AT SCHOOL.
"Well, Benjamin," said his father, laying down his violin, upon which
he was wont to play in the evening, for his own and children's
amusement, "how should you like to go to school and qualify yourself
to be a minister? You are as fond of your books as James is of
printing, or John of making candles!"
"I should like to go to school well enough," replied Benjamin, after
some hesitation; "but I don't know about the rest of it."
"You are old enough now," continued his father, "to think about a
trade or profession. Your elder brothers have their trades, and,
perhaps, you ought to give your service to the Church. You like to
study, do you not?"
"Yes, sir; the best of anything I do." A very correct answer, since he
began to read so young, that he could not remember the time when he
could not read his Bible.
"It will cost a good deal to keep you at school and educate you, and
perhaps I shall not be able to do it with so large a family to
support. I have to be very industrious now to make my ends meet. But
if you are diligent to improve your time, and lend a helping hand at
home, out of school hours, I may be able to do it."
"When shall I begin, if you decide to let me go?"
"Immediately. It is a long process to become qualified for the
ministry, and the sooner you begin the better."
"Uncle Benjamin," as he was called in the family, a brother of our
little hero's father, sat listening to the conversation, and, at this
point, remarked, "Yes, Benjamin, it is the best thing you can do. I am
sure you can make very rapid progress at school; and there ought to be
one preacher in the family, I think."
"So many people have told me," added his father. "Dr. Willard (his
pastor) said as much to me not long ago, and I am fully persuaded to
make the trial."
"It won't be a severe trial, either," said Uncle Benjamin. "The thing
can be accomplished more easily than at first appears. I tell you what
it is, Benjamin," addressing himself to the boy, "when you are
qualified for the office, I will give you my large volume of
short-hand sermons, and the reading of these will improve your manner
of sermonizing."
This uncle had recently come over from England, and was boarding in
the family. He was a very intelligent man, quite a literary character
for the times, and had been accustomed to take down the sermons to
which he listened, in short-hand, until he had preserved a large
manuscript volume of them, which he valued highly. It was this volume
which he promised to bequeath to his nephew when he should become
qualified to enter the ministry.
This interview occurred almost one hundred and fifty years ago,
between Benjamin Franklin, who paid too much for the whistle, and his
father, whose Christian name was Josiah. The lad was eight years old
at the time, a bright, active, intelligent boy, who was more fond of
reading than any other child in the family. He was born in Boston, on
Sunday, January 6 (Old Style, corresponding to January 17, New Style),
1706, and on the same day was carried into the Old South Church, and
there baptized. Both his father and mother were members of that
church.
If you ask how it is known that he was born and baptized on the same
day, we answer, that on the "Old Boston Town Records of Births," under
the heading, "Boston Births, entered 1708," is the following:--
"Benjamin, son of Josiah Franklin, and Abiah, his wife, Born 6
Jan. 1706."
By some oversight or negligence the birth was not recorded until two
years after Benjamin was born; yet it shows that he was born on Jan.
6, 1706.
Then we turn to the records of the Old South Church, and find among
the baptism of infants the following:--
"1706, Jan. 6, Benjamin, son of Josiah and Abiah Franklin."
Putting these two records together, they establish beyond doubt the
fact that Benjamin Franklin was born and baptized on the same day. It
has generally been said that we do not know by whom he was baptized,
although the rite must have been performed either by Dr. Samuel
Willard, or Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton, who were then pastors of the Old
South Church. But the fact that the record is made in the handwriting
of Dr. Willard would indicate that he baptized him. He was born in
Milk Street, opposite the church, so that he had only to be carried
across the street to receive the ordinance of baptism.
A picture of the old house in which he was born has been preserved,
and it stood on the spot where now rises a lofty granite warehouse,
bearing, in raised letters beneath the cornice, the inscription,
"BIRTHPLACE OF FRANKLIN." The house measured twenty feet in width, and
was about thirty feet long. It was three stories high in appearance,
the third being the attic. On the lower floor of the main house there
was only one room, which was about twenty feet square, and served the
family for the triple purpose of parlour, sitting-room, and
dining-hall. It contained an old-fashioned fireplace, so large that
an ox might have been roasted before it. The second and third stories
originally contained but one chamber each, of ample dimensions, and
furnished in the plainest manner. The attic was an unplastered room,
where probably some of the elder children lodged. This house stood
about a hundred years after the Franklins left it, and was finally
destroyed by fire, on Saturday, Dec. 29, 1810.
He was named after the aforesaid uncle, and this circumstance alone
was well suited to beget a mutual interest and attachment between
them. His love of books early attracted the attention of his parents
and others, and they regarded him as a precocious child. On this
account the remark was often volunteered, "that he ought to be sent to
college."
We have said that Mr. Franklin was playing upon his violin on the
evening of the aforesaid interview. He was very fond of music, was a
good singer, and performed well upon the violin. He was wont to gather
his family around him during the leisure hours of evening, and sing
and play. Many cheerful and happy seasons were passed in this way at
the fireside, the influence of which was excellent upon his children.
That it would be doubtful whether he could meet the expense of sending
Benjamin to college, must appear to the reader, when he learns that
he was a labouring man, and had a family of seventeen children,
thirteen of whom sat around his table together at one time. Fourteen
were older than Benjamin, and two were younger. To support so large a
family must have taxed the energies of the father to the utmost, even
though no one of them was destined for a learned profession.
It was arranged that Benjamin should immediately enter school, and
enjoy the best literary advantages which the poverty of his father
could provide. He acceded to the plan with hearty good-will, and
commenced his studies with a zeal and enthusiasm such as few scholars
exhibit.
The school was taught by Mr. Nathaniel Williams, successor of the
famous Boston teacher, Mr. Ezekiel Cheever, who was instructor
thirty-five years, and who discontinued teaching, as Cotton Mather
said, "only when mortality took him off." The homely old wooden
school-house, one story and a half high, stood near by the spot on
which the bronze statue of Franklin is now seen, and there was the
"school-house green," where "Ben" and his companions sported together.
It was probably the only free grammar-school which Boston afforded at
that time; for it was only a little village compared with its present
size. It then contained only about ten thousand inhabitants, and now
it has more than fifteen times that number. There were no stately
public buildings at that time, like the State-house, Court-house,
Custom-house, Athenæum, Public Library, etc. Such splendid granite
blocks of stores as we now behold on almost every business street,
were then unknown; and no shops could be found, as now, filled with
the fabrics of every land. There were no costly houses of worship, the
"Old South Meeting-house," then about half its present size, being the
oldest one in existence at the time.
When Benjamin was born, the streets of Boston were not named. This was
not done until the year after, when there were but one hundred and ten
of them in number. Now there are a thousand streets, courts, and
places. Thus it will be seen that the Boston of that day resembled the
present Boston little more than Benjamin Franklin blowing his whistle
resembled Benjamin Franklin the great statesman and philosopher.
"I have seen the teacher to-day," said Mr. Franklin to his wife, two
or three months after his son entered school, "and he says that he is
making rapid progress, and will soon stand first in his class,
although others have enjoyed much better advantages."
"I am glad to hear it," answered Mrs. Franklin, with a satisfied air,
such as mothers are likely to betray when they know that their
children are doing well; "I think he will make a good scholar if he
can have the opportunity, though I scarcely see how you will be able
to educate him."
"I can hardly see how myself," said her husband; "yet I trust that God
will provide a way. At any rate, I hope for the best."
"It will be more and more expensive every year to support him," added
Mrs. Franklin, "since his clothes will cost more as he advances in
years. The least expense in educating him we are having now."
"That is very true, and I have looked at the matter in this light, all
the while not being able to see my way quite clear, yet trusting to
Providence for a happy issue."
"It is well to trust in Providence if it is not done blindly, for
Providence sometimes does wonders for those who trust. It is quite
certain that He who parted the waters of the Red Sea for the children
of Israel to pass, and fed them with manna from the skies, can provide
a way for our Benjamin to be educated. But it looks to me as if some
of his bread would have to drop down from heaven."
"Well, if it comes, that is enough," responded Mr. Franklin, rather
drily. "If God does anything for him, he will do it in his own time
and way. I shall be satisfied to see him qualified for usefulness in
the service of the Church."
Within a few months after Benjamin entered school, he had advanced
from the middle to the head of his class. He was so apt to learn, and
gave so close attention to his lessons, that his teacher spoke of him
as a boy of uncommon promise. He did not stand at the head of his
class long, however, before he was transferred to a higher one. He so
far outstripped his companions that the teacher was obliged to advance
him thus, otherwise his mental progress would have been injuriously
retarded. His parents were highly gratified with his diligent
improvement of time and opportunities, and other relatives and friends
began to prophesy his future eminence.
It is generally the case that such early attention to studies, in
connection with the advancement that follows, awakens high hopes of
the young in the hearts of all observers. Such things foreshadow the
future character, so that people think they can tell what the man will
be from what the boy is. So it was with young Benjamin Franklin. So it
was with Daniel Webster,--his mother inferred from his close attention
to reading, and his remarkable progress in learning, that he would
become a distinguished man, and so expressed herself to others. She
lived to see him rise in his profession, until he became a member of
Congress, though she died before he reached the zenith of his renown.
The same was true of David Rittenhouse, the famous mathematician. When
he was but eight years old he constructed various articles, such as a
miniature water-wheel, and at seventeen years of age he made a clock.
His younger brother relates that he was accustomed to stop when he was
ploughing in the field, and solve problems on the fence, and sometimes
cover the plough-handles over with figures. The highest expectations
of his friends were more than realized in his after life. The peculiar
genius which he exhibited in his boyhood gave him fame at last. Again,
George Stephenson, the great engineer, the son of a very poor man, who
fired the engine at the Wylam Colliery, began his life labour when a
mere boy. Besides watching the cows, and barring the gates at night
after the coal waggons had passed, at twopence a day, he amused
himself during his leisure moments in making clay engines, in
imitation of that which his father tended. Although he lived in such
humble circumstances that he was almost entirely unnoticed, yet it
would have been apparent to any observer, that his intense interest
in, and taste for, such mechanical work, evinced what the future man
would be.
It was quite natural, then, for the parents and friends of Benjamin
Franklin to be encouraged by his love of books, and diligent
attention, especially when so much intellectual brightness was also
manifest. The sequel will prove whether their hopes were wisely
cherished.