to speak of it as "that beloved place." In one of
his letters to John Lathrop he wrote,

"The Boston manner, the turn of phrase, and even tone of
voice and accent in pronunciation, all please and seem to
revive and refresh me."

For two years Benjamin continued to assist his father in the business
of soap and candle making. He was continually looking for an
opportunity to escape the drudgery of that employment and enter upon
some more congenial business. Like most adventurous boys, he thought
much of the romance of a sea-life. An elder brother had run away, had
gone to sea, and for years had not been heard from. Benjamin's father
became very anxious as he witnessed the discontent of his son. This
anxiety was increased when an elder brother married, removed to Rhode
Island, and set up a soap and candle establishment for himself. This
seemed to Benjamin to rivet the chains which bound him at home.
Apparently his father could not spare him from the business. Thus he
seemed doomed to spend the remainder of his days in employment which
proved to him increasingly uncongenial.

The judicious father, apprehensive that his son might be lured
secretly to embark for some distant voyage, visited with his son all
the varied workshops of Boston, that he might select that trade which
to him would seem most desirable. Benjamin examined all these
workshops with intensest interest. He selected the employment of a
cutler, and entered upon the business for a few days; but at that time
a boy who was about to learn a trade was apprenticed to a master. As a
premium for learning the business he usually had to pay about one
hundred dollars. Then after a series of years, during which he worked
for nothing, he was entitled for a time to receive journeyman's wages.
But his father, Josiah Franklin, was unable to settle satisfactorily
the terms of indenture, and the cutlery trade was given up.

We have mentioned that Franklin was one of a large family of children.
By the two marriages of his father, there were sixteen sons and
daughters around the family hearth. One of the sons, James, had been
sent to London to learn the trade of a printer. He returned to Boston
and set up business on his own account, when Benjamin was eleven
years of age. It was decided to bind Benjamin to this business.
Reluctantly Benjamin consented to place himself in such subordination
to his brother. He was, however, bound to him for a period of nine
years