Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, and George Webb, I have characterised before.

Robert Grace, a young gentleman of some fortune, generous, lively, and witty; a lover of punning and of his friends.

stationary; but as yet we did not choose to engage in shop business.

George Webb, who had found a female friend that lent him wherewith to purchase his time of Kemer, now came to offer himself as a journeyman to us. We could not then employ him, but I foolishly let him know as a secret, that I soon intended 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 paltry thing, wretchedly managed, no way entertaining, and yet was profitable to him; I therefore freely 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 beforehand with me, published proposals for one himself, on which Webb was to be employed. I was vexed at this, and to counteract them, not being able to commence our paper, I wrote several amusing pieces for Bradford's paper, under the title of the BUSY BODY, which Breintnal continued some months. By this means the attention of the public was fixed on that paper, and Keimer's proposals, which we burlesqued and ridiculed, were disregarded. He began his paper however, and before carrying it on three quarters of a year, with at most only ninety subscribers, he offered it me for a trifle; and I, having been ready some time to go on with it, took it in hand directly; and it proved in a few years extremely profitable to me.

I mention this industry the more particularly and the more freely, though it seems to be talking in my own praise, that those of Lastly, William Coleman, then a mer- my posterity who shall read it, may know the chant's clerk, about my age, who had the cool-use of that virtue, when they see its effects in est, clearest head, the best heart, and the ex- my favour throughout this relation. actest morals of almost any man I ever met with. He became afterwards a merchant of great note, and one of our provincial judges. Our friendship continued without interruption to his death, upwards of forty years; and the club continned almost as long, and was the best school of philosophy, morality, and politics, that then existed in the province; for our queries, (which were read the week preceding their discussion,) put us upon reading with attention on the several subjects, that we might speak more to the purpose: and here too we acquired better habits of conversation, every thing being studied in our rules which might prevent our disgusting each other; hence the long continuance of the club, which I shall have frequent occasion to speak further of hereafter. But my giving this account of it here, is to shew something of the interest I had, every one of these exerting themselves in recommending business to us. Brientual particularly procured us from the quakers, the printing of forty sheets of their history, the rest being to be done by Keimer; and upon these we worked exceeding hard, for the price was low. It was a folio, pro patria size, in pica, with long-primer notes. I composed 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 distribution for the next day's work; for the little jobs sent in by our other friends now and then put us back. But so determined 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 reduced to pi. I immediately distributed, and composed it over again before I went to bed; and this industry, visible to our neighbours, began to give us character 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 already two printers in the place, Keimer and Bradford; but Dr. Baird, (whom you and I saw many years after. at his native place, St. Andrew's in Scotland,) gave a contrary opinion: "For the industry of that Franklin," said he, "is superior to any thing I ever saw of the kind; I see him still at work when I go home from club, and he is at work again before his neighbours are out of bed." This struck the rest, and we soon after had offers from one of them to supply us with VOL L.-D

3

I perceive that I am apt to speak in the singular number, though our partnership still continued; it may be that in fact the whole management of the business lay upon me. Meredith was no compositor, a poor pressman, and seldom sober. My friends lamented my connexion with him, but I was to make the best of it.

Our first papers made quite a different appearance from any before in the province; a better type and better printed; but some remarks of my writing on the dispute then going on between governor Burnet and the Massachusetts Assembly, struck the principal people, occasioned 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 was one of the first good effects of my having learned a little to scribble; another was, that the leading men seeing a newspa

per, now in the hands of those who could also | to accept the assistance of my friends: thus handle a pen, thought it convenient to oblige the matter rested for some time; when I said and encourage me. Bradford still printed to my partner, perhaps your father is dissatisthe votes, and laws, and other public business. He had printed an address of the house to the governor, in a coarse, blundering manner: we reprinted it elegantly and correctly, and sent one to every member. They were sensible of the difference, it strengthened the hands of our friends in the house, and they vould us their printers for the year ensuing. Among my friends in the house, I must not forget Mr. Hamilton, before mentioned, who was then returned from England, and had a seat in it. He interested himself for me strongly in that instance, as he did in many others afterwards, continuing his patronage till his death.*

I began now gradually to pay off the debt I was under for the printing house. In order I had hitherto continued to board with to secure my credit and character as a trades- Godfrey, who lived in part of my house with man, I took care not only to be in reality in- his wife and children, and had one side of the dustrious and frugal, but to avoid the appear-shop for his glazier's business; though he ances to the contrary. I dressed plain, and worked little, being always absorbed in his was seen at no places of idle diversion: I mathematics. never went out a fishing or shooting: a book indeed sometimes debauched 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, through the streets on a wheelbarrow. Thus being esteemed an industrious, thriving young man,

not.

treaty. I let her know that I expected as ing said to be living in England; but this much money with their daughter as would pay off my remaining debt for the printing house; which I believe was not then above a hundred pounds. She brought me word they had no such sum to spare: I said they might mortgage their house in the loan-office. The answer to this after some days was, that they did not approve the match; that on inquiry of Bradford, they had been informed the printing business was not a profitable one, the types would soon be worn out and more wanted; that Keimer and David Harry had failed one after the other, and I should probably soon follow them; and therefore 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, which would leave them at liberty to give or withhold what they pleased, I know But I suspected the motive, resented it, and went no more. Mrs. Godfrey brought me afterwards some more favourable 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, leaving me the whole house, and I resolved to take no more inmates. But this affair having turned my thoughts to marriage, I looked round me and made overtures of acquaintance in other places; but soon found that the business of a printer being generally thought a poor one, I was not to expect money with a wife, unless with such an one, as I should not otherwise think agreeable. In the mean time that hard to be governed passion of youth, had hurried me frequently into intrigues with low women that fell in my way, which were attended with some expense and great inconvenience, besides a continual risk to my health by a distemper, which of all things I dreaded, though by great good luck I escaped it. A friendly correspondence, as neighbours, had continued between me and Miss Reed's family, who all had a regard for me from the time of my first lodging in their house. I was often invited there, and consulted in their affairs, wherein I sometimes was of service. I pitied poor Miss Reed's unfortunate situation, who was generally dejected, seldom cheerful, and avoided company: I considered my giddiness and inconstancy, when in London, as in a great degree the cause of her unhappiness; though the mother was good enough to think the fault more her own than mine, as she had prevented our marrying before I went thither, and persuaded the other match in my absence. Our mutual affection was revived, but there were now great objections to our union; that match was indeed looked upon as invalid, a preceding wife be

could not easily be proved, because of the distance, &c., and though there was a report of his death, it was not certain. Then, though it should be true, he had left many debts which his successor might be called upon to pay: we ventured, however, over all these difficulties, and I took her to wife, September 1, 1730. None of the inconveniences happened that we had apprehended; she proved a good and faithful helpmate, assisted me much by attending to the shop; we throve together, and ever mutually endeavoured to make each other happy. Thus I corrected that great erratum as well as I could.

About this time our club meeting, not at a tavern, but in a little room of Mr. Grace's, set apart for that purpose; a proposition was made by me, that since our books were often referred to in our disquisitions upon the queries, it might be convenient to us to have them all together where we met, that upon occasion they might be consulted; and by 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 expected; and though 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; I drew up the proposals, got them put into form by our great scrivener, Brockden, and by the help of my friends in the junto, procured fifty subscribers of forty shillings each to begin with, and ten shillings a year for fifty years, the term our company was to continue. We afterwards obtained a charter, the company being increased to one hundred; this was the mother of all the North American subscription libraries, now so numerous. It is become a great thing itself, and continually goes on increasing: these libraries have improved the general conversation of the Americans, made the common tradesmen and farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other countries, and perhaps have contributed in some degree to the stand so generally made throughout the colonies in defence of their privileges.

[Thus far was written with the intention expressed

in the beginning; and getting abroad, it excited great interest on account of its simplicity and candour; and induced many applications for a continuance. What follows was written many years after, in compliance with the advice contained in the letters that follow and has, therefore, less of a family picture, and more of a public character. The American revolution oc casioned the interruption.]

From Mr. Abel James, (Received in Paris.) | the American youth. Not that I think the