T;^^ STORY o 
 BENJAMIN 
 
 WAYNE 
 
 V^HIPPLE 
 
Class CZP^ 
 
 Book 
 
 Copyright ]^°. 
 
 7Z^ 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
:;^ 
 
Frontispiece. 
 
 HE SAW A YOUNG GIRL STAxXDING IN THE DOORWAY. 
 
The Story of 
 Young Benjamin Franklin 
 
 By 
 
 WAYNE WHIPPLE 
 
 Author of The Story of the American Flag, The Story of the 
 
 Liberty Bell, The Story of the White House, The Story 
 
 of Young- George Washington, the Story of 
 
 Young Abraham Lincoln, etc. 
 
 Illustrated 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 
 
r^>^6'7Z 
 
 IN UNIFORM STYLE BY THE 
 SAME AUTHOR 
 
 The Story of 
 
 Young George Washington 
 
 The Story op 
 
 Young Abraham Lincoln 
 
 The Story of 
 
 Young Benjamin Franklin 
 
 The Story of 
 
 Young U. S. Grant 
 
 Large 12mo Cloth, with Eight Full 
 
 Page Illustrations in Color 
 
 Frice, Each, 75 Cents 
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 Copyright, 1916, by Howard E. Altemus 
 
 'v ■ 
 
 MAY 251916 
 
 kl.A431229 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 Introduction 7 
 
 I. A Big Family and its Youngest Boy 15 
 
 II. Learning and Earning 27 
 
 III. Apprentice and Student 37 
 
 IV. The Boy Contributor, Editor and Publisher 45 
 
 V. Running Away From Home 57 
 
 VI. Finding Friends in Philadelphia 69 
 
 VII. The Return of the Runaway 81 
 
 VIII. False Friends 89 
 
 IX. Alone in London 105 
 
 X. In Philadelphia Again Looking for Work 117 
 
 XI. "B. Franklin and H. Meredith" 126 
 
 XII. Correcting a "Great Erratum" 143 
 
 XIII. "Poor Richard" 153 
 
 XIV. "Many Inventions" and the Doctor's Degrees. . 169 
 XV. For Colony and Country 188 
 
 XVI. Pennsylvania's Agent in England 199 
 
 XVII. Ten More Years in England 207 
 
 XVIII. The Long War and Peace at Last 226 
 
 XIX. Home at Last 246 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 He Saw a Young Girl Standing in the Boonw ay. FrontispiZ 
 
 The First Sold Wonderfully Facing 38 
 
 We Landed at the Market Street Wharf « 66 
 
 I Pitched Him Into the River « 92 
 
 The "Water American" was Stronger than Them- 
 selves « ^^g 
 
 He Continued THE Quarrel « 222 
 
 I WAS Not Above My Business « 140 
 
 The Fibers of Hemp Began to Bristle « 184 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 "The First and Greatest Aivierican" 
 
 A great man is like a lofty mountain — ^you 
 cannot take in his true grandeur except at a 
 great distance. From a point near Pike's Peak 
 you cannot discern how much higher the tower- 
 ing mountain is than the hills around it. 
 
 The same is true of Benjamin Franklin. The 
 American Revolution developed a rare group of 
 great men, so strong in their different ways that 
 it was impossible at the time to distinguish the 
 greatest. Even the first United States Congress 
 did not appreciate Washington. Some of its 
 members were jealous of him, and a neighbor 
 once said: *^ Washington would never have been 
 anything but a land surveyor if he had not mar- 
 ried a wealthy widow!" With such petty no- 
 tions the Congress, that should have helped and 
 supported the commander-in-chief, hampered 
 
 7 
 
Introduction 
 
 and annoyed him, and was harder to cope with 
 in some respects than the British and Hessian 
 armies. 
 
 If it had not been for Franklin's tactful work 
 and influence in Europe, Washington could 
 never have gained his final victory at Yorktown 
 nor achieved the independence of the United 
 States. This fact is not so widely known as it 
 should be, so ^'The Story of Young Benjamin 
 Franklin '^ is meant to show vividly how Frank- 
 lin, the great-hearted inventor, philosopher and 
 diplomat, induced princes and people of the Old 
 World to send men, ships and money to conquer 
 the British armies and thus gain the grand boon 
 of Liberty for the American Colonies. 
 
 It was by foreign nations that Franklin was 
 first recognized as the greatest man of his time. 
 Not only was he not appreciated in America, 
 but he was narrowly misjudged because he was, 
 in many respects, far in advance of his day. 
 
 While in London, a journeyman printer of 
 nineteen, young Franklin wrote a strong liberal 
 pamphlet setting forth what were called infidel / 
 ideas. This attracted the notice of some of the 
 greatest minds in England. Franklin not only 
 renounced the opinions given in this youthful 
 
 8 
 
Introduction 
 
 essay, which would not be taken more seriously 
 nowadays than a thesis written by a young man 
 in college, but he also wrote in his Autobiog- 
 raphy that his allowing his admiring employer 
 to print this pamphlet was one of the worst mis- 
 takes he ever made. 
 
 Franklin was so far ahead of the world in 
 many of his ideas that even progressive America, 
 though following him with rapid strides for 
 nearly two centuries, has not yet caught up with 
 him. 
 
 He did not believe in the religion taught by 
 the ministers of his day. He complained that 
 they seemed to lose sight of the good they ought 
 to be doing and wasted their efforts in mere 
 theological arguments and bitter attacks on the 
 beliefs of fellow Christians who did not think 
 oust as they did. In this the Christian world 
 now agrees with Franklin— that men ought to 
 be good, and do good, and make good in their 
 own daily living instead of theorizing and argu- 
 ing about the doctrines of others. There is not 
 one Churchman in a hundred to-day who would 
 side with the ministers of that period against 
 Benjamin Franklin, but the good philosopher's 
 reputation suffers yet from the narrow notions 
 
 9 
 
Introduction 
 
 of the people who followed blinded leaders, in 
 being afraid of ghosts and witches, and could 
 not forgive Franklin for laughing at their fool- 
 ish superstitions. 
 
 Because Abraham Lincoln was not a member 
 of a religious denomination, some people have 
 claimed that he was an irreligious man and a 
 skeptic. But the people now recognize the fact 
 that Lincoln lived a devout Christian life. The 
 world to-day would see, in Benjamin Franklin, 
 the great desire to do good to everybody. His 
 great inventions, the stove, the lightning rod and 
 so forth, he gave to the people, never accepting 
 a penny for patent rights, though they, especi- 
 ally the stove, were so commonly used that he 
 might have been, like King Solomon, the richest, 
 as well as the wisest man in the world. He en- 
 joyed knowing that the Franklin Stove was not 
 only giving comfort but also saved fuel for the 
 poor, and although others took advantage of his 
 kindness by wrongfully applying for patents on 
 his inventions, he could not bear the thought of 
 receiving any pay from the pockets of his be- 
 loved people. 
 
 Beside his great love for everybody, Franklin 
 was in earnest even about the forms of religion. 
 
 10 
 
Introduction 
 
 He counseled Tom Paine, the great skeptic of 
 the time, not to publish his "Age of Reason,'* 
 because of the harm such a book would do in the 
 world. In the last years of his life, while a 
 member of the convention which drafted the 
 Constitution of the United States, Franklin 
 made the motion that their daily deliberations 
 should be opened with prayer. It was a Godless 
 age. Men were influenced by French infidelity. 
 (This is given as one reason that the name of 
 God is not mentioned in the Constitution of the 
 United States.) Franklin had lived many years 
 in France, but his experiences there, instead of 
 weakening his faith, seemed to strengthen it. 
 His sorrow, when nearly all the members of the 
 Constitutional Convention voted down his mo- 
 tion, is one of the saddest incidents in his life. 
 Few persons read the books that were written 
 in America two hundred years ago. There is 
 really but one book that has come down through 
 the centuries, and that is Benjamin Franklin's 
 story of his own life, told in such simple, 
 straightforward language that it is still read 
 by men, women and children as eagerly as if it 
 were the latest popular novel. The great Ameri- 
 can books of Franklin's time — "The Day of 
 
 11 
 
Introduction 
 
 Doom,'^ by Michael Wigglesworth, and "Mag- 
 nalia Christi Americana," by the Reverend Doc- 
 tor Cotton Mather — are interesting only as lit- 
 erary curiosities, and amusing for their pompous 
 narrow-mindedness. But they were read and 
 feared by the American colonists who criticized 
 the kindly philosopher, and did not like him be- 
 cause he laughed at their silly superstitions. 
 
 There was one thing for which the people 
 could not forgive Franklin — that was his sense 
 of humor. Yet Franklin laughed them out of 
 their narrow lives. He laughed America into 
 thrifty habits. His humor, as well as his phi- 
 losophy and many inventions, helped mightly in 
 making the United States free and independent 
 among the world's Great Powers. His ^^soft 
 answer" turned away the wrath, even of the 
 British ministry. His tact and kindliness, in 
 addition to his wonderful inventions and the 
 witty sayings of ''Poor Richard," wielded so 
 much power in France that Franklin — le grand 
 Aynericain — set the fashions for Paris. Hats, 
 canes, snuffboxes were named for him. He ex- 
 ercised the mightiest influence over the civilized 
 world of any human being of his time. 
 
 In spite of the fact that he was followed and 
 
 12 
 
Introduction 
 
 adored like a demigod, Franklin was too modest 
 to realize the mighty influence he was exerting. 
 *^In that elder day to be an American was 
 greater than to be a king," in the eyes of Conti- 
 nental Europe, and that was all the simple, lov- 
 ing, merry heart of Benjamin Franklin desired. 
 He was the Father of the American Revolution, 
 and, because he was a generation older than 
 Washington and most of the men who achieved 
 American Independence, the Grandfather of 
 His Country. 
 
 It is because of the fascinating interest of 
 Franklin *s Autobiography that much of the best 
 of it is quoted in the pages of "The Story of 
 Young Benjamin Franklin," just as would have 
 been done in the stories of "Young George 
 Washington" and "Young Abraham Lincoln," 
 if they had written out the heart story of their 
 younger days as Franklin did. Clearly as he 
 saw into the future, the kind old philosopher 
 had no idea that he was writing the greatest 
 autobiography ever produced, or that not only 
 the library in Philadelphia ivhich he himself 
 founded, but many other great libraries, as well, 
 in America would have to keep scores of copies 
 of his wonderful little book on their shelves to 
 
 13 
 
Introduction 
 
 supply the demand of the reading public. But 
 he never finished his life story. Many writers, 
 by patient and continued search, have developed 
 more and more that is interesting about him — 
 many incidents having been brought to light 
 within the past few years. The best of all these 
 data have been gathered from sources innum- 
 erable and placed in attractive array in this book 
 to give to Young America to-day a fair and 
 grateful estimate of the man who was known as 
 the greatest man of his time, and has come to 
 be considered, in many-sidedness, in view of all 
 he did for the world and achieved for his own 
 country — *Hhe first and greatest American." 
 
 Wayne Whipple. 
 
 ,i 
 
 14 
 
THE STORY OF 
 YOUNG BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A Big Family and its Youngest Boy. 
 
 In a small unpainted wooden house on Milk 
 Street, nearly opposite the first little meeting- 
 house of the Old South Church, Boston, lived 
 Josiah Franklin. He was a good and wise man, 
 much respected, although he was poor and had 
 to work hard, with the help of his wife and chil- 
 dren, to feed and clothe his large and growing 
 family. 
 
 Josiah Franklin was a well-educated man for 
 those times. He had learned the dyer's trade in 
 old England, but he found, after coming to 
 America, that the people cared more to have 
 their clothing warm and wear well than they did 
 for the color or style of it. In fact, many who 
 
 15 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 lived in Boston then thought it wicked to wear 
 any bright colors. For a man or woman 
 to care for beauty in dress was a sign of 
 sinful vanity, which made pious people shake 
 their heads. 
 
 So good Josiah Franklin had to find some 
 other way to make a living than by dyeing. 
 Looking about for work that was not being done 
 by too many others, he decided that every family 
 must have soap and candles. Though this work 
 was not pleasant, because of the odor of boiling 
 soapgrease and melting tallow, it was honest and 
 useful, helping the neighbors keep clean and 
 furnishing them with the means of lighting their 
 homes — long before oil, gas and electricity were 
 discovered. And the neighbors realized that 
 some one must do these disagreeable duties, or 
 they would all have to make soap and candles 
 for themselves. 
 
 Although Boston was, at this time, the largest 
 town in America, everybody knew everybody. 
 The neighbors knew that Abiah was Josiah 
 Franklin's second wife and that she was a 
 daughter of Peter Folger, the Quaker poet of 
 Nantucket, who was also familiar with several 
 languages and turned his knowledge to good ac- 
 
 16 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 count as interpreter for the surrounding tribes 
 of Indians. 
 
 The neighbors knew, also, that two of the first 
 Mrs. Franklin's younger sons had gone away so 
 far that she never saw them again. James, one 
 of these, was in England learning the printer's 
 trade; and the other, young Josiah, had run 
 away to sea. But Peter and John, the two older 
 sons, stayed by to help their father carry on his 
 business. 
 
 In those early days the women had to work 
 very hard, and even the little children had their 
 work to do. This was true of the Franklin 
 family. But it was pleasant at night, while the 
 mother and children were resting and knitting 
 and doing easy work by the light of the fire, to 
 hear Father Josiah play again the psalm tunes 
 on his violin with which he sometimes led the 
 singing in meeting, and the songs they used to 
 sing in Old England. And the neighbors, hear- 
 ing the familiar strains that carried them, in 
 memory, back '^home'' as they called it, floating 
 on the evening air from the little brown house, 
 felt more than paid for the few unpleasant 
 whiffs that came out through the opened door 
 during the day. 
 
 17 
 
 i — FrankHn. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 Into this already large and interesting family 
 another child was born on a cold day, January 
 6, 1706 (January 17, 1706, New Style/) The 
 neighbors very soon heard about the new arrival, 
 for the father insisted on taking the baby boy, 
 through the snow, right across the street, as it 
 was Sunday, to have him baptized. 
 
 The record of this baptism, more than two 
 hundred years ago, is still shown to visitors 
 in the Old South Meetinghouse, in the quaint, 
 half-printed writing of the minister, Will- 
 ard: 
 
 •*l^«|amUi, Bon af 3oatal| IFranklln mh 
 Abtalj, Iftfi mxU" 
 
 Benjamin was thus named for his uncle, 
 Benjamin Franklin, then living in England. 
 This uncle was a great reader and a writer of 
 many rhymed verses. When Uncle Benjamin 
 heard of his namesake across the sea, he wrote 
 the baby boy a long piece which he called an 
 ^^acrostick," because it not only rhymed at the 
 end but the letters beginning the lines, when 
 read downward, spelled the name of both uncle 
 and nephew: 
 
 ' The New Style Calendar was adopted in Great Britain, 1752. 
 
 18 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 "B-E-N-J-A-M-I-N F-R-A-N-K-L-I-N" 
 
 **Be to thy parents an obedient son ; 
 
 ^ach day let duty constantly be done ; 
 
 AT'ever give way to sloth, or lust, or 
 pride, 
 
 H freed you'd be from thousand ills 
 beside ; 
 
 Above all ills be sure avoid the shelf ; 
 
 in/an 's danger lies in Satan, sin, and 
 self. 
 
 In virtue, learning, wisdom, progress 
 make; 
 
 iV^e'er shrink at suffering for thy Sa- 
 viour's sake. 
 
 ''I'^raud and all falsehood in thy deal- 
 ings flee, 
 
 i?eligious always in thy dealings be; 
 
 Adore the Maker of thy inward part; 
 
 A'^ow's the accepted time, give Him 
 thy heart ; 
 
 Keep a good conscience, 'tis a constant 
 friend ; 
 
 Like judge and witness this thy acts 
 attend. 
 
 In heart with bended knee, alone adore 
 
 A'one but the Three in One for ever- 
 
 more." 
 
 19 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 This was a strange way to write to a baby, but 
 Uncle Benjamin knew very well that his acros- 
 tic would be preserved as a family treasure 
 (even a letter in those days was a rare thing) 
 to be shown to the little boy when he grew old 
 enough to read it himself. 
 
 When Ben was four years old, some one gave 
 him a trumpet and drum, and he made a great 
 din, marching in and out of the house, tooting 
 the trumpet and beating the drum. When Uncle 
 Benjamin, over in England, heard of this, he 
 wrote for his small nephew some more verses de- 
 scribing the horrors of war, and warning the 
 little boy never to be a soldier. 
 
 Uncle Benjamin, like his brother Josiah, was 
 a pious man. He wrote to say that he wished his 
 namesake might become a minister, for the uncle 
 had always been interested in preaching, though 
 he had never been able himself to take the course 
 of study necessary to become a minister. He 
 had made up a system of shorthand of his own 
 and had taken down hundreds of sermons while 
 they were being preached, and he offered all 
 these to help Ben if he would study for the 
 ministry. 
 
 Josiah Franklin would have been glad to give 
 
 20 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 the tithe of his sons to the Lord, as he expressed 
 it, for Benjamin was his tenth son, and fifteenth 
 child, and five daughters had been born to him. 
 But when Ben grew old enough to decide such 
 matters for himself, he did not wish to be a 
 clergyman, and Father Josiah and Uncle Benja- 
 min had to give up their cherished plan for him. 
 Wide and high as Benjamin Franklin's influ- 
 ence might have been, if he had become a min- 
 ister like Dr. Cotton Mather, who was the great- 
 est preacher in America then, it would not have 
 been one-tenth as great as Dr. Benjamin Frank- 
 lin's, for he came to be the greatest and most 
 influential man in the world, by faithfully fol- 
 lowing his own leading, working, studying, read- 
 ing and doing well everything that he had 
 to do. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin once said that he could 
 not remember when he could not read. There 
 were no children's books or stories in those days, 
 excepting the best of all the stories found in the 
 Bible. Boys were taught to read from the 
 sacred book. Uncle Benjamin's poetry was very 
 different from the nursery jingles and rhymes 
 that amuse little children nowadays, but the 
 Franklin family had a neighbor whose melodies 
 
 21 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 were to become nearly as well known as any- 
 thing that Benjamin ever wrote. Mother Goose, 
 as she was called, was living in Boston, making 
 up and singing funny songs to her own grand- 
 child while Ben Franklin was still a little child. 
 Her real name was Mrs. Isaac Vergoose, and 
 her daughter, Elizabeth, married Thomas Fleet, 
 a printer who kept a shop in Pudding Lane. It 
 is claimed by several good people that Printer 
 Fleet wrote down the quaint rhymes that his 
 mother-in-law sang to his child — ^her grandchild 
 — ^without Grrandmother Vergoose 's knowledge, 
 and published them as ^'Mother Goose Melodies" 
 in a little paper book, in 1719, which he sold at 
 ^*two coppers" each. 
 
 It is true that there was an imaginary Mother 
 Goose who wrote long stories and songs in 
 French centuries before Franklin's time, and 
 the two Mother Gooses may have been confused 
 since then, but there can be no doubt that Grand- 
 mother Goose did sing some of the songs to 
 Thomas Fleet's child that are familiar to chil- 
 dren all over the world now in *' Mother Goose 
 Melodies." 
 
 Before Baby Ben could remember, his father 
 moved from the little house on Milk Street to 
 
 22 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 one almost as small on the corner of Hanover 
 and Union Streets, where he hung out over the 
 front door two blue balls about the size of a 
 man's head, as a sign to show that he sold blue- 
 ing as well as candles, soap and other articles 
 for washing and housekeeping. 
 
 Benjamin once wrote that he could remember 
 when thirteen Franklin children sat around the 
 family table. He did not even mention the 
 names of all his brothers and sisters. His 
 youngest sister Jane, or Jenny, was the seventh 
 daughter and the seventeenth and youngest 
 child, born when Benjamin was six years old. 
 He often wrote to her and went to Boston to see 
 her after all the others had gone. Jenny was 
 the only one of seventeen children who lived 
 longer than her famous brother. 
 
 Uncle Benjamin soon came across the ocean to 
 live with his brother Josiah and help train and 
 educate his little namesake nephew, though he 
 had a son, Samuel, who was then learning the 
 cutlery, or the knife and tool trade, and after- 
 ward set up business in Boston. 
 
 While Ben was still a young boy, his runaway 
 brother, Josiah, came home one day and sur- 
 prised thftm all, for they had not heard from him 
 
 23 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 for so long they had given him up for dead. He 
 was himself surprised, for he found his own 
 mother had died while he was away, and there 
 was a new mother in her place with several more 
 children in the family, of whom little Ben was 
 the youngest boy. Of course, Josiah had plenty 
 of stories to tell about pirates and of his own 
 hardships and adventures which all boys — and 
 Benjamin Franklin was a real boy — delight to 
 hear. Ben had, like many other boys, a great 
 longing for '^a life on the ocean wave," even 
 after Josiah went away again and was never 
 heard of afterward. 
 
 It must not be supposed that because there 
 were no books for boys and girls, nor baseball, 
 nor moving-picture shows that the children had 
 no sports or excitements. In those days the 
 children had active games requiring strength, 
 skill and heroism, and as for excitement, there 
 were Indians around Boston, who sometimes 
 went on the war-path, and some of the children 
 were stolen by savages and had thrilling experi- 
 ences. There had recently been Indian mas- 
 sacres, not far from Boston, that made wonder- 
 fully good stories to tell at night by the great 
 firesides; and even the best educated people — 
 
 24 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 ministers and doctors — ^believed in ghosts and 
 witches. 
 
 And bears I If children behaved with disre- 
 spect toward their elders, they were warned of 
 the fate of the naughty children in the Old 
 Testament, who jeered at the prophet, Elisha, 
 and bears came out of the wood and devoured 
 them. In one of the earliest newspapers ever 
 printed in Boston was the following item, which 
 must have carried terror to many little hearts 
 when they heard it read : 
 
 "It is thought that not less than twenty Bears 
 have been killed in 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 them- 
 selves with a boathook and oars and then killed 
 her. 
 
 "On Tuesday last two were killed at Dor- 
 chester (now part of Boston), one of which 
 weighed 60 pounds a quarter. 
 
 "We hear from Providence that bears appear 
 to be very thick in those parts.'' 
 
 So the Franklins, old and young, had plenty 
 of work to do in the day time and enough to 
 
 25 
 
The Storjr of Young 
 
 think and talk about at table and during the 
 long winter evenings before the great, open fire- 
 place with its big blazing backlog. 
 
 As for the witches and ghosts of the people's 
 frightened imaginations, no one ever did more 
 than Benjamin Franklin to rid the minds of the 
 people of such foolish ideas. But many per- 
 sons did not like him on this account. They 
 thought he was a wicked man because he was too 
 sensible to believe in such things and laughed at 
 their superstitions. 
 
 Of his early life in the little Boston home, 
 Benjamin Franklin, when he was an old man, 
 wrote to his only living sister, Jenny: 
 
 *'It was indeed a lowly dwelling that we were 
 brought up in, but we were fed plentifully, made 
 comfortable with fire and clothing, had seldom 
 any contention among us, but all was harmoni- 
 ous, especially between the heads (parents), and 
 they were universally respected — and the most 
 of the family in good reputation — this is still 
 happier than multitudes enjoy." 
 
 26 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Learning and Earning 
 
 It was a noisy, overcrowded house, but it was 
 a happy home. As soon as they were old 
 enough the children all had to work, the girls as 
 well as the hoys, to help provide food and cloth- 
 ing for the large household. There were no 
 ready-made clothing stores where young Ben 
 Franklin could be taken to buy him a suit of 
 clothes. The women had to spin wool and flax 
 and weave the cloth of which the men's and boys' 
 winter and summer suits were made, besides 
 making up the cloth into clothing. 
 
 The first story Benjamin Franklin related of 
 his boyhood was told by way of illustration. Ou 
 a holiday in Boston town, when he was about 
 seven years old, some one gave Ben a handful 
 of pennies, probably to see whether he would 
 save or spend them. 
 
 The little fellow put the precious coias in his 
 
 27 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 pocket and started out, feeling very rich. In 
 the street he met a boy with a whistle, which 
 must have been a poor affair, but its shrill notes 
 were music to the ear of the little boy with the 
 pennies. Ben wanted that whistle. He could 
 have bought a better toy at the store for less than 
 half the money, but he could not wait — ^he 
 wanted that whistle rigJit away! He offered the 
 boy all his pennies for it, and of course the bar- 
 gain was made at once. 
 
 Ben came home, proud of his whistle, and its 
 piercing notes were added to the other noises in 
 the small house filled with growing children. 
 The boy and his whistle soon became a nuisance. 
 They asked him where he got it, and he told 
 them. They all laughed when they found that 
 he had paid all his money for one second-hand 
 whistle. *'You cheated yourself,'' they said, 
 **for you paid that boy several times as much as 
 the thing is worth!" They made so much fun 
 of him about his bad bargain that poor little Ben 
 lost all the pride and pleasure he took in his 
 purchase. More than sixty years after this Dr. 
 Franklin wrote about his first bargain: ^*I cried 
 with vexation ; and my reflections gave me more 
 chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure." 
 
 28 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 It was a bitter lesson for the little boy, and 
 he always remembered it, for he related, long 
 afterward, that the experience had taught him 
 this: *^When I was tempted to buy some un- 
 necessary thing, I said to myself, * Don't pay too 
 much for the whistle,' and so saved my money." 
 
 Ben was a sturdy little fellow, good natured, 
 observing and thoughtful. It is told of him that 
 he got up a new game for his comrades to play 
 — running past a shop window and each boy tell- 
 ing all he saw in one quick glance. It is said that 
 Benjamin always beat at that game and learned 
 to notice so quickly that he *' could see more in 
 crossing the street than most men could in cross- 
 ing the ocean." 
 
 In his account of his life Franklin tells of an 
 escapade in which he got a number of playmates 
 into trouble. Here is his own story of the affair : 
 
 ** Living near the water, I was much in and 
 about it and learned to swim well, and to man- 
 age boats; and when in a boat or canoe with 
 other boys, I was commonly allowed to govern, 
 especially in any case of difficulty; and upon 
 other occasions I was generally a leader among 
 the boys and sometimes led them into scrapes, of 
 which I will mention one instance as it shows an 
 
 29 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 early projecting public spirit, though not then 
 justly conducted. 
 
 *^ There was a salt marsh that bounded part of 
 the mill pond, in the edge of which, at high 
 water, we used to stand and fish for minnows. 
 By much trampling we had made it a mere 
 quagmire (mudhole). My proposal was to 
 build a wharf there fit for us to stand upon, and 
 I showed my comrades a large heap of stones 
 which were intended for a house near the marsh, 
 and which would very well suit our purpose. 
 
 ** Accordingly, in the evening, when the work- 
 men were gone, I assembled a number of my 
 playfellows, and working with them diligently, 
 like so many emmets (ants), sometimes two or 
 three to a stone, we brought them all away and 
 built our little wharf. The next morning the 
 workmen were surprised at missing the stones, 
 which were found in our wharf. Inquiry was 
 made after the removers: we were discovered 
 and complained of ; several of us were corrected 
 by our fathers ; and though I pleaded the useful- 
 ness of the work, mine convinced me that noth- 
 ing was useful which was not honest." 
 
 When he was eight years old Benjamin was 
 sent to a grammar school, and he passed all the 
 
 30 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 other boys in his studies and was promoted twice 
 during the year, so he was sent to another school 
 to learn writing and arithmetic. Of this school 
 Franklin said: *'I learned fair writing pretty 
 soon; but I failed in arithmetic, and made no 
 progress in if 
 
 At ten Ben was taken out of school, so that, 
 though he attended a little longer than young 
 Lincoln, he was through school at the age at 
 Which the Lincoln lad began. Yet Benjamin 
 Franklin became one of the greatest and best 
 educated men in the world's history, because he 
 kept on in the school of observation and experi- 
 ence all his life long. 
 
 When Ben was only ten his father needed his 
 help in his soap and candle making. The boy 
 began at once to show his genius for saving time 
 and labor in his work. It is said that he carried 
 his labor-saving ideas so far that, when he saw 
 his father salting down a barrel of pork for fu- 
 ture use, he asked : 
 
 "Why don't you ask the blessing on that pork 
 now, all at once, and save the time you spend 
 every time we eat some of it?" 
 
 No doubt pious Father Franklin was shocked 
 at the small boy/s suggestion. 
 
 31 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 Benjamin's first work was cutting wicks for 
 the candles, and learning to dip them into the 
 hot tallow and raise them up to cool; then to 
 dip them again, so more hot grease would stick 
 to them, then lift them out to cool again, until 
 enough tallow had adhered to the long wicks to 
 make them look like icicles. Sometimes they 
 poured the hot tallow into candle moulds, in 
 which Ben had to draw the wicks. 
 
 This was hard and confining work for a young 
 lad, and Josiah Franklin saw that Benjamin did 
 not like the trade. Besides, the older sons of 
 that day thought it proper to treat their younger 
 brothers roughly, and often harshly. ''Children 
 should be seen and not heard," and a boy, to 
 learn a trade, was bound by law to a master until 
 he was twenty-one, or for a term of years named 
 in his "indenture," the legal dociunent drawn 
 up for that purpose. An apprentice boy was 
 often treated unkindly. His indenture made 
 him almost a slave, and if his master was cruel 
 his lot was harder to bear than that of many of 
 the negroes who lived in actual slavery. 
 
 So the father tried to find another trade which 
 his youngest boy would like better. One reason 
 for this was that Ben had the same longing for 
 
 32 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 the sea that the Virginia lad, George Washing- 
 ton, had about twenty-five years later, while 
 passing his restless boyhood on the banks of the 
 Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. Josiah 
 Franklin took his youngest son out walking to 
 ''see joiners, bricklayers, turners, braziers, etc., 
 at work, ' ' searching for something to please the 
 boy. They finally decided to apprentice Ben to 
 Uncle Benjamin's son, Samuel, who was a cutler, 
 or maker of knives and other edged tools, but the 
 cutler expected Uncle Josiah to pay a fee for 
 the privilege of letting the boy work nine years 
 for nothing until he was twenty-one. 
 
 Benjamin's father did not have the money 
 (probably one hundred dollars) to spare for an 
 apprentice fee. So he decided to indenture the 
 lad to his half-brother, James, a young man ten 
 years older than Ben, to learn the printer's 
 trade. Whatever Benjamin thought of his 
 brother, he must have liked the work. Late in 
 life he signed himself "Benjamin Franklin, 
 Printer." 
 
 Franklin once wrote to his son : 
 
 ''From a child I was fond of reading, and all 
 the little money that came into my hands was 
 ever laid out in books. This bookish inclination 
 
 33 
 
 3 — Franklin. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 determined my father to make me a printer, 
 though he already had one son in that profes- 
 sion. In 1717 my brother James returned from 
 England with a press and letters (type) to set 
 up his business in Boston. I liked it much bet- 
 ter than that of my father, but still had a hanker- 
 ing for the sea.'' 
 
 Benjamin knew what he had to expect as an 
 apprentice, for aside from the ordinary hard- 
 ships of a printer's ''devil," as they call the boy 
 in a printing office, his brother was not easy to 
 get along with. But the lad was willing and in- 
 genious, and began at once to be a great help to 
 his brother. If James Franklin had shown his 
 appreciation of this, matters might have gone 
 more smoothly. But, instead of being properly 
 pleased with the bright and useful things his ap- 
 prentice brother did, the man was inclined to be 
 fault-finding and unreasonable. Disputes arose 
 between them which their father was called upon 
 to ''judge," and he generally decided in favor 
 of his youngest son. This may have made Ben- 
 jamin conceited and James jealous. 
 
 While doing printer's errands Ben made the 
 acquaintance of several booksellers' appren- 
 tices who let him take books home to read. This 
 
 34 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 was a great risk. So eager was tlie Franklin 
 boy to learn that he often sat up nearly all night 
 to finish a book which was to be returned in time 
 to be delivered to a customer next morning. If 
 anything had happened to the precious volume 
 they had lent without leave, the bookstore boys 
 would have been punished, for, as they were 
 "bound out" to the booksellers, they could not 
 be discharged. 
 
 But they all knew Ben Franklin would hold 
 himself responsible, and he was so good-natured 
 and witty that they liked him too well to refuse 
 to do him a kindness. It is quite likely that the 
 ^proprietors of the bookshops knew what was go- 
 ing on, and, seeing great promise in a boy so 
 eager to learn, decided not to interfere. 
 
 Though Franklin was not able to go to school 
 after he was ten, he became the greatest scientist 
 and philosopher of his time. He became fa- 
 miliar with Latin and learned to speak French 
 well enough to represent the United States at 
 the court of France where he was able, as a dip- 
 lomat and statesman, to do nearly as much as 
 Washington did for his struggling country. 
 
 Often men who have not been able to go 
 through college think they have had no chance 
 
 35 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 in life. They lose sight of the fact that the most 
 successful men have never had even high-school 
 advantages. Much is said and written about 
 *' self-made men.'' Every man who really 
 amounts to anything in life is *' self-made." 
 
 A college graduate may be and remain stupid 
 and ignorant, while another without much 
 schooling may become, as Benjamin Franklin 
 became, one of the best educated men of his day. 
 Schools are a great help, if rightly used, toward 
 true success in life. They are necessary, in fact, 
 though not all-important — since determined 
 boys like Franklin, Washington and Lincoln 
 schooled themselves and became great men. This 
 is not because they lived so long ago, for many 
 men of the present day have ''made" themselves 
 in the sense that ''every man is the architect of 
 his own fortune. 
 
 The books that young Benjamin borrowed and 
 sat up nights to read were not fiction. The first 
 book he ever bought for himself was "The Pil- 
 grim's Progress." Most of the books he read 
 with such eagerness would not be considered 
 fascinating by young people nowadays. Ben 
 Franklin did not read for amusement or "merely 
 to pass away; the time," but because he wanted 
 
 36 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 to learn and be a benefit to others. "Look out 
 for number one" is a selfish motto. No boy can 
 become a really great man unless he thinks of 
 others before himself. 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Apprentice and Student 
 
 Benjamin had begun to make rhymes when 
 he was only seven years old, in writing to his 
 Uncle Benjamin. In those days the story of a 
 great event, like a shipwreck or a murder, was 
 told in a long, rhymed narrative called a ballad. 
 These ballads were as common as popular songs 
 are to-day. So Benjamin, to increase his 
 brother's business, wrote two ballads, one about 
 a shipwreck in Boston harbor, and the other de- 
 scribing the capture and hanging of a pirate. 
 After Ben had written these he set them up, or 
 ** composed" them in type, and sold them 
 through the streets of Boston town. Franklin 
 himself tells of his experience as a *' ballad- 
 monger:" 
 
 37 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 **I now took a fancy to poetry, and made some 
 little pieces ; my brother, thinking it might turn 
 to account, encouraged me, and put me on com- 
 posing ballads. 
 
 *^One was called 'The Lighthouse Tragedy,' 
 and contained an account of the drowning of 
 Captain Worthilake, with his two daughters ; the 
 other was a sailor's song on the taking of 'Teach' 
 (or Blackbeard), the pirate. They were 
 wretched stuff, in the Grub Street ballad style; 
 and when they were printed he sent me about 
 the town to sell them. The first sold wonder- 
 fully, the event being recent, having made a 
 great noise. This flattered my vanity; but my 
 father discouraged me by ridiculing my per- 
 formances, and telling me verse-makers were 
 generally beggars. So I escaped being a poet, 
 most probably a very bad one." 
 
 Here are the opening lines of Ben's ballad on 
 Blackbeard, the pirate, which Franklin late in 
 life, called "wretched stuff:" 
 
 ■'J 
 
 ''Will you hear of a bloody Battle, 
 Lately fought upon the Seas, 
 It will make your Ears to rattle, 
 And your Admiration cease; 
 38 
 
TllIC FJKST Sor.l) WON DERI- UrjvY. 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 Have you heard of Teach, the Rover, 
 And his Knavery on the Main; 
 
 How of Gold he was a Lover, 
 How he lov'd all ill-got Gain?" 
 
 Josiah Franklin proved himself to be a man 
 of sound sense. His advice to his son appears 
 always to have been wise. Here is another story 
 told in Franklin's life-history: 
 
 i i There was another bookish lad in town, John 
 Collins by name, with whom I was intimately ac- 
 quainted. We sometimes disputed (debated) 
 and very fond we were of argument and very de- 
 sirous of confuting (beating) one another, which 
 disputatious (arguing) turn, by the way, is apt 
 to become a very bad habit, making people often 
 extremely disagreeable in company by the con- 
 tradiction that is necessary to bring it into prac- 
 tice; and thence, besides souring and spoiling 
 the conversation, is productive of disgusts, and 
 perhaps enmities where you may have occasion 
 for friendship. I had caught it (the habit of 
 arguing) by reading my father's books of dis- 
 pute about religion. Persons of good sense, I 
 have since observed, seldom fall into it (this 
 habit) except lawyers, university men, and men 
 of all sorts that have been bred at Edinburgh. 
 
 39 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 **A question was once, somehow or other, 
 started between Collins and me, of the propriety 
 of educating the female sex in learning, and 
 their abilities for study. He was of opinion 
 that it was improper, and that they (women) 
 were unequal to it. 
 
 **I took the contrary side, perhaps a little for 
 dispute 's sake. lie was naturally more eloquent, 
 had a ready plenty of words ; and sometimes, as 
 I thought, bore me down more by his fluency 
 than by the strength of his reasons. 
 
 *'As we parted without settling the point, and 
 were not to see each other again for some time, I 
 sat down to put my arguments in writing, which 
 I copied fair and sent to him. lie answered and 
 I replied. Three or four letters of a side had 
 passed when my father happened to find my pa- 
 pers and read them. Without entering into the 
 discussion, he took occasion to talk to me about 
 the manner of my writing and observed that 
 though I had the advantage of my antagonist 
 in correct spelling and pointing (punctuation) 
 (which I owed to the printing house), I fell far 
 short in elegance of expression. I saw the jus- 
 tice of his remarks, and thence grew more 
 attentive to the manner in my writing, and 
 
 40 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 determined to endeavor at improvement." 
 
 The idea of two mere boys ** disputing" about 
 the capabilities of the "female sex" seems rather 
 ludicrous now. In common conversation a lady 
 was often referred to as a "female." To-day 
 there is no more respectful word for her than 
 "woman." 
 
 Franklin w^ent on to describe his efforts at ex- 
 pressing himself well: 
 
 "About this time I met with an odd volume 
 of the * Spectator' (a magazine containing a col- 
 lection of essays and discussions edited by Jo- 
 seph Addison, known as the writer of most ele- 
 gant English). I bought it and read it over and 
 over, and was much delighted with it. I thought 
 the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to 
 imitate it. 
 
 "With this view I took some of the papers 
 (articles) and, making short hints of the senti- 
 ment in each sentence, laid them by a few days, 
 and then, without looking at the book tried to 
 complete the papers again, by expressing each 
 hinted sentiment at length, and as fully as it 
 had been expressed before, in any suitable 
 words that should come to hand. Then I com- 
 pared my * Spectator' with the original, dis- 
 
 41 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 coverod some of my faults and corrected them. 
 
 *'But I found I wanted a stock of words, or a 
 readiness in recollecting and using them, which 
 I thought I should have acquired before that 
 time if I had gone on making verses; since the 
 continual occasion for words of the same im- 
 port (meaning), but of different length, to suit 
 the measure, or of different sound for the rhyme, 
 would have laid me under constant necessity of 
 searching for variety, and also have tended to 
 fix tliat varii^ty in my mind, and make me mas- 
 ter of it. 
 
 '^Therefore I took some of the tales and 
 turned them into verse ; and, after a time, when 
 I had pretty well forgotten the prose, turned 
 them back again. I also sometimes jumbled my 
 collections of hints into confusion, and after 
 some weeks endeavored to reduce them into the 
 best order, before I began to form the full sen- 
 tences and complete the paper. 
 
 ''This was to teach me method in the arrange- 
 ment of thoughts. By comparing my work 
 afterwards with the original, I discovered many 
 faults and amended them; but I sometimes had 
 the pleasure of fancying that, in certain par- 
 ticulars of small import, I had been lucky 
 
 42 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 cnoii^^h to iini)rovo the method or the language, 
 and this encouraged me to think I might pos- 
 sibly in time come to be a tolerabk^ ]^]nglish 
 writer, of which I was extremely ambitious. 
 
 '*My time for these exercises and for reading 
 was at night after work, or before it began in 
 the morning." 
 
 When Ben was fifteen or sixteen he happened 
 to read a book against the eating of meat. This 
 made a deep impression on the lad's mind. His 
 brother, being unmarried, boarded, with his ap- 
 prentices, in another family. ]3en's eating only 
 V(5getable food made trouble in th(ur boarding- 
 house, and James scolded the boy for being so 
 peculiar. Benjamin stuck to his vegetable diet 
 and told his brother he would board himsc^lf for 
 half the money James was then paying for him. 
 ITis brother at once agreed to this, and out of 
 that half, young Ikvn saved liali' the amount 
 James paid him. Of this Franklin afterward 
 wrote: 
 
 ^'This was an additional fund for buying 
 books. But I had another advantage in it. My 
 brother and the rest going from the printing 
 house to tludr meals, I remained there alone, 
 and, despatching presently my light repast, 
 
 43 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 which was often no more than a biscuit or a slice 
 of bread, a handful of raisins or a tart from the 
 pastry cook's, and a glass of water, I had the 
 rest of the time till their return for study, in 
 which I made the greatest progress, from that 
 greater clearness of head and quicker apprehen- 
 sion which usually attend temperance in eating 
 and drinking.'' 
 
 About this time, also, something happened 
 which made the printer's apprentice ashamed of 
 his ignorance of arithmetic, in which he had 
 ^'failed twice in learning when at school" six or 
 eight years before. So he got a text-book and 
 studied arithmetic by himself, mastering the 
 book ''with great ease." 
 
 This "printer's devil" also read "The Art of 
 Thinking" and Locke's "Essay on Human Un- 
 derstanding," Xenophon's "Memorabilia of 
 Socrates," besides the philosophical works of 
 Shaftesbury and Collins. His fellow-appren- 
 tices must have thought Ben Franklin was a 
 queer sort of fellow, always poring over books 
 on subjects which they could not understand. No 
 doubt they could not see any sense in his staying 
 alone in the printer's shop eating crackers, 
 drinking water and reading dry essays and dis- 
 
 44 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 cussions while they were having a good dinner 
 with their employer. But no one knows now 
 who those apprentices were, and no one cares, 
 except for the mere fact they worked in the shop 
 with Benjamin Franklin. 
 
 By studying whenever he could, and saving 
 half the small sum he was allowed for board, 
 the young apprentice was putting into practice 
 one of his own hiter maxims — ^^ Empty thy purse 
 into thy head/' 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Boy Contributor, Editor and Publisher 
 
 "In A little time," wrote Franklin, *'I made 
 a great proficiency in the business, and became 
 a useful hand to my brother." The lad knew 
 this well enough, though his brother did not tell 
 him he was '^a useful hand." Parents did not 
 encourage their children in well doing in those 
 days, and tradesmen believed in "keeping 
 down" their apprentices. 
 
 After Benjamin had been with his brother 
 
 45 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 three years, James Franklin decided to start a 
 newspaper. They named it the ''New England 
 Courant." Some people shook their heads, for 
 there were already three in the United States — 
 the ''News Letter,'^ and the "Gazette," pub- 
 lished in Boston, and one, the "American 
 Weekly Mercury," in Philadelphia. Those wise 
 men thought the country could never support 
 four weekly newspapers I A daily paper had not 
 .yet been thought of. James Franklin's "Cour- 
 ant" was the first sensational or "yellow" jour- 
 nal, in America at least. The freedom of the 
 press, as it is believed in to-day, would have 
 seemed a terrible thing to those in authority. 
 
 Franklin went on about his brother's news- 
 paper : 
 
 "I remember his being dissuaded by some 
 friends of his from the undertaking. He went 
 on, however, and after having worked in com- 
 posing (setting) the types and printing oif the 
 sheets, I was employed to carry the papers 
 through the streets to the customers. 
 
 "lie (James) had some ingenious (clever or 
 smart) men among his friends who amused 
 themselves by writing little pieces for the paper, 
 which gained it credit and made it more in de- 
 
 46 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 mand, and these gentlemen often visited us. 
 Hearing their conversations, and their accounts 
 of the approbation their papers (articles) were 
 received with, I was excited to try my hand 
 among them ; but, being still a boy, and suspect- 
 ing that my brother would ol)ject to printing 
 anything of mine in his paper if he knew it to be 
 mine, I contrived to disguise my hand, and, writ- 
 ing an anonymous paper, I put it in at night un- 
 der the door of the printing house. It was found 
 in the morning and communicated to his writing 
 friends when they called in as usual. They read 
 it, commented on it in my hearing, and I had the 
 exquisite pleasure of finding it met with their 
 approbation, and that, in different guesses at the 
 author, none were named but men of some char- 
 acter among us for learning and ingenuity. I 
 suppose now that I was very lucky in my judgc^s, 
 and that perhaps they were not really so very 
 good ones as I then esteemed them. 
 
 ** Encouraged, however, by this, I wrote and 
 conveyed in the same way to the press several 
 more papers which were equally approved. '* 
 
 Benjamin Franklin was a strange office boy. 
 Though he set much of the type and then ran the 
 sheets oif on the hand press, and after printing 
 
 47 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 the newspapers he went through the streets 
 loaded with great bundles, delivering them to 
 the customers, he could not content himself 
 without writing *' pieces" which he himself 
 would have to put in type and run off on the 
 press. 
 
 These contributions of a sixteen-year-old 
 * Sprinter's devil" would be interesting reading 
 to-day. It is believed that the first ''piece" was 
 against the pretensions of certain Harvard stu- 
 dents and graduates. Even at that early age 
 Benjamin Franklin could see the foolishness of 
 assuming that college graduates were the only 
 educated men. No doubt there was a little un- 
 conscious envy in the thoughts of the youth who 
 was so hungry for learning yet was too poor to 
 go to college. Later in life, Benjamin Franklin 
 learned to think differently about college advan- 
 tages, and became one of the founders of one of 
 the greatest institutions of learning in America 
 — the University of Pennsylvania — and though 
 he had been denied college privileges, he re- 
 ceived the highest degrees and honors from col- 
 leges and universities in America and Europe. 
 
 The name Benjamin signed to these pieces 
 was ' ' Silence Dogood. ' ' The following acknowl- 
 
 48 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 edgment, which appeared in the ''Courant,'' evi- 
 dently written by his brother, must have made 
 him chuckle over his secret : 
 
 "As the favour of Mrs. Dogood^s 
 Correspondence is acknowledged by the 
 Publisher of this Paper, lest any of her 
 letters should miscarry, he desires they 
 may be deliver 'd at his Printing-Office, 
 or at the Blue Balls in Union street, 
 and no questions will be ask'd of the 
 Bearer." 
 
 **The Blue Balls" was the sign before the door 
 of Josiah Franklin's soap and candle shop. 
 "Mrs. Dogood" replied that "she" 
 
 "intends once a Fortnight to present 
 them, by the Help of this Paper, with a 
 short Epistle, which I presume will add 
 somewhat to their Entertainment." 
 
 Ben was as good as his word, for he wrote 
 fourteen letters as the "Widow Dogood," dis- 
 cussing, in a free and gossipy way, college edu- 
 cation, the training of women, widows, hypo- 
 crites, match-making, religion, pride, drinking, 
 and other things a lad of sixteen ought not to 
 know much about. In his "Autobiography" he 
 wrote: 
 
 49 
 
 4 — Franklin. 
 
The Story; of Young 
 
 "I kept my secret till my small fund of sense 
 for such performances was pretty well ex- 
 hausted, and I then discovered (revealed) it, 
 when I began to be considered a little more by 
 my brother's acquaintance, and in a manner that 
 did not quite please him, as he thought, prob- 
 ably with reason, that it tended to make me too 
 vain. 
 
 "And perhaps this might be one occasion of 
 the differences we began to have about this time. 
 Though a brother, he considered himself as my 
 master, and me as his apprentice, and accord- 
 ingly expected the same services from me as he 
 would from another, while I thought he de- 
 meaned me too much in some he required of me 
 who, from a brother, expected more indulgence. 
 Our disputes were often brought before our 
 father, and I fancy I was generally in the right, 
 or else a better pleader, because the judgment 
 was generally in my favor." 
 
 James Franklin, a naturally suspicious, harsh- 
 tempered young man, was now jealous of his 
 half-brother ten years younger than himself. 
 When Ben did the least wrong James treated 
 him with the three-fold severity of an older 
 brother, a hard master, and almost like Ben's 
 
 50 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 owner, as if the boy were a slave. Often he was 
 cruel and unreasonable and beat the boy when 
 he did not deserve it, which Franklin wrote, long 
 afterward, he ^'took extremely amiss," and be- 
 gan to look about for some way to break the con- 
 tract which bound the lad until he was twenty- 
 one. 
 
 An unexpected opportunity came to the 
 youth's relief. In the "New England Courant" 
 appeared, one day, a paragraph which would not 
 occasion any comment in these days of so-called 
 ''liberty of the press," but it aroused the right- 
 eous wrath of the authorities, because a mere 
 man had taken upon himself to criticize their 
 course. It reads like a mere pious reflection on 
 the engaging of Indians in a war against 
 Canada : 
 
 *'If Almighty God will have Canada subdued 
 without the assistance of those miserable Sav- 
 ages, in whom we have too much confidence, we 
 shall be glad that there will be no sacrifices of- 
 fered up to the Devil upon the occasion, God 
 alone will have the glory." 
 
 The Great and General Court was so moved 
 with indignation that on that very day this order 
 was issued : 
 
 51 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 "In Council, Jan. 14, 1722. 
 
 ''Whereas, the paper called the New England 
 Courant, of this day's date, contains many pas- 
 sages in which the Holy Scriptures are per- 
 verted, and the Civil Government, Ministers 
 and People of this Providence highly reflected 
 on. 
 
 ''Ordered, That William Tailer, Samuel Se- 
 vv^ell, and Penn Townsend, Esqrs., with such of 
 the Honourable House of Representatives shall 
 join, be a committee to consider and report 
 what is proper for the Court to do thereon. '^ 
 
 James Franklin was promptly arrested, taken 
 before the Council and severely censured, then 
 ordered confined ''in the stone jail" for a month, 
 for libeling his superiors. Young Ben was also 
 arrested and questioned, but that young person 
 was too shrewd to let them trip him into say- 
 ing anything against his overbearing brother, 
 or to the damage of the business. Although 
 they knew he was a bright lad and capable of 
 writing skits and poking fun at those in au- 
 thority, they knew also that, as an apprentice, 
 he was bound by law not to betray his master's 
 secrets, So, after a sharp warning, they let 
 him cfo. 
 
 52 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 While it seems absurd to imprison a man for 
 such a harmless reflection as that about hiring 
 Indians to fight, it was only a short time before 
 this, since Benjamin's apprenticeship began, 
 that John Mathews, a harmless youth of nine- 
 teen, who thought it would be a clever thing to 
 write a pamphlet and have it printed, in favor 
 of the right of the royal house of Stuart to re- 
 turn to the throne of England. He did this and 
 was beheaded at Tyburn, the place of execution 
 in London. 
 
 And some time before this a printer, named 
 John Gwyn, set up and printed a sort of circular 
 brought him by another, in which was this state- 
 ment: '^If magistrates pervert judgment, the 
 people are bound by the law of God to execute 
 judgment without them, and upon them." 
 
 The poor printer told the judge that he meant 
 no harm. The offensive words were not his. He 
 had printed them for some one else, as he was a 
 poor man with a wife and children to feed. That 
 terrible ^'justice," named Hyde, just to please 
 the king, as he thought, ordered poor Gwyn 
 dragged to the place of execution on a hurdle; 
 hanged by the neck till he was almost strangled, 
 then cut down and cut up in pieces, while still 
 
 53 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 alive, then, after tortures too cruel and horrible 
 to print, killed by having his head cut off. His 
 head, arms and legs were then disposed of "at 
 the pleasure of the king's majesty!" 
 
 During his brother's imprisonment, Ben, in 
 spite of these warnings, *'made bold to give the 
 rulers some rubs," in the paper. This, he said, 
 gave his imprisoned brother a good deal of sat- 
 isfaction. Here is a "rub" which showed that 
 the boy already had some skill in dealing with 
 the sort of sarcasm which could not be answered 
 so easily as James's Scriptural criticisms. 
 Pirates had been sighted off Block Island, and 
 the authorities were so slow in following them 
 that Ben indulged in this quiet drive at such a 
 cowardly delay, in a letter purporting to have 
 been sent to the "Courant" from Newport: 
 
 "We are advised from Boston that the gov- 
 ernment of Massachusetts are fitting out a ship 
 to go after the pirates, to be commanded by 
 Peter Papillon, and His tliouglit he tvill sail some 
 time this month, tvind and weather permitting." 
 
 While James was in prison, the colonial House 
 of Representatives, agreeing with the Council, 
 adopted the following report of the committee 
 which had been appointed to decide what should 
 
 54 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 be done with the too sensational "Courant." 
 ^'That James Franklin, the printer and pub- 
 lisher thereof, be strictly forbidden by this 
 Court to print or publish the 'New England 
 Courantj ' 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." 
 
 It was plucky work for a boy of sixteen to 
 edit and publish a newspaper, and make such a 
 sturdy fight for the liberty of the press in 
 America. He was loyal to the brother who had 
 abused him and treated him meanly. 
 
 That month in jail was enough for Brother 
 James. He knew that men had suffered worse 
 things than imprisonment for printing state- 
 ments against those in authority. Editors and 
 publishers had had their ears slitted like cattle's, 
 or had been whipped through the streets — not 
 because the things they had published were un- 
 true, but because the rulers had the power to 
 make the editors suffer for "speaking evil of 
 magistrates. ' ' Franklin himself wrote that such 
 
 55 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 unfair treatment as this had developed within 
 him a keen hatred of unjust authority as that 
 of England came to be — against the American 
 colonies. 
 
 When they voted that the *'New England 
 Courant" should be published no longer by 
 James Franklin, the members of the House 
 thought they had put a stop to that trouble- 
 some paper. Franklin himself tells what hap- 
 pened : 
 
 ''There was a consultation held in our print- 
 ing house among his (James Franklin's) 
 friends, what he should do in this case. Some 
 proposed to evade the order by changing the 
 name of the paper; but my brother, seeing in- 
 convenience in that, it was finally concluded on 
 as a better way, to let it be printed for the fu- 
 ture under the name of Benjamin Franklin; 
 and to avoid the censure of the Assembly, that 
 might fall on him as still printing it by his ap- 
 prentice, the contrivance was that my old inden- 
 ture should be returned to me, with a full dis- 
 charge on the back of it, to be shown on occasion, 
 but to secure to him the benefit of my services, I 
 was to sign new indentures for the remainder of 
 the term, which were to be kept private. A very 
 
 56 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 flimsy scheme it was; however, it was immedi- 
 ately executed, and the paper went on accord- 
 ingly, under my name for several months. 
 
 **At length, a fresh difference arising between 
 my brother and me, I took upon me to assert my 
 freedom, presuming that he would not venture 
 to produce the new indentures. It was not fair 
 in me to take this advantage, and this I there- 
 fore reckon one of the first errata (mistakes) of 
 my life; but the unfairness of it weighed little 
 with me, when under the impressions of resent- 
 ment for the blows his passion too often urged 
 him to bestow upon me, though he was otherwise 
 not an ill-natured man ; perhaps I was too saucy 
 and provoking/' 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Running Away from Home 
 
 James Franklin complained of his brother to 
 their father, who did not take Benjamin's part 
 this time, because the younger son, though he 
 
 57 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 had good grounds for complaint, was clearly in 
 the wrong. The brothers had had their last open 
 quarrel. Ben declared he would not work for 
 his brother any longer, so James, to prevent his 
 finding employment anywhere else in Boston, 
 went round calling on all the other printers and 
 warning them against hiring his runaway ap- 
 prentice. There was nothing for Ben to do but 
 go back to his brother and ''eat humble pie," or 
 run away to New York, the nearest place where 
 there were printers with whom he might find 
 work. 
 
 James Franklin now thought he had fixed it 
 so Ben would have to work for him four years 
 longer, for the youth was now seventeen. If 
 Benjamin had left Boston publicly, his father, 
 brother or an officer of the law could have pre- 
 vented it. Runaway apprentices were arrested 
 and returned, like runaway slaves, to their mas- 
 ters. Ben knew this only too well, for the news- 
 papers of that day contained many notices of 
 apprentices who had broken their bonds and de- 
 serted their employers. 
 
 Here is an advertisement Benjamin's father 
 had inserted in the "Couranf within a few 
 months, concerning an apprentice who had run 
 
 58 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 away from the evil-smelling soap-and-candle 
 business which Ben himself had disliked so 
 much: 
 
 ^'Ran away from his Master, Mr. Josiah 
 Franklin, of Boston, Tallow-Chandler, on the 
 first of this instant July, an Irish Man-servant, 
 named William Tinsley about 20 Years of Age, 
 of a middle Stature, black Hair, lately cut off, 
 somewhat fresh-coloured Countenance, a large 
 lower lip, of a mean Aspect, large Legs, and 
 heavy in his Going. 
 
 *'IIe had on, when he went away, a felt Hat, a 
 white knit Cap, striped with red and blue, white 
 Shirt, and neck-cloth, a brown coloured-Jacket, 
 almost new, a frieze Coat, of a dark Colour, grey 
 yarn Stockings, leather Breeches, trimmed with 
 black, and round to'd Shoes. 
 
 *' Whoever shall apprehend the said runaway 
 Servant, and him safely convey to his above said 
 Master, at the Blue Balls in Union street, Bos- 
 ton, shall have forty Shillings Reward, and all 
 necessary Charges paid." 
 
 As this notice appeared three successive weeks 
 in the "Courant," it is safe to infer that the 
 apprentice '*of a mean aspect" was not "ap- 
 prehended." 
 
 59 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 The lad thought it all over. He realized that, 
 besides having the ill-will of his brother, he was 
 in bad odor with the authorities because of the 
 *'rubs'^ he had put into the ''Couranf during 
 his brother's imprisonment, and afterward while 
 that paper was published under his own name. 
 He knew well enough that if he got into any 
 trouble he could expect no consideration from 
 *'the powers" in Boston. 
 
 So he began to plan his escape. He sold some 
 of his precious books to raise a little ready 
 money. His friend Collins, the apprentice he 
 had ** disputed" with about the education of 
 womankind, helped him get away secretly. 
 Franklin himself tells of this : 
 
 '*He (Collins) agreed with the captain of a 
 New York sloop for my passage. I was taken 
 on board privately, and as we had a fair wind, 
 in three days I found myself in New York, near 
 three hundred miles from home, a boy of seven- 
 teen, without the least recommendation to, or 
 knowledge of, any person in the place, and with 
 very little money in my pocket." 
 
 Now was Ben's opportunity to run away to 
 sea while he was about it. But he said that his 
 "inclinations for the sea were by this time worn 
 
 60 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 out," probably by the knowledge of his sailor 
 brother's hardships and death. 
 
 As soon as Brother James found that Ben had 
 gone, he advertised in his newspaper for "a 
 likely lad for an apprentice," not realizing what 
 a very "likely lad" he had lost by his own over- 
 bearing treatment of his brother. Although the 
 old man of seventy, looking back upon the acts 
 of a boy of seventeen, pronounced his running 
 away the first great mistake of his life, it seems 
 to have been overruled for the best. 
 
 At this time Boston, with a population of ten 
 thousand, was the largest city in America, Phila- 
 delphia, with about eight thousand, second, and 
 New York, third. There was only one printer in 
 New York, an old man named William Brad- 
 ford, who had come over from Philadelphia, 
 where he had quarreled with Keith, the Gov- 
 ernor of Pennsylvania. He had no place for 
 young Franklin, but said, to comfort the dis- 
 appointed youth "My son at Philadelphia has 
 lately lost his principal hand. He may employ 
 you." 
 
 So, with a sinking heart, young Franklin de- 
 cided to go on to Philadelphia. Franklin de- 
 scribes his departure from New York : 
 
 61 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 "Philadelphia was a hundred miles further; 
 I set out, however, in a boat for Amboy, leaving 
 my chest and things to follow me round by sea 
 (coming up the Delaware to Philadelphia). 
 
 '^In crossing the bay (to Amboy) we met with 
 a squall that tore our rotten sail to pieces, pre- 
 vented our getting into the Kill (river or inlet) 
 and drove us up on Long Island. On our way, a 
 drunken Dutchman, who was a passenger, too, 
 fell overboard; when he was sinking I reached 
 through the water to his shock pate and drew 
 him up, so that we got him again. His ducking 
 sobered him a little, and he went to sleep, taking 
 first out of his pocket a book which he desired I 
 would dry for him. It proved to be my old fa- 
 vorite author, Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," 
 in Dutch, finely printed on good paper, with 
 copper cuts, a dress better than I had ever seen 
 it wear in its own language. I have since found 
 that it has been translated into most of the lan- 
 guages of Europe, and suppose it has been more 
 generally read than any other book, except per- 
 haps the Bible." 
 
 Dr. Franklin, when he wrote of this adventure 
 of his 3^outh, had written "Poor Richard's Al- 
 manac," which hung in thousands of American 
 
 62 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 homes alongside of the Bible and '^The Pil- 
 grim's Progress." The proverbs of "Poor 
 Richard" were already as familiar as those of 
 Solomon. He does not hint at this, though he 
 must have known it. Franklin's modesty and 
 simplicity add a special charm to his writings. 
 He goes on with his account of his journey to 
 Philadelphia, which for simple and vivid lan- 
 guage reminds the reader of St. Luke's descrip- 
 tion of the shipwreck of St. Paul, in "The Acts 
 of the Apostles : ' ' 
 
 "When we drew near the island, we found it 
 was at a place where there could be no landing, 
 there being a great surf on the stony beach. So 
 we dropt anchor, and swung round toward the 
 shore. Some people came down to the water's 
 edge and hallooed to us, as we did to them ; but 
 the wind was so high and the surf so loud that 
 we could not hear so as to understand each 
 other. 
 
 "There were canoes on the shore, and we made 
 signs and hallooed that they should fetch us 
 (ashore) ; but they either did not understand us 
 or thought it impracticable, so they went away, 
 and night coming on, we had no remedy but to 
 wait till the wind should abate ; and, in the mean- 
 
 63 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 time, the boatman and I concluded to sleep if 
 we could; and so (we) crow^ded into the scuttle 
 (hold) with the Dutchman, who was still wet, 
 and the spray, beating over the head of our boat, 
 leaked through to us, so that we were soon al- 
 most as wet as he. In this manner we lay all 
 night, with very little rest ; but the wind abating 
 the next day, we made shift to reach Amboy be- 
 fore night, having been thirty hours on the 
 water, without victuals or any drink but a bottle 
 of filthy rum, the water we sailed on being 
 salt. 
 
 *'In the evening (after landing) I found my- 
 self very feverish, and went in to bed ; but, hav- 
 ing read somewhere that cold water drank 
 plentifully was good for a fever, I followed the 
 prescription, sweat plentifully most of the night, 
 my fever left me, and in the morning, crossing 
 the ferry, I proceeded on my journey on foot, 
 having fifty miles to Burlington, where I was 
 told I should find boats that would carry me the 
 rest of the way to Philadelphia.^' 
 
 Amboy was located at the mouth of the Rari- 
 tan, on the coast of New Jersey, called, in 
 Franklin's day, **the Jerseys'' (East and West 
 Jersey). The fever-sick runaway took the ferry 
 
 64 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 across from Amboy to Brunswick, and started 
 out in a southwesterly direction (walking past 
 the place where Washington was to cross the 
 Delaware, over fifty years later) and striding 
 through Trenton and Bordentown, to Burling- 
 ton, New Jersey, a little village beside the wide 
 Delaware River. 
 
 It was a long walk through the mud and pour- 
 ing rain. As he splashed along the coimtry 
 roads, drenched to the skin, the half-sick young 
 fellow had plenty of time to think of the com- 
 fortable home he had left behind, and of his 
 apprentice friends in Boston. What if he 
 should fail to find work in Philadelphia? 
 What if he should be arrested? Such things 
 often happened. If he did not find employ- 
 ment in Philadelphia there were no other 
 cities in America large enough to support a 
 printing house. What could he do? He 
 wished he had learned one of the other trades 
 his good father had taken him to see. There 
 were bricklayers and cutlers in almost every 
 place. Could he bear to face his brother, his 
 father, and the Boston acquaintances again? 
 He had but little money. If he should have 
 to go back home, it must be on foot, like 
 
 65 
 
 5 — Franklin. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 the returning Prodigal. He would have to 
 say, ** Father, I have sinned,'' and his brother 
 would be even more cruel and unkind than the 
 cold-hearted elder brother in the parable. 
 
 Young Franklin's thoughts were not pleas- 
 ant company as he trudged along in the rain that 
 day. It is no wonder that he remembered it all 
 so vividly that he wrote, nearly fifty years after- 
 ward: 
 
 *^It rained hard all the day; I was thoroughly 
 soaked, and by noon a good deal tired, so I stopt 
 at a poor inn, where I stayed all night, begin- 
 ning now to wish that I had never left home. I 
 cut so miserable a figure, too, that I found, by 
 the questions asked me (that) I was suspected 
 to be some runaway servant, and in danger of 
 being taken up on that suspicion. However, I 
 proceeded the next day, and got in the evening to 
 an inn, within eight or ten miles of Burlington, 
 kept by one Dr. Brown. 
 
 "He entered into conversation with me while 
 I took some refreshment, and finding I had read 
 a little, became very sociable. Our acquaintance 
 continued as long as he lived." 
 
 Young Franklin was a strange mixture — a 
 printer's apprentice who had "read a little" of 
 
 66 
 
we; landed at the market street wharf. 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 philosophy, poetry, the Bible, "The Pilgrim's 
 Progress, ' ' and so on. Instead of being arrested 
 as a runaway servant, he was hospitably enter- 
 tained and formed a life-long friendship with a 
 learned physician who was something of a 
 writer, like Dr. Oliver Goldsmith, Dr. Oliver 
 Wendell Holmes, or Dr. Weir Mitchell. 
 
 He stayed at Dr. Brown's tavern that night, 
 and walked on eight or ten miles to Burlington 
 the next morning. It was Saturday, and he 
 found to his great disappointment that the boat 
 for Philadelphia had gone, and he would now 
 have to wait till the following Tuesday — three 
 days ! He was tired of walking, and the drench- 
 ings he had suffered did not hasten his recovery 
 from fever. He stood on the bank of the Dela- 
 ware and wondered what to do next. He de- 
 cided to go back and ask the advice of the woman 
 who had sold him some gingerbread to eat on 
 the boat. She invited him to stay at her house 
 until the next boat day. This was nearly one 
 hundred years before Robert Fulton invented 
 the steamboat, so all the boats and ships in 
 Franklin's time were propelled by means of 
 sails. He accepted the woman's kind offer, and 
 she tried to persuade him to remain in Burling- 
 
 67 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 ton and go into business there. But Franklin 
 himself explains why he did not stay : 
 
 *' However, w^alking in the evening by the side 
 of the river, a boat came by, which I found was 
 going toward Philadelphia, with several people 
 in her. They took me in, and, as there was no 
 wind, we rowed all the way ; and about midnight, 
 not having yet seen the city, some of the com- 
 pany were confident we must have passed it, and 
 would row no further; the others knew not 
 where we were ; so we put toward the shore, got 
 into a creek, landed near a fence, with the rails 
 of which we made a fire, the night being cold, in 
 ^ October, and there we remained till daylight. 
 
 *'Then one of the company knew the place to 
 be Cooper's Creek, a little above Philadelphia, 
 which we saw as soon as we got out of the creek, 
 and arrived there about eight or nine o'clock on 
 the Sunday morning, and landed at the Market 
 Street wharf." 
 
 68 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Finding Friends in Philadelphia 
 
 On Sunday morning, the 10th of October, 
 1723, Benjamin Franklin arrived in Philadel- 
 phia for the first time. It certainly did not seem 
 to be an important event to those who were with 
 him. They saw only a pale, tired, sleepy youth 
 in rain-soaked clothing. He describes his own 
 appearance : 
 
 *^I was in my working dress, my best clothes 
 being to come round by sea. I was dirty from 
 my journey; my pockets were stuffed out with 
 shirts and stockings, and I knew no soul nor 
 where to look for lodging. I was fatigued with 
 traveling, rowing, and want of rest. I was very 
 hungry ; and my whole stock of cash consisted of 
 a Dutch dollar and about a shilling in copper. 
 The latter I gave the people of the boat for my 
 passage, who at first refused it on account of my 
 rowing, but I insisted on their taking it. A man 
 
 69 
 
 ^ 
 ^f^ 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 being sometimes more generous when he has a 
 little money than when he has plenty; perhaps 
 through fear of being thought to have but little.'' 
 With only the silver dollar left, young Frank- 
 lin started off up street to find something to eat. 
 Gazing about, he came to what was evidently 
 the market house, when he met a boy with some 
 bread. Ben asked the lad where to buy bread 
 and was directed to a baker's on Second Street. 
 Hurrying to the place he asked for biscuit, or 
 big crackers, such as were made in Boston. The 
 baker did not understand, for Boston biscuits 
 were not made in Philadelphia. Then the lad 
 asked for a three-penny loaf and they said they 
 had no three-penny loaves. At last Benjamin 
 threw down the Dutch dollar and ordered 
 ^Hhree-penny worth of any sort." The baker 
 gave him *' three great puffy rolls," and a large 
 quantity of change in silver and copper coins. 
 The Boston boy was astonished at the quantity 
 of bread. As his capacious pockets were already 
 *' stuffed out with shirts and stockings," he took 
 a roll under each arm, and walked along the 
 streets gnawing and munching the third loaf ; he 
 knew of no place where he could sit and eat it in 
 a respectable manner. Referring to this Frank- 
 
 70 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 lin wrote that he ''made a most awkward, ridicu- 
 lous appearance." 
 
 This was to Ben Franklin a memorable inci- 
 dent, for as he walked along devouring his Sun- 
 day breakfast in the street, he saw a young girl 
 about his own age standing in the doorway of 
 her father's house laughing at him. That girl 
 was his future wife. 
 
 After this absurd meeting with the young 
 woman he was to marry, Ben Franklin ''turned 
 and went down Chestnut Street and part of Wal- 
 nut Street," he said, "eating my roll all the way, 
 and coming round, found myself again at Mar- 
 ket Street wharf, near the boat I came in, to 
 which I went for a draught of river water ; and 
 being filled with one of my rolls, gave the 
 other two to a woman and her child that came 
 down the river in the boat with us, and were 
 waiting to go farther. 
 
 "Thus refreshed, I walked again up the 
 street, which by this time had many clean- 
 dressed people in it, who were all walking the 
 same way. I joined them, and thereby was led 
 into the great meeting-house of the Quakers 
 near the market. I sat down among them, and 
 after looking roimd a while and hearing nothing 
 
 71 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 said, and being drowsy through labor and want 
 of rest the preceding night, I fell fast asleep and 
 continued so till the meeting broke up, when one 
 was kind enough to rouse me. This was, there- 
 fore, the first house I was in, or slept in, in Phil- 
 adelphia." 
 
 It was evidently a ^'silent meeting," which the 
 Friends often have, for no one was expected to 
 speak unless moved by the Spirit. After the 
 sleepy youth had stumbled out of the meeting- 
 house, he walked down toward the river. On 
 the way he says: "I met a young Quaker whose 
 countenance I liked, and accosting him, re- 
 quested he would tell me where a stranger could 
 get lodging. We were then near the sign of the 
 ^ Three Mariners.' 
 
 ^* *Here,' says he, 4s one place that entertains 
 strangers, but it is not a reputable house ; if thee 
 wilt walk with me, I'll show thee a better.' 
 
 **He brought me to the * Crooked Billet' in 
 Water Street. Here I got a dinner, and while I 
 was eating it, several sly questions were asked 
 me, as it seemed to be suspected, from my youth 
 and appearance, that I might be some runaway. 
 
 ^' After dinner my sleepiness returned, and be- 
 ing shown to a bed, I lay down without undress- 
 
 72 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 ing, and slept till six in the evening, was called 
 to supper, went to bed very early and slept 
 soundly till next morning. Then I made myself 
 as tidy as I could, and went to Andrew Brad- 
 ford the printer. 
 
 "I found in the shop the old man his father, 
 whom I had seen at New York, and who, travel- 
 ing on horseback, had got to Philadelphia before 
 me. He introduced me to his son, who received 
 me civilly, gave me a breakfast, but told me he 
 did not at present want a hand, being lately sup- 
 plied with one ; but there was another printer in 
 town, lately set up, one Keimer, who perhaps 
 might employ me ; if not, I should be welcome to 
 lodge at his house, and he would give me a little 
 work now and then till fuller business should 
 offer. 
 
 **The old gentleman said he would go with 
 me to the new printer ; and when we found him, 
 ^Neighbor,' says Bradford, *I have brought to 
 see you a young man of your business ; perhaps 
 you may want such a one.' '' 
 
 Keimer was a queer character with whom 
 Benjamin Franklin afterward had much to do. 
 He asked the young stranger a few questions, 
 set him to work, and, being satisfied that the 
 
 73 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 youth was a good printer, promised him employ- 
 ment soon. This must have lifted a heavy load 
 from the heart of the runaway, for it meant that 
 he need not return to his ugly elder brother and 
 be ashamed in the sight of his family and friends 
 in Boston. 
 
 It is a pleasant picture — that of the estab- 
 lished printer's father taking the young appli- 
 cant straight to his son's new rival to find work 
 for the stranger. But Keimer did not know that 
 the old man was himself a New York printer and 
 especially interested in the business of his chief 
 competitor in Philadelphia. The old gentleman 
 slyly asked the new printer questions about his 
 prospects and plans, which Keimer answered 
 without reserve, telling that he expected to get 
 the greater part of the printing business of Phil- 
 adelphia into his own hands, and so on. The 
 shrewd Yankee lad looked on in astonishment, 
 and afterward said of it: ^*I, who stood by and 
 heard all, saw immediately that one of them was 
 a crafty old sophister, and the other a mere 
 novice. Bradford left me with Keimer, who was 
 greatly surprised when I told him who the old 
 man was." 
 
 The printer who had recently died was a well- 
 
 74 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 known citizen of Philadelphia, named Aquila 
 Rose, who had been clerk of the Pennsylvania 
 Assembly, and something of a poet. Keimer 
 thought himself gifted in this respect, and, when 
 Benjamin Franklin first came, the old printer 
 was composing a poem in his mind while *' com- 
 posing" it in type. This he entitled *'An Elegy 
 on Aquila Rose." Here is Franklin's descrip- 
 tion of his jfirst situation : 
 
 ^' Keimer 's printing house, I found, consisted 
 of an old shattered press, and one small, worn- 
 out font of English, which he was then using 
 himself. Keimer made verses, but very indiffer- 
 ently. He could not be said to write them, for 
 his manner was to compose them in the types 
 directly out of his head. So there being no copy 
 (writing to set type from) and the Elegy likely 
 to require all the letter (font of type), no one 
 could help him. 
 
 ^'I endeavored to put his press (which he had 
 not yet used, and of which he understood noth- 
 ing) into order fit to be worked with ; and prom- 
 ising to come and print off his Elegy as soon as 
 he should have got it ready, I returned to Brad- 
 ford's, who gave me a little job to do for the 
 present; and there I lodged and dieted 
 
 75 
 
Tlie Story of Young 
 
 (boarded). A few days after, Keimer sent for 
 me to print off the Elegy. And now he had got 
 another pair of cases, and a pamphlet to reprint, 
 on which he set me to work. 
 
 "These two printers I found poorly qualified 
 for their business. Bradford had not been bred 
 to it, and was very illiterate; and Keimer, 
 though something of a scholar, was a mere com- 
 positor, knowing nothing of presswork. At this 
 time he did not profess any particular religion 
 but something of all on occasions; was very 
 ignorant of the world, and had, as I afterward 
 found, a good deal of the knave in his composi- 
 tion. He did not like my lodging at Bradford's 
 while I worked with him. He had a house, in- 
 deed, but without furniture; so he could not 
 lodge me, but he got me a lodging at Mr. Read's, 
 who was the owner of his house ; and my chest 
 and clothes being come by this time, I made 
 rather a more respectable appearance in the eyes 
 of Miss Read than I had done when she first 
 happened to see me eating my roll in the street." 
 
 When young Franklin had steady employ- 
 ment and a pleasant boarding place he began to 
 feel at home in Philadelphia. He made ac- 
 quaintances easily. Men and women, old and 
 
 76 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 young, seemed to take an interest in him. He 
 was good-natured, frank and generous, and had 
 a keen sense of humor, which goes a long way 
 toward making friends in a strange place. He 
 chose the right kind of associates, *' among the 
 young people of the town, that were lovers of 
 reading,'' he wi'ote, ^*with whom I spent my 
 evenings very pleasantly; and gaining money 
 by my industry and frugality, I lived very agree- 
 ably, forgetting Boston as much as I could, and 
 not desiring that any there should know where I 
 resided, except my friend Collins, who was in my 
 secret and kept it when I wrote to him." 
 
 But Benjamin Franklin never lost his love for 
 the home of his boyhood. He was an affection- 
 ate youth, and while he felt resentment against 
 his brother James, he longed for his home with 
 its large family of brothers and sisters. It was 
 not because he lacked feeling toward his father 
 and mother, but because he feared that his 
 brother, in his wrath, might have him arrested, 
 even in Philadelphia, and brought back to Bos- 
 ton in disgrace. 
 
 One of Benjamin's older sisters had been mar- 
 ried to a shipmaster named Robert Holmes. 
 This brother-iii-law's sloop carried on a thriv- 
 
 77 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 ing coast trade between Boston and the Dela- 
 ware. While on one of these cruises, stopping at 
 Newcastle, Delaware, forty miles from Philadel- 
 phia, Captain Holmes heard that his young 
 brother-in-law was in Philadelphia. He at once 
 wrote Ben a brotherly letter, telling him how 
 anxious his parents and friends were after his 
 sudden disappearance. He assured the lad that 
 they were all friendly to him, and, if he would 
 return to Boston all would be forgiven, and 
 everything would be arranged to suit him, which 
 meant that he need not work for his brother 
 again, as an apprentice, unless he chose to do so. 
 
 Ben wrote Robert HoLnes a full letter, giving 
 his reasons for leaving Boston so abruptly, put- 
 ting the matter, as Franklin wrote, "in such a 
 light as to convince him that I was not so wrong 
 as he had apprehended." 
 
 It so happened that when Captain Holmes re- 
 ceived this letter from his runaway brother-in- 
 law he was in company with Sir William Keith, 
 then Governor of Pennsylvania and *Hhe Dela- 
 ware Counties." Holmes showed his young 
 brother ^s letter to the Governor, who was sur- 
 prised that a boy of seventeen could write a let- 
 ter so cleverly worded and so correctly spelled 
 
 78 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 and punctuated. Sir William said that such a 
 promising young man ought to be encouraged, 
 and as the two printers then in Philadelphia 
 were either ignorant or incapable, he would like 
 to set young Franklin up in business there. He, 
 as Governor of the Province, could give him the 
 official printing to do, and use his influence to 
 help him in many ways. Of this Franklin 
 wrote : 
 
 "This my brother-in-law afterwards told me 
 in Boston, but I knew as yet nothing of it ; when, 
 one day, Keimer and I being at work together 
 near the window, we saw the Governor and an- 
 other gentleman (who proved to be Colonel 
 French, of Newcastle), finely dressed, come di- 
 rectly across the street to our house, and heard 
 them at the door. 
 
 "Keimer ran down immediately, thinking it a 
 visit to him; but the Governor inquired for me, 
 came up, and with a condescension and polite- 
 ness I had been quite unused to, made me many 
 compliments, desired to be acquainted with me, 
 blamed me kindly for not having made myself 
 known to him when I first came to the place, and 
 would have me away with him to the tavern, 
 where he was going with Colonel French. 
 
 79 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 ^'I was not a little surprised, and Keimer 
 stared like a pig poisoned. I went, however, 
 with the Governor and Colonel French to a tav- 
 ern at the corner of Third Street, and he pro- 
 posed my setting up my business, laid before me 
 the possibilities of success, and both he and 
 Colonel French assured me I should have their 
 interest and inliuence in procuring the public 
 business of both governments (of Pennsylvania 
 and Delaware). 
 
 ''On my doubting whether my father would 
 assist me in it, Sir William said he would give 
 me a letter to him, in which he would state the 
 advantages, and he did not doubt of prevailing 
 with him. 
 
 **So it was concluded I should return to Bos- 
 ton in the first vessel, with the Governor's letter 
 recommending me to my father. In the mean- 
 time the intention was to be kept a secret, and I 
 went on working with Keimer as usual, the Gov- 
 ernor sending for me now and then to dine with 
 him — a very great honor I thought it 1 — and con- 
 versing with me in the most affable, familiar, 
 and friendl^v manner imaginable." 
 
 Keimer had strange religious notions, one of 
 which was that it was wrong to cut off the beard. 
 
 80 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 Another belief that Saturday, not Sunday, 
 should be observed as the Sabbath. Young 
 Franklin not having to work on Saturday or 
 Sunday, spent two days a week in reading, and 
 he made good use of his opportunities. 
 
 For some time the young printer, himself a 
 vegetarian, induced his employer to give up 
 eating meat; but Keimer began to sigh for the 
 ^*flesh pots of Egypt," and soon fell back to eat- 
 ing meat in large quantities, for he was a greedy 
 old man. 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 The Return of the Runaway 
 
 "About the end of April, 1724," wrote Frank- 
 lin, "a little vessel offered for Boston. I took 
 leave of Keimer as going to see my friends. The 
 Governor gave me an ample letter, saying many 
 flattering things of me to my father, and 
 strongly recommending the project of my set- 
 ting up at Philadelphia as a thing that must 
 make my fortune. 
 
 81 
 
 6 — Franklin. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 **We struck a shoal going down the bay, and 
 sprung a leak; we had a blustering time at sea, 
 and were obliged to pump almost continually, at 
 which I took my turn. We arrived safe, how- 
 ever, at Boston in about a fortnight. '^ 
 
 When young Franklin appeared again in 
 Boston, after an absence of seven months, it was 
 almost as if he had risen from the dead. As his 
 brother-in-law had not yet returned, and had not 
 written to the family, they were all surprised to 
 see him. He tells of his visit to his brother : 
 
 ^*I went to see him at his printing house. I 
 was better dressed than ever while in his service, 
 having a genteel new suit from head to foot, a 
 watch, and my pockets lined with near five 
 pounds sterling in silver. He received me not 
 very frankly, looked me all over, and turned to 
 his work again. 
 
 **The journeymen printers were inquisitive 
 where I had been, what sort of a country it was, 
 and how I liked it. I praised it much, and the 
 happy life I led in it, expressing strongly my in- 
 tention of returning to it ; and, one of them ask- 
 ing what kind of money we had there, I pro- 
 duced a handful of silver, and spread it before 
 them, which was a kind of raree-show they had 
 
 82 
 
Benjamin Franldin 
 
 not been used to, paper being the money of 
 Boston. 
 
 "Then I took an opportunity of letting them 
 see my watch; and lastly (my brother still grum 
 and sullen), I took my leave. This visit of mine 
 offended him extremely; for, when my mother 
 some time after, spoke of a reconciliation, and 
 of her wishes to see us on good terms together, 
 and that we might live for the future as brothers, 
 he said I had insulted him in such a manner be- 
 fore his people that he could never forget or 
 forgive it. In this, however, he was mis- 
 taken." 
 
 James Franklin did not realize that it is not 
 those who have wronged us that are hardest to 
 forgive, but those whom we have wronged, whose 
 very presence is a reproach. He felt insulted 
 because his young brother called on him in a 
 friendly spirit, instead of seeking revenge. Be- 
 sides, Ben showed that he was capable of earn- 
 ing much more money than his "keep'' and 
 clothing without being beaten and abused. But 
 the younger brother recognized James's unfor- 
 tunate disposition and freely forgave him for 
 his unkind treatment, helping him in time of 
 need, later educating James's son and setting 
 
 83 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 him up in the printing business, like the kind, 
 indulgent uncle he was. 
 
 Young Collins was greatly pleased with the 
 success of the friend he had aided to escape and, 
 charmed with Ben's glowing accounts of his ex- 
 periences in the *'new country,'' determined to 
 throw up his position in the Boston post office 
 and try his fortunes in Pennsylvania. Indeed, 
 he became impatient because Ben had to wait for 
 his father to make up his mind about setting 
 him up in business under the patronage of such 
 a man as Governor Keith seemed to be, so Col- 
 lins set off ahead, leaving his books, *' which were 
 a pretty collection of mathematicks and natural 
 philosophy," for Ben to bring with his own 
 books to New York, where the former postal 
 clerk proposed to wait for him. 
 
 About the matter which had brought him back 
 to Boston, Franklin wrote : 
 
 *'My father received the Governor's letter 
 with some apparent surprise, but said little of it 
 to me for some days, when. Captain Holmes, re- 
 turning, he showed it to him, asked him if he 
 knew Keith, and what kind of man he was ; add- 
 ing his opinion that he must be of small discre- 
 tion to think of setting a boy up in business who 
 
 84 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 wanted yet three years of being at man's estate. 
 
 *' Holmes said what he could in favor of the 
 project, but my father was clear in the impro- 
 priety of it, and at last gave a flat denial to it. 
 Then he wrote a civil letter to Sir William, 
 thanking him for the patronage he had so kindly 
 offered me, but declining to assist me as yet in 
 setting up, I being, in his opinion, too young to 
 be trusted with the management of a business so 
 important, and for which the preparation must 
 be so expensive. 
 
 ''My father, though he did not approve of Sir 
 William's proposition, was yet pleased that I 
 had been able to obtain so advantageous a char- 
 acter from a person of such note where I had 
 resided, and that I had been so industrious and 
 careful as to equip myself so handsomely in so 
 short a time ; therefore, seeing no prospect of an 
 accommodation between my brother and me, he 
 gave his consent to my returning again to Phila- 
 delphia, advised me to behave respectfully to 
 the people there, endeavor to obtain the general 
 esteem, and avoid lampooning and libeling, to 
 which he thought I had too much inclination; 
 telling me that by steady industry and prudent 
 parsimony I might save enough by the time I 
 
 85 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 was one-and-twenty to set me up ; and that if I 
 came near the matter (amount) he would help 
 me out with the rest. 
 
 "This was all I could obtain, except some 
 small gifts as tokens of his and my mother's 
 love, when I embarked again for New York, now 
 with their approbation and their blessing. '^ 
 
 Wise, level-headed Father Franklin! Great 
 as was his pride in having a titled Governor be- 
 come so enthusiastic over the abilities of his 
 youngest son, he did not allow a father's vanity 
 to trap him into any loss through indiscretion. 
 It was his father's wisdom that made Franklin 
 so shrewd and successful in giving "Poor Rich- 
 ard's" advice, full of thrifty conmion sense to all 
 the English-speaking world. 
 
 If Ben thought his father a "slow-coach,'* or 
 perhaps jealous of his son's success, as James 
 Franklin seemed to be of his young half- 
 brother's, he had occasion to learn, within a few 
 years that his father was in the right, as fathers 
 are likely to be. Lads of Ben's age, when much 
 praised by others, whether in school or in busi- 
 ness, begin to think their parents behind the 
 times, and imagine that they know more than 
 parents or teachers, only to learn to say, as 
 
 86 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 Benjamin Franklin did, after years of trial and 
 sorrow, "Father was right. '^ 
 
 The young printer may have had this experi- 
 ence in mind when he put in his "Almanack:" 
 "A good kick out of doors is worth all the rich 
 uncles in the world." 
 
 Before Benjamin went back to Philadelphia 
 he called on Dr. Cotton Mather, the famous min- 
 ister, whose book, "Essays to Do Good," had 
 made a strong impression on his boyish mind. 
 The old preacher received the youth in his 
 library and they had a friendly chat together. 
 
 When young Franklin was leaving, Dr. 
 Mather showed him out of his rambling old 
 house by a shorter way. Still talking, they were 
 groping through a dark passage when Dr. 
 Mather suddenly called out, "Stoop! stoop!" 
 but the young man hit his head against a low 
 beam before he grasped the minister's meaning. 
 Cotton Mather, who never missed a chance to 
 teach a lesson, gave the lad this fatherly coun- 
 sel: "You are young and have the world before 
 you. Stoop as you go through it and you will 
 miss many hard thumps." 
 
 Instead of thinking the old minister a bore he 
 followed the counsel, for all through lite Benja- 
 
 87 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 min Franklin knew how to ^* stoop to conquer." 
 Long afterward he said of Cotton Mather's help- 
 ful words, '^This advice, thus beat into my head, 
 has frequently been of use to me, and I often 
 think of it when I see pride mortified and mis- 
 fortunes brought upon people by their carrying 
 their heads too high." 
 
 This time Benjamin left Boston in triumph, 
 instead of stealing away, as before, in defeat and 
 disgrace. Franklin relates his adventures in 
 Newport and on his way to New York : 
 
 ^^The sloop putting in at Newport, Rhode 
 Island, I visited my brother John, who had 
 been married and settled there some years. He 
 received me very affectionately, for he always 
 loved me. A friend of his, one Vernon, having 
 some money due him in Pennsjdvania, about 
 thirty-five pounds currency, desired I would 
 receive it for him, and keep it till I had his di- 
 rections what to remit it in. Accordingly, he 
 gave me an order. This afterwards occasioned 
 me a good deal of uneasiness. 
 
 88 
 
Benjamin FranMin 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 False Friends 
 
 "At New York," wrote Franklin, **I found 
 my friend Collins, who had arrived there some 
 time before me. We had been intimate from 
 children, and had read the same books together ; 
 but he had the advantage of more time for read- 
 ing and studying and a wonderful genius for 
 mathematical learning, in which he far out- 
 stripped me. 
 
 *' While I lived in Boston most of my hours of 
 leisure for conversation were spent with him, 
 and he continued a sober as well as an industri- 
 ous lad ; was much respected for his learning by 
 several of the clergy and other gentlemen, and 
 seemed to promise making a good figure in life. 
 
 ''But during my absence he had acquired a 
 habit of sotting with brandy ; and I found by his 
 own account, and what I heard from others, that 
 he had been drunk every day since his arrival at 
 
 89 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 New York, and behaved very oddly. He had 
 gamed (gambled), too, and lost his money so that 
 I was obliged to discharge (pay for) his lodg- 
 ings, and defray his expenses to and at Phila- 
 delphia, which proved extremely inconvenient 
 to me. 
 
 ^'The then Governor of New York, Burnet 
 (son of Bishop Burnet), hearing from the cap- 
 tain that a young man, one of his passengers, 
 had a great many books, desired he, the captain, 
 would bring me to see him. I waited upon him 
 accordingly, and should have taken Collins with 
 me but that he was not sober. 
 
 ^'The Governor treated me with great civility, 
 showed me his library, which was a very large 
 one, and we had a good deal of conversation 
 about books and authors. This was the second 
 Governor who had done me the honor to take no- 
 tice of me ; which to a poor boy like me was very 
 pleasing." 
 
 Young Franklin, who could receive all these 
 honors without * burning his head," was some- 
 times imposed upon by his most intimate friends. 
 Of his first experience in this line Franklin 
 wrote : 
 
 *'We proceeded to Philadelphia. I received 
 
 9Q 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 on the way Vernon's money, without which we 
 could hardly have finished our journey. Collins 
 wished to be employed in some counting-house ; 
 but whether they discovered his dramming 
 (drinking) by his breath or by his behavior, tho' 
 he had some recommendations, he met with no 
 success in any application, and continued lodg- 
 ing and boarding at the same house with me, and 
 at my expense. Kjiowing I had that money of 
 Vernon's he was continually borrowing of me, 
 still promising repayment as soon as he should 
 be in business. At length he had got so much of 
 it that I was distressed to think what I should do 
 in case of being called on to remit it. 
 
 ^'His drinking continued, about which we 
 sometimes quarreled; for, when a little intoxi- 
 cated, he was very fractious. 
 
 "Once, in a boat on the Delaware with some 
 other young men, he refused to row in his 
 turn. 
 
 " ^I will be rowed home,' says he. 
 
 " *We will not row you,' says I. 
 
 " *You must, or stay all night on the water,' 
 says he, *just as you please.' 
 
 ^'The others said, 'Let us row; what signifies 
 
 itr 
 
 91 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 **But, my mind being soured with his other 
 conduct, I continued to refuse. So he swore he 
 would make me row or throw me overboard ; and, 
 coming along, stepping on the thwarts toward 
 me when he came up and struck at me I clapped 
 my hand under his thigh, and rising, pitched 
 him head foremost into the river. 
 
 **I knew he was a good swimmer, so was under 
 little concern about him; but before he would 
 get round to lay hold of the boat we had, with a 
 few strokes, pulled her out of his reach ; and ever 
 when he drew near the boat we asked if he would 
 row, striking a few strokes to slide her away 
 from him. He was ready to die with vexation, 
 and obstinately would not promise to row. How- 
 ever, seeing him at last beginning to tire, we 
 lifted him in, and brought him home dripping 
 wet in the evening. 
 
 *^We hardly exchanged a civil word after- 
 ward, and a West India captain who had a com- 
 mission to procure a tutor for the sons of a 
 gentleman at Barbados, happening to meet with 
 him, agreed to carry him thither. He left me 
 then, promising to remit me the first money he 
 should receive, in order to discharge the debt; 
 but I never heard of him after." 
 
 92 
 
I PITCHED IIIM INTO THE RIVER. 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 Old Dr. Franklin, looking back upon his 
 earlier days, saw that his father was right in not 
 setting him up in business at eighteen, for, said 
 he, *Hhe breaking into this money of Vernon *s 
 was one of the first great errata (errors) of my 
 life ; and this affair showed that my father was 
 not much out in his judgment when he supposed 
 me too young to manage business of import- 
 ance/' 
 
 Sir William Keith, when he read Josiah 
 Franklin's reply to his letter, pooh-poohed and 
 said it was ''too prudent." He flattered young 
 Franklin by intimating that not all old men were 
 discreet nor all young men indiscreet. ** Since 
 your father will not set you up," he said to Ben- 
 jamin, ''I will do it myself. Give me an inven- 
 tory of the things necessary to be had from Eng- 
 land 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 suc- 
 ceed." 
 
 Ben thought the Governor one of the best men 
 in the world. In order to keep their intention of 
 starting another printing office in Philadelphia 
 a secret from Keimer, the youth did not mention 
 his growing prospects to others, or he might 
 
 93 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 have been warned against placing too much faith 
 in the Governor's promises. But no one ac- 
 quainted with the Governor knew what was go- 
 ing on, while Benjamin Franklin was happy in 
 making up a list of the things he would need in 
 setting up a first-class printing business. He 
 found that it could be done for about five hun- 
 dred dollars. 
 
 "Now,'' said Sir William, "wouldn't it be bet- 
 ter for you to go to England yourself and select 
 the type and other necessaries on the spot?" 
 
 Ben was easily convinced that it would be a 
 wise thing to do, his heart throbbing with pleas- 
 ure at the thought of going abroad on such busi- 
 ness. 
 
 "Then," continued Keith, "when there you 
 can make acquaintances and establish corre- 
 spondences in the bookselling and stationery 
 way." 
 
 "I agreed that this might be advantageous. 
 
 " 'Then,' says he, 'get yourself ready to go 
 with Annis/ which was the annual ship, and the 
 only one usually passing between London and 
 Philadelphia. But it would be some months be- 
 fore Annis sailed, so I continued working with 
 Keimer, fretting about the money Collins had 
 
 94 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 got from me, and in daily apprehensions of be- 
 ing called upon by Vernon, which, however, 
 did not happen for some years after." 
 
 It was fortmiate for Benjamin Franklin that 
 Mr. Yernon did not demand the money while the 
 young printer was unprepared to pay it over, 
 and have him imprisoned for theft, or embezzle- 
 ment. No wonder Dr. Franklin called that 
 ** misappropriation of funds" one of the first 
 great mistakes of his life. Other youths have 
 been led as innocently into the same kind of 
 wrongdoing, and have paid the penalty by hav- 
 ing their whole lives ruined by unfriendly per- 
 sons. 
 
 Franklin tells of his youthful love affair. 
 
 "I had made some courtship during this time 
 to Miss Read. I had a great respect and affec- 
 tion for her, and had some reason to believe she 
 had the same for me, but, as I was about to take 
 a long voyage, and we were both very young, 
 only a little above eighteen, it was thought most 
 prudent by her mother to prevent our going too 
 far at present, as a marriage, if it was to take 
 place, would be more convenient (suitable) after 
 my return, when I should be, as I expected, set 
 up in my business. Perhaps, too, she thought 
 
 95 
 
The Story; of Young 
 
 my expectations not so well founded as I 
 imagined them to be.'^ 
 
 Among young Franklin's Philadelphia friends 
 were *^ Charles Osborne, Joseph Watson and 
 James Ralph, all lovers of reading. Watson was 
 sensible, candid, frank; sincere and affectionate 
 to his friends ; but in literary matters too fond 
 of criticizing. Ralph was ingenious, genteel in 
 his manners, and extremely eloquent ; I think I 
 never knew a prettier talker. Both of them were 
 great admirers of poetry, and began to try their 
 hands in little pieces. Many pleasant walks we 
 had together on Simdays into the woods, near 
 the Schuylkill, where we read to one another, 
 and conferred on what we read. 
 
 ** Ralph was inclined to pursue the study of 
 poetry, not doubting but he might become emi- 
 nent in it, and make his fortune by it, alleging 
 that the best poets must, when they first began 
 to write, make as many faults as he did. Os- 
 borne dissuaded him, assured him he had no 
 genius for poetry, and advised him to think of 
 nothing beyond the business he was bred to ; that, 
 in the mercantile way, tho' he had no stock, he 
 might by his diligence and punctuality, recom- 
 mend himself to employment as a factor (an 
 
 96 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 agent or commission merchant) and in time ac- 
 quire wherewith to trade on his own account. I 
 approved the amusing one^s self with poetry now 
 and then, so far as to improve one's language, 
 but no farther." 
 
 So Benjamin was still heeding his father's ad- 
 vice and was spared the fate of becoming a poet, 
 **most probably a very bad one," as he once con- 
 fessed, though he did improve himself in writing 
 prose and rendered his name immortal by the 
 simplicity of his writing alone, in an age when 
 long words and long sentences were the fashion. 
 The fate of his friend Ralph was another evi- 
 dence of Josiah Franklin's warning to his son 
 against following a mere literary or poetic 
 career. 
 
 Ralph, being told in confidence of Franklin's 
 intention to go to England, decided to go with 
 him, as he said, to arrange for a commission 
 business, so that he could make a decent living 
 by selling English goods in Philadelphia. 
 Franklin gave the following account of their 
 final preparations and departure from Philadel- 
 phia: 
 
 **The Governor, seeming to like my company, 
 had me frequently to his house, and setting me 
 
 97 
 
 7 — -FrankUti, 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 up was always mentioned as a fixed thing. I was 
 to take with me letters recommendatory to a 
 number of his friends, besides the letter of credit 
 to furnish me with the necessary money for pur- 
 chasing the press and types, paper, etc. For 
 these letters I was appointed to call at different 
 times, when they were to be ready ; but a future 
 time was still named. 
 
 **Thus we went on till the ship, whose de- 
 parture, too, had been several times postponed, 
 was on the point of sailing. Then, when I called 
 to take my leave and receive the letters, his sec- 
 retary. Dr. Bard, came out to me and said the 
 Governor was extremely busy in writing, but 
 would be down at Newcastle before the ship, and 
 there the letters would be delivered to me. 
 
 ** Having taken leave of my friends, and in- 
 terchanged some promises with Miss Read, I left 
 Philadelphia in the ship, which anchored at 
 Newcastle (Delaware). The Governor was 
 there ; but when I went to his lodgings, the secre- 
 tary came to me from him with the civilest mes- 
 sage in the world, that he could not see me, being 
 engaged in business of the utmost importance, 
 but should send the letters to me on board, 
 wished me heartily a good voyage and a speedy 
 
 98 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 return, etc. I returned on board a little puzzled, 
 but still not doubting. 
 
 ''Mr. Andrew Hamilton, a famous lawyer of 
 Philadelphia, had taken passage in the same ship 
 for himself and son, and with Mr. Denham, a 
 Quaker merchant, had engaged the great cabin ; 
 so that Ralph and I were forced to take up a 
 berth in the steerage, and none on board know- 
 ing us, were considered as ordinary persons.'* 
 
 It was this Andrew Hamilton who gave the 
 State House (now known as Independence 
 Hall) to Pennsylvania. He was a man of great 
 wealth and influence, whose son afterward be- 
 came the Governor of the Province. Lawyer 
 Hamilton was called back to Philadelphia by an 
 urgent case, and took his son with him, so Frank- 
 lin and Ralph were invited into the cabin in their 
 places. The distinction between cabin and steer- 
 age passengers seems to have been as great in 
 those days of simplicity and little travel as to- 
 day. Franklin went on to tell the story of the 
 rude opening of his eyes to the true character of 
 the too affable Governor. 
 
 ** Understanding that Colonel French had 
 brought on board the Governor's despatches, I 
 asked the captain for those letters which were to 
 
 99 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 be under my care. He said all were put into the 
 bag together and he could not then come at them ; 
 but before we landed in England I should have 
 an opportunity of picking them out; so I was 
 satisfied for the present, and we proceeded on 
 our voyage. 
 
 "We had a sociable company in the cabin, and 
 lived uncommonly well, having the addition of 
 all Mr. Hamilton's stores, who had laid in plenti- 
 fully. In this passage Mr. Denham contracted a 
 friendship for me that continued during his life. 
 The voj^age was not otherwise a pleasant one, for 
 we had a great deal of bad weather. 
 
 "When we came into the Channel the captain 
 kept his word with me, and gave me an oppor- 
 tunity of examining the bag for the Governor's 
 letters. I found none upon which my name was 
 put as under my care. I picked out six or seven, 
 that, by the handwriting, I thought might be the 
 promised letters, especially as one of them was 
 directed to Basket, the king's printer, and an- 
 other to some stationer. 
 
 "We arrived in London the 24th of December, 
 1724. I waited upon the stationer w^ho came first 
 in my way, delivering the letter as from Gov- 
 ernor Keith. 
 
 100 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 ** 'I don't know such a person,' says he; but, 
 opening the letter, *OhI this is from Riddlesden. 
 I have lately found him to be a complete rascal, 
 and I will have nothing to do with him, nor re- 
 ceive any letters from him.' 
 
 *'So, putting the letter into my hand, he 
 turned on his heel and left me to serve some cus- 
 tomer. I was surprised to find these were not 
 the Governor's letters; and, after recollecting 
 circumstances, I began to doubt his sincerity. 
 
 **I found my friend Denham and opened the 
 whole affair to him. He let me into Keith's 
 character ; told me there was not the least prob- 
 ability that he had written any letters for me ; 
 that no one who knew him had the smallest de- 
 pendence on him ; and he laughed at the notion 
 of the Governor's giving me a letter of credit, 
 having, as he said, no credit to give. 
 
 **0n my expressing some concern about what 
 I should do, he advised me to endeavor getting 
 some employment in the way of my business. 
 
 " 'Among the printers here,' said he, 'you will 
 improve yourself, and when you return to 
 America you will set up to better advantage. ' 
 
 "But what shall we think of a Governor's 
 playing such pitiful tricks, and imposing so 
 
 101 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 grossly on a poor ignorant boy ! It was a habit 
 he had acquired. He wished to please every- 
 body ; and having little to give, he gave expecta- 
 tions. He was otherwise an ingenious, sensible 
 man, a pretty good writer, and a good Governor 
 for the people, tho' not for the proprietaries (the 
 descendants of William Penn who, under the 
 king's grant, still owned Pennsylvania), whose 
 instructions he sometimes disregarded. Several 
 of our best laws were of his planning, and passed 
 during his administration." 
 
 It was a sad Christmas for the young Ameri- 
 can. Instead of buying the type, press and other 
 materials for the printing house with which he 
 was to make a fortune in Philadelphia, Benja- 
 min Franklin had to go around looking for a job 
 in the greatest city in the world, compared with 
 which Boston and Philadelphia, though they 
 were the largest cities in America, were mere 
 country towns. 
 
 Young Franklin soon found that his friend, 
 Ralph, had no intention whatever of returning 
 to his wife and child in America. He first tried 
 to find a place as an actor, but Wilkes, the great 
 comedian, told him he could not possibly suc- 
 ceed in that profession. Then he proposed to 
 
 102 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 edit a paper like the "Spectator," but that also 
 was out of the question. Disappointed in these 
 directions he sought to obtain writing or copying 
 (there were no typewriters then) for the lawyers 
 about the Temple, but he was disappointed even 
 in that. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin stood by his friend, sup- 
 porting him almost entirely, pajdng his board 
 and taking him to places of amusement for about 
 a year, when Ralph gave up looking for work in 
 London and went out into Berkshire, where he 
 taught ten or a dozen boys reading and writing, 
 at a sixpence each per week. From there he sent 
 poems for Franklin to criticize. At last, becom- 
 ing offended, he wi'ote to Franklin that he 
 thought a friend who had treated him so badly 
 did not deserve to be paid. 
 
 *^So," wrote the old doctor, many years after- 
 ward, *^I found I was never to expect his repay- 
 ing me what I lent to him, or advanced for him. 
 This, however, was not then of much conse- 
 quence, as he was totally unable, and in the loss 
 of his friendship I found myself relieved from a 
 burthen.'' 
 
 From this point the difference in the lives of 
 these two American friends seemed to widen. 
 
 103 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 Young Franklin, by following the path of recti- 
 tude, became the most beloved man of his time, 
 while young Ralph, after deserting his wife and 
 child, led a vicious life, deceiving his friends and 
 others, assuming Franklin's name to hide his 
 own wrongdoing, yet hoping to atone for the 
 crookedness of it all by writing brilliant poetry. 
 Even in this he made a miserable failure, for 
 Alexander Pope, the first poet of the time, ridi- 
 culed Ralph's efforts in a great poetical tirade 
 against the dunces who attempted to write 
 poetry and failed: 
 
 *^ Silence, ye wolves! while Ralph to 
 Cynthia howls. 
 And makes night hideous — answer 
 him ye owls." 
 
 Thus the name of the false friend, who sought 
 to be great without being good, has come down 
 to us through the centuries with scorn and 
 ridicule only because Franklin had befriended 
 him. 
 
 104 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Alone in London 
 
 Franklin, having a trade, and being built of 
 better materials than Ralph the deserter, found 
 emplo3anent without delay. *'I immediately got 
 work at Palmer's," he wrote, *Hhen a famous 
 printing house in Bartholomew Close, and there 
 I continued near a year. I was pretty diligent, 
 but spent with Ralph a good deal of my earnings 
 in going to plays and other places of amusement. 
 We had together consumed all my pistoles (a 
 pistole was worth $3 to $4), and now just rubbed 
 on from hand to mouth. He seemed quite to for- 
 get his wife and child, and I, by degrees, my en- 
 gagements with Miss Read, to whom I never 
 wrote more than one letter, and that was to let 
 her know that I was not likely soon to return. 
 
 *'This was another of the great errata of my 
 life, which I should wish to correct if I were to 
 live it over again. In fact, by our expenses, I 
 was constantly kept unable to pay my passage 
 (back to America).'' 
 
 105 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 While working at Palmer's this youth of nine- 
 teen *' wrote a little metaphysical piece entitled 
 * A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleas- 
 ure and Pain/ " which he dedicated to Ralph. 
 This essay commended the young printer to Mr. 
 Palmer, his employer, and to some literary peo- 
 ple in London, but Franklin afterward consid- 
 ered it a great mistake to have printed in a 
 pamphlet and distributed it. 
 
 Even though the young American seemed to 
 forget his lady love, he could not live without 
 books. He told how he procured good read- 
 ing: 
 
 ^^ While I lodged in Little Britain (a district 
 of London) I made an acquaintance with one 
 Wilcox, a bookseller, whose shop was at the next 
 door. He had an immense collection of second- 
 hand books. Circulating libraries were not then 
 in use ; but we agreed that, on certain reasonable 
 terms, which I have now forgotten, I might take, 
 read, and return any of his books. This I 
 esteemed a great advantage, and I made as much 
 use of it as I could.'' 
 
 Franklin himself founded the first circulating 
 library in America. What a boon the ordinary 
 free library of to-day would have been to that 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 home student ! After he had worked at Palmer's 
 about a year, and having no longer Ralph's com- 
 pany, he began to think of getting money enough 
 ahead to return to America. He soon found 
 work "at Watts 's, a still greater printing 
 house." 
 
 The young American printer was permitted to 
 meet some of the prominent Englishmen of his 
 day. While the great men of London were 
 seeking out young Franklin he was doing the 
 hardest kind of work in Watts 's printing es- 
 tablishment, and trying to benefit his fellow- 
 worlvmen by instructing them in true temper- 
 ance. He gives a humorous account of this ex- 
 perience. 
 
 **I took to working at press, imagining I felt 
 a want of bodily exercise I had been used to in 
 America, where presswork is mixed with com- 
 posing (setting type). I drank only water; the 
 other workmen, near fifty in number, were great 
 guzzlers of beer. On occasion I carried up and 
 down stairs a large form of types in each hand, 
 when others carried but one in both hands. They 
 wondered to see, from this and several instances, 
 that the * Water American,' as they called me, 
 was stronger than themselves. 
 
 107 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 "We had an alehouse boy who attended al- 
 ways in the house to supply the workmen. My 
 companion at the press drank every day a pint 
 before breakfast; a pint at breakfast with his 
 bread and cheese ; 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. 
 
 **I thought it a detestable custom; but it was 
 necessary, he supposed, to drink strong beer that 
 he might be strong to labor. I endeavored to 
 convince him that the bodily strength afforded 
 by beer could only be in proportion to the grain 
 or flour of the barley dissolved in the water of 
 which it was made ; that there was more flour in 
 a pennyworth of bread; and therefore if he 
 would eat that with a pint of water, it would give 
 him more strength than a quart of beer. 
 
 **He drank on, however, and had four or five 
 shillings to pay out of his wages every Saturday 
 night for that muddling liquor, an expense I was 
 free from. And thus these poor fellows keep 
 themselves always under!'' 
 
 O rare Ben Franklin! Hardly more than a 
 boy, he was giving the best advice and setting a 
 consistent example to the men who worked with 
 
 108 
 
THE "WATER AMERICAN" WAS STRONGER THAN THEMSEI<VES. 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 him. Temperance, as known to-day, was un- 
 heard of in Franklin's time. Ministers drank 
 liquors freely and no one thought it was wrong. 
 Nowadays a printer drinking beer in working 
 hours would be discharged quickly. Yet, accord- 
 ing to Franklin's story, the nearest alehouse 
 keeper found it worth while to keep a boy in the 
 printing house all the time to serve the men with 
 their several quarts a day. The *'four or five 
 shillings a week'' which they had to pay for beer 
 was sometimes about one-third of their weekly 
 wage, and a terrible drain upon the purses of the 
 men, especially of those who had families to sup- 
 port. Here is an instance of Franklin's early 
 thrift and good nature : 
 
 "Watts, after some weeks, desiring to have me 
 in the composing room, I left the pressmen; a 
 new hien venu (French for welcome) or sum for 
 drink, being five shillings, was demanded of me 
 by the compositors. I thought it an imposition, 
 as I had paid below ; the master thought so, too, 
 and forbade my paying it. 
 
 "I stood out two or three weeks, was accord- 
 ingly considered as an excommunicate, and had 
 so many little pieces of private mischief done 
 me, by mixing my sorts (different kinds of type)^ 
 
 109 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 transposing my pages, breaking my matter 
 (type that is set up), etc., etc., if I were ever so 
 little out of the room, and all ascribed to the 
 * chapel ghost,' which they said ever haunted 
 those not regularly admitted, that, notwithstand- 
 ing the master's protection, I found myself 
 obliged to comply and pay the money, convinced 
 of the folly of being on ill terms with those one is 
 compelled to live with continually." 
 
 Franklin's success seems to have been due 
 largely to the fact that he did not retain a grudge 
 or maintain a quarrel. He was always so good- 
 natured that people not only could not quarrel 
 with him, but came to like him heartily. He had 
 common sense enough to see that, as a matter of 
 business, it was better to be on friendly terms 
 with his fellow- workmen. 
 
 *'I was now on a fair footing with them, and 
 soon acquired considerable influence. I pro- 
 posed some alterations in their chapel laws, and 
 carried them against all opposition. From my 
 example a great part of them left their muddling 
 breakfast of beer, and bread and cheese, finding 
 they could, with me, be supplied from a neigh- 
 boring house with a large porringer of hot water- 
 gruel, sprinkled with pepper, crumbed with 
 
 110 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 bread, and a bit of butter in it, for the price of a 
 pint of beer, namely, three halfpence. 
 
 ''This was a more comfortable as well as 
 cheaper breakfast, and kept their heads clearer. 
 Thoce who continued sotting with beer all day, 
 were often, by not paying, out of credit at the 
 alehouse, and used to make interest with me to 
 get beer — their light, as they phrased it, being 
 out! I watched the pay-table on Saturday 
 night, and collected what I stood engaged for 
 them, having to pay sometimes near thirty shil- 
 lings on their accounts. 
 
 ''This, and my being esteemed a pretty good 
 rig git e, that is, a jocular verbal satirist, sup- 
 ported my consequence (importance) in their 
 society. My constant attendance (I never mak- 
 ing it a St. Monday) (never stayed out Monday 
 as if it were a holiday) recommended me to the 
 master, and my uncommon quickness at com- 
 posing (setting type) occasioned my being put 
 upon all work of dispatch, which was generally 
 better paid. So I went on now very agreeably." 
 
 A printing house used to be called a "chapel" 
 because Caxton, the earliest English printer, car- 
 ried on his first printing in a chapel near West- 
 minster Abbey in London. It is believed also 
 
 111 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 that the custom of calling the printer's errand 
 boy a '^ devil" came from the fact that Caxton's 
 office boy's name was Deville. There are other 
 theories for the naming of the 'Sprinter's devil," 
 but this seems the simplest and most likely. 
 
 Franklin tells in his life of himself how near 
 he came to becoming a swimming master: 
 
 s'At Watts 's printing house I contracted an 
 acquaintance with an ingenious young man, one 
 Wygate, who, having wealthy relations, had been 
 better educated than most printers ; was a toler- 
 able Latinist, spoke French, and loved reading. 
 I taught him and a friend of his to swim, at 
 twice going into the river, and they soon became 
 good swimmers. 
 
 s'They introduced me to some gentlemen from 
 the country who went to Chelsea by water. On 
 our return, at the request of the company, whose 
 curiosity Wygate had excited, I stripped and 
 leaped into the river, and swam from near 
 Chelsea to Blackfriars, performing on the way 
 many feats of activity, both upon and under 
 water, that surprised and pleased those to whom 
 they were novelties." 
 
 The distance he swam was about four miles. 
 
 ''I had from a child been ever delighted with 
 
 112 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 this exercise, had studied and practised all 
 Thevenot's motions and positions, added some 
 of my own, aiming at the graceful and easy, as 
 well as the useful. All these I took this occasion 
 of exhibiting to the company, and was much 
 flattered by their admiration ; and Wygate, who 
 was desirous of becoming a master, grew more 
 and more attached to me on that account, as well 
 as from the similarity of our studies. He at 
 length proposed to me traveling all over Europe 
 together, supporting ourselves everywhere by 
 working at our business. I was once inclined to 
 it; but, mentioning it to my good friend Mr. 
 Denham, with whom I often spent an hour when 
 I had leisure, he dissuaded me from it, advising 
 me to think only of returning to Pennsylvania, 
 which he was now about to do. 
 
 *'I was, to my surprise, sent for by a great man 
 I knew only by name, a Sir William Wyndham, 
 and I waited upon him. He had heard by some 
 means or other of my swimming from Chelsea 
 to Blackfriars, and of my teaching "Wygate and 
 another young man to swim in a few hours. 
 
 **He had two sons about to set out on their 
 travels; he wished to have them first taught 
 swimming, and proposed to gratify me hand- 
 
 113 
 
 S — Frunkiin. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 somely if I would teach them. They were not yet 
 come to town, and my stay was uncertain, so I 
 could not undertake it ; but from this incident I 
 thought it likely that if I were to remain in Eng- 
 land and open a swimming-school, I might get a 
 good deal of money ; and it struck me so strongly 
 that, had the overture been sooner made to me, 
 probably I should not so soon have returned to 
 America." 
 
 Mr. Denham, young Franklin's good Quaker 
 friend and counselor, did much for America in 
 advising that young adventurer and philosopher 
 to go back to his native land. 
 
 This Mr. Denham had lived, years before, in 
 Bristol, England, and had failed in business 
 there. So he went to America to make his for- 
 tune. Having succeeded in this, he now re- 
 turned to his old home to *' make good." He in- 
 vited his former creditors to a dinner in Bristol. 
 Each guest found, on turning his plate, the 
 amount which had been due him, with the inter- 
 est added. 
 
 "He (Mr. Denham) now told me he was about 
 to return to Philadelphia, and should carry over 
 a great quantity of goods in order to open a store 
 there. He proposed to take me over as his clerk, 
 
 114 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 to keep his books (in which he would instruct 
 me), copy his letters, and attend the store. He 
 aded that as soon as I should be acquainted with 
 mercantile business, he would promote me by 
 sending me with a cargo of flour and bread, etc., 
 to the West Indies, and procure me commissions 
 from others which would be profitable ; and if I 
 managed well he would establish me handsomely. 
 The thing pleased me, for I was grown tired of 
 London, remembered with pleasure the happy 
 months I had spent in Pennsylvania, and wished 
 again to see it ; therefore I immediately agreed 
 on the terms of fifty pounds a year, Pennsyl- 
 vania money ; less, indeed, than my present get- 
 tings, but affording a better prospect. 
 
 **I now took leave of printing, as I thought for 
 ever, and was daily employed in my new busi- 
 ness, going about with Mr. Denham among the 
 tradesmen to purchase various articles, and see- 
 ing them packed up, doing errands, calling upon 
 workmen to dispatch, etc. ; and when all was on 
 board I had a few days' leisure. 
 
 *'Thus I spent about eighteen months in Lon- 
 don, most part of the time I worked hard at my 
 business, and spent but little upon myself except 
 in seeing plays and in books. My friend Ralph 
 
 115 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 had kept me poor; he owed me about twenty- 
 seven pounds ($135), which I was never likely to 
 receive — a great sum out of my small earnings ! 
 I loved him, notwithstanding, for he had many 
 amiable qualities. I had by no means improved 
 my fortune, but I had picked up some very in- 
 genious acquaintances, whose conversation was 
 of great advantage to me; and I had read con- 
 siderably/' 
 
 Whatever young Franklin found to do he did 
 with might and main, and did it well, whether 
 laboring at the press, swimming or reading. 
 He worked faithfully during working hours, 
 and spending his spare time in a profitable way, 
 
 ''We sailed from Gravesend on the 23d of 
 July, 1726. For the incidents of the voyage, per- 
 haps the most important is the plan which I 
 formed at sea, for regulating my future conduct 
 in life. It is the more remarkable, as being 
 formed when I was so young, and yet being 
 pretty faithfully adhered to quite thro' to old 
 age.'* 
 
 116 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 In" Philadelphia Again Looking for Work 
 
 Old Mr. Denham and young Mr. Franklin 
 landed in Philadelphia, October 11, 1726 — three 
 years and one day after Benjamin's first arrival 
 at Market Street wharf. How much had hap- 
 pened in those three years I The poor, hard- 
 working printer of twenty had associated with 
 governors and other distinguished men, on both 
 sides of the Atlantic, and was now coming back 
 to go into the dry goods business. 
 
 Young Franklin **found sundry alterations" 
 in Philadelphia during the two years, nearly, 
 that he had been away. ** Keith was no longer 
 Governor, being superseded by Major Gordon. 
 I met him walking the streets as a common citi- 
 zen. He seemed a little ashamed at seeing me, 
 but passed without saying anything. 
 
 "I should have been as much ashamed at see- 
 ing Miss Read, had not her friends, despairing, 
 with reason, of my return after the receipt of my 
 
 117 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 letter, persuaded her to marry another, one 
 Rogers, a potter, which was done in my absence. 
 "With him, however, she was never happy, and 
 soon parted with him, refusing to bear his name, 
 it being now said that he had another wife. He 
 was a worthless fellow, tho' an excellent work- 
 man, which was the temptation to her friends. 
 He got into debt, ran away in 1727 or 1728, went 
 to the West Indies, and died there." 
 
 Mr. Denham opened his store at once and his 
 versatile clerk ^'attended the business diligently, 
 studied accounts, and grew, in a little time, ex- 
 pert at selling." Merchant and clerk lived to- 
 gether like father and son until Benjamin was 
 twenty-one. 
 
 Franklin afterwards told of a sickness which 
 overtook him then : 
 
 **When I was just past my twenty-first year 
 I was taken ill. My distemper was a pleurisy 
 which nearly carried me off. I suffered a great 
 deal, gave up the point in my own mind, and was 
 rather disappointed when I found myself re- 
 covering, regretting in some degree, that I must 
 now, some time or other, have all that disagree- 
 able work to do over." 
 
 Mr. Denham, meanwhile had come down with 
 
 118 
 
Benjanun Franklin 
 
 a distemper from which he died, leaving his 
 yomig friend a small legacy by word of mouth. 
 
 There was nothing for it but go back to work 
 at his trade. Calling on the printers, he found 
 Keimer's shop much better equipped than when 
 he began to work in it three years before. But, 
 while there were several hands employed there, 
 they were not experienced. Keimer offered 
 young Franklin ^' large wages, by the year, to 
 come and take the management of his printing 
 house that he, Keimer, might better attend his 
 stationer's shop.'' 
 
 Benjamin made a formal agreement with his 
 former employer, because he could find nothing 
 better to do, though he had heard much against 
 Keimer's character from the man's wife and 
 friends in London. 
 
 But he seems to have made the best of every- 
 thing, for he wrote of his experiences with the 
 hands at Keimer's: *'I began to live very agree- 
 ably, for they all respected me the more as they 
 found Keimer incapable of instructing them, 
 and that from me they learned something daily. 
 
 ^'We never worked on Saturday, that being 
 Keimer's Sabbath, so I had two days for read- 
 ing. My acquaintance with ingenious people in 
 
 119 
 
The Story; of Young 
 
 the town increased. Keimer himself treated me 
 with great civility and apparent regard, and 
 nothing now made me uneasy but my debt to 
 Vernon, which I was yet unable to pay, being 
 hitherto but a poor economist. He, however, 
 kindly made no demand of if 
 
 Not only did Benjamin made himself useful 
 by teaching the men in Keimer ^s place, but he 
 became the first type founder in America, as he 
 modestly explained: 
 
 *'Our printing house often wanted 'sorts' 
 (certain letters or characters to complete the 
 fonts of type) and there was no letter (type) 
 founder in America; I had seen types cast at 
 James's in London, but without much attention 
 to manner; however, I now contrived a mould, 
 made use of the letters we had as puncheons, 
 struck the matrices in lead, and thus supplied, in 
 a pretty tolerable way, all deficiencies. I also 
 engraved several things on occasion. I made 
 the ink; I was warehouseman, and everything, 
 and, in short, quite a factotum (do-it-all). 
 
 ^*But, however serviceable I might be, I found 
 that my services became every day of less im- 
 portance as the other hands improved in the 
 business ; and when Keimer paid me my second 
 
 120 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 quarter's wages he let me know that he felt them 
 too heavy, and thought I should make an abate- 
 ment. He grew by degrees less civil, put on 
 more of the master, found fault, was captious, 
 and seemed ready for an outbreaking. I went 
 on, nevertheless, with a good deal of patience, 
 thinking that his encumbered circumstances 
 were partly the cause. 
 
 **At length a trifle snapped our connections; 
 for, a great noise happening near the court 
 house, I put my head out of the window to see 
 what was the matter. Keimer , being in the 
 street, looked up and saw me, called out in a 
 loud voice and angry tone to mind my business, 
 adding some reproachful words that nettled me 
 more for their publicity ; all the neighbors were 
 looking out on the same occasion, being witness 
 how I was treated. 
 
 "He came up immediately into the printing 
 house, and continued the quarrel. High words 
 passed on both sides. He gave me the quarter's 
 warning we had stipulated, expressing a wish 
 that he had not been obliged to so long a warn- 
 ing. I told him his wish was unnecessary, for I 
 would leave him that instant ; and so, taking my 
 hat, walked out of doors, desiring Meredith, 
 
 121 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 whom I saw below, to take care of some things 
 I left, and bring them to my lodgings/' 
 
 Young Franklin, disgusted with this experi- 
 ence and the fact that he had been unable to find 
 employment with any of the merchants of Phil- 
 adelphia, after learning that business under Mr. 
 Denham, began to think of going back to Boston 
 to live. He had been away from liis family 
 nearly three years, and being twenty-one, his 
 brother could make no claim upon him now. 
 The time which had elapsed since he ran away 
 from Boston was the period required for an 
 ordinary college course, but few students ever 
 have learned more than Benjamin Franklin had 
 picked up in the ** university of adversity.'' 
 
 Hugh Meredith came, as requested, bringing 
 the articles the foreman had left at Keimer's. 
 Like nearly every one else who knew Franklin, 
 Hugh had a great regard for him. He called at- 
 tention to the fact that Keimer was heavily in 
 debt, that he showed poor business management, 
 and that his creditors were already becoming 
 uneasy. The disagreeable old printer was sure 
 to fail and Franklin could step in and take ad- 
 vantage of this by opening a printing office on a 
 sounder basis and under far better management. 
 
 122 
 
HE CONTINUED THE QUARREL. 
 
I 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 **But/' Franklin demurred, "I have no 
 money." 
 
 "My father has a high opinion of you," said 
 Meredith, *'and if you will go into partnership 
 with me, I am sure he will advance the money to 
 set us up. My time will be out with Keimer in 
 the Spring ; by that time we may have our press 
 and types in from London. I am sensible I am 
 no workman; if you like it, your skill in the 
 business shall be set against the stock I furnish, 
 and we will share the profits equally." 
 
 To this young Franklin agreed. He again 
 made a list of the things required in a printing 
 office and sent to London for them. While he 
 was casting about for work to do meanwhile, 
 Keimer sent him a polite message to the effect 
 that **old friends should not part for a few 
 words, the effect of a sudden passion, ' ' and asked 
 the offended foreman to come back. Meredith 
 urged him to do so, as then Franklin could give 
 him more instruction and make him more use- 
 ful in their own business when they should go in 
 together. 
 
 Franklin called on Keimer and found that 
 there was a chance to print some paper money 
 for the Province of New Jersey, which only he 
 
 123 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 could manage, and that Keimer was afraid 
 Bradford would hire him first and thus secure 
 the desirable contract. 
 
 **So I returned," wrote Franklin, **and we 
 went on more smoothly than for some time be- 
 fore. The New Jersey job was obtained. I con- 
 trived a copper-plate press for it, the first that 
 had been seen in the country. I cut several or- 
 naments and checks for the bills. We went to- 
 gether to Burlington, where I executed the whole 
 to satisfaction; and he received so large a sum 
 for the work as to be enabled thereby to keep his 
 head above water/' 
 
 **I contrived a copper-plate press,'' was 
 Franklin's modest way of mentioning one of his 
 many inventions. In the same way that young 
 Franklin was the first to make moulds and cast 
 the type for his employer to use in printing, he 
 was the first to do copper-plate engraving of the 
 most exacting sort for the printing of paper 
 money. Franklin did his best for his old em- 
 ployer, though he had treated him so badly for 
 the mere purpose of getting rid of him. He had 
 not a petty or grudging spirit, and it proved bet- 
 ter for him, in a business way, to treat Keimer 
 generously, for he formed valuable and life-long 
 
 124 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 friendships while working for his employer in 
 New Jersey. 
 
 Shortly after their return from Burlington 
 the type and other things for their new printing 
 office arrived from London. Franklin and 
 Meredith left Keimer's together, with his con- 
 sent, before he heard they were going to be his 
 rivals in business. 
 
 Over forty years afterward, Franklin, then a 
 successful statesman and diplomat, referred ten- 
 derly to the pleasure he and Meredith took in 
 going into business for themselves : 
 
 "We found a house to hire near the market, 
 and took it. To lessen the rent, which was then 
 but twenty-four pounds a year, tho' I have since 
 known it to let for seventy, we took in Thomas 
 Godfrey, a glazier, and his family, who were to 
 pay a considerable part of it to us, and we to 
 board with them. 
 
 "We had scarce opened our letters (type) 
 and put our press in order before George House, 
 an acquaintance of mine, brought to us a coun- 
 tryman whom he had met in the street inquiring 
 for a printer. All our cash was now expended in 
 the variety of particulars we had been obliged to 
 procure, and this countryman's five shillings, 
 
 125 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 being our first fruits, and coming so seasonably, 
 gave me more pleasure than any crown (about 
 $1.25) I have since earned ; and the gratitude I 
 felt toward House has made me often more 
 ready than perhaps I would otherwise have been 
 to assist young beginners.'' 
 
 Franklin, though he became one of the world's 
 most illustrious inventors, philosophers, states- 
 men and diplomats, was alwaj^s proud of his 
 trade and liked to sign his name '*B. Franldin, 
 Printer," just as Stephen Girard, the richest 
 man of his day, affixed his business, '' Mariner 
 and Merchant," after his name. Only the small 
 man "gets above his business." 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 **B. Franklin and H. Meredith" 
 
 During the autumn before he left Keimer's 
 employ, young Franklin associated twelve of the 
 most intellectual young men of his acquaintance 
 together into a club named the "Junto," which 
 met Friday evenings. Each member was re- 
 
 126 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 quired to declare from his heart that he loved 
 mankind, and that he believed no man should be 
 harmed in body, name or goods because of his 
 opinions or creed. Every member, also, should 
 be able to say that he loved truth for truth's 
 sake, that he would seek truth, and when he 
 found it he would make it known to others. 
 
 Those twelve young men discussed the widest 
 range of questions. Here are only a few of 
 them: 
 
 "Have you met with anything in the author 
 you last read remarkable or suitable to be com- 
 municated to the Junto, particularly in history, 
 morality, poetry, physics, travels, mechanic arts, 
 or other parts of knowledge?'' 
 
 *' What new story have you lately heard, agree- 
 able for telling in conversation?" 
 
 *'What unhappy effects of intemperance have 
 you lately observed or heard, or any other vice 
 or folly?" 
 
 "Do you think of anything at present in 
 which the Junto may be serviceable to mankind, 
 to their country, to their friends, or to them- 
 selves?" 
 
 "Have you lately observed any encroachment 
 on the just liberties of the people?" 
 
 127 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 ''How may smoky chimneys be cured ?'^ 
 ''Why does the flame of a candle tend up- 
 wards in a spire?" 
 
 "Is the emission of paper money safe?" 
 "What is the reason that men of the greatest 
 knowledge are not the most happy?" 
 
 "Can any one particular form of government 
 suit all mankind?" 
 
 In answering some of these queries, like 
 "How may smoky chimneys be cured?" and 
 "Why does the flame of a candle tend upwards 
 in a spire?" Franklin developed the Franklin 
 stove and invented his lamp burner. He also 
 printed his discussion of the paper money ques- 
 tion which made a great stir in the colonies, for 
 there was no one found who could answer it 
 satisfactorily. About forty years after the 
 founding of this little club of truth-seekers the 
 American Philosophical Society was organized. 
 This society still flourishes and wise men came 
 from all the civilized nations of the world to 
 Philadelphia in 1906, two hundred years from 
 the date of Franklin's birth, to do honor to the 
 memory of the studious, observing youth of 
 twenty-one who started that earnest little 
 "Junto," in 1728. 
 
 128 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 Young Franklin was, what most so-called 
 philosophers are not, a shrewd man of affairs. 
 He turned the Junto to account in a business 
 way. After describing the first members of their 
 mutual improvement club, he wrote : 
 
 *'But my giving this account of it here is to 
 show something of the interest I had, every one 
 of these exerting themselves in recommending 
 business to us. Breintnal particularly procured 
 lis, from the Quakers, the printing of forty 
 sheets of their history, the rest being done by 
 Keimer; and upon this we worked exceedingly 
 hard, for the price was low. I composed (set 
 type) of it a sheet a day, and Meredith worked it 
 off at press; it was often eleven at night, and 
 sometimes later, before I had finished my distri- 
 bution (of the type set up) for the next day's 
 work, for the little jobs sent in by our other 
 friends now and then put us back But so deter- 
 mined I was to continue doing a sheet a day of 
 the folio, that one night when, having imposed 
 my forms, I thought my day's work over, one of 
 them by accident was broken, and two pages re- 
 duced to *pi' (a mixed up mess of type). I im- 
 mediately distributed and composed it over 
 again before I went to bed; and this industry, 
 
 129 
 
 9 — Franklin. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 visible to our neighbors, began to give us char- 
 acter and credit; particularly, I was told, that 
 mention being made of the new printing office at 
 the merchants' Every Night Club, the general 
 opinion was that it must fail, there being al- 
 ready two printers in the place, Keimer and 
 Bradford ; but Dr. Baird gave a contrary opin- 
 ion. ^For the industry of that Franklin,' said 
 he, *is superior to anything I ever saw of the 
 kind; I see him at work when I go home from 
 club, and he is at work again before his neigh- 
 bors are out of bed.' 
 
 ''This struck the rest, and we soon after had 
 offers from one of them to supply us with sta- 
 tionery; but as yet we did not choose to engage 
 in the shop business." 
 
 Of course, old Keimer was not pleased when 
 he learned that Franklin and Meredith had set 
 up another printing office in competition with 
 his. As ''rats forsake a sinking ship," George 
 Webb, another of Keimer 's workmen, who had 
 found a friend to buy his remaining time of 
 Keimer, came to the new firm to hire out. Frank- 
 lin tells of his own want of discretion : 
 
 "We could not then employ him; but I fool- 
 ishly let him know, as a secret, that I soon in- 
 
 130 
 
Benjamiu Franklin 
 
 tended to begin a newspaper, and might then 
 have work for him. My hopes of success, as I 
 told him, were founded on this, that the then 
 only newspaper, printed by Bradford, was a pal- 
 try thing, wretchedly managed, no way enter- 
 taining, and yet was profitable to him. I there- 
 fore thought a good paper would scarcely fail of 
 good encouragement. 
 
 **I requested Webb not to mention it: but he 
 told it to Keimer, who immediately, to be before- 
 hand with me, published proposals for printing 
 one himself, on which Webb was to be em- 
 ployed." 
 
 Perhaps Franklin had this experience in mind 
 when he wrote, as *'Poor Richard," the maxim: 
 *' Three can keep a secret if two are dead." But 
 the active member of the firm of *'B. Franklin 
 and H. Meredith" was ready to cope with his old 
 employer and enemy. Instead of starting his 
 paper at once, he joined forces with Bradford, 
 and made the *' Mercury" interesting and even 
 entertaining for the first time in its history. 
 Franklin did this in the form of "pieces of en- 
 tertainment" contributed under the name of the 
 **Busy Body." This correspondence was some- 
 thing after the order of the letters of ''Silence 
 
 131 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 Dogood'' to the *^New England Courant," his 
 brother's newspaper. But the "Busy Body" 
 had a more definite object in view than '^ Goody 
 Dogood" — that of ridiculing Keimer and his 
 paper, which bore the long, high-sounding name 
 of ''The Universal Instructor in All Arts and 
 Science and the Pennsylvania Gazette I" This 
 weekly journal was, if possible, more dull and 
 vapid than Bradford's ''Mercury" before young 
 Franklin began to contribute to it. 
 
 Keimer 's "Instructor" worried along weekly, 
 and weakly, most of the time for nine months, 
 when it had only ninety subscribers. It was 
 with a significant smile that the rising young 
 journalist bought Keimer 's paper "for a trifle" 
 — the old printer had spited himself and done 
 Franklin a good turn by starting the paper and 
 selling it at a great loss to himself. 
 
 Franklin dropped the long title and called 
 the paper "The Pennsylvania Gazette." This 
 was in 1729. It rapidly became the greatest 
 newspaper south of New York, and is still pub- 
 lished weekly under the name of ' ' The Saturday 
 Evening Post." 
 
 Before the "Gazette" had been runnii^g a 
 month under its new management it contained 
 
 132 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 the following announcement, which must have 
 astonished the public, for no one had thought of 
 receiving a newspaper oftener than once a 
 week : 
 
 ** Instead of publishing a whole sheet once a 
 week, as the first undertaker (!), Keimer, en- 
 gaged to do in his proposals, we shall continue to 
 publish a half sheet twice a week, which amounts 
 to the same thing ; only it is easier to us, and we 
 think it will be more acceptable to our readers, 
 as their entertainment will by this means become 
 more frequent.'^ 
 
 But Franklin, as usual, was in advance of his 
 time. The wiseacres shook their heads. A semi- 
 weekly was setting the popular pace at a too 
 rapid gait; so the young journalist, after issuing 
 it twice a week for several weeks, was obliged to 
 change it back to a weekly. 
 
 This story told of the young publisher at this 
 time reflects credit upon his discretion and char- 
 acter : 
 
 *' While Franklin was struggling along, bur- 
 dened with debts, a respected neighbor came in 
 with an article which he said would make a stir, 
 give the newspaper life, and pay well. 
 
 ^^ 'I am glad to have something to give the 
 
 133 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 paper life and make it entertaining,' replied 
 Franklin, *I will read this as soon as I can.' 
 
 ** *I will call to-morrow,' said the man of in- 
 fluence. *I know you will like it — it is a needed 
 rebuke. ' 
 
 *'When young Franklin came to read the ar- 
 ticle, he found it full of bitterness and ridicule — 
 written in a spirit of revenge. He felt sure that, 
 if printed, it would be read by those interested 
 in such personal attacks. It would make people 
 laugh, but he decided not to publish it because 
 it would do a wrong to a certain person. 
 
 *'He needed money badly. He went to the 
 baker's and bought a two-penny roll, ate it in 
 his office and slept the sleep of the just. 
 
 **Next day the wealthy citizen called and 
 asked : 
 
 *' 'Have you read it?' 
 
 " *Yes, sir.' 
 
 *' 'What do you think of it?' 
 
 '' 'That I cannot use it, sir.' 
 
 " 'Why notr said the man, astonished. 
 
 " 'I am not sure but that it would do a wrong 
 to the person you have attacked. There are al- 
 ways two sides to a story. I should not like such 
 things printed about me.' 
 
 134 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 ^^ *But you will lose the money, young man, 
 have you thought of thatT 
 
 ''Young Franklin drew himself up, in the 
 strength of his young manhood, and answered 
 slowly and firmly: 
 
 '' 'I am sorry to say, sir, that I think the ar- 
 ticle is scurrilous and defamatory. But I have 
 been at a loss, on account of my poverty, whether 
 to reject it or not. I, therefore, put it to this 
 issue. At night when my work was done I 
 bought a two-penny loaf, on which I supped 
 heartily. Then wrapping myself in my great 
 coat, I slept soundly on the floor until morning, 
 when another loaf and a 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'?' " 
 
 The next time New Jersey wanted paper 
 money printed, it was Franklin, not Keimer, 
 who was sent for. This job paid him so well that 
 he ventured to take his press with him and made 
 this half humorous apology : 
 
 ''The printer hopes the irregular publication 
 of this paper will be excused a few times by his 
 
 135 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 town readers, in consideration of his being at 
 Burlington with the press, laboring for the pub- 
 lic good, to 7nake money more plentiful." 
 
 Surely that was as good an excuse as he could 
 have offered for the offense. In the hands of 
 such a manager the "Gazette" flourished and 
 throve. Franklin was a born advertiser, and 
 wrote a great many advertisements to promote 
 his paper, as well as for his patrons. lie also 
 established the custom of requiring subscribers 
 to pay in advance, for half the year at least. This 
 saved great expense, time and patience, and the 
 people appreciated the "Gazette" more after 
 paying for it. Franlvlin himself gives good rea- 
 sons for its prosperity : 
 
 "Our first papers made a different appearance 
 from any before in the Province ; a better type, 
 and better printed; but some spirited remarks 
 of my writing, on the dispute, then going on be- 
 tween Governor Burnet and the Massachusetts 
 Assembly, struck the principal people, occa- 
 sioned the paper and the manager of it to be 
 much talked of, and in a few weeks brought them 
 all to be our subscribers. 
 
 "Their example was followed by many, and 
 our number went on growing continually. This 
 
 136 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 was one of the first good effects of my having 
 learnt a little to scribble; another was, that the 
 leading men, seeing a newspaper now in the 
 hands of one who could also handle a pen, 
 thought it convenient (proper) to oblige and 
 encourage me. Bradford still printed the votes 
 and laws and other public business. He had 
 printed an address of the House in a coarse, 
 blundering manner; we reprinted it elegantly 
 and correctly, and sent one to every member. 
 They were sensible of the difference, it strength- 
 ened the hands of our friends in the House, and 
 they voted us their printers for the year ensuing. 
 
 ^'Mr. Vernon, about this time, put me in mind 
 of the debt I owed him, but did not press me. I 
 wrote an ingenuous (frank) letter of acknowl- 
 edgment, craved his forbearance a little longer, 
 which he allowed me, and as soon as I was able, 
 I paid the principal with interest and many 
 thanks ; so that erratum was in some degree cor- 
 rected. 
 
 "But now another difficulty came upon me 
 which I had never the least reason to expect. Mr. 
 Meredith's father, who was to have paid for our 
 printing house, according to the expectations 
 given me, was able to advance only one hundred 
 
 137 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 pounds currency, which had been paid; and a 
 hundred more was duo to the merchant who grew 
 impatient and sued us all. We gave bail, but 
 saw that if the money could not be raised in time 
 the suit must come to a judgment and execution, 
 and our hopeful prospects must, with us, be 
 ruined, as the press and letters (type) must be 
 sold for payment, perhaps at half price. 
 
 *'In this distress two friends, whose kindness 
 I have never forgotten, nor ever shall forget 
 while I can remember anything, came to me sep- 
 arately, unknown to each other, and, without any 
 application from me, offering each of them to 
 advance me all the money that should be neces- 
 sary to enable me to take the whole business 
 upon myself, if that should be practicable; but 
 they did not like my continuing the partnership 
 with Meredith, who, as they said, was often seen 
 drunk in the streets, and playing at low games 
 in alehouses, much to our discredit. 
 
 ''I told them I could not propose a separation 
 while any prospect remained of the Merediths 
 fulfilling their part of our agreement, because I 
 thought myself under great obligations to them 
 for what they had done, and would do if they 
 could ; but, if they finally failed in their perf orm- 
 
 138 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 ance, and our partnership must be dissolved, I 
 should then think myself at liberty to accept the 
 assistance of my friends." 
 
 Young Franklin's first business venture was 
 beset in the same manner as that of young Lin- 
 coln after he had bought a store with William 
 Berry's money — that is, a drunken partner. 
 Both Franklin and Lincoln were men of strong 
 temperance principles, in times and places where 
 it was not yet a moral question. It seemed the 
 irony of fate that these two ''righteous souls" 
 should have been vexed in this way. Young 
 Franklin took a manly, charitable view of Hugh 
 Meredith's bad habits. The father had prom- 
 ised to advance the money hoping that partner- 
 ship with such an industrious, thrifty, agreeable 
 young f(illow as Benjamin Franklin would be 
 the saving of his son. 
 
 After letting the matter rest a while, Frank- 
 lin said to his partner : 
 
 **If your father is not satisfied with me I will 
 resign and go about my business." 
 
 "No," said Meredith, ''he has bec^n disap- 
 pointed in his money and is really unable to pay 
 the rest. I do not wish to see him distressed 
 any more. I am not fitted to be a printer. I 
 
 139 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 was brought up a farmer and it was foolisli of 
 me, at thirty, to try to learn a new trade. I have 
 friends in North Carolina. I will go down there 
 on a farm. If you will assume the company's 
 debts and return to my father the hunderd 
 pounds ($500) he has advanced, pay my little 
 debts and give me thirty pounds ($150) and a 
 new saddle, I will give up this business and leave 
 it all in your hands.'' 
 
 "I agreed to this," says Franklin, "and the 
 year after, when Meredith was settled in Caro- 
 lina, he wrote me two long letters about that 
 Southern country, its soil and climate, and when 
 I printed them in our paper, they seemed to 
 please the public." 
 
 When relieved of his partner the young 
 printer, wishing not to be partial, went to his 
 two generous friends, accepted half the amount 
 from each, paid the company's debts, advertised 
 the dissolving of the partnership and carried on 
 the business in his own name. 
 
 Through Mr. Andrew Hamilton, the giver of 
 the State House, '^B. Franklin, Printer," was 
 awarded the contract for printing paper money 
 for Delaware, and "the printing of the laws and 
 votes for that government." Then he opened a 
 
 140 
 
I WAS NOT ABCJVIC MV BUSINESS. 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 stationer's shop also, with ''blanks of all sorts, 
 the correctest that ever appeared among us," 
 also paper, parchments, chapmen's (dealers') 
 books, etc. 
 
 *'I began now gradually to pay off the debt I 
 was under for the printing house. In order to 
 secure my credit and character as a tradesman, 
 I took care not only to be in reality industrious 
 and frugal, but to avoid all appearances to the 
 contrary. I dressed plainly; I was seen at no 
 places of idle diversion. I never went out fish- 
 ing or shooting; a book, indeed, sometimes de- 
 bauched me from my work, but that was seldom, 
 was private and gave no scandal; and, to show 
 that I was not above my business, I sometimes 
 brought home the paper I purchased at the 
 stores thro' the streets on a wheelbarrow. 
 
 ''Thus, being esteemed an industrious, thriv- 
 ing young man, and paying duly for what I 
 bought, the merchants who imported station- 
 ery solicited my custom; others proposed sup- 
 plying me with books, and I went on swim- 
 mingly. 
 
 "In the meantime, Keimer's credit and busi- 
 ness declining daily, he was at last forced to sell 
 his printing house to satisfy his creditors. He 
 
 141 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 went to Barbados and there lived some years in 
 very poor circumstances. 
 
 ^' There remained now no competitor with me 
 at Philadelphia, but the old one, Bradford, who 
 was rich and easy, did a little printing, now and 
 then, by straggling hands, but was not very 
 anxious about the business. However, as he kept 
 the post office, it was imagined that he had better 
 opportunities of obtaining news ; his paper was 
 thought a better distributor of advertisements 
 than mine and therefore had many more, which 
 was a profitable thing to him, and a disadvantage 
 to me." 
 
 "Not slothful in business" was young Frank- 
 lin's rule of conduct while establishing his print- 
 ing house and his reputation. He must have de- 
 veloped at this time the maxim he afterward 
 printed as "Poor Richard's:" 
 
 "Drive thy business; let not that drive thee." 
 
 142 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 Correcting a *' Great Erratum' 
 
 Benjamin Franklin had the modern news- 
 paper spirit. Instead of drawing from the 
 musty volumes of '' Chambers/' as his competi- 
 tors did, for matter to fill his columns when there 
 was no news, he wrote witty, gossipy letters from 
 ** Alice Addertongue,'* "Bob Brief," and others 
 whose names remind the reader of the charac- 
 ters in *'The School for Scandal.'' 
 
 One week a letter appeared from a supposed 
 '^Constant Reader" requesting "Mr. Printer:" 
 "Pray, let the prettiest creature in this place 
 know (by publishing this) that if it was not for 
 her affectation she would be absolutely irresist- 
 ible." 
 
 The foxy publisher knew this would bring 
 replies, and the next week's issue of the "Ga- 
 zette" contained denials from six of the "pretti- 
 est creatures" in town ! 
 
 When no other device occurred to him, Ben- 
 
 143 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 jamin Franklin printed jokes against himself 
 to amuse his readers. Once he tripped and fell 
 into a tar barrel, and his account of the accident 
 was full of puns, which had not then fallen into 
 disrepute as ^ ' the lowest form of wit. ' ' Yet mere 
 punning is not so obnoxious as the constant use 
 of slang — repeating a pet word or phrase on all 
 occasions — until it becomes pointless and ex- 
 ceedingly tiresome. 
 
 "A man without a wife is but half a man,'' 
 said Franklin, as ''Poor Richard." Later he 
 spoke of the unmarried man as "the odd half of 
 a pair of scissors. ' ' After bujdng Meredith out, 
 the young publisher, being twenty-four years 
 old, began to think of marriage. He relates his 
 experiences in his usual candid way: 
 
 "I had hitherto continued to board with God- 
 frey, who lived in part of my house with his wife 
 and children, and had one side of the shop for 
 his glazier's business, tho' he worked little, being 
 always absorbed in mathematics. 
 
 "Mrs. Godfrey projected a match for me with 
 a relation's daughter, took opportunities of 
 bringing us often together, till a serious court- 
 ship on my part ensued, the girl being in herself 
 very deserving. The old folks encouraged me by 
 
 144 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 continual invitations to supper, and by leaving 
 us together till at length it was time to explain. 
 Mrs. Godfrey managed our little treaty. I let 
 her know that I expected as much money with 
 the girl as would pay off my remaining debt for 
 the printing house, which I believe was not then 
 above a hundred pounds ($500).'' 
 
 The now foreign custom of requiring a dowry 
 with the bride prevailed in the Philadelphia of 
 Franklin's day. Mrs. Godfrey's relatives re- 
 fused to consider the printer's proposal, "and 
 therefore," said Franklin, "I was forbidden the 
 house, and the daughter shut up. Whether this 
 was a real change of sentiment, or only artifice, 
 on a supposition of our being too far engaged in 
 affection to retract, and therefore that we should 
 steal a marriage (elope), which would leave them 
 at liberty to give or withliold what they pleased, 
 I know not ; but I suspected the latter, resented 
 it, and went there no more. 
 
 "Mrs. Godfrey brought me afterward some 
 favorable accounts of their disposition, and 
 would have drawn me on again ; but I declared 
 absolutely my resolution to have nothing more 
 to do with that family. This was resented by the 
 Godfreys; we differed, and they removed, leav- 
 
 145 
 
 10 — Franklin. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 ing me the whole house, and I resolved to take 
 no more inmates. 
 
 *^But this affair turned my thoughts to mar- 
 riage. A friendly correspondence, as neighbors 
 and old acquaintances, had continued between 
 me and Miss Read's family, who all had a re- 
 gard for me from the time of my first lodging in 
 their house. I was often invited there and con- 
 sulted in their affairs, wherein I sometimes was 
 of service. 
 
 **Our mutual affection was revived, but there 
 were now great objections to our union. The 
 match (marriage of Miss Read to Rogers) was 
 indeed looked upon as invalid (not binding), a 
 preceding wife being said to be living in Eng- 
 land; but this could not easily be proved, be- 
 cause of the distance; and tho' there was a re- 
 port of his death, it was not certain. Then, tho' 
 it should be true, he had left many debts — which 
 his successor might be called upon to pay. 
 
 ^*We ventured, however, over all these difficul- 
 ties and I took her to wife, September 1, 1730. 
 Thus I corrected that great erratum as well as 
 I could." 
 
 In his *' Autobiography'' he bore witness to 
 the devotion of his faithful helpmeet : 
 
 146 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 "Wc have an English proverb that says, 'He 
 that would thrive must ask his wife.' It was 
 lucky for me that I had one as much disposed to 
 industry and frugality as myself. She assisted 
 me cheerfully in my business, folding and 
 stitching pamphlets, tending shop, purchas- 
 ing old linen rags for the paper makers, etc., 
 etc. 
 
 "We kept no idle servants, our table was plain 
 and simple, our furniture of the cheapest. For 
 instance, my breakfast was, a long time, bread 
 and milk (no tea), and I ate it out of a twopenny 
 earthen porringer with a pewter spoon. But 
 mark how luxury will enter families and make 
 progress, in spite of principle : being called one 
 morning to breakfast, I found it in a china bowl, 
 with a spoon of silver! They had been bought 
 for me, without my knowledge, by my wife, and 
 had cost her the enormous sum of three-and- 
 twenty shillings, for which she had no other ex- 
 cuse or apology to make but that she thought her 
 husband deserved a silver spoon and a china bowl 
 as well as any of the neighbors. This was the 
 first appearance of plate and china in our 
 house." 
 
 For the Junto young Franklin wrote, as a 
 
 147 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 tribute to his wife, a **song" of eight stanzas, 
 from which here are two : 
 
 **0f their Chloes and Phyllises poets 
 may prate, 
 I sing of my plain country Joan, 
 These twelve years my wife, still the joy 
 of my life — 
 Blest day that I made her my own! 
 
 *'Some faults have we all, and so has my 
 Joan, 
 But then they're exceedingly small; 
 And now I'm grown used to them, so 
 like my own, 
 I scarcely can see them at all.'' 
 
 Franklin relates in simple form how he came 
 to found the first circulating library in America, 
 and later the Philadelphia Library : 
 
 "About this time, our club meeting, not at a 
 tavern, but in a little room of Mr. Grace's (a 
 member of the Jimto), set apart for that pur- 
 pose, a proposition was made by me that since 
 our books were often referred to in our disquisi- 
 tions upon the queries, it might be convenient to 
 us to have them altogether where we met, that 
 upon occasion they might be consulted; and by 
 
 148 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 thus clubbing our books to a common library, we 
 should, while we liked to keep them together, 
 have each of us the advantage of using the books 
 of all the other members, which would be nearly 
 as beneficial as if each owned the whole, 
 
 '*It was liked and agreed to, and we filled one 
 end of the room with such books as we could best 
 spare. The number was not so great as we ex- 
 pected; and tho' they had been of great use, yet 
 some inconveniences occurring for want of due 
 care of them, the collection, after about a year, 
 was separated, and each took his books home 
 again. 
 
 **And now I set on foot my first project of a 
 public nature, that for a subscription library. 
 This was the mother of all the North American 
 subscription libraries, now so numerous. It is 
 become a great thing itself, and is continually 
 increasing. These libraries have improved the 
 general conversation of the Americans, made 
 the common tradesmen and farmers as intelli- 
 gent as most gentlemen from other countries, 
 and perhaps contributed in some degree to the 
 stand so generally made throughout the colonies 
 in defense of their privileges." 
 
 Franklin wrote these words before the Revo- 
 
 149 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 lution. A few years later he would have stated 
 that the libraries had done much for the liberties 
 of the country. Liher is the Latin for book — 
 why should not books have much to do with 
 liherty'^ 
 
 About this time young Franklin spent much 
 thought upon the proper course of life and con- 
 densed a dozen rules of living, which remind one 
 of the ^' Rules of Behaviour and Civility," which 
 young George Washington copied and learned 
 soon after this time, in a private school at Fred- 
 ericksburg, Virginia. 
 
 Temperance — Eat not to dullness; 
 drink not to elevation. 
 
 Silence — Speak not but what may 
 benefit others or yourself ; avoid trifling 
 conversation. 
 
 Order — Let all things have their 
 places; let each part of your business 
 have its time. 
 
 Resolution— Resolve to perform what 
 you ought; perform without fail what 
 you resolve. 
 
 Frugality — Make no expense but to 
 do good to others or yourself; that is, 
 waste nothing. 
 
 150 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 Industry — ^Lose no time; be always 
 employed in something useful; cut ofE 
 all unnecessary actions. 
 
 Sincerity — Use no harmful deceit; 
 think innocently and justly; and if you 
 speak, speak accordingly. 
 
 Justice — Wrong none by doing inju- 
 ries, or omitting the benefits that are 
 your duty. 
 
 Moderation — Avoid extremes ; for- 
 bear resenting injuries as much as you 
 think they deserve. 
 
 Cleanliness — Tolerate no uncleanness 
 of body, clothes, or habitation. 
 
 Tranquillity — Be not disturbed at 
 trifles, or at accidents common or un- 
 avoidable. 
 
 Humility — Imitate Jesus and Soc- 
 rates. 
 
 In his anxiety to form habits of right think- 
 ing and living, Franklin drew up a table of all 
 these virtues and marked it every night accord- 
 ing to his conduct for that day. 
 
 He also laid out his work for the day as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 151 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 Morning 
 The Question. 
 What good shall I do 
 this day? 
 
 Noon 
 
 Rise, wash, and ad- 
 dress P ow erf ul 
 Goodness! Contrive 
 day's business, and 
 take the resolution of 
 the day ; prosecute 
 the present study, 
 and breakfast. 
 
 Work. 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 11 
 
 j2 1 Read, or look over 
 ^ j-my accounts, and 
 
 J dine. 
 
 Atterngon 
 
 Work. 
 
 Evening 
 The Question. \ 
 What good have I 
 done to-day? 
 
 Put things in their 
 places. Supper. 
 Music or diversion, 
 or conversation. Ex- 
 amination of the day. 
 
 Night 
 
 Sleep. 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 Of this daily schedule he wrote : 
 
 **I entered upon the execution of this plan for 
 self-examination, and continued it, with occa- 
 sional intermission, for some time. I was sur- 
 prised to find myself so much fuller of faults 
 than I had imagined ; but I had the satisfaction 
 of seeing them diminish/^ 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 "Poor Richaed 
 
 11 
 
 When Mrs. Godfrey departed from the house 
 of young Franklin in deep resentment, because 
 he refused to be "drawn on again'' to play his 
 part in her little matrimonial scheme, she took 
 her husband with her. Bad as it was to be de- 
 prived of a good housekeeper, the loss of the 
 man meant even more to the aspiring younig 
 publisher. For Thomas Godfrey was a "philo- 
 math," who calculated times and seasons, moon 
 changes, and eclipses of all kinds for the al- 
 manac which, until then, had been published by 
 
 153 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 "B. Franklin and H. Meredith." Thomas duti- 
 fully took part in his wife's quarrel, shared in 
 her wrath, and took away his almanac for Brad- 
 ford to print. 
 
 The almanac was an ever-present book of ref- 
 erence in the Colonial household. It stood next 
 to the Bible in importance, as it seemed to give a 
 certain direction from above to the affairs of 
 every-day life. Hanging near the fireplace, it 
 was consulted and discussed by all the family 
 old enough to read and understand. It took the 
 place of the present-day magazine and calendar 
 — often that of the modern newspaper. Current 
 notes and family data were written, month by 
 month, on the margins of its precious pages, 
 making it the household record, which, being pre- 
 served year after year for generations, became 
 the family history. 
 
 Therefore, whether people could afford to have 
 *^The Pilgrim's Progress" or not, they felt that 
 they must own an almanac. If they did not pos- 
 sess the necessary sixpence in money, for money 
 was scarce in those days when women went 
 * * trading, ' ' instead of * ' shopping, ' ' for household 
 necessities, it was bought with stockings or mit- 
 tens, or, in the absence of home-knit articles, the 
 
 154 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 copper teakettle was sometimes sacrificed to pro- 
 cure the important annual. 
 
 For the printer it furnished a good kind of 
 typesetting to keep at hand when other work was 
 slack. Therefore the loss of Thomas Godfrey, 
 glazier and philomath, was a serious blow to the 
 ambitions of the rising publisher. It would have 
 been well-nigh fatal if Benjamin Franklin had 
 not been a young man of ready resources. At 
 seventeen he had created the character of ^^ Si- 
 lence Dogood" for the purpose of making his 
 brother's newspaper more readable, and, during 
 the ten years that followed, he had consistently 
 assumed a number of characters over such pen- 
 names as ^'The Busy Body," *' Anthony After- 
 wit," and so on. In that way he had passed 
 through a period of preparation for his next 
 step, which, though taken to meet a business 
 emergency, proved even more important than his 
 greatest discovery and most useful invention — 
 the creation of *'Poor Richard." 
 
 When he first went to school, Benjamin was 
 lacking in arithmetic, but while he was work- 
 ing as his brother's apprentice he studied by 
 himself to remedy that defect. So successful had 
 he been that he now attempted the most difficult 
 
 155 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 astronomical calculations for an almanac which 
 he proposed to print. Why not? Of course it 
 would not do to publish it as his own work. He 
 had found that such things have much more 
 weight when printed in the name of an unknown 
 writer. So young Franklin decided to be his 
 own philomath, but over another name. 
 
 What should the name be ? There had been a 
 successful English almanac maker in the preced- 
 ing century, Richard Saunder or Saunders, 
 whose name Franklin decided to use instead of 
 his own. There was no deception in that, for 
 those who had heard about Richard Saunders 
 would know that he had been dead a long time. 
 It is argued that Franklin's ideas were not origi- 
 nal because he assumed the name of a former 
 philomath. But that would be like saying 
 Shakespeare's ^'Hamlet" and "Richard the 
 Third" were mere imitations because Prince 
 Hamlet and King Richard had actually lived. 
 The resemblance between young Franklin's 
 almanac and that of the seventeenth century 
 ceases with the name. 
 
 Franklin used his advertising instinct in pro- 
 moting his novel almanac. He knew human na- 
 ture, and the disposition of his rival, Titan 
 
 156 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 Leeds, so well that he touched him on a sore spot 
 and set him in a towering rage which he vented 
 on him in his almanacs. These were of long 
 standing and wide circulation, and announced 
 *^Poor Richard'' to all his own readers, who be- 
 came interested at once to secure copies of 
 Franklin's almanac to see what it all meant, and 
 having some sense of humor, soon found them- 
 selves laughing, with Franklin, at the weakness 
 and want of sense manifested by his rival. 
 
 Franklin, in revealing the character of Rich- 
 ard Saunders, made him refer frankly to his 
 poverty and signing himself **poor" — Whence his 
 title, ^'Poor Richard." He treated the traits of 
 his hero somewhat as Addison developed the 
 charming character of Sir Roger de Coverley, 
 only "Poor Richard" was Sir Roger translated 
 from an English gentleman to the circumstances 
 of the humblest people in colonial America. His 
 first introduction to the Almanac of 1733, sug- 
 gests the "Spectator" "reduced to its lowest 
 terms:" 
 
 * * Courteous Reader : 
 
 "I might in this place attempt to gain 
 thy favor by declaring that I write al- 
 manacs with no other view than that of 
 157 
 
 # 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 the public good, but in this I should not 
 be sincere; and men are nowadays too 
 wise to be deceived by pretenses, how 
 specious soever. The plain truth of the 
 matter is, I am excessive poor, and my 
 wife, good woman, is, I tell her, exces- 
 sive proud; she cannot bear, she says, 
 to sit spinning in her shift of tow, while 
 I do nothing but gaze at the stars ; and 
 has threatened more than once to burn 
 all my books and rattling traps (as she 
 calls my instruments) if I do not make 
 some profitable use of them for the good 
 of my family. The printer has offered 
 me some considerable share of the 
 profits, and I have thus begun to comply 
 with my dame's desire.'' 
 
 Then Franklin turned his attention to Titan 
 Leeds, his rival philomath. Assuming a patron- 
 izing tone, he professes great friendship for his 
 competitor, as though he, Richard Saunders, had 
 been kept from writing almanacs for years for 
 fear of interfering with Leeds's business. But 
 now that Titan is to remain on earth so short a 
 time ^'Poor Richard's" scruples are at an end. 
 Then he goes on to predict the death of 
 Titan Leeds, in true almanac fashion. Why 
 should not an up-to-date star-gazer be able 
 
 158 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 to do this as accurately as the ordinary almanac 
 maker to prophesy months ahead the state of 
 the weather? Of the sudden death of his chief 
 competitor, ^'Poor Richard" wrote: 
 
 **He dies by my calculation, made at his re- 
 quest, October 17, 1733, 3 ho., 29m., P. M., at the 
 very instant of the <? of O and ^ . By his own 
 calculation he will survive until the 26th of the 
 same month. 
 
 **This small difference between us we have dis- 
 puted whenever we have met these nine years 
 past ; but at length he is inclinable to agree with 
 my judgment. Which of us is most exact, a little 
 time will now determine." 
 
 Just ^s calendars and year books appear a few 
 months in advance nowadays, so the quaint al- 
 manacs of two hundred years ago were some- 
 times published by September or October of the 
 year before. The new almanac, for 1733, was 
 delayed and did not appear until December, 
 1732, several months late. Of course, the pre- 
 diction concerning Leeds made a great sensation 
 and occasioned no little nervousness on the part 
 of the man the exact hour of whose death had 
 been so boldly prophesied. It was strange that 
 Titan's friends did not tell him his rival was 
 
 159 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 making game of him. Perhaps they did, but 
 the man seemed to think it was an unholy sub- 
 ject to joke about, and his indignation got the 
 better of his sense of humor, if he had any. But, 
 though he had nearly a year to reflect, Leeds 
 devoted the introduction to his own almanac for 
 the year 1734 to a reply to what he considered 
 an outrageous attack upon himself, dated the 
 very hour he was to have died, according to 
 Franklin's reckoning. 
 
 *' Kind Reader: 
 
 ** Perhaps it may be expected that I 
 should say something concerning an 
 almanac printed for the year 1733, said 
 to be writ by Poor Richard, or Richard 
 Saunders, who for want of other mat- 
 ter, predicts my death to be the 17th 
 of October, 1733. And this precise pre- 
 dicter, who predicts to a minute, pro- 
 poses to succeed me in writing of alma- 
 nacs. But notwithstanding his false 
 prediction, I have, by the mercy of God, 
 lived to write a diary for the year 1734, 
 and to publish the folly and ignorance 
 of this presumptuous author. 
 
 ''Poor Richard, or Richard Saun- 
 ders, was pleased to tell his readers: 
 160 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 That hy my own calculation I shall sur- 
 vive until the 26th, of the said month 
 (October), which is as untrue as the 
 former, for I do not pretend to that 
 knowledge, altho^ he has usurpt the 
 knowledge of the Almighty herein, and 
 manifested himself a fool and a liar, 
 
 *'And by the mercy of God I have 
 lived to survive this conceited scrib- 
 bler's day and minute whereon he has 
 predicted my death ; and as I have sup- 
 plied my country with almanacs for 
 three seven years by past, to general 
 satisfaction, so perhaps I may live to 
 write when his performances are dead. 
 Thus much from your annual friend, 
 Titan Leeds, October 17, 1733, 3 ho, 
 33 min, P. M." 
 
 This reply was what Franklin had awaited, 
 laughing in his sleeve, hoping for, only it was 
 even more than he could have expected. It at- 
 tracted everybody's attention to "Poor Rich- 
 ard's Almanac," and made business very good 
 for the printer of that humorous pamphlet. 
 
 Franklin seems to have found out what Leeds 
 was to publish in reply to his prediction of the 
 year before, for he answers it in his preface to 
 "Poor Richard's Almanac" for 1734, which ap- 
 
 161 
 
 Ji — Frankhn. 
 
The Story of Yomig 
 
 peared about the same time as Leeds's abusive 
 tirade : 
 
 *^I had intended to be with him, in his 
 last moments, to receive his last em- 
 brace, to close his eyes, and do the duty 
 of a friend in performing the last offices 
 to the departed. 
 
 "There is, however (and I cannot 
 speak it without sorrow), there is the 
 strongest probability that my dear 
 friend is no more ; for there appears in 
 his name, as I am assured, an almanac 
 for the year 1734 ; in which I am treated 
 in a very gross and unhandsome man- 
 ner, in which I am called a false pre- 
 dictor, an ignorant, a conceited scrib- 
 bler, a fool and a liar. 
 
 "Mr. Leeds was too well bred to use 
 any man so indecently and so scurril- 
 ously, and moreover his esteem and af- 
 fection for me was extraordinary: so 
 that it is to be feared that pamphlet 
 may be only a contrivance of somebody 
 or other who hopes, perhaps, to sell two 
 or three years' almanacs still, by the 
 sole force and virtue of Mr. Leeds' 
 name. 
 
 His valuable qualifications, with many 
 
 others, so much endeared him to me, 
 
 162 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 that although it should be so, that, con- 
 trary to my prediction and his own, he 
 might yet possibly be alive. Yet my 
 loss of honor as a prognosticator can- 
 not afford me so much mortification as 
 his life, health and safety would give 
 me joy and satisfaction. 
 ^^I am, 
 ** Courteous and kind reader, 
 **Your poor friend and servant, 
 "R. Saunders. '* 
 "October 30, 1733.^' 
 
 Could that chuckling young philomath have 
 thought of this fulsome flattery when he put this 
 maxim into a later almanac : 
 
 **Here comes Glib-tongue, who can outflatter 
 a dedication, and lie like ten epitaphs ?'' 
 
 Whether he had his own proverbs in mind or 
 not, "B. Franklin, Printer," did not forget that 
 of the Wise Man, "A soft answer turneth away 
 wrath. ' ' The rival almanac writer 's ^ ^ epitaphy ^ ' 
 soothed the sore head and wounded heart of 
 Leeds to such an extent that he adverted to 
 "Poor Richard" in his almanac for 1735 in 
 mollified language, but sneering at that worthy 
 star-gazer ^s poverty as confessed by Franklin in 
 the introduction to his almanac for 1734. 
 
 163 
 
< The Story of Young 
 
 The smiles and sneers of Leeds show how 
 Franklin's humor must have been received by 
 people in general. But he persisted, year by 
 year, till he educated the popular mind into a 
 state which has come to be known abroad as 
 *' American humor." His work has perhaps 
 been completed by Abraham Lincoln, who made 
 the people understand that it is not improper for 
 the President of the United States to see the 
 bright, humorous side of the bitterest experi- 
 ences in life. Franklin was too funny for his 
 time. In the most solemn affairs he was sure to 
 see the ludicrous and did not hesitate to express 
 himself, on rare occasions, to the detriment of 
 his own reputation. 
 
 Franklin was as much ahead of his time in 
 humor as he was in other respects. Like Lin- 
 coln, he was a great story teller, and was often 
 ** reminded of a story" which would illustrate 
 a point or clinch an argument. There is an 
 odd anecdote about him, that shows how much he 
 resembled Lincoln in this regard. Franklin did 
 not approve of men being required to own a cer- 
 tain amount of property before they could vote. 
 He felt that it was then the money, not the man, 
 that really did the voting. Here is the way he 
 
 164 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 tried to prove the absurdity of a man having to 
 be ** worth" ten pomids ($50) before he could 
 have the right of suffrage: 
 
 *'A man had a jackass worth ten pounds. 
 While that jackass lived the man voted. After 
 the jackass died the man could not vote again. 
 Who was it that voted, then, the man or the jack- 
 ass!" 
 
 But it is their heart-humor that has made his 
 maxims household words in a hundred languages 
 and dialects all around the globe, and his thrift- 
 proverbs have done more to make America what 
 it is to-day than any other single agency. In his 
 ^* Autobiography" Franklin wrote of his anxiety 
 to make his almanac benefit and educate the peo- 
 ple along sensible lines : 
 
 "Observing that it was generally read, scarce 
 any neighborhood in the Province being without 
 it, I considered it as a proper vehicle for convey- 
 ing instruction among the common people who 
 bought scarcely any other books; I therefore 
 filled all the little spaces between the remarkable 
 days in the calendar with proverbial sentences, 
 chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality 
 as a means of procuring wealth and thereby se- 
 curing virtue ; it being more difficult for a man 
 
 165 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 in want to act always honestly, as, to use here one 
 of these proverbs, ^It is hard for an empty sack 
 to stand upright/ " 
 
 Franklin was careful not to claim to have orig- 
 inated all the maxims of "Poor Richard.^' He 
 stated once that "not a tenth part of this wis- 
 dom was my own, but rather the gleanings I had 
 made of all ages and nations. '' Yet he had, with 
 his own bubbling wit and whimsical humor, con- 
 densed the wisdom of the ages, with many a quip 
 and twist and turn, and made them fit the life 
 and speech of the American people. 
 
 It is impossible, of course, to give one-tenth of 
 * ' Poor Richard 's ' ' best maxims here. They have 
 the peculiar Franklin "tang'* just as true "Lin- 
 coln stories" are known by a certain heart- 
 charm which is impossible to describe, yet easy 
 to recognize: 
 
 "Onions can make even heirs and widows 
 weep.'* 
 
 "Necessity has no law; I know some attorneys 
 of the same.'* 
 
 "Mary's mouth costs her nothing, for she 
 never opens it but at others' expense." 
 
 Many of Franklin's maxims were full of satire 
 and reflections upon the assumptions and weak- 
 
 166 
 
Bergamin Franklin 
 
 nesses of men and women — like that about " ne- 
 cessity '^ and " lawyers '* ** knowing no law.'' 
 ''Poor Richard's" maxims were more than 
 merely humorous. The "Sayings of Poor 
 Richard" have become so ingrained in the every- 
 day talk of the world that few persons have any 
 idea that the household words that come so 
 "trippingly on the tongue" were first wiitten in 
 their familiar form by a young Philadelphia 
 printer nearly two hundred years ago. Here are 
 only a few of those that have made America and 
 the whole world richer, in more ways than one : 
 
 "A penny saved is a penny earned." 
 
 "Haste makes waste." 
 
 "He that goes a-borrowing goes a- 
 sorrowing." 
 
 "God helps them that help them- 
 selves." 
 
 "Lost time is never found again." 
 
 "A cat in gloves catches no mice." 
 
 "Early to bed and early to rise, 
 Makes a man healthy, wealthy and 
 wise." 
 
 "A word to the wise is enough.^ ^ 
 167 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 ^*Poor Richard's Almanac, '^ so subtly and 
 whimsically advertised at first, continued with 
 matchless success for twenty-five years, jumped 
 at once to the foremost place among the alma- 
 nacs of the world, and left Leeds's yearly 
 pamphlets far behind in the race. If Titan had 
 fulfilled his own foolish prediction — to *'Live 
 to write when his ('Poor Richard's') perform- 
 ances are dead" — ^he would still be mooning 
 around the world like the Wandering Jew, for 
 **Poor Richard's" maxims are read and quoted 
 to-day by millions, in many lands and languages, 
 because of their deep human humor and the 
 hearty common sense which makes for prosper- 
 ity and happiness. But the almanac of Titan 
 Leeds is known only to the few, as a curiosity, 
 because of his blindness in calling his rival **a 
 fool," "liar" and *^ conceited scribbler," who 
 created ''Poor Richard," the first immortal char- 
 acter in American fiction. 
 
 168 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 *'Mant Inventions" and the Doctor's Degrees 
 
 It was not *^Poor Richard" who wrote ** Jack 
 of all trades, master of none," for that saying 
 was not true of Benjamin Franklin. Besides all 
 his other achievements, Franklin's many discov- 
 eries, inventions and improvements made him a 
 world benefactor. The people of Philadelphia 
 show many places of interest, saying: ''Here 
 such a thing first happened," or ''Here such a 
 thing was done for the first time," or "There 
 that great enterprise was started;" and most of 
 these affairs to which Philadelphia points with 
 pride to-day were originated by Benjamin 
 Franklin. Nearly all of the things he did had no 
 connection with his own business, but were ex- 
 pressions of his public spirit and kindness of 
 heart. 
 
 Franklin was the greatest example of the 
 practical spirit of America. "What signifies 
 philosophy," he asked, "that does not apply to 
 
 169 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 some use?'' He eared nothing for theories as 
 such, but he took a lively interest in practice. 
 Next to his thrift-maxims and his unceasing 
 labors and influence in behalf of human liberty, 
 his greatest benefit to mankind was what he 
 called *Hhe Pennsylvania Fireplace," but which 
 the people named "the Franklin Stove." For a 
 thousand years people of the old world had 
 warmed themselves by old-fashioned fireplaces, 
 which were little better than the smoky fires in 
 the wigwams of the American Indians. The only 
 superiority in the white man's fireplace was that 
 it was placed at one side and had a chimney. But 
 the smoke did not always go up the chimney. In 
 order to make it ascend they built large chim- 
 neys, with capacious fireplaces taking up nearly 
 the whole of one side of the room, and consum- 
 ing an immense amount of wood from which 
 most of the heat went up with the smoke, leav- 
 ing the room cold except within a few feet of the 
 fire. 
 
 It is pleasant to read and think about the back- 
 log and the cheerful blaze in the castles of the Old 
 England and the mansions of New England or 
 Old Virginia. But those lordly halls were as 
 cold as barns. People accustomed to the com- 
 
 170 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 forts of the modern home would find the draf ty, 
 chill of ''mansions and palaces" very disagree- 
 able indeed. Queen Victoria, in her spacious 
 apartments in Windsor Castle, found it almost 
 impossible to be as comfortable as the humblest 
 day laborer in his cosy little cottage or tenement 
 to-day. This great change was due to the inge- 
 nuity and good will of young Franklin, for most 
 of his discoveries and inventions were made be- 
 fore he passed middle life. 
 
 About the ** curing" of ''smoky chimneys," 
 young Franklin wrote, "It is strange, methinks, 
 that though chimneys have been for so long in 
 use, the construction should be so little under- 
 stood till lately that no workman pretended to 
 make one which should carry off all smoke." 
 The ''smoke nuisance" was not the only discom- 
 fort of the old-fashioned fireplace, according to 
 Franklin. It was likely to have only ' ' two warm 
 seats, one in each corner; but they were some- 
 times too hot to abide in, and the cold air so nips 
 the backs and heels of those that sit before the 
 fire that they have no comfort till either screens 
 or settles are provided. A moderate quantity of 
 wood on the fire, in so large a hearth, seems but 
 little ; and in so strong and cold a draft, warms 
 
 171 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 but little; so that people are continually laying 
 on more (wood). In short, it is next to impos- 
 sible to warm a room with such a fireplace." 
 
 The trouble with **such a fireplace'' was that 
 the larger it was, and the better it carried off the 
 smoke and heat the greater the draft created, 
 and instead of throwing out warm air into the 
 room, it drew in the cold air from outside and 
 those sitting in front of the fire had "chills" in 
 their backs even while the fire was hot enough to 
 scorch their faces and hands. 
 
 It is true that there was the German or Dutch 
 stove, like a box or covered brazier, which 
 smoked badly and, as Franklin said about them, 
 "there is no sight of the fire, which in itself is a 
 pleasant thing." He goes on, "I suppose our 
 ancestors never thought of warming rooms to sit 
 in ; all they purposed was to have a place to make 
 a fire in, by which they might warm themselves 
 when cold." 
 
 In 1742 young Franklin devised the first stove 
 consisting of iron sides, back and top, being open 
 in front, like a fireplace. A flue was arranged in 
 the back which connected with the chimney, car- 
 ried off the smoke, while the heated sides, back 
 and top of the stove, as well as the smoke-pipe 
 
 172 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 itself, radiated Heat, warming the air in the room 
 instead of being carried, in the form of fierce 
 heat, up the chimney. This movable fireplace 
 was made to burn short pieces of wood and small 
 logs. It could be set up in or near the middle of 
 the room, sending out heat on all sides and sav- 
 ing a great deal of fuel. 
 
 Franklin wrote in favor of the * * Pennsylvania 
 Fireplace," "Your whole room is equally warm, 
 so that people need not crowd so close round the 
 fire, but may sit near the window, and have the 
 benefit of the light for reading, writing, needle- 
 work, etc. They may sit with comfort in any 
 part of the room, which is a very considerable 
 advantage in a large family. 
 
 *'I suppose, taking a number of families to- 
 gether, that two-thirds, or half the wood, at least, 
 is saved. My common room, I know, is made 
 twice as warm as it used to be, with a quarter of 
 the wood I formerly consumed there.'' 
 
 But all the pecuniary advantage Franklin 
 gained from this world-wide invention was what 
 he saved in fuel. He would accept nothing for 
 his stove. Everybody could use his invention 
 and welcome. He wished his stoves to be made as 
 cheaply as possible, so that the poor might be 
 
 173 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 benefited and made comfortable by them. He 
 wrote of it : 
 
 *' Governor Thomas was so pleased with the 
 construction of this stove that he offered to give 
 me a patent for the sole vending of them for a 
 term of years : but I declined it from a principle 
 which has ever weighed with me on such occa- 
 sions, namely, that, as we enjoy great advantages 
 from the inventions of others, we should he glad 
 of an opportunity to serve others hy any inven- 
 tion of ours; and this we should do freely and 
 generously." 
 
 But a certain English hardware dealer was 
 not actuated by such a noble motive. Franklin 
 wrote of him, **An ironmonger in London, how- 
 ever, making some small changes, which rather 
 hurt its operation, got a patent for it there, and 
 made, as I was told, a little fortune by it. And 
 this is not the only instance of patents taken out 
 for my inventions by others, tho' not always with 
 the same success, which I never contested, as 
 having no desire of profiting by patents myself, 
 and hating disputes. The use of these fireplaces 
 in very many houses, both of this and the neigh- 
 boring colonies, has been, and is, a great saving 
 of wood to the inhabitants." 
 
 174 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 About thirty years later, Franklin modified 
 and improved Ms stove, constructing the draft 
 on the siphon principle so that the fire was made 
 to draw downward, consuming its own smoke. 
 This stove was far more ornamental than the 
 Pennsylvania Fireplace, and was made to burn 
 coal as well as wood. 
 
 Another answer to the question about "smoky 
 chimneys, '* was Franklin's circular draft lamp- 
 burner, which he developed before Argand per- 
 fected his famous lamp. In studying the move- 
 ments of the air he worked out a theory of venti- 
 lation within, and of the movements of wind and 
 weather without. Applying the same theories to 
 water, he developed the principle and mapped 
 out the course of the Gulf Stream, which he in- 
 vestigated and verified during his several voy- 
 ages across the Atlantic. 
 
 It has been shown how he improved the print- 
 ing press, cast the first type in America, devised 
 improvements and checks in copperplate engrav- 
 ing. He also introduced stereotyping and mani- 
 fold letter copying, worked out a system of 
 shorthand and phonography, and started in to 
 reform English spelling. He improved wind- 
 mills, carriage wheels and water wheels, and con- 
 
 175 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 structed a clock with only three wheels, showing 
 the hour, minute and second. 
 
 He taught sailors how to keep provisions fresh 
 at sea, studied ocean currents, improved the 
 shape and rigging of ships, and recommended 
 that the hulls be divided into air-tight compart- 
 ments to prevent their sinking. 
 
 He tested the power of ether to make one un- 
 conscious of pain, and developed a theory of poi- 
 son and disease in the air, akin to the present be- 
 lief in germs, microbes or bacilli. He was 
 greatly interested in balloons and, with others, 
 constructed the most successful flying-machine 
 for a hundred and fifty years. 
 
 He completely altered the system of house 
 roofing, built the first fireproof house, by cover- 
 ing the wood with plaster, or a kind of concrete. 
 
 His heart went out in kindness to man and 
 beast. He took measures to prevent cruelty to 
 animals, to treat even the Indians kindly, and 
 founded an anti-slavery society. He improved 
 watering troughs for animals as well as soup 
 plates for men. He made bi-focal lenses for 
 spectacles, invented a musical instrument called 
 the **armonica/' and perfected an electrical ma- 
 chine. ':- 
 
 176 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 He founded a library, a college, a newspaper, 
 a magazine, a philosophical society, a hospital, 
 and a fire company, besides planning and organ- 
 izing street cleaning and lighting, a police de- 
 partment, sidewalks and crossings for Philadel- 
 phia, and the first volunteer militia company for 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Of all his inventions Franklin wrote to a sci- 
 entist-friend : 
 
 "I have no private interest in the recep- 
 tion of my inventions by the world, having never 
 made, nor proposed to make the least profit by 
 any of them." And concerning his discoveries 
 he once wrote: *'I have never entered into any 
 controversy in defense of my philosophical opin- 
 ions. I leave them to take their chance in the 
 world. If they are right, truth and experience 
 will support them ; if wrong, they ought to be re- 
 futed and rejected. Disputes are apt to sour 
 one's temper and disturb one's quiet." 
 
 In addition to this long list of inventions and 
 innovations and many more, Benjamin Franklin 
 was pronounced by Hume, the English historian, 
 *Hhe first writer in America." Besides all this, 
 he practically ** invented" American humor, and 
 promulgated it in his day somewhat as Abraham 
 
 177 
 
 u — Franklin. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 Lincoln, a hundred years later, radiated it from 
 the White House. 
 
 But the one discovery, or experiment, which 
 took the strongest hold upon the popular mind 
 was his ** snatching the lightning from the 
 clouds '* to prove that lightning and electricity 
 are one and the same. He had perfected an elec- 
 trical apparatus for the purpose of experiment- 
 ing. He learned by experience that death by 
 electricity should be painless, and therefore ad- 
 vocated putting criminals to death by electrocu- 
 tion instead of hanging. In this as in his belief 
 in peace — "There never was a good war, or a 
 bad peace,'' he made "Poor Richard'' say — ^he 
 was so far in advance of his time that, in several 
 vital questions, America has not "caught up" 
 with Benjamin Franklin yet! He gave this ac- 
 count of one of his electrical experiments : 
 
 "Two nights ago, being about to kill a turkey 
 by the shock from two large glass jars containing 
 as much electrical fire as forty common phials, I 
 inadvertently took the whole through my own 
 arms and body, by receiving the fire from the 
 united top with one hand, while the other held a 
 chain connected with the outsides of both jars. 
 
 "The company present (whose talking to me 
 
 178 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 and to one another, I suppose, occasioned my 
 inattention to what I was about) say that the 
 flash was very great, and the crack as loud as a 
 pistol; yet, my senses being instantly gone, I 
 neither saw the one nor heard the other; nor did 
 I feel the stroke on my hand. 
 
 **I felt what I know not how well to describe — 
 a universal blow throughout my whole body from 
 head to foot, which seemed within as well as 
 without ; after which the first thing I took notice 
 of was a violent, quick shaking of my body, 
 which gradually remitting, my sense as gradu- 
 ally returned." 
 
 Even after this dangerous, shocking experi- 
 ence he could not help joking. As soon as he be- 
 came conscious and saw what had happened, he 
 exclaimed: "Well, I meant to kill a turkey, and 
 instead I nearly killed a goose!'' 
 
 Franklin believed that lightning and electric- 
 ity are the same, years before he was able to 
 prove it. There were many obstacles in his way, 
 of which the worst was the bigoted antagonism 
 of the people against any innovation upon the 
 customs and thought of the ages. In these days 
 of inventions every one is eager to see and test a 
 new discovery, but this was not always so. In 
 
 179 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 the Middle Ages great inventors like those of 
 to-day would, without doubt, have been burned 
 at the stake, for presumption and witchcraft. 
 
 It is related that two men who had constructed 
 a successful flying-machine which landed near 
 Lyons, France, centuries ago, narrowly escaped 
 death at the hands of the frightened and mad- 
 dened people for working magic. The story of 
 Galileo's suffering, because of his theory that the 
 earth moves around the sun, is well known. Gut- 
 enberg, the inventor of printing, narrowly 
 escaped death at the hands of an infuriated mob 
 because the people, from the king and archbishop 
 down, could not understand how the pages of the 
 first printed Bibles could be exactly like the 
 same pages in other Bibles, for they had always 
 been done by hand. Gutenberg had great diffi- 
 culty in convincing the crowd which gathered 
 around his house that his printing press was not 
 a magic contrivance and that all his Bibles were 
 not printed by the devil I 
 
 This violent opposition to anything new and 
 strange was not confined to matters of religion 
 or superstition. The first man to wear a silk or 
 ** stove-pipe '^ hat in the streets of London was 
 mobbed by an enraged crowd, the offensive hat 
 
 180 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 was destroyed, and the foolhardy wearer's 
 clothes were torn to tatters so that he barely 
 escaped with his life. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin himself had observed and 
 experienced the unreasoning rage of the neigh- 
 bors against vaccination. Because the most dis- 
 tinguished preacher in Boston, Cotton Mather, 
 had adopted the (then) new theory of *' inocula- 
 tion" to prevent smallpox, a hand grenade, or 
 small bomb, was thrown into his study. Fortu- 
 nately the minister saw the deadly missile in 
 time to throw it out of the window before it ex- 
 ploded, and saved his own life as well as of his 
 family, and his house from being wrecked. 
 
 Franklin's second son, little Francis, had died 
 of smallpox. The story was circulated that the 
 child had been vaccinated, and to allay the in- 
 dignation that prevailed among the people, the 
 father made the following announcement in 
 the "Pennsylvania Gazette" for December 13, 
 1736: 
 
 "Understanding 'tis a current re- 
 port that my son Francis, who died 
 lately of smallpox, had it by inocula- 
 tion, and being desired to satisfy the 
 public in that particular, inasmuch as 
 181 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 some people are, by that report (joined 
 with others of the like kind and per- 
 haps equally groundless), deterred 
 from having that operation performed 
 on their children, I do hereby sin- 
 cerely declare that he was not inocu- 
 lated, but received the distemper in the 
 common way of infection. 
 
 **And I suppose the report could 
 only arise from its being my known 
 opinion that inoculation was a safe and 
 beneficial practice, and from my hav- 
 ing said among my acquaintance that I 
 intended to have my child inoculated as 
 soon as he should have recovered suf- 
 ficient strength from a flux with which 
 he had been long afflicted. 
 
 "B. Franklin." 
 
 Franklin had been prevented from attempt- 
 ing to prove his theory about lightning and elec- 
 tricity by the fact that there was no high hill or 
 lofty tower in or near Philadelphia. In the 
 Summer of 1752, however, he decided to reach 
 the clouds by means of a kite made of thin silk 
 instead of paper. He describes his own experi- 
 ment in the form of directions to others : 
 ~ *'Make a small cross of two light strips of 
 
 182 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 cedar, the arm so long as to reach to the four 
 corners of a large, thin silk handkerchief when 
 expanded. Tie the corners of the handkerchief 
 to the extremities of the cross, so you have the 
 body of a kite, which being properly accommo- 
 dated with a tail, loop and string, will rise in the 
 air like those made of paper ; but this being of 
 silk is fitter to bear the wet and wind of a thun- 
 dergust without tearing. To the top of the up- 
 right stick of the cross is to be fixed a very 
 sharp pointed wire, rising a foot or more above 
 the wood. To the end of the twine next the hand 
 is to be tied a silk ribbon, and where the silk and 
 twine join, a key may be fastened. 
 
 **This kite is to be raised when a thundergust 
 seems to be coming on, and the person who holds 
 the string must stand within a door or window, 
 or under some cover, so that the silk ribbon may 
 not be wet, and care must be taken that the 
 twine does not touch the frame of the door or 
 window. 
 
 **As soon as any of the thunder clouds come 
 over the kite the pointed wire will draw the elec- 
 tric fire from them, and the kite with all the 
 twine will be electrified, and the loose filaments 
 of the twine will stand out every way, and be at- 
 
 183 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 tracted by an approaching finger. And when 
 the rain has wetted the kite and twine so that it 
 can conduct the electric fire freely, you will find 
 it stream out plentifully from the key on the ap- 
 proach of your knuckle. At this key the phial 
 may be charged, and from electric fire thus ob- 
 tained spirits may be kindled and all the other 
 experiments be performed." 
 
 Franklin had done as he directed others to do. 
 He constructed his silk kite, with the aid of his 
 elder son, William, ready for the next "thunder- 
 gust, ' ' as they called a thunderstorm. In a short 
 time a storm seemed to be brewing, and he and 
 William set out together for the field or com- 
 mon where they found shelter imder a cowshed 
 to keep the silk ribbon dry at the lower end of 
 the hemp twine. The kite darted about at first, 
 but soon soared up among the gathering clouds. 
 
 They watched it a long time, but there seemed 
 to be no lightning. Just as they were about to 
 give up and pull down the kite there was a flash 
 of lightning, and the fine fibers of hemp in the 
 kite string began to bristle and stand up like the 
 hairs on the tail of an angry cat. Franklin knew 
 what this meant, for it was exactly what he ex- 
 pected. The dry silk ribbon which he held in his 
 
 184 
 
THE FIBERS OF HEMP BEGAN TO BRISTLE. 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 hand was a non-conductor. Knowing that the 
 big iron key tied at the lower end of the twine 
 must be charged with electricity he placed his 
 knuckle near it. 
 
 The key responded with a snap, and a spark 
 shot across into Franklin's finger, which felt the 
 prick of pain caused by a slight electric shock. 
 The father turned his eager face toward William 
 and said, with a triumphant chuckle : 
 
 **I knew it. Lightning is electricity! Bring 
 me the bottle of spirits." 
 
 "William lost no time in coming with the Ley- 
 den jar and the lightning which had struck the 
 point of the wire protruding from the end of the 
 upright kite-stick up in the clouds was trans- 
 ferred, in the form of electricity, and stored in 
 that bottle. 
 
 Benjamin and William Franklin went home 
 with the queer kite and bottled lightning. The 
 pointed wire suggested the lightning rod, which 
 the philosopher soon turned to good account in 
 protecting buildings, as the lightning which 
 came near enough to strike a house or barn 
 would be attracted to the rod and carried down 
 into the ground by an iron ** conductor" as it 
 had run down that kite string to the key. 
 
 185 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 Franklin related how he once received great 
 benefit from his invention: 
 
 ^'My own house was one day attacked by 
 lightning, which occasioned the neighbors to run 
 in to give assistance in case of its being on fire. 
 But no damage was done, and my family was 
 only found a good deal frightened with the vio- 
 lence of the explosion. 
 
 *'Last year, my house being enlarged, the con- 
 ductor was obliged to be taken down. I found, 
 upon examination, that the pointed termination 
 of copper had been almost entirely melted. Thus, 
 in the course of time, this invention has proved 
 of use to the author of it, and has added this per- 
 sonal advantage to the pleasure he before re- 
 ceived from having been useful to others." 
 
 But while scientists and many others ap- 
 proved of Franklin's experiments and lightning 
 conductors, there were plenty of ignorant and 
 superstitious people, including some ministers, 
 who believed that Franklin was ^* flying in the 
 face of Providence." An eminent Boston di- 
 vine preached against Franklin as a blas- 
 phemous meddler with affairs above human 
 knowledge by thus tampering with the *' battery 
 of heaven. ' ' When the city of Lisbon, Portugal, 
 
 186 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 was destroyed by an earthquake and forty thou- 
 sand lives were lost, in 1755, three years after 
 Franklin's experiment, this minister declared 
 that the awful catastrophe was a judgment from 
 heaven upon Franklin's sacrilege, but he failed 
 to explain why many earthquakes had happened 
 before Franklin's day, or why such a calamity 
 should have been visited upon a foreign city 
 Franklin had never seen, and where few, if any, 
 of its inhabitants had ever seen or heard of a 
 lightning rod! 
 
 The widespread interest in Franklin's proof 
 of the sameness of lightning and electricity, and 
 the success of his lightning rod, brought him 
 many honors and degrees from colleges in 
 America and Europe. 
 
 Two hundred years after the birth of the son 
 of the humble soap boiler of Boston, scientists, 
 philosophers and wise men came from all parts 
 of the civilized world to honor the memory of 
 Benjamin Franklin. A colossal kite, made of 
 many electric lights, from the frame of which 
 hung a huge fiery key, was part of the elaborate 
 illumination about the great City Hall of Phila- 
 delphia in memory of Franklin's bringing light- 
 ning down from the clouds and storing it in a 
 
 187 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 bottle to prove that it and electricity are one and 
 the same. 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 For Colony and Country 
 
 "The first mistake in public business is going 
 into it/' was one of *'Poor Richard's" sayings. 
 If serving one 's country can be a mistake at any 
 time, Benjamin Franklin made it when he ac- 
 cepted the clerkship of the General Assembly 
 of the Province of Pennsylvania, at the age of 
 thirty. The next year, in 1737, he was appointed 
 postmaster of Philadelphia. In spite of the 
 cynical saying of *'Poor Richard" about serving 
 the public, Franklin, late in life, referred with 
 pride to the people's confidence in him in the 
 early days when he was a modest postmaster. 
 His public offices were turned to good account in 
 making the ''Gazette" a better newspaper, and 
 giving it a wider circulation increased the 
 amount of advertising and combined to make 
 
 188 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 his paper the most popular and profitable jour- 
 nal in all the American colonies. 
 
 While assistant and acting postmaster of Phil- 
 adelphia Franklin began to improve the postal 
 service, for he tried to better everything he 
 touched. From being clerk of the Assembly he 
 was elected a burgess or member of the House, 
 and was re-elected to that honorable office ten 
 times. In the city of his adoption he was made 
 a justice of the peace, which was quite an honor 
 in those days, besides being elected to common 
 and select council, giving his earnest attention 
 to the minutest details of the city's affairs. 
 
 Within thirty years after he had run away 
 from home, Benjamin Franklin was a famous 
 and honored citizen. He went back and visited 
 his old home in Boston at least once every ten 
 years while his father and mother were living, 
 proud and happy in all the good their youngest 
 son was doing. James Franklin was still dis- 
 gruntled and unsuccessful in business, so Benja- 
 min returned good for evil by taking his 
 brother's ten-year-old son back to Philadelphia, 
 sending him to school, teaching him the printer's 
 trade and setting him up in that business in 
 Newport, Rhode Island. 
 
 189 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 After Josiah and Abiah Franklin died, tlieir 
 youngest son erected to their memory a hand- 
 some monument which is seen to-day near the 
 old Park Street Church, Boston, with its fa- 
 mous epitaph written by Benjamin, who held no 
 grudge against any of his family for their harsh 
 and unkind treatment of him in his boyhood 
 days. In this he illustrated his own maxim, **A 
 good example is the best sermon." 
 
 History repeated itself in the Franklin fam- 
 ily, as is proven by the following extract from a 
 letter from Benjamin to his sister Jane, about 
 William's attempt to run away to sea: 
 
 "When boys see prizes brought in and quanti- 
 ties of money shared among the men, and their 
 gay living, it fills their heads with notions that 
 half distract them, and puts them quite out of 
 conceit with trades and the dull ways of getting 
 money by working. 
 
 "My only son left my house unknown to us all 
 and got on board a privateer from whence I 
 fetched him. No one imagined it was hard 
 usage at home that made him do this. Every one 
 that knows me thinks I am too indulgent a 
 parent, as well as master." 
 
 In 1743 Franklin wrote a learned paper en- 
 
 190 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 titled "Proposals Relating to the Education of 
 Youth in Pennsylvania. ' ' It included a plan for 
 founding the Academy which grew to be the 
 great University of Pennsylvania, of which its 
 founder was a trustee in its earlier days. He 
 was very candid and matter-of-fact in his ideas 
 on educating and benefiting young people, as 
 this, from his *' Autobiography," shows: 
 
 *' Human felicity is produced not so much by 
 great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, 
 as by little advantages that occur every day. 
 Thus if you teach a poor young man to shave 
 himself and keep his razor in order, you may 
 contribute more to his life than giving him a 
 thousand guineas. This sum may be soon spent, 
 the regret only remaining of having foolishly 
 consumed it. But in the other case he escapes 
 the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, 
 and of their sometimes dirty fingers, offensive 
 breath and dull razors. He shaves when most 
 convenient to him and enjoys, daily the pleasure 
 of its being done with a good instrument." 
 
 There were threatenings of war between Eng- 
 land and France over the long disputed question 
 of territory in America. The French in Canada 
 were fast enlisting the Indians on their side, and 
 
 191 
 
The Story; of Young 
 
 many of the savage tribes were bitter against the 
 English. Franklin, as a special commissioner, 
 had encountered some of them, showing that he 
 believed in treating them kindly. Delegat^^s as- 
 sembled at Albany, New York, to confer with 
 chiefs of the Six Nations. Franklin was one of 
 four commissioners appointed by Governor 
 Hamilton of Pennsylvania. Besides the Indian 
 question there was great need of all the colonies 
 uniting to protect themselves against their com- 
 mon enemies whether white men or red. Frank- 
 lin printed in the *' Pennsylvania Gazette '^ a 
 crude picture of a serpent cut up into parts rep- 
 resenting the different colonies, and under it was 
 printed the legend, '^ Unite or Die." This design 
 was used later on a colonial flag. 
 
 The year before the Albany conference, on the 
 death of the postmaster-general for the colonies, 
 Franklin received the appointment of assistant 
 postmaster-general. This made it necessary for 
 him to travel about among the colonies, to all the 
 post offices from New England to Georgia — 
 seventy-five in number. Of course, his personal 
 contact with the people in this official capacity 
 made him the best known man in the colonies. 
 Being the soul of kind-hearted courtesy^ and good 
 
 192 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 humor, Franklin was beloved as well as re- 
 spected wherever he went, and by personal inter- 
 course he followed up the liberty-loving instruc- 
 tion he was still giving the people in ''Poor 
 Richard's Almanac." 
 
 Franklin improved the postal service, making 
 it far more useful to the people, and, at the same 
 time, yield a good revenue to the English crown. 
 The colonial post offices had always been a bill 
 of expense to the government until Franklin 
 took charge of them. He also increased the fre- 
 quency of the mails, especially between Phila- 
 delphia and New York. He introduced a "stage 
 wagon" to run back and forth over that ninety 
 miles as often as once a week whether there was 
 any mail to carry between those two cities or not I 
 Before this time the mail had been carried by in- 
 capable men on old, jaded horses. The mail car- 
 riers were appointed because they were old, or 
 had nothing better to do. They consulted their 
 0T\Ti convenience, starting out when they thought 
 it worth while, and coming back when they hap- 
 pened to get ready. So, when Franklin's once- 
 a-week "fast mail" service was inaugurated 
 there were slow-going people who shook their 
 heads doubtfully. They felt that the new post- 
 193 
 
 1$ — Franklin. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 master-general had set a pace which it would be 
 impossible to hold out long ! 
 
 In England such colonial enterprise seemed 
 wholly unnecessary. The ministry of the Mother 
 Country regarded the colonies with contempt. 
 They had no use for their American cousins but 
 as buyers of English manufactures, and to 
 raise tobacco for English use. On one occasion 
 a number of Virginia planters petitioned for 
 money to build a college in their colony, giving 
 as a reason for this that *' Virginians have 
 souls.*' The English attorney-general for the 
 colonies had no patience with such sentimental 
 nonsense. **0 hang your souls!'' said he. ''Go 
 raise tobacco!'' 
 
 The colonial people were loyal to *'the Old 
 Country." They bought their clothing, furni- 
 ture, farming implements — all manufactured 
 goods — from England, and those who were able 
 sent their sons there to be educated. 
 
 About this time a youth named George Wash- 
 ington went on a hazardous errand from the cap- 
 ital of Virginia to the Ohio region to serve a 
 '* notice to quit" on the French military com- 
 mander. That youth saw a place to build a fort 
 at the fork of the Allegheny and Monongahela 
 
 194 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 rivers. The Governor of Virginia sent men to 
 erect a fort, and notified the Governors of the 
 other colonies to send men and provisions for the 
 common defense. Young Major Washington 
 was detailed to aid in this work and protect the 
 men who were building the fort. Before he 
 reached the place he encountered a body of 
 French and struck the first blow of the Seven 
 Years' War which involved England and 
 France. 
 
 The American part of that long conflict is 
 called the French and Indian War. The colonies 
 came slowly to the defense of the frontier, while 
 the ministry of England was sending out troops 
 under General Braddock to fight the French 
 and Indians. Franklin was selected to raise 
 men, wagons and provisions to aid the Eng- 
 lish soldiery. This was a very difficult task, for, 
 aside from the aversion of the discontented peo- 
 ple risking their lives and property on behalf of 
 a government that treated them so outrageously, 
 large numbers of the wealthy and influential 
 population of Pennsylvania were Friends, or 
 Quakers, who did not believe in war or even in 
 resisting the overbearing treatment of the Eng- 
 lish or the murderous attacks of the Indians. 
 
 195 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 In order to soothe the ill-feeling against the 
 Quakers and incline the people to combine in 
 self-defense, Franklin wrote a witty pamphlet 
 on the subject, of which this is a short ex- 
 tract : 
 
 " 'For my part,' says A, 'I am no coward; but 
 hang me if I fight to save the Quakers. ' 
 
 *' 'That is to say,' B replied, 'you will not 
 pump the sinking ship, because it will save the 
 rats as well as yourselves.' 
 
 "O, my friends, the glory of serving and sav- 
 ing others is superior to the advantage of being 
 served and secured. Let us resolutely and gen- 
 erously unite in our country's cause, in which to 
 die is the sweetest of all deaths ; and may the God 
 of armies bless our honest endeavors!" 
 
 In order to raise the necessary number of 
 horses and wagons for Braddock's "regulars," 
 and the colonial companies, Franklin had to hold 
 himself responsible, paying over six thousand 
 dollars of his own money to the farmers and 
 other owners. Most of the money he had great 
 difficulty in collecting from the British govern- 
 ment, to which he was still so loyal, and some of 
 it he never received. 
 
 When General Braddock was ready Franklin 
 
 196 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 came to his aid with one hundred and fifty four- 
 horse wagons and two hundred and fifty-nine 
 pack horses, which he had been able to gather to- 
 gether, by using his own money freely, in twenty 
 days. Braddock invited Franklin to dine with 
 him every day, and told the philosopher what he 
 proj^osed to do. Franklin tried to prepare the 
 English general for Indian warfare, but Brad- 
 dock smiled patronizingly and replied: 
 
 *^ These savages may indeed be a formidable 
 enemy to your raw American militia. But upon 
 the king's regular and disciplined troops it is 
 impossible that they should make any impres- 
 sion." 
 
 Franldin saw, as young Washington, one of 
 General Bradock's aides, also observed, that it 
 was useless to argue further with the obstinate, 
 opinionated British general. They both warned 
 Braddock against falling into an ambush, but 
 nothing could make any impression on his con- 
 ceit, and he and his "regulars" were surprised 
 and shot down like so many helpless cattle. 
 Braddock, mortally wounded, expressed his dy- 
 ing regret that he had been so foolish, but the 
 lesson was lost on the English king and his ad- 
 visers. 
 
 197 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 After the defeat of the British under Brad- 
 dock the Indians, becoming bolder, carried on 
 the warfare in Pennsylvania, murdering and 
 scalping men and carrying away women and 
 children into captivity. The peaceful Moravian 
 village of Gnadenhutten, near Bethlehem, was 
 destroyed and great fear spread to Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 A force of five hundred men was raised, and 
 Benjamin Franklin appointed general, though 
 he thought himself unfit for a military career. 
 He set out, with his son William as aide, and ar- 
 ranged to defend that region against the sav- 
 ages He succeeded in his undertaking, but 
 while he was absent from Philadelphia a violent 
 quarrel arose in the Assembly, and General 
 Franklin was needed to restore order. 
 
 Leaving Colonel Clapham in charge, Franklin 
 hurried back to Philadelphia to *'pour oil on the 
 troubled waters." The soldiers under Clapham 
 went skating, like a lot of schoolboys, one cold 
 November day, on the Lehigh River. The In- 
 dians, watching their chance, rushed in, like a 
 pack of fierce, hungry wolves, took possession of 
 the fort and massacred the small garrison left in 
 charge. The Indians plundered the fort and 
 
 198 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 oth^r buildings, and laid Gnadenhutten again in 
 ashes. 
 
 The skaters took refuge in the woods, where 
 they were pursued by the Indians. Many white 
 men were murdered, and those who escaped the 
 tomahawk and scalping knife starved and froze 
 to death in the bitter cold winter weather. Al- 
 though Franklin did not consider himself a sol- 
 dier, he did his duty far better than some who 
 believed they had greater military skill. Be- 
 tween those Indian massacres and the quarrels 
 in the councils of the white men, Braddock's 
 disastrous defeat left Pennsylvania in a very 
 bad condition. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Pennsylvania's Agent in England 
 
 The struggle with the '^proprietaries," as the 
 descendants of William Penn, the proprietors of 
 Pennsylvania, were called, was more lasting 
 and heartless than that with the Indians. Sev- 
 enty-five years before this William Penn had re- 
 
 199 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 ceived from Charles the Second a royal grant of 
 the Province of Pennsylvania. He founded 
 Philadelphia, treated the Indians with kindness, 
 and led a life of noble philanthropy and self- 
 denial. He died in England in 1718, leaving the 
 vast estate of Pennsylvania to his sons. Penn's 
 descendants had no such lofty ideas about their 
 property in America. Their only anxiety was to 
 get as much money out of it as possible. Even 
 in their day Pennsylvania was considered worth 
 fifty million dollars to the Penn family. 
 
 When the English government began to tax the 
 colonies to pay for the Seven Years' War in Eu- 
 rope, the people objected, for the colonists had 
 been to great expense in their own defense. The 
 discontent was made worse, in Pennsylvania 
 especially, by the fact that the taxes on great 
 tracts of territory still belonging to the Penns 
 were not paid by that family, who claimed to be 
 free from taxation, and refused to bear their 
 share of England's war debts. 
 
 The troubles with the British crown and the 
 owners of Pennsylvania, on account of unjust 
 taxation, resulted in the sending of Benjamin 
 Franklin to England to represent the interests 
 of the people of the Province. 
 
 200 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 Before sailing for England Franklin made 
 one more visit to win back the Indians. While 
 absent on this long trip he wrote this to his 
 wife: 
 
 **I had a good mind not to write to you by this 
 opportunity, but I never can be ill-natured 
 enough even when there is most occasion. I 
 think I won't tell you that we are well, and that 
 we expect to return about the middle of the week, 
 nor will I send you a word of news; that's poz 
 (positive). My duty to mother, love to the chil- 
 dren, and to Miss Betsy and Gracie. I am your 
 loving husband. 
 
 "P. S. I have scratched out the loving words, 
 being writ in haste by mistake, when I forgot I 
 was angry." 
 
 In those days a voyage to Europe was the un- 
 dertaking of a lifetime. At this time there were 
 pirates, privateers and men-of-war sailing the 
 seas and likely to pounce upon any craft for 
 plunder, or for political reasons. On the 4th of 
 April, 1757, Franklin, with his son William, set 
 out from Philadelphia. Several friends went 
 with them as far as Trenton, New Jersey. They 
 were delayed in reaching New York until Mon- 
 day noon. 
 
 201 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 Franklin was afraid their ship had sailed, but 
 he was pleased, on his arrival in New York, to 
 see it still waiting. There was no need of 
 anxiety, for the father and son waited eleven 
 weeks before Lord Loudoun, military com- 
 mander for the colonies, gave permission for the 
 captain to sail down the harbor. Six weeks 
 longer that waiting ship rode at anchor in the 
 lower bay. During seventeen weary weeks of 
 waiting Franklin and his party ate up, for the 
 third time, the provisions they had laid in 
 for the voyage, but Franklin made no com- 
 plaint. He always made the best of such ex- 
 periences. 
 
 At last the signal for sailing, under sealed or- 
 ders, was given. After five days the captain was 
 permitted to open his letter of instructions and 
 detach his ship from the fleet of ninety vessels 
 they were with, then on its way to attack the 
 French at Louisburg, Nova Scotia. At that time 
 there was not a single lighthouse on the coast of 
 North America. It was a tedious, stormy pass- 
 age, but they finally arrived at Falmouth, Eng- 
 land on a Sunday morning. Franklin wrote 
 home: 
 
 ^*The bell ringing for church, we went thither 
 
 202 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 immediately, and with hearts full of gratitude 
 returned sincere thanks to God for the mercies 
 we had received. 
 
 **If I were a devout Churchman, perhaps I 
 should, on this occasion, vow to build a chapel 
 to some saint. But as I am not, if I were to vow 
 at all it should be to build a ligJithouse," 
 
 On reaching London Franklin took lodgings 
 in the house of Mrs. Stevenson, 7 Craven Street, 
 Strand. He and his son each had a body servant, 
 and they maintained a carriage, as they thought 
 it necessary to keep up a certain show of quiet 
 elegance in order to be presentable at the offices 
 of the king's ministers and the homes of the 
 Penns. The haughty proprietors received 
 Franklin coldly and treated him with insulting 
 disdain. He presented a brief statement of the 
 views of the Pennsylvania Assembly. 
 
 This document was a clear statement of the 
 case, couched in the most respectful language, 
 but the proprietaries declared that it was vague 
 and disrespectful. Finding that the Penns were 
 not disposed to be just or reasonable the provin- 
 cial agent turned to the Lords of Trade, and the 
 members of the King's Council. He found the 
 old king, George the Second, more approachable 
 
 203 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 and more ready to listen to reason than the 
 haughty grandsons of "William Penn. 
 
 It was next to impossible for a man without 
 birth or social position to make much headway 
 with the British government at that time. But 
 Benjamin Franklin made the best of a difficult 
 matter. He became acquainted with the lead- 
 ing scientists, visited the University of Cam- 
 bridge, took his son traveling in England and 
 Scotland, and visited the villages in which their 
 ancestors had lived. While they were in Scot- 
 land, in 1769, the University of St. Andrew con- 
 ferred upon Franklin the honorary degree of 
 doctor of laws. 
 
 Gradually, as the great men of England be- 
 came acquainted with him. Dr. Franklin was a 
 welcome guest in the salons of London, not 
 merely as a philosopher and scientist, but as a 
 wit and teller of humorous stories. The most 
 distinguished men of letters crowded around 
 him, and Hume, the great English historian, and 
 Lord Kames, the famous philosopher and critic, 
 became his intimate friends. 
 
 Thus several years passed. While Franklin 
 was making himself known in England, matters 
 were going wrong in Pennsylvania. Just as he 
 
 204 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 was starting on a trip to Ireland he received 
 word that the proprietaries had succeeded in 
 having an act of the Assembly repealed, which 
 was yet to be passed upon by the English crown. 
 Unpacking his saddle-bags he spent the summer 
 in London to defeat the Penns, if possible. He 
 did this by a rare diplomatic stroke, enlisting the 
 sympathies of Lord Mansfield, and inducing the 
 British Lords of Commission to reverse their 
 own decision ; this left the act of the Pennsylva- 
 nia Assembly standing as it had been passed by 
 the people. 
 
 This defeat enraged the proprietaries, and 
 made it necessary for Mr. John Penn, a grand- 
 son of William Penn, to go to Pennsylvania as 
 its Governor, in order better to look after their 
 interests in the Assembly of the Province, as 
 they felt that previous Governors appointed by 
 them had yielded too much to the wishes of the 
 people. 
 
 On the 25th of October, 1760, George the Sec- 
 ond died, leaving the crown to his grandson, a 
 stupid, freakish young man, with the beginnings 
 of insanity, which had not come to be recognized, 
 who reigned as George the Third. It is quite 
 likely that if this young king had been a man of 
 
 205 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 sound sense and reason the War of the Revolu- 
 tion against England would have been averted 
 for many years. 
 
 Young William Franklin was married in Lon- 
 don in September, 1762. Lord Bute, then Eng- 
 lish Prime Minister, as a favor to his friend Dr. 
 Franklin, secured for the son an appointment as 
 royal Governor of New Jersey. 
 
 Franklin, finding that he could make no fur- 
 ther headway with the unreasonable young king 
 prepared to return to America, where his pres- 
 ence was sorely needed in Pennsylvania, as Mr. 
 John Penn was soon to become Governor of that 
 Province. 
 
 The Pennsylvania agent reached Philadel- 
 phia, after a delightfully smooth voyage of nine 
 weeks. Of this he wrote to his friend Lord 
 Kames, the Scotch author: 
 
 "On the first day of November I arrived safe 
 and well at my own home, after the absence of 
 near six years ; found my wife and daughter well 
 — the latter grown quite a woman, with many 
 amiable accomplishments acquired in my ab- 
 sence — and my friends as hearty and affection- 
 ate as ever, with whom my house was filled for 
 many days, to congratulate me on my return. I 
 
 206 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 had been chosen yearly during my absence to 
 represent the city of Philadelphia in our Pro- 
 vincial Assembly ; and on my appearance in the 
 House they voted me three thousand pounds 
 sterling ($15,000) for my services in England, 
 and their thanks delivered by the Speaker." 
 
 Franklin returned the $15,000 to be used as 
 should be deemed best for the benefit of the whole 
 Province. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Ten More Years in England 
 
 The weak but overbearing John Penn was an 
 unhappy combination of fool and knave. To 
 curry favor with the roughs and outlaws of 
 Pennsylvania he appealed to their brutal pas- 
 sions by offering a bounty for the scalps of In- 
 dian men and women as if they were wild beasts. 
 This was in glaring contrast with the way John's 
 benevolent grandfather, William Penn, treated 
 the natives. A gang of toughs, known as the 
 
 207 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 Paxtons, broke into a settlement of converted 
 and peaceful Moravian Indians and murdered 
 the men, women and children, with the apparent 
 sanction of the despicable Governor. Combining 
 this worst element with the bad men of his party 
 who stood ready to knuckle and truckle to the 
 powers that be, however corrupt, for office, 
 money or social position, Governor Penn man- 
 aged to defeat Franklin's election to the As- 
 sembly by a narrow margin, though that patriot 
 had been regularly re-elected to the House for 
 many years. 
 
 But Franklin's defeat proved a boomerang 
 for the Penn family. The self-respecting citi- 
 zens of the Province and members of the Assem- 
 bly, drew up a petition against the outrageous 
 conduct of the new proprietary Governor, and 
 elected Benjamin Franklin to present it, in per- 
 son, to the king. The affairs of state were in 
 such bad shape that a special loan had to be 
 raised to defray Dr. Franklin's expenses as 
 agent for the Province a second time. The phi- 
 losopher's resources and patriotism were equal 
 to the occasion. This time he went alone, for his 
 son, the Governor, was married and living at 
 Burlington, New Jersey. 
 
 208 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 This time Franklin had only twelve days to 
 prepare for his long journey. He was to sail on 
 a packet ship from Chester, on the Delaware, fif- 
 teen miles below Philadelphia. To the jealous 
 rage of Governor Penn, three hundred citizens 
 of Philadelphia, escorted their delegate on horse- 
 back to Chester, and saw him sail away. 
 
 After a stormy passage of more than four- 
 weeks, Franklin found himself again at Mrs. 
 Stevenson's door, in Craven Street, London, 
 There were other colonial agents in the metropo- 
 lis, sent to protest against unjust British meas- 
 ures for taxation of the American colonies. 
 Grenville was now prime minister. Dr. Frank- 
 lin and four other agents called on him to protest 
 against the passage of the Stamp Act, but their 
 remonstrances were in vain. Parliament passed 
 it, making it a law, in 1765. The king signed it 
 in with an angry scrawl which showed, as ob- 
 served by some, that he was becoming insane. 
 
 It was only a small sum of money that Eng- 
 land hoped to raise from stamps which the col- 
 onists were to stick upon legal documents, bills, 
 receipts and the like. Young Americans to-day 
 can remember when stamps were necessary for 
 all sorts of documents to make them legal, yet 
 
 209 
 
 r4— Franklin, 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 there was no complaint. But the Stamp Act 
 was passed by the British Parliament impos- 
 ing a tax upon American people who were not 
 allowed to elect members to Parliament. That 
 made all the difference in the world. It was 
 the principle of "taxation without representa- 
 tion'^ that the people considered unjust. To 
 pay any tax, however small, would be wrong, 
 as it would be an admission of England's right 
 to levy such a tax. 
 
 The great mistake that King George and his 
 ministers made was in not finding out that the 
 American farmers were more intelligent than 
 the peasants of Europe. Franklin wrote to a 
 friend : 
 
 **I took every step in my power to prevent the 
 passing of the Stamp Act. But the tide was too 
 strong against us. The nation was provoked by 
 American claims of legislative independence; 
 and all parties joined in resolving, by this act, to 
 settle the point." 
 
 When he saw that the Stamp Act was sure to 
 be passed by Parliament, Franklin wasted his 
 energies in an attempt to have the government of 
 Pennsylvania taken out of the hands of the arro- 
 gant and ignorant Penn family and adminis- 
 
 210 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 tered by the king and his ministers, like those of 
 all the other Provinces. Although he failed in 
 this, his second visit to England was, in other 
 ways, a great success, for he became acquainted 
 with William Pitt and Edmund Burke, and 
 helped make them friendly to the American 
 cause. 
 
 When the Stamp Law had been passed the 
 people of the American colonies resisted it. The 
 keenest indignation prevailed, and the officers 
 appointed to sell the stamps to the people were 
 afraid for their lives. 
 
 Within a few weeks after Pitt appeared in the 
 House of Commons as the champion of Ameri- 
 can rights. Dr. Franklin was summoned before 
 that august body to answer many questions con- 
 cerning the state of affairs in America, where 
 the people were so thoroughly aroused that they 
 refused to buy from England manufactures or 
 anything else that could be dispensed with. This 
 tended to make the manufacturers, merchants 
 and mill hands all take sides with the offended 
 colonies. Franklin took his stand in the pres- 
 ence of the House of Commons, and answered 
 one hundred and seventy-four questions asked 
 him by different members of Parliament. Here 
 
 211 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 are several of the questions and answers, as 
 afterward published : 
 
 "61. Q. Don't you think cloth from 
 England absolutely necessary to them 
 (the colonists) ? 
 
 "A. No, by no means absolutely 
 necessary; with industry and good 
 management they may very well sup- 
 ply themselves with all they want. 
 
 "62. Q. Will it not take a long while 
 to establish that manufacture among 
 them; and must they not in the mean- 
 while suffer greatly? 
 
 "A. I think not. They have made 
 surprising progress already. And I am 
 of opinion that before their old clothes 
 are worn out they will have new ones 
 of their own making. 
 
 "173. Q. What used to be the pride 
 of the Americans ? 
 
 "A. To indulge in the fashions and 
 manufactures of Great Britain. 
 
 "174. Q. What is now their pride? 
 
 "A. To wear their old clothes over 
 again till they can make new ones.'' 
 
 Never did a man show greater or more ready 
 wisdom and shrewdness than Dr. Franklin did 
 rhat day in answering, off-hand, the varied ques- 
 
 212 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 tions of many of the keenest men in England. 
 He did it with such serene frankness that even 
 his bitterest foes could not help wondering at 
 and admiring his coolness and the completeness 
 of his information. 
 
 The Rev. George Whitefield, one of the great- 
 est preachers the world has ever seen, wrote of 
 this event: 
 
 ''Our worthy friend, Dr. Franklin, has gained 
 immortal honor by his behavior at the bar of the 
 House (of Commons). The answer was always 
 found equal, if not superior to his questioner. 
 He stood unappalled, gave pleasure to his 
 friends, and did honor to his country." 
 
 Edmund Burke, one of the greatest and most 
 eloquent men in England, wrote to a friend : 
 
 ''Franklin, as he stood before the bar of Par- 
 liament, presented such an aspect of dignity and 
 intellectual superiority as to remind me of a 
 schoolmaster questioned by schoolboys.'' 
 
 But perhaps the highest tribute to Franklin's 
 genius and wisdom came from his royal enemy, 
 George the Third, as he said to his ministers 
 and court when he heard of the ready answers of 
 the provincial agent, "That crafty American is 
 more than a match for you all!" 
 
 213 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 Not alone in the halls of Parliament did *'that 
 crafty American" prove himself an able antag- 
 onist to the king, his ministers, and all the cring- 
 ing court who left no stone unturned in their 
 eager attempts to insult and discredit him in the 
 eyes of the people of England. The truckling 
 Governors of the various Provinces wrote home 
 such ridiculous untruths about matters in 
 America that it was impossible to get at the real 
 state of affairs in the colonies. 
 
 Some one, wishing to make the people inter- 
 ested believe that there was no wool worth men- 
 tioning in the colonies and that the fishery ques- 
 tion was not worth discussing, wrote an absurd 
 and misleading article for one of the London 
 papers, evidently for the purpose of forcing 
 Franklin to rebut it with an indignant denial. 
 But instead of of showing annoyance, the philo- 
 sophical agent paid the misinf ormant back in his 
 own coin. He wrote to the editor: 
 
 "Dear Sir: Do not let us suffer ourselves to 
 be amused with such groundless objections. The 
 very tails of the American sheep are so laden 
 with wool that each has a little car or wagon on 
 four little wheels to support it and keep it from 
 trailing on the ground. Would they caulk their 
 
 214 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 ships, would they even litter (bed) their horses 
 with wool if it were not both plenty and cheap 1 
 
 ^'And yet all this is as certainly true as the ac- 
 count, said to be from Quebec, in all the papers 
 of last week, that the inhabitants of Canada are 
 making preparations for a cod and whale fishery 
 this * summer in the upper lakes. ' Ignorant peo- 
 ple may object that the upper lakes are fresh, 
 and that cods and whales are salt water fish, but 
 let them know, sir, that cod, like other fish, when 
 attacked by their enemies, fly into any water 
 where they can be safest ; that whales, when they 
 have a mind to eat cod, pursue them wherever 
 they fly, and that the grand leap of the whale in 
 the chase up the Falls of Niagara is esteemed hy 
 all who have seen it as one of the finest spectacles 
 in Nature!'' 
 
 In these replies Franklin went only a little 
 farther than the statements of the correspond- 
 ents, thus discrediting them in the eyes of the 
 readers of the London newspapers far more suc- 
 cessfully than if he had lost his temper and in- 
 dulged in scolding or abuse. The English 
 people soon found that, while they did not al- 
 ways understand what the American agent was 
 driving at, he was a good-natured man, and "a 
 
 215 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 sad wag, don't you know." This in addition to 
 the need the merchants, manufacturers, and mill 
 hands felt of having American business, made 
 the English people clamor for the repeal of the 
 Stamp Act. 
 
 The king and his ministers were therefore 
 compelled to take back the unpopular Stamp law. 
 The news of this came to the colonies just after 
 the report of the examination of Dr. Franklin 
 by the House of Commons. The American peo- 
 ple, wild with joy, rang bells, built bonfires, and 
 fired guns and cannons. Franklin's daughter, 
 Sarah, wrote to her "honored papa," *'I never 
 heard so much noise in my life. The very chil- 
 dren seemed distracted." 
 
 Feeling that his mission in England was now 
 accomplished, Franklin wrote asking permission 
 to come home. He was now over sixty, and he 
 had lived too long away from his wife and chil- 
 dren. His daughter was married meanwhile to 
 a man named Richard Bache. His wife dreaded 
 the sea voyage so much that she could not think 
 of going to join her husband in England. But 
 the Pennsylvania Assembly elected him agent 
 for another year. His grandson, William 
 Temple Franklin, came to complete his educa- 
 
 216 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 tion and to comfort and help the lonely old phi- 
 losopher. 
 
 Partly to soothe the helpless wrath of the 
 king for the repeal of the Stamp Act, Parlia- 
 ment immediately passed the Declaratory Act, 
 announcing the right of the British govern- 
 ment to tax the colonies at pleasure. As the ob- 
 stinate monarch was still dissatisfied, Parlia- 
 ment passed another bill during the following 
 year, 1767, laying a duty on glass, paints, paper, 
 and tea. This raised an uproar in America. The 
 Englishmen in authority seemed unable to un- 
 derstand that it was the principle of taxation 
 without having any say whether it should be paid 
 or how much it should be, that the king's still 
 loyal American subjects were opposing. 
 
 Nothing could satisfy King George and his 
 sei-vile courtiers but unreasoning obedience on 
 the part of the American colonists. To enforce 
 this he sent soldiers to Massachusetts and other 
 colonies. All this only served to fan the fury of 
 the people into a flame. 
 
 Meanwhile some of the time-serving Gover- 
 nors were sending to the ministry false reports 
 of the conduct of the people and their leaders, 
 for the purpose of inciting the king to send more 
 
 217 
 
The Story; of Young 
 
 soldiers and destroy all wlio refused to submit to 
 any kind of treatment the officials of the crown 
 chose to heap upon them. 
 
 The burning resentment of the people burst 
 out here and there in acts of violence, and made 
 Franklin ^s task more and more difficult, but he 
 combined marvelous serenity with the highest 
 skill in diplomacy. No other man of his time 
 could have performed his difficult task so well. 
 He wrote humorous stories for the papers which 
 the king's ministry wondered at and did not see 
 that **that crafty American'' was laughing in 
 his sleeve at them all the time. 
 
 One day, while he was entertained at Lord Le 
 Despenser's, some one said that the telling of 
 great truths in the form of a fable was a lost art. 
 Franklin asked for pen, ink and paper, and at 
 once wrote the following : 
 
 *'Once upon a time an eagle, scaling round a 
 farmer's barn, and espying a hare, darted down 
 upon him like a sunbeam, seized him in his claws, 
 and remounted with him in the air. He soon 
 found that he had a creature of more courage 
 and strength than a hare, for which, notwith- 
 standing the keenness of his eyesight, he had 
 mistaken a cat. 
 
 218 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 "The snarling and scrambling of the prey was 
 very inconvenient, and, what was worse, she had 
 disengaged herself from his talons, grasped his 
 body with her four limbs so as to stop his breath, 
 and seized fast hold of his throat with her teeth. 
 
 ** *Pray,^ said the eagle, 'let go your hold, and 
 I will release you. ' 
 
 << *Yery fine,' said the cat, *I have no fancy to 
 fall from this height and be crushed to death. 
 You have taken me up, and you shall stoop and 
 let me down. ' 
 
 *'The eagle thought it necessary to stoop ac- 
 cordingly." 
 
 The coroment on Dr. Franklin's performance 
 was that 'Hhe moral was so applicable to Eng- 
 land and America that the fable was allowed to 
 be original, and highly applauded." 
 
 While living on in London, longing for home 
 and deeply desirous of doing something to allay 
 the fever of excitement on the American side, 
 Franklin was shown some letters from Governor 
 Hutchinson, of Massachusetts, misrepresenting 
 the state of affairs in his Province to influence 
 the prejudices of the king and his advisers. 
 Franklin secured the permission of his friend to 
 ^end copies of these without signature to a friend 
 
 219 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 in America, in order that certain indiscreet lead- 
 ers might be warned against the worst. The 
 copies were printed and distributed in Massa- 
 chusetts. It became known that they were 
 written by Governor Hutchinson, and an indig- 
 nant petition was drawn up, signed by many 
 citizens, and sent to the king demanding the re- 
 moval of this Governor as a traitor to his 
 trust. 
 
 Dr. Franklin had become entirely too popular 
 in England to please the king and the Tories. 
 Here, they thought, was a chance to crush him. 
 He was arraigned before the Committee for Co- 
 lonial Affairs to give reasons for the petition 
 against Governor Hutchinson, for Franklin was 
 now agent also for Massachusetts as well as for 
 Georgia and New Jersey. To his surprise. Chief 
 Solicitor Wedderburn had been retained to 
 prosecute him as if he were a criminal. Four 
 cabinet ministers were present and thirty-five 
 members of the Privy Council. Lord North, the 
 Prime Minister, and the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury were there to witness the humbling of their 
 American enemy. Wedderburn accused Frank- 
 lin of stealing the Hutchinson letters, and print- 
 ing them for the sake of making money. The 
 
 220 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 so-called judges so far forgot their dignity as to 
 laugh boisterously while Wedderburn used abu- 
 sive and insulting language, calling Franklin a 
 thief and other hard names. Among the spec- 
 tators stood a few of Franklin's friends, but they 
 felt obliged to preserve a solemn silence. 
 
 A historian has described Franklin's appear- 
 ance during this trying ordeal : *'He stood at the 
 edge of the recess formed by the chimney, with 
 one elbow resting upon the mantel, and his cheek 
 upon his hand. He was motionless as a statue, 
 and had composed his features into such calm 
 rigidity that not the movement of a muscle could 
 be detected. 
 
 **As usual, he was dressed simply but with 
 great elegance. His costume, which was ad- 
 mirably fitted to a form as perfect as Grecian 
 sculptor ever chiseled, was of rich, figured silk 
 velvet. In all that room there was not an indi- 
 vidual who, in physical beauty, was the peer of 
 Franklin. In all that room there was not an- 
 other who, in intellectual greatness, could have 
 met the trial so grandly." 
 
 This ordeal was in strong contrast with that 
 of Franklin's appearance before the House of 
 Commons, and grandly as he met the questions 
 
 221 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 that day, his serene deportment in the presence 
 of false accusation and gross abuse was even 
 more magnificent. "He that is slow to anger is 
 better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his 
 spirit than he that taketh a city.'* 
 
 Two or three days afterward he received a curt 
 note dismissing him from his office as postmas- 
 ter-general of the American colonies. Yet he 
 was not crushed. He knew that much of the 
 anger shown by the members of the king's party 
 was because he had declined high positions which 
 had been offered him as a bribe to turn him 
 against his countrymen. But Benjamin Frank- 
 lin could not, like his son, be corrupted with an 
 office. When an official called on him in the 
 name of the government of Great Britain to tell 
 him that there was hardly an honor in the gift of 
 the crown which he might not ask if he would but 
 comply with the wishes of the ministry, Frank- 
 lin replied: **The ministry, I am sure, would 
 rather give me a place in a cart to Tyburn (to be 
 hanged).'' 
 
 The government was forced to repeal the law 
 which levied duty on paint, paper and glass, 
 leaving only the duty on tea. The retaining of 
 this tax was like a taunt to the indignant colon- 
 
 222 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 ists. They refused to receive the ships which 
 came loaded with tea into their harbors. In 
 Boston a band of men, disguised as Indians, 
 boarded a tea ship and emptied the chests into 
 the harbor. This was called ^'The Boston Tea 
 Party.'' It was an angry defiance rather than 
 a brave act. It brought about a bill in Parlia- 
 ment closing the port of Boston. The other colo- 
 nies came to the rescue and saved Boston from 
 starving. The Boston Port Bill required the 
 presence of more soldiers. This aggravated the 
 colonists still more, and when King George sent 
 to hire men of other countries, like the Hessians, 
 to destroy his still loyal American subjects who 
 were struggling only for their rights, the 
 people's wrath knew no bounds. On their be- 
 half William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, protested 
 in an impassioned speech in Parliament in 
 which he said : 
 
 **If I were an American, as I am an English- 
 man, while a foreign troop was landed in my 
 country I would never lay down my arms — 
 Never! Never! NEVER!" 
 
 Franklin was able to distinguish between 
 George the man and George the king, for, after 
 all he had suffered at the hands of the king and 
 
 223 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 his ministers, he wrote of the private character 
 of George the man : 
 
 *'I can scarcely conceive a king of better dis- 
 positions, of more exemplary virtues, or more 
 truly desirous of promoting the welfare of his 
 subjects." 
 
 It is charitable to believe that the seeds of in- 
 sanity were already sprouting in the brain of 
 George the Third. Yet, with regard to his oppo- 
 sition to paying any unjust tax, Franklin re- 
 plied : 
 
 *'I have some little property in America. I 
 will freely spend nineteen shillings in the pound 
 to defend my right of giving or refusing the 
 other shilling. And after all, if I cannot defend 
 that right, I can retire cheerfully with my little 
 family into the boundless woods of America, 
 which are sure to afford freedom and subsistence 
 to any man who can bait a hook or pull a trig- 
 ger." 
 
 Franklin had now passed ten years on his sec- 
 ond mission in England. This made sixteen 
 years out of eighteen that he had been forced by 
 his loyalty to be absent from his family. Once 
 more he prepared for the home voyage. He had 
 written to his wife that he could not endure the 
 
 224 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 separation another year. He felt that Pennsyl- 
 vania needed his aid and counsel. It was with a 
 relieved and grateful heart that he was getting 
 ready to go home to his wife, ''Debbj^/' and his 
 daughter, "Sally," whom he had left a girl of 
 twelve, but was now a matron with two children 
 their grandfather had not seen. 
 
 In the midst of his preparations he received 
 word that his wife had died, in December, 1774, 
 following a paralytic shock. After his pictures 
 of the quiet life he could yet enjoy with his 
 "dearest old Joan," and muse, philosophize and 
 experiment to his heart's content, it was hard for 
 him to go home and not find her there. He did 
 not even come back to the same house, for Mrs. 
 Franklin had built a new home on another street 
 during her husband's ten-year absence. Three 
 years before she died Franklin wrote tenderly of 
 his wife : ' ' She proved a good and faithful help- 
 mate ; we throve together and have ever mutually 
 endeavored to make each other happy." 
 
 One of his maxims, by "Poor Richard," was 
 "A good wife lost is God's gift lost." 
 
 225 
 
 IS — Franklin. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 The Long War and Peace at Last 
 
 While Dr. Franklin was sailing across the At- 
 lantic on his way home, the war had "actually 
 begun'' at Lexington and Concord. From Phila- 
 delphia Franklin wrote to his friend Edmund 
 Burke of the disgraceful stampede of the British 
 regulars from Lexington back to Boston: 
 
 ** General Gage's troops made a most vigorous 
 retreat — twenty miles in three hours ! — scarce to 
 be paralleled in history. The feeble Americans, 
 who pelted them all the way, could scarce keep 
 up with them!" 
 
 The humor of this description is better under- 
 stood when it is remembered that the Tory au- 
 thorities referred to the American "peasantry" 
 as cowards who would fly before the regulars 
 like so many sheep. Even Dr. Samuel Johnson, 
 one of the greatest of Englishmen, said of the 
 colonists : "The Americans are a race of convicts. 
 They ought to be thankful for anything we can 
 
 226 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 give them. I am willing to love all mankind ex- 
 cept an American I ' ' 
 
 Franklin had arrived home on the 5th of May, 
 1775 — just in time to be elected a delegate to the 
 Continental Congress assembling in the State 
 House, now known as Independence Hall, on 
 May 10th. One of the first acts of this Congress 
 was to make Franklin postmaster-general of the 
 colonies. 
 
 Dr. Franklin was one of the leading spirits of 
 the Congress, but some of those "most potent, 
 grave and reverend seigniors" thought him too 
 much imbued with a spirit of levity because he 
 made fun of some of the measures they proposed. 
 There were two parties in the Congress, those 
 who were in favor of declaring for American in- 
 dependence, and others, more careful, if not 
 cowardlj^, who wished to petition the king again, 
 but Franklin too well knew how vain that 
 would be. 
 
 When Charleston was burned by the British, 
 Franklin said : 
 
 "England has begun to bum our seaport 
 towns, secure, I suppose, that we shall never be 
 able to return the outrage in kind. She may, 
 doubtless, destroy them all. 
 
 227 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 **But if she wishes to recover our commerce, 
 are these the probable means? She must cer- 
 tainly be distracted, for no tradesman out of 
 Bedlam (a famous English insane asylum) ever 
 thought of increasing the number of his custom- 
 ers by knocking them in the head ; or of enabling 
 them to pay their debts by burning their houses. ' ' 
 
 He also wi'ote this now-famous letter to his 
 English friend, Strahan, who was like Franklin, 
 a printer and publisher: 
 
 *'Mr. Strahan: 
 
 ^'You are a member of Parliament, 
 and one of that majority which has 
 doomed my country to destruction. 
 You have begun to burn our towns and 
 murder our people. Look upon your 
 hands ! They are stained with the blood 
 of your relations. You and I were long 
 friends ; you are now my enemy, and 
 **I am, 
 
 "Yours, 
 
 **B. Franklin." 
 
 Franklin had lost his faithful wife and now he 
 was losing his best friends. But harder than 
 cither of these was the disloyalty of his son, 
 William, the Governor of New Jersey, who had 
 
 228 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 also become malignant in his opposition to the 
 cause for which his father had risked his life and 
 all that he possessed. The Congress had Will- 
 iam Franklin arrested and removed to Con- 
 necticut. At this time a newspaper printed the 
 following report : 
 
 ^*Day before yesterday Governor Franklin, of 
 New Jersey, passed through Hartford. Mr. 
 Franklin is a noted tory and ministerial tool, and 
 has been exceedingly busy in perplexing the 
 cause of liberty, and in serving the designs of 
 the British king and his ministers. 
 
 *'He is son to Dr. Benjamin Franklin, the 
 genius of the day, and the great patron of Ameri- 
 can liberty. If His Excellency the Governor 
 escapes the vengeance of the people, due to the 
 enormity of his crimes, his redemption will fol- 
 low, not from personal merit, but from the high 
 esteem and veneration which the country enter- 
 tains for his honored father. '^ 
 
 After an imprisonment of twenty-eight 
 months, William Franklin was exchanged, and 
 pensioned by the British government for his un- 
 tiring efforts to defeat his father's cause. Long 
 after the defection of ** Billy," the father, still 
 deeply hurt in heart, wrote : 
 
 229 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 ** Nothing has ever affected me with such keen 
 sensations, as to find myself deserted in my old 
 age by my only son, and not only deserted, but to 
 find him taking up arms in a cause wherein my 
 good name, fortune and life were at stake." 
 
 Franklin's faith and cheerful humor stood 
 him and the other heroes of the Revolution in 
 good stead in those crucial days, described by 
 Thomas* Paine as *Hhe times that try men's 
 souls." 
 
 Remembering his success in raising wagons 
 and supplies for Braddock's army he was put in 
 charge of the same work in this war. All his 
 ingenuity in invention came into play in plan- 
 ning defenses for Philadelphia. 
 
 Being one of three commissioners, Franklin 
 visited Washington at Cambridge in October, 
 1775, during the siege of Boston. One of the 
 duties of this executive committee of three was 
 to devise a flag for the Continental Army. Con- 
 ferring with Washington, they decided upon 
 thirteen red and white stripes, representing the 
 thirteen British colonies, with the British union, 
 the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew which 
 still composed the English Union Jack. This 
 banner showed that they were not fighting, as so 
 
 230 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 many States, for independence, but were still 
 thirteen loyal colonies struggliQg for their rights 
 as British subjects. Franklin had made a study 
 of heraldry and flag symbolism. It is believed 
 that he advised Washington with regard to the 
 circle of thirteen stars set in the blue field of the 
 first United States flag, made by Betsy Ross, 
 when the people were at last forced to fight for 
 independence and separation from the Mother 
 Country. 
 
 Returning to Philadelphia Franklin was sent 
 on a difficult mission to Canada, which proved 
 unsuccessful. This undertaking was beset with 
 hardships — too many and too heavy for a portly 
 man of seventy afflicted with gout. But no en- 
 terprise was too arduous or discouraging for the 
 patriotic zeal of Benjamin Franklin. After his 
 return he was appointed one of a committee of 
 five to write the Declaration of Independence. 
 As Franklin was the oldest man in the commit- 
 tee the rest would have required him to make 
 the first draft of that document. But he, with 
 his customary modesty and acuteness of obser- 
 vation, declared that young Thomas Jefferson 
 should write out the Declaration, and the result 
 proved the wisdom of their decision. 
 
 231 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 During the days of debating and signing that 
 immortal document the solemnity of the great 
 occasion was enlivened by Franklin's wit. The 
 other signers caught the spirit and true Ameri- 
 can humor and American independence were 
 born at the same time. It was a solemn time. 
 The doughty signers knew too well that this act 
 might bring them one and all to the gallows. 
 One of them said to the rest, '*Now we must all 
 hang together. '^ Dr. Franklin retorted, with a 
 funny twinkle, *'Yes, we must all hang together 
 or, assuredly, we shall all hang — separately!*' 
 
 Within two weeks after the signing of the 
 Declaration of Independence, Franklin was 
 chosen president of the convention to form a 
 constitution for the State of Pennsylvania. Just 
 after this he received a letter from his English 
 friend, Lord Howe — with whose sister he had 
 played chess while living in London — to arrange 
 for a conference which might bring about a 
 reconciliation between Mother England and her 
 American daughter. 
 
 **Long did I endeavor," he wrote to the Brit- 
 ish admiral, **with unfeigned and unwearied 
 zeal, to preserve from breaking that fine and 
 noble china vase, the British Empire; for I 
 
 232 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 knew that, once broken, the separate parts could 
 not retain even their share of the strength or 
 value that existed in the whole and that a per- 
 fect reunion of the parts could scarce be hoped 
 for.'^ 
 
 The conference took place and Benjamin 
 Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge 
 were forced to inform Lord Howe that the offers 
 of peace had come too late. During the inter- 
 view Lord Howe expressed a deep fraternal 
 feeling for those who were fighting for their 
 rights, saying : ^'If America should fail, I should 
 feel and lament it like the loss of a brother.'' 
 
 Dr. Franklin bowed low and said with a bland 
 but meaning smile, *'we will do our utmost 
 endeavor to spare your lordship that mortifica- 
 tion!'' 
 
 The story is told of a mysterious stranger, who 
 came to Philadelphia and asked to deliver a 
 secret message to a committee appointed by the 
 Continental Congress. As he would explain 
 nothing the committee was not appointed. The 
 strange man came again with the same request, 
 and then again. 
 
 At last Congress appointed John Jay, Dr. 
 Franklin and Thomas Jefferson to meet the 
 
 233 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 stranger. The committee went to the place re- 
 quested and awaited in silence the coming of 
 the unknown ambassador. Soon a man entered, 
 dignified in manner and of military bearing. 
 
 ^*What is your mission?" they finally asked. 
 The man replied, with a French accent : 
 
 ^*His most Christian Majesty, the king of 
 France, has heard of your struggle in defense 
 of your rights and for liberty. He has desired 
 me to meet you as his representative, and to ex- 
 press to you his respect and sympathy; also to 
 say to you, in secrecy, that if the time comes 
 when you need aid, his assistance will not be 
 withlield." 
 
 The committee expressed surprise. **What is 
 the evidence of your authority?" 
 
 By way of answer, the gentleman drew his 
 hand across his throat, saying, ** Gentlemen, I 
 shall take care of my head." 
 
 ^'But," said one of the three, "if what you 
 say is true, we must secure the friendly action 
 of our Congress." 
 
 ** Gentlemen," said the strange man again, re- 
 peating the uncanny gesture, "I shall take care 
 of my head." Then he added, earnestly: **If 
 you want arms, you may have them ; if you want 
 
 234 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 ammunition, you may have it; if you want 
 money, you may have it. Gentlemen, I shall 
 take care of my head.'^ 
 
 After this strange incident the mysterious 
 messenger disappeared from public sight. No 
 one ever knew who he was, nor if he were really 
 sent by the king of France. 
 
 Dr. Franklin's scientific experiments and 
 treatises had won him many friends in France. 
 He had visited that country during his second 
 mission to England, and was then presented at 
 court. The French were also in sympathy with 
 the American cause, both because of their good 
 will toward American freedom and the ill will 
 they bore their ancient enemies across the Eng- 
 lish Channel. The old philosopher received a 
 long letter from a scientific friend in France, 
 which, read between the lines, revealed the fact 
 that the French would welcome the opportunity 
 of helping America if it could be done quietly 
 enough to avoid a war with England. 
 
 This letter came soon after the battle of Long 
 Island, while Washington and his destitute 
 army were in retreat, and pursued by the Brit- 
 ish toward Philadelphia. The prospects were 
 then most discouraging to the revolting colonies. 
 
 235 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 So this secret French offer of experienced sol- 
 diers, guns and money brought joy to the hearts 
 of the leaders in Congress, who resolved at once 
 to send an embassy of the highest distinction to 
 France. Dr. Franklin was unanimously elected 
 on the first ballot. When the result of the voting 
 was announced, the aged philosopher said to Dr. 
 Rush, who sat next him : 
 
 *'I am old and good for nothing. But as the 
 storekeepers say of their remnants of cloth, I 
 am *but a fag-end,' and you may have me *for 
 what you please.' " 
 
 Thomas Jefferson and Silas Deane, who was 
 an agent already in Europe, were elected com- 
 missioners to France. But, on account of the 
 illness of his wife, Jefferson could not go, so 
 Arthur Lee, also living in Europe, was chosen in 
 his stead. 
 
 Franklin embarked in the *' Reprisal," a fast 
 sailing sloop of war carrying sixteen guns. He 
 took with him his grandson, William Temple 
 Franklin, son of William, the former Governor 
 of New Jersey, a promising youth of eighteen, 
 and Benjamin Franklin Bache, his daughter 
 Sarah's son, a boy of seven. Young Temple 
 Franklin did not side with his father, but alwavs 
 
 236 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 remained loyal to his grandfather and the Amer- 
 ican cause. 
 
 Every precaution had been taken to keep 
 Franklin's mission a secret. He said afterward 
 that of all his eight voyages across the Atlantic, 
 this was the most distressing. A fierce gale 
 drove the little craft well across to its destina- 
 tion. The aged ambassador, now corpulent and 
 gouty, was compelled to keep to his cramped 
 quarters. Several times they were pursued by 
 British cruisers. Though instructed to keep 
 from fighting and attend only to the safety of 
 his precious passenger, Captain Wickes, of the 
 *' Reprisal,'' captured two British brigs, rich 
 with spoils of war, not far from the English 
 Channel, and cast anchor in Quiberon Bay, near 
 the mouth of the Loire. Dr. Franklin and his 
 two grandsons took a carriage to the city of 
 Nantes. The voyage was a quick one for that 
 time, from October 26 to November 29, 1776. 
 
 When the English learned that their old 
 enemy had crossed the ocean and was safe in 
 France they were astounded, but when they 
 found that the little American sloop had not only 
 escaped the British ships of war, but had also 
 captured two English ships almost on their own 
 
 237 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 premises, they were provoked beyond measure. 
 
 Silas Deane, one of Franklin's fellow-commis- 
 sioners, joyously wrote from France : 
 
 *'Here is the hero and philosopher and patriot 
 — all united in this celebrated American, who, at 
 the age of seventy-four, risks all dangers for his 
 country.'^ 
 
 Lord Stormont, the British minister, indig- 
 nant at the ovations given to Franklin, notified 
 the French court that if "that odious Ameri- 
 can" were allowed to stay in Paris, he, as am- 
 bassador of Great Britain, would withdraw. 
 Franklin came and received the most enthusi- 
 astic welcome — ^yet Stormont stayed! Not lik- 
 ing to embarrass the friendly French, and har- 
 boring no ill-feeling toward the British minister, 
 Franklin took up his residence in the little town 
 of Passy, then a few miles out of Paris (but now 
 within the city limits), where a wealthy admirer 
 named de Chaumont placed a small castle at his 
 disposal. Here Franklin lived the nine years 
 that he represented the American government 
 in France. 
 
 One day a huge ornamented cake came ad- 
 dressed to *'Le Digne Franklin" ("the worthy 
 Franklin"). Mr. Lee and Mr. Deane laugh- 
 
 238 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 ingly objected because the French recognized 
 no one but Franklin, and ignored the other two 
 members of the committee. 
 
 *'0n the contrary," retorted Franklin, "this 
 cake is addressed to all three of us, only the 
 French do not know how to spell English names. 
 See ? *Le' (Lee), *Digne' (pronounced ^Deane') 
 and * Franklin.' " 
 
 The news from America was most discourag- 
 ing, but Franklin made the best of everything. 
 **It will be all right," he kept saying — or ''fa 
 ira*' in French. His cheerful humor soon be- 
 came proverbial. The people quoted Franklin's 
 hopeful phrase and composed a revolutionary 
 song with/' fa ira*' for its title and refrain. 
 
 When a gloating Englishman called and told 
 him General Howe had taken Philadelphia, the 
 old philosopher answered sturdily, **I beg your 
 pardon, sir — PhiladelpJiia has taken Howe!*' 
 This, in a few months, proved true. Shortly 
 after this the Americans in France received the 
 glad news that the British general, Burgoyne, 
 and all his army had surrendered at Saratoga. 
 
 England was greatly alarmed and sent secret 
 envoys to Franklin at Passy, lest the Americans 
 should acknowledge allegiance to France. 
 
 239 
 
The Stoiy of Young 
 
 Everything the Americans demanded at first 
 was now freely conceded. But Franklin and the 
 others told them they were too late with their 
 proposed concessions, for now the Americans 
 would accept nothing short of independence and 
 complete separation from Great Britain. 
 
 On the 5th of February, 1778, the French 
 court and the American commission signed the 
 treaty of alliance which aided the struggling 
 colonies and Washington's poor, starving little 
 army to win the final victory at Yorktown, more 
 than three years later. The French- American 
 alliance was no longer a secret. The American 
 envoys were publicly welcomed at the French 
 court at Versailles. A historian has described 
 the scene : 
 
 ** Franklin was richly dressed. His hair was 
 carefully arranged by a French perruquier. He 
 wore an admirably fitting suit of plain black 
 velvet. Ruffles of elaborate embroidery and 
 snowy whiteness adorned his wrists and bosom. 
 White silk stocldngs aided in showing the per- 
 fect proportions of his frame. Large silver 
 buckles were on his shoes. No one could accuse 
 him of failing in due respect for the king. His 
 costume was superb, and was such as was then 
 
 240 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 worn, on important occasions, by American gen- 
 tlemen of the highest rank. 
 
 **The audience took place at Versailles, on the 
 morning of the 29th of March (1778). Each of 
 the American envoys rode in his own carriage, 
 attended by the usual retinue of servants. On 
 the way they were cheered with the utmost en- 
 thusiasm by the crowd. The king, Louis XYI, 
 received them with extreme courtesy, and the 
 queen, Marie Antoinette, was marked in her at- 
 tentions to Franklin. 
 
 *'Who can describe the exultation, the rap- 
 ture, the tears with which these tidings were re- 
 ceived by the patriots of America ^ On the 6th 
 of May, General Washington drew up his little 
 band at Valley Forge to announce the great 
 event, and to offer God prayers and thanksgiv- 
 ings." 
 
 Franklin did as much in the courts of Europe 
 as even Washington could do in the fields of 
 America to achieve the independence of their be- 
 loved country. 
 
 When Lafayette returned to France from 
 America, in 1779, he brought word that Benja- 
 min Franklin had been appointed by Congress 
 the one minister with full power from the new 
 
 241 
 
 i6 — Frankltn. 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 government of the United States of America. 
 There were rejoicings throughout the realm of 
 France. The newly elected ambassador was 
 presented at the French court with greater 
 splendor, if possible, than before. So great was 
 Franklin's popularity that it has been said that 
 if he had been an angel from heaven or a visitor 
 from Mars, he could hardly have been received 
 with more devoted enthusiasm. Wherever he 
 went, in the streets of Paris, he and his grand- 
 sons were followed by admiring crowds. If he 
 went into a theater the actors themselves joined 
 with the audience in giving le grand Franklin 
 a welcome. For once an American **set the 
 fashions'' for Paris. Everything that could 
 bear his name — ^hats, coats, gloves, canes, snuff 
 boxes and the like — ^were styled a la Franklin. 
 There was scarcely a house in the city which did 
 not boast a Franklin stove or portrait. Poets 
 addressed odes and sonnets to him. Women 
 crowned him publicly with flowers and kissed 
 him on the hands and cheeks. When Voltaire 
 and Franklin kissed each other, the most dis- 
 tinguished members of the Academy of the 
 French *' immortals" went wild with joy. 
 Among the scientists, philosophers and sa- 
 
 242 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 vants of France Franklin was regarded with a 
 respect bordering on reverence. He often met 
 or corresponded with Montgolfier, the inventor 
 of balloons, and with Dr. Guillotin, supposed to 
 have invented the terrible machine for cutting 
 off people's heads. But this was not true, nor 
 did he die by the guillotine as is frequently 
 stated. Dr. Guillotin was an eminent French 
 physician who merely advised the use of the me- 
 chanical contrivance which came to bear his 
 name, because it was considered a humane way 
 to put criminals to death. Franklin also corre- 
 sponded with Dr. Mesmer, whose name lives in 
 the word mesmerism, and many other men of re- 
 nown whose names would fill a page. Chief 
 among these was Baron Turgot, the famous 
 financier and statesman who originated the Latin 
 epigram about his friend Franklin, which has 
 been translated into a number of forms of which 
 perhaps the most familiar is, ^'He snatched the 
 lightning from heaven and the scepter from 
 tyrants." 
 
 When the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to 
 Washington's army at Yorktown, in October, 
 1781, was reported to Lord North, Franklin's old 
 enemy, still Prime Minister of England, he "re- 
 
 243 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 ceived the tidings as he would have taken a ball 
 in his breast. He threw his arms apart. He 
 paced wildly up and down the room, exclaiming 
 from time to time, *0 God, it is all over!' " 
 
 By this time nearly all England was clamoring 
 for the king to stop the war with America. The 
 king was forced to surrender to the English peo- 
 ple as well as to the American armies. General 
 Conway, the member of Parliament who had 
 moved the repeal of the Stamp Act sixteen years 
 before, also on the 28th of February, 1782, pre- 
 sented as a motion in the House of Commons : 
 
 ^^ Resolved, That the reduction of the colonies 
 by force of arms is impracticable." 
 
 A violent debate followed this resolution. The 
 rote was finally carried. This practically ended 
 the war for American independence. The an- 
 nouncement of the result was hailed with deaf- 
 ening applause in the House. 
 
 Though it was late at night when this virtual 
 order was passed, they were immediately pre- 
 sented to the king. George the Third was in a 
 pitiable state of mind. Though not yet forty- 
 four years old, he was aged before his time. 
 Half crazy in all his dealings, he seemed utterly 
 demented whenever the American colonies were 
 
 244 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 mentioned. On receiving the message from Par- 
 liament lie flew into a passion, threatened to 
 give up his crown, and abandon England for- 
 ever. But he was forced to yield and dismiss 
 the Tory ministry that had abused and insulted 
 Dr. Franklin, and had schemed to oppress the 
 American people. 
 
 Overtures were again made to *'that crafty 
 American" to induce him to treat with England 
 by leaving his French friends out altogether. 
 The British minister pompously hinted to 
 Vergennes, the French premier, what might be 
 done in case ^'England grants America inde- 
 pendence." 
 
 Minister Vergennes laughingly replied that 
 England's consent would not be necessary. 
 ** America has already won her independence," 
 he answered. **She does not ask it of you. There 
 is Dr. Franklin. He will answer you on that 
 point." 
 
 **To be sure," added the old ambassador, ''we 
 do not consider it necessary to bargain for that 
 which is our own. We have bought our inde- 
 pendence at the expense of much blood and 
 treasure, and are in full possession of it." 
 
 John Adams and John Jay were sent by Con- 
 
 245 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 gress to aid Franklin in negotiating the terms of 
 peace. Without Franklin's philosophy, tact and 
 humor these men would have offended the 
 French by their narrowness and suspicions, and 
 would even then have defeated their own ends 
 with England. There were many preliminaries 
 and delays, but the British king and the new 
 ministry came to terms with the American com- 
 missioners, and the treaty of peace was signed, 
 in 1783, and the long and cruel war of the Revo- 
 lution was brought to a close. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 Home at Last 
 
 Still another year passed before the old phi- 
 losopher was allowed to return to America. He 
 was weary and weak, now that the great struggle 
 of his life was over, suffering from gout and 
 other acute infirmities. While he was waiting in 
 France, Thomas Paine submitted at least a part 
 of the manuscript of his great infidel book, **The 
 Age of Reason," to Dr. Franklin for his opinion 
 of it 
 
 246 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 The aged statesman who still regretted his 
 erratum, when, a youth of nineteen, he published 
 a skeptical pamphlet which won him the wrong 
 kind of fame in England, wrote Mr. Paine an 
 extended criticism of which the following is 
 part: i 
 
 "I would advise you not to attempt unchain- 
 ing the tiger, but to burn this piece before it is 
 seen by any other person ; whereby you will save 
 yourself a great deal of mortification by the ene- 
 mies it may raise against you, and perhaps a 
 great deal of regret and repentance. If men are 
 so wicked with religion, what would they be if 
 witliout it V^ 
 
 It was only during his last year in France that 
 William Franklin came over from England to 
 be reconciled to his father. 
 
 Franklin was now so prostrated by his infirm- 
 ities that he was unable to call upon the king to 
 take his final leave, but the queen sent her sedan 
 chair to carry him to the coast. On the 12th 
 of July, 1785, the aged ambassador started on 
 the slow journey from Passy to Havre, sur- 
 rounded by admiring friends who escorted him 
 all the way. He was met at different points on 
 the road by great men in the French Church 
 
 247 
 
Tile Story of Young 
 
 and State, and they entertained him with royal 
 honors. 
 
 He sailed from Havre with his grandsons on 
 the 28th of July, 1785. During the voyage of 
 seven weeks he wrote three treatises as able and 
 useful as any that he ever composed. On the 
 morning of the 14:th of September the ship cast 
 her anchor in the Delaware River opposite Phil- 
 adelphia. He wrote of his arrival: 
 
 "My son-in-law came with a boat for us. We 
 landed at the Market Street wharf, where we 
 were received by a crowd of people with huzzahs, 
 accompanied with acclamations quite to my door. 
 Found my family well. God be thanked and 
 praised for all his mercies.'' 
 
 The Market Street wharf mentioned here was 
 the same landing at which he had arrived, sixty- 
 two years earlier, a tired, dirty, rain-soaked, 
 hungry, runaway lad. His own description of 
 his reception was much too modest, for he was 
 given such a greeting as only Benjamin Frank- 
 lin could have received. A cannon volley an- 
 nounced his arrival. The church bells — ^with the 
 dear old Liberty Bell — ^rang out the glad tidings. 
 At this pre-arranged signal the people flocked 
 out of their houses and hurried toward the river, 
 
 248 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 groups shouting to one another, "Franklin is 
 come! Dr. Franklin has come home!'' Compa- 
 nies of his fellow-townsmen escorted him to the 
 modest home of his daughter. The faculty of 
 the University of Pennsylvania, officers of the 
 American Philosophical Society, the company 
 of the State militia he had organized, and the 
 justices of the city, all hastened to do honor to 
 the grand old man of two continents. 
 
 The Pennsylvania Assembly, which was in 
 session when the old doctor returned, sent him 
 a complimentary address. Washington, at 
 Mount Vernon, wrote him a letter of congratula- 
 tion. Franklin's ocean voyage had benefited 
 him so much that they ventured to elect him 
 President or Governor of Pennsylvania. Of this 
 honor he wrote whimsically to a friend : 
 
 "I had not firmness enough to resist the unan- 
 imous desire of my country folk, and I find my- 
 self harnessed again in their service for another 
 year. They engrossed the prime of my life. 
 They have eaten my flesh, and seem resolved now 
 to pick my bones." 
 
 President Franklin was carried to and from 
 the State House (Independence Hall) in a litter. 
 The following year he was re-elected president 
 
 249 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 and again in 1787. That year he was also made 
 a delegate to the convention which met in Phila- 
 delphia to frame the Constitution of the United 
 States. He was then so feeble that all his 
 speeches were read by his colleague, *'it being 
 inconvenient for the doctor to remain on his 
 feet.'' 
 
 One motion proposed by Dr. Franklin is 
 memorable because it is in marked contrast with 
 the impression many have given concerning the 
 aged statesman's religious opinions: 
 
 ^'^ Resolved, That henceforth, prayers implor- 
 ing the assistance of heaven, and its blessings on 
 our deliberations be held in the 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. 
 
 **Mr. President: The small progress we have 
 made, after four or ^ve weeks' close attendance 
 and continual reasonings with each other; our 
 different sentiments on almost every question is, 
 methinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfec- 
 tion of the human understanding. 
 
 * * 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, 
 
 250 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground with- 
 out His notice, is it probable that an empire can 
 rise without His aid? We have been assured, 
 sir, in the Sacred Writing, that 'except the Lord 
 build the house, they labor in vain that build it. ' 
 I firmly believe this. And I also believe that, 
 without His concurring aid we shall see in this 
 political building no better than the building of 
 Babel." 
 
 Strange to say, the men of the Constitutional 
 Convention had been so imbued with French in- 
 fidelity so prevalent at the time that, even 
 against this appeal by their benignant old 
 mentor, they voted down his resolution. Frank- 
 lin sadly recorded upon his written speech the 
 fate of his motion, "The convention, except three 
 or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary." 
 The dear, kind old doctor! With him religion 
 was tenderly interwoven with patriotism and 
 patriotism with him was the religion of country. 
 
 The feeble old patriot received a constant 
 stream of friends and strangers in his daugh- 
 ter's home and cheerfully chatted with them all. 
 In entertaining them he was especially assisted 
 by his three grandchildren. The last public act 
 of his life was to sign a memorial to the new Con- 
 
 251 
 
The Story of Young 
 
 gress to abolish slavery in the United States. 
 
 Even after he was confined to his bed he 
 worked diligently writing his ** Autobiography '* 
 and letters to many of his friends. One visitor, 
 he thus wrote, ^ 'found me very ill with severe 
 pains which followed a fall I had on the stone 
 steps that lead into my garden, whereby I was 
 much bruised and my wrist sprained so as to 
 render me incapable of writing for several 
 weeks. ^^ 
 
 In his final illness Franklin's suffering was 
 acute. He spoke of his death with characteristic 
 serenity. One day he was seized with a fearful 
 paroxysm of pain while a clergyman was pres- 
 ent. The djdng man seeing the minister about to 
 leave the room, called out in his agony : 
 
 *'0 no — don't go away ! These pains will soon 
 be over. They are for my good. And besides, 
 what are the pains of a moment in comparison 
 with the pleasures of eternity!'' 
 
 An old Quaker woman, Sarah Humphries, 
 nursed Dr. Franklin in his last illness, related to 
 the Rev. David Ritter an incident in connection 
 with a picture of Christ suffering upon the cross, 
 when the clergyman expressed surprise at seeing 
 it in Franklin's room: 
 
 252 
 
Benjamin Franklin 
 
 "Thee knows, David, that many make a great 
 fuss about religion who have very little. And 
 many who say but little have a good deal. He 
 was never satisfied if a day passed away unless 
 he had done some one a service. Benjamin 
 Franklin was one of that sort. 
 
 *'I will tell thee how that picture came here. 
 Many weeks ago, as he lay, he beckoned me to 
 him, and told me of this picture, upstairs, and 
 begged I would bring it to him. I brought it. 
 His face brightened up as he looked at it, and he 
 said: 
 
 ** *Aye, Sarah, there is a picture worth look- 
 ing at. That is the picture of Him who came 
 into the world to teach men to love one another. ' 
 
 "After looking at it wistfully for some time, 
 he said, 'Sarah, set this picture up over the 
 mantelpiece, right before me as I lie. I like to 
 look at it.' 
 
 *'When I fixed it up he looked at it very much, 
 and indeed died with his eyes fixed upon it." 
 
 He died at eleven o'clock at night, April 17, 
 1790, at the age of eighty-four. Twenty thou- 
 sand people attended his funeral. He was 
 buried in Christ Church yard, beside his wife 
 and little Francis. His son William, living 
 
 253 
 
I The Story of Young 
 
 in England on a British pension, and his daugh- 
 ter, Sarah, survived him. 
 
 He was the greatest of all teachers of industry 
 and thrift. In many-sidedness, in wide recogni- 
 tion and lasting influence, Benjamin Franklin 
 was the greatest man America ever produced. 
 He prided himself on having been chosen to 
 stand in the presence of five of the greatest mon- 
 archs of his day, and once referred to this fact in 
 connection with the words of King Solomon the 
 Wise (whose Proverbs are not so familiar as 
 household words as the maxims of Franklin 
 himself) : 
 
 '*Seest thou a man diligent in his business? 
 He shall stand before kings,' 
 
 99 
 
 THE END 
 
 1254 
 
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