The Printer Boy; Or, How Benjamin Franklin Made His Mark: An Example for Youth.Thayer, William Makepeace
History
The Printer Boy; Or, How Benjamin Franklin Made His Mark: An Example for Youth.
Thayer, William Makepeace
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790
"JOSIAH FRANKLIN
And
ABIAH his wife
Lie here interred.
They lived lovingly together in wedlock
Fifty-five years;
And without an estate, or any gainful employment,
By constant labour, and honest industry
(With God's blessing)
Maintained a large family comfortably;
And brought up thirteen children and seven grandchildren
Reputably.
From this instance, reader,
Be encouraged to diligence in thy calling,
And distrust not Providence.
He was a pious and prudent man,
She a discreet and virtuous woman.
Their youngest son,
In filial regard to their memory,
Places this stone.
J. F. born 1645; died 1744. AEt. 89.
A. F. born 1667; died 1752. AEt. 85."
This stone had become so dilapidated in 1827, that the citizens of
Boston supplied its place with a granite obelisk, on which the
foregoing inscription may still be read.
It is good for boys, who are very likely to want their own way, to be
obliged to obey exact rules in the family. It is a restraint upon
their evil tendencies that tells well upon their riper years. It was
to such an influence that Sir Robert Peel felt much indebted for his
success in life. As an illustration of the obedience he was obliged to
practise, in common with his brothers, he relates, that, in his
youth, a comrade called one day to solicit their company upon some
excursion. He was a young man of handsome address, intelligent, smart,
and promising, though quite accustomed to enjoy much pastime. He was a
fashionable young man for the times, wearing "dark brown hair, tied
behind with blue ribbon; clear, mirthful eyes; boots which reached
above his knees; a broad-skirted, scarlet coat, with gold lace on the
cuffs, the collar, and the skirts; and a long waistcoat of blue silk.
His breeches were buckskin; his hat was three-cornered, set jauntily
higher on the right than on the left side." His name was Harry
Garland. To his request that William, Edmund, and Robert might go with
him, their father replied, "No, they cannot go out." Although the boys
earnestly desired to go, they dared say nothing against their father's
emphatic "No." He had work for them to do, and he never allowed
pleasure to usurp the time for labour. The result is recorded on the
page of English history. The three brothers of the Peel family became
renowned in their country's brilliant progress. Harry Garland, the
idle, foppish youth, became a ruined spendthrift. In this way the
language of inspiration is verified. "Honour thy father and mother
(which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well
with thee." The providence of God appears to make it well with the
children who obey the commandment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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