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"Ben Franklin"
Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography: Page 57
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afterwards to be much disputed; so that it grew soon to fifty-five thousand
pounds, and in 1739 to eighty thousand pounds, since which it arose during war
to upwards of three hundred and fifty thousand pounds, trade, building, and
inhabitants all the while increasing, till I now think there are limits beyond
which the quantity may be hurtful.
I soon after obtain'd, thro' my friend Hamilton, the printing of the Newcastle
paper money, another profitable jobb as I then thought it; small things
appearing great to those in small circumstances; and these, to me, were really
great advantages, as they were great encouragements. He procured for me, also,
the printing of the laws and votes of that government, which continu'd in my
hands as long as I follow'd the business.
I now open'd a little stationer's shop. I had in it blanks of all sorts, the
correctest that ever appear'd among us, being assisted in that by my friend
Breintnal. I had also paper, parchment, chapmen's books, etc. One Whitemash, a
compositor I had known in London, an excellent workman, now came to me, and
work'd with me constantly and diligently; and I took an apprentice, the son of
Aquila Rose.
I began now gradually to pay off the debt I was under for the printing-house. In
order to secure my credit and character as a tradesman, I took care not only to
be in reality industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances to the
contrary. I drest plainly; I was seen at no places of idle diversion. I never
went out a fishing or shooting; a book, indeed, sometimes debauch'd me from my
work, but that was seldom, snug, and gave no scandal; and, to show that I was
not above my business, I sometimes brought home the paper I purchas'd at the
stores thro' the streets on a wheelbarrow. Thus being esteem'd an industrious,
thriving young man, and paying duly for what I bought, the merchants who
imported stationery solicited my custom; others proposed supplying me with
books, and I went on swimmingly. In the mean time, Keimer's credit and business
declining daily, he was at last forc'd to sell his printing house to satisfy his
creditors. He went to Barbadoes, and there lived some years in very poor
circumstances.
His apprentice, David Harry, whom I had instructed while I work'd with him, set
up in his place at Philadelphia, having bought his materials. I was at first
apprehensive of a powerful rival in Harry, as his friends were very able, and
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