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diff --git a/26295-8.txt b/26295-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3df90ea --- /dev/null +++ b/26295-8.txt @@ -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: 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. 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