Part 2

James Franklin Returns from England a Printer--His Father's Talk About Learning That Trade--Benjamin Likes It--Arrangement with James-- Printing in Its Infancy Then--Censorship over Printing--Bound to His Brother--Form of Indenture--William Tinsley--White Slavery--Poor Children Sold at Auction--A Printer-boy and How He Liked--Time for Reading--Budget!--The Printing-office, Where and What--Being on Time--After a Book Before Breakfast--Washington's Punctuality-- Franklin's Like It.

IX. TABLE-TALK EDUCATION.

What Franklin Said of Table-talk--What Heard at Table Now--Its Moulding Influence--That of His Grandfather--The Franklins Good in Conversation--Extract from Parton--Letter of Franklin to His Wife in 1758--Pythagoras--Cicero--Josiah Franklin--His Wise Counsels--Origin of His Temperance Principles--No Temperance Cause Then--The Washburne Family--The Way the Twig is Bent.

X. LEADER OF SPORTS AND THOUGHTS.

Love of Reading and Fun--The Best Swimmer, etc.--Invention to Promote Swimming--His Secret of Success--The Trial of the Apparatus--Hard on the Wrists--Another Experiment Proposed--Swimming Promoted by a Kite--Delight of the Boys--What Franklin Said of It in Manhood--The Seed Thought of Drawing Lightning from a Cloud with a Kite--His Experiment and Joy--What He Wrote about It--Advocate of Liberal Female Education--Correspondence with Collins--His Father's Opinion--How Benjamin Tried to Improve--How He Gained Time--Wise Maxims in Age--Maxims--C.G. Frost and One Hour a Day--What Spare Moments Did for Benjamin.

XI. STARTING A NEWSPAPER.

Only Three Newspapers in America--Created a Stir--What Newspaper Business is in Boston Now--How to Estimate It--Benjamin Manages the Printing of It--His Interest in It--Its Warm Reception--Proposition to Board Himself--What He Gained by It--His Object Self-improvement-- James Selfish, Benjamin Generous--Their Talk about the Plan--What His Bill-of-Fare Was--How Come to Adopt Vegetable Diet--More Maxims-- Cocker's Arithmetic--His Success.

XII. THE RUSE, AND WHAT CAME OF IT.

What Parton Says of Courant--The Knot of Liberals--Ben's First Anonymous Article, and His Ruse--Discussion over It by the Courant Club--Decided to Publish It--Benjamin Puts It in Type--It Created a Sensation--The Second Article, Better Than First--Excitement over It Still Greater--Ben's Exultation--James' Astonishment--Surprise of the "Knot"--Ben a Favorite Now--How the Autobiography Tells the Story-- Decided Ben's Career--Canning and Microcosm--Examples of Industry, Tact, etc.--Boy without a Name.

XIII. BOOKS OF HIS BOYHOOD.

Four Classes of Readers--Ben after Diamonds--Hungry Mind--Words of Thomas Hood--What Franklin Said--First Book Pilgrim's Progress--Talk with His Father--What Franklin Said of Narrative--Plutarch's Lives--Easy to Do Good--What They Were--Incident by Parton--Plan to Buy Burton's Historical Collections--Describes Them--Boyle's Lectures--Kind Offer of Matthew Adams--Borrowing Books of Booksellers' Clerks--Great Favor--Books Very Scarce Then--Greenwood's English Grammar--Talk with Collins--Other Books Read--Habit of Taking Notes--Letter of Franklin about It--Professor Atkinson's Words--Garfield Had Same Habit.

XIV. LEARNING THE ART OF COMPOSITION.

Began to Write Poetry at Seven--Had Practised Putting Thoughts Together--James Praised His Pieces--Proposition to Write, Print, and Sell Verses--Wrote Two--Sold Well--His Father's Severe Rebuke-- After-talk with James--Best Writers Deficient at First--Reporting to James--Benefit to Ben--One of His Verses Preserved--What Franklin Said of It in Manhood--How He Used the Spectator--Determined to Improve--His Own Description of His Literary Work--How He Acquired Socratic Method--Rhetoric and Logic--How a Single Book Made Wesley, Martin, Pope, Casey, Lincoln, and Others What They Were--A Striking Case.

XV. THE "COURANT" IN TROUBLE.

The Startling News from the Assembly--A Discussion--A Sarcastic Letter the Cause--James and Benjamin Summoned before the Council--James Defiant--Benjamin Dismissed--How Mather Assailed the Courant--How James Answered Him--James in Prison--Benjamin Editing the Paper-- Quotation from Parton--Persecution of Printers in the Old Country--A Horrible Case--James Released, and Still Defiant--Inoculation a Remedy for Small Pox--The Mercury Denouncing James' Imprisonment--James Still for Freedom of the Press--Secured It for All Time.

XVI. THE BOY EDITOR.

Attacking the Government--The Council Exasperated--Action of the Courant Club--Plan to Evade Order of the Council--Benjamin, the Boy-editor--His Address in Courant--Quotations from Courant of January 14, 1723--Not Libelous--Extract from Parton's Life--When Newspapers Ceased to be Carried Free--How Long Ben Was in Printing Office--Remarks by Mr. Sparks--What He Says of General Court--How the Experience Developed Benjamin--Right Boy in Right Place--Extract from Courant about Bears.

XVII. THE YOUNG SKEPTIC.

Reading Shaftesbury's Work--Discussion with Collins--Ben's Orthodoxy in Peril--Benjamin a Thinker--Saying Grace over the Pork Barrel--Reading from Collins--Several Paragraphs Repugnant to Orthodoxy--Shaftesbury Attacking Miracles--Ben's Influence over John--Charged with Being Atheist--His Confession--Letter to His Father--Letter to Sister--Seeing His Folly--His Prayer--Sad Experience with Infidel Books--Similar to Lincoln's and Garfield's--Lincoln's Farewell.

XVIII. HOW HE QUIT BOSTON.

Decision to Leave James--Cruelty of the Latter--The Indenture-- Discussion over It with Collins--Advised to Get Place in Another Printing Office in Boston--James Had Warned Them against Hiring Him--Discloses His Decision to James--Unfair Use of Indenture--What Benjamin Said of It Afterwards--Resolved to Run Away--Planned The Method With Collins--Why Go by Water--How He Obtained Money--Collins Engages His Passage--Collins' Deliberate Lie--On the Road to Ruin--Collins' Report to Benjamin--Final Arrangements--Boarding the Sloop--Scene off Block Island--Ben Converted to Flesh--Benjamin Franklin's Experience Like William Hutton's.

XIX. TRIALS OF A RUNAWAY.

Applies for Work in New York--Bradford's Advice and Kindness--Starts for Philadelphia--The Drunken Dutch man--Driven on Shore by a Squall-- A Fearful Night--At Amboy--Benjamin Sick--A Young Man Travelling in Maine--Advantage of Reading--Sir Walter Scott's Advice--Going in Rain to Burlington--Landlord Suspected He Was a Runaway--At Doctor Brown's--A Fine Time with the Doctor--Buying Gingerbread of Old Woman--His Disappointment--Way out of It--Unexpected Deliverance--His Skill at Rowing Again Useful--Finally Reaches Philadelphia.

XX. THE WALKING COMEDY.

Meeting a Boy Eating--Buys Three Loaves--His Surprise--A Walking Comedy--Sees His Future Wife--His Generosity to Mother and Child--A Trait of His Life--Back to the Boat--On the Street Again and in Quaker Church--Sleeping in Church--The Kind Quaker--The Crooked Billet-- Suspected of being a Runaway--Meeting the New York Bradford--Interview with Young Bradford--Interview with Keimer--Showing His Skill at Type-setting--Senior Bradford's Ruse--Giving Account of His Boston Life--Doing Things Well--Case of Budgett--What Parton Said to Maydoll.

XXI. GETTING ON.

Repairing the Old Printing Press--Caution to Keep Secrets--Repairing for Bradford--Conversation with Bradford about Work in Boston-- Unbelief--Changing Boarding-place--Talk with Boarding-master Read-- Study and Companions There--High Rank of Printing Then--Letter from Collins--Found by His Brother-in-law, Captain Homes--Letter from the Captain--Benjamin's Reply--His Letter Read by Governor Keith--His History Told Keith--The Latter's Promise--Colonel French--Two Traits of Ben's Character, Observation and Humility.

XXII. GOING UP HIGHER.