As I have already said, young Benjamin did not like the work which he
had to do in his father's shop.
His father was not very fond of the trade himself, and so he could not
blame the boy. One day he said:
"Benjamin, since you have made up your mind not to be a candle-maker,
what trade do you think you would like to learn?"
"You know I would like to be a sailor," said the boy.
"But you shall not be a sailor," said his father. "I intend that you
shall learn some useful business, on land; and, of course, you will
succeed best in that kind of business which is most pleasant to you."
The next day he took the boy to walk with him among the shops of Boston.
They saw all kinds of workmen busy at their various trades.
Benjamin was delighted. Long afterwards, when he had become a very great
man, he said, "It has ever since been a pleasure to me to see good
workmen handle their tools."
He gave up the thought of going to sea, and said that he would learn any
trade that his father would choose for him.
His father thought that the cutler's trade was a good one. His cousin,
Samuel Franklin, had just set up a cutler's shop in Boston, and he
agreed to take Benjamin a few days on trial.
Benjamin was pleased with the idea of learning how to make knives and
scissors and razors and all other kinds of cutting tools. But his cousin
wanted so much money for teaching him the trade that his father could
not afford it; and so the lad was taken back to the candle-maker's shop.
Soon after this, Benjamin's brother, James Franklin, set up a printing
press in Boston. He intended to print and publish books and a newspaper.
"Benjamin loves books," said his father. "He shall learn to be a
printer."
And so, when he was twelve years old, he was bound to his brother to
learn the printer's trade. He was to stay with him until he was
twenty-one. He was to have his board and clothing and no other wages,
except during the last year. I suppose that during the last year he was
to be paid the same as any other workman.
* * * * *