BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



attracted his attention, to come to see it; after which he 

 allowed him to borrow from it such volumes as he wished 

 to read. 



Our young student was now to distinguish himself in a new 

 character. The perusal of the works of others suggested to 

 him the idea of trying his own talent at composition ; and his 

 first attempts in this way were a few pieces of poetry. Verse, 

 it may be observed, is generally the earliest sort of composition 

 attempted either by nations or individuals, and for the same 

 reasons in both cases, — namely, first, because poetry has pecu- 

 liar charms for the unripe understanding ; and secondly, 

 because people at first find it difficult to conceive what com- 

 position is at all, independently of such measured cadences 

 and other regularities as constitute verse. Franklin's poetical 

 fit, however, did not last long. Having been induced by his 

 brother to write two ballads, he was sent to sell them through 

 the streets; and one of them at least, being on a subject 

 which had just made a good deal of noise in the place, sold, 

 as he tells us, prodigiously. But his father, who, without 

 much literary knowledge, was a man of a remarkably sound 

 and vigorous understanding, soon brought down the rising 

 vanity of the young poet, by pointing out to him the many 

 faults of his performances, and convincing him what wretched 

 stuff they really were. Having been told, too, that verse- 

 makers were generally beggars, with his characteristic prudence 

 he determined to write no more ballads. 



He had an intimate acquaintance of the name of Collins, 

 who was, like himself, passionately fond of books, and with 

 whom he was in the habit of arguing upon such subjects as 

 they met v/ith in the course of their reading. Among other 

 questions which they discussed in this way, one accidentally 



