118 THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



brothers, however, and Benjamin, knowing that the 

 editor dared not plead before court the second con- 

 tract, took upon himself to assert his freedom, a step 

 which he later regretted as not dictated by the high- 

 est principle. 



Unable to find other employment in Boston, con- 

 demned by his father's judgment in the matter of the 

 contract, somewhat under public criticism also for his 

 satirical vein and heterodoxy, Franklin determined to 

 try his fortunes elsewhere. Thus, at the age of sev- 

 enteen he made his escape from Boston. 



Unable to find work in New York, he arrived 

 after some difficulties in Philadelphia in October, 

 1723. He had brought no recommendations from 

 Boston ; his supply of money was reduced to one 

 Dutch dollar and a shilling in copper. But he that 

 hath a Trade hath an Estate (as Poor Richard 

 says). His capital was his industry, his skill as a 

 printer, his good-will, his shrewd powers of observa- 

 tion, his knowledge of books, and ability to write. 

 Franklin, recognized as a promising young man by 

 the Governor, Sir William Keith, as previously by 

 Governor Burnet of New York, had a growing sense 

 of personal freedom and self-reliance. 



But increased freedom for those who deserve it 

 means increased responsibility ; for it implies the 

 possibility of error. Franklin, intent above all 

 on the wise conduct of life, was deeply perturbed 

 in his nineteenth and twentieth years by a premature 

 engagement, in which his ever-passionate nature had 

 involved him, by his failure to pay over money col- 

 lected for a friend, and by the unsettled state of his 

 religious and ethical beliefs. Encouraged by Keith 



