as
sometimes called "the minister's hotel." Mr. Washburne was a great
friend of this class, and enjoyed their society much. At all times
nearly, some one of the ministerial fraternity would be stopping
there. His sons were thus brought into their society, and they
listened to long discussions upon subjects of a scientific, political,
and religious character, though public measures received a large share
of attention. The boys acquired some valuable information by
listening to their remarks, and this created a desire to read and
learn more; and so they were started off in a career that bids fair to
reflect honour both upon themselves and their country. Their early
advantages were few, but the conversation of educated men, upon
important subjects, laid the foundation of their eminence in public
life.

"You must give heed to little things," Mr. Franklin would frequently
say to his sons, when they appeared to think that he was too
particular about some things, such as behaviour at the table,
"although nothing can really be considered small that is important. It
is of far more consequence how you behave, than what you wear."

Sometimes, if the meal was unusually plain (and it was never
extravagant), he would say, "Many people are too particular about
their victuals. They destroy their health by eating too much and too
rich food. Plain, simple, wholesome fare is all that nature requires,
and young persons who are brought up in this way will be best off in
the end."

Such kind of remarks frequently greeted the ears of young Benjamin; so
that, as we have already seen, he grew up without caring much about
the kind of food which he ate. Perhaps here is to be found the origin
of those rigidly temperate principles in both eating and drinking, for
which he was distinguished all through his life. In his manhood, he
wrote and talked upon the subject, and reduced his principles to
practice. When he worked as a printer in England, his fellow-labourers
were hard drinkers of strong beer, really believing that it was
necessary to make them competent to endure fatigue. They were
astonished to see a youth like Benjamin able to excel the smartest of
them in the printing-office, while he drank only cold water, and they
sneeringly called him "the Water-American."

The temperate habits which Benjamin formed in his youth were the more
remarkable, because there were no temperance societies at that time,
and it was generally supposed to be ne