tters of utility, or, at least, to adorn and improve your
conversation, if they are rather points of curiosity; and, as
many of the terms of science are such as you cannot have met with
in your common reading, and may therefore be unacquainted with, I
think it would be well for you to have a good dictionary at hand,
to consult immediately when you meet with a word you do not
comprehend the precise meaning of.

"This may, at first, seem troublesome and interrupting; but it is
a trouble that will daily diminish, as you will daily find less
and less occasion for your dictionary, as you become more
acquainted with the terms; and, in the meantime, you will read
with more satisfaction, because with more understanding. When any
point occurs in which you would be glad to have further
information than your book affords you, I beg that you would not
in the least apprehend that I should think it a trouble to
receive and answer your questions. It will be a pleasure and no
trouble. For though I may not be able, out of my own little stock
of knowledge, to afford you what you require, I can easily direct
you to the books where it may most readily be found. Adieu, and
believe me ever, my dear friend,

"B. FRANKLIN."

CHAPTER VI.

TABLE TALK.

"Yes," replied Mr. Franklin, to the inquiry of a friend who was dining
with him; "my ancestors were inured to hardships, and I myself am not
altogether a stranger to them. I had but little opportunity of going
to school, and have always had to work hard for a livelihood."

"So much the better for you now," replied his friend; "for in this new
country, and these hard times, you cannot find the support of a large
family an easy matter."

"That is true; but I have never regretted coming to this country. The
liberty of worshipping God according to the dictates of conscience, is
one of the richest blessings, and more than compensates for the trial
of leaving my native land."

"Then you experienced the rigours of intolerance there, in some
measure, did you?"

"Oh yes; my forefathers adhered to the Protestant faith through the
reign of Mary, and were often in great danger from the bitter hatred
of the Papists. I sometimes wonder that they did not forfeit their
lives in those days of persecution."

"I can relate to you one interesting fact,"