father. "I want you should weigh the matter carefully, however, and
not be hasty in choosing."

"It remains to be seen whether Samuel will take him as an apprentice,"
said Mrs. Franklin. "Perhaps he may not want one. He has just
commenced, and cannot be doing much business yet."

"Father can easily learn that," said Benjamin. "He can see cousin
Samuel to-morrow, and decide the matter at once."

"I will see him to-morrow," said his father, "and arrange for you to
go into his shop if possible."

On the following day, Mr. Franklin called upon Samuel, his nephew, and
made known the wishes of Benjamin. Although it was a new and
unexpected subject, yet he received it favourably, and finally decided
that Benjamin might come immediately, and try his hand at this new
business. He thought it was best for both parties that no definite
agreement or bargain should be made until Benjamin had tried the work,
to which his father assented.

Accordingly, Benjamin entered upon his new trade immediately, and was
much pleased with it. It was so different from the work of
candle-making, and required so much more thought and ingenuity, that
he was prepared to pronounce it "first rate." It was with a light and
cheerful heart that he went to each day's task.

Mr. Franklin acted wisely in consulting the inclination of his son
about a trade. A boy may have more qualifications for one pursuit than
another; and this will generally be made manifest in the bent of his
mind. He will exhibit a degree of tact for one calling, while he may
be a blunderer at almost anything else. This characteristic is more
remarkable with some boys than with others, and a disregard of it
often entails unhappiness upon a whole family. When Handel, the
distinguished musician, was a child, his father strictly forbade his
listening to a note of music, or indulging his talent for the art.
Although he exhibited remarkable musical abilities, his father paid no
regard to the fact, but was determined to rear him to the profession
of law. He ordered all musical instruments to be carried out of the
house, and made it as difficult as possible for his son to gratify his
taste for sweet sounds. But through the assistance of a servant, the
boy obtained an instrument, which he kept in the garret; and there,
when opportunity offered, with the strings of his "clavichord" so
covered with pieces of cloth as to deaden the sound, he practised
music until he became a proficient in har