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native town. In this interview, however, Meredith induced him to abandon that idea, reminding him that Keimer was in debt for every part of his establishment; that his creditors were growing very apprehensive about their pay; that he managed all his concerns in the loosest and most ruinous manner, sometimes selling things at bare cost, when hard pressed for cash, and sometimes making sales on credit, without even keeping an account of them; that bankruptcy must, therefore, inevitably overtake him soon, and thus make an opening, which Benjamin might occupy to certain and great advantage.

When Benjamin urged his utter inability to avail himself of the contemplated opening, from his want of money, Meredith expressed the most confident belief that his father, who entertained a very favorable opinion of Benjamin, would furnish the requisite money, provided a partnership could be formed between the two young men; that if Benjamin would agree to such an arrangement, they could, by spring, when his own engagement with Keimer would expire, have a press, types, and a full printing-office equipment, fresh from London, and be ready to carry their plan promptly into effect; and frankly admitting his own deficiencies as a workman, as well as his ignorance of the trade, he concluded by proposing that, if Benjamin consented to the project, his skill and knowledge of the business should be considered equivalent to the money and stock contributed on his own account, and they would divide the proceeds of the whole concern equally.

Such a proposition could not be otherwise than acceptable to Benjamin, and he at once declared his assent to it. Mr. Meredith, the elder, being in town, Benjamin, on conferring with him, found that he approved of the proposed arrangement, not only on account of its probable advantages in reference to business, but for the ad

ditional reason that Benjamin had so much influence with his son, as to have already induced him to abstain, for a considerable period, from the perilous practice of frequent tippling, and would, he hoped, be able to cure him of it entirely, upon their becoming more closely connected by the ties of a common interest.

A list of the articles needed for the new partnership was drawn up by Benjamin and delivered to the elder Meredith, to be placed by him in the hands of a merchant who was to import them from London; and the whole affair was to be kept strictly to themselves, until, upon the arrival of their equipment, they should be ready at once to open shop.

There was at that time but one printing-office in Philadelphia, besides Keimer's; and that one, which was Bradford's, having no occasion for any additional hands, Benjamin was for a few days out of employment. Just then, however, it became known that the colonial authorities of New Jersey were about to issue a considerable amount of paper currency, called, in those days, “bills of credit," because they were issued on the credit of the colonial government. The printing of the bills in question would be a very desirable job, but to execute them properly would require types and cuts of several kinds, which nobody in either colony, except Benjamin, could prepare; and Keimer, anxious to do the work, but fearing lest Bradford should get the advantage of him, and secure the contract for the job, by engaging Benjamin, sent the latter a very conciliatory note, purporting that "old friends should not part for a few words, the effect of sudden passion," and earnestly desiring him to come back to his former situation.

To this request Benjamin yielded, chiefly through the persuasion of Meredith, who urged the benefit which would accrue to himself from the instruction and super

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vision of his friend and teacher; and on returning, he found Keimer disposed to be very civil, and to render his situation in all respects pleasant.

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To crown this reconciliation, and fill for the time, the measure of Keimer's content, he obtained the Jersey contract, and for the neater and more satisfactory execution of it, Benjamin "contrived," as he says, a copperplate press, the first that had been seen in the country, and cut several ornaments and checks for the bills." As the work was to be performed at Burlington, N. J., he went thither with Keimer, and completed the job in the most acceptable manner; the latter receiving for it a sum considerable enough to patch up his credit, and enable him to continue his business for some time longer.

This job, in its general and permanent results, however, was far more advantageous to Benjamin, than to his employer. While at Burlington, he became personally acquainted with a considerable number of the leading men of that colony. The provincial assembly, then sitting, raised a committee to superintend the printing of these bills, and especially to see that no more should be struck off than the number authorized by law. For the satisfactory discharge of this duty, it was deemed proper that some one of the committee should be in constant at

tendance upon the press, and he was usually accompanied by one or more of his friends. The public station and character of these men, the nature of the business in hand, and the topics suggested by these circumstances, gave occasion for much pleasant and profitable conversation, in which Benjamin, being far better qualified than Keimer to participate, received the chief attention of their visiters; and so favorable was the impression, which his intelligence, good sense, and general deportment, made upon them, that he soon began to receive invitations to their houses; and while his companion was comparative

ly neglected, he became himself the object of many civilities, which not only ripened into various lasting personal friendships, but helped to prepare the way for that rapid development of public esteem and confidence, which, not very long after, became so universal and so conspicuous.

Of the personal friends, whom his stay of not quite three months in Burlington, on this occasion, enabled him to count among his acquisitions, he has mentioned the names of several. Among them, besides various members of the Assembly, with whom his employment brought him into contact, were also the provincial secretary Samuel Bustill, one of the provincial judges by the name of Allen, and Isaac Ducrow the surveyor-general. "The last named person," says Franklin, "was a shrewd, sagacious old man, who told me that he began for himself, when young, by wheeling clay for the brick-makers; learned to write after he was of age; carried the chain for surveyors, who taught him surveying; and he had now, by his industry, acquired a good estate." Franklin adds that, without having said a word in relation to his own plans, Ducrow remarked to him: "I foresee that you will soon work this man [Keimer] out of his business, and make a fortune in it, at Philadelphia."

Such were some of the fruits, which the good sense and discretion, the information which had been so assiduously accumulated, and the conciliating manners of a young man but twenty-one years of age, enabled him to gather, in less than three months, in a place where he was previously a stranger, and while working as a trades

man.

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CHAPTER XIII.

HIS ENTRANCE UPON MANHOOD HIS PRINCIPLES AND CHARACTER NEW ASSOCIATIONS.

FRANKLIN had now reached a stage in the journey of life of deeper interest, and involving cares of a wider range, and graver character than any he had yet encountered. The laws of the land, taking their rule from the statutes of nature, would no longer look upon him as under the guardianship or control of others. Thenceforward they would treat him as a man of full age, himself alone amenable for his conduct in whatever relations he might as sume; and he was about to embark in business, not as a servant working for fixed wages, and comparatively exempt from the anxieties of forethought and accountability, but as himself a master and the employer of others, taking his place in the community as one of its members, with the serious responsibilities of life pressing directly upon him.

In his autobiography, when, long years after, he is looking back upon this important stage in his career, he presents an outline of his own character so far as it was then developed, and of the principles and opinions, with which he was about to commence manhood, conduct his private affairs, and perform his part as a member of society. This general estimate of himself, and of his moral condition, with the glance he gives at the history of his opinions and way of thinking on moral and religious sub