That is in my way, and I will
+take your turkey home for you." When they came to the house, the
+young fop asked, "What shall I pay you?" "O, nothing at all," replied
+the gentleman, "it was all in the way, and it was no trouble to me."
+As he passed on, the young man turned to a person near by, and
+inquired, "Who is that polite old gentleman who brought home my turkey
+for me?" "O," replied he, "that was Judge Marshall, Chief Justice of
+the United States." "Why did _he_ bring home my turkey?" "He did it to
+give you a rebuke, and teach you to attend to your own business," was
+the answer.
+
+How contemptible does such a character appear in contrast with
+Franklin! It is not strange that the public withhold their confidence
+from the fop, and bestow it upon the industrious. Judge Marshall was a
+great man, and great men never get above their business. Franklin
+became a great man, and one reason of it was, that he never became too
+proud to wait upon himself.
+
+After he married Miss Read, and commenced housekeeping, he still
+adhered to the same principle of economy. Instead of doing as many
+young men do at this era of life, living beyond their income, he
+continued frugal. He said of himself and wife, "We kept no idle
+servants, our table was plain and simple, our furniture of the
+cheapest. For instance, my breakfast was for a long time bread and
+milk (no tea), and I ate it out of a twopenny earthen porringer, with
+a pewter spoon." Thus he reduced to practice the couplet which he
+wrote:--
+
+    "Vessels large may venture more,
+    But little boats should keep near shore."
+
+And qualified himself to pen such maxims as the following:--
+
+     "It is easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all
+     that follow it."
+
+     "It is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the
+     frog to swell in order to equal the ox."
+
+     "Pride breakfasts with plenty, dines with poverty, and sups with
+     infamy."
+
+His integrity in transacting business was no less marked. Strict
+honesty characterized all his dealings with men. An exalted idea of
+justice pervaded his soul. His word of honour was as good as his note
+of hand. Even his disposition to castigate and censure in his
+writings, so manifest in Boston at seventeen years of age, and which
+his father rebuked, was overcome. After he set up a paper in
+Philadelphia, a gentleman handed him an article for its columns.
+
+"I am very busy now," said Franklin, "and you will confer a favour by
+leaving it for my perusal at my leisure."
+
+"That I will do," replied the writer "and call again to-morrow."
+
+The next day the author called. "What is your opinion of my article?"
+he asked.
+
+"Why, sir, I am sorry to say that I cannot publish it," answered
+Franklin.
+
+"Why not? What is the matter with it?"
+
+"It is highly scurrilous and defamatory," replied Franklin. "But being
+at a loss on account of my poverty, whether to reject it or not, I
+thought I would put it to this issue. At night, when my work was done,
+I bought a twopenny loaf, on which I supped heartily, and then,
+wrapping myself in my great coat, slept very soundly on the floor
+until morning, when another loaf and mug of water afforded a pleasant
+breakfast. Now, sir, since I can live very comfortably in this manner,
+why should I prostitute my press to personal hatred or party passion
+for a more luxurious living?"
+
+Some writer has said that this incident of Franklin's early life is
+akin to Socrates's reply to King Archelaus, who pressed him to give up
+preaching in the dirty streets of Athens, and come and live with him
+in his costly palace: "_Meal, please your Majesty, is a halfpenny a
+peck at Athens, and water I get for nothing._"
+
+Their business prospered well; but Meredith's intemperate habits were
+so strong, that he was frequently seen intoxicated in the streets,
+which occasioned much gossip about town concerning the prospects of
+their success. To add to their embarrassment, Meredith's father was
+unable to meet the last payment of a hundred pounds upon the
+printing-house, and they were sued. But William Coleman and Robert
+Grace, two of Franklin's companions, came to his assistance.
+
+"We will lend you the means to take the business into your own hands,"
+said Coleman. "It is much to your discredit to be connected with
+Meredith, who is seen reeling through the streets so often."
+
+"But I cannot honourably propose a dissolution of partnership,"
+replied Franklin, "while there is any prospect that the Merediths will
+fulfil their part of the contract, because I feel myself under great
+obligations for what they have done."
+
+"They will not be able to fulfil the contract," said Grace; "that is
+out of the question."
+
+"That is my opinion," responded Franklin; "still, I must wait and see
+what they do. If they fail to meet their obligations, then I shall
+feel at liberty to act otherwise."
+
+The matter was left here for some weeks, when Franklin said to
+Meredith, meaning to sound him on the matter of dissolving the
+partnership: "Perhaps your father is dissatisfied with the part you
+have undertaken in this affair of ours, and is unwilling to advance
+for you and I what he would for you alone. If that is the case, tell
+me, and I will resign the whole to you, and go about my business."
+
+[Illustration: "Sawdust Pudding"--Anecdote of Franklin's
+Independence.--See page 242.]
+
+"No," he answered, "my father has really been disappointed, and is
+really unable; and I am unwilling to distress him further. I see this
+is a business I am unfit for. I was bred a farmer; and it was folly in
+me to come to town, and put myself, at thirty years of age, an
+apprentice to learn a new trade. Many of our Welsh people (he was a
+Welshman) are going to settle in North Carolina, where land is cheap.
+I am inclined to go with them, and follow my old employment; you may
+find friends to assist you. If you will take the debts of the company
+upon you, return to my father the hundred pounds he has advanced, pay
+my little personal debts, and give me thirty pounds and a new saddle,
+I will relinquish the partnership, and leave the whole in your hands."
+
+Franklin accepted this proposition, and, with the aid of his two
+friends, was soon established in business alone. His patronage
+increased rapidly, and he was able to pay off his debts. In a very
+short time he commanded the chief printing business of the town, and
+Keimer sold out, and removed to Barbadoes. The _Pennsylvania Gazette_,
+which he commenced printing before Meredith left him, won the public
+favour, and became a source of profit. As an example of his resolution
+and firmness, and his economy and prudence, it is said that certain
+subscribers to his paper were incensed at an article that appeared in
+its columns, and they threatened to "stop their patronage;" whereupon
+Franklin invited them to dine with him, and, having set before them a
+coarse meal mixture, from which his guests drew back, he remarked:
+"Gentlemen, a man who can subsist on _sawdust pudding_ need call no
+man _patron_."
+
+Here, in early life, our hero laid the foundation of his fortune; and
+the reader need not be at a loss to discover the secret of his
+success. He made himself by the sterling elements of character which
+he cultivated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE JUNTO.
+
+
+Soon after Franklin returned from England, he was instrumental in
+forming his literary associates into a club for mutual improvement,
+called the "JUNTO," which met every Friday evening. This club
+continued nearly forty years, and Franklin said of it, "It was the
+best school of philosophy, morality, and politics, that then existed
+in the Province; for our queries, which were read the week preceding
+their discussion, put us upon reading with attention on the several
+subjects, that we might speak more to the purpose; and here, too, we
+acquired better habits of conversation, everything being studied in
+our rules which might prevent our disgusting each other."
+
+"I have a proposition to submit," said Franklin, at one of their
+meetings, "and it is this. We frequently have occasion to refer to our
+books, in our discussions, and I propose that we bring our books
+together in this room, and form a library; each having the privilege
+of using the books of the other."
+
+"I like the plan much," said Parsons, one of the members. "Nobody but
+Franklin would have thought of it."
+
+"I think that every member must subscribe to this measure," said
+Coleman. "I hope it will be done at once."
+
+And thus it went round the room, each one expressing his approval of
+the plan. The consequence was, that one end of the room was filled
+with volumes; and the plan proved profitable to all.
+
+At that time, books were very scarce. "There was not a good
+bookseller's shop in any of the Colonies to the southward of Boston."
+The readers of Pennsylvania usually sent to England for their books,
+which was both troublesome and expensive.
+
+The members of the "JUNTO" derived so much benefit from the plan of
+bringing their books together, that Franklin conceived the idea of
+establishing a library, and formed his plan, which was successful. He
+found fifty persons in town, mostly young tradesmen, who were willing
+to pay down forty shillings each, and ten shillings per annum; and
+with these the library was commenced. This was the first library ever
+established in this country, and it now numbers more than sixty
+thousand volumes. Since that day libraries have multiplied rapidly.
+
+The following are some of the questions for the "JUNTO," and they show
+that it was really a thorough and valuable organization.
+
+"Have you met with anything, in the author you last read, remarkable,
+or suitable to be communicated to the Junto? particularly in history,
+morality, poetry, physics, travels, mechanic arts, or other parts of
+knowledge."
+
+"Hath any citizen failed in business, and what have you heard of the
+cause?"
+
+"Have you lately heard of any citizen's thriving well, and by what
+means?"
+
+"Do you know of a fellow-citizen who has lately done a worthy action,
+deserving praise and imitation; or who has lately committed an error,
+proper for us to be warned against and avoid?"
+
+"What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately observed or
+heard?--of imprudence?--of passion?--or of any other vice or folly?"
+
+"What happy effects of temperance?--of prudence?--of moderation?--or
+of any other virtue?"
+
+"Do you think of anything at present in which the Junto may be
+serviceable to _mankind_, to their country, to their friends, or to
+themselves?"
+
+"Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since last meeting, that
+you have heard of?--and what have you heard or observed of his
+character or merits?--and whether, think you, it lies in the power of
+the Junto to oblige him, or encourage him as he deserves?"
+
+"Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom it
+lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage?"
+
+"Have you lately observed any defect in the laws of your country, of
+which it would be proper to move the Legislature for an amendment? or
+do you know of any beneficial law that is wanting?"
+
+"Is there any man whose friendship you want, and which the Junto, or
+any of them, can procure for you?"
+
+This is a sample of the questions asked at their meetings, and
+answered. It is not difficult to see the mind of Franklin in these
+inquiries, and many of them were evidently suggested by his own
+experience.
+
+Some of the questions discussed by the members of the Junto were as
+follows:--
+
+"Is _sound_ an entity or body?"
+
+"How may the phenomena of vapours be explained?"
+
+"Can any one particular form of government suit all mankind?"
+
+"Is the emission of paper money safe?"
+
+"How may smoky chimneys be best cured?"
+
+"Which is least criminal,--a _bad_ action joined with a _good_
+intention, or a _good_ action with a _bad_ intention?"
+
+There have been improvements in almost everything in modern times, but
+we doubt if there has been much improvement upon the "JUNTO" in
+literary organizations for the young. It is not surprising, that, of
+the original twelve members (the number was limited to twelve), two
+became surveyors-general; one the inventor of a quadrant; one a
+distinguished mechanic and influential man; and one "a merchant of
+great note and a provincial judge;" and all but one or two,
+respectable and honoured men.
+
+At this time, Franklin had commenced the study of the languages,
+employing only such leisure moments as he had to master them. It was a
+great undertaking, but his application and perseverance were equal to
+the task. He began with French, and was soon able to read books in
+that language. Then he took Italian. A friend, who was studying it
+also, tempted him to play chess. He played a little, and finding that
+it consumed time, he refused to play any more, unless on the condition
+that "the victor in every game should have a right to impose a task,
+either of parts of the grammar to be got by heart, or in translations,
+which task the vanquished was to perform upon honour before the next
+meeting." In this way, he learned the Italian language. Subsequently
+he acquired sufficient knowledge of Spanish to enable him to read
+books in that tongue. He studied Latin a year in Boston, before he was
+ten years old, but since that time he had neglected it. His
+acquaintance now with other languages revived his taste for the
+Latin, however, so that he mastered that.
+
+Surely here is literary work enough for a youth who is earning a
+livelihood by hard labour, having only snatches of time to devote to
+reading and study. There is no work of his whole life that is more
+replete with interest than this; for it shows that he possessed
+indomitable energy and force of character, together with other
+valuable traits. He proved that it was possible for him to be a
+scholar while he was a printer.
+
+The "Junto" appears to have been copied in England, half a century
+after this period. When the celebrated Canning was in his youth, being
+educated at Oxford, a debating society was organized, limited to the
+number of six, who met every Thursday evening at the rooms of the
+members. At each meeting, before they separated, the subject for the
+next meeting was voted and recorded. Here Canning and Jenkinson (who
+became Earl of Liverpool) made their first speeches, and here they
+received impulses that helped them on to fame.
+
+Franklin began to think more of religion, and to raise some queries
+respecting his former doubts, soon after he came back from England.
+The two young men whose religious sentiments he corrupted and
+unsettled turned out badly, and cheated him out of a sum of money, and
+this led him to inquire if it was not because they ignored religious
+principle. He witnessed other conduct among those who talked lightly
+of religion, which caused him to inquire, whether, after all, his
+parents were not in the right. He stayed away from meeting, and
+devoted the Sabbath to study, which had a very bad look. Yet, he said,
+"I never was without some religious principle. I never doubted the
+existence of a Deity; that He made the world and governed it by his
+providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good
+to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crimes will be
+punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter." He also
+subscribed something for the support of the only Presbyterian meeting
+in Philadelphia, and advocated the importance of sustaining public
+worship.
+
+The minister called upon him, and counselled him to attend church,
+just when he was beginning to think better of it, and it had the
+effect to bring him out occasionally. Once he went five Sabbaths in
+succession. But the preacher was dull and uninteresting, so that
+Franklin was not well pleased; still he continued to attend
+occasionally, until, one Sabbath, the preacher took the following
+text: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just,
+pure, lovely, or of good report, if there be any virtue, or any
+praise, think on these things." The minister was usually doctrinal in
+his style of preaching, but now Franklin thought he would have
+something practical. Consequently he was sadly disappointed when he
+found that the discourse embraced only the following points:--1.
+Keeping holy the Sabbath-day. 2. Being diligent in reading the
+Scriptures. 3. Attending duly public worship. 4. Partaking of the
+Sacrament. 5. Paying a due respect to God's ministers. Franklin
+thought that these subjects, though very good, did not belong to such
+a text, and he was so dissatisfied with the sermon, that he ceased
+attending.
+
+Conscience, however, did not slumber. He saw and felt that he was
+wrong, and, in order to make himself better, he began to lead a
+self-righteous life. He imposed religious duties upon himself. He
+returned to the use of a form of prayer which he prepared some time
+before, when his thoughts were dwelling upon religious things. In that
+prayer, under the head of "Thanks," occurs the following:--
+
+     "For the common benefits of air and light, for useful fire and
+     delicious water,--Good God, I thank Thee!
+
+     "For knowledge and literature, and every useful art; for my
+     friends and their prosperity, and for the fewness of my
+     enemies,--Good God, I thank Thee!
+
+     "For all thy innumerable benefits; for life, and reason, and the
+     use of speech; for health, and joy, and every pleasant hour,--My
+     good God, I thank Thee!"
+
+He made a little book, in which he wrote down certain virtues that he
+ought to cultivate, and prepared a table for the same. The following
+were the virtues:--
+
+     "1. Temperance.--Eat not to dulness; drink not to elevation.
+
+     "2. Silence.--Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself;
+     avoid trifling conversation.
+
+     "3. Order.--Let all your things have their places; let each part
+     of your business have its time.
+
+     "4. Resolution.--Resolve to perform what you ought; perform
+     without fail what you resolve.
+
+     "5. Frugality.--Make no expense but to do good to others or
+     yourself; that is, waste nothing.
+
+     "6. Industry.--Lose no time; be always employed in something
+     useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
+
+     "7. Sincerity.--Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and
+     justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
+
+     "8. Justice.--Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the
+     benefits that are your duty.
+
+     "9. Moderation.--Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so
+     much as you think they deserve.
+
+     "10. Cleanliness.--Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or
+     habitation.
+
+     "11. Tranquillity.--Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents,
+     common or unavoidable.
+
+     "12. Chastity.
+
+     "13. Humility.--Imitate Jesus Christ and Socrates."
+
+These are very good so far as they go, and they show that he studied
+to form a high character, although he had not yet attained to the
+height of the true Christian.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+We have followed the subject of this volume from the time he paid _too
+dear for his whistle_, to the period when he was well established in
+business. We have seen what his character was as a PRINTER-BOY, and
+hence his promise of success. He was not perfect by any means; on the
+other hand, he had marked failings. Yet, underneath the whole, we have
+discovered certain qualities that are indispensable to eminence in
+one's vocation. And now it remains to see, briefly, whether the
+principle we advocate was true in his case, namely, "that the boy is
+father of the man." To do this, we shall pass over a series of years,
+and take a succinct view of his position and influence in middle and
+advanced life.
+
+It should be recorded first, however, that the difficulty between
+himself and his brother James was adjusted, ten years after his first
+visit to Boston. James had removed and settled in Newport, where he
+was fast declining in health, and Benjamin went thither to see him.
+Their past differences were forgotten, and their interview was
+signalized by mutual forgiveness. It was then that Benjamin promised
+to take his brother's little son, ten years old, after the father was
+no more, and bring him up to the printing business. This pledge he
+fulfilled, doing even more for the lad than he promised, for he sent
+him to school two or three years before he took him into the office,
+and finally he established him in business. This, certainly, was a
+happy termination of a quarrel that was creditable to neither party.
+The result was decisive evidence that both parties deplored their
+conduct towards each other.
+
+While he was yet a young man, he was promoted to different posts of
+distinction. He filled various offices in Philadelphia, and served the
+State of Pennsylvania in several public ways, in all of which he did
+himself honour. He devoted a portion of his time to philosophical
+studies, in which he earned a world-wide fame. His mind was ever busy
+in projects to benefit society, and no work was too humble for him to
+do for the good of others. At one time he is found inventing a stove
+for domestic use, called afterward the Franklin stove, with which
+Governor Thomas was so well pleased, that he offered him a patent for
+the sole vending of them for a series of years; but Franklin refused
+it, on the ground, "_that, as we enjoy great advantages from the
+invention of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve_
+_others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and
+generously_." This was another instance of his remarkable generosity,
+and it reminds us of that incident of his life in France, when an
+English clergyman asked him for pecuniary assistance. He gave him
+liberally, remarking, "Some time or other you may have an opportunity
+of assisting with an equal sum a stranger who has equal need of it. Do
+so. By that means you may discharge any obligation you may suppose
+yourself under to me. _Enjoin him to do the same on occasion._ By
+pursuing such a practice, much good may be done with little money. Let
+kind offices go round. Mankind are all of a family."
+
+At another time he is engaged in improving the lamps that light the
+city, and devising ways of cleaning the streets. Then, again, he is
+originating a system of volunteer militia for the defence of his
+country. Extinguishing fires, also, is a subject that commands his
+thoughts, and he organized the first fire company in the land. Again,
+the education of youth demands his time, and he labours to introduce a
+system of schools, and finally founds a University. Thus the humblest
+acts of a good citizen were performed in connection with the nobler
+deeds of the philosopher and statesman.
+
+The following is a brief synopsis of the offices he filled, and the
+honours he won:--
+
+    HE WAS LEGISLATOR FOR PENNSYLVANIA IN 1732, WHEN ONLY TWENTY-SIX
+    YEARS OF AGE.
+
+    HE FOUNDED THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
+
+    DEPUTY POSTMASTER-GENERAL IN 1752.
+
+    INVENTOR OF LIGHTNING-RODS.
+
+    WAS ELECTED A FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.
+
+    ORIGINATOR OF THE VOLUNTEER MILITIA.
+
+    COLONEL OF MILITIA.
+
+    MINISTER TO THE COURT OF ENGLAND IN 1764.
+
+    MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS IN 1775.
+
+    MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO FRANCE IN 1776.
+
+    CONCLUDED FIRST TREATY FOR AMERICA IN 1778.
+
+    RECEIVED THE DEGREE OF LL.D. FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY.
+
+    MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO FRANCE IN 1778.
+
+    ONE OF FIVE TO DRAFT THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
+
+    HELPED TO FRAME THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+    A LEADER IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
+
+    CALLED THE "NESTOR OF AMERICA" BY THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF FRANCE.
+
+    ADMITTED TO THE HIGHEST LITERARY ASSEMBLIES OF EUROPE.
+
+    LIKE WASHINGTON, "FIRST IN WAR, FIRST IN PEACE, AND FIRST IN THE
+    HEARTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN."
+
+    HONOURED AS A GREAT PHILOSOPHER, SAGACIOUS STATESMAN, AND SINCERE
+    PHILANTHROPIST.
+
+In reading the history of the United States, no name is more
+conspicuous than that of Franklin. His agency is everywhere seen and
+acknowledged in laying the foundation of her institutions, and
+achieving her glories. The memory of no patriot and philosopher has
+been more dear to generations that have come and gone since his day.
+Abroad, as well as at home, he was honoured. At one time, in France,
+"prints, medallion portraits, and busts of Franklin were multiplied
+throughout France; and rings, bracelets, canes, and snuff-boxes,
+bearing his likeness, were worn or carried quite generally." In
+England, and other parts of Europe, similar homage was paid to his
+greatness. Since that period his statue has been erected in the halls
+of learning and legislation, literary societies have adopted his name
+to give them pre-eminence, and numerous towns have been called after
+him. The author's native place was named in honour of Franklin, who
+afterwards presented the town with a valuable library that is still in
+existence. On being informed by a friend that this town had adopted
+his name, he inquired what sort of a present would be acceptable to
+the inhabitants as an acknowledgment of their respect and homage. The
+friend suggested that a _bell_ might prove a timely gift, as they were
+erecting a new house of worship. But Franklin thought otherwise, and
+decided to present a library. He jocosely remarked, in the letter
+which accompanied the books, that he "_supposed a town that would
+adopt his name must be more fond of sense than sound_."
+
+It would multiply the pages of this volume beyond its designed limits
+to enumerate all the public posts of honour that Franklin adorned, and
+all the marks of respect that have been paid to his memory. This brief
+reference to the more prominent of these is sufficient to afford the
+reader a view of the REMARKABLE MAN, and to illustrate the force of
+energy, industry, integrity, and perseverance, in human destiny.
+
+Washington wrote to him: "If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be
+admired for talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be
+beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have
+the pleasing consolation to know that you have not lived in vain. And
+I flatter myself that it will not be ranked among the least grateful
+occurrences of your life to be assured that, so long as I retain my
+memory, you will be recollected with respect, veneration, and
+affection, by your sincere friend, George Washington."
+
+Congress was in session when Franklin died, and when his death was
+announced, on motion of Madison, it was resolved that a badge of
+mourning be worn for one month, "as a mark of veneration due to the
+memory of a citizen whose native genius was not more an ornament to
+human nature than his various exertions of it have been precious to
+science, to freedom, and to his country."
+
+In France, Condorcet eulogized him in the Academy of Science, and
+Mirabeau in the National Assembly. The latter said: "Antiquity would
+have erected altars to this great and powerful genius."
+
+When Rachel was dying, she named her infant son "Ben-oni," which
+means, "son of my sorrow," because he was the occasion of her
+sufferings and death. But Jacob, his father, called him "Benjamin,"
+which signifies "the son of a right hand." There was a time when
+Franklin's mother, weeping over her runaway boy, would have called him
+"Ben-oni," and it might have appeared to observers that he would turn
+out to be such. But the excellent lessons of his early home, and the
+good traits of character which he nurtured, caused him to become a
+true Benjamin to his parents,--"a son of their right hand." With a
+warm, filial heart, he sought to minister to their wants in their
+declining years, and, as we have seen, offered the last and highest
+tribute of affection in his power, when they were laid in the dust.
+
+In his riper years, Franklin sincerely regretted the doubts of his
+youth and early manhood respecting religion. The sentiments that were
+poured into his young mind by fond, parental lips, he came to respect
+and cherish. He went to the house of God on the Sabbath with great
+constancy; and, if recollecting the sin of his youth, he wrote to his
+daughter, "_Go constantly to church, whoever preaches._" His own
+experience taught him that it was dangerous and wicked to forsake the
+sanctuary. He became interested in every good work. His influence and
+his purse were offered to sustain Christianity. He appreciated every
+benevolent enterprise, and bade them God-speed. On one occasion the
+celebrated Whitefield preached in behalf of an orphan asylum, which he
+proposed to erect in Georgia. Franklin was not in full sympathy with
+the plan, because he thought it should be erected in Pennsylvania, and
+the orphans brought there. Still, he listened to the eminent preacher
+unprejudiced, and when the collection was taken, at the close of the
+meeting, he emptied his pockets of all the money he had, which
+consisted of "a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars,
+and five pistoles in gold."
+
+He sympathized deeply with the poor and needy, and espoused the cause
+of the oppressed in every land. He was the first President of the
+Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, and both his hand and heart were
+pledged to the cause of freedom. One of his biographers, summing up
+his character in these particulars, says: "He was bold, consistent,
+active, and greatly in advance of his age. From his Quaker brethren in
+Philadelphia he contracted all their zeal in behalf of humanity,
+although in his mind it put on the aspect of plain, practical
+beneficence. He was ever foremost in all humane enterprises. He was
+never misled, through sympathy with a majority, into the support of
+measures which, though popular, were inconsistent with a high-toned
+Christian morality. He was the champion of the Indians when to
+advocate their cause was to displease many. He was one of the earliest
+opponents of the slave-trade and slavery. He omitted no opportunity to
+protest against war and its iniquity, and he branded as piracy the
+custom of privateering, however sanctioned by international usages. As
+a statesman and philosopher his name is imperishable. As an active
+benefactor of his race, he is entitled to its lasting gratitude. As
+one of the founders of the American Union, he must ever be held in
+honourable remembrance by all who prize American institutions. As the
+zealous foe to oppression in all its forms, he merits the thankful
+regard of good men of all ages and climes."
+
+He carried his reverence for God and his regard for Christianity into
+the high places of authority. He proposed the first Day of Fasting and
+Prayer ever observed in Pennsylvania, and wrote the proclamation for
+the Secretary of State. When the convention to frame the Constitution
+of the United States met in Philadelphia, in 1787, he introduced a
+motion into that body for daily prayers, which, strange to say, was
+rejected. In support of his motion, he made the following memorable
+address, which fairly illustrates his usual disposition to recognize
+God in all human affairs:--
+
+     "In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were
+     sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine
+     protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard; and they were
+     graciously answered. All of us, who were engaged in the struggle,
+     must have observed frequent instances of a superintending
+     Providence in our favour. To that kind Providence we owe this
+     happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of
+     establishing our future national felicity. And have we now
+     forgotten that powerful Friend, or do we imagine we no longer
+     need his assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time; and the
+     longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth,
+     _that God governs in the affairs of men_. And, if a sparrow
+     cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that
+     an empire can arise without his aid? We have been assured, sir,
+     in the sacred writings, that, 'except the Lord build the house,
+     they labour in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I
+     also believe, that, without his concurring aid, we shall succeed
+     in this political building no better than the builders of Babel;
+     we shall be divided by our little, partial, local interests; our
+     projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a
+     reproach and a by-word down to future ages. And, what is worse,
+     mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of
+     establishing government by human wisdom, and leave it to chance,
+     war, and conquest. I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth
+     prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on
+     our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before
+     we proceed to business; and that one or more of the clergy of
+     this city be requested to officiate in that service."
+
+His confidence in the Christian religion, and his regard for purity of
+conduct, did not diminish as he drew near the grave. On the other
+hand, he bore earnest testimony to the faith of his fathers until the
+close of his life, and, ere he died, renewed his vindication of the
+Scriptures, in the following circumstances.
+
+A young man called to see him, as he lay upon his death-bed, scarcely
+able to articulate. Dr. Franklin welcomed him with a benignant look,
+which he was wont to cast upon the young, and imparted some good
+advice to him.
+
+"What is your opinion with regard to the truth of the Scriptures?"
+inquired the young man, who was somewhat sceptical.
+
+Franklin replied, although in a very feeble state, "Young man, my
+advice to you is, that you cultivate an acquaintance with, and a firm
+belief in, the Holy Scriptures; this is your certain interest."
+
+
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+London: Thomas Harrild, Printer.
+
+
+[Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
+possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other
+inconsistencies.
+
+The transcriber noted the following issues and made changes as
+indicated to the text to correct obvious errors:
+
+   1. p.  ix, Cricticisms --> Criticisms
+   2. p.  65, bread his buttered. --> bread is buttered.
+   3. p.  86, in print. --> in print."
+   4. p.  88, sell them.  --> sell them."
+   5. p. 119, Who can the author --> "Who can the author
+   6. p. 136, thaI --> that
+   7. p. 144, start with. --> start with."
+   8. p. 155, sir," --> sir."
+   9. p. 209, "The old lady --> The old lady
+  10. p. 240, "The next day --> The next day
+  11. p. 257, Philantroprist --> Philanthropist
+  12. p. 264, your certain interest. --> your certain interest."
+
+End of Transcriber's Notes]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Printer Boy., by William M. Thayer
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+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Printer Boy., by William M. Thayer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Printer Boy.
+       Or How Benjamin Franklin Made His Mark. An Example for Youth.
+
+Author: William M. Thayer
+
+Release Date: August 13, 2008 [EBook #26295]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRINTER BOY. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Richard J. Shiffer and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="trans-note">
+<p class="heading">Transcriber's Note</p>
+<p>Every effort has been made to replicate this text as
+faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other
+inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an obvious error
+is noted at the <a href="#END">end</a> of this ebook.</p>
+</div>
+
+<a name="Cover" id="Cover"></a>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 347px;">
+<img src="images/vignette_title.jpg" width="347" height="530" alt="Cover." title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h1><small><i>The</i></small><br />
+
+PRINTER BOY.<br /><br />
+
+<small><span class="sc">or</span></small><br /><br />
+
+<small><span class="sc">how</span></small><br />
+
+BENJAMIN FRANKLIN<br />
+<small>MADE HIS MARK.</small><br /><br />
+
+<small><span class="sc">An Example for Youth.</span></small></h1>
+
+<h5>BY</h5>
+
+<h3>WILLIAM. M. THAYER</h3>
+
+<h6>AUTHOR OF "THE BOBBIN BOY", "TALES FROM THE BIBLE", ETC.</h6>
+
+<h5>ILLUSTRATIONS BY<br />
+JULIAN PORTCH</h5>
+
+<h5>ENGRAVED BY<br />
+BALE &amp; HOLMAN.</h5>
+
+<h5>LONDON<br />
+JAMES HOGG &amp; SONS</h5>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 311px;">
+<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="311" height="474" alt="&quot;How much did you give for your whistle!&quot;&mdash;See page 4." title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;How much did you give for your whistle!&quot;&mdash;See page 4.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">This</span> book is designed to illustrate the familiar maxim, that "<span class="smcap">the boy
+is father to the man</span>." The early life of Franklin is sketched from his
+childhood to the time he was established in business, thus showing
+what he was in boyhood and youth; and the achievements of his manhood
+are summed up in a closing chapter, to substantiate the truth of the
+above proverb.</p>
+
+<p>The author believes that the lives of distinguished men may be
+incorporated into a story, uniting narrative and dialogue so as to be
+more attractive to the young. John Bunyan was the first to adopt this
+style, and his inimitable Pilgrim's Progress charms the young reader,
+not only by its graphic imagery, but also by its alternation of
+narrative and dialogue. Since his day, others have adopted a similar
+style, particularly in works of fiction, with success. Why may not
+truth appear in such a dress as successfully as fiction? Why may not
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span><i>actual</i> lives be presented in this manner as vividly as <i>imaginary</i>
+ones? The young mind will seize upon a truth or fact that is conveyed
+in a story, when it will remain wholly indifferent to it as it appears
+in a simple statement. So the life of an eminent man may engage the
+attention of this class, if he is made to speak and act for himself,
+when they would not be interested in it, if it were presented to them
+in a plain summary of facts.</p>
+
+<p>In this volume, the actual, early life of Franklin is wrought into a
+story. The imagination has done no more than weave the facts of his
+boyhood and youth into a "tale of real life." It makes Benjamin and
+his associates speak and do what biographers say they spoke and did.
+It simply paints the scenes and acts of which other writers have
+<i>told</i>.</p>
+
+<p>A conspicuous place is given in the work to the maxims of Franklin,
+for the purpose of conveying important lessons in regard to the
+formation of character, and thus stimulating the young in the path of
+well-doing. Whole volumes of meaning are condensed into many of his
+wise and pithy sayings.</p>
+
+<p class="right">W. M. T.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></p>
+<p class="center">THE WHISTLE.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+The Holiday&mdash;The Coppers in Benjamin Franklin's Pocket&mdash;Inquiry&mdash;Bounding
+Out&mdash;The Toy-Shop Then and Now&mdash;The
+Boy and his Whistle&mdash;Resolved to Purchase&mdash;The
+Bargain&mdash;Going Home&mdash;Making Music&mdash;Discussion
+about the Price&mdash;A Pocketful of Good Things&mdash;Benjamin
+crying over his Whistle&mdash;A Benefit&mdash;What Franklin
+said of it Sixty Years after&mdash;Boys do not Learn from the
+Past&mdash;Other Ways of paying too dear for a Whistle&mdash;Deceit
+and Falsehood&mdash;Tippling&mdash;Worldly Pleasure</p>
+<p class="tocpage">1-8</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></p>
+<p class="center">AT SCHOOL.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Talk about School&mdash;Brothers at Trades&mdash;Benjamin for the
+Church&mdash;Early learned to Read&mdash;Long Process of Preparation
+for the Ministry&mdash;"Uncle Benjamin's" Remarks
+and Offer&mdash;Who is "Uncle Benjamin"&mdash;A Hundred
+Years Ago&mdash;When Benjamin was Born&mdash;Baptized on Same
+Day he was Born&mdash;The Record&mdash;Description of his Birthplace&mdash;Early
+Love of Books&mdash;His Father's Violin&mdash;Poor
+but Industrious&mdash;Seventeen Children&mdash;Decision to Enter
+School&mdash;Where it was, and by Whom kept&mdash;His Rapid
+Progress&mdash;Mr. Franklin's Trust in Providence&mdash;At the
+Head of his Class&mdash;The Boy Father to the Man&mdash;Daniel
+Webster&mdash;David Rittenhouse and George Stephenson&mdash;Hopes
+of Benjamin</p>
+<p class="tocpage">9-18</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></p>
+<p class="center">A CHANGE.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Franklin&mdash;Decision to
+Remove Benjamin from School&mdash;Trials of Ministers&mdash;Bread
+before Learning&mdash;Subject opened to Benjamin&mdash;His Feelings&mdash;Character
+of Schools then&mdash;Mr. Brownwell's Writing-school&mdash;Benjamin's
+Obedience&mdash;His Father Strict&mdash;Keeping
+the Sabbath&mdash;Lore and Respect for his Father&mdash;Rebuking
+the Inquisitive Landlord&mdash;Erecting Marble
+Stone to the Memory of his Parents&mdash;The Stone replaced
+by Citizens of Boston&mdash;Obedience of the Peel Boys&mdash;Harry
+Garland&mdash;Stephenson's Noble Act to his Parents&mdash;The
+Eight Brothers at Inauguration of the Franklin Statue&mdash;Progress
+in Penmanship&mdash;Beloved by Teacher</p>
+<p class="tocpage">19-28</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></p>
+<p class="center">MAKING CANDLES.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Put to Candle-making at Ten Years of Age&mdash;His Father
+a Tallow-chandler&mdash;Benjamin opposed to it&mdash;Importance of
+Industry&mdash;His Father's Hive without Drones&mdash;Benjamin's
+Maxims about Industry in Later Life&mdash;"The used key
+always bright."&mdash;"Diligence the Mother of Good Luck"&mdash;Bad
+Luck&mdash;Bible View&mdash;No Schooling after Ten Years of
+Age&mdash;Cutting Candle-wicks&mdash;Where was the Shop&mdash;Benjamin
+desires to go to Sea&mdash;His Mother's Veto&mdash;An Older
+Brother went to Sea&mdash;Talk with his Father&mdash;His Father's
+Veto&mdash;Promise of another Pursuit&mdash;Respect for a Paternal
+"No"&mdash;His Sports on the Water&mdash;No Prospect of Fame&mdash;Giotti
+Marking in the Sand&mdash;Webster's Pocket-handkerchief&mdash;Roger
+Sherman at his Bench&mdash;Boys not excused
+from School by these Examples&mdash;Benefit of a Little Knowledge&mdash;Saved
+Benjamin Russell in Thunder-storm&mdash;How
+Stephenson felt for his Son</p>
+<p class="tocpage">29-43</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></p>
+<p class="center">THE ROGUE'S WHARF.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+"All Abroad"&mdash;The Quagmire&mdash;Proposal to build a Wharf&mdash;The
+Heap of Stones&mdash;Plan to steal them&mdash;Time set in the
+Evening&mdash;The Plan executed&mdash;The Wharf done&mdash;Keeping
+the Secret&mdash;Benjamin's Father finds him out&mdash;Benjamin
+in a tight place&mdash;Promises to do better&mdash;How
+the Boys were found out&mdash;Benjamin's Reading Habits&mdash;What
+Books liked&mdash;Mather's "Essays to Do Good"&mdash;Letter
+to Mather's Son&mdash;Boys should be at Home in Evenings&mdash;Advantage
+of Reading&mdash;Letter to a Girl on the Subject</p>
+<p class="tocpage">44-54</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></p>
+<p class="center">TABLE TALK. </p>
+<p class="toc">
+Interview with a Friend&mdash;His Ancestors&mdash;Their Hardships&mdash;Denied
+Liberty of Conscience&mdash;The Bible under the Stool&mdash;Leaving
+the Church of England&mdash;Emigration for Religious
+Freedom&mdash;Conversation on Useful Themes at Table&mdash;No
+Complaints allowed about Food&mdash;Guests introduced
+and sensible Remarks made&mdash;Effect on Benjamin&mdash;The
+Washburne Family&mdash;Benefit of Good Conversation&mdash;His
+Father's Remarks about Food&mdash;Benjamin Temperate in
+Eating and Drinking&mdash;"The Water-American"&mdash;No
+Temperance Societies then&mdash;Table Talk now&mdash;A Table
+Scene</p>
+<p class="tocpage">55-63</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">CHOOSING A TRADE.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Still Opposed to Candle-making&mdash;A Dirty, Simple Business&mdash;Wants
+to do something that requires Ingenuity&mdash;His
+Father and Mother conferring together&mdash;"A rolling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>
+stone gathers no moss"&mdash;Afraid he will go to Sea&mdash;Benjamin's
+Views and Maxims&mdash;Opportunity to choose a
+Trade&mdash;Going to see different Trades&mdash;Devotes a Day to
+it&mdash;Joiners', Turners', and Bricklayers' Work&mdash;Cutlery
+Shop, his Cousin's&mdash;Which Trade he chose&mdash;His Father's
+Decision&mdash;Arrangement to learn to make Cutlery&mdash;Wise
+to Consult Taste and Tact of Benjamin&mdash;Handel the
+Musician&mdash;Sir Joshua Reynolds&mdash;Father of John Smeaton&mdash;Opposing
+a Child's Bent of Mind</p>
+<p class="tocpage">64-75</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">THE PRINTER-BOY.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Taken Away from Cousin Samuel&mdash;His Brother's Return from
+England&mdash;Setting Up the Printing Business&mdash;Proposal to
+Benjamin&mdash;A Long Apprenticeship&mdash;Benjamin disposed
+to turn Printer-boy&mdash;His Brother's Offer to Teach Him
+the Art of Printing&mdash;Borrowing Books to read, and sitting
+up at Night&mdash;Mr. Adams's Library and his Kindness&mdash;Going
+to it for Books&mdash;Scarcity of Books&mdash;Compared with
+now&mdash;Two and a half Books made in a Minute&mdash;No
+Libraries then&mdash;Their enormous Size now&mdash;Habit of
+Reading made him punctual&mdash;Example of Lord
+Brougham</p>
+<p class="tocpage">76-84</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></p>
+<p class="center">FIRST LITERARY ENTERPRISE.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+A Piece of Poetry&mdash;Pronounced Good&mdash;Proposition to Print
+his Articles&mdash;"The Lighthouse Tragedy"&mdash;A Sailor's
+Song&mdash;Printing them&mdash;Selling them in the Streets&mdash;A
+Successful Enterprise&mdash;His Father opposes&mdash;Condemns
+Poetry in general and Benjamin's in particular&mdash;A severe
+Rebuke&mdash;Crestfallen&mdash;Conference with James&mdash;His Father's
+Censure a Benefit&mdash;Practice of writing Composition
+excellent&mdash;How it Benefited Benjamin, even Pecuniarily&mdash;The
+Farmer's Son and Minister</p>
+<p class="tocpage">85-92</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></p>
+<p class="center">THE DISPUTE.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Dispute with John Collins&mdash;A Bookish Fellow&mdash;The Education
+of Girls&mdash;The Controversial Correspondence&mdash;His
+Father finds the Letters&mdash;His Criticisms&mdash;Collins <i>versus</i>
+Benjamin&mdash;Bought a Copy of the Spectator and studied it
+laboriously&mdash;Sorry that he did not continue to write
+Poetry&mdash;His Father's Counsel&mdash;His Economy of Time&mdash;A
+Book always by his side&mdash;His Maxims on this Subject&mdash;Violating
+the Sabbath to gain Time for Study&mdash;Useful
+Conversation and Talking Nonsense&mdash;Hundreds ruined
+by a similar cause&mdash;Walter Scott hiding Novels from his
+Father&mdash;Pope going to the Theatre&mdash;Exceptions to the
+General Rule</p>
+<p class="tocpage">93-103</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></p>
+<p class="center">PLAIN FARE.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Proposition to board Himself&mdash;Became a Vegetarian by Reading
+Tryon's Book&mdash;Why he did it&mdash;How much Money
+he saved by doing it&mdash;Spent it for Books&mdash;How much
+Time saved also&mdash;Cocker's Arithmetic&mdash;Other Books
+read at odd moments&mdash;His Plan to save Time&mdash;His
+Maxims on saving Time&mdash;Aim to be Useful&mdash;The English
+Grammar&mdash;Shaftesbury's Works&mdash;Benjamin a Doubter&mdash;Makes
+known his Doubts to Collins&mdash;Danger of Reading
+Attacks upon the Gospel</p>
+<p class="tocpage">104-113</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">THE NEWSPAPER.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Starting the Third Newspaper in America&mdash;Opposition to it&mdash;Number
+of Newspapers now&mdash;Forty Million Sheets from
+Eight Presses&mdash;Seventy-one Miles a day of Newspapers
+from One <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span>Office&mdash;Almost enough to reach around the
+Earth in a Year&mdash;Weigh these Papers&mdash;Four Million
+Pounds in a Year&mdash;Two Thousand Two-Horse Loads&mdash;The
+New England Courant started&mdash;Printer, News-carrier,
+and Collector&mdash;The Club&mdash;Incited to write an Article&mdash;Tucks
+it under Printing-office Door&mdash;Hears it favourably
+commented on&mdash;Writes other Articles&mdash;This an
+Incident that decides his Career&mdash;Canning at Eton and
+the "Microcosm"&mdash;Similar Paper in Seminaries now</p>
+<p class="tocpage">114-122</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Eager to Own the Pieces&mdash;Discloses the Authorship to James&mdash;Interview
+with the Club&mdash;Surprise that Benjamin wrote
+them&mdash;Treated with Attention by the Club&mdash;Oppressed
+by James&mdash;Trouble with him&mdash;Benjamin resolves to leave
+him&mdash;The Printing-office furnishes many Scholars&mdash;A
+New England Divine&mdash;Benjamin directed in the Path to
+which his Native Endowments pointed&mdash;So of Lord Nelson&mdash;Anecdote
+of him&mdash;Buxton, Wilberforce, and Others&mdash;Example
+of the Author of the "Optic Library"</p>
+<p class="tocpage">123-129</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></p>
+<p class="center">THE ARREST. </p>
+<p class="toc">
+Action of General Court to Arrest James Franklin for Libel&mdash;The
+Legislative Order&mdash;James imprisoned four weeks,
+and Benjamin arrested, but discharged&mdash;The immediate
+Cause of the Arrest&mdash;Meeting of the Club&mdash;Decision to
+publish the Paper in Benjamin's Name&mdash;Shrewd Evasion&mdash;Youngest
+Conductor of a Paper who ever lived&mdash;His
+Thrusts at the Government&mdash;Benjamin born in troublous
+Times&mdash;Attacks and Massacres by the Savages&mdash;Prepared
+thereby to act in achieving Independence&mdash;Bears in Boston</p>
+<p class="tocpage">130-136</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></p>
+<p class="center">THE RUNAWAY.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+A Quarrel&mdash;Asserting his Freedom&mdash;Statement of the Case&mdash;Appeal
+to his Father&mdash;His Father's Decision&mdash;Leaves his
+Brother&mdash;Fails to get Work&mdash;Charged with being an Infidel&mdash;Plans
+to run away&mdash;Conference with Collins&mdash;His
+Plan to get away&mdash;Collins's Talk with the Captain of a
+New York Sloop, and his Base Lie&mdash;Benjamin Boards the
+Sloop&mdash;Arrival in New York&mdash;His lonely Condition&mdash;Guilt
+of a Runaway&mdash;Quarrel between Brothers painful&mdash;Case
+of William Hutton&mdash;Lines of Dr. Watts</p>
+<p class="tocpage">137-147</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a></p>
+<p class="center">ANOTHER TRIP AND ITS TRIALS.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Calls on Printer Bradford in New York&mdash;No Work&mdash;Recommended
+to go to Philadelphia&mdash;Arranges for the Trip&mdash;Starts
+for Philadelphia&mdash;The Drunken Dutchman&mdash;His
+wet Volume and Bottle&mdash;Struck by a Squall&mdash;A sad Night
+off Long Island&mdash;Benjamin's Feelings&mdash;The next morning&mdash;Storm
+subsides&mdash;Next night on shore&mdash;Advantage of a
+little Reading&mdash;Boys lose nothing by spending leisure
+Hours in Reading&mdash;The Young Man in Maine&mdash;Discipline
+of the Mind&mdash;Case of Gibbon&mdash;What Boys say&mdash;Sir Walter
+Scott in Boyhood, and his warning Words&mdash;Benjamin
+leaving Amboy&mdash;Fifty Miles on Foot&mdash;Suspected of being
+a Runaway&mdash;Reaches the Quack Doctor's Tavern&mdash;Arrival
+at Burlington&mdash;The Gingerbread Woman&mdash;The Boat gone&mdash;Going
+back to the Gingerbread Woman&mdash;His Walk&mdash;The
+unexpected Boat and his Passage&mdash;In Cooper's Creek
+at Midnight&mdash;Reached Philadelphia on Sunday Morning&mdash;The
+Shilling&mdash;The Boy and his Loaf&mdash;Going up Market
+Street with a Baker's Loaf under each Arm&mdash;Miss Read&mdash;Asleep
+in a Quaker Church&mdash;Suspected again of being a
+Runaway&mdash;First Night in Philadelphia</p>
+<p class="tocpage">148-166</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">GETTING WORK.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Call upon Andrew Bradford&mdash;His Surprise&mdash;Disappointment&mdash;Directed
+to Keimer&mdash;The Interview&mdash;Advantage of Thoroughness&mdash;Benjamin
+did things well&mdash;Bradford's Talk
+with Keimer&mdash;Keimer ensnared&mdash;Benjamin makes a Disclosure&mdash;Keimer
+astonished&mdash;Repairing a Printing-press&mdash;At
+work for Keimer&mdash;Goes to Board at Mr. Read's&mdash;His
+Power of Observation&mdash;Stephenson like him&mdash;William
+Hutton again and his Dulcimer&mdash;Perseverance&mdash;Not proud&mdash;How
+many Boys would have done&mdash;Maxims</p>
+<p class="tocpage">167-175</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">NEWS FROM HOME, AND RETURN.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+The Unexpected Letter&mdash;Benjamin's Reply&mdash;Governor Keith
+calls to see him&mdash;Surprise of Keimer&mdash;Invites him to the
+Tavern&mdash;Advises him to set up Business for Himself&mdash;Benjamin's
+Objections overruled&mdash;Decides to return to
+Boston to ask his Father's Assistance&mdash;How the Governor
+learned of Benjamin&mdash;His Return to Boston&mdash;Joy at Home&mdash;His
+gentlemanly appearance&mdash;Goes to his Brother's
+Printing-office&mdash;Cold Reception&mdash;Interview with the
+Workmen&mdash;Exhibition of his Silver Coin&mdash;His Watch&mdash;The
+Dollar "Treat"&mdash;James incensed&mdash;Interview with his
+Mother&mdash;Stating Business to his Father, and giving him
+the Governor's Letter&mdash;His Father's Talk with Captain
+Homes&mdash;His Father's Denial&mdash;Collins returns with him</p>
+<p class="tocpage">176-178</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a></p>
+<p class="center">BACK AGAIN.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Sails for New York&mdash;Stops at Newport and visits his Brother&mdash;The
+New Passengers&mdash;The Old Quaker Lady's Attention&mdash;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span>A
+Narrow Escape&mdash;Arrival in New York&mdash;Collins there
+first and intoxicated&mdash;Makes a Confession to Benjamin&mdash;Owns
+that he gambles&mdash;Loses all his Money&mdash;Message
+from Governor Burnet&mdash;Benjamin goes to see him&mdash;Trip
+to Philadelphia&mdash;Collects Vernon's Debt&mdash;Takes Collins to
+board with him&mdash;Throws Collins into the River Delaware&mdash;The
+Fate of Collins&mdash;Interview with Governor Keith&mdash;The
+Governor promises to set him up in Business.</p>
+<p class="tocpage">188-195</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a></p>
+<p class="center">A LITERARY GAME.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+The Three Associates&mdash;Their Characters&mdash;Discussion about
+Poets and Poetry&mdash;A Proposition to Paraphrase the Eighteenth
+Psalm&mdash;Osborne's Prejudice, and how to prove
+him&mdash;Benjamin reads Ralph's Piece as his own&mdash;The
+Success of the Ruse&mdash;Subsequent Interview of Benjamin
+and Ralph&mdash;Their Delight over the Result&mdash;The Exposure
+of Osborne at the next Meeting&mdash;His Mortification&mdash;Fate
+of Watson and Osborne&mdash;Advantage of such Literary
+Clubs</p>
+<p class="tocpage">196-203</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a></p>
+<p class="center">GOING TO ENGLAND.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Interview with Governor Keith&mdash;Arrangements to go to England
+in the Annis&mdash;Only one vessel a year to sail&mdash;Still
+works for Keimer&mdash;The latter a singular Man&mdash;Experiment
+of a Vegetable Diet&mdash;Keimer's Abhorrence of it&mdash;Eats
+the whole of a Pig at last&mdash;How Benjamin came to relinquish
+a Vegetable Diet&mdash;Courting Miss Read&mdash;Her
+Mother objects to Engagement&mdash;Ralph resolves to go
+with him&mdash;Four or Five Printing-offices then, and Two
+or Three Thousand now&mdash;The Governor's Letters&mdash;Set
+Sail&mdash;Arrival in London&mdash;Discovers that his Letters are
+Worthless&mdash;The Governor a Deceiver&mdash;Tells his Story to
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span>Denham&mdash;Goes to Work in a Printing-office&mdash;An Advantage
+of written Composition&mdash;His "Dissertation on Liberty
+and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain"&mdash;Won him Fame&mdash;Bargain
+with a Bookseller&mdash;Beer-drinking in the Office&mdash;Benjamin's
+Opposition to it&mdash;He wrought a Reform&mdash;His
+Firmness and Independence&mdash;Swimming&mdash;Drawn a Mile
+by his Kite on the Water&mdash;Advised to open a Swimming-School&mdash;Decides
+on Returning to America&mdash;A Scene forty
+years after</p>
+<p class="tocpage">204-219</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+Arrival in Philadelphia&mdash;Calls on Keimer&mdash;Meets Governor
+Keith in the Street&mdash;Interview with Miss Read&mdash;His want
+of Fidelity&mdash;Denham opened a Store, and Benjamin was
+his Clerk&mdash;The Sickness of both&mdash;Denham dies&mdash;Benjamin
+thrown out of Business&mdash;Returns to his Trade, and
+works for Keimer&mdash;Legacy from Denham&mdash;His Fidelity
+always pleased his Employers&mdash;Many Youth do not care
+for the Employer's Success&mdash;Fidelity one Secret of Benjamin's
+Success&mdash;The Oxford Student&mdash;Dangers of Theatrical
+Amusements and Bad Company&mdash;Trouble with Keimer&mdash;Refuses
+to work for him&mdash;Arrangements to go into Business
+with Meredith</p>
+<p class="tocpage">220-229</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></p>
+<p class="center">SETTING UP BUSINESS.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+The Inventory&mdash;Keimer's Message&mdash;At Burlington&mdash;Friends
+made there&mdash;Interview with the Surveyor-general&mdash;Opening
+his Office&mdash;Samuel Mickle&mdash;His Croaking&mdash;The Result&mdash;Poetical
+Notice in the Printing-office&mdash;His Resolution in
+the Outset&mdash;His Industry&mdash;Prophecies about Failure&mdash;The
+Every-Night Club&mdash;The Lounger rebuked&mdash;Franklin never
+above his Business&mdash;Case of Judge Marshall&mdash;Economy&mdash;
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span>How he began to Keep House&mdash;Maxims&mdash;Integrity&mdash;The
+Slanderer turned away&mdash;Socrates and Archelaus&mdash;Business
+prosperous&mdash;Hopes and Fears&mdash;Coleman and Grace, and
+their Offer&mdash;Talk with Meredith, and the Latter leaves</p>
+<p class="tocpage">230-243</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></p>
+<p class="center">THE JUNTO.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+A Literary Club&mdash;What Franklin said of it&mdash;A New Proposition
+for a Library&mdash;Scarcity of Books&mdash;Franklin the Father of
+Circulating Libraries&mdash;Size of the First Library now&mdash;Questions
+asked by the "Junto"&mdash;Their Practical Character&mdash;Questions
+Discussed&mdash;Members limited to Twelve&mdash;No Improvement
+on the "Junto"&mdash;Franklin's Hand seen in it&mdash;All
+but one or two Members became Respectable, and most
+of them distinguished Men&mdash;Studying French, Italian, and
+Spanish&mdash;Playing Chess&mdash;Studying Latin&mdash;The "Junto"
+Copied in England&mdash;Canning&mdash;Franklin begins to think
+more of Religion&mdash;Doubting his Doubts&mdash;A Minister calls
+upon him&mdash;Goes to Meeting&mdash;The Fatal Sermon&mdash;Power
+of Conscience&mdash;Prays, and his Form of Prayer&mdash;His Book
+of Goodness&mdash;Rules of Conduct, and what they show</p>
+<p class="tocpage">244-253</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a></p>
+<p class="center">CONCLUSION.</p>
+<p class="toc">
+The Printer Boy and Man&mdash;His Brother reconciled to him&mdash;Rears
+his Nephew&mdash;Holds important Offices&mdash;Refuses
+Patent of a Stove&mdash;Gift to English Clergyman&mdash;Improves
+Street Lamps&mdash;Forms Fire-Company&mdash;Organizes Militia&mdash;A
+Schedule of the Offices he filled and the Honours he
+Won&mdash;Honoured in France, and all Europe&mdash;Societies and
+Towns named after him&mdash;A Library Presented to the Town
+of Franklin, Mass.&mdash;His Remark about more Sense than
+Sound&mdash;Washington's Praise of him&mdash;Action of
+Congress&mdash;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span>Demonstrations of Respect in France&mdash;A Benjamin truly,
+and not a Ben-Oni&mdash;Regretting his early disregard of Religion&mdash;His
+Benevolence&mdash;Emptied his Pockets for Whitefield&mdash;His
+Humanity, and Words of a Biographer&mdash;His
+Reverence for God in High Places&mdash;Proposed the First
+Fast&mdash;Advocates Prayers in the National Convention&mdash;The
+Young Man at his Death-bed&mdash;His Last Words for the
+Bible</p>
+<p class="tocpage">254-264</p>
+
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td class="illus">"How much did you give for your Whistle?"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_iii"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="illus">Medallion of Benjamin Franklin</td><td align='right'><a href="#Cover"><i>Vignette Title</i></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="illus">The Rogue's Wharf</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_44"><i>Page</i> 44</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="illus">The Mysterious Contributor</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="illus">Franklin Saving the Dutchman</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="illus">Miss Read's first Glimpse of her future Husband</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="illus">Anecdote of Dr. Mather and Franklin&mdash;Humility "beaten in!"</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="illus">"Sawdust Pudding"&mdash;Anecdote of Franklin's Independence</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="THE_PRINTER-BOY" id="THE_PRINTER-BOY"></a>THE PRINTER-BOY.</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE WHISTLE.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">It</span> was a bright, welcome holiday to little Benjamin Franklin, when his
+kind parents put some coppers into his pocket, to spend as he saw fit.
+Possibly it was the first time he was ever permitted to go out alone
+into the streets of Boston with money to spend for his own pleasure;
+for he was now but seven years old.</p>
+
+<p>"Can I have more coppers when these are gone?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"No," replied his mother, "you have quite as many now as will be for
+your welfare, I think. You must be a good boy, and keep out of
+mischief."</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to buy?" asked an older brother; and without
+waiting for a reply, he answered the question himself, by saying,
+"Candy, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"Lay out your money wisely," added his mother; "I shall want to see
+how much wisdom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> you display in your purchases. Remember 'all is not
+gold that glitters.'"</p>
+
+<p>His mother had scarcely ceased speaking, when Benjamin bounded out of
+the house, eager to enjoy the anticipated pleasures of the day. Like
+other boys, on such occasions, his head was filled with bewitching
+fancies, and he evidently expected such a day of joy as he never had
+before. First in his thoughts stood the toy-shop, into the windows of
+which he had often looked wistfully, although it was a small affair
+compared with the Boston toy-shops of the present day. Every article
+in it could have been examined in one or two hours, while now it would
+take as many days to view all the articles in one of these
+curiosity-shops. It is almost wonderful, and even fabulous, this
+multiplication of playthings for the children. There seems to be no
+end to them, and many a girl and boy have been put to their "wits'
+end" to know what to choose out of the thousands of articles arranged
+on the shelves.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin had not proceeded far before he met a boy blowing away upon,
+a new-bought whistle, as if its music were sweeter than the voice of
+lark or nightingale. He could scarcely help envying him the happiness
+of owning so valuable a treasure. He stopped and looked at him with an
+expression of delight, and they exchanged glances that showed a
+genuine sympathy springing up between them. At once he resolved to
+possess a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> similar musical instrument, as I suppose it may be called;
+and away he hastened to the toy-shop, knowing that it must have been
+purchased there.</p>
+
+<p>"Any whistles?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Plenty of them," answered the proprietor, with a smile, as he brought
+forth a number, to the amazement of his little customer.</p>
+
+<p>"I will give you all the money I have for one," said Benjamin, without
+waiting to inquire the price, so enthusiastic was he to become the
+possessor of such a prize.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! all you have?" responded the merchant. "Perhaps you have not so
+much as I ask for them. You see these are very nice whistles."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it," added Benjamin, "and I will give you all the money I have
+for one," still more afraid that he should not be able to obtain one.</p>
+
+<p>"How much money have you?"</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin told him honestly just how much he had, and the merchant
+agreed to give him a whistle in exchange for it.</p>
+
+<p>Never was a child more delighted than he, when the bargain was made.
+He tried every whistle, that he might select the one having the most
+music in it; and when his choice was settled, he turned his steps
+towards home. He thought no more of other sights and scenes, and cared
+not for sweetmeats and knick-knacks, now that he owned this wonderful
+thing. He reached home and hurried into the house, blowing his
+whistle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> lustily as he went, as if he expected to astonish the whole
+race of Franklins by the shrillness, if not by the sweetness, of his
+music.</p>
+
+<p>"What have you there, Benjamin?" inquired his mother.</p>
+
+<p>"A whistle," he answered, hardly stopping his blowing long enough to
+give a reverent reply.</p>
+
+<p>"You got back quick, it seems to me," she continued. "Have you seen
+all that is to be seen?"</p>
+
+<p>"All I want to see," he answered; which was very true. He was so
+completely carried away with his whistle that he had lost all his
+interest in everything else belonging to the holiday. His cup of
+delight was running over now that he could march about the house with
+musical sounds of his own making.</p>
+
+<p>"How much did you give for your whistle?" asked one of his cousins,
+who was present.</p>
+
+<p>"All the money I had," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"What!" exclaimed his brother, "did you give all your money for that
+little concern?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, every cent of it."</p>
+
+<p>"You are not half so bright as I thought you were," continued his
+brother. "It is four times as much as the whistle is worth."</p>
+
+<p>"You should have asked the price of it, in the first place," said his
+mother. "Some men will take all the money they can get for an
+article.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> Perhaps he did not ask so much as you gave for it."</p>
+
+<p>"If you had given a reasonable price for it," said his brother, "you
+might have had enough left to have bought a pocketful of good things."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," added his cousin, "peppermints, candy, cakes, and more perhaps;
+but it is the first time he ever went a shopping on a holiday."</p>
+
+<p>"I must confess you are a smart fellow, Ben" (as he was familiarly
+called by the boys), "to be taken in like that," continued his
+brother, rather deridingly. "All your money for that worthless thing,
+that is enough to make us crazy! You ought to have known better.
+Suppose you had had twice as much money, you would have given it all
+for the whistle, I suppose, if this is the way you trade."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he would have bought two or three of them in that case," said
+his cousin, at the same time looking very much as if he intended to
+make sport of the young whistler.</p>
+
+<p>By this time Benjamin, who had said nothing in reply to their taunts
+and reproofs, was running over with feeling, and he could hold in no
+longer. He burst into tears, and made even more noise by crying than
+he had done with his whistle. Both their ridicule and the thought of
+having paid so much more than he ought for the article, overcame him,
+and he found relief in tears. His mother came to the rescue, by
+saying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, Benjamin, you will understand better next time. We must
+all live and learn. Perhaps you did about as well as most boys of your
+age would."</p>
+
+<p>"I think so, too," said his cousin; "but we wanted to have a little
+sport, seeing it is a holiday. So wipe up, 'Ben,' and we will have a
+good time yet."</p>
+
+<p>On the whole, it was really a benefit that Benjamin paid too much for
+his whistle. For he learned a lesson thereby which he never forgot. It
+destroyed his happiness on that holiday, but it saved him from much
+unhappiness in years to come. More than sixty years afterwards, when
+he was in France, he wrote to a friend, rehearsing this incident of
+his childhood, and said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing
+on my mind; so that often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary
+thing, I said to myself, <i>Don't give too much for the whistle</i>; and I
+saved my money.</p>
+
+<p>"As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I
+thought I met with many, very many who <i>gave too much for the
+whistle</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"When I saw one too ambitious of court favour, sacrificing his time in
+attendance on lev&eacute;es, his repose, his liberty, his virtue, and,
+perhaps, his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, <i>This man
+gives too much for his whistle</i>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself
+in political bustles, neglecting his own affairs, and ruining them by
+that neglect, <i>He pays, indeed</i>, said I, <i>too much for his whistle</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"If I see one fond of appearance, or fine clothes, fine houses, fine
+furniture, fine equipages, all above his fortune, for which he
+contracts debts, and ends his career in a prison, <i>Alas!</i> say I, <i>he
+has paid dear, very dear for his whistle</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"When I see a beautiful, sweet-tempered girl married to an ill-natured
+brute of a husband, <i>What a pity</i>, say I, <i>that she should pay so much
+for a whistle!</i></p>
+
+<p>"In short, I conceive that great part of the miseries of mankind are
+brought upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value
+of things, and by their <i>giving too much for their whistle</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Thus Benjamin made a good use of one of the foolish acts of his
+boyhood, which tells well for both his head and heart. Many boys are
+far less wise, and do the same foolish thing over and over again. They
+never learn wisdom from the past. Poor, simple, pitiable class of
+boys!</p>
+
+<p>Let the reader prove himself another Benjamin Franklin in this
+respect. Remember that there is more than one way <i>to pay too dear for
+a whistle</i>, and he is wisest who tries to discover them all.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>When a boy equivocates, or deceives, to conceal some act of
+disobedience from his parents or teachers, and thereby lays the
+foundations for habitual untruthfulness, he pays too dear for the
+whistle; and he will learn the truth of it when he becomes older, and
+cannot command the confidence of his friends and neighbours, but is
+branded by them as an unreliable, dishonest man.</p>
+
+<p>In like manner, the boy who thinks it is manly to smoke, and fill the
+wine-cup, will find that he has a very expensive whistle, when he
+becomes "hail fellow well met" among a miserable class of young men,
+and is despised and discarded by the virtuous and good.</p>
+
+<p>So, in general, the young person who is fascinated by worldly
+pleasure, and supposes that wealth and honour are real apples of gold
+to the possessor, thinking less of goodness and a life of piety than
+he does of mere show and worldliness, will find that he has been
+playing with a costly whistle, when age and his last sickness comes,
+and death confronts him with its stern realities.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3>AT SCHOOL.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Well</span>, Benjamin," said his father, laying down his violin, upon which
+he was wont to play in the evening, for his own and children's
+amusement, "how should you like to go to school and qualify yourself
+to be a minister? You are as fond of your books as James is of
+printing, or John of making candles!"</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to go to school well enough," replied Benjamin, after
+some hesitation; "but I don't know about the rest of it."</p>
+
+<p>"You are old enough now," continued his father, "to think about a
+trade or profession. Your elder brothers have their trades, and,
+perhaps, you ought to give your service to the Church. You like to
+study, do you not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir; the best of anything I do." A very correct answer, since he
+began to read so young, that he could not remember the time when he
+could not read his Bible.</p>
+
+<p>"It will cost a good deal to keep you at school and educate you, and
+perhaps I shall not be able to do it with so large a family to
+support.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> I have to be very industrious now to make my ends meet. But
+if you are diligent to improve your time, and lend a helping hand at
+home, out of school hours, I may be able to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"When shall I begin, if you decide to let me go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Immediately. It is a long process to become qualified for the
+ministry, and the sooner you begin the better."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Benjamin," as he was called in the family, a brother of our
+little hero's father, sat listening to the conversation, and, at this
+point, remarked, "Yes, Benjamin, it is the best thing you can do. I am
+sure you can make very rapid progress at school; and there ought to be
+one preacher in the family, I think."</p>
+
+<p>"So many people have told me," added his father. "Dr. Willard (his
+pastor) said as much to me not long ago, and I am fully persuaded to
+make the trial."</p>
+
+<p>"It won't be a severe trial, either," said Uncle Benjamin. "The thing
+can be accomplished more easily than at first appears. I tell you what
+it is, Benjamin," addressing himself to the boy, "when you are
+qualified for the office, I will give you my large volume of
+short-hand sermons, and the reading of these will improve your manner
+of sermonizing."</p>
+
+<p>This uncle had recently come over from England, and was boarding in
+the family. He was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> very intelligent man, quite a literary character
+for the times, and had been accustomed to take down the sermons to
+which he listened, in short-hand, until he had preserved a large
+manuscript volume of them, which he valued highly. It was this volume
+which he promised to bequeath to his nephew when he should become
+qualified to enter the ministry.</p>
+
+<p>This interview occurred almost one hundred and fifty years ago,
+between Benjamin Franklin, who paid too much for the whistle, and his
+father, whose Christian name was Josiah. The lad was eight years old
+at the time, a bright, active, intelligent boy, who was more fond of
+reading than any other child in the family. He was born in Boston, on
+Sunday, January 6 (Old Style, corresponding to January 17, New Style),
+1706, and on the same day was carried into the Old South Church, and
+there baptized. Both his father and mother were members of that
+church.</p>
+
+<p>If you ask how it is known that he was born and baptized on the same
+day, we answer, that on the "Old Boston Town Records of Births," under
+the heading, "Boston Births, entered 1708," is the following:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"Benjamin, son of Josiah Franklin, and Abiah, his wife, Born 6
+Jan. 1706."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>By some oversight or negligence the birth was not recorded until two
+years after Benjamin was born; yet it shows that he was born on Jan.
+6, 1706.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then we turn to the records of the Old South Church, and find among
+the baptism of infants the following:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"1706, Jan. 6, Benjamin, son of Josiah and Abiah Franklin."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Putting these two records together, they establish beyond doubt the
+fact that Benjamin Franklin was born and baptized on the same day. It
+has generally been said that we do not know by whom he was baptized,
+although the rite must have been performed either by Dr. Samuel
+Willard, or Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, who were then pastors of the Old
+South Church. But the fact that the record is made in the handwriting
+of Dr. Willard would indicate that he baptized him. He was born in
+Milk Street, opposite the church, so that he had only to be carried
+across the street to receive the ordinance of baptism.</p>
+
+<p>A picture of the old house in which he was born has been preserved,
+and it stood on the spot where now rises a lofty granite warehouse,
+bearing, in raised letters beneath the cornice, the inscription,
+"<span class="smcap">Birthplace of Franklin</span>." The house measured twenty feet in width, and
+was about thirty feet long. It was three stories high in appearance,
+the third being the attic. On the lower floor of the main house there
+was only one room, which was about twenty feet square, and served the
+family for the triple purpose of parlour, sitting-room, and
+dining-hall.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> It contained an old-fashioned fireplace, so large that
+an ox might have been roasted before it. The second and third stories
+originally contained but one chamber each, of ample dimensions, and
+furnished in the plainest manner. The attic was an unplastered room,
+where probably some of the elder children lodged. This house stood
+about a hundred years after the Franklins left it, and was finally
+destroyed by fire, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 1810.</p>
+
+<p>He was named after the aforesaid uncle, and this circumstance alone
+was well suited to beget a mutual interest and attachment between
+them. His love of books early attracted the attention of his parents
+and others, and they regarded him as a precocious child. On this
+account the remark was often volunteered, "that he ought to be sent to
+college."</p>
+
+<p>We have said that Mr. Franklin was playing upon his violin on the
+evening of the aforesaid interview. He was very fond of music, was a
+good singer, and performed well upon the violin. He was wont to gather
+his family around him during the leisure hours of evening, and sing
+and play. Many cheerful and happy seasons were passed in this way at
+the fireside, the influence of which was excellent upon his children.</p>
+
+<p>That it would be doubtful whether he could meet the expense of sending
+Benjamin to college, must appear to the reader, when he learns that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+he was a labouring man, and had a family of seventeen children,
+thirteen of whom sat around his table together at one time. Fourteen
+were older than Benjamin, and two were younger. To support so large a
+family must have taxed the energies of the father to the utmost, even
+though no one of them was destined for a learned profession.</p>
+
+<p>It was arranged that Benjamin should immediately enter school, and
+enjoy the best literary advantages which the poverty of his father
+could provide. He acceded to the plan with hearty good-will, and
+commenced his studies with a zeal and enthusiasm such as few scholars
+exhibit.</p>
+
+<p>The school was taught by Mr. Nathaniel Williams, successor of the
+famous Boston teacher, Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, who was instructor
+thirty-five years, and who discontinued teaching, as Cotton Mather
+said, "only when mortality took him off." The homely old wooden
+school-house, one story and a half high, stood near by the spot on
+which the bronze statue of Franklin is now seen, and there was the
+"school-house green," where "Ben" and his companions sported together.
+It was probably the only free grammar-school which Boston afforded at
+that time; for it was only a little village compared with its present
+size. It then contained only about ten thousand inhabitants, and now
+it has more than fifteen times that number. There were no stately
+public<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> buildings at that time, like the State-house, Court-house,
+Custom-house, Athen&aelig;um, Public Library, etc. Such splendid granite
+blocks of stores as we now behold on almost every business street,
+were then unknown; and no shops could be found, as now, filled with
+the fabrics of every land. There were no costly houses of worship, the
+"Old South Meeting-house," then about half its present size, being the
+oldest one in existence at the time.</p>
+
+<p>When Benjamin was born, the streets of Boston were not named. This was
+not done until the year after, when there were but one hundred and ten
+of them in number. Now there are a thousand streets, courts, and
+places. Thus it will be seen that the Boston of that day resembled the
+present Boston little more than Benjamin Franklin blowing his whistle
+resembled Benjamin Franklin the great statesman and philosopher.</p>
+
+<p>"I have seen the teacher to-day," said Mr. Franklin to his wife, two
+or three months after his son entered school, "and he says that he is
+making rapid progress, and will soon stand first in his class,
+although others have enjoyed much better advantages."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad to hear it," answered Mrs. Franklin, with a satisfied air,
+such as mothers are likely to betray when they know that their
+children are doing well; "I think he will make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> a good scholar if he
+can have the opportunity, though I scarcely see how you will be able
+to educate him."</p>
+
+<p>"I can hardly see how myself," said her husband; "yet I trust that God
+will provide a way. At any rate, I hope for the best."</p>
+
+<p>"It will be more and more expensive every year to support him," added
+Mrs. Franklin, "since his clothes will cost more as he advances in
+years. The least expense in educating him we are having now."</p>
+
+<p>"That is very true, and I have looked at the matter in this light, all
+the while not being able to see my way quite clear, yet trusting to
+Providence for a happy issue."</p>
+
+<p>"It is well to trust in Providence if it is not done blindly, for
+Providence sometimes does wonders for those who trust. It is quite
+certain that He who parted the waters of the Red Sea for the children
+of Israel to pass, and fed them with manna from the skies, can provide
+a way for our Benjamin to be educated. But it looks to me as if some
+of his bread would have to drop down from heaven."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if it comes, that is enough," responded Mr. Franklin, rather
+drily. "If God does anything for him, he will do it in his own time
+and way. I shall be satisfied to see him qualified for usefulness in
+the service of the Church."</p>
+
+<p>Within a few months after Benjamin entered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> school, he had advanced
+from the middle to the head of his class. He was so apt to learn, and
+gave so close attention to his lessons, that his teacher spoke of him
+as a boy of uncommon promise. He did not stand at the head of his
+class long, however, before he was transferred to a higher one. He so
+far outstripped his companions that the teacher was obliged to advance
+him thus, otherwise his mental progress would have been injuriously
+retarded. His parents were highly gratified with his diligent
+improvement of time and opportunities, and other relatives and friends
+began to prophesy his future eminence.</p>
+
+<p>It is generally the case that such early attention to studies, in
+connection with the advancement that follows, awakens high hopes of
+the young in the hearts of all observers. Such things foreshadow the
+future character, so that people think they can tell what the man will
+be from what the boy is. So it was with young Benjamin Franklin. So it
+was with Daniel Webster,&mdash;his mother inferred from his close attention
+to reading, and his remarkable progress in learning, that he would
+become a distinguished man, and so expressed herself to others. She
+lived to see him rise in his profession, until he became a member of
+Congress, though she died before he reached the zenith of his renown.
+The same was true of David Rittenhouse, the famous mathematician. When
+he was but eight years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> old he constructed various articles, such as a
+miniature water-wheel, and at seventeen years of age he made a clock.
+His younger brother relates that he was accustomed to stop when he was
+ploughing in the field, and solve problems on the fence, and sometimes
+cover the plough-handles over with figures. The highest expectations
+of his friends were more than realized in his after life. The peculiar
+genius which he exhibited in his boyhood gave him fame at last. Again,
+George Stephenson, the great engineer, the son of a very poor man, who
+fired the engine at the Wylam Colliery, began his life labour when a
+mere boy. Besides watching the cows, and barring the gates at night
+after the coal waggons had passed, at twopence a day, he amused
+himself during his leisure moments in making clay engines, in
+imitation of that which his father tended. Although he lived in such
+humble circumstances that he was almost entirely unnoticed, yet it
+would have been apparent to any observer, that his intense interest
+in, and taste for, such mechanical work, evinced what the future man
+would be.</p>
+
+<p>It was quite natural, then, for the parents and friends of Benjamin
+Franklin to be encouraged by his love of books, and diligent
+attention, especially when so much intellectual brightness was also
+manifest. The sequel will prove whether their hopes were wisely
+cherished.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3>A CHANGE.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">Benjamin</span> had not been in school quite a year, when his father saw
+plainly that he would not be able to defray the expense of educating
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"I might keep him along for the present," said he to his wife, "but I
+am satisfied that I cannot carry him through. My family expenses are
+now very great, and they will be still larger. It will make
+considerable difference in my expenses whether Benjamin is kept at
+school, or assists me by the labour of his hands."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not surprised at all at your conclusion," replied Mrs. Franklin.
+"It is no more than I have expected, as I have before intimated.
+Parents must be better off than we are to be able to send a son to
+college."</p>
+
+<p>"If they have as many children to support, you might add," said Mr.
+Franklin. "I could easily accomplish it with no larger family on my
+hands than some of my neighbours have."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you intend to take Benjamin away from school at once?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes! I have very reluctantly come to the conclusion that I must. It
+is contrary to all my desires, but necessity compels me to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry for Benjamin," continued Mrs. Franklin, "for he has become
+much interested in his school, and it will be a great disappointment
+to him."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought of that much before coming to my present decision; but
+there is no alternative. Providence seems to indicate, now, the course
+I should take, and I am the more willing to follow, because the times
+do not hold out so much encouragement to those who would enter the
+service of the Church. There are many trials and hardships to be met
+in the work, and at the present day, they seem to be peculiar."</p>
+
+<p>"There are trials almost anywhere in these times," said Mrs. Franklin,
+"and I suppose we ought to bear them with fortitude. So far as that is
+concerned, I think Benjamin will not escape them, let him follow what
+business he may."</p>
+
+<p>"True, very true, and I trust that I desire to place him where God
+would have me; but he has certainly hedged up his way to the
+ministry."</p>
+
+<p>This subject was very thoroughly considered before it was opened to
+Benjamin. His father was too anxious to educate him to change his
+purpose without much patient thought and circumspection.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> Nothing but
+absolute necessity induced him to come to this decision. The hard hand
+of poverty was laid upon him, and he must have "bread before learning"
+for his children.</p>
+
+<p>One evening, as the school term was drawing to a close, Mr. Franklin
+said to Benjamin&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I think I shall be under the necessity of taking you away from school
+at the close of the term. The times are so hard, that I find, with my
+best exertions, I can do little more than supply you with food and
+clothes."</p>
+
+<p>"And not go to school any more?" anxiously inquired Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not. Such appears to be your prospect now, though I cannot
+say that God may not open a way hereafter; I hope he will. You are but
+nine years old, and there is time yet for a way to be provided."</p>
+
+<p>"Why can I not attend school till I am old enough to help you?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are old enough to help me now. I could find a plenty for you to
+do every day, so that you could make yourself very useful."</p>
+
+<p>In those days boys were put to work much earlier than they are now.
+They had very small opportunities for acquiring knowledge, and the
+boys who did not go to school after they were ten years old were more
+in number than those who did. Besides, the schools were very poor in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>
+comparison with those of the present age. They offered very limited
+advantages to the young. It was not unusual, therefore, for lads as
+young as Benjamin to be made to work.</p>
+
+<p>"But I do not intend to set you to work immediately," continued Mr.
+Franklin. "You ought to give some attention to penmanship and
+arithmetic, and I shall send you to Mr. Brownwell's writing-school for
+a season."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall like that, for I want to know how to write well. Some of the
+boys no older than I am have been to his school some time."</p>
+
+<p>"It is equally important that you learn to cipher, and Mr. Brownwell
+is an excellent teacher of arithmetic. It will not take you many
+months to become a good penman under his tuition, and to acquire
+considerable knowledge of numbers."</p>
+
+<p>"I care more about writing than I do about arithmetic," said Benjamin.
+"I don't think I shall like arithmetic very well."</p>
+
+<p>"Boys have to study some things they don't like," responded his
+father. "It is the only way they can qualify themselves for
+usefulness. You would not make much of an appearance in the world
+without some acquaintance with numbers."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that," said Benjamin; "and I shall try to master it, even if I
+do not like it. I am willing to do what you think is best."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will always be as willing to yield to my judgment. It is a
+good sign for a boy to accept cheerfully the plans of his father, who
+has had more experience."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was generally very prompt to obey his parents, even when he
+did not exactly see the necessity of their commands. He understood
+full well that obedience was a law of the household, which could not
+be violated with impunity; therefore he wisely obeyed. His father was
+a religious man, puritanical and even severe in his views and habits;
+a walk was never allowed on Sunday, and "going to meeting" was one of
+the inexorable rules of the family.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was reared under such family regulations. He was expected to
+regard them with becoming filial respect. Nor did he grow restless and
+impatient under them, nor cherish less affection for his father in
+consequence. We have no reason to believe that he sought to evade
+them; and there is no doubt that the influence of such discipline was
+good in forming his character. He certainly loved and respected his
+father as long as he lived. Many years thereafter, when his father was
+old and infirm, he was wont to perform frequent journeys from
+Philadelphia to Boston, to visit him. It was on one of these journeys
+that he rebuked the inquisitiveness of a landlord, by requesting him,
+as soon as he entered his tavern, to assemble all the members of his
+family<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> together, as he had something important to communicate. The
+landlord proceeded to gratify him, and as soon as they were brought
+together in one room, he said, "My name is Benjamin Franklin; I am a
+printer by trade; I live, when at home, in Philadelphia; in Boston I
+have a father, a good old man, who taught me, when I was a boy, to
+read my book, and say my prayers; I have ever since thought it was my
+duty to visit and pay my respects to such a father, and I am on that
+errand to Boston now. This is all I can recollect at present of myself
+that I think worth telling you. But if you can think of anything else
+that you wish to know about me, I beg you to out with it at once, that
+I may answer, and so give you an opportunity to get me something to
+eat, for I long to be on my journey that I may return as soon as
+possible to my family and business, where I most of all delight to
+be." This was a keen rebuke to a landlord who was disposed to be
+inquisitive, and interrogate his guests in an ungentlemanly way. But
+we have cited the incident to show that the filial love and respect
+which Benjamin had for his parents continued as long as they lived.
+The last act of affection and reverence that he could possibly perform
+to them was cheerfully made. It was the erection of a marble stone
+over their remains in Boston, bearing the following inscription:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+"<span class="smcap">Josiah Franklin</span><br />
+And<br />
+<span class="smcap">Abiah</span> his wife<br />
+Lie here interred.<br />
+They lived lovingly together in wedlock<br />
+Fifty-five years;<br />
+And without an estate, or any gainful employment,<br />
+By constant labour, and honest industry<br />
+(With God's blessing)<br />
+Maintained a large family comfortably;<br />
+And brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren<br />
+Reputably.<br />
+From this instance, reader,<br />
+Be encouraged to diligence in thy calling,<br />
+And distrust not Providence.<br />
+He was a pious and prudent man,<br />
+She a discreet and virtuous woman.<br />
+Their youngest son,<br />
+In filial regard to their memory,<br />
+Places this stone.<br />
+J. F. born 1645; died 1744. &AElig;t. 89.<br />
+A. F. born 1667; died 1752. &AElig;t. 85."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>This stone had become so dilapidated in 1827, that the citizens of
+Boston supplied its place with a granite obelisk, on which the
+foregoing inscription may still be read.</p>
+
+<p>It is good for boys, who are very likely to want their own way, to be
+obliged to obey exact rules in the family. It is a restraint upon
+their evil tendencies that tells well upon their riper years. It was
+to such an influence that Sir Robert Peel felt much indebted for his
+success in life. As an illustration of the obedience he was obliged to
+practise, in common with his brothers, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> relates, that, in his
+youth, a comrade called one day to solicit their company upon some
+excursion. He was a young man of handsome address, intelligent, smart,
+and promising, though quite accustomed to enjoy much pastime. He was a
+fashionable young man for the times, wearing "dark brown hair, tied
+behind with blue ribbon; clear, mirthful eyes; boots which reached
+above his knees; a broad-skirted, scarlet coat, with gold lace on the
+cuffs, the collar, and the skirts; and a long waistcoat of blue silk.
+His breeches were buckskin; his hat was three-cornered, set jauntily
+higher on the right than on the left side." His name was Harry
+Garland. To his request that William, Edmund, and Robert might go with
+him, their father replied, "No, they cannot go out." Although the boys
+earnestly desired to go, they dared say nothing against their father's
+emphatic "No." He had work for them to do, and he never allowed
+pleasure to usurp the time for labour. The result is recorded on the
+page of English history. The three brothers of the Peel family became
+renowned in their country's brilliant progress. Harry Garland, the
+idle, foppish youth, became a ruined spendthrift. In this way the
+language of inspiration is verified. "Honour thy father and mother
+(which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well
+with thee." The providence of God appears to make it well with the
+children who obey the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> commandment. Not the least of their reward is
+the respect and confidence of mankind which their obedience secures.
+Men universally admire to witness deeds that are prompted by true
+filial love. Such an act as that of the great engineer, George
+Stephenson, who took the first thirty pounds he possessed, saved from
+a year's wages, and paid off his blind old father's debts, and then
+removed both father and mother to a comfortable tenement at
+Killingworth, where he supported them by the labour of his hands,
+awakens our admiration, and leads us to expect that the Divine
+blessing will rest upon the author.</p>
+
+<p>When the statue of Franklin was inaugurated, in 1856, a barouche
+appeared in the procession that carried eight brothers, all of whom
+received Franklin medals at the Mayhew School in their boyhood, sons
+of the late Mr. John Hall. They were all known to fame for their worth
+of character and wide influence. As the barouche in which they rode
+came into State Street, from Merchants' Row, these brothers all rose
+up in the carriage, uncovered their heads, and thus remained while
+passing a window at which their excellent and revered mother sat,&mdash;an
+act of filial regard so impressive and beautiful as to fill the hearts
+of beholders with profound respect for the affectionate sons.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was taken away from school, agreeably to his father's
+decision, and sent to Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> Brownwell, to perfect himself in arithmetic
+and penmanship. Less than a year he had attended the grammar-school,
+with little or no prospect of returning to his studies. But the
+disappointment was somewhat alleviated by the advantages offered at
+Mr. Brownwell's writing class. Here he made rapid progress in
+penmanship, though he failed in mastering the science of number. He
+had more taste, and perhaps tact, for penmanship than he had for
+arithmetical rules and problems, and this may account for the
+difference of his improvement in the two branches.</p>
+
+<p>We should have remarked that Benjamin endeared himself to his teacher
+while he was a member of the public school, and it was with regret
+that the latter parted with his studious pupil. His close attention to
+his duties, and his habitual good deportment, in connection with his
+progress, made him such a scholar as teachers love.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3>MAKING CANDLES.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">When</span> Benjamin was ten years old he had acquired all the education his
+father thought he could afford to give him. He could write a very good
+hand, and read fluently, though his knowledge of arithmetic was very
+limited indeed.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you about ready, Benjamin, to come into the shop and help me?"
+inquired his father, at the dinner table.</p>
+
+<p>"Am I not going to Mr. Brownwell's school any longer?" he asked,
+instead of replying to his father's question,&mdash;a Yankee-like way of
+doing things, truly.</p>
+
+<p>"I think the close of this term will complete the education I am able
+to give you," replied his father. "You will fare, then, better than
+your brothers, in respect to schooling."</p>
+
+<p>"I had rather not go into the shop," said Benjamin. "I think I shall
+not like to make candles, and I really wish you would engage in some
+other business."</p>
+
+<p>"And starve, too," said his father. "In such times as these we must be
+willing to do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> what will insure us a livelihood. I know of no other
+business that would give me a living at present, certainly none that I
+am qualified to pursue."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Franklin was a dyer by trade, in England, and designed to continue
+it when he removed to America, about the year 1685. But he found, on
+arriving at Boston, that it would be quite impossible for him to
+support his family at this trade. The country was new, and the habits
+of the people were different from those of the English, so that the
+dyeing business could receive but little patronage. The next pursuit
+that presented itself, with fair promises of success, was that of
+"tallow-chandler and soap-boiler;" not so cleanly and popular a
+business as some, but yet necessary to be done, and very useful in its
+place; and this was enough for such a man as Mr. Franklin to know. He
+cared very little whether the trade was popular, so long as it was
+indispensable and useful. To him no business was dishonourable, if the
+wants of society absolutely demanded it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I should rather make soap and candles than starve," said
+Benjamin; "but nothing else could make me willing to follow the
+business."</p>
+
+<p>"One other thing ought to make you willing to do such work," added his
+father. "You had better do this than do nothing, for idleness is the
+parent of vice. Boys like you should be industrious, even if they do
+not earn their bread. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> is better for them to work for nothing than
+not to work at all."</p>
+
+<p>"I think they may save their strength till they can earn something,"
+said Benjamin. "People must like to work better than I do, to work for
+nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"You do not understand me," continued Mr. Franklin. "I mean to say, it
+is so important for the young to form industrious habits, that they
+had better work for nothing than to be idle. If they are idle when
+they are young, they will be so when they become men, and idleness
+will finally be their ruin. 'The devil tempts all other men, but idle
+men tempt the devil,' is an old and truthful proverb, and I hope you
+will never consent to verify it."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Franklin had been a close observer all his life, and he had
+noticed that industry was characteristic of those who accomplished
+anything commendable. Consequently he insisted that his children
+should have employment. He allowed no drones in his family hive. All
+had something to do as soon as they were old enough to toil. Under
+such influences Benjamin was reared, and he grew up to be as much in
+love with industry as his father was. Some of his best counsels, and
+most interesting sayings, when he became a man, related to this
+subject. The following are among the maxims which he uttered in his
+riper years:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears; while the
+used key is always bright."</p>
+
+<p>"But dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is
+the stuff life is made of."</p>
+
+<p>"If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be
+the greatest prodigality."</p>
+
+<p>"Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy; and he
+that ariseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake
+his business at night; while laziness travels so slowly, that
+poverty soon overtakes him."</p>
+
+<p>"At the working man's house hunger looks in, but dares not
+enter."</p>
+
+<p>"Diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things
+to industry."</p>
+
+<p>"One to-day is worth two to-morrows."</p>
+
+<p>"Drive thy business, let not thy business drive thee."</p>
+
+<p>"God helps them that help themselves."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>These are very beautiful and expressive sentences, and they show that
+Benjamin Franklin thought as much of industry in his manhood as his
+father did a quarter of a century before. Take the first, in which he
+compares slothfulness to rust, which will consume iron tools or
+machinery faster than their constant use will. As the use of a hoe or
+a spade keeps it polished, so the habitual exercise of the powers of
+human nature preserves them in a good condition. A key that is cast
+aside soon rusts, and is spoiled, but "the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> used key is always
+bright." It is more fit for use because it has been used.</p>
+
+<p>How true it is that "hunger dare not enter the working-man's house!"
+By the sweat of his brow he earns his daily bread, and his children do
+not cry with hunger. It is the lazy man's table that has no bread. His
+children rise up hungry, and go to bed supperless. God himself hath
+said, "If any would not work, neither should he eat."</p>
+
+<p>"Diligence is the mother of good luck." Another gem of wisdom that
+commands our acquiescence. How common for the indolent to complain of
+"bad luck!" Their families need the necessaries of life, as both a
+scanty table and rent apparel bear witness, and they cast the blame
+upon "ill luck," "misfortune," "unavoidable circumstances," or
+something of the kind. Many men whose faces are reddened and blotched
+by intemperance, begotten in the barroom where they have worse than
+idled away days and weeks of precious time, are often heard to lament
+over their "bad luck," as if their laziness and intemperance were not
+the direct cause of their misery. But it is not often that the
+diligent experience "bad luck." They receive a reward for their
+labours, and thrift and honour attend their steps, according as it is
+written in the Bible: "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and <i>hath</i>
+nothing; but the soul of the diligent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> shall be made fat. Seest thou a
+man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall
+not stand before mean men."</p>
+
+<p>But we need not enlarge upon these sayings of Franklin. They are all
+charged with wisdom, and might be expanded into volumes. The more we
+study them, the more beauty we perceive.</p>
+
+<p>It was settled that Benjamin should assist his father in the
+manufacture of candles, notwithstanding his disinclination to engage
+in the business. His prospects of more schooling were thus cut off at
+ten years of age, and now he was obliged to turn his attention to hard
+work. It was rather an unpromising future to a little boy. No more
+schooling after ten years of age! What small opportunities in
+comparison with those enjoyed by nearly every boy at the present day!
+Now they are just beginning to learn at this early age. From ten they
+can look forward to six or eight years of golden opportunities in the
+school-room. Does the young reader appreciate the privileges which he
+enjoys?</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow for the work-shop, Benjamin!" exclaimed Mr. Franklin, with
+a tone of pleasantry, on the evening before he was initiated into the
+mysteries of making candles. "I am full of business, and need another
+hand very much at present."</p>
+
+<p>"You can't expect much help from me," said Benjamin, "till I learn how
+to do the work. So<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> I am thinking you will continue to be hurried for
+a while, unless you have another hand besides me."</p>
+
+<p>"You can do what I shall set you about just as well as a boy, or even
+a man, who had worked at the business for a year."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder what that can be, that is so easy!" added Benjamin, with
+some surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"You can cut the wicks, fill the moulds for cast-candles, keep the
+shop in order, run hither and thither upon errands, and do other
+things that will save my time, and thus assist me just as much as a
+man could in doing the same things."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure," said Mrs. Franklin, who had been listening to the
+conversation attentively, "that is inducement enough for any boy, but
+a lazy one, to work. You can make yourself about as useful to your
+father as a man whom he would have to pay high wages."</p>
+
+<p>"You will aid me just as much in going errands," said his father, "as
+in doing anything else. I have a good deal of such running to do, and
+if you do it, I can be employed in the more important part of my
+business, which no one else can attend to. Besides, your nimble feet
+can get over the ground much quicker than my older and clumsier ones,
+so that you can really perform this part of the business better than I
+can myself."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin made no reply to these last remarks, although he was more
+favourably impressed, after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> hearing them, with the tallow-chandler's
+calling. On the following day he entered upon his new vocation, and,
+if "variety is the spice of life," then his first day in the shop had
+a plenty of spice. The shop was situated at the corner of Hanover and
+Union Streets, having the sign of a large blue ball, bearing the
+inscription:</p>
+
+<div class="narrow">
+<blockquote>
+<p class="hang">
+1698 <span class="smcap">Josias</span><br />
+<span class="sc">Franklin</span> 1698.
+</p></blockquote>
+</div>
+
+<p>He cut wicks, filled moulds, performed errands, and played the part of
+general waiter, in which there was much variety. And this was his work
+for successive weeks, very little of his time running to waste. Do you
+ask how he likes it? The following conversation with his mother will
+answer.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like it at all, mother,&mdash;no better than I thought I should,"
+he said. "I wish I could do something else."</p>
+
+<p>"What else is there for you to do, Benjamin?" replied his mother.
+"What would you like to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I would like to go to sea."</p>
+
+<p>"Go to see what?" she inquired, as if she did not understand him at
+first.</p>
+
+<p>"Go on a voyage to Europe, or the East Indies."</p>
+
+<p>"What!" exclaimed his mother, exhibiting surprise, for she had not
+dreamed that her son had any inclination to go to sea. "Want<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> to be a
+sailor? What put that into your head?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have always thought I should like to go to sea," he answered; "and
+I am so tired of making candles that I want to go now more than ever."</p>
+
+<p>"I am astonished, Benjamin. You might know that I should never give my
+consent to that. I should almost as lief bury you. And how can you
+want to leave your good home, and all your friends, to live in a ship,
+exposed to storms and death all the time?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is not because I do not love my home and friends, but I have a
+desire to sail on a voyage to some other country. I like the water,
+and nothing would suit me so well as to be a cabin-boy."</p>
+
+<p>"There, Benjamin, you must never say another word about it," continued
+his mother; "and you must not think any more about going; for I shall
+never give my consent, and I know <i>your father never will</i>. It was
+almost too much for me when your brother broke away from us, and went
+to sea. I could not pass through another such trial. So you must not
+persist in your wish, if you would not send me down to the grave." And
+here his mother alluded to one of the most bitter experiences of her
+life, when a son older than Benjamin became restless at home, and
+would not be persuaded from his purpose of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> going to sea. It caused
+her many unhappy hours.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin had said nothing about this matter to his father, and this
+prompt veto of his mother put a damper on his hopes, so that he
+continued to work at the shop, with all his dislike for the business.
+His parents talked over the matter, and his father was led thereby to
+watch him more carefully, that he might nip the first buddings of
+desire for the sea. At length, however, Benjamin ventured to make
+known his wishes to his father.</p>
+
+<p>"I have thought," said he, "that I should like to go to sea, if you
+are willing;" and there he stopped, evidently expecting to be refused.</p>
+
+<p>"What has happened to lead you to desire this?" inquired his father.</p>
+
+<p>"Not anything," he answered. "I always thought I should like
+it,&mdash;though I have had a stronger desire lately."</p>
+
+<p>"I see how it is," continued his father. "You have been to the water
+with the boys frequently of late, and I have noticed that you loved to
+be in a boat better than to make candles. I am afraid that your sports
+on the water are making you dissatisfied with your home, and that here
+is the secret of your wanting to go to sea."</p>
+
+<p>"No, father; I think as much of my home as I ever did, and I like a
+boat no better now than I did the first time I got into one."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it is so; but boys don't always know when they are losing
+their attachment to home. You need not say another syllable, however,
+about going to sea, for I shall never consent to it. You may as well
+relinquish at once all thought of going, since I strictly forbid your
+laying any such plans. If you do not wish to be a tallow-chandler, you
+may try some other business. I shall not insist upon your working with
+me, though I shall insist upon your following some calling."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not want to go to sea against your wishes," said Benjamin. "I
+only thought I would go if you and mother were perfectly willing. I
+can work at this dirty trade, too, if you think it is best, though I
+can never like it."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad to see that you have so much regard for your parents'
+wishes," said his father. "If your brother had been as considerate, he
+never would have become a sailor. Children should always remember that
+their parents know best, as they have had more experience and time to
+observe. I say again, if you will abandon all thoughts of a seafaring
+life, I will try to find you a situation to learn some trade you may
+choose for yourself."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was not disposed to enter upon a sailor's life contrary to
+his parents' counsels, and he submitted to his father's decision with
+as much cheerfulness and good feeling as could be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> expected in the
+circumstances. He knew that it was little use to tease his father when
+he said "no" to a project. His emphatic "no" usually put an end to all
+controversy.</p>
+
+<p>There is little doubt that Benjamin had been somewhat influenced by
+his frolics in and on the water. For some time, as opportunity
+offered, he had been down to the water both to bathe and take
+boat-rides. He had become an expert swimmer in a very short time, and
+not one of the boys so readily learned to manage a boat. He exhibited
+so much tact in these water feats, that he was usually regarded as a
+leader by the boys, and all matters of importance were referred to his
+judgment. It was not strange that he should be more in love with an
+ocean life after such pastimes with his comrades. Whether he admitted
+it or not, it is probable that his desire to go to sea was greatly
+increased by these pleasant times in and on the water.</p>
+
+<p>It was certainly a poor prospect that was before the young
+tallow-chandler. It was not a trade to call into exercise the higher
+and nobler faculties of the mind and heart. On that account, no one
+could expect that Benjamin would rise to much distinction in the
+world; and this will serve to awaken the reader's surprise as he
+becomes acquainted with the sequel. A little fellow, ten or twelve
+years of age, cutting the wicks of candles, and filling the moulds,
+does not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> promise to become a great statesman and philosopher. Yet
+with no more promise than this some of the most distinguished men
+commenced their career. Behold Giotti, as he tends his father's flock,
+tracing the first sketches of the divine art in the sand with a clumsy
+stick,&mdash;a deed so unimportant that it foreshadowed to no one his
+future eminence. See Daniel Webster, the great expounder of the
+American Constitution, sitting, in his boyhood, upon a log in his
+father's mill, and studying portions of that Constitution which were
+printed upon a new pocket-handkerchief; a trivial incident at the
+time, but now bearing an important relation to that period of his life
+when his fame extended to every land. Recall the early life of Roger
+Sherman, bound as an apprentice to a shoemaker in consequence of his
+father's poverty, with little education and no ancestral fame to
+assist him,&mdash;how exceeding small the promise that his name would yet
+be prominent in his country's history! In like manner, the little
+candle-making lad of Boston, in 1717, scarcely appears to be related
+to the philosopher and statesman of the same name, in 1775. But the
+hand of God is in the lives of men as really as in the history of
+nations.</p>
+
+<p>The reader should not make use of the fact that Franklin, and other
+eminent men, enjoyed small opportunities to acquire knowledge, as a
+plea that he himself need not be kept in school<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> for a series of
+years. It is true that a little mental improvement may work wonders
+for a person in some circumstances, and it should lead us to inquire,
+if a little will accomplish so much, what will greater advantages do
+for him? A very little knowledge of electricity once saved the life of
+Benjamin Russell in his youth. He was an eminent citizen of Boston,
+born in the year 1761, and in his younger years he had learned from
+the writings of Franklin, who had become a philosopher, that it was
+dangerous to take shelter, during a thunder-shower, under a tree, or
+in a building not protected with lightning-rods. One day, in company
+with several associates, he was overtaken by a tempest, and some of
+the number proposed that they should take shelter under a large tree
+near by, while others advised to enter a neighbouring barn. But young
+Russell opposed both plans, and counselled going under a large
+projecting rock as the safest place. The result showed that a little
+knowledge of electricity was of great service to him; for both the
+barn and the tree were struck by lightning. But neither Benjamin
+Russell, nor any one else, from that day to this, would think of
+saying that there is no need of knowing much about electricity, since
+a little knowledge of it will do so much good. They might say it as
+reasonably, however, as a youth can say that there is no need of much
+schooling,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> since Benjamin Franklin, and others, became honoured and
+useful though they did not go to school after ten or twelve years of
+age. The deep regret of all this class of influential men ever has
+been, that their early advantages were so limited. George Stephenson,
+who did not learn to read until he was eighteen years old, felt so
+keenly on this point, that, when his own son became old enough to
+attend school, he sat up nights and mended the shoes and clocks of his
+neighbours, after having completed his day's labour, to obtain the
+means of educating him.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 347px;">
+<img src="images/fp044.jpg" width="347" height="506" alt="The Rogue&#39;s Wharf.&mdash;See page 44." title="" />
+<span class="caption">The Rogue&#39;s Wharf.&mdash;See page 44.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ROGUE'S WHARF.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">All</span> aboard!" exclaimed Benjamin, and so saying he bounded into the
+boat that lay at the water's edge. "Now for a ride: only hurry up, and
+make the oars fly;" and several boys leaped in after him from the
+shaking, trampled quagmire on which they stood.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be heels over head in mud yet," said one of the number,
+"unless we try to improve the marsh. There is certainly danger that we
+shall go through that shaky place, and I scarcely know when we shall
+stop, if we begin to go down."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us build a wharf," said Benjamin, "and that will get rid of the
+quagmire. It won't be a long job, if all take hold."</p>
+
+<p>"Where will you get your lumber?" inquired John.</p>
+
+<p>"Nowhere. We don't want any lumber, for stones are better," answered
+Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"It is worse yet to bring stones so far, and enough of them," added
+John. "You must like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> to lift better than I do, to strain yourself in
+tugging stones here."</p>
+
+<p>"Look there," continued Benjamin, pointing to a heap of stones only a
+few rods distant. "There are stones enough for our purpose, and one or
+two hours is all the time we want to build a wharf with them."</p>
+
+<p>"But those stones belong to the man who is preparing to build a house
+there," said Fred. "The workmen are busy there now."</p>
+
+<p>"That may all be," said Benjamin, "but they can afford to lend them to
+us awhile. They will be just as good for their use after we have done
+with them."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you expect they will lend them to you, I perceive; but you'll be
+mistaken," answered Fred.</p>
+
+<p>"My mode of borrowing them is this,&mdash;we will go this evening, after
+the workmen have gone home, and tug them over here, and make the wharf
+long before bedtime;" and Benjamin looked queerly as he said it.</p>
+
+<p>"And get ourselves into trouble thereby," replied another boy. "I will
+agree to do it if you will bear all the blame of stealing them."</p>
+
+<p>"Stealing!" exclaimed Benjamin. "It is not stealing to take such
+worthless things as stones. A man couldn't sell an acre of them for a
+copper."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, anyhow, the men who have had the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> labour of drawing them there
+won't thank you for taking them."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't ask them to thank me. I don't think the act deserves any
+thanks," and a roguish twinkle of the eye showed that he knew he was
+doing wrong. And he added, "I reckon it will be a joke on the workmen
+to-morrow morning to find their pile of stones missing."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us do it," said John, who was taken with the idea of playing off
+a joke. "I will do my part to carry the thing through."</p>
+
+<p>"And I will do mine," said another; and by this time all were willing
+to follow the example of Benjamin, their leader. Perhaps all were
+afraid to say "No," according to the dictates of conscience, now that
+the enterprise was indorsed by one or two of their number. Boys are
+too often disposed to go "with the multitude to do evil." They are
+often too cowardly to do what they know is right.</p>
+
+<p>The salt marsh, bounding a part of the millpond where their boat lay,
+was trampled into a complete quagmire. The boys were accustomed to
+fish there at high water, and so many feet, so often treading on the
+spot, reduced it to a very soft condition. It was over this miry marsh
+that they proposed to build a wharf.</p>
+
+<p>The evening was soon there, and the boys came together on their
+rogue's errand. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> surveyed the pile of stones, and found it ample
+for their purpose, though it looked like a formidable piece of work to
+move them.</p>
+
+<p>"Some of them are bigger than two of us can lift," said Fred.</p>
+
+<p>"Then three of us can hitch to and carry them," said Benjamin. "They
+must all be worked into a wharf this evening. Let us begin,&mdash;there is
+no time to lose."</p>
+
+<p>"The largest must go first," said John. "They are capital ones for the
+foundation. Come, two or three must take hold of this," at the same
+time laying hold of one of the largest.</p>
+
+<p>So they went to work with decided perseverance (the only commendable
+thing about the transaction), sometimes three or four of them working
+away at one stone, lifting and rolling it along. Benjamin was never
+half so zealous in cutting candle-wicks as he was in perpetrating this
+censurable act. He was second to no one of the number in cheerful
+active service on this occasion.</p>
+
+<p>The evening was not spent when the last stone was carried away, and
+the wharf was finished,&mdash;a work of art that answered their purpose
+very well, though it was not quite so imposing as Commercial Wharf is
+now, and was not calculated to receive the cargo of a very large
+Liverpool packet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"What a capital place it makes for fishing!" exclaimed Fred. "It is
+worth all it cost for that."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it will cost more than you think for before we get through
+with it," said John. "We can tell better about that when the workmen
+find their stones among the missing."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to hear what they will say," responded Benjamin, "when
+they discover what we have done, though I hardly think they will pay
+us much of a compliment. But I must hurry home, or I shall have
+trouble there. Come on, boys, let us go."</p>
+
+<p>At this they hastened to their homes, not designing to make known the
+labours of the evening, if they could possibly avoid interrogation.
+They knew that their parents would disapprove of the deed, and that no
+excuse could shield them from merited censure. It was not strange,
+then, that they were both afraid and ashamed to tell of what they had
+done. But we will let twenty-four hours pass. On the following
+evening, when Mr. Franklin took his seat at his fireside, Benjamin had
+taken his book and was reading.</p>
+
+<p>"Benjamin," said his father, "where was you last evening?"</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin knew by his father's anxious look that there was trouble. He
+imagined that he had heard of their enterprise on the previous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>
+evening. After some hesitation, he answered, "I was down to the
+water."</p>
+
+<p>"What was you doing there?"</p>
+
+<p>"We were fixing up a place for the boat."</p>
+
+<p>"See that you tell the truth, Benjamin, and withhold nothing. I wish
+to know what you did there."</p>
+
+<p>"We built a wharf."</p>
+
+<p>"What had you to build it with?"</p>
+
+<p>"We built it of stones."</p>
+
+<p>"And where did you get your stones?"</p>
+
+<p>"There was a pile of them close by."</p>
+
+<p>"Did they belong to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose not."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you not know that they belonged to the man who is building the
+house?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you deliberately resolved to steal them, did you?"</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't stealing to take stones."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, then, did you take them in the evening, after the workmen had
+gone home? Why did you not go after them when the workmen were all
+there?"</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin saw that he was fairly caught, and that, bright as he was, he
+could not get out of so bad a scrape unblamed. So he hung his head,
+and did not answer his father's last question.</p>
+
+<p>"I see plainly how it is," continued his father; "it is the
+consequence of going out in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> the evening with the boys, which I must
+hereafter forbid. I have been willing that you should go out
+occasionally, because I have thought it might be better for you than
+so much reading. But you have now betrayed my confidence, and I am
+satisfied more than ever that boys should be at home in the evening,
+trying to improve their minds. You have been guilty of an act that is,
+quite flagrant, although it may have been done thoughtlessly. You
+should have known better, after having received so much good
+instruction as you have had at home."</p>
+
+<p>"I did know better," frankly confessed Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"And that makes your guilt so much the greater," added his father. "Do
+you think you will learn a lesson from this, and never do the like
+again?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will promise that I never will."</p>
+
+<p>Thus frankly did Benjamin confess his wrong, and ever after look upon
+that act with regret. In mature age he referred to it, and called it
+one of the first evil acts of his life. It was the second time he
+<i>paid too dear for his whistle</i>.</p>
+
+<p>If seems that the workmen missed their stones, when they first reached
+the spot in the morning, and they soon discovered them nicely laid
+into a wharf. The proprietor was indignant, and exerted himself to
+learn who were the authors<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> of the deed, and in the course of the day
+he gained the information, and went directly, and very properly, to
+their parents, to enter complaint. Thus all the boys were exposed, and
+received just rebuke for their misdemeanor. Benjamin was convinced, as
+he said of it many years afterwards, "that that which is not honest,
+could not be truly useful."</p>
+
+<p>We have referred to Benjamin's habit of reading. It had been his
+custom to spend his evenings, and other leisure moments, in reading.
+He was much pleased with voyages, and such writings as John Bunyan's.
+The first books he possessed were the works of Bunyan, in separate
+little volumes. After becoming familiar with them, he sold them in
+order to obtain the means to buy "Burton's Historical Collections,"
+which were small, cheap books, forty volumes in all. His father, also,
+possessed a good number of books for those times, when books were
+rare, and these he read through, although most of them were really
+beyond his years, being controversial writings upon theology. His love
+of reading was so great, that he even read works of this character
+with a degree of interest. In the library, however, were three or four
+books of somewhat different character. There was "Plutarch's Lives,"
+in which he was deeply interested; also Defoe's "Essay on Projects."
+But to no one book was he more indebted than to Dr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> Mather's "Essay
+to do Good." From this he derived hints and sentiments which had a
+beneficial influence upon his after life. He said, forty or fifty
+years afterwards, "It gave me a turn of thinking that had an influence
+on some of the principal future events of my life." And he wrote to a
+son of Cotton Mather, "I have always set a greater value on the
+character of a doer of good, than on any other kind of reputation; and
+if I have been, as you seem to think, a useful citizen, the public
+owes the advantage of it to that book." Some of the sentiments of the
+book which particularly impressed him were as follows: "It is possible
+that the wisdom of a poor man may start a proposal that may save a
+city, save a nation." "A mean (humble) mechanic,&mdash;who can tell what an
+engine of good he may be, if humbly and wisely applied unto it?" "The
+remembrance of having been the man that first moved a good law, were
+better than a statue erected for one's memory." These, and similar
+thoughts, stimulated his mind to action, and really caused him to
+attempt what otherwise would have been impossible.</p>
+
+<p>If Benjamin had been engaged as usual, in reading, on that unfortunate
+evening, he would have escaped the guilt of an act that turned out to
+be a serious matter rather than a joke. The habit of spending leisure
+hours in poring over books, has saved many boys from vice and ruin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>
+Many more might have been saved, if they had been so fond of books as
+to stay at home evenings to read. It is an excellent habit to form,
+and tends to preserve the character unsullied, while it stores the
+mind with useful knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>We shall see, as we advance, that Benjamin became very systematic and
+economical in the use of his time, that he might command every moment
+possible to read. The benefit he derived from the exercise when he was
+young caused him to address the following letter, many years
+thereafter, to a bright, intelligent girl of his acquaintance. The
+letter, being devoted to "<i>Advice on Reading</i>," is a valuable one to
+young persons now.</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"I send my good girl the books I mentioned to her last night. I
+beg of her to accept of them as a small mark of my esteem and
+friendship. They are written in the familiar, easy manner for
+which the French are so remarkable, and afford a good deal of
+philosophic and practical knowledge, unembarrassed with the dry
+mathematics used by more exact reasoners, but which is apt to
+discourage young beginners.</p>
+
+<p>"I would advise you to read with a pen in your hand, and enter in
+a little book short hints of what you find that is curious, or
+that may be useful; for this will be the best method of
+imprinting such particulars on your memory,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> where they will be
+ready either for practice on some future occasion, if they are
+matters of utility, or, at least, to adorn and improve your
+conversation, if they are rather points of curiosity; and, as
+many of the terms of science are such as you cannot have met with
+in your common reading, and may therefore be unacquainted with, I
+think it would be well for you to have a good dictionary at hand,
+to consult immediately when you meet with a word you do not
+comprehend the precise meaning of.</p>
+
+<p>"This may, at first, seem troublesome and interrupting; but it is
+a trouble that will daily diminish, as you will daily find less
+and less occasion for your dictionary, as you become more
+acquainted with the terms; and, in the meantime, you will read
+with more satisfaction, because with more understanding. When any
+point occurs in which you would be glad to have further
+information than your book affords you, I beg that you would not
+in the least apprehend that I should think it a trouble to
+receive and answer your questions. It will be a pleasure and no
+trouble. For though I may not be able, out of my own little stock
+of knowledge, to afford you what you require, I can easily direct
+you to the books where it may most readily be found. Adieu, and
+believe me ever, my dear friend,</p>
+
+<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">B. Franklin</span>."</p></blockquote>
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3>TABLE TALK.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Yes</span>," replied Mr. Franklin, to the inquiry of a friend who was dining
+with him; "my ancestors were inured to hardships, and I myself am not
+altogether a stranger to them. I had but little opportunity of going
+to school, and have always had to work hard for a livelihood."</p>
+
+<p>"So much the better for you now," replied his friend; "for in this new
+country, and these hard times, you cannot find the support of a large
+family an easy matter."</p>
+
+<p>"That is true; but I have never regretted coming to this country. The
+liberty of worshipping God according to the dictates of conscience, is
+one of the richest blessings, and more than compensates for the trial
+of leaving my native land."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you experienced the rigours of intolerance there, in some
+measure, did you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes; my forefathers adhered to the Protestant faith through the
+reign of Mary, and were often in great danger from the bitter hatred
+of the Papists. I sometimes wonder that they did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> not forfeit their
+lives in those days of persecution."</p>
+
+<p>"I can relate to you one interesting fact," interrupted Uncle
+Benjamin, addressing himself to the guest. "Our ancestors possessed an
+English Bible, which they valued highly, of course; but there was
+danger of losing it, through the craftiness and hostility of the Papal
+powers. They held the Protestant Bible in absolute contempt. So, to
+conceal their Bible, at the same time they could enjoy the reading of
+it, they 'fastened it open with tapes under and within the cover of a
+joint-stool.' When our great-grandfather desired to read it to his
+family, according to his daily custom, 'he placed the joint-stool on
+his knees, and then turned over the leaves under the tapes.' While he
+was reading, one of the children was stationed at the door to give the
+alarm if he should see 'the apparitor coming, who was an officer of
+the spiritual court.' If the officer was seen approaching, the stool
+was immediately set down upon its feet, and the Bible in this way was
+concealed from view. For a considerable time they were obliged to read
+the Scriptures in this secret manner."</p>
+
+<p>"But your father was not thus persecuted, was he?" inquired the
+friend.</p>
+
+<p>"He was not persecuted to such a degree," answered Uncle Benjamin,
+"though he had some experience of this kind; and even brother Josias<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>
+and myself did not escape. Our father's family continued in the Church
+of England till about the end of Charles the Second's reign, when
+Josias and I joined the Nonconformists, and subjected ourselves to
+much contempt."</p>
+
+<p>"And that is the reason I am in this country now," said Mr. Franklin.
+"We enjoyed few privileges, and frequently our religious meetings were
+disturbed, as they were forbidden by law. On this account some of my
+acquaintances resolved to remove to this country, and I decided to
+join them."</p>
+
+<p>"How long ago was that?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was about 1685, so that you will perceive I am one of the old
+settlers of America. I have been here long enough to witness many
+changes, and have no desire to return to my native country. My
+children can scarcely appreciate how much they enjoy, in comparison
+with the experience of their ancestors."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin had often heard the last remark, as a reminder of his
+obligations to be good and useful. Indeed, this whole tale of
+persecution he had listened to over and over, and had heard his Uncle
+Benjamin tell the story of the Bible and stool a number of times. He
+had come to the conclusion that he was faring better than his father
+did, although he did not think his own lot remarkably flattering.</p>
+
+<p>This conversation at the dinner-table was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> specimen of what
+frequently occurred there in the way of remark. Mr. Franklin was
+gratified to have some intelligent friend at his table with him, that
+they might converse upon some useful topics, for the benefit of his
+children. When he had no guest at his table, he would call the
+attention of his children to some subject calculated to improve their
+minds, thinking, at the same time, that it would serve to draw off
+their attention from their humble fare. Children are apt to find fault
+with the food set before them, and perhaps the reader himself has more
+than once fretted over an unpalatable dish, and murmured for something
+else. Sometimes they beg for an article of food that is not on the
+table, declining to eat what is furnished for the family. It was not
+so at Mr. Franklin's table. He did not allow one of his children to
+complain of the food, however simple it might be; and his principal
+method of calling off their attention from the quality of their
+victuals was, as we have said, to converse upon some sensible theme.
+Their attention being directed to other things, they were seldom
+troubled about their food, and became almost indifferent to what was
+placed on the table. Benjamin said, in his manhood, on referring to
+this subject: "I am so unobservant of it, that to this day I can
+scarcely tell, a few hours after dinner, of what dishes it consisted.
+This has been a great convenience to me in travelling, where my
+companions have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> sometimes very unhappy for the want of a
+suitable gratification of their more delicate, because better
+instructed tastes and appetites."</p>
+
+<p>The guests of Mr. Franklin being usually intelligent, their
+conversation was instructive to the children, who acquired thereby
+many valuable items of information. The condition and prospects of the
+country, the oppressive measures of the English government, and the
+means of future prosperity, were among the topics which they heard
+discussed. Although it seems like a small, unimportant influence to
+bring to bear upon tender childhood, yet it left its mark upon their
+characters. They had more interest in the public questions of the day,
+and more general intelligence in consequence.</p>
+
+<p>It is related of the Washburne family, of which four or five brothers
+occupy posts of political distinction in the United States, that in
+their early life their father's house was open to ministers, and was
+sometimes called "the minister's hotel." Mr. Washburne was a great
+friend of this class, and enjoyed their society much. At all times
+nearly, some one of the ministerial fraternity would be stopping
+there. His sons were thus brought into their society, and they
+listened to long discussions upon subjects of a scientific, political,
+and religious character, though public measures received a large share
+of attention. The boys acquired some valuable information by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>
+listening to their remarks, and this created a desire to read and
+learn more; and so they were started off in a career that bids fair to
+reflect honour both upon themselves and their country. Their early
+advantages were few, but the conversation of educated men, upon
+important subjects, laid the foundation of their eminence in public
+life.</p>
+
+<p>"You must give heed to little things," Mr. Franklin would frequently
+say to his sons, when they appeared to think that he was too
+particular about some things, such as behaviour at the table,
+"although nothing can really be considered small that is important. It
+is of far more consequence how you behave, than what you wear."</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes, if the meal was unusually plain (and it was never
+extravagant), he would say, "Many people are too particular about
+their victuals. They destroy their health by eating too much and too
+rich food. Plain, simple, wholesome fare is all that nature requires,
+and young persons who are brought up in this way will be best off in
+the end."</p>
+
+<p>Such kind of remarks frequently greeted the ears of young Benjamin; so
+that, as we have already seen, he grew up without caring much about
+the kind of food which he ate. Perhaps here is to be found the origin
+of those rigidly temperate principles in both eating and drinking, for
+which he was distinguished all through his life. In his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> manhood, he
+wrote and talked upon the subject, and reduced his principles to
+practice. When he worked as a printer in England, his fellow-labourers
+were hard drinkers of strong beer, really believing that it was
+necessary to make them competent to endure fatigue. They were
+astonished to see a youth like Benjamin able to excel the smartest of
+them in the printing-office, while he drank only cold water, and they
+sneeringly called him "the Water-American."</p>
+
+<p>The temperate habits which Benjamin formed in his youth were the more
+remarkable, because there were no temperance societies at that time,
+and it was generally supposed to be necessary to use intoxicating
+drinks. The evils of intemperance were not viewed with so much
+abhorrence as they are now, and the project of removing them from
+society was not entertained for a moment. Reformatory movements, in
+this respect, did not commence until nearly one hundred years after
+the time referred to. Yet Benjamin was fully persuaded in his youth
+that he ought to be temperate in all things. Probably there was not
+one of his associates who believed as he did on the subject. But he
+began early to think for himself, and this, with the excellent
+discipline of his wise and sagacious father, caused him to live in
+advance of those around him. It is not probable that he adopted the
+principle of total abstinence, and abstained entirely from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> use of
+intoxicating drinks; but he was not in the habit of using it as a
+daily, indispensable beverage.</p>
+
+<p>That the practice of Benjamin's father, to allow no finding fault with
+the food at the table, and to lead the way in profitable conversation,
+was a good one, we think no one can deny. It was very different,
+however, from much of the table-talk that is heard in families.
+Conversation is frequently brisk and lively, but it often runs in this
+way:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want any of that, I don't like it," exclaimed Henry. "I
+should think you might have a better dinner than this."</p>
+
+<p>"What would you have if you could get it,&mdash;roast chicken and plum
+pudding?" inquires his mother, laughing, instead of reproving him for
+his error.</p>
+
+<p>"I would have something I can eat. You know I don't like that, and
+never did."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it does boys good, sometimes, to eat what they don't like,
+especially such particular ones as you are," says his father.</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't eat what I don't like, at any rate," continues Henry, "I
+shall go hungry first."</p>
+
+<p>"There, now," added his father, "let me hear no more complaint about
+your food. You are scarcely ever suited with your victuals."</p>
+
+<p>"May I have some &mdash;&mdash;?" calling for some article not on the table.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"If you will hold your tongue, and get it yourself, you can have it."</p>
+
+<p>"And let me have some, too!" shouts James, a younger brother; "I don't
+like this, neither. May I have some, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"And I too," said Jane, setting up her plea. "I must have some if they
+do."</p>
+
+<p>In this way the table-talk proceeds, until fretting, scolding, crying,
+make up the sum total of the conversation, and family joys are
+embittered for the remainder of the day. Finding fault with food is
+the occasion of all the unhappiness.</p>
+
+<p>Let the reader ask himself how much he has contributed to make
+conversation at the table proper and instructive. Has he thought more
+of the quality of his food than of anything else at the family board?
+If the review of the past reveals an error in this respect, let him
+learn a valuable lesson from this part of Benjamin Franklin's life.
+Though it may seem to be an unimportant matter, accept the testimony
+of Benjamin himself, and believe that it leaves its impress upon the
+future character.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3>CHOOSING A TRADE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">You</span> will have to be a tallow-chandler, after all, when your brother
+gets married and goes away," said one of Benjamin's associates to him.
+He had heard that an older son of Mr. Franklin, who worked at the
+business with his father, was about to be married, and would remove to
+Rhode Island, and set up business for himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Not I," replied Benjamin. "I shall work at it no longer than I am
+obliged to do."</p>
+
+<p>"That may be, and you be obliged to work at it all your life. It will
+be, as your father says, till you are twenty-one years old."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that; but my father does not desire to have me work in his
+shop against my wishes&mdash;only till I can find some other suitable
+employment. I would rather go to sea than anything."</p>
+
+<p>"Are your parents not willing that you should go to sea?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; they won't hear a word about it. I have talked with them till it
+is of no use. They seem to think that I should be shipwrecked, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>
+that something else would happen, to prevent my return."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, if you can't go to sea, and you won't be a tallow-chandler,
+what can you do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hardly know myself; but almost anything is preferable to this
+greasy business. If people had no more light than the candles I should
+make, unless I was obliged, they would have a pretty dark time of it."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think it is a very disagreeable business," continued his
+companion. "It is quite easy work, certainly,&mdash;much more to my liking
+than sawing wood, and some other things I could name."</p>
+
+<p>"It may be easy," replied Benjamin; "but it is dirty and simple. It
+requires no ingenuity to do all that I do. Almost any simpleton could
+cut wicks and fill candle-moulds. A fellow who can't do it couldn't
+tell which side his bread is buttered. <i>I</i> prefer to do something that
+requires thought and ingenuity."</p>
+
+<p>"There is something in that; but I guess it will take all your
+ingenuity to work yourself out of the tallow-chandler's business,"
+responded his friend, rather dryly.</p>
+
+<p>This conversation occurred one day in the shop, when Mr. Franklin was
+out. But just at this point he returned, and soon after the young
+visitor left. Benjamin was not acquainted with all his father's plans,
+and he had actually proceeded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> further than he was aware of towards
+introducing him into another calling, as the following conversation
+with Mrs. F., on the previous evening, will show&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have resolved to find some other employment for Benjamin at once,"
+said he; "as John is to be married so soon, he will be able to render
+me but little more assistance, and I must have some one to take his
+place."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you satisfied," inquired Mrs. Franklin, "that Benjamin cannot be
+prevailed upon to take the place of John in your shop?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! he is so dissatisfied with the business, that I fear he will
+yet go to sea, unless his attention is soon turned to some other
+pursuit. Then, if he has a taste for any other honourable pursuit, I
+am willing that he should follow it. He would not accomplish much at
+candle-making with his present feelings."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you anything in view for him to do?" asked Mrs. F.</p>
+
+<p>"Not positively. I want to learn, if I can, whether he has taste and
+tact for any particular business. If he has, he will accomplish more
+in that. I don't believe in compelling a boy to follow a pursuit for
+which he has no relish, unless it is where nothing else offers."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it is very necessary for boys to have a definite trade," said
+Mrs. F.; "they are more likely to succeed than those who are changing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>
+often from one thing to another. 'A rolling stone gathers no moss,' is
+an old saying."</p>
+
+<p>"That is the principal reason for my plan to introduce him into some
+other business soon. No one feels the importance of this more than I
+do, and I have pretty thoroughly imbued the mind of Benjamin with the
+same views. I think he has a desire to follow a definite calling,
+though now his taste seems to draw him towards a seafaring life."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin could have appreciated this last remark, if it had been
+uttered in his hearing. For he had listened to so much counsel upon
+this point, that he had no desire to run from one thing to another.
+And he continued to cherish this feeling. When he became a man, he
+wrote the following maxims, among the many of which he was the
+author:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"He that hath a trade hath an estate."</p>
+
+<p>"He that hath a calling hath an office of honour."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>Here he taught the same lesson that he received from the lips of his
+father and mother when he was young. A trade is the assurance of a
+livelihood, however hard the times may be. As a general rule, they who
+follow trades secure a living, when they who have none come to want
+and suffer.</p>
+
+<p>But to return. Mr. Franklin rather surprised Benjamin by saying, after
+his associate left the shop, "I have decided on finding some other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>
+business for you immediately, if possible. I hope to find some opening
+for your learning an agreeable trade."</p>
+
+<p>"Where shall you go to find one?" inquired Benjamin, scarcely
+expecting to have his wishes gratified so early. "Have you any
+particular trade in view?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; I want to consult your tastes about the matter first; and I
+propose to go to-morrow with you, to see what we can find."</p>
+
+<p>"And I go with you, did you say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I wish to have you witness some things to which I shall call
+your attention, and decide for yourself what calling to follow."</p>
+
+<p>"Where will you go?" inquired Benjamin, deeply interested in the plan,
+as well he might be.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not go out of town. Boston furnishes good examples of the
+different trades, and we shall not be under the necessity of extending
+our researches beyond its limits. So to-morrow I think we will start."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was delighted with the prospect of being delivered soon from
+the tallow-chandler's shop, and he anticipated the morrow with
+considerable impatience. He rejoiced when the light of the next
+morning came in at his chamber window, and brighter and earlier he was
+up to await his father's bidding. Suitable preparations were made, and
+directly after breakfast they set forth upon their important errand.
+The first shop they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> visited was that of a joiner, where he saw the
+plane and hammer used to advantage. He had witnessed such labour
+before, and also seen other employments to which his father called his
+attention on that day; but he never observed these different trades
+with the object which now brought him to the shops. Having spent some
+time at the joiner's bench, he next went to a turner's place of
+business, where he saw different articles turned to order, in so rapid
+a manner as to surprise him. He was more interested in the
+turning-lathe, and its rapid movement, than he was in the use of
+joiner's tools. Passing through a prominent street, after leaving the
+turner's, they came to an unfinished structure, on which bricklayers
+were employed. Here another trade was on exhibition, and Benjamin's
+attention was called to it, and the various kind of labour which this
+class of toilers were obliged to perform were explained to him. In
+this way they visited other work-shops, until they had seen the
+practical operations of the different trades, and Benjamin understood
+what kind of toil each required. One of the last shops they visited
+was that of Samuel Franklin, a son of Uncle Benjamin, and, of course,
+a cousin of Benjamin. He learned the trade of cutler in London, and
+had just come over and established himself in Boston. The business of
+a cutler is to make knives and other cutting instruments, in some
+respects a very interesting and attractive trade.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> Benjamin was
+evidently more pleased with this kind of business than any he had seen
+on that day. Whether it grew out of boyish love for jack-knives, or
+was the consequence of closely observing the ingenious modes of
+manufacturing cutlery, we need not say. It is enough to know that he
+was partially captivated by the trade, and before they reached home
+his father was well satisfied which trade he would select, though he
+had not questioned him at all on this point.</p>
+
+<p>"What trade have you decided to follow, Benjamin?" inquired his
+mother, as they sat at the tea-table; and she let fall a most loving
+smile upon her boy.</p>
+
+<p>"I think any of them are better than making candles," he replied,
+"although I like Samuel's trade the best of all."</p>
+
+<p>"That is just what I expected," said his father, laughingly. "I saw
+that you fell in love with his work, and I think myself that it is a
+very pleasant and promising business."</p>
+
+<p>"So you will decide to take that trade, will you?" said his mother.</p>
+
+<p>"In preference to all the trades I have seen yet," said Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"He is after a pocket knife," interrupted John, who sat at the table,
+speaking in a vein of pleasantry. "I see clearly what has taken <i>his</i>
+eye."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose John will never care more about a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> knife, now he is going
+to have a wife," added Mr. Franklin, addressing his remark to
+Benjamin, in order to help him out of the predicament into which
+John's remark had placed him. "But did you not like the brazier's
+business?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir; I liked it very well, but not so well as I do the cutler's
+trade. If I can have my choice I shall choose that, and will begin
+to-morrow, if you are willing."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall make no objection, if that is your decision," replied his
+father. "I want you should weigh the matter carefully, however, and
+not be hasty in choosing."</p>
+
+<p>"It remains to be seen whether Samuel will take him as an apprentice,"
+said Mrs. Franklin. "Perhaps he may not want one. He has just
+commenced, and cannot be doing much business yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Father can easily learn that," said Benjamin. "He can see cousin
+Samuel to-morrow, and decide the matter at once."</p>
+
+<p>"I will see him to-morrow," said his father, "and arrange for you to
+go into his shop if possible."</p>
+
+<p>On the following day, Mr. Franklin called upon Samuel, his nephew, and
+made known the wishes of Benjamin. Although it was a new and
+unexpected subject, yet he received it favourably, and finally decided
+that Benjamin might come immediately, and try his hand at this new
+business. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> thought it was best for both parties that no definite
+agreement or bargain should be made until Benjamin had tried the work,
+to which his father assented.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly, Benjamin entered upon his new trade immediately, and was
+much pleased with it. It was so different from the work of
+candle-making, and required so much more thought and ingenuity, that
+he was prepared to pronounce it "first rate." It was with a light and
+cheerful heart that he went to each day's task.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Franklin acted wisely in consulting the inclination of his son
+about a trade. A boy may have more qualifications for one pursuit than
+another; and this will generally be made manifest in the bent of his
+mind. He will exhibit a degree of tact for one calling, while he may
+be a blunderer at almost anything else. This characteristic is more
+remarkable with some boys than with others, and a disregard of it
+often entails unhappiness upon a whole family. When Handel, the
+distinguished musician, was a child, his father strictly forbade his
+listening to a note of music, or indulging his talent for the art.
+Although he exhibited remarkable musical abilities, his father paid no
+regard to the fact, but was determined to rear him to the profession
+of law. He ordered all musical instruments to be carried out of the
+house, and made it as difficult as possible for his son to gratify his
+taste for sweet sounds. But through the assistance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> of a servant, the
+boy obtained an instrument, which he kept in the garret; and there,
+when opportunity offered, with the strings of his "clavichord" so
+covered with pieces of cloth as to deaden the sound, he practised
+music until he became a proficient in harmony. It was not, however,
+until his father took him on a visit to see an elder brother, who was
+in the family of the Prince of Saxe-Weisenfels, that he became
+acquainted with the progress he had made in his loved art. While there
+he happened to go into the royal chapel just as the service was
+closing, when he glided up to the organ, unperceived, and commenced
+playing. The Prince was on the point of retiring; but he stopped, and
+inquired who was playing. He was told that it was young Handel, only
+seven years old; whereupon the Prince ordered the boy and his father
+to be summoned into his presence. The result of the interview was,
+that the Prince arranged for Handel to be placed for tuition under the
+organist of Halle Cathedral, where he soon became renowned. Posterity
+has not failed to condemn the unwise discipline of his father, in
+disregarding his inclination for a given pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>When Sir Joshua Reynolds was a boy, he was inclined to embrace every
+opportunity to gratify his taste for drawing. His father had no
+sympathy with him in thus spending his time, and he sought to repress
+his aspirations of this kind. One day he discovered that Joshua had
+disfigured his exercise-book<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> with a number of well-executed drawings;
+but, instead of encouraging his talents in this line, he sharply
+rebuked him, and wrote underneath the sketches, "<i>Done by Joshua out
+of pure idleness.</i>" His father was anxious that he should become a
+physician, and therefore he looked with no favour upon his propensity
+for drawing. But for the irrepressible power of genius, his unwise
+father would have deprived the world of one of its most gifted
+painters.</p>
+
+<p>The father of John Smeaton pursued a like censurable course in the
+discipline of his son. He frowned upon those early developments of
+genius that foreshadowed the renowned engineer that he became. When
+only four or five years of age, he was often seen dividing circles and
+squares. He rejected the toys that other children used, preferring
+tools with which he could construct machines. When only six or seven
+years of age, he was discovered on the roof of the barn, much to the
+consternation of his father and mother, fixing up a windmill of his
+own construction. Soon afterwards having seen some men repairing a
+pump, he procured from them a piece of bored pipe, he made one of his
+own, with which he could raise water. At fourteen years of age he made
+an engine to turn rose-work, and many were his presents of boxes of
+wood and ivory turned by himself. He made all his tools for working
+wood, ivory, and metals. He also invented a lathe for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> cutting a
+perpetual screw in brass. And yet his father was determined to make a
+lawyer of him, and thus spoil the mechanic. He actually disregarded
+all these proofs of mechanical genius, and sent him to London to be
+educated for the bar; and it was not until his father began to see the
+impossibility of making a good attorney of him, that he consented to
+let him follow the profession which the bent of his genius plainly
+marked out.</p>
+
+<p>The father of Benjamin Franklin acted more wisely in the first place,
+and resolved to educate him in that pursuit for which nature had best
+qualified him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE PRINTER-BOY.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">After</span> Benjamin had worked at cutlery a suitable time, his father went
+to close the bargain, and make out the papers for his apprenticeship.
+But, to his surprise, his nephew demanded such conditions that Mr.
+Franklin could not think of accepting his proposition; and the result
+was, that he took Benjamin away, much to his disappointment. The boy
+submitted to his father's decision, however, with true filial
+obedience, evidently believing that he had good reasons for taking
+such a stand. Now he was neither a tallow-chandler nor a cutler,
+though not destined to be long without employment.</p>
+
+<p>Just before this juncture, as if Providence ordered events on
+Benjamin's account, his brother James returned from England, where he
+learned the printer's trade. He brought with him a good press, and
+type, in order to establish himself in Boston.</p>
+
+<p>"How would you like to learn the printer's trade with your brother
+James?" inquired Mr. Franklin of Benjamin. "I have been thinking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> that
+it was a good thing you did not continue the cutlery business, because
+you have superior qualifications for this."</p>
+
+<p>"What qualifications have I for this that I have not for the cutler's
+trade?" asked Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"You are a good reader, and have an intellectual turn, being fond of
+books, and such things belonging to mental improvement as the trade of
+printer offers."</p>
+
+<p>"I think I should like the business very well," added Benjamin.
+"Perhaps I should have a better opportunity to read than I should with
+cousin Samuel."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you would. For the very matter you may be required to put
+into type may be as interesting and profitable as anything you could
+find in a book. All that you read in books went through the printer's
+hand first."</p>
+
+<p>"I had not thought of that before. I think I should like the business
+better than almost anything I know of. How long will it take to learn
+the trade?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will take some time," answered Mr. Franklin. "You are now twelve
+years of age, and you can certainly acquire the best knowledge of the
+business by the time you are twenty-one years old."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a long time," said Benjamin; "but I shall do what you think
+best."</p>
+
+<p>"I want <i>you</i> should think it is best, too," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> his father. "If you
+have no inclination to be a printer, I do not wish to have you
+undertake it. I have no confidence that you will succeed in any
+business for which you have no taste."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I think better of this business now than I do of any other,"
+replied Benjamin, "and I should like to try it."</p>
+
+<p>"I will speak with James about it," said his father, "and see what
+arrangements can be made. The prospects of the business are not very
+flattering at present, but I think the day is coming when it will
+thrive."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Franklin lost no time in consulting James, who favoured the plan
+without any reserve. He proposed to take Benjamin as an apprentice, to
+serve until he was twenty-one years of age, having only his board and
+clothes until the last year, when he would receive journeyman's wages.
+This was a good opportunity on the whole, for printing was in its
+infancy in America at that time. It is probable that not more than six
+or eight persons had been in the business in Boston before James
+Franklin commenced, in the year 1717. The demand for printing must
+have been very small indeed.</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Franklin first made known to Benjamin the conditions on which
+James would receive him into the printing-office, and that he would be
+expected to sign the indenture, and leave his father's roof for such a
+boarding-place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> as his brother might provide, he hesitated about
+taking the step. He stated his objections frankly and fully to his
+father, who removed them without much difficulty, so that the writings
+were drawn up, and Benjamin placed his signature to them and was
+henceforth a "Boston printer's boy."</p>
+
+<p>He had not laboured long at the business before he was quite
+fascinated with it. He liked it better even than he expected. He
+exhibited, too, a good degree of tact for it, and his progress in
+learning the art was rapid. His brother was highly gratified with his
+close attention to his business, and commended him for the use he made
+of his leisure moments in reading. He was introduced now to another
+class of acquaintances, so that his opportunities for getting books to
+read were more favourable. The printing-office was frequented by
+booksellers' apprentices, whose employers necessarily wanted jobs of
+printing done. Through them Benjamin was made acquainted with the
+limited stock of books the market afforded.</p>
+
+<p>"I will lend you that book to-night," said one of these apprentices to
+him, "if you will return it clean in the morning," alluding to a
+certain volume which Benjamin was looking over in the book-store.</p>
+
+<p>"I should be glad to read it," answered Benjamin; "I think I can read
+it through before I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> go to bed, and so return it in the morning when I
+go to the office."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't have much time left for sleep, if you read that book
+through before you go to bed," said the apprentice.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not; but I can afford to make a short night's rest of it, if
+I can have the reading of this book. I shall not mind that, and I can
+return it without a blemish."</p>
+
+<p>"The book is for sale," continued the apprentice, "and we might have a
+call for it to-morrow, or I would let you keep it longer. If you do
+not read it all to-night, and we do not sell it to-morrow, you can
+take it home with you again to-morrow night. I frequently read a
+volume through, a little at a time, before we have a chance to sell
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"You may be sure of having this in the morning, safe and sound," said
+Benjamin, as he left the store, thanking his friend for the kind
+favour.</p>
+
+<p>He went home, and sat up most of the night to read the book, being
+more deeply interested in its contents than he was in pleasant dreams.
+A short nap, after the volume was finished, was all that time could
+afford him; and the bookseller got his book, and the printing-office
+its apprentice, in good season.</p>
+
+<p>This was but a single instance of the favours he received in this way
+from his new acquaintances<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> in the book business. Many nights he stole
+from sleep, that he might read volumes which he must return in the
+morning. In this way his mind was much improved, so that he began to
+be noticed in the office as a boy of great promise. One day Mr.
+Matthew Adams, a merchant of rank and influence, who had been
+attracted by Benjamin's appearance, said to him: "Do you find time to
+read any, with all the work you have to perform?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir," replied Benjamin; "I read in the evenings, and
+occasionally find a little time during the day."</p>
+
+<p>"It is an excellent plan for boys to improve their minds," said Mr.
+Adams; "you will never regret spending your time in this way. I should
+be glad to show you my library, and to lend you any books you may be
+interested to read."</p>
+
+<p>"That is what I should like," said Benjamin, evidently delighted with
+this unexpected offer; "I find it difficult to get all the books I
+want."</p>
+
+<p>"It would afford me great pleasure to assist you what little I can in
+this respect," repeated Mr. Adams. "Boys who are not privileged to go
+to school need such help, and I am glad to see that you are disposed
+to accept of it."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin thanked him for his kindness, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> assured him that he should
+embrace the first opportunity to call at his house. He redeemed his
+promise at his earliest convenience, and Mr. Adams received him with
+genuine cordiality. He showed him his library, and allowed him to
+select any book he preferred to carry home, and invited him to come as
+often as he pleased for others. This was a brimful cup of kindness to
+Benjamin, and the reader may be sure that he thought highly of Mr.
+Adams. Nor was he backward in availing himself of the privilege
+offered, but went often to gratify his thirst for knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>The reader can scarcely appreciate the value of this privilege to
+Benjamin, unless he understands that books were far from being
+abundant then. The bookstores, instead of being furnished with
+thousands of volumes to suit every taste in the reading world, offered
+only a meagre collection of volumes, such as would hardly be noticed
+at the present time. There were no large publishing houses,
+manufacturing many books in a year, and scattering them over the land,
+as is the case to-day. Neither were there any libraries at that time.
+The idea of a collection of books to lend for the public good had not
+entered the minds of men,&mdash;a striking contrast with this feature of
+society now, when a city like Boston opens its splendid Public Library
+of seventy-five thousand volumes, free<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> to all her citizens, and
+smaller towns and villages throughout the land furnish reading matter
+for old and young in similar proportion; whilst private libraries of
+five, ten, twenty, and thirty thousand volumes are not unusual. Now,
+the trouble with boys is not how they can possibly get books to read,
+but what they shall select from the vast number that load the shelves
+of libraries and bookstores.</p>
+
+<p>The habit of reading which Benjamin had thus early formed served to
+make him punctual. In order to command the more time, he was promptly
+at his work, and efficiently discharged every duty. He was seldom, if
+ever, caught in tardiness. It was this well-formed habit of
+punctuality that made him so reliable in the printing-office. His
+brother knew that he would be there at such a time, and that he would
+remain just so many hours. This fact won his confidence, as it does
+the confidence of every one. There is no quality that does more to
+gain a good name for an individual, and inspire the confidence of his
+fellow-men, than this one of punctuality. It is so generally found in
+company with other excellent traits of character, that it seems to be
+taken for granted, usually, that the punctual person is worthy in
+other respects. This quality contributed to the renown and influence
+of Lord Brougham, of whom it is said, that, when he was in the zenith
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> his glory, presiding in the House of Lords and the Court of
+Chancery, he found time to manage eight or ten public
+associations,&mdash;one of which was the Society for the Diffusion of
+Useful Knowledge,&mdash;and he was a pattern of punctuality in every place,
+being always in the chair when the hour for meeting arrived.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3>FIRST LITERARY ENTERPRISE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">What</span> have you there?" inquired James, one day, looking over
+Benjamin's shoulder at some composition which he held in his hand.
+"Ay! poetry, is it? Then you are a poet, are you? Let me read it."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin rather hesitated to exhibit the first attempts of his muse to
+fly, but James was determined to read it, and so he gave it up to him,
+saying, "I was only seeing what I could do."</p>
+
+<p>The fact was, Benjamin had been reading poetry, and, having a little
+of its spirit in his own nature, he was tempted to try his ability at
+writing some.</p>
+
+<p>"That is really good," said James, after he had read it; "not quite
+equal to Virgil or Homer, but very good for a printer-boy to write.
+Have you any other pieces?"</p>
+
+<p>"Two or three more," answered Benjamin, somewhat encouraged by his
+brother's commendation; "but they are not worth reading."</p>
+
+<p>"Produce them," said James, "and I will tell you what they are worth."
+Whereupon Benjamin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> took two or three more from his pockets, which
+James read with evident satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you what it is, Benjamin," said James after having read them
+all, "you can write something worth printing if you try; and if you
+will undertake it, you may print and sell a sheet in the streets. I
+have no doubt that it would sell well."</p>
+
+<p>"I will see what I can do," replied Benjamin, "though I suspect my
+poetry won't read very well in print."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was not long in producing two street ballads, better,
+perhaps, than anything he had written before, but still susceptible of
+very great improvement. One was entitled "The Lighthouse Tragedy," and
+was founded on the shipwreck of Captain Worthilake and his two
+daughters. The other was a sailor's song, on the capture of the famous
+"Teach," or "Bluebeard," the pirate. James read them with approbation.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said he, "you shall put them into type, and sell them about the
+town, if you are willing. I have no doubt that a good number of them
+may be disposed of."</p>
+
+<p>"How many copies of them would you print?" inquired Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"We can print a few to begin with, and let the type remain standing
+until we see how they go. Then we shall run no risk."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I do it immediately?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"As soon as you can," answered James. "The quicker the better."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was not long in printing the two ballads, and having them
+ready for sale. Under the direction of his brother, he went forth, in
+due time, to offer them about the town. Whether he cried them about
+the streets, as the newsboys do the daily papers now, we have no means
+of knowing. But he met with very good success, particularly in the
+sale of the first, "The Lighthouse Tragedy." That commemorated an
+event of recent occurrence, and which excited much public feeling and
+sympathy at the time, so that people were quite prepared to purchase.
+It sold even beyond his expectations, and his success inflated his
+vanity somewhat. It caused him to believe, almost, that he was a
+genuine poet, and that distinction and a fortune were before him. If
+he had not been confronted by his father on the subject, it is
+possible that the speculation might have proved a serious injury to
+him. But his father learned of his enterprise, and called him to an
+account. Perhaps he stepped into his shop, as he was selling them
+about town, and gave him a copy. At any rate, his father learned the
+fact, and the following interview will show what he thought of it.</p>
+
+<p>"I am ashamed to see you engaged in such a business, Benjamin," said
+he.</p>
+
+<p>"Why so, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because it is not an honourable business.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> You are not a poet, and
+can write nothing worthy of being printed."</p>
+
+<p>"James approved of the pieces," said Benjamin, "and proposed that I
+should print and sell them."</p>
+
+<p>"James is not a judge of poetry," replied his father. "It is wretched
+stuff, and I am ashamed that you are known as the author. Look here,
+let me show you wherein it is defective;" and here Mr. Franklin began
+to read it over aloud, and to criticise it. He was a man of sound
+sense, and competent to expose the faults of such a composition. He
+proceeded with his criticisms, without sparing the young author's
+feelings at all, until Benjamin himself began to be sorry that he had
+undertaken the enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>"There, I want you should promise me," said his father, "that you will
+never deal in such wares again, and that you will stick to your
+business of setting up type."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I may improve by practice," said Benjamin, "so that I may yet
+be able to write something worthy of being read. You couldn't expect
+me to write very well at first."</p>
+
+<p>"But you are not a poet," continued Mr. Franklin. "It is not in you,
+and, even if it was, I should not advise you to write it; for poets
+are generally beggars,&mdash;poor, shiftless members of society."</p>
+
+<p>"That is news to me," responded Benjamin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> "How does it happen, then,
+that some of their works are so popular?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because a true poet can write something worthy of being read, while a
+mere verse-maker, like yourself, writes only doggerel, that is not
+worth the paper on which it is printed. Now I advise you to let
+verse-making alone, and attend closely to your business, both for your
+own sake and your brother's."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Franklin was rather severe upon Benjamin, although what he said of
+his verses was true. Still, it was a commendable effort in the boy to
+try to improve his mind. Some of the best poets who have lived wrote
+mere doggerel when they began. Many of our best prose-writers, too,
+were exceedingly faulty writers at first. It is a noble effort of a
+boy to try to put his thoughts into writing. If he does not succeed in
+the first instance, by patience, energy, and perseverance he may
+triumph at last. Benjamin might not have acted wisely in selling his
+verses about town, but his brother, so much older and more experienced
+than himself, should bear the censure of that, since it was done by
+his direction.</p>
+
+<p>The decided opposition that Mr. Franklin showed to verse-making put a
+damper upon Benjamin's poetical aspirations. The air-castle that his
+youthful imagination had built, in consequence of the rapid sale of
+his literary wares, tumbled to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> ruin at once. He went back to the
+office and his work quite crest-fallen.</p>
+
+<p>"What has happened now?" inquired James, noticing that Benjamin looked
+somewhat less smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Father doesn't think much of my printing and selling verses of my
+own," replied Benjamin. "He has been giving me a real lecture, so that
+I am almost ashamed of myself."</p>
+
+<p>"How is that," said James, "does he dislike your pieces?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and he will not allow that they have any merit. He read them
+over in his way, and counted faults enough to show that there is very
+little poetry in me. A beggar and a poet mean about the same thing to
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"He ought to remember that you are young," answered James, "and may
+improve wonderfully in future. You can't expect to write either prose
+or poetry well without beginning and trying."</p>
+
+<p>"All the trying in the world can do nothing for me, I should judge
+from father's talk," added Benjamin, rather seriously.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps it was a good thing for Benjamin to meet with this obstacle in
+his path to success. According to his own confession, his vanity was
+inflated by the sale of his ballads, and he might have been puffed up
+to his future injury, had not his father thus unceremoniously taken
+the wind out of his sails. There was little danger now,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> however.
+After such a severe handling, he was not likely to overrate his
+poetical talents. It had the effect also to turn his attention to
+prose writing, which is more substantial and remunerative than poetry,
+and in this he became distinguished, as we shall see hereafter.</p>
+
+<p>The practice of writing down one's thoughts, called in our schools
+"composition," is excellent, and ought not to be so generally
+neglected by the young as it is. It proved a valuable exercise to
+Benjamin, even before he became renowned in the service of his
+country. In several instances, while he was yet a youth, it enabled
+him to secure business, when otherwise he might have been in extreme
+want. It gave him the ability to conduct his brother's paper, when
+only sixteen years of age, at a time when the government of the
+Province incarcerated James, so that the paper would have been crushed
+but for the ability of Benjamin. When he first commenced business in
+Philadelphia, also, it enabled him to produce articles for the
+"Pennsylvania Gazette," which attracted general notice, and opened the
+way for his becoming both proprietor and editor of the same. And a
+little later he was able to write a pamphlet on the "<i>Nature and
+Necessity of a Paper Currency</i>," proposing a measure that was carried
+through the legislature, because the opponents of it had no writer in
+their ranks competent to answer it. These are only a few examples of
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> many advantages he derived from early training himself to write,
+even before he had passed the dew of his youth. In age he referred to
+this practice of his boyhood with much pleasure, and regarded it as
+one of the fortunate exercises that contributed to his eminent
+success.</p>
+
+<p>Many such facts as the following might be cited upon this subject. A
+farmer's son began, at fourteen years of age, to write something every
+day, after his work was done, in a blank-book which he kept for the
+purpose. He persevered in the practice for several years, and acquired
+a facility in composition before he thought of having a liberal
+education. The consequence was, that his friends became earnest to
+have him educated, and he was sent to college, where he ranked high as
+a writer; and he is now about entering the ministry, under very
+flattering circumstances. Few young men have more ease and power of
+writing at the commencement of their ministerial work; and it all
+results from his early self-discipline in the exercise of
+composition.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE DISPUTE.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">Benjamin</span> was intimate, at this time, with a youth by the name of John
+Collins. He was intelligent, sprightly, and fond of books, so that he
+was a very agreeable companion. They differed somewhat in their
+opinions upon various subjects, and frequently found themselves
+engaged in earnest disputation. When other boys were accustomed to
+spend their time in foolish talking and jesting, Benjamin and John
+were warmly discussing some question of importance, well suited to
+improve the mind. One day their conversation related to the education
+of the sexes.</p>
+
+<p>"It would be a waste of money," said John, "to attempt to educate
+girls as thoroughly as boys are educated; for the female sex are
+inferior to the male in intellectual endowment."</p>
+
+<p>"Pshaw!" exclaimed Benjamin; "you know better than that. The girls are
+not so simple as you think they are. I believe that women are not a
+whit inferior to men in their mental qualities."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I should like to know where you discover the evidence of it?" replied
+John. "There is no proof of it in the works they have written."</p>
+
+<p>"That may be true, and still they stand upon an equality in respect to
+intellect. For not half so much is done to educate them as there is to
+educate the male sex. How can you tell whether they are mentally
+inferior or not, until they are permitted to enjoy equal advantages?"</p>
+
+<p>"As we tell many other things," answered John. "Women do not need so
+high mental endowments as men, since they are not required to lead off
+in the different branches of business, or to prosecute the sciences. I
+can see no wisdom in bestowing talents upon them which they never use,
+and it is often said that 'nothing is made in vain.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I must go," said Benjamin, "but I think you have a weak cause
+to defend. If I had the time I could make out a case."</p>
+
+<p>"A poor one, I guess," quickly added John. "We will see, the next time
+we meet, who can make out a case."</p>
+
+<p>"It will be some time before we meet again," responded Benjamin, "and
+our ardour will be cooled before that time, I am thinking. But it will
+do us no harm to discuss the subject."</p>
+
+<p>"If we keep our temper," said John, tacking his sentence to the last
+word of Benjamin's reply. And so saying, they parted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>After Benjamin had revolved the subject still more in his mind, he
+became anxious to commit his argument to writing. Accordingly, with
+pen and paper in hand, he sat down to frame the best argument he could
+in favour of educating the female sex. He wrote it in the form of a
+letter, addressed to his friend Collins, and, after having completed,
+he copied it in a fair hand, and sent it to him. This brought back a
+long reply, which made it necessary for Benjamin to pen an answer. In
+this way the correspondence continued, until several letters had
+passed between them, and each one had gained the victory in his own
+estimation.</p>
+
+<p>One day Benjamin's father met with these letters accidentally, and he
+read them over, and was somewhat impressed with their character.</p>
+
+<p>"What are these, Benjamin," he inquired, at the same time holding up
+the letters.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin smiled, and rather hesitated to reply.</p>
+
+<p>"So it seems you have been engaged in a controversy with John,"
+continued Mr. Franklin. "You have both done very well, though I think
+there is some chance of improvement yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you read them all?" inquired Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"I have, and must say that, in some respects, John has the advantage
+of you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"In what has he the advantage?" asked Benjamin, with some anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, John writes in a more finished style than you do," answered Mr.
+Franklin. "His expressions are more elegant, and there is more method
+and perspicuity in his composition."</p>
+
+<p>"I rather think you are prejudiced," said Benjamin, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>I</i> rather think not," answered his father. "You have the advantage
+of John in correct spelling, and in pointing your sentences, which is
+the consequence of working in the printing-office. But I can convince
+you that less method and clearness characterize your letters than
+his."</p>
+
+<p>"I am ready to be convinced," added Benjamin. "I hardly expect I have
+attained perfection in writing yet."</p>
+
+<p>His father then proceeded to read from the letters of each, with the
+design of showing that John's writing was more perspicuous, and that
+there was more method in his argument. Nor was it a very difficult
+task.</p>
+
+<p>"I am convinced," said Benjamin, before his father had read all he
+intended to read. "I can make improvement in those points without much
+trouble. There is certainly a good chance for it."</p>
+
+<p>"That is what I want you should see," rejoined his father, "I am
+really pleased with your letters, for they show me that you have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>
+talents to improve. My only object in calling your attention to these
+defects is to aid you in cultivating your mental powers."</p>
+
+<p>This kind, paternal criticism was a very happy thing for Benjamin. It
+had the effect to make him more careful in his compositions, and to
+beget within him both a desire and resolve to improve. Not long after,
+he met with an old volume of the Spectator, in a bookstore; and
+knowing that it would be a good model by which to form the style, he
+determined to purchase it. He bought it at a low price, and began to
+study it with reference to improving the style of his composition. The
+method which he adopted to discipline himself, by the aid of this
+work, is proof of his patience, perseverance, and desire to excel. In
+the first place, he read it over and over, until he became very well
+acquainted with its contents. Then he took some of the papers it
+contained, and made short hints of the sentiments of each sentence,
+and laid them by for a few days; and then, without referring to the
+book, he proceeded to put those thoughts into sentences, and thus went
+through each paper,&mdash;a long and laborious work. When he had completed
+a paper in this way, he carefully compared his Spectator with the
+original, and was able thereby to discover and correct many errors in
+his style. He found that he was very deficient in the command of
+language.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"If you had not discouraged me in writing poetry," said he to his
+father, "I should have found it of much service now."</p>
+
+<p>"How so?" inquired Mr. Franklin.</p>
+
+<p>"If I had continued to write poetry, I should have been obliged to
+select words that would rhyme, and this would have made me familiar
+with a larger number of words, and the choicest ones too. I am greatly
+troubled now to find words to express my thoughts."</p>
+
+<p>"I should have had no objections to your writing poetry with such an
+object in view; but to print and sell it about town was carrying the
+thing a little too far," replied Mr. Franklin. "It is not too late to
+begin now. I rather think you have discovered an important defect in
+your writing. John evidently has a better command of language than you
+have, hence his style is more polished. But you are at work, now, in
+the right way to improve. Perseverance will accomplish the thing."</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to do this," said Benjamin; "I shall take some of the
+tales in the book and put them into verse, and then, after a while,
+change them back again."</p>
+
+<p>"That will be a good exercise," answered his father, much pleased with
+his son's desire to improve. "If your patience holds out, you will be
+amply rewarded, in the end, for all your labour."</p>
+
+<p>This last purpose, Benjamin executed with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> much zeal, and thus divided
+his time between putting tales into poetry, and then turning them into
+prose. He also jumbled his collection of hints into confusion, and so
+let them lie for some weeks, when he would again reduce them to order,
+and write out the sentences to the end of the subject.</p>
+
+<p>For a printer-boy to accomplish so much, when he must work through the
+day in the office, seemed hardly possible. But, at this period,
+Benjamin allowed no moments to run to waste. He always kept a book by
+him in the office, and every spare moment was employed over its pages.
+In the morning, before he went to work, he found some time for reading
+and study. He was an early riser, not, perhaps, because he had no
+inclination to lie in bed, but because he had more to improve his
+mind. He gained time enough in the morning, by this early rising, to
+acquire more knowledge than some youths and young men do by constantly
+going to school. In the evening, he found still more time for mental
+improvement, extending his studies often far into the night. It was
+his opinion that people generally consume more time than is necessary
+in sleep, and one of his maxims, penned in early manhood, was founded
+on that opinion. The maxim is, "The sleeping fox catches no poultry."</p>
+
+<p>It is not strange that a boy who subjected himself to such close
+discipline for a series of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> years should write some of the best maxims
+upon this subject when he became a man. Take the following, in
+addition to those cited in a former chapter:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"There are no gains without pains; then help hands, for I have no
+lands."</p>
+
+<p>"Industry pays debts, while despair increaseth them."</p>
+
+<p>"Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Leisure is time for doing something useful."</p>
+
+<p>"A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things."</p>
+
+<p>"Fly pleasures, and they will follow you. The diligent spinner has a
+large shift, and, now I have a sheep and a cow, every one bids me
+good-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"Be ashamed to catch yourself idle."</p>
+
+<p>"Handle your tools without mittens; remember that the cat in gloves
+catches no mice."</p>
+
+<p>"There is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak-handed: but stick
+to it steadily, and you will see great effects, for constant dropping
+wears away stones; and by diligence and patience the mouse ate in two
+the cable; and little strokes fell great oaks."</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Early to bed, and early to rise<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Here is the genuine gold of thought,&mdash;whole volumes of counsel worked
+down into single<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> flashing lines of truth,&mdash;just such utterances as we
+might expect from the lips of one who was early taught to walk in the
+ways of wisdom. All along in the future of Benjamin's life, we shall
+see these maxims illustrated, proving that they are living and bright
+realities.</p>
+
+<p>In order to prosecute his purposes, Benjamin took a step, at this
+period, for which he censured himself long after. Being away from his
+father's house, in a boarding-place provided by his brother, he
+violated the Sabbath day by devoting its sacred hours to mental
+improvement. At home, his parents had ever required that he should
+attend public worship; but now he neglected the house of God, that he
+might command the more time for study. It was a grave breach of a
+divine commandment, and a disregard of parental authority, which he
+afterwards deeply regretted. At the time, he was obliged to hold long
+parleys with conscience, which told him that he ought still to visit
+the sanctuary, and devote Sabbath hours to sacred duties. Yet his
+great thirst for knowledge overcame his regard for holy time.</p>
+
+<p>It must appear quite evident to the reader by this time, that Benjamin
+derived much benefit from his conversation with John Collins upon a
+useful topic. A large majority of boys, of their age, spend their
+leisure moments in vain and useless talking. They think not of
+self-improvement,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> and scarcely desire to be benefited in this way.
+The most unmeaning and thoughtless words escape from their lips, and a
+sound, sensible, valuable conversation they seldom, if ever, attempt.
+What an excellent example is that of young Franklin and Collins,
+discussing a question of importance, instead of wasting their breath
+in meaningless chatter! It stimulated the former to consult the best
+models of style in composition, and was the real occasion of his
+adopting a most critical and thorough plan of self-culture. All this
+the consequence of conversing properly, instead of spending leisure
+moments in boyish antics, or uttering nonsense!</p>
+
+<p>The reader need not infer that violation of the Sabbath, and disregard
+of parental counsels, are less heinous sins than some would grant,
+since Benjamin was guilty of both, and yet he did not go to ruin. For
+ten boys who do the same things that he did are ruined thereby, where
+one is saved. The father of Walter Scott forbade his reading
+fictitious works, yet he concealed them in a sly place, and read them
+when his father's eye was not upon him; and they served to stimulate
+his mind to pursue a most brilliant literary career. In like manner,
+Pope, the distinguished poet, strolled into the theatre in his
+boyhood, when he was away from his parents at school, and there the
+first aspiration of his soul for that sphere of mental effort in which
+he became distinguished,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> was begotten. But these examples cannot be
+cited in favour of novel-reading and theatre-going; for they are
+exceptions to a general rule. The great mass of the youth who allow
+themselves to be fascinated by the novel and theatre make shipwreck of
+their hopes.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3>PLAIN FARE.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">How</span> much will you allow me a week if I will board myself?" inquired
+Benjamin of James. "It costs you now more than you need to pay." James
+was still boarding Benjamin in a family near by, being himself yet
+unmarried.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you think I am paying more a week for your board than it is
+worth?" replied his brother.</p>
+
+<p>"No more than you will be obliged to pay in any other family, but more
+than I shall ask you," answered Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you think of opening a boarding-house for the special
+accommodation of Benjamin Franklin?" which was treating his request
+rather lightly.</p>
+
+<p>"I propose to board myself," said Benjamin. "I do not eat meat of any
+kind, as you know, so that I can do it very easily, and I will agree
+to do it, if you will pay me half the money weekly which you pay for
+my board."</p>
+
+<p>"Agreed," replied James. "The bargain is made. When will you begin?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow," was Benjamin's laconic reply.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin had been reading a work on "vegetable diet," by one Tryon,
+and it was this which induced him to discard meat as an article of
+food. Mr. Tryon, in his work, gave directions for cooking vegetables,
+and such dishes as a vegetarian might use, so that the matter of
+boarding was made quite simple. Benjamin really thought that this mode
+of living was best for health and strength, though his chief object in
+proposing to board himself was to obtain money to purchase books. He
+had been trying a vegetable diet for some time in the family where he
+and his brother had boarded, and had often been both ridiculed and
+censured for his oddity. Perhaps he wanted to get away where he could
+eat as he pleased, with no one to say, "Why do ye so?" But most of all
+he wanted to command more money, that he might gratify his thirst for
+knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>James was very willing to accept the proposition, as it would bring a
+little more money into his pocket. He was an avaricious and penurious
+young man, who thought mainly of making money in his business, and it
+was of little consequence to him whether he made it out of his brother
+or some one else.</p>
+
+<p>"How much do you make by boarding yourself, Ben?" inquired James, some
+weeks after the experiment was commenced.</p>
+
+<p>"I save just half of the money you pay me,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> answered Benjamin, "so
+that it costs me just one quarter as much as you paid for my board."</p>
+
+<p>"You understand economy, I must confess," said his brother. "However,
+I have no fault to find if you are satisfied."</p>
+
+<p>"The money I save is not the best part of it," continued Benjamin. "I
+save about a half-hour every noon for reading. After I have eaten my
+meal, I usually read as long as that before you return from dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a very sumptuous meal I reckon," said James dryly;
+"sawdust-pudding, perhaps, with cold-water sauce!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing so difficult to procure as that," responded Benjamin. "A
+biscuit or a slice of bread, with a tart or a few raisins, and a glass
+of water, make a good dinner for me; and then my head is all the
+lighter for study."</p>
+
+<p>"I should think you might have a light head with such living," added
+James, "and your body will be as light before many weeks I prophesy."</p>
+
+<p>"I will risk it. I am on a study now that requires a clear head, and I
+am determined to master it."</p>
+
+<p>"What is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is Cocker's Arithmetic."</p>
+
+<p>"Begin to wish you knew something about arithmetic by this time,"
+added James sarcastically. "Making up for misspent time, I see!" Here
+was a fling at Benjamin's dislike of arithmetic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> when he was sent to
+school. We have seen that he accomplished nothing in figures, either
+at the public school or when he was under Mr. Brownwell's tuition.
+Liking some other studies better, he neglected this, and now, as is
+generally the case, he regretted his error, and applied himself to
+acquire that which he might have acquired before. It was a difficult
+task for him, but his patience and perseverance, together with his
+economy of time, and temperance in eating and drinking, enabled him to
+accomplish his object. Then he read a work on Navigation, and made
+himself particularly familiar with the geometry which it contained.
+"Locke on the Understanding," and "The Art of Thinking," were two
+other works that he read closely while he was living on a vegetable
+diet. All these works were difficult to be mastered by a boy not yet
+fourteen years of age. Yet he was not discouraged by this fact; it
+rather seemed to arouse him to greater efforts.</p>
+
+<p>"You calculate time as closely as a miser does his money, Ben," said
+James.</p>
+
+<p>"As little as I have for myself requires that I should calculate
+closely," was his reply. "Time is money to you, or else you would
+allow me a little more to myself; and it is more than money to me."</p>
+
+<p>"How so?" inquired James.</p>
+
+<p>"It enables me to acquire knowledge, which I cannot buy with money.
+Unless I was saving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> of my time, I should not be able to read or study
+at all, having to work so constantly."</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps, at this time, Benjamin laid the foundation for that economy
+which distinguished him in later life, and about which he often wrote.
+Among his wise sayings touching this subject are the following:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"If you would be wealthy, think of saving, as well as of getting."</p>
+
+<p>"What maintains one vice would bring up two children."</p>
+
+<p>"Many a little makes a mickle."</p>
+
+<p>"A small leak will sink a ship."</p>
+
+<p>"At a great pennyworth pause awhile."</p>
+
+<p>"Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire."</p>
+
+<p>"Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes
+to the bottom."</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"For age and want save while you may,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No morning sun lasts a whole day."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"It is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel."</p>
+
+<p>"A penny saved is a penny earned."</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"A penny saved is twopence clear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">A pin a day is a groat a year."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>"He that wastes idly a groat's worth of his time per day, one day with
+another, wastes the privilege of using one hundred pounds each day."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>To a young tradesman he wrote, in the year 1748:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"Remember that time is money. He that can earn ten shilling a day
+by his labour, and goes abroad or sits idle one half that day,
+though he spend but sixpence during his diversion or idleness,
+ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent,
+or rather thrown away, five shillings besides....</p>
+
+<p>"In short, the way to wealth, if you desire it, is as plain as
+the way to market. It depends chiefly on two words, <i>industry</i>
+and <i>frugality</i>; that is, waste neither <i>time</i> nor <i>money</i>, but
+make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality nothing
+will do, and with them everything. He that gets all he can
+honestly, and saves all he gets (necessary expenses excepted),
+will certainly become <i>rich</i>,&mdash;if that Being who governs the
+world, to whom all should look for a blessing on their honest
+endeavours, doth not, in his wise providence, otherwise
+determine."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>In these excellent sayings, time and money are spoken of together,
+because time is money; and Franklin was never more economical of one
+than of the other. All that he says of frugality in respect to
+property applies equally to time, and <i>vice vers&acirc;</i>. In his boyhood,
+when he adopted a vegetable diet, he had no money to save, so that the
+most of his economy related to time. It being to him as valuable as
+gold, he was prompted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> to husband it as well. To some observers he
+might have appeared to be penurious, but those who knew him saw that
+he reduced another of his own maxims to practice: "We must save, that
+we may share." He never sought to save time or money that he might
+hoard the more of worldly goods to enjoy in a selfish way. He was ever
+generous and liberal, as we shall see hereafter. The superficial
+observer might suppose that a niggardly spirit prompted him to board
+himself,&mdash;that he adopted a vegetable diet for the sake of mere lucre.
+But nothing could be wider from the truth than such a view. We cannot
+discover the least desire to <i>hoard</i> the money he saved. He laid it
+out in books, and such things as aided him in self-improvement. He
+believed in temperate eating, as we have already said, and the
+following maxims of his show the same thing:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"Who dainties love, shall beggars prove."</p>
+
+<p>"Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them."</p>
+
+<p>"Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy
+necessaries."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>He saw that he could never possess the books he needed, or command the
+time, if his appetite for luxuries was gratified. In his
+circumstances, the most marked self-denial was necessary, to gain his
+object. At the same time, he believed it would make him more healthy
+to be abstemious.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> There was not an iota of stinginess in his habitual
+economy.</p>
+
+<p>Economy of time or money is praiseworthy only when it is done to
+command the means of being useful,&mdash;which was true of Franklin. When
+it is practised to gratify a sordid love of money, it is ignoble and
+sinful.</p>
+
+<p>About this time, Benjamin and John Collins had another
+interview,&mdash;differing somewhat from the one already described, as the
+following dialogue will show:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"What book is this, Ben?" inquired John, taking up one from the table.</p>
+
+<p>"It is an old English Grammar which I came across the other day,"
+answered Benjamin. "It has two chapters, near the close, on Rhetoric
+and Logic, that are valuable."</p>
+
+<p>"Valuable to you, perhaps, but not to me," said John. "What shall I
+ever want of Rhetoric or Logic?"</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody ought to know something about them," answered Benjamin.
+"They have already helped me, in connection with the works of
+Shaftesbury, to understand some things about religion better. I have
+believed some doctrines just because my parents taught me so."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you do not believe all that you have been taught about religion,
+if I understand you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I am free to say that I do not. There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> is neither reason nor
+wisdom in portions of the creed of the Church."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Ben, you surprise me. You are getting to be quite infidel for a
+boy. It won't do for you to read Logic and Shaftesbury any more, if
+you are so easily upset by them."</p>
+
+<p>"Made to understand better by them what is right and what is wrong,"
+answered Benjamin. "The fact is, very few persons think for
+themselves. They are religious because they are so instructed. They
+embrace the religion of their parents without asking themselves what
+is true or false."</p>
+
+<p>"There is not much danger that you will do that," said John. "Present
+appearances rather indicate that the religious opinions of your father
+will be blown sky-high,"&mdash;though John did not mean quite so much as
+his language denotes.</p>
+
+<p>"You do not understand me. I respect my parents and their religious
+opinions, though I doubt some of the doctrines they have taught, and
+which I never carefully examined until recently."</p>
+
+<p>"I must go," said John; "at another time, I will hear more;"&mdash;and he
+hurried away to his business, which was waiting for him.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin had read carefully the works of Collins and Shaftesbury,
+which were well suited to unsettle his religious belief. At the time
+of this interview, he was really a doubter, though<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> not avowedly
+opposed to religion. The fact shows the necessity of using care in
+selecting books to be read, and the danger of tampering with those
+that speak lightly of the Gospel. Even a mind as strong as that of
+Benjamin was warped by the sophistries of such a book, and it was some
+years before he recovered wholly from the sad effects of such reading.
+His early religious culture, however, and his disposition and ability
+to perceive the truth, finally saved him from the abyss of infidelity,
+as will appear more evident in the pages that follow.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE NEWSPAPER.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">On</span> the seventeenth day of January, 1721, James Franklin began to issue
+a newspaper, called "<span class="smcap">The New England Courant</span>." It was the third one at
+the time in the whole country. The first paper&mdash;"<span class="smcap">The Boston
+Newsletter</span>"&mdash;was established in 1704, two years before the birth of
+Benjamin. It was only a half-sheet of paper, about the size of an
+eight by twelve inch pane of glass, "in two pages folio, with two
+columns on each page." Consequently, it could not have contained more
+printed matter than is now compressed into half a page of one of the
+Boston dailies. Yet it was considered a very important undertaking for
+the times.</p>
+
+<p>When James Franklin proposed to start the third paper in America, some
+of his friends thought it was a wild project, and endeavoured to
+dissuade him from it. They saw nothing but ruin before him, and used
+every persuasion to lead him to abandon the enterprise. They thought
+that two newspapers, such as would now excite a smile by their
+inferior size, were quite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> enough for the country. Take this fact, in
+connection with the present abundance of papers, and the contrast
+presents a striking view of the progress of America since that day. At
+that time there was not a daily paper in the land. Now there are eight
+in the city of Boston alone, having an aggregate daily circulation of
+about <i>one hundred and twenty-five thousand</i>, which would amount to
+nearly <span class="smcap">forty million</span> sheets in a year,&mdash;more than enough to furnish
+every man, woman, and child in the country with one sheet each. All
+this from the daily press of Boston, where, one hundred and forty
+years ago, it was thought that a third weekly newspaper, scarcely
+large enough to wrap a baker's loaf in, could not be supported! Bind
+them into volumes, containing one hundred sheets each, and we have an
+enormous library of daily newspapers, numbering <i>four hundred thousand
+volumes</i>, the annual production of the Boston daily press in 1860! And
+this only the aggregate of eight different papers, while Boston alone
+now has <i>one hundred and forty</i> papers and periodicals of all sorts,
+and the State of Massachusetts nearly <i>three hundred</i>! How marvellous
+the change since Franklin was a poor printer-boy!</p>
+
+<p>But look at these eight daily papers of Boston again. Suppose they
+measure a yard each in width, upon an average, when opened;&mdash;here we
+have one hundred and twenty-five thousand yards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> of newspapers
+emanating daily from only eight presses of Franklin's native city;
+which is equal to <i>seventy-one miles</i> per day, and <i>four hundred and
+twenty-six</i> miles per week, and <i>twenty-two thousand one hundred and
+fifty-two</i> miles in a year! This is truly surprising. Almost paper
+enough from the eight daily presses of Boston alone, every year, to
+reach around the earth!</p>
+
+<p>Or, suppose we weigh these papers. If ten of them weigh a single
+pound, then each day's issue weighs <i>twelve thousand five hundred
+pounds</i>, each week's issue amounts to <i>seventy-five thousand pounds</i>,
+which swells the annual aggregate to about <i>four million pounds</i>. Load
+this yearly production upon waggons, one ton on each, and we have <i>two
+thousand and two horse loads of newspapers</i> from these eight presses
+in a year! Again, we say, how marvellous the change!</p>
+
+<p>If eight daily papers of Boston throw off this vast amount of
+reading-matter in a year, what immense quantities are supplied by all
+the presses in the land! Could the actual statistics be laid before us
+in round numbers, doubtless the most credulous even would be amazed at
+the result.</p>
+
+<p>But to return. James decided to issue his paper, notwithstanding the
+advice of some of his friends to the contrary, and he thus opened the
+subject to Benjamin:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have resolved to issue a paper, and it will require our united
+exertions to make it go. No<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> doubt I shall meet with opposition, and
+perhaps shall fail in the attempt, but I have determined to fail
+<i>trying</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"What particular service can I render?" inquired Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"Aside from your usual work of type-setting, you are qualified to look
+after the composition and spelling of the articles in each number, and
+a part of your work shall be to deliver the paper to subscribers from
+week to week."</p>
+
+<p>"And be collector, too, I suppose," added Benjamin, rather fancying
+the idea of issuing a paper from the office.</p>
+
+<p>"As you like about that," answered his brother, "though it may be
+convenient, often, to have you render such a service."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you don't mean to make me editor also?" he added, rather
+jestingly; probably not dreaming that he should ever conduct the
+publication.</p>
+
+<p>"I think not at present," was his brother's reply. "Printer,
+news-carrier, and collector, will be as much honour as you can
+withstand at once;" and he had as little idea of the part Benjamin
+would play in the work as the boy had himself.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly the paper was issued at the appointed time, creating quite
+a stir in the community, and provoking remarks <i>pro</i> and <i>con</i>
+concerning its appearance, character, and prospects. Agreeably to the
+arrangement, Benjamin delivered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> the numbers to subscribers, and
+perhaps he sold the paper about the streets, thus acting as one of the
+first newsboys on this western continent.</p>
+
+<p>Among the friends of James Franklin, and the patrons of his paper,
+were several men who possessed considerable talent for writing, and
+they were accustomed to assemble at the printing-office, and discuss
+questions connected with the circulation of the paper. Benjamin's ears
+were usually open to their conversation,&mdash;and he heard the merits of
+different articles set forth, and learned that certain ones were quite
+popular, and elicited favourable remarks from readers generally. This
+excited his ambition, and he earnestly desired to try his own ability
+in writing for the paper. He feared, however, that his composition
+would not be regarded favourably, if it were known who was the author;
+so he hit upon this expedient. He resolved to write an anonymous
+article, in his very best style, and get it into his brother's hand so
+as not to awaken his suspicion. Accordingly, the article was prepared,
+and at night it was tucked under the printing-office door, where James
+found it in the morning. As usual, several of his writers came in
+about their usual time, and Benjamin had the happiness of hearing the
+following discussion:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Here is a good article, that I found under the door this morning,"
+said James, at the same time holding it up.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Who is the author of it?" inquired one.</p>
+
+<p>"It is anonymous," replied James, "and I have not the least idea who
+wrote it."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the subject?" asked another; and the subject was announced.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us hear it read," proposed a third. "You read it aloud to us,
+James." So James proceeded to read the article aloud, while all
+listened with deep interest. All the while Benjamin was busily
+employed at his work, though his ears were never more willing to hear.
+You may be sure that he felt rather queerly while his composition was
+undergoing this test, and a close observer might have observed a sly,
+comical twinkle of his eye. The reading went on without one of the
+company dreaming that the author stood at their elbow.</p>
+
+<p>"Capital!" exclaimed one, as the last line was read. "Who can the
+author be?"</p>
+
+<p>"As a general thing," said James, "I shall not insert articles from
+persons unknown to me, but this is so good that I shall publish it."</p>
+
+<p>"By all means," said one of the company. "We shall soon find out the
+author; it is a difficult matter to keep such things secret for a long
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"The author is evidently a person of ability," added another; "every
+sentence in that article is charged with thought. I should judge that
+he wanted only culture to make him a writer of the first class."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Publishing the article will be as likely as anything to bring out the
+author," said James.</p>
+
+<p>It was decided to print the article, all having approved of the same,
+much to the satisfaction of Benjamin, who awaited the decision with
+some anxiety. Now he scarcely knew how to act in regard to the piece,
+whether to father it at once, or still conceal its parentage. On the
+whole, however, he decided to withhold its authorship for the present,
+and try his hand again in the same way. Much encouraged by the success
+of his first effort, Benjamin was prepared to produce even a better
+article on the second trial, which was discussed and approved in the
+same way as the first. Thus he wrote, and put under the door at night,
+a number of articles, all of which were pronounced good by James and
+his friends. It was a time of much interest and excitement to
+Benjamin, since he was the "unknown character" so much extolled by the
+patrons of the "Courant." To hear his own articles remarked upon and
+praised, when no one dreamed that a boy like himself could be the
+author, was well suited to stir up his feelings, if not to inflate his
+vanity. Many persons in like circumstances would be allured into
+indiscretions and improprieties. But Benjamin wisely kept his own
+secrets, while he industriously continued to set up types, fearing
+that disclosure at the present time might knock all his plans into
+"pie."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There is no doubt that this was one of the incidents of Benjamin's
+boyhood that decided his future eminent career. It was a good thing to
+bring out his talents as a writer thus early, and it evidently
+fostered his love of an exercise that was of the first importance in
+the improvement of his mind. From the time that he wrote the first
+article which he put under the door of the printing-office, he did not
+cease to write more or less for the public eye. He had written before,
+as we have seen, but his father had rather put a damper on his
+composing for the public to read, and, besides, the newspaper was a
+channel of communicating with readers altogether new to him. It was
+well suited to awaken deep interest in his heart, and to incite him to
+put forth his noblest efforts.</p>
+
+<p>The great English statesman, <span class="smcap">Canning</span>, was sent to school at Eton, at
+twelve years of age, where he originated a mimic House of Commons
+among his schoolmates. Here they established a boy periodical, called
+the "Microcosm." It was a weekly publication, and issued from Windsor.
+It was conducted "after the plan of the 'Spectator,' the design being
+to treat the characteristics of the boys at Eton as Addison and his
+friends had done those of general society." In this paper several
+members of the school figured with credit to themselves, though no one
+was more earnest to sustain it than young Canning. It became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> one of
+the prominent influences that decided his future course, bringing out
+his talents, and stimulating his mind to labour in this honourable
+way. It also exerted a decided influence upon the character of another
+boy, named Frere, who afterwards shone as a writer in the pages of the
+"Anti-Jacobin."</p>
+
+<p>At the present day, in many seminaries and village lyceums, several
+literary enterprises are sustained, to the no small advantage of the
+young who become personally interested in it. Every youth who desires
+to cultivate his mental faculties ought to hail such enterprises with
+joy, and pledge his noblest efforts to sustain them. It may be that it
+is discouragingly difficult for him to write at first; but let him
+persevere, with patience and firm resolve, and he will prove to
+himself that "practice makes perfect." There is no better exercise for
+his mind than this, and none better adapted to inspire him with a
+dauntless resolve to acquire knowledge.</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 343px;">
+<img src="images/fp123.jpg" width="343" height="496" alt="The Mysterious Contributor.&mdash;See page 123." title="" />
+<span class="caption">The Mysterious Contributor.&mdash;See page 123.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">Benjamin</span> was so highly gratified with the favourable remarks he heard
+about his articles, and especially that different persons, in guessing
+who the author might be, usually guessed some writer of distinction,
+that he could keep the secret no longer. He was eager to make the fact
+known, that the much talked of essays emanated from his own pen; and
+soon "the cat was let out of the bag."</p>
+
+<p>Having a good opportunity, in reply to some remark of James about "the
+last article found under the door," he said, "I know who the author
+is."</p>
+
+<p>"You know?" exclaimed James with surprise. "Why have you not disclosed
+it before?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I thought it was not wise. It is not best to tell all we know
+always."</p>
+
+<p>"But you have heard us discuss this matter over and over, and take
+measures to discover the author, and yet you have never intimated that
+you knew anything about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, the author did not wish to be known,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> until the right time
+came, and that is a good reason for keeping the matter secret, I
+think."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you tell me who the author is now?" asked James, impatient to
+obtain the long-sought information.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I will, if you are very anxious to know."</p>
+
+<p>"You know that I am. Who is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is Benjamin Franklin."</p>
+
+<p>"What!" exclaimed James, astonished almost beyond measure by the
+disclosure; "do you mean to say that you wrote those articles?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I do."</p>
+
+<p>"But it is not your handwriting."</p>
+
+<p>"I disguised my hand in order to conceal the authorship."</p>
+
+<p>"What could possibly be your object in doing so?"</p>
+
+<p>"That the articles might be fairly examined. If I had proposed to
+write an article for your paper, you would have said that I, a
+printer-boy, could write nothing worthy of print."</p>
+
+<p>Here the conversation dropped, and James appeared to be abstracted in
+thought. He said but little about the matter to Benjamin, neither
+commending nor censuring, until his literary friends came in again.</p>
+
+<p>"I have discovered the author of those articles," said James.</p>
+
+<p>"You have? who can it be?" one asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No one that you have dreamed of," answered James.</p>
+
+<p>"Do tell us who it is, and put an end to our anxiety," said one of the
+number, who could hardly wait for the desired information.</p>
+
+<p>"There he is," replied James, pointing to Benjamin, who was setting up
+types a little more briskly than usual. The whole company were amazed.</p>
+
+<p>"Can it be?" cried out one; "you are joking."</p>
+
+<p>Now Benjamin had to speak for himself; for they all turned to him with
+their inquiries, as if they thought there must be some mistake or
+deception about the matter. But he found little difficulty in
+convincing them that he was the real author of the pieces; whereupon
+they commended him in a manner that was rather perilous to one who had
+the smallest share of pride in his heart.</p>
+
+<p>From that time Benjamin was a favourite with the literary visitors at
+the office. They showed him much more attention than they did James,
+and said so much in his praise, as a youth of unusual promise, that
+James became jealous and irritable. He was naturally passionate and
+tyrannical, and this sudden and unexpected exaltation of Benjamin
+developed his overbearing spirit. He began to find fault seriously and
+unreasonably with him, and a disposition to oppress him was soon
+apparent. He went so far as to beat him severely with a rod, on
+several occasions,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> reconciling the matter with his conscience by
+saying that he was master, and Benjamin was his apprentice. His whole
+conduct towards his younger brother was unjust and cruel, and the
+latter became restive and discontented under it. He made known his
+grievances to his father, who censured James for his conduct, and took
+the part of Benjamin. But the best efforts of his father to reconcile
+matters proved abortive, because James's manifest opposition was so
+aroused against his brother, on account of his sudden rise to
+comparative distinction. Other causes might have operated to awaken
+James's hostility, but this was evidently a prominent one.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was so dissatisfied with his treatment that he resolved to
+leave his brother as soon as possible. He was indentured to him, as we
+have seen, so that it was difficult for him to get away. Being bound
+to him until he became twenty-one years of age, the law held him
+firmly there, notwithstanding the injustice he experienced. Still, for
+the present, he laboured on in the office, and the paper continued to
+be issued.</p>
+
+<p>We are reminded that the printing-office has furnished many eminent
+scholars to the world. Young men have there come in contact with
+printed matter that has aroused their intellects to action, and caused
+them to press onward, with new resolves, in paths of usefulness and
+renown.</p>
+
+<p>In the case of Benjamin, the circumstance of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> his connection with the
+office just at the time a new paper was established called out a
+certain kind of talent he possessed, and thus helped to make him what
+he became. Success depends in a great measure in early directing the
+young in the path to which their natural endowments point. Thus Lord
+Nelson, who distinguished himself in the service of his country, was
+early placed in just those circumstances that appealed to his
+fortitude and other heroic attributes. That he possessed by nature
+remarkable courage and determination, in connection with other
+qualities that usually accompany these, is evident from an incident of
+his childhood. One day he strayed from home with a cow-boy in search
+of birds' nests, and being missed at dinner-time, and inquiries made
+for him, the startling suspicion was awakened that he had been carried
+off by gipsies. The alarm of his parents was great, and a careful
+search was instituted, when he was found sitting on the banks of a
+stream which he could not cross, unconcerned and happy.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder, child," said his grandmother, when he was brought back in
+safety to the family, "that hunger and fear did not drive you home."</p>
+
+<p>"Fear!" exclaimed the heroic lad, "I never saw fear,&mdash;what is it?"</p>
+
+<p>He was taken by his uncle into the naval service while he was yet a
+boy, where the scenes of every day were suited to develop and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>
+strengthen the heroic qualities of his nature. He became known to the
+world, not merely for his victories at Trafalgar and on the Nile, but
+for other essential service rendered to his native land.</p>
+
+<p>The same was true of Buxton, Wilberforce, Pascal, Handel, Canova, Dr.
+Chalmers, and many others. Providence opened before them the path to
+which their native qualities directed.</p>
+
+<p>We have spoken of the advantage of occasionally writing compositions,
+as Benjamin was wont to write, and another fact illustrating this
+point has just come to our notice. It is an incident belonging to the
+history of the Boston Young Men's Temperance Society. In addition to
+its being a temperance organization, it was sustained for mutual
+mental improvement. With other exercises, the members read lectures of
+their own preparing at the meetings,&mdash;a very important and valuable
+arrangement. One evening a member delivered a lecture upon the
+character and objects of the society, which was listened to by a young
+man who dropped into the hall for the first time. He was so well
+pleased with the design of the association, as set forth in the
+lecture, that he joined it at the close of the exercises. He began at
+once to fulfil the requirements of the society in writing
+compositions, and they were so well written that the author of the
+aforesaid lecture said to him one evening<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you not write something for the press? If I possessed your
+ability I should do it."</p>
+
+<p>The young man received the compliment with becoming modesty,
+expressing some lack of confidence in his abilities; but it set him to
+thinking. The result was that he prepared a short article for a Boston
+paper, which was accepted; and the way was thereby opened to his
+becoming a constant contributor to its columns. The end is not yet,
+though he is now the author of the popular "Optic Library." Thus so
+small a matter as writing a brief article for a newspaper may herald a
+career of literary fame.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ARREST.</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="sc">Have</span> you heard what they are doing in the Assembly?" asked Benjamin
+one afternoon, as he entered the office under considerable excitement,
+addressing his inquiry to James.</p>
+
+<p>"Doing?" answered James; "doing their business, I suppose;"&mdash;a reply
+that did not indicate precisely his knowledge of the legislative
+doings, since he had heard of the business before them, and was
+somewhat troubled by it.</p>
+
+<p>"They are certainly going to arrest you for libel, and I heard a
+gentleman say, in the street, that they would show you no favour;" and
+Benjamin made this revelation with considerable warmth of feeling. The
+idea of his brother's arrest and imprisonment excited him in no small
+degree.</p>
+
+<p>On the same day the following order was passed in the General Court:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="right">
+"<span class="smcap">In Council</span>, Jan. 14, 1722.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Whereas the paper, called the New England Courant, of this day's
+date, contains many passages in which the Holy Scriptures are
+perverted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> and the Civil Government, Ministers, and People of
+this Province highly reflected on,</p>
+
+<p><i>Ordered</i>, That William Tailer, Samuel Sewell, and Penn Townsend,
+Esqrs., with such as the Honourable House of Representatives
+shall join, be a committee to consider and report what is proper
+for the Court to do thereon."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The House of Representatives concurred, and the committee reported:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"That James Franklin, the printer and publisher thereof (the
+Courant), be strictly forbidden by this Court to print or publish
+the New England Courant, or any other pamphlet or paper of the
+like nature, except it be first supervised by the Secretary of
+this Province; and the Justices of his Majesty's Sessions of the
+Peace for the County of Suffolk, at their next adjournment, be
+directed to take sufficient bonds of the said Franklin for twelve
+months' time."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The result was, that James was arrested and confined four weeks in the
+"stone gaol," from which he was released by his voluntary pledge to
+regard the honour of the Court. Benjamin was arrested, also; but was
+discharged on the ground that he acted as an apprentice, and was
+obliged to do the bidding of his master.</p>
+
+<p>It appears that there was considerable dissatisfaction in the Province
+with the British government, under which the people lived. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>
+Courant espoused the cause of the dissatisfied party, and, perhaps
+unwisely, attacked the government and its officers, together with the
+ministers of the Gospel, whose sympathies seemed to be with the
+dominant party. It was a time of considerable excitement, so that a
+little firebrand thrown into the community was sure to make a great
+fire. But the immediate cause of his arrest was the appearance of the
+following article in his paper, which was a slur upon the government
+for tardiness in fitting out a ship to cruise after a pirate seen off
+Block Island. The article purported to be written by a correspondent
+in Newport, R. I., and read thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"We are advised from Boston, that the government of the
+Massachusetts are fitting out a ship to go after the pirates, to
+be commanded by Captain Peter Papillon, and <i>'tis thought he will
+sail some time this month, wind and weather permitting</i>."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>This well-pointed censure, in connection with the many flings and
+attacks that had preceded it, aroused the General Court to act in
+their defence without delay.</p>
+
+<p>The club under whose auspices the Courant was conducted, assembled at
+the office as soon as they knew the decision of the Court, to consider
+what should be done.</p>
+
+<p>"It is certain," said one, "that you cannot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> continue to issue the
+paper against the action of the Court."</p>
+
+<p>"Not in his own name," suggested another. "It may still be published
+in the name of another person, and thus the legislative order will be
+evaded."</p>
+
+<p>"How will it do to issue it in Benjamin's name?" inquired James.</p>
+
+<p>"That cannot be done, for he is only an apprentice, as could be very
+readily proved," was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>"I can easily meet that difficulty," answered James, who was usually
+ready for a shrewd evasion in such a case.</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, tell us how," asked one of the number, who was disposed to
+think that the days of the Courant were numbered. "By changing the
+name?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I would not change the name. I will return his indenture, with
+his discharge upon the back of it, and he can show it in case of
+necessity. We can understand the matter between us, while he will be
+his own man whenever any trouble may arise about his apprenticeship."</p>
+
+<p>All agreed that this plan would work well, and it was accordingly
+adopted.</p>
+
+<p>"Benjamin Franklin, publisher and proprietor," said one of the club,
+rising from his seat and patting Benjamin on the shoulder. "What do
+you think of that, my son? Rather a young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> fellow to undertake such an
+enterprise, but a match, I guess, for the General Court of the
+Province."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was quite unprepared to reply to the merriment of the club on
+the occasion over his unexpected introduction to an office of which he
+did not dream in the morning. He was now to appear before the public
+in quite another relation than that of apprentice,&mdash;probably the
+youngest conductor of a newspaper who ever lived, for he was only
+sixteen years of age.</p>
+
+<p>Henceforth the paper appeared in the name of Benjamin Franklin,
+occasioning, by all the circumstances, no little excitement in the
+town.</p>
+
+<p>James was conveyed to prison, and during his confinement, Benjamin had
+the whole management of the paper, in which he took occasion to speak
+very plainly and boldly against the government. Notwithstanding the
+difficulty that existed between him and his brother, his heart was
+stirred with resentment against the Court for sending him to jail, and
+he espoused his cause with as much sympathy and good-will, apparently,
+as he could have done if no difference had disturbed their
+intercourse. This was honourable in Benjamin, and showed that he
+possessed a true brother's heart. For three years the paper was
+published in his name, although he did not remain with James so long.</p>
+
+<p>We have referred to the time of Benjamin's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> boyhood as a period of
+public excitement and disturbance. Great alarm was frequently
+occasioned, for some time before and some time after his birth, by the
+depredations of the Indians. The French were hostile to Great Britain;
+so they sought to stir up, and ally themselves with, the savages, in
+making inroads upon the Colonies. The consequence was, "wars and
+rumours of wars," with actual massacres and bloodshed. Benjamin's
+ears, in his early life, were often saluted with the harrowing tales
+of slaughter and conflagration, an experience that may have qualified
+him, in a measure, to act the prominent part he did in achieving the
+independence of his country, half a century thereafter. Rev. Dr.
+Willard, who baptized him, was driven from the town of Groton by the
+Indians in 1675. Later still, only three years before the birth of
+Benjamin, the town of Deerfield was attacked and burned by these
+savage tribes, instigated and led on by the French,&mdash;and "upwards of
+forty persons were slain, and more than a hundred were made
+prisoners." "When the sun was an hour high, the work was finished, and
+the enemy took their departure, leaving the snow reddened with blood,
+and the deserted village enveloped in flames." Only two or three years
+after his birth, the famous attack upon Haverhill was made, when the
+Indians massacred men, women, and children indiscriminately, a few
+only escaping their terrible vengeance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> The stories of such dreadful
+cruelties and sufferings were fresh in Benjamin's boyhood, and their
+effect upon the youthful mind was heightened by the frequent reports
+of outbreaks and anticipated Indian attacks from different quarters.
+Thus born and reared in troublous times, our hero was prepared to work
+out his destiny in the most perilous period of American history.</p>
+
+<p>A single item published in the Courant about this time, will show the
+young reader that Boston and its environs of that early day did not
+much resemble the same city now. The item is the following:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"It is thought that not less than twenty bears have been killed
+in about a week's time within two miles of Boston. Two have been
+killed below the Castle, as they were swimming from one island to
+another, and one attempted to board a boat out in the bay, but
+the men defended themselves so well with the boat-hook and oars,
+that they put out her eyes, and then killed her. On Tuesday last
+two were killed at Dorchester, one of which weighed sixty pounds
+a quarter. We hear from Providence that the bears appear to be
+very thick in those parts."</p></blockquote>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE RUNAWAY.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">Not</span> long after James was released from prison, a fresh difficulty
+arose between Benjamin and himself. In the quarrel they seemed to
+forget that they were brothers, who ought to be united by strong ties
+of affection. James continued to be passionate and domineering,
+treating his brother with harshness, sometimes even beating him,
+notwithstanding he was the nominal publisher and editor of a paper.
+Benjamin thought he was too old to be treated thus&mdash;whipped like a
+little boy&mdash;and the result was that he asserted his freedom.</p>
+
+<p>"I am my own man from this time," he cried, holding up his indenture
+which his brother returned to him, as we saw in a former chapter, in
+order to evade the officers of justice. "These papers make me free,
+and I shall take advantage of them to leave you," and he fairly shook
+them in James's face.</p>
+
+<p>"You know that I never gave them up because I relinquished the bargain
+we had made," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> James. "If you use them to assert your freedom,
+you will be guilty of a base act."</p>
+
+<p>"I <i>shall</i> so use the papers," replied Benjamin defiantly. "I have
+borne such treatment long enough, and I shall submit no longer."</p>
+
+<p>"We shall see about that," continued James. "Father will have a word
+to say about it, you will find."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and he will probably say that you have abused me, and that you
+ought to control your temper and treat me better," responded Benjamin.
+"He always has decided in my favour, and I have no fears about his
+decision now."</p>
+
+<p>It was not fair in Benjamin to take this advantage of his brother, and
+he knew it, but his resentment triumphed over his regard for right at
+the time. James returned his indenture only that he might be able to
+publish the paper unmolested. It was a deceitful arrangement in the
+first place, and Benjamin's use of the papers to assert his liberty
+was no more unfair and sinful than was James's device to make him the
+proprietor of the paper, and thus evade the law. James was paid in his
+own coin. He laid a plan to cheat the government, and he got cheated
+himself. He was snared in the work of his own hands. This, however,
+did not justify Benjamin in his course, as he afterwards saw, and
+frankly confessed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Benjamin persisted in asserting his freedom, and James appealed to his
+father. After the latter had examined the affair, all the while
+knowing that James was passionate and overbearing, he decided against
+Benjamin. The advantage which the latter took of James to gain his
+freedom probably influenced Mr. Franklin to decide in favour of the
+former. This was unexpected by Benjamin, and was not received with a
+very good grace. It did not change his determination, however, and he
+was still resolved to be free. He refused to labour any more for his
+brother, and went forth to look for employment elsewhere. There were a
+number of other printers in the town, to whom he applied for work; but
+he found, to his surprise, that his brother had anticipated him, and
+been round to persuade them not to hire him.</p>
+
+<p>"He has violated a solemn contract," said he to one, "and he will
+violate any contract he will make with you. Besides, if you refuse to
+hire him, he will be obliged to return and labour for me."</p>
+
+<p>The printers all sympathized with James, and accordingly refused to
+give Benjamin work. He found himself in a very unpleasant situation on
+that account, without the means of earning his bread, and, in one
+sense, without a home, since he had disregarded his father's counsel
+in not returning to his brother. He learned, also, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> some good
+people considered him no better than an infidel.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing less than the loosest sceptic," said one good man. "He hates
+the truth with all his heart, as much that he writes plainly shows.
+His influence in the community is very bad, and it is growing worse
+and worse."</p>
+
+<p>Good people thus misjudged Benjamin. Some went so far as to call him
+an "atheist." His attacks upon the clergy and government, in his
+paper, created so much excitement, that he was understood to mean
+worse than he did.</p>
+
+<p>All these things served to wean Benjamin from Boston, and he decided
+on seeking his fortune elsewhere. He embraced the first opportunity to
+confer with his old friend, John Collins, on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>"John, I am going to New York," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"To New York?" exclaimed John. "What has started you off there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Enough to start anybody. I have been banged about long enough, and
+now can get no work at all; so I must go or starve."</p>
+
+<p>"How so?" inquired John, "I don't understand you?"</p>
+
+<p>"The case is just this," said Benjamin. "James has treated me very
+harshly for a long time, and I have submitted. But I had a good
+opportunity to make myself free, and I have improved it. When James
+was put into prison for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> libel, he returned me my indenture with a
+discharge written on the back, to show in case the government
+interfered with my publishing the paper. He did not mean, of course,
+that I should be released from my obligations to him; but he has
+treated me so unmercifully lately that I have taken advantage of the
+paper, and broken my engagement with him."</p>
+
+<p>"You have got round him this time, certainly," said John. "How does he
+feel about it?"</p>
+
+<p>"He has appealed to father, and father has decided against me, and
+advised me to go back; but I am not at all disposed to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"I would work in some other printing-office," added John, "before I
+would go to New York."</p>
+
+<p>"But I can get work nowhere else. I have been to every office, and
+they all refuse to employ me, because my brother went to them before
+me, and told his story, and made them promise not to hire me."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose he thought by so doing to compel you to come back to him,"
+suggested John.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose so; but he will find himself mistaken. I shall go to New
+York as soon as I can get away."</p>
+
+<p>"What does your father say about your going off so far?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have said nothing to him about it, and do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> not intend to do so. He
+would stop my going at once if he knew it."</p>
+
+<p>"How can you get away without letting him know it?"</p>
+
+<p>"That remains to be seen," answered Benjamin. "I shall want some of
+your help about it, I guess."</p>
+
+<p>"I am at your service," said John, "though it seems very little that I
+can do to hasten your flight;" but he had hardly uttered the last
+sentence before a new thought flashed upon his mind, and he added with
+great earnestness, "Yes, I can, too; I have seen the captain of that
+New York sloop in the harbour, and I can make a bargain with him to
+take you there."</p>
+
+<p>"But he will want to know who I am, and will refuse to take me when he
+finds that I am a runaway."</p>
+
+<p>"I can manage that, if you will leave it to me," answered John. "I
+will pledge you that he will never know that your name is Franklin."</p>
+
+<p>"I agree, then, to commit myself to your care. See that you manage the
+affair well, for to New York I must go."</p>
+
+<p>They parted; and John hurried away to see the aforesaid captain.</p>
+
+<p>"Can you take a friend of mine to New York?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"That depends on circumstances," answered the captain. "Who is your
+friend?"&mdash;a very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> natural inquiry,&mdash;precisely such a one as Benjamin
+thought would be made.</p>
+
+<p>"He is a young man about my age, a printer, and he is going to New
+York to get work," replied John.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't he get work in Boston?" inquired the captain.</p>
+
+<p>John saw that there was no evading the captain's questions, and so he
+suddenly resolved to fabricate a story, in other words, to tell a base
+lie.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said John, "if I must tell you the whole story, the case is
+this. He is a young fellow who has been flirting with a girl, who
+wants to marry him, and now her parents are determined that he shall
+marry her, and he is determined that he will not, and he proposes to
+remove secretly to New York. He would have come to see you himself,
+but it is not safe for him to appear out so publicly, and therefore he
+sent me to do the business."</p>
+
+<p>A youth who can fabricate a falsehood so unblushingly as John did this
+is a candidate for ruin. The reader will not be surprised to learn,
+before the whole story is told, that he became a miserable, wicked
+man. This single lie proved that he was destitute of moral principle,
+and would do almost anything to carry his project.</p>
+
+<p>For some unaccountable reason, the captain was taken with this device,
+and consented to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> carry Benjamin to New York. He arranged to receive
+him clandestinely, and to have him on his way before any suspicion of
+his plans was awakened.</p>
+
+<p>John hastened to inform Benjamin of the success of his enterprise, and
+to congratulate him upon his fair prospect of getting away.</p>
+
+<p>"Money is the next thing," said Benjamin. "I can't go without money. I
+must sell my books for something, though I dislike to part with them."</p>
+
+<p>"They will sell quick enough," said John, "and will bring you a very
+pretty sum to start with."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin lost no time in disposing of his little library for what it
+would bring, and he managed to get his clothes together without
+exciting suspicion; and, with the assistance of John, he boarded the
+sloop privately just before she sailed.</p>
+
+<p>"Good luck to you, Ben," said John, as they shook hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Good bye," answered Benjamin with a heavy heart, just beginning to
+feel that he was going away from home. "See that you tell no tales out
+of school."</p>
+
+<p>Thus they parted; and the sloop sailed for New York, where she arrived
+in three days. Benjamin did not know a person in that city, nor had he
+a single letter of recommendation to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> any one, and the money in his
+pocket was but a trifle. It was in October, 1723, that he arrived in
+New York. Think of a lad seventeen years of age running away from
+home, entering a large city without a solitary acquaintance, and
+possessing scarcely money enough to pay for a week's board! He must
+have carried some sad, lonely feelings in his heart along those
+strange streets, and possibly his conscience sorely upbraided him for
+his course.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin behaved very unwisely and wickedly in this affair. Although
+his brother was severely harsh in his treatment of him, it was not
+sufficient reason for his running away from home, and he was
+thoroughly convinced of this at an early day. Such an act is one of
+the most flagrant sins that a youth can commit, although circumstances
+may render it less guilty in some cases than in others. In the case of
+Benjamin, the unkind treatment which he received at the hand of his
+brother mitigated his sin, though it by no means excused it.</p>
+
+<p>There is not a more unpleasant occurrence in the whole life of
+Benjamin Franklin than this quarrel with his brother. We charge the
+difficulty mainly upon James, of course; but this does not blot out
+the unpleasantness of the affair. A quarrel between brothers is always
+painful in the extreme, and is discreditable to all parties concerned.
+Dr. Watts has very beautifully written,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> for the admonition of little
+children, what older ones may well ponder:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Whatever brawls disturb the street,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">There should be peace at home:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Where sisters dwell and brothers meet,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Quarrels should never come.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Birds in their little nests agree;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And 'tis a shameful sight,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">When children of one family<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Fall out, and chide, and fight.<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Hard names, at first, and threat'ning words,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">That are but noisy breath,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">May grow to clubs and naked swords,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">To murder and to death."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>At this crisis of Benjamin's life, it seemed as if he was on the
+highway to ruin. There is scarcely one similar case in ten, where the
+runaway escapes the vortex of degradation. Benjamin would not have
+been an exception, but for his early religious culture and the grace
+of God.</p>
+
+<p>The case of William Hutton, who was the son of very poor parents, is
+not altogether unlike that of Benjamin Franklin. He was bound to his
+uncle for a series of years, but was treated by him so harshly that he
+ran away, at seventeen years of age. The record is, that "on the 12th
+day of July, 1741, the ill-treatment he received from his uncle, in
+the shape of a brutal flogging, with a birch-broom handle of white
+hazel, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> almost killed him, caused him to run away." A dark
+prospect was before him, since "he had only twopence in his pocket, a
+spacious world before him, and no plan of operation." Yet he
+afterwards became an author of some celebrity, and a most exemplary
+and esteemed man. He lived to the age of ninety, his last days being
+gladdened by the reflection of having lived a useful life, and the
+consciousness of sharing the confidence of his fellow-men.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3>ANOTHER TRIP AND ITS TRIALS.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">On</span> arriving at New York, Benjamin applied to a well known printer, Mr.
+William Bradford, for work.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are you from?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"From Boston," was Benjamin's reply.</p>
+
+<p>"Used to the printing business?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, that is my trade. I have worked at it several years."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry I cannot employ you. Just now my business is small, and I
+have all the help I need."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of the prospect of getting work at some other
+office in the town?" inquired Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"Not very flattering, I am sorry to say. Dull times, my son, very dull
+indeed. But I can tell you where you can find employment, I think. My
+son carries on the printing business in Philadelphia, and one of his
+men died the other day. I think he would be glad to employ you."</p>
+
+<p>"How far is it to Philadelphia?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is a hundred miles," replied Mr. Bradford,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> "a much shorter
+distance than you have already travelled."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 339px;">
+<img src="images/fp149.jpg" width="339" height="531" alt="Franklin saving the Dutchman.&mdash;See page 149." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Franklin saving the Dutchman.&mdash;See page 149.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Benjamin looked somewhat disappointed when he found that Philadelphia
+was a hundred miles farther; still, he was after work, and he was
+determined to find it; so he made inquiries about the mode of
+conveyance, and left Mr. Bradford, thanking him for his kindness.
+Immediately he engaged a passage in a boat to Amboy, and made
+arrangements for his chest to be carried round by sea. He was less
+disheartened, probably, on account of the assurance of Mr. Bradford
+that his son would employ him. If he could procure work by travelling
+a hundred miles more, he would cheerfully do it, although a journey of
+a hundred miles then was about equal to one thousand now.</p>
+
+<p>At the appointed time Benjamin went aboard, and the boat started. She
+had not proceeded far when a squall struck her, tore her rotten sails
+to pieces, and drove her upon Long Island. Before this, however, a
+drunken Dutchman, who was also a passenger, fell overboard, and would
+have lost his life but for the timely assistance of our printer-boy.
+Springing to the side of the boat, Benjamin reached over and seized
+him by the hair of his head as he rose, and drew him on board.</p>
+
+<p>"He may thank you for saving his life," exclaimed one of the boatmen.</p>
+
+<p>"He is too drunk for that," answered Benjamin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> "It will sober him a
+little, however, I think. Halloo, here, you Dutchman!" (turning to the
+drunken man) "how do you like diving?"</p>
+
+<p>The Dutchman mumbled over something, and pulling a book out of his
+pocket, asked Benjamin to dry it for him, which he promised to do.
+Soon the poor, miserable fellow was fast asleep, in spite of the wet
+and danger, and Benjamin examined the drenched volume, which proved to
+be Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in Dutch, a favourite book of his a
+few years before. It was a very good companion for even a drunken
+Dutchman to have; but Benjamin could not but think that its contents
+were not so familiar to the unfortunate possessor as the bottle.</p>
+
+<p>On approaching Long Island they found that there was no place to land,
+and the beach was very stony; so "they dropped anchor, and swung out
+their cable towards the shore." Some men came down to the shore and
+hallooed to them, and they returned the shout. Seeing some small boats
+lying along the shore, they cried out as loudly as possible, "A boat!
+a boat!" and made signs to them to come to their assistance; but the
+wind was so boisterous that neither party could understand the other.</p>
+
+<p>After several fruitless attempts on both sides to be heard, and night
+coming on, the men on the shore went home, and left Benjamin and the
+boatmen to their perils.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"There is only one thing to be done," said the captain, "when we get
+into such a predicament."</p>
+
+<p>"What is that?" asked Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"To do nothing but wait patiently till the wind abates," answered the
+captain, rather coolly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then let us turn in with the Dutchman to sleep," said one of the
+boatmen. "It isn't best for him to have all the good things."</p>
+
+<p>All agreed to this, and soon they were crowded into the hatches,
+Benjamin among the number. But the spray broke over the head of the
+boat so much that the water leaked through upon them, until they were
+about as wet as the Dutchman. This was hard fare for Benjamin, who had
+been accustomed to a comfortable bed and regular sleep. It was
+impossible for him to rest in such a plight, and he had all the more
+time <i>to think</i>. He thought of home, and the friends he had left
+behind, of the comfortable quarters he had exchanged for his present
+wet and perilous berth, and he began to feel that he had <i>paid too
+dear for his whistle</i>. Runaways usually feel thus sooner or later,
+since few of them ever realize their anticipations.</p>
+
+<p>The cold, dreary night wore away slowly, and the wind continued to
+howl, and the breakers to dash and roar, until after the dawn of the
+following morning. Benjamin was never more rejoiced to see daylight
+appear than he was after that dismal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> and perilous night. It was the
+more pleasant to him because the wind began to abate, and there was a
+fairer prospect of reaching their place of destination. As soon as the
+tumult of the wind and waves had subsided, they weighed anchor, and
+steered for Amboy, where they arrived just before night, "having been
+thirty hours on the water without victuals, or any drink but a bottle
+of filthy rum."</p>
+
+<p>In the evening Benjamin found himself feverish, having taken a severe
+cold by the exposure of the previous night. With a hot head and a
+heavy heart he retired to rest, first, however, drinking largely of
+cold water, because he had somewhere read that cold water was good for
+fever. This was one of the advantages he derived from his early habit
+of reading. But for his taste for reading, which led him to spend his
+leisure moments in poring over books, he might never have known this
+important fact, which perhaps saved him a fit of sickness. Availing
+himself of this knowledge, he drank freely of water before he retired,
+and the consequence was, that he sweat most of the night, and arose
+the next morning comparatively well. So much advantage from loving
+books!</p>
+
+<p>Boys never have occasion to deplore the habit of reading, provided
+their books are well chosen. They usually find that they are thrice
+paid for all the time spent in this way. Sooner or later they begin to
+reap the benefits of so wise a course. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> few years since, a young man
+was travelling in the State of Maine, procuring subscribers to a
+newspaper. On passing a certain farm, he observed some bricks of a
+peculiar colour, and he traced them to their clay-bed, and satisfied
+himself that the material could be applied to a more valuable purpose
+than that of making bricks. He at once purchased the farm for three
+hundred pounds, and, on his return to Boston, sold one half of it for
+eight hundred pounds. The secret of his success lay in a bit of
+knowledge he acquired at school. He had given some attention to
+geology and chemistry, and the little knowledge he had gleaned
+therefrom enabled him to discover the nature of the clay on the farm.
+Thus, even a little knowledge gleaned from a book in a single leisure
+half-hour, will sometimes prove the key to a valuable treasure; much
+more valuable than the farm which the young man purchased. For this
+pecuniary benefit is, after all, the least important advantage derived
+from reading. The discipline of the mind and heart, and the refined
+and elevated pleasure which it secures, are far more desirable than
+any pecuniary good it bestows. A little reading, also, sometimes gives
+an impulse to the mind in the direction of learning and renown. It was
+the reading of Echard's Roman History, which Gibbon met with while on
+a visit to Wiltshire, that opened before him the historic path to
+distinction.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Let the reader consider these things. Never say, as hundred's of boys
+do, "I hate books, and wish that I was not obliged to go to school.
+There is no use in reading and studying so much; we shall get along
+just as well without it." This class of boys usually will have to
+regret, under mortifying circumstances, in later life, that they
+wasted their early opportunities to acquire knowledge. Sir Walter
+Scott, in his boyhood, joined in the tirade of idlers against books;
+but in manhood he said: "If it should ever fall to the lot of youth to
+peruse these pages, let such readers remember that it is with the
+deepest regret that I recollect, in my manhood, the opportunities of
+learning which I neglected in my youth; that through every part of my
+literary career I have felt pinched and hampered by my own ignorance;
+and I would at this moment give half the reputation I have had the
+good fortune to acquire, if by so doing I could rest the remaining
+part upon a sound foundation of learning and science."</p>
+
+<p>But we have lost sight of Benjamin. We left him at the tavern in
+Amboy, after having passed the night in a cold-water sweat, ready for
+another start on his journey. Burlington was fifty miles from Amboy,
+and there was no public conveyance, so that he was obliged to go on
+foot, expecting to find a boat there bound for Philadelphia. It was
+raining hard, and yet he started upon the journey, and trudged on
+through the storm and the mud, eager<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> to see Burlington. He was
+thoroughly drenched before he had travelled five miles, and, in this
+condition, he walked on rapidly till noon, when he came to a "poor
+inn," and stopped. Being wet and tired, he resolved to remain there
+until the next day. The innkeeper's suspicions were awakened by
+Benjamin's appearance, and he questioned him rather closely.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are you from, my lad?"</p>
+
+<p>"From Boston, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Hey! and away off here so far? quite a youngster for such a trip.
+What's your name?"</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Benjamin Franklin, and I am going to Philadelphia after
+work."</p>
+
+<p>"No work in Boston I 'spose, hey? How long since you left home?"</p>
+
+<p>"About a week. I did not expect to go farther than New York when I
+started, but I could get no work there."</p>
+
+<p>"No work, hey? what sort of work are you after that you find it so
+scarce?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am a printer by trade, and I hope to get into a printing-office in
+Philadelphia."</p>
+
+<p>"Wall, you are a pretty young one to go so far; I would hardly be
+willing that a son of mine should make such a trip alone, printer or
+no printer."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin saw that he was suspected of being a runaway, and he felt
+very uncomfortable. He managed, however, to answer all questions
+without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> satisfying the curiosity of the family. He ate and slept
+there, and on the following morning proceeded on his journey, and by
+night was within eight or ten miles of Burlington. Here he stopped at
+an inn kept by one Dr. Brown, "an ambulating quack doctor." He was a
+very social and observing man, and soon discovered that Benjamin was a
+youth of unusual intelligence for one of his age. He conversed with
+him freely about Boston and other places, and gave a particular
+account of some foreign countries which he had visited. In this way he
+made Benjamin's brief stay with him very pleasant, and they became
+friends for life, meeting many times thereafter on friendly terms.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning he reluctantly bade the doctor good bye, and
+proceeded to Burlington, where he expected to find a boat. In the
+suburbs of the town he bought some gingerbread of an old woman who
+kept a shop, and walked on, eating it as he went. To his great
+disappointment, on reaching the wharf, he found the boat had gone, and
+there would not be another until Tuesday. It was now Saturday, and his
+money would not hold out if he should get boarded at a public-house
+till then. What should he do? After some reflection, he determined to
+go back to the old lady of whom he bought his gingerbread, as he liked
+her appearance very well, and ask her advice. So back he went.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Ah! back again?" said she, as he entered her shop. "Want more
+gingerbread I 'spose?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," answered Benjamin. "I was going to take the boat to
+Philadelphia, but it has gone, and there is not another to go until
+Tuesday."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear me!" exclaimed the kind-hearted woman; "if that ain't too bad.
+What kin ye du?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is what I want to ask you. Is there any other conveyance to
+Philadelphia?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, and all ye has to du is to make the best on't."</p>
+
+<p>"And what is that? That is just what I want to know,&mdash;the best thing
+for me to do in such a case."</p>
+
+<p>"What ye goin' to Philadelphy for?" inquired the old lady.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going after work. I am a printer, and want to find work in a
+printing-office."</p>
+
+<p>"A printer," exclaimed the woman, who had probably never seen one
+before. "Dear me, yer fortin is made to set up business in this ere
+town. There is nothing of the like here."</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to set up the business with here," replied Benjamin.
+"I would as lief work here as in Philadelphia, if the way was open."</p>
+
+<p>The woman did not know what was necessary in setting up a printing
+establishment. That types and a press were indispensable articles in
+such business she did not dream. She thought,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> doubtless, that he
+carried all necessary fixtures with him in his pockets.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, I'll lodge ye till Tuesday for &mdash;&mdash;" (naming the sum).</p>
+
+<p>"I will stay with you, then, and make the best of it," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>He found himself in very good quarters, and his host proved herself to
+be very kind and hospitable. He took dinner with her, and remained
+about the shop until towards night, when he walked forth to view the
+place. In his walk he came round to the river, and as he approached
+it, he discovered a boat with several people in it, and he hailed
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"Whither bound?"</p>
+
+<p>"To Philadelphia."</p>
+
+<p>"Can you take me in? I was too late for the boat to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"As well as not," a voice replied; and the boat was turned to receive
+its additional passenger. There was no wind, so that they were obliged
+to depend on rowing for progress. Benjamin now found a rare
+opportunity to exercise the skill at rowing which he cultivated in
+Boston. He was so elated with the prospect of proceeding on his way to
+Philadelphia, that he thought neither of the fatigue of rowing, nor of
+the wonder of the old lady in the shop at the unexpected disappearance
+of her boarder. He did not mean to treat her disrespectfully, for he
+considered her a very clever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> woman, but the boat could not wait for
+him to return and pay her his compliments. Whether she ever learned
+what became of him, or that he grew up to be Dr. Franklin, the great
+philosopher, we have no means of knowing. Doubtless she concluded that
+she had not entertained an "angel unawares," but had rather aided an
+undeserving fellow in pursuing a vicious course,&mdash;which was not true.</p>
+
+<p>The boat went on. Benjamin rowed with strong resolution, taking his
+turn with others, until midnight, when one of the company said: "We
+must have passed the city. It can't be that we have been so long
+getting to it."</p>
+
+<p>"That is impossible," said another. "We must have seen it, if we had
+passed it."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I shall row no more," added the first speaker. "I know that
+Philadelphia is not so far off as this."</p>
+
+<p>"Let us put for the shore," said a third person, "and find out where
+we are, if possible."</p>
+
+<p>"Agreed," replied several voices; and so saying they rowed toward the
+shore, and entered a small creek, where they landed near an old fence,
+the rails of which furnished them with fuel for a fire. They were very
+chilly, it being a frosty night of October, and they found the fire
+very grateful. They remained there till daylight, when one of the
+company knew that the place was "Cooper's Creek," a few miles above
+the "City<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> of Brotherly Love." Immediately they made preparations to
+continue their journey, which had not been altogether unpleasant, and
+they were soon in full view of the city, where they arrived between
+eight and nine o'clock on Sunday morning. They landed at Market Street
+Wharf. Taking out his money, which consisted of one unbroken dollar,
+and a shilling in copper coin, he offered the latter to the boatmen
+for his passage.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a cent, my good fellow," said one of them, "you worked your
+passage, and did it well, too."</p>
+
+<p>"But you <i>must</i> take it," responded Benjamin. "You are quite welcome
+to all the rowing I have done. I am glad enough to get here by rowing
+and paying my passage too. But for your coming along to take me in, I
+should have been obliged to stay in Burlington until next Tuesday;"
+and he fairly forced the shilling into their hands. This manifested a
+spirit of generosity, for which Benjamin was always distinguished. He
+was no mean, niggardly fellow, not he. Although he was in a stranger
+city, and had but a single dollar left on which to live until he could
+earn something by daily toil, yet he cheerfully gave the change for
+his passage. He felt grateful to them for taking him in, and he gave
+expression to his gratitude in this generous way. It was noble, too,
+in the boatman to refuse to take the shilling. It was only on his
+insisting upon their receiving it, that they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> consented to take it. A
+kind-hearted, generous set of fellows were in that boat, and Benjamin
+was not inferior to one of them in that respect. Bidding them good
+morning, he walked up Market Street, where he met a boy eating some
+bread.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you get your bread, boy?" he inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Over to the baker's, there," he replied, pointing to a shop that was
+near by.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was very tired and hungry, having eaten nothing since he
+dined with the old shopwoman in Burlington, on the day before; and,
+for this reason, the boy's bread was very tempting. Besides, he had
+made many a meal of dry bread when he boarded himself in Boston; and
+now it was not hard at all for him to breakfast on unbuttered bread,
+minus both tea and coffee. He hastened to the bakery, and found it
+open.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you biscuit?" he inquired, meaning such as he was accustomed to
+eat in Boston.</p>
+
+<p>"We make nothing of the kind," answered the proprietor.</p>
+
+<p>"You may give me a three-penny loaf, then."</p>
+
+<p>"We have none."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin began to think that he should have to go hungry still, since
+he did not know the names or prices of the kinds of bread made in
+Philadelphia. But in a moment he recovered himself, and said: "Then
+give me three-pennyworth of any sort."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 337px;">
+<img src="images/fp162.jpg" width="337" height="523" alt="Miss Read&#39;s first Glimpse of her future
+Husband.&mdash;See page 162." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Miss Read&#39;s first Glimpse of her future
+Husband.&mdash;See page 162.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>To his surprise the baker gave him three great puffy rolls, enough to
+satisfy half a dozen hungry persons. He looked at it, scarcely knowing
+at first what he could do with so much, but, as "necessity is the
+mother of invention," he soon discovered a way of disposing of it. He
+put a roll under each arm, and taking a third in his hand he proceeded
+to eat it, as he continued his way up Market Street.</p>
+
+<p>Let the reader stop here, and take a view of Benjamin Franklin, the
+runaway youth, as he made his first appearance in the city of
+Philadelphia. See him trudging up Market Street with his worn, dirty
+clothes (his best suit having been sent round by sea), his pockets
+stuffed out with shirts and stockings, and a "puffy roll" under each
+arm, and a third in his hand of which he is eating! A comical
+appearance certainly! It is not very probable that this runaway
+Benjamin will ever become "Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of
+France," or surprise the world by his philosophical discoveries! There
+is much more probability that he will live in some obscure
+printing-office, and die, "unknown, unhonoured, and unsung." Who
+wonders that a young lady, Miss Read, who was standing in the door of
+her father's residence as Benjamin passed, thought he made a very
+awkward and ridiculous appearance? She little thought she was taking a
+bird's-eye view of her future husband, as the youth with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> rolls of
+bread under his arm proved to be. But just then he cared more for
+bread than he did for her; some years after, the case was reversed,
+and he cared more for her than he did for bread.</p>
+
+<p>Turning down Chestnut Street he continued to walk until he came round
+to the wharf where he landed. Being thirsty, he went to the boat for
+water, where he found the woman and child who came down the river with
+them on the previous night, waiting to go further.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you hungry?" he inquired of the child, who looked wistfully at
+his bread.</p>
+
+<p>"We are both very hungry," answered the woman, speaking for herself
+and child.</p>
+
+<p>"I have satisfied my hunger," said Benjamin, "and you may have the
+rest of my bread if you would like it," at the same time passing both
+rolls to her.</p>
+
+<p>"You are very kind indeed," responded the woman. "I thank you much for
+it;"&mdash;all of which was as good pay for the bread as Benjamin wanted.
+This was another instance of the generosity for which he was
+distinguished throughout his whole life. An American statesman said of
+him, in a eulogy delivered in Boston: "No form of personal suffering
+or social evil escaped his attention, or appealed in vain for such
+relief or remedy as his prudence could suggest, or his purse supply.
+From that day of his early youth, when, a wanderer from his home and
+friends in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> strange place, he was seen sharing his rolls with a poor
+woman and child, to the last act of his public life, when he signed
+that well known memorial to Congress, a spirit of earnest and
+practical benevolence runs like a golden thread along his whole
+career."</p>
+
+<p>He then walked up the street again, and found well-dressed people
+going to church. Joining in the current, notwithstanding his
+appearance, he went with them into the large Quaker meeting-house that
+stood near the market. He took his seat, and waited for the services
+to begin, either not knowing what Quakers did at meeting, or else
+being ignorant that he was among this sect. As nothing was said, and
+he was weary and exhausted with the labours and watchings of the
+previous night, he became drowsy, and soon dropped into a sweet sleep.
+His nap might have proved a very unfortunate event for him, but for
+the kindness of a wide-awake Quaker. For he did not wake up when the
+meeting closed, and the congregation might have dispersed, and the
+sexton locked him in, without disturbing his slumbers. But the
+kind-hearted Quaker moved his spirit by giving him a gentle rap on the
+shoulder. He started up, somewhat surprised that the service was over,
+and passed out with the crowd. Soon after, meeting a fine-looking
+young Quaker, who carried his heart in his face, Benjamin inquired,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>
+"Can you tell me where a stranger can get a night's lodging?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here," answered the Quaker, "is a house where they receive strangers"
+(pointing to the sign of the Three Mariners near which they stood),
+"but it is not a reputable one; if thee will walk with me I will show
+thee a better one."</p>
+
+<p>"I will be obliged to you for doing so," answered Benjamin. "I was
+never in Philadelphia before, and am not acquainted with one person
+here."</p>
+
+<p>The Quaker conducted him to Water Street, and showed him the Crooked
+Billet,&mdash;a house where he might be accommodated. Benjamin thanked him
+for his kindness, entered the house, and called for dinner and a room.
+While sitting at the dinner-table, his host asked, "Where are you
+from?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am from Boston?"</p>
+
+<p>"Boston!" exclaimed the host, with some surprise. "How long since you
+left home?"</p>
+
+<p>This question being answered, he continued, "Have you friends in
+Philadelphia?"</p>
+
+<p>"None at all. I do not know a single person here."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you come here for?"</p>
+
+<p>"I came to get work in a printing-office. I am a printer by trade."</p>
+
+<p>"How old are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am seventeen years old, sir," replied Benjamin,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> just beginning to
+perceive that the man suspected him of being a runaway.</p>
+
+<p>"And came all the way from Boston alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir!"</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin closed the conversation as soon as he could conveniently,
+after perceiving that his appearance had excited suspicions, and went
+to his room, where he lay down and slept till six o'clock in the
+evening, when he was called to supper. He went to bed again very
+early, and was soon locked in the embrace of "nature's sweet restorer,
+balmy sleep."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3>GETTING WORK.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">After</span> a good night's sleep, Benjamin arose and dressed himself as
+neatly as he could with his old clothes, and repaired to Andrew
+Bradford's printing-office.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! then you have arrived," said an old gentleman, rising to salute
+him as he entered. "I reached here first."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it is Mr. Bradford!" exclaimed Benjamin, surprised at meeting the
+old printer whom he saw in New York, and who directed him to his son,
+Andrew Bradford, of Philadelphia. "I did not expect to meet you here."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose not. I started off unexpectedly, and came all the way on
+horseback. But I am glad that you have reached here safely. This is a
+young man from Boston" (addressing his son and introducing Benjamin),
+"after work in a printing-office, and I directed him to you. Franklin
+is your name, I believe."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir! Benjamin Franklin."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bradford received him very cordially, and being about to eat
+breakfast, he said: "Come, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> is my breakfast hour, and you shall be
+welcome to the table. We can talk this matter over at the table;"&mdash;and
+Benjamin accepted the invitation.</p>
+
+<p>"I told this young man," said the old printer from New York, "that one
+of your men died a short time since, and you would want a printer to
+take his place."</p>
+
+<p>"That is true," replied Mr. Andrew Bradford. "I did want another hand
+to take his place, but I hired one only a few days since. I am sorry
+to disappoint this youth who has come so far for work."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there another printing-office here?" asked Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; a man by the name of Keimer has just commenced the business, and
+I think he would be glad to employ you."</p>
+
+<p>"I must get work somewhere," added Benjamin, "for I have spent nearly
+all my money in getting here."</p>
+
+<p>"If he will not employ you," added Mr. Bradford, kindly, "you may
+lodge at my house, and I will give you a little work from time to time
+until business is better."</p>
+
+<p>"That will be a great favour to me," answered Benjamin, "for which I
+shall be very thankful;" and he really felt more grateful to Mr.
+Bradford for the offer than his words indicated.</p>
+
+<p>"I will go with you to see Mr. Keimer," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> old Mr. Bradford from
+New York. "Perhaps I can be of some service to you in securing a
+place."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin began to think he had fallen into very obliging hands; so he
+followed their advice, and went with his aged friend to see the
+newly-established printer. On arriving at the office, they met Mr.
+Keimer, and old Mr. Bradford introduced their business by saying:
+"Neighbour, I have brought to see you a young man of your business;
+perhaps you may want such a one."</p>
+
+<p>"That depends on his qualifications," answered Mr. Keimer. "How long
+have you worked at the business?" he inquired, turning to Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"Several years, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you understand all parts of it so that you can go on with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think I do; you can try me and satisfy yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"Take this composing-stick and let me see whether you are competent or
+not," said Keimer.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin proceeded to exhibit his skill at the work, and very soon
+satisfied Keimer that he had told the truth.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well done," said Keimer. "I will employ you as soon as I have
+sufficient work to warrant such a step. At present I have nothing for
+you to do."</p>
+
+<p>Here Benjamin saw the advantage of having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> attended to his business
+closely, so as to learn thoroughly the work he was to do. Some boys
+perform their work in just a passable way, not caring particularly
+whether it is well done, if they can only "pass muster." But not so
+with Benjamin. He sought to understand the business to which he
+attended, and to do as well as possible the work he undertook. The
+consequence was that he was a thorough workman, and in five minutes he
+was able to satisfy Keimer of the fact. This was greatly in his
+favour; and such a young man is never long out of business.</p>
+
+<p>Turning to Bradford, Keimer said, supposing him to be a Philadelphian
+who wished him well in his new enterprise: "What do you think of my
+prospects here, sir? Do you think I shall succeed in my business?"</p>
+
+<p>"That will depend upon your own exertions and business talents," was
+Bradford's reply.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall do all in my power to draw the business of the town," added
+Keimer; "and I think I can do it."</p>
+
+<p>"But how can you expect to get all the business when there is another
+printer here, who has been established some time?"</p>
+
+<p>Keimer answered this last inquiry by disclosing his plans, as Bradford
+quietly drew him out on every point, until he learned how he was
+calculating to command all the business, and run his son out. Nor did
+Keimer dream that he was conversing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> with the father of the other
+printer whom he designed to deprive of his livelihood. All the while
+Benjamin stood and listened to their conversation, perceiving that Mr.
+Bradford was shrewdly learning Keimer's plans for his son's benefit.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you not know that man?" inquired Benjamin, after Bradford left,
+leaving him in the office.</p>
+
+<p>"No; but I thought that he was one of the town's people who wished me
+well in my business, and therefore came in to introduce you."</p>
+
+<p>"It is not so," replied Benjamin. "That was the father of Andrew
+Bradford, your neighbour, the printer. He carries on printing in New
+York."</p>
+
+<p>"It can't be!" exclaimed Keimer, astonished at this bit of news, and
+startled at the thought of having made known his plans to a
+competitor.</p>
+
+<p>"It <i>can</i> be," replied Benjamin. "He is certainly Bradford, the New
+York printer, and father of Andrew Bradford, the printer of this
+town."</p>
+
+<p>"How happened it that he should come here with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can tell you in few words," said Benjamin; and he went on and told
+him of his going to New York, and how he happened to come to
+Philadelphia, and meet Mr. Bradford there, and finally how he found
+his way to Keimer's office.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It will learn me a good lesson," said Keimer. "When I divulge secrets
+to another man whom I don't know, I shall not be in my right mind."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin spent a short time in looking over Keimer's office, and found
+that his press was old and damaged, and his fount of English types
+nearly worn out. Possessing much more ingenuity than Keimer, and
+understanding a printing-press much better, he went to work, and in a
+short time put it into decent order for service. Keimer was composing
+an Elegy on Aquila Rose, an excellent young man who worked for
+Bradford, and who had recently died; and he agreed to send for
+Benjamin to print it off when it was ready. With this arrangement,
+Benjamin returned to Mr. Bradford to eat and lodge. A few days after
+he received a message from Keimer that the Elegy was ready to be
+printed. From that time Keimer provided him with work.</p>
+
+<p>"You must have another boarding-place," said Keimer to him one day.
+Benjamin was still boarding at Bradford's, and this was not agreeable
+to Keimer.</p>
+
+<p>"Just as you please," answered Benjamin; "I am satisfied to board
+there or go elsewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"I can get you boarded with an acquaintance of mine, I think, where
+you will find it very pleasant. I am confident that you will like it
+better there than at Mr. Bradford's."</p>
+
+<p>"I will go there, if you think it is best,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> added Benjamin. "My chest
+has arrived, and I can look a little more respectable now than I could
+before."</p>
+
+<p>The result was, that he went to board at Mr. Read's, the father of the
+young lady who stood in the door when he passed on the aforesaid
+Sunday morning with a roll of bread under each arm. His appearance was
+much improved by this time, so that even Miss Read saw that he was an
+intelligent promising young man.</p>
+
+<p>We learn one or two things about Benjamin from the foregoing, which
+the reader may ponder with benefit to himself. In the first place, he
+must have been very observing. He understood the construction of a
+printing-press so well, that he could put an old one into running
+order, youth as he was, when its proprietor was unable to do it. This
+is more remarkable, because he was not obliged to study the mechanism
+of a printing-press in order to work it. Doubtless many a person
+operates this and other machines without giving any particular
+attention to their structure. But a class of minds are never satisfied
+until they understand whatever commands their attention. They are
+inquisitive to learn the philosophy of things. It was so with
+Benjamin, and this characteristic proved a valuable element of his
+success. It was the secret of his inventions and discoveries
+thereafter. It was so with Stephenson, of whom we have spoken before.
+As soon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> as he was appointed plugman of an engine, at seventeen years
+of age, he began to study its construction. In his leisure hours, he
+took it to pieces and put it together again several times, in order to
+understand it. So of William Hutton, whose name is mentioned in
+another place. Encouraged by a couplet which he read in Dyce's
+Spelling-book&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Despair of nothing that you would attain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Unwearied diligence your end will gain,"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>he sought to master everything that he undertook. One day he borrowed
+a dulcimer, and made one by it. With no other tools than the
+hammer-key, and pliers of the stocking-frame for hammer and pincers,
+his pocket-knife, and a one-pronged fork that served as spring, awl,
+and gimlet, he made a capital dulcimer, which he sold for sixteen
+shillings. Here were both observation and perseverance, though not
+more finely developed than they were in the character of young
+Benjamin Franklin.</p>
+
+<p>Another important truth is learned from the foregoing, namely, that
+Benjamin was not proud. A sight of him passing up Market Street, with
+three large rolls of bread, is proof of this; or his appearance in the
+street and Quaker church in his everyday garb, because his best suit
+was "coming round by sea," is equally significant. How many boys of
+his age would have stayed away from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> church until the "best clothes"
+arrived! How many would seek for some concealment of their poverty, if
+possible, in similar circumstances! But these were small matters to
+Benjamin, in comparison with finding employment and earning a
+livelihood. He had a destiny to work out, and in working that he must
+do as he could, and not always as he would. He cared not for the
+laughs and jeers of those who could dress better and live more
+sumptuously than himself, since it was absolutely necessary for him to
+dress as he did, in order to "make his ends meet." He might have
+followed the example of some young men, and run into debt, in order to
+"cut a dash;" but he believed then, as he wrote afterwards, that
+"lying rides on debt's back," and that it is "better to go to bed
+supperless than to rise in debt;" or, as he expressed himself in other
+maxims, "Those have a short Lent who owe money to be paid at Easter,"
+and "It is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>NEWS FROM HOME, AND RETURN.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">Hitherto</span> Benjamin had lived contentedly in Philadelphia, striving to
+forget Boston and old familiar scenes as much as possible. No one at
+home knew of his whereabouts, except his old friend Collins, who kept
+the secret well. One day, however, a letter came to his address, and
+the superscription looked so familiar that Benjamin's hand fairly
+trembled as he broke the seal. It proved to be from his
+brother-in-law, Robert Homes, "master of a sloop that traded between
+Boston and Delaware." He came to Newcastle, it seems, about forty
+miles from Philadelphia, and, hearing of Benjamin's place of
+residence, he sat down and wrote him a letter, telling him of the deep
+sorrow into which his departure had plunged his parents, who still
+were wholly ignorant of his fate, and exhorting him to return home to
+his friends, who would welcome him kindly. The letter was a strong
+appeal to his feelings.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin sat down and replied to the letter, stating his reasons in
+full for leaving Boston,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> giving an account of his present
+circumstances and prospects, and closing by expressing kind feelings
+for all the loved ones at home, but declining to return.</p>
+
+<p>Not many days after Benjamin wrote and sent his letter, an unusual
+scene transpired at the office. He was at work near the window, when,
+on looking out, he saw Governor Keith approaching.</p>
+
+<p>"The Governor is coming in," said he to Keimer.</p>
+
+<p>Keimer looked out of the window, and saw that it was so, whereupon he
+hurried down to the door, not a little excited by the thought of
+waiting upon the Governor, supposing, of course, that he was coming in
+to see him.</p>
+
+<p>"Does Benjamin Franklin work for you?" inquired the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"He does," answered Keimer, both astonished and perplexed by the
+inquiry. What he could want of him he could not imagine.</p>
+
+<p>"Can I see him?" asked the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly; walk in." The Governor and Colonel French, who was with
+him, were ushered into the presence of Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"I am happy to make the acquaintance of a young man of your
+abilities," he said to him. "I regret that you did not report yourself
+to me long ago."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was too much astonished at the unexpected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> interview to be
+able to reply; and the Governor went on to say, that "he called to
+invite him to an interview at the tavern." Benjamin was more perplexed
+than ever, and Keimer stared with amazement. But after some
+hesitation, arising from sudden surprise, Benjamin consented to go
+with the Governor, and was soon seated with him and Colonel French in
+a room of the tavern at the corner of Third Street.</p>
+
+<p>"I called to see you," said the Governor, "respecting the printing
+business in this town. I understand that you are well acquainted with
+it in all its branches, and, from my knowledge of your abilities, I
+think you would succeed admirably in setting up the business for
+yourself. Our printers here are ignorant and inefficient, and we must
+have more competent men to do the government work."</p>
+
+<p>How the Governor knew so much about his qualifications for the
+business, Benjamin could not divine. He replied, however, "I have
+nothing to commence business with, and it will require some capital.
+My father might assist me if he were disposed; but I have no reason to
+think that he would."</p>
+
+<p>"I will write to him upon the subject," said the Governor, "and
+perhaps he may be persuaded. I can show him the advantages of such an
+enterprise to yourself and the public, so that he cannot doubt the
+practicability of the thing."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"There are two printers here already," continued Benjamin; "and a
+third one would hardly be supported."</p>
+
+<p>"A third one, who understands the business as you do," responded the
+Governor, "would command the chief business of the town in a short
+time. I will pledge you all the public printing of the government."</p>
+
+<p>"And I will pledge the same for the government of Delaware," said
+Colonel French of Newcastle.</p>
+
+<p>"There can be no doubt on this point," continued Governor Keith. "You
+had better decide to return to Boston by the first vessel, and take a
+letter from me to your father."</p>
+
+<p>"I will so decide at once, if such is your judgment in the matter,"
+replied Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"Then it is understood," added his Excellency, "that you will repair
+to Boston in the first vessel that sails. In the mean time, you must
+continue to work for Mr. Keimer, keeping the object of this interview
+a profound secret."</p>
+
+<p>Having made this arrangement, they separated, and Benjamin returned to
+the printing-office, scarcely knowing how he should evade the
+anticipated inquisitiveness of Keimer respecting the interview; but he
+succeeded in keeping the secret. His mind, however, laboured much upon
+the question, how Governor Keith should know anything about him, a
+poor obscure printer-boy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> It was not until he returned to Boston that
+this mystery was solved. Then he learned that Keith was present at
+Newcastle when his brother-in-law received his (Benjamin's) letter,
+and Captain Homes read it aloud to him.</p>
+
+<p>"How old is he?" asked the Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"Seventeen," replied Captain Homes.</p>
+
+<p>"Only seventeen! I am surprised that a youth of that age should write
+so well. He must be an uncommon boy."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Homes assured him that he was a very competent youth, and
+possessed abilities that qualified him for almost any place. Here was
+the secret of Keith's interest in the printer-boy, but of which the
+latter knew nothing until he met his brother-in-law in Boston.</p>
+
+<p>Before an opportunity offered for Benjamin to go to Boston, Governor
+Keith frequently sent for him to dine with him, on which occasions he
+conversed with him in a very friendly and familiar way. It was quite
+unusual for a boy of seventeen years to become the frequent guest of a
+Governor, and no wonder he was almost bewildered by the unexpected
+attention. Some would have become vain and proud in consequence of
+such attentions; but Benjamin bore the honours meekly.</p>
+
+<p>About the last of April, 1724, a small vessel offered for Boston.
+Benjamin made arrangements to go, took leave of Keimer as if going to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+visit his friends, and, with Keith's letter to his father, sailed. The
+vessel had a boisterous time at sea, but after a fortnight's voyage
+she entered Boston harbour. Benjamin had been absent seven months, and
+his parents had not heard a word from him. His brother-in-law had not
+returned from Newcastle, nor written to them about his knowledge of
+Benjamin. The reader may well imagine, then, that he took them all by
+surprise. His poor mother had laid his absence to heart so much, that
+it had worn upon her, and his return was to her almost like life from
+the dead. She was overjoyed, and no language could express her delight
+as she looked into the face of her long-lost Benjamin. His father was
+not less rejoiced, although he had a different way of showing it.
+Indeed, all the family, except his brother James, gave him a most
+cordial and affectionate welcome. He did not return ragged and
+penniless, as runaways generally do, but he was clad in a new and
+handsome suit, carried a watch in his pocket, and had about five
+pounds sterling in silver in his purse. He never looked half so
+genteel and neat in his life, and certainly never commanded so much
+money at one time before.</p>
+
+<p>Before his brother James heard of his arrival, Benjamin hastened to
+the printing-office, and startled him by suddenly standing before him.
+James stopped his work, saluted him in rather a reserved manner, and,
+after surveying him from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> head to foot, turned to his work again. It
+was rather a cold reception on the whole, but not altogether
+unexpected to Benjamin. A brother who had driven him away by his harsh
+treatment could hardly be expected to welcome him back with a very
+warm heart.</p>
+
+<p>The journeymen were delighted to see him, and they were very
+inquisitive.</p>
+
+<p>"Where have you been, Ben?" asked one.</p>
+
+<p>"To Philadelphia," he answered.</p>
+
+<p>"What kind of a place is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is one of the finest places I ever saw. I like it better than
+Boston."</p>
+
+<p>"Going back?" inquired a second person.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and very soon, too," he replied. "That is the place for the
+printing business."</p>
+
+<p>"What kind of money do you have there?" inquired Another. There was no
+established currency in the country at that time, and his interrogator
+wanted to know what they used in Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of replying directly, Benjamin drew the silver from his
+pocket, and spread it out before them. It was quite a curiosity to
+them, as they used only paper money in Boston; and, besides, it caused
+them to think that their old associate had fallen upon lucky days.</p>
+
+<p>"You made a lucky hit, Ben, this time," said one.</p>
+
+<p>"Heavy stuff to carry about," suggested a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> second. "A man would want a
+wheelbarrow if he had much of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you would accept of the wheelbarrow and silver together,
+rather than have neither," responded Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>By this time Benjamin's watch was discovered, and there was a general
+desire to see it; so he laid it down before them, while his brother
+appeared "grum and sullen."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a convenient companion," said Benjamin, as he laid it down.</p>
+
+<p>"And you can afford to have such things," added one of the number,
+"because you save your money, and don't spend it for pleasure, drink,
+and luxuries."</p>
+
+<p>"Ben has fared so well," said one, "that it belongs to him to treat
+the company." As we have said before, the use of intoxicating drinks
+was general at that time, and when old friends met, it was common to
+signalize the occasion by the use of such beverage. Had Benjamin lived
+at this day, with his temperate habits, he would have refused to
+pander to their appetite for strong drink, and suggested some other
+kind of treat. But, living as he did when there were no temperance
+societies, and no alarm at the growing evils of intoxication, he
+accepted the proposal in his accustomed generous way.</p>
+
+<p>"There is a dollar," said he, throwing out a dollar in silver, "take
+that, and drink what you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> please for old acquaintance sake." Then,
+pocketing his watch and money, he took his leave.</p>
+
+<p>His brother was greatly incensed at this visit, and regarded it in the
+light of an insult. His mother endeavoured to bring him to terms of
+reconciliation with Benjamin, but in vain.</p>
+
+<p>"You are brothers," said she, "and you ought to behave towards each
+other as brothers. It is very painful to me to think of your hostility
+to Benjamin, and I do hope that you will forget the past, and be true
+to each other in future."</p>
+
+<p>"Never," replied James. "He insulted me so directly before my workmen
+the other day, that I shall not forget nor forgive it."</p>
+
+<p>James was mistaken in his view of Benjamin's intention. The latter did
+not mean to insult him at the office. He would have been glad of a
+cordial welcome from James, and his feelings were such that he would
+have rejoicingly blotted out the recollection of his former
+ill-treatment, had James met him as a brother.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin took the first opportunity to make known to his father the
+object and circumstances of his visit home, and to hand him the
+Governor's letter, which he received with manifest surprise, though he
+evidently doubted whether it was genuine. For several days he entered
+into no conversation about the matter, as he did not exactly know what
+to make of it. Just then Captain Homes returned, and Mr. Franklin
+showed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> him the letter of Governor Keith, and inquired if he knew the
+man.</p>
+
+<p>"I have met him," replied Captain Homes, "and was pleased with his
+appearance. I think it would be well for Benjamin to follow his
+advice."</p>
+
+<p>"He cannot be a man of much discretion," continued Mr. Franklin, "to
+think of setting up a boy in business who lacks three years of
+arriving at his majority. The project does not strike me favourably at
+all."</p>
+
+<p>"He was much taken with Benjamin's abilities," added Captain Homes,
+"by a letter which I received from him at Newcastle, and which I read
+to him, as he was present when I received it."</p>
+
+<p>"His letters may be well enough, for aught I know; but a youth of his
+age, though his abilities be good, has not sufficient judgment to
+conduct business for himself. I shall not give my consent to such a
+wild scheme."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Franklin replied to Governor Keith's letter, and thanked him
+kindly for the patronage he offered his son, but declining to set up a
+youth in a business of so much importance.</p>
+
+<p>"I am rejoiced," said he to Benjamin, just before the latter started
+to go back, "that you have conducted yourself so well as to secure the
+esteem of Sir William Keith. Your appearance, too, shows that you have
+been industrious and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> economical, all of which pleases me very much. I
+should advise you to go back, and think no more of going into business
+for yourself until you are of age. By industry, economy, and
+perseverance you will be able to command the means of establishing
+business then. As yet you are too young. I should be glad to have you
+remain here with your brother, if he could be reconciled to you; but
+as it is, you shall have my approbation and blessing in returning to
+Philadelphia."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 339px;">
+<img src="images/fp186.jpg" width="339" height="506" alt="Anecdote of Dr. Mather and Franklin&mdash;Humility
+&quot;beaten in!&quot;&mdash;See page 186." title="" />
+<span class="caption">Anecdote of Dr. Mather and Franklin&mdash;Humility
+&quot;beaten in!&quot;&mdash;See page 186.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>It was during this visit to Boston that he called upon the celebrated
+Dr. Increase Mather, to whose preaching he had been accustomed to
+listen. The Doctor received him kindly, and introduced him into his
+library, where they chatted in a familiar way for some time. When
+Benjamin rose to go out, "Come this way," said the Doctor, "I will
+show you a nearer passage out,"&mdash;pointing him to a narrow passage,
+with a beam crossing it over head. They were still talking, the Doctor
+following behind, and Benjamin partly turned around toward him.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Stoop! stoop!</i>" shouted the Doctor.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin did not understand what he meant, until his head struck
+against the beam with considerable force.</p>
+
+<p>"There," said the Doctor, laughing, "you are young, and have the world
+before you; stoop as you go through it, and you may miss many hard
+thumps."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Nearly seventy years after, the recipient of this counsel wrote:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"This advice, thus beaten into my head, has frequently been of use to
+me; and I often think of it, when I see pride mortified, and
+misfortunes brought upon people by their carrying their heads too
+high."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin's old companion, Collins, was delighted with his account of
+Philadelphia, and resolved to accompany him thither on his return. He
+was a clerk in the post-office; but he gave up his situation for the
+more alluring prospects of a residence in Pennsylvania. He started two
+or three days before Benjamin, as he wanted to stop and make a visit
+in Rhode Island, having previously gathered up his books, "which were
+a pretty collection in mathematics and philosophy," and packed them to
+go, with Benjamin's baggage, around by sea to New York, where they
+would meet.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+
+<h3>BACK AGAIN.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">On</span> his return, Benjamin sailed in a sloop to New York, where he had
+arranged to meet Collins. They put in at Newport on business, where he
+had a good opportunity to visit his brother John, who had been married
+and settled there some years. He received a very hearty and
+affectionate welcome from his brother, who was always kind and true to
+him. His stay was short, as he must go when the sloop did, but he made
+the most of it, and enjoyed himself much during the short time. Just
+before he left Newport, a friend of his brother, a Mr. Vernon,
+requested him to collect a debt for him in Pennsylvania, of about
+thirty-five pounds currency, and use the money as he pleased until he
+should call for it. Accordingly, he gave Benjamin an order to receive
+it.</p>
+
+<p>At Newport they took in a number of passengers, among whom was a
+Quaker lady and her servants, and two young women. Benjamin was very
+attentive in assisting the Quaker lady about her baggage, for which
+she was very thankful.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> He soon became acquainted with the two young
+women, and they laughed and chatted together. They were handsomely
+attired, appeared intelligent, and were extremely sociable. The
+motherly Quaker lady saw that there was a growing familiarity between
+them, and she called Benjamin aside, feeling for him somewhat as she
+would for a son, and said: "Young man, I am concerned for thee, as
+thou hast no friend with thee, and seems not to know much of the
+world, or of the snares youth is exposed to; depend upon it, these are
+very bad women; I can see it by all their actions; and if thou art not
+upon thy guard, they will draw thee into some danger; they are
+strangers to thee, and I advise thee, in a friendly concern for thy
+welfare, to have no acquaintance with them."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed," said Benjamin, with much surprise, "I see nothing out of the
+way in them. They are intelligent and social; and I am rather
+surprised at your suspicions."</p>
+
+<p>"But I have heard them say enough to convince me that my suspicions
+are well founded," replied the old lady; and she repeated to him some
+of their conversation which she had overheard.</p>
+
+<p>"You are right, then," quickly answered Benjamin, after listening to
+her. "I am much obliged to you for your advice, and I will heed it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Just before they arrived at New York, the young women invited him to
+call at their residence, naming the street and number, but he did not
+accept their invitation. The next day the captain missed a silver
+spoon and other things from the cabin, and suspecting the two girls,
+had their residence searched, where the missing articles were found,
+in consequence of which the artful thieves were punished. Benjamin
+always felt thankful to the old lady for her timely warning, and
+considered that following her advice probably saved him from trouble
+and ruin.</p>
+
+<p>Collins had been in New York several days when Benjamin arrived. The
+latter was astounded to find him intoxicated when they met.</p>
+
+<p>"Can it be," he exclaimed to Collins, "that you are intemperate?"</p>
+
+<p>"I intemperate!" retorted Collins, disposed to resent the accusation.
+"Do you call me drunk?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, you are not exactly drunk; but then you are disguised with
+liquor, and I am utterly astonished. Once you was as temperate and
+industrious as any young man in Boston, and far more respected than
+most of them. How did it happen that you formed this evil habit?"</p>
+
+<p>Collins saw that he could not deceive Benjamin; so he made a clean
+breast of the matter, and confessed to have formed intemperate habits
+soon after Benjamin first left Boston. He said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> that his appetite for
+brandy was strong, and that he had been intoxicated every day since
+his arrival in New York.</p>
+
+<p>"I have lost all my money," he said, "and have nothing to pay my
+bills."</p>
+
+<p>"Lost your money!" exclaimed Benjamin. "How did you lose that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I lost it by gaming," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"What! a gambler, too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, if you will have it so," answered Collins, somewhat coolly; "and
+you must lend me money to pay my bills."</p>
+
+<p>"If I had known this," continued Benjamin, "I would not have persuaded
+you to leave Boston. And here let me tell you, that it is impossible
+for you to find a situation unless you reform."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps so," answered Collins; "but that is not the question now that
+interests me. I want to know whether you will lend me money to pay my
+bills here and go on my journey?"</p>
+
+<p>"I must, for aught I see," replied Benjamin. "I should not leave you
+here without money and friends, of course, for that would be cruel.
+But you must try to reform."</p>
+
+<p>Collins was a very clever young man, as we have seen, possessing
+marked mathematical talents, and he might have become one of the first
+scholars of his day, had he enjoyed the advantages of a course of
+study. Some of the clergymen of Boston showed him much attention on
+account of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> abilities and love of books. But strong drink blasted
+his hopes.</p>
+
+<p>In New York, Benjamin received a message from Governor Burnet,
+inviting him to call at his house. This was quite as unexpected as the
+visit of Governor Keith, and he began to think that governors had a
+passionate regard for him. He found, however, that the Governor had
+learned from the captain of the sloop, that he had a young man on
+board who brought with him a large number of books from Boston. This
+interested the Governor, and was the occasion of his sending the
+aforesaid invitation to Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>He accepted the invitation, and would have taken Collins with him if
+the latter had been sober. Governor Burnet received him with much
+cordiality, showed him his large library, and conversed freely about
+books and authors for some time. It was an agreeable interview to
+Benjamin, the more so because it was the second time that a Governor
+had sought him out, and showed him attention.</p>
+
+<p>They proceeded to Philadelphia. On the way Benjamin collected Vernon's
+debt, which proved fortunate, since otherwise his money would not have
+carried him through, from having had the bills of two to pay. A good
+trip brought them safely to their place of destination, and Collins
+boarded with Benjamin, at the latter's expense, waiting for an opening
+in some counting-room.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The reader may be curious to learn the fate of Collins, and we will
+briefly record it here. He tried to secure a situation, but his
+dram-drinking habits frustrated his exertions. Every few days he went
+to Benjamin for money, knowing that he had that of Vernon, always
+promising to pay as soon as he found business. Benjamin, in the
+kindness of his heart, lent him little by little, until he was
+troubled to know what he should do if Vernon should call for the
+money. Sometimes he lectured Collins severely for his habits, until
+their friendship was essentially modified. One day they were in a boat
+with other young men, on the Delaware, when Collins refused to row.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall not row you," said Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"You <i>will</i> row me, or stay all night on the water, just as you
+please," retorted Collins.</p>
+
+<p>"We can stay as long as you can," continued Benjamin. "I shall not row
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Ben, let us row," said one of the young men. "If he don't want
+to row let him sit still."</p>
+
+<p>"Row him, if you wish to," replied Benjamin, "I shall not."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you will," shouted Collins, starting from his seat. "I will be
+rowed home, and you shall help do it, or I will throw you overboard;"
+and he hurried to execute his threat. But, as he came up and struck at
+him, Benjamin clapped his head under his thighs, and rising, threw
+him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> head over heels into the river. He knew that Collins was a good
+swimmer, so that he had no fears about his drowning.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you row now?" he inquired, as Collins swam towards the boat.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a stroke," he answered, angrily; whereupon they sent the boat
+forward out of his reach, with one or two strokes of the oar. Again
+and again they allowed him to approach the boat, when they repeated
+the question: "Will you promise to row?" and as often received an
+emphatic "No" for a reply. At length, perceiving that he was quite
+exhausted, they drew him in without extorting from him a promise to
+row.</p>
+
+<p>This scene closed the intimate relations of Benjamin and Collins. They
+scarcely spoke together civilly afterward. Collins sailed for
+Barbadoes within a few weeks after, and he was never heard from again.
+He probably died there, a miserable sot, and Benjamin lost all the
+money he lent him. In later life, Benjamin Franklin referred to this
+event, and spoke of himself as having received retribution for his
+influence over Collins. For, when they were so intimate in Boston,
+Benjamin corrupted his religious opinions by advocating doubts about
+the reality of religion, until Collins became a thorough sceptic.
+Until that time he was industrious, temperate, and honest. But having
+lost his respect for religion, he was left without restraint, and went
+rapidly to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> ruin. Benjamin was the greatest sufferer by his fall, and
+thus was rebuked for influencing him to treat religion with contempt.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin immediately sought an interview with Governor Keith, and told
+him the result of his visit home, and gave his father's reasons for
+declining to assist him.</p>
+
+<p>"But since he will not set you up," said the Governor, "I will do it
+myself. Give me an inventory of the things necessary to be had from
+England, and I will send for them. You shall repay me when you are
+able; I am resolved to have a good printer here, and I am sure you
+must succeed."</p>
+
+<p>This was said with such apparent cordiality that Benjamin did not
+doubt that he meant just what he affirmed, so he yielded to his
+suggestion to make out an inventory of necessary articles. In the
+meantime he went to work for Keimer.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+
+<h3>A LITERARY GAME.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">At</span> this point it is necessary to speak of Benjamin's associates. He
+was not long in finding new acquaintances in Philadelphia. His
+industry and general good habits won the respect and confidence of all
+who came in contact with him. Among those who particularly pleased him
+were three young men, Charles Osborne, Joseph Watson, and James Ralph,
+all lovers of reading. Their literary tendencies no doubt attracted
+Benjamin, and caused him to value their companionship more highly. The
+first two were clerks of Charles Brockden, an eminent conveyancer of
+the town, and the other was a merchant's clerk. Watson was a pious
+young man of sterling integrity, while the others were more lax in
+their religious opinions and principles. All were sensible young men,
+much above the average of this class in intellectual endowments.
+Osborne and Ralph were imaginative and poetical, and frequently tried
+their talents at verse-making.</p>
+
+<p>Much of their leisure time was spent together, reading to each other,
+and discussing what they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> read. Even their Sundays were often wickedly
+devoted to such intellectual pastime on the banks of the Schuylkill,
+whither they strolled, instead of visiting the house of God&mdash;all
+except Watson, who had too much religious principle thus to desecrate
+the Sabbath.</p>
+
+<p>"You overrate your talent for poetry," said Osborne to Ralph, at one
+of their interviews. "You will never make a poet, if you live to be as
+old as Methuselah."</p>
+
+<p>"Much obliged for your compliment," answered Ralph; "but it does not
+alter my own opinion. All poets have their faults when they begin. It
+is practice that makes perfect."</p>
+
+<p>"It will take something more than practice to make a poet of you,"
+continued Osborne. "That piece which you have just read has no poetry
+about it. Besides, if you should become a poet, it will not bring you
+a fortune, as you seem to think."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not; but I am confident that a poet may easily win both
+popularity and a livelihood. At any rate, I am determined to try it,
+in spite of your decidedly poor opinion of my abilities."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I advise you to stick to the business to which you were bred,"
+added Osborne, "if you would keep out of the poor-house. A good clerk
+is better than a bad poet"&mdash;and he cast a particularly roguish glance
+at Ralph as he said it.</p>
+
+<p>"You need not set yourself up for a critic,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> said Benjamin to
+Osborne, after hearing these remarks. "I think more of Ralph as a poet
+than I do of you as a critic. You are not willing to grant that his
+productions have any merit at all; but I think they have. Moreover, it
+is a good practice for him to write poetry, to improve himself in the
+use of language."</p>
+
+<p>"Fiddlestick!" retorted Osborne; "it is wasting his time, that might
+be profitably employed in reading."</p>
+
+<p>"Not half so much as your empty criticisms are wasting your breath,"
+said Benjamin, with a smile. "But, look here, I will tell you what we
+better do. At our next meeting each one of us shall bring a piece of
+poetry, of our own making, and we will compare notes, and criticise
+each other."</p>
+
+<p>"I will agree to that," replied Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"And so will I," added Osborne, "provided you will decide upon the
+subject now, so that all shall have fair play."</p>
+
+<p>"We will do that, of course," answered Benjamin. "Have you a subject
+to suggest?"</p>
+
+<p>"None, unless it is a paraphrase of the eighteenth Psalm, which
+describes the descent of the Deity."</p>
+
+<p>"A capital subject," said Benjamin; "what do you say to taking that,
+Ralph?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am satisfied with it," replied Ralph; "and more, too,&mdash;I rather
+like it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Thus it was agreed that each one should write a poetical paraphrase of
+the eighteenth Psalm for their next meeting, and with this
+understanding they separated.</p>
+
+<p>Just before the time of their next meeting, Ralph called upon Benjamin
+with his piece, and asked him to examine it.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been so busy," said Benjamin, "that I have not been able to
+write anything, and I shall be obliged to appear unprepared. But I
+should like to read yours;" and he proceeded to examine it.</p>
+
+<p>"That is excellent," said he, after reading it. "You have not written
+anything that is equal to this."</p>
+
+<p>"But," said Ralph, "Osborne never will allow the least merit in
+anything of mine, but makes a thousand criticisms, out of mere envy.
+He will do so with that piece, I have no doubt."</p>
+
+<p>"If he does, it will prove that he is prejudiced against you, or is no
+judge of poetry," replied Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a plan to test him," continued Ralph. "He is not so jealous of
+you; I wish, therefore, you would take this piece and produce it as
+yours. I will make some excuse and have nothing. We shall then hear
+what he will say to it."</p>
+
+<p>"I will do it," answered Benjamin, who was well convinced that Osborne
+was prejudiced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> against Ralph; "but I must transcribe it, so that it
+will appear in my own handwriting."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly; and be careful that you don't let the secret out."</p>
+
+<p>They met at the appointed time. Watson was the first to read his
+performance. Osborne came next, and his piece was much better than
+Watson's. Ralph noticed two or three blemishes, but pointed out many
+beauties in it.</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to read," said Ralph, whose turn came next in order.
+"I will try to do my part next time."</p>
+
+<p>"Poets ought to be ready at any time," remarked Osborne jestingly.
+"Well, then, Ben, let us have yours."</p>
+
+<p>"I rather think I must be excused," answered Benjamin, feigning an
+unwillingness to read.</p>
+
+<p>"No excuse for you," said Osborne. "You have it written, for I saw it
+in your hand."</p>
+
+<p>"That is true," replied Benjamin; "but after such fine productions as
+we have heard, there is little encouragement for me to read this. I
+think I must correct it and dress it up a little before I read it."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a word of it," said Ralph. "There is no excuse for any one who is
+prepared."</p>
+
+<p>So, after much urging, Benjamin proceeded to read the verses, with
+seeming diffidence, all listening with rapt attention.</p>
+
+<p>"You must read that again," said Osborne,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> when the first reading was
+finished; which Benjamin consented to do.</p>
+
+<p>"You surprise me, Ben," said Osborne, after the piece was read the
+second time. "You are a genuine poet. I had no idea that you could
+write like that."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor I," added Watson. "It is better than half the poetry that is
+printed. If we had not given out the subject, I should have charged
+you with stealing it."</p>
+
+<p>"What do <i>you</i> say, Ralph?" inquired Osborne. "You are a poet, and
+ought to be a judge of such matters."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think it is entirely faultless," responded Ralph. "You have
+commended it full as highly as it will bear, in my estimation."</p>
+
+<p>"Well done!" exclaimed Osborne. "Your opinion of that piece proves
+that you are destitute of poetical taste, as I have told you before."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph and Benjamin saw that Osborne was fairly caught, and they hardly
+dared to exchange glances, lest they should betray themselves. They
+succeeded, however, in controlling themselves, and allowed Osborne to
+express himself most emphatically.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph walked home with Osborne, and their conversation was upon
+Benjamin's poetry.</p>
+
+<p>"Who would have imagined," said Osborne, "that Franklin was capable of
+such a performance,&mdash;such painting, such force, such fire! In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> common
+conversation he seems to have no choice of words; he hesitates and
+blunders; and yet, how he writes!"</p>
+
+<p>"Possibly he may not have written it," suggested Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"That is the 'unkindest cut of all,'" retorted Osborne, "to charge him
+of plagiarism. Franklin would not descend to so mean a thing."</p>
+
+<p>They parted for that night; but Ralph embraced the first opportunity
+to call on Benjamin, and have a sort of rejoicing over the success of
+their enterprise. They laughed to their hearts' content, and discussed
+the point of revealing the secret. They agreed that the real author of
+the article should be known at their next meeting.</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly, the affair was so managed as to bring the facts of the
+case before their companions at their next gathering. Osborne was
+utterly confounded when the revelation was made, and knew not what to
+say for himself. Watson shook his whole frame with convulsive laughter
+at poor Osborne's expense, and Benjamin joined him with a keen relish.
+Never was a fellow in more mortifying predicament than this would-be
+critic, since it was now so manifest that he had been influenced by
+blind prejudice in his criticisms upon Ralph's poetry. It was certain
+now that he had given it his most emphatic indorsement. While Osborne
+was brought to confusion and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> suffered deservedly, the trick played
+upon him is not one which can be approved by right-thinking persons.
+Deceit is never commendable.</p>
+
+<p>A few years after, Watson died in Benjamin's arms, much lamented by
+all his companions, who regarded him as "the best of their set."
+Osborne removed to the West Indies, where he became an eminent lawyer,
+but was early cut off by death. Of the others we shall have occasion
+to speak hereafter.</p>
+
+<p>It is quite evident that this literary way of spending their leisure
+time was of great advantage to this group of youths. Doubtless it led
+to the cultivation of that taste which most of them who lived
+exhibited for literature and science in after life. It is certainly an
+example of the wise use of spare moments which the young may safely
+imitate.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+
+<h3>GOING TO ENGLAND.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">At</span> the earliest opportunity, Benjamin presented the Governor with an
+inventory of the articles necessary in setting up the printing
+business.</p>
+
+<p>"And what will be the probable expense of all these?" inquired the
+Governor.</p>
+
+<p>"About one hundred pounds sterling, as nearly as I can estimate," he
+replied.</p>
+
+<p>"But would it not prove an advantage for you to be there yourself, to
+select the types, and see that everything is good?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose it would, though such a thing as going to England is
+scarcely possible with me."</p>
+
+<p>"That remains to be seen," continued Governor Keith. "Another
+advantage of your being there is, that you could form acquaintances,
+and establish correspondence in the bookselling and stationery line."</p>
+
+<p>"That would certainly be an advantage," replied Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"Then get yourself ready to go in the Annis," said the Governor. The
+Annis was the annual ship that sailed between Philadelphia and
+London,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> and the only one, at that time, which performed this voyage.
+Instead of there being scores of vessels sailing between these two
+ports, as now, there was only this solitary one, going and returning
+once a year.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not necessary to prepare immediately," answered Benjamin,
+"since it is several months before the Annis will sail."</p>
+
+<p>"True; I only meant that you should be in readiness when the ship
+sails. It will be necessary for you still to keep the matter secret
+while you continue to work for Keimer."</p>
+
+<p>Keimer, for whom Benjamin worked, was a singular man in some respects,
+and liked to draw him into discussions upon religious subjects. At one
+time he thought seriously of originating a new sect, and proposed to
+Benjamin to join him, as his masterly powers of argumentation would
+confound opponents. He wore his beard long, because it is somewhere
+said in the Mosaic Law, "<i>Thou shalt not mar the corners of thy
+beard.</i>" Also, he kept the seventh, instead of the first day of the
+week, as a Sabbath. Benjamin opposed him on these points, and their
+discussions were frequent and warm. Keimer often exhorted him to
+embrace his own peculiar views on these subjects. Finally, Benjamin
+replied, "I will do it, provided you will join me in not eating animal
+food, and I will adhere to them as long as you will stick to a
+vegetable diet."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was here aiming at some diversion, since Keimer was a great
+eater, and thought much of a savoury dish. Benjamin wanted to starve
+him a little, as he thought some of his preaching and practice did not
+correspond.</p>
+
+<p>"I should die," said Keimer, "if I adopt such a diet; my constitution
+will not bear it."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense!" answered Benjamin. "You will be better than you are now.
+So much animal food is bad for any one."</p>
+
+<p>"What is there left to eat when meat is taken away?" inquired Keimer.
+"Little or nothing, I should think."</p>
+
+<p>"I will pledge myself to furnish recipes for forty palatable dishes,"
+answered Benjamin, "and not one of them shall smell of the flesh-pots
+of Egypt."</p>
+
+<p>"Who will prepare them? I am sure no woman in this town can do it."</p>
+
+<p>"Each dish is so simple that any woman can easily prepare it," added
+Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>Keimer finally accepted the proposition. He was to become a
+vegetarian, and Benjamin was to embrace formally the long-beard
+doctrine, and observe the seventh day for a Sabbath. A woman was
+engaged to prepare their food and bring it to them, and Benjamin
+furnished her with a list of forty dishes, "in which there entered
+neither fish, flesh, nor fowl." For about three months Keimer adhered
+to this way of living, though it was very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> trying to him all the
+while. Benjamin was often diverted to see his manifest longings for
+fowl and flesh, and expected that he would soon let him off from
+keeping the seventh day and advocating long beards. At the end of
+three months, Keimer declared that he could hold out no longer, and
+the agreement was broken. It was a happy day for him; and to show his
+gladness, he ordered a roast pig, and invited Benjamin and two ladies
+to dine with him. But the pig being set upon the table before his
+guests arrived, the temptation was so great that he could not resist,
+and he devoured the whole of it before they came, thus proving that he
+was a greater pig than the one he swallowed.</p>
+
+<p>It should be remarked here, that for some time Benjamin had not
+followed the vegetable diet which he adopted in Boston. The
+circumstances and reason of his leaving are thus given by himself:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"In my first voyage from Boston to Philadelphia, being becalmed
+off Block Island, our crew employed themselves in catching cod,
+and hauled up a great number. Till then, I had stuck to my
+resolution to eat nothing that had had life; and on this occasion
+I considered, according to my master Tryon, the taking every fish
+as a kind of unprovoked murder, since none of them had nor could
+do us any injury that might justify this massacre. All this
+seemed very reasonable. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> I had been formerly a great lover of
+fish, and when it came out of the frying-pan, it smelt admirably
+well. I balanced some time between principle and inclination,
+till recollecting that, when the fish were opened, I saw smaller
+fish taken out of their stomachs; then, thought I, 'If you eat
+one another, I don't see why we may not eat you.' So I dined upon
+cod very heartily, and have since continued to eat as other
+people; returning only now and then to a vegetable diet. So
+convenient a thing it is to be a <i>reasonable creature</i>, since it
+enables one to find or make a <i>reason</i> for everything one has a
+mind to do."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>The time was now approaching for the Annis to sail, and Benjamin began
+to realize the trial of leaving his friends. A new tie now bound him
+to Philadelphia. A mutual affection existed between Miss Read and
+himself, and it had ripened into sincere and ardent love. He desired a
+formal engagement with her before his departure, but her mother
+interposed.</p>
+
+<p>"Both of you are too young," said she,&mdash;"only eighteen! You cannot
+tell what changes may occur before you are old enough to be married."</p>
+
+<p>"But that need not have anything to do with an engagement," said
+Benjamin. "We only pledge ourselves to marry each other at some future
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"And why do you deem such a pledge necessary?" asked the good mother.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Simply because 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,'"
+replied Benjamin, with his face all wreathed with smiles.</p>
+
+<p>"But I have not quite satisfied myself that it is best to give up my
+daughter to a printer," added Mrs. Read.</p>
+
+<p>"How so?" asked Benjamin, with some anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>"Because," she replied, "there are already several printing-offices in
+the country, and I doubt whether another can be supported."</p>
+
+<p>"If I cannot support her by the printing business," answered Benjamin,
+"then I will do it some other way."</p>
+
+<p>"I have no doubt of your good intentions; but you may not realize the
+fulfilment of all your hopes. I think you had better leave the matter
+as it is until you return from England, and see how you are
+prospered."</p>
+
+<p>The old lady won the day, and the young couple agreed to proceed no
+further at present.</p>
+
+<p>The above reference to the fact that only four or five
+printing-offices existed in America at that time, may serve to exhibit
+its rapid growth. For in 1840, there were <i>one thousand five hundred
+and fifty-seven</i> of them, and now probably there are twice that
+number.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to England with you, Benjamin," said Ralph one day, as
+they met. "Don't you believe it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It is almost too good news to believe," replied Benjamin. "But I
+should be glad of your company, I assure you."</p>
+
+<p>"It is true," continued Ralph. "I was not jesting when I told you, the
+other day, that I meant to go if I could."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you are really in earnest? You mean to go?"</p>
+
+<p>"To be sure I do. I have fully decided to go."</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin did not ask him what he was going for; but, from some remarks
+he heard him make previously, he inferred that he was going out to
+establish a correspondence, and obtain goods to sell on commission.
+Nor did he learn to the contrary until after they arrived in London,
+when Ralph informed him that he did not intend to return,&mdash;that he had
+experienced some trouble with his wife's relations, and he was going
+away to escape from it, leaving his wife and child to be cared for by
+her friends.</p>
+
+<p>As the time of their departure drew near, Benjamin called upon the
+Governor for letters of introduction and credit, which he had
+promised, but they were not ready. He called again, and they were
+still unwritten. At last, just as he was leaving, he called at his
+door, and his secretary, Dr. Baird, came out, and said: "The Governor
+is engaged upon important business now, but he will be at Newcastle
+before the Annis reaches there, and will deliver the letters to you
+there."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As soon as they reached Newcastle, Benjamin went to the Governor's
+lodgings for the letters, but was told by his secretary that he was
+engaged, and should be under the necessity of sending the letters to
+him on board the ship, before she weighed anchor. Benjamin was
+somewhat puzzled by this unexpected turn of affairs, but still he did
+not dream of deception or dishonesty. He returned to the vessel, and
+awaited her departure. Soon after her canvas was flung to the breeze,
+he went to the captain and inquired for the letters.</p>
+
+<p>"I understand," said he, "that Colonel French brought letters on board
+from the Governor. I suppose some of them are directed to my care."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," replied the captain, "Colonel French brought a parcel of
+letters on board, and they were all put into the bag with others, so
+that I cannot tell whether any of them are for you or not. But you
+shall have an opportunity, before we reach England, of looking them
+over for yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"I thank you," answered Benjamin; "that will be all that is
+necessary;" and he yielded himself up to enjoyment for the remainder
+of the voyage, without the least suspicion of disappointment and
+trouble.</p>
+
+<p>When they entered the English Channel, the captain, true to his
+promise, allowed Benjamin to examine the bag of letters. He found
+several on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> which his name was written, as under his care, and some
+others he judged, from the handwriting, came from the Governor. One of
+them was addressed to Baskett, the King's printer, and another to a
+stationer, and these two, Benjamin was confident, were for him to
+take. In all he took seven or eight from the bag.</p>
+
+<p>They arrived in London on the 24th of December, 1724, when Benjamin
+lacked about a month of being nineteen years old. Soon after he
+landed, he called upon the stationer to whom one of the letters was
+directed: "A letter, sir, from Governor Keith, of Pennsylvania,
+America!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know such a person," replied the stationer, at the same time
+receiving the letter.</p>
+
+<p>"O, this is from Riddlesden!" said he, on opening it. "I have lately
+found him to be a complete rascal, and I will have nothing to do with
+him, nor receive any letters from him;" and he handed back the letter
+to Benjamin, turned upon his heel, and left to wait upon a customer.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was astonished and mortified. He had not the least suspicion
+that he was bearing any other than the Governor's letter, and he was
+almost bewildered for a moment. The thought flashed into his mind that
+the Governor had deceived him. In a few moments his thoughts brought
+together the acts of the Governor in the matter, and now he could see
+clearly evidence of insincerity and duplicity. He immediately sought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>
+out Mr. Denham, a merchant, who came over in the Annis with him, and
+gave him a history of the affair.</p>
+
+<p>"Governor Keith is a notorious deceiver," said Mr. Denham. "I do not
+think he wrote a single letter for you, nor intended to do it. He has
+been deceiving you from beginning to end."</p>
+
+<p>"He pretended to have many acquaintances here," added Benjamin, "to
+whom he promised to give me letters of credit, and I supposed that
+they would render me valuable assistance."</p>
+
+<p>"Letters of credit!" exclaimed Denham. "It is a ludicrous idea. How
+could he write letters of credit, when he has no credit of his own to
+give? No one who knows him has the least confidence in his character.
+There is no dependence to be placed upon him in anything. He is
+entirely irresponsible."</p>
+
+<p>"What, then, shall I do?" asked Benjamin with evident concern. "Here I
+am among strangers without the means of returning, and what shall I
+do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I advise you to get employment in a printing-office here for the
+present. Among the printers here you will improve yourself, and, when
+you return to America, you will set up to greater advantage."</p>
+
+<p>There was no alternative left for Benjamin but to find work where he
+could, and make the best of it. Again he had "paid too dear for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>
+whistle," and must suffer for it. He took lodgings with Ralph in
+Little Britain, at three shillings and sixpence a week, and very soon
+obtained work at Palmer's famous printing-house in Bartholomew Close,
+where he laboured nearly a year. Ralph was not so successful in
+getting a situation. He made application here and there, but in vain;
+and, after several weeks of fruitless attempts at securing a place, he
+decided to leave London, and teach a country school. Previously,
+however, in company with Benjamin, he spent much time at plays and
+public amusements. This was rather strange, since neither of them had
+been wont to waste their time and money in this way; and years after,
+Benjamin spoke of it as a great error of his life, which he deeply
+regretted. But Ralph's departure put an end to this objectionable
+pleasure-seeking, and Benjamin returned to his studious habits when
+out of the office.</p>
+
+<p>At this time, the ability to compose which he had carefully nurtured
+proved of great assistance to him. He was employed in the printing of
+Wollaston's "Religion of Nature," when he took exceptions to some of
+his reasoning, and wrote a dissertation thereon, and printed it, with
+the title, "<span class="smcap">A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and
+Pain</span>." This pamphlet fell into the hands of one Lyons, a surgeon,
+author of a book entitled "The Infallibility of Human Judgment," and
+he was so much pleased with it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> that he sought out the author, and
+showed him marked attention. He introduced him to Dr. Mandeville,
+author of the "Fable of the Bees," and to Dr. Pemberton, who promised
+to take him to see Sir Isaac Newton. Sir Hans Sloane invited him to
+his house in Bloomsbury Square, and showed him all his curiosities. In
+this way, the small pamphlet which he wrote introduced him to
+distinguished men, which was of much advantage to him.</p>
+
+<p>While he lodged in Little Britain, he made the acquaintance of a
+bookseller, by the name of Wilcox, who had a very large collection of
+secondhand books. Benjamin wanted to gain access to them, but he could
+not command the means to purchase; so he hit upon this plan: he
+proposed to Wilcox to pay him a certain sum per book for as many as he
+might choose to take out, read, and return, and Wilcox accepted his
+offer. In this transaction was involved the principle of the modern
+circulating library. It was the first instance of lending books on
+record, and for that reason becomes an interesting fact. It was
+another of the influences that served to send him forward in a career
+of honour and fame.</p>
+
+<p>When he first entered the printing-house in London, he did press-work.
+There were fifty workmen in the establishment, and all of them but
+Benjamin were great beer-drinkers; yet he could lift more, and endure
+more fatigue, than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> any of them. His companion at the press was a
+notorious drinker, and consumed daily "a pint of beer before
+breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his food, a pint between breakfast
+and dinner, a pint at dinner, a pint in the afternoon about six
+o'clock, and another when he had done his day's work,"&mdash;in all six
+pints per day. They had an alehouse boy always in attendance upon the
+workmen.</p>
+
+<p>"A detestable habit," said Benjamin to his fellow-pressman, "and a
+very expensive one, too."</p>
+
+<p>"I couldn't endure the wear and tear of this hard work without it,"
+replied the toper.</p>
+
+<p>"You could accomplish more work, and perform it better, by drinking
+nothing but cold water," rejoined Benjamin. "There is nothing like it
+to make one strong and healthy."</p>
+
+<p>"Fudge! It may do for a Water-American like you, but Englishmen would
+become as weak as babes without it."</p>
+
+<p>"That is false," said Benjamin. "With all your drinking <i>strong</i> beer
+in this establishment, you are the weakest set of workmen I ever saw.
+I have seen <i>you</i> tug away to carry a single form of type up and down
+stairs, when I always carry two. Your beer may be <i>strong</i>, but it
+makes you <i>weak</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"You Americans are odd fellows, I confess," added the beer-swigger;
+"and you stick to your opinions like a tick."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"But look here, my good fellow," continued Benjamin. "Do you not see
+that the bodily strength afforded by beer can be only in proportion to
+the grain or flour of the barley dissolved in the water of which it is
+made? There must be more flour in a pennyworth of bread than there is
+in a whole quart of beer; therefore, if you eat that with a pint of
+water, it will give you more strength than two or three pints of beer.
+Is it not so?"</p>
+
+<p>The man was obliged to acknowledge that it appeared to be so.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin continued: "You see that I am supplied with a large porringer
+of hot water-gruel, sprinkled with pepper, crumbled with bread, and a
+bit of butter in it, for just the price of a pint of beer,
+three-halfpence. Now, honestly, is not this much better for me, and
+for you, than the same amount of beer?"</p>
+
+<p>Thus Benjamin thorned his companions with arguments against the
+prevailing habit of beer-drinking. Gradually he acquired an influence
+over many of them, by precept and example, and finally they abandoned
+their old habit, and followed his better way of living. He wrought a
+thorough reformation in the printing-office; and the fact shows what
+one young man can do in a good cause, if he will but set his face
+resolutely in that direction. Benjamin possessed the firmness,
+independence, and moral courage to carry out his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> principles,&mdash;just
+the thing which many a youth of his age lack, and consequently make
+shipwreck of their hopes.</p>
+
+<p>The only amusement which Benjamin seems to have enjoyed as much as he
+did literary recreation, was swimming. From his boyhood he delighted
+to be in the water, performing wonderful feats, and trying his skill
+in various ways. At one time he let up his kite, and, taking the
+string in his hand, lay upon his back on the top of the water, when
+the kite drew him a mile in a very agreeable manner. At another time
+he lay floating upon his back and slept for an hour by the watch. The
+skill which he had thus acquired in the art of swimming won him a
+reputation in England. On several occasions he exhibited his
+remarkable attainments of this kind, and the result was that he was
+applied to by Sir William Wyndham to teach his two sons to swim. Some
+advised him to open a swimming-school, and make it his profession; but
+he very wisely concluded to leave the water to the fish, and confine
+himself to the land.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin had been in London nearly eighteen months, when Mr. Denham,
+the merchant of whom we have spoken, proposed to him to return to
+Philadelphia, and act in the capacity of bookkeeper for him, and
+offered him fifty pounds a year, with the promise to promote him, and
+finally establish him in business. Benjamin had a high<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> respect for
+Mr. Denham, and the new field of labour appeared to him inviting, so
+that he accepted the proposition with little hesitation, and made
+preparations to leave England, quitting for ever, as he thought, the
+art of printing, which he had thoroughly learned.</p>
+
+<p>Forty years after Benjamin worked in Palmer's printing-office, he
+visited England in the service of his country, widely known as a
+sagacious statesman and profound philosopher. He took occasion to
+visit the old office where he once laboured with the beer-drinkers,
+and, stepping up to the press on which he worked month after month, he
+said: "Come, my friends, we will drink together. It is now forty years
+since I worked, like you, at this press, as a journeyman printer."
+With these words, he sent out for a gallon of porter, and they drank
+together according to the custom of the times. That press, on which he
+worked in London, is now in the Patent-office at Washington.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2>
+
+<h3>FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">On</span> the 23rd day of July, 1726, Benjamin sailed for Philadelphia, in
+company with Mr. Denham. After a successful and rather pleasant voyage
+of nearly three months, they reached Philadelphia, much to the
+satisfaction of Benjamin, who always enjoyed his stay there. He was
+now twenty years of age.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! is it you, Benjamin? I am glad to see you back again," said
+Keimer, as his old journeyman made his appearance; and he shook his
+hand as if his heart was in it. "I began to think you had forsaken
+us."</p>
+
+<p>"Not yet," replied Benjamin. "I think too much of Philadelphia to
+forsake it yet."</p>
+
+<p>"Want work at your old business, I suppose?" added Keimer. "I have a
+plenty of it. You see I have improved things since you were here; my
+shop is well supplied with stationery, plenty of new types, and a good
+business!"</p>
+
+<p>"I see that you have made considerable advance," replied Benjamin. "I
+am glad that you prosper."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"And I shall be glad to employ you, as none of my men are complete
+masters of the business."</p>
+
+<p>"But I have relinquished my old trade," answered Benjamin. "I&mdash;&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Given up the printing business!" interrupted Keimer. "Why is that?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have made arrangements with Mr. Denham to keep his books, and serve
+him generally in the capacity of clerk."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry for that, and I think you will be eventually. It is a very
+uncertain business."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I have undertaken it for better or worse," said Benjamin, as he
+rose to leave the shop.</p>
+
+<p>As he was going down the street, who should he meet but Governor
+Keith, who had been removed from his office, and was now only a common
+citizen. The ex-Governor appeared both surprised and ashamed at seeing
+him, and passed by him without speaking.</p>
+
+<p>Benjamin was quite ashamed to meet Miss Read, since he had not been
+true to his promise. Though he had been absent eighteen months, he had
+written her but a single letter, and that was penned soon after his
+arrival in London, to inform her that he should not return at present.
+His long absence and silence convinced her that he had ceased to
+regard her with affection; in consequence of which, at the earnest
+persuasion of her parents, she married a potter by the name of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>
+Rogers. He turned out to be a miserable fellow, and she lived with him
+only a short time. He incurred heavy debts; ran away to the West
+Indies to escape from his creditors, and there died.</p>
+
+<p>Miss Read (she refused to bear the name of Rogers) was disconsolate
+and sad, and Benjamin pitied her sincerely, inasmuch as he considered
+himself to blame in the matter. He was not disposed to shield himself
+from the censure of the family, had they been disposed to administer
+any; but the old lady took all the blame upon herself, because she
+prevented an engagement, and persuaded her daughter to marry Rogers.</p>
+
+<p>These circumstances rendered his meeting with Miss Read less
+unpleasant, so far as his own want of fidelity was concerned. His
+intimacy with the family was renewed, and they frequently invited him
+there to tea, and often sought his advice on business of importance.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Denham opened a store in Water Street, and Benjamin entered upon
+his new business with high hopes. He made rapid progress in acquiring
+knowledge of traffic, and soon became expert in keeping accounts and
+selling goods. But in February, 1727, when Benjamin was twenty-one
+years of age, both he and his employer were prostrated by sickness.
+Benjamin's disease was pleurisy, and his life was despaired of, though
+he unexpectedly recovered. Mr. Denham lingered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> along for some time,
+and died. His decease was the occasion of closing the store and
+throwing Benjamin out of business. It was a sad disappointment, but
+not wholly unlike the previous checkered experience of his life. He
+had become used to "ups and downs."</p>
+
+<p>As a token of his confidence and esteem, Mr. Denham left a small
+legacy to Benjamin,&mdash;a fact that speaks well for the young man's
+faithfulness. And here it should be said, that, whatever faults the
+hero of our story had, he always served his employers with such
+ability and fidelity as won their approbation and confidence. Unlike
+many youth, who care not for their employers' interests if they but
+receive their wages and keep their places, he ever did the best he
+could for those who employed him. He proved himself trustworthy and
+efficient; and here is found one secret of his success.</p>
+
+<p>In his disappointment, Benjamin sought the advice of his
+brother-in-law, Captain Homes, who happened to be in Philadelphia at
+the time.</p>
+
+<p>"I advise you to return to your old business," said he. "I suppose you
+can readily get work here, can you not?"</p>
+
+<p>"All I want," Benjamin answered. "Keimer was very anxious to employ me
+when I returned from England, and I dare say that he would hire me
+now."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I would close a bargain with him at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> once, were I in your place.
+I think you will succeed better at your trade than in any other
+business, and perhaps the way will soon be prepared for you to open a
+printing-office of your own."</p>
+
+<p>This advice was followed without delay, and Keimer was eager to employ
+him. At the outset, he offered him extra wages to take the entire
+management of his printing-office, so that he (Keimer) might attend
+more closely to his stationer's shop. The offer was accepted, and
+Benjamin commenced his duties immediately. He soon found, however,
+that Keimer's design in offering him so large wages was, that the
+hands he already employed might be improved under his experience, when
+it would not be necessary for him to hire so competent a person. The
+facts show us that good workmen can command employment and high wages,
+when poor ones are obliged to beg their bread.</p>
+
+<p>Among Keimer's workmen was an Oxford student, whose time he had bought
+for four years. He was about eighteen years of age, smart and
+intelligent. Benjamin very naturally became interested in him, as it
+was quite unusual to find an Oxford scholar acting in the capacity of
+a bought servant; and he received from him the following brief account
+of his life. He "was born in Gloucester, educated at a grammar-school,
+and had been distinguished among the scholars for some apparent
+superiority in performing his part when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> they exhibited plays;
+belonged to the Wits' Club there, and had written some pieces in prose
+and verse, which were printed in the Gloucester newspapers. Thence was
+sent to Oxford, where he continued about a year, but not well
+satisfied; wishing, of all things, to see London, and become a player.
+At length, receiving his quarterly allowance of fifteen guineas,
+instead of discharging his debts, he went out of town, hid his gown in
+a furze-bush, and walked to London; where, having no friend to advise
+him, he fell into bad company, soon spent his guineas, found no means
+of being introduced among the players, grew necessitous, pawned his
+clothes, and wanted bread. Walking the street, very hungry, not
+knowing what to do with himself, a crimp's bill was put into his hand,
+offering immediate entertainment and encouragement to such as would
+bind themselves to work in America. He went directly, signed the
+indentures, was put into the ship, and came over; never writing a line
+to his friends, to acquaint them what was become of him."</p>
+
+<p>Such a case has several important lessons for the young. In the first
+place, it shows the danger that attends theatrical performances. Youth
+often wonder that good people object to them; but here they may see
+one reason of their opposition. It was at the school in Oxford that he
+imbibed a love for the stage. There he participated in dramatic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>
+plays, which caused him to run away, and seek a residence in London,
+where he was ruined. There are hundreds of similar examples, and these
+cause good people to condemn theatrical amusements. It is said that
+when Lord Jeffrey was a youth, at the college in Glasgow, he was
+instrumental in originating a dramatic performance. The play was
+selected, and a room of the college designated as a fitting theatre,
+when the authorities interfered, and forbade them to perform the play.
+Their interference aroused the ire of Jeffrey, who, in his "Notes on
+Lectures," denounced their conduct as "the meanest, most illiberal,
+and despicable." Many youth cherish similar feelings towards those who
+condemn such performances; and, if one of the number shall read these
+pages, we would point him to the sad end of the Oxford student.</p>
+
+<p>This case also illustrates the sad consequences of keeping bad
+company, as well as the perils of the city. He associated with the
+vicious in London, and became really a vagabond in consequence.</p>
+
+<p>As the workmen improved under Benjamin's supervision, Keimer evidently
+began to think of discharging him, or cutting down his wages. On
+paying his second quarter's wages, he told him that he could not
+continue to pay him so much. He became less civil, frequently found
+fault, and plainly tried to make Benjamin's stay uncomfortable so that
+he would leave. At length a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> rare opportunity offered for him to make
+trouble. An unusual noise in the street one day caused Benjamin to put
+his head out of the window to see what was the matter. Keimer happened
+to be in the street, and seeing him, he cried out, "Put your head in,
+and attend to your business;" and added some reproachful words which
+all in the street heard. Then, hastening up into the office, he
+continued his insulting language.</p>
+
+<p>"Men who work for me must give better heed to their business," said
+he. "If they care more for a noise in the street than for their work,
+it is time they left."</p>
+
+<p>"I am ready to leave any time you please," retorted Benjamin, who was
+considerably nettled by such treatment. "I am not dependent on you for
+a living, and I shall not be treated in this way long, I assure you."</p>
+
+<p>"That, indeed!" exclaimed Keimer. "You would not stay another hour if
+it were not for our agreement, in accordance with which I now warn you
+that, at the end of a quarter's time, I shall hire you no more."</p>
+
+<p>"You need not regret that you cannot send me away to-day," answered
+Benjamin. "I shall work no longer for a man who will treat me thus;"
+and, taking his hat, he left. As he passed down, he requested
+Meredith, one of the hands, to bring some things which he left behind
+to his lodgings.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In the evening Meredith went to see Benjamin, carrying the articles
+referred to.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall you do now?" Meredith inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall return to Boston forthwith."</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't do that. You can do much better here than you can there."</p>
+
+<p>"What can I do here now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Set up business for yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"I have no money to do it with."</p>
+
+<p>"My father has," said Meredith; "and I will go into company with you
+if he will furnish the means. I am not acquainted with the business,
+and you are; so I will furnish the capital, and you shall manage the
+concern, and we will share the profits equally."</p>
+
+<p>"Your father will never do it," suggested Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"I am confident that he will," replied Meredith. "He has a high
+opinion of you, and he wants a good opportunity to set me up. I will
+ask him, at any rate."</p>
+
+<p>"I would like such an enterprise myself," added Benjamin; "but can we
+succeed against Keimer? He will now do all he can to crush me."</p>
+
+<p>"He will be crushed himself before long," answered Meredith. "I happen
+to know that he is in debt for all the property in his hands. He keeps
+his shop miserably, too; often sells without profit in order to raise
+money; and trusts people<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> without keeping accounts. He will fail as
+surely as he keeps on in this way."</p>
+
+<p>"I will agree to your plan if you can make it work," said Benjamin.
+"See your father immediately, and let me know the result."</p>
+
+<p>Accordingly, Meredith saw his father, and he was ready to furnish the
+necessary capital, because of his high regard for Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"I am the more ready to do this," said he to Benjamin, afterwards,
+"because of your good influence over my son. You have prevailed upon
+him to leave off drinking to excess, and I hope he will be persuaded,
+by your more intimate connection in business, to reform entirely."</p>
+
+<p>It was settled that they should set up business as soon as they could
+procure the necessary articles from England.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+
+<h3>SETTING UP BUSINESS.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">Agreeably</span> to the arrangement with Meredith, Benjamin made out an
+inventory of articles, which were immediately ordered from England. In
+the mean time he expected to find work at Bradford's printing-office,
+but was disappointed. It was only a few days, however, before he
+received a very civil message from Keimer, in which he said, "that old
+friends should not part for a few words, the effect of sudden
+passion," and urged him to return. The fact was, he had a prospect of
+being employed to print some paper-money in New Jersey, which would
+require cuts and various types that Benjamin only could supply, and,
+therefore, he wanted to re-engage him. Benjamin was not quite inclined
+to accept the proposition at first, but Meredith urged him to do it,
+on the ground that he himself would become better acquainted with the
+business in consequence; he, therefore, agreed to return.</p>
+
+<p>It was several months before the new types arrived from London, and
+Benjamin continued in Keimer's service. Most of the time he spent
+with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> his employer at Burlington, executing the paper-money, and there
+made many friends, among whom was Judge Allen, the Secretary of the
+Province, several members of the Assembly, and the Surveyor-General,
+all of whom were of service to him when he set up business for
+himself. They were much pleased with Benjamin's intelligence and
+fidelity, so that they frequently invited him to their houses, while
+the ignorance and rudeness of Keimer so disgusted them, that they took
+little notice of him.</p>
+
+<p>"You are completely master of your business," said the
+Surveyor-General to him; "and success is before you."</p>
+
+<p>"I have improved my opportunities," modestly replied Benjamin, "to
+become as well acquainted with my business as I could. This half way
+of doing things I do not like."</p>
+
+<p>"I commenced business in a very humble way," continued the
+Surveyor-General, "without expecting to ever possess such an estate as
+I do now."</p>
+
+<p>"What was your business?"</p>
+
+<p>"I wheeled clay for the brick-makers, and had not the opportunity of
+going to school at all in my boyhood. I did not learn to write until I
+became of age. I acquired my knowledge of surveying when I carried a
+chain for surveyors, who were pleased with my desire to learn the
+business, and assisted me. By constant industry and close<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>
+application, with a good deal of perseverance, I have succeeded in
+reaching the place where you now see me."</p>
+
+<p>"That is all the way any one can work his way up to an honourable
+position," said Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>"True, very true, and I am glad to see that you understand it. I am
+confident that you will beat this man Keimer at the business, and make
+a fortune in it at Philadelphia, if you go on as you have begun."</p>
+
+<p>This example of industry and perseverance was encouraging to Benjamin
+in his circumstances. It was exactly suited to confirm him in his very
+proper views of industry and fidelity.</p>
+
+<p>Meredith and Benjamin settled with Keimer and left him just before
+their types arrived, without letting him into the secret of their
+plans. The first intimation he had of their intentions was the opening
+of their printing-office near the market.</p>
+
+<p>Many people were taken by surprise, and most of them predicted a
+failure, since there were two printers established there already. Not
+long after they commenced, an elderly man, whose name was Samuel
+Mickle, happened to be passing just as Benjamin came out of his
+office.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you the young man," said Mickle, "who has lately opened a new
+printing-house?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I am, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry for you," said he, "for it is an expensive undertaking,
+and you are throwing away your money."</p>
+
+<p>"How so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because Philadelphia is degenerating, and half the people are now
+bankrupt, or nearly so, and how can they support so many printers?"</p>
+
+<p>"But the appearance of Philadelphia," replied Benjamin, "indicates
+thrift. See how many buildings are going up, and how rents are rising
+every month. This does not look like going backward."</p>
+
+<p>"These are among the very things that will ruin us," responded Mickle.
+"They are not evidence of prosperity, but of extravagance, that will
+bring disaster sooner or later."</p>
+
+<p>In this strain, Mickle, who was one of those eccentric and unhappy men
+who always look upon the dark side of things, went on, until Benjamin
+really began to feel dismayed. But on the whole, he believed that the
+evidence of his own senses was to the contrary, and so he soon forgot
+the interview. Mickle continued to live there some years, refusing to
+buy a house because the town was going to ruin, and at last he
+purchased one for five times what he could have had it for at the time
+he talked to Benjamin.</p>
+
+<p>In their printing-office, Franklin suspended the following lines,
+which he composed:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"All ye who come this curious art to see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To handle anything must careful be;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lest by a slight touch, ere you are aware,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">You may do mischief which you can't repair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Lo! this advice we give to every stranger!<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Look on and welcome, but to touch there's danger."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>This singular notice attracted some attention, and elicited remarks
+from different visitors.</p>
+
+<p>In order to win the confidence of the public, and secure their
+patronage, Benjamin resolved at the outset to exhibit to all beholders
+several qualities which guarantee success; namely, industry, economy,
+integrity, and close application to his business. All of them had
+become habits with him, and hence it was easy for him to conduct in
+this manner.</p>
+
+<p>In respect to industry, he laboured incessantly. Even some of his
+hours that ought to have been devoted to sleep were spent in his
+office at hard work.</p>
+
+<p>Mention being made of the new printing-house at the "Merchants'
+Every-night Club," "It will prove a failure," said one.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it will," added another. "Two such young fellows cannot get
+business enough to support them, with two established printers here."</p>
+
+<p>This was the general opinion. But Dr. Baird, who was present, said:
+"It will prove a success, for the industry of that Franklin is
+superior to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> anything I ever saw of the kind. I see him still at work
+when I go home from club, and he is at work again before his
+neighbours are out of bed."</p>
+
+<p>This remark was appreciated by the members, and soon after one of them
+offered to supply the young printers with stationery, if they desired
+to open a shop.</p>
+
+<p>It was his experience, doubtless, that caused him, years afterwards,
+to give the following advice to a "young tradesman:"&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"The most trifling actions that affect a man's credit are to be
+regarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or
+nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months
+longer; but if he sees you at a billiard-table, or hears your
+voice at a tavern, when you should be at work, he sends for his
+money the next day; demands it, before he can receive it, in a
+lump."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>He also wrote: "He that idly loses five shillings' worth of time loses
+five shillings, and might as prudently throw five shillings into the
+sea."</p>
+
+<p>One fine morning, after Meredith and Franklin opened a stationer's
+shop and bookstore, a lounger stepped in, and, after looking over the
+articles, inquired of the boy in attendance the price of a certain
+book.</p>
+
+<p>"One dollar," was the answer.</p>
+
+<p>"One dollar," said the lounger, "can't you take less than that?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"No indeed; one dollar is the price."</p>
+
+<p>After waiting some time he asked: "Is Mr. Franklin at home?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he is in the printing-office."</p>
+
+<p>"I want to see him," said the lounger.</p>
+
+<p>The shop-boy soon informed Franklin (as we will henceforth call him)
+that a gentleman was waiting to see him in the shop.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Franklin, what is the lowest you can take for this book?" he
+asked, as Franklin came in. At the same time he held up the book at
+which he had been looking.</p>
+
+<p>"One dollar and a quarter," was the reply.</p>
+
+<p>"One dollar and a quarter! Why, your young man asked but a dollar."</p>
+
+<p>"True," said Franklin, "and I could have better afforded to take a
+dollar then, than to have been taken out of the office."</p>
+
+<p>The lounger looked surprised, and rather concluded that Franklin was
+jesting, he said, "Come, now, tell me the lowest you can take for it."</p>
+
+<p>"One dollar and a half."</p>
+
+<p>"A dollar and a half? Why, you offered it yourself for one dollar and
+a quarter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," answered Franklin, "and I had better have taken that price
+then, than a dollar and a half now."</p>
+
+<p>The lounger paid the price, and went out of the shop, feeling the
+severity of the rebuke. Such was the value he attached to his time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Franklin always ascribed his industrious habits to the frequent
+counsels of his father on the subject, which were generally closed by
+repeating the text of Scripture, "Seest thou a man diligent in his
+calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean
+men,"&mdash;a prophecy that was singularly fulfilled in his own case, as we
+shall see hereafter, for he had the honour of standing before <i>five</i>
+kings, and even dined with the King of Denmark.</p>
+
+<p>His economy was equal to his industry. He arrayed himself in the
+plainest manner, although he aimed to look neat and tidy. His board
+was simple and cheap, and everything about his business was graduated
+on the most economical principles. In order to save expense, and at
+the same time show the public that he was not proud, and above his
+business, he wheeled home the paper which he bought. This single act
+had its influence in gaining the public confidence. For when a young
+man gets above his business, he is quite sure to have a fall. Since
+Franklin's day, in the city of Richmond, a young man went to the
+market to purchase a turkey. He looked around for some one to carry it
+home for him, being too proud to do it himself, and finding no one, he
+began to fret and swear, much to the annoyance of bystanders. A
+gentleman stepped up to him and said, "That is in my way, and I will
+take your turkey home for you." When they came to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> the house, the
+young fop asked, "What shall I pay you?" "O, nothing at all," replied
+the gentleman, "it was all in the way, and it was no trouble to me."
+As he passed on, the young man turned to a person near by, and
+inquired, "Who is that polite old gentleman who brought home my turkey
+for me?" "O," replied he, "that was Judge Marshall, Chief Justice of
+the United States." "Why did <i>he</i> bring home my turkey?" "He did it to
+give you a rebuke, and teach you to attend to your own business," was
+the answer.</p>
+
+<p>How contemptible does such a character appear in contrast with
+Franklin! It is not strange that the public withhold their confidence
+from the fop, and bestow it upon the industrious. Judge Marshall was a
+great man, and great men never get above their business. Franklin
+became a great man, and one reason of it was, that he never became too
+proud to wait upon himself.</p>
+
+<p>After he married Miss Read, and commenced housekeeping, he still
+adhered to the same principle of economy. Instead of doing as many
+young men do at this era of life, living beyond their income, he
+continued frugal. He said of himself and wife, "We kept no idle
+servants, our table was plain and simple, our furniture of the
+cheapest. For instance, my breakfast was for a long time bread and
+milk (no tea), and I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> ate it out of a twopenny earthen porringer, with
+a pewter spoon." Thus he reduced to practice the couplet which he
+wrote:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Vessels large may venture more,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But little boats should keep near shore."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>And qualified himself to pen such maxims as the following:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"It is easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all
+that follow it."</p>
+
+<p>"It is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the
+frog to swell in order to equal the ox."</p>
+
+<p>"Pride breakfasts with plenty, dines with poverty, and sups with
+infamy."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>His integrity in transacting business was no less marked. Strict
+honesty characterized all his dealings with men. An exalted idea of
+justice pervaded his soul. His word of honour was as good as his note
+of hand. Even his disposition to castigate and censure in his
+writings, so manifest in Boston at seventeen years of age, and which
+his father rebuked, was overcome. After he set up a paper in
+Philadelphia, a gentleman handed him an article for its columns.</p>
+
+<p>"I am very busy now," said Franklin, "and you will confer a favour by
+leaving it for my perusal at my leisure."</p>
+
+<p>"That I will do," replied the writer "and call again to-morrow."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The next day the author called. "What is your opinion of my article?"
+he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, sir, I am sorry to say that I cannot publish it," answered
+Franklin.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? What is the matter with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is highly scurrilous and defamatory," replied Franklin. "But being
+at a loss on account of my poverty, whether to reject it or not, I
+thought I would put it to this issue. At night, when my work was done,
+I bought a twopenny loaf, on which I supped heartily, and then,
+wrapping myself in my great coat, slept very soundly on the floor
+until morning, when another loaf and mug of water afforded a pleasant
+breakfast. Now, sir, since I can live very comfortably in this manner,
+why should I prostitute my press to personal hatred or party passion
+for a more luxurious living?"</p>
+
+<p>Some writer has said that this incident of Franklin's early life is
+akin to Socrates's reply to King Archelaus, who pressed him to give up
+preaching in the dirty streets of Athens, and come and live with him
+in his costly palace: "<i>Meal, please your Majesty, is a halfpenny a
+peck at Athens, and water I get for nothing.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Their business prospered well; but Meredith's intemperate habits were
+so strong, that he was frequently seen intoxicated in the streets,
+which occasioned much gossip about town concerning the prospects of
+their success. To add to their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> embarrassment, Meredith's father was
+unable to meet the last payment of a hundred pounds upon the
+printing-house, and they were sued. But William Coleman and Robert
+Grace, two of Franklin's companions, came to his assistance.</p>
+
+<p>"We will lend you the means to take the business into your own hands,"
+said Coleman. "It is much to your discredit to be connected with
+Meredith, who is seen reeling through the streets so often."</p>
+
+<p>"But I cannot honourably propose a dissolution of partnership,"
+replied Franklin, "while there is any prospect that the Merediths will
+fulfil their part of the contract, because I feel myself under great
+obligations for what they have done."</p>
+
+<p>"They will not be able to fulfil the contract," said Grace; "that is
+out of the question."</p>
+
+<p>"That is my opinion," responded Franklin; "still, I must wait and see
+what they do. If they fail to meet their obligations, then I shall
+feel at liberty to act otherwise."</p>
+
+<p>The matter was left here for some weeks, when Franklin said to
+Meredith, meaning to sound him on the matter of dissolving the
+partnership: "Perhaps your father is dissatisfied with the part you
+have undertaken in this affair of ours, and is unwilling to advance
+for you and I what he would for you alone. If that is the case, tell
+me, and I will resign the whole to you, and go about my business."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 344px;">
+<img src="images/fp242.jpg" width="344" height="488" alt="&quot;Sawdust Pudding&quot;&mdash;Anecdote of Franklin&#39;s
+Independence.&mdash;See page 242." title="" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;Sawdust Pudding&quot;&mdash;Anecdote of Franklin&#39;s
+Independence.&mdash;See page 242.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"No," he answered, "my father has really been disappointed, and is
+really unable; and I am unwilling to distress him further. I see this
+is a business I am unfit for. I was bred a farmer; and it was folly in
+me to come to town, and put myself, at thirty years of age, an
+apprentice to learn a new trade. Many of our Welsh people (he was a
+Welshman) are going to settle in North Carolina, where land is cheap.
+I am inclined to go with them, and follow my old employment; you may
+find friends to assist you. If you will take the debts of the company
+upon you, return to my father the hundred pounds he has advanced, pay
+my little personal debts, and give me thirty pounds and a new saddle,
+I will relinquish the partnership, and leave the whole in your hands."</p>
+
+<p>Franklin accepted this proposition, and, with the aid of his two
+friends, was soon established in business alone. His patronage
+increased rapidly, and he was able to pay off his debts. In a very
+short time he commanded the chief printing business of the town, and
+Keimer sold out, and removed to Barbadoes. The <i>Pennsylvania Gazette</i>,
+which he commenced printing before Meredith left him, won the public
+favour, and became a source of profit. As an example of his resolution
+and firmness, and his economy and prudence, it is said that certain
+subscribers to his paper were incensed at an article that appeared in
+its columns, and they threatened to "stop<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> their patronage;" whereupon
+Franklin invited them to dine with him, and, having set before them a
+coarse meal mixture, from which his guests drew back, he remarked:
+"Gentlemen, a man who can subsist on <i>sawdust pudding</i> need call no
+man <i>patron</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Here, in early life, our hero laid the foundation of his fortune; and
+the reader need not be at a loss to discover the secret of his
+success. He made himself by the sterling elements of character which
+he cultivated.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2>
+
+<h3>THE JUNTO.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">Soon</span> after Franklin returned from England, he was instrumental in
+forming his literary associates into a club for mutual improvement,
+called the "<span class="smcap">Junto</span>," which met every Friday evening. This club
+continued nearly forty years, and Franklin said of it, "It was the
+best school of philosophy, morality, and politics, that then existed
+in the Province; for our queries, which were read the week preceding
+their discussion, put us upon reading with attention on the several
+subjects, that we might speak more to the purpose; and here, too, we
+acquired better habits of conversation, everything being studied in
+our rules which might prevent our disgusting each other."</p>
+
+<p>"I have a proposition to submit," said Franklin, at one of their
+meetings, "and it is this. We frequently have occasion to refer to our
+books, in our discussions, and I propose that we bring our books
+together in this room, and form a library; each having the privilege
+of using the books of the other."</p>
+
+<p>"I like the plan much," said Parsons, one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> the members. "Nobody but
+Franklin would have thought of it."</p>
+
+<p>"I think that every member must subscribe to this measure," said
+Coleman. "I hope it will be done at once."</p>
+
+<p>And thus it went round the room, each one expressing his approval of
+the plan. The consequence was, that one end of the room was filled
+with volumes; and the plan proved profitable to all.</p>
+
+<p>At that time, books were very scarce. "There was not a good
+bookseller's shop in any of the Colonies to the southward of Boston."
+The readers of Pennsylvania usually sent to England for their books,
+which was both troublesome and expensive.</p>
+
+<p>The members of the "<span class="smcap">Junto</span>" derived so much benefit from the plan of
+bringing their books together, that Franklin conceived the idea of
+establishing a library, and formed his plan, which was successful. He
+found fifty persons in town, mostly young tradesmen, who were willing
+to pay down forty shillings each, and ten shillings per annum; and
+with these the library was commenced. This was the first library ever
+established in this country, and it now numbers more than sixty
+thousand volumes. Since that day libraries have multiplied rapidly.</p>
+
+<p>The following are some of the questions for the "<span class="smcap">Junto</span>," and they show
+that it was really a thorough and valuable organization.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Have you met with anything, in the author you last read, remarkable,
+or suitable to be communicated to the Junto? particularly in history,
+morality, poetry, physics, travels, mechanic arts, or other parts of
+knowledge."</p>
+
+<p>"Hath any citizen failed in business, and what have you heard of the
+cause?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you lately heard of any citizen's thriving well, and by what
+means?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know of a fellow-citizen who has lately done a worthy action,
+deserving praise and imitation; or who has lately committed an error,
+proper for us to be warned against and avoid?"</p>
+
+<p>"What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately observed or
+heard?&mdash;of imprudence?&mdash;of passion?&mdash;or of any other vice or folly?"</p>
+
+<p>"What happy effects of temperance?&mdash;of prudence?&mdash;of moderation?&mdash;or
+of any other virtue?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think of anything at present in which the Junto may be
+serviceable to <i>mankind</i>, to their country, to their friends, or to
+themselves?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since last meeting, that
+you have heard of?&mdash;and what have you heard or observed of his
+character or merits?&mdash;and whether, think you, it lies in the power of
+the Junto to oblige him, or encourage him as he deserves?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom it
+lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you lately observed any defect in the laws of your country, of
+which it would be proper to move the Legislature for an amendment? or
+do you know of any beneficial law that is wanting?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is there any man whose friendship you want, and which the Junto, or
+any of them, can procure for you?"</p>
+
+<p>This is a sample of the questions asked at their meetings, and
+answered. It is not difficult to see the mind of Franklin in these
+inquiries, and many of them were evidently suggested by his own
+experience.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the questions discussed by the members of the Junto were as
+follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Is <i>sound</i> an entity or body?"</p>
+
+<p>"How may the phenomena of vapours be explained?"</p>
+
+<p>"Can any one particular form of government suit all mankind?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is the emission of paper money safe?"</p>
+
+<p>"How may smoky chimneys be best cured?"</p>
+
+<p>"Which is least criminal,&mdash;a <i>bad</i> action joined with a <i>good</i>
+intention, or a <i>good</i> action with a <i>bad</i> intention?"</p>
+
+<p>There have been improvements in almost everything in modern times, but
+we doubt if there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> has been much improvement upon the "<span class="smcap">Junto</span>" in
+literary organizations for the young. It is not surprising, that, of
+the original twelve members (the number was limited to twelve), two
+became surveyors-general; one the inventor of a quadrant; one a
+distinguished mechanic and influential man; and one "a merchant of
+great note and a provincial judge;" and all but one or two,
+respectable and honoured men.</p>
+
+<p>At this time, Franklin had commenced the study of the languages,
+employing only such leisure moments as he had to master them. It was a
+great undertaking, but his application and perseverance were equal to
+the task. He began with French, and was soon able to read books in
+that language. Then he took Italian. A friend, who was studying it
+also, tempted him to play chess. He played a little, and finding that
+it consumed time, he refused to play any more, unless on the condition
+that "the victor in every game should have a right to impose a task,
+either of parts of the grammar to be got by heart, or in translations,
+which task the vanquished was to perform upon honour before the next
+meeting." In this way, he learned the Italian language. Subsequently
+he acquired sufficient knowledge of Spanish to enable him to read
+books in that tongue. He studied Latin a year in Boston, before he was
+ten years old, but since that time he had neglected it. His
+acquaintance now with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> other languages revived his taste for the
+Latin, however, so that he mastered that.</p>
+
+<p>Surely here is literary work enough for a youth who is earning a
+livelihood by hard labour, having only snatches of time to devote to
+reading and study. There is no work of his whole life that is more
+replete with interest than this; for it shows that he possessed
+indomitable energy and force of character, together with other
+valuable traits. He proved that it was possible for him to be a
+scholar while he was a printer.</p>
+
+<p>The "Junto" appears to have been copied in England, half a century
+after this period. When the celebrated Canning was in his youth, being
+educated at Oxford, a debating society was organized, limited to the
+number of six, who met every Thursday evening at the rooms of the
+members. At each meeting, before they separated, the subject for the
+next meeting was voted and recorded. Here Canning and Jenkinson (who
+became Earl of Liverpool) made their first speeches, and here they
+received impulses that helped them on to fame.</p>
+
+<p>Franklin began to think more of religion, and to raise some queries
+respecting his former doubts, soon after he came back from England.
+The two young men whose religious sentiments he corrupted and
+unsettled turned out badly, and cheated him out of a sum of money, and
+this led him to inquire if it was not because they ignored<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> religious
+principle. He witnessed other conduct among those who talked lightly
+of religion, which caused him to inquire, whether, after all, his
+parents were not in the right. He stayed away from meeting, and
+devoted the Sabbath to study, which had a very bad look. Yet, he said,
+"I never was without some religious principle. I never doubted the
+existence of a Deity; that He made the world and governed it by his
+providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good
+to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crimes will be
+punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter." He also
+subscribed something for the support of the only Presbyterian meeting
+in Philadelphia, and advocated the importance of sustaining public
+worship.</p>
+
+<p>The minister called upon him, and counselled him to attend church,
+just when he was beginning to think better of it, and it had the
+effect to bring him out occasionally. Once he went five Sabbaths in
+succession. But the preacher was dull and uninteresting, so that
+Franklin was not well pleased; still he continued to attend
+occasionally, until, one Sabbath, the preacher took the following
+text: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just,
+pure, lovely, or of good report, if there be any virtue, or any
+praise, think on these things." The minister was usually doctrinal in
+his style of preaching, but now Franklin thought he would have
+something practical. Consequently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> he was sadly disappointed when he
+found that the discourse embraced only the following points:&mdash;1.
+Keeping holy the Sabbath-day. 2. Being diligent in reading the
+Scriptures. 3. Attending duly public worship. 4. Partaking of the
+Sacrament. 5. Paying a due respect to God's ministers. Franklin
+thought that these subjects, though very good, did not belong to such
+a text, and he was so dissatisfied with the sermon, that he ceased
+attending.</p>
+
+<p>Conscience, however, did not slumber. He saw and felt that he was
+wrong, and, in order to make himself better, he began to lead a
+self-righteous life. He imposed religious duties upon himself. He
+returned to the use of a form of prayer which he prepared some time
+before, when his thoughts were dwelling upon religious things. In that
+prayer, under the head of "Thanks," occurs the following:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"For the common benefits of air and light, for useful fire and
+delicious water,&mdash;Good God, I thank Thee!</p>
+
+<p>"For knowledge and literature, and every useful art; for my
+friends and their prosperity, and for the fewness of my
+enemies,&mdash;Good God, I thank Thee!</p>
+
+<p>"For all thy innumerable benefits; for life, and reason, and the
+use of speech; for health, and joy, and every pleasant hour,&mdash;My
+good God, I thank Thee!"</p></blockquote><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He made a little book, in which he wrote down certain virtues that he
+ought to cultivate, and prepared a table for the same. The following
+were the virtues:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"1. Temperance.&mdash;Eat not to dulness; drink not to elevation.</p>
+
+<p>"2. Silence.&mdash;Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself;
+avoid trifling conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"3. Order.&mdash;Let all your things have their places; let each part
+of your business have its time.</p>
+
+<p>"4. Resolution.&mdash;Resolve to perform what you ought; perform
+without fail what you resolve.</p>
+
+<p>"5. Frugality.&mdash;Make no expense but to do good to others or
+yourself; that is, waste nothing.</p>
+
+<p>"6. Industry.&mdash;Lose no time; be always employed in something
+useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.</p>
+
+<p>"7. Sincerity.&mdash;Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and
+justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>"8. Justice.&mdash;Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the
+benefits that are your duty.</p>
+
+<p>"9. Moderation.&mdash;Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so
+much as you think they deserve.</p>
+
+<p>"10. Cleanliness.&mdash;Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or
+habitation.</p>
+
+<p>"11. Tranquillity.&mdash;Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents,
+common or unavoidable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"12. Chastity.</p>
+
+<p>"13. Humility.&mdash;Imitate Jesus Christ and Socrates."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>These are very good so far as they go, and they show that he studied
+to form a high character, although he had not yet attained to the
+height of the true Christian.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2>
+
+<h3>CONCLUSION.</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="sc">We</span> have followed the subject of this volume from the time he paid <i>too
+dear for his whistle</i>, to the period when he was well established in
+business. We have seen what his character was as a <span class="smcap">printer-boy</span>, and
+hence his promise of success. He was not perfect by any means; on the
+other hand, he had marked failings. Yet, underneath the whole, we have
+discovered certain qualities that are indispensable to eminence in
+one's vocation. And now it remains to see, briefly, whether the
+principle we advocate was true in his case, namely, "that the boy is
+father of the man." To do this, we shall pass over a series of years,
+and take a succinct view of his position and influence in middle and
+advanced life.</p>
+
+<p>It should be recorded first, however, that the difficulty between
+himself and his brother James was adjusted, ten years after his first
+visit to Boston. James had removed and settled in Newport, where he
+was fast declining in health, and Benjamin went thither to see him.
+Their past differences were forgotten, and their interview<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> was
+signalized by mutual forgiveness. It was then that Benjamin promised
+to take his brother's little son, ten years old, after the father was
+no more, and bring him up to the printing business. This pledge he
+fulfilled, doing even more for the lad than he promised, for he sent
+him to school two or three years before he took him into the office,
+and finally he established him in business. This, certainly, was a
+happy termination of a quarrel that was creditable to neither party.
+The result was decisive evidence that both parties deplored their
+conduct towards each other.</p>
+
+<p>While he was yet a young man, he was promoted to different posts of
+distinction. He filled various offices in Philadelphia, and served the
+State of Pennsylvania in several public ways, in all of which he did
+himself honour. He devoted a portion of his time to philosophical
+studies, in which he earned a world-wide fame. His mind was ever busy
+in projects to benefit society, and no work was too humble for him to
+do for the good of others. At one time he is found inventing a stove
+for domestic use, called afterward the Franklin stove, with which
+Governor Thomas was so well pleased, that he offered him a patent for
+the sole vending of them for a series of years; but Franklin refused
+it, on the ground, "<i>that, as we enjoy great advantages from the
+invention of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>
+<i>others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and
+generously</i>." This was another instance of his remarkable generosity,
+and it reminds us of that incident of his life in France, when an
+English clergyman asked him for pecuniary assistance. He gave him
+liberally, remarking, "Some time or other you may have an opportunity
+of assisting with an equal sum a stranger who has equal need of it. Do
+so. By that means you may discharge any obligation you may suppose
+yourself under to me. <i>Enjoin him to do the same on occasion.</i> By
+pursuing such a practice, much good may be done with little money. Let
+kind offices go round. Mankind are all of a family."</p>
+
+<p>At another time he is engaged in improving the lamps that light the
+city, and devising ways of cleaning the streets. Then, again, he is
+originating a system of volunteer militia for the defence of his
+country. Extinguishing fires, also, is a subject that commands his
+thoughts, and he organized the first fire company in the land. Again,
+the education of youth demands his time, and he labours to introduce a
+system of schools, and finally founds a University. Thus the humblest
+acts of a good citizen were performed in connection with the nobler
+deeds of the philosopher and statesman.</p>
+
+<p>The following is a brief synopsis of the offices he filled, and the
+honours he won:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<p><span class="smcap">He was Legislator for Pennsylvania in 1732, when only twenty-six years
+of age.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">He founded the University of Pennsylvania.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Deputy Postmaster-general in 1752.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Inventor of Lightning-rods.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Originator of the Volunteer Militia.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Colonel of Militia.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Minister to the Court of England in 1764.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Member of the Continental Congress in 1775.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Minister Plenipotentiary to France in 1776.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Concluded first Treaty for America in 1778.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Received the Degree of LL.D. from Oxford University.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Minister Plenipotentiary to France in 1778.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">One of five to draft the Declaration of Independence.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Helped to frame the Constitution of the United States.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">A Leader in the American Revolution.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Called the "Nestor of America" by the National Assembly of France.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Admitted to the highest Literary Assemblies of Europe.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Like Washington, "first in war, first in peace, and first in the
+hearts of his countrymen."</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Honoured as a great Philosopher, sagacious Statesman, and sincere
+Philanthropist.</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>In reading the history of the United States, no name is more
+conspicuous than that of Franklin. His agency is everywhere seen and
+acknowledged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> in laying the foundation of her institutions, and
+achieving her glories. The memory of no patriot and philosopher has
+been more dear to generations that have come and gone since his day.
+Abroad, as well as at home, he was honoured. At one time, in France,
+"prints, medallion portraits, and busts of Franklin were multiplied
+throughout France; and rings, bracelets, canes, and snuff-boxes,
+bearing his likeness, were worn or carried quite generally." In
+England, and other parts of Europe, similar homage was paid to his
+greatness. Since that period his statue has been erected in the halls
+of learning and legislation, literary societies have adopted his name
+to give them pre-eminence, and numerous towns have been called after
+him. The author's native place was named in honour of Franklin, who
+afterwards presented the town with a valuable library that is still in
+existence. On being informed by a friend that this town had adopted
+his name, he inquired what sort of a present would be acceptable to
+the inhabitants as an acknowledgment of their respect and homage. The
+friend suggested that a <i>bell</i> might prove a timely gift, as they were
+erecting a new house of worship. But Franklin thought otherwise, and
+decided to present a library. He jocosely remarked, in the letter
+which accompanied the books, that he "<i>supposed a town that would
+adopt his name must be more fond of sense than sound</i>."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It would multiply the pages of this volume beyond its designed limits
+to enumerate all the public posts of honour that Franklin adorned, and
+all the marks of respect that have been paid to his memory. This brief
+reference to the more prominent of these is sufficient to afford the
+reader a view of the <span class="smcap">remarkable man</span>, and to illustrate the force of
+energy, industry, integrity, and perseverance, in human destiny.</p>
+
+<p>Washington wrote to him: "If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be
+admired for talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be
+beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have
+the pleasing consolation to know that you have not lived in vain. And
+I flatter myself that it will not be ranked among the least grateful
+occurrences of your life to be assured that, so long as I retain my
+memory, you will be recollected with respect, veneration, and
+affection, by your sincere friend, George Washington."</p>
+
+<p>Congress was in session when Franklin died, and when his death was
+announced, on motion of Madison, it was resolved that a badge of
+mourning be worn for one month, "as a mark of veneration due to the
+memory of a citizen whose native genius was not more an ornament to
+human nature than his various exertions of it have been precious to
+science, to freedom, and to his country."</p>
+
+<p>In France, Condorcet eulogized him in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> Academy of Science, and
+Mirabeau in the National Assembly. The latter said: "Antiquity would
+have erected altars to this great and powerful genius."</p>
+
+<p>When Rachel was dying, she named her infant son "Ben-oni," which
+means, "son of my sorrow," because he was the occasion of her
+sufferings and death. But Jacob, his father, called him "Benjamin,"
+which signifies "the son of a right hand." There was a time when
+Franklin's mother, weeping over her runaway boy, would have called him
+"Ben-oni," and it might have appeared to observers that he would turn
+out to be such. But the excellent lessons of his early home, and the
+good traits of character which he nurtured, caused him to become a
+true Benjamin to his parents,&mdash;"a son of their right hand." With a
+warm, filial heart, he sought to minister to their wants in their
+declining years, and, as we have seen, offered the last and highest
+tribute of affection in his power, when they were laid in the dust.</p>
+
+<p>In his riper years, Franklin sincerely regretted the doubts of his
+youth and early manhood respecting religion. The sentiments that were
+poured into his young mind by fond, parental lips, he came to respect
+and cherish. He went to the house of God on the Sabbath with great
+constancy; and, if recollecting the sin of his youth, he wrote to his
+daughter, "<i>Go constantly to church, whoever preaches.</i>" His own
+experience<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> taught him that it was dangerous and wicked to forsake the
+sanctuary. He became interested in every good work. His influence and
+his purse were offered to sustain Christianity. He appreciated every
+benevolent enterprise, and bade them God-speed. On one occasion the
+celebrated Whitefield preached in behalf of an orphan asylum, which he
+proposed to erect in Georgia. Franklin was not in full sympathy with
+the plan, because he thought it should be erected in Pennsylvania, and
+the orphans brought there. Still, he listened to the eminent preacher
+unprejudiced, and when the collection was taken, at the close of the
+meeting, he emptied his pockets of all the money he had, which
+consisted of "a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars,
+and five pistoles in gold."</p>
+
+<p>He sympathized deeply with the poor and needy, and espoused the cause
+of the oppressed in every land. He was the first President of the
+Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, and both his hand and heart were
+pledged to the cause of freedom. One of his biographers, summing up
+his character in these particulars, says: "He was bold, consistent,
+active, and greatly in advance of his age. From his Quaker brethren in
+Philadelphia he contracted all their zeal in behalf of humanity,
+although in his mind it put on the aspect of plain, practical
+beneficence. He was ever foremost in all humane enterprises. He was
+never misled,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> through sympathy with a majority, into the support of
+measures which, though popular, were inconsistent with a high-toned
+Christian morality. He was the champion of the Indians when to
+advocate their cause was to displease many. He was one of the earliest
+opponents of the slave-trade and slavery. He omitted no opportunity to
+protest against war and its iniquity, and he branded as piracy the
+custom of privateering, however sanctioned by international usages. As
+a statesman and philosopher his name is imperishable. As an active
+benefactor of his race, he is entitled to its lasting gratitude. As
+one of the founders of the American Union, he must ever be held in
+honourable remembrance by all who prize American institutions. As the
+zealous foe to oppression in all its forms, he merits the thankful
+regard of good men of all ages and climes."</p>
+
+<p>He carried his reverence for God and his regard for Christianity into
+the high places of authority. He proposed the first Day of Fasting and
+Prayer ever observed in Pennsylvania, and wrote the proclamation for
+the Secretary of State. When the convention to frame the Constitution
+of the United States met in Philadelphia, in 1787, he introduced a
+motion into that body for daily prayers, which, strange to say, was
+rejected. In support of his motion, he made the following memorable
+address, which fairly illustrates his usual disposition to recognize
+God in all human affairs:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote><p>"In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were
+sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine
+protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard; and they were
+graciously answered. All of us, who were engaged in the struggle,
+must have observed frequent instances of a superintending
+Providence in our favour. To that kind Providence we owe this
+happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of
+establishing our future national felicity. And have we now
+forgotten that powerful Friend, or do we imagine we no longer
+need his assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time; and the
+longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth,
+<i>that God governs in the affairs of men</i>. And, if a sparrow
+cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that
+an empire can arise without his aid? We have been assured, sir,
+in the sacred writings, that, 'except the Lord build the house,
+they labour in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I
+also believe, that, without his concurring aid, we shall succeed
+in this political building no better than the builders of Babel;
+we shall be divided by our little, partial, local interests; our
+projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a
+reproach and a by-word down to future ages. And, what is worse,
+mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of
+establishing government by human wisdom, and leave it to chance,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>
+war, and conquest. I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth
+prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on
+our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before
+we proceed to business; and that one or more of the clergy of
+this city be requested to officiate in that service."</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>His confidence in the Christian religion, and his regard for purity of
+conduct, did not diminish as he drew near the grave. On the other
+hand, he bore earnest testimony to the faith of his fathers until the
+close of his life, and, ere he died, renewed his vindication of the
+Scriptures, in the following circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>A young man called to see him, as he lay upon his death-bed, scarcely
+able to articulate. Dr. Franklin welcomed him with a benignant look,
+which he was wont to cast upon the young, and imparted some good
+advice to him.</p>
+
+<p>"What is your opinion with regard to the truth of the Scriptures?"
+inquired the young man, who was somewhat sceptical.</p>
+
+<p>Franklin replied, although in a very feeble state, "Young man, my
+advice to you is, that you cultivate an acquaintance with, and a firm
+belief in, the Holy Scriptures; this is your certain interest."</p>
+
+
+<p class="heading">THE END.</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+
+<p class="center">London: Thomas Harrild, Printer.</p>
+
+<a name="END" id="END"></a>
+<div class="trans-note">
+<p class="heading">Transcriber's Notes</p>
+<p>Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
+possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other
+inconsistencies.</p>
+
+<p>The transcriber noted the following issues and made changes as
+indicated to the text to correct obvious errors:</p>
+
+<pre class="note">
+ 1. p.  ix, Cricticisms --> Criticisms
+ 2. p.  65, bread his buttered. --> bread is buttered.
+ 3. p.  86, in print. --> in print."
+ 4. p.  88, sell them.  --> sell them."
+ 5. p. 119, Who can the author --> "Who can the author
+ 6. p. 136, thaI --> that
+ 7. p. 144, start with. --> start with."
+ 8. p. 155, sir," --> sir."
+ 9. p. 209, "The old lady --> The old lady
+10. p. 240, "The next day --> The next day
+11. p. 257, Philantroprist --> Philanthropist
+12. p. 264, your certain interest. --> your certain interest."
+</pre>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Printer Boy., by William M. Thayer
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+</body>
+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,7652 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Printer Boy., by William M. Thayer
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Printer Boy.
+       Or How Benjamin Franklin Made His Mark. An Example for Youth.
+
+Author: William M. Thayer
+
+Release Date: August 13, 2008 [EBook #26295]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PRINTER BOY. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven Gibbs, Richard J. Shiffer and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text
+as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings
+and other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an
+obvious error is noted at the end of this ebook.]
+
+
+
+
+    The
+
+    PRINTER BOY.
+
+    OR
+
+    HOW
+
+    BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
+    MADE HIS MARK.
+
+    AN EXAMPLE FOR YOUTH.
+
+    BY
+
+    WILLIAM. M. THAYER
+
+    AUTHOR OF "THE BOBBIN BOY", "TALES FROM THE BIBLE", ETC.
+
+    [Illustration: Medallion of Benjamin Franklin.]
+
+    ILLUSTRATIONS BY
+    JULIAN PORTCH
+
+    ENGRAVED BY
+    BALE & HOLMAN.
+
+    LONDON
+    JAMES HOGG & SONS
+
+
+[Illustration: "How much did you give for your whistle!"--See page 4.]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+This book is designed to illustrate the familiar maxim, that "THE BOY
+IS FATHER TO THE MAN." The early life of Franklin is sketched from his
+childhood to the time he was established in business, thus showing
+what he was in boyhood and youth; and the achievements of his manhood
+are summed up in a closing chapter, to substantiate the truth of the
+above proverb.
+
+The author believes that the lives of distinguished men may be
+incorporated into a story, uniting narrative and dialogue so as to be
+more attractive to the young. John Bunyan was the first to adopt this
+style, and his inimitable Pilgrim's Progress charms the young reader,
+not only by its graphic imagery, but also by its alternation of
+narrative and dialogue. Since his day, others have adopted a similar
+style, particularly in works of fiction, with success. Why may not
+truth appear in such a dress as successfully as fiction? Why may not
+_actual_ lives be presented in this manner as vividly as _imaginary_
+ones? The young mind will seize upon a truth or fact that is conveyed
+in a story, when it will remain wholly indifferent to it as it appears
+in a simple statement. So the life of an eminent man may engage the
+attention of this class, if he is made to speak and act for himself,
+when they would not be interested in it, if it were presented to them
+in a plain summary of facts.
+
+In this volume, the actual, early life of Franklin is wrought into a
+story. The imagination has done no more than weave the facts of his
+boyhood and youth into a "tale of real life." It makes Benjamin and
+his associates speak and do what biographers say they spoke and did.
+It simply paints the scenes and acts of which other writers have
+_told_.
+
+A conspicuous place is given in the work to the maxims of Franklin,
+for the purpose of conveying important lessons in regard to the
+formation of character, and thus stimulating the young in the path of
+well-doing. Whole volumes of meaning are condensed into many of his
+wise and pithy sayings.
+
+                                                  W. M. T.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER I.
+
+  THE WHISTLE.
+
+  The Holiday--The Coppers in Benjamin Franklin's Pocket--Inquiry--
+  Bounding Out--The Toy-Shop Then and Now--The Boy and his
+  Whistle--Resolved to Purchase--The Bargain--Going Home--Making
+  Music--Discussion about the Price--A Pocketful of Good Things--
+  Benjamin crying over his Whistle--A Benefit--What Franklin said
+  of it Sixty Years after--Boys do not Learn from the Past--Other
+  Ways of paying too dear for a Whistle--Deceit and Falsehood--
+  Tippling--Worldly Pleasure                            1-8
+
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+
+  AT SCHOOL.
+
+  Talk about School--Brothers at Trades--Benjamin for the Church--
+  Early learned to Read--Long Process of Preparation for the
+  Ministry--"Uncle Benjamin's" Remarks and Offer--Who is "Uncle
+  Benjamin"--A Hundred Years Ago--When Benjamin was Born--Baptized on
+  Same Day he was Born--The Record--Description of his Birthplace--
+  Early Love of Books--His Father's Violin--Poor but Industrious--
+  Seventeen Children--Decision to Enter School--Where it was, and by
+  Whom kept--His Rapid Progress--Mr. Franklin's Trust in Providence--
+  At the Head of his Class--The Boy Father to the Man--Daniel
+  Webster--David Rittenhouse and George Stephenson--Hopes of
+  Benjamin                                                     9-18
+
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+
+  A CHANGE.
+
+  Conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Franklin--Decision to Remove
+  Benjamin from School--Trials of Ministers--Bread before
+  Learning--Subject opened to Benjamin--His Feelings--Character of
+  Schools then--Mr. Brownwell's Writing-school--Benjamin's
+  Obedience--His Father Strict--Keeping the Sabbath--Lore and Respect
+  for his Father--Rebuking the Inquisitive Landlord--Erecting Marble
+  Stone to the Memory of his Parents--The Stone replaced by Citizens
+  of Boston--Obedience of the Peel Boys--Harry Garland--Stephenson's
+  Noble Act to his Parents--The Eight Brothers at Inauguration of the
+  Franklin Statue--Progress in Penmanship--Beloved by Teacher    19-28
+
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+
+  MAKING CANDLES.
+
+  Put to Candle-making at Ten Years of Age--His Father a Tallow-
+  chandler--Benjamin opposed to it--Importance of Industry--His
+  Father's Hive without Drones--Benjamin's Maxims about Industry in
+  Later Life--"The used key always bright."--"Diligence the Mother of
+  Good Luck"--Bad Luck--Bible View--No Schooling after Ten Years of
+  Age--Cutting Candle-wicks--Where was the Shop--Benjamin desires to
+  go to Sea--His Mother's Veto--An Older Brother went to Sea--Talk
+  with his Father--His Father's Veto--Promise of another Pursuit--
+  Respect for a Paternal "No"--His Sports on the Water--No Prospect
+  of Fame--Giotti Marking in the Sand--Webster's Pocket-handkerchief--
+  Roger Sherman at his Bench--Boys not excused from School by these
+  Examples--Benefit of a Little Knowledge--Saved Benjamin Russell
+  in Thunder-storm--How Stephenson felt for his Son              29-43
+
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+
+  THE ROGUE'S WHARF.
+
+  "All Abroad"--The Quagmire--Proposal to build a Wharf--The Heap of
+  Stones--Plan to steal them--Time set in the Evening--The Plan
+  executed--The Wharf done--Keeping the Secret--Benjamin's Father
+  finds him out--Benjamin in a tight place--Promises to do better--How
+  the Boys were found out--Benjamin's Reading Habits--What Books
+  liked--Mather's "Essays to Do Good"--Letter to Mather's Son--Boys
+  should be at Home in Evenings--Advantage of Reading--Letter to a
+  Girl on the Subject                                            44-54
+
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+
+  TABLE TALK.
+
+  Interview with a Friend--His Ancestors--Their Hardships--Denied
+  Liberty of Conscience--The Bible under the Stool--Leaving the Church
+  of England--Emigration for Religious Freedom--Conversation on Useful
+  Themes at Table--No Complaints allowed about Food--Guests introduced
+  and sensible Remarks made--Effect on Benjamin--The Washburne
+  Family--Benefit of Good Conversation--His Father's Remarks about
+  Food--Benjamin Temperate in Eating and Drinking--"The Water-
+  American"--No Temperance Societies then--Table Talk now--A
+  Table Scene                                                    55-63
+
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+
+  CHOOSING A TRADE.
+
+  Still Opposed to Candle-making--A Dirty, Simple Business--Wants to
+  do something that requires Ingenuity--His Father and Mother
+  conferring together--"A rolling stone gathers no moss"--Afraid he
+  will go to Sea--Benjamin's Views and Maxims--Opportunity to choose a
+  Trade--Going to see different Trades--Devotes a Day to it--Joiners',
+  Turners', and Bricklayers' Work--Cutlery Shop, his Cousin's--Which
+  Trade he chose--His Father's Decision--Arrangement to learn to make
+  Cutlery--Wise to Consult Taste and Tact of Benjamin--Handel the
+  Musician--Sir Joshua Reynolds--Father of John Smeaton--Opposing a
+  Child's Bent of Mind                                           64-75
+
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  THE PRINTER-BOY.
+
+  Taken Away from Cousin Samuel--His Brother's Return from  England--
+  Setting Up the Printing Business--Proposal to Benjamin--A Long
+  Apprenticeship--Benjamin disposed to turn Printer-boy--His Brother's
+  Offer to Teach Him the Art of Printing--Borrowing Books to read,
+  and sitting up at Night--Mr. Adams's Library and his Kindness--
+  Going to it for Books--Scarcity of Books--Compared with now--Two
+  and a half Books made in a Minute--No Libraries then--Their
+  enormous Size now--Habit of Reading made him punctual--Example of
+  Lord Brougham                                                  76-84
+
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+
+  FIRST LITERARY ENTERPRISE.
+
+  A Piece of Poetry--Pronounced Good--Proposition to Print his
+  Articles--"The Lighthouse Tragedy"--A Sailor's Song--Printing
+  them--Selling them in the Streets--A Successful Enterprise--His
+  Father opposes--Condemns Poetry in general and Benjamin's in
+  particular--A severe Rebuke--Crestfallen--Conference with James--
+  His Father's Censure a Benefit--Practice of writing Composition
+  excellent--How it Benefited Benjamin, even Pecuniarily--The Farmer's
+  Son and Minister                                               85-92
+
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+
+  THE DISPUTE.
+
+  Dispute with John Collins--A Bookish Fellow--The Education of
+  Girls--The Controversial Correspondence--His Father finds the
+  Letters--His Criticisms--Collins _versus_ Benjamin--Bought a Copy of
+  the Spectator and studied it laboriously--Sorry that he did not
+  continue to write Poetry--His Father's Counsel--His Economy of
+  Time--A Book always by his side--His Maxims on this Subject--
+  Violating the Sabbath to gain Time for Study--Useful Conversation
+  and Talking Nonsense--Hundreds ruined by a similar cause--Walter
+  Scott hiding Novels from his Father--Pope going to the Theatre--
+  Exceptions to the General Rule                                93-103
+
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+
+  PLAIN FARE.
+
+  Proposition to board Himself--Became a Vegetarian by Reading Tryon's
+  Book--Why he did it--How much Money he saved by doing it--Spent it
+  for Books--How much Time saved also--Cocker's Arithmetic--Other
+  Books read at odd moments--His Plan to save Time--His Maxims on
+  saving Time--Aim to be Useful--The English Grammar--Shaftesbury's
+  Works--Benjamin a Doubter--Makes known his Doubts to Collins--Danger
+  of Reading Attacks upon the Gospel                           104-113
+
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+
+  THE NEWSPAPER.
+
+  Starting the Third Newspaper in America--Opposition to it--Number of
+  Newspapers now--Forty Million Sheets from Eight Presses--Seventy-one
+  Miles a day of Newspapers from One Office--Almost enough to reach
+  around the Earth in a Year--Weigh these Papers--Four Million Pounds
+  in a Year--Two Thousand Two-Horse Loads--The New England Courant
+  started--Printer, News-carrier, and Collector--The Club--Incited to
+  write an Article--Tucks it under Printing-office Door--Hears it
+  favourably commented on--Writes other Articles--This an Incident
+  that decides his Career--Canning at Eton and the
+  "Microcosm"--Similar Paper in Seminaries now                 114-122
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG.
+
+  Eager to Own the Pieces--Discloses the Authorship to James--
+  Interview with the Club--Surprise that Benjamin wrote them--
+  Treated with Attention by the Club--Oppressed by James--Trouble
+  with him--Benjamin resolves to leave him--The Printing-office
+  furnishes many Scholars--A New England Divine--Benjamin directed
+  in the Path to which his Native Endowments pointed--So of Lord
+  Nelson--Anecdote of him--Buxton, Wilberforce, and Others--Example
+  of the Author of the "Optic Library"                         123-129
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  THE ARREST.
+
+  Action of General Court to Arrest James Franklin for Libel--The
+  Legislative Order--James imprisoned four weeks, and Benjamin
+  arrested, but discharged--The immediate Cause of the Arrest--Meeting
+  of the Club--Decision to publish the Paper in Benjamin's Name--
+  Shrewd Evasion--Youngest Conductor of a Paper who ever lived--His
+  Thrusts at the Government--Benjamin born in troublous Times--
+  Attacks and Massacres by the Savages--Prepared thereby to act
+  in achieving Independence--Bears in Boston                   130-136
+
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+
+  THE RUNAWAY.
+
+  A Quarrel--Asserting his Freedom--Statement of the Case--Appeal to
+  his Father--His Father's Decision--Leaves his Brother--Fails to get
+  Work--Charged with being an Infidel--Plans to run away--Conference
+  with Collins--His Plan to get away--Collins's Talk with the Captain
+  of a New York Sloop, and his Base Lie--Benjamin Boards the
+  Sloop--Arrival in New York--His lonely Condition--Guilt of a
+  Runaway--Quarrel between Brothers painful--Case of William
+  Hutton--Lines of Dr. Watts                                   137-147
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVI.
+
+  ANOTHER TRIP AND ITS TRIALS.
+
+  Calls on Printer Bradford in New York--No Work--Recommended to go to
+  Philadelphia--Arranges for the Trip--Starts for Philadelphia--The
+  Drunken Dutchman--His wet Volume and Bottle--Struck by a Squall--A
+  sad Night off Long Island--Benjamin's Feelings--The next morning--
+  Storm subsides--Next night on shore--Advantage of a little Reading--
+  Boys lose nothing by spending leisure Hours in Reading--The Young
+  Man in Maine--Discipline of the Mind--Case of Gibbon--What
+  Boys say--Sir Walter Scott in Boyhood, and his warning Words--
+  Benjamin leaving Amboy--Fifty Miles on Foot--Suspected of
+  being a Runaway--Reaches the Quack Doctor's Tavern--Arrival at
+  Burlington--The Gingerbread Woman--The Boat gone--Going back to the
+  Gingerbread Woman--His Walk--The unexpected Boat and his Passage--In
+  Cooper's Creek at Midnight--Reached Philadelphia on Sunday
+  Morning--The Shilling--The Boy and his Loaf--Going up Market Street
+  with a Baker's Loaf under each Arm--Miss Read--Asleep in a Quaker
+  Church--Suspected again of being a Runaway--First Night in
+  Philadelphia                                                 148-166
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVII.
+
+  GETTING WORK.
+
+  Call upon Andrew Bradford--His Surprise--Disappointment--Directed to
+  Keimer--The Interview--Advantage of Thoroughness--Benjamin did
+  things well--Bradford's Talk with Keimer--Keimer ensnared--Benjamin
+  makes a Disclosure--Keimer astonished--Repairing a Printing-press--
+  At work for Keimer--Goes to Board at Mr. Read's--His Power of
+  Observation--Stephenson like him--William Hutton again and
+  his Dulcimer--Perseverance--Not proud--How many Boys would have
+  done--Maxims                                                 167-175
+
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+  NEWS FROM HOME, AND RETURN.
+
+  The Unexpected Letter--Benjamin's Reply--Governor Keith calls to see
+  him--Surprise of Keimer--Invites him to the Tavern--Advises him to
+  set up Business for Himself--Benjamin's Objections overruled--Decides
+  to return to Boston to ask his Father's Assistance--How the Governor
+  learned of Benjamin--His Return to Boston--Joy at Home--His
+  gentlemanly appearance--Goes to his Brother's Printing-office--
+  Cold Reception--Interview with the Workmen--Exhibition of his Silver
+  Coin--His Watch--The Dollar "Treat"--James incensed--Interview with
+  his Mother--Stating Business to his Father, and giving him the
+  Governor's Letter--His Father's Talk with Captain Homes--His
+  Father's Denial--Collins returns with him                    176-178
+
+
+  CHAPTER XIX.
+
+  BACK AGAIN.
+
+  Sails for New York--Stops at Newport and visits his Brother--The New
+  Passengers--The Old Quaker Lady's Attention--A Narrow Escape--Arrival
+  in New York--Collins there first and intoxicated--Makes a Confession
+  to Benjamin--Owns that he gambles--Loses all his Money--Message from
+  Governor Burnet--Benjamin goes to see him--Trip to Philadelphia--
+  Collects Vernon's Debt--Takes Collins to board with him--Throws
+  Collins into the River Delaware--The Fate of Collins--Interview
+  with Governor Keith--The Governor promises to set him up in
+  Business.                                                    188-195
+
+
+  CHAPTER XX.
+
+  A LITERARY GAME.
+
+  The Three Associates--Their Characters--Discussion about Poets and
+  Poetry--A Proposition to Paraphrase the Eighteenth Psalm--Osborne's
+  Prejudice, and how to prove him--Benjamin reads Ralph's Piece as his
+  own--The Success of the Ruse--Subsequent Interview of Benjamin and
+  Ralph--Their Delight over the Result--The Exposure of Osborne at the
+  next Meeting--His Mortification--Fate of Watson and Osborne--
+  Advantage of such Literary Clubs                             196-203
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXI.
+
+  GOING TO ENGLAND.
+
+  Interview with Governor Keith--Arrangements to go to England in the
+  Annis--Only one vessel a year to sail--Still works for Keimer--The
+  latter a singular Man--Experiment of a Vegetable Diet--Keimer's
+  Abhorrence of it--Eats the whole of a Pig at last--How Benjamin came
+  to relinquish a Vegetable Diet--Courting Miss Read--Her Mother
+  objects to Engagement--Ralph resolves to go with him--Four or Five
+  Printing-offices then, and Two or Three Thousand now--The Governor's
+  Letters--Set Sail--Arrival in London--Discovers that his Letters are
+  Worthless--The Governor a Deceiver--Tells his Story to Denham--Goes
+  to Work in a Printing-office--An Advantage of written Composition--
+  His "Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain"--Won
+  him Fame--Bargain with a Bookseller--Beer-drinking in the Office--
+  Benjamin's Opposition to it--He wrought a Reform--His Firmness and
+  Independence--Swimming--Drawn a Mile by his Kite on the Water--
+  Advised to open a Swimming-School--Decides on Returning to
+  America--A Scene forty years after                           204-219
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXII.
+
+  FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.
+
+  Arrival in Philadelphia--Calls on Keimer--Meets Governor Keith in
+  the Street--Interview with Miss Read--His want of Fidelity--Denham
+  opened a Store, and Benjamin was his Clerk--The Sickness of
+  both--Denham dies--Benjamin thrown out of Business--Returns to his
+  Trade, and works for Keimer--Legacy from Denham--His Fidelity always
+  pleased his Employers--Many Youth do not care for the Employer's
+  Success--Fidelity one Secret of Benjamin's Success--The Oxford
+  Student--Dangers of Theatrical Amusements and Bad Company--Trouble
+  with Keimer--Refuses to work for him--Arrangements to go into
+  Business with Meredith                                       220-229
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+  SETTING UP BUSINESS.
+
+  The Inventory--Keimer's Message--At Burlington--Friends made
+  there--Interview with the Surveyor-general--Opening his Office--
+  Samuel Mickle--His Croaking--The Result--Poetical Notice in  the
+  Printing-office--His Resolution in the Outset--His Industry--
+  Prophecies about Failure--The Every-Night Club--The Lounger
+  rebuked--Franklin never above his Business--Case of Judge
+  Marshall--Economy--How he began to Keep House--Maxims--
+  Integrity--The Slanderer turned away--Socrates and  Archelaus--
+  Business prosperous--Hopes and Fears--Coleman and Grace, and
+  their Offer--Talk with Meredith, and the Latter leaves       230-243
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+  THE JUNTO.
+
+  A Literary Club--What Franklin said of it--A New Proposition for a
+  Library--Scarcity of Books--Franklin the Father of Circulating
+  Libraries--Size of the First Library now--Questions asked by the
+  "Junto"--Their Practical Character--Questions Discussed--Members
+  limited to Twelve--No Improvement on the "Junto"--Franklin's Hand
+  seen in it--All but one or two Members became Respectable, and most
+  of them distinguished Men--Studying French, Italian, and Spanish--
+  Playing Chess--Studying Latin--The "Junto" Copied in England--
+  Canning--Franklin begins to think more of Religion--Doubting his
+  Doubts--A Minister calls upon him--Goes to Meeting--The Fatal
+  Sermon--Power of Conscience--Prays, and his Form of Prayer--
+  His Book of Goodness--Rules of Conduct, and what they
+  show                                                         244-253
+
+
+  CHAPTER XXV.
+
+  CONCLUSION.
+
+  The Printer Boy and Man--His Brother reconciled to him--Rears his
+  Nephew--Holds important Offices--Refuses Patent of a Stove--Gift to
+  English Clergyman--Improves Street Lamps--Forms Fire-Company--
+  Organizes Militia--A Schedule of the Offices he filled and the
+  Honours he Won--Honoured in France, and all Europe--Societies
+  and Towns named after him--A Library Presented to the Town of
+  Franklin, Mass.--His Remark about more Sense than  Sound--
+  Washington's Praise of him--Action of Congress--Demonstrations
+  of Respect in France--A Benjamin truly, and not a Ben-Oni--
+  Regretting his early disregard of Religion--His Benevolence--
+  Emptied his Pockets for Whitefield--His Humanity, and Words of
+  a Biographer--His Reverence for God in High Places--Proposed the
+  First Fast--Advocates Prayers in the National Convention--The
+  Young Man at his Death-bed--His Last Words for the Bible     254-264
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+  "HOW MUCH DID YOU GIVE FOR YOUR WHISTLE?"             _Frontispiece_
+
+  MEDALLION OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN                      _Vignette Title_
+
+  THE ROGUE'S WHARF                                          _Page_ 44
+
+  THE MYSTERIOUS CONTRIBUTOR                                       123
+
+  FRANKLIN SAVING THE DUTCHMAN                                     149
+
+  MISS READ'S FIRST GLIMPSE OF HER FUTURE HUSBAND                  162
+
+  ANECDOTE OF DR. MATHER AND FRANKLIN--HUMILITY "BEATEN IN!"       186
+
+  "SAWDUST PUDDING"--ANECDOTE OF FRANKLIN'S INDEPENDENCE           242
+
+
+
+
+THE PRINTER-BOY.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE WHISTLE.
+
+
+It was a bright, welcome holiday to little Benjamin Franklin, when his
+kind parents put some coppers into his pocket, to spend as he saw fit.
+Possibly it was the first time he was ever permitted to go out alone
+into the streets of Boston with money to spend for his own pleasure;
+for he was now but seven years old.
+
+"Can I have more coppers when these are gone?" he inquired.
+
+"No," replied his mother, "you have quite as many now as will be for
+your welfare, I think. You must be a good boy, and keep out of
+mischief."
+
+"What are you going to buy?" asked an older brother; and without
+waiting for a reply, he answered the question himself, by saying,
+"Candy, of course."
+
+"Lay out your money wisely," added his mother; "I shall want to see
+how much wisdom you display in your purchases. Remember 'all is not
+gold that glitters.'"
+
+His mother had scarcely ceased speaking, when Benjamin bounded out of
+the house, eager to enjoy the anticipated pleasures of the day. Like
+other boys, on such occasions, his head was filled with bewitching
+fancies, and he evidently expected such a day of joy as he never had
+before. First in his thoughts stood the toy-shop, into the windows of
+which he had often looked wistfully, although it was a small affair
+compared with the Boston toy-shops of the present day. Every article
+in it could have been examined in one or two hours, while now it would
+take as many days to view all the articles in one of these
+curiosity-shops. It is almost wonderful, and even fabulous, this
+multiplication of playthings for the children. There seems to be no
+end to them, and many a girl and boy have been put to their "wits'
+end" to know what to choose out of the thousands of articles arranged
+on the shelves.
+
+Benjamin had not proceeded far before he met a boy blowing away upon,
+a new-bought whistle, as if its music were sweeter than the voice of
+lark or nightingale. He could scarcely help envying him the happiness
+of owning so valuable a treasure. He stopped and looked at him with an
+expression of delight, and they exchanged glances that showed a
+genuine sympathy springing up between them. At once he resolved to
+possess a similar musical instrument, as I suppose it may be called;
+and away he hastened to the toy-shop, knowing that it must have been
+purchased there.
+
+"Any whistles?" he inquired.
+
+"Plenty of them," answered the proprietor, with a smile, as he brought
+forth a number, to the amazement of his little customer.
+
+"I will give you all the money I have for one," said Benjamin, without
+waiting to inquire the price, so enthusiastic was he to become the
+possessor of such a prize.
+
+"Ah! all you have?" responded the merchant. "Perhaps you have not so
+much as I ask for them. You see these are very nice whistles."
+
+"I know it," added Benjamin, "and I will give you all the money I have
+for one," still more afraid that he should not be able to obtain one.
+
+"How much money have you?"
+
+Benjamin told him honestly just how much he had, and the merchant
+agreed to give him a whistle in exchange for it.
+
+Never was a child more delighted than he, when the bargain was made.
+He tried every whistle, that he might select the one having the most
+music in it; and when his choice was settled, he turned his steps
+towards home. He thought no more of other sights and scenes, and cared
+not for sweetmeats and knick-knacks, now that he owned this wonderful
+thing. He reached home and hurried into the house, blowing his
+whistle lustily as he went, as if he expected to astonish the whole
+race of Franklins by the shrillness, if not by the sweetness, of his
+music.
+
+"What have you there, Benjamin?" inquired his mother.
+
+"A whistle," he answered, hardly stopping his blowing long enough to
+give a reverent reply.
+
+"You got back quick, it seems to me," she continued. "Have you seen
+all that is to be seen?"
+
+"All I want to see," he answered; which was very true. He was so
+completely carried away with his whistle that he had lost all his
+interest in everything else belonging to the holiday. His cup of
+delight was running over now that he could march about the house with
+musical sounds of his own making.
+
+"How much did you give for your whistle?" asked one of his cousins,
+who was present.
+
+"All the money I had," he replied.
+
+"What!" exclaimed his brother, "did you give all your money for that
+little concern?"
+
+"Yes, every cent of it."
+
+"You are not half so bright as I thought you were," continued his
+brother. "It is four times as much as the whistle is worth."
+
+"You should have asked the price of it, in the first place," said his
+mother. "Some men will take all the money they can get for an
+article. Perhaps he did not ask so much as you gave for it."
+
+"If you had given a reasonable price for it," said his brother, "you
+might have had enough left to have bought a pocketful of good things."
+
+"Yes," added his cousin, "peppermints, candy, cakes, and more perhaps;
+but it is the first time he ever went a shopping on a holiday."
+
+"I must confess you are a smart fellow, Ben" (as he was familiarly
+called by the boys), "to be taken in like that," continued his
+brother, rather deridingly. "All your money for that worthless thing,
+that is enough to make us crazy! You ought to have known better.
+Suppose you had had twice as much money, you would have given it all
+for the whistle, I suppose, if this is the way you trade."
+
+"Perhaps he would have bought two or three of them in that case," said
+his cousin, at the same time looking very much as if he intended to
+make sport of the young whistler.
+
+By this time Benjamin, who had said nothing in reply to their taunts
+and reproofs, was running over with feeling, and he could hold in no
+longer. He burst into tears, and made even more noise by crying than
+he had done with his whistle. Both their ridicule and the thought of
+having paid so much more than he ought for the article, overcame him,
+and he found relief in tears. His mother came to the rescue, by
+saying--
+
+"Never mind, Benjamin, you will understand better next time. We must
+all live and learn. Perhaps you did about as well as most boys of your
+age would."
+
+"I think so, too," said his cousin; "but we wanted to have a little
+sport, seeing it is a holiday. So wipe up, 'Ben,' and we will have a
+good time yet."
+
+On the whole, it was really a benefit that Benjamin paid too much for
+his whistle. For he learned a lesson thereby which he never forgot. It
+destroyed his happiness on that holiday, but it saved him from much
+unhappiness in years to come. More than sixty years afterwards, when
+he was in France, he wrote to a friend, rehearsing this incident of
+his childhood, and said--
+
+"This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing
+on my mind; so that often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary
+thing, I said to myself, _Don't give too much for the whistle_; and I
+saved my money.
+
+"As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I
+thought I met with many, very many who _gave too much for the
+whistle_.
+
+"When I saw one too ambitious of court favour, sacrificing his time in
+attendance on levees, his repose, his liberty, his virtue, and,
+perhaps, his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, _This man
+gives too much for his whistle_.
+
+"When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself
+in political bustles, neglecting his own affairs, and ruining them by
+that neglect, _He pays, indeed_, said I, _too much for his whistle_.
+
+"If I see one fond of appearance, or fine clothes, fine houses, fine
+furniture, fine equipages, all above his fortune, for which he
+contracts debts, and ends his career in a prison, _Alas!_ say I, _he
+has paid dear, very dear for his whistle_.
+
+"When I see a beautiful, sweet-tempered girl married to an ill-natured
+brute of a husband, _What a pity_, say I, _that she should pay so much
+for a whistle!_
+
+"In short, I conceive that great part of the miseries of mankind are
+brought upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value
+of things, and by their _giving too much for their whistle_."
+
+Thus Benjamin made a good use of one of the foolish acts of his
+boyhood, which tells well for both his head and heart. Many boys are
+far less wise, and do the same foolish thing over and over again. They
+never learn wisdom from the past. Poor, simple, pitiable class of
+boys!
+
+Let the reader prove himself another Benjamin Franklin in this
+respect. Remember that there is more than one way _to pay too dear for
+a whistle_, and he is wisest who tries to discover them all.
+
+When a boy equivocates, or deceives, to conceal some act of
+disobedience from his parents or teachers, and thereby lays the
+foundations for habitual untruthfulness, he pays too dear for the
+whistle; and he will learn the truth of it when he becomes older, and
+cannot command the confidence of his friends and neighbours, but is
+branded by them as an unreliable, dishonest man.
+
+In like manner, the boy who thinks it is manly to smoke, and fill the
+wine-cup, will find that he has a very expensive whistle, when he
+becomes "hail fellow well met" among a miserable class of young men,
+and is despised and discarded by the virtuous and good.
+
+So, in general, the young person who is fascinated by worldly
+pleasure, and supposes that wealth and honour are real apples of gold
+to the possessor, thinking less of goodness and a life of piety than
+he does of mere show and worldliness, will find that he has been
+playing with a costly whistle, when age and his last sickness comes,
+and death confronts him with its stern realities.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+AT SCHOOL.
+
+
+"Well, Benjamin," said his father, laying down his violin, upon which
+he was wont to play in the evening, for his own and children's
+amusement, "how should you like to go to school and qualify yourself
+to be a minister? You are as fond of your books as James is of
+printing, or John of making candles!"
+
+"I should like to go to school well enough," replied Benjamin, after
+some hesitation; "but I don't know about the rest of it."
+
+"You are old enough now," continued his father, "to think about a
+trade or profession. Your elder brothers have their trades, and,
+perhaps, you ought to give your service to the Church. You like to
+study, do you not?"
+
+"Yes, sir; the best of anything I do." A very correct answer, since he
+began to read so young, that he could not remember the time when he
+could not read his Bible.
+
+"It will cost a good deal to keep you at school and educate you, and
+perhaps I shall not be able to do it with so large a family to
+support. I have to be very industrious now to make my ends meet. But
+if you are diligent to improve your time, and lend a helping hand at
+home, out of school hours, I may be able to do it."
+
+"When shall I begin, if you decide to let me go?"
+
+"Immediately. It is a long process to become qualified for the
+ministry, and the sooner you begin the better."
+
+"Uncle Benjamin," as he was called in the family, a brother of our
+little hero's father, sat listening to the conversation, and, at this
+point, remarked, "Yes, Benjamin, it is the best thing you can do. I am
+sure you can make very rapid progress at school; and there ought to be
+one preacher in the family, I think."
+
+"So many people have told me," added his father. "Dr. Willard (his
+pastor) said as much to me not long ago, and I am fully persuaded to
+make the trial."
+
+"It won't be a severe trial, either," said Uncle Benjamin. "The thing
+can be accomplished more easily than at first appears. I tell you what
+it is, Benjamin," addressing himself to the boy, "when you are
+qualified for the office, I will give you my large volume of
+short-hand sermons, and the reading of these will improve your manner
+of sermonizing."
+
+This uncle had recently come over from England, and was boarding in
+the family. He was a very intelligent man, quite a literary character
+for the times, and had been accustomed to take down the sermons to
+which he listened, in short-hand, until he had preserved a large
+manuscript volume of them, which he valued highly. It was this volume
+which he promised to bequeath to his nephew when he should become
+qualified to enter the ministry.
+
+This interview occurred almost one hundred and fifty years ago,
+between Benjamin Franklin, who paid too much for the whistle, and his
+father, whose Christian name was Josiah. The lad was eight years old
+at the time, a bright, active, intelligent boy, who was more fond of
+reading than any other child in the family. He was born in Boston, on
+Sunday, January 6 (Old Style, corresponding to January 17, New Style),
+1706, and on the same day was carried into the Old South Church, and
+there baptized. Both his father and mother were members of that
+church.
+
+If you ask how it is known that he was born and baptized on the same
+day, we answer, that on the "Old Boston Town Records of Births," under
+the heading, "Boston Births, entered 1708," is the following:--
+
+     "Benjamin, son of Josiah Franklin, and Abiah, his wife, Born 6
+     Jan. 1706."
+
+By some oversight or negligence the birth was not recorded until two
+years after Benjamin was born; yet it shows that he was born on Jan.
+6, 1706.
+
+Then we turn to the records of the Old South Church, and find among
+the baptism of infants the following:--
+
+     "1706, Jan. 6, Benjamin, son of Josiah and Abiah Franklin."
+
+Putting these two records together, they establish beyond doubt the
+fact that Benjamin Franklin was born and baptized on the same day. It
+has generally been said that we do not know by whom he was baptized,
+although the rite must have been performed either by Dr. Samuel
+Willard, or Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, who were then pastors of the Old
+South Church. But the fact that the record is made in the handwriting
+of Dr. Willard would indicate that he baptized him. He was born in
+Milk Street, opposite the church, so that he had only to be carried
+across the street to receive the ordinance of baptism.
+
+A picture of the old house in which he was born has been preserved,
+and it stood on the spot where now rises a lofty granite warehouse,
+bearing, in raised letters beneath the cornice, the inscription,
+"BIRTHPLACE OF FRANKLIN." The house measured twenty feet in width, and
+was about thirty feet long. It was three stories high in appearance,
+the third being the attic. On the lower floor of the main house there
+was only one room, which was about twenty feet square, and served the
+family for the triple purpose of parlour, sitting-room, and
+dining-hall. It contained an old-fashioned fireplace, so large that
+an ox might have been roasted before it. The second and third stories
+originally contained but one chamber each, of ample dimensions, and
+furnished in the plainest manner. The attic was an unplastered room,
+where probably some of the elder children lodged. This house stood
+about a hundred years after the Franklins left it, and was finally
+destroyed by fire, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 1810.
+
+He was named after the aforesaid uncle, and this circumstance alone
+was well suited to beget a mutual interest and attachment between
+them. His love of books early attracted the attention of his parents
+and others, and they regarded him as a precocious child. On this
+account the remark was often volunteered, "that he ought to be sent to
+college."
+
+We have said that Mr. Franklin was playing upon his violin on the
+evening of the aforesaid interview. He was very fond of music, was a
+good singer, and performed well upon the violin. He was wont to gather
+his family around him during the leisure hours of evening, and sing
+and play. Many cheerful and happy seasons were passed in this way at
+the fireside, the influence of which was excellent upon his children.
+
+That it would be doubtful whether he could meet the expense of sending
+Benjamin to college, must appear to the reader, when he learns that
+he was a labouring man, and had a family of seventeen children,
+thirteen of whom sat around his table together at one time. Fourteen
+were older than Benjamin, and two were younger. To support so large a
+family must have taxed the energies of the father to the utmost, even
+though no one of them was destined for a learned profession.
+
+It was arranged that Benjamin should immediately enter school, and
+enjoy the best literary advantages which the poverty of his father
+could provide. He acceded to the plan with hearty good-will, and
+commenced his studies with a zeal and enthusiasm such as few scholars
+exhibit.
+
+The school was taught by Mr. Nathaniel Williams, successor of the
+famous Boston teacher, Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, who was instructor
+thirty-five years, and who discontinued teaching, as Cotton Mather
+said, "only when mortality took him off." The homely old wooden
+school-house, one story and a half high, stood near by the spot on
+which the bronze statue of Franklin is now seen, and there was the
+"school-house green," where "Ben" and his companions sported together.
+It was probably the only free grammar-school which Boston afforded at
+that time; for it was only a little village compared with its present
+size. It then contained only about ten thousand inhabitants, and now
+it has more than fifteen times that number. There were no stately
+public buildings at that time, like the State-house, Court-house,
+Custom-house, Athenaeum, Public Library, etc. Such splendid granite
+blocks of stores as we now behold on almost every business street,
+were then unknown; and no shops could be found, as now, filled with
+the fabrics of every land. There were no costly houses of worship, the
+"Old South Meeting-house," then about half its present size, being the
+oldest one in existence at the time.
+
+When Benjamin was born, the streets of Boston were not named. This was
+not done until the year after, when there were but one hundred and ten
+of them in number. Now there are a thousand streets, courts, and
+places. Thus it will be seen that the Boston of that day resembled the
+present Boston little more than Benjamin Franklin blowing his whistle
+resembled Benjamin Franklin the great statesman and philosopher.
+
+"I have seen the teacher to-day," said Mr. Franklin to his wife, two
+or three months after his son entered school, "and he says that he is
+making rapid progress, and will soon stand first in his class,
+although others have enjoyed much better advantages."
+
+"I am glad to hear it," answered Mrs. Franklin, with a satisfied air,
+such as mothers are likely to betray when they know that their
+children are doing well; "I think he will make a good scholar if he
+can have the opportunity, though I scarcely see how you will be able
+to educate him."
+
+"I can hardly see how myself," said her husband; "yet I trust that God
+will provide a way. At any rate, I hope for the best."
+
+"It will be more and more expensive every year to support him," added
+Mrs. Franklin, "since his clothes will cost more as he advances in
+years. The least expense in educating him we are having now."
+
+"That is very true, and I have looked at the matter in this light, all
+the while not being able to see my way quite clear, yet trusting to
+Providence for a happy issue."
+
+"It is well to trust in Providence if it is not done blindly, for
+Providence sometimes does wonders for those who trust. It is quite
+certain that He who parted the waters of the Red Sea for the children
+of Israel to pass, and fed them with manna from the skies, can provide
+a way for our Benjamin to be educated. But it looks to me as if some
+of his bread would have to drop down from heaven."
+
+"Well, if it comes, that is enough," responded Mr. Franklin, rather
+drily. "If God does anything for him, he will do it in his own time
+and way. I shall be satisfied to see him qualified for usefulness in
+the service of the Church."
+
+Within a few months after Benjamin entered school, he had advanced
+from the middle to the head of his class. He was so apt to learn, and
+gave so close attention to his lessons, that his teacher spoke of him
+as a boy of uncommon promise. He did not stand at the head of his
+class long, however, before he was transferred to a higher one. He so
+far outstripped his companions that the teacher was obliged to advance
+him thus, otherwise his mental progress would have been injuriously
+retarded. His parents were highly gratified with his diligent
+improvement of time and opportunities, and other relatives and friends
+began to prophesy his future eminence.
+
+It is generally the case that such early attention to studies, in
+connection with the advancement that follows, awakens high hopes of
+the young in the hearts of all observers. Such things foreshadow the
+future character, so that people think they can tell what the man will
+be from what the boy is. So it was with young Benjamin Franklin. So it
+was with Daniel Webster,--his mother inferred from his close attention
+to reading, and his remarkable progress in learning, that he would
+become a distinguished man, and so expressed herself to others. She
+lived to see him rise in his profession, until he became a member of
+Congress, though she died before he reached the zenith of his renown.
+The same was true of David Rittenhouse, the famous mathematician. When
+he was but eight years old he constructed various articles, such as a
+miniature water-wheel, and at seventeen years of age he made a clock.
+His younger brother relates that he was accustomed to stop when he was
+ploughing in the field, and solve problems on the fence, and sometimes
+cover the plough-handles over with figures. The highest expectations
+of his friends were more than realized in his after life. The peculiar
+genius which he exhibited in his boyhood gave him fame at last. Again,
+George Stephenson, the great engineer, the son of a very poor man, who
+fired the engine at the Wylam Colliery, began his life labour when a
+mere boy. Besides watching the cows, and barring the gates at night
+after the coal waggons had passed, at twopence a day, he amused
+himself during his leisure moments in making clay engines, in
+imitation of that which his father tended. Although he lived in such
+humble circumstances that he was almost entirely unnoticed, yet it
+would have been apparent to any observer, that his intense interest
+in, and taste for, such mechanical work, evinced what the future man
+would be.
+
+It was quite natural, then, for the parents and friends of Benjamin
+Franklin to be encouraged by his love of books, and diligent
+attention, especially when so much intellectual brightness was also
+manifest. The sequel will prove whether their hopes were wisely
+cherished.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A CHANGE.
+
+
+Benjamin had not been in school quite a year, when his father saw
+plainly that he would not be able to defray the expense of educating
+him.
+
+"I might keep him along for the present," said he to his wife, "but I
+am satisfied that I cannot carry him through. My family expenses are
+now very great, and they will be still larger. It will make
+considerable difference in my expenses whether Benjamin is kept at
+school, or assists me by the labour of his hands."
+
+"I am not surprised at all at your conclusion," replied Mrs. Franklin.
+"It is no more than I have expected, as I have before intimated.
+Parents must be better off than we are to be able to send a son to
+college."
+
+"If they have as many children to support, you might add," said Mr.
+Franklin. "I could easily accomplish it with no larger family on my
+hands than some of my neighbours have."
+
+"Do you intend to take Benjamin away from school at once?"
+
+"Yes! I have very reluctantly come to the conclusion that I must. It
+is contrary to all my desires, but necessity compels me to do it."
+
+"I am sorry for Benjamin," continued Mrs. Franklin, "for he has become
+much interested in his school, and it will be a great disappointment
+to him."
+
+"I thought of that much before coming to my present decision; but
+there is no alternative. Providence seems to indicate, now, the course
+I should take, and I am the more willing to follow, because the times
+do not hold out so much encouragement to those who would enter the
+service of the Church. There are many trials and hardships to be met
+in the work, and at the present day, they seem to be peculiar."
+
+"There are trials almost anywhere in these times," said Mrs. Franklin,
+"and I suppose we ought to bear them with fortitude. So far as that is
+concerned, I think Benjamin will not escape them, let him follow what
+business he may."
+
+"True, very true, and I trust that I desire to place him where God
+would have me; but he has certainly hedged up his way to the
+ministry."
+
+This subject was very thoroughly considered before it was opened to
+Benjamin. His father was too anxious to educate him to change his
+purpose without much patient thought and circumspection. Nothing but
+absolute necessity induced him to come to this decision. The hard hand
+of poverty was laid upon him, and he must have "bread before learning"
+for his children.
+
+One evening, as the school term was drawing to a close, Mr. Franklin
+said to Benjamin--
+
+"I think I shall be under the necessity of taking you away from school
+at the close of the term. The times are so hard, that I find, with my
+best exertions, I can do little more than supply you with food and
+clothes."
+
+"And not go to school any more?" anxiously inquired Benjamin.
+
+"Perhaps not. Such appears to be your prospect now, though I cannot
+say that God may not open a way hereafter; I hope he will. You are but
+nine years old, and there is time yet for a way to be provided."
+
+"Why can I not attend school till I am old enough to help you?"
+
+"You are old enough to help me now. I could find a plenty for you to
+do every day, so that you could make yourself very useful."
+
+In those days boys were put to work much earlier than they are now.
+They had very small opportunities for acquiring knowledge, and the
+boys who did not go to school after they were ten years old were more
+in number than those who did. Besides, the schools were very poor in
+comparison with those of the present age. They offered very limited
+advantages to the young. It was not unusual, therefore, for lads as
+young as Benjamin to be made to work.
+
+"But I do not intend to set you to work immediately," continued Mr.
+Franklin. "You ought to give some attention to penmanship and
+arithmetic, and I shall send you to Mr. Brownwell's writing-school for
+a season."
+
+"I shall like that, for I want to know how to write well. Some of the
+boys no older than I am have been to his school some time."
+
+"It is equally important that you learn to cipher, and Mr. Brownwell
+is an excellent teacher of arithmetic. It will not take you many
+months to become a good penman under his tuition, and to acquire
+considerable knowledge of numbers."
+
+"I care more about writing than I do about arithmetic," said Benjamin.
+"I don't think I shall like arithmetic very well."
+
+"Boys have to study some things they don't like," responded his
+father. "It is the only way they can qualify themselves for
+usefulness. You would not make much of an appearance in the world
+without some acquaintance with numbers."
+
+"I know that," said Benjamin; "and I shall try to master it, even if I
+do not like it. I am willing to do what you think is best."
+
+"I hope you will always be as willing to yield to my judgment. It is a
+good sign for a boy to accept cheerfully the plans of his father, who
+has had more experience."
+
+Benjamin was generally very prompt to obey his parents, even when he
+did not exactly see the necessity of their commands. He understood
+full well that obedience was a law of the household, which could not
+be violated with impunity; therefore he wisely obeyed. His father was
+a religious man, puritanical and even severe in his views and habits;
+a walk was never allowed on Sunday, and "going to meeting" was one of
+the inexorable rules of the family.
+
+Benjamin was reared under such family regulations. He was expected to
+regard them with becoming filial respect. Nor did he grow restless and
+impatient under them, nor cherish less affection for his father in
+consequence. We have no reason to believe that he sought to evade
+them; and there is no doubt that the influence of such discipline was
+good in forming his character. He certainly loved and respected his
+father as long as he lived. Many years thereafter, when his father was
+old and infirm, he was wont to perform frequent journeys from
+Philadelphia to Boston, to visit him. It was on one of these journeys
+that he rebuked the inquisitiveness of a landlord, by requesting him,
+as soon as he entered his tavern, to assemble all the members of his
+family together, as he had something important to communicate. The
+landlord proceeded to gratify him, and as soon as they were brought
+together in one room, he said, "My name is Benjamin Franklin; I am a
+printer by trade; I live, when at home, in Philadelphia; in Boston I
+have a father, a good old man, who taught me, when I was a boy, to
+read my book, and say my prayers; I have ever since thought it was my
+duty to visit and pay my respects to such a father, and I am on that
+errand to Boston now. This is all I can recollect at present of myself
+that I think worth telling you. But if you can think of anything else
+that you wish to know about me, I beg you to out with it at once, that
+I may answer, and so give you an opportunity to get me something to
+eat, for I long to be on my journey that I may return as soon as
+possible to my family and business, where I most of all delight to
+be." This was a keen rebuke to a landlord who was disposed to be
+inquisitive, and interrogate his guests in an ungentlemanly way. But
+we have cited the incident to show that the filial love and respect
+which Benjamin had for his parents continued as long as they lived.
+The last act of affection and reverence that he could possibly perform
+to them was cheerfully made. It was the erection of a marble stone
+over their remains in Boston, bearing the following inscription:--
+
+                     "JOSIAH FRANKLIN
+                            And
+                       ABIAH his wife
+                     Lie here interred.
+          They lived lovingly together in wedlock
+                     Fifty-five years;
+     And without an estate, or any gainful employment,
+          By constant labour, and honest industry
+                   (With God's blessing)
+           Maintained a large family comfortably;
+  And brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren
+                         Reputably.
+                From this instance, reader,
+         Be encouraged to diligence in thy calling,
+                And distrust not Providence.
+              He was a pious and prudent man,
+             She a discreet and virtuous woman.
+                    Their youngest son,
+             In filial regard to their memory,
+                     Places this stone.
+            J. F. born 1645; died 1744. AEt. 89.
+            A. F. born 1667; died 1752. AEt. 85."
+
+This stone had become so dilapidated in 1827, that the citizens of
+Boston supplied its place with a granite obelisk, on which the
+foregoing inscription may still be read.
+
+It is good for boys, who are very likely to want their own way, to be
+obliged to obey exact rules in the family. It is a restraint upon
+their evil tendencies that tells well upon their riper years. It was
+to such an influence that Sir Robert Peel felt much indebted for his
+success in life. As an illustration of the obedience he was obliged to
+practise, in common with his brothers, he relates, that, in his
+youth, a comrade called one day to solicit their company upon some
+excursion. He was a young man of handsome address, intelligent, smart,
+and promising, though quite accustomed to enjoy much pastime. He was a
+fashionable young man for the times, wearing "dark brown hair, tied
+behind with blue ribbon; clear, mirthful eyes; boots which reached
+above his knees; a broad-skirted, scarlet coat, with gold lace on the
+cuffs, the collar, and the skirts; and a long waistcoat of blue silk.
+His breeches were buckskin; his hat was three-cornered, set jauntily
+higher on the right than on the left side." His name was Harry
+Garland. To his request that William, Edmund, and Robert might go with
+him, their father replied, "No, they cannot go out." Although the boys
+earnestly desired to go, they dared say nothing against their father's
+emphatic "No." He had work for them to do, and he never allowed
+pleasure to usurp the time for labour. The result is recorded on the
+page of English history. The three brothers of the Peel family became
+renowned in their country's brilliant progress. Harry Garland, the
+idle, foppish youth, became a ruined spendthrift. In this way the
+language of inspiration is verified. "Honour thy father and mother
+(which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well
+with thee." The providence of God appears to make it well with the
+children who obey the commandment. Not the least of their reward is
+the respect and confidence of mankind which their obedience secures.
+Men universally admire to witness deeds that are prompted by true
+filial love. Such an act as that of the great engineer, George
+Stephenson, who took the first thirty pounds he possessed, saved from
+a year's wages, and paid off his blind old father's debts, and then
+removed both father and mother to a comfortable tenement at
+Killingworth, where he supported them by the labour of his hands,
+awakens our admiration, and leads us to expect that the Divine
+blessing will rest upon the author.
+
+When the statue of Franklin was inaugurated, in 1856, a barouche
+appeared in the procession that carried eight brothers, all of whom
+received Franklin medals at the Mayhew School in their boyhood, sons
+of the late Mr. John Hall. They were all known to fame for their worth
+of character and wide influence. As the barouche in which they rode
+came into State Street, from Merchants' Row, these brothers all rose
+up in the carriage, uncovered their heads, and thus remained while
+passing a window at which their excellent and revered mother sat,--an
+act of filial regard so impressive and beautiful as to fill the hearts
+of beholders with profound respect for the affectionate sons.
+
+Benjamin was taken away from school, agreeably to his father's
+decision, and sent to Mr. Brownwell, to perfect himself in arithmetic
+and penmanship. Less than a year he had attended the grammar-school,
+with little or no prospect of returning to his studies. But the
+disappointment was somewhat alleviated by the advantages offered at
+Mr. Brownwell's writing class. Here he made rapid progress in
+penmanship, though he failed in mastering the science of number. He
+had more taste, and perhaps tact, for penmanship than he had for
+arithmetical rules and problems, and this may account for the
+difference of his improvement in the two branches.
+
+We should have remarked that Benjamin endeared himself to his teacher
+while he was a member of the public school, and it was with regret
+that the latter parted with his studious pupil. His close attention to
+his duties, and his habitual good deportment, in connection with his
+progress, made him such a scholar as teachers love.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MAKING CANDLES.
+
+
+When Benjamin was ten years old he had acquired all the education his
+father thought he could afford to give him. He could write a very good
+hand, and read fluently, though his knowledge of arithmetic was very
+limited indeed.
+
+"Are you about ready, Benjamin, to come into the shop and help me?"
+inquired his father, at the dinner table.
+
+"Am I not going to Mr. Brownwell's school any longer?" he asked,
+instead of replying to his father's question,--a Yankee-like way of
+doing things, truly.
+
+"I think the close of this term will complete the education I am able
+to give you," replied his father. "You will fare, then, better than
+your brothers, in respect to schooling."
+
+"I had rather not go into the shop," said Benjamin. "I think I shall
+not like to make candles, and I really wish you would engage in some
+other business."
+
+"And starve, too," said his father. "In such times as these we must be
+willing to do what will insure us a livelihood. I know of no other
+business that would give me a living at present, certainly none that I
+am qualified to pursue."
+
+Mr. Franklin was a dyer by trade, in England, and designed to continue
+it when he removed to America, about the year 1685. But he found, on
+arriving at Boston, that it would be quite impossible for him to
+support his family at this trade. The country was new, and the habits
+of the people were different from those of the English, so that the
+dyeing business could receive but little patronage. The next pursuit
+that presented itself, with fair promises of success, was that of
+"tallow-chandler and soap-boiler;" not so cleanly and popular a
+business as some, but yet necessary to be done, and very useful in its
+place; and this was enough for such a man as Mr. Franklin to know. He
+cared very little whether the trade was popular, so long as it was
+indispensable and useful. To him no business was dishonourable, if the
+wants of society absolutely demanded it.
+
+"Well, I should rather make soap and candles than starve," said
+Benjamin; "but nothing else could make me willing to follow the
+business."
+
+"One other thing ought to make you willing to do such work," added his
+father. "You had better do this than do nothing, for idleness is the
+parent of vice. Boys like you should be industrious, even if they do
+not earn their bread. It is better for them to work for nothing than
+not to work at all."
+
+"I think they may save their strength till they can earn something,"
+said Benjamin. "People must like to work better than I do, to work for
+nothing."
+
+"You do not understand me," continued Mr. Franklin. "I mean to say, it
+is so important for the young to form industrious habits, that they
+had better work for nothing than to be idle. If they are idle when
+they are young, they will be so when they become men, and idleness
+will finally be their ruin. 'The devil tempts all other men, but idle
+men tempt the devil,' is an old and truthful proverb, and I hope you
+will never consent to verify it."
+
+Mr. Franklin had been a close observer all his life, and he had
+noticed that industry was characteristic of those who accomplished
+anything commendable. Consequently he insisted that his children
+should have employment. He allowed no drones in his family hive. All
+had something to do as soon as they were old enough to toil. Under
+such influences Benjamin was reared, and he grew up to be as much in
+love with industry as his father was. Some of his best counsels, and
+most interesting sayings, when he became a man, related to this
+subject. The following are among the maxims which he uttered in his
+riper years:--
+
+     "Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labour wears; while the
+     used key is always bright."
+
+     "But dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is
+     the stuff life is made of."
+
+     "If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be
+     the greatest prodigality."
+
+     "Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all easy; and he
+     that ariseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake
+     his business at night; while laziness travels so slowly, that
+     poverty soon overtakes him."
+
+     "At the working man's house hunger looks in, but dares not
+     enter."
+
+     "Diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things
+     to industry."
+
+     "One to-day is worth two to-morrows."
+
+     "Drive thy business, let not thy business drive thee."
+
+     "God helps them that help themselves."
+
+These are very beautiful and expressive sentences, and they show that
+Benjamin Franklin thought as much of industry in his manhood as his
+father did a quarter of a century before. Take the first, in which he
+compares slothfulness to rust, which will consume iron tools or
+machinery faster than their constant use will. As the use of a hoe or
+a spade keeps it polished, so the habitual exercise of the powers of
+human nature preserves them in a good condition. A key that is cast
+aside soon rusts, and is spoiled, but "the used key is always
+bright." It is more fit for use because it has been used.
+
+How true it is that "hunger dare not enter the working-man's house!"
+By the sweat of his brow he earns his daily bread, and his children do
+not cry with hunger. It is the lazy man's table that has no bread. His
+children rise up hungry, and go to bed supperless. God himself hath
+said, "If any would not work, neither should he eat."
+
+"Diligence is the mother of good luck." Another gem of wisdom that
+commands our acquiescence. How common for the indolent to complain of
+"bad luck!" Their families need the necessaries of life, as both a
+scanty table and rent apparel bear witness, and they cast the blame
+upon "ill luck," "misfortune," "unavoidable circumstances," or
+something of the kind. Many men whose faces are reddened and blotched
+by intemperance, begotten in the barroom where they have worse than
+idled away days and weeks of precious time, are often heard to lament
+over their "bad luck," as if their laziness and intemperance were not
+the direct cause of their misery. But it is not often that the
+diligent experience "bad luck." They receive a reward for their
+labours, and thrift and honour attend their steps, according as it is
+written in the Bible: "The soul of the sluggard desireth, and _hath_
+nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. Seest thou a
+man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall
+not stand before mean men."
+
+But we need not enlarge upon these sayings of Franklin. They are all
+charged with wisdom, and might be expanded into volumes. The more we
+study them, the more beauty we perceive.
+
+It was settled that Benjamin should assist his father in the
+manufacture of candles, notwithstanding his disinclination to engage
+in the business. His prospects of more schooling were thus cut off at
+ten years of age, and now he was obliged to turn his attention to hard
+work. It was rather an unpromising future to a little boy. No more
+schooling after ten years of age! What small opportunities in
+comparison with those enjoyed by nearly every boy at the present day!
+Now they are just beginning to learn at this early age. From ten they
+can look forward to six or eight years of golden opportunities in the
+school-room. Does the young reader appreciate the privileges which he
+enjoys?
+
+"To-morrow for the work-shop, Benjamin!" exclaimed Mr. Franklin, with
+a tone of pleasantry, on the evening before he was initiated into the
+mysteries of making candles. "I am full of business, and need another
+hand very much at present."
+
+"You can't expect much help from me," said Benjamin, "till I learn how
+to do the work. So I am thinking you will continue to be hurried for
+a while, unless you have another hand besides me."
+
+"You can do what I shall set you about just as well as a boy, or even
+a man, who had worked at the business for a year."
+
+"I wonder what that can be, that is so easy!" added Benjamin, with
+some surprise.
+
+"You can cut the wicks, fill the moulds for cast-candles, keep the
+shop in order, run hither and thither upon errands, and do other
+things that will save my time, and thus assist me just as much as a
+man could in doing the same things."
+
+"I am sure," said Mrs. Franklin, who had been listening to the
+conversation attentively, "that is inducement enough for any boy, but
+a lazy one, to work. You can make yourself about as useful to your
+father as a man whom he would have to pay high wages."
+
+"You will aid me just as much in going errands," said his father, "as
+in doing anything else. I have a good deal of such running to do, and
+if you do it, I can be employed in the more important part of my
+business, which no one else can attend to. Besides, your nimble feet
+can get over the ground much quicker than my older and clumsier ones,
+so that you can really perform this part of the business better than I
+can myself."
+
+Benjamin made no reply to these last remarks, although he was more
+favourably impressed, after hearing them, with the tallow-chandler's
+calling. On the following day he entered upon his new vocation, and,
+if "variety is the spice of life," then his first day in the shop had
+a plenty of spice. The shop was situated at the corner of Hanover and
+Union Streets, having the sign of a large blue ball, bearing the
+inscription:
+
+          1698 JOSIAS
+              FRANKLIN 1698.
+
+He cut wicks, filled moulds, performed errands, and played the part of
+general waiter, in which there was much variety. And this was his work
+for successive weeks, very little of his time running to waste. Do you
+ask how he likes it? The following conversation with his mother will
+answer.
+
+"I don't like it at all, mother,--no better than I thought I should,"
+he said. "I wish I could do something else."
+
+"What else is there for you to do, Benjamin?" replied his mother.
+"What would you like to do?"
+
+"I would like to go to sea."
+
+"Go to see what?" she inquired, as if she did not understand him at
+first.
+
+"Go on a voyage to Europe, or the East Indies."
+
+"What!" exclaimed his mother, exhibiting surprise, for she had not
+dreamed that her son had any inclination to go to sea. "Want to be a
+sailor? What put that into your head?"
+
+"I have always thought I should like to go to sea," he answered; "and
+I am so tired of making candles that I want to go now more than ever."
+
+"I am astonished, Benjamin. You might know that I should never give my
+consent to that. I should almost as lief bury you. And how can you
+want to leave your good home, and all your friends, to live in a ship,
+exposed to storms and death all the time?"
+
+"It is not because I do not love my home and friends, but I have a
+desire to sail on a voyage to some other country. I like the water,
+and nothing would suit me so well as to be a cabin-boy."
+
+"There, Benjamin, you must never say another word about it," continued
+his mother; "and you must not think any more about going; for I shall
+never give my consent, and I know _your father never will_. It was
+almost too much for me when your brother broke away from us, and went
+to sea. I could not pass through another such trial. So you must not
+persist in your wish, if you would not send me down to the grave." And
+here his mother alluded to one of the most bitter experiences of her
+life, when a son older than Benjamin became restless at home, and
+would not be persuaded from his purpose of going to sea. It caused
+her many unhappy hours.
+
+Benjamin had said nothing about this matter to his father, and this
+prompt veto of his mother put a damper on his hopes, so that he
+continued to work at the shop, with all his dislike for the business.
+His parents talked over the matter, and his father was led thereby to
+watch him more carefully, that he might nip the first buddings of
+desire for the sea. At length, however, Benjamin ventured to make
+known his wishes to his father.
+
+"I have thought," said he, "that I should like to go to sea, if you
+are willing;" and there he stopped, evidently expecting to be refused.
+
+"What has happened to lead you to desire this?" inquired his father.
+
+"Not anything," he answered. "I always thought I should like
+it,--though I have had a stronger desire lately."
+
+"I see how it is," continued his father. "You have been to the water
+with the boys frequently of late, and I have noticed that you loved to
+be in a boat better than to make candles. I am afraid that your sports
+on the water are making you dissatisfied with your home, and that here
+is the secret of your wanting to go to sea."
+
+"No, father; I think as much of my home as I ever did, and I like a
+boat no better now than I did the first time I got into one."
+
+"Perhaps it is so; but boys don't always know when they are losing
+their attachment to home. You need not say another syllable, however,
+about going to sea, for I shall never consent to it. You may as well
+relinquish at once all thought of going, since I strictly forbid your
+laying any such plans. If you do not wish to be a tallow-chandler, you
+may try some other business. I shall not insist upon your working with
+me, though I shall insist upon your following some calling."
+
+"I shall not want to go to sea against your wishes," said Benjamin. "I
+only thought I would go if you and mother were perfectly willing. I
+can work at this dirty trade, too, if you think it is best, though I
+can never like it."
+
+"I am glad to see that you have so much regard for your parents'
+wishes," said his father. "If your brother had been as considerate, he
+never would have become a sailor. Children should always remember that
+their parents know best, as they have had more experience and time to
+observe. I say again, if you will abandon all thoughts of a seafaring
+life, I will try to find you a situation to learn some trade you may
+choose for yourself."
+
+Benjamin was not disposed to enter upon a sailor's life contrary to
+his parents' counsels, and he submitted to his father's decision with
+as much cheerfulness and good feeling as could be expected in the
+circumstances. He knew that it was little use to tease his father when
+he said "no" to a project. His emphatic "no" usually put an end to all
+controversy.
+
+There is little doubt that Benjamin had been somewhat influenced by
+his frolics in and on the water. For some time, as opportunity
+offered, he had been down to the water both to bathe and take
+boat-rides. He had become an expert swimmer in a very short time, and
+not one of the boys so readily learned to manage a boat. He exhibited
+so much tact in these water feats, that he was usually regarded as a
+leader by the boys, and all matters of importance were referred to his
+judgment. It was not strange that he should be more in love with an
+ocean life after such pastimes with his comrades. Whether he admitted
+it or not, it is probable that his desire to go to sea was greatly
+increased by these pleasant times in and on the water.
+
+It was certainly a poor prospect that was before the young
+tallow-chandler. It was not a trade to call into exercise the higher
+and nobler faculties of the mind and heart. On that account, no one
+could expect that Benjamin would rise to much distinction in the
+world; and this will serve to awaken the reader's surprise as he
+becomes acquainted with the sequel. A little fellow, ten or twelve
+years of age, cutting the wicks of candles, and filling the moulds,
+does not promise to become a great statesman and philosopher. Yet
+with no more promise than this some of the most distinguished men
+commenced their career. Behold Giotti, as he tends his father's flock,
+tracing the first sketches of the divine art in the sand with a clumsy
+stick,--a deed so unimportant that it foreshadowed to no one his
+future eminence. See Daniel Webster, the great expounder of the
+American Constitution, sitting, in his boyhood, upon a log in his
+father's mill, and studying portions of that Constitution which were
+printed upon a new pocket-handkerchief; a trivial incident at the
+time, but now bearing an important relation to that period of his life
+when his fame extended to every land. Recall the early life of Roger
+Sherman, bound as an apprentice to a shoemaker in consequence of his
+father's poverty, with little education and no ancestral fame to
+assist him,--how exceeding small the promise that his name would yet
+be prominent in his country's history! In like manner, the little
+candle-making lad of Boston, in 1717, scarcely appears to be related
+to the philosopher and statesman of the same name, in 1775. But the
+hand of God is in the lives of men as really as in the history of
+nations.
+
+The reader should not make use of the fact that Franklin, and other
+eminent men, enjoyed small opportunities to acquire knowledge, as a
+plea that he himself need not be kept in school for a series of
+years. It is true that a little mental improvement may work wonders
+for a person in some circumstances, and it should lead us to inquire,
+if a little will accomplish so much, what will greater advantages do
+for him? A very little knowledge of electricity once saved the life of
+Benjamin Russell in his youth. He was an eminent citizen of Boston,
+born in the year 1761, and in his younger years he had learned from
+the writings of Franklin, who had become a philosopher, that it was
+dangerous to take shelter, during a thunder-shower, under a tree, or
+in a building not protected with lightning-rods. One day, in company
+with several associates, he was overtaken by a tempest, and some of
+the number proposed that they should take shelter under a large tree
+near by, while others advised to enter a neighbouring barn. But young
+Russell opposed both plans, and counselled going under a large
+projecting rock as the safest place. The result showed that a little
+knowledge of electricity was of great service to him; for both the
+barn and the tree were struck by lightning. But neither Benjamin
+Russell, nor any one else, from that day to this, would think of
+saying that there is no need of knowing much about electricity, since
+a little knowledge of it will do so much good. They might say it as
+reasonably, however, as a youth can say that there is no need of much
+schooling, since Benjamin Franklin, and others, became honoured and
+useful though they did not go to school after ten or twelve years of
+age. The deep regret of all this class of influential men ever has
+been, that their early advantages were so limited. George Stephenson,
+who did not learn to read until he was eighteen years old, felt so
+keenly on this point, that, when his own son became old enough to
+attend school, he sat up nights and mended the shoes and clocks of his
+neighbours, after having completed his day's labour, to obtain the
+means of educating him.
+
+
+[Illustration: The Rogue's Wharf.--See page 44.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE ROGUE'S WHARF.
+
+
+"All aboard!" exclaimed Benjamin, and so saying he bounded into the
+boat that lay at the water's edge. "Now for a ride: only hurry up, and
+make the oars fly;" and several boys leaped in after him from the
+shaking, trampled quagmire on which they stood.
+
+"We shall be heels over head in mud yet," said one of the number,
+"unless we try to improve the marsh. There is certainly danger that we
+shall go through that shaky place, and I scarcely know when we shall
+stop, if we begin to go down."
+
+"Let us build a wharf," said Benjamin, "and that will get rid of the
+quagmire. It won't be a long job, if all take hold."
+
+"Where will you get your lumber?" inquired John.
+
+"Nowhere. We don't want any lumber, for stones are better," answered
+Benjamin.
+
+"It is worse yet to bring stones so far, and enough of them," added
+John. "You must like to lift better than I do, to strain yourself in
+tugging stones here."
+
+"Look there," continued Benjamin, pointing to a heap of stones only a
+few rods distant. "There are stones enough for our purpose, and one or
+two hours is all the time we want to build a wharf with them."
+
+"But those stones belong to the man who is preparing to build a house
+there," said Fred. "The workmen are busy there now."
+
+"That may all be," said Benjamin, "but they can afford to lend them to
+us awhile. They will be just as good for their use after we have done
+with them."
+
+"Then you expect they will lend them to you, I perceive; but you'll be
+mistaken," answered Fred.
+
+"My mode of borrowing them is this,--we will go this evening, after
+the workmen have gone home, and tug them over here, and make the wharf
+long before bedtime;" and Benjamin looked queerly as he said it.
+
+"And get ourselves into trouble thereby," replied another boy. "I will
+agree to do it if you will bear all the blame of stealing them."
+
+"Stealing!" exclaimed Benjamin. "It is not stealing to take such
+worthless things as stones. A man couldn't sell an acre of them for a
+copper."
+
+"Well, anyhow, the men who have had the labour of drawing them there
+won't thank you for taking them."
+
+"I don't ask them to thank me. I don't think the act deserves any
+thanks," and a roguish twinkle of the eye showed that he knew he was
+doing wrong. And he added, "I reckon it will be a joke on the workmen
+to-morrow morning to find their pile of stones missing."
+
+"Let us do it," said John, who was taken with the idea of playing off
+a joke. "I will do my part to carry the thing through."
+
+"And I will do mine," said another; and by this time all were willing
+to follow the example of Benjamin, their leader. Perhaps all were
+afraid to say "No," according to the dictates of conscience, now that
+the enterprise was indorsed by one or two of their number. Boys are
+too often disposed to go "with the multitude to do evil." They are
+often too cowardly to do what they know is right.
+
+The salt marsh, bounding a part of the millpond where their boat lay,
+was trampled into a complete quagmire. The boys were accustomed to
+fish there at high water, and so many feet, so often treading on the
+spot, reduced it to a very soft condition. It was over this miry marsh
+that they proposed to build a wharf.
+
+The evening was soon there, and the boys came together on their
+rogue's errand. They surveyed the pile of stones, and found it ample
+for their purpose, though it looked like a formidable piece of work to
+move them.
+
+"Some of them are bigger than two of us can lift," said Fred.
+
+"Then three of us can hitch to and carry them," said Benjamin. "They
+must all be worked into a wharf this evening. Let us begin,--there is
+no time to lose."
+
+"The largest must go first," said John. "They are capital ones for the
+foundation. Come, two or three must take hold of this," at the same
+time laying hold of one of the largest.
+
+So they went to work with decided perseverance (the only commendable
+thing about the transaction), sometimes three or four of them working
+away at one stone, lifting and rolling it along. Benjamin was never
+half so zealous in cutting candle-wicks as he was in perpetrating this
+censurable act. He was second to no one of the number in cheerful
+active service on this occasion.
+
+The evening was not spent when the last stone was carried away, and
+the wharf was finished,--a work of art that answered their purpose
+very well, though it was not quite so imposing as Commercial Wharf is
+now, and was not calculated to receive the cargo of a very large
+Liverpool packet.
+
+"What a capital place it makes for fishing!" exclaimed Fred. "It is
+worth all it cost for that."
+
+"Perhaps it will cost more than you think for before we get through
+with it," said John. "We can tell better about that when the workmen
+find their stones among the missing."
+
+"I should like to hear what they will say," responded Benjamin, "when
+they discover what we have done, though I hardly think they will pay
+us much of a compliment. But I must hurry home, or I shall have
+trouble there. Come on, boys, let us go."
+
+At this they hastened to their homes, not designing to make known the
+labours of the evening, if they could possibly avoid interrogation.
+They knew that their parents would disapprove of the deed, and that no
+excuse could shield them from merited censure. It was not strange,
+then, that they were both afraid and ashamed to tell of what they had
+done. But we will let twenty-four hours pass. On the following
+evening, when Mr. Franklin took his seat at his fireside, Benjamin had
+taken his book and was reading.
+
+"Benjamin," said his father, "where was you last evening?"
+
+Benjamin knew by his father's anxious look that there was trouble. He
+imagined that he had heard of their enterprise on the previous
+evening. After some hesitation, he answered, "I was down to the
+water."
+
+"What was you doing there?"
+
+"We were fixing up a place for the boat."
+
+"See that you tell the truth, Benjamin, and withhold nothing. I wish
+to know what you did there."
+
+"We built a wharf."
+
+"What had you to build it with?"
+
+"We built it of stones."
+
+"And where did you get your stones?"
+
+"There was a pile of them close by."
+
+"Did they belong to you?"
+
+"I suppose not."
+
+"Did you not know that they belonged to the man who is building the
+house?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Then you deliberately resolved to steal them, did you?"
+
+"It isn't stealing to take stones."
+
+"Why, then, did you take them in the evening, after the workmen had
+gone home? Why did you not go after them when the workmen were all
+there?"
+
+Benjamin saw that he was fairly caught, and that, bright as he was, he
+could not get out of so bad a scrape unblamed. So he hung his head,
+and did not answer his father's last question.
+
+"I see plainly how it is," continued his father; "it is the
+consequence of going out in the evening with the boys, which I must
+hereafter forbid. I have been willing that you should go out
+occasionally, because I have thought it might be better for you than
+so much reading. But you have now betrayed my confidence, and I am
+satisfied more than ever that boys should be at home in the evening,
+trying to improve their minds. You have been guilty of an act that is,
+quite flagrant, although it may have been done thoughtlessly. You
+should have known better, after having received so much good
+instruction as you have had at home."
+
+"I did know better," frankly confessed Benjamin.
+
+"And that makes your guilt so much the greater," added his father. "Do
+you think you will learn a lesson from this, and never do the like
+again?"
+
+"I will promise that I never will."
+
+Thus frankly did Benjamin confess his wrong, and ever after look upon
+that act with regret. In mature age he referred to it, and called it
+one of the first evil acts of his life. It was the second time he
+_paid too dear for his whistle_.
+
+If seems that the workmen missed their stones, when they first reached
+the spot in the morning, and they soon discovered them nicely laid
+into a wharf. The proprietor was indignant, and exerted himself to
+learn who were the authors of the deed, and in the course of the day
+he gained the information, and went directly, and very properly, to
+their parents, to enter complaint. Thus all the boys were exposed, and
+received just rebuke for their misdemeanor. Benjamin was convinced, as
+he said of it many years afterwards, "that that which is not honest,
+could not be truly useful."
+
+We have referred to Benjamin's habit of reading. It had been his
+custom to spend his evenings, and other leisure moments, in reading.
+He was much pleased with voyages, and such writings as John Bunyan's.
+The first books he possessed were the works of Bunyan, in separate
+little volumes. After becoming familiar with them, he sold them in
+order to obtain the means to buy "Burton's Historical Collections,"
+which were small, cheap books, forty volumes in all. His father, also,
+possessed a good number of books for those times, when books were
+rare, and these he read through, although most of them were really
+beyond his years, being controversial writings upon theology. His love
+of reading was so great, that he even read works of this character
+with a degree of interest. In the library, however, were three or four
+books of somewhat different character. There was "Plutarch's Lives,"
+in which he was deeply interested; also Defoe's "Essay on Projects."
+But to no one book was he more indebted than to Dr. Mather's "Essay
+to do Good." From this he derived hints and sentiments which had a
+beneficial influence upon his after life. He said, forty or fifty
+years afterwards, "It gave me a turn of thinking that had an influence
+on some of the principal future events of my life." And he wrote to a
+son of Cotton Mather, "I have always set a greater value on the
+character of a doer of good, than on any other kind of reputation; and
+if I have been, as you seem to think, a useful citizen, the public
+owes the advantage of it to that book." Some of the sentiments of the
+book which particularly impressed him were as follows: "It is possible
+that the wisdom of a poor man may start a proposal that may save a
+city, save a nation." "A mean (humble) mechanic,--who can tell what an
+engine of good he may be, if humbly and wisely applied unto it?" "The
+remembrance of having been the man that first moved a good law, were
+better than a statue erected for one's memory." These, and similar
+thoughts, stimulated his mind to action, and really caused him to
+attempt what otherwise would have been impossible.
+
+If Benjamin had been engaged as usual, in reading, on that unfortunate
+evening, he would have escaped the guilt of an act that turned out to
+be a serious matter rather than a joke. The habit of spending leisure
+hours in poring over books, has saved many boys from vice and ruin.
+Many more might have been saved, if they had been so fond of books as
+to stay at home evenings to read. It is an excellent habit to form,
+and tends to preserve the character unsullied, while it stores the
+mind with useful knowledge.
+
+We shall see, as we advance, that Benjamin became very systematic and
+economical in the use of his time, that he might command every moment
+possible to read. The benefit he derived from the exercise when he was
+young caused him to address the following letter, many years
+thereafter, to a bright, intelligent girl of his acquaintance. The
+letter, being devoted to "_Advice on Reading_," is a valuable one to
+young persons now.
+
+     "I send my good girl the books I mentioned to her last night. I
+     beg of her to accept of them as a small mark of my esteem and
+     friendship. They are written in the familiar, easy manner for
+     which the French are so remarkable, and afford a good deal of
+     philosophic and practical knowledge, unembarrassed with the dry
+     mathematics used by more exact reasoners, but which is apt to
+     discourage young beginners.
+
+     "I would advise you to read with a pen in your hand, and enter in
+     a little book short hints of what you find that is curious, or
+     that may be useful; for this will be the best method of
+     imprinting such particulars on your memory, where they will be
+     ready either for practice on some future occasion, if they are
+     matters of utility, or, at least, to adorn and improve your
+     conversation, if they are rather points of curiosity; and, as
+     many of the terms of science are such as you cannot have met with
+     in your common reading, and may therefore be unacquainted with, I
+     think it would be well for you to have a good dictionary at hand,
+     to consult immediately when you meet with a word you do not
+     comprehend the precise meaning of.
+
+     "This may, at first, seem troublesome and interrupting; but it is
+     a trouble that will daily diminish, as you will daily find less
+     and less occasion for your dictionary, as you become more
+     acquainted with the terms; and, in the meantime, you will read
+     with more satisfaction, because with more understanding. When any
+     point occurs in which you would be glad to have further
+     information than your book affords you, I beg that you would not
+     in the least apprehend that I should think it a trouble to
+     receive and answer your questions. It will be a pleasure and no
+     trouble. For though I may not be able, out of my own little stock
+     of knowledge, to afford you what you require, I can easily direct
+     you to the books where it may most readily be found. Adieu, and
+     believe me ever, my dear friend,
+
+                                                  "B. FRANKLIN."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+TABLE TALK.
+
+
+"Yes," replied Mr. Franklin, to the inquiry of a friend who was dining
+with him; "my ancestors were inured to hardships, and I myself am not
+altogether a stranger to them. I had but little opportunity of going
+to school, and have always had to work hard for a livelihood."
+
+"So much the better for you now," replied his friend; "for in this new
+country, and these hard times, you cannot find the support of a large
+family an easy matter."
+
+"That is true; but I have never regretted coming to this country. The
+liberty of worshipping God according to the dictates of conscience, is
+one of the richest blessings, and more than compensates for the trial
+of leaving my native land."
+
+"Then you experienced the rigours of intolerance there, in some
+measure, did you?"
+
+"Oh yes; my forefathers adhered to the Protestant faith through the
+reign of Mary, and were often in great danger from the bitter hatred
+of the Papists. I sometimes wonder that they did not forfeit their
+lives in those days of persecution."
+
+"I can relate to you one interesting fact," interrupted Uncle
+Benjamin, addressing himself to the guest. "Our ancestors possessed an
+English Bible, which they valued highly, of course; but there was
+danger of losing it, through the craftiness and hostility of the Papal
+powers. They held the Protestant Bible in absolute contempt. So, to
+conceal their Bible, at the same time they could enjoy the reading of
+it, they 'fastened it open with tapes under and within the cover of a
+joint-stool.' When our great-grandfather desired to read it to his
+family, according to his daily custom, 'he placed the joint-stool on
+his knees, and then turned over the leaves under the tapes.' While he
+was reading, one of the children was stationed at the door to give the
+alarm if he should see 'the apparitor coming, who was an officer of
+the spiritual court.' If the officer was seen approaching, the stool
+was immediately set down upon its feet, and the Bible in this way was
+concealed from view. For a considerable time they were obliged to read
+the Scriptures in this secret manner."
+
+"But your father was not thus persecuted, was he?" inquired the
+friend.
+
+"He was not persecuted to such a degree," answered Uncle Benjamin,
+"though he had some experience of this kind; and even brother Josias
+and myself did not escape. Our father's family continued in the Church
+of England till about the end of Charles the Second's reign, when
+Josias and I joined the Nonconformists, and subjected ourselves to
+much contempt."
+
+"And that is the reason I am in this country now," said Mr. Franklin.
+"We enjoyed few privileges, and frequently our religious meetings were
+disturbed, as they were forbidden by law. On this account some of my
+acquaintances resolved to remove to this country, and I decided to
+join them."
+
+"How long ago was that?"
+
+"It was about 1685, so that you will perceive I am one of the old
+settlers of America. I have been here long enough to witness many
+changes, and have no desire to return to my native country. My
+children can scarcely appreciate how much they enjoy, in comparison
+with the experience of their ancestors."
+
+Benjamin had often heard the last remark, as a reminder of his
+obligations to be good and useful. Indeed, this whole tale of
+persecution he had listened to over and over, and had heard his Uncle
+Benjamin tell the story of the Bible and stool a number of times. He
+had come to the conclusion that he was faring better than his father
+did, although he did not think his own lot remarkably flattering.
+
+This conversation at the dinner-table was a specimen of what
+frequently occurred there in the way of remark. Mr. Franklin was
+gratified to have some intelligent friend at his table with him, that
+they might converse upon some useful topics, for the benefit of his
+children. When he had no guest at his table, he would call the
+attention of his children to some subject calculated to improve their
+minds, thinking, at the same time, that it would serve to draw off
+their attention from their humble fare. Children are apt to find fault
+with the food set before them, and perhaps the reader himself has more
+than once fretted over an unpalatable dish, and murmured for something
+else. Sometimes they beg for an article of food that is not on the
+table, declining to eat what is furnished for the family. It was not
+so at Mr. Franklin's table. He did not allow one of his children to
+complain of the food, however simple it might be; and his principal
+method of calling off their attention from the quality of their
+victuals was, as we have said, to converse upon some sensible theme.
+Their attention being directed to other things, they were seldom
+troubled about their food, and became almost indifferent to what was
+placed on the table. Benjamin said, in his manhood, on referring to
+this subject: "I am so unobservant of it, that to this day I can
+scarcely tell, a few hours after dinner, of what dishes it consisted.
+This has been a great convenience to me in travelling, where my
+companions have been sometimes very unhappy for the want of a
+suitable gratification of their more delicate, because better
+instructed tastes and appetites."
+
+The guests of Mr. Franklin being usually intelligent, their
+conversation was instructive to the children, who acquired thereby
+many valuable items of information. The condition and prospects of the
+country, the oppressive measures of the English government, and the
+means of future prosperity, were among the topics which they heard
+discussed. Although it seems like a small, unimportant influence to
+bring to bear upon tender childhood, yet it left its mark upon their
+characters. They had more interest in the public questions of the day,
+and more general intelligence in consequence.
+
+It is related of the Washburne family, of which four or five brothers
+occupy posts of political distinction in the United States, that in
+their early life their father's house was open to ministers, and was
+sometimes called "the minister's hotel." Mr. Washburne was a great
+friend of this class, and enjoyed their society much. At all times
+nearly, some one of the ministerial fraternity would be stopping
+there. His sons were thus brought into their society, and they
+listened to long discussions upon subjects of a scientific, political,
+and religious character, though public measures received a large share
+of attention. The boys acquired some valuable information by
+listening to their remarks, and this created a desire to read and
+learn more; and so they were started off in a career that bids fair to
+reflect honour both upon themselves and their country. Their early
+advantages were few, but the conversation of educated men, upon
+important subjects, laid the foundation of their eminence in public
+life.
+
+"You must give heed to little things," Mr. Franklin would frequently
+say to his sons, when they appeared to think that he was too
+particular about some things, such as behaviour at the table,
+"although nothing can really be considered small that is important. It
+is of far more consequence how you behave, than what you wear."
+
+Sometimes, if the meal was unusually plain (and it was never
+extravagant), he would say, "Many people are too particular about
+their victuals. They destroy their health by eating too much and too
+rich food. Plain, simple, wholesome fare is all that nature requires,
+and young persons who are brought up in this way will be best off in
+the end."
+
+Such kind of remarks frequently greeted the ears of young Benjamin; so
+that, as we have already seen, he grew up without caring much about
+the kind of food which he ate. Perhaps here is to be found the origin
+of those rigidly temperate principles in both eating and drinking, for
+which he was distinguished all through his life. In his manhood, he
+wrote and talked upon the subject, and reduced his principles to
+practice. When he worked as a printer in England, his fellow-labourers
+were hard drinkers of strong beer, really believing that it was
+necessary to make them competent to endure fatigue. They were
+astonished to see a youth like Benjamin able to excel the smartest of
+them in the printing-office, while he drank only cold water, and they
+sneeringly called him "the Water-American."
+
+The temperate habits which Benjamin formed in his youth were the more
+remarkable, because there were no temperance societies at that time,
+and it was generally supposed to be necessary to use intoxicating
+drinks. The evils of intemperance were not viewed with so much
+abhorrence as they are now, and the project of removing them from
+society was not entertained for a moment. Reformatory movements, in
+this respect, did not commence until nearly one hundred years after
+the time referred to. Yet Benjamin was fully persuaded in his youth
+that he ought to be temperate in all things. Probably there was not
+one of his associates who believed as he did on the subject. But he
+began early to think for himself, and this, with the excellent
+discipline of his wise and sagacious father, caused him to live in
+advance of those around him. It is not probable that he adopted the
+principle of total abstinence, and abstained entirely from the use of
+intoxicating drinks; but he was not in the habit of using it as a
+daily, indispensable beverage.
+
+That the practice of Benjamin's father, to allow no finding fault with
+the food at the table, and to lead the way in profitable conversation,
+was a good one, we think no one can deny. It was very different,
+however, from much of the table-talk that is heard in families.
+Conversation is frequently brisk and lively, but it often runs in this
+way:--
+
+"I don't want any of that, I don't like it," exclaimed Henry. "I
+should think you might have a better dinner than this."
+
+"What would you have if you could get it,--roast chicken and plum
+pudding?" inquires his mother, laughing, instead of reproving him for
+his error.
+
+"I would have something I can eat. You know I don't like that, and
+never did."
+
+"Well, it does boys good, sometimes, to eat what they don't like,
+especially such particular ones as you are," says his father.
+
+"I shan't eat what I don't like, at any rate," continues Henry, "I
+shall go hungry first."
+
+"There, now," added his father, "let me hear no more complaint about
+your food. You are scarcely ever suited with your victuals."
+
+"May I have some ----?" calling for some article not on the table.
+
+"If you will hold your tongue, and get it yourself, you can have it."
+
+"And let me have some, too!" shouts James, a younger brother; "I don't
+like this, neither. May I have some, father?"
+
+"And I too," said Jane, setting up her plea. "I must have some if they
+do."
+
+In this way the table-talk proceeds, until fretting, scolding, crying,
+make up the sum total of the conversation, and family joys are
+embittered for the remainder of the day. Finding fault with food is
+the occasion of all the unhappiness.
+
+Let the reader ask himself how much he has contributed to make
+conversation at the table proper and instructive. Has he thought more
+of the quality of his food than of anything else at the family board?
+If the review of the past reveals an error in this respect, let him
+learn a valuable lesson from this part of Benjamin Franklin's life.
+Though it may seem to be an unimportant matter, accept the testimony
+of Benjamin himself, and believe that it leaves its impress upon the
+future character.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+CHOOSING A TRADE.
+
+
+"You will have to be a tallow-chandler, after all, when your brother
+gets married and goes away," said one of Benjamin's associates to him.
+He had heard that an older son of Mr. Franklin, who worked at the
+business with his father, was about to be married, and would remove to
+Rhode Island, and set up business for himself.
+
+"Not I," replied Benjamin. "I shall work at it no longer than I am
+obliged to do."
+
+"That may be, and you be obliged to work at it all your life. It will
+be, as your father says, till you are twenty-one years old."
+
+"I know that; but my father does not desire to have me work in his
+shop against my wishes--only till I can find some other suitable
+employment. I would rather go to sea than anything."
+
+"Are your parents not willing that you should go to sea?"
+
+"No; they won't hear a word about it. I have talked with them till it
+is of no use. They seem to think that I should be shipwrecked, or
+that something else would happen, to prevent my return."
+
+"Then, if you can't go to sea, and you won't be a tallow-chandler,
+what can you do?"
+
+"I hardly know myself; but almost anything is preferable to this
+greasy business. If people had no more light than the candles I should
+make, unless I was obliged, they would have a pretty dark time of it."
+
+"I don't think it is a very disagreeable business," continued his
+companion. "It is quite easy work, certainly,--much more to my liking
+than sawing wood, and some other things I could name."
+
+"It may be easy," replied Benjamin; "but it is dirty and simple. It
+requires no ingenuity to do all that I do. Almost any simpleton could
+cut wicks and fill candle-moulds. A fellow who can't do it couldn't
+tell which side his bread is buttered. _I_ prefer to do something that
+requires thought and ingenuity."
+
+"There is something in that; but I guess it will take all your
+ingenuity to work yourself out of the tallow-chandler's business,"
+responded his friend, rather dryly.
+
+This conversation occurred one day in the shop, when Mr. Franklin was
+out. But just at this point he returned, and soon after the young
+visitor left. Benjamin was not acquainted with all his father's plans,
+and he had actually proceeded further than he was aware of towards
+introducing him into another calling, as the following conversation
+with Mrs. F., on the previous evening, will show--
+
+"I have resolved to find some other employment for Benjamin at once,"
+said he; "as John is to be married so soon, he will be able to render
+me but little more assistance, and I must have some one to take his
+place."
+
+"Are you satisfied," inquired Mrs. Franklin, "that Benjamin cannot be
+prevailed upon to take the place of John in your shop?"
+
+"Oh, yes! he is so dissatisfied with the business, that I fear he will
+yet go to sea, unless his attention is soon turned to some other
+pursuit. Then, if he has a taste for any other honourable pursuit, I
+am willing that he should follow it. He would not accomplish much at
+candle-making with his present feelings."
+
+"Have you anything in view for him to do?" asked Mrs. F.
+
+"Not positively. I want to learn, if I can, whether he has taste and
+tact for any particular business. If he has, he will accomplish more
+in that. I don't believe in compelling a boy to follow a pursuit for
+which he has no relish, unless it is where nothing else offers."
+
+"I think it is very necessary for boys to have a definite trade," said
+Mrs. F.; "they are more likely to succeed than those who are changing
+often from one thing to another. 'A rolling stone gathers no moss,' is
+an old saying."
+
+"That is the principal reason for my plan to introduce him into some
+other business soon. No one feels the importance of this more than I
+do, and I have pretty thoroughly imbued the mind of Benjamin with the
+same views. I think he has a desire to follow a definite calling,
+though now his taste seems to draw him towards a seafaring life."
+
+Benjamin could have appreciated this last remark, if it had been
+uttered in his hearing. For he had listened to so much counsel upon
+this point, that he had no desire to run from one thing to another.
+And he continued to cherish this feeling. When he became a man, he
+wrote the following maxims, among the many of which he was the
+author:--
+
+     "He that hath a trade hath an estate."
+
+     "He that hath a calling hath an office of honour."
+
+Here he taught the same lesson that he received from the lips of his
+father and mother when he was young. A trade is the assurance of a
+livelihood, however hard the times may be. As a general rule, they who
+follow trades secure a living, when they who have none come to want
+and suffer.
+
+But to return. Mr. Franklin rather surprised Benjamin by saying, after
+his associate left the shop, "I have decided on finding some other
+business for you immediately, if possible. I hope to find some opening
+for your learning an agreeable trade."
+
+"Where shall you go to find one?" inquired Benjamin, scarcely
+expecting to have his wishes gratified so early. "Have you any
+particular trade in view?"
+
+"No; I want to consult your tastes about the matter first; and I
+propose to go to-morrow with you, to see what we can find."
+
+"And I go with you, did you say?"
+
+"Yes; I wish to have you witness some things to which I shall call
+your attention, and decide for yourself what calling to follow."
+
+"Where will you go?" inquired Benjamin, deeply interested in the plan,
+as well he might be.
+
+"I shall not go out of town. Boston furnishes good examples of the
+different trades, and we shall not be under the necessity of extending
+our researches beyond its limits. So to-morrow I think we will start."
+
+Benjamin was delighted with the prospect of being delivered soon from
+the tallow-chandler's shop, and he anticipated the morrow with
+considerable impatience. He rejoiced when the light of the next
+morning came in at his chamber window, and brighter and earlier he was
+up to await his father's bidding. Suitable preparations were made, and
+directly after breakfast they set forth upon their important errand.
+The first shop they visited was that of a joiner, where he saw the
+plane and hammer used to advantage. He had witnessed such labour
+before, and also seen other employments to which his father called his
+attention on that day; but he never observed these different trades
+with the object which now brought him to the shops. Having spent some
+time at the joiner's bench, he next went to a turner's place of
+business, where he saw different articles turned to order, in so rapid
+a manner as to surprise him. He was more interested in the
+turning-lathe, and its rapid movement, than he was in the use of
+joiner's tools. Passing through a prominent street, after leaving the
+turner's, they came to an unfinished structure, on which bricklayers
+were employed. Here another trade was on exhibition, and Benjamin's
+attention was called to it, and the various kind of labour which this
+class of toilers were obliged to perform were explained to him. In
+this way they visited other work-shops, until they had seen the
+practical operations of the different trades, and Benjamin understood
+what kind of toil each required. One of the last shops they visited
+was that of Samuel Franklin, a son of Uncle Benjamin, and, of course,
+a cousin of Benjamin. He learned the trade of cutler in London, and
+had just come over and established himself in Boston. The business of
+a cutler is to make knives and other cutting instruments, in some
+respects a very interesting and attractive trade. Benjamin was
+evidently more pleased with this kind of business than any he had seen
+on that day. Whether it grew out of boyish love for jack-knives, or
+was the consequence of closely observing the ingenious modes of
+manufacturing cutlery, we need not say. It is enough to know that he
+was partially captivated by the trade, and before they reached home
+his father was well satisfied which trade he would select, though he
+had not questioned him at all on this point.
+
+"What trade have you decided to follow, Benjamin?" inquired his
+mother, as they sat at the tea-table; and she let fall a most loving
+smile upon her boy.
+
+"I think any of them are better than making candles," he replied,
+"although I like Samuel's trade the best of all."
+
+"That is just what I expected," said his father, laughingly. "I saw
+that you fell in love with his work, and I think myself that it is a
+very pleasant and promising business."
+
+"So you will decide to take that trade, will you?" said his mother.
+
+"In preference to all the trades I have seen yet," said Benjamin.
+
+"He is after a pocket knife," interrupted John, who sat at the table,
+speaking in a vein of pleasantry. "I see clearly what has taken _his_
+eye."
+
+"I suppose John will never care more about a knife, now he is going
+to have a wife," added Mr. Franklin, addressing his remark to
+Benjamin, in order to help him out of the predicament into which
+John's remark had placed him. "But did you not like the brazier's
+business?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I liked it very well, but not so well as I do the cutler's
+trade. If I can have my choice I shall choose that, and will begin
+to-morrow, if you are willing."
+
+"I shall make no objection, if that is your decision," replied his
+father. "I want you should weigh the matter carefully, however, and
+not be hasty in choosing."
+
+"It remains to be seen whether Samuel will take him as an apprentice,"
+said Mrs. Franklin. "Perhaps he may not want one. He has just
+commenced, and cannot be doing much business yet."
+
+"Father can easily learn that," said Benjamin. "He can see cousin
+Samuel to-morrow, and decide the matter at once."
+
+"I will see him to-morrow," said his father, "and arrange for you to
+go into his shop if possible."
+
+On the following day, Mr. Franklin called upon Samuel, his nephew, and
+made known the wishes of Benjamin. Although it was a new and
+unexpected subject, yet he received it favourably, and finally decided
+that Benjamin might come immediately, and try his hand at this new
+business. He thought it was best for both parties that no definite
+agreement or bargain should be made until Benjamin had tried the work,
+to which his father assented.
+
+Accordingly, Benjamin entered upon his new trade immediately, and was
+much pleased with it. It was so different from the work of
+candle-making, and required so much more thought and ingenuity, that
+he was prepared to pronounce it "first rate." It was with a light and
+cheerful heart that he went to each day's task.
+
+Mr. Franklin acted wisely in consulting the inclination of his son
+about a trade. A boy may have more qualifications for one pursuit than
+another; and this will generally be made manifest in the bent of his
+mind. He will exhibit a degree of tact for one calling, while he may
+be a blunderer at almost anything else. This characteristic is more
+remarkable with some boys than with others, and a disregard of it
+often entails unhappiness upon a whole family. When Handel, the
+distinguished musician, was a child, his father strictly forbade his
+listening to a note of music, or indulging his talent for the art.
+Although he exhibited remarkable musical abilities, his father paid no
+regard to the fact, but was determined to rear him to the profession
+of law. He ordered all musical instruments to be carried out of the
+house, and made it as difficult as possible for his son to gratify his
+taste for sweet sounds. But through the assistance of a servant, the
+boy obtained an instrument, which he kept in the garret; and there,
+when opportunity offered, with the strings of his "clavichord" so
+covered with pieces of cloth as to deaden the sound, he practised
+music until he became a proficient in harmony. It was not, however,
+until his father took him on a visit to see an elder brother, who was
+in the family of the Prince of Saxe-Weisenfels, that he became
+acquainted with the progress he had made in his loved art. While there
+he happened to go into the royal chapel just as the service was
+closing, when he glided up to the organ, unperceived, and commenced
+playing. The Prince was on the point of retiring; but he stopped, and
+inquired who was playing. He was told that it was young Handel, only
+seven years old; whereupon the Prince ordered the boy and his father
+to be summoned into his presence. The result of the interview was,
+that the Prince arranged for Handel to be placed for tuition under the
+organist of Halle Cathedral, where he soon became renowned. Posterity
+has not failed to condemn the unwise discipline of his father, in
+disregarding his inclination for a given pursuit.
+
+When Sir Joshua Reynolds was a boy, he was inclined to embrace every
+opportunity to gratify his taste for drawing. His father had no
+sympathy with him in thus spending his time, and he sought to repress
+his aspirations of this kind. One day he discovered that Joshua had
+disfigured his exercise-book with a number of well-executed drawings;
+but, instead of encouraging his talents in this line, he sharply
+rebuked him, and wrote underneath the sketches, "_Done by Joshua out
+of pure idleness._" His father was anxious that he should become a
+physician, and therefore he looked with no favour upon his propensity
+for drawing. But for the irrepressible power of genius, his unwise
+father would have deprived the world of one of its most gifted
+painters.
+
+The father of John Smeaton pursued a like censurable course in the
+discipline of his son. He frowned upon those early developments of
+genius that foreshadowed the renowned engineer that he became. When
+only four or five years of age, he was often seen dividing circles and
+squares. He rejected the toys that other children used, preferring
+tools with which he could construct machines. When only six or seven
+years of age, he was discovered on the roof of the barn, much to the
+consternation of his father and mother, fixing up a windmill of his
+own construction. Soon afterwards having seen some men repairing a
+pump, he procured from them a piece of bored pipe, he made one of his
+own, with which he could raise water. At fourteen years of age he made
+an engine to turn rose-work, and many were his presents of boxes of
+wood and ivory turned by himself. He made all his tools for working
+wood, ivory, and metals. He also invented a lathe for cutting a
+perpetual screw in brass. And yet his father was determined to make a
+lawyer of him, and thus spoil the mechanic. He actually disregarded
+all these proofs of mechanical genius, and sent him to London to be
+educated for the bar; and it was not until his father began to see the
+impossibility of making a good attorney of him, that he consented to
+let him follow the profession which the bent of his genius plainly
+marked out.
+
+The father of Benjamin Franklin acted more wisely in the first place,
+and resolved to educate him in that pursuit for which nature had best
+qualified him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE PRINTER-BOY.
+
+
+After Benjamin had worked at cutlery a suitable time, his father went
+to close the bargain, and make out the papers for his apprenticeship.
+But, to his surprise, his nephew demanded such conditions that Mr.
+Franklin could not think of accepting his proposition; and the result
+was, that he took Benjamin away, much to his disappointment. The boy
+submitted to his father's decision, however, with true filial
+obedience, evidently believing that he had good reasons for taking
+such a stand. Now he was neither a tallow-chandler nor a cutler,
+though not destined to be long without employment.
+
+Just before this juncture, as if Providence ordered events on
+Benjamin's account, his brother James returned from England, where he
+learned the printer's trade. He brought with him a good press, and
+type, in order to establish himself in Boston.
+
+"How would you like to learn the printer's trade with your brother
+James?" inquired Mr. Franklin of Benjamin. "I have been thinking that
+it was a good thing you did not continue the cutlery business, because
+you have superior qualifications for this."
+
+"What qualifications have I for this that I have not for the cutler's
+trade?" asked Benjamin.
+
+"You are a good reader, and have an intellectual turn, being fond of
+books, and such things belonging to mental improvement as the trade of
+printer offers."
+
+"I think I should like the business very well," added Benjamin.
+"Perhaps I should have a better opportunity to read than I should with
+cousin Samuel."
+
+"Of course you would. For the very matter you may be required to put
+into type may be as interesting and profitable as anything you could
+find in a book. All that you read in books went through the printer's
+hand first."
+
+"I had not thought of that before. I think I should like the business
+better than almost anything I know of. How long will it take to learn
+the trade?"
+
+"It will take some time," answered Mr. Franklin. "You are now twelve
+years of age, and you can certainly acquire the best knowledge of the
+business by the time you are twenty-one years old."
+
+"That is a long time," said Benjamin; "but I shall do what you think
+best."
+
+"I want _you_ should think it is best, too," said his father. "If you
+have no inclination to be a printer, I do not wish to have you
+undertake it. I have no confidence that you will succeed in any
+business for which you have no taste."
+
+"Well, I think better of this business now than I do of any other,"
+replied Benjamin, "and I should like to try it."
+
+"I will speak with James about it," said his father, "and see what
+arrangements can be made. The prospects of the business are not very
+flattering at present, but I think the day is coming when it will
+thrive."
+
+Mr. Franklin lost no time in consulting James, who favoured the plan
+without any reserve. He proposed to take Benjamin as an apprentice, to
+serve until he was twenty-one years of age, having only his board and
+clothes until the last year, when he would receive journeyman's wages.
+This was a good opportunity on the whole, for printing was in its
+infancy in America at that time. It is probable that not more than six
+or eight persons had been in the business in Boston before James
+Franklin commenced, in the year 1717. The demand for printing must
+have been very small indeed.
+
+When Mr. Franklin first made known to Benjamin the conditions on which
+James would receive him into the printing-office, and that he would be
+expected to sign the indenture, and leave his father's roof for such a
+boarding-place as his brother might provide, he hesitated about
+taking the step. He stated his objections frankly and fully to his
+father, who removed them without much difficulty, so that the writings
+were drawn up, and Benjamin placed his signature to them and was
+henceforth a "Boston printer's boy."
+
+He had not laboured long at the business before he was quite
+fascinated with it. He liked it better even than he expected. He
+exhibited, too, a good degree of tact for it, and his progress in
+learning the art was rapid. His brother was highly gratified with his
+close attention to his business, and commended him for the use he made
+of his leisure moments in reading. He was introduced now to another
+class of acquaintances, so that his opportunities for getting books to
+read were more favourable. The printing-office was frequented by
+booksellers' apprentices, whose employers necessarily wanted jobs of
+printing done. Through them Benjamin was made acquainted with the
+limited stock of books the market afforded.
+
+"I will lend you that book to-night," said one of these apprentices to
+him, "if you will return it clean in the morning," alluding to a
+certain volume which Benjamin was looking over in the book-store.
+
+"I should be glad to read it," answered Benjamin; "I think I can read
+it through before I go to bed, and so return it in the morning when I
+go to the office."
+
+"You won't have much time left for sleep, if you read that book
+through before you go to bed," said the apprentice.
+
+"Perhaps not; but I can afford to make a short night's rest of it, if
+I can have the reading of this book. I shall not mind that, and I can
+return it without a blemish."
+
+"The book is for sale," continued the apprentice, "and we might have a
+call for it to-morrow, or I would let you keep it longer. If you do
+not read it all to-night, and we do not sell it to-morrow, you can
+take it home with you again to-morrow night. I frequently read a
+volume through, a little at a time, before we have a chance to sell
+it."
+
+"You may be sure of having this in the morning, safe and sound," said
+Benjamin, as he left the store, thanking his friend for the kind
+favour.
+
+He went home, and sat up most of the night to read the book, being
+more deeply interested in its contents than he was in pleasant dreams.
+A short nap, after the volume was finished, was all that time could
+afford him; and the bookseller got his book, and the printing-office
+its apprentice, in good season.
+
+This was but a single instance of the favours he received in this way
+from his new acquaintances in the book business. Many nights he stole
+from sleep, that he might read volumes which he must return in the
+morning. In this way his mind was much improved, so that he began to
+be noticed in the office as a boy of great promise. One day Mr.
+Matthew Adams, a merchant of rank and influence, who had been
+attracted by Benjamin's appearance, said to him: "Do you find time to
+read any, with all the work you have to perform?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied Benjamin; "I read in the evenings, and
+occasionally find a little time during the day."
+
+"It is an excellent plan for boys to improve their minds," said Mr.
+Adams; "you will never regret spending your time in this way. I should
+be glad to show you my library, and to lend you any books you may be
+interested to read."
+
+"That is what I should like," said Benjamin, evidently delighted with
+this unexpected offer; "I find it difficult to get all the books I
+want."
+
+"It would afford me great pleasure to assist you what little I can in
+this respect," repeated Mr. Adams. "Boys who are not privileged to go
+to school need such help, and I am glad to see that you are disposed
+to accept of it."
+
+Benjamin thanked him for his kindness, and assured him that he should
+embrace the first opportunity to call at his house. He redeemed his
+promise at his earliest convenience, and Mr. Adams received him with
+genuine cordiality. He showed him his library, and allowed him to
+select any book he preferred to carry home, and invited him to come as
+often as he pleased for others. This was a brimful cup of kindness to
+Benjamin, and the reader may be sure that he thought highly of Mr.
+Adams. Nor was he backward in availing himself of the privilege
+offered, but went often to gratify his thirst for knowledge.
+
+The reader can scarcely appreciate the value of this privilege to
+Benjamin, unless he understands that books were far from being
+abundant then. The bookstores, instead of being furnished with
+thousands of volumes to suit every taste in the reading world, offered
+only a meagre collection of volumes, such as would hardly be noticed
+at the present time. There were no large publishing houses,
+manufacturing many books in a year, and scattering them over the land,
+as is the case to-day. Neither were there any libraries at that time.
+The idea of a collection of books to lend for the public good had not
+entered the minds of men,--a striking contrast with this feature of
+society now, when a city like Boston opens its splendid Public Library
+of seventy-five thousand volumes, free to all her citizens, and
+smaller towns and villages throughout the land furnish reading matter
+for old and young in similar proportion; whilst private libraries of
+five, ten, twenty, and thirty thousand volumes are not unusual. Now,
+the trouble with boys is not how they can possibly get books to read,
+but what they shall select from the vast number that load the shelves
+of libraries and bookstores.
+
+The habit of reading which Benjamin had thus early formed served to
+make him punctual. In order to command the more time, he was promptly
+at his work, and efficiently discharged every duty. He was seldom, if
+ever, caught in tardiness. It was this well-formed habit of
+punctuality that made him so reliable in the printing-office. His
+brother knew that he would be there at such a time, and that he would
+remain just so many hours. This fact won his confidence, as it does
+the confidence of every one. There is no quality that does more to
+gain a good name for an individual, and inspire the confidence of his
+fellow-men, than this one of punctuality. It is so generally found in
+company with other excellent traits of character, that it seems to be
+taken for granted, usually, that the punctual person is worthy in
+other respects. This quality contributed to the renown and influence
+of Lord Brougham, of whom it is said, that, when he was in the zenith
+of his glory, presiding in the House of Lords and the Court
+of Chancery, he found time to manage eight or ten public
+associations,--one of which was the Society for the Diffusion of
+Useful Knowledge,--and he was a pattern of punctuality in every place,
+being always in the chair when the hour for meeting arrived.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+FIRST LITERARY ENTERPRISE.
+
+
+"What have you there?" inquired James, one day, looking over
+Benjamin's shoulder at some composition which he held in his hand.
+"Ay! poetry, is it? Then you are a poet, are you? Let me read it."
+
+Benjamin rather hesitated to exhibit the first attempts of his muse to
+fly, but James was determined to read it, and so he gave it up to him,
+saying, "I was only seeing what I could do."
+
+The fact was, Benjamin had been reading poetry, and, having a little
+of its spirit in his own nature, he was tempted to try his ability at
+writing some.
+
+"That is really good," said James, after he had read it; "not quite
+equal to Virgil or Homer, but very good for a printer-boy to write.
+Have you any other pieces?"
+
+"Two or three more," answered Benjamin, somewhat encouraged by his
+brother's commendation; "but they are not worth reading."
+
+"Produce them," said James, "and I will tell you what they are worth."
+Whereupon Benjamin took two or three more from his pockets, which
+James read with evident satisfaction.
+
+"I tell you what it is, Benjamin," said James after having read them
+all, "you can write something worth printing if you try; and if you
+will undertake it, you may print and sell a sheet in the streets. I
+have no doubt that it would sell well."
+
+"I will see what I can do," replied Benjamin, "though I suspect my
+poetry won't read very well in print."
+
+Benjamin was not long in producing two street ballads, better,
+perhaps, than anything he had written before, but still susceptible of
+very great improvement. One was entitled "The Lighthouse Tragedy," and
+was founded on the shipwreck of Captain Worthilake and his two
+daughters. The other was a sailor's song, on the capture of the famous
+"Teach," or "Bluebeard," the pirate. James read them with approbation.
+
+"Now," said he, "you shall put them into type, and sell them about the
+town, if you are willing. I have no doubt that a good number of them
+may be disposed of."
+
+"How many copies of them would you print?" inquired Benjamin.
+
+"We can print a few to begin with, and let the type remain standing
+until we see how they go. Then we shall run no risk."
+
+"Shall I do it immediately?"
+
+"As soon as you can," answered James. "The quicker the better."
+
+Benjamin was not long in printing the two ballads, and having them
+ready for sale. Under the direction of his brother, he went forth, in
+due time, to offer them about the town. Whether he cried them about
+the streets, as the newsboys do the daily papers now, we have no means
+of knowing. But he met with very good success, particularly in the
+sale of the first, "The Lighthouse Tragedy." That commemorated an
+event of recent occurrence, and which excited much public feeling and
+sympathy at the time, so that people were quite prepared to purchase.
+It sold even beyond his expectations, and his success inflated his
+vanity somewhat. It caused him to believe, almost, that he was a
+genuine poet, and that distinction and a fortune were before him. If
+he had not been confronted by his father on the subject, it is
+possible that the speculation might have proved a serious injury to
+him. But his father learned of his enterprise, and called him to an
+account. Perhaps he stepped into his shop, as he was selling them
+about town, and gave him a copy. At any rate, his father learned the
+fact, and the following interview will show what he thought of it.
+
+"I am ashamed to see you engaged in such a business, Benjamin," said
+he.
+
+"Why so, father?"
+
+"Because it is not an honourable business. You are not a poet, and
+can write nothing worthy of being printed."
+
+"James approved of the pieces," said Benjamin, "and proposed that I
+should print and sell them."
+
+"James is not a judge of poetry," replied his father. "It is wretched
+stuff, and I am ashamed that you are known as the author. Look here,
+let me show you wherein it is defective;" and here Mr. Franklin began
+to read it over aloud, and to criticise it. He was a man of sound
+sense, and competent to expose the faults of such a composition. He
+proceeded with his criticisms, without sparing the young author's
+feelings at all, until Benjamin himself began to be sorry that he had
+undertaken the enterprise.
+
+"There, I want you should promise me," said his father, "that you will
+never deal in such wares again, and that you will stick to your
+business of setting up type."
+
+"Perhaps I may improve by practice," said Benjamin, "so that I may yet
+be able to write something worthy of being read. You couldn't expect
+me to write very well at first."
+
+"But you are not a poet," continued Mr. Franklin. "It is not in you,
+and, even if it was, I should not advise you to write it; for poets
+are generally beggars,--poor, shiftless members of society."
+
+"That is news to me," responded Benjamin. "How does it happen, then,
+that some of their works are so popular?"
+
+"Because a true poet can write something worthy of being read, while a
+mere verse-maker, like yourself, writes only doggerel, that is not
+worth the paper on which it is printed. Now I advise you to let
+verse-making alone, and attend closely to your business, both for your
+own sake and your brother's."
+
+Mr. Franklin was rather severe upon Benjamin, although what he said of
+his verses was true. Still, it was a commendable effort in the boy to
+try to improve his mind. Some of the best poets who have lived wrote
+mere doggerel when they began. Many of our best prose-writers, too,
+were exceedingly faulty writers at first. It is a noble effort of a
+boy to try to put his thoughts into writing. If he does not succeed in
+the first instance, by patience, energy, and perseverance he may
+triumph at last. Benjamin might not have acted wisely in selling his
+verses about town, but his brother, so much older and more experienced
+than himself, should bear the censure of that, since it was done by
+his direction.
+
+The decided opposition that Mr. Franklin showed to verse-making put a
+damper upon Benjamin's poetical aspirations. The air-castle that his
+youthful imagination had built, in consequence of the rapid sale of
+his literary wares, tumbled to ruin at once. He went back to the
+office and his work quite crest-fallen.
+
+"What has happened now?" inquired James, noticing that Benjamin looked
+somewhat less smiling.
+
+"Father doesn't think much of my printing and selling verses of my
+own," replied Benjamin. "He has been giving me a real lecture, so that
+I am almost ashamed of myself."
+
+"How is that," said James, "does he dislike your pieces?"
+
+"Yes; and he will not allow that they have any merit. He read them
+over in his way, and counted faults enough to show that there is very
+little poetry in me. A beggar and a poet mean about the same thing to
+him."
+
+"He ought to remember that you are young," answered James, "and may
+improve wonderfully in future. You can't expect to write either prose
+or poetry well without beginning and trying."
+
+"All the trying in the world can do nothing for me, I should judge
+from father's talk," added Benjamin, rather seriously.
+
+Perhaps it was a good thing for Benjamin to meet with this obstacle in
+his path to success. According to his own confession, his vanity was
+inflated by the sale of his ballads, and he might have been puffed up
+to his future injury, had not his father thus unceremoniously taken
+the wind out of his sails. There was little danger now, however.
+After such a severe handling, he was not likely to overrate his
+poetical talents. It had the effect also to turn his attention to
+prose writing, which is more substantial and remunerative than poetry,
+and in this he became distinguished, as we shall see hereafter.
+
+The practice of writing down one's thoughts, called in our schools
+"composition," is excellent, and ought not to be so generally
+neglected by the young as it is. It proved a valuable exercise to
+Benjamin, even before he became renowned in the service of his
+country. In several instances, while he was yet a youth, it enabled
+him to secure business, when otherwise he might have been in extreme
+want. It gave him the ability to conduct his brother's paper, when
+only sixteen years of age, at a time when the government of the
+Province incarcerated James, so that the paper would have been crushed
+but for the ability of Benjamin. When he first commenced business in
+Philadelphia, also, it enabled him to produce articles for the
+"Pennsylvania Gazette," which attracted general notice, and opened the
+way for his becoming both proprietor and editor of the same. And a
+little later he was able to write a pamphlet on the "_Nature and
+Necessity of a Paper Currency_," proposing a measure that was carried
+through the legislature, because the opponents of it had no writer in
+their ranks competent to answer it. These are only a few examples of
+the many advantages he derived from early training himself to write,
+even before he had passed the dew of his youth. In age he referred to
+this practice of his boyhood with much pleasure, and regarded it as
+one of the fortunate exercises that contributed to his eminent
+success.
+
+Many such facts as the following might be cited upon this subject. A
+farmer's son began, at fourteen years of age, to write something every
+day, after his work was done, in a blank-book which he kept for the
+purpose. He persevered in the practice for several years, and acquired
+a facility in composition before he thought of having a liberal
+education. The consequence was, that his friends became earnest to
+have him educated, and he was sent to college, where he ranked high as
+a writer; and he is now about entering the ministry, under very
+flattering circumstances. Few young men have more ease and power of
+writing at the commencement of their ministerial work; and it all
+results from his early self-discipline in the exercise of
+composition.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE DISPUTE.
+
+
+Benjamin was intimate, at this time, with a youth by the name of John
+Collins. He was intelligent, sprightly, and fond of books, so that he
+was a very agreeable companion. They differed somewhat in their
+opinions upon various subjects, and frequently found themselves
+engaged in earnest disputation. When other boys were accustomed to
+spend their time in foolish talking and jesting, Benjamin and John
+were warmly discussing some question of importance, well suited to
+improve the mind. One day their conversation related to the education
+of the sexes.
+
+"It would be a waste of money," said John, "to attempt to educate
+girls as thoroughly as boys are educated; for the female sex are
+inferior to the male in intellectual endowment."
+
+"Pshaw!" exclaimed Benjamin; "you know better than that. The girls are
+not so simple as you think they are. I believe that women are not a
+whit inferior to men in their mental qualities."
+
+"I should like to know where you discover the evidence of it?" replied
+John. "There is no proof of it in the works they have written."
+
+"That may be true, and still they stand upon an equality in respect to
+intellect. For not half so much is done to educate them as there is to
+educate the male sex. How can you tell whether they are mentally
+inferior or not, until they are permitted to enjoy equal advantages?"
+
+"As we tell many other things," answered John. "Women do not need so
+high mental endowments as men, since they are not required to lead off
+in the different branches of business, or to prosecute the sciences. I
+can see no wisdom in bestowing talents upon them which they never use,
+and it is often said that 'nothing is made in vain.'"
+
+"Well, I must go," said Benjamin, "but I think you have a weak cause
+to defend. If I had the time I could make out a case."
+
+"A poor one, I guess," quickly added John. "We will see, the next time
+we meet, who can make out a case."
+
+"It will be some time before we meet again," responded Benjamin, "and
+our ardour will be cooled before that time, I am thinking. But it will
+do us no harm to discuss the subject."
+
+"If we keep our temper," said John, tacking his sentence to the last
+word of Benjamin's reply. And so saying, they parted.
+
+After Benjamin had revolved the subject still more in his mind, he
+became anxious to commit his argument to writing. Accordingly, with
+pen and paper in hand, he sat down to frame the best argument he could
+in favour of educating the female sex. He wrote it in the form of a
+letter, addressed to his friend Collins, and, after having completed,
+he copied it in a fair hand, and sent it to him. This brought back a
+long reply, which made it necessary for Benjamin to pen an answer. In
+this way the correspondence continued, until several letters had
+passed between them, and each one had gained the victory in his own
+estimation.
+
+One day Benjamin's father met with these letters accidentally, and he
+read them over, and was somewhat impressed with their character.
+
+"What are these, Benjamin," he inquired, at the same time holding up
+the letters.
+
+Benjamin smiled, and rather hesitated to reply.
+
+"So it seems you have been engaged in a controversy with John,"
+continued Mr. Franklin. "You have both done very well, though I think
+there is some chance of improvement yet."
+
+"Have you read them all?" inquired Benjamin.
+
+"I have, and must say that, in some respects, John has the advantage
+of you."
+
+"In what has he the advantage?" asked Benjamin, with some anxiety.
+
+"Well, John writes in a more finished style than you do," answered Mr.
+Franklin. "His expressions are more elegant, and there is more method
+and perspicuity in his composition."
+
+"I rather think you are prejudiced," said Benjamin, with a smile.
+
+"_I_ rather think not," answered his father. "You have the advantage
+of John in correct spelling, and in pointing your sentences, which is
+the consequence of working in the printing-office. But I can convince
+you that less method and clearness characterize your letters than
+his."
+
+"I am ready to be convinced," added Benjamin. "I hardly expect I have
+attained perfection in writing yet."
+
+His father then proceeded to read from the letters of each, with the
+design of showing that John's writing was more perspicuous, and that
+there was more method in his argument. Nor was it a very difficult
+task.
+
+"I am convinced," said Benjamin, before his father had read all he
+intended to read. "I can make improvement in those points without much
+trouble. There is certainly a good chance for it."
+
+"That is what I want you should see," rejoined his father, "I am
+really pleased with your letters, for they show me that you have
+talents to improve. My only object in calling your attention to these
+defects is to aid you in cultivating your mental powers."
+
+This kind, paternal criticism was a very happy thing for Benjamin. It
+had the effect to make him more careful in his compositions, and to
+beget within him both a desire and resolve to improve. Not long after,
+he met with an old volume of the Spectator, in a bookstore; and
+knowing that it would be a good model by which to form the style, he
+determined to purchase it. He bought it at a low price, and began to
+study it with reference to improving the style of his composition. The
+method which he adopted to discipline himself, by the aid of this
+work, is proof of his patience, perseverance, and desire to excel. In
+the first place, he read it over and over, until he became very well
+acquainted with its contents. Then he took some of the papers it
+contained, and made short hints of the sentiments of each sentence,
+and laid them by for a few days; and then, without referring to the
+book, he proceeded to put those thoughts into sentences, and thus went
+through each paper,--a long and laborious work. When he had completed
+a paper in this way, he carefully compared his Spectator with the
+original, and was able thereby to discover and correct many errors in
+his style. He found that he was very deficient in the command of
+language.
+
+"If you had not discouraged me in writing poetry," said he to his
+father, "I should have found it of much service now."
+
+"How so?" inquired Mr. Franklin.
+
+"If I had continued to write poetry, I should have been obliged to
+select words that would rhyme, and this would have made me familiar
+with a larger number of words, and the choicest ones too. I am greatly
+troubled now to find words to express my thoughts."
+
+"I should have had no objections to your writing poetry with such an
+object in view; but to print and sell it about town was carrying the
+thing a little too far," replied Mr. Franklin. "It is not too late to
+begin now. I rather think you have discovered an important defect in
+your writing. John evidently has a better command of language than you
+have, hence his style is more polished. But you are at work, now, in
+the right way to improve. Perseverance will accomplish the thing."
+
+"I am going to do this," said Benjamin; "I shall take some of the
+tales in the book and put them into verse, and then, after a while,
+change them back again."
+
+"That will be a good exercise," answered his father, much pleased with
+his son's desire to improve. "If your patience holds out, you will be
+amply rewarded, in the end, for all your labour."
+
+This last purpose, Benjamin executed with much zeal, and thus divided
+his time between putting tales into poetry, and then turning them into
+prose. He also jumbled his collection of hints into confusion, and so
+let them lie for some weeks, when he would again reduce them to order,
+and write out the sentences to the end of the subject.
+
+For a printer-boy to accomplish so much, when he must work through the
+day in the office, seemed hardly possible. But, at this period,
+Benjamin allowed no moments to run to waste. He always kept a book by
+him in the office, and every spare moment was employed over its pages.
+In the morning, before he went to work, he found some time for reading
+and study. He was an early riser, not, perhaps, because he had no
+inclination to lie in bed, but because he had more to improve his
+mind. He gained time enough in the morning, by this early rising, to
+acquire more knowledge than some youths and young men do by constantly
+going to school. In the evening, he found still more time for mental
+improvement, extending his studies often far into the night. It was
+his opinion that people generally consume more time than is necessary
+in sleep, and one of his maxims, penned in early manhood, was founded
+on that opinion. The maxim is, "The sleeping fox catches no poultry."
+
+It is not strange that a boy who subjected himself to such close
+discipline for a series of years should write some of the best maxims
+upon this subject when he became a man. Take the following, in
+addition to those cited in a former chapter:--
+
+"There are no gains without pains; then help hands, for I have no
+lands."
+
+"Industry pays debts, while despair increaseth them."
+
+"Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day."
+
+"Leisure is time for doing something useful."
+
+"A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things."
+
+"Fly pleasures, and they will follow you. The diligent spinner has a
+large shift, and, now I have a sheep and a cow, every one bids me
+good-morrow."
+
+"Be ashamed to catch yourself idle."
+
+"Handle your tools without mittens; remember that the cat in gloves
+catches no mice."
+
+"There is much to be done, and perhaps you are weak-handed: but stick
+to it steadily, and you will see great effects, for constant dropping
+wears away stones; and by diligence and patience the mouse ate in two
+the cable; and little strokes fell great oaks."
+
+    "Early to bed, and early to rise
+    Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
+
+Here is the genuine gold of thought,--whole volumes of counsel worked
+down into single flashing lines of truth,--just such utterances as we
+might expect from the lips of one who was early taught to walk in the
+ways of wisdom. All along in the future of Benjamin's life, we shall
+see these maxims illustrated, proving that they are living and bright
+realities.
+
+In order to prosecute his purposes, Benjamin took a step, at this
+period, for which he censured himself long after. Being away from his
+father's house, in a boarding-place provided by his brother, he
+violated the Sabbath day by devoting its sacred hours to mental
+improvement. At home, his parents had ever required that he should
+attend public worship; but now he neglected the house of God, that he
+might command the more time for study. It was a grave breach of a
+divine commandment, and a disregard of parental authority, which he
+afterwards deeply regretted. At the time, he was obliged to hold long
+parleys with conscience, which told him that he ought still to visit
+the sanctuary, and devote Sabbath hours to sacred duties. Yet his
+great thirst for knowledge overcame his regard for holy time.
+
+It must appear quite evident to the reader by this time, that Benjamin
+derived much benefit from his conversation with John Collins upon a
+useful topic. A large majority of boys, of their age, spend their
+leisure moments in vain and useless talking. They think not of
+self-improvement, and scarcely desire to be benefited in this way.
+The most unmeaning and thoughtless words escape from their lips, and a
+sound, sensible, valuable conversation they seldom, if ever, attempt.
+What an excellent example is that of young Franklin and Collins,
+discussing a question of importance, instead of wasting their breath
+in meaningless chatter! It stimulated the former to consult the best
+models of style in composition, and was the real occasion of his
+adopting a most critical and thorough plan of self-culture. All this
+the consequence of conversing properly, instead of spending leisure
+moments in boyish antics, or uttering nonsense!
+
+The reader need not infer that violation of the Sabbath, and disregard
+of parental counsels, are less heinous sins than some would grant,
+since Benjamin was guilty of both, and yet he did not go to ruin. For
+ten boys who do the same things that he did are ruined thereby, where
+one is saved. The father of Walter Scott forbade his reading
+fictitious works, yet he concealed them in a sly place, and read them
+when his father's eye was not upon him; and they served to stimulate
+his mind to pursue a most brilliant literary career. In like manner,
+Pope, the distinguished poet, strolled into the theatre in his
+boyhood, when he was away from his parents at school, and there the
+first aspiration of his soul for that sphere of mental effort in which
+he became distinguished, was begotten. But these examples cannot be
+cited in favour of novel-reading and theatre-going; for they are
+exceptions to a general rule. The great mass of the youth who allow
+themselves to be fascinated by the novel and theatre make shipwreck of
+their hopes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+PLAIN FARE.
+
+
+"How much will you allow me a week if I will board myself?" inquired
+Benjamin of James. "It costs you now more than you need to pay." James
+was still boarding Benjamin in a family near by, being himself yet
+unmarried.
+
+"Then you think I am paying more a week for your board than it is
+worth?" replied his brother.
+
+"No more than you will be obliged to pay in any other family, but more
+than I shall ask you," answered Benjamin.
+
+"Then you think of opening a boarding-house for the special
+accommodation of Benjamin Franklin?" which was treating his request
+rather lightly.
+
+"I propose to board myself," said Benjamin. "I do not eat meat of any
+kind, as you know, so that I can do it very easily, and I will agree
+to do it, if you will pay me half the money weekly which you pay for
+my board."
+
+"Agreed," replied James. "The bargain is made. When will you begin?"
+
+"To-morrow," was Benjamin's laconic reply.
+
+Benjamin had been reading a work on "vegetable diet," by one Tryon,
+and it was this which induced him to discard meat as an article of
+food. Mr. Tryon, in his work, gave directions for cooking vegetables,
+and such dishes as a vegetarian might use, so that the matter of
+boarding was made quite simple. Benjamin really thought that this mode
+of living was best for health and strength, though his chief object in
+proposing to board himself was to obtain money to purchase books. He
+had been trying a vegetable diet for some time in the family where he
+and his brother had boarded, and had often been both ridiculed and
+censured for his oddity. Perhaps he wanted to get away where he could
+eat as he pleased, with no one to say, "Why do ye so?" But most of all
+he wanted to command more money, that he might gratify his thirst for
+knowledge.
+
+James was very willing to accept the proposition, as it would bring a
+little more money into his pocket. He was an avaricious and penurious
+young man, who thought mainly of making money in his business, and it
+was of little consequence to him whether he made it out of his brother
+or some one else.
+
+"How much do you make by boarding yourself, Ben?" inquired James, some
+weeks after the experiment was commenced.
+
+"I save just half of the money you pay me," answered Benjamin, "so
+that it costs me just one quarter as much as you paid for my board."
+
+"You understand economy, I must confess," said his brother. "However,
+I have no fault to find if you are satisfied."
+
+"The money I save is not the best part of it," continued Benjamin. "I
+save about a half-hour every noon for reading. After I have eaten my
+meal, I usually read as long as that before you return from dinner."
+
+"Not a very sumptuous meal I reckon," said James dryly;
+"sawdust-pudding, perhaps, with cold-water sauce!"
+
+"Nothing so difficult to procure as that," responded Benjamin. "A
+biscuit or a slice of bread, with a tart or a few raisins, and a glass
+of water, make a good dinner for me; and then my head is all the
+lighter for study."
+
+"I should think you might have a light head with such living," added
+James, "and your body will be as light before many weeks I prophesy."
+
+"I will risk it. I am on a study now that requires a clear head, and I
+am determined to master it."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"It is Cocker's Arithmetic."
+
+"Begin to wish you knew something about arithmetic by this time,"
+added James sarcastically. "Making up for misspent time, I see!" Here
+was a fling at Benjamin's dislike of arithmetic when he was sent to
+school. We have seen that he accomplished nothing in figures, either
+at the public school or when he was under Mr. Brownwell's tuition.
+Liking some other studies better, he neglected this, and now, as is
+generally the case, he regretted his error, and applied himself to
+acquire that which he might have acquired before. It was a difficult
+task for him, but his patience and perseverance, together with his
+economy of time, and temperance in eating and drinking, enabled him to
+accomplish his object. Then he read a work on Navigation, and made
+himself particularly familiar with the geometry which it contained.
+"Locke on the Understanding," and "The Art of Thinking," were two
+other works that he read closely while he was living on a vegetable
+diet. All these works were difficult to be mastered by a boy not yet
+fourteen years of age. Yet he was not discouraged by this fact; it
+rather seemed to arouse him to greater efforts.
+
+"You calculate time as closely as a miser does his money, Ben," said
+James.
+
+"As little as I have for myself requires that I should calculate
+closely," was his reply. "Time is money to you, or else you would
+allow me a little more to myself; and it is more than money to me."
+
+"How so?" inquired James.
+
+"It enables me to acquire knowledge, which I cannot buy with money.
+Unless I was saving of my time, I should not be able to read or study
+at all, having to work so constantly."
+
+Perhaps, at this time, Benjamin laid the foundation for that economy
+which distinguished him in later life, and about which he often wrote.
+Among his wise sayings touching this subject are the following:--
+
+"If you would be wealthy, think of saving, as well as of getting."
+
+"What maintains one vice would bring up two children."
+
+"Many a little makes a mickle."
+
+"A small leak will sink a ship."
+
+"At a great pennyworth pause awhile."
+
+"Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire."
+
+"Always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes
+to the bottom."
+
+    "For age and want save while you may,--
+    No morning sun lasts a whole day."
+
+"It is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel."
+
+"A penny saved is a penny earned."
+
+    "A penny saved is twopence clear;
+    A pin a day is a groat a year."
+
+"He that wastes idly a groat's worth of his time per day, one day with
+another, wastes the privilege of using one hundred pounds each day."
+
+To a young tradesman he wrote, in the year 1748:--
+
+     "Remember that time is money. He that can earn ten shilling a day
+     by his labour, and goes abroad or sits idle one half that day,
+     though he spend but sixpence during his diversion or idleness,
+     ought not to reckon that the only expense; he has really spent,
+     or rather thrown away, five shillings besides....
+
+     "In short, the way to wealth, if you desire it, is as plain as
+     the way to market. It depends chiefly on two words, _industry_
+     and _frugality_; that is, waste neither _time_ nor _money_, but
+     make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality nothing
+     will do, and with them everything. He that gets all he can
+     honestly, and saves all he gets (necessary expenses excepted),
+     will certainly become _rich_,--if that Being who governs the
+     world, to whom all should look for a blessing on their honest
+     endeavours, doth not, in his wise providence, otherwise
+     determine."
+
+In these excellent sayings, time and money are spoken of together,
+because time is money; and Franklin was never more economical of one
+than of the other. All that he says of frugality in respect to
+property applies equally to time, and _vice versa_. In his boyhood,
+when he adopted a vegetable diet, he had no money to save, so that the
+most of his economy related to time. It being to him as valuable as
+gold, he was prompted to husband it as well. To some observers he
+might have appeared to be penurious, but those who knew him saw that
+he reduced another of his own maxims to practice: "We must save, that
+we may share." He never sought to save time or money that he might
+hoard the more of worldly goods to enjoy in a selfish way. He was ever
+generous and liberal, as we shall see hereafter. The superficial
+observer might suppose that a niggardly spirit prompted him to board
+himself,--that he adopted a vegetable diet for the sake of mere lucre.
+But nothing could be wider from the truth than such a view. We cannot
+discover the least desire to _hoard_ the money he saved. He laid it
+out in books, and such things as aided him in self-improvement. He
+believed in temperate eating, as we have already said, and the
+following maxims of his show the same thing:--
+
+     "Who dainties love, shall beggars prove."
+
+     "Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them."
+
+     "Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy
+     necessaries."
+
+He saw that he could never possess the books he needed, or command the
+time, if his appetite for luxuries was gratified. In his
+circumstances, the most marked self-denial was necessary, to gain his
+object. At the same time, he believed it would make him more healthy
+to be abstemious. There was not an iota of stinginess in his habitual
+economy.
+
+Economy of time or money is praiseworthy only when it is done to
+command the means of being useful,--which was true of Franklin. When
+it is practised to gratify a sordid love of money, it is ignoble and
+sinful.
+
+About this time, Benjamin and John Collins had another
+interview,--differing somewhat from the one already described, as the
+following dialogue will show:--
+
+"What book is this, Ben?" inquired John, taking up one from the table.
+
+"It is an old English Grammar which I came across the other day,"
+answered Benjamin. "It has two chapters, near the close, on Rhetoric
+and Logic, that are valuable."
+
+"Valuable to you, perhaps, but not to me," said John. "What shall I
+ever want of Rhetoric or Logic?"
+
+"Everybody ought to know something about them," answered Benjamin.
+"They have already helped me, in connection with the works of
+Shaftesbury, to understand some things about religion better. I have
+believed some doctrines just because my parents taught me so."
+
+"Then you do not believe all that you have been taught about religion,
+if I understand you?"
+
+"No, I am free to say that I do not. There is neither reason nor
+wisdom in portions of the creed of the Church."
+
+"Why, Ben, you surprise me. You are getting to be quite infidel for a
+boy. It won't do for you to read Logic and Shaftesbury any more, if
+you are so easily upset by them."
+
+"Made to understand better by them what is right and what is wrong,"
+answered Benjamin. "The fact is, very few persons think for
+themselves. They are religious because they are so instructed. They
+embrace the religion of their parents without asking themselves what
+is true or false."
+
+"There is not much danger that you will do that," said John. "Present
+appearances rather indicate that the religious opinions of your father
+will be blown sky-high,"--though John did not mean quite so much as
+his language denotes.
+
+"You do not understand me. I respect my parents and their religious
+opinions, though I doubt some of the doctrines they have taught, and
+which I never carefully examined until recently."
+
+"I must go," said John; "at another time, I will hear more;"--and he
+hurried away to his business, which was waiting for him.
+
+Benjamin had read carefully the works of Collins and Shaftesbury,
+which were well suited to unsettle his religious belief. At the time
+of this interview, he was really a doubter, though not avowedly
+opposed to religion. The fact shows the necessity of using care in
+selecting books to be read, and the danger of tampering with those
+that speak lightly of the Gospel. Even a mind as strong as that of
+Benjamin was warped by the sophistries of such a book, and it was some
+years before he recovered wholly from the sad effects of such reading.
+His early religious culture, however, and his disposition and ability
+to perceive the truth, finally saved him from the abyss of infidelity,
+as will appear more evident in the pages that follow.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE NEWSPAPER.
+
+
+On the seventeenth day of January, 1721, James Franklin began to issue
+a newspaper, called "THE NEW ENGLAND COURANT." It was the third one at
+the time in the whole country. The first paper--"THE BOSTON
+NEWSLETTER"--was established in 1704, two years before the birth of
+Benjamin. It was only a half-sheet of paper, about the size of an
+eight by twelve inch pane of glass, "in two pages folio, with two
+columns on each page." Consequently, it could not have contained more
+printed matter than is now compressed into half a page of one of the
+Boston dailies. Yet it was considered a very important undertaking for
+the times.
+
+When James Franklin proposed to start the third paper in America, some
+of his friends thought it was a wild project, and endeavoured to
+dissuade him from it. They saw nothing but ruin before him, and used
+every persuasion to lead him to abandon the enterprise. They thought
+that two newspapers, such as would now excite a smile by their
+inferior size, were quite enough for the country. Take this fact, in
+connection with the present abundance of papers, and the contrast
+presents a striking view of the progress of America since that day. At
+that time there was not a daily paper in the land. Now there are eight
+in the city of Boston alone, having an aggregate daily circulation of
+about _one hundred and twenty-five thousand_, which would amount to
+nearly FORTY MILLION sheets in a year,--more than enough to furnish
+every man, woman, and child in the country with one sheet each. All
+this from the daily press of Boston, where, one hundred and forty
+years ago, it was thought that a third weekly newspaper, scarcely
+large enough to wrap a baker's loaf in, could not be supported! Bind
+them into volumes, containing one hundred sheets each, and we have an
+enormous library of daily newspapers, numbering _four hundred thousand
+volumes_, the annual production of the Boston daily press in 1860! And
+this only the aggregate of eight different papers, while Boston alone
+now has _one hundred and forty_ papers and periodicals of all sorts,
+and the State of Massachusetts nearly _three hundred_! How marvellous
+the change since Franklin was a poor printer-boy!
+
+But look at these eight daily papers of Boston again. Suppose they
+measure a yard each in width, upon an average, when opened;--here we
+have one hundred and twenty-five thousand yards of newspapers
+emanating daily from only eight presses of Franklin's native city;
+which is equal to _seventy-one miles_ per day, and _four hundred and
+twenty-six_ miles per week, and _twenty-two thousand one hundred and
+fifty-two_ miles in a year! This is truly surprising. Almost paper
+enough from the eight daily presses of Boston alone, every year, to
+reach around the earth!
+
+Or, suppose we weigh these papers. If ten of them weigh a single
+pound, then each day's issue weighs _twelve thousand five hundred
+pounds_, each week's issue amounts to _seventy-five thousand pounds_,
+which swells the annual aggregate to about _four million pounds_. Load
+this yearly production upon waggons, one ton on each, and we have _two
+thousand and two horse loads of newspapers_ from these eight presses
+in a year! Again, we say, how marvellous the change!
+
+If eight daily papers of Boston throw off this vast amount of
+reading-matter in a year, what immense quantities are supplied by all
+the presses in the land! Could the actual statistics be laid before us
+in round numbers, doubtless the most credulous even would be amazed at
+the result.
+
+But to return. James decided to issue his paper, notwithstanding the
+advice of some of his friends to the contrary, and he thus opened the
+subject to Benjamin:--
+
+"I have resolved to issue a paper, and it will require our united
+exertions to make it go. No doubt I shall meet with opposition, and
+perhaps shall fail in the attempt, but I have determined to fail
+_trying_."
+
+"What particular service can I render?" inquired Benjamin.
+
+"Aside from your usual work of type-setting, you are qualified to look
+after the composition and spelling of the articles in each number, and
+a part of your work shall be to deliver the paper to subscribers from
+week to week."
+
+"And be collector, too, I suppose," added Benjamin, rather fancying
+the idea of issuing a paper from the office.
+
+"As you like about that," answered his brother, "though it may be
+convenient, often, to have you render such a service."
+
+"I suppose you don't mean to make me editor also?" he added, rather
+jestingly; probably not dreaming that he should ever conduct the
+publication.
+
+"I think not at present," was his brother's reply. "Printer,
+news-carrier, and collector, will be as much honour as you can
+withstand at once;" and he had as little idea of the part Benjamin
+would play in the work as the boy had himself.
+
+Accordingly the paper was issued at the appointed time, creating quite
+a stir in the community, and provoking remarks _pro_ and _con_
+concerning its appearance, character, and prospects. Agreeably to the
+arrangement, Benjamin delivered the numbers to subscribers, and
+perhaps he sold the paper about the streets, thus acting as one of the
+first newsboys on this western continent.
+
+Among the friends of James Franklin, and the patrons of his paper,
+were several men who possessed considerable talent for writing, and
+they were accustomed to assemble at the printing-office, and discuss
+questions connected with the circulation of the paper. Benjamin's ears
+were usually open to their conversation,--and he heard the merits of
+different articles set forth, and learned that certain ones were quite
+popular, and elicited favourable remarks from readers generally. This
+excited his ambition, and he earnestly desired to try his own ability
+in writing for the paper. He feared, however, that his composition
+would not be regarded favourably, if it were known who was the author;
+so he hit upon this expedient. He resolved to write an anonymous
+article, in his very best style, and get it into his brother's hand so
+as not to awaken his suspicion. Accordingly, the article was prepared,
+and at night it was tucked under the printing-office door, where James
+found it in the morning. As usual, several of his writers came in
+about their usual time, and Benjamin had the happiness of hearing the
+following discussion:--
+
+"Here is a good article, that I found under the door this morning,"
+said James, at the same time holding it up.
+
+"Who is the author of it?" inquired one.
+
+"It is anonymous," replied James, "and I have not the least idea who
+wrote it."
+
+"What is the subject?" asked another; and the subject was announced.
+
+"Let us hear it read," proposed a third. "You read it aloud to us,
+James." So James proceeded to read the article aloud, while all
+listened with deep interest. All the while Benjamin was busily
+employed at his work, though his ears were never more willing to hear.
+You may be sure that he felt rather queerly while his composition was
+undergoing this test, and a close observer might have observed a sly,
+comical twinkle of his eye. The reading went on without one of the
+company dreaming that the author stood at their elbow.
+
+"Capital!" exclaimed one, as the last line was read. "Who can the
+author be?"
+
+"As a general thing," said James, "I shall not insert articles from
+persons unknown to me, but this is so good that I shall publish it."
+
+"By all means," said one of the company. "We shall soon find out the
+author; it is a difficult matter to keep such things secret for a long
+time."
+
+"The author is evidently a person of ability," added another; "every
+sentence in that article is charged with thought. I should judge that
+he wanted only culture to make him a writer of the first class."
+
+"Publishing the article will be as likely as anything to bring out the
+author," said James.
+
+It was decided to print the article, all having approved of the same,
+much to the satisfaction of Benjamin, who awaited the decision with
+some anxiety. Now he scarcely knew how to act in regard to the piece,
+whether to father it at once, or still conceal its parentage. On the
+whole, however, he decided to withhold its authorship for the present,
+and try his hand again in the same way. Much encouraged by the success
+of his first effort, Benjamin was prepared to produce even a better
+article on the second trial, which was discussed and approved in the
+same way as the first. Thus he wrote, and put under the door at night,
+a number of articles, all of which were pronounced good by James and
+his friends. It was a time of much interest and excitement to
+Benjamin, since he was the "unknown character" so much extolled by the
+patrons of the "Courant." To hear his own articles remarked upon and
+praised, when no one dreamed that a boy like himself could be the
+author, was well suited to stir up his feelings, if not to inflate his
+vanity. Many persons in like circumstances would be allured into
+indiscretions and improprieties. But Benjamin wisely kept his own
+secrets, while he industriously continued to set up types, fearing
+that disclosure at the present time might knock all his plans into
+"pie."
+
+There is no doubt that this was one of the incidents of Benjamin's
+boyhood that decided his future eminent career. It was a good thing to
+bring out his talents as a writer thus early, and it evidently
+fostered his love of an exercise that was of the first importance in
+the improvement of his mind. From the time that he wrote the first
+article which he put under the door of the printing-office, he did not
+cease to write more or less for the public eye. He had written before,
+as we have seen, but his father had rather put a damper on his
+composing for the public to read, and, besides, the newspaper was a
+channel of communicating with readers altogether new to him. It was
+well suited to awaken deep interest in his heart, and to incite him to
+put forth his noblest efforts.
+
+The great English statesman, CANNING, was sent to school at Eton, at
+twelve years of age, where he originated a mimic House of Commons
+among his schoolmates. Here they established a boy periodical, called
+the "Microcosm." It was a weekly publication, and issued from Windsor.
+It was conducted "after the plan of the 'Spectator,' the design being
+to treat the characteristics of the boys at Eton as Addison and his
+friends had done those of general society." In this paper several
+members of the school figured with credit to themselves, though no one
+was more earnest to sustain it than young Canning. It became one of
+the prominent influences that decided his future course, bringing out
+his talents, and stimulating his mind to labour in this honourable
+way. It also exerted a decided influence upon the character of another
+boy, named Frere, who afterwards shone as a writer in the pages of the
+"Anti-Jacobin."
+
+At the present day, in many seminaries and village lyceums, several
+literary enterprises are sustained, to the no small advantage of the
+young who become personally interested in it. Every youth who desires
+to cultivate his mental faculties ought to hail such enterprises with
+joy, and pledge his noblest efforts to sustain them. It may be that it
+is discouragingly difficult for him to write at first; but let him
+persevere, with patience and firm resolve, and he will prove to
+himself that "practice makes perfect." There is no better exercise for
+his mind than this, and none better adapted to inspire him with a
+dauntless resolve to acquire knowledge.
+
+
+[Illustration: The Mysterious Contributor.--See page 123.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG.
+
+
+Benjamin was so highly gratified with the favourable remarks he heard
+about his articles, and especially that different persons, in guessing
+who the author might be, usually guessed some writer of distinction,
+that he could keep the secret no longer. He was eager to make the fact
+known, that the much talked of essays emanated from his own pen; and
+soon "the cat was let out of the bag."
+
+Having a good opportunity, in reply to some remark of James about "the
+last article found under the door," he said, "I know who the author
+is."
+
+"You know?" exclaimed James with surprise. "Why have you not disclosed
+it before?"
+
+"Because I thought it was not wise. It is not best to tell all we know
+always."
+
+"But you have heard us discuss this matter over and over, and take
+measures to discover the author, and yet you have never intimated that
+you knew anything about it."
+
+"Well, the author did not wish to be known, until the right time
+came, and that is a good reason for keeping the matter secret, I
+think."
+
+"Will you tell me who the author is now?" asked James, impatient to
+obtain the long-sought information.
+
+"Perhaps I will, if you are very anxious to know."
+
+"You know that I am. Who is it?"
+
+"It is Benjamin Franklin."
+
+"What!" exclaimed James, astonished almost beyond measure by the
+disclosure; "do you mean to say that you wrote those articles?"
+
+"Certainly I do."
+
+"But it is not your handwriting."
+
+"I disguised my hand in order to conceal the authorship."
+
+"What could possibly be your object in doing so?"
+
+"That the articles might be fairly examined. If I had proposed to
+write an article for your paper, you would have said that I, a
+printer-boy, could write nothing worthy of print."
+
+Here the conversation dropped, and James appeared to be abstracted in
+thought. He said but little about the matter to Benjamin, neither
+commending nor censuring, until his literary friends came in again.
+
+"I have discovered the author of those articles," said James.
+
+"You have? who can it be?" one asked.
+
+"No one that you have dreamed of," answered James.
+
+"Do tell us who it is, and put an end to our anxiety," said one of the
+number, who could hardly wait for the desired information.
+
+"There he is," replied James, pointing to Benjamin, who was setting up
+types a little more briskly than usual. The whole company were amazed.
+
+"Can it be?" cried out one; "you are joking."
+
+Now Benjamin had to speak for himself; for they all turned to him with
+their inquiries, as if they thought there must be some mistake or
+deception about the matter. But he found little difficulty in
+convincing them that he was the real author of the pieces; whereupon
+they commended him in a manner that was rather perilous to one who had
+the smallest share of pride in his heart.
+
+From that time Benjamin was a favourite with the literary visitors at
+the office. They showed him much more attention than they did James,
+and said so much in his praise, as a youth of unusual promise, that
+James became jealous and irritable. He was naturally passionate and
+tyrannical, and this sudden and unexpected exaltation of Benjamin
+developed his overbearing spirit. He began to find fault seriously and
+unreasonably with him, and a disposition to oppress him was soon
+apparent. He went so far as to beat him severely with a rod, on
+several occasions, reconciling the matter with his conscience by
+saying that he was master, and Benjamin was his apprentice. His whole
+conduct towards his younger brother was unjust and cruel, and the
+latter became restive and discontented under it. He made known his
+grievances to his father, who censured James for his conduct, and took
+the part of Benjamin. But the best efforts of his father to reconcile
+matters proved abortive, because James's manifest opposition was so
+aroused against his brother, on account of his sudden rise to
+comparative distinction. Other causes might have operated to awaken
+James's hostility, but this was evidently a prominent one.
+
+Benjamin was so dissatisfied with his treatment that he resolved to
+leave his brother as soon as possible. He was indentured to him, as we
+have seen, so that it was difficult for him to get away. Being bound
+to him until he became twenty-one years of age, the law held him
+firmly there, notwithstanding the injustice he experienced. Still, for
+the present, he laboured on in the office, and the paper continued to
+be issued.
+
+We are reminded that the printing-office has furnished many eminent
+scholars to the world. Young men have there come in contact with
+printed matter that has aroused their intellects to action, and caused
+them to press onward, with new resolves, in paths of usefulness and
+renown.
+
+In the case of Benjamin, the circumstance of his connection with the
+office just at the time a new paper was established called out a
+certain kind of talent he possessed, and thus helped to make him what
+he became. Success depends in a great measure in early directing the
+young in the path to which their natural endowments point. Thus Lord
+Nelson, who distinguished himself in the service of his country, was
+early placed in just those circumstances that appealed to his
+fortitude and other heroic attributes. That he possessed by nature
+remarkable courage and determination, in connection with other
+qualities that usually accompany these, is evident from an incident of
+his childhood. One day he strayed from home with a cow-boy in search
+of birds' nests, and being missed at dinner-time, and inquiries made
+for him, the startling suspicion was awakened that he had been carried
+off by gipsies. The alarm of his parents was great, and a careful
+search was instituted, when he was found sitting on the banks of a
+stream which he could not cross, unconcerned and happy.
+
+"I wonder, child," said his grandmother, when he was brought back in
+safety to the family, "that hunger and fear did not drive you home."
+
+"Fear!" exclaimed the heroic lad, "I never saw fear,--what is it?"
+
+He was taken by his uncle into the naval service while he was yet a
+boy, where the scenes of every day were suited to develop and
+strengthen the heroic qualities of his nature. He became known to the
+world, not merely for his victories at Trafalgar and on the Nile, but
+for other essential service rendered to his native land.
+
+The same was true of Buxton, Wilberforce, Pascal, Handel, Canova, Dr.
+Chalmers, and many others. Providence opened before them the path to
+which their native qualities directed.
+
+We have spoken of the advantage of occasionally writing compositions,
+as Benjamin was wont to write, and another fact illustrating this
+point has just come to our notice. It is an incident belonging to the
+history of the Boston Young Men's Temperance Society. In addition to
+its being a temperance organization, it was sustained for mutual
+mental improvement. With other exercises, the members read lectures of
+their own preparing at the meetings,--a very important and valuable
+arrangement. One evening a member delivered a lecture upon the
+character and objects of the society, which was listened to by a young
+man who dropped into the hall for the first time. He was so well
+pleased with the design of the association, as set forth in the
+lecture, that he joined it at the close of the exercises. He began at
+once to fulfil the requirements of the society in writing
+compositions, and they were so well written that the author of the
+aforesaid lecture said to him one evening--
+
+"Why do you not write something for the press? If I possessed your
+ability I should do it."
+
+The young man received the compliment with becoming modesty,
+expressing some lack of confidence in his abilities; but it set him to
+thinking. The result was that he prepared a short article for a Boston
+paper, which was accepted; and the way was thereby opened to his
+becoming a constant contributor to its columns. The end is not yet,
+though he is now the author of the popular "Optic Library." Thus so
+small a matter as writing a brief article for a newspaper may herald a
+career of literary fame.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE ARREST.
+
+
+"Have you heard what they are doing in the Assembly?" asked Benjamin
+one afternoon, as he entered the office under considerable excitement,
+addressing his inquiry to James.
+
+"Doing?" answered James; "doing their business, I suppose;"--a reply
+that did not indicate precisely his knowledge of the legislative
+doings, since he had heard of the business before them, and was
+somewhat troubled by it.
+
+"They are certainly going to arrest you for libel, and I heard a
+gentleman say, in the street, that they would show you no favour;" and
+Benjamin made this revelation with considerable warmth of feeling. The
+idea of his brother's arrest and imprisonment excited him in no small
+degree.
+
+On the same day the following order was passed in the General Court:--
+
+
+                                           "IN COUNCIL, Jan. 14, 1722.
+
+     "Whereas the paper, called the New England Courant, of this day's
+     date, contains many passages in which the Holy Scriptures are
+     perverted, and the Civil Government, Ministers, and People of
+     this Province highly reflected on,
+
+     _Ordered_, That William Tailer, Samuel Sewell, and Penn Townsend,
+     Esqrs., with such as the Honourable House of Representatives
+     shall join, be a committee to consider and report what is proper
+     for the Court to do thereon."
+
+The House of Representatives concurred, and the committee reported:--
+
+     "That James Franklin, the printer and publisher thereof (the
+     Courant), be strictly forbidden by this Court to print or publish
+     the New England Courant, or any other pamphlet or paper of the
+     like nature, except it be first supervised by the Secretary of
+     this Province; and the Justices of his Majesty's Sessions of the
+     Peace for the County of Suffolk, at their next adjournment, be
+     directed to take sufficient bonds of the said Franklin for twelve
+     months' time."
+
+The result was, that James was arrested and confined four weeks in the
+"stone gaol," from which he was released by his voluntary pledge to
+regard the honour of the Court. Benjamin was arrested, also; but was
+discharged on the ground that he acted as an apprentice, and was
+obliged to do the bidding of his master.
+
+It appears that there was considerable dissatisfaction in the Province
+with the British government, under which the people lived. The
+Courant espoused the cause of the dissatisfied party, and, perhaps
+unwisely, attacked the government and its officers, together with the
+ministers of the Gospel, whose sympathies seemed to be with the
+dominant party. It was a time of considerable excitement, so that a
+little firebrand thrown into the community was sure to make a great
+fire. But the immediate cause of his arrest was the appearance of the
+following article in his paper, which was a slur upon the government
+for tardiness in fitting out a ship to cruise after a pirate seen off
+Block Island. The article purported to be written by a correspondent
+in Newport, R. I., and read thus:--
+
+     "We are advised from Boston, that the government of the
+     Massachusetts are fitting out a ship to go after the pirates, to
+     be commanded by Captain Peter Papillon, and _'tis thought he will
+     sail some time this month, wind and weather permitting_."
+
+This well-pointed censure, in connection with the many flings and
+attacks that had preceded it, aroused the General Court to act in
+their defence without delay.
+
+The club under whose auspices the Courant was conducted, assembled at
+the office as soon as they knew the decision of the Court, to consider
+what should be done.
+
+"It is certain," said one, "that you cannot continue to issue the
+paper against the action of the Court."
+
+"Not in his own name," suggested another. "It may still be published
+in the name of another person, and thus the legislative order will be
+evaded."
+
+"How will it do to issue it in Benjamin's name?" inquired James.
+
+"That cannot be done, for he is only an apprentice, as could be very
+readily proved," was the reply.
+
+"I can easily meet that difficulty," answered James, who was usually
+ready for a shrewd evasion in such a case.
+
+"Pray, tell us how," asked one of the number, who was disposed to
+think that the days of the Courant were numbered. "By changing the
+name?"
+
+"No, I would not change the name. I will return his indenture, with
+his discharge upon the back of it, and he can show it in case of
+necessity. We can understand the matter between us, while he will be
+his own man whenever any trouble may arise about his apprenticeship."
+
+All agreed that this plan would work well, and it was accordingly
+adopted.
+
+"Benjamin Franklin, publisher and proprietor," said one of the club,
+rising from his seat and patting Benjamin on the shoulder. "What do
+you think of that, my son? Rather a young fellow to undertake such an
+enterprise, but a match, I guess, for the General Court of the
+Province."
+
+Benjamin was quite unprepared to reply to the merriment of the club on
+the occasion over his unexpected introduction to an office of which he
+did not dream in the morning. He was now to appear before the public
+in quite another relation than that of apprentice,--probably the
+youngest conductor of a newspaper who ever lived, for he was only
+sixteen years of age.
+
+Henceforth the paper appeared in the name of Benjamin Franklin,
+occasioning, by all the circumstances, no little excitement in the
+town.
+
+James was conveyed to prison, and during his confinement, Benjamin had
+the whole management of the paper, in which he took occasion to speak
+very plainly and boldly against the government. Notwithstanding the
+difficulty that existed between him and his brother, his heart was
+stirred with resentment against the Court for sending him to jail, and
+he espoused his cause with as much sympathy and good-will, apparently,
+as he could have done if no difference had disturbed their
+intercourse. This was honourable in Benjamin, and showed that he
+possessed a true brother's heart. For three years the paper was
+published in his name, although he did not remain with James so long.
+
+We have referred to the time of Benjamin's boyhood as a period of
+public excitement and disturbance. Great alarm was frequently
+occasioned, for some time before and some time after his birth, by the
+depredations of the Indians. The French were hostile to Great Britain;
+so they sought to stir up, and ally themselves with, the savages, in
+making inroads upon the Colonies. The consequence was, "wars and
+rumours of wars," with actual massacres and bloodshed. Benjamin's
+ears, in his early life, were often saluted with the harrowing tales
+of slaughter and conflagration, an experience that may have qualified
+him, in a measure, to act the prominent part he did in achieving the
+independence of his country, half a century thereafter. Rev. Dr.
+Willard, who baptized him, was driven from the town of Groton by the
+Indians in 1675. Later still, only three years before the birth of
+Benjamin, the town of Deerfield was attacked and burned by these
+savage tribes, instigated and led on by the French,--and "upwards of
+forty persons were slain, and more than a hundred were made
+prisoners." "When the sun was an hour high, the work was finished, and
+the enemy took their departure, leaving the snow reddened with blood,
+and the deserted village enveloped in flames." Only two or three years
+after his birth, the famous attack upon Haverhill was made, when the
+Indians massacred men, women, and children indiscriminately, a few
+only escaping their terrible vengeance. The stories of such dreadful
+cruelties and sufferings were fresh in Benjamin's boyhood, and their
+effect upon the youthful mind was heightened by the frequent reports
+of outbreaks and anticipated Indian attacks from different quarters.
+Thus born and reared in troublous times, our hero was prepared to work
+out his destiny in the most perilous period of American history.
+
+A single item published in the Courant about this time, will show the
+young reader that Boston and its environs of that early day did not
+much resemble the same city now. The item is the following:--
+
+     "It is thought that not less than twenty bears have been killed
+     in about a week's time within two miles of Boston. Two have been
+     killed below the Castle, as they were swimming from one island to
+     another, and one attempted to board a boat out in the bay, but
+     the men defended themselves so well with the boat-hook and oars,
+     that they put out her eyes, and then killed her. On Tuesday last
+     two were killed at Dorchester, one of which weighed sixty pounds
+     a quarter. We hear from Providence that the bears appear to be
+     very thick in those parts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE RUNAWAY.
+
+
+Not long after James was released from prison, a fresh difficulty
+arose between Benjamin and himself. In the quarrel they seemed to
+forget that they were brothers, who ought to be united by strong ties
+of affection. James continued to be passionate and domineering,
+treating his brother with harshness, sometimes even beating him,
+notwithstanding he was the nominal publisher and editor of a paper.
+Benjamin thought he was too old to be treated thus--whipped like a
+little boy--and the result was that he asserted his freedom.
+
+"I am my own man from this time," he cried, holding up his indenture
+which his brother returned to him, as we saw in a former chapter, in
+order to evade the officers of justice. "These papers make me free,
+and I shall take advantage of them to leave you," and he fairly shook
+them in James's face.
+
+"You know that I never gave them up because I relinquished the bargain
+we had made," said James. "If you use them to assert your freedom,
+you will be guilty of a base act."
+
+"I _shall_ so use the papers," replied Benjamin defiantly. "I have
+borne such treatment long enough, and I shall submit no longer."
+
+"We shall see about that," continued James. "Father will have a word
+to say about it, you will find."
+
+"Yes, and he will probably say that you have abused me, and that you
+ought to control your temper and treat me better," responded Benjamin.
+"He always has decided in my favour, and I have no fears about his
+decision now."
+
+It was not fair in Benjamin to take this advantage of his brother, and
+he knew it, but his resentment triumphed over his regard for right at
+the time. James returned his indenture only that he might be able to
+publish the paper unmolested. It was a deceitful arrangement in the
+first place, and Benjamin's use of the papers to assert his liberty
+was no more unfair and sinful than was James's device to make him the
+proprietor of the paper, and thus evade the law. James was paid in his
+own coin. He laid a plan to cheat the government, and he got cheated
+himself. He was snared in the work of his own hands. This, however,
+did not justify Benjamin in his course, as he afterwards saw, and
+frankly confessed.
+
+Benjamin persisted in asserting his freedom, and James appealed to his
+father. After the latter had examined the affair, all the while
+knowing that James was passionate and overbearing, he decided against
+Benjamin. The advantage which the latter took of James to gain his
+freedom probably influenced Mr. Franklin to decide in favour of the
+former. This was unexpected by Benjamin, and was not received with a
+very good grace. It did not change his determination, however, and he
+was still resolved to be free. He refused to labour any more for his
+brother, and went forth to look for employment elsewhere. There were a
+number of other printers in the town, to whom he applied for work; but
+he found, to his surprise, that his brother had anticipated him, and
+been round to persuade them not to hire him.
+
+"He has violated a solemn contract," said he to one, "and he will
+violate any contract he will make with you. Besides, if you refuse to
+hire him, he will be obliged to return and labour for me."
+
+The printers all sympathized with James, and accordingly refused to
+give Benjamin work. He found himself in a very unpleasant situation on
+that account, without the means of earning his bread, and, in one
+sense, without a home, since he had disregarded his father's counsel
+in not returning to his brother. He learned, also, that some good
+people considered him no better than an infidel.
+
+"Nothing less than the loosest sceptic," said one good man. "He hates
+the truth with all his heart, as much that he writes plainly shows.
+His influence in the community is very bad, and it is growing worse
+and worse."
+
+Good people thus misjudged Benjamin. Some went so far as to call him
+an "atheist." His attacks upon the clergy and government, in his
+paper, created so much excitement, that he was understood to mean
+worse than he did.
+
+All these things served to wean Benjamin from Boston, and he decided
+on seeking his fortune elsewhere. He embraced the first opportunity to
+confer with his old friend, John Collins, on the subject.
+
+"John, I am going to New York," he said.
+
+"To New York?" exclaimed John. "What has started you off there?"
+
+"Enough to start anybody. I have been banged about long enough, and
+now can get no work at all; so I must go or starve."
+
+"How so?" inquired John, "I don't understand you?"
+
+"The case is just this," said Benjamin. "James has treated me very
+harshly for a long time, and I have submitted. But I had a good
+opportunity to make myself free, and I have improved it. When James
+was put into prison for libel, he returned me my indenture with a
+discharge written on the back, to show in case the government
+interfered with my publishing the paper. He did not mean, of course,
+that I should be released from my obligations to him; but he has
+treated me so unmercifully lately that I have taken advantage of the
+paper, and broken my engagement with him."
+
+"You have got round him this time, certainly," said John. "How does he
+feel about it?"
+
+"He has appealed to father, and father has decided against me, and
+advised me to go back; but I am not at all disposed to do it."
+
+"I would work in some other printing-office," added John, "before I
+would go to New York."
+
+"But I can get work nowhere else. I have been to every office, and
+they all refuse to employ me, because my brother went to them before
+me, and told his story, and made them promise not to hire me."
+
+"I suppose he thought by so doing to compel you to come back to him,"
+suggested John.
+
+"I suppose so; but he will find himself mistaken. I shall go to New
+York as soon as I can get away."
+
+"What does your father say about your going off so far?"
+
+"I have said nothing to him about it, and do not intend to do so. He
+would stop my going at once if he knew it."
+
+"How can you get away without letting him know it?"
+
+"That remains to be seen," answered Benjamin. "I shall want some of
+your help about it, I guess."
+
+"I am at your service," said John, "though it seems very little that I
+can do to hasten your flight;" but he had hardly uttered the last
+sentence before a new thought flashed upon his mind, and he added with
+great earnestness, "Yes, I can, too; I have seen the captain of that
+New York sloop in the harbour, and I can make a bargain with him to
+take you there."
+
+"But he will want to know who I am, and will refuse to take me when he
+finds that I am a runaway."
+
+"I can manage that, if you will leave it to me," answered John. "I
+will pledge you that he will never know that your name is Franklin."
+
+"I agree, then, to commit myself to your care. See that you manage the
+affair well, for to New York I must go."
+
+They parted; and John hurried away to see the aforesaid captain.
+
+"Can you take a friend of mine to New York?" he asked.
+
+"That depends on circumstances," answered the captain. "Who is your
+friend?"--a very natural inquiry,--precisely such a one as Benjamin
+thought would be made.
+
+"He is a young man about my age, a printer, and he is going to New
+York to get work," replied John.
+
+"Why don't he get work in Boston?" inquired the captain.
+
+John saw that there was no evading the captain's questions, and so he
+suddenly resolved to fabricate a story, in other words, to tell a base
+lie.
+
+"Well," said John, "if I must tell you the whole story, the case is
+this. He is a young fellow who has been flirting with a girl, who
+wants to marry him, and now her parents are determined that he shall
+marry her, and he is determined that he will not, and he proposes to
+remove secretly to New York. He would have come to see you himself,
+but it is not safe for him to appear out so publicly, and therefore he
+sent me to do the business."
+
+A youth who can fabricate a falsehood so unblushingly as John did this
+is a candidate for ruin. The reader will not be surprised to learn,
+before the whole story is told, that he became a miserable, wicked
+man. This single lie proved that he was destitute of moral principle,
+and would do almost anything to carry his project.
+
+For some unaccountable reason, the captain was taken with this device,
+and consented to carry Benjamin to New York. He arranged to receive
+him clandestinely, and to have him on his way before any suspicion of
+his plans was awakened.
+
+John hastened to inform Benjamin of the success of his enterprise, and
+to congratulate him upon his fair prospect of getting away.
+
+"Money is the next thing," said Benjamin. "I can't go without money. I
+must sell my books for something, though I dislike to part with them."
+
+"They will sell quick enough," said John, "and will bring you a very
+pretty sum to start with."
+
+Benjamin lost no time in disposing of his little library for what it
+would bring, and he managed to get his clothes together without
+exciting suspicion; and, with the assistance of John, he boarded the
+sloop privately just before she sailed.
+
+"Good luck to you, Ben," said John, as they shook hands.
+
+"Good bye," answered Benjamin with a heavy heart, just beginning to
+feel that he was going away from home. "See that you tell no tales out
+of school."
+
+Thus they parted; and the sloop sailed for New York, where she arrived
+in three days. Benjamin did not know a person in that city, nor had he
+a single letter of recommendation to any one, and the money in his
+pocket was but a trifle. It was in October, 1723, that he arrived in
+New York. Think of a lad seventeen years of age running away from
+home, entering a large city without a solitary acquaintance, and
+possessing scarcely money enough to pay for a week's board! He must
+have carried some sad, lonely feelings in his heart along those
+strange streets, and possibly his conscience sorely upbraided him for
+his course.
+
+Benjamin behaved very unwisely and wickedly in this affair. Although
+his brother was severely harsh in his treatment of him, it was not
+sufficient reason for his running away from home, and he was
+thoroughly convinced of this at an early day. Such an act is one of
+the most flagrant sins that a youth can commit, although circumstances
+may render it less guilty in some cases than in others. In the case of
+Benjamin, the unkind treatment which he received at the hand of his
+brother mitigated his sin, though it by no means excused it.
+
+There is not a more unpleasant occurrence in the whole life of
+Benjamin Franklin than this quarrel with his brother. We charge the
+difficulty mainly upon James, of course; but this does not blot out
+the unpleasantness of the affair. A quarrel between brothers is always
+painful in the extreme, and is discreditable to all parties concerned.
+Dr. Watts has very beautifully written, for the admonition of little
+children, what older ones may well ponder:--
+
+    "Whatever brawls disturb the street,
+      There should be peace at home:
+    Where sisters dwell and brothers meet,
+      Quarrels should never come.
+
+    "Birds in their little nests agree;
+      And 'tis a shameful sight,
+    When children of one family
+      Fall out, and chide, and fight.
+
+    "Hard names, at first, and threat'ning words,
+      That are but noisy breath,
+    May grow to clubs and naked swords,
+      To murder and to death."
+
+At this crisis of Benjamin's life, it seemed as if he was on the
+highway to ruin. There is scarcely one similar case in ten, where the
+runaway escapes the vortex of degradation. Benjamin would not have
+been an exception, but for his early religious culture and the grace
+of God.
+
+The case of William Hutton, who was the son of very poor parents, is
+not altogether unlike that of Benjamin Franklin. He was bound to his
+uncle for a series of years, but was treated by him so harshly that he
+ran away, at seventeen years of age. The record is, that "on the 12th
+day of July, 1741, the ill-treatment he received from his uncle, in
+the shape of a brutal flogging, with a birch-broom handle of white
+hazel, which almost killed him, caused him to run away." A dark
+prospect was before him, since "he had only twopence in his pocket, a
+spacious world before him, and no plan of operation." Yet he
+afterwards became an author of some celebrity, and a most exemplary
+and esteemed man. He lived to the age of ninety, his last days being
+gladdened by the reflection of having lived a useful life, and the
+consciousness of sharing the confidence of his fellow-men.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+ANOTHER TRIP AND ITS TRIALS.
+
+
+On arriving at New York, Benjamin applied to a well known printer, Mr.
+William Bradford, for work.
+
+"Where are you from?" he inquired.
+
+"From Boston," was Benjamin's reply.
+
+"Used to the printing business?"
+
+"Yes, that is my trade. I have worked at it several years."
+
+"I am sorry I cannot employ you. Just now my business is small, and I
+have all the help I need."
+
+"What do you think of the prospect of getting work at some other
+office in the town?" inquired Benjamin.
+
+"Not very flattering, I am sorry to say. Dull times, my son, very dull
+indeed. But I can tell you where you can find employment, I think. My
+son carries on the printing business in Philadelphia, and one of his
+men died the other day. I think he would be glad to employ you."
+
+"How far is it to Philadelphia?"
+
+"It is a hundred miles," replied Mr. Bradford, "a much shorter
+distance than you have already travelled."
+
+[Illustration: Franklin saving the Dutchman.--See page 149.]
+
+Benjamin looked somewhat disappointed when he found that Philadelphia
+was a hundred miles farther; still, he was after work, and he was
+determined to find it; so he made inquiries about the mode of
+conveyance, and left Mr. Bradford, thanking him for his kindness.
+Immediately he engaged a passage in a boat to Amboy, and made
+arrangements for his chest to be carried round by sea. He was less
+disheartened, probably, on account of the assurance of Mr. Bradford
+that his son would employ him. If he could procure work by travelling
+a hundred miles more, he would cheerfully do it, although a journey of
+a hundred miles then was about equal to one thousand now.
+
+At the appointed time Benjamin went aboard, and the boat started. She
+had not proceeded far when a squall struck her, tore her rotten sails
+to pieces, and drove her upon Long Island. Before this, however, a
+drunken Dutchman, who was also a passenger, fell overboard, and would
+have lost his life but for the timely assistance of our printer-boy.
+Springing to the side of the boat, Benjamin reached over and seized
+him by the hair of his head as he rose, and drew him on board.
+
+"He may thank you for saving his life," exclaimed one of the boatmen.
+
+"He is too drunk for that," answered Benjamin. "It will sober him a
+little, however, I think. Halloo, here, you Dutchman!" (turning to the
+drunken man) "how do you like diving?"
+
+The Dutchman mumbled over something, and pulling a book out of his
+pocket, asked Benjamin to dry it for him, which he promised to do.
+Soon the poor, miserable fellow was fast asleep, in spite of the wet
+and danger, and Benjamin examined the drenched volume, which proved to
+be Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in Dutch, a favourite book of his a
+few years before. It was a very good companion for even a drunken
+Dutchman to have; but Benjamin could not but think that its contents
+were not so familiar to the unfortunate possessor as the bottle.
+
+On approaching Long Island they found that there was no place to land,
+and the beach was very stony; so "they dropped anchor, and swung out
+their cable towards the shore." Some men came down to the shore and
+hallooed to them, and they returned the shout. Seeing some small boats
+lying along the shore, they cried out as loudly as possible, "A boat!
+a boat!" and made signs to them to come to their assistance; but the
+wind was so boisterous that neither party could understand the other.
+
+After several fruitless attempts on both sides to be heard, and night
+coming on, the men on the shore went home, and left Benjamin and the
+boatmen to their perils.
+
+"There is only one thing to be done," said the captain, "when we get
+into such a predicament."
+
+"What is that?" asked Benjamin.
+
+"To do nothing but wait patiently till the wind abates," answered the
+captain, rather coolly.
+
+"Then let us turn in with the Dutchman to sleep," said one of the
+boatmen. "It isn't best for him to have all the good things."
+
+All agreed to this, and soon they were crowded into the hatches,
+Benjamin among the number. But the spray broke over the head of the
+boat so much that the water leaked through upon them, until they were
+about as wet as the Dutchman. This was hard fare for Benjamin, who had
+been accustomed to a comfortable bed and regular sleep. It was
+impossible for him to rest in such a plight, and he had all the more
+time _to think_. He thought of home, and the friends he had left
+behind, of the comfortable quarters he had exchanged for his present
+wet and perilous berth, and he began to feel that he had _paid too
+dear for his whistle_. Runaways usually feel thus sooner or later,
+since few of them ever realize their anticipations.
+
+The cold, dreary night wore away slowly, and the wind continued to
+howl, and the breakers to dash and roar, until after the dawn of the
+following morning. Benjamin was never more rejoiced to see daylight
+appear than he was after that dismal and perilous night. It was the
+more pleasant to him because the wind began to abate, and there was a
+fairer prospect of reaching their place of destination. As soon as the
+tumult of the wind and waves had subsided, they weighed anchor, and
+steered for Amboy, where they arrived just before night, "having been
+thirty hours on the water without victuals, or any drink but a bottle
+of filthy rum."
+
+In the evening Benjamin found himself feverish, having taken a severe
+cold by the exposure of the previous night. With a hot head and a
+heavy heart he retired to rest, first, however, drinking largely of
+cold water, because he had somewhere read that cold water was good for
+fever. This was one of the advantages he derived from his early habit
+of reading. But for his taste for reading, which led him to spend his
+leisure moments in poring over books, he might never have known this
+important fact, which perhaps saved him a fit of sickness. Availing
+himself of this knowledge, he drank freely of water before he retired,
+and the consequence was, that he sweat most of the night, and arose
+the next morning comparatively well. So much advantage from loving
+books!
+
+Boys never have occasion to deplore the habit of reading, provided
+their books are well chosen. They usually find that they are thrice
+paid for all the time spent in this way. Sooner or later they begin to
+reap the benefits of so wise a course. A few years since, a young man
+was travelling in the State of Maine, procuring subscribers to a
+newspaper. On passing a certain farm, he observed some bricks of a
+peculiar colour, and he traced them to their clay-bed, and satisfied
+himself that the material could be applied to a more valuable purpose
+than that of making bricks. He at once purchased the farm for three
+hundred pounds, and, on his return to Boston, sold one half of it for
+eight hundred pounds. The secret of his success lay in a bit of
+knowledge he acquired at school. He had given some attention to
+geology and chemistry, and the little knowledge he had gleaned
+therefrom enabled him to discover the nature of the clay on the farm.
+Thus, even a little knowledge gleaned from a book in a single leisure
+half-hour, will sometimes prove the key to a valuable treasure; much
+more valuable than the farm which the young man purchased. For this
+pecuniary benefit is, after all, the least important advantage derived
+from reading. The discipline of the mind and heart, and the refined
+and elevated pleasure which it secures, are far more desirable than
+any pecuniary good it bestows. A little reading, also, sometimes gives
+an impulse to the mind in the direction of learning and renown. It was
+the reading of Echard's Roman History, which Gibbon met with while on
+a visit to Wiltshire, that opened before him the historic path to
+distinction.
+
+Let the reader consider these things. Never say, as hundred's of boys
+do, "I hate books, and wish that I was not obliged to go to school.
+There is no use in reading and studying so much; we shall get along
+just as well without it." This class of boys usually will have to
+regret, under mortifying circumstances, in later life, that they
+wasted their early opportunities to acquire knowledge. Sir Walter
+Scott, in his boyhood, joined in the tirade of idlers against books;
+but in manhood he said: "If it should ever fall to the lot of youth to
+peruse these pages, let such readers remember that it is with the
+deepest regret that I recollect, in my manhood, the opportunities of
+learning which I neglected in my youth; that through every part of my
+literary career I have felt pinched and hampered by my own ignorance;
+and I would at this moment give half the reputation I have had the
+good fortune to acquire, if by so doing I could rest the remaining
+part upon a sound foundation of learning and science."
+
+But we have lost sight of Benjamin. We left him at the tavern in
+Amboy, after having passed the night in a cold-water sweat, ready for
+another start on his journey. Burlington was fifty miles from Amboy,
+and there was no public conveyance, so that he was obliged to go on
+foot, expecting to find a boat there bound for Philadelphia. It was
+raining hard, and yet he started upon the journey, and trudged on
+through the storm and the mud, eager to see Burlington. He was
+thoroughly drenched before he had travelled five miles, and, in this
+condition, he walked on rapidly till noon, when he came to a "poor
+inn," and stopped. Being wet and tired, he resolved to remain there
+until the next day. The innkeeper's suspicions were awakened by
+Benjamin's appearance, and he questioned him rather closely.
+
+"Where are you from, my lad?"
+
+"From Boston, sir."
+
+"Hey! and away off here so far? quite a youngster for such a trip.
+What's your name?"
+
+"My name is Benjamin Franklin, and I am going to Philadelphia after
+work."
+
+"No work in Boston I 'spose, hey? How long since you left home?"
+
+"About a week. I did not expect to go farther than New York when I
+started, but I could get no work there."
+
+"No work, hey? what sort of work are you after that you find it so
+scarce?"
+
+"I am a printer by trade, and I hope to get into a printing-office in
+Philadelphia."
+
+"Wall, you are a pretty young one to go so far; I would hardly be
+willing that a son of mine should make such a trip alone, printer or
+no printer."
+
+Benjamin saw that he was suspected of being a runaway, and he felt
+very uncomfortable. He managed, however, to answer all questions
+without satisfying the curiosity of the family. He ate and slept
+there, and on the following morning proceeded on his journey, and by
+night was within eight or ten miles of Burlington. Here he stopped at
+an inn kept by one Dr. Brown, "an ambulating quack doctor." He was a
+very social and observing man, and soon discovered that Benjamin was a
+youth of unusual intelligence for one of his age. He conversed with
+him freely about Boston and other places, and gave a particular
+account of some foreign countries which he had visited. In this way he
+made Benjamin's brief stay with him very pleasant, and they became
+friends for life, meeting many times thereafter on friendly terms.
+
+The next morning he reluctantly bade the doctor good bye, and
+proceeded to Burlington, where he expected to find a boat. In the
+suburbs of the town he bought some gingerbread of an old woman who
+kept a shop, and walked on, eating it as he went. To his great
+disappointment, on reaching the wharf, he found the boat had gone, and
+there would not be another until Tuesday. It was now Saturday, and his
+money would not hold out if he should get boarded at a public-house
+till then. What should he do? After some reflection, he determined to
+go back to the old lady of whom he bought his gingerbread, as he liked
+her appearance very well, and ask her advice. So back he went.
+
+"Ah! back again?" said she, as he entered her shop. "Want more
+gingerbread I 'spose?"
+
+"No," answered Benjamin. "I was going to take the boat to
+Philadelphia, but it has gone, and there is not another to go until
+Tuesday."
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed the kind-hearted woman; "if that ain't too bad.
+What kin ye du?"
+
+"That is what I want to ask you. Is there any other conveyance to
+Philadelphia?"
+
+"No, and all ye has to du is to make the best on't."
+
+"And what is that? That is just what I want to know,--the best thing
+for me to do in such a case."
+
+"What ye goin' to Philadelphy for?" inquired the old lady.
+
+"I am going after work. I am a printer, and want to find work in a
+printing-office."
+
+"A printer," exclaimed the woman, who had probably never seen one
+before. "Dear me, yer fortin is made to set up business in this ere
+town. There is nothing of the like here."
+
+"I have nothing to set up the business with here," replied Benjamin.
+"I would as lief work here as in Philadelphia, if the way was open."
+
+The woman did not know what was necessary in setting up a printing
+establishment. That types and a press were indispensable articles in
+such business she did not dream. She thought, doubtless, that he
+carried all necessary fixtures with him in his pockets.
+
+"Well, then, I'll lodge ye till Tuesday for ----" (naming the sum).
+
+"I will stay with you, then, and make the best of it," he replied.
+
+He found himself in very good quarters, and his host proved herself to
+be very kind and hospitable. He took dinner with her, and remained
+about the shop until towards night, when he walked forth to view the
+place. In his walk he came round to the river, and as he approached
+it, he discovered a boat with several people in it, and he hailed
+them.
+
+"Whither bound?"
+
+"To Philadelphia."
+
+"Can you take me in? I was too late for the boat to-day."
+
+"As well as not," a voice replied; and the boat was turned to receive
+its additional passenger. There was no wind, so that they were obliged
+to depend on rowing for progress. Benjamin now found a rare
+opportunity to exercise the skill at rowing which he cultivated in
+Boston. He was so elated with the prospect of proceeding on his way to
+Philadelphia, that he thought neither of the fatigue of rowing, nor of
+the wonder of the old lady in the shop at the unexpected disappearance
+of her boarder. He did not mean to treat her disrespectfully, for he
+considered her a very clever woman, but the boat could not wait for
+him to return and pay her his compliments. Whether she ever learned
+what became of him, or that he grew up to be Dr. Franklin, the great
+philosopher, we have no means of knowing. Doubtless she concluded that
+she had not entertained an "angel unawares," but had rather aided an
+undeserving fellow in pursuing a vicious course,--which was not true.
+
+The boat went on. Benjamin rowed with strong resolution, taking his
+turn with others, until midnight, when one of the company said: "We
+must have passed the city. It can't be that we have been so long
+getting to it."
+
+"That is impossible," said another. "We must have seen it, if we had
+passed it."
+
+"Well, I shall row no more," added the first speaker. "I know that
+Philadelphia is not so far off as this."
+
+"Let us put for the shore," said a third person, "and find out where
+we are, if possible."
+
+"Agreed," replied several voices; and so saying they rowed toward the
+shore, and entered a small creek, where they landed near an old fence,
+the rails of which furnished them with fuel for a fire. They were very
+chilly, it being a frosty night of October, and they found the fire
+very grateful. They remained there till daylight, when one of the
+company knew that the place was "Cooper's Creek," a few miles above
+the "City of Brotherly Love." Immediately they made preparations to
+continue their journey, which had not been altogether unpleasant, and
+they were soon in full view of the city, where they arrived between
+eight and nine o'clock on Sunday morning. They landed at Market Street
+Wharf. Taking out his money, which consisted of one unbroken dollar,
+and a shilling in copper coin, he offered the latter to the boatmen
+for his passage.
+
+"Not a cent, my good fellow," said one of them, "you worked your
+passage, and did it well, too."
+
+"But you _must_ take it," responded Benjamin. "You are quite welcome
+to all the rowing I have done. I am glad enough to get here by rowing
+and paying my passage too. But for your coming along to take me in, I
+should have been obliged to stay in Burlington until next Tuesday;"
+and he fairly forced the shilling into their hands. This manifested a
+spirit of generosity, for which Benjamin was always distinguished. He
+was no mean, niggardly fellow, not he. Although he was in a stranger
+city, and had but a single dollar left on which to live until he could
+earn something by daily toil, yet he cheerfully gave the change for
+his passage. He felt grateful to them for taking him in, and he gave
+expression to his gratitude in this generous way. It was noble, too,
+in the boatman to refuse to take the shilling. It was only on his
+insisting upon their receiving it, that they consented to take it. A
+kind-hearted, generous set of fellows were in that boat, and Benjamin
+was not inferior to one of them in that respect. Bidding them good
+morning, he walked up Market Street, where he met a boy eating some
+bread.
+
+"Where did you get your bread, boy?" he inquired.
+
+"Over to the baker's, there," he replied, pointing to a shop that was
+near by.
+
+Benjamin was very tired and hungry, having eaten nothing since he
+dined with the old shopwoman in Burlington, on the day before; and,
+for this reason, the boy's bread was very tempting. Besides, he had
+made many a meal of dry bread when he boarded himself in Boston; and
+now it was not hard at all for him to breakfast on unbuttered bread,
+minus both tea and coffee. He hastened to the bakery, and found it
+open.
+
+"Have you biscuit?" he inquired, meaning such as he was accustomed to
+eat in Boston.
+
+"We make nothing of the kind," answered the proprietor.
+
+"You may give me a three-penny loaf, then."
+
+"We have none."
+
+Benjamin began to think that he should have to go hungry still, since
+he did not know the names or prices of the kinds of bread made in
+Philadelphia. But in a moment he recovered himself, and said: "Then
+give me three-pennyworth of any sort."
+
+[Illustration: Miss Read's first Glimpse of her future Husband.--See
+page 162.]
+
+To his surprise the baker gave him three great puffy rolls, enough to
+satisfy half a dozen hungry persons. He looked at it, scarcely knowing
+at first what he could do with so much, but, as "necessity is the
+mother of invention," he soon discovered a way of disposing of it. He
+put a roll under each arm, and taking a third in his hand he proceeded
+to eat it, as he continued his way up Market Street.
+
+Let the reader stop here, and take a view of Benjamin Franklin, the
+runaway youth, as he made his first appearance in the city of
+Philadelphia. See him trudging up Market Street with his worn, dirty
+clothes (his best suit having been sent round by sea), his pockets
+stuffed out with shirts and stockings, and a "puffy roll" under each
+arm, and a third in his hand of which he is eating! A comical
+appearance certainly! It is not very probable that this runaway
+Benjamin will ever become "Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of
+France," or surprise the world by his philosophical discoveries! There
+is much more probability that he will live in some obscure
+printing-office, and die, "unknown, unhonoured, and unsung." Who
+wonders that a young lady, Miss Read, who was standing in the door of
+her father's residence as Benjamin passed, thought he made a very
+awkward and ridiculous appearance? She little thought she was taking a
+bird's-eye view of her future husband, as the youth with the rolls of
+bread under his arm proved to be. But just then he cared more for
+bread than he did for her; some years after, the case was reversed,
+and he cared more for her than he did for bread.
+
+Turning down Chestnut Street he continued to walk until he came round
+to the wharf where he landed. Being thirsty, he went to the boat for
+water, where he found the woman and child who came down the river with
+them on the previous night, waiting to go further.
+
+"Are you hungry?" he inquired of the child, who looked wistfully at
+his bread.
+
+"We are both very hungry," answered the woman, speaking for herself
+and child.
+
+"I have satisfied my hunger," said Benjamin, "and you may have the
+rest of my bread if you would like it," at the same time passing both
+rolls to her.
+
+"You are very kind indeed," responded the woman. "I thank you much for
+it;"--all of which was as good pay for the bread as Benjamin wanted.
+This was another instance of the generosity for which he was
+distinguished throughout his whole life. An American statesman said of
+him, in a eulogy delivered in Boston: "No form of personal suffering
+or social evil escaped his attention, or appealed in vain for such
+relief or remedy as his prudence could suggest, or his purse supply.
+From that day of his early youth, when, a wanderer from his home and
+friends in a strange place, he was seen sharing his rolls with a poor
+woman and child, to the last act of his public life, when he signed
+that well known memorial to Congress, a spirit of earnest and
+practical benevolence runs like a golden thread along his whole
+career."
+
+He then walked up the street again, and found well-dressed people
+going to church. Joining in the current, notwithstanding his
+appearance, he went with them into the large Quaker meeting-house that
+stood near the market. He took his seat, and waited for the services
+to begin, either not knowing what Quakers did at meeting, or else
+being ignorant that he was among this sect. As nothing was said, and
+he was weary and exhausted with the labours and watchings of the
+previous night, he became drowsy, and soon dropped into a sweet sleep.
+His nap might have proved a very unfortunate event for him, but for
+the kindness of a wide-awake Quaker. For he did not wake up when the
+meeting closed, and the congregation might have dispersed, and the
+sexton locked him in, without disturbing his slumbers. But the
+kind-hearted Quaker moved his spirit by giving him a gentle rap on the
+shoulder. He started up, somewhat surprised that the service was over,
+and passed out with the crowd. Soon after, meeting a fine-looking
+young Quaker, who carried his heart in his face, Benjamin inquired,
+"Can you tell me where a stranger can get a night's lodging?"
+
+"Here," answered the Quaker, "is a house where they receive strangers"
+(pointing to the sign of the Three Mariners near which they stood),
+"but it is not a reputable one; if thee will walk with me I will show
+thee a better one."
+
+"I will be obliged to you for doing so," answered Benjamin. "I was
+never in Philadelphia before, and am not acquainted with one person
+here."
+
+The Quaker conducted him to Water Street, and showed him the Crooked
+Billet,--a house where he might be accommodated. Benjamin thanked him
+for his kindness, entered the house, and called for dinner and a room.
+While sitting at the dinner-table, his host asked, "Where are you
+from?"
+
+"I am from Boston?"
+
+"Boston!" exclaimed the host, with some surprise. "How long since you
+left home?"
+
+This question being answered, he continued, "Have you friends in
+Philadelphia?"
+
+"None at all. I do not know a single person here."
+
+"What did you come here for?"
+
+"I came to get work in a printing-office. I am a printer by trade."
+
+"How old are you?"
+
+"I am seventeen years old, sir," replied Benjamin, just beginning to
+perceive that the man suspected him of being a runaway.
+
+"And came all the way from Boston alone?"
+
+"Yes, sir!"
+
+Benjamin closed the conversation as soon as he could conveniently,
+after perceiving that his appearance had excited suspicions, and went
+to his room, where he lay down and slept till six o'clock in the
+evening, when he was called to supper. He went to bed again very
+early, and was soon locked in the embrace of "nature's sweet restorer,
+balmy sleep."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+GETTING WORK.
+
+
+After a good night's sleep, Benjamin arose and dressed himself as
+neatly as he could with his old clothes, and repaired to Andrew
+Bradford's printing-office.
+
+"Ah! then you have arrived," said an old gentleman, rising to salute
+him as he entered. "I reached here first."
+
+"Oh, it is Mr. Bradford!" exclaimed Benjamin, surprised at meeting the
+old printer whom he saw in New York, and who directed him to his son,
+Andrew Bradford, of Philadelphia. "I did not expect to meet you here."
+
+"I suppose not. I started off unexpectedly, and came all the way on
+horseback. But I am glad that you have reached here safely. This is a
+young man from Boston" (addressing his son and introducing Benjamin),
+"after work in a printing-office, and I directed him to you. Franklin
+is your name, I believe."
+
+"Yes, sir! Benjamin Franklin."
+
+Mr. Bradford received him very cordially, and being about to eat
+breakfast, he said: "Come, it is my breakfast hour, and you shall be
+welcome to the table. We can talk this matter over at the table;"--and
+Benjamin accepted the invitation.
+
+"I told this young man," said the old printer from New York, "that one
+of your men died a short time since, and you would want a printer to
+take his place."
+
+"That is true," replied Mr. Andrew Bradford. "I did want another hand
+to take his place, but I hired one only a few days since. I am sorry
+to disappoint this youth who has come so far for work."
+
+"Is there another printing-office here?" asked Benjamin.
+
+"Yes; a man by the name of Keimer has just commenced the business, and
+I think he would be glad to employ you."
+
+"I must get work somewhere," added Benjamin, "for I have spent nearly
+all my money in getting here."
+
+"If he will not employ you," added Mr. Bradford, kindly, "you may
+lodge at my house, and I will give you a little work from time to time
+until business is better."
+
+"That will be a great favour to me," answered Benjamin, "for which I
+shall be very thankful;" and he really felt more grateful to Mr.
+Bradford for the offer than his words indicated.
+
+"I will go with you to see Mr. Keimer," said old Mr. Bradford from
+New York. "Perhaps I can be of some service to you in securing a
+place."
+
+Benjamin began to think he had fallen into very obliging hands; so he
+followed their advice, and went with his aged friend to see the
+newly-established printer. On arriving at the office, they met Mr.
+Keimer, and old Mr. Bradford introduced their business by saying:
+"Neighbour, I have brought to see you a young man of your business;
+perhaps you may want such a one."
+
+"That depends on his qualifications," answered Mr. Keimer. "How long
+have you worked at the business?" he inquired, turning to Benjamin.
+
+"Several years, sir."
+
+"Do you understand all parts of it so that you can go on with it?"
+
+"I think I do; you can try me and satisfy yourself."
+
+"Take this composing-stick and let me see whether you are competent or
+not," said Keimer.
+
+Benjamin proceeded to exhibit his skill at the work, and very soon
+satisfied Keimer that he had told the truth.
+
+"Very well done," said Keimer. "I will employ you as soon as I have
+sufficient work to warrant such a step. At present I have nothing for
+you to do."
+
+Here Benjamin saw the advantage of having attended to his business
+closely, so as to learn thoroughly the work he was to do. Some boys
+perform their work in just a passable way, not caring particularly
+whether it is well done, if they can only "pass muster." But not so
+with Benjamin. He sought to understand the business to which he
+attended, and to do as well as possible the work he undertook. The
+consequence was that he was a thorough workman, and in five minutes he
+was able to satisfy Keimer of the fact. This was greatly in his
+favour; and such a young man is never long out of business.
+
+Turning to Bradford, Keimer said, supposing him to be a Philadelphian
+who wished him well in his new enterprise: "What do you think of my
+prospects here, sir? Do you think I shall succeed in my business?"
+
+"That will depend upon your own exertions and business talents," was
+Bradford's reply.
+
+"I shall do all in my power to draw the business of the town," added
+Keimer; "and I think I can do it."
+
+"But how can you expect to get all the business when there is another
+printer here, who has been established some time?"
+
+Keimer answered this last inquiry by disclosing his plans, as Bradford
+quietly drew him out on every point, until he learned how he was
+calculating to command all the business, and run his son out. Nor did
+Keimer dream that he was conversing with the father of the other
+printer whom he designed to deprive of his livelihood. All the while
+Benjamin stood and listened to their conversation, perceiving that Mr.
+Bradford was shrewdly learning Keimer's plans for his son's benefit.
+
+"Did you not know that man?" inquired Benjamin, after Bradford left,
+leaving him in the office.
+
+"No; but I thought that he was one of the town's people who wished me
+well in my business, and therefore came in to introduce you."
+
+"It is not so," replied Benjamin. "That was the father of Andrew
+Bradford, your neighbour, the printer. He carries on printing in New
+York."
+
+"It can't be!" exclaimed Keimer, astonished at this bit of news, and
+startled at the thought of having made known his plans to a
+competitor.
+
+"It _can_ be," replied Benjamin. "He is certainly Bradford, the New
+York printer, and father of Andrew Bradford, the printer of this
+town."
+
+"How happened it that he should come here with you?"
+
+"I can tell you in few words," said Benjamin; and he went on and told
+him of his going to New York, and how he happened to come to
+Philadelphia, and meet Mr. Bradford there, and finally how he found
+his way to Keimer's office.
+
+"It will learn me a good lesson," said Keimer. "When I divulge secrets
+to another man whom I don't know, I shall not be in my right mind."
+
+Benjamin spent a short time in looking over Keimer's office, and found
+that his press was old and damaged, and his fount of English types
+nearly worn out. Possessing much more ingenuity than Keimer, and
+understanding a printing-press much better, he went to work, and in a
+short time put it into decent order for service. Keimer was composing
+an Elegy on Aquila Rose, an excellent young man who worked for
+Bradford, and who had recently died; and he agreed to send for
+Benjamin to print it off when it was ready. With this arrangement,
+Benjamin returned to Mr. Bradford to eat and lodge. A few days after
+he received a message from Keimer that the Elegy was ready to be
+printed. From that time Keimer provided him with work.
+
+"You must have another boarding-place," said Keimer to him one day.
+Benjamin was still boarding at Bradford's, and this was not agreeable
+to Keimer.
+
+"Just as you please," answered Benjamin; "I am satisfied to board
+there or go elsewhere."
+
+"I can get you boarded with an acquaintance of mine, I think, where
+you will find it very pleasant. I am confident that you will like it
+better there than at Mr. Bradford's."
+
+"I will go there, if you think it is best," added Benjamin. "My chest
+has arrived, and I can look a little more respectable now than I could
+before."
+
+The result was, that he went to board at Mr. Read's, the father of the
+young lady who stood in the door when he passed on the aforesaid
+Sunday morning with a roll of bread under each arm. His appearance was
+much improved by this time, so that even Miss Read saw that he was an
+intelligent promising young man.
+
+We learn one or two things about Benjamin from the foregoing, which
+the reader may ponder with benefit to himself. In the first place, he
+must have been very observing. He understood the construction of a
+printing-press so well, that he could put an old one into running
+order, youth as he was, when its proprietor was unable to do it. This
+is more remarkable, because he was not obliged to study the mechanism
+of a printing-press in order to work it. Doubtless many a person
+operates this and other machines without giving any particular
+attention to their structure. But a class of minds are never satisfied
+until they understand whatever commands their attention. They are
+inquisitive to learn the philosophy of things. It was so with
+Benjamin, and this characteristic proved a valuable element of his
+success. It was the secret of his inventions and discoveries
+thereafter. It was so with Stephenson, of whom we have spoken before.
+As soon as he was appointed plugman of an engine, at seventeen years
+of age, he began to study its construction. In his leisure hours, he
+took it to pieces and put it together again several times, in order to
+understand it. So of William Hutton, whose name is mentioned in
+another place. Encouraged by a couplet which he read in Dyce's
+Spelling-book--
+
+    "Despair of nothing that you would attain,
+    Unwearied diligence your end will gain,"
+
+he sought to master everything that he undertook. One day he borrowed
+a dulcimer, and made one by it. With no other tools than the
+hammer-key, and pliers of the stocking-frame for hammer and pincers,
+his pocket-knife, and a one-pronged fork that served as spring, awl,
+and gimlet, he made a capital dulcimer, which he sold for sixteen
+shillings. Here were both observation and perseverance, though not
+more finely developed than they were in the character of young
+Benjamin Franklin.
+
+Another important truth is learned from the foregoing, namely, that
+Benjamin was not proud. A sight of him passing up Market Street, with
+three large rolls of bread, is proof of this; or his appearance in the
+street and Quaker church in his everyday garb, because his best suit
+was "coming round by sea," is equally significant. How many boys of
+his age would have stayed away from church until the "best clothes"
+arrived! How many would seek for some concealment of their poverty, if
+possible, in similar circumstances! But these were small matters to
+Benjamin, in comparison with finding employment and earning a
+livelihood. He had a destiny to work out, and in working that he must
+do as he could, and not always as he would. He cared not for the
+laughs and jeers of those who could dress better and live more
+sumptuously than himself, since it was absolutely necessary for him to
+dress as he did, in order to "make his ends meet." He might have
+followed the example of some young men, and run into debt, in order to
+"cut a dash;" but he believed then, as he wrote afterwards, that
+"lying rides on debt's back," and that it is "better to go to bed
+supperless than to rise in debt;" or, as he expressed himself in other
+maxims, "Those have a short Lent who owe money to be paid at Easter,"
+and "It is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+NEWS FROM HOME, AND RETURN.
+
+
+Hitherto Benjamin had lived contentedly in Philadelphia, striving to
+forget Boston and old familiar scenes as much as possible. No one at
+home knew of his whereabouts, except his old friend Collins, who kept
+the secret well. One day, however, a letter came to his address,
+and the superscription looked so familiar that Benjamin's hand
+fairly trembled as he broke the seal. It proved to be from his
+brother-in-law, Robert Homes, "master of a sloop that traded between
+Boston and Delaware." He came to Newcastle, it seems, about forty
+miles from Philadelphia, and, hearing of Benjamin's place of
+residence, he sat down and wrote him a letter, telling him of the deep
+sorrow into which his departure had plunged his parents, who still
+were wholly ignorant of his fate, and exhorting him to return home to
+his friends, who would welcome him kindly. The letter was a strong
+appeal to his feelings.
+
+Benjamin sat down and replied to the letter, stating his reasons in
+full for leaving Boston, giving an account of his present
+circumstances and prospects, and closing by expressing kind feelings
+for all the loved ones at home, but declining to return.
+
+Not many days after Benjamin wrote and sent his letter, an unusual
+scene transpired at the office. He was at work near the window, when,
+on looking out, he saw Governor Keith approaching.
+
+"The Governor is coming in," said he to Keimer.
+
+Keimer looked out of the window, and saw that it was so, whereupon he
+hurried down to the door, not a little excited by the thought of
+waiting upon the Governor, supposing, of course, that he was coming in
+to see him.
+
+"Does Benjamin Franklin work for you?" inquired the Governor.
+
+"He does," answered Keimer, both astonished and perplexed by the
+inquiry. What he could want of him he could not imagine.
+
+"Can I see him?" asked the Governor.
+
+"Certainly; walk in." The Governor and Colonel French, who was with
+him, were ushered into the presence of Benjamin.
+
+"I am happy to make the acquaintance of a young man of your
+abilities," he said to him. "I regret that you did not report yourself
+to me long ago."
+
+Benjamin was too much astonished at the unexpected interview to be
+able to reply; and the Governor went on to say, that "he called to
+invite him to an interview at the tavern." Benjamin was more perplexed
+than ever, and Keimer stared with amazement. But after some
+hesitation, arising from sudden surprise, Benjamin consented to go
+with the Governor, and was soon seated with him and Colonel French in
+a room of the tavern at the corner of Third Street.
+
+"I called to see you," said the Governor, "respecting the printing
+business in this town. I understand that you are well acquainted with
+it in all its branches, and, from my knowledge of your abilities, I
+think you would succeed admirably in setting up the business for
+yourself. Our printers here are ignorant and inefficient, and we must
+have more competent men to do the government work."
+
+How the Governor knew so much about his qualifications for the
+business, Benjamin could not divine. He replied, however, "I have
+nothing to commence business with, and it will require some capital.
+My father might assist me if he were disposed; but I have no reason to
+think that he would."
+
+"I will write to him upon the subject," said the Governor, "and
+perhaps he may be persuaded. I can show him the advantages of such an
+enterprise to yourself and the public, so that he cannot doubt the
+practicability of the thing."
+
+"There are two printers here already," continued Benjamin; "and a
+third one would hardly be supported."
+
+"A third one, who understands the business as you do," responded the
+Governor, "would command the chief business of the town in a short
+time. I will pledge you all the public printing of the government."
+
+"And I will pledge the same for the government of Delaware," said
+Colonel French of Newcastle.
+
+"There can be no doubt on this point," continued Governor Keith. "You
+had better decide to return to Boston by the first vessel, and take a
+letter from me to your father."
+
+"I will so decide at once, if such is your judgment in the matter,"
+replied Benjamin.
+
+"Then it is understood," added his Excellency, "that you will repair
+to Boston in the first vessel that sails. In the mean time, you must
+continue to work for Mr. Keimer, keeping the object of this interview
+a profound secret."
+
+Having made this arrangement, they separated, and Benjamin returned to
+the printing-office, scarcely knowing how he should evade the
+anticipated inquisitiveness of Keimer respecting the interview; but he
+succeeded in keeping the secret. His mind, however, laboured much upon
+the question, how Governor Keith should know anything about him, a
+poor obscure printer-boy. It was not until he returned to Boston that
+this mystery was solved. Then he learned that Keith was present at
+Newcastle when his brother-in-law received his (Benjamin's) letter,
+and Captain Homes read it aloud to him.
+
+"How old is he?" asked the Governor.
+
+"Seventeen," replied Captain Homes.
+
+"Only seventeen! I am surprised that a youth of that age should write
+so well. He must be an uncommon boy."
+
+Captain Homes assured him that he was a very competent youth, and
+possessed abilities that qualified him for almost any place. Here was
+the secret of Keith's interest in the printer-boy, but of which the
+latter knew nothing until he met his brother-in-law in Boston.
+
+Before an opportunity offered for Benjamin to go to Boston, Governor
+Keith frequently sent for him to dine with him, on which occasions he
+conversed with him in a very friendly and familiar way. It was quite
+unusual for a boy of seventeen years to become the frequent guest of a
+Governor, and no wonder he was almost bewildered by the unexpected
+attention. Some would have become vain and proud in consequence of
+such attentions; but Benjamin bore the honours meekly.
+
+About the last of April, 1724, a small vessel offered for Boston.
+Benjamin made arrangements to go, took leave of Keimer as if going to
+visit his friends, and, with Keith's letter to his father, sailed. The
+vessel had a boisterous time at sea, but after a fortnight's voyage
+she entered Boston harbour. Benjamin had been absent seven months, and
+his parents had not heard a word from him. His brother-in-law had not
+returned from Newcastle, nor written to them about his knowledge of
+Benjamin. The reader may well imagine, then, that he took them all by
+surprise. His poor mother had laid his absence to heart so much, that
+it had worn upon her, and his return was to her almost like life from
+the dead. She was overjoyed, and no language could express her delight
+as she looked into the face of her long-lost Benjamin. His father was
+not less rejoiced, although he had a different way of showing it.
+Indeed, all the family, except his brother James, gave him a most
+cordial and affectionate welcome. He did not return ragged and
+penniless, as runaways generally do, but he was clad in a new and
+handsome suit, carried a watch in his pocket, and had about five
+pounds sterling in silver in his purse. He never looked half so
+genteel and neat in his life, and certainly never commanded so much
+money at one time before.
+
+Before his brother James heard of his arrival, Benjamin hastened to
+the printing-office, and startled him by suddenly standing before him.
+James stopped his work, saluted him in rather a reserved manner, and,
+after surveying him from head to foot, turned to his work again. It
+was rather a cold reception on the whole, but not altogether
+unexpected to Benjamin. A brother who had driven him away by his harsh
+treatment could hardly be expected to welcome him back with a very
+warm heart.
+
+The journeymen were delighted to see him, and they were very
+inquisitive.
+
+"Where have you been, Ben?" asked one.
+
+"To Philadelphia," he answered.
+
+"What kind of a place is it?"
+
+"It is one of the finest places I ever saw. I like it better than
+Boston."
+
+"Going back?" inquired a second person.
+
+"Yes; and very soon, too," he replied. "That is the place for the
+printing business."
+
+"What kind of money do you have there?" inquired Another. There was no
+established currency in the country at that time, and his interrogator
+wanted to know what they used in Philadelphia.
+
+Instead of replying directly, Benjamin drew the silver from his
+pocket, and spread it out before them. It was quite a curiosity to
+them, as they used only paper money in Boston; and, besides, it caused
+them to think that their old associate had fallen upon lucky days.
+
+"You made a lucky hit, Ben, this time," said one.
+
+"Heavy stuff to carry about," suggested a second. "A man would want a
+wheelbarrow if he had much of it."
+
+"Perhaps you would accept of the wheelbarrow and silver together,
+rather than have neither," responded Benjamin.
+
+By this time Benjamin's watch was discovered, and there was a general
+desire to see it; so he laid it down before them, while his brother
+appeared "grum and sullen."
+
+"That is a convenient companion," said Benjamin, as he laid it down.
+
+"And you can afford to have such things," added one of the number,
+"because you save your money, and don't spend it for pleasure, drink,
+and luxuries."
+
+"Ben has fared so well," said one, "that it belongs to him to treat
+the company." As we have said before, the use of intoxicating drinks
+was general at that time, and when old friends met, it was common to
+signalize the occasion by the use of such beverage. Had Benjamin lived
+at this day, with his temperate habits, he would have refused to
+pander to their appetite for strong drink, and suggested some other
+kind of treat. But, living as he did when there were no temperance
+societies, and no alarm at the growing evils of intoxication, he
+accepted the proposal in his accustomed generous way.
+
+"There is a dollar," said he, throwing out a dollar in silver, "take
+that, and drink what you please for old acquaintance sake." Then,
+pocketing his watch and money, he took his leave.
+
+His brother was greatly incensed at this visit, and regarded it in the
+light of an insult. His mother endeavoured to bring him to terms of
+reconciliation with Benjamin, but in vain.
+
+"You are brothers," said she, "and you ought to behave towards each
+other as brothers. It is very painful to me to think of your hostility
+to Benjamin, and I do hope that you will forget the past, and be true
+to each other in future."
+
+"Never," replied James. "He insulted me so directly before my workmen
+the other day, that I shall not forget nor forgive it."
+
+James was mistaken in his view of Benjamin's intention. The latter did
+not mean to insult him at the office. He would have been glad of a
+cordial welcome from James, and his feelings were such that he would
+have rejoicingly blotted out the recollection of his former
+ill-treatment, had James met him as a brother.
+
+Benjamin took the first opportunity to make known to his father the
+object and circumstances of his visit home, and to hand him the
+Governor's letter, which he received with manifest surprise, though he
+evidently doubted whether it was genuine. For several days he entered
+into no conversation about the matter, as he did not exactly know what
+to make of it. Just then Captain Homes returned, and Mr. Franklin
+showed him the letter of Governor Keith, and inquired if he knew the
+man.
+
+"I have met him," replied Captain Homes, "and was pleased with his
+appearance. I think it would be well for Benjamin to follow his
+advice."
+
+"He cannot be a man of much discretion," continued Mr. Franklin, "to
+think of setting up a boy in business who lacks three years of
+arriving at his majority. The project does not strike me favourably at
+all."
+
+"He was much taken with Benjamin's abilities," added Captain Homes,
+"by a letter which I received from him at Newcastle, and which I read
+to him, as he was present when I received it."
+
+"His letters may be well enough, for aught I know; but a youth of his
+age, though his abilities be good, has not sufficient judgment to
+conduct business for himself. I shall not give my consent to such a
+wild scheme."
+
+Mr. Franklin replied to Governor Keith's letter, and thanked him
+kindly for the patronage he offered his son, but declining to set up a
+youth in a business of so much importance.
+
+[Illustration: Anecdote of Dr. Mather and Franklin--Humility "beaten
+in!"--See page 186.]
+
+"I am rejoiced," said he to Benjamin, just before the latter started
+to go back, "that you have conducted yourself so well as to secure the
+esteem of Sir William Keith. Your appearance, too, shows that you have
+been industrious and economical, all of which pleases me very much. I
+should advise you to go back, and think no more of going into business
+for yourself until you are of age. By industry, economy, and
+perseverance you will be able to command the means of establishing
+business then. As yet you are too young. I should be glad to have you
+remain here with your brother, if he could be reconciled to you; but
+as it is, you shall have my approbation and blessing in returning to
+Philadelphia."
+
+It was during this visit to Boston that he called upon the celebrated
+Dr. Increase Mather, to whose preaching he had been accustomed to
+listen. The Doctor received him kindly, and introduced him into his
+library, where they chatted in a familiar way for some time. When
+Benjamin rose to go out, "Come this way," said the Doctor, "I will
+show you a nearer passage out,"--pointing him to a narrow passage,
+with a beam crossing it over head. They were still talking, the Doctor
+following behind, and Benjamin partly turned around toward him.
+
+"_Stoop! stoop!_" shouted the Doctor.
+
+Benjamin did not understand what he meant, until his head struck
+against the beam with considerable force.
+
+"There," said the Doctor, laughing, "you are young, and have the world
+before you; stoop as you go through it, and you may miss many hard
+thumps."
+
+Nearly seventy years after, the recipient of this counsel wrote:--
+
+"This advice, thus beaten into my head, has frequently been of use to
+me; and I often think of it, when I see pride mortified, and
+misfortunes brought upon people by their carrying their heads too
+high."
+
+Benjamin's old companion, Collins, was delighted with his account of
+Philadelphia, and resolved to accompany him thither on his return. He
+was a clerk in the post-office; but he gave up his situation for the
+more alluring prospects of a residence in Pennsylvania. He started two
+or three days before Benjamin, as he wanted to stop and make a visit
+in Rhode Island, having previously gathered up his books, "which were
+a pretty collection in mathematics and philosophy," and packed them to
+go, with Benjamin's baggage, around by sea to New York, where they
+would meet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+BACK AGAIN.
+
+
+On his return, Benjamin sailed in a sloop to New York, where he had
+arranged to meet Collins. They put in at Newport on business, where he
+had a good opportunity to visit his brother John, who had been married
+and settled there some years. He received a very hearty and
+affectionate welcome from his brother, who was always kind and true to
+him. His stay was short, as he must go when the sloop did, but he made
+the most of it, and enjoyed himself much during the short time. Just
+before he left Newport, a friend of his brother, a Mr. Vernon,
+requested him to collect a debt for him in Pennsylvania, of about
+thirty-five pounds currency, and use the money as he pleased until he
+should call for it. Accordingly, he gave Benjamin an order to receive
+it.
+
+At Newport they took in a number of passengers, among whom was a
+Quaker lady and her servants, and two young women. Benjamin was very
+attentive in assisting the Quaker lady about her baggage, for which
+she was very thankful. He soon became acquainted with the two young
+women, and they laughed and chatted together. They were handsomely
+attired, appeared intelligent, and were extremely sociable. The
+motherly Quaker lady saw that there was a growing familiarity between
+them, and she called Benjamin aside, feeling for him somewhat as she
+would for a son, and said: "Young man, I am concerned for thee, as
+thou hast no friend with thee, and seems not to know much of the
+world, or of the snares youth is exposed to; depend upon it, these are
+very bad women; I can see it by all their actions; and if thou art not
+upon thy guard, they will draw thee into some danger; they are
+strangers to thee, and I advise thee, in a friendly concern for thy
+welfare, to have no acquaintance with them."
+
+"Indeed," said Benjamin, with much surprise, "I see nothing out of the
+way in them. They are intelligent and social; and I am rather
+surprised at your suspicions."
+
+"But I have heard them say enough to convince me that my suspicions
+are well founded," replied the old lady; and she repeated to him some
+of their conversation which she had overheard.
+
+"You are right, then," quickly answered Benjamin, after listening to
+her. "I am much obliged to you for your advice, and I will heed it."
+
+Just before they arrived at New York, the young women invited him to
+call at their residence, naming the street and number, but he did not
+accept their invitation. The next day the captain missed a silver
+spoon and other things from the cabin, and suspecting the two girls,
+had their residence searched, where the missing articles were found,
+in consequence of which the artful thieves were punished. Benjamin
+always felt thankful to the old lady for her timely warning, and
+considered that following her advice probably saved him from trouble
+and ruin.
+
+Collins had been in New York several days when Benjamin arrived. The
+latter was astounded to find him intoxicated when they met.
+
+"Can it be," he exclaimed to Collins, "that you are intemperate?"
+
+"I intemperate!" retorted Collins, disposed to resent the accusation.
+"Do you call me drunk?"
+
+"No, you are not exactly drunk; but then you are disguised with
+liquor, and I am utterly astonished. Once you was as temperate and
+industrious as any young man in Boston, and far more respected than
+most of them. How did it happen that you formed this evil habit?"
+
+Collins saw that he could not deceive Benjamin; so he made a clean
+breast of the matter, and confessed to have formed intemperate habits
+soon after Benjamin first left Boston. He said that his appetite for
+brandy was strong, and that he had been intoxicated every day since
+his arrival in New York.
+
+"I have lost all my money," he said, "and have nothing to pay my
+bills."
+
+"Lost your money!" exclaimed Benjamin. "How did you lose that?"
+
+"I lost it by gaming," he replied.
+
+"What! a gambler, too?"
+
+"Yes, if you will have it so," answered Collins, somewhat coolly; "and
+you must lend me money to pay my bills."
+
+"If I had known this," continued Benjamin, "I would not have persuaded
+you to leave Boston. And here let me tell you, that it is impossible
+for you to find a situation unless you reform."
+
+"Perhaps so," answered Collins; "but that is not the question now that
+interests me. I want to know whether you will lend me money to pay my
+bills here and go on my journey?"
+
+"I must, for aught I see," replied Benjamin. "I should not leave you
+here without money and friends, of course, for that would be cruel.
+But you must try to reform."
+
+Collins was a very clever young man, as we have seen, possessing
+marked mathematical talents, and he might have become one of the first
+scholars of his day, had he enjoyed the advantages of a course of
+study. Some of the clergymen of Boston showed him much attention on
+account of his abilities and love of books. But strong drink blasted
+his hopes.
+
+In New York, Benjamin received a message from Governor Burnet,
+inviting him to call at his house. This was quite as unexpected as the
+visit of Governor Keith, and he began to think that governors had a
+passionate regard for him. He found, however, that the Governor had
+learned from the captain of the sloop, that he had a young man on
+board who brought with him a large number of books from Boston. This
+interested the Governor, and was the occasion of his sending the
+aforesaid invitation to Benjamin.
+
+He accepted the invitation, and would have taken Collins with him if
+the latter had been sober. Governor Burnet received him with much
+cordiality, showed him his large library, and conversed freely about
+books and authors for some time. It was an agreeable interview to
+Benjamin, the more so because it was the second time that a Governor
+had sought him out, and showed him attention.
+
+They proceeded to Philadelphia. On the way Benjamin collected Vernon's
+debt, which proved fortunate, since otherwise his money would not have
+carried him through, from having had the bills of two to pay. A good
+trip brought them safely to their place of destination, and Collins
+boarded with Benjamin, at the latter's expense, waiting for an opening
+in some counting-room.
+
+The reader may be curious to learn the fate of Collins, and we will
+briefly record it here. He tried to secure a situation, but his
+dram-drinking habits frustrated his exertions. Every few days he went
+to Benjamin for money, knowing that he had that of Vernon, always
+promising to pay as soon as he found business. Benjamin, in the
+kindness of his heart, lent him little by little, until he was
+troubled to know what he should do if Vernon should call for the
+money. Sometimes he lectured Collins severely for his habits, until
+their friendship was essentially modified. One day they were in a boat
+with other young men, on the Delaware, when Collins refused to row.
+
+"We shall not row you," said Benjamin.
+
+"You _will_ row me, or stay all night on the water, just as you
+please," retorted Collins.
+
+"We can stay as long as you can," continued Benjamin. "I shall not row
+you."
+
+"Come, Ben, let us row," said one of the young men. "If he don't want
+to row let him sit still."
+
+"Row him, if you wish to," replied Benjamin, "I shall not."
+
+"Yes, you will," shouted Collins, starting from his seat. "I will be
+rowed home, and you shall help do it, or I will throw you overboard;"
+and he hurried to execute his threat. But, as he came up and struck at
+him, Benjamin clapped his head under his thighs, and rising, threw
+him head over heels into the river. He knew that Collins was a good
+swimmer, so that he had no fears about his drowning.
+
+"Will you row now?" he inquired, as Collins swam towards the boat.
+
+"Not a stroke," he answered, angrily; whereupon they sent the boat
+forward out of his reach, with one or two strokes of the oar. Again
+and again they allowed him to approach the boat, when they repeated
+the question: "Will you promise to row?" and as often received an
+emphatic "No" for a reply. At length, perceiving that he was quite
+exhausted, they drew him in without extorting from him a promise to
+row.
+
+This scene closed the intimate relations of Benjamin and Collins. They
+scarcely spoke together civilly afterward. Collins sailed for
+Barbadoes within a few weeks after, and he was never heard from again.
+He probably died there, a miserable sot, and Benjamin lost all the
+money he lent him. In later life, Benjamin Franklin referred to this
+event, and spoke of himself as having received retribution for his
+influence over Collins. For, when they were so intimate in Boston,
+Benjamin corrupted his religious opinions by advocating doubts about
+the reality of religion, until Collins became a thorough sceptic.
+Until that time he was industrious, temperate, and honest. But having
+lost his respect for religion, he was left without restraint, and went
+rapidly to ruin. Benjamin was the greatest sufferer by his fall, and
+thus was rebuked for influencing him to treat religion with contempt.
+
+Benjamin immediately sought an interview with Governor Keith, and told
+him the result of his visit home, and gave his father's reasons for
+declining to assist him.
+
+"But since he will not set you up," said the Governor, "I will do it
+myself. Give me an inventory of the things necessary to be had from
+England, and I will send for them. You shall repay me when you are
+able; I am resolved to have a good printer here, and I am sure you
+must succeed."
+
+This was said with such apparent cordiality that Benjamin did not
+doubt that he meant just what he affirmed, so he yielded to his
+suggestion to make out an inventory of necessary articles. In the
+meantime he went to work for Keimer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+A LITERARY GAME.
+
+
+At this point it is necessary to speak of Benjamin's associates. He
+was not long in finding new acquaintances in Philadelphia. His
+industry and general good habits won the respect and confidence of all
+who came in contact with him. Among those who particularly pleased him
+were three young men, Charles Osborne, Joseph Watson, and James Ralph,
+all lovers of reading. Their literary tendencies no doubt attracted
+Benjamin, and caused him to value their companionship more highly. The
+first two were clerks of Charles Brockden, an eminent conveyancer of
+the town, and the other was a merchant's clerk. Watson was a pious
+young man of sterling integrity, while the others were more lax in
+their religious opinions and principles. All were sensible young men,
+much above the average of this class in intellectual endowments.
+Osborne and Ralph were imaginative and poetical, and frequently tried
+their talents at verse-making.
+
+Much of their leisure time was spent together, reading to each other,
+and discussing what they read. Even their Sundays were often wickedly
+devoted to such intellectual pastime on the banks of the Schuylkill,
+whither they strolled, instead of visiting the house of God--all
+except Watson, who had too much religious principle thus to desecrate
+the Sabbath.
+
+"You overrate your talent for poetry," said Osborne to Ralph, at one
+of their interviews. "You will never make a poet, if you live to be as
+old as Methuselah."
+
+"Much obliged for your compliment," answered Ralph; "but it does not
+alter my own opinion. All poets have their faults when they begin. It
+is practice that makes perfect."
+
+"It will take something more than practice to make a poet of you,"
+continued Osborne. "That piece which you have just read has no poetry
+about it. Besides, if you should become a poet, it will not bring you
+a fortune, as you seem to think."
+
+"Perhaps not; but I am confident that a poet may easily win both
+popularity and a livelihood. At any rate, I am determined to try it,
+in spite of your decidedly poor opinion of my abilities."
+
+"Well, I advise you to stick to the business to which you were bred,"
+added Osborne, "if you would keep out of the poor-house. A good clerk
+is better than a bad poet"--and he cast a particularly roguish glance
+at Ralph as he said it.
+
+"You need not set yourself up for a critic," said Benjamin to
+Osborne, after hearing these remarks. "I think more of Ralph as a poet
+than I do of you as a critic. You are not willing to grant that his
+productions have any merit at all; but I think they have. Moreover, it
+is a good practice for him to write poetry, to improve himself in the
+use of language."
+
+"Fiddlestick!" retorted Osborne; "it is wasting his time, that might
+be profitably employed in reading."
+
+"Not half so much as your empty criticisms are wasting your breath,"
+said Benjamin, with a smile. "But, look here, I will tell you what we
+better do. At our next meeting each one of us shall bring a piece of
+poetry, of our own making, and we will compare notes, and criticise
+each other."
+
+"I will agree to that," replied Ralph.
+
+"And so will I," added Osborne, "provided you will decide upon the
+subject now, so that all shall have fair play."
+
+"We will do that, of course," answered Benjamin. "Have you a subject
+to suggest?"
+
+"None, unless it is a paraphrase of the eighteenth Psalm, which
+describes the descent of the Deity."
+
+"A capital subject," said Benjamin; "what do you say to taking that,
+Ralph?"
+
+"I am satisfied with it," replied Ralph; "and more, too,--I rather
+like it."
+
+Thus it was agreed that each one should write a poetical paraphrase of
+the eighteenth Psalm for their next meeting, and with this
+understanding they separated.
+
+Just before the time of their next meeting, Ralph called upon Benjamin
+with his piece, and asked him to examine it.
+
+"I have been so busy," said Benjamin, "that I have not been able to
+write anything, and I shall be obliged to appear unprepared. But I
+should like to read yours;" and he proceeded to examine it.
+
+"That is excellent," said he, after reading it. "You have not written
+anything that is equal to this."
+
+"But," said Ralph, "Osborne never will allow the least merit in
+anything of mine, but makes a thousand criticisms, out of mere envy.
+He will do so with that piece, I have no doubt."
+
+"If he does, it will prove that he is prejudiced against you, or is no
+judge of poetry," replied Benjamin.
+
+"I have a plan to test him," continued Ralph. "He is not so jealous of
+you; I wish, therefore, you would take this piece and produce it as
+yours. I will make some excuse and have nothing. We shall then hear
+what he will say to it."
+
+"I will do it," answered Benjamin, who was well convinced that Osborne
+was prejudiced against Ralph; "but I must transcribe it, so that it
+will appear in my own handwriting."
+
+"Certainly; and be careful that you don't let the secret out."
+
+They met at the appointed time. Watson was the first to read his
+performance. Osborne came next, and his piece was much better than
+Watson's. Ralph noticed two or three blemishes, but pointed out many
+beauties in it.
+
+"I have nothing to read," said Ralph, whose turn came next in order.
+"I will try to do my part next time."
+
+"Poets ought to be ready at any time," remarked Osborne jestingly.
+"Well, then, Ben, let us have yours."
+
+"I rather think I must be excused," answered Benjamin, feigning an
+unwillingness to read.
+
+"No excuse for you," said Osborne. "You have it written, for I saw it
+in your hand."
+
+"That is true," replied Benjamin; "but after such fine productions as
+we have heard, there is little encouragement for me to read this. I
+think I must correct it and dress it up a little before I read it."
+
+"Not a word of it," said Ralph. "There is no excuse for any one who is
+prepared."
+
+So, after much urging, Benjamin proceeded to read the verses, with
+seeming diffidence, all listening with rapt attention.
+
+"You must read that again," said Osborne, when the first reading was
+finished; which Benjamin consented to do.
+
+"You surprise me, Ben," said Osborne, after the piece was read the
+second time. "You are a genuine poet. I had no idea that you could
+write like that."
+
+"Nor I," added Watson. "It is better than half the poetry that is
+printed. If we had not given out the subject, I should have charged
+you with stealing it."
+
+"What do _you_ say, Ralph?" inquired Osborne. "You are a poet, and
+ought to be a judge of such matters."
+
+"I don't think it is entirely faultless," responded Ralph. "You have
+commended it full as highly as it will bear, in my estimation."
+
+"Well done!" exclaimed Osborne. "Your opinion of that piece proves
+that you are destitute of poetical taste, as I have told you before."
+
+Ralph and Benjamin saw that Osborne was fairly caught, and they hardly
+dared to exchange glances, lest they should betray themselves. They
+succeeded, however, in controlling themselves, and allowed Osborne to
+express himself most emphatically.
+
+Ralph walked home with Osborne, and their conversation was upon
+Benjamin's poetry.
+
+"Who would have imagined," said Osborne, "that Franklin was capable of
+such a performance,--such painting, such force, such fire! In common
+conversation he seems to have no choice of words; he hesitates and
+blunders; and yet, how he writes!"
+
+"Possibly he may not have written it," suggested Ralph.
+
+"That is the 'unkindest cut of all,'" retorted Osborne, "to charge him
+of plagiarism. Franklin would not descend to so mean a thing."
+
+They parted for that night; but Ralph embraced the first opportunity
+to call on Benjamin, and have a sort of rejoicing over the success of
+their enterprise. They laughed to their hearts' content, and discussed
+the point of revealing the secret. They agreed that the real author of
+the article should be known at their next meeting.
+
+Accordingly, the affair was so managed as to bring the facts of the
+case before their companions at their next gathering. Osborne was
+utterly confounded when the revelation was made, and knew not what to
+say for himself. Watson shook his whole frame with convulsive laughter
+at poor Osborne's expense, and Benjamin joined him with a keen relish.
+Never was a fellow in more mortifying predicament than this would-be
+critic, since it was now so manifest that he had been influenced by
+blind prejudice in his criticisms upon Ralph's poetry. It was certain
+now that he had given it his most emphatic indorsement. While Osborne
+was brought to confusion and suffered deservedly, the trick played
+upon him is not one which can be approved by right-thinking persons.
+Deceit is never commendable.
+
+A few years after, Watson died in Benjamin's arms, much lamented by
+all his companions, who regarded him as "the best of their set."
+Osborne removed to the West Indies, where he became an eminent lawyer,
+but was early cut off by death. Of the others we shall have occasion
+to speak hereafter.
+
+It is quite evident that this literary way of spending their leisure
+time was of great advantage to this group of youths. Doubtless it led
+to the cultivation of that taste which most of them who lived
+exhibited for literature and science in after life. It is certainly an
+example of the wise use of spare moments which the young may safely
+imitate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+GOING TO ENGLAND.
+
+
+At the earliest opportunity, Benjamin presented the Governor with an
+inventory of the articles necessary in setting up the printing
+business.
+
+"And what will be the probable expense of all these?" inquired the
+Governor.
+
+"About one hundred pounds sterling, as nearly as I can estimate," he
+replied.
+
+"But would it not prove an advantage for you to be there yourself, to
+select the types, and see that everything is good?"
+
+"I suppose it would, though such a thing as going to England is
+scarcely possible with me."
+
+"That remains to be seen," continued Governor Keith. "Another
+advantage of your being there is, that you could form acquaintances,
+and establish correspondence in the bookselling and stationery line."
+
+"That would certainly be an advantage," replied Benjamin.
+
+"Then get yourself ready to go in the Annis," said the Governor. The
+Annis was the annual ship that sailed between Philadelphia and
+London, and the only one, at that time, which performed this voyage.
+Instead of there being scores of vessels sailing between these two
+ports, as now, there was only this solitary one, going and returning
+once a year.
+
+"It is not necessary to prepare immediately," answered Benjamin,
+"since it is several months before the Annis will sail."
+
+"True; I only meant that you should be in readiness when the ship
+sails. It will be necessary for you still to keep the matter secret
+while you continue to work for Keimer."
+
+Keimer, for whom Benjamin worked, was a singular man in some respects,
+and liked to draw him into discussions upon religious subjects. At one
+time he thought seriously of originating a new sect, and proposed to
+Benjamin to join him, as his masterly powers of argumentation would
+confound opponents. He wore his beard long, because it is somewhere
+said in the Mosaic Law, "_Thou shalt not mar the corners of thy
+beard._" Also, he kept the seventh, instead of the first day of the
+week, as a Sabbath. Benjamin opposed him on these points, and their
+discussions were frequent and warm. Keimer often exhorted him to
+embrace his own peculiar views on these subjects. Finally, Benjamin
+replied, "I will do it, provided you will join me in not eating animal
+food, and I will adhere to them as long as you will stick to a
+vegetable diet."
+
+Benjamin was here aiming at some diversion, since Keimer was a great
+eater, and thought much of a savoury dish. Benjamin wanted to starve
+him a little, as he thought some of his preaching and practice did not
+correspond.
+
+"I should die," said Keimer, "if I adopt such a diet; my constitution
+will not bear it."
+
+"Nonsense!" answered Benjamin. "You will be better than you are now.
+So much animal food is bad for any one."
+
+"What is there left to eat when meat is taken away?" inquired Keimer.
+"Little or nothing, I should think."
+
+"I will pledge myself to furnish recipes for forty palatable dishes,"
+answered Benjamin, "and not one of them shall smell of the flesh-pots
+of Egypt."
+
+"Who will prepare them? I am sure no woman in this town can do it."
+
+"Each dish is so simple that any woman can easily prepare it," added
+Benjamin.
+
+Keimer finally accepted the proposition. He was to become a
+vegetarian, and Benjamin was to embrace formally the long-beard
+doctrine, and observe the seventh day for a Sabbath. A woman was
+engaged to prepare their food and bring it to them, and Benjamin
+furnished her with a list of forty dishes, "in which there entered
+neither fish, flesh, nor fowl." For about three months Keimer adhered
+to this way of living, though it was very trying to him all the
+while. Benjamin was often diverted to see his manifest longings for
+fowl and flesh, and expected that he would soon let him off from
+keeping the seventh day and advocating long beards. At the end of
+three months, Keimer declared that he could hold out no longer, and
+the agreement was broken. It was a happy day for him; and to show his
+gladness, he ordered a roast pig, and invited Benjamin and two ladies
+to dine with him. But the pig being set upon the table before his
+guests arrived, the temptation was so great that he could not resist,
+and he devoured the whole of it before they came, thus proving that he
+was a greater pig than the one he swallowed.
+
+It should be remarked here, that for some time Benjamin had not
+followed the vegetable diet which he adopted in Boston. The
+circumstances and reason of his leaving are thus given by himself:--
+
+     "In my first voyage from Boston to Philadelphia, being becalmed
+     off Block Island, our crew employed themselves in catching cod,
+     and hauled up a great number. Till then, I had stuck to my
+     resolution to eat nothing that had had life; and on this occasion
+     I considered, according to my master Tryon, the taking every fish
+     as a kind of unprovoked murder, since none of them had nor could
+     do us any injury that might justify this massacre. All this
+     seemed very reasonable. But I had been formerly a great lover of
+     fish, and when it came out of the frying-pan, it smelt admirably
+     well. I balanced some time between principle and inclination,
+     till recollecting that, when the fish were opened, I saw smaller
+     fish taken out of their stomachs; then, thought I, 'If you eat
+     one another, I don't see why we may not eat you.' So I dined upon
+     cod very heartily, and have since continued to eat as other
+     people; returning only now and then to a vegetable diet. So
+     convenient a thing it is to be a _reasonable creature_, since it
+     enables one to find or make a _reason_ for everything one has a
+     mind to do."
+
+The time was now approaching for the Annis to sail, and Benjamin began
+to realize the trial of leaving his friends. A new tie now bound him
+to Philadelphia. A mutual affection existed between Miss Read and
+himself, and it had ripened into sincere and ardent love. He desired a
+formal engagement with her before his departure, but her mother
+interposed.
+
+"Both of you are too young," said she,--"only eighteen! You cannot
+tell what changes may occur before you are old enough to be married."
+
+"But that need not have anything to do with an engagement," said
+Benjamin. "We only pledge ourselves to marry each other at some future
+time."
+
+"And why do you deem such a pledge necessary?" asked the good mother.
+
+"Simply because 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,'"
+replied Benjamin, with his face all wreathed with smiles.
+
+"But I have not quite satisfied myself that it is best to give up my
+daughter to a printer," added Mrs. Read.
+
+"How so?" asked Benjamin, with some anxiety.
+
+"Because," she replied, "there are already several printing-offices in
+the country, and I doubt whether another can be supported."
+
+"If I cannot support her by the printing business," answered Benjamin,
+"then I will do it some other way."
+
+"I have no doubt of your good intentions; but you may not realize the
+fulfilment of all your hopes. I think you had better leave the matter
+as it is until you return from England, and see how you are
+prospered."
+
+The old lady won the day, and the young couple agreed to proceed no
+further at present.
+
+The above reference to the fact that only four or five
+printing-offices existed in America at that time, may serve to exhibit
+its rapid growth. For in 1840, there were _one thousand five hundred
+and fifty-seven_ of them, and now probably there are twice that
+number.
+
+"I am going to England with you, Benjamin," said Ralph one day, as
+they met. "Don't you believe it?"
+
+"It is almost too good news to believe," replied Benjamin. "But I
+should be glad of your company, I assure you."
+
+"It is true," continued Ralph. "I was not jesting when I told you, the
+other day, that I meant to go if I could."
+
+"Then you are really in earnest? You mean to go?"
+
+"To be sure I do. I have fully decided to go."
+
+Benjamin did not ask him what he was going for; but, from some remarks
+he heard him make previously, he inferred that he was going out to
+establish a correspondence, and obtain goods to sell on commission.
+Nor did he learn to the contrary until after they arrived in London,
+when Ralph informed him that he did not intend to return,--that he had
+experienced some trouble with his wife's relations, and he was going
+away to escape from it, leaving his wife and child to be cared for by
+her friends.
+
+As the time of their departure drew near, Benjamin called upon the
+Governor for letters of introduction and credit, which he had
+promised, but they were not ready. He called again, and they were
+still unwritten. At last, just as he was leaving, he called at his
+door, and his secretary, Dr. Baird, came out, and said: "The Governor
+is engaged upon important business now, but he will be at Newcastle
+before the Annis reaches there, and will deliver the letters to you
+there."
+
+As soon as they reached Newcastle, Benjamin went to the Governor's
+lodgings for the letters, but was told by his secretary that he was
+engaged, and should be under the necessity of sending the letters to
+him on board the ship, before she weighed anchor. Benjamin was
+somewhat puzzled by this unexpected turn of affairs, but still he did
+not dream of deception or dishonesty. He returned to the vessel, and
+awaited her departure. Soon after her canvas was flung to the breeze,
+he went to the captain and inquired for the letters.
+
+"I understand," said he, "that Colonel French brought letters on board
+from the Governor. I suppose some of them are directed to my care."
+
+"Yes," replied the captain, "Colonel French brought a parcel of
+letters on board, and they were all put into the bag with others, so
+that I cannot tell whether any of them are for you or not. But you
+shall have an opportunity, before we reach England, of looking them
+over for yourself."
+
+"I thank you," answered Benjamin; "that will be all that is
+necessary;" and he yielded himself up to enjoyment for the remainder
+of the voyage, without the least suspicion of disappointment and
+trouble.
+
+When they entered the English Channel, the captain, true to his
+promise, allowed Benjamin to examine the bag of letters. He found
+several on which his name was written, as under his care, and some
+others he judged, from the handwriting, came from the Governor. One of
+them was addressed to Baskett, the King's printer, and another to a
+stationer, and these two, Benjamin was confident, were for him to
+take. In all he took seven or eight from the bag.
+
+They arrived in London on the 24th of December, 1724, when Benjamin
+lacked about a month of being nineteen years old. Soon after he
+landed, he called upon the stationer to whom one of the letters was
+directed: "A letter, sir, from Governor Keith, of Pennsylvania,
+America!"
+
+"I don't know such a person," replied the stationer, at the same time
+receiving the letter.
+
+"O, this is from Riddlesden!" said he, on opening it. "I have lately
+found him to be a complete rascal, and I will have nothing to do with
+him, nor receive any letters from him;" and he handed back the letter
+to Benjamin, turned upon his heel, and left to wait upon a customer.
+
+Benjamin was astonished and mortified. He had not the least suspicion
+that he was bearing any other than the Governor's letter, and he was
+almost bewildered for a moment. The thought flashed into his mind that
+the Governor had deceived him. In a few moments his thoughts brought
+together the acts of the Governor in the matter, and now he could see
+clearly evidence of insincerity and duplicity. He immediately sought
+out Mr. Denham, a merchant, who came over in the Annis with him, and
+gave him a history of the affair.
+
+"Governor Keith is a notorious deceiver," said Mr. Denham. "I do not
+think he wrote a single letter for you, nor intended to do it. He has
+been deceiving you from beginning to end."
+
+"He pretended to have many acquaintances here," added Benjamin, "to
+whom he promised to give me letters of credit, and I supposed that
+they would render me valuable assistance."
+
+"Letters of credit!" exclaimed Denham. "It is a ludicrous idea. How
+could he write letters of credit, when he has no credit of his own to
+give? No one who knows him has the least confidence in his character.
+There is no dependence to be placed upon him in anything. He is
+entirely irresponsible."
+
+"What, then, shall I do?" asked Benjamin with evident concern. "Here I
+am among strangers without the means of returning, and what shall I
+do?"
+
+"I advise you to get employment in a printing-office here for the
+present. Among the printers here you will improve yourself, and, when
+you return to America, you will set up to greater advantage."
+
+There was no alternative left for Benjamin but to find work where he
+could, and make the best of it. Again he had "paid too dear for the
+whistle," and must suffer for it. He took lodgings with Ralph in
+Little Britain, at three shillings and sixpence a week, and very soon
+obtained work at Palmer's famous printing-house in Bartholomew Close,
+where he laboured nearly a year. Ralph was not so successful in
+getting a situation. He made application here and there, but in vain;
+and, after several weeks of fruitless attempts at securing a place, he
+decided to leave London, and teach a country school. Previously,
+however, in company with Benjamin, he spent much time at plays and
+public amusements. This was rather strange, since neither of them had
+been wont to waste their time and money in this way; and years after,
+Benjamin spoke of it as a great error of his life, which he deeply
+regretted. But Ralph's departure put an end to this objectionable
+pleasure-seeking, and Benjamin returned to his studious habits when
+out of the office.
+
+At this time, the ability to compose which he had carefully nurtured
+proved of great assistance to him. He was employed in the printing of
+Wollaston's "Religion of Nature," when he took exceptions to some of
+his reasoning, and wrote a dissertation thereon, and printed it, with
+the title, "A DISSERTATION ON LIBERTY AND NECESSITY, PLEASURE AND
+PAIN." This pamphlet fell into the hands of one Lyons, a surgeon,
+author of a book entitled "The Infallibility of Human Judgment," and
+he was so much pleased with it, that he sought out the author, and
+showed him marked attention. He introduced him to Dr. Mandeville,
+author of the "Fable of the Bees," and to Dr. Pemberton, who promised
+to take him to see Sir Isaac Newton. Sir Hans Sloane invited him to
+his house in Bloomsbury Square, and showed him all his curiosities. In
+this way, the small pamphlet which he wrote introduced him to
+distinguished men, which was of much advantage to him.
+
+While he lodged in Little Britain, he made the acquaintance of a
+bookseller, by the name of Wilcox, who had a very large collection of
+secondhand books. Benjamin wanted to gain access to them, but he could
+not command the means to purchase; so he hit upon this plan: he
+proposed to Wilcox to pay him a certain sum per book for as many as he
+might choose to take out, read, and return, and Wilcox accepted his
+offer. In this transaction was involved the principle of the modern
+circulating library. It was the first instance of lending books on
+record, and for that reason becomes an interesting fact. It was
+another of the influences that served to send him forward in a career
+of honour and fame.
+
+When he first entered the printing-house in London, he did press-work.
+There were fifty workmen in the establishment, and all of them but
+Benjamin were great beer-drinkers; yet he could lift more, and endure
+more fatigue, than any of them. His companion at the press was a
+notorious drinker, and consumed daily "a pint of beer before
+breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his food, a pint between breakfast
+and dinner, a pint at dinner, a pint in the afternoon about six
+o'clock, and another when he had done his day's work,"--in all six
+pints per day. They had an alehouse boy always in attendance upon the
+workmen.
+
+"A detestable habit," said Benjamin to his fellow-pressman, "and a
+very expensive one, too."
+
+"I couldn't endure the wear and tear of this hard work without it,"
+replied the toper.
+
+"You could accomplish more work, and perform it better, by drinking
+nothing but cold water," rejoined Benjamin. "There is nothing like it
+to make one strong and healthy."
+
+"Fudge! It may do for a Water-American like you, but Englishmen would
+become as weak as babes without it."
+
+"That is false," said Benjamin. "With all your drinking _strong_ beer
+in this establishment, you are the weakest set of workmen I ever saw.
+I have seen _you_ tug away to carry a single form of type up and down
+stairs, when I always carry two. Your beer may be _strong_, but it
+makes you _weak_."
+
+"You Americans are odd fellows, I confess," added the beer-swigger;
+"and you stick to your opinions like a tick."
+
+"But look here, my good fellow," continued Benjamin. "Do you not see
+that the bodily strength afforded by beer can be only in proportion to
+the grain or flour of the barley dissolved in the water of which it is
+made? There must be more flour in a pennyworth of bread than there is
+in a whole quart of beer; therefore, if you eat that with a pint of
+water, it will give you more strength than two or three pints of beer.
+Is it not so?"
+
+The man was obliged to acknowledge that it appeared to be so.
+
+Benjamin continued: "You see that I am supplied with a large porringer
+of hot water-gruel, sprinkled with pepper, crumbled with bread, and a
+bit of butter in it, for just the price of a pint of beer,
+three-halfpence. Now, honestly, is not this much better for me, and
+for you, than the same amount of beer?"
+
+Thus Benjamin thorned his companions with arguments against the
+prevailing habit of beer-drinking. Gradually he acquired an influence
+over many of them, by precept and example, and finally they abandoned
+their old habit, and followed his better way of living. He wrought a
+thorough reformation in the printing-office; and the fact shows what
+one young man can do in a good cause, if he will but set his face
+resolutely in that direction. Benjamin possessed the firmness,
+independence, and moral courage to carry out his principles,--just
+the thing which many a youth of his age lack, and consequently make
+shipwreck of their hopes.
+
+The only amusement which Benjamin seems to have enjoyed as much as he
+did literary recreation, was swimming. From his boyhood he delighted
+to be in the water, performing wonderful feats, and trying his skill
+in various ways. At one time he let up his kite, and, taking the
+string in his hand, lay upon his back on the top of the water, when
+the kite drew him a mile in a very agreeable manner. At another time
+he lay floating upon his back and slept for an hour by the watch. The
+skill which he had thus acquired in the art of swimming won him a
+reputation in England. On several occasions he exhibited his
+remarkable attainments of this kind, and the result was that he was
+applied to by Sir William Wyndham to teach his two sons to swim. Some
+advised him to open a swimming-school, and make it his profession; but
+he very wisely concluded to leave the water to the fish, and confine
+himself to the land.
+
+Benjamin had been in London nearly eighteen months, when Mr. Denham,
+the merchant of whom we have spoken, proposed to him to return to
+Philadelphia, and act in the capacity of bookkeeper for him, and
+offered him fifty pounds a year, with the promise to promote him, and
+finally establish him in business. Benjamin had a high respect for
+Mr. Denham, and the new field of labour appeared to him inviting, so
+that he accepted the proposition with little hesitation, and made
+preparations to leave England, quitting for ever, as he thought, the
+art of printing, which he had thoroughly learned.
+
+Forty years after Benjamin worked in Palmer's printing-office, he
+visited England in the service of his country, widely known as a
+sagacious statesman and profound philosopher. He took occasion to
+visit the old office where he once laboured with the beer-drinkers,
+and, stepping up to the press on which he worked month after month, he
+said: "Come, my friends, we will drink together. It is now forty years
+since I worked, like you, at this press, as a journeyman printer."
+With these words, he sent out for a gallon of porter, and they drank
+together according to the custom of the times. That press, on which he
+worked in London, is now in the Patent-office at Washington.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+FAREWELL TO ENGLAND.
+
+
+On the 23rd day of July, 1726, Benjamin sailed for Philadelphia, in
+company with Mr. Denham. After a successful and rather pleasant voyage
+of nearly three months, they reached Philadelphia, much to the
+satisfaction of Benjamin, who always enjoyed his stay there. He was
+now twenty years of age.
+
+"Ah! is it you, Benjamin? I am glad to see you back again," said
+Keimer, as his old journeyman made his appearance; and he shook his
+hand as if his heart was in it. "I began to think you had forsaken
+us."
+
+"Not yet," replied Benjamin. "I think too much of Philadelphia to
+forsake it yet."
+
+"Want work at your old business, I suppose?" added Keimer. "I have a
+plenty of it. You see I have improved things since you were here; my
+shop is well supplied with stationery, plenty of new types, and a good
+business!"
+
+"I see that you have made considerable advance," replied Benjamin. "I
+am glad that you prosper."
+
+"And I shall be glad to employ you, as none of my men are complete
+masters of the business."
+
+"But I have relinquished my old trade," answered Benjamin. "I----"
+
+"Given up the printing business!" interrupted Keimer. "Why is that?"
+
+"I have made arrangements with Mr. Denham to keep his books, and serve
+him generally in the capacity of clerk."
+
+"I am sorry for that, and I think you will be eventually. It is a very
+uncertain business."
+
+"Well, I have undertaken it for better or worse," said Benjamin, as he
+rose to leave the shop.
+
+As he was going down the street, who should he meet but Governor
+Keith, who had been removed from his office, and was now only a common
+citizen. The ex-Governor appeared both surprised and ashamed at seeing
+him, and passed by him without speaking.
+
+Benjamin was quite ashamed to meet Miss Read, since he had not been
+true to his promise. Though he had been absent eighteen months, he had
+written her but a single letter, and that was penned soon after his
+arrival in London, to inform her that he should not return at present.
+His long absence and silence convinced her that he had ceased to
+regard her with affection; in consequence of which, at the earnest
+persuasion of her parents, she married a potter by the name of
+Rogers. He turned out to be a miserable fellow, and she lived with him
+only a short time. He incurred heavy debts; ran away to the West
+Indies to escape from his creditors, and there died.
+
+Miss Read (she refused to bear the name of Rogers) was disconsolate
+and sad, and Benjamin pitied her sincerely, inasmuch as he considered
+himself to blame in the matter. He was not disposed to shield himself
+from the censure of the family, had they been disposed to administer
+any; but the old lady took all the blame upon herself, because she
+prevented an engagement, and persuaded her daughter to marry Rogers.
+
+These circumstances rendered his meeting with Miss Read less
+unpleasant, so far as his own want of fidelity was concerned. His
+intimacy with the family was renewed, and they frequently invited him
+there to tea, and often sought his advice on business of importance.
+
+Mr. Denham opened a store in Water Street, and Benjamin entered upon
+his new business with high hopes. He made rapid progress in acquiring
+knowledge of traffic, and soon became expert in keeping accounts and
+selling goods. But in February, 1727, when Benjamin was twenty-one
+years of age, both he and his employer were prostrated by sickness.
+Benjamin's disease was pleurisy, and his life was despaired of, though
+he unexpectedly recovered. Mr. Denham lingered along for some time,
+and died. His decease was the occasion of closing the store and
+throwing Benjamin out of business. It was a sad disappointment, but
+not wholly unlike the previous checkered experience of his life. He
+had become used to "ups and downs."
+
+As a token of his confidence and esteem, Mr. Denham left a small
+legacy to Benjamin,--a fact that speaks well for the young man's
+faithfulness. And here it should be said, that, whatever faults the
+hero of our story had, he always served his employers with such
+ability and fidelity as won their approbation and confidence. Unlike
+many youth, who care not for their employers' interests if they but
+receive their wages and keep their places, he ever did the best he
+could for those who employed him. He proved himself trustworthy and
+efficient; and here is found one secret of his success.
+
+In his disappointment, Benjamin sought the advice of his
+brother-in-law, Captain Homes, who happened to be in Philadelphia at
+the time.
+
+"I advise you to return to your old business," said he. "I suppose you
+can readily get work here, can you not?"
+
+"All I want," Benjamin answered. "Keimer was very anxious to employ me
+when I returned from England, and I dare say that he would hire me
+now."
+
+"Then I would close a bargain with him at once, were I in your place.
+I think you will succeed better at your trade than in any other
+business, and perhaps the way will soon be prepared for you to open a
+printing-office of your own."
+
+This advice was followed without delay, and Keimer was eager to employ
+him. At the outset, he offered him extra wages to take the entire
+management of his printing-office, so that he (Keimer) might attend
+more closely to his stationer's shop. The offer was accepted, and
+Benjamin commenced his duties immediately. He soon found, however,
+that Keimer's design in offering him so large wages was, that the
+hands he already employed might be improved under his experience, when
+it would not be necessary for him to hire so competent a person. The
+facts show us that good workmen can command employment and high wages,
+when poor ones are obliged to beg their bread.
+
+Among Keimer's workmen was an Oxford student, whose time he had bought
+for four years. He was about eighteen years of age, smart and
+intelligent. Benjamin very naturally became interested in him, as it
+was quite unusual to find an Oxford scholar acting in the capacity of
+a bought servant; and he received from him the following brief account
+of his life. He "was born in Gloucester, educated at a grammar-school,
+and had been distinguished among the scholars for some apparent
+superiority in performing his part when they exhibited plays;
+belonged to the Wits' Club there, and had written some pieces in prose
+and verse, which were printed in the Gloucester newspapers. Thence was
+sent to Oxford, where he continued about a year, but not well
+satisfied; wishing, of all things, to see London, and become a player.
+At length, receiving his quarterly allowance of fifteen guineas,
+instead of discharging his debts, he went out of town, hid his gown in
+a furze-bush, and walked to London; where, having no friend to advise
+him, he fell into bad company, soon spent his guineas, found no means
+of being introduced among the players, grew necessitous, pawned his
+clothes, and wanted bread. Walking the street, very hungry, not
+knowing what to do with himself, a crimp's bill was put into his hand,
+offering immediate entertainment and encouragement to such as would
+bind themselves to work in America. He went directly, signed the
+indentures, was put into the ship, and came over; never writing a line
+to his friends, to acquaint them what was become of him."
+
+Such a case has several important lessons for the young. In the first
+place, it shows the danger that attends theatrical performances. Youth
+often wonder that good people object to them; but here they may see
+one reason of their opposition. It was at the school in Oxford that he
+imbibed a love for the stage. There he participated in dramatic
+plays, which caused him to run away, and seek a residence in London,
+where he was ruined. There are hundreds of similar examples, and these
+cause good people to condemn theatrical amusements. It is said that
+when Lord Jeffrey was a youth, at the college in Glasgow, he was
+instrumental in originating a dramatic performance. The play was
+selected, and a room of the college designated as a fitting theatre,
+when the authorities interfered, and forbade them to perform the play.
+Their interference aroused the ire of Jeffrey, who, in his "Notes on
+Lectures," denounced their conduct as "the meanest, most illiberal,
+and despicable." Many youth cherish similar feelings towards those who
+condemn such performances; and, if one of the number shall read these
+pages, we would point him to the sad end of the Oxford student.
+
+This case also illustrates the sad consequences of keeping bad
+company, as well as the perils of the city. He associated with the
+vicious in London, and became really a vagabond in consequence.
+
+As the workmen improved under Benjamin's supervision, Keimer evidently
+began to think of discharging him, or cutting down his wages. On
+paying his second quarter's wages, he told him that he could not
+continue to pay him so much. He became less civil, frequently found
+fault, and plainly tried to make Benjamin's stay uncomfortable so that
+he would leave. At length a rare opportunity offered for him to make
+trouble. An unusual noise in the street one day caused Benjamin to put
+his head out of the window to see what was the matter. Keimer happened
+to be in the street, and seeing him, he cried out, "Put your head in,
+and attend to your business;" and added some reproachful words which
+all in the street heard. Then, hastening up into the office, he
+continued his insulting language.
+
+"Men who work for me must give better heed to their business," said
+he. "If they care more for a noise in the street than for their work,
+it is time they left."
+
+"I am ready to leave any time you please," retorted Benjamin, who was
+considerably nettled by such treatment. "I am not dependent on you for
+a living, and I shall not be treated in this way long, I assure you."
+
+"That, indeed!" exclaimed Keimer. "You would not stay another hour if
+it were not for our agreement, in accordance with which I now warn you
+that, at the end of a quarter's time, I shall hire you no more."
+
+"You need not regret that you cannot send me away to-day," answered
+Benjamin. "I shall work no longer for a man who will treat me thus;"
+and, taking his hat, he left. As he passed down, he requested
+Meredith, one of the hands, to bring some things which he left behind
+to his lodgings.
+
+In the evening Meredith went to see Benjamin, carrying the articles
+referred to.
+
+"What shall you do now?" Meredith inquired.
+
+"I shall return to Boston forthwith."
+
+"I wouldn't do that. You can do much better here than you can there."
+
+"What can I do here now?"
+
+"Set up business for yourself."
+
+"I have no money to do it with."
+
+"My father has," said Meredith; "and I will go into company with you
+if he will furnish the means. I am not acquainted with the business,
+and you are; so I will furnish the capital, and you shall manage the
+concern, and we will share the profits equally."
+
+"Your father will never do it," suggested Benjamin.
+
+"I am confident that he will," replied Meredith. "He has a high
+opinion of you, and he wants a good opportunity to set me up. I will
+ask him, at any rate."
+
+"I would like such an enterprise myself," added Benjamin; "but can we
+succeed against Keimer? He will now do all he can to crush me."
+
+"He will be crushed himself before long," answered Meredith. "I happen
+to know that he is in debt for all the property in his hands. He keeps
+his shop miserably, too; often sells without profit in order to raise
+money; and trusts people without keeping accounts. He will fail as
+surely as he keeps on in this way."
+
+"I will agree to your plan if you can make it work," said Benjamin.
+"See your father immediately, and let me know the result."
+
+Accordingly, Meredith saw his father, and he was ready to furnish the
+necessary capital, because of his high regard for Benjamin.
+
+"I am the more ready to do this," said he to Benjamin, afterwards,
+"because of your good influence over my son. You have prevailed upon
+him to leave off drinking to excess, and I hope he will be persuaded,
+by your more intimate connection in business, to reform entirely."
+
+It was settled that they should set up business as soon as they could
+procure the necessary articles from England.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+SETTING UP BUSINESS.
+
+
+Agreeably to the arrangement with Meredith, Benjamin made out an
+inventory of articles, which were immediately ordered from England. In
+the mean time he expected to find work at Bradford's printing-office,
+but was disappointed. It was only a few days, however, before he
+received a very civil message from Keimer, in which he said, "that old
+friends should not part for a few words, the effect of sudden
+passion," and urged him to return. The fact was, he had a prospect of
+being employed to print some paper-money in New Jersey, which would
+require cuts and various types that Benjamin only could supply, and,
+therefore, he wanted to re-engage him. Benjamin was not quite inclined
+to accept the proposition at first, but Meredith urged him to do it,
+on the ground that he himself would become better acquainted with the
+business in consequence; he, therefore, agreed to return.
+
+It was several months before the new types arrived from London, and
+Benjamin continued in Keimer's service. Most of the time he spent
+with his employer at Burlington, executing the paper-money, and there
+made many friends, among whom was Judge Allen, the Secretary of the
+Province, several members of the Assembly, and the Surveyor-General,
+all of whom were of service to him when he set up business for
+himself. They were much pleased with Benjamin's intelligence and
+fidelity, so that they frequently invited him to their houses, while
+the ignorance and rudeness of Keimer so disgusted them, that they took
+little notice of him.
+
+"You are completely master of your business," said the
+Surveyor-General to him; "and success is before you."
+
+"I have improved my opportunities," modestly replied Benjamin, "to
+become as well acquainted with my business as I could. This half way
+of doing things I do not like."
+
+"I commenced business in a very humble way," continued the
+Surveyor-General, "without expecting to ever possess such an estate as
+I do now."
+
+"What was your business?"
+
+"I wheeled clay for the brick-makers, and had not the opportunity of
+going to school at all in my boyhood. I did not learn to write until I
+became of age. I acquired my knowledge of surveying when I carried a
+chain for surveyors, who were pleased with my desire to learn the
+business, and assisted me. By constant industry and close
+application, with a good deal of perseverance, I have succeeded in
+reaching the place where you now see me."
+
+"That is all the way any one can work his way up to an honourable
+position," said Benjamin.
+
+"True, very true, and I am glad to see that you understand it. I am
+confident that you will beat this man Keimer at the business, and make
+a fortune in it at Philadelphia, if you go on as you have begun."
+
+This example of industry and perseverance was encouraging to Benjamin
+in his circumstances. It was exactly suited to confirm him in his very
+proper views of industry and fidelity.
+
+Meredith and Benjamin settled with Keimer and left him just before
+their types arrived, without letting him into the secret of their
+plans. The first intimation he had of their intentions was the opening
+of their printing-office near the market.
+
+Many people were taken by surprise, and most of them predicted a
+failure, since there were two printers established there already. Not
+long after they commenced, an elderly man, whose name was Samuel
+Mickle, happened to be passing just as Benjamin came out of his
+office.
+
+"Are you the young man," said Mickle, "who has lately opened a new
+printing-house?"
+
+"I am, sir."
+
+"I am sorry for you," said he, "for it is an expensive undertaking,
+and you are throwing away your money."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"Because Philadelphia is degenerating, and half the people are now
+bankrupt, or nearly so, and how can they support so many printers?"
+
+"But the appearance of Philadelphia," replied Benjamin, "indicates
+thrift. See how many buildings are going up, and how rents are rising
+every month. This does not look like going backward."
+
+"These are among the very things that will ruin us," responded Mickle.
+"They are not evidence of prosperity, but of extravagance, that will
+bring disaster sooner or later."
+
+In this strain, Mickle, who was one of those eccentric and unhappy men
+who always look upon the dark side of things, went on, until Benjamin
+really began to feel dismayed. But on the whole, he believed that the
+evidence of his own senses was to the contrary, and so he soon forgot
+the interview. Mickle continued to live there some years, refusing to
+buy a house because the town was going to ruin, and at last he
+purchased one for five times what he could have had it for at the time
+he talked to Benjamin.
+
+In their printing-office, Franklin suspended the following lines,
+which he composed:--
+
+    "All ye who come this curious art to see,
+    To handle anything must careful be;
+    Lest by a slight touch, ere you are aware,
+    You may do mischief which you can't repair,
+    Lo! this advice we give to every stranger!
+    Look on and welcome, but to touch there's danger."
+
+This singular notice attracted some attention, and elicited remarks
+from different visitors.
+
+In order to win the confidence of the public, and secure their
+patronage, Benjamin resolved at the outset to exhibit to all beholders
+several qualities which guarantee success; namely, industry, economy,
+integrity, and close application to his business. All of them had
+become habits with him, and hence it was easy for him to conduct in
+this manner.
+
+In respect to industry, he laboured incessantly. Even some of his
+hours that ought to have been devoted to sleep were spent in his
+office at hard work.
+
+Mention being made of the new printing-house at the "Merchants'
+Every-night Club," "It will prove a failure," said one.
+
+"Of course it will," added another. "Two such young fellows cannot get
+business enough to support them, with two established printers here."
+
+This was the general opinion. But Dr. Baird, who was present, said:
+"It will prove a success, for the industry of that Franklin is
+superior to anything I ever saw of the kind. I see him still at work
+when I go home from club, and he is at work again before his
+neighbours are out of bed."
+
+This remark was appreciated by the members, and soon after one of them
+offered to supply the young printers with stationery, if they desired
+to open a shop.
+
+It was his experience, doubtless, that caused him, years afterwards,
+to give the following advice to a "young tradesman:"--
+
+     "The most trifling actions that affect a man's credit are to be
+     regarded. The sound of your hammer at five in the morning, or
+     nine at night, heard by a creditor, makes him easy six months
+     longer; but if he sees you at a billiard-table, or hears your
+     voice at a tavern, when you should be at work, he sends for his
+     money the next day; demands it, before he can receive it, in a
+     lump."
+
+He also wrote: "He that idly loses five shillings' worth of time loses
+five shillings, and might as prudently throw five shillings into the
+sea."
+
+One fine morning, after Meredith and Franklin opened a stationer's
+shop and bookstore, a lounger stepped in, and, after looking over the
+articles, inquired of the boy in attendance the price of a certain
+book.
+
+"One dollar," was the answer.
+
+"One dollar," said the lounger, "can't you take less than that?"
+
+"No indeed; one dollar is the price."
+
+After waiting some time he asked: "Is Mr. Franklin at home?"
+
+"Yes, he is in the printing-office."
+
+"I want to see him," said the lounger.
+
+The shop-boy soon informed Franklin (as we will henceforth call him)
+that a gentleman was waiting to see him in the shop.
+
+"Mr. Franklin, what is the lowest you can take for this book?" he
+asked, as Franklin came in. At the same time he held up the book at
+which he had been looking.
+
+"One dollar and a quarter," was the reply.
+
+"One dollar and a quarter! Why, your young man asked but a dollar."
+
+"True," said Franklin, "and I could have better afforded to take a
+dollar then, than to have been taken out of the office."
+
+The lounger looked surprised, and rather concluded that Franklin was
+jesting, he said, "Come, now, tell me the lowest you can take for it."
+
+"One dollar and a half."
+
+"A dollar and a half? Why, you offered it yourself for one dollar and
+a quarter?"
+
+"Yes," answered Franklin, "and I had better have taken that price
+then, than a dollar and a half now."
+
+The lounger paid the price, and went out of the shop, feeling the
+severity of the rebuke. Such was the value he attached to his time.
+
+Franklin always ascribed his industrious habits to the frequent
+counsels of his father on the subject, which were generally closed by
+repeating the text of Scripture, "Seest thou a man diligent in his
+calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean
+men,"--a prophecy that was singularly fulfilled in his own case, as we
+shall see hereafter, for he had the honour of standing before _five_
+kings, and even dined with the King of Denmark.
+
+His economy was equal to his industry. He arrayed himself in the
+plainest manner, although he aimed to look neat and tidy. His board
+was simple and cheap, and everything about his business was graduated
+on the most economical principles. In order to save expense, and at
+the same time show the public that he was not proud, and above his
+business, he wheeled home the paper which he bought. This single act
+had its influence in gaining the public confidence. For when a young
+man gets above his business, he is quite sure to have a fall. Since
+Franklin's day, in the city of Richmond, a young man went to the
+market to purchase a turkey. He looked around for some one to carry it
+home for him, being too proud to do it himself, and finding no one, he
+began to fret and swear, much to the annoyance of bystanders. A
+gentleman stepped up to him and said, "That is in my way, and I will
+take your turkey home for you." When they came to the house, the
+young fop asked, "What shall I pay you?" "O, nothing at all," replied
+the gentleman, "it was all in the way, and it was no trouble to me."
+As he passed on, the young man turned to a person near by, and
+inquired, "Who is that polite old gentleman who brought home my turkey
+for me?" "O," replied he, "that was Judge Marshall, Chief Justice of
+the United States." "Why did _he_ bring home my turkey?" "He did it to
+give you a rebuke, and teach you to attend to your own business," was
+the answer.
+
+How contemptible does such a character appear in contrast with
+Franklin! It is not strange that the public withhold their confidence
+from the fop, and bestow it upon the industrious. Judge Marshall was a
+great man, and great men never get above their business. Franklin
+became a great man, and one reason of it was, that he never became too
+proud to wait upon himself.
+
+After he married Miss Read, and commenced housekeeping, he still
+adhered to the same principle of economy. Instead of doing as many
+young men do at this era of life, living beyond their income, he
+continued frugal. He said of himself and wife, "We kept no idle
+servants, our table was plain and simple, our furniture of the
+cheapest. For instance, my breakfast was for a long time bread and
+milk (no tea), and I ate it out of a twopenny earthen porringer, with
+a pewter spoon." Thus he reduced to practice the couplet which he
+wrote:--
+
+    "Vessels large may venture more,
+    But little boats should keep near shore."
+
+And qualified himself to pen such maxims as the following:--
+
+     "It is easier to suppress the first desire, than to satisfy all
+     that follow it."
+
+     "It is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the
+     frog to swell in order to equal the ox."
+
+     "Pride breakfasts with plenty, dines with poverty, and sups with
+     infamy."
+
+His integrity in transacting business was no less marked. Strict
+honesty characterized all his dealings with men. An exalted idea of
+justice pervaded his soul. His word of honour was as good as his note
+of hand. Even his disposition to castigate and censure in his
+writings, so manifest in Boston at seventeen years of age, and which
+his father rebuked, was overcome. After he set up a paper in
+Philadelphia, a gentleman handed him an article for its columns.
+
+"I am very busy now," said Franklin, "and you will confer a favour by
+leaving it for my perusal at my leisure."
+
+"That I will do," replied the writer "and call again to-morrow."
+
+The next day the author called. "What is your opinion of my article?"
+he asked.
+
+"Why, sir, I am sorry to say that I cannot publish it," answered
+Franklin.
+
+"Why not? What is the matter with it?"
+
+"It is highly scurrilous and defamatory," replied Franklin. "But being
+at a loss on account of my poverty, whether to reject it or not, I
+thought I would put it to this issue. At night, when my work was done,
+I bought a twopenny loaf, on which I supped heartily, and then,
+wrapping myself in my great coat, slept very soundly on the floor
+until morning, when another loaf and mug of water afforded a pleasant
+breakfast. Now, sir, since I can live very comfortably in this manner,
+why should I prostitute my press to personal hatred or party passion
+for a more luxurious living?"
+
+Some writer has said that this incident of Franklin's early life is
+akin to Socrates's reply to King Archelaus, who pressed him to give up
+preaching in the dirty streets of Athens, and come and live with him
+in his costly palace: "_Meal, please your Majesty, is a halfpenny a
+peck at Athens, and water I get for nothing._"
+
+Their business prospered well; but Meredith's intemperate habits were
+so strong, that he was frequently seen intoxicated in the streets,
+which occasioned much gossip about town concerning the prospects of
+their success. To add to their embarrassment, Meredith's father was
+unable to meet the last payment of a hundred pounds upon the
+printing-house, and they were sued. But William Coleman and Robert
+Grace, two of Franklin's companions, came to his assistance.
+
+"We will lend you the means to take the business into your own hands,"
+said Coleman. "It is much to your discredit to be connected with
+Meredith, who is seen reeling through the streets so often."
+
+"But I cannot honourably propose a dissolution of partnership,"
+replied Franklin, "while there is any prospect that the Merediths will
+fulfil their part of the contract, because I feel myself under great
+obligations for what they have done."
+
+"They will not be able to fulfil the contract," said Grace; "that is
+out of the question."
+
+"That is my opinion," responded Franklin; "still, I must wait and see
+what they do. If they fail to meet their obligations, then I shall
+feel at liberty to act otherwise."
+
+The matter was left here for some weeks, when Franklin said to
+Meredith, meaning to sound him on the matter of dissolving the
+partnership: "Perhaps your father is dissatisfied with the part you
+have undertaken in this affair of ours, and is unwilling to advance
+for you and I what he would for you alone. If that is the case, tell
+me, and I will resign the whole to you, and go about my business."
+
+[Illustration: "Sawdust Pudding"--Anecdote of Franklin's
+Independence.--See page 242.]
+
+"No," he answered, "my father has really been disappointed, and is
+really unable; and I am unwilling to distress him further. I see this
+is a business I am unfit for. I was bred a farmer; and it was folly in
+me to come to town, and put myself, at thirty years of age, an
+apprentice to learn a new trade. Many of our Welsh people (he was a
+Welshman) are going to settle in North Carolina, where land is cheap.
+I am inclined to go with them, and follow my old employment; you may
+find friends to assist you. If you will take the debts of the company
+upon you, return to my father the hundred pounds he has advanced, pay
+my little personal debts, and give me thirty pounds and a new saddle,
+I will relinquish the partnership, and leave the whole in your hands."
+
+Franklin accepted this proposition, and, with the aid of his two
+friends, was soon established in business alone. His patronage
+increased rapidly, and he was able to pay off his debts. In a very
+short time he commanded the chief printing business of the town, and
+Keimer sold out, and removed to Barbadoes. The _Pennsylvania Gazette_,
+which he commenced printing before Meredith left him, won the public
+favour, and became a source of profit. As an example of his resolution
+and firmness, and his economy and prudence, it is said that certain
+subscribers to his paper were incensed at an article that appeared in
+its columns, and they threatened to "stop their patronage;" whereupon
+Franklin invited them to dine with him, and, having set before them a
+coarse meal mixture, from which his guests drew back, he remarked:
+"Gentlemen, a man who can subsist on _sawdust pudding_ need call no
+man _patron_."
+
+Here, in early life, our hero laid the foundation of his fortune; and
+the reader need not be at a loss to discover the secret of his
+success. He made himself by the sterling elements of character which
+he cultivated.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE JUNTO.
+
+
+Soon after Franklin returned from England, he was instrumental in
+forming his literary associates into a club for mutual improvement,
+called the "JUNTO," which met every Friday evening. This club
+continued nearly forty years, and Franklin said of it, "It was the
+best school of philosophy, morality, and politics, that then existed
+in the Province; for our queries, which were read the week preceding
+their discussion, put us upon reading with attention on the several
+subjects, that we might speak more to the purpose; and here, too, we
+acquired better habits of conversation, everything being studied in
+our rules which might prevent our disgusting each other."
+
+"I have a proposition to submit," said Franklin, at one of their
+meetings, "and it is this. We frequently have occasion to refer to our
+books, in our discussions, and I propose that we bring our books
+together in this room, and form a library; each having the privilege
+of using the books of the other."
+
+"I like the plan much," said Parsons, one of the members. "Nobody but
+Franklin would have thought of it."
+
+"I think that every member must subscribe to this measure," said
+Coleman. "I hope it will be done at once."
+
+And thus it went round the room, each one expressing his approval of
+the plan. The consequence was, that one end of the room was filled
+with volumes; and the plan proved profitable to all.
+
+At that time, books were very scarce. "There was not a good
+bookseller's shop in any of the Colonies to the southward of Boston."
+The readers of Pennsylvania usually sent to England for their books,
+which was both troublesome and expensive.
+
+The members of the "JUNTO" derived so much benefit from the plan of
+bringing their books together, that Franklin conceived the idea of
+establishing a library, and formed his plan, which was successful. He
+found fifty persons in town, mostly young tradesmen, who were willing
+to pay down forty shillings each, and ten shillings per annum; and
+with these the library was commenced. This was the first library ever
+established in this country, and it now numbers more than sixty
+thousand volumes. Since that day libraries have multiplied rapidly.
+
+The following are some of the questions for the "JUNTO," and they show
+that it was really a thorough and valuable organization.
+
+"Have you met with anything, in the author you last read, remarkable,
+or suitable to be communicated to the Junto? particularly in history,
+morality, poetry, physics, travels, mechanic arts, or other parts of
+knowledge."
+
+"Hath any citizen failed in business, and what have you heard of the
+cause?"
+
+"Have you lately heard of any citizen's thriving well, and by what
+means?"
+
+"Do you know of a fellow-citizen who has lately done a worthy action,
+deserving praise and imitation; or who has lately committed an error,
+proper for us to be warned against and avoid?"
+
+"What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately observed or
+heard?--of imprudence?--of passion?--or of any other vice or folly?"
+
+"What happy effects of temperance?--of prudence?--of moderation?--or
+of any other virtue?"
+
+"Do you think of anything at present in which the Junto may be
+serviceable to _mankind_, to their country, to their friends, or to
+themselves?"
+
+"Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since last meeting, that
+you have heard of?--and what have you heard or observed of his
+character or merits?--and whether, think you, it lies in the power of
+the Junto to oblige him, or encourage him as he deserves?"
+
+"Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom it
+lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage?"
+
+"Have you lately observed any defect in the laws of your country, of
+which it would be proper to move the Legislature for an amendment? or
+do you know of any beneficial law that is wanting?"
+
+"Is there any man whose friendship you want, and which the Junto, or
+any of them, can procure for you?"
+
+This is a sample of the questions asked at their meetings, and
+answered. It is not difficult to see the mind of Franklin in these
+inquiries, and many of them were evidently suggested by his own
+experience.
+
+Some of the questions discussed by the members of the Junto were as
+follows:--
+
+"Is _sound_ an entity or body?"
+
+"How may the phenomena of vapours be explained?"
+
+"Can any one particular form of government suit all mankind?"
+
+"Is the emission of paper money safe?"
+
+"How may smoky chimneys be best cured?"
+
+"Which is least criminal,--a _bad_ action joined with a _good_
+intention, or a _good_ action with a _bad_ intention?"
+
+There have been improvements in almost everything in modern times, but
+we doubt if there has been much improvement upon the "JUNTO" in
+literary organizations for the young. It is not surprising, that, of
+the original twelve members (the number was limited to twelve), two
+became surveyors-general; one the inventor of a quadrant; one a
+distinguished mechanic and influential man; and one "a merchant of
+great note and a provincial judge;" and all but one or two,
+respectable and honoured men.
+
+At this time, Franklin had commenced the study of the languages,
+employing only such leisure moments as he had to master them. It was a
+great undertaking, but his application and perseverance were equal to
+the task. He began with French, and was soon able to read books in
+that language. Then he took Italian. A friend, who was studying it
+also, tempted him to play chess. He played a little, and finding that
+it consumed time, he refused to play any more, unless on the condition
+that "the victor in every game should have a right to impose a task,
+either of parts of the grammar to be got by heart, or in translations,
+which task the vanquished was to perform upon honour before the next
+meeting." In this way, he learned the Italian language. Subsequently
+he acquired sufficient knowledge of Spanish to enable him to read
+books in that tongue. He studied Latin a year in Boston, before he was
+ten years old, but since that time he had neglected it. His
+acquaintance now with other languages revived his taste for the
+Latin, however, so that he mastered that.
+
+Surely here is literary work enough for a youth who is earning a
+livelihood by hard labour, having only snatches of time to devote to
+reading and study. There is no work of his whole life that is more
+replete with interest than this; for it shows that he possessed
+indomitable energy and force of character, together with other
+valuable traits. He proved that it was possible for him to be a
+scholar while he was a printer.
+
+The "Junto" appears to have been copied in England, half a century
+after this period. When the celebrated Canning was in his youth, being
+educated at Oxford, a debating society was organized, limited to the
+number of six, who met every Thursday evening at the rooms of the
+members. At each meeting, before they separated, the subject for the
+next meeting was voted and recorded. Here Canning and Jenkinson (who
+became Earl of Liverpool) made their first speeches, and here they
+received impulses that helped them on to fame.
+
+Franklin began to think more of religion, and to raise some queries
+respecting his former doubts, soon after he came back from England.
+The two young men whose religious sentiments he corrupted and
+unsettled turned out badly, and cheated him out of a sum of money, and
+this led him to inquire if it was not because they ignored religious
+principle. He witnessed other conduct among those who talked lightly
+of religion, which caused him to inquire, whether, after all, his
+parents were not in the right. He stayed away from meeting, and
+devoted the Sabbath to study, which had a very bad look. Yet, he said,
+"I never was without some religious principle. I never doubted the
+existence of a Deity; that He made the world and governed it by his
+providence; that the most acceptable service of God was the doing good
+to man; that our souls are immortal; and that all crimes will be
+punished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter." He also
+subscribed something for the support of the only Presbyterian meeting
+in Philadelphia, and advocated the importance of sustaining public
+worship.
+
+The minister called upon him, and counselled him to attend church,
+just when he was beginning to think better of it, and it had the
+effect to bring him out occasionally. Once he went five Sabbaths in
+succession. But the preacher was dull and uninteresting, so that
+Franklin was not well pleased; still he continued to attend
+occasionally, until, one Sabbath, the preacher took the following
+text: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, honest, just,
+pure, lovely, or of good report, if there be any virtue, or any
+praise, think on these things." The minister was usually doctrinal in
+his style of preaching, but now Franklin thought he would have
+something practical. Consequently he was sadly disappointed when he
+found that the discourse embraced only the following points:--1.
+Keeping holy the Sabbath-day. 2. Being diligent in reading the
+Scriptures. 3. Attending duly public worship. 4. Partaking of the
+Sacrament. 5. Paying a due respect to God's ministers. Franklin
+thought that these subjects, though very good, did not belong to such
+a text, and he was so dissatisfied with the sermon, that he ceased
+attending.
+
+Conscience, however, did not slumber. He saw and felt that he was
+wrong, and, in order to make himself better, he began to lead a
+self-righteous life. He imposed religious duties upon himself. He
+returned to the use of a form of prayer which he prepared some time
+before, when his thoughts were dwelling upon religious things. In that
+prayer, under the head of "Thanks," occurs the following:--
+
+     "For the common benefits of air and light, for useful fire and
+     delicious water,--Good God, I thank Thee!
+
+     "For knowledge and literature, and every useful art; for my
+     friends and their prosperity, and for the fewness of my
+     enemies,--Good God, I thank Thee!
+
+     "For all thy innumerable benefits; for life, and reason, and the
+     use of speech; for health, and joy, and every pleasant hour,--My
+     good God, I thank Thee!"
+
+He made a little book, in which he wrote down certain virtues that he
+ought to cultivate, and prepared a table for the same. The following
+were the virtues:--
+
+     "1. Temperance.--Eat not to dulness; drink not to elevation.
+
+     "2. Silence.--Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself;
+     avoid trifling conversation.
+
+     "3. Order.--Let all your things have their places; let each part
+     of your business have its time.
+
+     "4. Resolution.--Resolve to perform what you ought; perform
+     without fail what you resolve.
+
+     "5. Frugality.--Make no expense but to do good to others or
+     yourself; that is, waste nothing.
+
+     "6. Industry.--Lose no time; be always employed in something
+     useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
+
+     "7. Sincerity.--Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and
+     justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
+
+     "8. Justice.--Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the
+     benefits that are your duty.
+
+     "9. Moderation.--Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so
+     much as you think they deserve.
+
+     "10. Cleanliness.--Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or
+     habitation.
+
+     "11. Tranquillity.--Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents,
+     common or unavoidable.
+
+     "12. Chastity.
+
+     "13. Humility.--Imitate Jesus Christ and Socrates."
+
+These are very good so far as they go, and they show that he studied
+to form a high character, although he had not yet attained to the
+height of the true Christian.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+We have followed the subject of this volume from the time he paid _too
+dear for his whistle_, to the period when he was well established in
+business. We have seen what his character was as a PRINTER-BOY, and
+hence his promise of success. He was not perfect by any means; on the
+other hand, he had marked failings. Yet, underneath the whole, we have
+discovered certain qualities that are indispensable to eminence in
+one's vocation. And now it remains to see, briefly, whether the
+principle we advocate was true in his case, namely, "that the boy is
+father of the man." To do this, we shall pass over a series of years,
+and take a succinct view of his position and influence in middle and
+advanced life.
+
+It should be recorded first, however, that the difficulty between
+himself and his brother James was adjusted, ten years after his first
+visit to Boston. James had removed and settled in Newport, where he
+was fast declining in health, and Benjamin went thither to see him.
+Their past differences were forgotten, and their interview was
+signalized by mutual forgiveness. It was then that Benjamin promised
+to take his brother's little son, ten years old, after the father was
+no more, and bring him up to the printing business. This pledge he
+fulfilled, doing even more for the lad than he promised, for he sent
+him to school two or three years before he took him into the office,
+and finally he established him in business. This, certainly, was a
+happy termination of a quarrel that was creditable to neither party.
+The result was decisive evidence that both parties deplored their
+conduct towards each other.
+
+While he was yet a young man, he was promoted to different posts of
+distinction. He filled various offices in Philadelphia, and served the
+State of Pennsylvania in several public ways, in all of which he did
+himself honour. He devoted a portion of his time to philosophical
+studies, in which he earned a world-wide fame. His mind was ever busy
+in projects to benefit society, and no work was too humble for him to
+do for the good of others. At one time he is found inventing a stove
+for domestic use, called afterward the Franklin stove, with which
+Governor Thomas was so well pleased, that he offered him a patent for
+the sole vending of them for a series of years; but Franklin refused
+it, on the ground, "_that, as we enjoy great advantages from the
+invention of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve_
+_others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and
+generously_." This was another instance of his remarkable generosity,
+and it reminds us of that incident of his life in France, when an
+English clergyman asked him for pecuniary assistance. He gave him
+liberally, remarking, "Some time or other you may have an opportunity
+of assisting with an equal sum a stranger who has equal need of it. Do
+so. By that means you may discharge any obligation you may suppose
+yourself under to me. _Enjoin him to do the same on occasion._ By
+pursuing such a practice, much good may be done with little money. Let
+kind offices go round. Mankind are all of a family."
+
+At another time he is engaged in improving the lamps that light the
+city, and devising ways of cleaning the streets. Then, again, he is
+originating a system of volunteer militia for the defence of his
+country. Extinguishing fires, also, is a subject that commands his
+thoughts, and he organized the first fire company in the land. Again,
+the education of youth demands his time, and he labours to introduce a
+system of schools, and finally founds a University. Thus the humblest
+acts of a good citizen were performed in connection with the nobler
+deeds of the philosopher and statesman.
+
+The following is a brief synopsis of the offices he filled, and the
+honours he won:--
+
+    HE WAS LEGISLATOR FOR PENNSYLVANIA IN 1732, WHEN ONLY TWENTY-SIX
+    YEARS OF AGE.
+
+    HE FOUNDED THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
+
+    DEPUTY POSTMASTER-GENERAL IN 1752.
+
+    INVENTOR OF LIGHTNING-RODS.
+
+    WAS ELECTED A FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY.
+
+    ORIGINATOR OF THE VOLUNTEER MILITIA.
+
+    COLONEL OF MILITIA.
+
+    MINISTER TO THE COURT OF ENGLAND IN 1764.
+
+    MEMBER OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS IN 1775.
+
+    MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO FRANCE IN 1776.
+
+    CONCLUDED FIRST TREATY FOR AMERICA IN 1778.
+
+    RECEIVED THE DEGREE OF LL.D. FROM OXFORD UNIVERSITY.
+
+    MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO FRANCE IN 1778.
+
+    ONE OF FIVE TO DRAFT THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
+
+    HELPED TO FRAME THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+    A LEADER IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
+
+    CALLED THE "NESTOR OF AMERICA" BY THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF FRANCE.
+
+    ADMITTED TO THE HIGHEST LITERARY ASSEMBLIES OF EUROPE.
+
+    LIKE WASHINGTON, "FIRST IN WAR, FIRST IN PEACE, AND FIRST IN THE
+    HEARTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN."
+
+    HONOURED AS A GREAT PHILOSOPHER, SAGACIOUS STATESMAN, AND SINCERE
+    PHILANTHROPIST.
+
+In reading the history of the United States, no name is more
+conspicuous than that of Franklin. His agency is everywhere seen and
+acknowledged in laying the foundation of her institutions, and
+achieving her glories. The memory of no patriot and philosopher has
+been more dear to generations that have come and gone since his day.
+Abroad, as well as at home, he was honoured. At one time, in France,
+"prints, medallion portraits, and busts of Franklin were multiplied
+throughout France; and rings, bracelets, canes, and snuff-boxes,
+bearing his likeness, were worn or carried quite generally." In
+England, and other parts of Europe, similar homage was paid to his
+greatness. Since that period his statue has been erected in the halls
+of learning and legislation, literary societies have adopted his name
+to give them pre-eminence, and numerous towns have been called after
+him. The author's native place was named in honour of Franklin, who
+afterwards presented the town with a valuable library that is still in
+existence. On being informed by a friend that this town had adopted
+his name, he inquired what sort of a present would be acceptable to
+the inhabitants as an acknowledgment of their respect and homage. The
+friend suggested that a _bell_ might prove a timely gift, as they were
+erecting a new house of worship. But Franklin thought otherwise, and
+decided to present a library. He jocosely remarked, in the letter
+which accompanied the books, that he "_supposed a town that would
+adopt his name must be more fond of sense than sound_."
+
+It would multiply the pages of this volume beyond its designed limits
+to enumerate all the public posts of honour that Franklin adorned, and
+all the marks of respect that have been paid to his memory. This brief
+reference to the more prominent of these is sufficient to afford the
+reader a view of the REMARKABLE MAN, and to illustrate the force of
+energy, industry, integrity, and perseverance, in human destiny.
+
+Washington wrote to him: "If to be venerated for benevolence, if to be
+admired for talents, if to be esteemed for patriotism, if to be
+beloved for philanthropy, can gratify the human mind, you must have
+the pleasing consolation to know that you have not lived in vain. And
+I flatter myself that it will not be ranked among the least grateful
+occurrences of your life to be assured that, so long as I retain my
+memory, you will be recollected with respect, veneration, and
+affection, by your sincere friend, George Washington."
+
+Congress was in session when Franklin died, and when his death was
+announced, on motion of Madison, it was resolved that a badge of
+mourning be worn for one month, "as a mark of veneration due to the
+memory of a citizen whose native genius was not more an ornament to
+human nature than his various exertions of it have been precious to
+science, to freedom, and to his country."
+
+In France, Condorcet eulogized him in the Academy of Science, and
+Mirabeau in the National Assembly. The latter said: "Antiquity would
+have erected altars to this great and powerful genius."
+
+When Rachel was dying, she named her infant son "Ben-oni," which
+means, "son of my sorrow," because he was the occasion of her
+sufferings and death. But Jacob, his father, called him "Benjamin,"
+which signifies "the son of a right hand." There was a time when
+Franklin's mother, weeping over her runaway boy, would have called him
+"Ben-oni," and it might have appeared to observers that he would turn
+out to be such. But the excellent lessons of his early home, and the
+good traits of character which he nurtured, caused him to become a
+true Benjamin to his parents,--"a son of their right hand." With a
+warm, filial heart, he sought to minister to their wants in their
+declining years, and, as we have seen, offered the last and highest
+tribute of affection in his power, when they were laid in the dust.
+
+In his riper years, Franklin sincerely regretted the doubts of his
+youth and early manhood respecting religion. The sentiments that were
+poured into his young mind by fond, parental lips, he came to respect
+and cherish. He went to the house of God on the Sabbath with great
+constancy; and, if recollecting the sin of his youth, he wrote to his
+daughter, "_Go constantly to church, whoever preaches._" His own
+experience taught him that it was dangerous and wicked to forsake the
+sanctuary. He became interested in every good work. His influence and
+his purse were offered to sustain Christianity. He appreciated every
+benevolent enterprise, and bade them God-speed. On one occasion the
+celebrated Whitefield preached in behalf of an orphan asylum, which he
+proposed to erect in Georgia. Franklin was not in full sympathy with
+the plan, because he thought it should be erected in Pennsylvania, and
+the orphans brought there. Still, he listened to the eminent preacher
+unprejudiced, and when the collection was taken, at the close of the
+meeting, he emptied his pockets of all the money he had, which
+consisted of "a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars,
+and five pistoles in gold."
+
+He sympathized deeply with the poor and needy, and espoused the cause
+of the oppressed in every land. He was the first President of the
+Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, and both his hand and heart were
+pledged to the cause of freedom. One of his biographers, summing up
+his character in these particulars, says: "He was bold, consistent,
+active, and greatly in advance of his age. From his Quaker brethren in
+Philadelphia he contracted all their zeal in behalf of humanity,
+although in his mind it put on the aspect of plain, practical
+beneficence. He was ever foremost in all humane enterprises. He was
+never misled, through sympathy with a majority, into the support of
+measures which, though popular, were inconsistent with a high-toned
+Christian morality. He was the champion of the Indians when to
+advocate their cause was to displease many. He was one of the earliest
+opponents of the slave-trade and slavery. He omitted no opportunity to
+protest against war and its iniquity, and he branded as piracy the
+custom of privateering, however sanctioned by international usages. As
+a statesman and philosopher his name is imperishable. As an active
+benefactor of his race, he is entitled to its lasting gratitude. As
+one of the founders of the American Union, he must ever be held in
+honourable remembrance by all who prize American institutions. As the
+zealous foe to oppression in all its forms, he merits the thankful
+regard of good men of all ages and climes."
+
+He carried his reverence for God and his regard for Christianity into
+the high places of authority. He proposed the first Day of Fasting and
+Prayer ever observed in Pennsylvania, and wrote the proclamation for
+the Secretary of State. When the convention to frame the Constitution
+of the United States met in Philadelphia, in 1787, he introduced a
+motion into that body for daily prayers, which, strange to say, was
+rejected. In support of his motion, he made the following memorable
+address, which fairly illustrates his usual disposition to recognize
+God in all human affairs:--
+
+     "In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were
+     sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine
+     protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard; and they were
+     graciously answered. All of us, who were engaged in the struggle,
+     must have observed frequent instances of a superintending
+     Providence in our favour. To that kind Providence we owe this
+     happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of
+     establishing our future national felicity. And have we now
+     forgotten that powerful Friend, or do we imagine we no longer
+     need his assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time; and the
+     longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth,
+     _that God governs in the affairs of men_. And, if a sparrow
+     cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that
+     an empire can arise without his aid? We have been assured, sir,
+     in the sacred writings, that, 'except the Lord build the house,
+     they labour in vain that build it.' I firmly believe this; and I
+     also believe, that, without his concurring aid, we shall succeed
+     in this political building no better than the builders of Babel;
+     we shall be divided by our little, partial, local interests; our
+     projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a
+     reproach and a by-word down to future ages. And, what is worse,
+     mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of
+     establishing government by human wisdom, and leave it to chance,
+     war, and conquest. I therefore beg leave to move, that henceforth
+     prayers, imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on
+     our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before
+     we proceed to business; and that one or more of the clergy of
+     this city be requested to officiate in that service."
+
+His confidence in the Christian religion, and his regard for purity of
+conduct, did not diminish as he drew near the grave. On the other
+hand, he bore earnest testimony to the faith of his fathers until the
+close of his life, and, ere he died, renewed his vindication of the
+Scriptures, in the following circumstances.
+
+A young man called to see him, as he lay upon his death-bed, scarcely
+able to articulate. Dr. Franklin welcomed him with a benignant look,
+which he was wont to cast upon the young, and imparted some good
+advice to him.
+
+"What is your opinion with regard to the truth of the Scriptures?"
+inquired the young man, who was somewhat sceptical.
+
+Franklin replied, although in a very feeble state, "Young man, my
+advice to you is, that you cultivate an acquaintance with, and a firm
+belief in, the Holy Scriptures; this is your certain interest."
+
+
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+London: Thomas Harrild, Printer.
+
+
+[Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as
+possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other
+inconsistencies.
+
+The transcriber noted the following issues and made changes as
+indicated to the text to correct obvious errors:
+
+   1. p.  ix, Cricticisms --> Criticisms
+   2. p.  65, bread his buttered. --> bread is buttered.
+   3. p.  86, in print. --> in print."
+   4. p.  88, sell them.  --> sell them."
+   5. p. 119, Who can the author --> "Who can the author
+   6. p. 136, thaI --> that
+   7. p. 144, start with. --> start with."
+   8. p. 155, sir," --> sir."
+   9. p. 209, "The old lady --> The old lady
+  10. p. 240, "The next day --> The next day
+  11. p. 257, Philantroprist --> Philanthropist
+  12. p. 264, your certain interest. --> your certain interest."
+
+End of Transcriber's Notes]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Printer Boy., by William M. Thayer
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