so comparatively rare, probably, in those days, as well as at the present time, though still so worthy of imitation, that the account is too interesting and valuable both as an anecdote and an example, to be omitted.

"I must," says Franklin, "record one trait of this good man's character. He had formerly been in business at Bristol, but failed, in debt to a number of people, compounded, and went to America. There, by close application to business as a merchant, he acquired a plentiful fortune in a few years. Returning to England in the ship with me, he invited his old creditors to an entertainment, at which he thanked them for the easy composition they had favored him with, and, when they expected nothing but the treat, every man, at the first remove, found under his plate an order on a banker, for the full amount of the unpaid remainder, with interest.” If all men in trade were thus truly honest and just, there would be less complaint of the hardness of creditors, and little need of bankrupt-acts.

Mr. Denham, having transacted the business which had brought him to England, now informed Benjamin that he should soon sail for Philadelphia, with a large stock of merchandise, with which he intended to establish himself in that city as a merchant. He had, more

over, formed a most favorable estimate of his young friend's capacity as well as the native qualities of his disposition; and taking a sincere interest in his welfare, for which he could not help feeling a lively concern, if left, without any experienced and faithful adviser, to encounter alone the hazards and perils of London, he proposed to Benjamin to take him as a clerk. The intelligent and worthy merchant told him that he could soon teach him the manner of keeping a merchant's accounts; that in doing this, and in copying business letters, in attending upon customers for the sale of goods,

THE PRINTER TURNS MERCHANT.

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and in the other daily-recurring details of mercantile affairs, he could speedily make himself acquainted with the current prices of produce, merchandise, and other kinds of property, together with the general course and management of trade; that when he should have become sufficiently familiar with these matters, he would send him out to the West Indies, with a cargo of provisions and bread-stuffs, and procure profitable commissions for him, from other merchants; and if he should give his best energies to the business, and acquit himself according to his capacity, which only needed some practical development to make him a good merchant, he would "establish him handsomely."

This plan pleased Benjamin. He was becoming weary of London; his recollections of Philadelphia were reviving many pleasing images in his mind, with a vividness and force, which were already urging him to return thither; and he promptly agreed to the proposal. For his services as clerk he was to receive a yearly stipend of fifty pounds, in Pennsylvania currency. This was less than he was then earning as a journeyman-printer; but he looked mainly at the results of the plan, and the prospects were very inviting.

"I now," says he, "took leave of printing, as I thought, forever; and was daily employed in my new business, going about with Mr. Denham among the tradesmen, to purchase various articles and see them packed, delivering messages, and calling upon workmen to despatch." These things being done, and the packages being all duly put on ship-board, he still had a few days of leisure before sailing.

While thus waiting to take his departure, Benjamin was surprised by a message from Sir William Wyndham, whom he had never seen and knew only by reputation, but who was one of the most accomplished gentle

men, as well as one of the most distinguished statesmen, of that period, and who wished to see him. Upon waiting on him, Benjamin found that Sir William, having heard of his feats in swimming, and of his skill in teaching others to swim, and having two sons about to set forth upon their travels, wished to engage him to make them good swimmers before they went, and would pay liberally for such a service.

The young men, however, had not yet come to town, and Benjamin's remaining time in London, was now too contingent to allow him to undertake the proposed task. The application, nevertheless, induced him to think that, if he could have stayed and opened a swimming-school, it would have paid well; and that he should probably have remained and tried the experiment, if the application had been made before he became engaged with Mr. Denham.

In his own narrative of his life, Franklin closes the account of his residence in London, at this period, with the following paragraph, which will also form an appropriate close to this chapter:—

"Thus had I passed about eighteen months in London. 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 had kept me poor. He owed me about twenty-seven pounds, which I was now never likely to receive: a great sum out of my small earnings. I loved him, notwithstanding, for he had many amiable qualities. I had improved my knowledge, however, though I had by no means improved my fortune; but I had made some very ingenious acquaintances, whose conversation was of great advantage to me; and I had read considerably."

ON Thursday, the 21st of July, 1726, in the afternoon, Benjamin and his friend Denham went on board the good ship Berkshire, Henry Clark, master, bound for Philadelphia. As appears, however, by the journal, which Benjamin kept of this voyage, it was many days longer before they were able to leave the English waters and get fairly out to sea. Some of the incidents which occurred during this delay on the coast of England, and on the homeward passage, though not incorporated in Franklin's own biographical narrative, are, nevertheless, by no means without interest; and as they not only belong to his life as truly as if they had occurred at a fixed residence on land, but served, also, to enlarge his experience and his stock of ideas, some of the more entertaining and instructive among them are here briefly related.

They lingered in the Thames two days, and did not pass the Downs and enter the straits of Dover till the 24th of July. As they sailed along that narrow sea, at an easy rate, before a fresh breeze and under a clear blue sky, Benjamin, sitting on the quarter-deck of the Berkshire and noting what he saw, in his diary, was favored with one of the fairest and most exhilarating

scenes the eye can rest on. A large number of ships, with all their canvass spread and trimmed to every variety of course, were moving before him in all directions over the gleaming waters; the coast of France was looming far in the distance, to the left; while nearer, on the right, and in distinct view, were seen the town of Dover with the massive towers and battlements of its huge old castle looking down upon it in protecting strength, and the chalky cliffs and green hills of the English shore-all in seeming motion and receding in a sort of countermarch, as he went by.

The next morning, however, the wind failed, and a short calm was followed by very variable weather, till the 27th, when so heavy a gale came from the west, right in their teeth, that they ran for a harbor; and coming to anchor at Spithead, off Portsmouth, Benjamin took the opportunity to visit that ancient town, one of the principal naval stations of England, and famous for its vast ship-yards. The entrance to Portsmouth is stated to be so narrow, with such bold shores, that the forts which guard it, one on each side, are but a stone's throw apart; while the haven within has ample space to moor the whole British navy. He found the place strongly fortified, surrounded by a high wall, with a spacious moat crossed by two draw-bridges fronting, respectively, the two gates of the town, which depended, then as now, for the support of its population, mainly on its ship-yards and the trade connected with them. One of the most remarkable objects pointed out to Benjamin, during his brief visit to Portsmouth, was a dungeon, called “ Johnny Gibson's Hole," under the townwall near one of the gates, where John Gibson, governor of the place in Queen Anne's reign, and a heartless tyrant, made it a practice to shut in and starve the soldiers of the garrison, for the most trifling irregulari