LIFE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

tent to the functions of a country attorney; soon be- | years of maturity, and were married. I was the last came an essential personage in the affairs of the village; of the sons, and the youngest child, excepting two and was one of the chief movers of every public enter- daughters. I was born at Boston, in New England, on prise, as well relative to the county as the town of the 17th of January 1706.* My mother, the second Northampton. A variety of remarkable incidents were wife, was Abiah Folger, daughter of Peter Folger, one told us of him at Eaton. After enjoying the esteem of the first colonists of New England, of whom Cotton and patronage of Lord Halifax, he died January 6, Mather makes honourable mention, in his Ecclesiastical 1702, precisely four years before I was born. The History of that province, as "a pious and learned Engrecital that was made us of his life and character, by lishman," if I rightly recollect his expressions. I have some aged persons of the village, struck you I remem- been told of his having written a variety of little pieces; ber as extraordinary, from its analogy to what you but there appears to be only one in print, which I met knew of myself. "Had he died," said you, "just four with many years ago. It was published in the year 1675, years later, one would have supposed a transmigration and is in familiar verse, agreeably to the taste of the of souls." times and the country. The author addresses himself to the governors for the time being, speaks for liberty of conscience, and in favour of the anabaptists, quakers, and other sectaries, who had suffered persecution. To this persecution he attributes the wars with the natives, and other calamities which afflicted the country, regarding them as the judgments of God in punishment of so odious an offence, and he exhorts the government to the repeal of laws so contrary to charity. The poem appeared to be written with a manly freedom and a pleasing simplicity. I recollect the six concluding lines, though I have forgotten the order of words of the two first; the sense of which was, that his censures were dictated by benevolence, and that, of consequence, he wished to be known as the author; "because," said he, "I hate from my very soul dissimulation." From Sherburn, where I dwell,

John, to the best of my belief, was brought up to the trade of a wool-dyer. Benjamin served his apprenticeship in London to a silk-dyer. He was an industrious man-I remember him well; for, while I was a child, he joined my father at Boston, and lived for some years in the house with us. A particular affection had always subsisted between my father and him; and I was his godson. He arrived to a great age. He left behind him two quarto volumes of poems in manuscript, consisting of little fugitive pieces addressed to his friends. He had invented a short-hand, which he taught me, but, having never made use of it, I have now forgotten it. He was a man of piety, and a constant attendant on the best preachers, whose sermons he took a pleasure in writing down according to the expeditory method he had devised. Many volumes were thus collected by him. He was also extremely fond of politics; too much so, perhaps, for his situation. I lately found in London a collection which he had made of all the principal pamphlets relative to public affairs, from the year 1641 to 1717. Many volumes are wanting, as appears by the series of numbers; but there still remain eight in folio, and twenty-four in quarto and octavo. The collection had fallen into the hands of a second-hand bookseller, who, knowing me by having sold me some books, brought it to me. My uncle, it seems, had left it behind him on his departure for America, about fifty years ago. I found various notes of his writing in the margins. His grandson, Samuel, is now living at Boston.

Our humble family had early embraced the principles of the Reformation. They remained faithfully attached during the reign of Queen Mary, when they were in danger of being molested on account of their zeal against popery. They had an English Bible, and to conceal it the more securely, they conceived the project of fastening it open, with pack-threads across the leaves, on the inside of the lid of a homely domestic utensil. When my grandfather wished to read to his family, he reversed the lid of the utensil upon his knees, and passed the leaves from one side to the other, which were held down on each by the pack-thread. One of the children was stationed at the door, to give notice if he saw the proctor (an officer of the spiritual court) make his appearance; in that case, the lid was restored to its place, with the Bible concealed under it as before. I had this anecdote from my uncle Benja

min.

The whole family preserved its attachment to the Church of England till towards the close of the reign of Charles II., when certain ministers, who had been rejected as nonconformists, having held conventicles in Northamptonshire, they were joined by Benjamin and Josias, who adhered to them ever after. The rest of the family continued in the episcopal church.

I therefore put my name;
Your friend, who means you well,

Peter Folger.

My brothers were all put apprentices to different trades. With respect to myself, I was sent, at the age of eight years, to a grammar-school. My father destined me for the church, and already regarded me as the chaplain of the family. The promptitude with which from my infancy I had learned to read-for I do not remember to have been ever without this acquirementand the encouragement of his friends, who assured him that I should one day certainly become a man of letters, confirmed him in this design. My uncle Benjamin approved also of the scheme, and promised to give me all his volumes of sermons, written as I have said in the short-hand of his invention, if I would take the pains to learn it.

I remained, however, scarcely a year at the grammarschool, although in this short interval I had risen from the middle to the head of my class, from thence to the class immediately above, and was to pass, at the end of the year, to the one next in order. But my father, burdened with a numerous family, found that he was incapable, without subjecting himself to difficulties, of providing for the expenses of a collegiate education; and considering, besides, as I heard him say to his friends, that persons so educated were often poorly provided for, he renounced his first intentions, took me from the grammar-school, and sent me to a school for writing and arithmetic, kept by a Mr George Brownwell, who was a skilful master, and succeeded very well in his profession by employing gentle means only,

* [Boston is the capital of the state of Massachusetts, and the largest town in New England, 210 miles north-cast of New York, and 300 miles north-east of Philadelphia. It is situated at the bottom of Massachusetts bay, at the mouth of the Charles river, and stands principally on a small peninsula of elevated ground, which is connected with the continent by a narrow neck of land and several bridges. The town was begun in 1630, principally by the settlement of religious and political refugees, or pilgrims, from England; and to one of these classes of settlers Franklin's father seems to have belonged. The stern inflexibility of prin

My father, Josias, married early in life. He went, with his wife and three children, to New England, about the year 1682. Conventicles being at that time prohibited by law and frequently disturbed, some considerable persons of his acquaintance determined to to America, where they hoped to enjoy the free exer- ciple of the founders of the city has always characterised its cise of their religion, and my father was prevailed on to accompany them.

go

My father had also, by the same wife, four children born in America, and ten others by a second wife, making in all seventeen. I remember to have seen thirteen seated together at his table, who all arrived at

inhabitants. At the time of Franklin's birth, the number of inhabitants was about 10,000; in 1829 they amounted to 60,000— which shows a small increase in comparison with most other

American towns. It has for a number of years enjoyed the reputation of being the chief mart of literature in the United States. A considerable number of newspapers and other periodical publications issue from its press.]

and such as were calculated to encourage his scholars. | table, never discussed whether they were well or ill Under him I soon acquired an excellent hand; but I failed in arithmetic, and made therein no sort of progress.

At ten years of age, I was called home to assist my father in his occupation, which was that of soap-boiler and tallow-chandler-a business to which he had served no apprenticeship, but which he embraced on his arrival in New England, because he found his own-that of dyer-in too little request to enable him to maintain his family. I was accordingly employed in cutting the wicks, filling the moulds, taking care of the shop, carrying messages, &c.

This business displeased me, and I felt a strong inclination for a sea life; but my father set his face against it. The vicinity of the water, however, gave me frequent opportunities of venturing myself both upon and within it, and I soon acquired the art of swimming, and of managing a boat. When embarked with other children, the helm was commonly deputed to me, particularly on difficult occasions; and, in every other project, I was almost always the leader of the troop, whom I sometimes involved in embarrassments, I shall give an instance of this, which demonstrates an early disposition of mind for public enterprises, though the one in question was not conducted by justice.

The mill pond was terminated on one side by a marsh, upon the borders of which we were accustomed to take our stand, at high water, to angle for small fish. By dint of walking, we had converted the place into a perfect quagmire. My proposal was to erect a wharf that should afford us firm footing; and I pointed out to my companions a large heap of stones, intended for the building a new house near the marsh, and which were well adapted for our purpose. Accordingly, when the workmen retired in the evening, I assembled a number of my play-fellows, and by labouring diligently, like ants, sometimes four of us uniting our strength to carry a single stone, we removed them all, and constructed our little quay. The workmen were surprised the next morning at not finding their stones, which had been conveyed to our wharf. Inquiries were made respecting the authors of this conveyance; we were discovered; complaints were exhibited against us; and many of us underwent correction on the part of our parents;-and though I strenuously defended the utility of the work, my father at length convinced me, that nothing which was not strictly honest could be useful.

dressed, of a good or bad flavour, high seasoned, or
otherwise, preferable or inferior to this or that dish of
a similar kind. Thus accustomed, from my infancy, to
the utmost inattention as to these objects, I have been
perfectly regardless of what kind of food was before
me; and I pay so little attention to it even now, that
it would be a hard matter for me to recollect, a few
hours after I had dined, of what my dinner had con-
sisted. When travelling, I have particularly experi-
enced the advantage of this habit; for it has often
happened to me to be in company with persons, who,
having a more delicate, because a more exercised taste,
have suffered in many cases considerable inconvenience,
while, as to myself, I have had nothing to desire.
My mother was likewise possessed of an excellent
constitution. She suckled all her ten children, and I
never heard either her or my father complain of any
other disorder than that of which they died: my father
at the age of eighty-seven, and my mother at eighty-
five. They are buried together at Boston, where, a
few years ago, I placed a marble over their grave, with
this inscription:

"Here lie JOSIAS FRANKLIN and ABIAN his wife. They lived together with reciprocal affection for fifty-nine years; and without private fortune, without lucrative employment, by assiduous labour and honest industry, decently supported a numerous family, and educated with success thirteen children and seven grandchildren. Let this example, reader, encourage thee diligently to discharge the duties of thy calling, and to rely on the support of Divine Providence. He was pious and prudent; she discreet and virtuous. Their youngest son, from a sentiment of filial duty, consecrates this stone to their memory."

I perceive, by my rambling digressions, that I am growing old. But we do not dress for a private company as for a formal ball. This deserves, perhaps, the name of negligence.

see masons, coopers, braziers, joiners, and other mechanics, employed at their work, in order to discover the bent of my inclination, and fix it if he could upon some occupation that might retain me on shore. I have since, in consequence of these visits, derived no small pleasure from seeing skilful workmen handle their tools; and it has proved of considerable benefit, to have acquired thereby sufficient knowledge to be able to make little things for myself, when I have had no mechanic at hand, and to construct small machines for my experiments, while the idea I have conceived has been fresh and strongly impressed on my imagination.

To return to my own narrative. I continued employed in my father's trade for the space of two years; that is to say, till I arrived at twelve years of age. About this time my brother John, who had served his apprenticeship in London, having quitted my father, and being married and settled in business on his own account at Rhode Island, I was destined, to all appearance, to supply his place, and be a candlemaker all my life but my dislike of this occupation continuing, my It will not, perhaps, be uninteresting to you to know father was apprehensive, that if a more agreeable one what sort of a man my father was. He had an excel- were not offered me, I might play the truant and escape lent constitution, was of a middle size, but well made to sea; as, to his extreme mortification, my brother and strong, and extremely active in whatever he un-Josias had done. He therefore took me sometimes to dertook. He designed with a degree of neatness, and knew a little of music. His voice was sonorous and agrecable; so that when he sung a psalm or hymn, with the accompaniment of his violin, as was his frequent practice in an evening, when the labours of the day were finished, it was truly delightful to hear him. He was versed also in mechanics, and could, upon occasion, use the tools of a variety of trades. But his greatest excellence was a sound understanding and solid judgment in matters of prudence, both in public and private life. In the former indeed he never engaged, because his numerous family, and the mediocrity of his fortune, kept him unremittingly employed in the duties of his profession. But I well remember that the leading men of the place used frequently to come and ask his advice respecting the affairs of the town, or of the church to which he belonged, and that they paid much deference to his opinion. Individuals were also in the habit of consulting him in their private affairs, and he was often chosen arbiter between contending parties. He was fond of having at his table, as often as possible, some friends or well-informed neighbours, capable of rational conversation; and he was always careful to introduce useful or ingenious topics of discourse, which might tend to form the minds of his children. By this means he early attracted our attention to what was just, prudent, and beneficial in the conduct of life. He never talked of the meats which appeared upon the

My father at length decided that I should be a cutler, and I was placed for some days upon trial with my cousin Samuel, son of my uncle Benjamin, who had learned this trade in London, and had established himself at Boston. But the premium he required for my apprenticeship displeasing my father, I was recalled home.

From my earliest years I had been passionately fond of reading; and I had laid out in books all the money I could procure. I was particularly pleased with accounts of voyages. My first acquisition was Bunyan's collection in small separate volumes. These I afterwards sold, in order to buy an historical collection by R. Burton, which consisted of small cheap volumes, amounting in all to about forty or fifty. My father's little library was principally made up of books of prac

6

INCLINATION FOR READING.

tical and polemical theology. I read the greatest part | lawyers, fellows of universities, and persons of every of them. I have since often regretted that at a time profession educated at Edinburgh, excepted. when I had so great a thirst for knowledge, more eligible books had not fallen into my hands, as it was then a point decided that I should not be educated for the church. There was also among my father's books Plutarch's Lives, in which I read continually, and I still regard as advantageously employed the time I devoted to them. I found besides a work of De Foe's, entitled an Essay on Projects, from which, perhaps, I derived impressions that have since influenced some of the principal events of my life.

Collins and I fell one day into an argument relative to the education of women; namely, whether it was proper to instruct them in the sciences, and whether they were competent to the study. Collins supported the negative, and affirmed that the task was beyond their capacity; I maintained the opposite opinion, a little perhaps for the pleasure of disputing. He was naturally more eloquent than I; words flowed copiously from his lips;-and frequently I thought myself vanquished, more by his volubility than by the force of his argument. We separated without coming to an agreement upon this point; and as we were not to see each other again for some time, I committed my thoughts to paper, made a fair copy, and sent it to him. He answered, and I replied. Three or four letters had been written by each, when my father chanced to light upon my papers and read them. Without entering into the merits of the cause, he embraced the opporHe observed, that though I had the advantage of my adversary in correct spelling and pointing, which I owed to my occupation, I was greatly his inferior in elegance of expression, in arrangement, and perspicuity. Of this he convinced me by several examples. I felt the justice of his remarks, became more attentive to language, and resolved to make every effort to improve my style.

My inclination for books at last determined my father to make me a printer, though he had already a son in that profession. My brother had returned from England in 1717 with a press and types, in order to establish a printing-house at Boston. This business pleased me much better than that of my father, though I had still a predilection for the sea. To prevent the effects which might result from this inclination, my father was impatient to see me engaged with my brother. Itunity of speaking to me upon my manner of writing. held back for some time; at length, however, I suffered myself to be persuaded, and signed my indentures, being then only twelve years of age. It was agreed that I should serve as apprentice to the age of twenty-one, and should receive journeyman's wages only during the last year.

In a very short time I made great proficiency in this business, and became very serviceable to my brother. I had now an opportunity of procuring better books. The acquaintance I necessarily formed with booksellers' apprentices, enabled me to borrow a volume now and then, which I never failed to return punctually and without injury. How often has it happened to me to pass the greater part of the night in reading by my bedside, when the book had been lent me in the evening, and was to be returned the next morning, lest it might be missed or wanted.

At length Mr Matthew Adams, an ingenious tradesman, who had a handsome collection of books, and who frequented our printing-house, took notice of me. He invited me to see his library, and had the goodness to lend me any books I was desirous of reading. I then took a strange fancy for poetry, and composed several little pieces. My brother, thinking he might find his account in it, encouraged me, and engaged me to write two ballads. One, called The Light-house Tragedy, contained an account of the shipwreck of Captain Worthilake and his two daughters; the other was a sailor's song on the capture of the noted pirate called Teach, or Black-beard. They were wretched verses in point of style-mere blind-men's ditties. When printed, he dispatched me about the town to sell them. The first had a prodigious run, because the event was recent, and had made a great noise.

Amidst these resolves an odd volume of the Spectator fell into my hands. This was a publication I had never seen. I bought the volume, and read it again and again. I was enchanted with it, thought the style excellent, and wished it were in my power to imitate it. With this view I selected some of the papers, made short summaries of the sense of each period, and put them for a few days aside. I then, without looking at the book, endeavoured to restore the essays to their due form, and to express each thought at length, as it was in the original, employing the most appropriate words that occurred to my mind. I afterward compared my Spectator with the original; I perceived some faults, which I corrected: but I found that I wanted a fund of words, if I may so express myself, and a facility of recollecting and employing them, which I thought I should by that time have acquired, had I continued to make verses. The continual need of words of the same meaning, but of different lengths for the measure, or of different sounds for the rhyme, would have obliged me to seek for a variety of synonymes, and have rendered me master of them. From this belief, I took some of the tales of the Spectator and turned them into verse; and, after a time, when I had sufficiently forgotten them, I again converted them into

prose.

My vanity was flattered by this success; but my Sometimes, also, I mingled all my summaries tofather checked my exultation, by ridiculing my pro-gether; and, a few weeks after, endeavoured to arrange ductions, and telling me that versifiers were always them in the best order, before I attempted to form the poor. I thus escaped the misfortune of being a very periods and complete the essays. This I did with a wretched poet. But as the faculty of writing prose has view of acquiring method in the arrangement of my been of great service to me in the course of my life, thoughts. On comparing afterwards my performance and principally contributed to my advancement, I shall with the original, many faults were apparent, which I relate by what means, situated as I was, I acquired the corrected; but I had sometimes the satisfaction to small skill I may possess in that way. think, that, in certain particulars of little importance, I had been fortunate enough to improve the order of thought or the style; and this encouraged me to hope that I should succeed, in time, in writing decently in the English language, which was one of the great objects of my ambition.

There was in the town another young man, a great lover of books, of the name of John Collins, with whom I was intimately connected. We frequently engaged in dispute, and were indeed so fond of argumentation, that nothing was so agreeable to us as a war of words. This contentious temper, I would observe by the bye, is in danger of becoming a very bad habit, and frequently renders a man's company insupportable, as being no otherwise capable of indulgence than by an indiscriminate contradiction, independently of the acrimony and discord it introduces into conversation; and is often productive of dislike, and even hatred, between persons to whom friendship is indispensably I acquired it by reading, while I lived with my father, books of religious controversy. I have since remarked, that men of sense seldom fall into this error;

necessary.

The time which I devoted to these exercises, and to reading, was the evening after my day's labour was finished, the morning before it began, and Sundays when I could escape attending divine service. While I lived with my father, he had insisted on my punctual attendance on public worship, and I still indeed_considered it as a duty, but a duty which I thought I had no time to practise.

When about sixteen years of age, a work of Tryon fell into my hands, in which he recommends vegetable diet. I determined to observe it. My brother being a