over, one of them by
accident was broken, and two pages reduced to pi, I immediately
distributed and compos'd it over again before I went to bed; and this
industry, visible to our neighbors, began to give us character and
credit; particularly, I was told, that mention being made of the new
printing-office at the merchants' Every-night club, the general opinion
was that it must fail, there being already two printers in the place,
Keimer and Bradford; but Dr. Baird (whom you and I saw many years after
at his native place, St. Andrew's in Scotland) gave a contrary opinion:
"For the industry of that Franklin," says he, "is superior to any thing
I ever saw of the kind; I see him still at work when I go home from
club, and he is at work again before his neighbors are out of bed."
This struck the rest, and we soon after had offers from one of them to
supply us with stationery; but as yet we did not chuse to engage in
shop business.

I mention this industry the more particularly and the more freely, tho'
it seems to be talking in my own praise, that those of my posterity,
who shall read it, may know the use of that virtue, when they see its
effects in my favour throughout this relation.

George Webb, who had found a female friend that lent him wherewith to
purchase his time of Keimer, now came to offer himself as a journeyman
to us. We could not then employ him; but I foolishly let him know as a
secret that I soon intended to begin a newspaper, and might then have
work for him. My hopes of success, as I told him, were founded on
this, that the then only newspaper, printed by Bradford, was a paltry
thing, wretchedly manag'd, no way entertaining, and yet was profitable
to him; I therefore thought a good paper would scarcely fail of good
encouragement. I requested Webb not to mention it; but he told it to
Keimer, who immediately, to be beforehand with me, published proposals
for printing one himself, on which Webb was to be employ'd. I resented
this; and, to counteract them, as I could not yet begin our paper, I
wrote several pieces of entertainment for Bradford's paper, under the
title of the BUSY BODY, which Breintnal continu'd some months. By this
means the attention of the publick was fixed on that paper, and
Keimer's proposals, which we burlesqu'd and ridicul'd, were
disregarded. He began his paper, however, and, after carrying it on
three quarters of a year, with at most only ninety subscribers, he
offered it to me fo