to the above-named letter of Vernon. Nevertheless, Franklin's own solicitude on the subject, dated from the time when he first became fully conscious of his error, in having thus subjected himself to a liability which he could not instantly meet; and as he had, clearly, taken the matter much more seriously to heart, than had Mr. Vernon, he felt proportionately grateful for the forbearance extended to him. Long years after, while he was residing at Paris as minister of the United States to the court of France, his sensibility to the liberal kindness of Vernon, it is gratifying to relate, was further manifested by rendering important service to a young kinsman of that gentleman.

A more serious embarrassment, in a mere pecuniary sense, and the more annoying from its having never been anticipated, now befell him. Mr. Meredith, senior, it will be remembered, was to furnish the money for setting up the firm of Franklin & Meredith in business. The whole sum to be furnished by him. was two hundred pounds, one half of which he had paid up; but the other half, now overdue, was not forthcoming, and he was unable to raise it. The merchant who had imported the furniture of the printing-office, and to whom the money was due, after long waiting, lost his patience and commenced a suit against both the elder Meredith and the two partners. The regular course of the suit would give a little time; but as there was no real defence to be made, that time would soon run out; and if the money could not be raised to meet the judgment that must come, the whole establishment would be sold by the sheriff under an execution, and the prospects of two young men, now opening so fairly, be utterly blasted.

This unhappy state of things became known, of course, to Franklin's friends; and he now had occasion, not only to realize, with livelier emotions than ever before, the

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advantages of that character he had established for resolute self denial and persevering industry, but to understand, also, with deeper insight, the nature and value of true friendship.

"In this distress," says he in his own account of this matter, "two true friends, whose kindness I have never forgotten, nor ever shall forget while I can remember anything, came to me, separately and unknown to each other, and, without any application from me, offered each of them to advance me all the money that should be necessary to enable me to take the whole of the business upon myself, if that should be practicable; but they did not like my continuing the partnership with Meredith; who, as they said, was often seen drunk in the streets, or playing at low games in alehouses, much to our discredit."

Those two generous friends were William Coleman and Robert Grace, to whom the reader has been already introduced in the Junto. Straitened and sore-pressed as he was, however, and menaced with at least temporary ruin by losing the fruits of his long and arduous labor, Franklin now showed the real strength and nobleness of his character, by his reply to his friends. He told them that he considered himself under such obligations to the Merediths, for the advantages he had derived from his connection with them, that he could not, with honor and a good conscience, urge a dissolution of the partnership, so long as they entertained a hope of being able to perform their engagements; but, if they should find themselves wholly unable to do so, and the partnership be thus broken up, he should then feel perfectly free to avail himself of the proffered aid.

This affair was alike honorable to each of the parties concerned; to Franklin, for his fine sense of justice and upright dealing toward the Merediths; and to his two

friends, not only for the noble sentiments which prompted their generous offers, but also, in a case like this, for their really enlightened public spirit, in coming to the aid of one, who had given such unequivocal proofs of his ability and disposition to be useful to the community, and to render it yet greater and more valuable service.

The affairs of the partnership continued in the unpleasant and hopeless condition described, for a while longer, when Franklin one day said to his well-meaning but very unprofitable partner: "Perhaps your father is dissatisfied at the part you have undertaken, in this affair of ours, and is unwilling to advance for you and me, what he would, for you. If that is the case, tell me, and I will resign the whole to you, and go about my business." To this Meredith ingenuously answered: "No; my father has really been disappointed, and is really unable; and I am unwilling to distress him further. I see this is a business I am not fit for. I was bred a farmer, and it was folly in me to come to town, and put myself, at thirty years of age, an apprentice to learn a new trade. Many of our Welsh people are going to settle in North Carolina, where land is cheap. I am inclined to go with them and follow my old employment. You may find friends to assist you. If you will take the debts of the company upon you, return to my father the hundred pounds he has advanced, pay my little personal debts, and give me thirty pounds and a new saddle, I will relinquish the partnership and leave the whole in your hands.'

Considering all the circumstances of this case, and particularly the fact that Franklin was himself the very life of the concern, which would not have been worth a penny without him, it must be conceded that Meredith did not undervalue his own interest, in the terms proposed. But Franklin, looking no doubt more at the ca

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pabilities of the establishment, than at the results already attained, accepted the proposals on the spot; and the bargain thus promptly made, was duly executed in writing, before the parties separated.

Meredith, shortly after, with his thirty pounds and clear of debt, mounted his new saddle for North Carolina ; "whence," says Franklin," he sent me next year two long letters, containing the best account that had been given of that country, the climate, the soil, and husbandry; for in those matters he was very judicious." The letters, it is added, were published in the paper, and gave general satisfaction. Aside from his pernicious practice of drinking to excess, Meredith appears to have been a sensible and amiable man; and it is gratifying, in taking leave of him, to have some reason to believe that, on breaking off his unfortunate associations in Philadelphia, he was enabled to amend his life, and become a more useful and respectable man.

Having now dissolved his connection with the Merediths, in the most honorable manner, Franklin, with a clear conscience and freshened hopes, no longer hesitated to avail himself of the generous proffers of Coleman and Grace. That he might, however, be impartial in his obligations and gratitude, and not burden either of his two friends more heavily than his real exigences honestly required, he took from each of them a moiety of the whole sum he needed. He then proceeded at once to pay off all the debts of the partnership, and publish the proper legal notice of its dissolution; at the same time announcing that he should continue the business of the late firm by himself alone and on his own sole account. This affair was consummated in the summer of 1730, the notice of dissolution of the partnership, as published in his paper, bearing date the 14th of July in that year.

Franklin had now entered the latter half of his twen

ty-fifth year; and events soon contributed to enhance the importance of his position, and to assign him a more important and influential part to act in the community. The restrictions imposed by the mother-country upon the commerce, navigation, and manufactures of her American colonies, confined the industry of the great body of the colonial population almost exclusively to agriculture; that is, to the production of food, and of raw materials to be manufactured in England; thus preventing that varied employment of capital and labor, and that diversity of occupations, which are the natural results of the unobstructed progress of society, and indispensable to the completeness of its organization; which are, also, equally indispensable to any considerable extension of either external or internal trade; and the prosecution of which, in a large way, for the purpose of commercial exchange and sale, occasions the chief demand for money and gives it most of its practical social value; which, in fine, are necessary to the universal and gainful activity of an intelligent, industrious, and enterprising people, and their advancement in civilization.

As one of the consequences of this selfish and monopolizing policy of the mother-country, the colonies, cut off from the benefits of some of their most important natural advantages, suffered greatly in their business, and particularly from a much too scanty supply of circulating medium; hard-money, for a long time the only currency in use, being rendered very injuriously scarce.

To remedy this last-named evil as well as circumstances permitted, the colonial legislatures, one after another, resorted to paper-money in that form so well known in the colonial and revolutionary history of the country, as "bills of credit;" deriving their appellation from the fact that they depended for their value on the credit of the government issuing them. To sustain that